Fran This morning I made my annual solo trip to the Fair. I had breakfast and an early lunch there, and explored in between.
Long lines for tickets by 8am!
We buy our tickets before the Fair starts, so I zoomed right in through the restored old streetcar arch.
Breakfast started at the Blue Barn with the new Wild Bill’s Breakfast Bake. Scrambled eggs, roasted chicken, Scrambled eggs, roasted chicken, chorizo sausage baked on tortillas and topped with salsa, lettuce, pickled onions, cilantro. It was really yummy and had decent heat. Thumb’s up from me!
I then meandered across the Fairgrounds to the east side to finally make it to the Farmer’s Union. Nitro cold press coffee (the regular, NOT the maple cream new one) and their new blueberry sweet corn eclair. Enjoyed on one of my favorite fair hideaways, their back patio. The nitro coffee was as good as ever - still the best caffeine option at the Fair!
The eclair was a mixed bag. The highlight was the sweet corn filling - very strong sweet corn flavor (and actual corn, too). The blueberry topping was great taste-wise, but it was just slathered on and it made the thing unnecessarily messy. The dough was a disappointment. It is made from Kernza flour, which is a different kind of wheatgrass that has low gluten content. This eclair missed the gluten, it had a strange texture as a result. Overall, it was just ok.
Even at 8:30am, the free music is going - nice acoustic show in front of the Farmer’s Union.
A multi-generational clogging club also had an early time slot.
Next I headed into the Education Building, to learn things. :-)
This is where they feature the high school robotics competition every year. This year, the robots had to shoot balls into baskets, retrieve and deliver large gears to a central machine, and then grab onto and climb a rope, all while preventing the other team from doing so. Very clever and fun to watch.
Some of the fantastic photography from the 4-H kids in the 4-H building.
Next I headed to the Fine Arts building. This is the artwork that was selected for the 2017 state fair poster. It’s not my favorite poster, but it’ll still be on our wall!
Next up was the Eco Experience. This year they are featuring Water, including a Water Bar, where you can get a water flight and compare waters from different municipal water systems around the state. I promised @[1049225603:2048:Katie] (a self-described municipal water lover) I would not try this without her, so I just took a photo for now!
I stopped here to ask the tree experts for ideas about which trees would work well on our front lawn. They gave me great advice! See, you can learn a lot at the Fair!
It’s moments like these where I really have to sacrifice for my love of the Fair. There’s a new beer at Giggles that everyone’s been buzzing about - pickle beer. It was 10am, but I do love pickles and I wasn’t planning to get back to Giggles again, so here it goes. And the verdict is….. it’s terrible. I tried really hard to like this beer, and drank about 2/3rds of it in the attempt. I feel like I gave it a fair shot. But, it’s no good. The beer itself is not a good base, it’s just a poor beer. And the pickle taste isn’t strong enough to mask it or make the beer unique. It just feels like drinking bad beer. It’s definitely a thumbs down for me.
At least I was on Machinery Hill, so I could take my mind off the bad beer by looking at cool antique tractors. This one was actually running. The sounds of the old tractors sputtering on Machinery Hill is quintessential Fair (I wish I had thought to take a movie!)
Next food up, the new, savory onion and gouda pie from Sara’s Tipsy Pies! This was a huge winner for me! Carmelized onions, tangy gouda, great crust - would definitely do again! And, I got to finally meet Sara, whose daughter has Down syndrome. I’ve mentioned this before, but Sara donates some of the proceeds of her pies to the Down syndrome association, so win-win! Sara was excited to tell me about her daughter’s first day of high school yesterday - sounds like it went great!
Today was Military Appreciation Day, so at the flag-raising ceremony they had a band play the National Anthem and then the official songs of each of the branches of service. Lots of vets at the Fair today!
Continuing lunch, I went for the Gass Station’s Minnesota Corn Dog. The dog has wild rice in it. You can definitely taste it and it was a nice twist on the classic corn dog. The coating was fine but unremarkable. It’s not going to replace the Pronto Pup or Poncho Dog, but it’s in the mix as a change of pace. Overall, a positive experience.
One of the things I did during my visit was to complete the 12 stops of the Fair’s History Walking Tour. The Bailey House is where the groundskeepers lived until recently. Now it’s home base for Friends of the Fair.
Dessert was the S’moresas from Hot Indian Foods in the Midtown Global booth of the International Bazaar. (And it definitely was an international experience - that’s a polka band up on stage!)
One of the most buzzed-about new foods, today was the last day to try them before the booth switches over to Rabbit Hole. I’m not a huge lover of s’mores, so I knew I wouldn’t be raving over them, but they are definitely done well. Traditional s’mores stuff on the inside of a samosa wrapper and served with chai dipping sauce. I ate it all, which says something since again, I don’t love s’mores. If you love s’mores, you’ll love these, but you’re running out of time to get them!
Next up: Dairy Building! Actually my least favorite building at the Fair, because it’s mostly just vendor booths, but in the back they have the butter sculpture area and I was lucky enough to catch one in progress!
On to the barn area. Hand milking demonstration outside the Cow Barn.
All the way at the end of the barn area is a little arena I’d never made it to before. This morning they had a goat competition going on. That was fun to see, although I wasn’t quite ready for when the judge was explaining what he was looking for in a good goat of this breed and said “you want a goat that’s going to hang a good carcass…” Jeez, I get that it’s about food production and all but did you have to say it in front of the little guys?? ;-)
Here’s a shot up the Grandstand ramp. Fun fact: this is the place where Theodore Roosevelt gave his “speak softly and carry a big stick” speech.
The ramp is hosting the Great Minnesota Knit-Together. Here’s a knitted horse, with the Skyride in the background.
Finally, checked off all the spots on the walking tour! About 2 miles of walking (although probably more like 3 with my detours).
For completing the walking tour you get a swag pack, including some retro postcards, a collapsible water bottle, and a pennant.
A few of the displays in the Heritage Center in the West End of the Fair.
On the way out I came across an African drum and dance group.
Some of the gardens which greet you at the Transit Hub entrance.
Yet another successful visit to the Fair! I head out for the day, and off to work…
…but I always make sure to get my hand stamped, just in case an opportunity comes up to come back again today. :-)
Minnesota State Fair 2017 - Visit #2