2019 MN State Fair - Visit #2

In which Katie scooters all over the Fairgrounds!

Today, we made our second visit to the Fair, this time our annual trip with Henry’s cousins. Unfortunately, Eleanor was down with bronchitis and couldn’t join us (and Stephanie was back with her), so our crew was slightly smaller than usual, but we still tackled the Fair with gusto!

We started the morning at the reworked North End and tried one of the new vendors, Brim. This is their Grilled Sota Sandwich (cinnamon nut butter and Minnesota blueberry marmalade served warm on gluten-free Irish soda bread). It’s been getting a lot of buzz, and it was awesome! They’re grinding the nut butter right there, and the bread was so good I didn’t even miss the gluten. Made for a great breakfast (and Brim is also serving up Five Watt/Big Watt coffee, too!) Good to see some new food life coming into the North End!

After Brim, we wandered over to the Pet Pavillion. The Greyhound was the featured breed this morning and we had a lot of fun visiting with the dogs. Some of them had just come off the track three weeks ago but they were all very sweet and relaxed even with all the strangers around.

Henry pulled us into the Home Depot pavillion, which took the place of our usual John Deere pavillion visit. Riding mowers instead of tractors; just as fun!

They also had building projects for the kids. Here Henry is assembling his sailboat.

Challenging Yaya to mower/snowblower races!

The GIzmo stand was nearby and Katie had never tried one, so we continued our breakfast of Champions tour with this cheesy, saucy ground Italian sausage sandwich. It’s been at the Fair forever and it’s a classic, and still very good, but I think Minnesotans are ready for a little more flavor and spice now!

We made a trip through the Little Hands farmstead, where kids get to walk through and do the whole process from farm to market. Henry is working the fields.

Delivering his farm products to market. He earned play money for this, and then got to exchange the play money for a real ice cream sandwich!

Meanwhile, Katie was just drinking and driving all over the Fair. Here she’s enjoying Sociable Cider Works’ Sparkling Honey Hive from Giggles. Longtime readers will know that I am pretty down on Giggles, but this one was a winner. Smells good, tastes good, very refreshing. If you like cider, get this.

Yaya treated Henry by sharing her favorite snack with him!

Showing off his mini donut lips.

Time for a couple of rides as we strolled past the Kidway. He’s always the most pumped kid on the ride!

Henry loves being up above the Fair so he can look around and check everything out.

While Henry hit the rides, I made a whirlwind trip through the Food Building to retrievea trio of new foods for the group to sample. First up, the Shrimp and Grits from the new vendor Funky Grits. This has been getting a lot of good buzz. I’m torn on these and not quite sure what the fuss is about. They tasted pretty good, and at $5 a bit friendlier on the wallet than most Fair food. But, if I hadn’t known what they were, I’d have no idea there were shrimp in these. They’re skippable.

Next up is the al pastor taco from Manny’s Torta. Al pastor is having a moment at the Fair this year (i think there are three new dishes with it), but when Manny’s does a thing, you go with Manny’s. This was really good, and the blue corn tortilla sets it apart. I’d get it again.

And now for the most controversial new food of the day. This is the Red Hot Sausage from Tejas Express. Hot sausage, summer succotash, pickled onions, whole grain mustard, greens. I. Loved. This. Spicy but not one-noted, super flavorful sausage, fresh veggies…I was scraping the bowl. I would eat this all day long. Others in the group were less enthusiastic. Some thought it was too spicy. But for my money, this was the best thing I ate today!

This one’s not controversial at all. When you’re in the vicinity of the Ball Park Cafe, you get a mini donut beer, regardless of the time (I think we were solidly past 10am by this point tho.) The beer that started the craft brewery Fair-exclusive beer craze, and the beer that still does it best.

After our new food sampling, we settled in to the family stage to take in a comedy/magic show.

The show, The Chipper Experience, was the sleeper hit of the day! Everyone loved it. He was hilarious and talented. Sally and Ben were even part of the show, as you can see here. No, Sally doesn’t know that guy whose nose she is holding!

After the show, it was time for more food (when everything is split so many ways, we’re not really getting full). Henry went for the About a Foot Long hot dog. This one is sneaky good. It’s not a normal hot dog, it’s super snappy and you can see it has a lot of different seasonings in it. It’s legit good, Henry’s face don’t lie.

A Pronto Pup “cheers!” I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Sally more excited about anything in my life.

Back to the Family Stage for a second show. This guy was a former ringling Bros. clown, and he had mad clown skills. The Sunday morning crowd was a little sedate, but the Fabrizio-Richards clan were all into it, of course!

Next up was the Minnesota Twins experience. Henry warmed up with a few pitches in the “cage”…

…and then took some batting practice, hitting a sharp liner down the third base line.

The Twins experience is right around the corner from the International Bazaar, so Katie ran into the Midtown Global Market booth, which is staffed by Hot Indian Foods for the first half of the Fair. I’ve never had anything by Hot Indian that wasn’t delicious and super flavorful so I was excited for this, their Bhel Puri snack mix, inspired by the Indian street food “chaat”. Its a mix of puffed rice, fruit and veg, nuts, lots of spices, and sauce. It’s tangy and sweet and savory and crunchy and soft somehow all in one. I don’t know if it’s great, but it was good and it was unlike anything else you’re going to eat at the Fair, so it’s worth trying in my opinion. Only there till Tuesday.

For the traditionalist, there’s always the pork chop. And when you go pork chop at the Fair, you should go Peterson’s pork chop. Three pork chops split six ways (Henry would have eaten at least two by himself if we let him!) Great as usual!

By now we were ready for something sweet. While riding the bus home after my first visit, I talked to the lady sitting next to us, and she said that Custard’s Last Stand was her favorite dessert at the Fair. I’ve walked past this stand underneath the Grandstand ramp a hundred times without even thinking about it. Glad I went today! Strawberry vanilla swirl with berry-granola topping. Really good custard! Super creamy. Topping was really nice, too. We made quick work of it, looking forward to trying more of their flavors (coffee!)

Henry wanted to see the horses again and draft horses were on the schedule all afternoon. We caught the tail end of the riding competition (which is a little unusual, because draft horses aren’t the kind of horse you commonly think of for a riding horse, they’re enormous and usually pull carts). Then, they shifted into draft horse barrel racing, which was billed as “something to behold!” in the description.

So, it turns out, draft horses make terrible barrel racers. They’re not good at running, and they’re scared of the barrels. So, this event is more about having fun and maybe a little bit about showing how versatile draft horses can be if you work at it enough. But, as you can see from the outfit this rider is wearing, it’s mostly about having silly fun. Some of the horses came in, saw the barrels, and “nope!”d right back out of the arena. Others gave the barrels the side eye while slowly going around them with about ten yards clearance. A couple of them actually managed respectable imitations of barrel racing, which is impressive to see those huge 2,000 lb. horses moving pretty fast! Henry loved it all the same, and we had a good time watching the shenanigans.

It was time to go, and it’s a LONG walk/scooter ride from the Coliseum to the North End. So we got some classic Fair french fries to fortify us during the journey.

Henry preferred to transfer his from the big cup to his little cup, and then stroll and munch on them.

Henry and his Yaya enjoying one last stroll through the Fairgrounds today.

Let’s give props to Katie for being a trooper today, and for doing some Pro Level scootering through the thick weekend crowds, not to mention hobbling around everywhere the scooter couldn’t go. No stress fracture was going to keep her from enjoying the Fair!

And she even found time to make and debut her latest custom Fair shirt. You have to be a true Minnesotan to understand this one (google “minnesota ope” if you’re curious).

As is my tradition, I always get my hand stamped on the way out even if I know I’m not coming back that day. One, for the fun art (corn dog!), and two, for the sense of hope it gives for the rest of the day that “just maybe” I’ll head back in after all!

Next visit is Tuesday, my annual solo visit to the Fair. That’s when I start early, explore the mellow morning time, and uncover some “deep cuts” around the Fairgrounds. See you then!