Fran With the advantage of being at the campground (and having a child who wakes up at 6am!), we hit the Fair on Day 1 early and often! With easy all-day come-and-go access to the Fair, this might have been our most epic Fair day ever! At the very least, I’m pretty sure this will set a record for most pictures / longest blog post from a single day at the Fair!
We were headed for the gate well before 8am.
Our first stop was for breakfast at the Hamline Church Dining Hall. We were after the buzz-y Holey Hamloaf Breakfast Sandwich, but Henry was also hankering for some pancakes and sausage.
There was a backlog for the Holey Hamloaf, so we got started with the breakfast special for Henry, which comes with Al’s Diner’s Blueberry Pancakes, eggs and sausage. Eating a giant breakfast like this is What Not To Do At The Fair 101, but Henry scoffs at traditional Fair rules! The Al’s pancakes were tasty as usual. He made quick work of all of this.
Here’s where we hit a major speed bump - the kitchen was completely overwhelmed by the popularity of the Holey Hamloaf, and couldn’t get them out of the kitchen nearly fast enough. They were giving folks little placards to place on their table, but these weren’t ordered in any way. With about 20 people waiting for sandwiches, it started to turn Lord of the Flies, with people hovering by the kitchen door and snatching them as soon as they came out, which they were doing only sporadically in batches of 1 or 2. After more than a half hour of this, I regretfully asked for a refund. (I hear they have since produced numbered placards and made speed improvements!)
So we didn’t get to taste the Holey Hamloaf sandwich, right? WRONG! One of the great things about being at the fair on morning #1 is that this is when the media is there doing their frantic rounds of food reviews. During our time at Hamline we saw multiple local food reviewers (yes, Katie recognizes them on sight!) also there for the Hamloaf. While we were waiting for ours, a woman who we’re pretty sure was Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl (Mpls St Paul Magazine food critic) gave us the other half of her sandwich as she headed out the door. So with this bit of good fortune, we were indeed able to taste it (this is not our picture, we forgot to take one!)
What I remember most about the sandwich is 1. the glaze on the hamloaf was pleasantly sweet and 2. if I didn’t know it was hamloaf, I wouldn’t know it from the taste. It could have definitely passed for meatloaf! Loaf ambiguity aside, it was definitely tasty, it was definitely large (I hear from an insider that this is because their preferred sourdough comes in a larger loaf), and it was definitely in high demand! You could do a lot worse for a Fair breakfast, just make sure you have someone to share it with.
I headed out a little early to get on line at the Farmer’s Union for breakfast #2. Because of that, I missed this celebrity encounter that Katie and Henry had!
That’s Senator Amy Klobuchar hangin’ out at the Fair like a good Minnesota politician! (Not coincidentally, in front of the AFL-CIO union building) Henry was a little confused at first, standing in front of the random lady so he could take a picture with mom, until Katie explained that the random lady was famous and the reason for the picture!
It wasn’t all sad for me though, as I was able to procure the BLT Fried Green Tomato Sandwich and my beloved Nitro Cold Press Coffee from the Farmer’s Union!
Fantastic! As per usual, Farmer’s Union did not disappoint. Great sauce. Nice soft bun matched with the crunchy fried green tomatoes. And they always do really nice bacon on their sandwiches. This was a winner.
Next we started to make our way to the transit hub to meet Katie’s mom Sally. It was STEM day at the Fair so there were robotics demonstrations in Dan Patch Park. We stopped to talk to the students and learned about the different types of wheels they use on the robots (it’s a balance between traction and ability to move sideways!)
You know you’re at the Fair early when there’s no line at Sweet Martha’s! But cookies would have to wait, too early for us!
After meeting up with Sally, we headed down to the animal barn area. One of my favorite parts of being in this area is that you never know who, or what, is going to come strolling past you (and it’s wise to walk around with eyes down on the street, if you catch my drift).
The Minnesota State Fair Horse Show competitors were in full preparation mode. The horse owner explained to us that this type of horse is a Belgian and was bred in the Middle Ages to be able to carry fully armored warriors. Nowadays they are used as draft horses which pull the massive and elaborate carts.
While we explored the horse barn we snacked on a Fair classic, the Fresh Cut French Fries.
In the Sheep Barn the 4-H kids were being interviewed by the judges on their knowledge and experience raising sheep. Here are some sample questions I found online.
- Name three of the most common breeds of sheep in the Midwest.
- The most common sheep in the U.S. are medium, long, or fine wool breeds?
- Sheep belong to a group of animals that have 4-compartment stomachs. What is this group of animals called?
- What is the average gestation period length in days?
- Did you find it challenging to raise sheep? If yes, what was challenging and how would you make it easier next year?
- What did you like about your sheep breeding project?
Here are 17-ish interesting facts about sheep to help you expand your sheep knowledge! (Gotta work on our photo framing!)
We made our way over to the Miracle of Birth barn, where we had just missed a calf being born. A crowd had formed around the newborn and was cheering it on as it was working to get standing up on its legs. The ooooohs and aaaaahs of the crowd were very exciting!
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the barn the pig sows were busy feeding their piglets. This one had 13 piglets, and we learned they stay in these chambers for 21 days after birth. This does not look like fun for mom, but it keeps the piglets safe from being stepped on or rolled over by mom.
Fun fact that Katie learned while talking to the veterinarians: the piglets self-organize themselves onto the teats from biggest to smallest, and once ordered they stay on their same teat permanently!
After the animal barns we were ready for lunch, so we headed over to the nearby and always delicious Turkey-to-Go booth. Another great sandwich! The vendors seem dialed in (Hamloaf incident aside) for it being morning 1.
Turkey to Go is right next to the All You Can Drink milk booth, not quite the $1 bargain it used to be but still a deal at $2. I usually skip that booth on hotter days because large quantities of milk in hot weather can sometimes be a bad idea, but I was in the mood so I placed my usual order: 1/2 chocolate 1/2 white. It was tasty and I got seconds, but as the heat intensified later in the day I would come to once again regret this decision!
Katie and her mom then headed over to the Creative Activities building while I explored with Henry. Here are a couple of Katie’s photos of the handiwork they found. I love the attention to detail and the quality of the shrubs in this miniature house!
This quilt is impressive! Soooooo many squares.
Meanwhile, Henry and I headed up to the Family Stage to catch the performance of the Hip Hop Juggler!
Henry approved of the act enough to allow the HHJ to take a picture with him.
By now the afternoon heat was oppressive and it was time to retreat and regroup. To the camper we went! Ahhh, sweet, sweet air conditioning. We chilled out for a few hours in the hottest part of the day.
Re-energized, we got back at it in the afternoon! First stop: Baba’s for their incredible hummus bowls. This is the Hummus Bi Lahme with beef. This has hummus, beef schawarma, pine nuts, parsley, lemon sauce and sumac. We’ve had several of their bowls and they’re all delicious. The warm mini pita really put it over the top! We love them so much we have some frozen in our freezer right now from their parent restaurant, Mediterranean Cruise Cafe in Burnsville.
Henry made a stop at a Bridge and Barrel booth (the barrel-shaped booths all over the Fair) for a root beer craft brewed by Lift Bridge, one of my favorite local breweries. It’s definitely a notch or two above standard root beer from the soda fountain! Cheers!
We made our way back to the Coliseum to check out the Horse Show. The day’s events were all cart horse related, which made for a very chill “competition”.
While watching this we picked up a favorite from last year, the Pickle Barrel Steak Tips meal. WARNING: THIS DOES NOT PHOTOGRAPH WELL!
Sorry about that picture. But the good news is that the food was just as tasty as we remembered it. I really like every single component of this on its own - the steak, the mashed potatoes, the onions, and the mushrooms. But if I had to pick just one, it’s easily the mushrooms! I don’t know what they marinate them in but it’s magical! I’ve always avoided steak at the Fair, but two years in a row now this item has me convinced that maybe I’ve been missing out!
After the horse show there were more trips through the barns to watch more show prep. The amount of work that goes into getting these animals ready to show is incredible. We even witnessed one cow getting her legs spray painted! Here we see the sheep farmer getting the wool jussssssssst right for the show.
We were nearing the time of day where Sally was going to head out, and there was one item she hadn’t had yet. That’s the Bridgeman’s chocolate soda, a fond memory from her youth! Here it is! I didn’t taste it, but Sally gave it rave reviews and said it was just the way she remembered it.
With that done, Sally was off to head home for the day!
After retreating to the camper for another rest, I was ready for a third round of the Fair, so I headed out again while Katie and Henry stayed back. My first stop was the Fine Art building. I always like to make sure I stroll through here each Fair and try to pick a few favorites. It’s also where they feature the winning piece from the commemorative art poster competition. This year an amazing seed art piece won!
You can read all about the piece and the process of picking the commemorative art on the State Fair website.
Here are a few other pieces that I really enjoyed.
Beautiful tile work.
I love the lighting on this one.
This just made me laugh!
I found this piece really touching.
And I thought this one captured the majesty of natural Minnesota perfectly.
This piece is mesmerizing!
I need to do a better job of remembering to keep the info label in the picture so the artists get credit. I may go back and fix these on my next trip.
My next stop was to the Education Building for one of my absolute favorite parts of the fair each year: the kids’ art! I’m always so amazed at how talented they are!
A 6th grader’s self-portrait!
Whaaaaat? Amazing.
THIRD GRADE, PEOPLE!!
The expressiveness in the face drawings gets me every year. I can’t even fathom this level of artistic talent.
“Mom in red dress carrying her purse”. From a kindergartner. Are you serious? Love it!
After contemplating all of this artistic excellence, I decided it was time for a beer. And not just any beer, the Mini Donut Beer from Ballpark Cafe. Still the best beer at the Fair!
Katie and Henry rejoined me for dinner, and I made a run across the Fairgrounds to RC’s BBQ to pick up their Maui-Sota Sticky Ribs. RC’s has underwhelmed with their new items multiple times in the past so we didn’t have high hopes for this, but our resident rib aficionado Henry wanted to try them. Loved them! By far the best item I’ve ever had from there. They were pretty substantial, and done like ribs should be done, with lots of meaty, fall off the bone bites mixed in with charred tips and a really phenomenal bark. The sauce was sweet but not overly so, and finger-licking sticky for sure. And I read today that some of the proceeds are going for Maui fire relief.
Katie decided on the walleye cakes from Giggle’s, one of her perennial favorites.
After dinner we checked out the Agriculture Building and headed into the seed art gallery. I love how the artists use the seed art to memorialize current events or important milestones. The 50th anniversary of the cell phone!
RIP Pee Wee Herman.
RIP Tina Turner.
This one was just clever.
And sometimes it’s just pure fan love for someone.
The flower show in the center atrium was themed for fairy tale characters. The central tree was really cool!
We took a moment to browse the champion Christmas trees, trying to pick our favorite smell.
One wing of the Ag building always has a craft beer tasting, and the vendor was selling these delicious Bavarian pretzels! It’s not quite the same as my favorite pretzel vendor who left the fair a couple years back (WHY!?!?), but Henry had a pretzel on his Fair food wishlist and this fit the bill nicely!
Katie popped into the vegetable wing to check out the veggie contest winners. Potatoes!
From the Ag building we made our way over to the International Bazaar stage to catch the evening concert. When we got there I noticed a shockingly short line at Union Hmong Kitchen this evening and made an impulse decision to pick up the galabao. When you have a chance to eat a multiple James Beard award nominee’s food at the Fair, you do it. For this item, Yia Vang (said chef) organized a fleet of Hmong community grandmas to make 18,000 buns! Homemade bao from grandma? Yes please! First off, this bun is HUGE. Like the size of my whole hand. It’s filled with a spiced pork filling along with half a hard-boiled egg. The bun is incredibly fluffy, and if you love doughy things, you will love this bun. It comes with a side of spicy green dipping sauce, which was delicious. All in all, this was a very good item. Just be aware that it’s mostly dough - I would ideally have liked more filling. And also, the bottom of the bun was quite stuck to the tissue paper and it was a bit of a chore to separate. If you enjoy bao buns you should try this.
The evening concert was great too! Jamecia Bennett, whom I had never heard of before tonight. Turns out she’s a three-time Grammy winner from Minnesota who puts on an amazing blues/jazz/pop show! She brought with her several students from the now-defunct McNally School of Music which recently made headlines for suddenly closing and leaving students with nowhere to go. She took in several of them and made them part of her band, and they were all talented artists in their own right! This was an early sleeper hit of the 2023 Fair!
As Henry and I made our way back to the camper, Katie took a different route and passed by the Leinie Lodge, where a band called The Bacon Brothers was playing. As in, Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael (his Kevin Bacon number is 1!) Hard to get a good picture - Kevin’s the blob on the right, you’ll just have to trust us.
And with that, what was probably our most epic single day at the Fair ever finally came to a close! We hit the camper exhausted, ready to recharge and do it all over again tomorrow!
We're Camping the Fair!