2023 Visit #2

We awoke in the camper refreshed and ready to go again! The boys started the day on a breakfast run while mom stayed back for a more relaxing morning.

I am a bagel person and I’m especially an everything bagel person, so I really wanted to try the Everything Cream Cheese Ba-Sant at French Meadow. As the name suggests, it’s a cross between a cream cheese croissant and an everything bagel.

If you love everything bagels like I do you’ll love this. The everything seasoning is robust! The cream cheese filling is largely confined to the center, so it was a little bit like eating two different pastries depending on where I took a bite. Not a must-have, but a pleasant way to start the day!

Henry tried a banana chocolate crepe from the French Creperie next door.

As a pancake lover he was intrigued by the concept of a French pancake! He devoured it, requiring a restroom trip to clean up the chocolate all over his face, neck and somehow, his hair!

After breakfast we got morning drinks, once again from French Meadow. I opted for a cappucino while Henry got an iced chai latte. When I asked Henry if he wanted to sit or walk while drinking, he replied “let’s sit on the patio and watch the world go by”, so we did just that!

On the way back to the camper, we passed by the Vikings fan tent. Henry thought it would be funny to take a selfie in the Skol sign wearing his Eagles jersey. He’s becoming an expert antagonizer of the home team fans! (Although he wore a Vikings tee shirt to the first day of school, so he has love for both.)

After rendezvous’ing with mom back at the camper, we headed out for our proper morning session. By this time, mom and Henry had figured out the Sky Glider shortcut to get to the other side of the Fair from the campground. I’m not a chair lift guy, so I kept pace on terra firma and snapped a few pics of them floating overhead.

In an effort to branch out my mini donut experience, I tried a new-to-me vendor, Grandstand Donuts. Glad I did! These seemed a bit larger and fresher than the usual Tom Thumb. Plus, I paid in all $1 bills which excited the vendor so much he gave us extra donuts! (Ah, the perils of making change all day long for a $6 item!)

Henry was excited for rides, so we hit the Midway. Still the parents’ least favorite part of the Fair (sooo expensive!), but we had fun going on a few rides anyhow. This photo is a deceptively calm shot of us zooming around on the Alpine Bobs.

After rides, we wandered over to the animal barns again. Lots more activity getting the show animals ready! In the cattle barn, the kids were worn out.

So were the cows!

I am NOT in the mood…

Getting show animals ready for competition is complicated! Just look at all the different foods they have to balance in their diets.

Finally, it was showtime! While we waited for the competition to start, I took a picture of this sign, handy for the next time I need to schedule a photo shoot for my showpig.

It’s competition time! Where else are you going to see something like this?

After the competition, we were ready to eat again. Sweet Martha’s cookies were Henry’s request. Still underdone, still mediocre, still a hot mess, still a Fair tradition you gotta do anyway!

Over at the Blue Moon Diner, we opted for some more sophisticated food. Here we have the Korean tacos. I liked these! Pretty substantial, flavorful meat. I thought not too spicy, Katie thought a little too spicy.

We also got the New Mexico Chili Dog Sliders Two Ways again this year. We discovered these last year and they really surprised us with how good they were. Pleased to report that they were great again this year! That prickly pear slushie makes the dish. A great change-of-pace snack item! (Last year’s photo, we forgot to take one this year!)

On the way back to the camper, we split up, with Katie and Henry Sky Gliding again and me walking. That meant a solo stop at the corn roast. This was I would say average for the corn roast (which is to say, very good!) Still hope to get that “OMG this is so good and sweet!” one before the end of the Fair.

After our mid-day rest, I headed back out solo before the others. I swung through the North End for the first time this Fair. I stopped at Brim for a vanilla cold press. Cold press was fine, but overall this was a miss for me. Very light vanilla flavor. Get the maple nitro cold press from Farmers Union instead.

Next I did a brief pass through the Dairy Bldg to check out the cheeses and the butter sculptures. This early in the fair most of the butter princesses aren’t done yet, but Princess Kay of the Milky Way was finished!

Back outside, here I am on line at the MPR booth for the free swag wheel. I won the hand fan, useful on this very hot afternoon!

As evening approached we all got back together for dinner, and I arrived with a set of Peterson’s pork chops for the family. These are probably our overall favorite Fair food, so we were all excited for dinner, and they were good examples. Henry especially loved them and went into full carnivore mode!

We ate the chops while watching the Minnesota Amateur Talent Contest. Somehow in all of our years at the Fair we had never watched this before. It was really fun, we saw singers, guitarists, a hip hop dance troupe, and a tap dancer.

After the talent contest we set up shop outside the Food Building. First up was an order for Danielson and Daughters onion rings. Despite the thumbs-up, these were a disappointment this year for me, which was surprising considering they are typically one of our favorite snacks. They tasted pretty good but were thin, and the portion size seems to have shrunk too. I think I’m re-opening my search for the best Fair onion rings! Any suggestions?

For dessert, we tried the Apple Crisp ice cream from Granny’s Apples (made by A to Z Creamery in Hopkins). This was a huge win! I loved how the crisp bits stayed crunchy, and the apple flavor was great throughout. It’s a smallish portion for $8, but also probably the amount of ice cream I actually should be eating!

We finished our family evening with our traditional trip through the Ye Olde Mill ride. This time we had unexpected comedy and bonding with other Fairgoers when we caught up to the boat in front of us. As we bumped into them in the pitch black I jokingly said “Prepare to be boarded!” in a pirate-y voice, and I was not prepared for how hilarious the other boat’s occupants thought that was! (Alcohol may have been involved…) They were still laughing and talking in pirate voices as we exited the ride. Glad I could help spread some Fair joy!

We then split up, Henry and I headed for mini golf while Katie shopped. She spend a long time talking to the owner of the feed sack purse maker shop from which she has bought several purses, including this year’s custom MN State Fair design.

She also got a lovely sunset shot from the upper level of the Grandstand.

Meanwhile, Henry and I were excited to try the Can-Can Wonderland Mini Golf, a new Fair attraction in the North End! ($10 per person extra). Henry liked this hole best because he was excited about how the cow “pooped” out the ball!

The boys finished our evening listening to some acoustic guitar music at The Hangar while dad tried the Pineapple Beergarita from Mankato Brewery. The beer was totally adequate as a fruity sour, but the salt rim “beergarita” was gimmicky, overpowering, and totally unnecessary. You can safely skip this but if you do get it, skip the salt.

After another long day at the Fair it was back to the campground for some much needed sleep before heading home in the morning.

One last thing before bed - the evening fireworks show from the camper! We’ll be back to the Fair next week when our friend Chris visits from Rhode Island to experience all that is the Minnesota State Fair!