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Tag: Minnesota State Fair

  • Easing into Fall with the Minnesota State Fair

    Buzzing cicadas signal summer’s last gasp. Cooler days and school are ahead and soon summer will officially be over. The sun is still warm but a hint of melancholy drifts in with fall’s cool breezes. Yet another summer is gone and I haven’t done everything I meant to do. But the exuberant excess of the Minnesota State Fair next week is the remedy.

    I didn’t grow up going to state fairs. Ohio’s is in Columbus, three hours south of Toledo, my hometown. Years ago, when a friend urged my husband and I to go to the Minnesota State Fair, I was skeptical. To do what—see cows? Play midway games you never win? 

    She persuaded us to try it, even when our sons were toddlers. The plan was to go at 8 a.m. when it’s cooler and less crowded. Leave after lunch. Our friend initiated us into state fair lore: Do the park and ride buses which are crowded, entertaining, and efficient. Get mini donuts for breakfast. Cinnamon sugar over greasy fried dough—what’s not to like? Try at least one crazy new food for lunch (the state fair has hundreds—it’s a yearly competition). Birria crunch bombs? A pretzel shaped like a mustache? Peri-peri hot chicken bowl?

    We had more fun than expected. The Princess Kay of the Milky Way butterhead sculpture. Fancy chickens with colorful plumage. A glimpse of rural life with 4H-ers parading the cows, sheep, or horses they raised. The Creative Crafts building with spectacular quilts, fanciful crocheted animals, and clothing ranging from professionally tailored to endearing first efforts. Jeweled jellies. Wilting cookies and breads. The Fine Arts building showcasing paintings, photos, and sculptures—a rare equal opportunity for unknown as well as established artists. Impressive crop art and giant pumpkins in the Ag building.

    Later we accompanied our grade school sons, who embraced junk food and water rides, but quickly learned midway games were a ripoff. For several years they collected Academic All-Star certificates at a casual ceremony. I’m not sure how rigorous the standards were, but we were happy to celebrate academic effort.

    High school marching bands are invited to perform at the state fair, and for several years our youngest participated. His bandmates poured out of several buses, wearing band T-shirts (August is way too hot for wool uniforms and tall white hats with black plumes). Free admission was the main perk for the teenagers. They marched and played a few songs and then were free to shuck their instruments and go have fun. Band moms like me handed out water in the mid-afternoon heat then adjourned for a beer at the Leinenkugel Lodge. 

    Two State Fair Grandstand performances are especially memorable. Bonnie Raitt playing blues hits from her “The Nick of Time” album in 1990. The weather was threatening but she had us rocking and cheering until the news interrupted—blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan had died in a helicopter crash. We were all shocked and sad, but she did her best to perform, offering the concert as a tribute. In 2022, I returned for of Diana Ross. The nostalgia trip was fun, but when we were leaving, a shooting in the parking lot had us has all scrambling to get out of there. 

    Although our sons are grown, my husband and I still go. At 8 a.m., the air is cool and I’m tempted to bring a light jacket but know better. Once there, our shared cup of Sweet Martha’s chocolate chip cookies makes it easier to say goodbye to summer.

  • Summer’s Over

    Late August in Minnesota has a distinct feeling . . . and sound. By day, the cicadas are buzzing. At night, the crickets are a symphony. Sunrise is at 6:30 a.m., sunset is at 8:00 p.m., and I can feel the dark months coming, stealing the edges of each day.

    For the kids, summer is already over. Each year I’m grateful I’m no longer a student or a teacher. For me, Labor Day is like New Year’s – a time to start a new habit and settle into a new pattern.

    I miss the early mornings when the air is still cool and the grass and flowers are still dewy before the heat of the day blankets us. I miss the balmy summer nights when little breezes stir to keep the porch from being oppressively hot.

    But autumn has its compensations—

    Idyllic days with blue skies and perfect 78-degree temperatures.blue skies & garden

     

     

     

     

     

    State Fair excess (Sweet Martha’s melty chocolate chip cookies, corn and blue cheese fritters—crispy, greasy and delicious).

    Sweet martha's

     

     

     

     

    Farmer’s market bounty: eggplants, peppers, heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, and sweet corn. And apples are already ripening!

    Eggplant&Peppers

    Cool nights when you can sleep under a light blanket with the windows open.

    What do you love/hate about autumn?

  • Another way to see the Minnesota State Fair

    2013 MN State Fair
    2013 MN State Fair

    A few weeks ago, Ellen, wrote about her experience of the Minnesota State Fair.

    Jody and I were not loyal fair goers until we had the children. Crystel’s birthday falls on September 4 and the State Fair soon became an activity that we incorporated into her birthday week.  You might expect that a middle-aged person and an 11-year-old girl see the State
    Fair differently.  Because it is part of her birthday celebration, Crystel chooses what we see and the order in which we see it.

    7-years old with his turkey leg.
    7-years old with his turkey leg.

    Over the years not much has changed. Aunt Amie continues to accompany us as she has done every year.

    Since we often enter the fair from the west side the children’s barn is our first stop. Antonio and I skip it, using this time to get our turkey legs – regardless of the hour.

    This year, Crystel stopped in the barn only long enough to snap a picture of a cow for Mama Beth, who grew up on a farm with 50 cows. The kids don’t understand the distinction between growing up on a farm and being born in a barn, so
    they usually tell people the latter about their mother. . . and Jody doesn’t
    correct them.

    Butterfly garden at age 7
    Butterfly garden at age 7

    Even though Aunt Amie is a vegetarian she doesn’t scrunch up her nose at us devouring our humongous turkey legs.

    Taking a right, we walk immediately to the Haunted House. I sometimes think the haunted house is the only reason we come to the fair.

    Crystel has gotten big enough that she can no longer ride on Aunt Amie’s back digging her head into her shoulder blades so she can’t see what she doesn’t want to see. Now she’s progressed to walking next to Aunt Amie, though I can’t tell you what exactly happens inside the haunted house.  I am the keeper of bags, purses, and extra clothes who sits outside contentedly people-watching. What happens inside the haunted house stays inside the haunted house.

    After ugly comes pretty. The butterfly garden is a must after the haunted house. Crystel’s yearly goal is to see how many butterflies’ she can get on her person.

    Butterfly garden at 9-years-old. The hat is to draw more butterflies.
    Butterfly garden at 9-years-old. The hat is to draw more butterflies.

    This is cotton candy time for me and Antonio.

    The Giant Slide is the first time that Aunt Amie and Jody get a breather. I grab a gunny sack and follow the children.

    If our timing is right, there might be a dog show to see after the Giant Slide.

    Nothing is better than your own bag of cotton candy.
    Nothing is better than your own bag of cotton candy.

    By now, we have eaten snow cones, corn dogs, deep fried cheese curds, deep fried battered vegetables, sweet corn, and Sweet Martha’s cookies. Time for the Midway and a couple of rides.

    We have one last item to do before leaving the fair. That is to get Aunt Amie wet on the log chute. It’s not the State Fair if she goes home dry.

    As you see we have not visited one educational building, saw not one piece of fine art, or watched any fair animals being judged. Maybe next year.

    2010 State Fair
    2010 State Fair

    This year, I visited the State Fair like a child.