Woke up at 9:30 (!?!) with sore feet, sore knee and a neglected puppy standing on my chest, so I got up, walked the dog and sat down to get Wednesday recorded. It took most of the day!

I didn’t arrive at the fair until almost 4:00. My first stop was to fulfill a promise to Joan and find her mom’s bench. I thought I’d give my feet a break and take a trolley ride up to the north end. I knew the bench was on Cooper between Lee & Murphy. As I stood outside Creative Activities waiting for what seemed like hours…. it dawned on me that maybe there is only ~one~ trolley. What I learned, when the trolley finally arrived, is that the process of getting on & off the trolley when it’s packed with (primarily) elderly people, takes ~forever~! I decided to stand at the front so I could escape at any moment. I was in text communication with a Michael as he & Kathleen we’re on the grounds with her mom. When I told them to move on from the Hangar and not wait for me to arrive, Michael informed me he witnessed a trolley, stopped in front of the Hangar and the driver got out and got in line for food! The good newd… there are ~two~ trolleys. The bad news, they don’t go anywhere quickly.

The driver, understanding his primary clientele, shouted each upcoming stop at the top of his lungs. It startled me every time!

After two stops I couldn’t take it anymore and I jumped off just north of Giggles. Lo and behold, not 50 feet from me, there was the bench!

I sat for a second, honored her memory and got some pictures to send Joan.

Michael & Kathleen had not waited for me and were already trekking southward, offering vague direction texts of “bathroom, big wheel and corn dogs….”

I wandered through the newest bathroom “courtyard” to find myself at the Giant Sing Along

I don’t know the playlist, I didn’t have time to stop, but I know my friend Kathy and a youthful protege spent the day here yesterday and sang the ~entire~ list!

I messaged that I was stopping for a Gyro near the Giant Wheel, and they found me!

The Gyro is not my favorite, but it’s a good sized portion and there’s a coupon!

Our plans to get to all the talent shows like mom did was not going as well as we hoped. We had yet to do the “bounce” where we watched the Leinie stage and left before winners were announced and “bounce” up the hill to the County Show. Tonight Michael & I were gonna get it done!

We timed it to get decent seats, but it would have been too far back for mom. I know why she liked the first ten rows… the setting sun is wicked behind the stage!

The group performing before the show started was really good.

 

And when they started singing “Stand By Me” the tears started. Michael sang this song at my wedding 27 years ago!

Mom would always save us seats and if we were late, she wouldn’t have time to get onion rings and a beer! In her memory, I grabbed a frozen slushie & pie!

I (of course) ran into friends from CPLC

and saved seats for my friends Scott & Sheryl.

There was a beautiful tenor opera singer and this one brought Sheryl to tears …”Damn you Pavarotti!” Shortly after him an unassuming older guy, looking a little worn around the edges took the stage and blew. me. away.

 

We didn’t stick around for the winners, they’ll be updated on the state fair website tomorrow sometime.

We headed up to Baldwin Park, stopping for a bathroom & beverage break. The lines are always long at O’Gara’s, but if you know what you want, sneak inside to the bar… no lines.

We made it to the stage …only missing one act. The talent was not as strong as we hoped and we headed out before it was over. Mom would not have approved. But I did get to see my surrogate parents tonight!

We had not had enough of the Fair on this beautiful breezy night so we walked down to the Midway Mens Club. Michael & Kathleen had not been (ever or for ages at least). I bought a round of beer and three cheeseburgers for $15! All the proceeds benefit local kids programs.

Kathleen wanted to check out the coupon deal Mason Jar mug for sale in the Minnesota Territorial Pioneer Building.

I stopped to chat with the proprietors to see if they knew anything about the homestead that Randy’s family owned way up past the north end in the parking area. They were familiar with Poor Farm acquisition, but not the property.  I have their business card and we can follow up after the fair.

We took the back path down past Kare11 barn and got my backyard photo op!

I needed one more picture to complete the Historical Walking Tour photos, so we headed to the CHS barn. It was almost closing as we walked in, but it was a bustling place.  We saw adorable bunnies, ducks, goats, lambs and a newborn calf.

There is a new Hen House ( which I guess was installed last year) that I have not seen because I typically spend 100% of my CHS Barn time in the cow area!  You can literally watch hens lay eggs.

We approached a very crowded pen, and there was a Ewe lambing.  We couldn’t get close enough to see the action, but one cool feature in this place is the live camera feed.  Once lamb had just arrived and the second one was struggling. I caught the birth assist for lamb #2 on the big screen and then out popped #3.

 

The barns were closing and I loved the farmer version of the bar closing line “here’s your hat, what’s your hurry”…they just sweep you out of the barn!

After what we just witnessed, we contemplate whether or not we were hungry anymore. Looking up at the Grandstand, I am reminded of the very few days we have left.

Stopped by the Cafe Caribe and grabbed a slushie beverage and then started making our way out.

Walking out toward the street, I saw this guy. He let me take his picture…

Michael wanted something sweet and Kathleen was in for savory.

Oreo Fudge Puppy and cheese curds it is!  I failed to photgraph the cheese curds, but I did actually eat some!  Kathleen assured me they were very lightly battered and fried nice and crispy.

As we walked out of the Food Building a voice called out and I tuned to find one my wonderful work families, kid-less at the fair!

None of us know the cute photobomber to the right!

All of a sudden the fireworks started!  It as only 9:30!!  I told Mike & Kathleen we needed to race down to catch the corn dance!  We made it in time and I was able to capture it on video. The video is too long to upload to wordpress, so the youtube link is here:

Still hungry…Mike grabbed a foot long pepperoni cheese bread at the Italian Junction next door.

It was still early, and the weather was beautiful, so we headed to O’Garas for  nightcap.  We passed by Big Fat Bacon and I love these “bacon-isms”

I’m not a big beer drinker, so I ran into Chicago Dogs to grab a slushie and as I walked in I had a complete throwback moment to my Madison days.

Somebody was smoking clove and this beer maid cut out reminded me of Halloween 1984.  I love this dancing hot dog neon too.

I walked by the Quit Plan booth in the dark and a friend told me this is the last year they will be here as the smoking lawsuit money runs out this year.  Sept 1, 2007 is my quit date…11 years!

After a respite at O’Garas, we made our way home.

There’s only four more days.