Out the door at 5:15 to make our way to our new parking spot at Bart & Sonja’s this year. It’s just a couple doors down from the old spot, but it was emotional returning to the neighborhood. We haven’t been back since we sold the house. This yard lot is a bigger operation than we’re used to, but painted parking lines and a sign helped us find our spot in the dark!

Under a waning full moon, anxiety high and unsure of what to expect, Jack and I headed to the Snelling gate.

Despite all the promotion and traffic brought to the West End Transit Hub and entrance gates, the Snelling Gate 5 will always be known as the “main gate” and it’s where all the news and camera crews set up to capture the moments. A long line had formed when we arrived at 5:50 and we could see the new security system set up under tents, just inside the arches. We ran into my cousins Karla & Steve and hooked up with our early morning History Walking Tour companions Andrea, Shannon and a new friend Megan! The countdown clock hit zero, the bells clanged and the people cheered as we began our Great Minnesota Get BACK Together experience… whatever that will be this year!

Holding a paper ticket that Randy won in a golf tourney this past week, and giving Jack one of the $10 special tickets purchased two years ago during the holiday sale, we walked through the gate. The gate attendants had no scanners, so those in my party with e-tickets got in free. I have lots of e-tickets, but not us, not today. Whoops.

Metal detectors are new this year. MPR photographer caught this picture of my cousin walking through!

I sailed through, but Jack triggered the sensor. We assumed it would be the steel toe boots, but it turned out to be the heavy, metal, heart key fob that used to be my moms, that Jack offered to carry for me today.

Once inside we took a right up Cosgrove to find our punch cards and start the History Walking Tour. We do it backwards, and stop #12 is all the way up in front of the Fine Art Building.

Bad selfie’s will be the standard this year, as I’m reluctant to let anyone else touch my camera. A guy offered to take our photo, almost insisted, and it took three of us to decline.

The forecast for the day was stormy, but it was unusual that the Big Wheel was unlit and at a standstill. Staff issues? Uncertainty with attendance? Weather? Who knows.

There were almost 300 foundation benches added to the grounds this year. I’m sure the limited grounds crew staff were overwhelmed getting them unloaded. Benches were stacked, crowded, and placed willy-nilly all over. Steve found the “time out” bench and took a short break!

So far our walk had not revealed anything new this year, but there was much more open space in Baldwin Park and along the boulevards heading north. Steve, our official puncher, found a punch missing at stop #10. We have photographic evidence we were there, but the trusting volunteers at the end at the Bailey house, rarely question the sincerity of our efforts!

The New North End plaza hasn’t changed, same stuff as last year. Adam Turman structures, the corn stalk sculpture with social media image capture up top. So far it’s just the corn image.

As we turned the corner, we spied a new feature. Hand washing stations! I am hoping to limit my time inside buildings including bathrooms, so being able to wash up outdoors is a plus! We’ll see how the maintenance of these keeps up through the next 12 days.

We found a couple new food vendors way up here on the north, near the new Sweet Martha building. Scenic 61, Baba’s and Spinning Wylde. Nothing is open yet…. It’s only 6:45am.

We also found this bench. I know we have a Jeanette in the family, but unsure if this is our relative! I love her state fair advice!

Our walk takes us past the PBS/TPT booth and Jack took my pictures with some of my favorite kids favorite characters!

We had to snake back through the silent, eerie empty Kidway to find punch #8. This was also a good opportunity to remind my group mates where to find my EpiPen in case of emergency!

Jack thought it would have been a good idea to add masks to the faces of these hard working union members this year!

Due to Jack’s transition and Covid, we had some concerns about finding restrooms and filling water bottles. I used to use any old drinking fountain or potty in a pinch! Not now. Luckily the newer bathroom facilities all have filtered water bottle fillers on the exterior and lots of “family restroom” spaces, which is as good as it gets for gender neutrality here at the fair.

As we turned down Dan Patch, we found our first real “sign” of the ramifications of Covid at the Hamline Church Dining Hall. I don’t think they have a new ice cream flavor this year, but hoping they might still have the delicious Dessa flavor from 2019.

I stopped to check out the new Corn Roast Building. it doesn’t look much different on the surface, but I know they built a bunker in the rear that has air conditioning and other amenities to help keep the kids working, safe & healthy!

The flowers are beautiful as ever, despite the drought this summer!

The flowers along the Blue Barn were stunning and caught my eye

This was the slowest pace we’d ever taken on the tour, and we arrived at the halfway point as restaurants were opening for breakfast. Andrea loves the all day breakfast waffle, so we stopped at the newly, greatly expanded Nordic Waffle house! You can get them at grocery stores, but Andrea said, these are just so. much. better.

Randy texted about a new donut place (where the Adventure Park used to be) he just saw on the morning news. We went to check out Fluffy’s. Jack decided this is an OK substitution for the former breakfast of choice, the Fudge Puppy.

The next punch was all the way down at the Swine barn and since we were moving so slowly, all the animal barns were open and not crowded…yet. Masks are not required at the fair this year, but as responsible citizens, we have them and will wear them when prudent. I appreciate the signs on all the buildings, but not many were masked once inside.

We masked up and saw as many animals as we could!

I saw this big container of sheep at the Baa Booth so I inquired as to what one had to do to get a sheep. He said the sheep were simply a guessing game, but just because I stopped to visit, I won a prize!

The horse barns were busier, and we had much left on our walking tour…plus, I was late for breakfast, so we pressed on.

We wandered through the DNR park to see the fish and from recent news reports, we knew the building would be closed to visitors, but still, another sign of the times.

Another new vendor this year offers all the tastes of “fair food” in a gluten free option! They weren’t open yet, but Shannon was happy and I texted the info to Kathleen! I will stop at the HealthFair11 building later to get a picture of all the gluten free options at the fair this year.

We only had two more punches to finish the tour, but I was hungry and so I handed the punch cards to Jack and left the group for a detour. I stopped to find the benches. They were not far removed from the original placements. I love that they are kitty corner from each other and near the parade route.

It was after 8:00, so I hurried in to get my breakfast pie! Boozy Blueberry #1! Sara looked a little tired already, managing lots of staff, parking, equipment and other behind the scenes management issues, but I know there’s a big smile behind the mask! I’m grateful for her location so I only have to duck inside the doors to grab my pie snd do out again! I don’t think I will venture any further inside this year.

As I was trying to capture the photo of the menu options, a man literally reached in and started to pull the menu away from me. You can see his fingers! Sorry it’s blurry!

I popped into the Ball Park to wish Dave all the best this fair season! We’ll be back for garlic fries and burgers another day! They have lots of new beer to try!

I rejoined the group near the Bailey House and as I devoured the last bite of my pie, and wiped away the remnants from my face, the crew was not convinced that I only got one! We turned in our punch cards, collected our prize bag and I took a photo of our buddies before they healed way up north to the Brim for gluten free breakfast! So fun to share this annual tradition!

I collected my “Friends of the Fair” member benefits and got to vote with a Pom Pom as to my pick for what the foundation should use funds to focus on in the coming year. My pick was accessibility, equity and sustainability!

Jack and I were both pretty tired! Not enough sleep or general activity for either of us in preparation for the fair. He’s only 8 weeks post-op and I’ve been battling plantar fasciitis! It was 8:45am and we’d walked almost five miles. We rested on a bench for a bit knowing our next stop on our limited agenda was being at the Ag/Hort building when they opened at 9:00am to meet Gayle and check her crop art submission status. Last year was a big year and knowing it would be hard to top, Gayle’s only goal was to see her art up on the wall. Many submissions don’t ever make it that far! We found Gayle & Mark waiting patiently (?) at the big closed doors !

We followed them in and there it was, on the wall! A purple ribbon of merit was a bonus!

Lots of other humorous, timely, poignant submissions too!

We did not linger, as the crowd grew immense as we finished our perusal of the wall. Time to flee the people!

Jack was ready for a nap, so we found two Leinie Reclinie’s and he settled in, while I departed for a short jaunt down to find a couple items of little interest to the youth.

First stop was to check the Star Tribune booth for the new Sweet Martha’s Cookie flavor chapstick! ✔️check!

Then I’d read about a new live interactive art installation happening in the space where the Adventure Park bungee jumper used to be. It was still early, so there was no active art being created, but I found evidence of what was in process and what might be to come. I was pleased to note that 90% of the artists were people of color. I’m excited to see what will transpire here every day!

Walking back up to find Jack, I saw some unusual sights!

It was 9:30 in the morning and there was no one at Sweet Martha’s cookie booth. There was lots of foot traffic all around, but this was strange to me! Take a look at that clean, smashed-cookie free sidewalk too!

I passed the bench, only to find a kid and his sheep chatting with Mom & Dad!

I ran into a couple dear new friends from my Tipsy Pie bakery job last fall! The Danielson clan and Tipsy Pies are an intermingled bunch!

Jack didn’t rest much, due to the presence of some ground bees, giving him some trouble, so I sat for about 30 seconds and we pressed on. Jack has been working on an original cross-stitch project he designed based on an image from his favorite game Borderlands. He’s just come to understand that people submit cross-stitch into the fair! (How did he not learn this sooner?!?) We decided to mask up and check out Creative Activities. I really do want to see it all, but I fear the crowds will just increase, making it less likely I’ll want to enter buildings. I imposed a 30 minute limit in the building, so we just raced through. There is so much more to see, but we saw the special minnesota landmark cake entries, the blue ribbon cookies (I like to see how I measure up!) and Jack took a minute to chat with folks from the Needle Art Guild to learn more. They pointed us towards this sweepstakes winning cross-stitch cat. It looked like you could reach out and pet it!

Cakes & Cookies

There were amazing wood & metal sculptures along with beautiful glasswork! Reminds me of Chiluhily!

There was to be no food sample, meandering through the rest of the Annex or into the Education building. I’ll have to see if there is another opportunity to check it out, late day, and more empty of people.

I wanted the recipe cards for the roundup again this year, but instead of recipes, I just found boxes of masks. Another sign of the times!

I went to office window and inquired and was personally handed a card. They were still trying to figure out the best disbursement method!

I’ll do a recipe compilation blog at the end of the fair. Today’s recipe was for a Coconut Praline Ring!

I had yet to see friends at the Alphabet Forest, so that was my next stop. One of my favorite children’s authors was creating pet adoption crafts with kids today!

For my former kids and families…. This is guy who wrote Moo!

I’ll be volunteering here for seven days this year. I included a picture of my schedule, if anyone wants to stop up and visit!

We ran into Gayle & Mark again! They asked us to accompany them up to the end of the block to see something special! They got themselves an anniversary bench…instead of a trip to Alaska. Another sign of the times!

Hanging out near the bench, we encountered Trista & Julie! In all the years we’ve been at the fair at the same time, we’ve never run into each other. Maybe it’s due to it not being very crowded!

It was reported there was a scavenger hunt with prizes including free lightbulbs in the Eco Building, so we headed that way. This is one place we found where masks are ~not~ optional! We were greeted with another “sign of the times” and wondered where the scavenger hunt was to be found.

Turns out the Excel Energy booth is the host and we completed the task with some hints from the volunteers!

My phone battery was completely drained already because I failed to shut off the wifi search function and my phone was set to never sleep because I was doing so much work on it recently. Whoops! There is a (very slow) charging station inside the ECO building and Jack relaxed outside while I stood with my phone for almost an hour watching the different reactions of people as they approached the building reading the mask signs. Many turned around and left. I felt pretty safe as I was right next to the door and the place was mostly empty. FYI: The restrooms in here are closed. Not sure if it’s permanent or just today.

We snuck around the barricade so we could fill our water bottles though!

With a semi-charged phone, water and a change of socks for Jack, we decided we need to eat some lunch! We saw earlier that our favorite Gyro place from Baltimore MD, made the trek back here this here, so, onward to Dimitri’s!

It was busy! What?!?

We decided to take the less trodden path past the Heffernen Pavillion, under the sky glider, dumping us out on the Grandstand pavilion. Just a hop, skip and a jump to lunch! The sky was spitting a little, so we grabbed our Gyros and found a seat under the canopy in back of the booth.

So good this Gyro!

There has been a severe drought here all summer, and the grass around the grounds is patchy at best. I found a green spot earlier but realized it was all new sod.

But Jack and I found a more realistic representation of the current situation. It would be funny if this year, with all the rain predicted, the grass is greener at the end of 12 days. My guess is simply a mud pit.

After lunch we walked to find a spot for the parade. With fewer people and more benches, we didn’t anticipate any trouble.

Strange sights this year are the empty or gated TV and radio stations. No one is broadcasting anything live from the fair this year, so MPR was barren and FOX9 all gated up!

The strangest was the empty Giant Slide with CLOSED signs. We are hoping this is only due to the incoming storm prediction!

There was a band dad sitting alone on a perfect bench we spied walking up the street. We asked if we could join him and struck up a conversation…. Of course! His daughter was in the Farmington marching band so he was positioned to take pictures. We talked a lot about the new gluten free stuff since his daughter has Celiac. She’s 16 so they’re pretty good at finding the right spots to eat. They didn’t know about the list you can find at HealthKare11 building though!

We waited for the parade and ran into more friends! Rhonda, her daughter Kathleen and a college roommate! Little did we know, we’d be hanging together for the next 90 minutes!

The parade started as usual with the mounted color guard followed by a couple floats carrying princesses and mascots.

After a few parade units passed by, all the phones in the vicinity started blaring and announcing severe weather with lightning and 50+ mph winds was moving in. As I looked up from my phone and felt a few raindrops penetrate the tree canopy we were sitting under, I saw something I’ve never see before…. A parade retreating!

Participant vehicles were making u-turns, horses were trotting back from whence they came and shortly thereafter, the first marching band was coming back down the road!

The rain was just a sprinkle at this point, but we decided to get moving and possibly home. As the wind starting whipping up and the rain got more intense, we decided to duck into the HealthFair11 building to get a picture of that gluten free list that had been discussed so often today. This was another place where masks were required. We were happy to oblige, masked up and sought refuge from the beginning deluge! The place was deserted aside from volunteers and a few visitors getting flu shots, blood typing and eye screenings. We found a spot to hang out and wait out the storm. The UCare volunteers were loved by many as they handed out plastic bag ponchos to many drenched souls who popped under the awning and into the building for a bit. We all came prepared for rain and didn’t need any, but were surprised by how many people carrying umbrellas and wearing raincoats asked for a poncho, maybe just because it’s another free thing at the fair. The downspout just outside the door created a rushing river, some of which came inside creating a small flood!

We were grateful for a masked, relatively dry spot, generally devoid of people to while away almost an hour! I received many texts from family and friends inquiring as to my whereabouts and concerned for my safety. Good to know how loved & cared about I am!

Rhonda et al, and Jack & I went our separate ways and after staring out the doorway looking at the Que Viet booth for an hour, Jack was hungry for wontons. I wasn’t hungry, so decided to save buying the giant egg roll for another day.

Everything was dripping water, the temperature dropped quickly and more severe weather was forecast in a couple hours. Knowing I had volunteer shifts in the coming days that my feet had to withstand, we decided that after 10 hours and 18K steps, it was time to head home.

It was a somewhat strange, yet familiar experience and overall, we were just happy to be back.

I did get a re-entry stamp…just in case.