Woke up Friday grateful that my feet still worked. I decided to wear socks and the Hokas to give them all the support they need for day two!

Getting a later start than usual, I found myself in more traffic than I expected. To complicate matters, a coach bus couldn’t make the clearance of the stone railroad arch on Lexington. I didn’t stay to see the resolution, but maybe the approaching school bus helped out with stop arm & lights.

Once parked and headed over, I ran into some old (former!) neighbors wearing attention grabbing t-shirts and I stopped to get the scoop. They have coordinated with neighbors, local police and safety officers to created a neighborhood patrol group to keep the area safer during the fair.

Crossing Snelling Ave, the lines were long again. There is no delineation between the ticket sales and security entry. Confusing, frustrating and even ire raising when people cut into the lines you’ve been trained your while life to wait on!

My friend E was coming in right behind me, so once inside the grounds, I quickly ran through Creative Activities to get my recipe card. There were many things on the “I’ll come back to do that later” list from Thursday, that I never got done! This is on the list and today was the one I really wanted.

The building was already getting crowded, but I glanced at a few exhibits I’ll revisit later next week. The tinker toy fair is always pretty amazing!

Then the sweepstakes winners are always a must see.

I connected with Elysia and we made for pie! It was fun to see these two together. My co-workers during my short Tipsy Pie Baker stint!

My plan was to get to the west end to see History on a Schtick at the Schell’s stage by 11:00am. Along the way we saw the San Felipe Taco booth that took over the spot where I liked to get the “World’s Greatest” fries.

And as we walked past Big Fat Bacon, Elysia commented that it smelled like ~The Ranch~! (Our home away from home retreat in Amery). The bacon is not on my food favorite list, but it is for others I know!

The first Friday is always Governor’s Fire Prevention Day out here. We walked through Carousel park, but only the Explorers are doing demos here. The rest of the action is up by the pet pavilion.

This is the new KSTP mural, had to get a pic! Asked an explorer for the photo assist!

We scooted through the KSTP booth, and the line to spin the giant wheel was all the way down the street. I can say, “never have I ever” spun that wheel.

We got to the west end and found Sarah working hard at “i like you”. Her hat! I’ve often referred to myself as a “state fair professional”, but this is much better. if you’re looking for great Tshirt deals, Minnesota swag and hotdish related things, stop by!

We had time to grab some food & beverages before the show started. E got her breakfast beer, Grain Belt Blu and despite my allergies to beer, I had to try a sip. It’s yummy! It’s blueberry 💙 I picked up bull bites & bang bangs to share for a protein punch after breakfast pie!

The History on a Schtick show is not to miss! As a friend Laura described it…”Dudley Riggs meets History Center”. Every day 10 & 11am at the Schell Stage. My favorite number “It’s all about Paul” a lament from Paul Bunyan’s sweetheart Lucette Kensack.

After the show we connected with Michael. The three of us have become a little state fair posse! Michael showed up sporting his Talent Show Tshirt. All he needs is a pair of Birkenstocks and he’s the spitting image of Dad ❤️. Michael says “I’m a cooler version of Don”!

They grabbed a couple Nordic waffles, and we started walking east, with the final destination of fire trucks in my head!

Along the way I caught a glimpse of this awesome double scooter bike contraption! I can see Randy & I getting around the fair like this…one day soon?!?

We stopped by Northern Tool and it was too busy to actually go into the tent. It’s a much smaller operation than in pre-COVID times. Out front they have a stand with cute tool sticker sheets for kids.

As we walked up Underwood I found more food concession changes. The Gyro (coupon) place that was near the Giant Wheel has moved and they have a nice dining tent setup behind. My favorite Gyro is still Demitri’s, but if you’re up on the north end, this is pretty good too.

Michael likes to get a t shirt from Chevy and we were able to walk right up, register with all our one digit off information (to avoid mailing lists and phone solicitation) and since we both did it, he got both kinds of shirts. I forgot to get a picture, but Mike captured me scoring a goal playing Chevy truck bed bags!

The next stop was Fire Trucks! I have picked up hot pads here for many years and this year they are much thinner than before. I asked the fire fighters distributing the swag if I could feel confident in these inferior hot pads protecting my hands…. One responded “double up” as he tossed me another! That did not boost my confidence. I realized that I just became that person at the fair complaining about a free giveaway….

I continued my search for a the good fire swag while Mike and Elysia moved on to explore all the new Hemp vendor exhibits behind the Hangar. I scored sunscreen, CPR barrier mask in cure little carriers and a hot water sensor Duck, which Michael said “makes bath time lots of fun”

There is a new exhibit inside the North End Event Center called “Survival”. I convinced Mike & Elysia to check it out with me. There was a bit of a line, but the compelling feature was A/C. It felt good to get out of the sun for a bit. The exhibit is interesting, ten (or so) different vignettes with survival suggestions, tools and tips for various outdoor scenarios.

We had a bit of fun with the bears and E did her best Wilma Flintstone.

The last exhibit was “urban survival” and there was a sofa and chair. I’m not sure if we were allowed to sit or not, but we relaxed in the A/C practicing our survival skills. Too bad food & beverages are not allowed.

The last vignette is a campfire scene. Elysia and I settled (not so easily) onto short stumps and pretended to “go on a bear hunt”.

We moved through pretty quickly. It’s a ~lot~ of reading and not much interactive stuff. There are knots to tie, building a shelter, climbing in some things, and some blocks, but I think kids under six might not be entertained. it was cool and shady and the couch was pretty comfortable!

Once back out into the sunshine we chanced upon one of the Arts~A~Fair presenters and took a minute to enjoy the Ragamala Dancers.

Always thinking about the next food or beverage opportunity, we decided to head to Giggles. The food lines were long out front so we scooted around to the bar only line and grabbed some refreshment. Elysia decided on the new Olive lager, served like a beer-tini!

Tim was happy to be supervising his busy staff!

The Eco building wasn’t crowded so we wandered inside to check out the giant paper mache moose and the floating loon they brought down from Silver Lake in Virginia MN. Both are pretty awesome to see!

There still is Eco-Bingo this year with a purple cooling buff (neck gaiter) as the prize. To find the BINGO stations just look for the big orange balls in the air. We decided not to play.

But we did find some really “Gouda” cheese samples being offered which led us to Sweet Potato Sweep!

I chose my sweet potato wisely and was able to defeat Elysia down the racetrack!

We walked out of the Eco Building and my internal state fair clock was ticking right along and brought us to a perfect parade perch just 20 minutes before it started.

We all had time to take turns getting a bite to eat and I decided on my first foot long of the season.

A huge wasp landed on my wrist as I was taking the picture and I swooped my arm downward forcing it off with wind currents, thankfully successful as my EPI pen was back on the perfect bench a block away!

Our parade vantage really was perfect.

So far, the mounted flag bearing officers are the only horses in the parade this year. I’ll have to investigate and find out more.

The mascots were nice and close. I want to get a picture of both of them at some point.

It was sports mascots galore!

Five marching bands, art cars, bouncing gymnasts, stilt walkers & unicycles, but no horses.

Today was too beautiful and a little too busy to spend time inside buildings, so we walked past Fine Art, 4H and chanced upon the new Pickle Pizza stand. Long, long lines and so far reviews have been good.

We snuck around behind and took a gander at the MN Dot display and checked out Betty Whiteout!

Michael wanted to peek inside the can you check out all the bells and whistles, but I made him take a seat!

Michael decided to head home for a short fair break before returning later with Kathleen. Elysia and I kept wandering. We wanted to quickly fill our water bottles at Culligan, but found lines almost out into the street!

My mom, Carol Jo, always said, if there’s a line, go to the left. We also knew on the left side of the building are ten water coolers as opposed to the four out front. Today boasted big crowds and it was hot and sunny, but until it was our turn to fill our bottles, we couldn’t understand the lines. It turns out the water coolers are all touchless technology. This bamboozled 90% of the people attempting to fill cups and bottles.

Just a tip, don’t touch the sensor! Keep your hand about an inch away and it all works just fine! Hopefully people will figure it out more quickly, or maybe Culligan will put up instructional posters. They probably don’t care and see it as a prolonged advertising opportunity.

Hydrated and ready to get out of the sun for a bit we walked down the shady side of Cooper checking out the exhibits as we went.

We joked about getting this water bike for E’s cabin. There’s no way we’d have the strength to pedal it after getting it down the stairs to the lake! Plus they’re $1K down to order and $1K on delivery.

Next stop was the Sherriff Jail booth. We picked up a couple Deterra drug disposal packs free and decided instead of a pedal water bike, we just need an air boat!

Next stop, Ag/Hort. We checked out the scarecrows and quite a few caught my eye!

The rotating floral exhibits are hosting a variety of flora today. Hostas, coleus, roses, succulents, begonias, caladium and I stopped to talk irises for quite a while with the lovely couple from the Iris Society of Minnesota.

Elysia is a mushroom expert. While I won’t ever eat one, and identification will never be of interest to me, I was amazed that all the mushrooms on this display were picked three days ago in Minnesota.

So much to see in the building yet, but I wanted to see the first round of veggies before they start to rot. As a new vegetable gardener, I understand there is a standard to attain, represented here at the fair! I don’t think I grew any prize winning beets or eggplants, but they were delicious!

The giant pumpkins this year are astounding! The largest weighing in over #1600!

I did grow a beautiful crop of onions. I realize I need to learn this technique for drying and preserving them!

Leaving Ag/Hort I knew we were close to Grammie’s bench, but we got totally distracted by BINGO which was going to start in 10 minutes and there was no line! we paid $10 (donation to the foundation) for our cards and I made Elysia pose in front of the giant blue ribbon.

We settled in for 30 minutes of fun with an entertaining, very rapid caller. It was cool and got us out of the sun a bit longer but we won bupkus. The prizes are state fair tickets and some other foundation swag.

Elysia and I found my Grammies bench as she went to join some classmates in town for a reunion and I headed back up to the bandshell to meet Michael and Kathleen and sit for a bit and watch the talent show.

By the time I got to the meeting spot, they were on the way down to Cafe Caribe to say a quick hello to friends. I found the energy to follow them, knowing that my favorite state fair beverages awaited me there!

With drinks in hand, I walked back up to the bandshell. I sat waiting for the talent show to begin and checked my Apple Watch.

Today I was pacing myself much better. Day one I’d logged 10K by 10:00am!

My seat wasn’t the greatest as the sun was setting directly in my eyes, but I settled in for the show.

Mike & Kathleen arrived, mid-way through the show.

They had one more Tshirt score to show me!

One talent show complete, we walked up the hill to Baldwin Park for the county show. Benches were full and we had had enough sitting so we decided to head back down to the main drag to find some dinner for Kathleen. Taking the less trodden path along the picnic grounds, we stopped to enquirer about the quality of the two person hammock on sale for $25 with a coupon deal at Paddle North. Not sure enough to make a purchase, we kept on the path down to the grandstand. It was decided that Juanita’s would be our dinner. Kathleen is determined to eat only clean foods out here, which doesn’t seem like a bad idea! She got a chicken fajita and I shared a bowl’o’beans & chicken with Mike. I realized I hadn’t eaten since my foot long at the parade.

Needing a beverage we thought about trying the new Lift Bridge root beer, but unfortunately that’s not possible.

We kept moving on a trajectory taking us to the Bazaar to hear The Good, The Bad & The Funky play. I just tried to keep up with these two.

Elysia rejoined us and the bazaar was packed, but we found a bench right outside which was loud enough and plenty entertaining with a lovely view.

We hung out for most of the concert, but were ready to head home before the grandstand fireworks. It had been a really fun day!