My long time friend Joan and I haven’t been to the fair together in too many years! Today I got up a little late but raced and made it over to pick her up right on time. We pulled into my parking spot and a car pulled in and parked right behind me and my cousin got out! I haven’t seen Carolyn in ages! The irony or serendipity of the encounter is that when Joan and Scott (almost) moved to Ely, I was going to connect them. Carolyn also lives in Ely part of the year and is an amazing artist! She & Joan’s mother share the same name!

We walked over and there were no lines to get on the grounds. None. I love Tuesday. I still set the alarms off, but at this point I’m OK with it.

The grounds were practically empty compared to the previous days. We could spread our arms and turn circles as we walked. In fact Joan did just that!

We both had breakfast on the brain. I got pie (of course) and Joan had her heart and stomach set on a French Meadow scone. Sadly when we got there, they no longer offer the simple cinnamon & sugar scone. Joan had to pivot.

Around the corner is the new(ish) cheese curd booth with Ellsworth cheese! Joan recommends any of the flavored curds, but got the plain ones for breakfast! I examined the curds closely and they looked well cooked and separate. I ~might~ try one another day. I don’t eat anything that’s battered and fried out here, but not because I’m eating clean and healthy. It’s simply because I can’t risk eating anything that might not be cooked inside. Food trauma issues involving rides and an undercooked Monte Cristo. They actually have a deep fried Monte Cristo on a stick out here, but that’s a big NOPE for me!

We both are our fair breakfast as we sat with Carol & Don 💙

Joan hadn’t been to the fair for a while to just wander around. And her state fair experiences growing up were very different from mine. There was much to do and see!

Since we found ourselves on the south west end of the fairgrounds, I wanted to answer my burning question around the dearth of horses in the parade. I thought we could head to the horse barns, but they weren’t open yet. The Horse Department office was open. I popped in and asked the staff inside and the answer was somewhat vague. “That is usually handled by the entertainment department” and I think she said the Minnesota Zoo horses aren’t here this year. I felt that asking more questions would not resolve my curiosity, and I know somebody in the “entertainment department” so we left. I had more research to do, but now I know who to ask! With my new asthma diagnosis I’m reluctant to spend much time inside animal barns until later in the fair. I need to keep my stamina up. I’ll check on the Zoo Horse status later.

It’s Military appreciation day and I told Josh we should stay sky aware in case there was a ceremonial flyover.

We didn’t participate in the military swag gathering, instead we stopped at the Lottery. I’m not a lottery player, and neither is Joan. However, post COVID and at this point in her life she’s doing all sorts of things she’s never done before! She got a ticket and a backpack prize with purchase and we proceeded to a shady spot with the scratcher tools…and had no idea what to do! Luckily a neighboring scratcher helped us out! We couldn’t stop laughing, but despite the hilarity of the experience, she won $20!

We cashed in and kept walking! She was hoping to win $200,000, but instead was happy enough to have just doubled her food & beverage budget! There’s a new vendor on Judson, The Pickle Barrel. They were offering up free samples of beef. Umm, yes please!

We decided this was worth a return trip later. Friends from yesterday had also given it a good review.

We stopped at MPR and I applied my free sunscreen, grabbed a prize for being a member and we headed back towards Gate 5. It was a day for an in depth tour of Creative Activities.

We walked through the DFL to get our photo op with the current administration. I learned if you take your picture, you also get a bean with which to vote. No need to sign up for the text messages.

As we walked I told Joan all about the Culligan Water snafu. We stopped to fill our bottles and found no lines. I’m not sure if it was the low number of fairgoers or the fact that there were instructions now posted on the top of the machines! I’m not sure the instructions are all that clear, but it’s something!

It was a great day to see the handiwork of Minnesotans. The building was sparsely occupied. We checked out the sweepstakes textiles and this cow quilt captured my attention.

I noticed this beautiful jingle dress each time I picked up a recipe card, and I thought it was beautiful. Upon close inspection, I realized that what I thought was intricate head work on the fabric, was in fact just printed. It’s ~still~ a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, just not as labor intensive as I imagined.

We both stopped to try and figure out this blue ribbon winning shadow box. It wasn’t until later in the day, my second time through here, with Michael, that he explained it was filled with all things found while running.

I always like to see the brightly colored theme cakes, cookies and cupcakes. these are skills I don’t have, so I’m impressed.

Joan & I are both bakers. She a bit more advanced in terms of breads, but we both have high standards. We had our super judgey hats on and we’re convinced we could do so much better in the general categories. I told Joan we needed to get together and encourage each other to actually enter next year! As we discussed this, a clerk for the Creative Activities was standing near us and interjected, “Yes! Do it! Enter!” I asked where the Scandinavian entries were displayed and she told me there were only four lefse entries and I asked if anyone entered a Kranskake and the answer was no.

The prize winning cookies underwhelmed us. Except for this! Lovely to look at, unique and well executed. Where did she get those tiny pretzels?!?

The bread judging was a bit confusing, the winners seemed vastly different from the runner ups in the same category. Maybe that’s what made them a winner.

As we were discussing the various categories we could enter I mentioned that to increase your chances of winning, you want to enter a small category. Unlike chocolate chip cookies. The clerk said there were 161 entries this year. I’m sure they were all better than Sweet Martha’s. (I’ll eat them if you put a warm one in front of me, but in general, I’m not a fan)

Joan overheard a conversation detailing how they knew the fancy techniques used in creating this sky ride design, from watching the Great British Baking show…. She laughed and said, it’s just the technique used to make pancake designs, then wrapped on the cake. I wonder if people overhear my judgmental comments and blog about that.

One entry I noticed and thought might be delicious was this cake! I think it has root beer barrels on it! I wish there was more information posted with the entries. At least with the winners. Maybe this will be featured in a recipe card round up next year!

I watched a story on the news last night about a man who had entered his salsa for over 20 years and this year he finally won a blue ribbon…. But he ~died~ a week before the fair. Many people have state fair grief experiences I guess. We stopped to pay our respects.

The daughter of our parking hosts is employed here in Creative Activities before the fair. This year her job involved creating the jams and jellies display case! I love her flair, color coordination and curvy designs!

I also like to see the Quilt on Stick entries. The theme this year is “The Loon, Minnesota’s Bird of Fashion”.

Fancy meeting Bree here?!? She’s part of the Crocheters Guild and a prize winning entrant herself! Is there anywhere you’re not? ❤️

Instead of turning around to see the rest of the building we turned left into the Annex between Education & Creative Activities. This space has changed a lot. The syrup and soup sellers are still here, but many are not. Jacobs lefse, the cheese & meat samples, wine slushie people and the colorful spatula people are gone. If feels quite open, but also empty.

This guy might be here longer than me!

We walked through only half of the Education Building, grabbing swag along the way. Got some clarification about forms of ID in Minnesota, and spun some wheels. Joan was laughing (in a good way) at my ability to engage in conversation with anybody at any booth about anything! Since the crowds were small, the timed giveaways hadn’t run out of stock, so we scored the 9:00am Bemidgi plaid tote bag at 10:15!

I told Joan about the history show and she was game to see it. So we exited the Education Building without seeing it all. Looking across the street I noticed that today at 10:30 was a good time to get your pickle pizza!

I’d heard good things about the Pork Schnitzel sandwich at the Farmers Union and Joan was willing to test it to be sure the breading was fully cooked! (It’s not battered). We both liked it, but it was reminiscent of a school lunch chicken party sans the zesty Cole slaw topping!

Walking towards the west end we bumped into this cute couple! It was back during Joan & my early days at Sweeney’s that I first met this guy!

We got to the Schells stage and I decided to risk my allergies and try a blueberry beer. It wasn’t as tasty as I recalled, and it was a bit of a bee magnet, so I only had a little bit before tossing it.

If you haven’t gotten enough of the Schtick, here’s another silly song.

I like to get a hot waffle, simply for nostalgia’s sake. So I paid $7 and watched them make my waffle. I commented on how they’re round this year )I can’t remember if they were last year too) but I jokingly said “ what, are you guys using Eggo’s now? “. The kid said YES! I think he thought it was a good thing! When this was new, they made their own Belgian waffle for the sandwich. This was a partially toasted soggy EGGO. I tossed much of this too. Not before forgetting about the powdered sugar bomb with your first bite…

I wanted to show Joan the wares at i like you and despite looking terrible in hats, I tried one on. Sara said, and Joan agreed, you just gotta be you, no matter the option of others! If I were to wear any hat, it might be this one… only at the fair. Hats do serve a purpose!

I love this t-shirt. We were married in 1991, during the playoffs.

We had more to do and decided to head back up to the north end to find Joan’s moms bench. Along the way we found a pop up with licorice giveaways and a cute craft gif kids. They touted that they used all natural ingredients, but could not provide levels to prove it, so I snagged a few samples and I’d research later before eating any. It turns out it was good I didn’t. It’s full of red dye which, if consumed, can ruin my day.

The Giant Wheel was stunning against the blue sky. It’s hard to find a photo op without advertising flags in the way.

Joan is not a fan of heights so this ride (and the sky glider) will have to wait!

Green mill has a new food this year, deep dish pizza bites. We decided to stop for a snack and enjoyed a rest in the shady patio at the back of the booth. The bites were well baked but the filling was scant and you had to eat it all in one bite or if you broke it in half, all the guts stayed on the one half. You get two pizza bites for $10

We did something I’ve never done and waited in a line (shorter than usual) for fresh popped kettle corn. I’ve never eaten it like this. I’ve had it from a pre packaged bag, but this was really amazing!

Joan was super happy! She shared with me, because we had to eat enough to close the bag, it’s filled to the top!

I knew where the bench was from day one. So I guided us just up the street to find it. We stood eating popcorn watching the couple currently sitting on it for cues as to when they might leave. I’m pretty good at judging fair behavior. They’d finished the food they had, almost finished their beer, but were chatting a bit longer than I anticipated. It was a bench in the shade after all. After an appropriate amount of time, and they hadn’t left, I approached and did the “can we just take a picture of her moms bench, then you can sit right back down” move. People normally jump right up, say they were just leaving anyway, and offer to take the picture for you. This girl was funny, as she stretched her arms across the bench and said, do you want me in the picture? I should have taken the pic! After that one funny moment, they acted exactly as others always do!

As we got up to leave, we noticed I dropped a quarter on the bench. She said her mom loved to look for dropped money at the fair. We decided to leave it and pay it forward! The bench happens to be right at the trolley stop, but we could easily walk to our next destination.

I had to stop and say hi to another Uber volunteer at the Little Hands Farm. Always a treat to see Kathleen & Rhonda

The sunflowers outside the farm are in their glory today!

I wanted Joan to see the Giant Moose, so we went to Eco. Joan liked the purple buff, so we played BINGO!

We were told on day one that Peace coffee wasn’t there this year. The volunteer today said the same thing, but we begged to differ! I got my afternoon caffeine jolt with a shot of refreshing cold press!

We also got to taste some local honey. I mentioned I had some tree allergies , so I declined tasting the tree pollen variety. I learned later, that’s actually the one that might be most beneficial for me! They were not selling it here but said I could find it in the Grandstand .

I took some pictures of how you play Sweet potato Sweep, but didn’t play today!

We stepped outside just as the parade was coming up the street. We weren’t sure that we were ready to spend a lot of time perusing fine art (it’s a commitment!) and Michael was heading our way. This is the first time both mascots were on the same side! I’m not sure I’ll get to the plaza for a photo op with the two.

I requested Joan & I make a name noodle at the Alphabet Forest. My first this year!

The parade was in full swing and since I knew there were no horses, I wasn’t inclined to stay and watch. We wanted to move, but also avoid the parade traffic so we walked down Cooper. I hoped the lines for Crop Art would be shorter today. All the other lines were. While it wasn’t really any shorter, we were able to go in the back way and walk upstream. I decided to just photograph the whole wall and zoom in later. I couldn’t get close to see the stuff on the table, but I’ll try another time. Here is the whole wall, except the premium winners in the center frame. I don’t know how I missed those!

These are a few highlights. This one created a seed QR code and it takes you to and abortion rights funding organization!

You can still sit down and make your own art. Kids of all ages are welcome!

This is line we bypassed backwards.

It was still a lovely day, but heating up in the sun. I found an accidental “mister” and stood around enjoying the cool spray for a minute!

Michael is a ~huge~ fan of Belinda Jensen. I believe this has been discussed before. This year Michael is out at the fair with me every day! There are more opportunities than ever for him to get a photo op. He is very concerned with coming across as some kind of stalker, but I keep telling him, she’s just a person who is a local celebrity and I’m sure she is used to it! He still did not want me to interfere and create an encounter. It needed to be organic to be meaningful to him. If we hang out enough at the Kare11 barn, organic things can be engineered! We did see KARE 11 Rena Sarigianopoulos and Fox9 Courtney Godfrey chatting and they posed for a pic! It is the Great Minnesota Get Together!

Now was as good a time as any to try the Pickle Barrel beef tip boat! We got the regular size and had enough to share between the three of us! I watched him making the the stuff and no wonder it’s so tasty, look at the pile of butter!

The KARE barn was empty and we decided to rest and hydrate (water bottle filling faucets are still here) and wait for the four o’clock live broadcast. Belinda was working just outside with some staffers and I kept offering to help engineer an organic encounter. Mike insisted I not involve myself!

Soon the broadcast was to begin. They passed out sunglasses, and taught us all how and when to clap. I told Mike to try and not “Forest Gump” this one!

We texted everybody at home so they could watch us. We were on quite often due to our seating position.

During the broadcast we were treated to Tacos al pastor and pineapple delivered by Manny himself!

Also during the broadcast, a rep from the sleep center discussed tips on sleeping well and they passed out sleep masks and phone bags. Kathleen (watching at home) messaged that she wanted us to get her a mask. I’d given mine to Joan, but I knew where to go to get more.

After the show ended we were making our way out. Michael saw Belinda chatting with people and he had an opportunity to get her attention and I asked if I could take a photo of them. Mike had already handed me his phone to get the job done so I have no proof of the encounter, you’ll have to take my word for it.

Joan was going to head home earlier and maybe come back later with her husband Scott. We were having too much fun so instead, Joan told him to come over and find us! We met up near the Ball Park and chatted for a bit, then split up.

Michael & I needed to get that eye mask for Kathleen, so we walked over the Kare11 health fair building. We found the rep who was just on air and told her the situation, but it wasn’t as easy as walking up and getting one. We had to play “Bed Pong”.

Michael scored in a cup on his last shot!

Earlier during the fair, I’d stopped to pick up a recipe card and asked an employee if they had any more. I looked at the employee and she looked at me and we both knew we knew each other but we couldn’t place from where. It wasn’t until I got home that night that I remembered I had met her at wine night at Bart and Sonja’s house (my current parking hosts!). I found her husband working the next day and told him where I knew them from but I still wanted to see her again.

Mike accompanied me back into Creative Activities but she wasn’t in the office. I wandered to the back one more time to see if I could find the lefse entries. No wonder I missed them, they don’t look like lefse anymore. And they’re on the floor of the display case. I think the one that’s the least moldy is probably made from potato buds.

I’m going to enter my lefse next year.

We ran into our cousin Carolyn and her husband again! Her husband Pasha was buying a ~gallon~ of maple syrup. I had to believe that they were close to going home. We visited for a bit and I learned more about how honey works! Carolyn’s family has a small local orchard, Orchard Hill, and they keep bees.

With no ~must hear~ music tonight, we headed to the bandshell for the talent show. We ran into David Cambronne, a long time friend and emcee for the County Talent Show at Baldwin park for 25 years now! We met his trusted stage manager Spencer for the first time! We must have chatted for a good 20 minutes. Hopefully that crate wasn’t heavy and we didn’t make them late for the show!

We watched some of the talent and I decided that tonight would be the night to bring cookies home to the (not so patient) man waiting at home. I left Mike on a bench and walked through the food court plaza and was able to walk right up to a window and buy cookies. I dumped them into my ziplock bags and walked back to find Mike. He had popped next door to O’Garas to get a beer, and had returned right before I did. I’m telling you. Cookies are a mid week purchase.

We listened to most of the talent show but it had been a huge day, so I was ready to get home. It’s day six and there is so much yet to do. Thankfully there’s six more!