A Day at the MN State Fair

I haven’t been to the MN State Fair in ages. It’s been at least since 1994, because in 1995 I moved to New Mexico for school before the state fair started. When I was little, the big draw was the animals and the midway. Now, I prefer the food, vendors and arts and crafts displays.

We arrived at the fair at about 11 AM, and we made a bee-line to the mini donuts. Mmmmm. I was concerned that I might have inflated how good they were over the years, but, no, they are just as good as I remembered. There are actually a few different mini donut makers at the fair, but Dad remembered which one we liked best. (Though, we couldn’t remember if they were actually better donuts or if they just gave us more donuts for the same amount of money.)

After that, Dad led us to the Creative Arts building. I remember the last time we were in the building was just after I had finished my big carousel cross-stitch . Someone had done the same one, and I think got a ribbon for it. I wasn’t too bitter…

After the Creative Arts building, we went for lunch — spaghetti for Mom and me, lasagna for Dad. Oddly enough, the spaghetti made me feel a bit icky — but the mini donuts had sat fine with me. Oh well. On our way to the grand stand, Dad stopped off at the John Deere display on Machinery Hill. (Boys will be boys.)

Just outside the Grand Stand, there were some of the Linuses that had dotted the city over the summer. (Andrew and I had caught the Charlie Browns two years ago.) We shopped in the Grand Stand, then Heritage Square and finally the International Bazaar. Our last stop was the dairy building (now known as the Empire Building, but everyone still calls it the dairy building). We soothed our tummies with a yummy malt, and watched the butter scupltor for a little while.

We actually got home before 7PM, but it felt like we’d been walking for days. We all crashed — Mom and I watched While You Were Out while Dad made arrangements for his upcoming fishing trip.