Joe and I have this mother-son thing about the Minnesota State Fair. Often I have some work-related events to attend to at the fair and for the past several years, he’s come with me to hang out. I work for a few hours and then we play for the rest of the day.
This year, I actually didn’t have a specific work event at the fair (probably for the first time in 21 years, which is weird!) so Joe and I went for an entire afternoon of fun.
We’re pretty old school about our State Fair time. We have our traditional foods that we HAVE to have, and certain buildings and rides we MUST visit. Here’s our list of must-haves:
Turkey To Go. Whaaaat? You can’t be surprised by this. 😉 This is the food stand of my employer, the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, and while I am completely biased, I stand by the statement that the Giant Juicy Turkey Sandwich is the best food at the fair. Think pulled turkey with the perfect blend of spices, tender and juicy, on a perfectly fluffy white bun.
Cheese Curds. We started the day with cheese curds and we ended the day with cheese curds. Have I mentioned Joe is a bit of a cheese curds aficionado? His top pick – the Mouth Trap in the Food Building. He may only be 12, but he knows his cheese curds. Trust me on this.
Malts in the Dairy Building. To be more specific, chocolate malts. As I said, we’re traditional so we need all the fancy flavors. Straight up chocolate, please, and we’re happy.
Sweet Martha’s Cookies. I have a love-hate relationship with these cookies. On one hand, my homemade chocolate chip cookies are way better. They just are. On the other hand, fresh hot chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven at the State Fair are rather addicting. So we forked over $6 and didn’t look back.
Minnesota Wine Country. A no brainer for me, of course. Joe grabbed a lemonade and some curds (at a different food stand, just to be clear), and I tried the Sogn Blanc from Cannon Valley Winery. Yum!
Agriculture-Horticulture Building. Another no brainer. Vintage feed bags. A wall of china. And also, crop art.
More Turkey, Chicken, and Eggs – Oh My. We always stop by my Minnesota Turkey booth and the Chicken and Egg Association of Minnesota booth in the Dairy Building. The chicken booth has an awesome egg chair, so of course an annual photo commences. 😉
CHS Miracle of Birth Center. Baby farm animals galore – including a turkey and some chickens in the new Hen House that I helped coordinate information/messaging for.
Handwriting Analysis. For $3, a prehistoric looking “computer” analyzes our handwriting and astrological sign and gives us a dot matrix printout rich with clues into our personalities. Don’t judge.
Sky Ride. Joe is not into rides at any fair or amusement park. Just not his thing. But he loves the Sky Ride at the State Fair so we always take a round trip and enjoy the view.
River Raft Ride. This is now our newest tradition – taking in the River Raft Ride as our very last thing to do at the State Fair, mainly because we always get wet. It’s pretty tame, but there’s something fun about it anyway. Big smiles and big laughs – and that’s what the State Fair should be all about, right?
I did actually try one new food item this year. While this sounds unimpressive, I need you to know that I don’t think I’ve tried anything new at the fair for years. YEARS. So I sprung for “Swedes-in-a-Blanket” – aka, Swedish meatballs in lefse – from Lynn’s Lefse in the Food Building. Verdict? The meatballs were great but the lefse wasn’t as good as the lefse my mom makes. But really, that’s not surprising. It was still fun, though, and I felt like I accomplished something – branching out a bit from my usual food traditions.
Oh and random thought from Joe: “It would be sooooo cool to live on an alpaca farm.” Hmmmm.
Have a great weekend, friends – I’ll be back soon with another post!
Lara