Photos Continued - A Long Saturday at the MN State Fair

The final attendance numbers are in, and we helped to set a record attendance this year of 2,046,533 people attending the Great Minnesota Get-Together - aka the Minnesota State Fair. That's a phenomenal number of people for a twelve-day run, and I'm so proud to have been a part of it yet again. Why do so many people come to the Fair? Here are some more photos to help you understand the love and the lure of food, sights, music and so much to look at. Here's our Saturday at the Fair. 

This time I was determined. I was going to try a Nordic Waffle for
breakfast, despite the long line. The reviews had been stellar and
I wanted their "Slammin' Salmon" variety. The line might have been long,
but it moved quickly. Loved their goat on the roof! 

Although Sharon went the more traditional route, with their
"All Day Breakfast" filling, I chose their
"Slammin' Salmon" and loved it. It was basically like a lox
with schmeer bagel, and had a sprinkling of onions.
Combining the sharp taste of the fish and the sweet
undertone of the waffle ... it was heaven! 

After breakfast we were ready to wander and really look hard
in every corner. The Creative Activities building is huge, with
angles, displays, and corners to keep anyone busy for hours.
We walked everywhere. I loved this Steampunk-styled
harrower, and apparently the judges liked it too. 

One of my customers, Judy Fey, entered five
items into different categories in the Fair. She
won ribbons for all of them, but this one won
her single blue. 

Creative Activities displays quilts, tailoring, and beadwork, but also
has a huge section devoted to baking. There are cookies and cakes
and pies, as well as canned goods of various types. In the
decorated cookie portion, these four women took the
blue. For my friends who may not immediately
recognize these women who changed the world, the
green is Sally Rider, NASA Astronaut, the yellow
is "Rosie the Riveter" from WWII, the pink is Supreme
Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and the light
blue is Harriet Tubman. Wonderful details, great
idea and yes - it won a Blue Ribbon. 

For many years the MN State Fair had their own Post
Office and cancellation stamp. More shipments are shipped
via other methods, including UPS, but there is still
a way to make sure the recipient knows their item
came from the Fair. An official sticker is available
for all items shipped from the State Fair's Post
Office or UPS Shipping Service. 

We headed north and stopped off at Giggles Campfire Grill for Walleye
Cakes and Duck Bacon Fat Fried Won Tons. So good! We ended up
sharing a table with a wonderful couple from Rochester who had just
taken an Alaskan cruise. We had a nice long chat while eating our
yummy meal. That's me on the left and Sharon on the right. -
giggling at Giggles. 

We decided to take a ride on the "Big Wheel", the largest traveling
Ferris wheel in the nation. This was their second year setting up
at the State Fair, and the lines were more reasonable. It was
wonderful to get up that high and see that far. We ended up
helping the kids seated opposite us to find various landmarks.
I want to do this again and hope they come back next year. 

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has a
large building, lots of exhibits, and lots of fish. Inside
their building are large habitat tanks with their fish,
but outside they have a large outdoor pond stocked
with fish the day before the Fair begins. All of the
fish are returned to the wild after the Fair. The water
here is four feet deep, and there is a huge variety of
sturgeon, muskies, trout, paddle fish, walleyes
and minnows along with many other types of
fish, all sharing the water for two weeks.
 I can watch them for hours. 

A stop at the Dairy building for malts is always a must. Sure
there are lines, but they go quickly, and the ice cream is
perfect on a hot day. I had a raspberry malt, Sharon is
holding her mint one. We settled down on the wall of the
haunted house and watched the evening sky while
indulging in ice cream. Yummy! 

DH came out and joined us after closing down the shop. We walked
all around the Fairgrounds once again, but he fell in love with
the equipment on Machinery Hill. If we had room, money, and
a need for it, I'm quite sure this John Deere tractor would
have come home with us. 

So that's a very truncated look at our Saturday. It was hot and steamy, and it was a LOT of people (270,426 attendance on Saturday), but it never seems that bad except for a few constricted areas like anywhere near one of the four Sweet Martha's Cookies buildings. We're old hands at the Fair, we know where we want to go and what we want to do. We never get to all of it, but we do our best. 

Today's post was Day 2 of Sharon's visit. Tomorrow's post will be back at the Fair for a very wet start to our Sunday. I'm looking forward to sharing more photos with all of you and hope that you have a truly excellent Thursday. I picked up my Red Ribbon and project yesterday. Prize amounts have increased a bit since my last entry - I got $19 for my second place award. Can't complain about that! I'll be back tomorrow - be good and be kind.