Kickoff To Summer at the Fair - Chickie Got Tickets For Us!

Up here in the Frozen Northlands, we're all suffering from State Fair withdrawl. Because of Covid, there was no State Fair held last year and we're all chomping at the bit. There were some drive-through opportunities held in the late fall, and a huge drive-through Holiday Lights opportunity in the cold of winter, but the tickets were expensive, and I didn't want to just be in my car. I enjoyed those events vicariously by driving by the Fairgrounds every day (my usual route since the main street bordering the Fair is my North-South route between home and my shop). But now something else has come up. 

I'm actually pretty excited about this, even though it's 
really just a food fest. Just getting into the Fairgrounds 
again and eating some beloved foods is a positive thing. 
I might not be able to eat the same things as before, but 
there are several vendors offering Gluten-Free alternatives 
and others where I think I'll be fine for most of it. I'll probably 
do a quick 2 or 3 day fast to get the junk back out of my 
system, but I'll enjoy every bite. 

The MN State Fair has arranged a five-day event around Memorial Day (the end of May) and entitled it "Kickoff To Summer". They held a lottery for ticket purchases, and Chickie put her name in. Well, she was chosen for the FIRST group! and she was online (or there - I'm not sure if she purchased on-line or in person) at noon yesterday, buying tickets for herself, DH and I to attend from 10:00 am until 3:30 pm on Sunday, May 30th. We'll be able to walk the Fairgrounds (along with an additional 9,997 people) and a lot of the food vendors will be open with limited menus. I'll be pouring over the lists of foods to figure out what I can eat under program, and what I'm willing to eat that isn't in program. (Sharon, if you want more information, go to the Fair's website and search for "Kickoff to Summer".) 

This photo of the "Terrible Foursome" is actually from 2017. 
From L-R we have Chickie, DH, Myself (with hair - I'm 
totally unused to seeing myself with hair any more), 
and Sharon. Three of the four of us will be able to be together 
at the State Fair Kickoff on the 30th and I can hardly wait. 
I'll have to take photos and send some to Sharon. I know 
we'll all be missing her. 

I fully admit it won't be the same without my dear friend Sharon along with us, but hopefully she can make it to the "real" State Fair for Labor Day weekend, and we can enjoy our usual dawn to dusk+ wandering and experiences. We're long-time Fair addicts, so anytime at the Fairgrounds is always a good time. 

This is Sharon and I from 2018. I think this might have 
been in the back yard eating tables at Giggles. As you can 
tell, Sharon and I always have a wonderful time at the Fair. 

To those wondering about a "crowd" of 10,000 people for this mini-event, the lowest number in the Fairgrounds at most times during the usual fair is ten times that number (100,000). In 2019 our total attendance was more than 2,000,000! The Fairgrounds itself is a huge expanse of land and multiple buildings. We get our exercise when we're walking this during the State Fair. Ten thousand people is a small drop in a very large bucket. We probably will have some lines for some of the foods, but only because there aren't going to be a lot of vendors open for the event, but there seem to be some tasty offerings. I'm really looking forward to this. 

This is a rather typical Saturday at the State Fair. LOTS 
of people. It's not out of the question to have more than 
200.000 people at the Fair on a busy weekend day. 
Ten thousand maximum for our time frame will be a 
very tiny drop in the bucket, but we'll all welcome 
being back at the Fairgrounds again. (This photo 
was from 2019.) 

On that note, I'm out of here. I want to carefully look through the menus posted and start planning exactly what I'll allow myself to eat. I have to have a footlong hot dog with fried onions, and there's absolutely NOTHING healthy about that. My challenge will be how to get the goodness of the meat and onions while skipping most of the bun. I'll make it work. Somehow. LOL Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow. As always, please be kind, stay safe and wear your mask.