Chickie's Opening Day at the Minnesota State Fair in Pictures

Chickie had a delightful day at the State Fair yesterday. We all take the Park-N-Ride options from our various locations - it just doesn't make any sense to drive there and hunt for a parking space, or pay for parking when the Park-N-Rides are free and convenient. Chickie finally arrived at the unloading gate at 9:08 am and headed in, looking for breakfast. 

Sharon and I have always promised each other than when 
we get old and grey (and we're NOT there yet, despite our 
years), we'd just rent scooters for the day for our State 
Fair outings. Watch Out Ahead! LOL

Sharon - she looked at the rates for full-day scooter rentals and it's $70/day now. One of these days, you and I will be the Terrors of the Midway on our scooters as we fly through the State Fair together - LOL. But, right now, despite our various aches and pains, we'll still walk it, I suspect. 

The Bacon Wrapped Waffle Dog at Nordic Waffle 
is one of the foods I'm considering. I don't want the 
cheese, and I'll end up tossing the waffle (even though 
they're really good, they're not gluten-free), but the 
rest of it looks really good! (Apologies for the quality 
of the photo, but it was the best shot I was able to grab.) 

By 9:35 am, Chickie had a cup of apple cider (non alcoholic) and an apple turnover in hand, and was ready to start the food and Fair experience. She said she needed some bacon or something - I can totally understand that - bacon RULES! There's a new food at Nordic Waffles called a Bacon Wrapped Waffle Dog that I might have to indulge in. It has cheese, which I will toss (if I can't order it without the cheese), and I probably won't eat the waffle, but the rest of it ... Yummy! 

The Peg is the only full-service restaurant at the MN State 
Fair. It's not fine dining - very basic foods, but it's a great 
place to sit down, eat a bit, and people watch, which 
is one of the major reasons to be at the State Fair anyway - LOL. 

After a sausage muffin at The Peg, Chickie headed over to the International Bazaar to hunt for a new dress. She loves these flowing knit dresses that basically just hang from her shoulders, and found a really pretty one in blues and purples. Of course, I liked the one in oranges and blues in the photo that she sent to us, but that's just me ... Denver Broncos colors - LOL. 

There's nothing like the corn at Corn Roast. I don't know 
what they do differently, but it's amazingly tasty. dipped in 
butter, it's a messy and incredibly wonderful treat, which 
I won't eat again this year - LOL. 

The next item on Chickie's food list was an ear of corn - always an amazing treat and one I've skipped for several years since I don't eat corn any more. Still, it's always tempting and it always looks lovely. But, realistically, the body isn't really fond of corn, and I'd rather eat other things. I'll let DH and Chickie and Sharon indulge. 

Judy has been a customer for many years now. She loves 
doing these structural boxes - always whimsical and quite 
delightful. I'm very pleased that she got a 2nd place 
for her Gnome box. 

Chickie was quiet for a long time then, just wandering the Fair Grounds, but eventually she ended up at the Creative Activities building to see what our customers have made for the year and how many of them ended up with ribbons for their entries. 

Sara's been frustrated lately that she hasn't gotten 
any ribbons for her beadwork. She got two this 
year, this blue for her earrings, and a 3rd 
place for a neckpiece. 

Our customer Sara ended up with a Blue ribbon for earrings and a 3rd place for a neckpiece. Dear Judy got a Red (2nd place) for one of her wonderful miniature boxes, and a 3rd place for a very complex holiday ornament featuring the Last Supper mural in beads. Quite spectacular. We saw it as she was beading it, but I look forward to seeing it completed. 

This customer is relatively recent, and she works 
in traditional beadwork - simply stunning. She did 
an AMAZING job on this Ojibway-style bag. 

One of our customers had dropped by the store to show us an Ojibway-style handbag that she had finished and was bringing over to the Fair. We had helped her with bead choices, etc. She ended up with a Blue ribbon for her efforts and it was well deserved - it was a stunning bag. And a relatively new customer, Svetlana, got both a Blue and the Sweepstakes ribbons for her incredible beaded ball. 

Svetlana got both a Blue and the Sweepstakes ribbons 
for her beaded orb. It's quite large, and the curled 
ribbon below it is also beaded. It's quite spectacular, 
and well deserves the ribbons. 

So, that's the rundown on Chickie's time at the State Fair on opening day. Of course there was more food, and many more experiences, but I can only share so much - LOL. I'm really looking forward to spending three days at the State Fair with Sharon next week. Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.