MN State Fair

First, go read this. Not only will you read a good wrap up of the fair, but you'll see me in my fabulous allergetic glory. Since that was written by someone who grew up in Minnesota and loved it there so much that he went screaming back earlier this year, I'll give more of an outsider's view of the fair. Here are my random observations:

Parking: Ok, when I heard that they had parking lots in all different parts of the city, miles & miles away from the fair, I thought that was cute...a nice convience, if you will. When I heard of another lot about 2 miles away, I thought, good use of the university parking, keep the crowds down at the actual fair. And then when I saw that all of that SOLD out and people who live across from the fairgrounds charge people to park on their lawns, I fully understood the magnitude of the fair.

Size Matters: Ok, this thing is huge, larger than life if you will. And, I'm not just saying that after not sleeping well for a week and then flying the redeye into Minneapolis. Its seriously big. And, for me to say that is something special since I'm from the land of nothing-phases-me-'cause-I've-already-seen-it-bigger-faster-and-more-expensive. Ok, once you get over the fact that its a) huge and b) you'll never see it all in one visit, you're good to get started.

Very Serious Event: Ok, I don't say that in a somber event sort of way, I say that in more of a Minnesotans take their fair very serious sort of way. This isn't like the L.A. County Fair that we all laugh at in a city-folk kind of way. Noooooo. The fair is No. 2 in the country and in their opinion, Texas cheats by putting their state fair at the same weekend as some huge game that everyone and their mother attends. So, Minnesotans console themselves knowing that they do have the best fair and that they are ranked No. 1 for food. So, don't diss the fair. You're bound to get your ass kicked for doing something like that.

Food: Ok, this is the reason I don't eat at Applebees or Chilis or any other place that tries to pass off fried food as good food. They just don't do it right. The MN state fair does it right. So, my suggestion is to save up all of your fried food cravings for a year and then eat until you cannot eat any more. OMG, so good. The blog I referenced above notes all the food I ate (other than the corn dog, but his looked better than the one I had so I was a wee bit jealous) so I won't go into that here.

Entertainment: They have scheduled entertainment but I just couldn't be bothered. With the crowds & all the people watching and just the random sightings, you really don't need to plan out your day. The oddest "entertainment" I saw were people watching people on the radio. And we're not talking aboug funny dog and pony sort of morning ha-ha radio, we're talking mellow political commentary on public stations. Very odd.

Rides: I don't know what I would do as a parent 'cause honestly, nothing looked safe there. And yet, any sort of shananigans would have made the evening news so I know in theory the rides were safe but...I don't know, maybe that's part of the thrill, to see if you'll survive.

So, yeah, that's my wrap up. Its huge, its crowded, its yummy and I can't wait until next year. I missed out on all the pet stuff. They had a whole section for dog adoption stuff. I got so into all the farm animals that I missed out on seeing all the puppies and such what not. That'll be next year.