The State Fair

On Friday I took a half day at work so that I could go to The State Fair with Mom and Liz. We picked Liz up at her house in St. Paul and then went to the free park & ride at Snelling & 94. After arriving at the Fair, our first stop was to see Meggie. She is working on Peter Hutchinson's campaign (for governor) and at the Fair, she helped man the various Independent candidate booths. After visiting Meggie, we walked across the street to get corn dogs. If you don't know the difference between corn dogs and pronto pups, I will take the liberty of explaining it to you. Corn dogs have corn meal in the batter and pronto pups do not. Both Mom and I prefer the actual corn dog.

Along the way we came across the Kashi wellness area. Liz and I took a mini yoga class, we taste-tasted cereal, granola bars and a tasty mediterranean pilaf and got lots of coupons. We also learned that you can visit www.kashi.com and sign up to get a free granola bar in the mail. After our downward dogs and deep breathing, we went into the Agricultural Building for some fresh apple cider and apples. We also viewed some really interesting crop art; portraits, jewelry, etc all made out of seeds. Liz and I were amazed that such an art form existed. We were then off in search of the Nitro ice cream (at Meggie's suggestion), which turned out to be very tasty. It was an extra creamy, almost soft serve-like, yet hard vanilla ice cream. I had mine in a crispy pretzel cone!

Next we stopped off to get a beer for Mom and Liz. As they sipped, we walked in search of the big German soft pretzels, which we located outside the horse building. We split one big pretzel, and I think each of us was left wanting more. We dipped into both a spicy brown and a honey mustard, both of which were delicious. This was my favorite food item at the Fair this year, it was sooooo good!

Anticipation had been building all afternoon, it was finally time for our favorite part of the Fair, the All-You-Can-Drink Milk Booth! We each handed over $1 and received our bottomless cup of milk, what a bargain. Mom and Liz opted for a half and half mix of plain and chocolate, while I preferred the plain all on its own. We are a milk-loving family and this is as good as milk gets—perfectly smooth and icy cold. On the way out, we stopped at Miracle of Birth center. We saw some little piglets that were two days old, a one-day old calf and a tiny lamb that had been born that very day. It was a beautiful afternoon and we had a great time at the MN State Fair.