Last Weekend – Minnesota State Fair

From the moment people enter the gates of the ‘Great Minnesota Get Together’ I believe the mind is set on ‘things on a stick’. There is no food grown on this planet that cannot be made to eat on a stick.

The smells wash over you even if you arrive at 8 or 9 in the morning. Those mini-donuts and cinnamon rolls send off sensory signals that suck you in and lead you to a place where you can just kiss that healthy, low fat, low calorie eating good bye!

 

In my case, I am a Celiac and can not eat anything with gluten. Though this is a tough medical diet to follow, I have to say it has saved my body from some pretty un-healthy eating while out at places like the Minnesota State Fair.

Getting terribly ill is a real incentive when it comes to eating control and works much better than the ‘calorie’ thing when facing some of the goodies that beat your brain into submission via your nasal passages.

All that said, I will tell you that I *did* have a huge bowl of watermelon, a cup of ice cream with strawberries, found some gluten free fries and a nice vendor who sold gluten free hot dogs was nice enough to stab one with a stick so I could carry it around while eating it…in true Minnesota Fair spirit.

Ok, so….I guess you know where my priorities lie…food! However, there is a lot to see and do other than eating. Or while you are eating things on a stick.

People galore, if you are into people watching have a seat and you will have the time of your life just watching things happen around you.

Politicians *every where*, now this is the last thing I want to think about when looking for a good time.

The state of the state, state of the country and talking to the people who want to run it, or run it already…not on my list of fun stuff! Regardless, they are there handing out stickers and fans (ok on a hot day I will even wave a Franken fan in front of my face to cool me down right until it breaks and then have no qualms about depositing it into the first garbage can available). Taking a fan…yes, shaking hands and smiling at them…no.

The most wonderful things, I think, is seeing many of the innovations in farming, ecology and things of that nature.

There are parts of the Fair amidst the food booths, politicians and that are really very ‘green’ and this is good to see…bringing this into the forefront to help people realize that it *is* the way to go and is here to stay. It’s not all that hard to be more protective of our resources and easy to learn how in most cases.

Look at the size of this pumpkin! You could get enough pumpkin pies *on a stick* to feed the entire Fair population from this one.

Of course there are rides on the Midway and certainly the little guy had to partake of some of that!

He has even started to ride a few on his own. Makes me a little nervous but his folks seem to be on the right track as it does instill a sense of independence and control over ones life by being able to do things on your own.  

He’s the one in the shades. He had a great time.

The animals are beautiful. My favorite is the horse barn. Met some real beauties there….

As well as a few characters.

This handsome guy was bent on sneaking out while his quarters were being groomed, even though he was not supposed to.

But it was pretty obvious that he just *loved* the attention! What a gorgeous guy.

We also went into the ‘new born’ building and saw some babies that were little more than a day old.

Another favorite of the little guy’s are the tractors.

This is a must for him. He loves them and at the Fair he gets to sit on them and talk about his days as a Farmer and how the corn grows. Yes he is only three, but I do believe he sometimes has to discuss his ‘past lives’ with us as well as his younger brother….which only he sees.

But then that is a whole different post. ;)

Feet worn out from hiking around to all the nearly endless attractions, it is time to call it a day.