The Great Minnesota Get Together 2007

The three of us went to the state fair today. A year ago Tera and I wandered the state fair grounds talking about what it was going to be like when our child would be there with us. Emma was not born yet and we were neck deep with the adoption paper chase. We got there at around noon and headed to our favorite eating establishment, Giggles. I think it's a corny name but the food is downright awesome. Tera and I had grilled salmon on a stick and walleye crab cakes and a cold glass of honey wiess. Very Minnesotan of us, you betcha! The food at this place is so good we have been going there for the last three years and the quality only gets better. We then headed through the rest of the fair sampling some of the not so healthy but o' so tasty fare. Pizza on a stick, Tejas' chips and guacamole along with an ice cold Beergherita (don't ask, I can't explain), chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick (thank you Key West) and much much more. Every year at the fair new items are always the talk of the fairgrounds. One year it was alligator on a stick which I thought was a bit on the chewy side. I remember another year there was the deep fried candy bar on a stick which was not so ridiculous sounding once I heard that in that same year the deep fried Twinkie was making it's debut. As if the Twinkie wasn't bad enough by itself, some mad scientist had to go and batter the thing and deep fry it. Mmmm... heart stopping fun. I have not tried the candy bar or the Twinkie and I probably never will. There was something new this year that I could not turn a blind eye to and that was the Fried Fruit. Thats right, an assortment of sweet and ripened fruit lined up on a bamboo skewer, dipped in a cake batter, deep fried and bathed in powdered sugar. First off, I love fruit. Ask Tera, it almost borders on offensive when it comes to how much fruit I can eat in one sitting. I admit the fried fruit was good. Would I have it again? Probably.
Now here's the thing about the Minnesota State Fair. Here in Minnesota this is a really big deal. At first I didn't understand it. When I first moved here from Florida many moons ago I always thought the regular stuff when it comes to fairs. Unsafe rust bucket rides and the chain smoking carnies that operate them, the freak show which is really sad because people pay to see animals cooped up in cages or people with some sort of deformity like "Lobster Boy". So this was my idea of the state fair when I first heard about it. Then I went. All my preconceived ideas went out the window. This is where Minnesotans gather for 12 days every year. Everything about Minnesota is represented here past and present. But when it comes to the average Minnesotan, it's all about the food and most of the 1.6 million yearly attendees would probably agree. Of course I had to get used to things like Cheese Curds (fried cheese) and the ever present pronto pup/corn dog. But here in Minnesota people congregate on almost 400 acres to eat and drink new and exciting (and sometimes questionable i.e., Sloppy Joe on a stick) things and celebrate the end of another beautiful summer in the soon to be chilly Minnesota.

But the real story today is about Emma. Emma gets a gold star by her name for being so good. Due to the ever changing scenery at the fair she was very entertained by all the sights, sounds and smells. She didn't make a peep and loved every minute of the fair. What a trooper. Tera, Emma and I had a ball being at the fair and being a family. For the past couple of years we talked about "what it would be like..." and now we know and we love it. There are many annual things that Tera and I do and now Emma can be a part of them. Here's to Minnesota, it's fair and all the food that we shouldn't eat. Hooray!

Some pics of our day at the fair: