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Month: August 2019

state fair day one: a food review

state fair day one: a food review

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today i went to the fair with nate for a few hours in the morning before the crowds got too miserable and the weather stormy. the park and ride lot was full at 8:30 a.m., but we parked on a side street and waited for the second shuttle to come around before getting on.

first stop at the fair? the blue barn!

the line was reasonable and they had some new stuff i wanted to check out. so i picked them up!

blue cheese corn fritters: i think this is the only thing i’ll get from the BB from now on. i mean, you can’t go wrong, and they’re delicious. the chimichurri sauce that comes with it is just the right touch, too.

the breakfast potato skin: this was the new thing i wanted to try out, and i wasn’t that impressed. the potato could’ve had a little more seasoning, the eggs were kind of blah, the bournaise sauce was ok. i mean, if i had nothing else for breakfast i’d eat it, but i’m not paying for it again.

frozen slushie hard seltzer thing: mmmm. mmmmm. mmmmmmm. dangerous.

handshake ale drink thing: nate liked this one. i did not. it tasted like a lip balm i owned.

then we were off to check out the fair. we strolled through the grandstand vendors, ran into a bunch of people who stopped in the middle of the road, found the kare11 booth where i picked up a 2020(!) weather calendar, then tried to stroll through the ag building where everyone was standing in line to get a free sample of an apple.

people sure do like their free stuff.

the interesting thing about the fair is that everyone likes to brag that we live here. i mean, i GET IT. MN is an awesome state! even myself, i was wearing my duck duck grey duck shirt and itasca sweatshirt. yep, we love MN. but let me tell you, i didn’t see a lot of 1)outstate wear or 2)non-northshore wear. i was an anomaly with my itasca sweatshirt. i saw a ton of shirts advertising metro and duluth companies, north shore towns and state parks. people. i get it. the north shore is a nice little part of the state. but there’s a lot more out there. take it from me: go see it.

but i digress.

ah! that’s better!

tom thumb donuts: why bother with ANY OTHER donut? like the bag advertises, they’re “light as a feather”. it’s true. all other donuts are greasy inferior globs in comparison. do yourself a favor and just find the tom thumb stands. #worthit

got down to the other end of the park and checked out the ecobuilding, which, TEN YEARS AGO, was pretty much empty when i visited. it was packed today. has being eco-conscious suddenly become trendy? i was half irritated by this development and half hopeful in that people might just glom onto a trend that’s useful. like, maybe it’ll evolve past a trend and into a lifestyle.

took a moment in the education building where i picked up a new minnstate viewbook for work and several pins to hand out to people. that was the 5 seconds i thought about work. then i tried to find a st ben’s booth and didn’t! boo. i don’t know if i just didn’t look hard enough or what.

then we were over in the giggles grill area, so we stopped there.

duck drummies: these were ok. they were nothing fabulous, and quite frankly, i’d’ve preferred chicken. they needed to marinade the duck or something to make it a little more zingy.

duck bacon wonton: now this was good. not exactly a wonton; more like a small pasty filled with cheese bacony ducky goodness. the dipping sauce was good, too!

then nate had to get a pronto pup: i’m not gaga over pronto pups. i think a basic corndog is better, or even just a footlong! (what’s the difference? a corndog is made with cornmeal. pronto pup is made with pancake-like batter.) but nate wanted a pronto pup with mustard so he picked one up. it was ok. as expected. move along.

the leinie lodge: whoo boy! well, already had that slushie, so why not one more? i tried a half and half: a northwoods summer, which is a mix of summer shandy and northwoods lager, and mmmm mmm! i’d get that again.

then i attempted the worst of the worst: the food building. normally i stay out of there, but sarah’s tipsy pies were in there right on the edge, and with no line, so it was time to check it out. and i had a coupon!

onion and gouda pie: this was good if you wanted lunch! it actually reminds me of the squash galette i make in the fall. and the crust was delish!

but i was here for the blueberry lemon boozy pie: OMG i’d wade through 14 food buildings to find this again. talk about wonderful. it wasn’t so boozy, but i didn’t even care. i shoved that thing in my mouth and made room in my stomach even though there wasn’t much room at all. yum.

and that was it! that’s actually a lot of food for 3 hours of fair and 5 miles of walking, and i’m still full, but it was worth it.

here we go again!

here we go again!

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today i posted a comment on liz’s blog that it’s been a year since she posted anything. “dead blog”. i’m one to talk, huh? i don’t blog as much as i used to, and i wonder if it’s because i’m blogged out, or if anything current i’d want to talk about is out of the news cycle so quickly and replaced by another, more insane item of note, that i get distracted and can’t even think anymore. (by the way – i don’t know about you, but i’d consider move to greenland if it became a state. *eyeroll*)

i’ve been listening to a fascinated podcast lately about a current SCOTUS case involving oklahoma and american indian reservations – how if they are still recognized, half the state would be, in fact, indian country. it’s called “this land” if you want to give it a try. i haven’t finished it yet, but i’m hoping to get around to listening to the rest in the next week.

i miss visiting state parks. last year after the derry reunion, i traveled up to lake of the woods and then over to the northwest corner, down to bemidji, itasca, and over to moorhead to catch some parks that way. i put on 1000+ miles that loop. then my cousin lori sent me a text message a couple weeks ago with a pic from a year ago up the north shore.

early august i was down in mankato taking family pictures for a friend, and on my way back i drove past one of the parks that was one of the last two i visited last year. on a complete whim (as in, i saw the sign and put on my blinker), i drove in and took a meander through. last year when i was there, it was early october and the leaves were brown (fall was not good last year). this year the fishing pier that i strolled out onto to take a couple pics was in the midst of vibrant green cattails and a shimmering lake, and the part of the park that was close to the lake was soggy due to the rain and probably spring flooding.

i spent more time at the park than i did last year just going on a little walk on a trail and taking pics of random things. then i drove out to the park entrance, stopped at the ranger station, and picked up another passport book. 🙂

i’m not planning on being as aggressive as last year on it. i told the ranger what i did last summer and she said “WHAT??” so not everyone is as driven (persistent, as jan derry would say) as i am on these things. so i’ll take this one a little slower! maybe try to get them all in three years instead! or 5. or just see what happens. any excuse to get out and see a little more of the state than most people do.

speaking of that, jane and i are heading up to the north shore over labor day weekend. we’re even going to make it international and head up into canada. it’ll be nice to get back up there, and i planned it so i can get some more astrophotography in. i’m hoping for some clear skies!

bucolic

bucolic

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this evening i headed out to st john’s to get some pics of the lavender in bloom. if i’d been paying attention, i’d’ve watched the wind and taken my paddleboard out there, but by the time i noticed, i would have only gotten about 25 minutes of paddleboarding in.

i did get the lavender though.

the students are starting to filter in. i drove past a family hugging goodbye on the road out to lake sag. students were biking and jogging out on the trails. a hammock was set up between two trees on the grassy area next to the lake with two or three people swinging it back and forth.

i took the long way back – the scenic route. the road winds around the lake, then jogs along a short road abutting a farm in the hills.

august light slants in a lovely way.

ode to the killer perkins

ode to the killer perkins

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today i saw in my twitter feed that the st. cloud downtown perkins was closing.

it’s the end of an era.

the killer perkins was a late-night hangout for a few years; every time branden rolled through st cloud, which was almost every sunday night, he and lisa and i would meet at the killer p for some apps and convo. and definitely a show.

one time there was a fight out in the parking lot. a guy had a gun in the back of his pickup (think hunting fun). the cops were called, then a small fire broke out in the cab of his truck. branden rushed out to yell at him “dude your cab’s on fire!” then rushed back to watch through the window with everyone else. the cops didn’t believe there was a gun until we told them exactly where it was.

saw a fight break out in the middle of the smoking section (OMG remember smoking sections?!?), and a girl had her shirt ripped off and her piercing yanked out in a delicate area (ouch!).

for my final paper in my journalism II class, i wrote 10 pages on the regulars at killer perkins – what they were like, the conversations, etc. i remember the note on the paper saying that the prof didn’t think this would work but was fascinated and gave me an A. here’s the paper for those who want to read it! finalfeature

there were times when i was invited to go to killer perkins but had to scrape together change to just get a side salad. i wrote them more than a few checks with money that wouldn’t be in my account for a couple days (remember checkblanks??)

i met so many people there – it was a landmark. if i needed to meet someone in st. cloud, all i’d need to say is “you know where downtown perkins is?” and boom. plan made.

and not only was it a college kid afterhours hangout; it was a place for many of st cloud’s homeless to sit overnight in a warm space. the 24-hour restaurant is no longer and i hope those people have a place to be on chilly nights.

so farewell, killer perkins. i leave you with a haiku:

wow killer perkins
hey dude with the gun! fire! cops!
dinner and a show