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.