State Fair 2018 (First Visit) - Getting There Is Half the Battle

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Dale's on the Island this weekend and a good number of my friends are not fans of the fair (at least not go-every-year fans like I am) so I decided to try the fair on my own for the first time ever. Getting there was a challenge. I decided to use the Fair's north lots for parking figuring if I left early enough I'd be fine. On the road by 8:00 a.m. I took East Hennepin Avenue to Larpenteur and found myself stuck in line for an hour and a half. Welcome to the mania that dwells in my brain for the Minnesota State Fair. At Cleveland and Larpenteur the light turned red before I made it through the intersection. The man in the lane next to me pulled up and into the crosswalk and I noticed he had his turn signal on. When the light turned green he zipped ahead of me and cut me off. I made it through the intersection but was sticking out into traffic. Another car pulled up behind me but was in the intersection when the light turned again. The man who cut me off had half a car length in front of him. I tried to pull up a little for the car behind me and accidentally tapped the creep in front of me. He got out of his car and started to berate me with expletives. I tried to explain that I was trying to pull forward for the car behind me and did not understand why he couldn't pull forward when he had so much room. He got back in his car and stared at me from his side mirror. He eventually pulled out of the lane and sped off but not before flipping me off. So much for Minnesota Nice. 

Stuck on Larpenteur Avenue.

Anyway, I endured the line for about another half hour. When I finally made it to the lot entrance I noticed the sign saying the lot was full. So excited was I to make it to the fair I found my resolve undeterred and found street parking about 8 blocks away from the fair. I know I'm a nut.