State Fair 2013 - Midway

Next we took a rather thorough tour of the Midway. We didn't play any games. We didn't ride any rides. We just watched. It was crowded and noisy but, oh, what a good time people were having. It was really quite fun to watch. I remember being at the Fair when I was little. My younger brother Sam was in a stroller  which would have made him one or two and me four or five. Grandma Alice and Grandpa Louie were in town from up north to go visit the fair with us. We were just outside the midway because I remember looking in at all all the bright lights. Grandma had gotten a little stuffed toy somewhere at the Fair and I remember her handing it to Sam in his stroller. It don't recall us going in the Midway but I do remember the appeal and excitement that it seemed to offer. It was dark and probably just about time for us to leave so Sam and I coulc get to bed. It's still a lot of fun - even if you just watch.

In Leavenworth

I'm in Leavenworth, KS visiting my brother Sam and his family (he's in the military, not the prison). We went to a rib joint for dinner tonight and were reminiscing about going to the fair as kids.  I talked about saving money a little bit at a time for the whole year and also saving some of the Eisenhower silver dollars that Grandma Alice would give us for our birthdays and on holidays. I remember one year we went, Mom pulled out a light jacket for me since it was starting to get cool at night aroud the time of the fair and finding 20 dollars in the jacket pocket. I really felt like a big spender that year. We talked about starting out at the Mexican Village and getting Mexican food, which I loved, and then shopping in the market after that. We also talked about getting our photographs taken and having them put onto buttons that we could wear. I asked Sam if he knew the difference between corn dogs and pronto pups. He didn't. I told him that I had only found out in the last couple years - a pronto pup batter is flour based and a corn dog's batter is corn based. These buttons were probably taken in 1973 and 1974.

MN State Fair 2011 Day 2

In this morning's Strib there was a photo of the State Fair's Giant Slide with the caption:

"The Giant Slide is a staple at the State Fair, just as the State Fair is a staple of summer's end in Minnesota. The fair, which opened Thursday, runs through Labor Day."

I believe I've only tried the Giant Slide once way back when I was a just a kid. I was probably about 6 years old so it would have been in the early 1970's. I went by myself as Mom, Dad and Sam didn't want to go. As you can see in the above photo, you need to walk up a long set of stairs. At the top of the slide is a landing with a bunch of burlap potato sacks. You grab a sack to slide on on your way down. Once you're up the only way down is the slide unless you want to push through all the folks on the crowded set of stairs. I had second thoughts once I made it to the top but, being a good mid-westerner, I didn't want to chance bothering anyone by pushing my way back down the stairs. I grabbed a sack and down I went. I hated it. I felt like the air was being pushed out of me as I went over every bump. Oddly, despite this bad experience, I still have fond memories of the Giant Slide.