State Fair 2024 - The 70s Magic Sunshine Band

 Friday, August 23, 2024

More State Fair Fun. The 70s Magic Sunshine Band. If you listen closely you can almost hear me singing along. Dale and I stopped at the International  Bazaar as we were walking back to the parking lot. 

Fair 2015 - Visit #2: Oh, What a Night

Friday, September 4, 2015

Round 2 of the State Fair for 2015 this afternoon. Took Mom to see Prairie Home Companion at the Grandstand for her birthday. I had school today and Mom came by to help in the classroom. We met Dale at the house after school, got Athena taken care of and were off to the Fair by 4:30.

We arrived a little past 5:00. It was 90 degrees out and the radio had just reported a heat index of around 100, which, I believe, made it just about the hottest day of the year. The humidity was nasty. Mom was sore and moving rather slow having just started a new exercise regime earlier in the week. I was a little worried about her but she insisted that she was okay if we didn’t mind moving a little slower than usual and were willing to sit down from time to time. Wasn’t a problem.

We stopped by the John Deere booth to visit with her friend Gary who was volunteering there. We then hit the Pronto Pup stand (for me) and the gyros stand (for Mom and Dale). Yummy stuff. The Pronto Pup wasn’t as substantial as the gyros so I grabbed a slice a pizza from Green Mill.

Our next stop was beer for Mom and Dale. On the way to the Leine Lodge we stopped by the Kemps Cow for a photo taken by Mom. I thought it turned out cute.

Mom and Dale got their beer and we found a bench under the Space Needle. It was a cooling station so water misters above us rained little droplets to keep us comfortable. It wasn’t heavy enough to get us wet. We had a great view of Judson Avenue as it wraps around toward the International Bazaar. Great people watching.

Our next destination was the Corn Roast stand. Mom and I each got an ear drenched in butter. It was very sweet and delicious. Dale said it probably came off the stalk that morning.  My, my that was some tasty stuff.

Next to the Blue Moon Dine-In Theater. I’d convinced Dale that he really needed to try the chilled bread pudding there. I went with the chocolate brownie version again with candied pecans only this time I went with the caramel sauce instead of chocolate. Dale went with the corn muffin bread pudding and, like me, got the caramel sauce with candied pecans. He loved it as I suspected he might.  We found a bench for Mom and Dale to sit down and looked up the street past Andy’s Grille toward the Midway.

Finally it was time to move toward the Grandstand for the Prairie Home Companion show. What a delight that turned out to be. It wasn’t surprising how wonderful the whole experience was since I’ve seen it at the Fair twice before. Mr. Keillor warmed up the crowd by walking through the audience while singing. The guests included Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele who sang, among other things, Reach Out (I’ll Be There) and Proud Mary. The Steep Canyon Rangers, a bluegrass group that I’d never heard of before, played as well. They were great. Garrison Keillor, Sue Scot, and Tim Russell performed a hilarious bit about a son calling home and talking to his passive aggressive mother and distant father. Of course, there was a report from Lake Wobegon and a Guy Noir appearance. It was all fabulous fun. Mom and Dale loved it as well.

Our trek back to the car after the performance was leisurely so as to accommodate Mom. On the way back she convinced me to get an order of Tom Thumb mini-donuts to share. It was all great fun and I’m already looking forward to next year.

First Visiti 2014 - Edina Marching Band

After finally making it through the gates and while searching for Mike and Charisse, I came across this marching band from Edina. A bit cloudier than I would have liked the day to be but the silver lining is that is wasn't as hot.

Minnesota State Fair 1992

Prior to 2001 I hadn't been to the Minnesota State Fair since 1992. That year, a friend of mine, Mike, had tickets for a Grandstand show by a group named Color Me Badd. Color Me Badd was a bubble gum boys band of the early 90's that came and went pretty fast. Mike was going through his second adolescence (or maybe it was his first) and was into stuff like that. As it was a free ticket I decided I really didn't have anything to lose so I went along. I gotta say that even though I didn't have any strong feelings about the band that they really did put on a great show. They could really sing and their moves were quite slick. After the performance ended at about 9 p.m. we had some time to walk the fair and hang out. I really do like being at the fair in the late afternoon and evening as it's not as crowded, it's cooler and it just plain brings back memories.