Day 5:

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posted by Onaxthiel: The Minnesota state fair was the first one I have ever attended. Any state fair that is, not just in Minnesota. We arrived by bus from a parking lot miles away, to avoid trying to get a parking spot at the fair itself. We were then offered to buy virtually any product in the world, as long as it was ON A STICK! Obfuscator has some choice things to say about consumerism and paying eleven dollars to be allowed to cruise stalls of goods from all over the state. He’s kind of anti-capitalistic in that way. I thought the fair was an interesting way for people to mix from all over, and try dozens of foods that the might otherwise not (on a stick) and see some cool implements for the home or farm. D didn’t really want to go to any of the exhibits of livestock. We had to drag him through the sheep portion, even though sheep are rather cute and petable. He seemed rather horrified that I pet the sheep. All I can say is that they are all much more well adjusted than goats. We earlier had read a notice from the Pork council, at which point the posted signboards decided to attack Obfuscator when his back was turned. Light metal signs with un-weighted stands and a breeze make for ugly moments. Perhaps that explains some of his antipathy for livestock for the rest of the day. The one species of farm animal we all wanted to see were the horses, and it seems they were all gone by the time we arrived. The hall for them was empty, with cleaning crews in spraying down every surface. I am not sure if that is a sign of some sort of plague on horses that attended the fair, or if they only have horses at the fair for a limited time every year, but it was too bad. The finest exhibit at the fair was the DNR section. They had an hall entirely devoted to how successful you could be as a poacher in Minnesota. I’m not sure that was the intent, but it was the subtext. Bucks with wonderful racks plus every fur bearing animal in the north woods, all represented in what they called the hall or wall of shame. But a poacher would call it “the showcase of opportunity.”
The fried cheese curds were good, the leffsa was an unusual experience for a Wisconsin boy like me, and the deep fried snickers on a stick was just…so…bad…for…you. Aside from these expenditures, we entered every free give away sweepstakes for cars we could find, and Obfuscator bought a new camera bag. In the evening we went and hung around the Minnesota Republicans shelter (D was volunteering for them, and we hung out.) We also hung out with our uncle who came out for a day at the fair, and overall had a pretty good day. We finished off with the Space Tower, one of those 300+ foot rides that sends you up in a spinning enclosure and gives you a nice view before bringing you back down. We timed our ride to coincide with sunset, so we had a scenic view of the downtown of Minneapolis and the state capitol and cathedral again. Lessons learned: Always bring food to the fair, as food on a stick is expensive. If you don’t want to play with farm animals, there isn’t all that much to do at the fair that can’t be done better at your nearest six flags. The Minnesota state fair brings in some really good headliners as bands, but you need to be attending on the right night. Lastly, by accident or by design, or willingness to pay more, the Democrats got a much nicer spot at the fair than Republicans. That’s what you get in the only state that voted for Mondale.

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Photos

minneapolis sunset
from the SPACE!...TOWER!

St. Paul sunset
Also from the SPACE!....TOWER!

Some ride spinning
Spinning in the dark.