Here we are back in Northern Minnesota. We’ve returned to see a very important baby. Jill’s new-mother-cousin is visiting her parents. We decided to get in on the action. The state fair ended on Monday and it already feels like a dream I had. We worked and played there for the entire 12 days of it. We have worked at the German Root Beer stand for 8 years. We took last year off while we were traveling. Coming back to it was a little bittersweet. Seeing our old coworkers was a treat. The constant parade of gluttony began to get to me though. The fair is not for people to come to everyday. Jill and I took to packing our own lunches because the variety of food is so limited. Most everything is fried or a form of dessert. Normal fair goers are looking for that. Jill and I found that we are no longer normal. I kept wishing for delicious healthy options and we kept dreaming up schemes for our own booth. I still think that it could be a hit but the amount of preparation and work involved would be prohibitive. I don’t think that is for us right now.
We did see some amazing things at the fair. The food is one facet of the fair and the events and exhibits are others. Jill and I saw horses, cows, goats, pigs, and sheep. We saw a handmade sailboat. We saw honeys, crafts, and food to be judged. We went on a boat in the dark at Ye Olde Mill, and a chairlift and gondola for a bird’s eye view of the fair. Looking down at a crowd of hundreds waiting for a bucket of cookies from a popular stand was like some scene from the movie Zombie Land. We listened to a lot of music acts and I think that was my favorite part. All of the acts outside the grandstand are free at the fair. We got done at the root beer stand at 9 pm every night and would walk around to the stages for a few songs. On the last day we saw acts highlighting the Hmong population of Minnesota. Many migrated here after the Vietnam war. They put on fabulous music and dancing to our delight.
I found my enjoyment through the entire experience of the fair this year. We missed some things I would’ve liked but we stumbled across many wonderful things too. I’m excited to have earned some money to continue our journey. I also would like to return to the fair someday and find some more unexpected wonders.