Sure some will tell you it's an all day binge fest. Aimless walking from pronto pup hut to flaffel cart - sticking every convievable edible item on a stick then frying it and possibly coating it in sugar. The food is thrilling. I recall the first time I came across the "Grandma's Pasties" stand. After someone pulled me from the fetal position I was in; it was then explained to me it wasn't what I thought it was, and pronounced differently.
Others will say it's all about the rides. Rides are not my thing. Especially when the greasy carnie with no teeth lears at me from afar. No thank you good sir - I would not like an oversized spongebob, and yes I too was referring to your penis.
Still more will tell you it's the live music that is the be all end all. From the Grandstand to the lowly Miller Stage, it is a treat to see a Family Fun Band, followed by Polka Wonders, and capped off with a noisy teen garage band called "Dirty Lemming Sack".
The crafty/gardner folk swear by the exhibts. The pies, the quilts, the marigolds bigger than my head, and the eggplant the size of a geo metro are all very exciting. I think my favorite of the exhibits are the kids art projects.
Then there is the odd assembly of booths. Radio stations, local businesses, and crafts. It's part flea-market, business fair, and crapitorium all rolled in to one!
Since I am an FFA wannabe, I like the barns the best. In order of interest and least smell, Horse, Cow, Sheep/Pigs, Poultry. Horses are the funnest, and ya gotta go see at least one horse event at the Coliseum. Gotta watch the cows get milked in the milking parlor (where it all gets pumped to the dairy booth where they make the freaking BEST milkshakes ever!!! Then one must stop off to touch the sheep, and view the glory that is the fatest Hog of the Year.
While I enjoy all these things. This is not why I go. I love people watching - thus the Fair is an essential part of my people viewing schedule. Oh man can you see all kinds of people. Pretty ones, tall ones, short ones, mostly blonde ones, scary ones, white trash, high class, farm kids, inner-city kids, old, and young. It really is the Minnesota Get Together.
I think my favorite place to view people though is the rotating butter head case. For you non-minnesota readers I shall enlighten you. There is a beauty contest to find "Princess Kay of the Milky Way". She and her court are then carved into thirty pound blocks of butter. I don't go to see the butter heads.
In reality, they all look the same to me- the carver just switches up the hairstyle, but hey it's not like the teach butter carving at the Sorbonne. No - the crowd is generally 8-10 people deep all the way around the giant walk-in cooler with its glass walls. We all wait, take our turns. Children are lifted up to peer at the butter heads, people quietly slurp at their milkshakes. It's almost a zen type look that flickers across their faces as they watch the hypnotic twirling and swirling butter heads. This for me epitomizes why I love this state. Our love of the absurd married with our love of dairy.
MAN I CAN'T FREAKIN WAIT!!
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