State Fair 2013

It has been a busy, busy summer and this week is no exception. As a result, this post will be a bit abbreviated. We only had time for a short visit to the fair on a weekday this year and of course, I picked the absolute hottest day of the year on Tuesday afternoon/evening. Let's just say I won't be going on a super hot day again if I can help it. At least they had misters all around the grounds to help everyone cool off a bit.

Overall, we had a good visit. One nice thing about going on a hot day is that there were no lines for anything at all. The people watching was still excellent though. I saw a couple odd contraptions for hauling children around the fair, one was a homemade covered wagon being pulled by a couple guys. I should have taken a picture of it. It was strange.

 I started off with a pronto pup. Traditional fare to start for me. 

A walleye cake from Giggles Campfire Grill. The sauce with the cakes has a nice spicy bite, though I don't much care for the wild rice in the walleye cakes as it gets hard and crunchy.

For some reason I just had to try the deep fried olives on a stick, new at the fair this year. They are stuffed with cream cheese and breaded. The cream cheese in the olives was rather undetectable and not very flavorful. The breading was a bit thick for my liking and the ranch sauce was super watery. It added very little. I don't think I would order this item again.

In search of some refreshment, I tried a wine flight at the Minnesota Wine Country building. The first one was probably the best of the three, though I am not really impressed by Minnesota wines.

Fresh french fries- a standard item for John. Very crisp, fresh and good as always. John also had a turkey sandwich from turkey to go that was gone before I could get a photo of it. He said it was awesome as always.

We stopped by the Minnesota Brewers Association hall again this year as we liked it so much last year.  John had the hoppy flight on the left and I went with the lighter flight on the right. The lineups change daily.

I tried the dough-sant from French Meadow. It was very light and fluffy, though the powdered sugar is very messy. It was hot and fresh and really good.

I picked up some macaroons from the Salty Tart to snack on the next day. I am pleased to report they are great as always. I love to get salt water taffy to snack on after the fair as well. 

There are a bunch of things we forgot to try. The Minne-apple pie for starters. I would have also liked to try some items form the new Mancini's booth. Wish we had time to go back! But we ran out of time and energy. The hot weather really tired me out and made me lose my appetite. I hope all of you have better weather for the fair than we did! 

Deals & Discounts: I recommend buying your fair admission tickets in advance at Cub Foods and other local outlets. This year we saved $3 per ticket by buying admission tickets ahead of time. I also bought the Blue Ribbon Bargain book for $4 at Cub; it costs $5 if you buy it at the fair.

Last year's State Fair post is here:
http://whereshouldwegomsp.blogspot.com/2012/09/state-fair-2012.html


Minnesota State Fair
Located at 1265 North Snelling Ave. N. in St. Paul, MN
2013 dates: August 22 - September 2