Twin City Photos

Well the Minnesota State Fair 2008 is over. I went 3 times, and enjoyed every time. There are just so many things going on you could go every day and not cover everything. This was my first attempt at a sort of blogumentary, and most photos are really just snapshots that anyone could take. No pretense here. Just having fun.

Another shot of Candy Coburn.

Of course the State Fair is the culmination of the state’s county fairs, were kids and adults alike compete in areas such as creativity, horticulture, agriculture, etc. The winners and runner ups move on to the state fair. Though most don’t really need to actually attend the state fair, those who are exhibiting animals need to be there to take care of them. And they stay overnight! I can just imagine the partying that goes on. Probably not getting much sleep, but naps during the day make up for that.

“Am I tall enough mommy for this ride?” Don’t think so sweety. The look in her face says it all. You can’t even see the minimum height line. Don’t you sometimes wish life’s difficulties were no more serious than not being tall enough?

Befitting as the final photo of the Minnesota State Fair. Summer is essentially over, kids back to school. In characteristic Minnesota weather fashion, the high temperature this week is nearly 20 degrees lower than last week, with night time temperatures getting down to the high 40s in the Twin Cities area.

See you next year.

The State Fair is starting to wind down. In a few more days all will be gone, kids back to school, and before you know it there will be snow sculptures at the fair grounds. But lets look at the positive side. In about 4 months the days will start getting longer.

Most of the chicken at the poultry barn are quite timid, but not all of them. You can always find one that would just as well peck your eye out. I have one word for this one. Drumsticks.

Talking of food, damn that looked good. But that would be more than I can handle. Same thing with the smoked turkey legs. So I settled for a pulled pork sandwich. Oddly the sandwich was $7.75, the same price of the turkey leg, except the turkey leg had about 5 times as much meat to it. Lesson learned.

Things we do for love. Just what are you going to do with that thing once you get it home? I’d suggest burning it but that would probably add a lot of pollution to the environment. Or you can do what we did. When you move out tell the landlord it was there when you moved in, and leave it behind.

I ran into three groups of people today that I knew (from work), except Bruce. But I’m sure he was there.

OK now. We all know State Fair food isn’t necessarily on the top of the health food list, but it can’t be bad enough that you need a nearby rescue vehicle, can it?

Teach them young. A future State Fair addict in the making :)

Where are the fishing rods?

I love the the Minnesota State Fair, so this will be the first installment of a mini photo blog series about the Minnesota State Fair. Though many people I know seem to tire of it at after the years, I enjoy it more and more as time goes on. Sure, if you just hit the highlights they quickly get old. But there are just so many nook and cranny areas and events, you could spent a long time before you cover them again. This is the first installment for this year.

From what I can tell it wasn’t a record crowd. There was still room to walk without bumping into someone. The weather sure was cooperating. Low humidity low eighties, just doesn’t get better than that.

Ouch. Well not really. That sword was well rounded with no sharp edges or tip. Still quite a feat.

Hard to believe you can grow grapes to make wine in Minnesota, but I guess you can. Or don’t use grapes to start with. One the right is a made from Raspberry, one in the middle from Rhubarb, and one on the left from Plum. Yum.

Finally, on the way out, I stopped at one of the band stands. You are never disappointed if you do. The Minnesota State Fair only books class acts, and this one was no exception. I shot about 50 pictures of Candy Coburn. You have to when you’re trying to get a shot of an energetic show such as this. Candy is quite the performer, pleasing to the eye, great voice, and plays the guitar quite well. More to come.

Thats’s it for today.