Since the local citizens failed to cooperate and, as they do every year, stubbornly filled the streets around my sister’s house with their cars instead of using one of the dozens of nearby FREE Park and Ride locations, we were forced to walk the half-mile from her house to the Fair.  This is because if you drive out of a spot on one of the side streets during the day, you won’t be able to park anywhere near there again until well past midnight.  The forced march took some of the wind out of my sails, but our family generally takes the Fair at our own quiet pace, so I soldiered on.

Our first stop was the Fine Arts Building.  A friend had won an award, so we wanted to be sure to cover the entire exhibit.  The Fine Arts Building always has an amazing collection of paintings, photographs, scuptures, and art in other media by local artists.  We spent nearly an hour there just in awe of the array of talent displayed there.  As a photography buff in days gone by, I focus on that area.  The photographs themselves showcase the combination of artistic vision and technical prowess required to produce these powerful images.  I get a kick out of noting the various printing processes used to make the prints because they bridge the gulf between the new world of digital photography that still challenges me and the old world of chemical printing processes – some that I recognize and many that I do not.  This year’s winner will have been shown in everyone’s Sunday newspaper by now – the “Fire in the Belly” sculpture.  It fascinates me to think of the effort required to create an all-metal sculpture like that – the bending and shaping, not to mention all of the welding.  Throw in the finishing touches like the wear spot on the toe of the leather workboot that lets the metal shine through, and you’ve just got to admire the person behind it.

After the walking workout at the Fine Arts building, we took a break for a quick snack of a very pedestrian bratwurst and a small vat of Diet Coke, and made a fairly quick pass through the Education and Creative Activities buildings.  The crafts are a particular interest of my sister, who was the recipient of all of the artistic genes.  She does some really clever and attractive mosaics, courtesy of the nearby home of such things,  Mosaic On A Stick, located near the Fairgrounds at 595 North Snelling.  Just tell them Donna sent you.  As with the metal sculptors, I am always struck by the patience and dedication of the people who make all of these elaborate creations.

Between my sister being a Virgo and my being a bit obsessive about planning, we had done a bit of homework before our trip, and the one new thing we were both anxious to see was the “Doggies of The Wild West” show.  We’d lost track of time, though, and suddenly realized that the next show was only fifteen minutes away and we were on the opposite side of the Fair from where we needed to be.  So we made a beeline over Dan Patch, past the Grandstand and down to Carnes, and finally north on Leggett Street to the Doggies’ stage area.  It was a rookie mistake.  The bleachers were packed and the show was now SRO.  I managed a spot where I could see some of the stage through the crowd.  It was an entertaining little show, filled with cute little Jack Russels and Chihuahuas with bandanas and other cowboy props.  But don’t make our mistake – get there very early.  The showtimes are listed in the State Fair maps available at the Information Booths as you enter the Fair.

Since my sister couldn’t see at all, we left the Doggies after a few minutes and aimed at the livestock exhibits that are longtime favorites. This was when we suddenly faced the fact that there were many people who hadn’t realized that StarTribune columnist James Lileks was joking when he wrote a “State Fair Primer” for new residents in his Friday column in which he said State Fair attendance was mandatory.    Official figures put Saturday’s attendance at some 177,000.  Hardly a record, but the crowds still made a formidable barrier to passing from one part of the Fair to the next.  It was then that a most welcome sight came into view – a beer hall.  The weather was gorgeous – about 80 degrees and overcast with some very brief sprinkles of rain, with just a hint of humidity, but I was more than ready for a tall one to take the edge off the day and fortify myself against the remaining trek.

My sister is a recovering horse owner, so we went to the Horse Barn first.  Even a city boy like me is overwhelmed by the beauty of these majestic animals and the amount of work it takes to prepare them for a State Fair.  And you can’t help but take some pride in the Minnesotans who do all that work, and yet are so gracious about letting kids of all ages touch and pet their horses, and sharing their wealth of knowledge about them.  The same was true, of course, with the cows, sheep, and even the pigs – although not even the little kids were petting the pigs.

I nearly forgot to mention the Food Building, which we’d gone through prior to heading off toward the Doggies.  Yes, I’m still fascinated with the bees, and yes, we had honey treats.  Lots of great apples this year, too.  But the area that I’ve been keeping close tabs on is the Minnesota Wine At The Fair.  I only recently moved back to Minneapolis after living roughly 25 years in the San Francisco area where I grew an appreciation for good wine.  I was sort of “adopted” by the Trefethen Family Vineyards, who were generous enough to declare the Trethewey’s to be unofficial cousins when we visited them up in Napa a few years ago.  Be sure to stop there and take the tour if you ever visit.  The wine is divine, but try a bottle of the chocolate sauce, too.  In the words of Nathan Detroit, “You will thank me.”

When I was growing up in Minneapolis in the 1950’s and 60’s, the only time wine was served in our house was when my mother would buy a jug of inexpensive wine to serve at her bridge club meetings.  But while living in California, I toured the Wine Country several times, and naturally started drinking wine from time to time and gained enough experience to recognize the better wines from the “Two-Buck Chuck” variety, or “Chateau Thames Embankment” as Rumpole would say.  And I’ve been having fun trying a glass of Minnesota wine at the Fair now and then.  I’m in no position to say anything more about the Minnesota varieties than to say they’re very nice and I will be serving it the next chance I get.

This trip to the Minnesota State Fair was too haphazard to say that I enjoyed it as much as I usually do.  I do have a small chance of making a second trip later this week and hope I can make it happen.  Forgive me for not doing the rides.  We took one look at the ten story people mangler in Adventure Park and just shuddered at the thought of being flung 5 or 6 stories into the air in a glass-enclosed coffin supported only by a very suspect metal pole.  Not after the bratwurst, honey sundaes, and beer, thank-you.  But if you’ve noticed my fondness for Disneyland in some of my other posts, it should come as no surprise to hear me say how much I love going to the Fair.  The treats are always special, and there’s so many wonderful things to see, touch, taste, and (of course) smell.  Even the crowds are a blessing, watching families enjoying themselves and the kids just having a blast.  Ever-changing, but always familiar, it is one of the things that makes me most proud of Minnesota.