I'm not a huge Tom Petty fan, but I could do a lot worse than to finish out the #MNStateFair sitting at the Schell's Stage drinking A Ginger Suntan and listening to a really good Petty cover band called Petty Comes Alive. They're pretty good to start, but they're also clearly having a blast... Holy shit I had to stop typing for a minute while the lead guitarist completely shredded that solo.

Anyway, that's about it from me tonight. I hope everyone is having as good a time wherever you are.

To go with my lemony brine I finally got to the Loaded Lobster Fries from Cafe Caribé. It's bigger than I thought it would be! (Which is probably this year's theme now that I think about it...) It would have been really easy for this to go badly but I think they pulled it off well. The dressing in particular really makes all the rest of the flavors pop. The only downside is that it gets pretty oily at the bottom, but otherwise very successful.

#MNStateFair

@cavorter that was exactly where I read about the #mnstatefair . I pinned the article to my profile if you want the link.

To finish off my morning, we stopped for the new Lemon Sorbet. Good timing doing it today as they are running a Buy 2 Get 1 promo. Consensus was that they are really good, my only issue is that I would like them just a touch less sweet. Really nice for sunny and 91F though.

#MNStateFair

While my sibling and in-law went through the Creative Activities building, I took the nephew over to The Arcade on Dan Patch. After getting $20 for tokens I found out that nearly all of the actual video games were cash only and the tokens were mostly only good for "skill" games. Would have been nice to know that before I got the tokens, but oh well. When the other two showed up they did manage to find the only operational cabinets that took tokens. But the nephew had fun!

#MNStateFair

The Deep Fried Cookie Dough has been getting a lot of mixed reviews, but I and my sibling's family all agreed that it was surprisingly good. Despite the chocolate sauce drizzle and light cover of powdered sugar, it wasn't nearly as sweet as you might expect. Also, we all like our cookies really soft so the big difference here was the crunch of a rice paper wrapper instead of the skin of a cookie. YMMV

#MNStateFair

Second breakfast at the #MNStateFair this morning was a Raspberry Shake from the Gopher Dairy Bar next to the Moo Stage. I don't get down to this corner a lot for Reasons, but my sibling has mentioned they really like it so I figured I'd give them a try. If you are looking for a quart of pretty good soft-serve ice cream for $7, have I got a tip for you!

Starting the final day of the #MNStateFair "healthy" again with Banana Pudding from Blue Moon. Good proportion of fruit to pudding with cocoa Krispies on the top. Can't believe I'm saying this, but actually needed a little more of the cereal. Otherwise a really good deal for the size.

It might be a sign of very serious fairgoers when you see them just inside the gate taking shots of pepto bismal this early in the morning... #MNStateFair

We finished the morning at the #MNStateFair with the notorious Crispy Lutefisk Steamed Buns. TLDR - They aren't bad.

That said, the bread was more chewy than I like in a steamed bun, the lutefisk itself was actually quite good for a VERY fishy fish and had a nice bite from the deep frying, the slaw was actually very good but needed 2x of it with more cilantro, and the sauce was over-sweetened hoisin (which I can take or leave on the best of days).

I have two very important issues:

(1/2)

I finally met up with my sibling and her family after trying to coordinate over a badly failing T-Mobile network.

Once together we discussed options and settled on the Double Feature from The Herbivorous Butcher! Both the Balboa and the Lord of the Bling were VERY good, but the star really was the Bling. The Balboa was really inconsistent and desperately needed the sauce. The Bling OTOH was kind of a really good flat-ish egg roll? Highly recommended even for non-vegans. #MNStateFair

I then needed some hydration, or at least something liquid that wasn't water, and stopped over at the Summer Lakes Beverage booth. I usually go for their Bootlegger but this time tried their Lake Storm Lemonade. As usual it was quite good but other than the sprig of lavender garnish, the flavor of lavender was MIA.

#MNStateFair

After the Fine Arts building I popped through the Eco Experience building. It was nice to see some of the higher end cargo bikes on display. But parked out back somewhat out of the way was a brand new electric school bus!

I talked for a minute with the guy on site and he mentioned that it was almost criminal that we'll only have 16(?) of these on the roads in MN this year. But that's 16 more than we had last year!

#MNStateFair

@cavorter thanks for the picture. I have been obsessed with #mnstatefair ever since reading about all the foods on a stick 😀

Most years the big draw in the Fine Arts building is the official poster, but this year is a little special: the crop art has escaped from the Horticulture Building! #MNStateFair

Made it into the Creative Activities building this morning and add usual there is plenty to see. My perennial favorites are always the post card collections. #MNStateFair

And because I need to keep hydrated today, paired the olives with my favorite lemonade who are apparently doing fairly cheap refills at a sibling booth, which also happens to be the one serving the new lemon sorbet. Good excuse to try that later. #MNStateFair

Starting the day with a "healthy" classic that is the deep-fried turducken of veggie options here at the #MNStateFair, Peppadew Olives. That is a clove of garlic, in a green olive, in a Peppadew pepper, lightly battered and deep fried. I get it with ranch but hot honey is an option.

Apparently everyone else also decided that getting to the #MNStateFair early today, with a projected high near 90F, was a good idea. Well, the more the merrier generally, at least until people start getting heat stroke!

OTOH, my favorite sibling and her family are showing up after church so I am hoping to get some lutefisk today!

I am delighted that vegan is becoming more common and easier to find.

Although I'm not a fan of fake meats. (I declared that I was a vegetarian at the age of eight because I could not stand the taste or texture of meat, so trying to replicate meat is not a goal I have, but I recognize it is for others).

Vegan Corn Dogs at Daryl's Dog House at the Minnesota State Fair on the south side of Carnes Ave between Nelson and Underwood St.

#MnStateFair #MinnesotaStateFair #MNastodon #Minnesota #vegan