State Fair

Yep, looking forward to going for the first time since COVID hit. I like that you can make it what you want. There are ways to do it cheap, avoid crowds, etc and ways to do the opposite of that. I think mostly for me is that it’s an escape for one day. When you cross through the gate, you are in another world for a day.

I also like that it makes me feel connected to the state, which is hard to do these days. DNR building, fish pond, Ron Schara’s place, boat vendors, Outdoor News stand, etc. A lot of nostalgia in that place.

We go mid-morning and stay until 10PM. Love it.

You could not pay me enough to go.

Hard no to the Fair.
I’d rather spend my money where I get a better ROI, like pull tabs.

Never miss. Arrive early, eat cookies and milk for breakfast. Try a few new foods, a few new beers. Eat our regular stuff. Consume about 5k calories. Spend about $200. Take in some people watching, feel better about myself. Get home, shower and sleep like a baby for 18 hours. Spend 3 weeks losing weight gained. Wait for next year.

Pro tip. A shower after a day at the fair is oddly satisfying.

I haven’t went in about 5 years and don’t miss it a bit. It’s simply overcrowded and has very little that’d catch my attention regardless of crowd size.

I go a couple times a year. People watching at its finest! Good food.

The only way I’d go, is if they had a food stand selling fried mushrooms on a stick

Can’t wait and I do not like people either. But it’s a place I get my fill on food and people watch. Of course you are going to spend money.

We head out about 4 or 5 in the evening hardly(night) a line for anything and always a good band playing at one of the bars or shelters in the evening. Sometimes we make the Midway so yep crowed if we do not feel like it not much of a crowd to deal with at night if you are not in the midway.

People watching is great , Walmart on steroids

Maybe an unpopular opinion… But I think Sweet Martha’s cookies are TERRIBLY OVERRATED! I can make a better cookie at home by following the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag. Yet people go CRAZY over those things– buy them by the bucket! Just my $.02

Giggles campfire grill usually has some good stuff, Turkey to go is a great sandwich, but my favorite is the beef ribs at the Ball Park cafe. International Bazar has some hidden gems for food as well.

How much for a bucket of those cookies nowadays? Gotta be close to 20 bucks. Three years ago when I last went I remember them being 15 bucks.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

I’d rather spend my money where I get a better ROI, like pull tabs.

Agreed. I have half the cost of my new topper (if my truck ever gets here) in about a week saved up with winnings.

ThunderLund78 wrote:

Maybe an unpopular opinion… But I think Sweet Martha’s cookies are TERRIBLY OVERRATED! I can make a better cookie at home by following the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag.

You can microwave a chewy chips ahoy in my opinion

gimruis wrote:

How much for a bucket of those cookies nowadays? Gotta be close to 20 bucks. Three years ago when I last went I remember them being 15 bucks.

I cannot believe people actually buy those things at that price! Get the tube of cookie dough at your local grocery store and they are the same thing for like $2.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I cannot believe people actually buy those things at that price! Get the tube of cookie dough at your local grocery store and they are the same thing for like $2.

Lol that’s probably true. Not a big fan myself. I wish they would sell them individually. I would like ONE cookie, not a freaking bucket of them.

gimruis wrote:

How much for a bucket of those cookies nowadays? Gotta be close to 20 bucks. Three years ago when I last went I remember them being 15 bucks.

All I know is that I’m in the wrong business! Those cookies have made Martha (or whoever now owns it) a multi-millionaire for what amounts to 2 weeks of business a year. I’m sure there’s a lot of prep, logistics and equipment costs, etc. But I gotta think there’s worse ways to make a that kind of dough (no pun intended).

I’ve come around on the fair and enjoy going. It was great last year when attendance was down about 25% which I think was due to the Covidians locking themselves at home. We even had my SIL’s family here and rocked two double strollers last year with no issue.

Everything is overpriced, so just open up the tab and keep er running is my motto. Food building doesn’t get the shine it deserves, best Cheese Curds, Fried Smelt, and there’s a pie place that does sweet and savory pies that are awesome. And there is no better place to people watch, just a little bit of everything to see and worth the price of admission!

Oh and Sweet Martha’s is money when they are fresh out of the oven! Plus you can use them as hockey pucks the next day.

BigWerm wrote:

Oh and Sweet Martha’s is money when they are fresh out of the oven! Plus you can use them as hockey pucks the next day.

We can agree on the Hockey Puck part. My mom bought a bucket to bring home one year. I was visiting the next day and went to grab one and they had all morphed into one big cookie blob. It was like a 4th state of matter. Not a solid, not a liquid and definitely not a gas. Cookie plasma? sort of like when all the nachos stick together but not in a good way.

My late father in law would go under duress from the family.
He taught me that if I HAD to go to the fair, we would go at 8 am Sunday morning. We could see everything by 11 and get our hinders out of there!
True, somethings weren’t open, but then it was just less money spent.

He was a wise man.

The cookies are not consumable imo, nasty.

Take out a fresh warm one & put it on a paper towel, the whole paper towel will soon become an oil slick.

suzuki wrote:

PS- Its a gun-free zone so I’m sure there’s no chance of getting shot…..:)

Jason wrote:

Negative for us this year – we are funding a strangers education instead.

Two fantastic comments!

Gonna be a no go for me this year. Went with Sharon for a short evening last year to check out the Reptiles and grab a fair food snack. I do enjoy people watching somedays. Always amazes you what you might see next. Lots of fun, but I’ll be okay not going for a couple years again.

I saw there was a nasty storm that rolled right through the fair on Saturday evening. Most people took shelter, but apparently people in line for the cookies just stood there in the down pour waiting! That is dedication.

gimruis wrote:

I saw there was a nasty storm that rolled right through the fair on Saturday evening. Most people took shelter, but apparently people in line for the cookies just stood there in the down pour waiting! That is dedication.

Well that’s one word to describe it I guess.

I went on Saturday morning with the wife and kids. We love the fair. It was busy but strollers actually make it easier because people don’t want to get run over.

Good food and drink as always, good people watching.

gimruis wrote:

I saw there was a nasty storm that rolled right through the fair on Saturday evening. Most people took shelter, but apparently people in line for the cookies just stood there in the down pour waiting! That is dedication.

Myself, my wife, and 2 friends were out there on Sat. They had just got off the ferris wheel when the storm hit. It came down rather well for a short time. Was some strong winds with it. It made the lines at shuttle bus lines rather long. We were passing the Cookie booth and there were several hundred people in line even though the windows were close. A loud cheer happened when they opened back up. During the peak of the storm about 20 or so people including us packed into a family restroom. We were all huddled in front of the door when someone said ” why are we all sitting out here getting soaked” and he opened the door and we all piled in. I would have hated to be just starting around on that Ferris wheel when that rain started. They did manage to get everyone off it rather fast.

Always good to hear how it went down first hand. Weather looks dry for the rest of the fair now.

This is not meant to single anyone out but is a reoccuring theme here thats baffled me on the “people watching”, its well documented that walmart can also be a great spot for people watching but noone really wants to go there and look at a obese middle aged person chowing down on a pronto pup in one hand while holding up her daisy dukes that has the bedazzled lettering “SUGAR” on the buttcheeks while swearing at her kid with fudge on his face from the funnel cake he had for 3rd lunch.

But somehow the fair transforms all these folks into entertainment?

I think some of yall just need to admit your undying need for sweet marthas and the tilt a whirl….

beads, hahaha. So true, and you paint the perfect picture.

Nope it’s Walmart on Steroids for sure can see some people at Walmart but the Fair just brings out the over achievers.

Don’t do the State Fair anymore… if I go now, its the Steele County Fair… pretty big and a lot of the State Fair vendors warm up there. If I want to do some serious people watching.. we will go to the Renaissance Festival.

Deuces wrote:

This is not meant to single anyone out but is a reoccuring theme here thats baffled me on the “people watching”, its well documented that walmart can also be a great spot for people watching but noone really wants to go there and look at a obese middle aged person chowing down on a pronto pup in one hand while holding up her daisy dukes that has the bedazzled lettering “SUGAR” on the buttcheeks while swearing at her kid with fudge on his face from the funnel cake he had for 3rd lunch.

I think you are type-casting “people watching”. The kind you describe is best at the Benton County Fair. The state fair really has it all. Sure there’s plenty of what you describe, but also everything else and in between AND probably most importantly they are all interacting together. And it goes way more smoothly than one would think if just given the description.