Minnesota State Fair

This was the second year we went for the Minnesota State Fair. I was surprised to see that everything was at the same place as last year. As a result of that, we moved around reminiscing the last year’s fun-filled day (“oh, it was there last year”, “do you remember it was at that place then”, so on and so forth); it was kind of Déjà vu for us. The entire experience was like being Jason Bourne and getting back my memory in bits and pieces!! LOL!

What does State Fair mean to me? Well, it’s a place to discover life, indulge in sinful food and have loads of innocent fun!! And that’s what we did on the 27th, i.e. the fifth day of the fair.

The Highlights of the Day

Despite objections communicated through words and gestures, we started the day from the Birth Center. Other than the giant pigs and their piglets, cute yellow chicken, normal pregnant cows, what we saw this year was: a sheep giving birth to two calves. Oh, I had imagined beforehand that it would be really gross and it was so; we saw the whole birth process holding our breaths and having an ‘ew’ expression on our faces.

AD was very reluctant to go for the water ride next (as he is, for any ride!). But since majority of the junta wanted to go for it, he had to give in. We had good fun during the ride; the only let-down was that after the ride, we were drenched wet and had to roam around in heavy clothes for the rest of the night.

A major attraction of the fair is the Haunted House. It is so disgustingly scary that after last year’s experience, I had few sleepless nights. This year, it was AA’s turn to lose sleep. She went in smiling and came out wide-eyed with terror-stricken face.

The State Fair has also been a place to give in to sinful indulgence. We tried variety of food stuff: Fresh French Fries Bucket, Fried Cheese curd, soggy, chewy Chicken Falafel, and off course, Pizzas. I convinced myself that sometimes, it is all right to derive pleasures from stomach…Isn’t a life without festival is a long road without an inn? After that, it was time to please and soothe our senses with Music!

I clapped my hands together in glee when I saw that the day’s performance was Country Music. The band was Leinie Lodge Bandshell with Greg Brown as the singer. I had earlier read on the website that they have been coming to the State Fair since last eleven year! That’s something, isn’t it? We took our seats and listened to melodious songs and sagas about China, ‘blue car in mountains’, and a narrative on probability of occurrence of weird potatoes in fairs. While I was happily listening to the songs: AD was shifting in his seat and sighing deeply, AA was being wished by her friends on her mobile phone (it was her first wedding anniversary) and AM was yawning and feigning sleep. All right, that was clue enough for me; time to go and move ahead in life!

By this time, we had seen myriad people carrying colossal toys of all colors and varieties and were excited enough to move towards the game section.

I believe there is a play of psychology behind these games: you see the jazz, the colorful crowd, the scintillating lights, the gargantuan prize toys and it spellbinds you. You stop thinking that their is some trick involved or the odds of winning the game is very low, (after all, we all consider ourselves epitome of perfection!) and you start playing every other childish games: ‘Ring the bottle’, ‘Make the fallen bottle stand with the help of ring’, gun the bottles , break the bottles, and so on so forth. As a result of that, you part with your precious money and at the end of it; the outcome is zilch, zero, nada!! That’s what happened to us on that day, when we tried to show off our so-called prodigious skills. Nevertheless, we had loads of fun and laughs while trying to win and that’s what matters! Right?

It was 11:00 PM by then and time to go. We were spent and tired but satisfied with our day. While trying to come out of the tricky fair gate, I heard somebody say:

You gotta love the State Fair! The best entertainment's always free!

I concurred.