Day 11: Minneapolis and a Day at the Fair

Once again I'm coming at you from the future, writing about our day in Minneapolis though in actuality I'm in Hill City, SD. We're now two time zones over from our starting point, which is great because it provides some extra time to blog.

Minneapolis marked the halfway point in our journey, both in terms of mileage and days. The time has just flown by, so I can only assume I'm having a great time.

We happened to be in town during the Minnesota State Fair, which must be at least the largest fair in the U.S., so that seemed like the thing to do, and that we did. We parked on the University of Minnesota campus and took a free bus in. Minneapolis has a nice bus system and seems to be able to do a lot with it. But I was a bit upset about the lack of originality in their logo.



On the other hand, this ad amused me to great length. Getting there was indeed part of the fun.



We arrived at the Minnesota State fairgrounds, which basically encompasses the entire town of Falcon Heights at the edge of the city. Instead of an open field, as I had expected, it basically takes place over normal town roads, just ones with rather distinctive buildings on them. I also learned that Theodore Roosevelt's famous "speak softly and carry a big stick" speech was delivered here in 1901. Most people don't know that the speech goes on to say "... a big stick with a fried porkchop on it."

And that concludes my dumb jokes about the Minnesota State Fair. I saw so much, and it really all speaks for itself, so I figured instead of commenting I would just show you an assortment of the things that caught my eye. Enjoy, and I'll check in with you a little later.






















(The following photos are of "seed art," in case it's unclear.)



































































Well there it was. I guess the most notable thing about the fair is that it is the place where you can get the most ridiculous food that you never thought people should be allowed to eat. Here are some of the delicious yet deadly things we ate between the two of us, though surely I'll forget something:

• A bag of fried, cinnamon- and sugar-coated mini-donuts
  
• Hotdish on a stick (basically, a kebab made with alternating Swedish meatballs and tater tots, deep fried in corn meal, shown here almost consumed)
  
  
  
• Deep-fried cauliflower
  
• Elk burgers
  
• Fresh roasted corn on the cob
• Gator dogs on a stick
  
• A basket of fried smelt
  
  
  
• Fresh dairy chocolate shakes with strawberries
  
• Lingonberry turnovers (a pastry filled with lingonberry jam, topped with lingonberry ice cream, covered in lingonberry syrup)
  
  
  
• Root beer floats
• Apples (no, it wasn't all unhealthy)
  

But the day wasn't over yet. When we came back from the fair, my associate's cousins, who have been living in Minneapolis for 30 years, gave us a very thorough yet speedy tour or the sights in town. We visited the Guthrie Theater, downtown Minneapolis, a park and sculpture garden, and a lake. It was a great tour and we got to know a lot of the city, but I don't have as many great photos as I'd like because it was getting dark at the time.

Minneapolis is a city of tall buildings, including this one from back in the early skyscraper era.



I've been trying to avoid city planning geek stuff on this blog, but I was fascinated by a couple of things in the downtown area. The first was this main commercial street, which was redesigned to "meander" back and forth for several blocks in order to keep traffic under control and provide more space for pedestrians.



The other thing, also seen in the photo above, is the skyway system, which I'd always heard about but is even more extensive than I'd thought. It helps to keep the downtown active in below-zero winter temperatures.



This was hilarious, but closed.



And this certainly needs no explanation.



I did manage to get this postcard perfect photo from a pedestrian bridge at just the right time of night.



By the time the day was over, we were so hungry we could eat at Arby's. But not really.



So that was Minneapolis. Today (that is, the next day, or the day it actually is now) was mostly filled with driving, and we have more of the same ahead of us tomorrow. Since it is starting to get late even for Mountain Daylight Time, I should get some sleep, so I'll fill you in on today's adventures, as well as tomorrow's, sometime in the near future. I hope everyone has as great a Labor Day as I'm sure to have.