The Great Minnesota Getaway: Why the State Fair Feels Like Travel

The Minnesota State Fair isn’t just a fairground, it’s a full-blown temporary city, and walking through the gates feels like crossing a border. The sounds change first, then the smells hit, then the crowd closes in, and suddenly you’re “traveling” without ever leaving the Twin Cities. We’re joined by our friend Tim, also known as Minnesota Boy, to help us translate the Great Minnesota Get Together for anyone who loves road trips, local culture, and finding hidden gems in plain sight.

We get practical about how to do the Minnesota State Fair without burning your whole day in lines: how big it really is, why you can’t simply “wing it,” and how the official Minnesota State Fair app (and even an AI-built itinerary) can help you plan around schedules, distances, and those must-try foods that only exist in one location. Then we dig into the fun stuff: Pronto Pup vs corn dog, roasted corn dipped in butter, deep fried green olives, Sweet Martha’s cookies, all-you-can-drink milk, and the brand-new foods that create blockbuster lines.

But the best travel stories aren’t only about eating. We talk agriculture and tradition too: livestock barns, 4-H competitions, the Miracle of Birth exhibit, crop art made from Minnesota-grown seeds, and the dairy building’s butter sculptures including Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Add in live music stages, grandstand concerts, classic rides, people watching, and rapid-fire “best of” picks, and you’ve got a one-day guide to seeing Minnesota through travelers’ eyes.

If you enjoy travel podcasts, state fair food culture, and quirky American traditions, hit subscribe, share this with a friend who’d love the fair, and leave us a review so more listeners can find the show.

Transcript

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Cold Open And Show Welcome

SPEAKER_02 0:00

What's happening, Josh? The dog is very excited.

unknown 0:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Because we have a guest.

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Oh, Goliath.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Do you love to travel?

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Do you love road trips?

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Do you love finding hidden treasures in towns all over the USA? Hi, I'm Joshua.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

And I'm Craig. Welcome to Tres of Auth Town. It's the podcast that explores unique and charming towns scattered throughout the United States.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Guided by our love for location-based games like geocaching, join us as we venture to some of the country's most intriguing destinations, uncovering hidden gems and local secrets along the way.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

On today's episode, Josh, we are going to have a fair old time, predominantly the Minnesota fair old time. And speaking, and speaking of old, we also have a uh a good friend of ours joining the podcast as well. Tim, also known as Minnesota Boy, Minnesota Boy, Minnesota Boy in the Munzie and Giokashi War. G'day to you, Josh, and g'day to you, Tim. Oh, there is a great state fair. It's a great state. Something don't I don't see this see Tim, I just let him go. This is the this is what I do. I just let him go. He has to get it out of his system. He needs that song tunes going through his mind. He doesn't stop. And I always know, see, this is an audio-only podcast, Tim, but I always know when Josh is about to go into song because he starts moving, his shoulders start moving, he starts to like do a little jig and dance, and next minute you hear the song, and the song goes like this.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Our state fair is a great state fair. It's a great state fair indeed.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

There you go. See, that's this this is how we work, Tim. See, this is why we work well. So there you go. Welcome, Tim, by the way. Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_03 1:48

I don't think I've been on this podcast yet. What? What? Haven't I? No, you have. What other episode now off the top of your head? Tell me what it was. I'll tell you. I the when we went to when we went to Bamarama together. Yeah. Wow, that was a long time. That was two plus years ago.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Yeah. But I I know we definitely have been, Tim. Why? Because you are part of the guest profile. We I have a guest profile for you on the actual Buzz Sprout site. So where we upload the actual um the episode. So yeah, I know you've been on the show, Tim. I've got it, I've got your even your little uh your top headboard, whatever you call it, like the little profile pick of you too.

SPEAKER_03 2:26

So I'm glad to be here.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Yeah, there we go. Anyway, Josh, what are we talking about? This this state fair thing. What's what's going on tonight?

SPEAKER_02 2:34

We're talking about our state fair, because that's a great state fair. Yeah. No, we're talking about the Minnesota State Fair, okay, which is now we're biased, but it is by all account the best state fair in the whole United States. Iowa, Iowa, you know, gives us a run for our money, but our state fair is pretty much it's like a city in itself. It's like visiting a city, it's like visiting a town that has so many amazing things to do, see, and most importantly, eat.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Oh, there we go. And this is what we're going to discuss too, Josh. And that is like how and why. We are a travel podcast. So uh how and why are we talking about this in regards to it's it's a local for you guys, isn't it? You how far do you have to travel for it, for instance?

SPEAKER_03 3:20

Oh, it's uh it's a half an hour from my house.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

So half so you're not technically traveling, but when we're talking about it, Josh, we're talking about your mind traveling, your taste buds travel, you know, your the the sights and sounds and smells travel. So because you with that, and that's what we're gonna discuss is what what we can find at these state fairs that we don't ordinarily find in our own backyard. So that's the travel component. See am I reaching? Are we reaching?

SPEAKER_02 3:48

It's like it's like a staycation, but people do travel to the Minnesota State Fair from all over the country. Yeah, it's very, very popular.

Guest Tim Joins Delays And Upgrades

SPEAKER_02 3:57

Yeah, but before we get into that, oh yes, we must do our delays and upgrades.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

All right, let's get straight into the delays and upgrades. Tim, you are the guest, sir. Let's get on to your delays and upgrades first. You can choose which one you're gonna say first. You either do delays or upgrades, mate.

SPEAKER_03 4:14

I'm gonna do upgrade first.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Um upgrades.

SPEAKER_03 4:16

Yeah, I went to another fun Munzie event yesterday here in the state of Minnesota. Hopefully, your listeners know what the game of Munsey is by now.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

They do.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

Um, and uh it was in the city of Waconia, which is a little west of town here. Um, and uh we had a great time. It's one of those Munsi events where you know you just you people set up flags and you walk around a gorgeous park, and there was a lot and a lot of Munsies, a lot of points to get. So we had a great time. That's my upgrade.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Nice. See, and this time of year as well, let's be honest. This time of year up in Minnesota as well, when it comes to uh temperature-wise, to be able to get outside and enjoy the the fresh air, sunshine, you know, you you can't beat that as opposed to somewhere down here south in Alabama where it's where it's uh you know uh an average just under the hundred mark every single day. So but there you go. There you go. Nice, nice. And what about your delay, sir?

SPEAKER_03 5:06

My beautiful wife, Krista is having some issues with one of her hips. So some arthritis stuff going on in there. So she is but I guess it's also an upgrade in the sense she's she's gonna get upgraded. She's getting that hip replaced at the end of October. So oh, good old hip replacement.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

I know.

SPEAKER_03 5:26

We're getting older, that's how old we are.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Wow. And so at one point in time, Tim, does someone stop um uh what do you call it, like uh falling over, or they start to have a if they've had a fall?

SPEAKER_03 5:38

Yes. Um she has not had a fall that caused it, it's just her hip going bad.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

But no, but I mean the actual naming. So if I fall over, if I trip over, I say to myself, oh, I just fell over. I'm 51 years of age. Oh yeah. What age do I turn when I do the same thing? Oh, and I have to say, I had a fall.

SPEAKER_03 6:01

I'm uh just about 60 years old, and that hasn't quite happened to me yet, but I'm being careful.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Yes. Yeah, there we go. So there is a difference in age group from uh falling over and having a fall. There is a difference. Yes, yes, so let us know. If you're one of those people that said, Oh, I had a fall, let us know how old you are. Josh, um the good, sorry, Tim, good, good uh upgrades and uh apologies for the delays, but you know, she's gonna get better. So uh every our thoughts are with Krista as well, your lovely wife. Um, Josh, I'm gonna jump in now. I'm gonna be jumping. My uh my delay, I'll say my delay first. My delay happened today, Josh. I was sitting sitting doing some work, some Munziey work, believe it or not, on the uh on the computer inside. I get a phone call um from uh the daughter, my Jen's daughter here. She was outside with all the animals. Craig, there's a giant snake in the chicken coop. I was like, what? So he I ran out, Jen ran out with me as well. It was a they call him a black racer snake, and it was inside the coop, and this snake was a fair decent size, it was probably four and a half foot in sort of length, so it was a fair decent size. Now, I'm from Australia, Jen's here from Alabama. Who do you think caught the snake?

SPEAKER_02 7:15

I'm guessing it was probably her because you would you wouldn't have had me guess otherwise.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Well, exactly, and the reason why it's her is because I'm Australian, we don't actually touch snakes in Australia because 90% of them are poisonous. So that's the reason why. No, no, she she got the snake, she wrangled the snake well, and uh it's uh relocated the snake and took care of it from there. So there you go. That's my delay, the fact that I had to actually run today. But anyway, um my upgrade, sir, at last count as well here on the homestead, including the the new quail that have come through, the chickens and the ducks and everything else as well. We're up now just over a hundred non-human mouths that I feed on a daily basis. So every single day I'm feeding more than a hundred non-human mouths.

SPEAKER_02 8:05

It's like you have your own state fair right in your backyard.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Well, and technically there's a there's the flavor of this state fair too, because there's been a few roosters in the freezer camp just saying so.

SPEAKER_03 8:16

Oh freezer camp, yeah. Surprise you didn't surprise you didn't send that snake to freezer camp.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Yeah, no, no, no. And not only that, it's it's it's not too bad. It's only a it's only a black racer. So it uh it was only going for the eggs, we think, not the actual chickens themselves. So there you go. Josh, time for you, sir. What is your what is your delay first? It's funny.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

It's funny that you say like, oh, the weather is so nice up here because it is hot. Yeah, and you know what? We don't talk about the weather in this podcast, but I'm talking about in general. It's hot, it's the it's hot. When Craig, uh, when Tim and I were at the state fair, it was uh upper 90s with horrible or mid-90s with horrible 90s. Yeah, oh yeah, it was it was rough. It it made me want to throw in the towel. Like I I I was I did everything I wanted to do, and I was like, it's hot, I'm going home. So the heat, it's hot still, it's still summer here for sure.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 9:11

Um, but my upgrade was our state fair.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

It is a great state fair, it's a great state fair indeed.

SPEAKER_02 9:19

Yeah, uh it's a great, it's an upgrade when you can go to the Minnesota State Fair. We had so much fun and we are going to talk about it now and

Why A State Fair Feels Like Travel

SPEAKER_02 9:30

why going to a state fair is like traveling to a new city, a new place with all its culture and all its great stuff.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Well, Josh, I've never been to Minnesota State Fair. I've technically I've never been to a state fair in any state of the USA. I need to find one and go to one sometime in the next very close and very close future. But my first question for you guys then, in terms of because I'm actually interested in what you did, how you did things, you know, how many people were there, that sort of stuff as well. But when you I I take it there's gates is there as well. When you walk through the gates itself, um, what makes the Minnesota fair feel like you've arrived somewhere else other than your own backyard?

SPEAKER_03 10:11

Yeah, they're as soon as you go through the gates. I mean, you get that if you especially if you've been there before, maybe you just have these memories, but you feel it when you walk in the gate because you get the little wafts of smells from all the different things that are going on, and there's lots of people all of a sudden. And uh lots of people, those people are from everywhere as well, and so yeah, yeah, it's just kind of a different feel once you step on the fairgrounds.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

Yeah, yeah, there is a sense of a real excitement, of course. Yeah, the smell of beautiful, wonderful fried food. Yeah, but then you hear you hear music in the background, and then you can hear the here in the midway with all the carnival rides, and then if you go a little further, you can hear the win whinny of the horses, and and then you go to another area and it's filled with artwork. I mean, it's just like it scratches like every every itch. There's so much diversity of things you can see and do. But yeah, it's exciting. And and I think Tim, you're right. There is a sense of nostalgia, and it's very Minnesotan. You you feel very much at home. It is Minnesota Fair State Fair is called the Great Minnesota Get Together. So the cool thing about it, I mean, there's thousands and thousands of people. I don't know. They broke a record, Tim, on the first day this year. Yes. Wasn't it like something crazy, like 400,000 people?

SPEAKER_03 11:28

Well, over the first over the over the first two days. The the first day, I think, was 225,000 people. Unbelievable. Which is was a record for that particular day of the fair. The day that we went happened to be the lowest attended day this year. Oh, really? No, the day that I the other day that I went was the lowest attended day. The day that I went the day that I went with you, it was mid-range. I think it ended up being um about 150,000 people.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 11:55

Which is kind of middle of the road.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

That's still it was it felt crowded at one point. And then the heat always makes it even feel more crowded, I feel like.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

But no, absolutely, because you start to get that frustration that will come to it as well.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

It's exciting though, but when you have 200,000 people there, most of the Minnesotans, it's so common to be to run into people you know. And so that's why it's kind of called the Great Minnesota Get Together, because it's like you you run in run into people you know, which is it's always kind of fun, and you then you have a pronto pup in them, and then you say goodbye, and then you go run into somebody else. It's just it's a good thing. And you have a you have a what? A pronto pup. A pronto explain. There's a there's pronto pups, it's a great debate here in Minnesota. There's the pronto pup, and then there's a corndog. You know I know of a corn dog. You know what a corn dog is. Yeah, the thing with corndog is corndog is uh is a hot dog uh on a stick, obviously, made with corn batter. Yeah corn based. The pronto pup pup is a wheat-based batter, so it has a slightly different taste. And so some people are lovers of the corn dog, and some people are lovers of the pronto pup.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

So here is one for you. I'm diving as well. So the pronto pup, we don't have corn dogs in Australia. We don't actually have the that corn flour that you guys use as well. We have the wheat flour that you use until it creates the batter across a it's very similar to a uh a uh it's a frank, we call it a frankfort, it's very similar to a hot dog. Um but it's actually called a Pluto pup in Australia. Okay. So the pronto pup pup pluto pup. I can't even say it. I'm getting all the peas mixed around. That sounds like the same, same thing. It sounds like the same thing. Wow. There is a deep dive into this now.

SPEAKER_03 13:37

This this Tim, are you more of a Pronto pup person or a corn dog person? More of a pronto pup person for sure. The day that we went, I had two of them, one when you were there and one after you left. Um the day the other day that I went to the fair, I th I had three.

SPEAKER_02 13:52

So you are you were five pronto pups in this year.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Yes. Wow. Now, the only other thing is, well, I've got a question for you. The Pronto pups, do they come on a stick as well, like the corn dogs? Yeah, yeah. Oh, see the Pluto pups in Australia. We don't have sticks. Oh, it's literally handheld, and it comes normally in a in like when we order fish and chips in Australia from the fish and chip shop, we have Pluto pups there as well. So that's how that works. So they don't actually come on a stick in Australia. Also known as also known as a battered salve in Australia, too. Because it's a savoy is the actual name of the uh the sausage inside. Anyway, I've done a deep diet dive a little bit into the Minnesota State Fair as well. Okay. A couple of little quick facts for everyone out there listening. The fair began as a territorial agricultural fair in 1855 and became the Minnesota State Fair in 1859. It runs for 12 days and it ends on Labor Day.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

Tomorrow. Well, yeah, as this as this is posted. It ends today.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

It ends today, exactly. So if you haven't come there by today, next year's is the time to go. And the fairgrounds cover 322 acres midway between Minneapolis and St. Paul. I was about to ask as well, I thought of that too. When you said how many people attend, I was like, How big is this place? There is 322 acres. So giving that size, did you guys in one day can you actually cover? You can't cover all of it, sure.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

I bet we covered 90% of it. Yeah, we did. I looked at my at my Apple Watch, and by the other day, I was eight and a half miles of walking that day. So it's yeah, it's like a little city, basically. I mean we're talking blocks and blocks of uh roads. It there's literally roads, and you're just walking the roads. Obviously, the roads are blocked off to regular traffic, but but yeah, it's it's a little city, and it is it is quite huge. It's in the it's in a big shape of kind of like an L, wouldn't you say? It's like it's basically an L shape.

Crowd Size Layout And Fair Planning

SPEAKER_02 15:50

Yeah, a little bit. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Nice, nice. Well, Josh, I know how much you love uh using um uh AI, for instance, like ChatGBT, etc., to utilize your the itinerary. I know. Remember when you went up to up north there with uh with Rista Bunny and you used um ChatGuet to get all the best places. Would it be if you if you've got a limited time frame to do this Minnesota State Fair, could you use like an itinerary sort of AI-based thing whereby you go, okay, this I want to see this, I want to have a pronto pop, I want to do this, I want to do this, and then it tells you which is way to the best way, the best route to do it, or is there an app for it?

SPEAKER_02 16:25

Or I'm sure it it would do that. There's Minnesota State Fair has an official app, and then there's an unofficial app that's created called Minnesota uh State Fair on a stick, I believe. And so it's really it's really user-friendly. But yeah, yeah, I I think you could use AI. If you told AI the day you were going, it they would know the whole schedule. They you could say, I want to, I want to see a little bit of music, I want I want to eat the I want to eat these foods. It would probably tell you what order to do it all based on the schedule of the fair. That that's I didn't try that, but that would be an amazing thing to do if you were unfamiliar with the state fair. And and exactly also it is it's a little tricky that you know there's some real specialty foods where you can only get them in one place throughout this whole huge fairground. So for example, I'm sure we're gonna talk about our favorite foods. One is something uh Tim and I ate my favorite food there is the deep fried green olives on a stick. And there is only one place that sells those. Wow. So you, you know, when you're near it, and that's kind of I think how Tim and I decided what to eat. We were like, if we're near it, now's the time to get it because we're gonna have to walk really far to get it otherwise.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

I suppose AI would also know um from past and from history, in terms of if you wanted to say to it as well, like, you know, I want to go to these places, different locations there, when the the least amount of people are around as well, in terms of the and so it'll actually route you in the opposite direction to the natural flow of the uh of the fare too, I do believe. So there you go. It's an idea, Josh. Next year, next year, let us know. Let us know. Give it a test. Exactly. But we're gonna jump then now straight

Food Icons New Foods And Long Lines

SPEAKER_01 18:05

into the actual food because you already mentioned it and I'm getting hungry now. So you mentioned the uh the uh olives. Uh you is there places here where you can eat that are actually from different countries or different tastes and different nationalities, that sort of thing as well. So tell us more about the food that way.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

Tim, go ahead and tell them about the international bazaar.

SPEAKER_03 18:25

Yeah, the international bazaar is a corn kind of in the one corner of the fairgrounds, and it has uh stuff from all over the world. Of course, there's a lot of shops selling trinkets and you know, whatever. I mean, whatever you can think of that people would sell, they have it there, hats and purses and toys and things to put on your wall, etc. etc. But the food in there, they have uh they've all there's a holy land deli in there that has lots of food from the Middle East. There's uh what was that long line, Josh, for the the mm food? The Hmong Corn dog. Yes, really long line. There was a long line for that. Um so that that area of the of the fair definitely brings in a lot of uh international flavor, no doubt.

SPEAKER_02 19:09

The thing is with the food is that every year there's a list of brand new foods. And so these brand new foods like kind of catch popularity. So like and and the first year they come out, they're just really very, very busy. So this year, a hot new food that had a huge line was um was it uh deep fried apple fries?

SPEAKER_03 19:33

Like apple fries, yeah. They're like battered apples and then deep fried, and then you had some cinnamon cinnamon caramel dip, I think.

SPEAKER_02 19:41

Yeah, and they said it tastes like a delicious like apple pie. And then they were fries that were apples.

SPEAKER_03 19:47

Yeah, every time I passed it, every time I went by it, it was very busy. The line zigzagged back and forth. So we never we never got it. If they survive because they're popular, maybe next year. I had go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

No, no, you're right, go ahead, I had one goal for food that I'd never had before. It was Peachy's Donuts, it was supposed to be the most amazing donuts. So I actually met Tim at Peachy's Donuts because I was like, I this is a priority, I want to get there. When I got there, I had never in my whole life of the State Fair seen a line so long for food. It was, I mean, these are normal street blocks. I'd say it was four blocks down the way. I would say the line was certainly over an hour, maybe even longer than an hour for donuts. For one donut. This tells you how good these donuts are. They but I had never tried them before, but I was looking at that line, I was like, Are you kidding? And I I turned to Tim. Tim's like, you know, Tim was so generous because he would have waited for me in that line. I would have, but but I mean, time is time is money. Like we, you know, to wait in two hours online for a donut. Yeah, that's that's so that's gonna have to be a good donut. I know it was a good donut because I got one. But what I did, I turned to Tim and said, Tim, I'm gonna give, I'm gonna give, I'm gonna find a kid. I was so smart. But if I had a kid at the front of the line, oh and the donut was six dollars, I gave him a ten. I said, You can keep these four dollars if you buy buy this donut for me. Oh so I paid ten dollars for a six dollar donut and had to wait, wait what, two minutes. Yeah, two minutes.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

Oh wow. And what did what did the rest of people in the line say? Did they do it?

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Nobody knew I was doing it. I just walked up to the kid and handed him some money. I didn't care.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Wow. That's very brave, actually. In this day and age, I'll say that much as well. So um, okay, I've got a quick game for you because I did see I did see the uh some of the foods here as well. And the the game is eat it, split it, or skip it. So, in other words, you're gonna eat the food by yourself, you're gonna split it between the two of you, or you you're not interested in it, you're gonna skip it. Okay, so you ready for these?

SPEAKER_03 21:56

Ready.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

Okay, first one, first and foremost, Tim, this is for you first. Is the cheese curds. Eat it. Eat it, Josh. Eat it. And we did.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

We did eat it. We actually shared it. But yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:09

We shared it, but I would say, yeah, if you're by yourself, eat it anyway.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Are they as good as the Wisconsin cheese curds?

SPEAKER_02 22:16

They're actually from Wisconsin. I think the cheese curds are from Wisconsin. They are from Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

That's why you should eat these cheese curds. I'll give that much.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

For me, I pass. Skip it.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

Pass on that one. Skip that one.

SPEAKER_02 22:36

I skip it. Because they when you have to buy them, you have to buy so many. Oh. You have to buy a like a to make it worth it, you have to buy a bucket. And nobody's going to and then you have to carry that bucket all over. I just want, I just want to taste it. I just want one. Just give me one. So I will skip it because it's too much cookies for one.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

No, that's fair enough. That's fair enough. I saw this one as well, and I looked at this, and this got my taste buds sort of um salivating a little bit. And that is the uh the roasted corn. Tim. Eat it. Eat it, Josh.

SPEAKER_02 23:11

Eat it. They take this corn and they dip it in a vat of butter.

SPEAKER_03 23:16

Yeah. This is yeah, roasted corn on like a flame grill. Yeah. And then they and then they dump it in the butter, and then you can put salt on it or pepper, whatever you like. And wow. I don't I haven't there's been many years where I don't get it because you know you can make corn in the cob at home and have butter on it and whatnot. But uh Josh always gets it because he loves it. And so I was with him, so I of course joined right in and I was glad I did because it was delicious.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

Nice, nice. Second last one, this one here is uh this made me laugh, actually. So she made me laugh out loud when I read it, and I didn't believe it, so I had to actually Google it. Pork chop on a stick. Is that a real thing or is that it's a real thing?

SPEAKER_03 24:02

I have seen people eating it.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Yeah. Would you eat it, Tim?

SPEAKER_03 24:05

It's a skip it for me.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

It's a skip.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

Skip it because it's not it's not that it's not good, there's just so many other things that are better.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

Better, yeah. And I suppose pork chop as well on a stick, that's a lot of protein too, so it does actually fill you up. You were saying before about the bucket of uh the cookies, for instance, as well. You don't want to fill up on one thing, you want to taste all the flavors too. So all right, the last and definitely not least, and this this is this is yeah, had me a little bit intrigued. The all you can drink milk. What is for two dollars? For two dollars, all you can drink milk.

SPEAKER_03 24:38

Tell me more about the all you can drink milk, Tim. Um, I have done it in past years. Um, it's crazy. When I was a kid, that was a quarter to do that. Um, it is now two or three dollars, I don't remember which. I if yeah, Josh may be right that it might be two. Um, but it's it's it's literally like uh they back up one of those trucks that carries the milk, you know, away from the dairy. Yeah, it kind of looks like a guest truck, like they just they just hook that up to this little building that has all these taps in it, and you pay your money, and they give you a cup and they fill it up, and then you can just stand there and drink as many times as you want. And of course, think of your money's worth, you really want to go for it, and then you don't feel so well because that is a lot of dairy.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

That's a lot of dairy. How dairy, Josh. Uh yeah, is there any flavors to this, or is it just literally plain old milk?

SPEAKER_02 25:34

I think they have chocolate. I think they do have chocolate, yeah. I don't know if they have strawberry milk, they might. Um, but here's the thing here's a tip though. If you love milk, this is it's perfect to go to Sweet Martha's cookies, get a bucket of cookies with your friends, and then walk over to the milk and just and just dip those cookies in the milk, and then they get full pretty quickly. But if that that's the perfect thing to do with the all-you-can-drink milk.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

Wow, with the Martha. Good tip, good tip. Um, and if you want to know more in regards to how much milk a person can drink, I I suggest you Google YouTube people drinking a gallon of milk and seeing that a gallon of milk cannot sit in a human being's stomach for any longer than a couple of minutes before it uh it comes back up again. I'll just say that.

SPEAKER_05 26:21

So there you go.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Oh, yeah. It's a YouTube is a wonderful thing, especially when they put food dye in the milk just to see who who pops up first. But anyway, um, thank you so much for the eat it or skip it or split it. I like it. I like it too. So there you go. Um, we're saying before about the uh the food and the and

Beyond Food Animals Art And Traditions

SPEAKER_01 26:40

the bizarre stuff and whatever else as well. Anything out of the ordinary this year that you guys found that you thought I've never seen that before at the state fair. This is brand new to us, and uh and I have to try it, or I I am definitely not gonna try it. I'm talking about like things like you know, crickets on a stick, or you know, the weird, the wonderful, the things that you see on Survivor, for instance, or any any weird stuff like that at all.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

I don't think there's I didn't know if I noticed.

SPEAKER_03 27:07

There is some of that weird stuff in that one building on the north end that has like gator and snake. Yes, there's gator and snake. There we go. Stuff like that. Um, I've never had any of it. I did have uh, I think buffalo from that bison from that place once, and it was good. Um, but I've never tried the the weirder ones. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

Well, if it if you if you've ever been away with Tim, you know how basic his food choices are.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

We brought it, I brought it up. I brought it up because it was like, what are we gonna hit? We're gonna hit all the the ones that Tim loves. Yeah, then you can't you never have regrets.

SPEAKER_03 27:40

You know, if you've if if you have your own state fair nearby you like we do in in Minnesota, and the reason one of the reasons the Minnesota State Fair is so big is because it's situated right between the two major cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul, here where most of the population of this of the state is. Um and so it's that's why it's big. There's so many local people. Yeah. So everybody has gone to the state fair like every year of their lives, pretty much, and you get you get you get your little pattern, you know, you go in the door and you know because there are changes, there are new things every year, but a lot of things stay the same. And so you can just go from one spot of the fairgrounds to the other and you just know where your stuff is. Yeah, and um, yeah, it that's kind of what I do. I've kind of become a creature of habit at the fair. It was fun to go with Josh because he brought me to a whole different pattern. Yes, yeah, yeah. Well, I like that. We played bingo, we played bingo like old people. Yeah, we did. What?

SPEAKER_01 28:35

Like actual bingo bingo, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like B-I-N-G-O bingo. Yeah, B-I-N G O, yeah. We didn't think, Josh, I thought you'd be bur bursting to the songbook from now, surely. B Io. B I didn't it didn't take much, Tim. It didn't take much. Um, so you're saying to just Tim as well that you have your own little route as well, around, etc. as well. So obviously, this for for me in my mind and the size of it too, it is like a temporary city. Um for what neighborhoods and neighborhoods, yeah, temporary neighborhoods as well. Yep. So um, with that in mind, uh, what what else was there? You mentioned so far, like the international bazaar, etc., with the different types of food and the music and dance area there. What other areas are there for it um as well?

SPEAKER_03 29:18

Yeah, on the north end of the fairgrounds, there's kind of this area that used to be called Machinery Hill, and I don't think they really call it that anymore. But there are still a lot of machinery things there. And you could think agricultural, because it's an agricultural fair. So there are still tractors to look at. There's a lot of lawn equipment, mowers, and all of that kind of thing up there. And that stuff is still there. Um, and they, you know, there are also car dealerships with new vehicles and all of that kind of thing. So that's another area of the fair. Um, Josh, what do you think? What's another? The animals probably is another big area.

SPEAKER_02 29:51

The livestock barns, yeah, and they've really updated it. They have this uh place called the Miracle of Birth. So there's literally pigs and cows that are giving birth every single day. Pretty much every day in front of crowds of people. Yep. And the little piglets, I mean, are just so adorable. Yeah, but yeah, they're literally cows in labor. And and if you're not there when they're in labor, they're showing videos of what just happened, you know, two hours ago.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

So on the big screen.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

You really get a sense of what what our rural, our rural friends, our outstate rural friends, like this is their life. And yeah, so that's great. And then you get to see the the largest boar of Minnesota. The thing was get this 1,350 pounds. Wow. That's how big the Minnesota's largest pig was. So you get to see that kind of stuff. Um, we saw some alpacas and some llamas that were hilariously. They had they actually have a contest where they dress them up in funny costumes and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

Yes. I've just I've seen them dress up like uh in in Mexican attire as well. So uh oh, everything and anything. Yeah, exactly. There are buildings for hogs and sheep and goats and chickens and ducks and rabbits and I do like how I do like how they still have have hang on to their their roots in regards to being an agricultural fair as well. Because I mean, at the end of the day, we all know things can get too commercialized. You know, we talk about the food, we talk about the the rides and all that sort of stuff for the kids and an actual fairground. But at the end of the day, this was begun as an agricultural fair. So I do like the fact that they still have their agricultural animals.

SPEAKER_03 31:31

And people, people, mostly kids, are still showing their animals at the fair, whatever animals they have raised, and they're if they have competition showing those animals. And uh there's a big 4-H building that has uh all kinds of displays that the kids have done during the year or things that they've made. Um, so yeah, it's still a very much focused on uh rural on the things that rural kids do.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Yeah. Yeah. We we have in Australia, we have the Royal Easter show in Australia in Sydney as well, and it's very simple, it's very similar to what you you guys are talking about as well. You do have the rides, you have the different foods and stuff as well, but at the same time, this is still an agricultural sort of fair. What I loved when I was a kid, um, and I don't think you guys have it here, but I'll I'll check back in a minute. But they also have what they call what we call it crop art, whereby you go into an area and all you see is like these rows and rows up on the walls and like leaning on an angle up towards the walls, different artwork made with different produce. Do you guys still have that there as well?

SPEAKER_02 32:33

Yes. So this has become very, very popular in our state areas is the crop art. So popular, in fact, that there is long, long one hour, two hour lines to see it. And it's when it's crop, when I we say crop art, this is like seeds. It's mostly seeds, it's mostly the seeds. It's hard to describe, but it is amazing.

SPEAKER_03 32:51

Yeah, and the seeds have to be crops that are grown in the state of Minnesota.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

Okay, yeah, yeah. Like one of them, for example, was the the alb the let it album Let It Be, the Beatles album, yeah. Completely done in seeds. Um amazing. Um, it's also a place there's a lot of like political statements that are happening in there. So it's it it really whatever the crop art art is, it's really reflective of maybe what has gone on in the state or what was popular in the state and at the moment. So this is really it's really fascinating. Um, but it's so very, very popular. Yeah, um, yeah. And oh, and in that building also, the horticulture building, there's beekeepers in there. And we have Tim and I had our ear talking talked off by a somebody very passionate about bees.

SPEAKER_01 33:41

Well, you know, that's if you if you watch a lot of movies, you understand you gotta understand that beekeepers is the uh is the actual secret word for uh ex-CIA agents and uh and oh really yeah if you're a beekeeper, you but you're ex-CIA and you're an ex-assassin. But anyway, that's that's that's that's Hollywood. Um, yeah, no, uh crop art's a big thing. But one thing that's the biggest thing in Australia, and I don't believe you have it here in Minnesota or there in Minnesota, is the show bags. You do you guys have show bags, or do you know what show bags are?

SPEAKER_03 34:14

You'd have to explain it. I don't okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:16

Okay, so in in Australia, a Royal Easter show, it sounds very similar, except we have one big area that's full of show bags. And when you go to the Royal Easter show, everyone says to you, Can you get me a show bag in a particular show bag? Show bags are things that are branded, like you know, Cadbury, for instance, the chocolate maker, they they've got their own show bag. Um, Alan's you know, uh candy has its own show bag. Now, these show bags, they're five, eight, ten dollars each, whatever the show bag. You're always gonna get double or triple the value of the products in the particular show bag, you see. So that's what it's all about. You also get stupid stuff like you know, blow-up hammers where you can blow the hammer up and hit other people over the head or horns and hats and all that sort of stuff, too. Anything promotional for that particular brand and product is a show bag in Australia, and it is absolutely huge. It is the number one thing you have to get when you go to the show in Australia.

SPEAKER_02 35:14

So is this like is this like a grab bag? Like it's just like a mystery bag.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

Uh it's a yeah, it's not mystery because it they'll they'll show you up on the where you purchase the show bag itself, it'll show you what's in the show bag. You see, so and it'll tell you value. It'll have like the value. And so the value will be $35, and for today, on today's show, is it's it's $7. You know, that's the thing, too. So you pay your seven dollars and you get your show bag. There's people that walk out of the the Royal List of show in Australia with over 50 show bags, like arms, both arms loaded with these show bags. Show bags themselves, predominantly they're mostly just the plastic bags that you normally get of uh like a souvenir bag sort of style. But there are some bags that are actual tote bags that are part of the package, you see. So maybe, maybe, maybe companies here in America should start show bags because I'm telling you now, it is it is a gold mine when it comes to um advertise and promotional products as well for these companies because uh that's all people go there for is a show bag. So interesting. There you go.

SPEAKER_02 36:16

Showbags. There are a lot of giveaways, there are a lot of freebies. Yeah, people are constantly giving away their promotional things. Yeah, I mean, the the most cliche thing is the guy that we saw, the guy walking around with a yard stick that he got somewhere. Like, who uses a yardstick anymore? But uh but they have buttons and stickers, and yeah, it's you know, just like anything. There's just everybody's trying to promote everything and anything.

SPEAKER_01 36:41

I also saw as well, there's a dare, is there a dairy building in the UK? Tell us about the dairy building.

SPEAKER_02 36:48

You can't not talk about this because this is uniquely Minnesotan. So the dairy building has obviously there's malts and sundays, and you know, you know, you can get dairy stuff inside of it, but they sculpt girls, uh farmers' daughters, dairy farmers' daughters, into from a 90-pound box of butter inside inside of a freezer. They carve it.

SPEAKER_01 37:16

Who does the is it a sculptor?

SPEAKER_02 37:18

Um butter sculptor. Butter sculptor. I don't know where they get them. Um, and the the one that wins the ultimate dairy princess. So there's you know, there's one pr one, I think, dairy princess from each county. We have 83 counties, but the one that wins it, it must be some sort of pageant, some sort of yeah, I don't know how it works. Yep. But the winner becomes um becomes the dairy princess. Princess K of the Milky Way, Princess K of the Milky Way. Princess K of the Milky Way. Princess K of the Milky Way. And you can go and look at these butter sculptures. I was really curious because they had a QA. I was like, tell me more about these butter sculptures. And the big question is the the farmer's daughter, they sculpt the head, the bust of the of the person in butter, and I'm like, what do you do with it? And they take it home, they put it in the freezer, and then they their family just eats it all year. The butter. Yeah, I mean, it's 90 pounds of butter.

SPEAKER_01 38:14

Yeah, they so you can you can get your slice of toast and go in with your hand or with a slice of toast and just literally wipe down yeah, the the chop off the nose, yeah, chop off the nose, do the E.

unknown 38:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:27

It really is a unique, it really is a unique tradition at the state fair. Everybody, ever I think I mean everybody I think makes one trek through the dairy building just to see the butter sculptures.

SPEAKER_01 38:37

Wow, there you go. I did I did hear that that uh last year's winner was actually uh bribed their way to the top, and everyone else said, How dairy. Anyway, we're gonna move on. Um I had to get that. I had to get one in, had to get one in. Um so anything else in regards to that in the areas as well. Like there's uh, you know, anything I think there was a um haunted house or something.

SPEAKER_03 39:04

Oh, there is a like any fair, there's a lot of rides, and uh there's a whole midway of rides and games. And if you've been to any fair, you know what that looks like, and that's an exciting thing to go do if you like that kind of thing. But the haunted house is kind of it's actually down by the dairy building in that part of the fairgrounds. And Josh and I sat across the street in a shady spot and we're just people watching, you know, because one of the best things to do at the fair is to do people watching. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I had a little game for Josh, in fact, I said, You can you find one couple where one coup one person is covered in tattoos and the other one's not? Because it's very hard to do. That is that is. Um, but I found I think you found one couple anyway. This was across from the um haunted house, and um, it's a two-story haunted house. It's big.

SPEAKER_02 39:55

According to the guy, the guy that was trying to get everybody to everybody to go in there, it's the second biggest haunted house in Minnesota.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

In Minnesota, yeah, in Minnesota. Where's the biggest house in Minnesota? One of the houses in Minnesota.

SPEAKER_02 40:06

We actually looked it up. I don't know, it was somewhere else. Somewhere in else.

SPEAKER_01 40:10

So that but that that that one can't move. That's the reason why. No, it doesn't move. Yeah, yeah. That's fair enough. That's fair enough.

SPEAKER_02 40:15

The quote of the fair of the day was that that are you gonna was the guy's outside, he's trying to get people to come into this haunted house. It's five dollars. And I don't know if I'm gonna quote it exactly, but he goes, he goes, come on in to the to the haunted house. This is a five dollar attraction, no, a five dollar air-conditioned attraction to hell and to hell and back.

SPEAKER_00 40:38

Get air conditioning in hell.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

Air conditioned attraction to hell and back.

SPEAKER_03 40:44

People love it though. There's a there's always people going in there, so it must be good. I'm not a big haunted house fan, but I people love it.

SPEAKER_01 40:51

That's fair enough. Well, Tim Josh has mentioned a couple of times now as well that the the different things are very Minnesotan, like you know what I mean. Like you said, the the dairy hall, very Minnesota, this at the other. If Tim, if I was to go with you and I'm an out-of-towner, out-of-state visitor, where where would you take me or or to to what location would you take me to sort of help me understand Minnesota? Oh what is Minnesota?

SPEAKER_03 41:16

Besides the dairy building and seeing the butter sculptures, which is uniquely a Minnesota thing, I I believe. Um you just want to do some people watching, number one, because you will see a very big cross section of the entire state of Minnesota walking around the fairgrounds. And you know, people think of Minnesota and they think, oh, it's cold up here, and it's um it's all people from northern Europe, you know. That's that's our history. Um but we have people here in the Twin Cities from everywhere around the world, and it's a very diverse and uh it's a wonderful place to live. So you can really see that. And then also including the other things we talked about, the 4-H, um, the future farmers of America, um, doing their livestock shows, all of that, very agricultural. Most of Minnesota is very agricultural, and that definitely will um play into it. One of the places that I would bring to kind of show you some Minnesotan things, there's a there's a particular artist, his name is Adam Terman, and he is very popular in Minnesota, and he makes a lot of really great Minnesota themed art, and he has a huge booth in the what's called the grandstand. Um, a huge booth with all of his art, he does wall art, t-shirts, socks. I mean, he puts his art on everything, so you could get anything you want. And um, but just looking at his art, you wouldn't like this. This is a history of Minnesota here. This is a very big cross-section of what it is to be here in Minnesota. What do you think, Josh?

SPEAKER_02 42:41

Yeah, I agree with everything you're saying. I think to the going to the um the activities building, you know, a lot of times when you think about 4-H, you think about kids. That's like kids creating things. Yeah, but any Minnesotan, if they want to, they can enter their barbecue sauce into a contest. Yeah, their cake, their cakes, cake decorating, cookie decorating, um, breads. I mean, you name it. If you can make it, you can enter it as an adult and compete against other people, furniture and furniture, clothing that they make, and quilts. You just name it, and it's so and by walking through that building, you really get a sense of through the things that people create. You get a sense of the state of exactly urban, suburban, and rural. Like it had it all has a flavor.

SPEAKER_03 43:33

Yeah, the fine arts building with all the art. I mean, there'll be you're bound to see some prints-related stuff, for instance. Um, Bob Dylan. Um, you're gonna see a lot of the rural landscaping. You're gonna see just uh anything you can think of. Yeah, yeah, very cool.

SPEAKER_01 43:48

Nice, nice. Well, when when we travel as well, let's just get back to travel purposes as well. When we travel, we pay close attention um than normally, you know, we we we look around than we normally do when we're at home. conferences as well. Let me ask you this, and that is do you actually does your attention span increase or your level increases itself when you actually attend an affair? In other words, does it actually help yourselves and other Minnesotans to see their own state with travelers' eyes? That's a good question.

SPEAKER_02 44:17

I think it does because there are people that are coming from outstate from small communities and they are seeing you know bands, for example, musicians from the Twin Cities. And they they they might not come to the Twin Cities to see um a dancer or artwork or or some sort of performer. And so this is an opportunity for those in the outstate to see that at the same time this is an opportunity it's the other way around for the city folk to see the the people that are they're riding horses and taking care of cattle and and animals. So putting food on their plates yeah exactly so there it really is it's both there is an opportunity for people to see and understand their quote unquote neighbors a whole lot better because again like like Tim said it is so diverse racially diverse but also you know uh by location as well. Yeah and a lot of people don't a lot of people some people are just like even like they shouldn't be but like nervous about going into the city for example oh and this gives people an opportunity to just see a little bit of the our the culture of our city even within the state fair.

SPEAKER_01 45:26

Yeah yeah yeah it's uh it's it's a cool it's a cool thing to walk around and just see all the different kinds of people even by the way they dress at the state fair you know I mean a lot of people in shorts and t-shirts but people wearing the cowboy boots and the jeans and the big ball buckles and oh yeah you know it's it's a wide range of people I suppose because you think about the with the especially the cowboy hats the the belt buckles the boots you think of Texas you think of Wyoming you think think of those sort of states but you don't realize that you guys have got cowboys in Minnesota as well like you know that's fair enough that's fair enough uh three quick three quick facts I've got for everyone as well listen up very carefully nearly 1.94 million people attended in 2025 so there you go so last year 1.9 almost 2 million people attended the attendance record is more than 2.12 million set in 2019 and uh and there's more than 25 major buildings and barns and areas fill the actual fairgrounds itself the major major buildings that too there you go three quick facts in terms of size as well I like it Josh you said before about uh performers and stuff too

Music Rides People Watching Night Views

SPEAKER_01 46:35

I've been to Minnesota and I I we walked around um uh Minneapolis as well you and I and we did a few geocaches and stuff and that too uh and you showed me the different areas and different uh performing art centers and stuff as well so you were saying before is that um these some of these performances happen in the fair as well yeah sometimes they have some of the the theater groups actually come out and they perform like songs from whatever there's the latest musical there's musicians everywhere local musicians actually yeah uh Tim and I we actually sat down because my friend um Josh Cleveland his band was playing and if you watch my geocaching videos you've seen him on my on some of my videos he's J Sox if you remember yeah uh the bearded guy and and he he got to play three times in the afternoon so that was one of the reasons I actually went that Friday is because I knew he was playing so um and this and then a lot of the music you pay twenty dollars to get in and all these concerts they're free you just can walk up to them and they're free you don't have to pay extra yeah there are many stages yeah unless you go to the grandstand show so every night there's a grandstand show in the grandstands and these are like the major acts so um I think last night TLC and oh wow salt and peppa play shoot baby the biggest draw this year was early in the run of the fair this year the biggest draw at the grandstand was Weird Al.

SPEAKER_03 47:59

Yeah he sold out oh weird Al Yankovic yes Weird L sold out it was big wow I love it so yeah big country act punk country acts rock and roll and act so there are and usually those you know that's an extra charge okay yeah yeah well that's that's that's pretty much a um an actual concert that sort of stuff too oh yeah it is the full concert it ends yeah it's usually it's in the evening the major concert of the day is at the grandstand in the evening it's a different act every night and then at the end of it it ends with fireworks which is very cool okay yeah everybody but as Josh was saying as you walk around the fairgrounds you almost every other block or so you run into a major stage where there's somebody performing doing something.

SPEAKER_02 48:41

Yep yeah and it's a kid's stage too yeah um but there's rides and there's the traditional midway like the with the Ferris wheel and the thrill rides and actually uh Tim and I actually walk through it because I just think it's hilarious to watch all the people trying to con you to play their their games that are you know rip ripoffs or whatever. I just get a I got a kick out of walking through there and just seeing all the people getting ripped off Connies they they equal connies don't you call the cannibal people yeah they're the ones they're the ones but there's an old old ride one of the old oldest things in the state fair it's 110 years old it's called the Ye Old Mill. And basically it's it's like a very very old ride very old and basically it's like a boat ride. You get in this boat and it's inside of a building and it's just all it is it's just completely pitch black for like a good a good 10 minutes.

SPEAKER_03 49:39

It is very dark in there for most of the ride and then as it goes through it passes these little lit vignette windows of like weird little scenes. Yes like trolls yeah trolls and deer and then that is blah then it's dark again. It's very weird I I cannot confirm I cannot confirm but I believe that the old mill is quite often used by some of the younger people that might want to smooch for a little bit well I don't know if it's younger people I don't know if it's just younger people.

SPEAKER_01 50:08

Yeah it's the place to take your special person for I was going to say this and this is this is where Krista did a hip in but anyway so there you go anyway moving on i've I've got some quick facts for you as well one more quick fact and that is yeah in regards to the entertainment stuff as well the fair presents more than 900 shows over the 12 days and over a hundred performers during the 12 day run itself as well so there you go 900 shows with 100 performers during the 12 days itself so a lot's going on a lot's happening as well I like it I like it very cool all right I'm gonna go quick quick fast round as well now because we're getting we're getting long in the tooth a little bit with the time frame.

SPEAKER_03 50:48

Um let me see let me see Tim best first stop when you first walk in the gates best first I I go very early in the morning to try to beat some of the crowds as they build during the day and my first stop is always Tom Thumb Mini donuts. They come in just those mini donuts that could go around in the grease and they come out just fresh and hot and they toss them in some cinnamon sugar. Great way to start your day.

SPEAKER_02 51:15

There you go Josh up to you now the best last stop I get I didn't get it this year but I get the salted caramel cashew rolls are because this is something that you can a lot of the food is difficult to take to go this is something you pick up and you can take it home with you and it doesn't go bad but they're so good. They have peanut rolls they have but the caramel cashew rolls to so good that's a great last stop nice nice Tim speaking of food then back to your most essential food.

SPEAKER_03 51:51

Well for me it's the Pronto pups I get two or three of them every time I go two or three every time I go but a quick second to that is the deep fried green olives that Josh mentioned those are delish. Are they deep fried in batter as well or they're just deep fried yes they're olives with cream cheese battered around and then deep fried oh dip it in some ranch of course from Minnesota you gotta dip it in ranch you gotta get there you're from America all Americans love ranch as well now Josh Josh Josh most overrated food.

SPEAKER_02 52:22

Sweet Martha's cookies we talked about it I agree it's just because there's so many of them and um and by the way before you continue they have a food that I had called get this deep fried ranch.

SPEAKER_03 52:36

Yes that's deep fried oh my God I know it's hard to imagine it's hard to imagine it's so good I think there is kind of like a little bit of a a wonton kind of a thing on the inside okay that they fill up with ranch dressing.

SPEAKER_01 52:52

I mean truck full it's so good deep fry it and they'd have to obviously deep freeze it as well to like the the rock hard solid in order for it to not all melt it so I don't know I don't know how they do it it's magic but it's so good.

SPEAKER_02 53:04

And you dip it in hot you dip it in hot honey it was so good.

SPEAKER_01 53:08

Ooh ranch and hot honey look at you guys oh the tips are coming out everywhere. Tim it's up to you now as well the best hidden gem the one thing that no one really knows about but you love the best hidden gem.

SPEAKER_03 53:21

The best hidden gem the best hidden gem non-food non-food yeah non-food hidden gem on the north end of the fairgrounds there's a building that has kind of an exhibition hall and it changes every year.

SPEAKER_02 53:35

And it's a great place to go because number one it's inside an air conditioned oh yeah when it's 90 some degrees out it feels great to walk through there for the 10 15 20 minutes it's going to take you um this year was a dinosaur exhibit which a lot of people really loved and in previous years they've had things about uh there was one I remember was about safety last year was all about space and so uh there's different things in there every year but it's it's a really I think a lot of people miss it because it is the very north end of the fairground like almost out the gate there you go there you go josh to you now I think you've spoken about it earlier on in the show as well but the best people watching spot is it out front of the uh the haunted haunted house it's kind of it's it's it's outside the horticulture culture building because the horticulture building has the Minnesota Brewers Association okay where you can go in and you can get a beer flight so you go in there get your beer flight and then you find a bench right outside there and watch people as you drink drink your drink your flight.

SPEAKER_03 54:36

And that street that street is the most tree covered of the entire fairgrounds too the trees that's not overtake it so it's nice and shady shady as well or to Tim to you might as well the best nighttime experience wow best nighttime experience I don't stay until night very often I didn't think so but when I do when I do there's some permanent rides on the fairgrounds there's a couple of sky rides one looks kind of like a chairlift that Josh and I did um there's another one like that but there you sit inside of the little yeah car um but the one that's best to do at night is the sky I think what's it called sky tower space tower and it's just a very tall skinny tower with a a circular thing that you that people sit in around it and it as it turns as it goes up and down. So it goes all the way up and you get a really good view of the cities at night yeah from up there. It's yeah you can do it during the day too but at night it's really spectacular. And and how are you Tim with your uh with your not vertigo what's it called the the motor this ride that road that ride moves very very slowly it rises and lowers slowly and it spins very very slowly.

SPEAKER_02 55:46

I asked him the same question because that was because that was and we had a I think I said Tim what you would you rather do the space ride or do you would you like to rather do the sky glider and we decided we do the sky glider.

SPEAKER_01 55:58

Fair enough fair enough Josh one last one for you and that is the one thing sir you have never done but want to try is there anything yes I'd like to do the slingshot the that slingshot thing where they they just shoot you straight up in the air yeah um I've never done that I'd like to I will film it from the ground we I've done I've done the slingshot when I was in Australia we've got slingshots and that's too in Australia. I've done one in Australia the slingshot I'll tell you now it's it's fantastic it's phenomenal um people say in regards to skydiving they say you know oh I'll never skydive but then they go and do the slingshot I'm like uh skydiving's a lot easier to do than the slingshot because when you skydive you don't you can't see so you don't know how fast you're traveling when you're skydiving there's nothing to represent you know there's no cliff beside you you can't see yourself falling for it you just feel like you're flying whereas when you're in that uh that ball and you get flung into the sky you see those buildings everything go past pretty quick you know how fast you're actually going and then falling again too and then it's just it's just that nonstop bounce afterwards as well and you flick around you spin backwards and forth oh yeah Josh you you'd actually enjoy it Tim you would definitely not enjoy it you would not you would you'd be sick for weeks after that thing so there you go very good very good well it's that time gentlemen anyways well thank you so much for everything as well um one thing I will say Tim one last thing for you so finish this sentence for me the Minnesota State Fair is worth traveling to because you will see everything you need to see about the state of Minnesota all in one place in one day in one day unless you go twice and get five prono pups you can do that it's it's preferable you should you can go two days and do things over and over that you like can can you get prono pups outside of the fair team like can you get it from a supermarket I've no no I've never seen one anywhere else hence the reason why teams gone two days yeah sometimes they I've seen them pop up in mall parking lots but that's the thing they're unique you don't get them very often yeah special to the fair and what about you Josh as well anything uh what's worth traveling to because you can there's so much to do see and taste all in one spot in one day yeah I can't think of an any other experience like it in our state and yeah our state fair is really special and it's it's one of the largest and many people say it's it's the best. Yeah there you go. Well if you're listening to this and you've been to your own state fair in whatever state you're from as well let us know in any comments or you can be any social media comments or over on this if you're listening to YouTube for instance on our buzz sprout site wherever you like to uh comment or let us know about your state fair how does your state fair fare oh you like that say so that's not even in the show notes. Josh you know Tim he's he's there he's been to the state fair now twice this year. He says it's for the Pronto

Final Favorites Why It’s Worth The Trip

SPEAKER_01 58:55

pups but I do believe it's because he's proud don't you he's so proud he's so proud of his state fair yeah and you know the state fair is like a town so he's like he's proud of his town and that's a damn rare thing these days don't you think I knew you get it in somewhere did you have it on the list to get him or you actually forgot that no oh there you go see again I'm Josh's quarterback you're welcome sir Josh uh if people have been enjoying this podcast how can they get more of it?

SPEAKER_02 59:21

Uh if you've been enjoying this podcast we would appreciate your support by supporting us you'll help us create even better content keep it free for us and also help us go to the state fair next year. No just kidding we're not spending any of our money on State Fair we're not spending our money on Pronto pups what we are spending our money on is to keep this podcast going. So consider joining us on our Patreon it's patreon.com backslash treasures of our town and here's the deal guys yeah for our patrons right when we're done with this podcast I have a special special exclusive oh state fair story about something that happened to me at the state fair when I was 14 years old that was quite traumatizing. And guess what only the patrons are going to get to hear that story.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:07

Wow when you were 14 so that was that was 41 years ago I'm joking. Tim over 30 years so always a pleasure to have you on the show as well thank you thank you if people want to hear your dulcet tone voice uh where else can they find you mate? Where else can they they see you and and well you can find me you can find me on YouTube. I have a YouTube channel uh just look up Minnesota boy geocaching on YouTube you will find me that's what I'll give you or on the on the geocaching app as well or the the Munsey app too yeah you can find me in those places because Tim is now proudly part of the team when it comes to Munsey as well so yeah you're on the inside Tim so you can occasionally hear me on the Munzie official Munsey podcast as well. Yeah there you go very good thank you so much Tim for joining us thank you for everything it uh the all the information that you've given out because it's very different and different eyes to to Josh too so there you go.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:02

Josh how can other people find us or contact us if they want to let us know about their own their own state fair yeah feel free to reach out to us at treasures of gmail.com or you can follow us on Facebook Instagram YouTube or our Buzz Sprout site. If you go to Google search Treasure of Our Town Podcast you'll find us there. Absolutely that's it for our show today please subscribe rate review on your favorite podcasting app and as always Josh Air travels always lead you to the most unexpected and amazing hidden gems around the world including the stay fair with the home of Pronto puppies see everybody and see the patrons I'm gonna get a fun of Pronto puppies