Of all the losses we have suffered so far in 2020, for me and a few Pioneer Press friends, the Minnesota State Fair was one of the saddest.
We are the ones who arrive early on the first day and visit multiple times after that — some of us every day.
So it was with bittersweet excitement that four of us — Nancy Ngo, Kathy Berdan, me and another friend of ours, Molly Mulvehill Steinke, who is a huge Fair fan — waited in a line of cars on the first day of this year’s very truncated version of the Fair: the 2020 Minnesota State Fair Food Parade.
The parade, which costs $20 in admission per vehicle and for which 19,000 tickets sold out in two-and-a-half hours a few weeks ago, is the only chance to visit the Fairgrounds in an official capacity this year. The parade is being held on select dates in August and September.
We were so excited for the event that we arrived 30 minutes early. After driving into the northernmost entrance at Hoyt and Snelling avenues, we were directed all the way around the Fairgrounds to the parade starting point just behind the horse barn near Liggett Street, a winding path that I’m sure is meant to accommodate long lines if they should occur.
Once we were in the queue (believe it or not, we were not the first ones there by a long shot), we handed over our bags of non-perishable goods for the food drive, sponsored by Cub Foods and waited patiently, giggling as we looked over the “State Fair Bingo” and menu cards that workers had handed us on the way in.
At 9 a.m. on the dot, the gates opened, and there was celebratory horn honking and waving from most of the cars. After driving past the sadly empty barns on Liggett and Judson, we came to the first stop: Turkey To Go and Tom Thumb Donuts.
One of us just had to have a turkey sandwich AND doughnuts but others of us were saving room for cheese curds and pronto pups.
After the mask-clad workers handed Molly her doughnuts, she thrust the bag into the front seat at Nancy and me. We relented, and each tossed a sweet treat in our mouths.
I had to admit, it was delicious.
Call us crazy, but we also opted out of Fresh French Fries, which I do love, because in the end, they are just fries, and we can get good ones outside the Fairgrounds. It was hilarious watching people get several buckets of the fresh-cut, deep-fried potatoes delivered to their one vehicle, though. We wondered how they were going to finish them.
Next up was the stand some of us wait all year for: Mouth Trap cheese curds. Look, I know you can get cheese curds other places. But they are just not the same as Mouth Trap. Fight me.
We got a bucket, because it was our only choice, but also because there were four of us. They were hot and greasy and perfect. Still, we didn’t finish them — my 14-year-old gleefully took care of that when I brought home the leftovers.
We skipped the Sweets and Treats stand, because we are grown-ups and candy apples, cotton candy and sno cones just aren’t our jam.
Next up, we decided that this was the perfect time to try something new — after all that’s usually what the first day of the Fair is about for Nancy and me. For some reason, neither of us have ever tried the giant egg roll on a stick, but I’ll tell you that after one bite of the crispy-crunchy-meaty concoction, it will definitely be on both of our must-have lists from here on out.
Finally, it was what Kathy had very patiently been waiting for: The Pronto Pup stand. Of course, we all had to get one. After some deliberation, Kathy decided she needed two.
The far-superior version of a corn dog (if you haven’t had one, the batter is less sweet than a traditional corn dog) did not disappoint. It was very quiet in the back seat for a while. After that, Kathy’s only response to whether she wanted in on ordering more food was simple: “I had two Pronto Pups.”
Molly, ever the traditionalist, couldn’t resist a chocolate malt from the Dairy Goodness Bar, but Nancy and I decided to save our (further) dairy indulgence for Cheese-on-a-Stick. Nancy was a stick-cheese virgin, which I still have a hard time believing. She took one bite, nodded and said, “I get it now.”
We washed it down with fresh-squeezed lemonade.
Though we were all getting pretty full, it was impossible to be at the Fair and not get something from Giggles, so Nancy and I ordered the super-delicious duck drummies (and got sticky-drippy sauce all over everything) and walleye cakes. The ladies in the back looked at us like we were insane. We probably are.
Molly had planned on getting a taco from El Sol, but she decided she couldn’t fit it — after all, it was still not 10 a.m.
But none of us could resist the siren call of Sweet Martha’s, where Sweet Martha herself was waving cars into lines in front of one of her iconic stands.
When the Fairgrounds are so empty, you notice all kinds of things that you haven’t before.
“That cookie is winking at me!” Nancy said about the animated cookie sign on the Sweet Martha’s building as we waited for our three buckets (there’s a six bucket limit, in case you were wondering) to be delivered.
The buckets came in plastic bags this year, we assume for sanitary reasons, but it was a convenient way to manage the overflow, as the buckets are usually piled high with still-warm cookies.
We each had a few melty, crispy cookies and called it a day. It took us about an hour to wind our way through the experience. There was a little entertainment, in the form of a brass band and some trapeze artists that appeared to be taking a break when we drove past. We didn’t see Fairchild or Fairborn, the Fair’s mascots, but that was really the only advertised thing that was missing, and I know they were there later on, because I jealously ogled photos of them on others’ social media pages.
Overall, it was fun, but a little sad seeing the Fairgrounds so empty.
Basically, it wasn’t the Fair, but it was way better than nothing.
TIPS FOR PARADE ATTENDEES
- Look at the food menu online (mnstatefair.org/food-parade-2020/) before you go, so you know what you plan to order. It keeps the line moving.
- Bring containers or baggies to store your leftovers (it’s hard to keep up with the eating between stations)
- Bring wet wipes
- There’s a spot to pull over at the end and eat while the food is still hot, if you choose
- Get a Pronto Pup, maybe two
Nancy Ngo contributed to this story.
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August 23, 2020 at 08:21PM
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Minnesota State Fair Parade is tasty, if bittersweet experience - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
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