Girl Detective

My husband G. Grod doubted the wisdom of it, but I wanted to take 6yo Drake and 3.5yo Guppy to the MN State Fair on opening day, or “Thrifty Thursday.” Normally, I go to the fair on a compulsive food bender, so I knew if I was going by myself with the boys I’d have to make a new plan. That plan was to play it by ear and keep expectations low, and it worked pretty well. It’s a great day to go–the crowds are historically thin, the weather was sunny and not hot, it’s cleaner and less smelly earlier on, and there are discounts to get in and on kid rides.

Earlier this year, I bartered away our double stroller. We still have a wagon, and strollers can be rented at the fair, but I decided we’d only stay as long as the boys could walk. Seemed like a reasonable boundary. I set a budget of $60, figuring (or rather, hoping) about a third each for entry, rides and food. My food plan is to always order the smallest size, and share it.

We parked at the U and took a shuttle bus to the Gate 20 entry, where the discounted fee was $9 for me and $6 for Drake. Inside, we started with a pork chop on a stick, $6.50. The boys were suspicious, but quickly helped me devour it. We followed it up with a small order of Famous French Fries, $4.75, which I find good, but the fries are way too short. The boys loved dipping them first in the malt vinegar and then in the ketchup. I’d brought our Sigg bottle full of water so we didn’t have to buy any, and we moved on to the River Ride, which cost a whopping $3.50 per person, even for Guppy. I got almost completely soaked, and spent the next few hours looking as if I’d wet myself. Nice.

I tried to steer the boys up Underwood to the Food building and then to the kids rides and little farm hands. Drake insisted he wanted to go on the Sky Ride, so we followed it along the ground, got on and rode it back to the Ag building next to the food building–$6 for me and Drake, Guppy rode free. The boys, unlike their mother, were completely unafraid of heights and the bumps and shakes of the car.

At this point I’d deflected at least half a dozen requests for cotton candy, and was able to distract them by asking if they’d like Fried Cheese Curds. That got their attention. We entered the Food Building, saw our neighbor L and her twin sons, then moved quickly through the line at the Mouth Trap. The boys were frustrated at having to wait till the $5 curds cooled, but seemed to think it was worth it. We followed them with a bag of Tom Thumb mini donuts, $4, and we all three managed to save 2 to take home to Dad. Yay, us.

Outside, we got a small 1919 root beer, one of my favorite and least expensive fair treats, $1. Fully sugar-bombed, the boys wanted to head to the rides. We stopped by the Rainbow jungle-gym play area on the way, and saw friend N and her son S. The boys went down the slides again and again. Best of all? Free.

The kids rides, however, were decidedly not free, and even discounted used up a chunk of our budget–$9 for Drake to ride the swings and Guppy and him to ride the balloon ride. Guppy was visibly drooping, so I started herding the boys toward the bus. On the way, though, they said they were hungry again. I suggested a Pronto Pup, the batter-dipped and fried hot dog of MN origin. Drake insisted he wanted a corn dog. I foolishly barreled up to the next stand I saw and ordered a “small”.

“That’ll be $7,” the man said, holding out a double dog, since the stand only sold double and triples. While I fumed about breaking the budget and too much hot dog, Drake and Guppy methodically devoured the whole thing.

As we approached the exit, I asked again if the boys wanted to go in the baby animal barn; Drake had said no to it earlier, but was excited to see a newborn calf, alongside pigs and sheep and miniature ponies. I was able to herd them out of the barn and out of the fair to the bus by 2:00, 3 and a half hours after we got there, and $8.75 over my $60 budget. Guppy fell asleep on the car ride home, then I had to have a little nap when we got there.

I didn’t eat nearly the number of foods I normally do, but I knew I’d be going back on Tuesday 9/1 for Minnesota Cooks Day, so I didn’t fret. We ate, we walked, we did some free stuff, we rode some rides. None of us had a meltdown. Not only did we survive, we had a good time. I think we may have started a new family tradition.

For more on food at the Fair, visit local foodie site Heavy Table, where I’ve gotten a lot of tips on what to eat on my next trip.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 31st, 2009 at 8:56 pm and is filed under Feeling Minnesota, Food and Drink, Parenthood. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.