The Minnesota State Fair is in full swing now, but we will not be going to it. However, we were encouraged to go to the Steele County Fair a couple years ago, and went to that fair again this year. We like the size, and the entrance fee. There is no charge to get in. When our boys were young, we did take them to the Dakota County Fair for several years, and the Minnesota State Fair once or twice, but that’s about it for fair attendance.
This year, we were especially thankful for the free entrance fee, as it started to storm after only an hour and a half after we arrived at the fair. Fortunately, we had found a close parking spot…someone must have just pulled out, since the cars were lined up and down the curb for several blocks. When the rain started falling, we started running. Even though the car was close we got very wet. But, actually…it was kind of fun…running in the rain that is.
We managed to get dinner at the fair before the rain started. Walleye fingers from The Depot’s fair stand, a sandwich from the 4-H stand, and we were drinking our Dairy Association chocolate malt when the wind started blowing and the rain started falling.
My favorite state fair food, mini-donuts, which I was saving for dessert, had to be forfeited.
I like going to the exotic animal display at the Steele County Fair, and enjoy petting a few of the cute animals. It was the first place we stopped after getting our first “tastes” of the fair.
There are hand washing stations in several places which I really appreciated, especially after petting animals.
We also meandered through the horse and cattle barns. And, I learned something new…
Having grown up in the city, I never learned much about farm animals. While paying attention to one particular Holstein cow, I noticed the ears…they had fuzzy fur sticking out of them. It looked so soft, unlike their smooth coat of hair. And that surprised me. I asked Gary, who grew up on a dairy farm, about the ears and he said yes, cow’s ears have fur, and some farmers shave the ears, especially to “show them” in a fair. Hmmm…who knew…
After that initial discovery I looked at cow’s ears while walking through the cattle barn and sure enough…many cows had furry ears…
And I also saw a cow in a stanchion, being all trimmed up…including the ears…
So laugh if you will…I did…when I learned that fun fact about cows.
Even though I’m not much of a fair-goer (because of the crowds) we heard about the Steele County Free Fair in Owatonna so we decided to check it out. When our sons were young we would go to the Dakota County fair – it was a nice size. And we did go to the Minnesota State Fair a couple of times for the experience of a big state fair.
