Last Wednesday, I had the great pleasure of experiencing the Minnesota State Fair (August 25-September 5) for the first time. The second-largest state fair in the country, Minnesota’s is legendary for the variety of its food and entertainment—and several of my friends thought it was a travesty that I hadn’t yet seen the full glory of a llama costume contest or munched on lovingly-prepared cheese curds. The fair is over now, but hopefully next year’s fellow newbies can learn from my journey.

Wednesday, August 31 was Read & Ride Day at the fair. By showing my valid public library card when purchasing my ticket at the gate, I earned a $2 discount on the $13 adult entry fee. A pretty good deal! There were also several other discount ticket days throughout the fair. After buying my ticket, security made a swift safety check through my little backpack, so be sure to have any bags ready (and, y’know, don’t bring in anything you shouldn’t).

It was late afternoon when my group met up, so a quick but tasty snack was in order. My friends (experienced veterans of the fair’s delights) zeroed in on The Original Cheese Curds, which turned out to be an excellent choice. I’m sure plenty of us have had those fast food fried cheese curds that are ok to munch on if you really have a craving, but they don’t make you think, “These were prepared with love and care.” Original Cheese Curds’ offerings? These were good. Piping hot, salty, and gooey on the inside, light and crisp on the outside, they were a wonderful appetizer. You know mass-produced cheese curds are fried because they taste greasy and sad. You know state fair curds are fried because they look and taste like someone spun delicate, crunchy gold around fat pearls of cheese.

With a starter course in our stomachs, we could move on to a bit of alcohol. Just around the corner from our cheese curds was The Ball Park Café, which was heavily packed with patrons sitting and standing at tables, and had a TV screen showing a game under some shelter. I split a plastic cup of some excellent Sweetland Orchard Cherry Rhubarb cider with a friend. It was a nice balance of sweet and tart.

So, it turns out the fair hosts a 4-H Llama Costume contest at the AgStar Arena, and boy is it cute. 4-H participants pick a theme and dress up their llamas in costume (and themselves to match)! Themes this year included recycled materials; red and white roses a la Alice in Wonderland; and the children’s rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle.

The CHS Miracle of Birth Center is an agricultural education exhibit that allows fair-goers to witness just that—farm animals (some pregnant, some with newly-born offspring) are housed at the center, letting people see new piglets crowding around their mother for a meal, baby chicks breaking out of the shell, and lambs and calves entering the world from the womb. All this happens under the watchful eyes of veterinarians, members of the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association, and FFA students. One of the students was holding a tiny and enormously-contented lamb in her lap for curious children to stroke; now they know that when people use the simile “soft as lamb’s wool”, they’re not kidding.

After a bit of wandering for dinner (because it’s not an easy thing to decide what to eat at this place—even if you think you can eat everything you want, that’s just not going to happen), one of our gang remembered the delicacies at The Blue Barn located at the West End Market by the Grandstand. They have meatloaf on a stick, pierogis, and a spicy pork bowl, but all of us decided to get the chicken in a waffle and a blueberry basil lemonade. It’s an old-fashioned waffle cone, but instead of ice cream you get popcorn chicken covered in a savory sausage gravy. There was a spicy kick to the gravy, and I could definitely taste the sage in it, but it wasn’t overpowering. The chicken and cone were crisp, and while I wouldn’t recommend holding on to it forever and letting gravy soak through, the hand-held meal can definitely hold up to strolling through the fairgrounds (not that your meal would last that long—it’s delicious). The blueberry basil lemonade was a great drink to go with, though if you like a lighter touch of blueberry in your drinks, sip this with caution.

We didn’t play any games, but we did take advantage of the Skyride attraction. Riders enter little gondolas that travel high above the fair crowds, giving a lovely birds’ eye view from Cooper Street to Liggett Street by the West End Market. We started at the Liggett Street end, going one way and paying $4.50 for the privilege, but round trip tickets are available for $6. I’m sure it would be splendid to take the ride on a weekend with the crowds in full force, but it was equally beautiful when we went after sundown, with the rides and booths lit up and beams of light issuing from the concert at the Grandstand as we passed.

Rounding out the day was a trip to a place on my bucket list: Sweet Martha’s Cookies. There are three different locations spread throughout the fair grounds. We wound up going to the one between Nelson Street and Underwood Street, where we all had our fill of overflowing pails of just-off-the-tray chocolate chip cookies. The workers behind the counter zip around like parts in a well-oiled machine to serve the crowds that line up, but their speed does not result in sloppiness; when our turn came up, the lady scooping cookies into our bucket carefully made sure we just the right amount. Which, by normal standards, means completely over the top!

For more information on the Minnesota State Fair, go to http://www.mnstatefair.org/.