minnesoooooooota

Minnesota is really deceiving.  You think that it’s all accents and pie and cheese.  And it kind of is, but there is much, much more to the land of 10,000 lakes.

We arrived in Minneapolis around midnight and were warmly greeted by our hosts, Andrew and Angela.  After some mild socialization, we all turned in to get our beauty rest for the main attraction: The Minnesota State Fair.  After some much-needed sleep and a quick breakfast, we headed over to the fair.  First up was the Miracle of Birth Center, a most enthralling attraction.  I can’t tell you how much live farm-animal birth draws you in, but I’m fairly certain that all of us were completely engrossed in watching the televisions above that streamed births from the nights before.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any actual live birth, but we did see many a pregnant animal, and several adorable animal babies.  Oh, and I’m pretty sure I’ve eaten all of the animals in that tent…during this trip alone.  The worst part is that I kind of don’t care.

We did all of the usual fair things: ate deliciously fried and unhealthy foods, walked about 14 miles without ever passing the same booth twice, the norm.  As for the food, well, I was very excited for this particular attraction since I saw it featured on TV, and it is supposedly a mecca for all sorts of delicious and strange delicacies.  Joellen and I shared some fried pickles, roasted corn, fried cheese curds, root beer/root beer floats and a caramel apple.  I will come to our defense and say that we did not eat all of this at once and that all of it was shared.  Delicious.  We definitely made good choices all around.  Andrew and Angela shared an Italian Spring Roll, which as far as I could tell was a deep-fried tortilla filled with anything that can be considered even remotely Italian.  Angela was also in hot pursuit of some chocolate-covered cheesecake, which we finally found after much searching.

Other attractions worth noting from the fair: a Ginsu Knife demonstration.  These knives can not only cut through a lead pipe, but they can also thinly slice tomatoes.  Don’t be jealous that I have a whole set now.  For only $20!  What a deal!  If you’re nice to me, I’ll let you use the corkscrew cutter.  We also saw some really interesting things in the horticulture and agriculture center and learned all about starting our own honeybee colony/hive.  Also, I’m sure I’ve bothered many of you with this info, but the bees are dying at alarming rates, due to a problem called Colony Collapse Disorder, and I’ve decided that it will be our personal mission to make sure that the bee population is thriving once again.  Yes, I’m being serious.

After six hours of walking around, we decided to head back to A&A’s house.  We rested and decided to go to Buster’s on 28th for dinner, where we shared some salt and vinegar chips with a delicious homemade French onion dip.  Joellen had an incredible portabella sandwich with a basil aioli, I am not usually a fan of the portabella sandwich since most restaurants try to make it a substitute for a burger, and no matter how “meaty” it is, it is and will always be a mushroom.  Buster’s did it right: thick slices that were perfectly sautéed, and they did not ruin it with roasted red peppers, which is perhaps the most over-used vegetarian foodstuff I can think of.  Bravo, Buster!  I had a pastrami with swiss and horseradish aioli minus the aioli plus sauerkraut, which really hit the spot.  Pressed and delicious.  Andrew enjoyed the Elian Gonzalez (a Cuban…also a really appropriate sandwich name) and Angela had the steak sandwich, which was very tasty.  Overall, a great meal with great friends after a really fun day.    We headed back to the house for Coor’s Light and that game where you have to guess a word given clues in a very limited amount of time and try to beat the timer.  The best part: no hangover today!  Thanks, Coors!  When all is said and done, I give Minneapolis a great big thumbs up; there are lots of really cool bars and the city is very environmentally friendly, clean and really beautiful.  Thank you, Angela and Andrew for showing us what we never thought Minneapolis could be.

❤ Amy