Judy, Lisa, Rene’, and Jack at the 2012 Minnesota State Fair
Politicians. Farm animals. Vendors. Mounted police. Food. Music. Noise. Antique tractors. We saw and heard it all at the 2012 Great Minnesota Get Together. Rene’, Jack, and I drove down to the city of my birth, St. Paul, for a short get away. My wife and I had long planned to attend the wedding of one of my fellow judges so when we learned that our oldest son, Matt, his wife Lisa, and our only grandson, A.J., were going to the State Fair, an idea was hatched. Of course, before we could meet up with Matt and Lisa and hand over Jack, who seemed OK with spending the night at Judy Streefland’s house with Lisa (Judy’s daughter), Matt, and his three month old nephew, Rene’ needed some mall time.
“I thought you wanted to go to the Mall of America,” I whined as we set a time to have lunch in the food court at Rosedale.
“Too big. Too hard to find what I am looking for,” my wife replied.
We were standing in the the middle of the Rosedale Mall, light from overhead skylights streaming in.
“You picked the one mall in America with nothing for guys,” I lamented.
It’s true: There are no electronics stores, hardware stores, music stores, bookstores, or even farm toy stores sharing space in Rosedale to pique the interest of a straight guy.
“Ya, Mom. This place is a bore,” Jack agreed.
Our collective observation had no impact on my determined wife. We made our plans to meet up for lunch and she, to her infinite delight, wandered off to shop on her own. Later, after we’d filled up on mall Chinese, we turned Jack over to Matt and Lisa in the mall parking lot and headed off to find our hotel.
The wedding took place in the 1st Baptist Church of Minneapolis, a beautiful old icon of Christianity located in downtown Mill City. The reception in Uptown was about what one would expect from an event held in such an artsy neighborhood: Trendy (and tiny!) appetizers and eight dollar beers.
Understand that Matt was bound and determined to get to the fair with his wife, new son, little brother, and mother-in-law in tow, by 7:00am on Sunday. I think I made it pretty clear to my son that his mom and I had no intention of being awake, much less at the Minnesota State Fair, so early on a Sunday morning. True to my word, I slept in. Until 6:30am. Rene’ snored on a bit longer but we both managed to watch most of “CBS Sunday Morning”, drink hotel room coffee, get dressed for the fair, have a nice hot breakfast, and talk about the wedding, without being rushed.
“I saved two bucks a ticket,” I said proudly to my better half after taking advantage of the senior citizen discount offered at the Fair ticket booth.
“The benefits of old age,” Rene’ quipped. “But I’m still not ready to join AARP.”
After several uncertain phone calls between us and the other Munger party, we met up at the International Bazaar.
“Alright,” I said to Matt, who never met a piece of Fair food he wouldn’t try, “how was the alligator on a stick?”
“Didn’t have that,” my eldest said with confidence, “but the deep fried herring on a stick was wonderful!”
When Matt was through listing the foods he’d already ingested (it was only 10:30 and the list is far too long to post in a blog), and after both Grandpa and Grandma had enough A.J. time, Rene’ and I broke off to tour the livestock barns. With swine flu running rampant, my son and daughter-in-law didn’t want A. J. exposed so they went off in search of more deep fried delights while we visited the horses and dairy cows.
Adrien James Munger at the Fair
St. Paul Mounted Police
Thankfully, it was not a typical Labor Day weekend in St. Paul. Yes, it heated up. By the end of our time wandering around on the steamy blacktop roads that wind through the fairgrounds, my iPhone told me it was 86 degrees. Hot enough for a northern Minnesota boy, I can tell you that! But there was a nice breeze and the humidity was low. Plus, I’d dressed for the weather in shorts, tennis shoes, and a short sleeve Hawaiian party shirt that has become my standard attire when in search of fun.
Still, this year’s trip to the Fair was a tad disappointing in that “Prairie Home Companion” didn’t do a show at the grandstand. Now, don’t get me wrong. Despite my wife’s criticism that I’m too predictable, that I often fall into repetitive behaviors, I’m adaptable. The fact that Garrison skipped the Fair this year, well, sure, I was a bit bummed out about that. But hey, a guy is allowed to have preferences, right? And seeing America’s greatest storyteller and humorist live, at the Minnesota State Fair, well, I prefer that, if you will, to eating deep fried frog testicles on a stick!
But we had a good day, my wife and I, looking at pole buildings and boats and campers and a host of other products for sale at the Fair that we can’t afford. See, part of the attraction of attending the Great Minnesota Get Together is the dreaming that goes with the experience. That, and, at least in my case, walking quietly through the horse barn and admiring the velvety sheen of well groomed animals standing patiently in stalls, waiting to be shown or ridden. And people watching. Now that’s a talent my wife, with her very large brown eyes, is an expert at and I’ve only become proficient at under her tutelage. Of course, with peepers like Rene’s, sometimes, when her gaze becomes too elongated, she gets caught in what the object of her inquiry might consider to be a rude stare. My wife’s not rude. But one might get the wrong impression if her eyes are locked on you like a falcon diving on a robin.
The Crowd at the 2012 State Fair
“Where are you guys?”
I was using my iPhone to locate Matt and his party after Rene’ and I had seen most everything at the Fair we wanted to see.
“By the International Bazaar.”
I’d figured out how to use the GPS mapping feature of the phone while wandering around the Fair. Slow learner, I’ll admit. I’ve had the phone for over six months and I just figured out it has GPS! Well, that’s better than the tailgate on my Pacifica. I drove my first Pacifica until it was demolished in a collision with a drunk driver and never once, during that nine month span, did I ever figure out that the tailgate had a remote control key-less release. It was only after I bought my second Pacifica that I figured out what that extra button on the key fob was for. So discovering GPS not even a year into owning an iPhone shows my technological progress. Really.
“That’s all the way back where we came from.”
Rene’ and I turned around and waded back through the crowd. After reclaiming our youngest son, who, as the first picture on this blog attests, visited most of the Liberal political booths at the Fair and got to meet Senator Amy Klobuchar, and saying our goodbyes to A.J., his parents, and his maternal grandma, we headed back through the crowd towards the car. As we passed the “Vote Yes” booth, where well-intentioned folks were lobbying the crowd to have marriage in our state defined as being between one man and one woman, Jack couldn’t resist parading in front of the booth with his “Vote No” placard. Others holding “Vote No” signs were already engaged in spirited debate with the folks manning the booth so Jack’s silent protest went largely unnoticed. But I’m quite sure Jack’s Great Uncle Willard was smiling.
Peace.
Mark
