Minnesota State Fair (on a stick)

Today I went to the Minnesota State Fair (or the Minnesota annual get-together as they call it apparently). It is huge (one of the biggest in the country). I am lucky where I am staying as my hosts' house in just across the road from the venue. It is kind of like all the local country fairs in Ireland but on a much larger scale.

1. They love things on sticks at the fair.  It is like a theme. You can get almost anything on a stick, including beer. I didn't have anything on a stick but I did have plenty of disgusting food, such as an Elvis sandwich (peanut butter and banana), a massive portion of chips/fries(medium size) and a deep fried apple pie (cleverly called minniapple pie - like Minneapolis).

They had plenty of animal shows but most of them would be similar to shows in Ireland, except the rodeo so that is what I went to see. It was quite fun. It was mostly kids taking part. I saw them try to put the rope around the calf's neck and try to stay on a bucking horse. You can tell that everyone involved was of a particular political persuasion. The NRA were one of the sponsors of the event, there was a little prayer at the beginning and the American flag and veterans were held in very high regard. There was also a rodeo clown that made fun of people in unions (when a horse stopped bucking after the buzzer, he said that he was a union horse because as soon as the belll goes, he stops working), people who wear their pants really low and the current political establishment in DC (calling them clowns).

I liked the international bazaar and the heritage area. I heard a good band in the evening called 'Boiled in Lead'. They played a lot of Irish music (but they weren't Irish). There was a large Irish presence at the Fair. There was an Irish pub, where I asked them if they were showing the Ireland soccer match (and they had no idea what I was talking about. There was also an Irish merchandise store.