Sorry, Minnesota, but I'm not a fan of the State Fair

I was born and raised in Kansas and didn’t even know if Kansas had a state fair until I looked it up online earlier today. It turns out there is one, but I never went. I did go to the Missouri State Fair once and everyone wore cowboy hats and I bought a handmade leather wallet but I can’t remember if there were rides or animals or food. Clearly, the state fairs of my youth did not have the same power and pull as The Great Minnesota Get-Together.

There is something about the Minnesota State Fair that seems to tap into the collective unconscious of Minnesotans and unite people across the state and, though I’ve now lived here for 23 years, I still don’t understand the passion people have for the fair.

Neither my partner nor I went to the state fair until we had kids. Shortly after our son turned one, people regaled us with tales about warm chocolate chip cookies and farm animals and Machinery Hill and I will admit that it sounded like something our son would love. So, we got up early one morning and dragged him and the stroller and diaper bag to the fairgrounds. He loved the cookies and milk and seemed mildly interested in what he could see of the pigs and cows in their pens but he was unimpressed with the seed art and displays of freakishly large vegetables. He got tired of it all pretty quickly and we went home early.

http://www.startribune.com/sorry-minnesota-but-i-m-not-a-fan-of-the-state-fair/322892331/