International Bazaar

There is so much to see in the Bazaar, but my photos were limited in here as it just started raining.

Sky Ride

A bright green cart emerges from the Sky Ride.

Cottage View Drive-in Seed Art

One of my past favorite places to photograph was the, closed in 2012, Cottage View Drive-in. One of my photos of the sign is on the wall of my local Applebee's. This year while looking at the seed art at the Minnesota State Fair, there was a dedication to the sign. Kudos to the artist.

Fresh Favorites

I don't know the last time I've gone to the Minnesota State Fair and not purchased these fresh fries.

Please Do Not Touch Seed Art

The Minnesota State Fair seed art competition, always a favorite of mine. I'm curious if this is something I would like as a hobby.

Zombie Corn

Attack Of The Zombie Corn!!! A very fun and colorful seed art display from the Minnesota State Fair 2012. It was one of my personal favorites this year.

Fried Pickles

What a great logo and colors, plus the night shot gives the logo a dark backdrop.

Big Fat Bacon

Who doesn't love big fat bacon?

Prizes For The Winners

Lots of colors!!

The Rides

It's a bit dark, but I like the streaks of light. Took this one at the Minnesota State Fair.

Seed Arch Bridge

One of the more unique contest at the Minnesota State Fair is the seed art. You take any several types of seeds and you create a picture or replicate a famous scene. It's a simple concept, and the results are outstanding, some of them are remarkable. What I like about this one is, the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis is a highly photographed bridged in the Twin Cities, but to see it created with crop seed was a photo I had to capture.

Monster Slide

From atop the monster slide at the Minnesota State Fair back in August, I captured this shot while making my way to the top.

Princess Kay Butter Sculptures

One of the unusual attractions at the Minnesota State Fair are the butter sculptures. There are about a dozen princess selected from various cities from the state. Each princess will have her likeness sculpted in a 90 pound block of real butter. Each sculpture takes six to eight hours to complete with the princess sitting inside the glass booth, which is kept at a temperature of 40F degrees. Once the fair is over, each princess Kay finalist takes her sculpture home.

Secret Life Of The Bees

These different colors of honey always make for a great photo. The color and flavor of honey are determined by the flowers from which the nectar was collected. As you can see, there is a large range from light to dark. One thing I learned about bees this year is during the winter months, when there is snow on the ground and we are all wearing our winter coats, gloves, boots, to stay warm, the bees are still alive inside of the bee hives here in Minnesota. With all of the bees moving their wings, it can reach a balmy 80 degrees inside the hives, just from the heat energy produced from the worker bees buzzing their wings. That's right, 80 degrees inside the hive from their buzzing wings, while it's -5 F outside the hive.

Carnies Rule

These two carnies are taking a break at the Minnesota State Fair, but as I was watching them and taking this photo, they didn't have all that much to do.

Midway At The Fair

I'm unsure of the name of this ride from the Midway at the Minnesota State Fair, but the light show it produced is awesome. Bonus to this shot is the flags blowing so hard as it was a very windy evening.

Ride The Slide

At $2 dollars per ride, it's one of the cheapest activities at the Minnesota State Fair. Granted, it takes you longer to walk up the stairs than it does to come down the yellow and green slide. And if you look really close, there are a couple of microphones right down the center of the slide that will pick up everything you say or yell as you make your way down....

Fresh French Fries

The Fresh French Fries booth has upgraded their sign in a big way. Back in 2006 I posted a photo of their booth as it was one of my favorite places to eat when I'm at the fair. So I was very surprised to see the new sign in lights. All the booth serves is fresh french fries, plus soda. For you bargain shoppers, and I only found this offer at the Fries booths, but they did offer half price refills on soda. That's a huge savings if you don't mind carrying around a cup.

Gladiolus Room

More from the MN State Fair....from the Horticulture building, every year they have flower contest for several different flowers. These are the Gladiolus contest, I believe they are judged on their looks, purity, hybrids, but it always appears to be just one stem of the flower for the judgement. There are other contest, like ones that involve props, plus different flowers all together.

Theme Day: Open Air Markets

Greetings to all of my fellow Theme Day visitors. Now, I wasn't planning on participating in the September theme day photo, as I really didn't have any photos from an open air market. I couldn't make time to get to the semi-local farmers market, so I was going to skip it. This past Sunday, I took my family to the Minnesota State Fair and found my self walking down the isles of the International Bazaar. So a bit of intentional luck, I am able to participate in the open air market theme day. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Those of you familiar with the fair I'm sure have walked through the Bazaar. It's amazing how great the place looks after the update to the area. You'll find all kinds of international items for sale with most at bargain pricing.