One week until State Fair bliss!

In just one week, the Minnesota State Fair will open it's gates to the throngs of fair goers anxious to celebrate the last days of summer. Well that and eating ourselves silly!

In the past week however, the fairgrounds were slammed by two intense back-to-back storms and quite a bit of damage was inflicted throughout the grounds. From downed trees, flipped over food booths to roofs being torn from both the grandstand and the legendary Ye Old Mill (a fixture of the fairgrounds since 1913)-it was a harsh blow to everyone working hard to get things ready for opening day. But fair officials assure us "YES!! We will be ready and open at 6 a.m. on Aug. 23rd!" Crews have been working overtime this past week to remove fallen trees and get as much of the repair work done to the various structures affected by the storm as they can.

My sister Kitty and I have made it a yearly tradition to be there on opening day-when everything is new and clean. It's certainly the best day to go as gate admission is $3 off and the crowds are generally a tad bit smaller. Kitty will also be entering her now famous white cake with butter cream frosting, her cake actually made it into the display case one year and won a ribbon to boot! I definitely see a first place blue ribbon in her future.

The fair represents the end of summer, but what a great way to celebrate it's demise! There are a ton of things to see and do, the array of food offered for consumption is legendary and the people watching is unparalleled.

I will give you a full report next week on all the best things to do, see and of course eat.

To get more information-just click on this post's heading and it will take you directly to the official state fair site.