Summer part two

I completed my internship at the WRC yesterday, and today is my last day of work before the school year starts, so tomorrow marks the first day of my second summer vacation! We'll be celebrating by going to the State Fair on Thursday (of course), then heading up north this weekend.

To answer the question that arises every time the fair comes around- what's new to eat this year?!- here is a list of the new foods:

• Coca-Cola cheesecake dipped in chocolate on-a-stick (Apple Lil's)
• Soda fountain funnel cakes (Apple Lil's)
• Sloppy joes on-a-stick (Axel's)
• Peanut butter hot dogs (Blue Moon Dine-in Theater)
• Children's menu (Epiphany Diner)
• Pork knuckle sandwich (Famous Dave's)
• Kool Aid pickles (Famous Dave's)
• Rocky road scones on-a-stick (French Meadow Bakery)
• Grapes, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, strawberries, pineapple, apple, banana, kiwi, peaches, cherries, pears, and watermelon batter-dipped, fried, and on a stick (Fried Fruit)
• Dixie wings on-a-stick (Green Mill Pizza)
• Corned beef and cabbage on a stick (O'Gara's)
• Calamari (Old English Fish and Chips)
• Buffalo Chips and Cheese (Potato Skins)
• Breakfast bread bowls and breakfast jambalaya (Ragin Cajun)
• Uffda brat (Norwegian sausage wrapped in potato lefse) (Sausage Sister and Me)
• Butterscotch cake (cake filled with cream and dipped in butterscotch) on-a-stick (Scotch Eggs)
• Spam burgers and spam curds (Spam Burgers)
• BLP (bacon, lettuce, and pico de gallo) quesadilla (Tejas)
• S'mores on a stick (Ultimate Confections)

Tomorrow looks a little cool and a little rainy, but certainly not the worst weather we've ever faced at the fair. Last year Chris drove up from Northfield for the Fair just in time to avoid having his car destroyed in a hail storm, and then we got trapped in Empire Commons when the skies turned black and we thought we might get taken away by a tornado. Not tornados, but we got stuck there long enough for me to break down and buy a school bag from the Duluth Pack store that I'd been eyeing all day, and then it got cold enough for Chris to buy a sweater he'd been eyeing all day. See, even lousy weather is good for the fair!

On my list of foods to get are the classics (hot dog, milk shake, chocolate ice cream cone), the things I get every year (cream puff, deep fried oreos *drool*, corrrrrrn!!), and maybe something new. I also need to hunt for school supplies (free pens and pencils) and try to find that super-duper doggy-hair-remover that we should have bought last year.

AND, from 5 to 9, I'll be volunteering in the Miracle of Birth Center. I'm not sure what I'll be doing yet (my volunteer role was listed as "student"). I hope they'll let me hang out with the chicks and bunnies, since I still know pretty much nothing about the rest of the farm creatures (er, cows have a four-chambered stomach?).