flight beers, state fair

 it was a day off to attend day one of the Minnesota state fair. i went to McDonald's for an egg McMuffin and hash browns for breakfast, normally i have cereal at home. before leaving for the fair, i got a text message from vacation replacement, asking where the Canadian check stock is. i said where it was, then heard okay, thank you, and as expected i didn't hear any more from work the rest of the day. i got on a bus less than thirty minutes later, the first leg of the journey as it meant getting a transfer to another bus once i reached downtown St. Paul. and then when we got close to the fairgrounds, it slowed down a lot, so i got out and walked the rest of the way. a staff member said she didn't want to be late, working in a ticket booth, and when she got out i did too. i was leaning towards doing so even before she got out. i did a few activities before i met up with a friend from meetup groups, the retired postal worker. i brought quarters from taking carts back to Aldi and used most of them. there was the 'all you can drink' milk booth where i got a cup of white milk and chocolate milk. then there was the giant slide. finally, i bought a sticker at the 4H building that reminded me of a green day song. then i got a look at the newspaper museum near it. those things cost 10 dollars, and for the rest of the day what i bought went on the debit card. when i met my friend, it was at the agriculture and horticulture building, where we got flight beers. later on, we stopped there again and i got a different set. first time was pilsner, second time i got award winning ales. i got a Schell's Oktoberfest at the hangar. for food i got fish on a stick, walleye, then plenty of garlic fries for lunch. for dinner i got a pork chop and a dr. pepper. after both trips for flights, we sat in a gazebo nearby and he chatted with those next to us. near the end of the night, we stopped at the DNR stage for some music. i left the grounds shortly after that as it was a little after 9pm and many places had already closed for the night by then. i got to some of the things on my list, but not all. didn't make it to the fine arts building, it was closed by the time i made it over there. i decided it would be fine to make a second visit, on the last day of the fair, Labor Day, as i have nothing booked on that day just yet. there are a few other things i can see besides fine arts by giving myself a second day there, such as finish my punch card of historic places at the fair. i found five and that means there are seven left to find. it means buying another ticket, guess i can get it online if i want to avoid standing in line to get one. music was everywhere i went, notable were songs by Carrie Underwood, Mel McDaniel, Marc Cohn, and Jelly Roll.