dolly parton postcard, newspaper museum

 i had a day off and went to the Minnesota state fair. an early stop for me was the newspaper museum, i had picked up postcards from there before. this year there was one honoring entertainer dolly parton, who just died this week. when i sang karaoke i heard two of her songs being performed, 'Jolene', and '9 to 5'. when i sang it was 'today' by smashing pumpkins, and the song after me was hole's 'malibu'. lunch was at the Hamline dining hall, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. the evening meal was in the food, and garden building where sang karaoke, a steak poor boy sandwich. i had some ice cream from the place next to the carpet slide, and when i went down the slide i screamed like lt. dan from 'Forrest Gump' in the hurricane. many of the places i visited were familiar. there was the milk booth, all you can drink for three dollars. and the St. Paul Saints section of fan zone, where i bought a scarf and a sticker. i picked up a free magnet, a round one, at the 4-h building. and i liked doing the scavenger hunt where the prize was a magnet, it's called the 'history walking tour'. one of the twelve stops mentioned visits by President Theodore Roosevelt. at the fine arts building, my favorite was one depicting a dog, using beer bottlecaps. i went to the oink booth at the pig barn, my only visit at a animal barn. and i saw the Charlie Brown statue at the kemps farm hands exhibit. i watched the 6pm newscast for WCCO, and did a massage chair demo in the marketplace under the grandstand. while waiting my turn at karaoke i went to some nearby places, including the farm bureau building, where i got a mixing bowl utensil. i capped the day at the america-250 Ferris wheel, where i was in the Andrew Jackson gondola. all of them had a president on it. i rode with a special needs kid and his parents. i was a little nervous about being so high up in this ride but managed to do well enough by talking a lot through it. nice view up there, seeing the capitol lit up at night. i picked up three buttons throughout the day, and one of the purchased postcards was a Minnesota version of 'grace', the old man praying over his meal.