Yesterday it was me and 234,383 of my best friends spending a cool summer’s day at the Minnesota State Fair and setting a record for single-day attendance.   The Minnesota State Fair is the second-largest State Fair in the country.  With the fairgrounds covering 320 acres it’s imperative to allow at least one day to see your favorite things.  There’s the Mighty Midway with its games and carnival rides, the food, the Giant Slide, Machinery Hill, the food, the animals, the exhibits, the Space Tower, the Grandstand, and the food.  We refer to the Fair as the Great Minnesota Get-Together, and we celebrate with friends and food.  Anything and everything is available on a stick, from fried pickles to pronto pups.  For many the Fair is a day of grazing from one food booth to the next.  I especially enjoyed the animal barns.  The pigs that weren’t being shown in competition were sleeping lazily, the sounds of the roosters were echoing off the walls in their building, and the goats were busy nibbling on the shirts of the passers-by.  People who attend the fair are always in a good mood, as are the vendors, and the employees at the fair.  Even the woman at the information booth who helped me three different times — she too was in a good mood.  I even found two special friends from the Minnesota Twins – Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau – who “stood still” while I had my photo taken with them.  What a great ending to a fine day at the Fair!