Scenes from the weekend: Dutchess County Fair

One of my favorite summer traditions growing up was visiting the Minnesota State Fair. It is the second largest fair in the county and is home to some of the most amazing foods, including cheese curds, buckets of warm chocolate chip cookies, hot dish on a stick, and Pronto Pups. When I first moved to New York City I flew home every summer to attend the Great Minnesota Get Together, but as the airline prices grew and I started teaching it was much more challenging to make it home to Minneapolis before Labor Day.

After recently reading about the Dutchess County Fair I knew we needed to check it out. On Saturday we ventured two hours upstate and had a blast at the fair! As soon as we arrived we picked out a few foods to share for lunch. Brian discovered the Texas Parfait, which included brisket, cole slaw, pulled pork, a baby back rib, and mashed potatoes topped with BBQ sauce and a cherry tomato. It tasted just as amazing as it looked! After lunch we watched pig races, cheered for the dogs at the DockDogs jumping competition, and attended AcroDunk in the Grand Stand. We snacked on apple cider donuts as we toured the antiques barn and also perused several merchandise tents. For dinner we split fresh cut fries, grilled corn on the cob, and pierogi. Of course, no trip to the fair is complete without some sweets! We loved the milkshakes from the 4H building and devoured a funnel cake before hitting the road. We are so excited to make the Dutchess County Fair our new summer tradition!