Category Archives: Real-Time Fair Sightings Reports

I tried to outsmart a Labor Day weekend weather forecast that was changing radically every few hours and got kicked in the nuts for it, delaying at the last minute my scheduled Saturday visit to the Minnesota State Fair until … Continue reading →

In recent years I’ve tried to downplay expectations some at the Minnesota State Fair because of the hostile smoking culture and ridiculously high prices of Minnesota cigarettes.  Yet just about every year those expectations get exceeded.  Part of it is … Continue reading →

In 2015, 2016, and 2018, I scheduled in a trip to the Missouri State Fair as part of a broader vacation plan that took me to other areas.  Missouri is such a geographic center that one can be vacationing south, … Continue reading →

Most years I only head to the Iowa State Fair twice but since I wanted to go to that bandshell concert on Wednesday night, I decided to go a third night this year on Friday evening.  Country singer Luke Bryan … Continue reading →

I went into an abbreviated Wednesday visit to the Iowa State Fair with low expectations as my intention was always to spend the core of the evening at a concert.  My real “second day at the 2019 Iowa State Fair” … Continue reading →

By every objective measure, I had an exceptional day of fetishing at the Iowa State Fair on Saturday, August 10, 2019.  It was the kind of day I would have considered pretty impressive even 10 years ago.  Especially in the … Continue reading →

Tuesday Another fair season officially got underway on Tuesday, July 30th at around 6 p.m. as I crashed the gates of my hometown county fair in Minnesota.  I’ve been keeping expectations low for this fair season generally, but especially for … Continue reading →

I successfully threaded the needle with the weather the entire 2018 fair season, and once again got lucky with the Saturday of Labor Day weekend which was the one dry day for a long stretch of very rainy days in … Continue reading →

Birthdays are never fun after 30 and are really not fun after 40, but if you have to turn 41 years old, there’s no better way to do it than a nice weather day at the Minnesota State Fair.  As … Continue reading →

Whew!  It’s been three days since my Saturday at the Missouri State Fair as I start writing this and I’m still trying to catch my breath.  The comparatively rural setting of Missouri’s fair means more limited attendance than what I … Continue reading →

Every year I make a journey after work, usually on Wednesday, for a half-day, reduced-price visit to the Iowa State Fair.  All too often, Wednesday is the deadest night at the fair and in the previous two years my sightings … Continue reading →

At least for me, weather is the primary catalyst for morale at the beginning of a state fair smoking fetish day, so with a sunny and rain-free Saturday forecast for my first day at the Iowa State Fair on August … Continue reading →

Tuesday In the not so distant past, I walked into the first night of my local county fair in southern Minnesota elated, thrilled that the fair season was officially underway and full of confidence that incredible sightings were inevitable.  In … Continue reading →

Another fairgrounds sightings season went into the history books yesterday with my second day at the Minnesota State Fair, which is almost always my most prolific sightings day of the year because of the outrageous crowds the Minnesota State Fair … Continue reading →

There’s nothing much worse than having a Saturday at the Minnesota State Fair approach with a horrific weather forecast.  And it doesn’t get much worse than the forecast leading up to August 26, 2017, which called for “lots of rain”.  … Continue reading →

The expectations game is always a gamble.  Certainly at the Iowa State Fair and the Minnesota State Fair, I’ve been fetishing for long enough that I tend to know what I’m getting into within reason.  Going to Missouri’s state fair … Continue reading →

Well that sucked!  Wednesday, August 16, 2017, was a roller coaster ride of expectations that started extremely low.  The weather forecast for days insisted on a washout, 70% chance of rain with “chances increasing later in the day”.  But I … Continue reading →

I had a pretty darn good day at the fair on August 12, 2017.  I was describing the previous week how the hypothetical perfect day at the fair for me featured sunny skies, low humidity, highs of about 82, and … Continue reading →

Tuesday Now that’s more like it!  After a disastrous Summerfest in early July, my morale was low heading into this year’s local county fair in southern Minnesota.  I just didn’t know if I was gonna get ANY worthwhile sightings.  Making … Continue reading →

So is it possible to set an all-time one-day record for fairgrounds sightings and still have a pretty lousy day of fetishing?  Apparently because both things happened this Saturday.  All day long I was well ahead of my sightings baseline … Continue reading →