For Independence Day, my friends Sarah and Amber and I went to the Taste of Minnesota, which is basically like a mini state fair complete with food that is terribly bad for you, live music, carnival rides and games, random vendors, free samples, big crowds and lots of walking. I’m kind of a sucker for these types of things because I love exploring and people-watching. I also love food that is terribly bad for me.

The reason we went was because Elvis Costello was playing. The cool thing about the Taste of Minnesota is that you pay ten dollars to get in, and then they give you ten dollars’ worth of food tickets, so basically you can get a bite to eat and see a show for ten dollars. Which, really, is a really good deal, especially when the live act is Elvis Costello.

We arrived around 4:00 P.M. or so. It rained pretty hard right before we arrived, and we thought for sure it was going to rain again, but it didn’t. We wandered around and tried a bunch of awesome food. Over the course of the day, I consumed:

  • Falafel
  • Mini donuts
  • Pulled pork barbecue sandwich
  • Coke
  • A sample of Honey Bunches of Oats with strawberries
  • A sample of grilled pork
  • Soft serve ice cream
  • Lots and lots of water

We had fun looking at all of the stuff the vendors were selling. There were lots of places with jewelry, clothing, trinkets and other fun stuff. Amber bought two pewter necklaces and I bought a sling bag that’s bright red with white skulls all over it. It’s incredible.

The portaloos had Taste of Minnesota adverts on them with the different bands that were playing over the four days of the event, and so the three of us took turns posing with them. Hilarious. Or, at least, we thought so.

Elvis Costello was so, so amazing. He played a lot of “greatest hits” stuff, which would make sense for that type of crowd, but it was awesome to hear such a great, lively set. He’s so amazing, that’s all I can say. He has a fantastic band with him, and he just sounded great. I had so much fun. I’m so glad I got to see him.

We stayed and watched the fireworks, which were really, really pretty. They do a great display there. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve seen fireworks, since I never really make an effort to go watch them anymore. It was really fun. Lots of walking was involved. I’m pretty sure I walked off any fat grams I consumed throughout the day.

All in all, it was good fun.

(Thanks to Sarah for the photos.)