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Traveler: New York State Fair and Minnesota State Fair

Posted in Events, Food & Drink, Travel, tagged James E. Strates Shows, Minnesota State Fair, New York State Fair, state fair on August 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Dairy Princesses. Photo courtesy of the New York State Fair

Worth a trip from anywhere, both the New York State Fair and the Minnesota State Fair opened today for their annual 12-day run. ATZ still has a long way to go before reaching our goal of attending a fair in all 50 states, but we have been to both of these great state fairs. The Syracuse fair is accessible by Greyhound or Amtrak from New York City and has a midway by Strates Shows, founded in 1923 and America’s last carnival still traveling by rail. Minnesota is famous for its carefully curated independent midway and an array of unusual new foods. The two fairs run through Labor Day, September 2nd.

New York State Fair

A special exhibit on the history of the New York State Fair, which opened in 1841 and is America’s first State Fair, debuts this year. Visitors enter via a replica of the columned carriage entrance that was used in the 1900s. Among the artifacts on display are costumes from the early 20th century when the fair closed at dusk and a Mardi Gras parade entertained fair-goers at night, clay models of butter sculptures from the last nine years, and a miniature model of the mighty James E. Strates Midway.

Space Roller, James E Strates Midway at New York State Fair

The Fair’s theme is “Sharing the Bounty and Pride of New York.” New York grown and produced food and beverages will be sampled and sold under the “Taste NY” banner throughout the fair this year. Visitors who stop by locations on the “Taste NY Trail” will be eligible to win prizes. Among the vendors are nine breweries, ten wineries, honey producers, dairies, and organic farmers.

This year’s entertainment includes the Nerveless Nocks Thrill Show; Mutts Gone Nuts Comedy Dog Act; Team Sandtastic’s annual sand castle in the Horticulture Building; the Walker Brothers’ Circus; and Extreme Log Makeover featuring a team of female chain saw carvers.

Special Days: Dairy Day, Beef Day, Veteran’s Day, Women’s Day, Gospel Weekend

Grandstand Shows: Toby Keith, Carly Rae Jepsen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, All Star Monster Truck Show, NYS Championship Demolition Derby & Double Figure 8 Races

Minnesota State Fair

The Space Tower, built in 1965 and now regarded as one of the landmarks of the fair. Photo courtesy of Minnesota State Fair

The first Minnesota State Fair was held in 1859 and moved to its present location between Minneapolis and St Paul in 1889. Among the historic privately owned attractions at the fair are the 1913 Ye Old Mill tunnel of love ride, a Haunted House built by the same designers as Disney’s Haunted Mansion, and the 330-foot Space Tower built in 1965 by the same manufacturer as Coney Island’s Astrotower.

New foods for the 2013 Minnesota Fair were announced in July in plenty of time to whet people’s appetites. Lobster Macaroni & Cheese, Candied Bacon Cannoli and Fried Pickles ‘n’ Chocolate are some of the unusual combos. We’ll have the Craft Beer Battered Onion Rings and the Comet Corn, icy cold caramel corn made with liquid nitrogen, please! A Food Finder on the fair’s website lists 83 different foods on a stick and their locations. Reporters typically review all of the new foods and locals come back day after day to eat their way through the fair.

Sweet Corn Corndog at Campbell’s Flavored Corndogs. Photo coutesy of Minnesota State Fair

This year’s entertainment includes the Giant Singalong, Equimania, The LEGO Road Trip, Canstruction, Krazy Maze, Military Appreciation Day Flyover & Vietnam Era Veterans Parade and Program, and “Ice” Skating on a sheet of synthetic ice.

Grandstand shows: Sheryl Crow, Depeche Mode, 2013 Internet Cat Video Festival presented by Walker Art Center, MSF Amateur Talent Contest Finals and Tim McGraw

Agriculture Building and Skyride. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota State Fair

Photo Album: Coney Island Sand Sculpting Contest

Posted in Coney Island, Events, tagged contest, sand castle, sand sculpting on August 18, 2013| Leave a Comment »

23rd Annual Sand Sculpting Contest, Coney Island. August 17, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

Creators of “LOVE PERIOD.” at Sand Sculpting Contest, Coney Island. August 17, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

William Sandman Petrosino with his Sculptures at Sand Sculpting Contest, Coney Island. August 17, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

Creator of “Michael, the Archangel” at Sand Sculpting Contest, Coney Island. August 17, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita via flickr

Photo of the Day: Coney Island’s New Dreamland Pedestrian Plaza

Posted in Events, Photo of the Day, tagged Dreamland Park, Dreamland Plaza, History Day, pedestrian plaza on August 7, 2013| 7 Comments »

Coney Island’s new pedestrian plaza on the Boardwalk end of West 12th Street was named “Dreamland Plaza” after Facebook fans voted it to the top of a trio of names offered by the Alliance of Coney Island. Dreamland Park, which was where the Aquarium is now, burned down in 1911 and there are no permanent mementos of the park in Coney Island. On Saturday, the plaza will host History Day, its inaugural special event, featuring free entertainment by organ grinders, musicians and magicians from 1pm. The event is sponsored by Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park and the Coney Island History Project, which are located on 12th Street. While the new plaza’s umbrellas have yet to arrive, we already see echoes of what it might look like in the future in this circa 1905 photo of Dreamland’s Cafe and Outdoor Vaudeville. Now if only they’d rebuild the Dreamland Tower!

Cafe and outdoor vaudeville, Dreamland, Coney Island, circa 1905

UPDATE August 9, 2013:

In response to comments from readers about speeding cars on 12th St and that the plaza looks “underwhelming,” we feel compelled to post photos from 2012 that show it is already an improvement. These photos are just a few of many that we took showing cars making dangerous U-Turns at the Boardwalk end of the street on weekends last season. Although the street is “No Standing,” the number of cars coming here looking for parking spaces was horrific. Since the plaza was built, the traffic has lessened but has not stopped completely. Closing the street on weekends except for local deliveries would be a good idea.

As for the plaza itself, comparisons to Times Square by the mainstream media are off the mark. It provides much-needed additional seating for visitors, who we frequently see sitting on the curb or even on the sidewalk eating Nathan’s hot dogs! More seating as well as umbrellas are expected to be part of the plaza, which is only a few weeks old.