The Minnesota State Fair is more than a 12-day event - it is a full-on lifestyle choice for 12 days, and Alex Lodner knows exactly how to make the most of it.
Sunday’s with Stephanie this week will feature my full State Fair Guide with picks, tops and tricks for making the most of the next 12 days at the Minnesota State Fair.
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Whether you are a first-time visitor trying not to waste a single bite or a seasoned fairgoer looking to level up your annual plan, this episode will help you experience the fair like an insider. Perfect for anyone counting down to the fair, food lovers chasing the best bites, and Minnesota locals who want to make the most of every precious day on the grounds.
Alex reveals the must-try new foods on her list, the classics she returns to every year, and the hidden gems that still make the fair feel magical even after decades of visits. You’ll discover:
Why Tuesday and Wednesday are the smartest fair days for shorter lines
How to approach the new foods list before the most popular items get swarmed
The off-the-beaten-path favorites Alex never skips
Where to find the cleanest bathrooms, quietest rest spots, and easiest shortcuts
Which fair traditions are still worth your time, from the parade to the llama spectacle to the church dining halls
Original Episode Transcript
Stephanie Hansen (00:00.724)
Hello everybody and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish, the podcast where we talk to cool people in the food space. And today I’m talking to my friend Alex Lodner. And Alex is someone that I feel like I owe a public thank you to. She would fill in on my radio show a lot in the times when I started going to the cabin quite a bit more and started the garden.
And I have become friends with Alex over the years. And Alex is also someone that whenever we think of the Minnesota State Fair, she is someone that comes to mind. She’s a fair aficionado. She really has done a lot to help with the fair foundation. And I just am loving to geek out with a fellow friend that loves the Minnesota State Fair. Thanks to coming on the program, Alex.
Alex Lodner (00:37.55)
Okay, I’ll take that.
Anytime, of course. My favorite subject. You knew that. You knew that when you got me.
Stephanie Hansen (00:53.756)
I did. I did. So let’s talk a little bit about your love of the fair and how it all started.
Alex Lodner (01:01.5)
yeah, so you know, the fair is kind of a crazy thing, right? It’s this insane time for twelve days. I always say that I suspend my entire personality during those twelve days because I don’t like crowds, I don’t like fried foods, barn animals, you know, all those things are not something that I normally r seek out. And it just those twelve days are just magic. You just lean in and if you do it right, I think it’s a it’s a
an amazing experience. I hear a lot from people who are who go once a year with their, you know, family of five and they they can’t understand why I go an average of eight times. And I always tell them it’s a completely different experience. When you go multiple times, you’re not trying to fit everything into one day. You find your secret rest spots. You find your favorite foods that are maybe a little bit off the beaten path. We always had our sec secret little spaces where we put our blanket down and let the toddler run around and
So it’s a very different experience when you go multiple times.
Stephanie Hansen (02:02.629)
Yeah, I think so too. There was a couple of years where Steph, my radio partner on Weekly Dish and I recorded a podcast and we would meet out there every day and record the podcast. We got a lot of cool behind-the-scenes stories, and just the pace feels different. The fair is like it’s like a mini city that happens for 12 days in our state. The rest of the state, believe it or not, sort of comes to a silent pause.
It has its own police force, it has mm people that sleep out there for weeks. It really is just like this weird microcosm of something that only happens once a year in our state, and it’s actually pretty joyful.
Alex Lodner (02:48.458)
Exactly. And I used to live a mile away. And so when when my daughter was little, there would be a little parade of strollers of us going back and forth from the fair. We’d go back to the house for a nap. We go back to the fair. And so it really again, when you’re right there, it’s a very different experience. And the only thing I would say is do not try to go to the Target Roseville during the twelve days of the fair. It empties out, there’s no produce.
But other than that, it’s just it was always so fun to live in that neighborhood. You’re you’re just in the thick of it. It’s it’s really it’s quite a high.
Stephanie Hansen (03:24.741)
Yeah, yeah. When we think about the fare, one thing that people talk about a lot and I feel like I just want to address up front is expense, particularly in a year where people aren’t feeling flush with cash. it is an expense. It is an expense to go with your family of four or five. Tickets are, I think, $20 unless you’ve bought them in advance.
Alex Lodner (03:47.392)
At the door, yeah. Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Hansen (03:49.002)
And you know, food is gonna be expensive because we’ve seen food costs go up 33% in the last two years. There is a large minimum wage in our state. So yeah, it isn’t necessarily a value proposition. There are good values to be had and there are deals to be had. The blue ribbon book is probably the best thing to do.
Alex Lodner (04:12.226)
Fantastic deal. Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Hansen (04:14.811)
you get like a lot of discounts. There’s two for ones and just going on the right days. Like if you’re going on senior day or kids’ day. So without not I don’t want to lay belabor the costs of the fair because I don’t it ruins the experience, but it is a thing.
Alex Lodner (04:29.88)
But it’s a thing. It’s a definite it’s a definite factor. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah. And again, I say we used to go every day. I understand that that’s not an easy task for most. It’s because we live so close. There’s the cost of parking, there’s a cost of just driving there from Elk River or wherever you’re coming from. I have talked to the marketing department off and on in the years about doing a a punch card or a a passport of some sort, but it’s just never really gone through.
Stephanie Hansen (04:58.801)
Yeah, it’s a great idea. Cause I think it feels like since COVID, the fair has become even more wild because people couldn’t go for the COVID times. And so now it’s like people realize what a treasure it is and they don’t want to miss it. When you plan your state fair, and are you planning yours already for this year?
Alex Lodner (05:24.59)
Did you really just ask me that? I’m offended. I’m offended. Yes, I’m planning the state fair this year. Well, so here’s a side note. I’ve actually, other than covering the fair for I don’t know, almost 20 years, I’ve also worked off and on for some vendors there. And this year I’m working for a vendor there. It’ll she’ll go unnamed, but I’m working for a vendor there. A friend of mine owns a a new vendor. So I’m going to be there.
Stephanie Hansen (05:25.937)
I’m just asking.
Yeah.
Alex Lodner (05:55.519)
Seven shifts, I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I I will, I will. Yes.
Stephanie Hansen (05:57.519)
gosh, I can’t wait. Okay, you’ll have to tell me off air because I’ll make sure to pop by and see you. I over the years, so once we stopped doing the podcast
I started doing the garden. And unfortunately for me, garden season in Ely is the end of August and the first week of September. So I basically front-load all my fair experiences. I’ll be out there Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. And then I’ll leave Monday evening and head up to Ely. And then that’s sort of the end of my fair time and I start harvesting everything.
But I do love kind of having it in that condensed window too, because I get all the early excitement.
Alex Lodner (06:37.614)
You do. And yeah, you go during the busy days, don’t you? Tuesday and Wednesday are the quietest days. And one of my tips is always to go on a Tuesday and Wednesday, regardless of what deals you get. You’re just gonna have the shorter lines. It’s just not as stressful. But yeah, I I would I do all the things. I go throughout the whole thing. I don’t go on weekends. That’s kind of I believe I have weekend shifts, but I’ll go work and get out.
We do not go as patrons during the weekend. That’s we leave that for people who can’t go during the week.
Stephanie Hansen (07:13.404)
Yes, I think in the restaurant business we would call that the amateurs. I know, because it doesn’t sound very nice and sound sort of elite. Yep. Okay, so day one, you’re heading to the state fair, day one, and you’re there for not reporting, not work, you’re just there for fun. What are like some of your top things to do?
Alex Lodner (07:18.528)
I was gonna say we call it amateur hour, but I was not going to say that but you did. We always call it nope, that’s amateur hour. Yeah, yeah.
That you like to do on day one.
Yeah. Such a good question. Last year was my first year as a regular folk going to the state fair on day one. And actually Smart and I talked about that. Like this is just so weird. She she did do her her report, but it’s just very strange to not have the new list and to not make sure you get everything in. I think on day one, I still do try and
go for the new things that I have circled. So you know, the official foods and the non-official foods, if people know that there are some new foods that didn’t make the official cut, but they’re just as exciting, sometimes even better. And I do make sure that I hit those. And the reason that I do that is because once all of our colleagues have reviewed everything, it blows up. And so an example of that is the Amish donuts, Peach’s Amish donuts.
We when was that? Twenty twenty-three, I believe was their first year. And all of us rated at number one. So we go as a group. So I go with I went for MSP with Steph, March and you know, Minmo goes and strip goes. And we all including Jason Mathis and we all rated at our number one or in their top three. Well then now you know the lines are an hour long. And so I’m not saying we’re so powerful, but if you can if you can
decide what you want to try out of the official and new foods and hit those on day one before the reporters get there and before we release our reviews. That’s your only chance of really getting away from those long lines. We went up to the pizza, to the pickle pizza. We were there when the first year we were there, we walked right up to the to the counter and day two history. Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Hansen (09:31.165)
Yeah. Now it’s hard. I went, well, I have 14 new fair foods lined up for Jason to try on day one. And then day two, I have 14 beverage things, non-alcoholic and alcoholic things. And we try to really load them up for the first two days so that, you know, he is part of that queue of of influencers, as it were, of people that
And I have to say I’ve done a really good job of anticipating, not only because I have to think about like what he’s gonna like, but which ones are gonna hit.
Alex Lodner (10:03.427)
Which ones will hit?
And you do you only use the official foods? Official new foods? Yeah.
Stephanie Hansen (10:09.896)
I do, I do. And I know that there are a lot of great foods that come out that are on the new but not official food list. Cause each vendor has new items that they’re introducing every year and not all of them make them to the new list. but I try to, I mean, we only have X amount of time, so I try to just load them up with as much as I can. Are there
Alex Lodner (10:30.105)
Fourteen is a lot. Uhhuh.
Stephanie Hansen (10:31.708)
Yeah, I think so. I mean of the I think there were thirty-six new, so we’re getting at least a third of them in one day. are there things on the new list that will you’re excited to try?
Alex Lodner (10:35.905)
Yes. I actually have it written down because there’s so many of them. So I like the I tend to no I notice when I look at all the new foods that I liked best over the years that I go for the more refreshing things. So I won’t necessarily I rarely go for the heartier, heavier things, although we’ll talk about that in a second. But the mango sticky rice refresher at Chan’s Eatery. Do you know where Chanse Eatery is? It’s it’s in the north end, and not to be confused, there’s
Alex Lodner (11:13.561)
Chan’s chicken and a stick in the South. Different, different vendor. So they have that. I think it’s like gonna be a drink, but it almost looks like tapioca pudding situation, but with sticky rice. Really excited about that. the the it’s on days two. Yes, so you’re looking at as a drink. Yeah. The strawberry sundae tart with Ube at Sarah’s tipsies. Sarah’s tipsies pies is one of my I always have foods that I repeat.
Alex Lodner (11:43.192)
I try not to repeat foods ‘cause there’s so many, but I have a handful that I repeat and that’s always her pies. Usually I do her lemon lemon blueberry. But I’m gonna try the strawberry tart with ube. Ube is, you know, that’s the hot thing. It’s been for a while.
Stephanie Hansen (11:58.739)
It’s very ubiquitous in TikTok land. It’s the purple sweet potato ingredient.
Alex Lodner (12:04.191)
Ube or Pondan, which is the green. and then the the banana butterscotch barn razor at Farmers Union. Farmers Union can do no wrong in my eyes. Every they just hit out of the park every time. So really excited about trying that. And it’s strange because these are all sweet things, which is not normally my thing, but Greater Tater, which is is it a new vendor this year? Or it might have been last year.
They’re sort of blowing up on on the socials as well. And they’re over by the animal barns and I’m curious to try them too. We tr no, we tried it two years ago. It was there’s the really big tater tots and they were d yeah, and they were delicious. Not really my thing normally, but
Stephanie Hansen (12:45.054)
The square ones. And that booth, too, they have a child that has special needs. And yeah. Yeah, he’s great. And they do a good job of employing kids with special needs. So outside of the fact that the taters are good, really good, you know, you have this whole heartwarming story piece that I always like.
Yeah, he’s very popular on socials right now. He’s adorable. I pretty much just want to meet him, let’s be real. But I’ll buy a potato too.
And then another mention I want to say that I’m probably most excited about is the caramel apple iced tea from Loon Lake. Loon Lake has such good drinks and again, huge line. Always a huge line. You guys, it goes so fast. Give it a chance. Get in the back of that line. It will surprise you how fast it goes. They’re very efficient. They have two sides. So the caramel apple one sounds intriguing. And as I’m saying all these, none of these are things that I would be attracted to during the year, but.
Stephanie Hansen (13:52.764)
Yeah, I have them on my list too. the caramel infused cold foam kinda sounded good.
Alex Lodner (14:19.043)
Yeah. I mean any any place would have me at foam. Be a chance eatery. I love my foam. A chance eatery. Yes, yes, cheers. a chance eatery. They also have an iced coffee that I’m going to try that either has the Ube or the Pantan foam. So just just make sure that I’m staying hip with the 19-year-old crowd. I’m gonna try those as well. Right?
Stephanie Hansen (13:52.764)
You do you and you do love coffee.
Pandon foam. Huh. I had Pandon for the first time with my friends Heather Jans, the curry diva, who made me a Sri Lankan curry with it in there. And yeah.
Alex Lodner (14:19.043)
Yeah, I know they’re
Really? I only think of it as a sweet ingredient. Ooh.
Stephanie Hansen (14:27.055)
No, she uses it in almost everything savory.
Alex Lodner (14:30.667)
Speaking of people who can do no wrong, my goodness. Yeah. Mm-hmm. yeah, so that’s that’s sort of on the on the official foods and then the not official, I’m really so a must-stop for me is the dairy goodness building, which is not to be confused with the dairy barn. And
Stephanie Hansen (14:33.49)
Yeah, she’s an amazing person and
Stephanie Hansen (14:50.334)
Help me understand where dear goodness is.
Alex Lodner (14:53.145)
Dairy goodness is in the dairy building. So the dairy building is right across from the haunted house. The dairy barn is where the cows live and it’s way down over by the an barn animals. And so
Stephanie Hansen (14:58.684)
Got it. Okay.
Stephanie Hansen (15:04.392)
And dairy goodness is where the butterheads are carved and you get the milkshakes.
Alex Lodner (15:07.481)
Correct. And you have that long winding line and you get milkshakes and my favorite is actually always get the Sundays. I always get the strawberry rhubarb sundae. This year their Sunday is called Moose Soda Apple Pie Sunday. If it does not have cinnamon in it, I will be trying it. So Nope. It’s the only it’s the only food item I don’t I’m not allergic. I just strongly dislike it.
Stephanie Hansen (15:22.195)
Yum.
Stephanie Hansen (15:26.076)
Yeah, are you not a cinnamon person? Yeah, my producer is allergic to it.
Yeah. that must make a a pumpkin spice latte not your favorite thing.
Alex Lodner (15:42.788)
Well, fall is hard on me. S listen, I no sweets for me in the fall because they like to put that cinnamon garnish on everything and sometimes I’ll just order innocently order cappuccino and there’ll be cinnamon on it. And s no, dude. I know it’s October, but no.
Stephanie Hansen (15:57.511)
Outside Yeah, outside of the new foods, are there some classics that you go back for year after year?
Alex Lodner (16:01.711)
Yeah, always. I always, always have the corn. The corn roast. I’ve researched, you know, Brad’s stuff to death. I know where those farms are. That is just the best there is. And if you’re skipping on that, it’s it’s just it’s a must-have. Must have. They cook it for an hour. It caramelizes, so it’s so sweet. the key lime pie on a stick is a little known stand. Do you know where that is? It’s underneath the beginning of the Skyride by the food building. It’s sort of tucked in under there. And it’s a key lime pie on a stick dipped in dark chocolate. Divine. I think it’s yeah. And I don’t know that if they raise their prices this year, but year after year it’s been five dollars. I don’t know what they’re doing this year. But that’s delicious. it’s kind of one of those foods my daughter grew up on. So when she was a toddler, there’d be chocolate everywhere. And and now we still get that.
Stephanie Hansen (16:43.336)
Okay, I’m gonna try that.
Alex Lodner (17:01.133)
And then for me the grain belt blue beer over at now it’s the Pratna Prize is sponsoring that pavilion. And so that’s at the West End. And they started out with the blue beer, which is a blueberry beer, and then they top it with a foam again with the foam theme, and they top it with blue foam. Well, now they’ve they have Sangria beer that they can tap it with. They can tap it with all sorts of foam so you can mix the flavors. I go classic, blue beer, blue foam. And
Stephanie Hansen (17:30.132)
They have that raspberry beer flavored ice cream.
Alex Lodner (17:34.327)
The ice cream. They so this year it’s it’s double flavored and I cannot remember what the flavor of it. Peach, peach and raspberry. That was a surprising hit. We all dreaded getting that, I’ll be honest. For the first year, it w we just were not sure what it was delicious. Yeah.
Stephanie Hansen (17:38.76)
Peach.
Stephanie Hansen (17:50.442)
I thought so too. And I think peach and you can either have peach, raspberry, or a swirl. I think that’s gonna be a home run.
Alex Lodner (17:57.092)
I think so too. It was it didn’t taste like beer. And again, speaking of suspending my personality for twelve days, I don’t think you’ve ever seen me have a beer other when I’m forced to when I’m reviewing. And I just love that one. It’s again very refreshing.
Stephanie Hansen (18:09.608)
I think I did do the we did the specialty beverages one year together and all the beers and you just were not having any of it. And I was like, Alex, this one is good.
Alex Lodner (18:18.735)
Well I was like I tastes like the last thirty, but sure. I’ve ran out of words. I no longer know how to describe this the taste of this beer. Combining all the beverages and all the official foods was just that was brutal.
Stephanie Hansen (18:34.44)
Yeah, it was a big day for everybody. Okay, let’s talk about some non-fair things. Like one of the things that I really encourage people to do is to go to the llama parade.
It is just such a weird, kitschy, funny, fun, joyful experience to see people leading around their llamas in costume. They’re in costume. It’s just this cute, fun, weird Americana thing that I love so much. Do you have other like activities that you do at the fair that kind of check this box?
Alex Lodner (18:50.937)
We always watch the parade. So at two o’clock there’s always a parade through the fairgrounds. We sit in front of the Bailey House, which it’s is that big, beautiful yellow country house at the south end. We always sit right in front of it in the same spot every year. I bring a blanket. We have a blanket that I only save for the fair. It’s very lightweight. We just always, always watch that the bands are especially a treat. And if you sit in that area or in front of the admin building, you’re actually sitting by the sp by the announcer.
So the marching bands really tear it up in front of the announcer because that’s where the judges are. So that’s a little tip of that’s where you if you really want to see them display their full talents, sit in front of the admin building in the South End and they’ll really pull it out for ya. what else?
I’m trying to think to just some other in I mean
Stephanie Hansen (20:05.064)
Well, yeah, and like seed art or crop art has really blown up in the last couple of years. I really enjoy it and I have seen some of the entries on threads that like preview, they’re just they blow your mind, they’re so amazing. so that’s something, but also like don’t overlook like just going and going through like the vegetable buildings and seeing like the big pumpkins and the beautiful tomatoes. They’re just like these weird little moments of joy of just seeing some of the cool stuff that people make.
Alex Lodner (20:31.241)
Mm-hmm. The giant pumpkins. Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Hansen (20:44.594)
When I go into the four H building where they do their performances, the kids have plays. That’s really fun.
Alex Lodner (20:49.687)
Right. Yes. And it’s a really nice place to rest. It they have nice bathrooms there. They have nice stadium seating and yeah, you’re supporting these kids who’ve planned on this all year. It’s in the robotics competitions are in the education building. That’s what we always go through the education building. I would say we go through every building, but probably my favorite is International Bazaar. And admittedly
Stephanie Hansen (20:44.594)
Yeah. What do you like there?
Alex Lodner (21:15.831)
I just weave. I do all the weaves. I get I’m not wearing it right now, but I get a bracelet from a specific place that’s Kitty Corner from Holy Land. I get one every year from there. And I just I’ve seen it all a thousand times and somehow I just I just still love it. my my daughter used to get the little stuffed animals that that have the little beads in them. So she’s got a collection of it’s a snake and a dragon and yeah, we just
It’s just you know, it becomes really nostalgic after you go for a while. this is maybe food related, but I’d really wanna encourage people to visit one of the dining halls or the Midway Men’s Club. It is food, but you know, we used to have ninety some church halls at the state fair from the in started in the eighteen hundreds, of course, that’s all there was, but now there’s only two left. There’s Salem and Hamlin and Hamlin. And Hamlin has been there
Stephanie Hansen (22:08.702)
Salem and Hamlin. Mm-hmm.
Alex Lodner (22:14.091)
is since eighteen fifty two or eight fifteen eight or something like that. And so, you know, go sit in there for a minute. It’s so lovely to see all the volunteers that work there. Get an un at coffee at Salem, get whatever at Hamlet. It’s all good. And just take that moment and sit down at Hamlet. They have the little the red and white picnic tablecloths and you share a table with people and they will often you turn to them and they will tell you how they’ve you know it’s a
Stephanie Hansen (22:23.092)
Get an egg coffee.
Alex Lodner (22:42.915)
Great grandfather, grandfather, daughter kids, and they will tell you, I’ve been coming here since I was eight. And so it’s just a really take that moment in that you’re at the fair, you’re experiencing something, whether it’s a cup of coffee or whether it’s a a llama, you’re experiencing it with people who have memories about it. So chatting with with strangers at those community tables is just a favorite of mine. And Midway Men’s Club is they’ve been volunteering.
for years those are all volunteers. I don’t know how much their burgers are, but they were three twenty five in previous years. Yeah. I mean, I I think maybe. Yeah. And we call them pocket burgers because they wrap them up so nicely that when when we get burgers, we would get one and then or two and get one put in our pocket. And so we the
Stephanie Hansen (23:16.522)
They’re always the cheapest. It doesn’t they maybe will have to raise their prices, but I I think they were maybe five bucks, but still the cheapest at the fair.
Alex Lodner (23:38.274)
Apparently it’s the coldest beer at the fair. Again, not a beer drink over here, but that’s what they claim. And everything is the least expensive there. And again, you’re doing some good. They give all their money to the r to activities in Ramsey County, a lot of kids centered activities. They’re all volunteers. So just take a minute and not go for the fancy, the colorful, you know, the hot new thing. But remember those classics because we’re gonna lose them. So and I just I just really think they deserve a moment.
Stephanie Hansen (23:42.268)
And the least expensive. Yeah, that’s where Stephanie and I always go first thing after the radio show on Saturday morning. We start at the Midway Men’s Club. Yep, we have a beer, we have a burger, we thank them for their service and for being there. And the
Alex Lodner (24:10.691)
The men’s club? Yep.
Yeah. Yeah. They’re the nicest. They’re just the absolute nicest people. They have those fun little bar stools you can sit on. It’s yeah. I really just I just really think it’s important. If we we all love the state fair and we all talk about it, but then we also complain about it and we have to remember, you know, to give our put our money where to some of those classics as well.
Stephanie Hansen (24:37.692)
Yeah, I also want to call out Peg’s Diner or the Peg. it is a full service restaurant experience and same family has been running it. They have a great egg sandwich. So if you want to start your breakfast.
Alex Lodner (24:41.207)
Yes. I it’s on my list. It’s on my list to mention. Yep.
Mm-hmm. The only one.
Alex Lodner (24:52.685)
That I was gonna I have I have that on my list. And this year they’re gonna have the dill pickle chicken tender sandwich on an English muffin. Hello. Right? Yep. I wanna say it’s I I no, it’s not official. It’s new but not official. It’s the Mr. Peg dill pickle chicken tender sandwich, an English muffin with toppings. And they’re also very reasonably priced. The peg is very reasonably priced. They have the outdoor seating.
Stephanie Hansen (25:01.738)
Okay, you had me there. I did not know about this.
Alex Lodner (25:21.247)
And it’s just it’s again, it’s one of those times where when I go there, just like when I go to the dining halls, I wanna sit for a minute. I’m not in and out. I wanna take it all in. It’s a great place to sit and people watch for a minute.
Yeah, taking your time.
Stephanie Hansen (25:34.143)
Where do you like to shop? You mentioned the bazaar. Do you because I really like shopping in the West End. Yeah, there’s a lot of Minnesota makers there that I’m excited about. I
Alex Lodner (25:37.185)
I don’t shop at the fair.
Alex Lodner (25:41.635)
Do you? You’re a bigger shopper than I am. I’m not a very good shopper. I’m a pretty impatient shopper. I look at it and I like you, I go to the I Like You store. And I usually Sarah’s stuff is amazing. I have several of her t shirts. I have her hat. I don’t know if we’re supposed to swear on this show, but it says that okay, it’s a sh shit shit show on the on the hat. And I like getting the attention from that. People cover their children’s eyes. But
Stephanie Hansen (25:56.819)
Yeah, that’s a great one. They have good t shirts.
Alex Lodner (26:15.725)
So I like that. I do get something from her most years, but I put my money on food. I’ll just be honest about that. Yeah.
Stephanie Hansen (26:22.514)
Yeah. Before we wrap it up, Alex, I wanna know where your secret bathroom is. Cause I feel like everybody has a secret bathroom. Maybe it’s one that’s not as well traveled as the others.
Alex Lodner (26:33.839)
Yes.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So there are good bathrooms in every quadrant. So I don’t know if people know this, but the fair is divided into quadrant. They call it quadrant on the inside. And you’ll notice that the benches, the benches that you can buy and name after someone, those are all different colors. Those are your quadrants. So yeah, so in front of, for example, in front of ballpark, it’s they’re all yellow.
Stephanie Hansen (20:44.594)
Okay, I did not know that. Good tip.
Alex Lodner (27:06.699)
And so if people the the bench that that we purchased is for our friend Hanzi, who you know, who passed away in twenty seventeen, and he his bench is in front of ballpark. So you sort of dedicate it to someone and put it in front of their favorite place. I digress. Those are quadrants and every quadrant has a good bathroom. You just have to sort of know where. The best ones, honestly, they’re not so hidden, but the very end of West End.
has the big so anytime you see a red brick building bathroom, they will also have water stations at the at either end of it. So bring your refillable water bottle. That’s where you can refill water as well as other places. As well as other places throughout the fair, but you just always look for the red brick building. Those are somehow always clean. Always. In the grandstand, there are tucked away bathrooms that almost I don’t think I’ve ever seen a line there.
Stephanie Hansen (27:45.844)
That’s a good tip.
Alex Lodner (28:03.863)
And they’re also spotless. There’s one on either end of the grandstand. They’re inside, so you sort of have to know where you’re going.
Stephanie Hansen (28:10.078)
And they’re kinda smaller, but they are nice.
Alex Lodner (28:13.463)
Yeah, they’re they’re not tiny. They’re there’s one that’s bigger than the other. But yeah, they’re they’re always spotless. The cleaning crew do there just does a great job. over over in the north end I would say is your most challenging because that’s where the food building is. I’m sorry, the south end. That’s where the food building is. And so that gets to be a little bit busier traction there. But yeah.
I’m loath to give up my secret spot, but I’m going to for you friends of the pod. And it is behind the giant slide. There is a bank of bathrooms back there that are clean, nice. They’re right behind our Fox 9 booth, and a lot of TV station people know to go to those bathrooms. So those are good ones if you’re looking.
Alex Lodner (28:45.153)
Okay.
Alex Lodner (29:02.703)
Well you you r you ruined you ruin it now. But that’s one of my shortcuts. So one of the advantages of having of going so many times is people like going with me, not because I’m such great company, but because I lead them through people, you know, that it’s gets so congested in front of the grandstand and there’s different places where it pinches and I know all the hidden shortcuts and I will not be giving them away. But that’s one of them. Right by those bathrooms. That’s one of those shortcuts. Yeah.
Stephanie Hansen (29:27.664)
It is. There’s another shortcut under the glider. Kind of by the i it’s a back shortcut where you
Alex Lodner (29:39.287)
Are you gonna tell my shortcut? Do not wait, stop talking. Which short don’t. Don’t. That’s my shortcut. No.
Stephanie Hansen (29:45.34)
I’m just gonna say it’s a shortcut that takes you from the Colossian up to the north.
Alex Lodner (29:52.716)
I don’t think Yes, Steph. We should have talked about this ahead of time. And they you know what? One year they put one year they put a fence up there and I saw the fence when I was heading towards it and I thought they were gonna cut us off, but they didn’t. There’s still an opening there.
Stephanie Hansen (29:55.111)
It I won’t I’m just I’m just gonna say a Alex
Stephanie Hansen (30:09.938)
Yeah, it’s just smaller. It it’s a handy one because the my talk one seven booth is up in that area and it’s a handy quick to get up there. All right, well Alex, please.
Alex Lodner (30:19.383)
Yeah. And the best entrance, can we say the best entrance? The best entrance with no lines is right behind the the my talk. Harder to get to because there’s no parking by it. But if you’re willing to walk a little bit, there’s never a line at that entrance. It’s a secret little vendor entrance.
Stephanie Hansen (30:34.282)
Okay, I didn’t know about that one.
Alex Lodner (30:36.784)
it’s right behind your booth. Mm-hmm.
Stephanie Hansen (30:38.142)
Yeah, okay. So a secret entrance there. I always we always end up coming in where the where you come in where you rent the scooters and that area because we get dropped off. Yeah.
Alex Lodner (30:49.335)
At the north end. Yeah. Yeah, that’s it’s kind of a hike from there. But if you didn’t want to walk through the crowds, if it was really crowded, especially for you guys on a Saturday morning, you don’t go into the fair. You walk around on the outside of the fair and it will lay lead you to that secret. I’m j but we’re just gonna have people wondering aimlessly now because of what I’ve just said. Ignore what I just said. Don’t do that. People hundreds of people lost.
Stephanie Hansen (31:06.954)
Okay. Do you have
Stephanie Hansen (31:12.17)
No, do it, do it. Do you have yeah, I was gonna ask you one more question and I just totally can’t do you have a park and ride location that you think is good?
Alex Lodner (31:27.073)
No, I have a little bit of a beef with Park and Ride, honestly. I know it’s a great program. I know they’re doing their best, but I believe this year they took away the suburban ones. Don’t quote me on that, but I did not see them on the list. So the West suburbs used to only have one right by Ridgedale, and there were be lines across the highway. So it’s across the highway from Trader Joe’s. There would literally be lines across the highway. And
Stephanie Hansen (31:51.604)
Mm-hmm.
Alex Lodner (31:54.466)
So it they’re just we’re not enough in the suburbs. So you’re I think what they’re trying to get us to do, again, I’m not an official representative, but I think what they’re trying to get you to do is to drive closer to the fair and then use a park and ride closer to the fair. So those buses aren’t on the highway for a half an hour, which makes sense. So you want to drive into Roseville. my favorite is a new life presbyterian.
Stephanie Hansen (32:02.281)
Sure.
Stephanie Hansen (32:19.242)
Okay.
Alex Lodner (32:20.001)
There’s it g it’s getting more and more popular, but that’s always a really good one. The people it’s volunteers from that church. It’s where Millie went to nursery school. And so that’s our soft spot in our hearts.
Stephanie Hansen (32:29.183)
Okay. Okay, well I’ll send people there then. On behalf of you and Millie. Alex said to come here.
Alex Lodner (32:35.585)
No, don’t Great. Sorry, peeps for you know, I mean, you have a lot of listeners to this show. I’m not used to to having such an amplifier.
Stephanie Hansen (32:45.542)
You’re funny. okay, so just on a personal note, since I have you here before we wrap up, what’s next for you? I miss your writing.
Alex Lodner (32:55.865)
Thank you. I don’t Steph, I don’t know. I don’t know. I’ve I’ve been in conversations with a few people. If you had asked me this a year ago, I would have said, absolutely not. I am retired. I’m living my best life. I’m gonna sort of pull a Steph Hanson this winter and be gone most of the winter. But I I miss it. Never thought never thought I’d say that. What’s that?
Stephanie Hansen (33:14.548)
Mm-hmm.
Well, and you can do remote work. Yeah. I it’s when you can retire and choose your own life, it doesn’t mean that you might not choose your old life. It just means that maybe yeah, may well, because I think people think you have to like do something completely different, but you gravitated to what you wanted to do for a reason. And
Alex Lodner (33:26.467)
Mm-hmm.
Alex Lodner (33:31.79)
listen to you. Deep thoughts with Stephanie. It’s true.
Alex Lodner (33:43.887)
True.
Stephanie Hansen (33:45.066)
what you get the flexibility and the privilege to do is to make it in the image of what you would like. Cause you have the flexibility to say no.
Alex Lodner (33:55.074)
Right. And I’ll I’ll say this to be clear. When I say retired, I retired from a very part-time job. So I’ve always had that privilege. I’ve been extremely fortunate to have created exactly the career I wanted and to be able to do exactly what I wanted. So and to work with you know, I’m really, really mean this, the best people, right? You and I know that. We worked with the best people of the
Stephanie Hansen (34:06.025)
Yeah.
Alex Lodner (34:21.993)
Our our community is tiny in the Twin Cities. There’s maybe 10 of us that do this. And I love every single one of these people that I’ve worked with. And so going back to that doesn’t is not gonna be a you know, it’s it’s because it’s something that I enjoyed all along. I did not leave it because I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. I’d left it because of, as you know, some life changes. So things are settling down and
Stephanie Hansen (34:42.462)
Yeah.
Alex Lodner (34:49.899)
We’ll see. We’ll see. You and I will talk. W we’ll go have a non a non beer. I’ll have coffee, you’ll have a beer and we’ll figure it out.
Stephanie Hansen (34:52.326)
Yeah, please keep me in the loop. Yeah. Maybe we’ll see each other at the fair this year.
Alex Lodner (35:01.283)
Possibly I don’t work on Saturday, but I might just pop in just to wave at you. I love doing that. I love harassing people from the bleachers.
Stephanie Hansen (35:04.894)
Okay.
Yes, we will be live at Weekly Dish. I will be at Fox, yeah, 9 a.m. Saturday, 9 to 11 at Weekly Dish up in the North End, the first. And then I’ll be at Fox Thursday and Friday. We have two-hour shows. The first hour is our national show. Our second hour is our local show. It’ll be 10 to noon. And then at noon to th 12:30, I’ll be doing a book signing at Fox.
Alex Lodner (35:11.534)
Nine AM
Alex Lodner (35:16.291)
The first Saturday. There’s two Saturdays. So you’re there the first Saturday, right? Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Alex Lodner (35:25.763)
What what time?
Stephanie Hansen (35:37.412)
on both days. And then Saturday I’ll do a book signing after Weekly Dish ends at 11 for a half hour. And then Monday I’ll be back and I’ll be on Fox in the 10 o’clock hour. And then in the 11 o’clock hour I’m co-hosting with Jason for that day. And then I’ll do a book signing after that. So yeah, lots of fun activities planned.
Alex Lodner (35:37.485)
Goodness.
fun.
Okay. All right. I’ll have you text me that because I am not gonna remember anything you just said. But I’ll have you text me my s thank you, and I will pop in. I I know the secret door.
Stephanie Hansen (36:03.795)
I will text you. Okay. Thanks, Alex. Yeah, and I forgot to tell you this when we started. Give yourself about 20 seconds before you log off just to make sure that the podcast catches up with our voices. Yeah, exactly. Okay. All right. See you.
Alex Lodner (36:18.97)
So I’m not just out. Peace out. All right. Talk to you, Love.
