Twin Cities summertime favorites

The Minnesota State Fair is one of the highlights of my year. I love the crowds, the nostalgia, the food, the overload of sights and sounds. I love it so much that my ideal Minnesota State Fair day starts before 8:00 a.m., just when things are ramping up, and goes until at least 10:00 p.m., when the colorful lights and overflowing buckets of chocolate chip cookies make the fairgrounds feel like a magical place set apart from the concerns of daily life.

I go to the Minnesota State Fair for many reasons: nostalgia, the live entertainment, the livestock, the educational exhibits, the display cases full of prizewinning knitwear. But mostly, it's about the food.

The Minnesota State Fair is known for deep-fried food, including cheese curds, Pronto Pups, pickles, cookie dough (one of my faves!), and candy bars. But what if deep-fried food isn't your thing? No problem!

Most coverage of the Minnesota State Fair is food-focused, although the live entertainment, farm animals, butter sculptures, crop art, and Midway rides also garner plenty of attention. Something that usually doesn't get mentioned is that State Fair is great destination for history buffs—the Minnesota State Fair dates back to 1859, and many of the fairgrounds' buildings were constructed in the 1930s and 1940s.

Some people love beer, others prefer wine, but my drink of choice is a craft cocktail—I think that's due to the fact that I didn't really start drinking alcohol until my late 20s. My favorite place to enjoy craft cocktails is straight from the source: at a local micro distillery. Minnesota is home to over 30 micro distilleries, which typically have tasting rooms where you can purchase cocktails, tasting flights, and bottles of spirits.

My third trip to Finland featured time in Helsinki, Turku, Rauma, and Porvoo—and lots of delicious food. From cinnamon buns to salmon soup, here are the best things I at in Finland during my trip in late May and early June of 2026.