A Happy Medium by Erin Murtaugh

The Six Best Days of Summer are here (and actually, almost halfway done)! The Freeborn County Fair is always an exciting time of year for Albert Lea.

Everyone and their brother packs into our fairgrounds, eats some food, listens to some country music and watches the demolition derby.

Food … yum.

Tuesday, I tried a hot beef sundae. When I first heard about these creations, I thought it was actually a sundae with beef and ice cream in it. It actually is a piece of bread, shredded beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, shredded cheese and a cherry tomato on top. It sure isn’t your typical deep-fried fair food, but it is sure good.

Other favorite fair foods of mine include deep-fried Oreos with ice cream on top, Nitro Ice Cream (I like ice cream a lot, if you can’t tell), Queen’s Apples, Mini Donuts, shrimp kebabs, regular kebabs, cheese curds and, of course, some fresh-squeezed lemonade to wash it all down.

Something I heard quite frequently about our Grandstand performers is that no one has heard of them. Usually, we get a big name or two that most people have heard of. What about the other guys? Look into them before you assume they’re some little country music nobodies.

Eric Paslay, Tuesday’s performer, has written or co-written a ton of hit songs for some rather big-name country music singers or groups, such as Jake Owen and Rascal Flatts. Thomas Rhett is most definitely an up-and-coming artist who is sure to become more popular very soon. Remember, the Freeborn County Fair also is known for having performers right before they make it big.

While country music is not everyone’s cup of tea, it’s a pretty great genre of music. We have been lucky to get some big names and also some not-so-big names, which later get to be very popular. Whether it’s country music, looking at animals and other fair entries, riding rides or getting some food, be sure to get out to the last few days of the fair and enjoy yourself.

 

Albert Lea resident Erin Murtaugh is a 2014 graduate of Albert Lea High School. She is an intern this summer for the Albert Lea Tribune. She can be reached at murtaugh.erin@gmail.com.