Steele County Free Fair – Owatonna, MN

When I missed out on Eli’s Donut Burger at the Olmstead County Fair and Demolition Derby a few weeks back, I made a special point to clear my calendar to make a special trip to the Steele County Free Fair to get one. Seriously. It doesn’t matter that it’s an hour drive. It was necessary. I had to time it just right though, since on the way home, I was going to be stopping in Lakeville, MN for a roller derby Triple Header. I had it all figured out, so I hopped in the car and headed south to Owatonna.

I got to the fair without any problems and headed to the festivities. Did I mention I had put on my best donut-eating attire so I would blend in with the fantastic people you find at such events? I did. Check out my super sweet wife beater. I’d still probably be overdressed (due to the fact that I smelled like soap and not BO or urine), but that’s alright. I would distract people with my chops and confuse them until they realized I wasn’t one of them… or was I?

I had no idea where I was going, so I just headed into the fray of sweaty sleeve-less rednecks and women in denial about their clothing size. My game plan was to barge straight into the mix and then figure out where the food booths were. Little did I know that once I got into the heart of this hot mess, there would be close to a hundred different food trucks. Seriously, it was insane. I don’t think I’ve been around this many food trucks and I’ve been to some pretty serious county fairs. Wow – I need to move to Steele County…

I found Eli’s and walked straight up and ordered a Donut Burger. The kid in the truck asked if I wanted cheese and bacon on that. “Well, DUR!” I’ll also take one of those energy drinks made in Minnesota – Plasma. I should have gotten the deep fried green beans along with it, but I wanted to keep my options open in case I needed more fair food. I didn’t after eating this thing… wow wow wow…

What you envision in your head is probably pretty close to what’s handed to you. A glazed donut with a beef patty in the middle and cheese and bacon on the top. The first bite was even better than I thought it would be. It totally had the salty-sweet combo going on, but magnified by a million. It was glorious and not all that messy like I thought it would be. I thought it would be dripping grease all over everything, but it was a pretty self-contained burger. And delicious. Seriously, delicious - I'm not even playing around - it was fantastic and I'm looking forward to when I can eat another one. I contemplated going back and getting a second, but I knew I’d be around roller derby people that knew me, so I chose not to gas out a small crowd of people. I did that for YOU, people.

The Plasma energy drink was alright. I’m still a fan of Monster, and probably always will be, but that doesn’t stop me from trying other ones. This one was fine, but I don’t think I’d crave it or anything. Just good.

This here is a photo of a couple on a mobility scooter. And by "couple", I mean, the husband drives the scooter and pulls a custom-made seat on wheels that hauls his wife around. Kind of makes you love America a little bit, doesn't it? I thought so.

I drove up to Lakeville for an awesome night of friends and roller derby. Men’s and Women’s teams competing against St. Louis and also during half time, they had the Twin Cities Jr. Roller Derby.
Probably the cutest thing I’ve seen in years. Tiny kids skating around or holding their mom’s hands and some of the older kids hip checking while trying not to fall themselves. Seriously, it was so much fun. I’m looking forward to the next one!!!


And I was bummed to see the time was too late for me to go back to Owatonna and get a second Donut Burger... yes, I'm dead serious...