Each year on opening day, my daughter and I hop the bus and head to the Minnesota State Fair for the day. We map out the foods we want to try, attractions we want to see and cover the grounds. This year, the first day was hot, but it didn't keep more than 106,000 people from walking through the gates. This year, 1.8 million people attended the fair.

We learned some state fair history, ate some new foods and walked the buildings and grounds for 10 hours to make sure we didn't miss our favorite exhibits.

Some fun facts we learned this year, taking the history of the Minnesota State Fair in the heritage building at the West End Market: