I Went To The Auto Show. But I Acted Like I Went To The State Fair

The Twin Cities Auto Show is in its second year at the State Fairgrounds, and now that I went there yesterday/Monday for the first time ever (its first year there was last year, and I didn't go because I was still freaked out over the pandemic), it should be there every year from now on instead of the Minneapolis Convention Center, where it had been, I think, forever.  The car manufacturers are trying to push test drives, and you can't do that in downtown Minneapolis, but you sure can on the Fairgrounds where there are way fewer people and more space where the Midway and other attractions would be in late August to drive the hell out of the cars you're trying to sell.  There might be bad weather, but some of the displays are under canopies, and besides, they're show cars, so who cares if they get wet?  Finally, parking is free for the Auto Show because everyone gets to park where the buses usually dump you off from the area park-and-rides.  Parking at the Convention Center was a pain in the ass; you either paid money at the ramp right next to it, or you had to dump quarters into a meter close by, if you could find one.  It may be in its second year here, but putting the car show here is a perfect fit.

I was looking forward to getting my steps in while enjoying looking at cars I can't afford and will never buy (at least not until my car[s] go to hell on me) all over the Fairgrounds.  Added bonus: Some of the State Fair vendors opened up to serve food.  So my plan of attack was eating here while going to see these cars over there, rinse and repeat.  That did not go to plan.

First of all, not all car manufacturers were at the Twin Cities Auto Show.  I saw the map of the Fairgrounds with the ones that were there and where on the grounds they were, and I had forgotten when I took that initial glance that some prominent ones such as Honda and Lexus weren't going to be there.  Is it related to the pandemic?  Did they not like the switch to an outdoor venue?  A lot of makes I wanted to see weren't there.  Another thing: There aren't brochures anymore.  I have bags of brochures from years past that I still haven't read yet.  I did not pick up a single one last night, and I don't think there were any to give out.  That trend began before the pandemic; it wasn't really cost-effective to print pamphlets if instead you can direct a potential customer who really wanted more information about a car to a website or a QR code displayed right next to the car on display.  But the pandemic just rendered a "thing" like a brochure meaningless to make and give out, or so I guess.  Turns out I went to the huge Toyota display, then the Luxury Lane part of the Fairgrounds (which was housed in the Eco Building, and I think that's a bit ironic, but I digress), then the smaller Audi display (where I think I found the most expensive car I could get into, the $135,830 S8, and then finally the Jeep display, where I went only because I wanted to walk off the mini-donuts I ate, the end of a walking feed bag I made for myself.

And that's the rub.  My plan was to eat all the staples of the State Fair -- the French fries, the Pronto Pup, the mini-donuts and the cheese curds -- while getting into all the cars I'll never buy and dreaming of driving in style (or, in the case of the Toyota Corolla, practicality).  But it's hard to do that when you're eating things not on the list like Cheese-In-A-Stick and duck drummies, or drinking things you didn't plan on drinking like lemonade or a Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy.  Then, as I realized that there weren't many manufacturers I wanted to look at and there were no brochures that would be fun to grab, I devoted more of my time to eating and drinking on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds ... like it was the Minnesota State Fair.  And thank Buddha I was walking aimlessly everywhere.  I felt my stomach had reached its limit when I sat down at the Blue Moon Drive-In and ate a small chocolate shake while watching a concert film of, I think, the Moody Blues at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, which seems totally random.  But I ate/drank it all, and I still felt I had the stomach (and the guts) to get the mini-donuts.  Not exactly true; I ate half before stopping, and I ate the other half just now, after they got all cold and hard.  But I finished them all, and I made a deal with myself that all the State Fair foods I consumed at the car show I didn't need to consume when the State Fair rolls around in the summer.  Let's see if I stick to that deal.  (For the record, I didn't get around to the cheese curds, and I didn't plan on eating Aunt Martha's cookies because I want to pair them with the All-You-Can-Drink milk bar, which is not open for the Twin Cities Auto Show.)

So, I wanted to look at cars last night, but in my heart of hearts I wanted to act like it was the State Fair.  My stomach certainly feels the way it usually feels after a day or night at the Fair.  Meanwhile, all I brought home was the car show map guide, a pamphlet about propane, a couple of cards from dealers who were there, and a mini-bottle of water from the Audi showroom, which was arranged on a table to look like the interlocking circles of the Audi logo, how cute.  I was able to tote all of those things home in a Toyota bag, which, thankfully, is still around.

And that was my night at the Minnesota State Fair Twin Cities Auto Show.