Minnesota state fair: Horse Chronicles

A few weeks ago I got to spend a long weekend in Minneapolis. The state Minnesota fair was so much more impressive than any county fair in California - no comparison.
When this lady saw me taking photos of her horse, she invited me into the stall to take photos. What a friendly horse and caretaker! I loved the light coming in through the window and the one below might be my favorite shot of the trip.

Now did I mention I'm kinda afraid of horses? About 5 minutes after the lovely encounter above, some Clydesdales passes us in a narrow alley and this one had me seriously scared. Look at the horse's feet and the handler's tight grip. This animal had massive power and was not exactly under control. But they zoomed by us and I thanked my lucky stars. Then we went to safer territory, the small animal building...

New Orleans

As it was my first time there, and I'm an exercise advocate, I took 3 and a half hours to power walk up and down every block of the French Quarter. The heat and humidity weren't that bad and until I had to go to the bathroom and showed up at the wrong hotel, it was really fun. My favorite things:

• Watching a 50-year old man on the sidewalk look at a red apron emblazoned with "Will cook for sex" and tell his wife she should only wear that...
• Getting beignets at 1 am - good thing Cafe du Monde never closes.
• Almost going into the karaoke bar by myself at 2 in the afternoon - there was nobody there to suffer through my bad singing. But I kept walking.
  
• Checking out the architecture and noticing ferns and plants growing out of the sides of buildings (that does not happen in San Diego).
• Watching a dog walk around between mannequins wearing expensive ballgowns. His owner must have been one of the two ladies inside. And not a purse dog either - a regular dog was just circling the gowns and looking out the window.
• Not gaining weight on the trip. The power walking must have been done its job.
  

My least favorite thing: There are 3 Marriot hotels within 2 blocks of each other. Needless to say this can be confusing if you're tired and hungry and disoriented after 3+ hours of walking.