He munched on a porkchop-on-a-stick, served up twisty ice cream cones and frosty malts, and even had an audience with Princess Kay of the Milky Way.
But the biggest reaction on Sunday out of Governor Tim Walz during his first, and only, trip to the 2024 Minnesota State Fair was when he met someone from Mankato.
"Mankato!!??!!" Walz shouted, his mouth agape as he paused while shaking hands during his winding trip through the Dairy Building.
Darrin Mayes was there working the booth for his company, Urban Wing, which makes saunas, and found out their shared home town is getting something positive with Walz being the running mate for Kamala Harris.
"He said, 'people are finally pronouncing it correctly," said Mayes, grinning from ear-to-ear.
Wearing a green state fair ballcap and a blue "Minnesota Made" t-shirt, it was a short trip by the governor, who's used to visiting the fair almost daily.
This was the first fair since he was elected that Walz missed opening day.
“I don’t get 12 days, which I normally get,” the governor said.
During the Democratic National Convention, he told WCCO's Susie Jones that he was "unsure" about going to the fair, but backtracked a bit while being whisked away to another event.
Sources say planning for this trip began about a week ago.
How the secret lasted as long it did is amazing; Walz finally spilled the beans on Friday night during a campaign stop in McLean, Virginia.
The motorcade parked behind the Dairy Building aroung 10:00 a.m., and Walz went for the pork chop before going inside, that now-famous smile leaving his lips only when he carefully handed a vanilla ice cream cone to a customer.
He seemed fascinated by the rotating butter sculpture display, listening intently while the reigning Princess Kay gave a quick tutorial.
"I shared what it was like to be in the butter booth," said the princess, Rachel Visser of Hutchinson. "It was awesome to get to share the experience that I have here at the fair."
Behind the revolving glassed-in booth, Dairy princess Afton Nelson of Owatonna was bundled up against the 40-degree chill while Gerry Kulzer sculpted her likeness out of a 90-pound block of butter.
After going through a winding gauntlet of waving hands and cellphones aimed at his every move, Walz went out the back door, got in his special car, and left the fairgrounds.
It was about 11:00 a.m.
An hour for the governor-turned-Veep-hopeful, a moment frozen in time for hundreds.
And it as profitable for one guy.
"Somebody with a dog named 'Scout' purchased one of our products today," said Mike McCabe, who sells dog toys from his Great Dog Company stand just inside the Dairy Building.
Governor Walz has a dog named Scout, but it wasn't him that dropped the cash for an antler chew.
McCabe didn't care who completed the transaction.
"I made 36 bucks for an hour-and-a-half of work."
WCCO's Al Schoch found out he's not the only one who makes the porkchop-on-a-stick stand his first stop at the Minnesota State Fair