Think you know the Minnesota State Fair? The Info Booth Ladies know it all.

Where are the bathrooms? Where can I eat some grasshoppers? Where are the weeds?

Those are just a few of the thousands of questions — from the FAQs to the weirdly obscure — that the Info Booth Ladies will be peppered with when the Minnesota State Fair opens Thursday.

For the past seven years, Kristen Donaldson, Margie McCarron and Kathy Riewe have worked the same shift at the same information booth at the fair. You can find them just inside Gate 5 at the Snelling Avenue entrance to the fair from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. all 12 days of the fair.

The trio is among 45 information booth employees hired to staff a total of 10 booths scattered around the fairgrounds. But Donaldson, McCarron and Riewe so love the fair and their gig as fair fact dispensers that they've created a podcast around it.

"Info Booth Ladies" (available wherever you get podcasts) is an unofficial behind-the-scenes look at the fair. During the roughly half-hour podcasts that they've done for the past two summers, they interview fair workers, performers, volunteers and concession operators, ranging from Karl Stenborg, who takes admission tickets wearing a giant foam hat, to cookie magnate "Sweet" Martha Rossini.

One questions they ask each podcast guest: Do you have a question that can stump the Info Booth Ladies?

Doing so isn't easy, because they're serious about being State Fair know-it-alls.

Donaldson, 42, of Roseville, is a stay-at-home mom. McCarron, 72, of Roseville, is a retired lawyer. Riewe, 59, of Falcon Heights, is a financial analyst. But they all have an insider's knowledge of the fair, having worked there as teens or young adults. They've cooked, washed dishes, served beer and chauffeured grandstand acts. Riewe's family used to have a food booth there.

Still, to be official fair information dispensers, they also study a book of State Fair facts and data and memorize hours of operation of different attractions like the barns and the pet pavilions.

They also walk the fairgrounds the day before it opens, making mental notes of last-minute changes and gathering intelligence on new vendors, and keep a laptop in the information booth to track down answers to particularly tough questions. They can even access a Slack messaging program to bounce questions to other fairground employees in real time.

These women know their fair: Off the top of their heads, they can tell you where to buy hearing aid batteries, diapers and antacids; suggest places to take a nap, find air conditioning, or pop the question; and even help you pump up a flat tire on your stroller. They routinely help parents get reunited with lost kids or connect people with lost cell phones, hearing aids, wallets and diaper bags.

If they get stumped by a question — "Where's Steve's booth?" "Where can I find the sandwich that starts with Q?" "My kid forgot to wear shoes. Where can I buy some?" — they may even spend time after their shift scouring the fairground for the answer.

Naturally, we had a few questions for the Info Booth Ladies. Our conversation with them has been edited for space and clarity.

Q: What's the most FAQ?

Donaldson: "Where are the bathrooms?" "Where can we buy a Blue Ribbon Bargain Book?" And, "Is this a map?"

Riewe: They ask that when they're pointing at a map.

Q: Do you have a favorite bathroom?

Donaldson: There are a number of new bathroom buildings that have been built within the last eight years including near the entrance of the International Bazaar and by the DNR Building. I will seek those out.

McCarron: The one that's closest to us is right down the street, at the end of the block, you turn right and there it is (Cooper Street near Dan Patch Avenue). It's a nice brand new large bathroom, with men, women and family spaces.

Riewe: And they've got the water bottle refill stations, which a lot of people want.

Q: Can you direct fairgoers to vegetarian or gluten-free food stands?

Donaldson: We have a gluten free list and a vegan and vegetarian list we can hand out to people, yep.

Q: Can I get a cocktail with that?

Donaldson: No hard alcohol on the fairgrounds, but you can get a malt beverage mixed like a bloody Mary.

Q: Ok, then what time can I start buying beer?

McCarron: 9 a.m., except on Sunday when it's 10.

Q: On Sunday, is there a place to go to church?

McCarron: There's a chapel here and on Sunday mornings up at Baldwin Park stage (Wright Avenue and Cosgrove Street) there's a Catholic mass and a non-denominational service at the bandshell.

Q: Where's a good place to pop the question?

McCarron: We've heard Ye Old Mill.

Q: Is there a payphone on the fairgrounds?

McCarron: No. But down at the Visitors Plaza, there's a phone that people can use.

Q: In addition to knowing what's at the fair, you also have to know what's not at the fair?

McCarron: There's always new things and things that disappear.

Riewe: The year the Spam booth disappeared, oh my gosh!

Donaldson: The emotional response to the Spam building going away, it ran the gamut from people weeping in tears to people full of rage like they were going to burn the place down.

Q: Where can I get a selfie with the fair mascots?

Donaldson: They do a meet-and-greet at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. at Visitors Plaza every day.

Q: How do I tell the two mascots apart?

Riewe: Fairchild wears a green striped jacket. And Fairborne, his nephew, is in blue.

Q: Does it make a difference?

Riewe: You'd be surprised. They want the nephew. They don't want the uncle.

Q: What are some of the most unusual questions you've gotten?

Donaldson: A gentleman came up and asked "Where's the women giving birth building?" So I suggested he might be looking for the building where the animals are giving birth, the Miracle of Birth Center. He said, "No, I don't think so." I said, "I do."

Q: Where are the weeds?

Donaldson: This lady came to the booth and said, "I need to know where the weeds are." It turns out there's a display that shows the different kind of weeds so you can identify them in your yard. It's in Agriculture Horticulture building.

Q: Is this going to be a good fair this year?

Donaldson, McCarron and Riewe (in unison): It's always a good fair.