Just one of Minnesota’s pretty 10,000 lakes.
When you travel long distances by road you can be lulled into a trance, or you can check your RoadsideAmerica app and find out some back stories about where you are.
It is amazing what people can think up. In Minnesota, this very northern state of 10,000 lakes, it is not surprising there are aficionados of ice fishing. What is surprising to learn, is that in the winter an average of 25,000 fisherman crowd the frozen Lake Mille Lacs, at the same time. And in one nearby town, the fisherman have an annual parade the Friday following Thanksgiving, hauling their fishing shacks back to the lakes.
You might wonder since they can’t ice fish all year, what people do here in the summer; well some of them hold turtle races. A bunch of turtle races, with one town claiming to be the “Original” spot for turtle racing and another claiming some sort of “World” status.
Big Tom protecting Dino and the Turkey Capital of the World.
We skipped seeing Darwin’s World’s Largest Ball of Twine (Rolled by ONE Man), but were happy to visit Frazee, the Turkey Capital of the World; and they have a giant “Big Tom” statue to prove it.
And if that isn’t enough – northern Minnesota is also Paul Bunyan territory. It gave me a good feeling when I found that out; I hadn’t thought of ole Paul in about 55 years, a comfortable childhood memory. There are lots of area landmarks in honor of Paul and Babe, his Blue Bull. You can find statues of Paul’s chair, baby shoes, cup, footprints, and of course Paul, in a variety of poses. News flash: a multi-ton statue of Babe blew over last week during a big storm in Brainerd, MN.
Thanks to the TripAdvisor app, we found a cute spot for lunch, housed in a reproduction of an old school house. Lunch at The School House Café in McGregor, MN was delicious and the adjacent collection of houses contained some really nice shops. But, retail therapy was not on my agenda today, we need to keep rolling.
Along Lake Superior in Ashland, Wisconsin.
We love BIG in the USA.
In my previous post I shared that I aspired to photograph the incredible sunflowers found in this area, but did not have the right stuff (equipment or ability) to get it done.
I searched for photos on-line and found the one above – beautiful! I contacted the photographer and he gave me permission to post his shot AND was kind enough to even send me a close-up. These shots of the “Hunter Sunflower” were taken in 2013 by Rich Lofthus, a professor of history at Mount Marty College. Rich says Hunter is about an hour north and west of Fargo, North Dakota; a small town in the Red River Valley, one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world.
Thank you Rich, for sharing!
It was just us, fields of sunflowers as far as the eye could see, hectares of corn, and pastures scattered with black cattle. Basically straight for hundreds of miles, with the occasional sharp turn. I really wanted to photograph those sunflowers, but after careful consideration I realized I either needed a 25’ ladder or a helicopter to get the shot. Also seen on the horizon, dozens of large structures used for grain storage that after a while, began to resemble over-sized recreations of the Tin Man’s head from Oz.
We drove out of South Dakota and through North Dakota with only a brief stop for a so-so Mexican lunch in Pierre, the capital of South Dakota. Pierre did not seem to be thriving, but the capitol building was pretty.
Along the way I educated my husband with fascinating data about things like how much each bale of hay weighs (plus or minus 1,000 lbs); the future of the ethanol industry in Onida, SD, and more than you ever wanted to know about sunflowers. For example, did you know that while it’s true sunflowers follow the sun, when they are completely in bloom, they only face due east.
Our most unique roadside attraction for the day was driving through Strasburg, ND, birthplace of Lawrence Welk. I always thought he was from somewhere in Eastern Europe.
Once in Fargo we spent some quality time with close friends (she, from my freshman year in college when I was 17).
In our friend’s central Fargo historic neighborhood, the former Mayor’s home, from the mid-1800s.
We had a full-day insider’s tour of Fargo and nearby Moorhead, Minnesota, just across the bridge over the Red River. We particularly enjoyed the leafy historic neighborhood where our friends live and learning the history and evolution of this rapidly growing city. We had dinner at Usher’s House in a very pretty setting on the Minnesota side of the river. The Fargo side of the river has been mostly cleared and built up with dikes, since the last major flood devastated the lovely homes and everything else along its bank.
The Hjemkomst, translates to “homecoming.”
A bonus was a visit to the Hjemkomst Center, run by the Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County (MN), to visit replicas of a Viking ship and Hopperstad Stave Church, both tributes to the local Norwegian heritage. The 78’ ship was actually built in the area and sailed to Norway before being returned and put on display. The interesting video and displays were enhanced by seeing the actual ship, complete with mast and unfurled sails. Our terrific volunteer-docent took us into the all wood, windowless church, which had no pews; congregants stood. The only way you can see the inside is on a tour, included with your museum admission.
The Lepers’ Window.
A single opening, concealed behind a small shutter, was known as a “Lepers’ Window” so those afflicted could hear the service from outside, separated from the rest of the congregation (Norway had a major health crisis with leprosy in the mid-1800s). It was well worth the $9 admission price and BTW, this museum has a wonderful gift shop.
It was so nice to visit our friends on their home turf and very cool to finally see Fargo, forever famous for the movie of the same name.
Sidebar: My favorite new expression is “jump the shark” which apparently means the point which a TV series or movie includes something absurd, also indicates a decline in quality.
Inside the Hooperstad Stave, built and hand carved by a local professor.
We woke up this morning to a bit of fog and a view of Mount Rushmore’s George Washington from our room at the lodge. Beautiful.
Today was about “touring,” the old fashioned way, driving the scenic highways of the Black Hills. This area’s spectacular scenery must be seen in person to be appreciated and enjoyed, but preferably not with bikers outnumbering cars 50 to 1 (although we embraced the experience).
Today, we drove the Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park and saw distant herds of buffalo, the Park’s famously-friendly begging burros and Pronghorns, usually referred to as antelopes, which they are not, but they are similar and can run 60 mph.
Bikers don’t just stay in Sturgis – they cover the entire Black Hills area. See Mt. Rushmore in the distance?
The Iron Mountain Road is where drivers find the one-lane granite tunnels, several which perfectly frame a distant view of Mount Rushmore’s famous presidents. Photos of Mount Rushmore seen through a tunnel are often the signature image of the area. In addition to the 3 tunnels, the 17-mile winding road features 314 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 pigtails and 2 splits.
Our favorite was Needles Highway, a 14-mile stretch through the needles spindly granite formations and Needle’s Eye feature. This is a must-see drive. At elevation of over 6,000’ I sometimes felt like we were part of a Star Wars set, transported to another world. Driving through the Needle’s Eye was a highlight. Due to the bikers, it was quite chaotic and rangers were on hand to direct traffic, which can only pass through one car, in one direction, at a time.
Threading the Needle, as each vehicle drives through.
Between rides, we lunched in quaint Custer and drove by to see the work-in-progress carving of the Sioux warrior Crazy Horse. We viewed his profile, but the finished monument will depict him on his horse and be 563’ tall. Workers are now focused on his hand and the horse’s mane.
We topped off this beautiful day with a return visit to Mount Rushmore to get some photos in better light. It was exciting to see the Rushmore sculptures in person, but they were smaller than we expected. Not that they are small, they are each 60’ high, but photos usually depict such a close-up shot, you don’t appreciate their scale and placement in the overall scene. What was most dramatic was coming around a curve on one of our drives today and seeing it magically appear through the trees on the horizon. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
Perfect.
Part of the Needles formations.
