New Ulm is a mid-sized city which sits at the confluence of the Minnesota and Cottonwood Rivers in southern Minnesota. Founded by German-Americans, the town gets its name from the German city of Ulm in Bavaria. While not as over-the-top as Frankenmuth in Michigan, New Ulm has many German features to it and the longer you stick around the more you will see. I really enjoyed the Glockenspiel and the Hermann Monument and found several of the churches in town to be truly spectacular. The Historic Society Museum is housed in the eye-catching old post office, and even the fire hydrants brought a smile to my face. On the outskirts of town is the old A. Schell Brewery, which is definitely worth a stop. Founded in 1860, it’s Minnesota’s oldest brewery and one of the oldest in the country. Unlike most of the town, it was spared during the Dakota War of 1862 which devastated New Ulm. I had a wonderful German meal at the Ulmer Cafe and talked to some welcoming locals while I was in town. I hope you enjoy these photos from beautiful New Ulm, Minnesota’s Most German City.
Farwell, Minnesota was established in 1886 when the Soo Line Railroad came through the area. Today the population is just 51 people in 27 households and the town rests on a tiny .29 square miles of land. The main street in town, Stanley Avenue, is composed of a post office which operated from 1887 until 1996 and a long dormant one-room schoolhouse. While I was there a wonderful tumbleweed tumbled through town and I was the only one there to watch it go. I love towns this size, but have rarely found one so enjoyable to photograph. I smiled the whole time I was there. I hope you enjoy these photos from tiny Farwell, Minnesota.
Hello Everyone! Greetings from Milwaukee! I have made my way out of Minnesota after a wonderful 6+ week stay and am on my way home for the holidays. I’ll admit I’m pretty tired after the last 5 months on the road and am looking forward to a few weeks off, catching up with friends and catching up on some sleep. I’ve been pushing hard these last few weeks to get through what I wanted to see and get out before winter really set in. There’s definitely been snow this week, the sun is setting at 4:45pm and nighttime temperatures have dropped below freezing every night. All the signs are there that it’s time for me to follow the geese and head south and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. All of that being said, it’s been another great week on the road. I spent this week exploring the Twin Cities and then cruising down the Great River Road and checking out the historic Mississippi River towns along the way. It’s been overcast and snowy and has made photography challenging, but it’s also cleared up at times and given me some beautiful winter lighting to shoot with. I still have plenty of photos to edit and publish, so you’ll be seeing Minnesota photos for a few weeks to come, but I have officially left the Gopher State.
When I left you last week, I was headed to lunch with my old friend, Rich. I met Rich almost 22 years ago in New Jersey when I was interviewing for the tour company with which I would spend most of the intervening years. When that company shut its doors for good last year during the pandemic, Rich was the one locking those doors behind us. It was good to see him, catch up on the few people we’re both in touch with and share a meal and a few laughs. After lunch I headed on to the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul and took the last guided tour of the day. Our guide was great and told us all about the history of Minnesota’s three Capitol buildings. I was particularly interested in all of the materials they had used in its construction, from local granite to the incredible pipestone I mentioned last week to fine Italian marble. None of the government bodies were in session, so the building was quiet and we had the run of the place. We even got up on the roof for commanding views over the city and a close-up look at the gold-plated Quadriga (four horse chariot) on the front of the dome. After the tour I spent some time wandering the empty building and looking in the nooks and crannies and remembering the pre-September 11th days when I could do the same in our U.S. Capitol. That evening I headed over to First Avenue, one of Minneapolis’ premier music venues, and used the 7th St Entry to get to their smaller, underground club. When I got there, Darrin Bradury was just coming on stage with his quirky tunes about life on the road. The headliner was Minneapolis-based rock band Nato Coles and the Blue Diamond Band, who rocked the small room and got everyone’s toes tapping. It was a good show and so good to see live music again after way too long. I was also happy they were checking vaccination cards at the door which made the small club feel much safer.
Thursday morning I made a quick trip to the Mall of America in Bloomington, which the country’s largest indoor mall. I wandered around for a little while, checked out the amusement park in the middle of it all and the free parts of the aquarium which were both pretty cool. Beyond that, it was just a really big mall. I could definitely imagine it being a nice place to go in the middle of winter to escape the snow and find some fun options with your kids, but I’ve been to malls before and had better things to do with my day. I headed on to the Minnesota History Center which was much more my style. This is the state’s central history museum and I found it fairly progressive, but thought it walked that line well and seemed to present a reasonably balanced look at the state’s history. The main exhibit in the middle was really good, and looked at the different regions of the state and the people that have lived there through the years. I also enjoyed the temporary exhibits on Minnesota weather, the Greatest Generation, Sinclair Lewis and Women’s Rights. I was in the museum for several hours and then headed over to my friend Mark’s house for the night. Mark and I taught together at Francis Gregory Elementary School in New Orleans way back in 2008. It was my second year at the school and his first and I was impressed that he made it through the year (very few teachers there did). While he was fighting different battles than I was, it was an incredibly challenging year in one of the country’s worst schools. He went on to teach in New Orleans for many years before returning home to Minnesota. He’s still teaching now, in fact, and still facing challenges but with a whole lot more experience under his belt. He invited me to stay at his home and then took me to a great dinner at The Blue Door for a beer and a burger. While we were eating and chatting, the snow began to fall but it wasn’t quite the heavy snow that had been predicted. After dinner we went back to his house and sipped some delicious Roknar whiskey (which is made in Minnesota) and chatted long into the night. It was very cozy to sleep in a warm bed in a warm room while the snow was falling outside and also great to catch up with my old friend…
Taylors Falls is a tiny little town of about a thousand people which rests high up on the banks of the St. Croix River and right across the water from Wisconsin. The town gets its name from one of its early settlers, Jesse Taylor. The “falls” are really just a set of rapids, but they made riverboat travel impossible beyond this point in the early years, making Taylors Falls the jumping-off point for many an immigrant headed west into the Minnesota Territory. The town contains half of the beautiful Interstate State Park which protects the Dalles section of the river and their fascinating potholes which were carved by glacial runoff whirlpools and can be 30+ feet deep. I found a lot to smile about in Taylor Falls and it seemed like every time I took a photo, I saw another one just down the road. It’s a fun little town to explore and definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area. I hope you enjoy these photos from my stay in Taylors Falls, Minnesota.
Hello Everyone! When many of you will be reading this, Shadow Catcher and I will be celebrating the 4 year anniversary of this project. We set out together on November 11th, 2017 from our home base in Washington D.C. to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. At the time, the plan was to spend a month in each of the 48 contiguous states, which, if done in one long stretch, would have put an end date right around now. I learned very quickly that a month isn’t very long when it comes to really getting to know a state and while I still try and move right along, six weeks seems like a more realistic timeframe. My dreams of financial success with this project have been all but a complete bust, so I have had to stop and go back to guiding to replenish my coffers. Thankfully, it’s a job I love and it’s fairly easy to put away money in a short time and keep going. And of course who could have predicted a global pandemic, which grounded us for 15 months at home? That time was a blessing as I got to spend it with my folks and watching young Mason every day on his journey from 2 to 3 years old. On the plus side, I’ve seen and done so much, learned more than I ever thought possible and met many truly wonderful people along the way. It’s been everything I hoped it would be and infinitely more and I’m grateful every day for this project, this journey, and all of you who have chosen to share in it. Like any journey, it’s had its ups and downs, but at the end of the day, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. As I wind up my time in Minnesota, my 16th of 48 states, that would leave me 1/3 of the way there. I don’t know if I’ll finish this project, but I’m definitely planning to keep going for the near future. Thank you all for coming along for the ride.
It’s been a very busy week blazing across the prairies of Southwest Minnesota. With daylight savings time ending and snow in the forecast, it is definitely time to start making an exit plan, but I didn’t want to miss out on a whole region. I’ve definitely driven more this week than I usually do and I’ve seen some pretty amazing places but it’s also been pretty fast and furious. That being said, I’ve driven past some fascinating things this week that either gave me pause or a good chuckle. When I drove through Brainerd again this week, I passed by the Warriors Early Childhood Learning Center. Their school team name is the Warriors, but to an outsider I thought this was pretty funny. I also drove past the towns of Nimrod, Sleepy Eye and Weetown – all of which made me smile. I saw a Sasquatch Reporting Station in Starbuck and a street called Oink Joint Rd. The Starbuck High School mascot is the Bucks, the Fergus Falls (county seat of Otter Tail County) is the Otters and of course in Pelican Rapids they went with… the Vikings! It was wonderful to see Amish buggies driving on the roads and tumbleweed tumbling down dusty city streets. It was a wonderful week of clear sunny days and I tried to make the most of it. Here’s what I got into:
When last I wrote I was headed clear across the state of Minnesota back to the western border. Along the way I stopped in the cute little town of Wadena to take some photos and have a wander. I ended up popping into the Little Round Still Distillery and talking with the nice folks there for a while. They gave me a lesson on Minnesota’s complicated liquor laws and it sounded like there is a lot to overcome when starting a brewery or distillery in the state. I ended up buying a 375ml bottle of their Gunflint whiskey which was quite good and the biggest bottle they could legally sell me. From Wadena, I headed on to the even smaller town of New York Mills to check out the Regional Cultural Center there. For a small town, this center is pretty well known and has a wonderful gallery and shop and hosts classes, workshops and events. There was a nice display of “wet felting” wall hangings by Kristen Anderson in the gallery when I was there which were beautiful and told an interesting story. There were also some other smaller pieces from previous exhibits upstairs. I was there for longer than I thought I would be but really enjoyed it. From there I headed on to Perham where I jumped on the Otter Trail Scenic Byway. This beautiful loop road took me through small towns and past some amazing prairie scenery as I made my way around Otter Tail County. I stopped in Pelican Rapids to take a photo of the world’s largest pelican and pulled into Phelps Mill right as the sun was setting to get some great photos of this historic mill now owned by the county. It was a great place to end my day and then I headed on to Fergus Falls for the night. I went downtown and found it pleasant but empty without a single bar or restaurant around. I really find it strange and sad when towns roll up their sidewalks after dark like that. I headed out of town and stopped for a quick beer at their brewery which was actually really tasty but way overpriced. I was sad that my only option for dinner at 8pm was Applebee’s which was on the low side of mediocre. For a town of 13,000 people I had expected a little more, but it was still a nice place to spend the night and it would redeem itself the following day.
Stillwater refers to itself as the “Birthplace of Minnesota” because the territorial convention which began the process of statehood was held there in 1848. The town itself predates the state and when it was officially incorporated in 1854, Stillwater was Minnesota’s biggest city. The town gets its name from the quiet stretch of the St. Croix River it sits on and its early life was dependent on lumber and river traffic. At its peak, the Stillwater Lumber Company was one of the biggest in the country. While its lumber days are long over, Stillwater has been busy repurposing the old warehouses and mills and reimaging itself as a premier tourist destination. The town’s main street is vibrant and packed with wonderful restaurants and busy bars and draws people from all over the world. Beautiful historic homes can be found in the nearby neighborhoods, harking back to Stillwater’s busy early days. Stillwater is everything I love about a historic town and it was one of the prettiest towns I visited in a long time. I love what they’ve done with the place. I hope you enjoy these photos from beautiful Stillwater, the Birthplace of Minnesota.
Hello Everyone! I can’t believe it’s November already. That means it’s almost 5 months since I left home and that it’s almost time to turn my headlights back in that general direction. I turned 46 last weekend in the Twin Cities and really enjoyed the weekend. I caught up with some friends and found some Halloween festivities as well and even went to the Vikings game at U.S. Bank Stadium. After a fun-filled but tiring weekend, I traveled up the St. Croix River through some really cool historic towns and have once again turned west for my final run across Minnesota. There’s been a lot of sun this week which has made the freezing and near-freezing temperatures pretty easy to bear, but with the sun coming up at 8am and going down before 6, it’s been a challenge to get everything I want to accomplish done during daylight hours. Daylight Savings Time is ending this week and while I’m looking forward to getting up with light in the sky, it will be dark by 5 and that’s not so easy. There was even a little bit of snow this week which was fun, but definitely a reminder of what is right ahead of us. I’m going to be pushing hard this week to see and do the things I want to get done so I can get out of here before the real snow flies. It’s been a busy week, so let’s get right into it.
After finishing this post last week in St. Cloud, I told you I was looking forward to an open-mic night in town. What I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know was that it was an open-mic comedy night which was quite something to see in a mid-sized Minnesota town, especially since most of the comedians were in some form of costume. On the whole, they were pretty terrible and bombed pretty hard if they could even remember their jokes at all. Some read directly off of their cue cards while others blanked entirely and wished they’d brought some. As far as hilarious stand-up goes - this was not that, but as far as observing life in St. Cloud, it was fascinating. Some people just spilled their guts and I wondered if there was supposed to be any jokes in it at all or if it was some form of humiliation therapy (although I sincerely applaud their courage to get up on stage at all). My favorite was probably Large Marge, a 40-something drag queen who had the best delivery and was actually pretty funny. The crowd was small, but generally supportive and I had a great time. The $4 craft beer pitchers didn’t hurt. Before the show I went across the street to Pioneer Place, an old theatre which was having a live radio performance. I wish I had known it was going on because it’s been a long time since I’ve attended such an event, but I did catch a little bit of it and it was also a lot of fun.
Thursday I headed out of St. Cloud and made a beeline for the Twin Cities. I had a great conversation with my old friend Peter as I drove. Peter lived near me when I lived in Japan and it was nice to catch up with him. When I got to Minneapolis, I ran around and did a bunch of errands and then spent the afternoon with my friend, Val. The last time I saw Val was at her place in Dallas on my drive home from South Texas at the beginning of the pandemic. It was good to see her and we spent the whole afternoon just hanging out and catching up.
The next day was my birthday and I started the day with a delicious breakfast at a little hole-in-the-wall called Junior’s. Then I headed up to the town of Anoka, which bills itself as the “Halloween Capital of the World”. There were banners on the light posts in town declaring the same and a giant pumpkin down by the river. The stores along the main street were all decorated, but mostly in a very subtle way and I was surprised how little decoration I saw around town seeing as it was 2 days before Halloween. While their big Halloween parade was on Saturday, I was there to see the schoolchildren’s parade. It was really wonderful with all of the different schools in town participating and hundreds of costumed kids marching down the street.
Lake Itasca State Park spans over 32,000 acres in North-Central Minnesota. Native Americans have hunted in this region for thousands of years. In more recent times the area was inhabited by semi-nomadic bands of Ojibwe and played a roll in the fur trade. In 1832 an Ojibwe leader and guide named Ozawindib guided explorer Henry Schoolcraft to the lake they called Omashkoozo-zaaga'igan (Elk Lake), where he showed Schoolcraft the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Schoolcraft chose a new name for the lake by combining the Latin words Veritas (truth) and Caput (head) to form ‘Itasca’ honoring the ‘true head’ of the Mississippi. A monument has been placed there marking the beginning of the river’s 2,552 mile run to the Gulf of Mexico and is one of the more iconic photos in the state. The park is so much more than just the headwaters though, with dozens of miles of trails, the historic Douglas Lodge, campgrounds, lakes and even a climbable fire tower. The area is so wonderful, in fact, that Minnesota declared it a state park in 1891 making it the oldest state park in the state and one of the oldest in the country. I had a wonderful day in Itasca State Park and found it one of the prettiest places I’ve seen in Minnesota. I hope you enjoy these photos from lovely Itasca State Park, a real gem in the heart of the state.
The Ojibwe referred to the body of water we now call Detroit Lake as “Gaiajawangag", meaning a lake with a crossing in a sandy place. The name “Detroit” was given to the area by a French missionary as “Detroit” means “straight” in French. The Old Red River Road came through Detroit in the early 1800s and was traveled by fur traders and Indians alike. When the Northern Pacific Railroad was pushing west through Minnesota, there was a small village on the lake known as Tylerville, named after Merwin Tyler whose small cabin on the lake also served as a hotel and post office. As the railroad came through, the city of Detroit was established in 1871 and in 1877 it became the county seat. The town provided ice and water to the railroad in the early days, but today’s economy relies heavily on tourism. The name was eventually changed from Detroit to Detroit Lakes in 1926 to avoid confusion with Michigan’s Detroit. I really enjoyed my stay in Detroit Lakes and found the downtown area to be quaint and historic while the lake itself was stunning - especially around sunset. I loved watching the trains cruise past the historic station and found beautiful art all over town. I hope you enjoy these photos from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, a little town with a lot to offer.
Hello Everyone! It’s been a week of changes here in Northern Minnesota. I must admit that it’s not been the best of weeks for me out here, probably mostly because the weather has been so gloomy (although it could be considerably worse too). The days have passed their equinox and there are now more dark hours than light. Nighttime temperatures have dropped near freezing, and I’ve had to adjust accordingly. My winter clothes have been retrieved from their spot under my bed and my winter sleeping bag is out as well. I have gotten all of the water out of my van’s pipes and hoses so it doesn’t freeze and burst. As I’ve made my way north and west along the Canadian border and then south and east to North Dakota the scenery has changed from forests and lakes to hay bales and grain silos. I’m starting to see western businesses like Arco and Tesoro pop up. I’ve definitely entered the plains region of the state which has been an interesting and quick transition. I saw a lot of beautiful scenery this week, but I didn’t take a lot of photos. Voyageurs National Park was a bit of a let-down and the towns I have passed through have not been very inspiring of photography. I guess it’s been a weird week. Not a bad one, but not quite what I had hoped from it either. We’ve had a couple of good days weather-wise, but I haven’t felt like I’ve been using the blue skies and sun to their fullest.
When I finished off last week, I had just arrived in Hibbing. Hibbing is a very blue collar town whose biggest claim to fame is that it’s where Bob Dylan grew up (he was born in Duluth). Dylan first performed with his friends at a Hibbing High School Talent Show, calling themselves The Cashmeres and playing Little Richard, much to the shock and surprise of the town. Dylan had his Bar Mitzvah at the Androy Hotel which has since been turned into apartments and I had the luck of staying there at my friend Elizabeth’s place which was very cool. We went to see an open-mic night at Mike’s Pub on Wednesday evening and saw some really amazing local talent and I was happy to see a musical tradition has passed down through the years.
On Thursday I went and visited all of the Dylan sites in town – his boyhood home, Hibbing High School (where they are just completing a monument to his winning of the Nobel Prize in literature) and some of the old stores and restaurants he enjoyed around town as a teenager. The biggest tribute to the great songwriter in Hibbing was in the basement of the public library, which had memorabilia, books about his life, concert posters and artifacts from the town’s Dylan Days festivals. Bob has asked that no museum be built until after he dies which I guess is fair enough, but Hibbing could really use a Dylan museum to attract more people to the town. That night we hung out at The Sportsman, another of the pubs on Howard Street, the town’s main drag. There were some wonderful salt-of-the-earth folks there that night, and I enjoyed their company and had a good laugh. One of the things I found disturbing, though, was how many of them were in chronic pain and self-medicating with alcohol (among other things). More than one said they had broken bones recently but couldn’t afford X-rays and they weren’t bones that could be set anyway. I really don’t know why people in this country are opposed to socialized medicine. In all of my travels around the world, in all of my conversations with the thousands of tourists I’ve taken on vacation over the years and through my own experiences with it while living in Japan, I’ve never seen anything but good come from socialized medicine. Every system around the world could be improved, but what you don’t find in those countries is people who can barely get out of bed in the morning because of the pain they’re in but can’t afford to go see a doctor. And as I’ve mentioned in this space before, you won’t see GoFundMe pages from people who are trying to afford their children’s cancer treatments. It’s one of the greatest tragedies I see in this country and that night it was so prevalent it was hard not to think about it. Good people though and we had a very good night.
The next morning I went to see Hibbing’s other claim to fame – the old Greyhound Bus museum. Started as a cheap way to transport miners to their jobs right there in Hibbing, Greyhound was the beginning of bus transportation in America.
Thief River Falls gets its name from the falls at the confluence of the Red Lake River and the Thief River (which traces its name back to a conflict between the Ojibwe and Dakota people). These falls made navigation by boat impossible beyond this point, so a town was born here in 1887. Thief River Falls was originally a lumber town and then shifted to wheat farming, but it really took off when the Great Northern and Soo Line railroads came to town in the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries respectively. The rivers and railroads still power the local economy today and Thief River Falls is also the home of an Arctic Cat Snowmobiles plant. Thief River Falls has a population of around 8,600 people today and it really put on a show for me during my visit. The temperature hovered around 70 degrees under sunny skies and the sunset was absolutely spectacular. I hope you enjoy these photos from my visit to beautiful Thief River Falls, Minnesota.
Hello Everyone! It’s been another wonderful week out here on the road as I’ve traveled from the beautiful North Shore, up the Gunflint Trail and back and then out into the interior of the state. The weather has been very up and down with a lot of clouds and rain but also a few truly stunning days which has really showed this region in its best light. Because of the weather, I have been moving a little slower than usual because there are things I don’t want to miss in this region. I’ve also been trying to plan the rest of my time in the state which takes time to research and plot out. I am very grateful to all of my Minnesotan friends for making my first week here so easy – with all of their pointers on the region, I barely had to look at anything other than my map. As I get deeper into the state though, I’m more on my own – which is perfectly fine, but it means I want to be sure I have at least a rough plan so I’m not missing things I really want to see. I was also trying hard to get another podcast episode done this week which I finally finished yesterday (and you can find here). I really hoped to keep on top of my podcast better this summer, but I’ve just been so busy that I haven’t had the time I thought I would. My fun observations this week have included Minnesotan’s pronunciation of the word “sauna”, which is probably close to the Finnish pronunciation, as “sow-na”. In most of the country we pronounce it “saw-na”. There are actually signs posted and T-shirts to be bought about this pronunciation debate, which I find amusing (here’s an article discussing the pronunciation). I also saw a great sign this week about social distancing which told people to stay at least one canoe paddle apart (in Wisconsin it was one cow apart). How wonderful! I’m also loving the Halloween decorations that are springing up everywhere and the fresh apples and cider in the stores. The roads have been good this week and actually make driving much more pleasurable. I know this is in part due to less traffic and especially less truck traffic in the area, but I’ve still been enjoying it. I’ve also seen an eagle pretty much every day since I left Duluth which has been truly wonderful to see.
After I finished last week’s This Week, I did make it out to Devil’s Kettle Falls in Judge C.R. Magney State Park. I had seen a lot of waterfalls last week, but my friend Jen was insistent on my seeing this one in particular. I was glad I did, because it was really cool. There are two sides to the falls – one continues down the river and the other disappears underground. After hiking to the falls, I headed back into Grand Marais right as the weather was clearing and it turned into an absolutely beautiful day. I had fun wandering around town and out along the breakwater to the lighthouse, taking photos and enjoying the sunshine. There are some cool buildings and some beautiful views in Grand Marais (pronounced “muh-ray”), and I enjoyed my afternoon, but I also didn’t want to spend the whole day in town as I knew there was a rainy forecast ahead. My friend Tim had recommended a trip up the Gunflint Trail, once a logging road which was improved to allow firefighter access to in case of wildfire and is now a state scenic byway. The road stretches 40 miles into the interior of the state and has a lot of public access points to many of the lakes along the way. I bopped along and ended up at Gunflint Lake, 35 miles or so up the Trail, about an hour before sunset. I cast out my fishing line and sat at the end of the dock and watched the beautiful day fade to dusk as the sun set in the west. I went back to my van and cooked some dinner and when I had finished and came back down to the lake there were a million stars overhead. It was so dark out there and the massive lake allowed such an expansive view that I just stood there in awe, listening to the loons and watching the stars. It was pretty magical.
I set my alarm to go off early on Thursday morning so I could watch the sun come up over the lake. The water was very still and it was really quiet and I just sat on the end of the pier with my coffee and enjoyed the morning. After a nice breakfast, I continued on to Gull Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail where I spent some time in the fascinating Chik-Wauk museum which is housed in what was once a tourist lodge. The museum had some great displays on the natural history of the area and on the development and evolution of the Gunflint Trail. There was also a preserved tourist cabin with a nice view over the lake and a wonderful building filled with historic canoes. When I left the museum, I moseyed back down the Trail, stopping off to do a little fishing at a couple of lakes along the way. I also did a hike out to Magnetic Rock which is a huge monolith in the middle of the forest. The rock itself was cool and worth the trek, but the trail was quiet and had some stunning views as well. After my hike, I made my way back to Grand Marais where I watched the sun set and enjoyed a couple of beers at the brewery and a delicious walleye sandwich at the Gunflint Tavern before calling it a night.
