In June of 2008, we set out on a trip to explore a handful of states - Colorado, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Utah. Initially, Kansas was also to be a destination during that summer's journey, but our virtual tools were not quite what they are today 16 years ago, and we had to forgo seeing the amber waves of grain that had inspired this blog's name. What serendipity!
Who knows if we would have remained quite as diligent over all these years had we satisfied this entire verse in a single summer:
Oh beautiful, for spacious skiesFor amber waves of grainFor purple mountain majestiesAbove the fruited plain
Instead we have devoted 16 years, mostly during the winter, spring and summer breaks of four different levels of schooling (elementary through college!) to explore this magnificent country from "sea to shining sea." When we arrived Tuesday evening and stepped foot into the rental car parking lot in Fargo (where it took us longer than it should have to locate our car given the airport's manageable size ;p), the significance wasn't lost on any of us that we had made it to our 50th state.
Much as Dana had bemoaned for years that we didn't "check off" Idaho during that first trip when we drove through "verdant fields of potatoes" en route to Yellowstone or "check off" West Virginia during a drive from DC, he has also joked repeatedly that "if we'd just stayed on the highway driving north for a few more minutes after we left Mount Rushmore," we could have considered North Dakota complete. Of course, in each of those previous cases, he came to truly appreciate the states of Idaho and West Virginia in our subsequent travels through those great states.
In fact, I can't say there is a state any one of us eagerly volunteers when asked which one we liked least, though we quickly rattle off as among our favorites states we almost certainly would have never visited had it not been for this quest. Where North Dakota will fall in our ultimate rankings remains to be seen, but we're off to a delightful start.
Though it took us 30 minutes to find our rental car, it only took about 8 minutes to get from the airport to our sophisticated boutique hotel on Main Street in downtown Fargo, so we quickly settled in and headed downstairs to check out our immediate surroundings. The days here are long, with the sun rising by 5:30 AM and not setting until after 9:00 PM, so the "golden hour" of glorious light greeted us.
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| Maddie takes in the sunset from our 10th floor perch overlooking the city |
That evening, we enjoyed drinks in the lobby and Silver Lining Creamery ice cream from the local shop directly across from our hotel before settling in for the later than usual premier of the final episode of what is likely to be the final season of Ted Lasso, a show Maddie turned us on to early in the pandemic and quickly became a family favorite. When she got the opportunity to work on this final season, first as a Post-Production Assistant and then a Post-Production Coordinator, we were giddy with excitement for her. Being able to snuggle into our room, Roku expertly installed by Dana, and take in the final episode together was a moment I won't soon forget.
Yesterday the rising sun prompted us to an early start of the day, so we enjoyed breakfast at Marge's with their extensive and adorable collection of salt and pepper shakers and popped into a few darling shops on the street (where the progressive stickers and Hygge lifestyle are on full and glorious display and reveal that even a deep red state like North Dakota is actually far more purple than one might ever realize on election night).
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For a closer look at some of those progressive values
On yesterday's agenda was a short trip to Hillsboro, a small nearby town which came into existence due to the hospitality of its citizens in 1880 when railroad baron James Hill was turned away from another town due to his rough around the edges appearances. When the residents of then Comstock welcomed him, he opted to move his route through their town instead. They renamed the town in his honor.
Their motto - "hospitality, a coffee cup away" - sums it up nicely. This is the sort of small town where the banners hanging from each light post sport images and names of that year's high school graduates, every store front has a sign supporting the kids' baseball team and the waitress brings out the new owners of the Hillsboro Cafe to talk to you when she finds out you're traveling from Florida and North Dakota is your final state to explore as a family.
There's not much else to do here, so you enjoy an unexpected chat with this young couple who moved from California where a one bedroom condo would cost more than the acres and big house they bought just over the border in Minnesota. They share that the Rhubarb in the pie you enjoyed came from their garden and that they decided to buy the cafe on a whim when her pregnancy cravings for french fries caused her to Google the spot only to find that it had been closed (but was for sale!)
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| The historic Plummer house was closed until June, but we enjoyed the walk to and around its property. |
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| Original bells from the City Hall and school house |
We drove back to Fargo for an afternoon of resting, shopping on Main Street and a delicious gourmet dinner at Mezzaluna (complete with a ginger sorbet palate cleanser between courses!) and a viewing of the perfect film You Hurt My Feelings in the historic Fargo theater.
Since Fargo is just west of the Minnesota border, I suggested we take the somewhat longer (by 10 minutes) drive to Hillsboro through Minnesota to enable us to get a Welcome to North Dakota sign photograph, so I will end the first blog entry of our last state on the Amber Waves tour with this image of the four of us, sixteeen years later, still excited to be exploring this great country together. North Dakota... be legendary? We'll do our best!
1 comment:
Wonderful, as always! Thank you for bringing us along through all 50 states. It has been a vicarious adventure, to be sure!
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