Joining the "Best for Last" Club

 

    When we arrived on Tuesday evening, the hotel desk clerk mentioned something about being sure to  head to the visitor center at some point since this was our last state.  We didn't think much of it at the time, though we thought it was sweet that visitor centers across the country made a point to recognize those who had made a mission out of exploring all 50 states.

    After a final breakfast in a Fargo diner yesterday morning, we were all set to hit the road for an "it's  not the destination but the journey" kind of day that would take a longer than necessary route to enable us to explore a bit more of the state before we arrived in Bismarck last night. Luckily, that same hotel clerk was there again for checkout and reminded us to be sure to stop by the visitor center.   Not yet knowing this was an actual thing, we contemplated for a moment whether we should just plan to do it at one of our other stops over the next week but decided to head to the F-M (Fargo Moorehead) center before heading down to Lisbon. Talk about your delightful surprises!

    The nicest woman I ever met was thrilled to gather shirts for us, have us sign up to be "official" members of the club, create our certificates and take our photograph.  Apparently enough people had stopped by announcing that North Dakota was their final state that in 2013 they decided to lean into the fact and create a whole bunch of hoopla encouraging people to "save the best for last." For us, and for most others, I'm sure, it was purely happenstance that caused us to visit North Dakota last, but we're thrilled to accidentally be part of the club. Thus far, it is only at the F-M visitor center that one can experience this joyful celebration, so I'm very grateful we added the extra stop to yesterday's journey!

    In addition to getting free swag and some helpful brochures for our trip, we were tickled to find the original wood chipper used in the Fargo film, which has been signed by the Coen brothers, along with the original script, and we had lots of fun taking silly photos.

    Giddy with our new club status, we finally got on our way to Lisbon, the southern gateway of the Sheyenne River Valley National Scenic Byway.  I couldn't vouch for whether the scenery would be worth the extra couple of hours that driving south to Lisbon would require for us to weave our way up the river, but we are all committed to seeing as much of each state as we can, so off we went. 

    Lisbon is home to the Scenic, opened in 1911 and the oldest running movie theater in America. We didn't have time to hop in to see a film, but we appreciated its significance just the same.  I also was pleased to see yet another, less expected part of ND, where citizens proudly display their progressive values. 

    What we learned from an additional map I picked up at the visitors center was a good portion of the byway isn't paved, so that was an unexpected bump (or 100!) in the road.  The Sheyenne River is more akin to a creek in lots of parts and the scenery looked much like the photos below for the grand majority of the drive. While it wasn't the most scenic byway we've ever taken, it was certainly beautiful and offered us a glimpse into another part of North Dakota.  We stopped at various points, including Fort Ransom and Kathryn. A skeleton in a window to play up Kathryn's "ghost town" vibe nearly gave poor Daniel a heart attack, while I was blissfully photographing Maddie rolling around in the grass recreating Wyeth's Christina's World.  We ended our trek on the byway in Valley City, where we had a late lunch and walked up the hill to Medicine Wheel park, a project from a local college, that includes Native American burial mounds and a walking tour of the solar system.

    After Valley City, it was back onto Interstate 94 with a stop in Jamestown before settling into Bismarck for the night.  Jamestown is the birthplace of Louis L'amour, and they lean into it all with a giant statue of a buffalo you can see from the highway that beckons you to come check him out in person.  Named "Dakota Thunder," he is the star attraction in these parts, though the Frontier Village you walk through to see him is pretty fantastic. Filled with authentic print shops, jail cells, old saloon doors, etc., you can walk through each shop and experience a bit of life in the frontier (though Daniel pointed out that it didn't seem all that different from the way some farmers still live in North Dakota today).

A coffee shop in downtown Valley City housed in a historic bank building

    Bismarck is about as unspectacular as we anticipated.  The capital building is closed for tours on Saturday, so we are eager to get on our way to Dickinson and Medora today and get to spy some actual buffalos (from a distance, of course!).  However, we had a divine meal at Pirogue Grille on a charming enough street in downtown last night, stopped by the grocery store for some sunscreen and cold medicine (as Maddie works valiantly to keep on keeping on), and were then surprised and delighted to see an impressive fireworks display in the sky.  Some local college kids explained that it was for the Bismarck Larks when I asked.  That may be the most Midwestern thing we've seen yet.  A random baseball game on a random Friday night ends in a spectacular fireworks display. North Dakota may just earn its "Best for Last" title by the end of this trip.