50 by 50 – North Dakota, Minnesota, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Iowa
Annabella’s quest to see 50 states by the time she turns 50 (quest completed in January 2017 with #50 – North Carolina – and more than a year to spare before 50) started off with a visit to a dear high school friend down in Mississippi over the MLK holiday weekend, January 2013 and the states kept rolling along from there.
NORTH DAKOTA-MINNESOTA MAY 2015
My friend composed this Seussish poem, inspired by my trip to ND, state #43. (and Fargo borders Minnesota, so it was a nice chance to revisit the land of 1,000 lakes)
Oh the places you’ll go/when trying to do your 50 by 50/This time it’s Fargo/That’s pretty nifty!/You’ll see painted cows and even run into friends/who are also going places they’ve never been/You’ll visit museums/You’ll find new things to eat/Everything is new – and isn’t that neat!/Oh the places you’ll go/When you branch out on new travels and trips too/You’ll make memories and you’ll arrive back where you started/A whole brand-new you! — Denise D.
What are the odds that your friend back from high school in L.A. would end up in Fargo on the same weekend? Here we are enjoying the Woodchipper at the Fargo Visitors Center!
Peanut Butter & Jelly donut at downtown Fargo’s Sandy’s Donuts.
Craft brewing scene in Fargo! Junkyard Brewing Company.
New to us BYOF (bring your own food) concept, except they have a Mexican food cart on weekend evenings.
There are painted bisons all over the Fargo-Moorhead area, but my favorite is this one, in front of the Moorhead’s Rourke Art Museum.
How perfect was it that on my age-based trip the Hjemkost Museum would have an exhibit on 1968?
It’s hard to accurately describe Bonanzaville in West Fargo. It’s the dustiest, most raggledy-paggledy museum we’ve ever been to, but there is something for everyone here. There are authentic pioneer houses, a 1950s creamery, historical buildings (jail, courthouse, schoolhouse, homes from different eras), a huge tractor warehouse and an airplane hangar.
I know it’s tempting after walking around Bonanzaville to cuddle up and take a nap next to Mr. Railroad Engineer Troll.
It’s a lot less tempting to cuddle up to this guy (in the loft of a pioneer cabin).
The Kensington Runestone – Proof that Vikings landed in the Great Lakes, or a hoax? At the Kensington Runestone Museum in Alexandria, MN, on the way from Fargo to Minneapolis.
ALABAMA-MISSISSIPPI-LOUISIANA January 2014
Alabama marked state #40, and it was fun to revisiting MS and LA.
Beauvoir, home of Jefferson Davis, was severely damaged in Hurricane Katrina. On our visit the house had been reopened, but the new Presidential Library was still under construction. History has not been kind to Davis, but he was a Westpoint graduate (and classmate of Robert E. Lee) who oversaw the construction of the Capitol Building and was one of the founders of the Smithsonian. His middle name was Fini, reflecting his mother’s sentiment at his birth, the last of 14 children born when she was 47.
Sunset over the Gulf of Mexico.
Historic downtown Mobile, Alabama with our friend Christine on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Before hitting downtown we hit the Cotton City Antique Mall at 2012 Airport Blvd. in Mobile, well worth the stop.
Cafe Beignet on Royal Street taste test challenge. The beignets here were actually lighter/fluffier and more delicious than the ones at Cafe du Monde (which were still delicious).
Anne Rice’s former home in New Orleans’ Garden District.
MISSISSIPPI – JANUARY 2013
Mississippi (state #36) is known as The Hospitality State, and with good reason! The natives are friendly and inviting, and we had a memorable weekend.
Riverboat along the Mississippi in Natchez.
Fried pickles. Can’t believe we took a picture of this and forgot to take a picture of the frog legs we ate in the AmeriStar Casino buffet.
The Elite Restaurant, an institution in downtown Jackson since 1949.
Windsor Ruins, Claiborne, County, MS. 36 states down, 14 to go!
IOWA – MAY 2013
37th state visited over Memorial Day weekend, May 2013.
From Chicago’s O’Hare Airport it is an approximately 3 hours drive to the Quad Cities area (Davenport and Moline on the Iowa side), along the Mississippi River. If you take I-80, there are no tolls. If you take I-88, there is almost $20 in tolls, and it’s only slightly faster but you have the opportunity along the way to visit Dixon, IL, birthplace of Ronald Reagan and some additional stops of interest along the way.
Iowa 80 – the World’s Largest Truck stop. You can buy every car/truck gadget you can possibly imagine along with tchochkes galore, candy, books, food, you name it. There’s also a trucking museum, regrettably closed during the hour of our visit. This sign was taken from a moving car on a rainy day.
