Minnesota: Weird, Wacky, and Worthwhile
Minnesota: Weird, Wacky, and Worthwhile
From Paul Bunyan to a gas station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, this state has it all!
Did you know that the northernmost point in the continental United States is in northwest Minnesota? Lake of the Woods is situated above the 49th parallel and only accessible through Canada, but no matter! The rest of the region is easily accessible and is waiting to show you what weird and wacky Minnesota is all about.
What better greeting to the land of 10,000 lakes than Paul Bunyan’s outstretched hand. This is no ordinary hand, howeverâÂ?¦ The man behind the hand, when kneeling, is 28 feet tall. His palm forms a ready chair and practically begs visitors to sit and pose for a photo or two. There is more to this Paul Bunyan monument in Akeley, MN, than just a pretty face, however. Behind the kneeling Paul is an entire museum staffed by local historical society volunteers ready to show you Paul’s infant cradle and various other memorabilia. If this is just not enough of the big man for you, come to town the last weekend in June for Paul Bunyan Days.
Lake Wobegon, a place we’d all like to call home. Garrison Keillor’s popularization of the fictitious town in Minnesota through A Prairie Home Companion allowed the entire country to take a peek into upper Midwest life. Although the town itself does not exist, the cemetery that inspired the show’s name does- in Moorehead, MN. If you are interested in a Garrison Keillor tour of sorts, you might begin here. Travel to Anoka, near the Twin Cities, to his hometown. Visit the University of Minnesota, his alma mater, then proceed to Freeport. Stop in at Charlie’s CafÃ?© on Main Street in Collegeville (can you believe a college town with a name like Collegeville?!), a possible source of ideas for the show’s Chatterbox CafÃ?©.
A trip to Vining, MN will afford viewing some eclectic and abstract statuary. Think large coffee cup seemingly floating above the ground, pouring out its contents. A larger than life clothespin. A frightfully large toe. An astronaut planting a flag. All of these are the works of Ken Nyberg, an artist using scrap metal collected from farms and grain elevators (what better use of materials “up there” in MN!). Drive past his home/studio on Route 210 or amble down Route 10 in nearby New York Mills to see his imagination brought to life.
As you head into the Northeast section of the state, you don’t have to worry that you are leaving Paul Bunyan behind. Oh, no. Actually, Brainerd, MN, boasts the world’s largest talking Paul Bunyan. Built in 1949 by the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad as a promotion, this statue is 26 feet tall (when seated, and he always is). He comes to life, almost, through the use of a recorded voice that plays over and over. He can address visitors by name, too, if the information is made available to an operator in the control booth near the statue. This might just be enough to frighten the wee ones, so beware!
All of this kitsch leaving you a little weak in the knees? You are in need something more sophisticated, you say? Well, Cloquet, MN is home to the only gas station ever designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The Lindholm Service Station was constructed in 1956 for Ray Lindholm. While Wright’s design was not fully realized (the plans called for the gas hoses hanging from the cantilevered canopy), it is still a unique and historical gem.
No trip to this part of the state would be complete with a visit to the spectacular Gleensheen (http://www.d.umn.edu/glen/) in Duluth, MN. Showcased on A&E’s American Castles, this beautiful and historic 1905 mansion is worth your time whether or not you are interested in the murders. The murders?! Yes, the murders. It seems that on June 27, 1977, a double homicide occurred in this most unlikely of places. The night nurse was beaten with a candlestick holder and the man of the house was done in with a pink satin pillow.
Heading to the southwest you’ll find more of Minnesota’s strange and wonderful. Did you ever find a neighbor’s behavior a little odd? Those in the vicinity of Francis Johnson of Darwin, MN, could have found him a little “tightly wound”. Four hours every day Francis headed out to the barn and wound scraps of twine on to an ever enlarging ball. This was no passing fancy. Twenty nine years later he created a ball 12 feet in diameter! The ball of twine has been moved to a shed located in the center of town, and every August the town celebrates Twine Day. Weird Al Yankovic has written a song about it, there is a town Twine Ball Gift Shop, and a Twin Ball Inn. Who knew?
One of the greatest mysteries of the world, similar in scope to those that have stymied scientist and philosophers alike, right in Luverne, MN? Well, this is not quite of that magnitude, but it is a mystery that has the locals scratching their heads in wonder. The 1250 foot wall in Blue Mounds State Park remains unexplained. The builders and the reason for its existence remain unknown. Is it a coincidence that on the spring and fall solstice the wall is in alignment with both sunrise and sunset? Stop by the park, look up to the heavens, and ponder.
Walnut Grove (www.walnutgrove.org), home to Laura Ingalls Wilder, is still very much alive although the television series stopped production long ago. What you will find here is Pa’s church bell on the English Lutheran Church. The Wilder Museum consists of an 1898 depot, an 1880’s school chapel and an onion-domed house. These buildings house the Kelton Doll Collection, including over 250 dolls from 1870 to date, a Bible from the church the Ingalls family attended, scale models of buildings from the television series, and a quilt hand made by Laura and her daughter Rose.
Not to be outdone, the southeastern part of the state offers up its own attractions. What would the world be like without a Spam Museum? I hope we never have to find out! No, this is not computer spam. Spam spam. The original Spam whose name means “spiced ham” and is made mainly of pig shoulders. The Wall of Spam, constructed from 3390 empty Spam cans greets visitors as they enter this stranger than strange place. A short video entitled, Spam: A Love Story, is for real, and details the history of the product and its rise to fame and fortune. You can learn how the product is produced, packaged and marketed. For fun you can try packing some Spam on a pretend assembly line while the clock ticks away. No visit would be complete without the requisite gift shop at the end of the tour, allowing you to take home more than simply Spam memories.
The big cities have their own collection of unique attractions. Take the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices. Here on display you can find the Battle Creek Vibratory Chair dating from the early 1900’s. Its use was to help relieve its occupants of constipation. The Omnipotent Oscilloclast from the 1920’s used a shortwave radio to test the frequency of body fluids. Even more odd machinery wait to be discovered here.
Last, but certainly not least, one must never forget what is first and foremost on the minds of every Minnesota resident- snow. Where else would you expect to find the world’s largest snowman, but in St. Paul, MN? This snowman, made of stucco, stands 54 feet high. The button eyes are actually speakers that allow holiday music to waft over those who dare to get close.
The state of Minnesota is a great destination. Unusual and historic sites are located throughout the state and offer a little bit of everything to those that travel within her borders. The only question that remains is, Where to begin?
