Month: June 2016
Location: Fargo
I first heard about Fargo, along with the rest of the world,
through the fantastic movie from all those years ago. Looking the desolation and all the snow, I had thought that it was unlikely that I would ever visit there. But then started this quest and as I looked
at North Dakota, there were just 2 choices – either go to Bismarck and visit a ‘National Park’ or else enjoy the city
life in Fargo…well as much city life as Fargo could offer. So I decided to go to Fargo and arrived on a
bright summer afternoon. I took a cab –
the cab drivers stand with a sign in the terminal and you pick one - to my
hotel and after checking-in, settled down to plan my evening.
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| The main street of Fargo |
The first thing that I found was an online library of a
self-guided walking tour of the downtown.
Fargo is, well, a “one street
town”; so all the stops on the tour were on that main street, with a few
detours on the side. As is usually the
case, my friend had prepared for me a list of attractions in Fargo, and almost
all of them comprised of places to either eat or drink. I entered all of them in ‘Google Maps’ and lo and behold, all of them lined up along the
main street. So with my map and the audio tour files loaded on my
phone, I set off to explore the town.
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| The shop inside an old train terminal |
My first stop was a place called ‘Proof Artisan Distillery’ which looked like a good old fashioned
salon with tiles on the floor and Gin bottles behind the bar. After a drink there, I walked across the
street to a place called ‘Great Northern
Bicycle Company’, which as the name states, is a shop selling Bicycles and
gear for riders. This was the first stop
on my audio tour and the reason why it is special is because the shop has been
built inside an old train terminal and in fact, the train lines still run behind
the place. After that I went over to the
main street and continued my tour which was had a great narrative, not only in
terms of the architecture, but also the history behind the buildings. I went inside a store called ‘Zandbroz Variety’, a store that can
only be found in a small town. When they
say “Variety”, they mean it. This store had everything, from Books, to
Souvenirs to household objects and other random things that people buy. Plus, at the back of the shop they had
something that looked like a coffee shop, complete with a library type
environment.
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| Fargo Theatre |
After walking about a bit I came out and saw the sign for ‘Fargo Theatre’. There is something extremely charming about
cinema halls that are not “Multiplex’s”. Every one of them looks the same, with their
vertical sign and titles that have been assembled by hand. Plus, this was reputed to have an “organ”, which unfortunately was on the
2nd floor and one needed a ticket to go and see. I was listening to the audio tour as I went on and my next stop was in a place called ‘Mezzaluna’. It was tucked away in back of a building, but
based on the number of people inside; it seemed to be quite popular. I got a seat at the bar and had a cocktail
while chatting with the bartender, especially since this was the first time
that I had seen Vodka on tap! I
continued my walk and stopped at a place called ‘The Boiler Room’, which was in a basement, but another popular
establishment. After another cocktail, I
was on my way…this evening taking a distinct theme.
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| The crowd outside my hotel |
The streets were coming alive and now it was looking like a
proper Friday evening. I love myself
some German Beer and there was a place called ‘Wurst Bier Hall’. It was as
lively as a bar like this should be, and after a beer and pretzel, I went to
my final stop of the evening, a place called ‘Vinyl Taco’. As soon as one
enters this place, they are hit by 80s music and a décor which would not have
been out of place during that decade. Plus
it’s a taco place…and a good one at that.
I enjoyed my stay there and then it was time to call it a day. I walked back to my hotel, but as I
approached the entrance, I noticed a big crowd of young ladies outside. They seemed to be waiting for someone and it
sure wasn’t me. I didn’t give much
thought to it and went upstairs to retire.
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| The back room at 'Zanbroz Variety' |
Next day dawned with threatening skies which seemed to grow
darker as I walked to get breakfast at a place called ‘Sandy’s Donuts’. I saw a ‘Make-A-Wish’ sign in there and learned
that earlier in the morning Justin Bieber had been there, granting a wish. He was here for a concert this evening and
furthermore he was staying in my hotel.
This explained everything. The
reason why there was this crowd outside the hotel last night. I went back to 'Zandbroz' for a bit and then walked back to the hotel just as the skies
opened up. I called an ‘Uber’ to my destination for this
morning – an “Escape Room” game. On the way there I had a good conversation
with my driver and he was telling me about living in Fargo, the economy and how
his teenage daughter was excited about the Bieber concert tonight. When asked why I was visiting, I was quick to
point out that it wasn't for the concert!
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| Wedding beneath the planes |
Similar to some of the other locations, the game was located in
some sort of an “Industrial Park”. The rain stopped just as
I ran inside the building and I was a bit early. I chatted with the husband and wife team who
ran the place and they mentioned how they had been to other places in order to
learn and model this game. When I told
them that I had also played a few of these, they asked me to give a comparative
feedback at the end. When the rest of my
team arrived, they mentioned that I was a “pro”
and they should be fine with me in their team.
Alas, that was not to be, and though we came close, we were nixed at the
very end. It had been a fun hour and I
had enjoyed my team. After telling our
hosts that their room was as good as others, I called for a ride to my next
destination.
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| 'Plains Art Museum' |
I was going to ‘Fargo
Air Museum’ which houses several historic aircraft, most of which are still
in flying condition. It was located
inside a hangar on an airfield and as can be expected, it was a bit outside
town. After a quick bite to eat I went
inside and saw that they were setting up for a wedding. The guy at the counter said that I had an
hour before they closed and so I bought a ticket and went around the covered
tables, chairs and fancy buffet table, admiring some of the aircraft on
display. The wedding didn’t extend to an
adjacent hangar with more aircraft and after spending some time there, I moved
to my next location, ‘Plains Art Museum’. It was nice place with some good exhibits and
very friendly folks at the front desk.
They were setting up for yet another wedding in the museum and this one
seemed to have a “Norwegian” theme,
at least based on the menu card that I glimpsed. I spent over an hour here and then went for
my final stop of the afternoon – ‘Drekker
Brewing Company’.
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| "Pint It Forward" |
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Fargo was well
known for its “Microbreweries” and
this was one of them. They also offered
a tour for a nominal donation and so I arrived well in advance of that. I sat at the bar and ordered a beer and
looked at some names on the wall. When I
asked, I learned that you could buy someone a beer under “Pint It Forward” program.
You paid for a beer, wrote someone’s name on a card and they could come
and claim that beer during their lifetime – or the lifetime of the
brewery. I asked how many people
actually come and claim their pint and it wasn’t that many. But the brewery will honor that. I learned that people usually buy a pint for
any police officers, though the problem was recognizing someone out of their
uniform, because they wouldn’t be able to enjoy a drink in it. I bought a pint for my friend Amanda and put her name on a card which went on the wall. I was joined by
several people for the tour, as one of the owners took us through their history
and then every step of the brewing process, while showing us the equipment and
with frequent sampling. It was a much
happier crowd that dispersed after an hour and I headed back to the hotel for a
brief rest before my evening.
There was still some crowd – and by that I mean young women
– outside my hotel when I left for the evening.
My first stop was at a place called ‘Toasted
Frog’ and the place was full. I got
a seat at the bar and learned that most were “pre-gaming” before the concert.
I struck up a conversation with a young lady who was visiting from
Minneapolis and along with her friends was on her way to the concert as
well. She was originally from Sweden and
so we discussed everything from Soccer to ‘ABBA’
to finally Bieber. She went to rejoin
her friends and I moved to my next location, a place called ‘Hodo Lounge’, another place known for
their craft cocktails. I chatted with
the bartender, who even made me something off the menu and which came complete
with a pyrotechnics show. When he
learned that I was from Chicago, he told me about his friend from here who had
moved to Chicago and was now working in a “Speakeasy”
cocktail place. I told him that I would
look her up. My last stop for the
evening was in the adjacent dining room overlooking the street and I retired
early…way before the concert would have reached its peak.
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| Final morning in Fargo |
My final morning in Fargo I went for breakfast at a place
called ‘Atomic Café’. Despite
spilling coffee all over my table, I enjoyed the Sunday morning breakfast at a
small town café, while observing people who looked like they were recovering from the concert. I still had a few more buildings left on my
audio tour and I walked around trying to visit as many as I could. At one stage I found myself on the other side
of the railway crossing as a goods train passed by and that is never fun,
especially since you never know how long it’s going to take. I came back to the hotel, picked up my bag
and was given a ride to the airport by a young valet who said that he was
originally from Philadelphia and was studying here. We talked about the Bieber concert and he
told me how Bieber was using the main hotel entrance on the first day, but soon realized
that the fans were camped outside. He
told me about the Fargo winters and the people over here. It was a nice ride back; in fact, it had been
a great trip. I have been to 20 places
so far, but few have been as small as Fargo in terms of size. But what a town! It has one street, but the time that I had here
was priceless. It definitely makes the
top half of my list so far and I can’t wait to visit again. Maybe I should have bought myself a pint to
encourage me to come claim it sometime soon.
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