ND Day 2 - Baked Goods, Birdhouses, and Bonanzaville USA

Today I started out by going to a hip coffee shop called Twenty Below Coffee Co. which frequently gets voted as people’s favorite coffee shop in Fargo. They had a lively, cool aesthetic, great coffee, and of the slickest logos, a coffee cup pouring out an ice berg, I’ve ever seen.

credit goes to google images for the photo

After getting my morning coffee, my next stop was to the amazing bakery Sandy’s Donuts, which my friends from ND insisted was a must visit. When I walked in, I knew they hadn’t led me astray because I was instantly greeted with one of the most beautiful sights I saw in the whole country: a donut decorated like cookie monster complete with a homemade chocolate chip cookie crushed up and stuffed in the donut-hole like it was currently being demolished by Sesame Street’s greatest baking aficionado. A true work of genius.

I honestly liked the cookie monster donut so much, I couldn’t bare to eat one so I opted for an Almond Joy Donut which just blew me away. This fantastic creation consisted of a coconut cream donut covered in a shell of milk chocolate, adorned with essentially a whole coconut macaroon, dusted with crushed almonds, and then drizzled with more chocolate. Breakfast doesn’t get much better (or decadent) than that.

My next big stop for the day was the Red River Zoo. It wasn’t the biggest zoo I’d been to, but it was really well done with thoughtfully organized spacious habitats and a fun variety of local and exotic animals. I liked the place right away because the first animal I saw was this grumpy old monkey called a White-faced Saki Monkey. He had a real “Hey you kids get off my lawn” vibe, and I loved it.

Next up I saw some Grey Wolves which were notable for their beautiful, smooth coats, and having the creepy knowing smiles of someone who knows they can kill almost anything.

One of the unexpected highlights for me was the porcupine habitat because these chunky lads had such distinct personalities that made them really fun to watch. These two were my favorites because they were polar opposites. One guy was valiantly trying to dig his way under the glass walls while the other chose to just pass out inside a hollow log. You can probably guess which one I found more relatable.

The otter habitat was up next, and it had a particularly neat bit of curation in the form of a tunnel built into a rock outcropping so that you could watch the otters swimming underwater. It was super cool to get see the otters really in their element, and it even prompted a little kid near me to turn to his mom and say “I want to live in a tunnel now!”.

After that I paid a visit to the prairie dogs and watched their weird little underground rodent society take shape:

The next section was all different bird habitats, including eagles, pheasants, ducks, herons, cranes, and adorable fluffballs like the kookaburra on the left.

My favorite bird was this owl who just passed out leaning up against a wall and looked like he was having the absolute best dreams:

After the birds, I went to the amphibian and reptile habitats which were filled with cool terrariums packed with goofy lizards, snakes, and turtles:

The most surprising guy was this albino turtle who was super pale and looked scared all the time:

The next big exhibit was a petting zoo with local domestic animals like fat hogs, graceful horses, and shaggy goats. It was really cute, but definitely geared a little bit more towards younger folks so I didn’t stick around too long.

Next up was one of my favorite critters, the red panda. He was a real playful scamp jumping around his tree house and not at all looking like he was trying to plan an escape.

After watching the red panda scurry around for probably too long, I made my way over the bactrian camels (2 humps for the price of one). They looked like really grumpy old ladies and I was a big fan of that.

Next up was a big rocky habitat for a kind of Tibetan oxen called the Sichuan takin. They were super hefty lazy boys, despite apparently being agile rock climbers, and I had to respect their commitment to chilling out in shade.

There was a big gawky crane strutting around in the same enclosure, and I don’t know if they’re animals that get along together, merely tolerate each other, or if he just kinda ended up there but the mystery was fun.

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something seemed a little bit off about the lions…

One of my last stops at the zoo was an absolutely beautiful antique carousel surrounded by a cute sleek wooden pavilion. The history of the carousel isn’t super well known, but it was built in 1928 and toured around the country as part of a carnival before ending up in Fargo. When philanthropists Warren and Irene Dietrich came across the carousel in 1995, life on the road had left it in tatters (much like Keith Richards). The Dietrich’s thought that if they could get the carousel back to it’s former glory, it would make for a fun gift to the children of Fargo, a valuable attraction for the then up-and-coming Red River Zoo, and a welcome bit of nostalgia for adults. He hired a team of local craftsmen and artists to take it apart and put it back together better than other. They worked around the clock, and even delved into extensive research of historic carousels to make it as accurate as possible, and the end results are simply astounding:

Last but not least I went back to check on the porcupine who had been trying to dig his way out, and I found out that he had just passed out right where he was from the exertion. Bless his heart.

After bidding farewell to all the animals, I made my way to my next stop of the day the Plains Art Museum. The museum is the largest and only nationally accredited art museum in the whole state, and it houses a really exceptional mix of modern and contemporary art, Native American art old and new, and sweet local community projects. It’s also housed in a spacious old Harvesting Warehouse so the whole building had a semi-intentional industrial-punk aesthetic that I really vibed with. Maybe it was because of one of the special exhibits I’ll get to in a little bit, but the museum really made a big impression on me and it’s a strong contender for my favorite stop in the whole state (sorry Fargo Woodchipper!).

The first galleries I went through were highlights from the permanent collection. Their full collection is over 4000 pieces deep, but this year they were showcasing different works of portraiture and abstraction, juxtaposing the most familiar and human art genres with the most distant and surreal. It was fun, broad selection really jumping around through styles and highlighting how vastly different artists can interpret the same themes. For your classic drawings, paintings and prints, my highlights were: a playful photo-lithographic print by William Wegman called Ride, which showcases a wonderfully stoic dog proudly riding a recliner; the haunting depth of the etching Head of a Grieving woman by Kathe Kollwitz; a sweet and simple sketch of a young girl by Mary Cassatt; a vibrant portrait of Amelia Earhart by Lillian Colton which is crazily made entirely of seeds glued to a sheet of blue-painted cardboard; a barber shop sign from the Ivory Coast by Beaute Precluex that was actually just used for a barbershop until it’s strange pop-art-y allure captivated an art dealer; a fun geometric abstraction by Peter Schuyff that he painted over a found portrait he came across very literally combining the two main themes of the exhibition; an abstract grid of pieces by Marios Reis made by submerging cotton cloth in the local Red River and letting the natural ebb and flow of sediments do the painting; and a classic Andy Warhol silk screen of two Jackie O’s looking strong but shaken.

Something I loved seeing was that they had a number of excellent pieces by contemporary Native American artists mixed throughout the gallery. Too often contemporary Native artists are either ignored or explicitly separated into Native American galleries as if they aren’t equally contributing to modern and contemporary art. It’s a small thing (and there’s nothing inherently wrong with a well curated Native Art gallery) but it’s a nice way of the museum showing that their concept of modern and contemporary art has room for any and all artists who make a contribution. Ironically in highlighting the museum not doing this, I have separated out some pieces by Native Artists but only because these are three great artists who I’ve seen and loved around the country and I would have wanted to shout them out anyway. These highlights were: a sweeping installation by Kiowa/Comanche artist John Hitchcock that combines different screenprinting techniques to create unique folded-paper buffalo heads and abstract designs on Naugahyde made to look like buffalo pelts all coming together to abstractly evoke landscapes and darker parts of US history; an abstract portrait called Kiva Resting by Luiseño-artist Fritz Scholder who considered every painting he did to be first and foremost an experiment in color; a portrait of artist George Morrison by the Chippewa artist David Bradley who masterfully blends realist portraiture in the foreground with stunning cubist abstractions in the background.

Throughout the galleries there were a number of snazzy sculptural pieces bringing the fine art into three dimensions. My favorites of these were: Martin Wanserski’s ceramic sculpture of a family where he very creepily made on child the dimensions of an adult and an old man the dimensions of a child; a piece called Foam Head by Paul Wong which features a teeny tiny ink portrait on a giant Papier-mâché head; a strange abstract assemblage of stone and wood called The Messenger by Zoram Mojsilov; and a crazy intricately beaded mask from an unknown traditional artist in Nigeria.

Last but not least in this gallery was a collection of photography. A lot of these pieces focused on children and there was a real subversive mischievous to them that I loved. My favorites included: a photo hilariously entitled Boy Playing In Mud by Dan Koeck; black and white portraits of Native American children by Murray Lumley; a series of meticulously staged photos by William Cardova of a man gardening (eventually resorting to using a machete); and stark black and white photos of Northern Irish children playing on the war-torn streets of 1980s Belfast by Nick Kelsh.

This one by Nick Kelsh was my favorite because I think it really captures the all confidence/no coordination way that small children just barrel headlong into life:

Going up stairs to the next galleries, there was this really interesting collage of different jars and glasses cast in various molds. I couldn’t find who made it, but the way each material and glass interacted with the light coming in from the windows really made the piece a perfect marriage between the work and its location.

On the landing of the next floor visitors are greeted to the impressive cosmic scope of John Rosenquist’s North Dakota Mural. Rosenquist was born in North Dakota and rose to stardom by combining pop art and abstract expressionism to make sleek, dream-like collages of imagery from advertisements, pop culture, and politics. The museum campaigned really hard to get him to come back home and make an original piece for them, and in 2010 (when he was 76!) he made this incredible, massive painting of various lasting images he associates with the state including symbols from Western and Native Culture, wind farms, and local wildlife all superimposed over the vastness of space elevating his humble home state to intergalactic heights. So much for slowing down as you get older.

The next special exhibit was a showcase of multi-media works by a local artist named Mackenzie Kouba called Civility is for the Birds. In this collection, the art really shows off her versatility working in paintings, sculptures, collage, and found object assemblages with equally striking results. Every piece in the collection in some way utilized birdlike imagery and sought to examine the varied interactions between human society and the natural world, warts and all. Her style could alternate radically from funny and whimsical to unnerving and creepy, and I loved seeing such strange and different pieces all coming from one unique and talented artistic vision.

My favorite piece was a triptych punnily entitled If Only the Goose Had Ducked which is comprised of three oil painted canvases stretched over reclaimed wood. The first two show an almost Norman Rockwell-esque scene of a young girl leading a train of toy ducks, but the third panel shows the next Goose in the scene blown to smithereens a surprising bit of violence interrupting the nostalgia-laced scene of small town peace. Witty and disturbing? My kind of art.

The next special exhibit was a cool multi-disciplinary exploration of the Lakota Emergence myth. Curated by Dr. Craig Howe from the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies, the exhibition breaks the traditional Lakota origin myth of their people emerging from Wind Cave in South Dakota into 16 sections spaced throughout the gallery. Each section is paired with a piece by a contemporary Lakota artist and throughout the exhibit more traditional historic artifacts from Lakota people through the years were also displayed. The contemporary works were all super varied and really showed off an impressive range of talents.

The 16 original pieces in order were: a dazzling abstract headdress by Renelle White Buffalo; a moving scene of Anunke Ite, the double woman, and Iktomi, the trickster god making a deal to bring the Lakota out from the underworld by Dyani White Hawk; a mixed-media piece by Roger Broer featuring a serious wolf looking out over his prey; a lovely mixed media piece by Keith Braveheart called Compassion for the Ugly which seeks to re-examine Anunke Ite (with fun allusions to modern psychology) who is often cast as a bit of a villain for agreeing to trick humanity into this world but whom the artist sees as a tragic, loving figure in her own way; an incredible scene of wolves bringing gifts to the humans made entirely out of mosaic-ed stained glass by Angela Babby; a wolf-paw bolo tie made entirely from natural materials from the Black Hills by JhonDuane Goes In Center; fancy clothing made Andrea Lekberg representing the fine clothes that were used to help lure the Lakota out of Wind Cave; a multi-layered collage by Michael Two Bulls exploring the mindset of the first Lakota to decide to venture out of the cave and the continued contemporary links to these ancient stories; a spoon carved from a buffalo horn by Kevin Pourier with holes drilled into it to represent the false promises that Iktomi made; a dramatic abstraction by Athena LaTocha made from ink on photo paper representing to the turmoil and confusion as the first Lakota falling for Iktomi’s tricks don’t realize they’re sealing their people’s fate; a meta piece about storytelling by Arthur Amiotte capturing the first Lakota telling tales of the things they saw above ground using a style inspired by traditional petroglyphs these ancient peoples might have used; a traditional “invitation stick” built and stuck into a very convincing fake mound of grass by Tilda St. Pierre to represent the double woman, Anunke Ite, thinking she is bringing humanity into the world kindly and not realizing that Iktomi intends to play tricks on them; an incredible scene all carved from a single log of wood by Iris Sully-Sorenson of the Lakota fleeing from Anunke Ite upon seeing her second face even though she trying to comfort them; a sweet dream-like painting of the Old Man and Old Woman taking in and feeding the Lakota people now trapped on this side of the world by Richard Red Owl; a prison jumpsuit beaded and decorated by Ann-erika White Bird who also sewed the Treat of Fort Laramie onto the knee as a warning about blindly following those who don’t have your best intentions at heart from Iktomi to the US State Department; and finally a sweet family portrait by Dwayne Wilcox celebrating all the Lakota people today descended from those in the story. For both the full corresponding passages from the myth and more in depth analysis of each artwork, please check out this site https://www.nativecairns.org/CAIRNS/V1.html

Interspersed with these original pieces were more traditional pieces from the museum’s permanent collection or on loan from the Red Cloud Heritage Center in SD. These were some great showcases of different crafts including sewing, beadwork, and wood carving done with impressive attention to details.

These Intricately woven pants really took the cake for me because the design was both beautiful and also a ridiculous display of handiwork and finger dexterity:

There were also a few works from the permanent collection not original to this exhibit added for flavor including photographs and prints and paintings by Native artists, with these two being kind of haunting highlights:

Walking down down a skybridge hallway to the next exhibit, I was treated to beautiful murals on either side. To my left was a mural by the artist Corinne Teed and her printmaking students. Each print is of a different piece of native wildlife from the local Tallgrass Prairies that are in dire need of preservation. They really vibrantly popped against the white walls, they were a community effort, and they had a strong environmentalist message. What’s not to love?

The other great hallway mural was a whimsical mosaic of glass, tiles, and found objects inspired by the flight patterns of a honey bee and fittingly called Bee in Flight by artist MeLissa Kossick.

The next special exhibition was perhaps my favorite art exhibit I’ve seen in the whole country. It’s an annual exhibit called Architecture for the Birds in which local North Dakota State University Architecture students are tasked with designing birdhouses that must be inspired by a particular architect and be built for a specific bird so students are not only graded on how well they built on the artistry and designs of former masters but also on how well they study nature and biology to tailor the house to the bird of choice (smart practice for having to constrain your artistic vision to a client’s wishes). I’m not sure when the museum and university first began doing this exhibit, but it’s combination of silliness and real talent made it so popular that it’s become an annual event and a big draw. They’ve even added a People’s Choice prize where visitors can vote on their favorite. So this one delightfully goofy exhibit at once brings together art, architecture, environmentalism, biology, education, and community engagement. It’s as brilliant as it is ridiculous, and I absolutely loved it. It helps that the craftsmanship on most of the houses was genuinely insanely impressive (90% of the time, some students are likely more idea people than DIY people), and it was really funny knowing that no matter how big and bold they went with designs they would also have to justify why a bird would actually like the house which you’ll see is pretty wonderfully absurd once you start looking through the homes.

For sheer intricacy of construction, these wild modernist birdhouses were definitely my favorites mainly because I’m amazed they’re able to stand up at all let alone look stunning while doing it. Very few of the houses were painted in any serious way so one big takeaway for me was just how much natural beauty and versatility there is in different grains of wood, which I assume is part of the more environmentalist concerns of the exhibit forcing future architects to really consider the natural world as a source of inspiration and renewable resources not something to be conquered with concrete and steel. Human creativity even under very silly conditions is really an amazing thing.

My absolute favorite for its simple gracefulness was this birdhouse made to look like a real sleek human home all painted a soothing shade of white with a little grid of windows letting in breeze and sunlight and giving the bird its choice of perches so that its birdhouse really feels like a birdhome.

Last but not least there was one more special showcasing the works of a local artist named Mike Marth. Marth specializes in reimagining the still life by instead of just creating the image of everyday objects actually taking those objects and materials and using them in inventive ways. Because his work uses a lot of industrial materials, lots of steel, rubber, nails, wire, and concrete, it was often much more formally interesting than particularly aesthetic. His sheer inventiveness really was a treat and each piece was almost like an optical illusion as you’d learn that things that initially look like abstract paintings are actually carefully welded pieces of metal or what seems like a canvas is actually a slab of concrete.

I’m not sure why this is, but my favorite pieces all featured images of drinkware, a staple of the more traditional still life. I just liked how he could take something seemingly so common place and really make it seem alien:

While I liked most of the exhibit, this one piece, a giant plaster pole with casts of human teeth throughout it, was straight up nightmare fuel and should be banished from this earth like the affront to god that it is:

I’m not sure if this was part of the museum or just very artistic vandalism, but as I was walking out I caught this very charming scene of clay people scaling one of the walls in the stairwell:

My next stop for the day was Bonazaville USA (an irresistible name if ever there was one), a regional history museum comprised of over forty historic buildings arranged into a small village for visitors to explore. My friend from North Dakota says it’s a popular field trip destination for elementary schools which makes sense to me because it’s the right mix of genuinely informative and spacious enough for young kids to run around and lose their minds from not being at school.

Before diving into the village itself, the first building where you pay for admission had a few cool rotating exhibits. First up was a collection of gorgeous recently acquired period furniture, which really shows off some handmade craftsmanship:

Next up were some displays of military memorabilia including photos from local servicemen, toy models of military vehicles, and various historic guns, knives, and even swords.

My favorite pieces from the military displays were these examples of shell art, where soldiers in trenches would pass the time between active combat turning empty artillery shells into surprisingly intricate pieces of art, creation and destruction hand in hand.

On a lighter note, the next few display cases were filled with incredible examples of handmade pottery from the local company Rosemeade Pottery. Rosemeade operated from 1941-1960 and now they’re considered really valuable collectibles for both their rarity and exquisite craftsmanship. Naturally my favorite was the little ceramic walrus in the bottom right hand corner.

The next exhibit was dedicated to arts and crafts done by Lakota artists, including a very long wooden horse, a beautiful necklace, and an impressive scale replica of an Earth Lodge,

Next up was an impressively melancholy scene commemorating the early settlers with a real vintage steam engine and some plaster cast railwaymen looking absolutely miserable.

There was also this great vintage photograph of an early surveying team which looks like it could have also been a tribute to all the gloriously bushy mustaches of yesteryear:

The next exhibit was an interesting display about historic gas stations with some great vintage cars as well some classic gas pumps and their ornamental crowns.

Next up were some glimpses of the high life with fancy wedding dressings, embossed chairs, and creepy child portraits:

Next up was a display of artifacts from the first Jewish settlers of the prairie. There were some really beautifully crafted religious objects and pieces just from daily life, but everything paled to the incredible title some brilliant curator came up with for the display, “Shvitzing It Out on the Prairie”.

Next up came an exhibit about the 1893 Fargo Fire, the worst fire in Fargo history. The fire destroyed the homes of over 6000 people, nearly the entire population of the town, and while the salvaged artifacts and vintage firefighting equipment were fascinating, the photos of the actual destruction were pretty shocking and hard to believe. The town almost looks like Pompeii on the Plains.

For another tonal 180, the next display was about the history of vice in Fargo with a replica bordello, personal affects from one of Fargo’s most prominent madams, an African American woman named Melvina Massey, and some big ol’ barrels of booze.

Going from vice to virtue, next there was a beautiful old organ and some impressive stained glass windows salvaged from old churches in the area.

Next was a cute display of children’s instruments including some surprisingly finely decorated toy pianos:

Lastly before venturing into the historic village part of Bonanzaville USA (I feel like I have to say the whole name), there was an odd but impressive displays including one of really beautiful beer pulls from early German pubs and an incredibly carved whale bone which I’m not entirely sure how it could ended up so far away from any whales in a land locked state.

Stepping out on to Main Street Bonavaville, USA, I was impressed right away by the sheer size of the 12 acre estate. It really is a whole small village. My first stop was to a fully restored Northern Pacific Railway depot, which just casually had a train outside.

Inside the depot, you got to have a look at the classic ticket stand complete with vintage posters, a telegraph machine, and a wonderfully strange painting of cows seemingly screaming at the painter.

The station agent also got a small apartment in the depot to stay in which was pretty cute even if I wouldn’t really want to live at my job. It made me think of the low-key but excellent movie The Station Agent with a young Peter Dinklage, I can’t recommend it enough.

After the railway depot, I climbed up to the top of a salvaged grain elevator from a farm in Kindred, ND. It once regularly housed over 6,300 bushels of grain which could be loaded into trucks as they drove through the elevator. They also had an assortment of jars filled with different grains so visitors could a get a chance to look at them and smell them for a sensory connection to the past.

Outside there was the big red Bonanzaville USA water tower, which is where I assume the North Dakota Animaniacs live:

Next up was a fun collection of classic horse drawn vehicles. They ran the gamut from ornate rich people sleds to workmanlike mail coaches, with some highlights for me being a snazzy and impressively well-detailed Wells Fargo coach built specially for the museum and a spooky late 1800s hearse with a big window on the sides for public viewing of the casket which seems like a strange concept nowadays.

Years of watching Looney Tunes, however, made me very distrustful of this Acme Dairy truck…

Next up was another railway depot, the beautifully named Spud Valley Railroad Club. It was originally housed in a town called Kathryn, ND, but I didn’t know that so I was initially very confused by why the building was really just shouting out some lady.

Unlike the previous railway depot, this one was filled with over 400 feet of model railroad tracks and hundreds of meticulously crafted scale homes, businesses, and natural features from around the Fargo/Moorhead area. I’ve never really been a train guy myself, but such a monumental effort was mighty impressive.

Next up, I was off to the ominously named U-R Next Barber Shop. Built in 1900, somehow it had an even crazier original name as the first owner had called it The City Tonsorial Parlor which is comically old timey. Most of the furnishings were original to the shop with the highlight being a fantastic wood and marble barber’s counter and a shockingly ornate collection of personalized porcelain shaving mugs that each customer would bring with them. I never knew that was a thing before, but it does seem like the vaguely whimsical kind of thing that would happen at a Tonsorial Parlor.

Next up I into one of the village’s historic homes, built in 1896. The house has been turned into a museum of medical history nowadays. I think this was a nice idea from an educational standpoint, but in practice filling a creaky old house with outdated medical equipment, including just a bunch of fake teeth, is actually just beyond horrifying.

After leaving the nightmare house, my next stop was Fargo’s very First House. This pretty little log cabin was first built in 1869, and over it’s lifetime it’s been a home, a hotel, a jail, a mayor’s office, a home again, and then a duplex until it ended up in the hands of the Cass County Historical Society and donated to Bonanzaville USA. That’s quite a busy life for an inanimate lodging.

Next up was the former offices of the Hunter Times, a local newspaper from Hunter, ND, built in the 1930s. Inside the building, it was essentially a museum dedicated to the history of printing presses with various different machines including a hand cranked printing press and original type plates from the actual Hunter Times. I wish I could make out any of the stories, but my photo kind of sucks and its also all backwards, but I loved seeing the spooky inverted colors of the stories’ photo-negatives.

After the newspaper office, I made my way to the Furnberg General Store, built outside of Fargo in the late 1800s. The store was filled with great vintage foodstuffs and home goods, but my favorite fact was that there was a big bucket (bottom left) that was always filled with warm apple cider for visitors to drink by the wood stove to warm themselves up on cold North Dakota days.

Possibly the most mid-western thing I’ve ever seen though was this 200lb barrel of lutefisk in one corner of the shop:

Next I went to the Land Office Bank, which was both a bank and where prospective homesteaders would have to claim their stake of land. After the Homestead Act of 1862, any head of household over 21 could claim 160 acres (!) of land anywhere outside the 13 original colonies, and if they proved that they made improvements on this investment by building a house and putting at least 15 acres of land to work in some way then they could come on down to this office and get the official titles to the land in their name. What an insane moment in history that both created so many opportunities for Americans and immigrants who might otherwise have never had the opportunity to own land while also stripping so much land right from under its original inhabitants.

After the land office, I stopped by a cute little church which had a beautiful hand carved tabernacle with what I’m sure was unintentionally a very pop-art-y Last Supper centerpiece.

After salvaging my earthly soul (worth a shot), I visited one of the historic homes which is referred to as the Checkered Years House because the house’s original owner Mary Woodward kept a super detailed diary of her daily life, the weather, her candid thoughts about the people in the town, and helpful housekeeping tips which were eventually published after here death as a book called The Checkered Years. Bonanzaville USA had included some excerpts from the diary as well as some really incredible original furnishing with that gorgeous wood pump organ on the right being a real highlight.

After sneaking a peak at a 19th Century woman’s diary, I went back outside and passed a damn fine gazebo that had once been the town bandstand for Buffalo, ND.

There was nobody playing at the bandstand so I kept walking until I reached the homey Dobritz School, a one room schoolhouse from 1895 that looks like it came straight out of Little House on the Prairie.

Inside the school house was maintained in amazing condition, and it looked like a lesson had just ended. I loved seeing all the vintage early editions of school books, and my favorite thing I learned wast that grades used to be determined by reading level not chronological age so while the school was intended for grades 1-8 this tiny classroom would have students from 3 years old to full adults all working together which is a real trip to imagine.

After school, I went to the Cass County Courthouse which was used from 1904-1967 and had a real gravitas to it. Sadly, I didn’t see a gavel that visitors could bang which is a real lost opportunity on the museum’s end.

Next I went to the Houston House, a two story mansion, built by a Scottish immigrant named Daniel Houston in 1881. Houston was a jack of all trades type, but he made his fortunes inventing improvements to the new technology of the camera, including one of the first patents for a film roll camera which he would sell to the founder of Kodak. Being a wealthy guy, the house was filled with all manner of 19th century extravagance including insane decorative wallpapers, a polar bear rug, and even indoor plumbing (a real novelty for 1881).

This haunting photograph of a young ghost boy staring directly into visitor’s souls was probably the thing that made the biggest impression though.

Leaving the glitz, glamor, and ghost children of the Houston House, I next stumbled across a giant carved wooden eagle perched on a globe because what small village would be complete without one!

Past the eagle, I went to visit a historic Blacksmith shop which was an invaluable resource for farmers, helping them repair machinery, put shoes on horses, and even build fences. The craziest thing to me was that I would guess that’s a relatively small anvil and it still reportedly weighs over 250 pounds!

Continuing the agricultural theme, the next building I visited was huge warehouse filled with historic tractors. Their were early steam powered tractors, some of the first ever kerosene powered tracks, and massive harvesters. The sheer size of these things was pretty impressive and I was shocked that some of them were built in the 19th century because I just don’t think of non-boat or train technology getting all that big that early but that shows how much I know.

My favorite tractor though was this adorable little model somehow assembled within a glass bottle, a fun land-locked state twist on the ol’ ship in the bottle.

Next up, I visited another historic home which was converted into a house from a barn. It wasn’t as fancy as the Houston house, but it had a great rickety staircase and some amazing black-and-white photographs.

The next building up was the Pioneer Fire Company, a firehouse built to resemble the firehouses of the 1890s and filled with vintage firefighting memorabilia. After seeing the destruction that was possible from those earlier photos of the 1893 Fargo Fire, you really appreciate how necessary these little firehouses were and how brave these early firefighters were to take on infernos with such limited technology. It was a great exhibit, but the only down side is that they don’t let you slide down the firehouse pole which was a huge disappointment.

Next up was one of my favorite buildings, a faithful recreation of the 1920 Cass-Clay Creamery. It was fun slice of life exhibit complete with display cases showing the evolution of the milk bottle and a giant butter churning machine for the creamery to make their own sticks of butter. As a former Dairy Queen myself, it was awesome to see these early stepping stones on the path to mass-produced dairy products, a godsend for anyone who has ever wanted to eat ice cream without milking a cow.

In a change of pace from homemade butter, the next exhibit was Bonzaville USA’s Law Enforcement museum complete with retro Fargo PD cruisers (check out the size of that siren), a very small steel jail cell, and some wild looking old guns both used and seized by police officers past.

Next up was probably the most surprising exhibit, because call me naive but I just never expect to walk into a warehouse and see it filled with planes. The museum’s collection is currently 20 aircrafts deep with the oldest being from 1911, just seven years after the Wright Brother’s first successful flight. I liked the funky glider plane in the right hand photo, but one of the planes (unfortunately I’m not sure which) was actually at D-Day so that’s probably the most notable one. Still the surprise of walking in and seeing them all was worth the price of admission on its own.

Logically, after the the old planes would come another warehouse filled with vintage cars. It was less shocking, but nonetheless impressive just seeing all these old guys side by side. There were a lot of years of history beneath these wheels and it was cool seeing both how sleek some classic cars were while others managed to be supremely goofy looking.

Naturally the goofy ones were my personal favorites with the highlights being: this bright yellow 1981 Freeway a ridiculous one-seat three wheeled mini-car which got over 100 miles per gallon but didn’t have a reverse function so shockingly it never caught on and only 700 were ever sold; a buggy which for some reason had a goose-shaped cookie jar on the front seat (not sure if that was standard issue or custom); and an old Ford which had been outfitted with skis for North Dakota winters.

Last but not least was another surprisingly fascinating slice of life mini-museum dedicated to the history of the telephone fashioned out of an old hardware store. They had some really nifty old phones (including a giant pink novelty), and it was genuinely interesting reading about the early days of telecommunications and the people that literally risked their lives setting up telephone poles around the country.

My favorite parts were a section about the young women who worked as switchboard operators in the days before direct dialing (including a hilarious sign advertising that local calls could be paid for with 2 eggs) and a particularly ornate old phone that I’m pretty sure was taller than I am.

After all that Bonanza-ing, I had a hefty appetite so I made my way down to a Mexican restaurant my friend recommended called Mango’s Mexican and American Grill. With a name like that, I had to get a Mango margarita. It honestly would have just felt disrespectful not to, and it proved to be a pretty delicious and boozy beverage. For food I got a sampler of three grilled tacos, carnitas, chicken, and chorizo, and everything was mighty tasty. The flavor wasn’t necessarily super authentic Mexican, but it’s the midwest and damned if they can’t grill meat so the sort of hybrid Mexico-Dakota flavor managed to actually really stick the landing. Add in some fresh fried tortilla chips, and really I couldn’t have been happier.

After dinner, I got ready for the night’s open mic which was at cool artsy coffee shop called the Red Raven Espresso Parlor. They had a great atmosphere, creative drinks, and an outdoor patio area. Naturally, I had to get an espresso shake as both a dessert and a nice pre-comedy pick me up.

The open mic was great. It was a small crowd, but loose and really receptive which I feel like is pretty common for coffee shops as opposed to bars which tend to be full and indifferent (and occasionally hostile), and all the comics were really solid.

My favorite comic of the night was a guy named Josh Dullea, but I can’t highlight any single one line because it was all an impressively dedicated performance to trying to explain a rambling conspiracy involving a bunch of dates adding up to the birthday of Jeanette McCurdy, the co-star from Nickelodeon’s iCarly. It reminded me of Norm Macdonald’s classic Frank Stallone jokes from SNL where the first time you get a reference to this obscure celebrity it’s a bit of a headscratcher, but the more he commits to bringing it back time and again the funnier it gets. It’s not a perfect comparison, because Josh’s unique voice did really shine through, but without you actually seeing him in action that was the closest point of reference that popped into my head.

Other highlights:

Hao Nguyen- Only unhealthy people litter. You never see a ton of granola wrappers on the street.

John Hyam- I think my joke are like porn they feel good in the moment but then afterwards I'm like what the hell is wrong with me

Ethan Peterson- Even when Whoopi Goldberg was 20 she looked like a 40 years old Snoop Dogg

Chase Raeder- My dad was abusive but he was very passive aggressive about it. He's slip me a picture a belt under the door.

I was happy with how my own set went (I was more careful about my yo-yo jokes), and it wasn’t a hugely long lineup so afterward we all hung out chatting in the outdoor area. I remember there was a roast battle coming up so a few of the comics were workshopping roasts with each other, but for me these didn’t have any context which I actually thought was pretty fun in its own way because I would have to imagine these local comics just from the roasts about them. It’s a fun mental exercise, I highly recommend. All in all, ending a summer day outside a cool venue chatting and laughing is about as good as it gets.

Favorite Random Sightings: Moose Dixon Apartments; Gander Mountain (keep it away from Goose Mountain); An actual club just for the sport of Curling; Lamb Plastic Surgery (I’m assuming Lamb refers to the doctor’s last name not the clientele); a bar called Chub’s Pub

Regional Observations: There are fiberglass Buffalo all over Fargo because NDSU’s mascot is a buffalo (hilariously named Thundar), and it’s fun to see them pop up here and there. The one outside the zoo was particularly wild looking:

Albums Listened To: You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen (a moving swan song from a master, but a bit of a mournful soundtrack for a fun day)

Joke of the Day:

A young boy had just gotten his driver's permit and inquired of his father, an evangelist, if they could discuss his use of the car. His father took him into his study and said to the boy, "I'll make a deal with you, son. You bring your grades up from a C to a B, study your Bible a little, get your hair cut, then we'll talk about the car."
Well, the boy thought about that for a moment, and decided that he'd settle for the offer, and they agreed on it.
After about six weeks, the boy came back and again asked his father about using the car. Again, they went to the study, where his father said, "Son, I've been real proud of you. You've brought your grades up, and I've observed that you have been studying your Bible, and participating a lot more in the Bible study class on Sunday morning. But, I'm real disappointed, since you haven't gotten your hair cut."
The young man paused a moment, and then said, "You know, Dad, I've been thinking about that, and I've noticed in my studies of the Bible that Samson had long hair, John the Baptist had long hair, Moses had long hair, and there's even a strong argument that Jesus had long hair."
His father replied, "You're right, son. Did you also notice that they all walked everywhere they went?"

Song of the Day:

A sweet video for a fitting farewell

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ND Day 2 - Baked Goods, Birdhouses, and Bonanzaville USA