Amber Helbling, who traveled from Minneapolis to Aberdeen along a different route than her parents, holds up Paul Bunyan's boat anchor at Ortonville. Her Mom regrets missing this notable roadside attraction.
By Audrey Kletscher Helbling
I never go anywhere without a notepad and a pen. That said, here are some notes I jotted while on a trip from Faribault to northeastern South Dakota this past weekend. I started writing just outside the Minnesota River community of Granite Falls, where my husband spotted a pair of bald eagles perched in a tree.
At the next town down the road, Montevideo, we crossed an old bridge with steel beams spanning overhead. Few such bridges exist any more and I’m fond of them. Years ago, my Dad would drive our family over a bridge like this on Minnesota Highway 19 near Morton. As we crossed over, we would knock on the roof of the car to keep the trolls at bay. Silly. But the old bridge at Monte brought back memories.
As we wound our way along Minnesota Highway 7, a bright orange water tower marked the town of Watson, self-proclaimed Goose Capital of the USA. I’ve never seen an orange water tower and wondered if the color had anything to do with the hunting that is so big in this area. I suppose we could have stopped at The Goose Bar and asked. Outside of town, a flock of geese flew overhead, a pheasant crossed our path and a sign pointed to the Watson Hunting Camp.
In Milan, just down the road, we spotted another orange water tower and corn piled high beside the grain elevator. I knew this as the home of the Milan Village Arts School. And had there been time, I would have sought out the old red schoolhouse turned arts center.
Heading toward Appleton, I smiled at a snowman guarding the walkway to a rural home. Once inside the city limits, however, my mood turned somber as I noted street signs named after native sons who died in war. In this “Home of Honored Veterans,” soldiers like Jesse M. Lhotka, killed by an Iraqi roadside bomb on Feb. 21, 2005, are forever memorialized. Pausing for a freight train in Appleton gave us additional time to reflect.
Outside of Appleton, we turned, drove past a place called Shooters Bar and Grill and continued on the road to Correll, population 47. The Stock Shoppe antiques store caught my eye. But mostly I noticed all of the boarded-up buildings and an old corner brick building, which I guessed to be a former bank.
Next came Odessa. I didn’t make any notes specifically about the town. But I remember thinking, I like that name and there sure are a lot of deer stands around here. Just outside of Odessa, I saw Stoney Run Lodge. I think I would have enjoyed staying overnight here. Set back from the highway, this appeared a welcoming rural retreat in an old farmhouse.
Soon we started noticing rocks poking through the earth and two particularly large boulders covered with graffiti next to the roadway. We were almost to Ortonville, which borders South Dakota. We caught the outskirts of Ortonville and turned onto U.S. Highway 12 leading to Big Stone City, S.D. A sign for River Street Brewing at Big Stone Marine drew our attention. “I never heard of that brewery,” I said. Turns out the brewing place sells beer and wine making supplies and isn’t truly a brewery.
Then it was on to South Dakota. But that’s another blog.
