July 8, 2021: Minneapolis -->Fargo -->Jamestown --> Bismarck

After a good night's sleep at the Holiday Inn Express Roseville-St.Paul (be sure to request a room on the parking lot side - it's quieter.), we headed off to explore Fargo.  Our first stop was the Visitor's Center, where we got to see the famous chipper shredder from "Fargo".  We also completed a geocaching adventure lab series at the visitor's center, and perused the hand prints at the Fargo Walk of Fame.  

Next, we spent a few hours in downtown Fargo exploring the streets and viewing some of the many murals that have been painted on walls throughout the city.  We completed another adventure lab of the city's murals, and then decided that a stop at the Silver Lining Creamery for an ice cream lunch was in order.  The Silver Lining Creamery even had great dairy free choices for Aoife, and we all felt much refreshed and ready to drive west across North Dakota on Route 94. 

Jamestown was our next stop, where we poked around the Frontier Village, which consists of original frontier buildings that were moved to this site to create an educational experience.  This was fun, and we enjoyed being able to visit buildings such as a general store, church, schoolhouse, dentist's office, bank, railroad depot and more.  We also were interested in seeing author Louis L'Amour's writer's shack, and Brian picked up a novel from the free collection of Louis L'Amour books that were available.  

A visit to Jamestown would not be complete without a photo at the World's Largest Buffalo Monument.  The National Buffalo Museum is also a short walk down the road, but we did not have time to visit on this trip. 

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Along Route 94, we stopped to check out the Crystal City ghost town.  The town was built in the 1880's when the Northern Pacific Railroad built a station in the area.  Now, all that is left of the town is the brick school, a wooden church, a gas station and a house.  Coming from RI, I've never seen anything like this, so I had to get out of the car and take a closer look. 

Continuing west on Rt. 94, our final stop of the day was Bismarck (with a quick side trip just before Bismarck to find the oldest geocache in North Dakota.).  We drove through North Dakota's capital city, seeing the tallest building in the state as well as the surrounding downtown areas.  We are always on the lookout for regional fast foods, so we decided to try Culver's burgers, fries, cheese curds, and frozen custard for dinner, which was very tasty!

Our final destination for the day was the Lewis & Clark Riverboat sunset cruise on the Missouri River.  Unfortunately, it was a cloudy night without a visible sunset, but the cruise was still fun and we loved being out on the river.  Another great day!