Trying to rest up as much as possible, we slept in, had breakfast at the Atomic Cafe downtown, and then hopped on the bikes to head out to Bonanzaville, an historical museum/theme park of sorts. They had advertised a parade, live music, and fun activities for the whole family. We planned to make a day of it, since this was the only thing going on
It was a 9 mile ride out to West Fargo. We are always stiff after a day off off the bikes, so I was happy to be warming up a little bit.
A bonanza farm was a huge monoculture factory farm that arose in the late 19th century, made possible by technology advances in farm eqiuipment and by migrant labor especially Mexican braceros. They were mostly broken up by the boom and bust of farming.
The museum consists of 40 buildings on 14 acres. There are all types of buildings and museums: general store, barber shop, creamery, fire department, etc. The most interesting to me was the print shop where they were running a hot type Linotype machine that cast newspaper type.
At 2 pm the parade commenced. I guess this is the only parade I have seen without a single marching band, fire truck, or Shriner go-cart contingent. It did feature both Miss Fargo, and Miss West Fargo.
A handful of cars, some from the museum's collection.
Many of the cars and planes in the collection were donated by Eugene Dahl. He was a principal in the company that makes "Bobcat" excavators. I guess he did OK.
Trucks are big out here.
So are tractors.
We stayed until they closed at 5 pm, and by that time we were seriously aching from being on our feet for 5 hours.
One last really cool car, one that my dad owned:
Tonight we ate in the hotel restaurant, since virtually nowhere else was open.
Last night, however, we found a wine bar named D'Vine and had an outstanding experience. Great wine, great tapas, and great conversation with the GM Ty Singman. Turns out he is from Annapolis MD, so he is bringing East Coast entrepreneurial energy to Fargo. This place would be considered upscale anywhere.
The entrance is off an alley, which gives it an exclusive feel. It's hard to find even when you know where it is. We had some amazing tastes: crostini with goat cheese and raspberry-habenero jam was a standout. Our host had invented a lot of their dishes so we got the full explanation of why every ingredient was included.
Tomorrow we head to Enderlin ND. Only 57 miles planned, because it seems that we need to ease back into it after resting. After Enderlin, we will hit Edgeley (72 miles) Napoleon (73 miles) and then Bismark (78 miles). Trust me, there is nothing in between, so if we have headwinds, these could be long days.