I hope the title has caught your attention because you are in for a real treat! But you'll have to wait for that surprise because we have other adventures that need to be addressed.
Yesterday I mentioned that we were staying at the Nome Schoolhouse and that I'd try to share some of the charm that this B&B has to offer.
I'll be frank....it's old. It was built in 1916 and the floors, ceiling and walls on the interior are basically the original. So, the wooden floors are planks, and they make noise as you walk up and down the stairs, as well as in the bedroom, but I'm fairly certain I'm starting to make some creaking noises myself, and I'm not nearly as old!
When you walk inside to the landing, there is a photo on the left that shows just what the building looked like prior to its renovation.
It closed in 1970 and sat derelict until 2018 when the present proprietors purchased it.
Despite the renovation, many of the rooms stand as they would have as classrooms. Marty and I had the M&M Room.
It was at the front of the building and overlooked the entrance circle from the street.
It was super large and even had a special seating area. Note the black chalkboard in the background.
You can see another chalkboard behind the bed as well.
And how clever was it to use old Singer sewing machines as nightstands on either side of the bed?
The final touch: A glass jar filled with M&M's for us to enjoy!
That was a win for me!
We headed down to breakfast to be sure we were seated by 9:00. I had received a notice that breakfast was plated at 9:00 sharp. I didn't want the principal scolding me for tardiness!
On the way down, I spotted this unfinished embroidery in the corner. Made me chuckle.
The breakfast room had some lovely needlepoint creations
as well as a quilt that featured the building.
I learned that the renovated building is actually a Fiber Arts Mill. They have 2 alpacas, 2 sheep, a Highland Cow, and some other animals that escape me, that they collect the fiber from to mill, dye and create these amazing skeins of yarn that they sell in the gift shop.
They also run various workshops throughout the year. In fact, there was a group of women on site when we were there, getting ready to take a class on working with fiber.
There were several quilting classes, which might explain this quilt hanging in our bathroom
and another in the dining room.
It certainly was a unique place to visit!
We headed out to begin our drive to St Cloud where I had reservations for the night. I hadn't mentioned it before, but the scenery here is far different than what we see in our travels back home.
Straight highways surrounded by green fields that extend as far as the eye can see. We saw very few houses among the farmland. And, to attest to the sparseness of people, The town of Kathryn, that I mentioned yesterday was 66, Nome was 69, and Wolverine, the next town along our travels was 138. That's total people, not families. The difference in dynamics was certainly eye opening.
As we headed south, we began to see larger towns, but still expansive fields of green. We found ourselves being detoured, and I noticed a sign for Fort Abercrombie and we decided that since we were detouring anyway, it was worth stopping in to check it out.
The first military post to stand in this area was in 1857, named after Lt. Col John J Abercrombie.
The presence of the fort enabled new trade routes to be opened in the Red River Valley. It was abandoned in 1877 and laid dormant until 1939 when the WPA reconstructed block houses and returned the original guardhouses to preserve the history.
The jail had been sold to a family in 1877 and it was disassembled, moved, and reassembled by the family who lived it in for several generations. In 1939, it was gifted back, returned to the site and reassembled as it stands today. It does not qualify for the National Historic Houses trademark because it had been disassembled.
The interior held 2 cells along with some interesting equipment that was used to humiliate the soldiers at that time.
The blockhouses had a very clever feature. It was set up so that the windows on the upper level were at 45 degrees from the windows on the lower level. So, where there was an upper window, like at the top of the stairs in the photo, the one downstairs was positioned to view 45 degrees on either side of the upper window, in a different direction.
By positioning the windows this way, the guards had a 360 degree view of any possible attacks.
But by the time they were constructed, there were no further uprisings to warrant their use.
After leaving Abercrombie, we headed to Wahpeton, North Dakota. There stands this beautiful building across from the zoo.
It houses this charming preserved carousel that had been rescued from the 1997 flood.
Each horse has its own name, and all of them go up and down. You can ride it for $3.00 if you choose.
We did not.
Our stop in Wahpeton was very last minute. While I was reading about what the town had to offer, it was brought to my attention that Wahpper stands here.
And just what is that? you might ask.
Well it's just the largest Catfish Statue in the ENTIRE WORLD!
Right up Marty's Alley.
You don't see something like that everyday!
Let's face it...that's pretty amusing. Regarding its claim as the world's largest...I'd have to wonder if it just might be the world's only! I really can't say.
After a few photos, we headed out on the highway for St Cloud, which is the site of our B&B.
It stands on the Mississippi River, and has steps down to the shore
where a paddle boat waits in anticipation of eager fishermen.
It might have been scenic, but no fish were caught. And you can't blame me! I only whispered.
Here's a shot from the dock across the river.
I've been told that there are bald eagles who hang out in trees near the shore in the morning, so we just might have that treat to share tomorrow. But, we were also told that Marty was guaranteed a fish by 3 casts, which did not pan out for him, so who really knows?
We headed to an Irish Pub in town, about a half mile away and enjoyed a delicious dinner before walking back.
Another super day....ending in Minnesota.
Marty is scheduled to fish with Lon tomorrow, and I hear that dinner plans are a fish fry at Lon and Paula's place. Looks like the pressure's on!
I'll keep you posted....
