21. Minnesota

     We took a really early morning flight, 5:45am, to Chicago and then caught a connection to Fargo, North Dakota. Most of you know I’m not a morning person so the fact that I made a flight this early is phenomenal.  We crossed the Red River of the North, which is not the same Red River that divides Texas and Oklahoma, and entered Moorhead, Minnesota. We visited the cultural center where we saw the Hjemkomst.

     The Hjemkomst (pronounced Yem-komst) is a replica of an ancient Viking ship that was built in Minnesota and then sailed to Norway in 1982. It took years to build and its story is one of dedication, perseverance, inspiration, and that fact that dreams can and do come true. The cultural center is also home to a full-scale replica of the Hopperstad Church located in Norway. This Norwegian Stave church is built using 18 27ft. pine columns (staves) and the roof is made of 24,000 cedar shingles. The carvings are intricate and the smell of the wood is heavenly.

    By this point we were starving. It wasn’t an easy task to find someplace to eat. My goal of visiting all 50 states was not to eat at a chain restaurant and I really didn’t think the pizza was going to give me the local flavor that I wanted. We were about to give up and eat at Dairy Queen as this did seem like the only happening place in town when we came across the Fryn’ Pan Family Restaurant. Think of IHOP, only without the pancakes. I had their fried chicken dinner made with their special recipe and Dennis had their open-faced turkey complete with gravy and mashed potatoes, his favorite. Both were good and hit the spot. I had heard about sour cream raisin pie and wanted to try a slice. Luckily, there was still a slice

or two in the back. It was definitely different. You really have to like sour cream to like this pie. The meringue was light and airy.

    Back across the Red River of the North and we were in North Dakota.

http://frynpan.net/

http://www.hcscconline.org/