May 11, Day 2, Mother’s Day in Fargo

(It was 30 degrees warmer in Fargo than in Atlanta today. Who knew that was possible?!)

Today, we awoke in Fargo. We planned to go about the day in three phases. Phase 1: have breakfast in the hotel and relax in the morning. Phase 2: go tour the Downtown District in the early afternoon, find somewhere to have lunch; then head back to the hotel to relax. Phase 3: head back downtown for a 6pm Mother’s Day dinner.

Breakfast in the hotel was acceptable, though not distinctive. There were about three or four families having breakfast at the same time. They did not look particularly happy or engaged with one another. Maybe because it was just morning. We returned to the room and lounged around. Patrise fell asleep rather quickly. I called the hotel to get maintenance to come to our room; there was a flickering light in the bathroom – annoying, but not an emergency. After the maintenance man left, I continued reading while Patrise continued sleeping. When she awakened, we packed up and left to drive to the Downtown District. We planned to walk around and visually survey the city on foot.

We arrived downtown and parked on 2nd Ave. near Broadway.  I immediately noticed these markers which depicted some aspects of the city’s natural history and industrial history (see photos below.)

(Historical markers near the corners of Broadway and 2nd Ave. in Downtown Fargo)

As we walked along Broadway in one direction, we noticed two restaurants and an ice cream shop. We selected Little Brother, a Korean food shop for lunch. We went in an ordered, then sat down. The food was brought out shortly. It was delicious. One of the things we ate was salted edamame. As we ate, Patrise did a Google search about North Dakota industry and agriculture, only to learn that soybeans are one of North Dakota’s major crops, along with wheat, corn, and sugar beets. After lunch, we went to the ice cream shop, at The Silver Lining Creamery, two doors down from the restaurant. Here are some photos from the lunch experience and the nearby shops on Broadway.

Upon leaving Silver Lining Creamery, we continued walking around the downtown. Like many downtowns these days, it was not particularly active for a Sunday afternoon: small numbers of people moving about, several of them appearing to be homeless. We walked to the end of 2nd Ave, and there we saw the Fargo Civic Center, Fargo City Hall and the main public library, surrounding a green park. In the middle of this nice complex was a monument to the Ten Commandments and two homeless men sleeping on the ground. We made our way back toward the car, walking against the wind. I forgot to mention that today’s temperatures in Fargo soared into the mid-90’s with winds of 20-25mph.  Hot temps, high winds, and low humidity; the weather service had issued an “Extreme” advisory for fire danger. Having made our way back to the car, we made our way back to the hotel. Again, we relaxed for a while. We played a game of Gin Rummy 500 (card game), then chilled.

As the afternoon wore on, Patrise watched cooking shows, while I watched the NBA playoffs, specifically the OKC Thunder vs. the Denver Nuggets. As the game was winding down, we both got dressed to leave the room about 5:40pm. We headed back to the Downtown District and again parked on 2nd Ave. near Broadway. We arrived at our evening restaurant, Rosewild, just on time for our 6pm reservation.

Rosewild was quite the culinary experience! The beet salads were excellent.  Patrise was blown away by the chicken she ordered, and I was suitably impressed by the Hot Pot Pie (beef). We talked about our fortune in finding great restaurants in smaller cities – Rosewild in Fargo, ND, the J. Wilton House in Harrisonberg, VA, and the Gettysburg Inn, in Gettysburg, PA (the last two encountered on our 2022 RV trip through the Eastern U.S.) After a wonderful dinner, including great desserts, we returned to the car, headed back to the hotel and settled down for the evening. Tomorrow, we will head briefly to the Visitor’s Center, then west 1-1/2 hours to the National Bison Discovery Center in Jamestown, ND. Following that, we will return to rest at the hotel, before heading east 1-1/2 hours to meet Patrise’s brother Josh in Alexander City, MN at 5:00 p.m.

Here are more photos from the two visits to downtown Fargo, the Fargo suburbs, including the Red River, which is the boundary between Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, MN..