NORTH DAKOTA

YEAR VISITED: 2003, 2018, and 2023.

FAVORITE CITIES AND EXPERIENCES: Most of our family adventures have been about exploring and experiencing new places and people. However, our trips to North Dakota have been about family. This quote from Family History, “If we know where we came from, we may better know where to go. If we know who we came from, we may better understand who we are” really sums up both of our experiences growing up. Jill and I have been extremely blessed in that we have tremendous support systems and families that truly care about us. My parents have been married 50+ years and as I write this Jill’s parents are celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary. With both Jill’s parents being born and raised in Devil’s Lake North Dakota, it was important to us to explore their hometown. While Jill grew up taking roadtrips with the family every other summer to Devil’s Lake the girls and I hadn’t experienced the Legendary status of North Dakota before. Therefore, in 2018 as a family we we made Devil’s Lake a priority stop on our 28-state road trip.

We visited Jill’s Uncle Johnny and Aunt Patty (Judy’s brother) and they were gracious enough to show up around the house Johnny and Judy grew up in.

We also walked a couple blocks down the street to see the house that Jill’s Dad (John) grew up in as John and Judy were high school sweethearts.

Everywhere we went we were able to experience places from their past. Highlights were the high school they graduated from and the church they were married in.

And since we were there for 4th of July we celebrated with sparklers out in the parking lot of the hotel we stayed at.

Lastly Johnny drove us through the White Horse Hill Game Preserve where we were able to observe buffalo up close.

Our 2nd trip to Devils Lake came in 2023. While the purpose of the trip was unfortunately to attend Uncle Johnny’s funeral, it quickly became a family reunion. The adventure began with Jill’s entire family taking the train from Oregon all the way to North Dakota.

The 30+ hour train ride (through five states) definitely presented challenges, but it quickly turned into one of our families biggest adventures; eighteen of us traveled via train where we met up with relatives from Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas, and North Dakota that had arrived earlier in the week. On a side note the views from the train were spectacular.

Uncle Johnny was a veteran and this was my first time witnessing a military funeral – I found it extremely moving.

Following the service, what felt like the entire town, met up at the VFW to honor his memory.

As sad as it was to say goodbye to such a good man, it was extremely special to see the family come together and honor his memory. Both trips to Devils Lake provided tremendous experiences that proved to be unique from a majority of our travel adventures.

STADIUMS AND.OR SPORTING EVENTS: While there are no professional sports teams in North Dakota, attending the outdoor performance of the Medora Musical was a true treat. The Burning Hills Amphitheater is completly outside and unlike anything I had ever experienced before. The outdoor stage uses the Black Hills as a backdrop and adds to the feeling of being in the Old West.

The show, which has been operating since 1965, is described on it’s website as the “rootin-tootinest, boot-scootinest show in all the Midwest…It’s an ode to patriotism, Theodore Roosevelt, and the Great American West.”

The night we attended we had the added bonus of a first class mid west storm. While we did get to see the play in its entirety, the production was forced to forego intermission in the name of finishing before the storm hit. The last 20-30 minutes of the musical we could see lightening in the horizon which really added to all of our excitement.

As soon as we made it back to our car following the conclusion of the show, the skies opened up and the rain absolutely dumped. It was a truly memorable drive back to the hotel as lightening flashed and thunder echoed directly above us.

ADVENTURE(S): Being the baseball fanatic that I am, I discovered the Roger Maris Musuem when doing research on ‘what to see’ in North Dakota. Maris, a member of the New York Yankees and resident of North Dakota, went onto smash a then record 61 home runs in 1961.

The musuem is located at the West Hills Mall in Fargo. Therefore, Team Castro made a point to drive through Fargo.

I greatly enjoyed exploring the musuem and the girls enjoyed the mall. While in Fargo we explored the downtown and the iconic Fargo Theatre sign. The theatre was built in 1926 and serves as a downtown venue for concerts, plays, and events – I just wish we would have been able to see the iconic neon sign lit up at night.

In 2023 my brother-in-law and I explored downtown Grand Forks.

Specifically we stopped on 3rd street, merely a couple of blocks from the campus of the University of North Dakota. We had pizza at the Half Brothers Brewery before heading over to the Brick and Barley.

Our last stop was The Loft, an upstairs sports bar.

I came away extremely impressed with downtown, loved each of these establishments, and would jump at the chance to return. Seeing as we have spent time in every region of the United States and traveled to all fifty states we have seen sunsets from all angles and locations. All are impressive. However, I would be hard pressed to name a prettier sunset then what we witnessed in North Dakota.

NOTABLE DESTINATIONS & STOPS: One of the many perks of road trips is seeing sites you would otherwise not experience. One such experience is Salem Sue, the largest Holstein Cow in the world. Who doesn’t enjoy a roadside attraction of a giant cow?

Another fun roadside attraction, located in Rugby, is supposedly the Geographical Center of North America.

While there is some debate whether or not this is the exact spot, the town has erected a stone monument claiming the honor. Whether it is factual or not I found this to be a fun place to stop, take a picture, and stretch my legs. Jamestown is home to a Frontier Village where the Worlds Tallest Buffalo statue resides.

We stopped in before the town was open, walked the grounds, and took a handful of one-of-a-kind photos with the massive buffalo.

We have been to Medora twice and seem to enjoy it more each time. In 2023, just before enjoying downtown, we were able to drive through a small section of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. There we were fortunate to see a buffalo, but didn’t have enough time to adequately explore or even experience much of what the park has to offer. It is high on our list to return.

Downtown is an extremely fun frontier style landscape that will take you back to the days of the Old West. This is where the Roosevelt family came to ‘summer’ and where future President Teddy Roosevelt developed his love of nature and the outdoors.

There are multiple western style restaurants in town. All seem fun but we ate at the Little Missouri Saloon & Dining Room where we enjoyed our buffalo burgers and the overall ambiance. The downstairs had a collection of cowboy hats and dollar bills tacked on the ceiling and outdoor seating provided quite a view of downtown.

Hands down the coolest experience I have had in North Dakota was the Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile Historic Site just outside of Cooperstown.

This historic location was one of hundreds of military facilities built throughout North Dakota in the 1960’s. Above ground was the launch support building and fifty feet under the building was the missile silo responsible for launching America’s nuclear Minuteman missiles.

Taking the elevator below ground, walking through the 4 1/2 foot thick steel door, and seeing the ignition switch responsible for detonating the world’s most horrific weapon was surreal to say the least.

The missiles were actually housed in another facility a few miles down the road. This facility and others like it were de-commissioned in the mid-2000’s. In 2007 Minuteman facilities were either turned into museum’s or deconstructed altogether.