Fargo for Vacation? You betcha

Don't let North Dakota be just a "flyover state." In my quest to visit all 50 states, I took what I thought was a nothing trip and suddenly made it all feel worthwhile. I flew into Minneapolis on a Saturday and drove approximately 3.5 hours west to South Dakota, then up to Fargo.

I did a little research before I left, but stopped at the Fargo Convention and Tourist Bureau, amazed that it was open until 6 p.m. on a Saturday. That's where the Celebrity Walk of Fame is, with hand and footprints in cement of visitors to Fargo. It includes 120 actors, authors, musicians and athletes. The first was Louisiana's own, Al Hirt. I was the first to put a pin on their world map for being a visitor from Shreveport.

Inside, you can have your picture made with a wood chipper in a corner devoted to the Fargo movie. Afterwards, you can go to www.thewoodchipper.org to see your photo appear on Facebook. Thank goodness, because I didn't even bring my real camera.

There is also a Wood Chip Marge statue at the Fargo Theatre. Actually, the movie only showed two scenes of Fargo and was not filmed there. Residents don't talk in an accent as exaggerated as the movie depicted; in fact, it seems like I was asked to repeat myself a lot.

Another stop was the Roger Maris Museum in West Acres Shopping Center. Maris shattered Babe Ruth's 1927 home run record with 61 homers in a single season in 1961 on the final day of the regular season. The Maris record stood for 37 years. He grew up in Fargo and led the American Legion team to the state championship.

You can watch a video there on an actual Yankee Stadium seat. The film shows Maris and Mickey Mantle were nearing Ruth's record. Pressure and the media got to Maris and he actually asked to sit out a game while approaching the record. A humble man, when he broke the record, teammates pushed him from the dugout back onto the diamond. Maris did not want to go back to Yankee Stadium for former player days, feeling he did not leave in good terms, until George Steinbrenner asked what it would take and Maris asked for a donation for a baseball field. You can see Maris bats, balls, uniforms, awards and magazine covers. There is no admission charge. Maris is buried in Fargo.

At the mall, I noticed Fargo has a Macy's. It also has a Cinnabon's, zoo and Amtrak station. Three things Shreveport-Bossier does not. I drove by the Fargodome arena that seated 17,000 for the Paul McCartney concert that night. This town of 104,000 has an arena larger than ours and attracted McCartney!

The North Dakota State University Bison play in the Fargodome. The 14,000 students see colorful bison artwork around town and beautifully landscaped streets with hanging plants. In the downtown area, many people were out and about around 7 p.m. It didn't get dark until close to 10 p.m.

It was 84 degrees the day I arrived and 54 degrees the Sunday I left. I'm sure it is much different in the winter, but I actually thought I could live in Fargo in the summer.

Nothing against southeast South Dakota, but I spent the night in Fargo, so that is where I wandered around and became impressed enough to write this. If you don't want to visit, maybe you want to work there. The newspaper had 11 pages of want ads.

There is nothing Podunk about Fargo. Just like we don't want people to think we are all from the swamp or hunt ducks, don't judge Fargo from the movie. It is nothing like you think.

P.S. If you save North Dakota for last, there is an official club. Best for last!