September 17-18, 2022
It was time for another bonding trip with Terry and Rhonda. We decided to check out the Clay County fair; none of us had been before. We left Saturday morning about 8ish. TerryM had a breakfast suggestion of the Hobo House in Britt, but we needed to get going since he said they closed at 11. With TerryM driving and TerryD as co-pilot, Rhonda and I enjoy the backseat. Brother Terry has eaten at probably every restaurant in most of the surrounding counties, so he had a few suggestions. First we checked for a restaurant in Bradford; nope, not open. Then over to Coulter; nope, not open. So we headed west. By this time it was decided that we were not going to make it to Britt before closing time. Dudley's Corner at Hwy 3 and I-35 gained our business for our morning appetites. The menu was small, but we each had an omelet which satisfied our hungry bellies.
With paper map in the co-pilot's hand, we meandered along two-lane country roads, TerryD's preference so he can enjoy the field after field of corn and beans at a more leisurely speed than interstate speed. We got to Spencer about noon and had to locate the fair grounds. Which street "looked" like it might be a good choice? Or maybe the cars in front of us were going to the fair too, so we should just follow along; Rhonda and I are just chuckling in the backseat at their choice of which car appeared as though we should follow to get where we were going. Yes, we do realize that we are in the age of cell phones and google maps, but what is the fun in that??!! The carnival rides were finally in sight. We found a place to park, FREE, which is right up MY alley; I love that four-letter word! The shuttle service, aka golf carts, picked us up and away we went paying our entrance fee along the way, $10 each, not bad. We were dropped off at the Events Center. We found the Information Booth first and the wonderful
volunteers there explained the lay of the land to us. They had run out of "First Timer" buttons; we were not sure if we were sad or glad at that. We walked along the dust-covered trails, taking in the sights of the fair. Not unlike other fairs we'd been to, there were many food trucks and booths of folks sharing their wares. We watched the draft horses for a while. They are such a sight to see! My favorite was a black pair with what I called 'fuzzy feet'; technically the feathering.
Disc-Connected K9's was fun to watch for a few minutes, too. We enjoyed a tenderloin sandwich and fries from a nearby stand for lunch. We met up with a retired auditor friend of Rhonda's, Marge.
She was a joy to visit with and gave us a few must-dos before we left. The cut apples and caramel from one of the vendors was delicious! Nitro ice cream was on the list of must-haves, but we didn't easily find the stand, so we opted to skip this treat. Maybe next year Nitro IC!
Our evening was spent watching the horses in different competitions. We had a snack of Tater Ribbon Fries smothered in cheese sauce. It was delicious! For supper we enjoyed sandwiches and fries from the Beef Producers stand. About 9pm we decided it was time to head out.
Getting to our hotel; another adventure. TerryM had made the hotel arrangements. We left Spencer and headed to the Emmetsburg Super8. We got there and No rooms for us??!! Well, it would help if we'd been in the right city! Back on the road to Estherville! It was a long day and we were glad to get into our rooms and fall into bed.
Sunday morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel. We nixed the fair and decided to take in some of the sights of Estherville. First up with the Historical Museum. It was a complex of various buildings. It wasn't open so we just walked around looking for ideas for our museum in Wellsburg. There was a gentleman there that we talked with a bit. We told him about the connection of Wellsburg and Estherville, George Wells and his foreman, Robert Hamilton. He knew a Mike Hamilton, but wasn't sure if he was connected to Robert or not.
Next up was the Oak Hill Cemetery. George Wells' right-hand-man, Robert Hamilton, is buried here and I just had to visit and snap a few pics. It was a big cemetery and we didn't think we'd find his grave; there was no directory that we could find. A contributor on FindAGrave had the GPS coordinates which appeared to get us close to the gravesite. We all walked around a bit and TerryD was able to locate it. After a few pictures, we headed to the car. But not before I had to pickup some of the fallen acorns. They had a kind of fuzzy cap which I thought was kind of unique. I'm sure I can figure out something that Audrey and I can do with them.
Then off to the Swinging Bridge. Rhonda LOVED the swing in this bridge! Ok, maybe she wasn't that big of a fan. We enjoyed several laughs and some more pictures here before we headed out. Rhonda had many tears of joy and laughter in her eyes on this bridge!
Now off to home. Again the pilot and co-pilot, with his paper map in hand, charted our route on the back country roads of Iowa. We took a short tour of Lakewood and Badger, a couple of towns where Terry resided for a few years in his youth.
Miller's Sports Bar in Algona was our choice for late lunch on Sunday. Delicious burgers! I had one with onion rings and barbeque sauce - yummmy!
We stopped by the old country school north of Wellsburg so Terry could check its "bones" to see if it would be worth us to pursue for the historical foundation. He thought we could give it a go. Would need to find a spot on main street and a mover.
We stopped at Trent's and met the newest addition to the family. Bear joined the family yesterday. He is such a cute and cuddly ball of Saint Bernard fur.
We had Terry and Rhonda back home by 6. What a great weekend - again - with my brother and his wife. Love love love spending time on the road with them. Laughter is so good for the soul.
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