Our son lives in MT, we%26#39;re in Wi, and we%26#39;d like to plan a trip about 1/2 way to meet up and spend time together. Right now looking at Jamestown, Devils Lake, Wahpeton, or Great Fork. Just looking for info on which city would have decent motels/hotels, a few things to do, nice eating etc. We%26#39;ve driven through ND before but never spent lot of time. This would be a long weekend in early Fall, any help and suggestions is appreciated. Thanks.
fall 2008 trip
I grew up between Grand Forks (I think you mean that rather than Great Fork?) and Devils Lake on Highway 2.
Can comment more on those two. Driving from Grand Forks to Devils Lake should give you some nice fall sunflower fields. (I think that is the prettiest time to drive through Eastern ND).
Devils Lake has some crappy places to stay and not great motels or dining. But can say there is Spirit Lake resort and casino just out of town, set on the lake.
Although I haven%26#39;t stayed there, I have known quite a few relatives that have when coming to various reunions/funerals etc. They thought it was good lodging for the area. If you like outdoors stuff, there is Sully%26#39;s hill wildlife refuge right by there (buffalo, prarie dogs etc.). Used to love it as a kid, but haven%26#39;t been there except for driving by lately. Also the old reservation town of Ft. Totten (museum type town). And of course gambling at the casino. There is also fishing and boating on the lake, depending on how cold. Not sure how long the boat rental etc goes. If Indian summer can still be quite warm through fall September at least. My parents say there is one restaurant at Spirit Lake resort that is pretty good.
Grand Forks is a much bigger town. Would have more shopping/lodging opportunities/restaurant activities. The downtown has been revitalized since the floods. Since school will be in full session at UND might be more going on as far as attending a concert/play/or some theatre thing at Chester Fritz auditorium, or some other campus venue. Or a football game.
Jamestown is in a pretty area, also smaller town. Lodging options are mostly chain hotels from what I have seen, but always look kept up. There is a an albino buffalo there and Buffalo museum, and some old west stuff. Although driven through there a few times in recent years, don%26#39;t have any great advice on hotels/motels.
Whapeton, can barely remember anything except from going through there a few times. So will have to rely on others for advice about that.
Fargo would also be an option? That is bigger than Grand Forks, would have similar options as far as shopping/dining/museums, etc.
fall 2008 trip
I grew up near Wahpeton. It depends on when you%26#39;re going but we have the Bagg Bonaza farm which is interesting and that is just a few miles off the intersection of I-29 and a nice little restaurant in the closest town to that which is Mooreton (Paula%26#39;s Place). Wahpeton has a cute little zoo and a restored carosual. They have built some nice hotels in the last few years there but I%26#39;ve never stayed at them but heard they are fine. There are a few good resturants but nothing really fancy. I remember the burgers are delicious in Breckenridge (which is the neighbor city of Wahpeton on the MN side) at the Wilkin...cute little bar/resturant place on the Main drag. Good Chinese buffet right on the Main street on the South side in Wahpeton too. I would say Wahpeton would be the smaller town feel with more activites and probably better hotels than Jamestown and likely Devils Lake (though I haven%26#39;t been there in years). I lived in Grand Forks and they have some great places to stay and shop but it%26#39;s bigger and of course Fargo is even bigger than that but they have a zoo, air museum, plains art museum and lots of shopping. Guess it depends on what you like.
thanks to both of you for some information. As of yet no exact date is picked, we%26#39;re just tossing around the idea to meet up. We most likely wouldn%26#39;t do any huge tourist stuff, just enjoy time together and reconnect, eat out and relax. I%26#39;ll continue to check this board for further info, but thanks again.
Full disclosure: I work for the visitor%26#39;s center in Jamestown, so obviously I think you should choose Jamestown to meet up! We have a number of chain motels, as noted previously, and most of them are well-rated here on Trip Advisor. People seem to especially like the Holiday Inn and the Comfort Inn. A non-chain, the Gladstone, also gets great reviews. We also have luxury cabins just north of town on our lake that are quite nice. They might be the best choice (in my opinion, anyway) because the whole family could be comfortably accommodated. As for dining, we have a couple of truly fantastic restaurants downtown. The Buffalo City Grille is in a restored building and has phenomenal atmosphere, and the Continental Bistro has been recently renovated and specializes in Italian (they have the best tiramisu I%26#39;ve ever tasted). If you%26#39;d like more information on Jamestown, you can call us at 1-800-222-4766, and we%26#39;d be happy to send you a visitors%26#39; guide!
I do not work for the visitor%26#39;s bureau in Jamestown, but I wholeheartedly agree with WhiteBuffalo. My parents came to visit us here and stayed at the Holiday Inn and had no complaints. They were pleasantly surprised at the beauty of Jamestown Reservoir and we rented a pontoon boat and took a cruise on the lake. It was a great, memorable time together. There are some good, unique, restaurants in town as well as some chain. My favorite is the Continental Bistro. I also really like Babb%26#39;s Coffee House downtown. They have a quality menu and nice atmosphere. It%26#39;s a great place to hang out. Also, it%26#39;s always fun to visit the World%26#39;s Largest Buffalo and the Buffalo Museum is nice too along with the herd of live buffalo.
The question I would ask is where in WI and where in MT so that would be a good ';Halfway point'; to meet. To the Jamestown ';crowd'; you should get to Bismarck for more action. No I%26#39;m not from Bis. or Zap, just like to say zap. I%26#39;m thinking that if the MT folks are far enough west and the WI folks are far enough south they would have so many more choices to do things in the Black Hills. Mt Rushmore for one. Sorry not a tourism worker. Fall colors in ND are nothing compared to WI.
Malebird
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