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It’s not every day that a family from Texas spends a day in Fargo, North Dakota!

If you keep up with us on Instagram, you know that we are on a quest to get our two big kids to all 50 states. If you’re curious as to why we haven’t included the youngest in this challenge, read this post.

We recently completed our third USA Road Trip and got to check off four new states. This brought the state count for the bigs up to 38!

If you too are on a mission to get all 50 states crossed off the list, then read on to see why you have to add Fargo, North Dakota to your itinerary. *Our day was hosted by the Fargo-Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau. Thank y’all for partnering with us and for such a FUN day!

WHAT TO EAT

Our 5:30am departure from Minneapolis, MN to drive to Fargo was not my favorite thing we did on our road trip. The kids stumbled sleepily out onto the downtown streets of Minneapolis (or were carried) and loaded up into the vehicle. For the 3.5hr drive we made record time with ONLY ONE STOP. Say what?!?! I still don’t know how with three kids we only managed one stop on this leg of our trip. A mystery.

When you arrive in Fargo, you may be pleasantly surprised with the small town feel even though it is a city of 125,000+ people.

Twenty Below

If you have a 5am wakeup call, coffee may be your first action item in Fargo. I’m one of those weird people who have three kids but still haven’t managed to ever drink a cup of coffee. I know, I know. The husband is a coffee lover, so this was a necessary stop for us.

Fargo’s Twenty Below Coffee Co. was the perfect stop for a pick-me-up. Also, SUPER happy it wasn’t in fact 20 degrees below freezing when we visited because the hubs and I do NOT like the cold. Like not at all. Do you?

Check out the cute window nook area in the pic below! Our kids made themselves comfy in the nook area while I made friends with the baristas and explored the shop. The wood planks on the walls, wood bar stools, open shelving, and industrial pipes will have you drooling before you even look at the menu.

How cute is Twenty Below’s little flow chart menu?! I love that they have alternative milk options too. Woop woop.

Menu at Twenty Below in Fargo, ND

I went with my normal iced chai latte and the hubs got “just a coffee”. I’m pretty picky with my chais – I don’t like them heavily spiced or too sweet. Twenty Below’s met my approval. We also enjoyed chatting with the staff – they were very welcoming!

Teddy’s Eatery & Parlor

If you’re in Fargo for lunch or dinner, Teddy’s Eatery & Parlor is a good choice! The restaurant is located smack dab in the middle of downtown and is inspired by President Theodore Roosevelt. I’m not sure if “smack dab” is something Midwesterners say, but hopefully you get my drift.

I ordered the Summer Sour cocktail – with rum instead of vodka – and the hubs tried a local brew. If you like strawberry lemonade, this cocktail is for you!

After you order your food, have a walk around the restaurant! My favorite decor element is located in the back room of the restaurant. It’s a light fixture that reminds me of a jellyfish! I love the look of jellyfish…from far away. Yes, I have been stung before. I was stung a few times when we lived in Australia and once on a trip to Cocoa Beach, Florida. Yes, it hurts.

Teddy’s Eatery & Parlor in downtown Fargo, ND

We got several plates to share: the Chicken Summer Medley salad, Veggie Naan, Meat & Cheese board, Hot Ham & Cheese (for the husband and he didn’t share – it must have been great!), and Chicken Bacon Florentine (which was hands down the best meal I had our whole trip!).

Side note – the lady at the table behind us (who was a local) found out we were from Texas after chatting with our four year old. The youngest is our social bug and makes friends everywhere we go. Anywhoo- the lady asked if we wear cowboy hats all the time. I explained we were from a town outside of Dallas and the only time we wear cowboy hats is to the occasional concert, dress up day, or rodeo. Stereotypes are fun.

WHAT TO SEE

A good place to start your day in Fargo-Moorhead is at the Visitor’s Center. The friendly staff can help you plan out your day, and they have cute coloring books for the kids!

If you’re a movie buff, you’ll want to get a picture in the Visitor’s Center with the woodchipper from the 1996 film, Fargo. There are several props and posters from the movie too.

Painted Bison

If movies aren’t your thing but art is, there are 40 painted colorful bison located around Fargo, Moorhead, and West Fargo. Even if you aren’t looking for them, you will be surprised at how many you come across when going about your day in Fargo! If you want to see as many bison as possible, this post will be helpful!

Historic Fargo Theater

This theater, built in the 20s, is a must-see. Even if you don’t have time to catch a movie/concert here, at least get pictures in front of the sign.

My four year old took the pic of me (below). I love how she didn’t quite get the whole sign in the picture, but I’m really smiling because she didn’t drop my phone.

I’m not sure who Jase is, but hopefully he had a great birthday.

Downtown Fargo

The downtown area of Fargo is fun to explore. Broadway Square (below left) has fun red spinning things that look like thimbles. Our kids enjoyed playing on them and listening to the live music. The city is so clean and it felt spread out – not overcrowded. It also is a lot quieter than we are used to in Dallas.

There goes our four year old making friends again. She got a 10 minute accordion lesson from this nice street performer!

WHAT TO DO

Have a look at this list of things to do, and see what will be a good fit for your family. Besides the things already mentioned above, here are the other things our family did while in Fargo-Moorhead!

Drekker Brewing Company

I’m always down for a good brewery taproom visit, and I don’t even like beer. So recap: I don’t like beer or coffee. My husband does though, so we balance each other out.

When breweries are family-friendly and look as nice as Drekker Brewing Company, I could happily stay all day.

Our son found a love for vikings after a school project about them this past year. He was excited to see the Drekker Brewing Company’s mascot.

High high high ceilings, lots of natural light, and arcade games: a great spot to spend the afternoon!

Thankfully Drekker had a non-beer beverage option, the Mango Hurricane Fluff hard seltzer. It was delish.

Wall Mural Tour

You might not know that we are a mural-loving family. We went on a self-guided wall mural tour on our trip to Nashville last summer and that post has been one of my most-viewed!

When I was looking into things to do in Fargo, I kept coming across some fun wall murals that I had to see in person! A complete list of the murals can be found here, but below are the handful my family visited!

Greetings from Fargo is a must! There are two – which one is your favorite?!

My girls loved the angel wings in Fargo. They reminded us of the giant wings in Nashville!

My son and husband were ALL about the Fargo Mario Wall! How cool is this?! If you are a 90s kid like my husband and I, this wall will take you back. You might even get the song stuck in your head!

I love how in the action shot below my husband is “dropping” the littlest down the green warp pipe (he even made the sound effects), and our oldest is hitting the Question Mark Box. Our son is Mario, obvi.

Hjemkomst Center – Viking Ship

Just over the river in Moorhead, Minnesota is the Hjemkomst Center. Pronounced nothing like it looks, the center houses a massive viking ship and museum. Remember how I said my son loves vikings?! This adventure was the highlight of his day (second was the Mario Wall).

We loved learning about the history of this viking ship, which was constructed in the 70s. She made her voyage to Norway in 1982. If you have any history buffs and/or viking lovers in your family, this place is a must-see!

Shopping in Downtown Fargo

Before you go, you’ll want to explore the shops in downtown Fargo!

Zandbroz Variety was in fact full of variety! It had home goods, clothes, recipe books, stationary, a massive book selection, baby area, and puppies to pat. I think he was just visiting 🙂

We loved the little local area at another shop, Unglued, and bought a few things to take home as souvenirs from our day in Fargo. They even had a Fargo Theater Christmas ornament that is perfect for our travel ornament collection. Do you also collect ornaments from your travels?!

We had such a fun day in Fargo! I wish I would have planned to spend more time in the area. There are several more things I would have loved to do, but we ran out of time! I have my eye on Jasper Hotel for our next visit. It looks beautiful!

We ended up staying two hours longer in Fargo than I’d planned, which put us into our next stop (Omaha, NE) really late. Naps for all three kids in the car on the way to Omaha made for a nice ride! Winning.

A very special thanks to the Fargo-Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau who hosted us on this fun day in Fargo-Moorhead.
As always, all opinions in this post are my own!

Mandi

7 Replies to “A Day in Fargo, North Dakota”

  1. We are headed to Fargo on Wednesday also as part of our quest to see all 50 states. North Dakota will be #41. Thanks for the great information 😊

  2. Mandy, 20 below does not mean 20 degrees below freezing, it means 20 degrees below ZERO, or 52 degrees below freezing! Regardless, be happy you weren’t there when it was that cold. I’m glad you had a great time in Fargo.

    1. Gary – thanks so much for the correction. I keep a lot of information in my brain from my school days; this apparently was not a fact that my brain deemed important. 🙂 To be fair, anything below about 65F is freezing to this summer-loving girl.

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About the Author

Hey there & welcome! I’m Mandi – wifey to my college sweetheart, mom to three crazy cute kiddos, and we are an American/Australian dual citizen family.  You’re in the right place of the blogging world if you love your kids, but also want to be encouraged to travel kid-free once in a while. I share about our luxury travels (kid-free & family), our love for healthy foods, and how we stay mentally/physically/emotionally well.

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