1 Week In Fargo – Here’s What We Did

After spending four days in Dickinson on the western side of North Dakota, we drove to the far eastern side of the state to spend a week in Fargo.

Here’s a roundup of we share where we stayed, what we did and where we ate and drank.

Where We Stayed In Fargo

We stayed all seven nights at the MainStay Suites Fargo – I-94 Medical Center. I booked this using Choice Hotel points and picked it because it meant we could stay in a one bedroom suite with a kitchen.

Our stay was fine overall, but the hotel cheaped out in all kinds of areas from fixtures and fittings to the breakfast offering and more. They also charge people an undisclosed $2.15 extra per night simply for having a safe in your room – even if you don’t use it. You can see my full review here.

What We Did In Fargo

Thomas Dambo Trolls

OK, so only one part of Thomas Dambo’s installation was in Fargo; the rest was across the state border in Detroit Lakes, MN. Still it was less than an hour away, we did it while in Fargo and, to be honest, it was probably our favorite part of our time in Fargo!

It was a lot of fun finding all of the trolls and the mirror portals (it’s one of the mirror portals that’s in Fargo), so check out this post to find out how to find them all.

Night Bazaar

On the day that we went troll hunting, we stopped in downtown Fargo to find that final mirror portal. There was a fun event going on that evening called the Night Bazaar. There were food trucks, stalls, activities and more and seemed like a fun event.

Hjemkomst Viking Ship At Hjemkomst Center

The city of Fargo in North Dakota is right next to the city of Moorhead in Minnesota and just across the border were a couple more interesting activities at the same site.

At the Hjemkomst Center, one of those attractions is a modern day Viking ship. It was the inspiration of Bob Asp who started building it in 1971. Its design was based on the Gokstad which was a Viking ship that was excavated in Norway in the 1880s.

Unfortunately Bob Asp was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 1974. The prognosis was that he had 5-7 years to live, so his family and the community rallied to help complete construction of the ship.

Asp was able to board a test sailing of the boat in 1980 before sadly passing away before he had a chance to see it attempt to cross the Atlantic to Norway.

His efforts weren’t in vain though. A team was put together to sail the Hjemkomst from New York to Norway in 1982. Despite some mishaps along the way, they were able to complete the sailing over the course of a five week period. It’s a fascinating story, so if you ever visit Fargo I’d recommend visiting the Hjemkomst Center to learn more about the ship’s history.

Hopperstad Stave Church

Just outside the Hjemkomst Center is the Hopperstad Stave Church which was built in 1998 by Fargo resident Guy Paulson who has Norwegian ancestry.

The church is a replica based on the stave church in Vik, Norway which dates back to ~1140 AD. Stave churches are called that based on the staves – upright posts – that are a key part of their construction as they’re what bears the load of the church.

You can only enter the church as part of a guided tour run by the center, so I did that while Shae waited outside with our dog Truffles as the grounds outside are pet-friendly. We visited on our way out of Fargo after checking out of our hotel, so we couldn’t just leave Truffles back at the hotel.

It was a very interesting tour as the tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable. I asked several questions and he knew the answers to all of them, so both this and the Viking ship are must-do activities when in the Fargo area.

Fargo Air Museum

After visiting the Viking ship and stave church, we made one more stop in Fargo before continuing on to Bismarck. That was the Fargo Air Museum which has a collection of aviation history.

We enjoyed our time at the museum and particularly liked that it’s a pet-friendly museum. As I mentioned earlier, we’d checked out of our hotel earlier that day and so had Truffles with us; having the museum be pet-friendly therefore meant Shae and I could explore the museum together rather than having to take it in turns waiting outside.

Perhaps the best part of all this was that it gave the perfect photo op.

World’s Largest Buffalo

Halfway between Fargo and Bismarck is Frontier Village in Jamestown, a village featuring original frontier buildings. It’s also home to the National Buffalo Museum, but both of those were closed by the time we arrived.

What we were able to check out quickly though was the World’s Largest Buffalo, a roadside attraction that was built in 1959. It’s 46 feet long, 26 feet tall, 14 feet wide and weighs 60 tons.

World’s Largest Turkey

The World’s Largest Buffalo wasn’t the only World’s Largest thing that we visited during our time in Fargo. On the day we went troll hunting, we stopped by the World’s Largest Turkey in Frazee, MN which is 22 feet tall.

Where We Ate & Drank In Fargo

Drekker Brewing Company

Early on in the road trip, Shae met Jim and his wife in Savannah, GA while out for a walk with Truffles. We’ve stayed in touch ever since and he gave us a guided tour of the Cathedral of St Paul in St Paul, MN last year.

Jim and his wife were in Fargo during our time there visiting his daughter, so we got to meet up with them at Drekker Brewing Company. That day there was a big event going on which was a fun atmosphere.

Drekker is pet-friendly both inside and out and we returned a few days later so that I could try a few more of the drinks I hadn’t had a chance to try during that first visit.

One of the options I went for was like a boozy peanut butter ice cream which was surprisingly good considering I’m not a big peanut butter fan.

Wurst Bier Hall

When randomly looking around Google Maps for things to do in Fargo, there was a restaurant downtown that caught my eye – Wurst Bier Hall. We went there one evening and had drinks…

…with an appetizer of pretzels. We picked the pretzels because in addition to beer cheese, there was a dip with marshmallow fluff. That sounded weird, but it went surprisingly and deliciously well with the pretzels.

For her main, Shae ordered a sausage with spaetzle mac & cheese which she enjoyed.

I’m always partial to currywurst, so that’s what I ordered with a side of fries. It was very tasty, with a more spicy curry flavor than many currywursts I’ve had in the past.

Rookery Rock Winery

Shortly after leaving Fargo to drive to Bismarck, we stopped by Rookery Rock Winery – a penguin-themed winery in Wheatland, ND that’s also pet-friendly inside. The owner Mark and his employee were both lovely and we had a wonderful time there. The wine was very good too and we bought a bottle to go.