Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

One last chance to dine at The Historic Highland Cafe in southeastern Minnesota November 16, 2012

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 5:36 PM
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YOU SHOULD ALL know by now, if you’ve followed Minnesota Prairie Roots for any amount of time, that I’ll dine at a home-grown restaurant any day over a chain. I appreciate uniqueness and creativity and all those good qualities that typically define independent ownership.

In two days one of those delightful, mostly undiscovered by the general population, rural eateries closes.

The unassuming front of The Historic Highland Store & Cafe.

And that saddens me because I only found The Historic Highland Store & Cafe in October and ate there with my husband for the first, and last, time. (You can read all about that experience, and why this cafe is closing, by clicking here.)

On Sunday, November 18, owner Vicki Starks Hudson and crew will open for the final time in the historic 1894 wood-frame building along Fillmore County Road 10 southeast of Lanesboro in unincorporated Highland. It’s about an 80-mile drive for me, so I won’t be heading back for another meal. Not that I don’t want to do so.

The special of the day will be a roast beef dinner featuring real mashed potatoes, gravy and carrots and a side organic spring mix salad. How enticingly Sunday dinner at Grandma’s house comforting does that sound? And you’ll get all of that home-cooked goodness for only $8.99. Be sure to thank long-time faithful cook Sharyn Taylor, Vicki’s mom.

The breakfast my husband ordered when we dined here in October included two organic eggs, multigrain toast, hashbrowns and kielbasa. I photographed his plate after he broke the egg yolks.

You can also order soup and sandwiches or breakfast all day, hours being from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

A sunny front corner of the restaurant showcasing the vintage tables and chairs.

Not only is the food wholesome and homemade and delicious, but the atmosphere—with its original worn wood floor, wood-plank walls, lunch counter and hodge-podge of 1940s/1950s Formica and chrome tables and vinyl chairs—sets the scene for a relaxed and homey dining experience. Pure retro.

The absolutely fabulous lunch counter.

Now, if you dine there on Sunday and the place charms the bobby socks right off your feet and you are looking for an investment or a business to run, the building is for sale. Or it will be, in the spring after Vicki’s husband finishes some exterior updating.

On a Monday afternoon in October, the Highland Cafe was a popular dining spot.

But before then, you can also do a little shopping in this building which originally housed a general store. Vicki and her family had originally planned on opening a consignment shop upstairs. But they didn’t and now have some merchandise—mostly women’s clothing and home items—to sell.

Sale hours will be from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Black Friday, November 23; 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 25; and 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Monday, November 26.

The Historic Highland Store & Cafe is closed on Saturdays as the building serves as the ministry site for the Seventh Day Adventist Highland Chapel.

FYI: Click here to reach The Historic Highland Store & Cafe website.

© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

One elephant for sale August 21, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 11:19 PM
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SEE THIS LOVELY, LOVELY HOUSE. I’ve always admired this old brick home set atop a hill along a central Faribault street. With the inviting front porch, the fence, the arbor, the flowers, well, it pretty much has everything I appreciate in a place that exudes charm and character.

Ron and Peggy's beautiful house and yard

Ron and Peggy live here. Lucky them. But some day they expect to move and that means down-sizing. So this weekend they’re having an estate sale. Lucky buyers. The antique furniture and collectibles, old paintings, Peggy’s artwork, and even an old hair dryer, are tagged to sell. (Note to those of you who know that I love old dressers: I did not purchase one although I was tempted.)

But then I discovered the find of the day—an elephant. Yes, Ron and Peggy own an elephant.

Now this isn’t your regular circus-type elephant because these aren’t circus-type folks. (Or at least I don’t think they are; I really don’t know them.) Rather, theirs is an elephant slide that once stood in a park in Ron’s hometown of Winsted.

Ron and Peggy's elephant slide

As Ron and Peggy tell the story, Ron’s uncle, Florian, was the maintenance man in Winsted and 26 years ago called to ask if they wanted a slide. They did. And that’s how an elephant ended up in the back of their pick-up truck with motorists beeping their horns and, well, wondering about that elephant in the back of their pick-up truck.

Now after nearly three decades of elephant ownership, the couple is ready to sell the circus slide that provided hours of entertainment for their daughter, nieces and nephews.

Peggy points out the extra safety features—vertical bars placed between the five steps by a fretful Florian who worried about kids sticking their heads or feet between the open stairs.

Steps on the elephant slide with vertical bars added by Uncle Florian.

Decades ago she repainted the paint-worn slide to its original colors, even though she didn’t know the original colors at the time. But it could use a fresh coat of paint again.

And, Peggy insists, “It needs a yard. It needs kids.”

So folks, here’s your chance to own an honest-to-goodness elephant that won’t eat a ton of peanuts or stomp around your yard or run away with the circus.

Step right up! See this rare and exotic 1950s elephant slide (which originally sold for $235 and was made in Gunnell, Iowa) from the Miracle Equipment Company. Today it can be yours, all yours, for only $750!

Slide down the trunk of Ron and Peggy's Miracle elephant.

SERIOUSLY, IF YOU ARE interested in purchasing this elephant slide, submit a comment with your contact information and I will pass it along to Ron and Peggy. Please note that I do not work for the Miracle Equipment Company nor do I have part ownership in a circus.

© Copyright 2010 Audrey Kletscher Helbling