rural Minnesota | Minnesota Prairie Roots

Bar hopping, Minnesota blogger style March 7, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: bars, business, liquor stores, main street, Minnesota, photo essay, photography, rural Minnesota, signs, small towns, travel

SIGNAGE VISUALLY intrigues me, specifically vintage signs or those that stand out as unique. I am drawn to photograph them in Minnesota’s small towns.

I expect our state’s metro areas may sport equally as interesting signage. But, unlike a friend who recently dissed Marshall (and I won’t repeat what she said) because she is a city, not a country, girl, I prefer rural Minnesota. I took offense at my friend’s comment. Southwestern Minnesota possesses a beauty unequal in endless skies and space that allows one to breathe and move and celebrate the land and its people.

It is a good thing we don’t all like the same places.

Given my aversion to the real and visual busyness of the metro, I seldom travel there. Rather, my journeys take me most often onto small town Main Street, you know that route too many are too hurried to consider as they rush from Point A to Point B.

In my hometown on the southwestern Minnesota prairie, the Vesta Municipal Liquor Store. I've always loved the exterior look of this building.

In my hometown on the southwestern Minnesota prairie, the Vesta Municipal Liquor Store anchors a corner of the town’s one-block business district. I’ve always loved the exterior look of this building. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

Poking around in my photo files recently, I noticed that I often photograph liquor store/bar signs and buildings in small towns. Why? I’m not much of a drinker.

I suspect it’s a combination of factors. Bars often serve as gathering places. Sometimes a bar may even remain as the sole business in a rural community. And, more often than not, they display one-of-a-kind signs that have been around for awhile.

Join me on a photographic bar hop to some of Minnesota’s small towns and larger communities. Cheers.

The Frontier Bar & Lounge in Fairfax, along State Highway 19 in southwestern Minnesota. Minnesota Prairie Roots edited file photo 2013.

How cool is this signage at Drive-In Liquors along U.S. Highway 14 in Springfield in my native southwestern Minnesota? Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2012.

How cool is this signage at Clay’s Drive-In Liquor along U.S. Highway 14 in Springfield, also in my native southwestern Minnesota? Minnesota Prairie Roots edited file photo 2012.

When I was in my shooting photos off-kilter stage in 2011, I shot this image of the Preri Bach Saloon & Grill in Cambria, a small town near New Ulm, home of Schell’s Brewery.

The West Concord Liquor Store, housed in a beautiful old building, once city hall. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

This Main Street Lounge signage in Waterville seems fitting given the city’s self designation as “The Bullhead Capitol of the World.” Minnesota Prairie Roots edited file photo 2012.

This unique corner entry at Broinks Bar & Grill in downtown Lake City drew my attention. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

The setting sun spotlights vintage Faribo Liquor Store signage along Fourth Street/Minnesota Highway 60 in downtown Faribault. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2009.

Signage on the Canton pub near the Iowa border. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2012.

In North Mankato, signage at Circle Inn. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2011.

In Vermillion, near Hastings, a bar advertises the ever popular happy hour. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2012.

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Honoring the small town feed mill March 6, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: agriculture, Cathedral of the Prairie, farming, feed mill, grain elevator, Lonsdale Feed Mill, memories, photo essay, photography, rural Minnesota, small towns

The Lonsdale Feed Mill.

SOME TERM THEM “Cathedrals of the Prairie.”

I know them simply as “the elevator” or “the feed mill,” the grey structures which, for years, have graced our farming communities.

They hold memories for me of bouncing in the pick-up truck, seated beside my farmer father, to the Vesta Feed Mill.

Deafening roar of machines grinding corn.

Dust layering surfaces. The memorable smell of ground feed, as memorable as the scent of freshly-cut alfalfa. Stacked bags awaiting pick-up or delivery.

Like barns, these feed mills and elevators are disappearing from rural America, replaced by more modern structures. Or simply falling apart.

I hold on to fading memories. And I promise to pay photographic reverence to these Cathedrals of the Prairie whenever I can.

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Small town patriotism February 26, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: American flag, education, memories, Montgomery, patriotism, photo editing, photography, Pledge of Allegiance, rural Minnesota, small towns

American pride along First Street, Montgomery, Minnesota.

EVERY MORNING as an elementary school student in rural Minnesota, I joined my classmates in facing the corner of the classrooom to gaze upon the American flag. Hands across hearts, we recited the pledge:

I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United State of America
and to the Republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible,
with Liberty and Justice for all.

The same photo, edited.

Those words imprinted upon my memory, instilled a sense of pride in my country and a realization that I live in a nation blessed.

And edited again…

Precious words. Somewhat muddied now. But still, ever so dear.

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Transforming the winter landscape February 17, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: art, landscape, Montgomery, photo editing, photography, rural Minnesota, snow, thoughts, weather, winter

LACKING COLOR; colorless.

White dominates the Minnesota landscape this time of year. I don’t need to tell you that if you live here. Just look outside right now. Snow. More snow today. Like me, you’ve probably had enough of winter.

It’s easy to become visually depressed, eye weary of the mostly colorless landscape. You yearn for pops of color to brighten this drab environment, to lift your spirits.

Via the magic of photo editing, I’ve transformed some rather ordinary winter scenes into works of art. Oz they’re not. But the simple act of manipulating these photos into watercolor or paint-by-number style images shifted my mood. I hope they do yours, too.

A ridge of plowed snow edges a country road near Montgomery, Minnesota.

A ridge of plowed and drifted snow edges a country road near Montgomery, Minnesota.

A farm site near Montgomery lost in a sea of snow.

A farm site near Montgomery in a sea of snow.

Love this sturdy barn, also near Montgomery.

Love this sturdy barn and silos, also near Montgomery.

Machinery, seemingly abandoned in the snow.

Machinery, snowed-in.

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Appreciating the details in Amboy, Minnesota February 6, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: Amboy, business, life, main street, rural Minnesota, signs, small towns, travel

AS A WRITER AND PHOTOGRAPHER, I notice details.

Details define, set a mood and/or a scene, comprise the whole.

A shot of Amboy’s Maine Street with The Amboy Cottage Cafe on the corner to the left.

During a brief visit to Amboy in rural southern Minnesota this past July, I noticed details which create a memorable community.

One of the first things to catch my eye as we drove into Amboy.

From the vivid painted wooden quilts displayed against a garage

Urban Oil, named after the local Urban family.

Just because I love this building and that name, a second shot of Urban Oil, Inc.

to Urban Oil, a rather amusing name for a service station in a rural setting (note that the station is named after the Urban family),

You’ll find an abundance of garden art at The Amboy Cottage Cafe.

to the garden art at The Amboy Cottage Cafe, details abound.

I appreciate signage,

Signage on the old grain elevator, now Grainspace LLC, and no longer an operating elevator.

old

Signage outside The Amboy Cottage Cafe.

and new.

Sweet handcrafted sweaters at Acorn Studio.

An Acorn Studio display.

Inside Frame It Arts & Antiques.

And I appreciate the care businesses take in showcasing their wares.

The tag line, “Founded by Rail and the Plow, Growth Through Innovation,” found on the city website, seems fitting.

Looking down Maine Street in Amboy.

Amboy is one sweet small town.

FYI: To read a previous post on Amboy click here. To read my story about The Amboy Cottage Cafe, click here.

Check out Amboy’s Facebook page by clicking here.

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Amboy: A thriving community in rural Minnesota February 5, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: Amboy, art, business, historic buildings, history, life, main street, opinion, rural Minnesota, small towns, The Amboy Cottage Cafe, travel

Looking down Maine Street in Amboy, Minnesota.

FOLKS IN AMBOY understand the importance of building their community’s future, of distinguishing their town as a destination in rural Minnesota.

Merchandise displayed inside Oak Knoll Angoras’ Acorn Studio. Lisa Lindberg, who owns The Amboy Cottage Cafe, owns this with her mother, Maria Lindberg. The studio sits just down the block from the cafe.

On a brief visit last July to Amboy, population 535 and located 20 miles south of Mankato, I discovered an inviting Maine (yes, that’s the correct spelling) Street defined by sturdy old brick buildings, quaint shops, a one-of-a-kind cafe, and a deep appreciation of history and the arts.

An artsy display inside Frame It Arts & Antiques, 112 East Maine Street.

This is my kind of small town, one focused on showcasing local talent and history and all that makes Amboy a great community.

Signage on the fence at The Amboy Cottage Cafe lists downtown businesses.

Quaint signage on the fence at The Amboy Cottage Cafe directs visitors to downtown businesses.

Business owners and others clearly work hard to draw visitors off U.S. Highway 169 onto Maine Street. The Amboy Cottage Cafe initially drew my husband and me here for lunch while en route to Worthington in late July 2013.

Yarn for sale at Acorn Studio.

Afterward, we poked around in several downtown shops before heading out. We were short on time, or we would have explored more.

You’ll find lots of businesses open in downtown Amboy.

Amboy deserves a second look, a few hours of time to check out the businesses and the rest of the town. In rural Minnesota, this community seems determined to survive and thrive, building on its strengths.

Amboy’s Maine Street features mostly well-kept old brick buildings.

The visually welcoming Sweet Cicely, a boutique offering fine gifts and natural health products.

Details like well-kept buildings without boarded up windows, pots overflowing with luscious flowers, welcome banners on Maine, a general overall tidy look and more visually impress.

Lisa Lindberg saved this old gas station from demolition, moved it onto a corner of Maine Street and restored it for use at The Amboy Cottage Cafe. The cafe features made-from-scratch food and draws diners from all over the region.

Lisa Lindberg saved this old gas station from demolition, moved it onto a corner of Maine Street and restored it for use as The Amboy Cottage Cafe. The cafe features made-from-scratch food and draws diners from all over the region.

And then there are the old buildings which have been saved, like The Amboy Cottage Cafe, once a gas station.

A group also saved the old elevator, now Grainspace LLC, located across the street from The Amboy Cottage Cafe.

Across the street, the old elevator, slated for demolition, was purchased by a group and is now being restored for use as an arts venue and community gathering spot.

This depot was moved into Amboy from Huntley and now serves as a welcome center for those attending the town’s annual Arts ‘n’ More Festival in September.

The Amboy Area Community Club is supporting restoration of an old depot relocated here from nearby Huntley.

An old country schoolhouse was moved into town, restored and is now an historical education center and site of special community events. The 1901 Dodd Ford Bridge, on the National Register of Historic Places, will be preserved. A historic home houses A Walk Back in Time bed and breakfast while another, Que Sera, serves as a retreat center.

Currently, a project is underway to convert the former Amboy Middle School into “The Junction,” a multi-purpose community building. (Click here to learn about that.)

Work in progress last July at this beautiful old creamery just off Maine Street.

Work in progress last July at this beautiful old (former) creamery just off Maine Street.

Although I didn’t check out all of these places, I saw enough to appreciate Amboy and the gumption of the folks who live here. They seem a determined bunch—determined to keep their community thriving in a time when all too many small towns are dying.

FYI: Click here to read my previous post on The Amboy Cottage Cafe. Please check back for one more post with photos from Amboy.

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Fantastic “from scratch” food at The Amboy Cottage Cafe February 1, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 4:00 AM
Tags: Amboy, dining out, food, restaurant review, rural Minnesota, small towns, The Amboy Cottage Cafe

MADE FROM SCRATCH with local meats, dairy and fresh produce (whenever possible) using recipes passed down through the generations.

Sound like your kind of food?

Mine, too.

The Amboy Cottage Cafe, across the street from the grain elevator along Amboy's Maine Street.

The Amboy Cottage Cafe, snugged into the corner opposite the old grain elevator along Amboy’s Maine Street.

This past summer, my husband and I lunched at The Amboy Cottage Cafe, a charming 1928 cottage style former gas station turned eatery tucked into a corner of Maine Street (and, yes, it’s Maine) in the farming community of Amboy.

A snippet photo of downtown Amboy, Minnesota.

I love this place as much for its uniqueness and ambiance as for the food. Opened 13 years ago by Lisa Lindberg in this town of some 535 in Blue Earth County in rural southern Minnesota, this cafe is definitely worth the drive.

Lunch at The Amboy Cottage Cafe with tables for two and tables for many.

On the other end of the cafe, more diners enjoyed lunch on a July afternoon.

On the other end of the cafe, more diners enjoy lunch on a July afternoon.

At lunch time on a Friday in late July, the place was packed. We invited a couple from Mankato, 20 miles distant, to sit at our table so they would have a spot to dine.

An assortment of table styles and mismatched china make diners feel right at home.

Diners feel right at home in a cafe that features a variety of table styles, mismatched china and fresh garden flowers (during the summer months).

The Cottage Cafe possesses that neighborly kind of intimate feel in a space that’s family dining room/kitchen cozy. Come here for breakfast and you can order a “For the Farmer in You” plate of two eggs (any style and these are locally-produced eggs), three slices of smoked bacon, multi-grain toast with pancake or hash browns, and orange slices.

Spaghetti with homemade meatballs and sauce.

My incredible raspberry chicken salad.

On this day, my husband ordered a platter of spaghetti and meatballs while I chose the raspberry chicken salad. We both rated our food as outstanding.

We couldn’t pass on the homemade blackberry pie.

With an approach of using fresh local ingredients, whole grains and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, this cafe offers an array of healthy foods, although you will find sweet treats like caramel rolls, pie and raspberry bread pudding among the offerings. Be assured, though, that you’ll sink your teeth into homemade breads and a pie crust made from Grandma Maria’s recipe. I’ll vouch for the pie as Randy and I shared one incredible slice of blackberry pie.

Plenty of healthy options on the menu.

From seasoned coffee-rubbed steak, wild Alaska salmon and olive chicken to burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads, specials and more, you’re sure to find something on the menu that pleases your palate. I had a tough time choosing from the enticing made “from scratch—like your grandmother” selections.

Don’t expect to order fries cooked in a deep fat fryer. The cafe doesn’t own a fryer and uses real butter and canola and olive oils in cooking.

See what I mean about this place? How many kitchen restaurants ban deep fat fryers?

The day’s specials and other offerings noted on a menu board.

That all said, I’m neither a health nut nor a foodie. But I try to eat healthy and I know good food, really good food, when I taste it. And I tasted it—really good food—at The Amboy Cottage Cafe.

Another couple dining at the cafe graciously allowed me to photograph their raspberry bread pudding.

FYI: The Amboy Cottage Cafe is currently celebrating its 13th anniversary and is offering a free piece of caramel apple or raspberry bread pudding to diners this weekend. I would expect the place to be packed.

Reservations are taken.

You may want to call ahead (507-674-3123) for reservations if you’re driving from any distance. And I’d suggest that anytime, not just this weekend.

My husband, Randy, exits The Amboy Cottage Cafe on a Friday afternoon in July.

Winter cafe hours are from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Sundays, from 6 a.m. – 3 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 6 a.m. – 8 p.m. Thursday, and from 6 a.m. – 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The cafe is open on Mondays only during the summer.

Click here to reach the cafe website, and here to reach the Facebook page.

BONUS PHOTOS:

Purchase a personalized homemade mug for $100 entitles you to free coffee.

Purchase a personalized homemade mug for $100 and you get free coffee every time you visit the cafe.

Catch up on the latest in Amboy via the quarterly Red Cow Gazette, funded by the Amboy Area Community Club.

Loved our waitress’ red tennies.

Flowers and garden art define the exterior.

I took time to smell, and photograph, the roses outside of the cafe.

I spotted this bottle art behind the cafe. Evening diners can bring their own

I spotted this bottle art behind the cafe. Evening diners can bring in their favorite alcoholic beverage to have with a meal. There is no corking fee.

A final parting shot showcases the white picket fence surround this former gas station now turned European style eatery.

A final parting shot showcases the white picket fence surrounding this former gas station now turned European style eatery.

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Formerly “the junkyard” January 28, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: auto parts, business, Faribault, Hubers Auto Parts, junkyard, Minnesota, rural Minnesota, thoughts

FENCES HEIGHTEN my curiosity. It is the unknown, the wondering what lies behind the barrier, the sense of mystery that intrigues me.

Yes, I read Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys growing up with mysteries still my preferred genre.

In the above image, solid panels block the view of junked vehicles at Hubers Auto Parts west of Faribault.

Junkyards, as they were once commonly called, aren’t particularly pretty places. Heck, they aren’t really pretty at all unless you view the contents therein as art or in the context of recycling.

Through the years, these places have attempted to change their bad boy image. Auto parts sounds so much nicer than junkyard, although junkyard possesses a certain romantic ring.

A scene from another Faribault area “junkyard.” Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2009.

Still, even words cannot diminish the visuals of crushed cars, cracked windshields, smashed doors and the reality that many of these vehicles arrived here with some tragic story.

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Seeking solace on a drive through rural Rice County January 21, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 6:00 AM
Tags: barns, childhood memories, Faribault, photo essay, photography, photos, Rice County, rural Minnesota, Sunday afternoon drive, thoughts, travel, winter landscape

The rural scene, dominated by a blue sky, unfolds before us.

BLUE SKY STRETCHES before my husband and me as we traverse back gravel roads northwest of Faribault Sunday afternoon.

A drive along country gravel roads always uplifts me, no matter the season.

I yearn for this escape, for this reconnection to the land, this attempt to rejuvenate my spirit.

This scene inspires the poet in me.

Just being in the country calms my soul, brightens my outlook, causes me to pause and appreciate this land, this place God has created and given into our care.

Memories in this scene…

In this moment, at this time, I slip into the past, envision myself laboring in the barns we pass. Soothing thrum of the milking machine. Cocooning warmth among cows snugged in mounds of golden straw. The comfort of ‘CCO radio.

I envision these fields seeded in corn or soybeans.

In farm fields, I see a much younger and skinnier version of myself plodding between rows of soybeans to yank cockleburs on a scorching summer day.

The comfort of memories in a farm yard.

At the sight of a farmyard, I hear my buckle overshoes crunch upon hard-packed snow as I follow the path from house to barn.

I imagine this field seeded in corn or soybeans.

An ocean of snow-washed land.

Memories unleash in this landscape, in the view of farmyards anchored into hillsides within an ocean of snow-washed fields.

A remnant of yesteryear in an old corn crib.

I am happy here. Content. At peace.

Splashes of red jolt the blue and white landscape.

Yes, even in this winter of too much cold and too many snowy days, I find solace in blue skies and sunshine, barns and white-washed fields.

The punctuation of a red wagon and its shadow stretching across the snow draw my attention.

FYI: To read my previous post featuring photos from this Sunday afternoon drive, click here.

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What Minnesotans do on a balmy winter day January 20, 2014

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 8:36 AM
Tags: Faribault, photo essay, photos, rural Minnesota, southeastern Minnesota, Sunday afternoon drive, travel, weather, winter

SUNDAY BROUGHT A WELCOME change in weather with an abundance of sunshine and temps reaching nearly 40 degrees Fahrenheit here in southeastern Minnesota.

It was a glorious day.

Following a country road Sunday afternoon somewhere northwest of Faribault.

So after my husband had finished repairing a friend’s dad’s snowblower, we set out on a Sunday afternoon drive along back country roads northwest of Faribault. Oh, how I love a drive in the country, camera in hand, shooting scenes from the passenger side of the car.

And, yes, prior to departure I cleaned the salt-grimed car windows, a futile effort as the windshield was soon spotted with road spray. Temps weren’t quite warm enough to roll down the front passenger side window to take photos. No, we can’t always stop for photo ops or we would never get anywhere.

Anywhere was our destination. We both are suffering from cabin fever, the trapped feeling that afflicts Minnesotans when the winter gets too cold and too snowy for too long. Such is this winter. Today, after a one-day reprieve, we are sliding back into the deep freeze.

But we had yesterday, a gloriously warm and sunny Sunday. For that I am grateful.