Bingham Hall
Today the road has brought me to New Ulm, MN.
Truly this has been one of my most enjoyable trips. The primary reason for this is that New Ulm is the home of my second oldest friend, Lee Harrington, whom I hadn’t seen in nearly 20 years and a visit with him was my top reason for coming to visit this pleasant little hamlet.
I got an early start for this journey, leaving at 6:30am. Omaha had experienced a bit of a dusting the previous night so I slowly drove through the metro area. I was surprised at how many cars were actually out on the road on a frosty Saturday morning, but once I hit I-29, I pretty much had the road to myself and the roads cleared up remarkably.
It was a real pleasure to have a whole new route to drive as I enjoyed the countryside and listened to some tunes. I made a brief stop in Whiting, IA for some gas and noted a quaint little café that I may have to visit at a future time, but gasoline is quite expensive in this little town. I paid nearly $2.30 a gallon to fuel up my car, yet if I’d been able to last another 30-40 miles I could have paid $1.90 a gallon. Ah, well, what can one do?
I was actually on the interstate for only a short period of time as the route is mostly highways. Surprisingly, I did not pass through many small towns though I did pass through a couple and the cold weather had me thinking of what they might look like at Christmas.
Shortly before noon, I reached the German town of New Ulm, the polka capital of America. Its Germanic history was readily apparent as a large sign bid me “Wilkommen” as I entered the town. New Ulm is a pretty easy town to navigate as everything seems built around its main street of Broadway and I’ve learned that there is a lot to do in the area with breweries, Renaissance faires, and music festivals.
I made my way to Happy Joe’s Pizza and Ice Cream where I met my old friend Lee and his daughter, Caitie, and her boyfriend, Joe. It was as if no time had passed as Lee greeted me with a hug and paid the tab for lunch (thanks, btw).
Happy Joe’s Pizza and Ice Cream
Happy Joe’s serves a smorgasboard luncheon and it is a pretty good spread. They have a decent salad bar and serve a good set of hot entrees including a mean piece of fried chicken and their pizza wasn’t too bad as I sampled slices of pepperoni, chicken, bacon, and ranch, and taco. I spent about an hour and a half conversing with Lee and his family (truthfully, the two of us did most of the yakking) where we caught up on things and shared a lot of old stories about some of the adventures and wacky hijinks we experienced in our childhood and teen years. Tears were streaming down my face by the end of the visit as I was laughing so hard.
Sadly, it did have to come to an end, but I look forward to another visit in the future where more stories can be shared over a round of HeroQuest (a fantasy role-playing game we played as teens).
From Happy Joe’s, I made my way to the August Schell Brewery. The brewery is the biggest in Minnesota and the second oldest family owned brewery in the country. The business has been in the family for five generations and is heading into a sixth one which is highly unusual as most family run businesses only last into the third generation.
Schell’s Brewery
For a brewery that does such big business, Schell’s is actually quite small. Only several buildings are on the property which includes one which holds a mini-museum, gift shop, and tasting room; the actual plant; the former boardinghouse, now office for the company’s president, Theodore Marti; and the old family mansion which is now used for events as the current family lives elsewhere.
I highly recommend a tour as it only costs $5 and includes a free tasting session at the end. At the end, adult tour visitors get to sample at least six different kinds of beer (the kiddos get Schell’s 1919 root beer) and then get a free 12 oz serving of whatever beer they liked the best.
While guests were encouraged to sample 2 oz servings, I limited it to just sips as I still had to drive and I’m a borderline teetotaler anyway. However, of the samples, I especially enjoyed a seasonal beer called Goosetown which was honestly the second best tasting beer I have ever had. Had I not had to be on my way, I would have taken a 12 oz glass of that. I did, however, have a glass of the root beer which was quite tasty.
From the brewery I headed off to Loretto Park to walk The Way of The Cross. The Way of the Cross are walking Stations of the Cross (a Catholic meditation going through Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection) and can be found all over the country. Unfortunately, I’m guessing it, too, must be seasonal as the way was covered in snow and the stations had no statues. I will have to file that away for another visit.
I killed a little bit of time at the library before I headed over to Bingham Hall, owned and operated by Shannon McKeeth, to check in.
Bingham Hall is a fine old-fashioned inn. I was greeted at the door by Shannon’s husband, Todd, who ran my card and led me to the Hemle.
Quiet elegance is the best way to describe this room. The walls are painted cranberry which had a remarkable calming effect. The centerpiece of the room is its canopy queen bed and memory foam topper. The room also boasts a uber comfortable easy chair with massage pad, gas fireplace, and a 42 inch cable TV with accesses to over 2,000 free movies. The bathroom contains an ergonomic one person Jacuzzi bath.
Once I got organized I let the massage pad give me a rubdown before resting on the bed until it was time for church.
Church of St Mary
Today I attended services at The Church of St Mary and it was quite convenient as it was literally across the street from the inn. I found the service quite enjoyable as Father was quite earnest in the faith. Afterwards, I returned to the inn as the temperature was plunging into the sub-zero temps.
I got a fire going, posted some pictures, and took advantage of the film library to watch Play Misty for Me. The film was Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut and though it had a few pacing issues, I rather liked it as it featured a strong, somewhat un-Eastwood performance as he plays a not entirely likable DJ and an especially creepy performance from Jessica Walter who played his deranged stalker.
The day’s travel and escapades began to catch up with me so I drew a bath where I soaked for a while, shaved, and just enjoyed the jetted water. I attempted to start a new novel about Blight County sheriff, Bo Tully, but found my lights going out, so I called it a night.
Memory foam is the best. I slept straight through to dawn. I took it easy in the morning before heading down to breakfast.
Breakfast was toast, fruit (honeydew, orange, and pineapple), cheese & mushroom quiche, seasoned potatoes, and ham with a glass of orange juice. I also had a great conversation with Todd and Shannon who are quite proud of their little town and all of its history and things to do.
Orange juice, ham, fruit, cheese & mushroom quiche, and toast.
I had to cut things a bit short as there is a threat of heavy snowfall over the area and there is a polar vortex blasting the region with sub-zero temps. But stop in New Ulm if you have a chance. Bingham Hall is a cozy, comfortable inn of understated elegance and there’s plenty to do in this little German town especially after winter when the town’s activities really get going.
Until the next time, happy travels.
Chris' Corner 