The adventure all started when I went to our local bank and the young lady sitting behind the teller’s window greeted me warmly. As she was completing my transaction she asked me if I had ever visited Yankee Town.

I had heard of Yankee Town over the years. I knew it existed somewhere near the north end of Big Stone Lake and contained an area where fishermen could launch their fishing boats.

The teller then began explaining how she and her husband had recently made a visit to Yankee Town. She slid her iPad under the plexiglass shield and there on her iPad was a picture of Yankee Town.

To my surprise it appeared to be a real town! Three store fronts stood side by side; Rooks Grocery, Herbergs Merchandise and the  Barton Hotel. I was shocked! I had lived in this area all my life and never realized such a town existed much less visited it.

I can smell an adventure about to occur to provide some excitement to this masked monotony we are enduring.

So I announced to my wife Kathie, “We’re going to take a trip and do a little sightseeing!”

I’m not sure who was more excited Kathie or myself as we were both suffering from the pandemic blues.

Since I wasn’t sure where Yankee Town was located I got out my trusty GPS and began typing in the name of a town that I wasn’t sure existed. Would I stump my GPS?

To my surprise my GPS identified the town before I could finish typing the name. Thirty nine miles was the distance that flashed on the screen.

So off we went on our adventure.

It’s always fun to see where the GPS directs you especially if one already knows how to get to the destination. I was sure of the first part of the trip but a little cloudy on how the last half should go.  As we began the trip was going as expected. Then the GPS and I had a little disagreement.

I would have driven down the main street of the little town of Beardsley (population 212) but the GPS had other ideas. A mile north of Beardsley my GPS directed me to leave the tar road and take a mile of gravel road west skirting the town completely.

Perhaps my GPS was concerned that we would be traveling during rush hour and the Beardsley traffic congestion would be more than I could deal with. The little technology device didn’t realize that heavy traffic in Beardsley consisted of two grain trucks, three pickups and possibly a Jeep. 🙂

As my GPS led us away from the town of Beardsley it announced that we would be making a right hand turn in 7 miles. Almost there and I was anticipating the hustle and bustle of the little Yankee Town.

Perhaps Rooks Grocery would have some of my favorite candies from my growing up years.

The road was gravel now as we made our way past the gullies and ravines leading to Big Stone Lake.

As we topped a hill the beautiful blue waters of the lake became visible along with the rolling green hills visible on the far shore line. The lake is twenty six miles long so the view in both directions was breath taking.

The road began a steep decline as we headed toward the lake shore and my first view of Yankee Town.

There was no green highway sign announcing Yankee Town with the population underscoring the town’s name. Instead an old abandoned farm house was the first building to come into view and then I saw them. The three buildings I first viewed on the bank teller’s iPad; Rooks Grocery, Herbergs Merchandise and the Barton Hotel.

And there was more! What appeared to be an old fashioned water tower stood off to the side along with a tiny Methodist Church. Set back away from  all of these ancient buildings was what appeared to be a modern log home. Perhaps the mayor resided there. 🙂

There was no normal main street. Instead the buildings were fenced off from the road and a driveway led to the town which I thought was a little strange.

We drove into the town and made a driving tour of the place. We soon discovered the Barton Hotel fronted a large metal pole barn and appeared to be used for storage. It was a fake hotel!

My dream for a long forgotten piece of candy from the grocery store went up in smoke too when I realized that was a store with only a front too. In fact all three buildings were fake! What kind of town were we visiting?

As we prepared to leave I made a U-turn next to the modern log home thinking perhaps I could stop and gather more information about the town. The mayor should be able to shed some light on the town’s history. But by this time I was feeling like our drive through might actually be  bordering  trespassing so instead we ‘high tailed’ it out of there.

We drove down to the boat landing to check that out.

Preparing to leave I pulled over on the side to the road and was getting my iPhone set up for some cool music to travel home by when I looked up to see someone on a four wheeler heading towards us.

Gulp, were we going to be in trouble?

As the driver approached I recognized him and breathed a sigh of relief. We had gone to the same high school although I was a few years older then him. His brothers and I had played basketball and baseball together.

He was a carpenter by trade and over the years using left over building materials from previous jobs he  built the present day Yankee Town. I’m sure I was very red faced as I mumbled an apology for trespassing on his private land.

He told me that years ago Yankee Town was a settlement of houses nestled in the hills bordering the lake. I’m not sure if any merchants established businesses there or not. However over the years many of the houses had been moved to the neighboring town of Beardsley.

Dugouts are still visible in the hills where the houses had resided.

I’m wondering if this rise and fall of Yankee Town has the potential of becoming a best selling historical novel? Perhaps with a long, cold pandemic filled winter I would have time to explore that possibility. 🙂

Actually the best part of the travelogue was meeting and visiting with a former fellow Clinton Rocket. We visited by the side of the road for a long time catching up with each other’s families and sharing old high school memories.

The mayor had suggested that the next time we stopped we should share a cup of coffee with he and his wife. I shared with him a memory of her and  her siblings visiting me years ago when I was an employee of the Peavey Elevator earning college money.

I can still see them rounding the corner of the elevator storage sheds and heading up the elevator driveway to visit with me as I sat in a chair awaiting the next load of grain.

We had great visits and a lot of laughs.

Our visit to Yankee Town was the highlight of the month but the memory was marred several days later when on Facebook I was shocked to see the Mayor’s wife who we planned on sharing a cup of coffee with sometime in the future died unexpectedly. 🙁

It was shocking and reminds us that there are no guarantees in life. Love everyone and live each day as it were your last.

We send the family our sincere condolences and you are all in our thoughts and prayers.

And I won’t forget that promise of a cup of coffee. When we meet in Heaven whenever that call comes we’ll have that cup of coffee and I bet it will be the best tasting coffee we’ve ever had. 🙂

God bless!

Until next time.