bugsy running on lone rock beach with the airstream and f-150 in the background

Two nights in Fargo, ND (visit #1)–Big Trip #3

We were in Fargo in late August 2020, as part of Big Trip #3. Read about our second visit in 2022 here.

bugsy with angel wings in Fargo

Fargo is a fun town! We mostly went for the beer, which will surprise no one. J has lots to say about that below. But we also enjoyed our riverside campsite in a huge city park, and exploring the surprisingly hip little city.

Campground

the Airstream at Lindenwood Campground in Fargo

We stayed at the Lindenwood Campground, in the slighly mosquito-y, enormous, leafy, and popular Lindenwood Park, with water and power hookups and a view of the river. We’d stay there again.

Non-beer stuff

There’s really not much non-beer stuff to report. This was a very beery stopover, but we did our best to cram in some sightseeing and exercise.

Fun things to do in Fargo

Lake Wobegon Trail

Pack your bike or running shoes, because Fargo is near a fantastic network of rails-to-trails pathways in Minnesota–the state has over 2000 miles of rail-trails! We stopped for a run through farm country on the flat Lake Wobegon Trail followed by a picnic in tiny (and easy to park in) West Union, MN on the drive from New Ulm. Another option we considered was the Central Lakes Trail, which connects to the Lake Wobegon Trail and runs for 55 miles along I-94 east of Fargo. We were thrilled to have such easy and scenic options for stopping along the way.

Super Mario mural in Fargo
downtown Fargo buildings

My favorite non-beer thing about Fargo was hunting for the murals scattered around town. We combined mural-hunting with a self-guided historic downtown walking tour, starting with coffee at Young Blood, a neat spot buzzing with cool kids at the outdoor tables.

Red River Market in downtown Fargo

Check out the Red River Market downtown on Saturdays to restock your trailer with produce and local goods.

Not so great things about Fargo

tacos from Vinyl Taco in Fargo
lunch by the Airstream in Lindenwood Park

Sure, we were only there for a couple days, but we could not find good food! We had high hopes for the following restaurants, but were underwhelmed by each:

The only other restaurant in town that interested us was A&E Liberian Restaurant, but we ran out of time. We’re pretty sure we’ve never had Liberian food!

Beer!

Take it away, J:

taps at Drekker

The manager of one of our favorite beer bars in Virginia has a minor obsession with Fargo-based Drekker Brewing Co. As such, we’ve been enjoying their hazy IPAs for about a year at this one spot, although we’ve never seen it elsewhere. Needless to say, Drekker was a destination for us and it did not disappoint; we wound up going there both of our nights in Fargo.

the patio at Drekker

Housed in an old machine shop on a large property with a sizable and serene outdoor patio, Drekker was pouring seven (!) delicious New England IPAs when we were there plus four amazing sours and a handful of porters, and lighter-type beers that we didn’t try. We sat on the patio both nights – one with Bugsy – and brought in carry-out dinner the second night as Drekker doesn’t distract itself with food. We tried and loved all of the IPAs and sours (Lauren here: at the end of my stream-of-conscious Drekker notes full of superlatives and exclamation points is “I guess I’m a sour girl now”).

Bugsy by the Junkyard Brewing mural in Moorhead

While setting up the Airstream in the park, we met a recently retired Delta Airline pilot who, in addition to Drekker, recommended Junkyard Brewing in Fargo’s sister city of Moorhead, MN. Junkyard looked like an awesome spot to enjoy a beer – with a cool old divey feel inside and a nice patio overlooking the road outside –  but in the Covid world they were only doing crowler sales to go. We thought it was a good sign that there was a line to buy their beer early on a Saturday afternoon and we picked up 4 crowlers, 2 sours for L and 2 New England IPAs for J. We didn’t wind up drinking them until we were well out of Fargo, but loved all four of them; almost as good as Drekker!

While in Fargo, we also found the time for a couple of pints at Fargo Brewing Company and found them adequate, but not in the same league as Drekker and Junkyard. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to try two others that we had on our list, Drumconrath and Swing Barrel, but will do so on our next trip. Drumconrath is located in Drekker’s old tap room in downtown Fargo, with no outdoor seating, while Swing Barrel is, like Junkyard, in Moorhead. The greater Fargo area has three other breweries that did not make our list.

Comments

7 responses to “Two nights in Fargo, ND (visit #1)–Big Trip #3”

  1. Uncle Jim Avatar
    Uncle Jim

    When did they move Fargo from ND to Mn?? And it seems to me it would have been more logical to buy a few cases of that fancy beer from your friend in Virginia and then go spend your fun time running around the hills and valleys of Co. NM Az and Utah… A lengthy trip to Idaho should also be in the cards for this venture… And again Bugsy, just stay the hell out of those three west coast states where you would either burn up or die in a riot of some kind..Its getting late but you might still find fun and games in Montana. I spent a summer cutting timber up there and can testify that their beer is excellent, even without that IPA stuff (whatever that is)… If Canada is now allowing folks from the south into their lovely country you might spend some really fun time up there.. Now that I’ve planned the rest of your trip for you go have fun.

    1. bugsy Avatar

      We are on the same page here Uncle Jim!! Lots of Montana and Idaho planned for this trip! And we were hoping for Canada but they still don’t want us.

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