There are countless historic, mom-and-pop burger joints across Minnesota, each one with its own nostalgia, history, and character. A quick internet search will show you plenty of eateries to stop in on your way through any given area, or as a destination in and of itself.  Sometimes it’s for a quick fix on a roadtrip or a break from cooking at home, sometimes to crush a killer hangover, and sometimes it’s purely for the undeniable joy of indulging in America’s most definitive comfort food: Burgers, fries, onion rings, milkshakes.  Gordy’s Hi-Hat in Cloquet, MN, nails all of these things. Continue reading →

There’s no getting around it:  Minnesotans love things shaped like Minnesota. We love the logo so much that it adorns everything we can emblazon it on and probably always will.  I saw a meme not long ago that listed off the things Minnesotans love, and it read: Minnesota, Target, other Minnesotans, and things with Minnesota on them.  It’s one of the better and more recognizable state outlines in the US, and here are five physical things right here in Minnesota that bear our state’s likeness. Continue reading →

Driving across central South Dakota on I-90 is typically marked by rolling farmland, truck stops, and omnipresent Wall Drug advertisements. There are a couple of re-created Old West towns, the Mitchell Corn Palace, and the town of Chamberlain, right on the Missouri River.  Chamberlain is home to a recently-erected statue called “Dignity.”  And she is gorgeous. Continue reading →

As far as roadside attractions go, you usually can’t go wrong with a dinosaur.  Humans have been fascinated with them ever since we discovered the fossils in the early 1800’s. This in itself is surprising, when you consider that only a couple hundred years ago, most of humanity had no idea they even existed.  The Great Plains region of America has been a hotbed of dinosaur discoveries since then, with dinosaur museums, exhibits, and dig sites popping up in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado. Continue reading →

Hanska, MN, is an example one of those places I love to rave about here on HighwayHighlights.com.  It’s a small town in the southwestern corner of Minnesota directly south of New Ulm, population 400, mostly Norwegian background, surrounded by farmland.  It’s unassuming, quaint, and quiet.  A couple county roads go through town, which consists of a small main street with a gas station, “municipal” (city-owned) bar, a handful of old buildings, some vacant and some still in use, a couple churches and a city park.  There are a lot of these farm towns in Minnesota, many of which are home to quirky things that end up on this website. Continue reading →