(Above) Downtown Fargo in February. Photo provided by Visit Fargo-Moorhead. (Click on images to view larger versions.)

By Pamela Dittmer McKuen

21-Feb-25 – One of the most gruesome murder scenes in cinematic history is near the end of the noir classic Fargo. A hired kidnapper is disposing of his accomplice’s body by feeding it through a woodchipper. Pulverized blood and brawn spew into the snow, and that’s enough for now. If you know, you know. If you don’t, you get the idea.

The 1996 movie earned filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. As for the woodchipper, it (and a dummy socked foot protruding from the hopper) resides at the Fargo-Moorhead Visitors Center in Fargo, North Dakota.

Fargo – the movie – was filmed in Minnesota, but Fargo – the city – already had the name, so it claimed the chipper and got it signed by the Coen brothers. In addition, a replica of the authentic movie prop stands outside the visitors center.

Take all the pictures you like and view more memorabilia from the movie as well. Photo by Visit Fargo-Moorhead

That enterprising spirit and creative culture are hallmarks of Fargo, which sits on the Red River between North Dakota and Minnesota. The city affectionately describes itself as “North of Normal,” a playful tagline about an attitude and way of life that is different and unexpected.

Perhaps prominently displaying a used woodchipper in the visitors center is a prime example.

Downtown whimsy

Stroll through downtown, and you’ll see Fargo’s artistic sensibilities on full display. Dozens of murals adorn building facades, many tucked along alleys and side streets. The murals pay tribute to penguins and prairies, trails and trains. One is entirely a black-and-white spotted pattern; it’s called, simply, the “Cow Print Mural.” There’s also a three-story painting of Bob Dylan on the side of the former Bison Hotel, where the Nobel Prize-winning singer-songwriter is said to have hung out before his fame.

Even the bicycle racks and utility boxes are works of art.

(Right) Mural by Paul Ide on 8th Street between Main Avenue and 1st Avenue South. Photo by Visit Fargo-Moorhead.

Let’s see what else we can discover in this energetic riverfront city.

The Plains Art Museum flows through three levels of an adapted turn-of-the-century warehouse. The largest art museum in North Dakota, it holds two- and three-dimensional works by national, regional, and international artists, with significant collections of textile, African, and Native American art.

A dozen or so rotating exhibitions each year feature diverse works from the 20th and 21st centuries. Photo by Visit Fargo-Moorhead

Bonanzaville is a pioneer village and history museum that focuses on North Dakota’s prairie past. More than 30 original and replica structures dot the campus, including homes, stores, church, saloon, blacksmith shop, and creamery. Among them is Fargo’s first house, a rough-hewn log cabin built in 1869 on the banks of the Red River and relocated several times.

Other buildings display extensive collections of aircraft, horse-drawn and gasoline-powered vehicles, law enforcement memorabilia, and operator-assisted telephone equipment. Photo by Pamela Dittmer McKuen

Local calls from a public pay phone during the early 20th century cost five cents or two eggs.

Bridge to Minnesota

Across the “Red River of the North” (so-called to differentiate it from the Red River in the country’s southern states) is Fargo sister city Moorhead, Minnesota.

Here, the Hjemkomst Center is home to two monumental permanent attractions, both full-scale, hand-built replicas that reflect the area’s rich Scandinavian heritage: A Viking ship and a stave church.

The ship (left), also named Hjemkomst (pronounced YEM-komst, which translates to “homecoming” in Norwegian), stands five stories high and is anchored in an indoor pavilion. Photo by Pamela Dittmer McKuen

It was the dream of a Moorhead school guidance counselor, Robert Asp, who started construction in 1972 and led its maiden voyage on Lake Superior in 1980. Asp died from leukemia a few months later, but family and friends continued his quest. Two years later, a crew of 13 sailed from Duluth to Bergen, Norway.

The Hopperstad Stave Church Replica (right) clones the Hopperstad Church, built about 1140 in Vik, Norway. A “stave” church is built using vertical wood posts known as “staves.” The pine structure was built and carved by Guy Paulson, a retired research scientist based in Fargo. Photo by Pamela Dittmer McKuen

The intricate carvings and paintings include symbols of both the pagan Viking age and the emergence of Christianity, a time of transition. The church was completed in the early 2000s.

The Hjemkomst Center also has several more galleries and event spaces. When I visited, another exhibit displayed international needlework, from homespun patchwork quilts to intricately embroidered garments.

While you’re in Moorhead, stop at the historic Dairy Queen, opened in 1949 as one of the first stores in the soft-serve franchise. Opening day each year is March 1, and loyal fans wearing gloves and parkas queue up to place their orders at the walk-up window. There’s no indoor seating, and temperatures may or may not be above freezing. Many visitors take their photos alongside the 20-foot-tall sculpture of a Dilly Bar (left) in front of the building. The famous chocolate-coated ice cream treat on a stick was invented here. Photo by Visit Fargo-Moorhead

Dine around

The Fargo area dining scene blends traditional comfort food, Scandinavian classics, locally sourced ingredients, and the creativity of new and seasoned chefs, including several James Beard Award nominees.

Rosewild (right) is a buzzy, upscale-casual restaurant and cocktail bar known for hearty flavors of the region and innovative twists on Midwestern favorites. Photo by Pamela Dittmer McKuen

The restaurant’s patio overlooks Broadway Square, a sprawling lawn and community space where special events and entertainment run year-round. Rosewild is located in the Jasper Hotel, a glassy boutique hotel that lends a modern touch to the vintage downtown streetscape.

Built in 1919 as a dairy, 701 is a barn-like structure redesigned for two distinct eateries. Prairie Kitchen on the main level sports Scandinavian decor and serves up Midwestern comfort fare. Upstairs, the cabin-like Camp Lonetree is a super-casual bar and grill with a pub grub menu and four-season rooftop patio.

Brewhala is a quirky kind of place – a food hall, marketplace, hotel, and entertainment venue in a former locomotive repair building. The founding anchor is Drekker Brewing Company, which produces and purveys its much-celebrated craft brews onsite and runs the beer-themed boutique hotel. A slew of boutiques and specialty food vendors are on hand to ply you with oysters, pizza, noodles, burgers, wine, and more, while cushy indoor and outdoor seating invite prolonged lounging.

Marge’s Diner is a breakfast, lunch, and cocktails spot adorably decorated with hippie chic. The walls are lined with cookie jars, copper gelatin molds, hundreds of salt-and-pepper shaker sets, and other 1970s kitchen bric-a-brac (left). Photo by Pamela Dittmer McKuen

I asked our server if salt-and-pepper shakers ever go missing? Yes, she said, but other times new ones just appear. Sounds pretty north of normal to me.