North Dakota

I decided to swing up into North Dakota to see what there was to see. The answer: pretty much nothing.

There are a lot of very straight roads up here. One in particular, North Dakota Highway 46, is supposedly the straightest of them all -- plumb line straight -- the longest straight road in America. It stretches across 123 miles of North Dakota prairie. Yawn.

I did find a few other "World's Largest."

New Salem, ND is cow crazy. Its high school sports teams are named the Holsteins. And overlooking the interstate, on the only hill visible for many many miles, is New Salem's pride: Salem Sue, the World's Largest Cow.

The World's Largest Buffalo is in Jamestown, ND. It is clearly male.
The World's Largest Catfish is in Wahpeton, ND (locally referred to as the Wahpper). No idea as to gender.

In a state where almost everything is flat, the KVLY-TV tower in Blanchard, North Dakota, is an exceptional anomaly. Not only is it vertical, it’s more vertical than any other man-made thing on the planet. Well, second biggest. It is 2063 feet high. One in Dubai is now taller.

Beer in North Dakota? In honor of Bismark, ND, I had Sink the Bismark beer. OK, so it is made in Scotland. It has the distinction of being the World's Strongest Beer at 41% ABV. Which you need in North Dakota.