Enchanted Art & Fine Wine (Hwy 94, ND)
After our few days of rest & exploration in TRNP we launched into another epic (for us) set of drives to get us to our next destination in the Midwest. This meant several long days on the highway with probably only a single stop or two along the way. Not the slo-mo mode of travel we usually like to do, but sometimes RV life is like this.
When you first start fulltime RVing you imagine that you have all the time in the world to see everything you want, and in some respects that’s true. You certainly have control over your travel schedule, but you can only drive so far and there are “real-life limitations” which mean you’ll likely have to make choices on how much time you spend in each spot. Things like seasons & weather, family commitments, health issues (you, pets, parents etc.), rig issues (maintenance, repair) and just general day-to-day life (grocery shopping, laundry etc.) get in the way, plus you need to rest and (maybe) get some paying work along the way too.
If you don’t take time to do all these things you’ll literally lose your sanity and RVing will become very old very fast indeed. So you learn to slow down, be a bit selective in your plans and take things as they come along. This invariably means you miss stuff, but it doesn’t mean you have to miss everything.
This was the situation facing us for our zoom-drive across the rest of North Dakota. We had commitments in the Midwest, so we only had a few days to cross ND which meant we would miss lots of cool stuff, especially many of the up-and-coming towns, state parks & sights. There’s a lot of revitalization happening in the north, especially in food and the arts and if you’ve got time to spend I think you’ll discover lots of hidden gems. I mean, just look at this awesome Wine & Beer trail -> who wouldn’t want to delve into that? But our research showed we could get a taste if we did it right, even if we only had a single overnight to do it. That’s how we discovered 60-foot sculptures & fine, local North Dakotan wine.
The Enchanted Highway
The Enchanted Highway is a North Dakota roadside curiosity that has a rather enchanting story to accompany it. Back in 1990 a retired school teacher by the name of Gary Greff was dismayed at how his little town Regent seemed to be dying. Located 32 miles from the nearest highway this non-descriptive spot didn’t have much to attract folks to it, so he decided to do something about it. Starting at exit 72 (Gladstone) from Hwy 94 he had a vision of constructing and erecting massive 40-60 foot steel sculptures in regular intervals along the entire county road to his town. It was a bold statement and a bit of a gamble which would require many years of hard work to complete, but Gary was a determined guy. His first sculpture went up in 2001 (right next to the highway exit) and by 2007, a total of 7 sculptures had been erected. He continues to maintain and build every year today.
We knew about this place from fellow bloggers as well as blog readers who’ve recommended it over the years, but I have to admit I wasn’t ready for quite how utterly COOL these sculptures were until we actually got to see them in person.
The first piece of art, “Geese In Flight” can’t be missed and lures you off the road with a circular flight of birds that seem to hang in the air in a fine iron web. Another 5 miles down the road you’re met with “Deer Crossing”, a simple and fabulous little piece followed by the world’s largest (or so they claim) grasshopper, a complicated set of colorful fish, tin men and more. If you do the whole 32-mile drive you see 7 of these wonderful pieces before you’re done.
We did around half of the pieces in the RV and got out to enjoy each one with doggie (eveything is dog-friendly). The road itself was a little bumpy, but the sculptures all had generous parking areas where we were able to enter and turn around in “the beast” without unhooking the toad. The extra bonus? You can overnight at any one of the sculptures if you wish, and several of them light up at night too. Must be quite a sight to see.
BRING DOGGIE? YES! All the sculptures are dog-friendly.
Overnight At 4e Winery
Although we were tempted to overnight at the sculptures, we needed to get further East. Besides what we really wanted was something with…erhmmm…with a little more “kick”, so we turned to one of our many overnight RV choices to see what we could find. Harvest Hosts doesn’t offer much in North Dakota, but there was one place that caught our attention just west of Fargo. Fellow RV Instagrammers had stayed here and raved about it just a few days before us, plus I was fascinated by their wine list. Wine made from local (yes, local!!) grapes? Wine made from apple, plum, rhubarb and blueberries? A port made from current? This could turn out to be really good, or it could be really bad but I was totally intrigued. We just HAD to try it.
We called the winery on Sunday morning not really expecting a call back. We’d left it too late and we were scheduled to arrive right at closing, so I didn’t really have high hopes. But around 10 minutes before we were about to zoom past the phone rang and the owners warmly invited us to stay. They even promised they’d stay open so we could enjoy a tasting. What a great welcome!
We rolled into the spacious farm around 5PM and proceeded to make ourselves comfortable. It’s an enchanting little spot, surrounded by tall trees with a classic red barn, a large veggie garden and a warmly decorated interior. The owners (Greg & Lisa) were just as inviting as the place…and the wine? Honestly it was GREAT! We loved just about everything we tried including the rhubarb, the blueberry (our favorite actually) and several of the whites. Greg is a chemistry professor at the local university (although how he manages that and his “wine hobby” I have no idea) and he’s got a palette for fine wine so his creations are complex, deep, flavorful, and incredibly well-balanced.
This is not “fruit wine” folks, this is serious stuff on par with some of the nicest wines we’ve had (and believe me, we’ve had many). We bought several bottles (naturally) and enjoyed a perfectly lovely evening chatting, socializing (another RV couple showed up) and just having fun in the garden with the dog. If you’re coming this way as a HH member, we definitely recommend stopping in!
BRING DOGGIE? YES! 4e Winery is dog-friendly. They’ve got a lovely outdoor seating area to hang w/ pooch & a large, grassy garden too.
Thus ends our zoom-through visit of North Dakota. There’s plenty we missed of course, but we’re on a mission…a lighthouse mission…and that my friends, means we’ve got to get our “beastly” butts to some great, big honking lakes. We’ll see you there…
Useful Links:
- The Enchanted Highway -> Click HERE and HERE
- 4e Winery -> Click HERE
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This is the first I’ve heard of the Enchanted Highway. What an awesome place to photograph! I love how you captured the “moodiness” of the weather and how you were able to show how imposing these sculptures are. I can only imagine how many different perspectives there are to work with for a place like this. So many opportunities to really get creative. I will definitely add this to our list (which seems to endlessly grow…:)
They were so much fun to see and photograph. A great side-stop, for sure.
Nina
I’m glad you’re seeing the Midwest and I think youll find there are local grapes in far more places than people typically think of.
It was really only our travels there (MI down to LA via the Great River and Ozarks) that opened our eyes to the beauty and what the Midwest has to offer. Enjoy.
I was blown away by the variety of grapes that 4e Winery were experimenting with. Many I’d never heard of, but they’re being grown/developed specifically to withstand the harsher northern climate. Lots of innovation going on in wine up north right now.
Nina
Another great post that has piqued our interest! Will definitely put this on our future list of visits. Love the sculptures!
I was the only one crazy about the huge sculptures so Steve unhooked Betsy at the Deer Crossing and I explored them up to Teddy on the horse. These sculptures are best enjoyed in person and you just showed me how to photograph them better.
Did you pass by sunflower fields, i thought they should be in bloom this time of year.
We saw some sunflower fields, but less than I expected. Didn’t really find a good place to shoot them. They were all in full bloom though.
Nina
They don’t call it fly-over country for nothing 🙂
Actually, we found that what the Dakotas, Iowa, and Nebraska lack in dramatic scenery, is more than made up for by small backroad farm towns. Most had some sort of nice town park where we could stay for little or nothing.
Box Canyon Mark
I have to admit I’ve been loving the prices out here. $14 for a National Park, even without the geezer pass? Yeah I’ll take that any day.
Nina
That’s fantastic. I would love to see the sculptures, and of course taste the wine. If we get that way, we will for sure check it out.
We’re missing a lot in Minnesota and Wisconsin this (first) time as well, but you’re right that we can’t see everything, as much as we want to! Love the art pieces, especially the Deer Crossing. The winery looks and sounds wonderful – such a pretty place. That is an amazing barn 🙂
I’m with you on this. We’ve just arrived in Minnesota and we’re rushing through. Sooo much to see and do here, but we just can’t get to it all. Hope you’re staying dry and safe tonight…some serious storms out there.
Nina
Love the sculptures—and very nice photos!
If you are going to Michigan, you will love it! We visited Michigan for 3 weeks in July. We went up the center to Harrison, then the east side along Lake Huron, then to the Upper Peninsula to St. Ignace, to Mackinac Island on a ferry, to SAult st Marie, then down the western side through Petoskey, to Grand Haven. Michigan is beautiful!
The Fish and Beast photo is wonderful! The Enchanted Highway has been on my list since Mona Liza wrote about it a couple of years ago. Seeing your photos reinforces my desire to see it for myself. And the winery looks lovely—somehow I never put vineyards and North Dakota together.
Yes, it’s amazing as to what is out there, even in North Dakota. How far away could you see those sculptures? A winery in that state should not be surprising, as they are popping up in most everyone, even with their own home grown grapes. We found one in southwest Minnesota, at Round Lake, called Round Lake Vineyards, just off I-90. Check it out if traveling that way.
The first sculpture “Geese in Flight” is literally right on the highway. You can easily see it from 94 as you drive past. All the rest of the sculptures are right alongside the country road between Gladstone and Regent, so you’ll need to drive off the highway to see them. If you take the country road, you can’t miss them as you pass by.
Nina
The Geese In Flight sculpture nearly lured us off the road on the way to TRNP but we charged forward, thanks for sharing it with us!
I see you are in Duluth. It is early for it but look up “hawk ridge” near there. It is an amazing
place to see many migratory birds in the fall. Best of travels
A little off topic, but I just read your ” Top 6 road incidents”. Hopefully it will provide some inspiration to us. We have been fulltiming for only 3 1/2 months, we have a 2007 Monaco DP. We are having electrical problems with all of our dashboard gauges and have been at a truck repair shop in Florida for almost a month and still no resolution (Monaco tech who is the ” expert” in these things has been on vacation for 3 weeks and no one else has been able to solve the problem). The good news is we have been volunteering at a state Park in NW Florida for a couple months and a wonderful couple we volunteer with have taken us in to share their motorhome and we have become good friends! If we make it through this ordeal so soon into our new life, I think we will make it! We have followed your blog for a couple of years; thanks for being a great resource and inspiration.
I also put the Enchanted Highway on our list after reading MonaLiza’s post. Seeing your photos Nina, now I am convinced we need to see this. Those barn photos are beautiful. I have to admit that when you mentioned those fruits, I was skeptical, as I am not a fan of fruity wines. You always show us such beautiful, off-the-beaten-track country.
I have to admit I was pretty skeptical too, but the wine quality at 4e truly blew me away. If I didn’t know they were fruit-based I’d think they were expensive French wines. We had one of the bottles we bought last night and it only confirmed our original assessment. Great stuff.
Nina
This write up couldn’t be better timed in that we’ll be in Duluth for three nights in early-ish September. We’re doing the plane/car/hotel thing this time out, and hope to get there by RV eventually, but regardless your brewery write ups are going to be put to very good use!
Not sure if you noticed it, but we’re staying at the Pier B Resort which looks to have a lovely Lake Superior adjacent location in the heart of the downtown area? This will be a luxury reward for having spent six nights backpacking on Isle Royale National Park. That is assuming they don’t turn us away at check in – our first post-backpack shower won’t occur until after we get to our room!
I’ve heard of Pier B. In fact one of my other RV buddies wrote me to say they stayed there. She liked it.
Nina