Lanesboro, Minnesota

August 23-26, 2019:

It’s a short ride from Albert Lea to Lanesboro, Minnesota but I take many country roads and stop along the way.  I arrive in Lanesboro in early afternoon and go directly to the Man Art, Mom Art and Trouble in River City store where my old pal Gordon Tindall is working on his Pool Hall.  He shows me around, there has been considerable progress since my last visit.  It’s still a work in progress, but is sure to be great when finished.  A few local people have been invited over to play on one of the tables and they are very enthusiastic about the pool tables and the “old school” look of the pool hall.  Gordon has a wall wall now decorated with Mom’s Art, a sort of memorial to his mother who was a very talented artist.

Driving into Lanesboro, Minnesota

The storefront

It's starting to look good, all the tables are old classic with slate tops 

There are rules !

In the evening Gordon and his wife Val take me out for wood fired pizza at a popular place several miles away in the country where you order your food, it’s a BYOB arrangement, then sit outside overlooking a beautiful meadow where they have varying forms of entertainment.

A view of the Pool Hall from an upstairs area 

Gordon also has a passion for building these model cars

Lanesboro, Minnesota  is a beautiful town surrounded by beautiful farming country. The corn fields are looking very productive this year, the corn gods have been good.  Lanesboro has many bed and breakfasts, several restaurants, rafting, tubing and fishing outfitters and bike rentals.  The Root River flows through town for water sports and the old rail line that runs along the river is now a bike trail.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanesboro,_Minnesota

A downtown view

Old railroad bridge now a biking trail

Lanesbore Museum

Old telephone booth still works.  When you
pick up the receiver you can hear historical messages and stories

    

Gordon’s Spud Boy Diner remains open, but only for breakfast these days.  It is for sale but so far there haven't been any takers.  It’s a tough sell, you need someone who has a love for these historic diners and not so interested in the profit margin.  Gordon serves a great breakfast with nothing but the finest ingredients.

The diner was renamed for a theater scene put on by Lanesboro's
Commonweal Theater Company in which Gordie and Val participate in

That's Gordie at the grill

The history behind it all

Gordon also has a Cowboy Cadillac that is for sale, it’s been customized with cattle horns, oil wells, huge fins, cowhide door panels, cowboy wheel covers and a cowboy mural on the trunk lid.  It needs some transmission work, but otherwise runs.  If interested let me know and I will connect you to Gordie.

The Cowboy Caddilac

Rear view

Gordon had a big surprise for me, a secret which involved a ride to Winona, Minnesota.  We took a ride to a residence in town, got out of the car and as we walked towards the house, past a garage I got a glimpse through an open door of the "Tokyo Rose". The cars owner came out, he started the car with its open exhaust headers barking and backed it out for us to get a good look.  This is not the original car, but a very meticulously done reproduction.  The Tokyo Rose was a 1956 Chevrolet sedan delivery junior stock drag race car that won the Stock Eliminator World Championship back in 1967.

You might be wondering why we are so excited about this car. Gordon and I were partners back in this time period in a 1955 Chevrolet sedan delivery and the Tokyo Rose is a car that we had competed against and even beat once.  As a result we were sort of having having a nostalgic meltdown as we admired the car, with a degree of envy.  The owner showed us a book that is a compilation of junior stock cars from the "glory days".  He has attended a few nostalgic races where he has had racers who are in the book, sign it.  We had quite a time talking about various cars and racers.  Gordon had brought a photo of us standing in front of our car, the Man from Glad  to show him.  He then took a photo of us infant of his car.  A photo of the Man from Glad is in the book, although the photo was after we had sold it,  so we signed the book.  We would love to find out what happened to our original car, could be still out there in an altered state, or rotting away in some field and seen the car crusher ?  We need a history detective.  

It's a beauty

Back when "Made in Japan"was a pun

I hang out for a couple of hours each morning in the diner, it’s sort of a meeting place for many of the locals.  Gordon cooks a great breakfast, but I think people come in for the friendly atmosphere as much as for the food.

Every seat was taken on this day

Next stop is Cedar Falls, Iowa