Labor Day weekend in Minnesota signals the beginning of the end of motorcycle season, so it’s always a great time to hop on the bike and visit out-of-town friends. Yesterday, our trip took us through Darwin, Minnesota, the home of the world’s largest ball of twine created by a single individual. Being fans of Sam & Max, and the sort of people who visit places like the potato museum, we stopped.
I was expecting high kitsch and every available opportunity taken to separate us from our tourist dollars. I was pleasantly surprised. The museum itself was free, although it did offer souvenirs.
The whole place was closed, as you would expect late on a holiday-weekend Friday.
We had no problem seeing the twine. Seats were set out for us to sit and watch the captive.
We didn’t even need to go inside to find out why this thing was ever created.
They very much wanted us to be able to sign the guest book, even with the museum closed.
And the guest book itself was clearly a work of love.
We couldn’t even spend money at the little cafe across the street.
So it was time to get back on the road, with one last look for good measure.
It wasn’t at all what I expected, and I’m okay with that. I do wish the museum had been open, though. I suspect the folks inside would have been as much fun to talk to as the giant ball of twine was to visit.
And here I’ve thought for all these years that Weird Al made it up!
[…] you think Minnesota is only about very large animals, I should point out that we also have a very large ball of twine. Also, just up the road a ways from Garrison is […]