On the Road Again with Merle

Merle’s bags are packed and he’s ready to go. He’s been oiled and wiped down after his dip in Lake Minnetonka, and is sporting a fresh edge. I’m sending him with a freebie pocket slip I had lying around, just for extra protection while he’s in transit. Y’all are welcome to use it while you’re carrying Merle, but you certainly don’t have to.

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(Regarding sharpening: I’m hoping Merle won’t need to be sharpened much — if any — while he’s traveling, but if you’re hosting Merle and it seems like his edge needs a touch up, please reach out to me before doing anything. It’s not that I don’t trust y’all, but I’m afraid if we end up with 5 or 6 different people sharpening Merle, things might get… interesting.) 😉😁
 
Epic start! Great job Barrett. Thoroughly enjoyed every post but the reflection of the sign in the water is mesmerizing and one of my favorite pics.
 
btb01 said:
Earlier today, Scout and I drove over to a couple small towns out here west of the Twin Cities to show Merle a couple things I thought some of y’all might find interesting.

First we stopped in St. Bonifacius, MN (commonly referred to as St. Boni). At the north end of St. Boni’s Main St. is Missile Park. In addition to a playground, pavilion and baseball field, the park features a deactivated Cold War-era Nike Hercules surface-to-air missile.

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Two panels on opposite sides of the missile provide some information on The Cold War, the Nike missile program and the launch site located near St. Bonifacius from 1959 to 1971.

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Next to the missile is a small veterans memorial with a plaque and three flagpoles flying the US flag, the Minnesota state flag and the POW/MIA flag.

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St. Bonifacius also has an interesting little public library. It’s quite small, only slightly larger than those little free libraries you see built on mailbox posts. 😁

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The building was constructed in 1916, originally used as a bank, and was turned into a library in 1931. It didn't have running water, restrooms or central heating and cooling until 1987.

After leaving St. Boni, we drove out to Waconia, MN. Outside of the Carver County Historical Society sits a WWII-era Sherman Tank, or rather, an engineless Sherman Tank shell made up of parts taken from two different models, as is explained on the panel next to it.

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Here’s Merle sizing up the tank treads.

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Next I thought I’d take Merle to Coney Island. Walk along the boardwalk, eat a Nathan’s Famous hot dog, ride the Cyclone… 🌭🎢

No, wait. Not that Coney Island. This one, on Lake Waconia.

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No hot dogs or roller coasters, but Merle did learn about local fish species, so we’ll call it a win.

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what a great story thank you.

Love the picture of the fish,they all look exactly the same to me.
 
Absolutely awesome, loved all the photos and experiences Merle has made so far and I’m thrilled to have made the list. I’m looking forward to watching this thread and I’m going to start making a list of all the places Merle will visit when he visits me in Los Angeles!
 
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