06.27.2015 The search for Paul Bunyan

Ever since moving to Minnesota, seeing Paul Bunyan was at the top of my list. Even as I asked the locals about where to find him, nobody seemed to hold the same fascination. Turns out he lives far from the city. This really all began as I watched the movie 'Fargo' as my "get to know Minnesota" film before moving here. As well, to me, he was the iconic Minnesota thing to see. There's also his buddy the blue ox, but he's just the sidekick. 

Welcome to Paul Bunyan Land!

So when Teddy came to visit, we made the trip out to search for Paul Bunyan. Everyone else thought we were nuts, but we were so excited!! There are three Paul Bunyans in Minnesota. We only made it to two of them. Paul Bunyan One lives in Paul Bunyan Land in Brainerd and Paul Bunyan Two lives in Ackley. Paul Bunyan Three lives in Bemidji, but we didn't venture that far. 

Upon entering and paying what feels like a ridiculous amusement park fee, you will be faced with a 26ft tall Paul sitting in his loghouse. It's kind of like the Wizard of Oz because as you venture closer his loud booming voice says HELLO GIRL. But wait! That's not it! His head and hands move! And his eyes blink! Plus you can hold a real conversation with him. I regret not asking him to tell us a joke, that would have been fun. Anyway, I've been told that there's just some dude sitting in one of the logs pushing marionette buttons and speaking into a microphone all day. This place really is so wacky.

We tried asked him to raise his arm and wave as we took a photo. He was a bit slow.

Paul Bunyan Land is like stepping back in time. Everything looks like it was stood up decades ago and then left anywhere there was space to put it. The place was so kitchy I actually really liked it. There was also only 6 other families present in the entire place so you can imagine the wait time for these rickety rides. In fact, they didn't even have enough staff for all the rides so we just pushed a button to get someone to come over to man the machine.

Paul's shopping cart

I'm pretty sure this 'roller coaster' was 100% wheels and physics and 0% electricity. This ride was so rickety scary, we just held onto our seats the whole time.

At the outset, we thought Paul Bunyan Land was pretty small. Just a handful of rides scattered around the giant. But as it turned out, the land was HUGE and filled with even more amusing and totally unrelated things! Like this pumpkin house for example!

There is a fake "old village" set up where you can walk through these random shops filled with old timey things like cameras, baby cribs, sewing machines, old cars, tools, essentially everything and anything. There was at least twenty of these little shops run by stationary mannequins and old music being looped and played from the speakers. You almost forget you are in an amusement park and feel like you are in a surreal comedy junkyard from the 70s. Also, I suppose if one has a fear of mannequins this part of Paul Bunyan Land would be pretty terrifying.

confusing playground piece.

"Uh, are we still in Paul Bunyan Land?"

Oh, and there's also a petting zoo.

Onward to Paul Bunyan Two! Paul Bunyan Land took us way longer than we expected. Then again, we did not expect the amusement park to include a junkyard and mannequin village. 

 

Paul Bunyan Two lives in Ackley and is not as handsome as Paul Bunyan One, nor does this guy move or talk. But! You can sit in his hand, so that's pretty neat. It would also be neat to sit on his shoulder. Anyway, we didn't stay very long here, the nearby park was alright and there was a tornado warning for the area which is a very new and terrifying thing to me, so we headed home quickly afterwards.

single screen theatre.

Minnesota 2015