New Ulm, Minnesota

On Thursday, we detoured briefly from I-90 for a small town excursion in New Ulm, known mostly for being the most German town in Minnesota.  The number one attraction is the town's monument to Hermann the German, the man who engineered an alliance between German chieftains to defend Germania from the invading Roman legions around 9 AD.

We climbed to the top of the memorial for a panorama view of the flat, sun-beaten town and had lunch in a cafe on the main drag.  Interspersed with hair and nail salons were a few gift shops selling German flags and garden gnomes.  We found a used book shop and bought a couple of books to hold us over for the rest of the trip westward.  While we shopped, we discovered that Mid-westerners have a surprising preference for romance novels, as evidenced by the number of shelves filled with books by Danielle Steele.