July 7 Day 37 Stanley ND 33 miles 3:04
After yesterday's route, there was extended discussion of where to go today. With some grumbling, Stanley was accepted by all.
The first clue that Stanley is a special place is the fire hydrants. Every hydrant is painted individually as a human figure. Michele promptly fell into conversation on the street with Bob. Bob, along with his cousin Don, are restoring the First Presbyterian Church in Stanley for use as a performing arts center. The city was on the edge of tearing the lovely but decaying building down to make room for a parking lot. There was substantial skepticism that they could succeed in making anything out of church. With a lot of hard work and donations from the far-flung alumni of the Stanley high school, they have turned the space into a gorgeous hall. You should see the woodwork. Just to add to the challenge, Bob now lives in Seattle and Don in North Carolina. They get back to Stanley as the opportunity allows.

Bob advised us to check out the Dakota Drug soda fountain for a Whirlawhip. Whirlawhip machines take real ice cream and flavorings of your choice to produce something resembling "soft-serve ice cream" in texture, but much richer in flavor. Whirlawhip machines were manufactured from 1937 to 1942. The Dakota Drug pharmacist knew he was onto something when he discovered the Whirlawhip machine. Whenever another pharmacy remodeled and took out its soda fountain, he would buy the Whirlawhip machine. He eventually tracked down the inventor and purchased all the machines he had left in his garage. In short, Dakota Drug has the corner, world-wide, on Whirlawhip!

Bob and Don insisted that we visit Flickertail Village. Flickertail Village is an amazing community do-it-yourself museum of pioneer life. Families have donated entire houses, trucked to the site, furnished as they were in the Twenties or Thirties. There's a dry goods store, a sheriff's office/jail, a doctor's office, a school, a church, a train depot, all about as they would have been if everyone had just walked out. I found it fascinating. No particular hours for the museum - just call the lady who runs it if you want to visit and she'll meet you there. A flickertail, incidentally, is the kind of gopher which inhabits the area.

Don called during our dinner to invite us over for dessert with his family. We had some terrific cake and an excellent evening.

We stayed at the Stanley City free campground (donation requested). The motels were full because there were two weddings and a family reunion in Stanley. In the evening, one wedding party paraded by on their way to the reception. The bride, in white, and the groom stood at the front of a flatbed trailer towed by a pickup truck, with the rest of the party sitting at a couple of picnic tables on the trailer. Stanley is one town I'll never forget.