Before Dairy Queens were relegated to a 15'x15' section of your nearest shopping mall food court, they were stand-alone buildings, serving their small communities as so much more than a place to get a milkshake or a scoop of ice cream. They were gathering spots for high school kids, an afternoon Daddy-Daughter date location, or a beacon of refreshment for road-weary travelers.
This DQ is maybe past its hey-day here in sleepy little Park River, but it still has plenty of soul. Blizzards are made with plenty of elbow put into the add-ins, there always seems to be a car or two in the lot, and the store has plenty of Smalltown, USA feel.
Whether you're just passing through, or making this a local summer treat, the DQ in Park River is a welcome respite from its cousin-stores in the shadow of a mega-mall Sbarro and Mongolian BBQ joint. Eat your blizzard and watch the wheat sway in the NoDak afternoon breeze, cottonwood trees swaying and tufts of fluff floating along in the air, a deer eating dandelions at the edge of the cornfield, a frog chirping in the ditch somewhere out of sight, a distant train whistle blowing at the crossroads where a car hasn't passed for six days. Love me some country living.
And ice cream. I love ice cream. read more