Sweet Summertime Reads Roadtrip with Lisa!

Hello, and welcome back to another edition of Sweet Summertime Reads Roadtrip!  Each Wednesday this summer I'll be taking you on a virtual roadtrip to various places on the map and hopefully introduce you to some new reads along the way as well.  This week I am super excited to be hosting Lisa from Lisa is Busy Nerding as she takes us to her hometown in the Midwest.  Grab some iced tea, find a comfy spot on that porch swing, and enjoy this tour of small town life in the summertime.

Hey you! Welcome to the beautiful little Midwestern farm town of Lakefield, Minnesota. It’s a gorgeous day out on the prairie! Let me show you around. (I swear none of these pictures are filtered. It is sincerely this beautiful in Lakefield.)

As you can see, Lakefield has a golf course which is a big deal for a town of 1500 people. So, naturally there are a few tournaments held every year on our pretty little 9-hole course.
True to any good small town, we have a bowling alley with cosmic bowling on Saturday nights. HOLLA. It’s called Bowler’s Inn on the sign, just so you don’t get confused about what’s inside. You’re welcome.

For the nerds out there, we have the county historical society building in town as well with loads of historical goodies inside.

Lakefield also has a gorgeous nature preserve area to hike trails and provides nature education classes for kids and families. It’s pretty rad. We like to take Albus out there sometimes but haven’t taken Lucy yet. This summer we will DEFINITELY hit that up.

Here’s our sleepy main street. I swear it’s usually bustling on the weekdays! Anyway, down here you’ll find a grocery store, the library, a couple of banks and a delicious café called Silverback’s that has THE BEST BURGERS EVER. Honestly. Oh – and on Thursdays they have roast beef commercials. Since not all of you have the privilege of living in the Midwest, a commercial is white bread with meat (roast beef in this case) and a side of mashed potatoes with gravy poured all over the plate. It is heaven in your mouth.

Also found on main street is our grain elevator. Again, farm town = grain elevators.

A small farm town isn’t complete without a tractor with a slow moving vehicle sign on it. Especially during planting and harvest seasons! This is our life.

Obviously, small towns aren’t packed with exciting things to do and places to go, so we enjoy the scenery and the laid back pace as best we can. One of our favorite things to do is go for walks about town as a family. One of my favorite places to walk is Milwaukee Street.

I swear that street is right out of a storybook. The trees completely canopy the street and it is GORGEOUS. I’m sure you can imagine how stunning it is in the winter with the bare branches and freshly fallen snow!
Don’t you just want to come and spend the weekend relaxing here? What a perfect road trip spot, no? Slow down. Relax. Go for a walk. Gaze out at the beautiful scenery.

I saw last week that Andi shared some books that paired well with her road trip which I thought was a GREAT idea. So I’m stealing it. As we do.

Some great books to read over the summer that glorify the small town or Midwestern vibe are:
1.  FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell. Nebraska isn’t all that far from Lakefield!
2.  AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES by John Green. Colin and Hassan go on a road trip and end up in the middle of nowhere. Awesome small town hijinx ensue.
3.  HOUSE OF IVY AND SORROW by Natalie Whipple. This takes place in a small Iowa farming town! Very much like Lakefield. But Lakefield doesn’t have witches…I don’t think. I should look into that.
4.  WHERE THINGS COME BACK by John Corey Whaley. Yes, I realize this is a small southern town but small town’s share a lot of similar features no matter where you are on the map!

That’s Lakefield! If you’re ever on a road trip through the mighty Midwest and start to see a bunch of giant wind turbines in the sky, you’re probably pretty close to me. Stop by and say hey, won’t you?

all photo credits to Lisa

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Thank you Lisa for showing us around your beautiful Midwest small town! Since I've lived in a large city my whole life, small town life has always fascinated me.  I think it would be nice to retreat from all the traffic, noise, and strangers for a bit and roadtrip it to Lakefield, MN.  You will definitely find me in Silverback's on Thursdays devouring that roast beef commerial! It sounds delicious.  

Don't forget to enter my SWEET SUMMERTIME READS ROADTRIP giveaway (just click the image below) & look out for another edition next Wednesday as we head east to the Big Apple!