© Mark Ollig
It’s true about living each day to the fullest. Things can, and as all of us now know, do, change.
A few years ago, I wrote a column while vacationing in my old stomping grounds; the Brainerd Lakes Area.
I thought it might be uplifting to revisit my trip to Brainerd for this week to forget, even for a little while, the current situation all of us find ourselves living in now.
And so, let’s return to Aug. 25, 2017, and the column (with a few updates) yours truly wrote from Brainerd.
“Greetings from the Coco Moon Coffee Bar located in the heart of downtown Brainerd.
It has been nearly 10 years since I last visited this downtown Brainerd coffee shop on Laurel and 6th Street.
Brainerd is the city where I graduated from high school.
People are surprised to learn this, because my five siblings graduated from Winsted, and they assumed I did, too.
This morning, I’m writing your Bits & Bytes column from the same booth as I did in September 2006.
I admit to feeling a bit nostalgic being back here in the Brainerd Lakes Area.
The coffee bar has a good Wi-Fi signal, and my laptop computer is connected to it.
There is one thing that has changed since 2006; my coffee preference.
Today, I am drinking the light roast with a double shot of espresso and a splash of cream.
As I type this column, a message notification from a relative suddenly popped up on the screen.
My sister was responding to the Facebook video I posted earlier this morning from Nisswa, showing two deer wandering on the edge of a wooded area.
She posted the comment, “Awe!”
Another relative sent a Facebook Instant Message asking where I was staying while in Brainerd. We ended up messaging back-and-forth for a few minutes.
I guess it’s true. In the online world, we have all become networked together.
Looking out the window, I see a cloudless and vibrant blue sky. Across the street, there is a tall pine tree swaying in a light breeze. Cars, trucks, and an occasional semi-truck slowly traverse up and down 6th Street.
Until 2005, 6th Street used to be the stretch of Highway 371 which ran through downtown Brainerd – until the bypass; now, 371 traffic routes slightly westward and north, through the city limits of Baxter.
Baxter now has many new businesses sprinkled along this route of Highway 371.
When I lived here during the 1970s, we had a town rivalry between Brainerd and Baxter.
In 1976, citizens were hotly debating whether to add fluoride to the drinking water.
I also recall a late 1970s newspaper article of a proposed Highway 371 bypass of downtown Brainerd, which, of course, the local downtown businesses vehemently opposed.
The Paul Bunyan Center (with the 26-foot-tall talking, arm-waving Paul Bunyan statue) opened in 1950, and was advertised as being in Brainerd, but it was really located within the city limits of Baxter.
Sorry about that Baxter, but that’s how it goes with these town rivalries.
During the 1970s, Larry Lopp, the owner of the Paul Bunyan Amusement Center, lived in the same townhome association as my family, which was across the road from the Bar Harbor Supper Club.
I recall many times hearing loud whirling rotating blades, and then looking out our living room window to see the Paul Bunyan pontoon helicopter softly landing in the bay with Larry on board.
A boat would go out to meet the helicopter and bring him home.
More than 40 years have passed, so I suppose it is safe to reveal Lopp occasionally gave free tickets to the amusement center to my sisters and me – which we very much appreciated.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end.
The original Paul Bunyan Amusement Center closed in 2003.
However, it wasn’t the end of the revered Paul Bunyan talking statue.
Paul and his faithful partner from the original amusement center, Babe the Blue Ox, moved to a new location six miles east of, and within the city limits of Brainerd.
Paul Bunyan now officially lives in Brainerd.
Babe and Paul continue to entertain and provide memories for new generations of children and adults visiting the Paul Bunyan Land amusement park.
Paul still welcomes the children by name, which once mystified this 7-year-old the first time I saw Paul wave his hand at me and say, “Hello, Mark from Winsted, Minnesota!”
After heavy rainfall last night, I awoke this morning to clear blue skies and a chilly 52 degrees in the City of Lakeshore, south of Nisswa.”
It was great being back in the Brainerd Lakes Area.
Today, it is back to our 2020 reality.
I look forward to once again enjoying a vacation in the Brainerd Lakes Area.
For now, stay safe, everyone.
It’s true about living each day to the fullest. Things can, and as all of us now know, do, change.
A few years ago, I wrote a column while vacationing in my old stomping grounds; the Brainerd Lakes Area.
I thought it might be uplifting to revisit my trip to Brainerd for this week to forget, even for a little while, the current situation all of us find ourselves living in now.
And so, let’s return to Aug. 25, 2017, and the column (with a few updates) yours truly wrote from Brainerd.
“Greetings from the Coco Moon Coffee Bar located in the heart of downtown Brainerd.
It has been nearly 10 years since I last visited this downtown Brainerd coffee shop on Laurel and 6th Street.
Brainerd is the city where I graduated from high school.
People are surprised to learn this, because my five siblings graduated from Winsted, and they assumed I did, too.
This morning, I’m writing your Bits & Bytes column from the same booth as I did in September 2006.
I admit to feeling a bit nostalgic being back here in the Brainerd Lakes Area.
The coffee bar has a good Wi-Fi signal, and my laptop computer is connected to it.
There is one thing that has changed since 2006; my coffee preference.
Today, I am drinking the light roast with a double shot of espresso and a splash of cream.
As I type this column, a message notification from a relative suddenly popped up on the screen.
My sister was responding to the Facebook video I posted earlier this morning from Nisswa, showing two deer wandering on the edge of a wooded area.
She posted the comment, “Awe!”
Another relative sent a Facebook Instant Message asking where I was staying while in Brainerd. We ended up messaging back-and-forth for a few minutes.
I guess it’s true. In the online world, we have all become networked together.
Looking out the window, I see a cloudless and vibrant blue sky. Across the street, there is a tall pine tree swaying in a light breeze. Cars, trucks, and an occasional semi-truck slowly traverse up and down 6th Street.
Until 2005, 6th Street used to be the stretch of Highway 371 which ran through downtown Brainerd – until the bypass; now, 371 traffic routes slightly westward and north, through the city limits of Baxter.
Baxter now has many new businesses sprinkled along this route of Highway 371.
When I lived here during the 1970s, we had a town rivalry between Brainerd and Baxter.
In 1976, citizens were hotly debating whether to add fluoride to the drinking water.
I also recall a late 1970s newspaper article of a proposed Highway 371 bypass of downtown Brainerd, which, of course, the local downtown businesses vehemently opposed.
The Paul Bunyan Center (with the 26-foot-tall talking, arm-waving Paul Bunyan statue) opened in 1950, and was advertised as being in Brainerd, but it was really located within the city limits of Baxter.
Sorry about that Baxter, but that’s how it goes with these town rivalries.
During the 1970s, Larry Lopp, the owner of the Paul Bunyan Amusement Center, lived in the same townhome association as my family, which was across the road from the Bar Harbor Supper Club.
I recall many times hearing loud whirling rotating blades, and then looking out our living room window to see the Paul Bunyan pontoon helicopter softly landing in the bay with Larry on board.
A boat would go out to meet the helicopter and bring him home.
More than 40 years have passed, so I suppose it is safe to reveal Lopp occasionally gave free tickets to the amusement center to my sisters and me – which we very much appreciated.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end.
The original Paul Bunyan Amusement Center closed in 2003.
However, it wasn’t the end of the revered Paul Bunyan talking statue.
Paul and his faithful partner from the original amusement center, Babe the Blue Ox, moved to a new location six miles east of, and within the city limits of Brainerd.
Paul Bunyan now officially lives in Brainerd.
Babe and Paul continue to entertain and provide memories for new generations of children and adults visiting the Paul Bunyan Land amusement park.
Paul still welcomes the children by name, which once mystified this 7-year-old the first time I saw Paul wave his hand at me and say, “Hello, Mark from Winsted, Minnesota!”
After heavy rainfall last night, I awoke this morning to clear blue skies and a chilly 52 degrees in the City of Lakeshore, south of Nisswa.”
It was great being back in the Brainerd Lakes Area.
Today, it is back to our 2020 reality.
I look forward to once again enjoying a vacation in the Brainerd Lakes Area.
For now, stay safe, everyone.
