Murray County Mission

At just over 1,100 acres, Lake Shetek State Park is one of the smaller parks in the state parks system. It sits on the southeastern shore of 3,600-acre Lake Shetek (Ojibwe for Pelican), just north of Currie, MN and offers plenty of hiking, biking and, of course, water recreation. Lake Shetek is by far southwestern Minnesota’s largest lake and a favorite destination in the region. Locals and tourists alike love spending the day at the beach, hiking the wooded shores or going for a bike ride on the Currie Loop section of the paved Casey Jones State Trail.

When we arrived late afternoon to set up camp in the Sunrise campground, a familiar scene played out. Kids on bikes roamed the grounds amid the thud of bean bags and the smell of burgers on the grill. Summer was in full swing and we were right in the middle of it.
We hopped on the bikes right away to ride the Casey Jones Trail into nearby Currie to have dinner. The Lakeside Hideaway restaurant on Mill Street was nearly full but still quiet enough to have a good conversation. It was a Friday night and people were out for a good time. The open dining room with its honey-colored wood floors and white bead board ceiling was inviting and an old-timey wooden bar adorned the rear of the room. The vintage building looked like it could have housed a hardware store at some point.

While we waited for our food we finally felt the busy weekday wash away over a couple of beers. We began to relax and talked about the itinerary for the weekend, interrupted only by the occasional pop of a wine cork at the bar. We had a lot ground to cover, on and off the bikes and were getting excited about exploring Murray County. Suddenly, it was showtime and dinner arrived. Jen’s birria tacos received high marks and so did my brisket sandwich. We hung around long enough to see the waitstaff bring out a cake with lit candles and sing Happy Birthday to lucky Ronda from a few tables down, but with our ambitious schedule for the next day we needed to get an early start. The three miles back to camp on the Casey Jones Trail were a breeze and we literally rolled into the sunset.

The Left Bank Cafe occupies the yellow brick corner building in downtown Slayton, once home to Slayton State Bank. The place where cash and checks flowed across the counter years ago now dispenses coffee, and the vault is still there. It was early in the day and we needed a large dose of that, followed by breakfast. It was five minutes before opening time, but a cadre of regulars was already in there, deep in discussion, hands around their coffee mugs. While we slurped our java, we watched sleepy Slayton come alive through the large shop window. Inside, regulars Tim, Dan and Dave needed no waking up and buzzed on about subjects ranging from lawn care to Kaiser Wilhelm.

The room was small, but inviting with its red and white checker linoleum floors and colorful murals. When the mailman swung by on his walking route and chatted with the barista the scene reminded me of a Norman Rockwell painting come to life. Our server told us back when the bank was in the building, Jesse James and his gang stopped by once but for some reason did not feel like robbing that day. Our breakfast arrived and didn’t stand a chance. Jen’s sausage and egg muffin was gone in a flash, just like my hashbrown stack. Whoever at Left Bank Cafe decided to layer hashbrowns, sausage, avocado and eggs, then melt some cheese over it, should be in the breakfast hall of fame.

At The Plaid Moose, just a couple of doors down from the Left Bank Cafe, we picked up a couple of bag lunches to go and, of course, there were racks to browse.

We returned to camp where we got back on the bikes and rode the Casey Jones Trail into town again, destination Mo’ Than Antiques. Owner Ramona said she offers a “very eclectic selection” and that was not hyperbole. There were antiques, of course, but also crafts, woodworking, art and jewelry from over 60 different vendors. The building itself has an equally varied history. The first floor was once a hardware store (so it wasn’t the restaurant) that also offered mortuary services in the basement. The upstairs was home to a car dealership and, to our amazement, there’s still a functioning elevator in the back room that once brought Model A cars up to the showroom. Jen started her Christmas shopping early and picked up a pair of earrings for her niece, made locally by a 13-year-old girl.

Just down the road from the store, we stopped into the End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum. We hitched up the steeds by the historic church and took a look at the interesting collection of historic railroad artifacts which include a steam engine and many buildings from Murray County’s past. The main attraction is a manual turntable which was used to turn engines around 180 degrees and send them back east. Currie literally was at the end of the line for the Chicago Western Railroad who abandoned the line in 1980. Today, the rusty, crooked tracks disappear into the woods at the edge of the park.

Back in the saddle, we rode the Casey Jones Trail to the Currie Dam. Here, the water flowing over the concrete wall becomes the Des Moines River which snakes across Minnesota and Iowa and joins the Mississippi in its namesake town. The last couple of miles took us through a very scenic section between Smith and Shetek Lakes, past stands of oak and walnut trees and restored prairie. We had ridden this segment near dusk last night and it was beautiful during the day, too.

We came back to the campground via the trail and got ready for lunch and a visit to the Fulda Heritage Society for a tour of the historic train depot.
We felt that on this hot summer day a smoothie was an essential part of a complete lunch so we stopped at SheBrews in Fulda. The coffee shop on Paul Street offers a variety of coffee drinks and beans as well as smoothies. It shares a store front with The Store, which offers gifts “made by people you know.” We browsed their selection for a while, then headed to seven Mile Lake Park for lunch.

This 1-acre county park, one of seven in Murray county, sits on the west side of Fulda First Lake. Despite its size, it packs in a lot of amenities like a swimming beach, fishing dock and even a small campground. We found a shady spot under a shelter by the lake and unpacked our treasures from The Plaid Moose. Jen had the Buffalo Plaid sandwich, a buffalo ranch chicken sandwich, that is. I was equally happy with the Yayoubetcha and its bacon and pesto mayo adorned turkey. We had a little time to kill until our tour, so we ate our lunch, listened to the cicadas singing in the cottonwoods and enjoyed a perfectly good, hot summer day by the lake.
On the way to the Fulda train depot, we stopped to see the Fulda cannon. The 800-pound, three-inch ordnance rifle sits on a concrete pad in a park next to the fire department. Although made in 1863 it’s rumored to still work and was last fired in 2021.

Marge Winter, a volunteer with the Fulda Heritage Society greeted us at the depot and we tagged along a group celebrating the reunion of the Fulda High School class of 1979. Inside the museum, it was just as much fun to get a glimpse of this tiny town’s past as it was listening to the tour group. As they made their way through the displays of mementos, there were oh-my-goshes and do-you-remembers at every turn, while the spouses who didn’t go to Fulda High thumbed through old yearbooks to see just who their sweetheart had a crush on back then. After the reminiscing settled down we had a glimpse at the inside of the train depot which had been moved here from its previous location across the street. The restoration is a work in progress, but the wood shingle roof has been brought back to its former glory.

Before we left Fulda, we stopped to pick up a special package at Tallgrass Tackle. Logan, a young college student, makes fishing lures and we just had to have one for our Sunday fishing outing. We couldn’t wait to unwrap our Flippin Jigs and marvel at the sparkly lures.

Back at camp, we didn’t waste any time and got right back on the bikes for a nice evening gravel ride. It was a hot day, but slathered with a thick layer of sunscreen and packing plenty of water we turned our wheels toward Painted Prairie Vineyard. Once we got moving the heat wasn’t an issue. We crawled up the rolling hills just to coast down on the other side to enjoy a nice breeze. Besides corn and soybean fields, there were an amazing number of little parcels of natural areas, set aside as Wildlife Management and waterfowl breeding areas, brimming with wildflowers. With little to no traffic, the only noise we heard was that of our own tires crunching the rocks below us and, when we stopped, the buzzing of critters and the chirp of the red wing black bird in the rustling grasses.

After a few turns we rolled into the winery and plopped into comfy chairs in a shady spot on the patio. The vineyard backs right up to Buffalo Wildlife Management Area, the views were unbeatable and a gentle prairie breeze kept us cool. After one table cleared out, we had the whole patio to ourselves. Our charcuterie board arrived, which we felt was a good choice for al fresco dining. We sat there for a good while, noshed on meats, cheeses and olives and clinked our glasses in a toast to a good ride, good food and our 28-year wedding anniversary. The house-made cold, sparkling apple and pineapple cider was the perfect choice for the occasion. Eventually we had to make our way back to camp, but not without Jen signing the memory wall in the foyer.

When we rolled back into Lake Shetek State Park after a 20-mile roundtrip, the long, busy day was beginning to catch up with us. It was time to relax and enjoy the view from our campsite, which backed up right to a restored patch of prairie. Across the meadow we watched people on their evening strolls until the sun went low on the horizon and it was time to turn in.

On Sunday morning we stepped into the Grain Exchange in Slayton and, immediately, the smell of pancakes hit us. The laid-back restaurant on Maple Street was quiet with only a few patrons seated in the dining room and an empty bar. We retreated into a booth and checked out the menu but it didn’t take long to make a decision. The choice was clear, it needed to be chicken fried steak and eggs benedict. While we waited, I struck up a conversation with a fellow from the table next to us to find out just how the restaurant got its name. He was stumped, saying his best guess was that the Minneapolis Grain Exchange had something to do with it, but my inquiry started some deep reminiscing about the history of the town among his group.

When the church crowd began to trickle in, we were done and moved on the next item on the agenda. At Lime Lake County Park near the town of Avoca, we unloaded the kayaks to paddle and fish for a while. We hooked up our new lures and hit the water. It was a wonderfully calm morning and we enjoyed cruising along Lime Lake’s natural shoreline. As usual, the fish had other plans, but we have neither them or the new lures to blame for our lack of skill.
Lime Lake Park is only four acres, but it offers a lot. There’s three camp sites with electrical hook ups, a bathroom building, shelter, boat landing and fishing dock. At the southern end of the lake, Lime Creek flows over a natural rock dam, a good spot for a future picnic, we thought.

Before packing up and heading home we had just enough time to walk the Hiking Club Trail at Lake Shetek State Park. It follows the Loon Island Causeway, a narrow 1000-foot land bridge, over to Loon Island. Loon Island isn’t huge and the hiking trail that circles it is less than a mile long, but it’s definitely worth it. You’ll learn about the area’s natural history reading the interpretive signs along the way. We saw a hawk, garter snake and toad that seemed to have come out to bid us farewell and were not bothered much by our presence.

As always, we were among the last to exit the campground. It’s hard to leave early when there’s so much to see in a place and we were glad we came.