by Kelli Bowen
It’s summer! With gas costing a bajillion dollars, we aren’t traveling too far off the beaten path, plus whenever we vacation in-state, I feel a little extra patriotic/state loyalist, so my family and I have been spending the past few days in Medora.
Medora is the town in Billings County in western North Dakota named for the founder's (the Marquis de Mores) wife. He was a French entrepreneur who started a meat packing plant and the chimney still stands today, in this little North Dakota town. Teddy Roosevelt, yes the 26th president, also lived here.
Besides being chock-full of history, it’s a great place to stay because of the tourist attractions: Medora Musical, shops, Point-to-Point Park. Also the natural beauty of the area: Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the Little Missouri National Grasslands, and Sully Creek State Park.
My kids LOVE coming to Medora. Their must-dos are swimming in the Little Missouri River, affectionately called the Little Muddy because of all the sediment picked up from the eroding hills surrounding it.
Miss E and Miss A also love a chance to go shopping and see the Medora Musical. I worked a couple of summers in my youth for the Foundation that basically runs town, so it’s all a bit of a nostalgia trip for me, but it is all in family-friendly-fun.
After a couple days in Medora, we’ll head home with memories of bison, elk and wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the only national park named directly after a single person (Fun fact: he was younger than Hubby but he doesn’t find that fact so fun.) and the family will start asking if we can go to Medora again next year. Spoiler Alert: the answer is yes.
So this summer, don’t think you need to go to some exotic locale or go to that neighbor-state who boasts all of the lakes. North Dakota has some pretty good offerings herself.
Kelli makes her home in Cass County with her husband, two daughters (10 and 7) and two dogs. She works for a regional seed company by day and tries to be an alright mom, wife, friend and writer by night.
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