I am a former resident of Redwood Falls, Minnesota.  In fact, I had the opportunity to be employed by its first tourism office, and I loved it.  I spent four busy years there.  Redwood Falls is a beautiful community with a lake and a huge park nicknamed "Little Yellowstone," sporting a zoo and waterfall. That is not to say the city has made the most of them.  The lake has been unusable for years, but I've read recently that a reclamation project has been approved.

When Jackpot Junction Casino opened in the late 1980's, there were high hopes for the city of Redwood Falls.  We had an influx of tens of thousands of visitors just ten miles down the road at the Casino, and they kept our hotels full for a few years.   Clearly, the marketing department at the Casino knew what they were doing.

Bed and breakfasts, limousine services and flea markets popped up around the region.  A forward-thinking group of individuals pulled together a cooperative tourism organization to market four local counties, but our cooperation reached to both ends of the states before I left that office.

Somehow, in spite of everything, Redwood Falls missed the boat.  So what happened?  Redwood Falls is a conservative community which is great for banks, insurance companies, and utility companies, but not much help when it comes to incubating the kinds of businesses that appeal to tourists.  We just didn't have enough charming little businesses and restaurants in our downtown to give them a reason to spend their time or money.  The city eventually decided to keep the hotel taxes in its own coffers and market sporting events to bolster support for the new community center.  But I'm over-simplifying.

Every visit to Redwood Falls made me sadder and sadder.  Then one day, strangers came to town and did something outrageous.  They opened a coffeehouse name the Calf Fiend!  What the?  And it is a wonderful coffeehouse.  It is colorful and cozy, with a life-size paper mache kicking calf,  and the food is remarkable.  Everything is homemade.  It rivals any big-city coffeehouse I've ever sipped espresso in. 

AND that's not all!  Even though the long-established Morgan's Supervalu closed, it morphed into Morgan's Deli , a bright and spacious eating establishment down the street from The Calf Fiend.  The property has been renovated and has gorgeous hardwood floors and brick walls.

Guess what! There's more.   I'll fill you in on future updates.