Lake Metigoshe Park
Exploring Bottineau brought me to some of North Dakota’s quirkiest and most memorable stops—from the star-aligned concrete pillars of Mystical Horizons to the giant snowmobile-riding mascot, Tommy the Turtle, and finally to Lake Metigoshe State Park, where the trails, showers, and scenery each left their own impression.
International Peace Garden
From foggy Dion Lake to the sweeping symmetry of the International Peace Garden, the day unfolded as a journey across landscapes and ideas. I walked the length of the Formal Garden, lingered at the Promise of Peace sculpture, stood before steel from 9/11, and paused inside the Peace Chapel as a butterfly landed on Viktor Frankl’s words. Every detail—whether the floral flags of two nations or the water flowing along the border—was a reminder that peace, like the garden itself, must be tended constantly.