For those of you who live out of state, and haven't been back to Princeton in a while, here are some suggestions for your stay.
— — — LODGING — — —
Princeton
AmericInn Lodge & Suites
910 S Rum River Dr.
Princeton, MN 55371 (763) 389-9312
Rum River Motel
510 19th Ave. North
Princeton, MN 55371 (877) 747-8713
Milaca
Super8
635 10th Ave SE
Milaca,, MN 56353 (320) 983-2660
Elk River
Country Inn & Suites
18894 Dodge St NW
Elk River, MN 55330 (763) 241-6990
Cambridge
Crossing by GrandStay
300 South Garfield Street
Cambridge, MN 55008 (763) 689-0542
— — — RESTAURANTS — — —
Burger King, Subway and Finish Line Cafe — just south of where classmate Roger Anderson and his family's namesake construction equipment business is located at the south end of town. All three serve food way less crunchy than a bulldozer or front-end loader.
Dairy Queen — where it has been since forever, next to the old Armory which now is a funeral parlor (and not to be confused with the home of the Dilly Bar OR the Peanut Buster Parfait. Mmmm.).
Frontier Steak House and Pizza Hut — where the A&W drive-in was located, and they brought the burgers to your window! And, now they don't — but you knew that.
K-Bob Cafe — it hasn't moved, and if you don't know where the K-Bob is, you're obviously a Russian spy and NOT a classmate of ours! 'Nuff said.
Long Siding Bar and Grill — if you don't know where Long Siding is, you didn't graduate with us. (Hint: it's where the train "stops and Pease")
Merlin's Family Restaurant — intersection of NEW Hwy. 95 and NEW Hwy. 169. If you remember a large blow sand field just west of Princeton that's it. So, don't get confused: it's not OLD Hwy. 95 and OLD Hwy. 169, and it's also not OLD Hwy. 95 and NEW 169, and it's also not — oh, you get the idea. As always, proceed with caution — signal your turns, and check those mirrors often, folks.
McDonald's — If you are cruising with your 'mates south of town on the main drag, it is on your right just past where the A&W was. If you have already turned around on the south end to start cruising northbound again, it will be on your left just before you get to where the A&W was. If you kind of come at it from the east or west, it'll either be in front of you, or just slightly behind you, depending on how windy it is at the time. Use your best judgement here.
Moonshine Bar and Grill — about two miles north of town on County Road 1. This is a stealth location; don't tell anyone about it. Shhh!
Neighbors on The Rum Eatery and Saloon — if you remember where we use to turn around on the north end of town when we were cruising the main drag, you are there. Again, to weed out illegal aliens and Russian spies crashing on our reunion website: if we have to tell you where you and the 8 others in your car turned around, you're "not from here" and "shouldn't go there."
Shooters Bar and Grill — it was "The Curve" back in our day, 4 miles east of town. Guns optional.
— — — LEISURE ACTIVITIES — — —
Cruising
The most popular activity is still Cruising. Yes, that's a word that's capitalized, due to its importance. Of course you didn't learn that in Fran Barg's class, but it's true. All that is needed is a car. No age restrictions — though you will recall it worked best with a fresh, new driver's license and the old man's car.
A heads-up for those of you who haven’t been here in a while: Princeton now has two — count 'em, two — stoplights AND a roundabout. If you are thinking that the extra light and roundabout would detract from the Cruising experience, you would be mistaken. The new stoplight on the south end of town serves as a clear warning that you need to turn around (if you find yourself in Zimmerman, you missed the new stoplight).
The roundabout is on the north end of town and was specifically installed for Cruising. NOTE: There no longer is a need to pull off at the liquor store parking lot. Repeat: Liquor store, no turn. You simply glide into the roundabout, then — this is important — take the FOURTH exit off the roundabout and you will magically be traveling south on the main drag. I know, it’s just crazy how this works, isn’t it? The street literally bends around onto itself and suddenly you’re going in the other direction, just like one of Mel Shay's erasers bouncing off your head. A motorized miracle!
So, a warning: If, on your first attempt, you cruise through the roundabout and you find yourself in either Cambridge, Milaca, or St. Cloud, you took the wrong exit off the roundabout. These public service announcements will be scattered throughout this helpful article.
Advanced Cruising (Level II)
As everyone knows, the second most popular activity is After-dark Wildlife Watching (AWW) at the Kunkel State Forest or The Sherburne Wildlife Refuge, each of which are a short drive west of town.
I don’t have to tell you this, but the third most popular activity is the After-dark Submarine Races at the old sewage lagoon just southeast of Princeton.
Public Service Announcement #2: If you are cruising with one of your classmates and you combine that with either Activity Two or Activity Three (above), remember the Rules: If you pull in at the the refuge or the lagoon and there is another car parked there, immediately turn off your headlights and park at least 50 feet away from any other car. That way everyone can enjoy wildlife watching or the submarine races. Please note that many of the newer cars have headlights that are on all the time and can't be shut off. If you have one of these, you need to sell it for scrap.
Picnic
Naturally, a picnic in the park is also popular. As to which park, you can choose either Civic Center or Mark or Pioneer or Rainbow or Riebe or Riverside or River View or Splash or Veterans Park. Whew! For those of you who have a hard time making a choice, we do not recommend a picnic in the park. Who needs a migraine?
Library
Princeton has a beautiful public library. To locate it, you simply need to go to the old stoplight and stand directly in the middle of the intersection. Remember from 9th grade geometry class that the point where two lines cross is where they INTERSECT. You need to be at the intersection of OLD Hwy. 95 and OLD Hwy. 169. Then if you look east you will see a large sign which reads "Pub ic Library" Please do not be offended; if you’re standing where we told you to, there is a tree limb blocking out the “L".
Museum
Where the old train depot used to be, the Mille Lacs County Historical Society has built a new museum. They built the new museum to look and smell exactly like the old train depot. How they were able to do that no one knows, but it is truly amazing. For those of you who have forgotten where the old depot was before they tore it down and built the new old train depot, you will need to go to the intersection (there's that word again) of OLD Hwy. 95 and OLD Hwy. 169 (see Pu bic Library, above). At the intersection, go west on OLD Hwy. 95 until you come to a spot in the road where it appears train tracks used to cross the OLD Hwy. 95 but no longer do — and if you look to the left you will see the new Old Train Depot museum. Easier than you thought, right?
Golf
Princeton has a beautiful and unique 18-hole golf course. What makes it unique is that it has a par 6, par 7, and two par 2 holes. It was designed by Jonas Trent Roberts (note this is not Robert Trent Jones). Public Service Announcement #3: The USGA now requires all courses to follow the Kosloski Rule (yes, it is the same name as one of your classmates). For the non-golfers reading this, in golf, each golfer has a score card and a short pencil and under the honor system they record their own score. Shortly after Kosloski took up the game, the USGA ruled that those short pencils could no longer have erasers on them. This is now known as the Kosloski Rule. Look it up.
Tubing
Because the West and East branch of the Rum River converge at the north end of Princeton, tubing is a very popular activity. Your faithful PHS Class of ’66 Reunion Committee considered adding tubing as an event for the reunion but the Princeton police got wind of that. Princeton’s Finest pointed out that a whole bunch of 68-year-old individuals in swim trunks floating under those two bridges on the north end of town would cause a "Gawker Slowdown” of massive proportions, creating a public safety issue on the bridges as well as the surrounding area.
The committee is happy to report that a compromise has been reached. The negotiated settlement is that if you wish to go tubing you can, but it has to be between 2:00 am and 4:00 am only, and absolutely No Lights of any kind that might illuminate any bare flesh. So, that’s no flashlights, lanterns, cell phones, matches, or those handy small bottles of fireflies. Absolutely NO LIGHT of any kind from any source whatsoever. That way, no SWAT or HazMat teams are needed. Just keep that in mind and no one gets hurt. Nice to know we’re good-to-go on this now.
Other activities may be available in Princeton; we're just not aware of them. Hope this is helpful.
