Spud city

Potato-prolific Barnesville, Minn., hosts the Potato Days Festival each August. This gathering includes a Miss Tater Tot Pageant for girls age 5 and 6, a potato sack fashion show, potato sack races, and potato-carving and sculpting activities, where people build anything from buildings to beach scenes out of spuds.

Mashed potato wrestling highlights the event, when participants grapple in thick potato goo and then get hosed off by the local fire department. You can fill up on all things potato, including pancakes, soup, sausage, dumplings, french fries, and Norwegian lefse, a type of flatbread.