Dinner Break! McDonalds, Cannon Falls, MN
Cannon Falls McDonald’s is now closed.
Which is notable mainly because of its former neighbor.
Thanks to the significance of Curt’s Cannonball, I pay closer attention to this part of Cannon Falls, when we drive through. Despite having only a disappointing set of pictures, I wrote a story about Curt’s Cannonball a few years ago. The truck stop was demolished between 2019 and 2021, and new apartment buildings would replace it. This was Laura and my first trip to Rochester since March 2023. The apartments were still going up the last time we came through, but now had been finished and are now lived in.
Then there is the McDonald’s directly behind it. Remaining open after the truck stop closed, and on after the intersection with highway 52 was closed off to cross traffic. Though McDonald’s was still using the old sign poles, first put up by Curt for his Cannonball.
But it when we drove by in the early afternoon of August 28, 2025, I now had to pay closer attention…
Holy shit! McDonald’s caught fire!
The whole back end of the building was charred.
Not that we were planning on it, but we wouldn’t be stopping for McDoubles in Cannon Falls today…
Sure enough, the billboard with directions on how to get to the Cannon Falls McDonalds, has a “temporarily closed” banner covering up some of it. My apologies for the general crappiness of that picture. It was getting dark, and I was far away from it. But I needed it for the story!
Unfortunately there’s no time to look for any leftover McGriddle’s right now… We have an appointment in Rochester to get to! So we’ll check back on the McDonald’s after we go about our more important business.
August 29, 2025 - Home 2 Suites (by Hilton) Hotel.
We checked in after her appointment at the Mayo Clinic. Underground parking would be closed for repaving while we were here, leading to a crowded parking lot issue for shared Pantera Bread spaces. Compounded by the need for unnecessary landscaping, which took away a lot of potential places to stash the car overnight.
Our hotel was right on the banks of the beautiful Zumbro River.
Complete with bike paths and the Apache Mall on the other side.
Either the dog is doing his business on a toilet, or he’s jumping out of one. This is an odd choice for a sign graphic. If the dog is toilet trained, he wouldn’t need to be outside doing it. And you wouldn’t need a bag to pick up after it. Maybe a graphic of a squatting dog, straining and making eye contact?
Before we left for Rochester, I did a scan of key points in the area on the Googlesmaps. Mainly to see what has changed as far as recent business closures are involved, at least since we were last here. This visit doesn’t offer a lot of time for wandering, but if I can find something abandoned that isn’t far from our route, I can add it into our regular driving plan.
Denny’s closed this location (among several hundred other locations, including Coon Rapids) in late 2023. Their second location, along highway 63, in Rochester’s Miracle Mile Shopping Center, remains open 24/7. You can still get Moons Over My Hammy in Rochester.
Laura and I last ate here on May 9, 2022. I commemorated that late night dinner with two blurry photos of the Denny’s menu, and this shot of the tabletop condiment caddy. We sat at the first booth inside the front doors, now completely blocked by plywood. My patented half-assed research brought this interesting story up…
On December 18, 2024, a homeless man was arrested on burglary charges, after he “barricaded” himself inside the now closed Denny’s. The brief clips of the Denny’s in the video make it appear the restaurant wasn’t boarded up at the time. He must have made a big mess inside that was better off being covered up, than seen by curious snoopers like myself.
According to the Googles, the former Denny’s property has been sold and will be converted into a Wienerschnitzel. Timeline unknown.
Driving back behind Denny’s we got a much closer photo of the “historic” Corn Water Tower.
We were in this area specifically because of a needed stop at Walgreen’s, a couple of blocks away.
From the Walgreen’s parking lot, looking across Broadway Ave, towards Graham Park. The former Graham Park Grandstand has been removed in the two years since our last visit.
Graham Park Grandstand, July 11, 2022.
I’d always wanted to get some better pictures of the grandstand, since so much of it was blocked by trees lining Broadway. Saddened to see only empty space on the land, when we parked at the drug store. After we got home, I read that demolishing the grandstand was part of a major ongoing renovation to Graham Park. The grandstand was deemed structurally unsafe during an inspection, and was torn down in April 2024. A replacement will come later, as the entire site is evolved into a more flexible use facility.
Speaking of evolving…
A November 2022 Googlesmobile drive by, of the Cannon City McDonald’s. That garage door is where McDonald’s stored their dumpsters, and where the fire started.
Wonder if those two mysterious green figures on the roof know something…
Googlesmobile leaving McDonald’s. Foundation and first walls of the Cannonball Apartments are going up, on the site of Curt’s Cannonball Truck Stop. In the distance is a Speedway gas station. That may come into play later tonight…
August 29, 2025
Sun is going down, and already behind some clouds on the horizon, but we made it to the Cannon City McDonald’s with just enough daylight to get a quick series of acceptable photos. Wonder if it’s just the wind that shifted the “CLOSED” letters on the sign? Or if someone was just messing with it…
This McDonald’s was last renovated in the summer of 2019. That’s when the old school traditional McDonald’s roof was removed to make it look just like any contemporary office building. This architectural trend has really taken away the signature looks of long lasting fast food chains. Now they all look alike. A McDonald’s looks just like a Wendy’s, which looks exactly like a Taco Bell, which looks exactly like a Burger King. And so on and so on…
Love the conflicting statement of “Police Line Do Not Cross” tape attached to a “Welcome” sign.
Just four hours earlier…
Looking east out the 12th floor window of the Gonda Building, in the Mayo Clinic campus. 12 floors below at street level, is the Peace Plaza. Currently, the east entrance is closed due to some work being done on the exterior of the Gonda Building. It’s fenced off now, but it is set up as a walking area with tables and benches, sandwiched between hotels, leading past sidewalk shops and restaurants to the Galleria At University Square. Which is filled with more shops and restaurants. All of which are pretty expensive, and not geared towards my interests at all. Those type places are further away from the main parts of the Mayo. But they do exist in Rochester, which is nice for me.
View from the west facing window of the Mayo building, from the office of a doctor who was running late. There’s more construction around the Mayo Clinic today, than there’s been during our last few years of coming down here. That large pit of construction was new this time. We stayed at the 7 story hotel at the far end of the property (white with brown trim), and always had a 5th floor room that looked out across the buildings that used to be here.
Pushing a wheelchair uphill on the sidewalk for those two blocks, is something I’m glad I don’t have to do again. Though Laura enjoyed the downhill part of that.
According to an old photo of the Mayo campus directory, hung up in the Damon Parking Ramp, that land used to be home to the Ozmun buildings. Demolition started in April 2025, and was finishing up in August. Don’t know who Ozmun pissed off, but the gods of Mayo took away all four of his buildings, even a parking ramp! Current Mayo campus maps list this area as: “Site of Future Clinical Building”.
I’m sure it will be grand.
View of the Ozmun Buildings, looking towards the Mayo and Gonda buildings, from the 5th floor of the Towneplace Suites By Marriott, July 11, 2002. Shame that all of those fully mature trees had to be sacrificed as collateral damage.
Would you please show us on this silly little skeleton, where life has hurt you over the last 50 years?
Leaving our last appointment, just after 5pm. On a Friday night. The normally bustling Mayo and Gonda Buildings were pretty much empty. Was eerie how fast a place that big cleared out. I was parked in the Graham Ramp, a block and a half away at street level.
Used to park in the Damon Ramp, directly across the street from the Gonda Building. But it was now closed, and appeared to be in the early stages of demolition. That’s taking away a lot of nearby parking from an area this dense.
Almost as bad as taking away a convenient fast food option from freeway travelers.
If you ignore the burned up garage area, the Cannon Falls McDonald’s looks like it could still be open. The fact that none of the windows were boarded up was a huge positive. I wasn’t sure what I would find on our closer look, after quickly passing it on the freeway the day before.
Looking across the north end of the restaurant seating area.
All of the windows were covered in smoke and water stains, so I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get any pictures worth using. Since none of the windows were covered completely, there was a good amount of natural light coming in. I took these on my phone, and wasn’t pleased with what it looked like on that screen. Once I uploaded them and committed some light Photoshoppery, I was very happy with what I got, given the situation.
Another view of the seating area, with the Coke fountains on the other end.
The fire obviously did not reach this part of the McDonald’s, but the smoke damage is pretty heavy. That lake in the middle of the floor isn’t helping matters either. Not sure if it’s just ashes, but that looks like a pretty sickly mass of mold growing on the big couch. The fire was in late April, and with no climate control inside the building, the hot Minnesota summer has been a nice breeding ground for a pretty serious strain of mold.
McDonald’s lobby, with a self order kiosk looking intact. The other half of the Coke fountain area and cheesy McCafe glass area, covered in soot. Bright red “give us your change” box looking as if no smoke settled on its surface. Saturated and collapsed drop ceiling tiles have dropped to the floor.
Surprised this photo turned out given how blurry it looked on my phone
Too much smoke damage here to positively identify this poster, affixed to the other side of the vestibule (all my best to you and yours) window. Almost positive it was promoting the Minecraft Movie, since McDonalds had a Happy Meal tie-in, back in April. However a I could not find any Minecraft movie poster with a large pink face or green ghost dog looking thing.
In a completely unrelated note, I’ve had the Minecraft Movie on my DVR for several months now. I saw it was going to be on HBO, and I was intrigued enough that I thought I’d watch it at some point. Still plan on watching it, but I haven’t found time yet. That’s how I am with movies. I do less than five movies a years Just too much other stuff I’d rather be doing, than stare at a movie for two hours.
Sorry McDonald’s, I highly doubt you make better chicken strips than Kwik Trip. Combined with some garlic bagel chips, that’s a quick work dinner at least once a week. And it’s a lot cheaper than McDonald’s.
But since we couldn’t have any McCrispy Strips, Laura and I opted for dinner at the Canadian Honker, before leaving Rochester for home. By the time we got out of the Graham Ramp and navigated the closed roads back to the freeway, It was nearly 6pm. Let’s eat now so we don’t have to deal with it on the road.
Not like it was ever a realistic option, but we won’t be eating at McDonald’s in Cannon Falls.
Love their logo… Reminds me a more refined Bob the Duck.
With a bib instead of combat boots.
The TV above the bar was showing a puzzling baseball game. It was the Baltimore Orioles playing the Seattle Mariners, in the Seattle Kingdome, at some point in the mid 1990’s. I didn’t have watching Ken Griffey Jr. and Cal Ripken Jr. play on today’s bingo card. Now I had to figure out the date this game was played, and the significance as to why it was being broadcast today.
A few innings into the game, Mariners third baseman Dave Hollins came up to bat. A graphic appeared on the screen read: “Acquired earlier today in a trade, from the Minnesota Twins.” Well, that gives this game some significance, especially to hardcore Twins fans. A few pitches into his first Mariners plate appearance, Hollins fouls a ball off his mouth. Lengthy delay ensues, but Hollins stays in the game and finishes his at-bat. Blood dripping from his lip onto his brand new white Mariners jersey. In an anti-climactic finish, he grounded out to first base.
As far as the trade… On August 29, 1996, the Minnesota Twins traded Dave Hollins to the Seattle Mariners for David Ortiz.
Inside the Honker entryway are several racks holding various free local magazines. Laura picked this copy of Today Magazine, because of the coincidental cover story. We made jokes about how she didn’t do a good enough job to save her town’s McDonald’s, but had to retract them after reading the story. She had not been a member of the Cannon Falls Fire Dept. at the time McDonald’s was lost.
So I now declare that the Cannon Falls McDonald’s would still be knee-deep in McNuggets right now, if Morgan Roeber was there to put out the fire, that night!
St Marys hospital sits across the street from the Canadian Honker. Laura has had several surgeries here over the last few years, and has at least two more on the docket over the next four months. I really hope they finish working on 2nd Avenue before we have to come back. (Doesn’t look like they will.) This main road being out of service is a real disadvantage for us being down here.
Dinner and the drive home (with the Cannon Falls pit stop) concluded the August visit to Rochester, but we’d have to return in a couple weeks for more appointments. To bridge that gap, let’s have a little appreciation for what replaced the long abandoned Curt’s Cannonball Truck Stop.
The Cannonball Apartments opened in 2023 on the same parcel of land that once served travelers who needed a stop between Rochester and the Twin Cities. Now providing a nice place to live between Rochester and the Twin Cities.
I absolutely love that they named the apartments after the gas station. Pay respects to what was here before, not just smash together two lame nature words and call that your apartments. The Cannonball sounds so much better than The Winter Timbers, or whatever stupid name it could’ve been assigned…
******
September 8, 2025.
Another visit to Rochester on tap for today. Switching things up, Laura offered to drive, meaning that for the first time in almost ever, I will be free to try and get pictures of a few points of interest along the way. Ones that I’ve only been able to briefly admire while driving past at 70+ mph.
Not to mention the overwhelming relief to my anxiety that navigating the Downtown St. Paul freeway system always brings.
I can even make an attempt at getting a picture of CHS Field, where the St. Paul Saints play.
Or crossing the Mississippi River on our way out of St. Paul.
Too bad there’s an in-car reflection on the left bank of the river, I really liked this picture.
Just slightly mistimed my click on the long desired photo of an abandoned Jake’s Discount Liquor in Coates, Minnesota. If you go back in time on the Googles Maps, this building used to be Jake’s Gentleman’s Club. They were forced to close in October 2002, over nude dancing and zoning and licensing rules, by order of a federal appeals court. After closing, the building was painted bright pink. In 2011, Jake renovated the building and reopened as a liquor store, in November 2011. It closed at some point between 2018 and 2021, and it is looking positively awesome right about now!
Did finally get a decent shot of the House of Coates Bar, on the opposite side of the freeway.
As unlucky as I was in timing my picture of Jake’s Discount Liquor, I couldn’t have done better with my other target on the drive…
The former Time Out Sports Bar in Cannon Falls, not far from the exit that would take you to McDonald’s. Time Out closed in 2016, and has been deteriorating ever since. Which is sad because it’s a unique structure. Looking at the state of the building, it likely can’t be saved. One day we will make the drive to Rochester and this building will have been scrubbed from the earth.
Another Cannon Falls building that likely can’t be saved is that burned up McDonald’s…
Using my patented half-assed research skills, I found a story of the fire posted by the Cannon Falls Beacon.
“Cannon Falls firefighters responded to a fire that went through the roof of a McDonald’s restaurant on Hickory Drive Wednesday morning. responders were called at 2:39 a.m. April 23, when witnesses reported a possible dumpster fire.”
The two guilty dumpsters have been yanked out from the removed garage door. Everything is all charred and rusted. The fire started in this back room and burned through the roof before firefighters made it on scene.
Seeing the fake brick peeled away from plywood attached to wooden studs destroy the illusion that McDonalds was a solid fortress of fast food. I don’t know what I was expecting, just not this…
Confusing drive thru order lanes. I’ve never liked using the drive thru, and will almost always choose to go inside if I have the option. The multiple order station gimmick seems to be a good idea, but it seems to create a lot of problems with the workers keeping the orders straight.
Ratso? Why are you tagging in cursive?
I was disappointed the menu boards were taken down. Always like when they are kept behind. Especially if they have prices, then it becomes an excellent time capsule piece. But they were gone. Not even burned up, which would have been really cool.
Back to the Cannon Falls Beacon: “Cannon Falls fire did a “knockdown” in the garage area on the south side of the building. After securing a hydrant, crews entered the building to fight the fire indoors, while other firefighters set up a ladder on the east side of the building assist from the roof.”
That must be the hole!
Well, definitely not getting a Quarter Pounder with Cheese here, so we’ll stop at the Kwik Trip in Zumbrota.
My bladder can usually make it from the northern Minneapolis/St. Paul suburbs, all the way to Zumbrota before I need relief. It’s a Minnesota law that Kwik Trip will have the nicest public restroom of all gas station chains, making it the most appropriate place to stop. Zumbrota also makes for a good place for a little nutrition break. Which can be enjoyed on the red picnic table behind the store, quick cigarette for desert, and I’m back on the road for the final 20 miles before Rochester.
Visible from said picnic table was a dumb looking van with a Genex logo, featuring a little sperm character.
As a proud yet cynical card carrying member of Generation X, I have to point out to Genex, that the only acceptable sperm cell logo belongs to Captain Honkass and his Seamen. (As seen on 201 Proof Television.)
Once we arrived in Rochester, we went directly to her first appointment, before going to the hotel, to save time. It also ran long, and we didn’t get out of there until after 5:30pm. At least we could just take Broadway south to our hotel, without having to get back to the freeway.
Plus, I wanted to drive by the abandoned AMPI (Associated Milk Producers Inc.) building, which closed in November 2019. I didn’t find anything about it being demolished, as the Kmart just north of it was, back in 2023. So it was good to get a few new photos as we drove by. As mentioned, Kmart is long gone now. The land the building was on is used for additional Mayo Clinic employees Park and Ride spaces. They’d already been using most of the vast parking lot, after Kmart closed in March 2019.
I wrote a story about the Rochester Kmart a couple of years ago. Laura and I had been coming down for medical type stuff, on a pretty consistent basis, between the spring of 2022 and spring of 2023. During that time, I would take pictures of Kmart’s slow demise (in addition to other parts of town) while Laura was undergoing the serious medical stuff. The building’s demolition matched up with one of her more major surgeries. Kmart kind of became symbolic to what was going on, in a way. After Kmart was gone, we didn’t come back to Rochester for a couple years.
Now we’ll be back again more often.
Too bad there’s not another Kmart to watch decay…
Although At Home closed up shop, just two weeks prior to our most recent visit.
And it’s really close to Culver’s, who make a pretty decent fast food burger.
You know who really doesn’t?
Here’s a hint: One of their locations caught fire in April…
The first of Cannon Falls McDonald’s two drive thru windows. The window where the most shunned employee is stuck collecting cash or running cards, far away from the fun (and chaos) the rest of the employees are dealing with. Also the position first eliminated when McDonald’s is short-staffed. Increasing the chaos and decreasing the fun. For all involved.
This picture was almost completely black on my phone, just as the windows were black with smoke. I’m shocked I was able to get anything from this picture at all. Enhancing the photo revealed a sad little stool for the shunned employee to sit on. But they had to sit next to the bakery rack. That’s what they get.
You almost know there had to be a one or two employees that were scheduled to open the McDonald’s that morning, that didn’t get the news before showing up to work and seeing a fire crew extinguishing their jobs. Or the person so dreading work in the morning, that they went to bed the night before praying the place would just burn down, so they didn’t have to go in. (We’ve all been there…) But on this day, those lucky few had their wish answered!
How did that single yellow McCafe cup escape getting covered in soot?
Looking inside the second drive thru window. This is the window that gives you food. After you pay for it at the first window. Unless no employees are currently being shunned. Then you pay here.
Sure is dirty in here now…
Back out looking at the seating area again. Long after the smoke settled on every surface accepting of it.
Thanks to the Googles (Megan Poterucha, specifically), I found a couple of interior photos from June 2022, that showed the seating area before it was coated in ashes.
Remember when McDonald’s used to be all bright and colorful? With images of creepy clowns, large lumpy birds, insecure purple blobs and a guy with a giant cheeseburger for a head, plastered on the walls? Now you look at this, and it’s not the same place. This is cold and sterile, not happy and whimsical. I never would have imagined 40 years ago that McDonalds would paint their walls black and decorate with a palate of tans and browns. Almost like the entire chain went through some sort of midlife crisis about 20 years ago. Where’s the clown?
Are you going through some problems at home, McDonald’s?
Everything inside McDonald’s is so dark and bleak, this could easily be a picture of the lobby with the lights turned off. Instead of the lobby after a fire destroyed one third of the building. Only if you can ignore the small lake in the center of the restaurant, spawning a deadly mold growth.
The interior design of the Cannon Falls McDonald’s, looks almost like it would fit right inside our hotel for the night…
September 8, 2025, Country Inn & Suites, Rochester, MN.
This hotel was on the far south end of Rochester, making it the furthest drive to get to the Mayo buildings we’d made over the last 5 years. At least it was free, as Laura redeemed her Radisson points for it. Kind of sad that it took all of her points from the 11 nights we stayed at the Radisson hotel in Fort Myers, Florida, for one night in this 3 star hotel. It was nice enough, and clean, but it didn’t seem worth the price we would have paid in comparison to other hotels.
However, the hot tub was just what I needed!
Just off the pool deck was a small Video Arcade. Now that’s something I haven’t seen in a hotel in MANY years. In just as strange an occurrence, I did not play a game of Ms. Pac Man. Neither Laura nor I had any quarters, and we didn’t even have cash on hand to get change from the front desk. Oh well, it was a slow machine. Ms. Pan Man is more fun with the speed-up chip installed. Kudos to Radisson for having an original and not the 2001 re-issue combo, with Galaga.
Back in the room I was busy growing frustrated with the TV remote. There was a menu function, but the remote would only let you navigate the menu. There was no button on the remote that would allow you to select a channel. I saw several things on the menu that I had interest in, but they were literally hundreds of channels away. Only way to get to them was the simple channel up and down button. And each channel had sub-channels, each showing the exact same thing. I gave up and decided that the next thing that didn’t suck, was what I was going to watch, while Laura was doing whatever it was that she was doing.
TruTV won the Spectrum Cable roulette, because I saw “Savannah Bananas” when I reached their number. I’m familiar with what the Savannah Bananas are. Gimmick being baseball’s equivalent to the Harlem Globetrotters. But I’d never really learned exactly what a Savannah Bananas game looked like.
I couldn’t look away.
Tonight’s game sold out Petco Park in SanDiego. Over 43,000 people were here.
You can win innings by points or runs, and the games have a 2 hour time limit.
Infielders would go to catch a pop-up, but volley the (yellow) baseball to another infielder. Then the outfielders would come in and bounce the ball to each other, before officially recording and out.
The home plate umpire was a short fat guy who kept dancing throughout the entire game.
Fly ball to center, the centerfielder runs in does a standing backflip while catching the ball as his head is looking at the ground.
Then remote control cars appear on the field.
A pinch runner with a prosthetic leg was used at one point.
Choreographed song and dance routines would break out by one of the teams in the middle of innings. Sometimes with synchronized trampoline jumping.
Batters stealing first base on a wild pitch.
BABY RACES!!!
Fans inside the stadium could catch a foul ball, and it would be recorded as an out against the batter.
There’s a “Golden Batter” rule, which be any batter you choose, at one point in the game. Regardless of place in the order.
Players are ejected for bunting.
This whole thing would have made more sense if I’d been high. But I was stone cold sober and watching baseball presented and played like this. Had I been high, this next thing may have short circuited my brain for several hours…
Then an eleven foot guy steps up to the plate! He grounded to third, and his 7 foot long legs ran fast enough to beat out the throw. He was removed for a pinch runner, who had two real legs.
I’m blown away.
The Savannah Bananas won the game by either runs or points, I wasn’t very clear on how the scoring worked. But I was sold. This was just awesome to watch. Turns out, they played 2 games in St. Paul’s CHS Field, on August 1st and 2nd, earlier this summer.
Tonight’s opponent was the Firefighters (from no city listed). So they’re not responsible for what happened in Cannon Falls…
Good news, McDonald’s is hiring!
Bring your respirator!
Inside the corner entrance, propped open by that stool. As much as I could’ve gone for a McFlurry, I didn’t try the door.
Irony…
The “Slippery When Wet” sign is a nice touch.
Again, I’m really surprised I was able to get pictures I could use at all, given how smokey and covered the windows were.
For some reference, let’s go back to June 2022, via the Googles, for another of Megan Poterucha’s Cannon Falls McDonald’s interior photos.
That so does not look like McDonald’s.
Zooming out and jumping ahead three years…
So… About this interior design…
At least there’s another “Slippery When Wet” sign on the banks of Lake McMoldy. Safety first!
The LED menu board against the back wall stand out to me. I didn’t know they showed up in the photo until I adjusted the color. The monitor on the far left looks smashed, the other three look somewhat warped. Doubtful this part of the building would have seen enough heat to melt the plastic, given the fire was mainly contained to the dumpster room. Could be damage from the sprinkler system, which is the likely source of Lake McMoldy itself.
Too much reflection over the front row of booths. Main entrance backing those, with the restrooms behind that. White chair looking very out of place in that space.
It’s almost too dark to get any more pictures, so this will have to suffice. Can’t think of anything I missed.
Recently I’ve started paying a little close to the AI feature in the Googles search results. Makes it a lot quicker than reading multiple redundant stories to not find any new information. On the subject of a possible timeline for demolition of the building, Googles AI spat out the following:
“As of late August 2025, McDonald's has not released a timeline for reopening the Cannon Falls location that was damaged by a fire on April 23, 2025.” And… “Following the fire, the building at 425 Hickory Drive sustained significant damage, but no reopening plan has been made public. The investigation into the fire's cause, led by the State Fire Marshal's office, was still ongoing as of the end of August.” Followed up by my favorite… “Customers seeking McDonald's service in the area should look for alternative locations for the time being.”
“Should look”
I have to wonder if there will be a rebuild. With this significant amount of damage, it’s probably easiest to demolish and start over. But you have to wonder if it’s worth the expanse to rebuild at this location. I have no idea what kind of numbers this particular McDonald’s was pulling in, but corporate may decide to cut their losses. It has one major negative affecting it. Freeway access is difficult, more so when the nearby freeway access point was cut off over ten years ago. Which certainly had to affect business.
Be interesting to see what happens after the state concludes their investigation.
September 8, 2025
Huge fan of those Gonda Building Glass Things, hanging high above the Subway level access.
Laura had two appointments at the Mayo Clinic today. First being at 10:30 in the morning, we got out of that a little before noon. We now had about 2 hours to kill before her next appointment. Earlier that morning, she mentioned wanting to check out the Nordic Shop, inside the Galleria At University Square. That was about 2 blocks west of where we were, and we couldn’t take the shortcut on Peace Plaza, due to Mayo construction.
Looking up Peace Plaza, with the Gonda Building at the end. Opposite where I took the 12th floor photo, aimed where I’m standing now. The historic Chateau Theatre on the right. The Peace Plaza seems to undergo changes every time we come down here. That shallow pool in the center wasn’t there two years ago. Most of the sidewalk stores and cafes are different too. After finishing my cigarette that I totally wasn’t supposed to be smoking on the Peace Plaza, we entered the Galleria At University Square. Took us longer to find the elevator to second floor, than it took to find the Nordic Shop.
Was my lucky day as there was a big comfy couch outside of the Nordic Shop. I told Laura that I’d gladly hang out on the couch, and keep the wheelchair with me, while she went inside. I wrote out some notes on my notepad for a while… Then I started texting Super A’s Fan Rob… Then I started flipping through a free tourist magazine… I could see Laura moving around in the store but it’s not that big of a store… Then I was woke up when a woman walking by said: “Taking a nap sounds like a great idea!”
I was working on less than four hours sleep, this couch was a gift from the Nordic Gods.
Thank you Baldur, owe you one.
Wasn’t keeping an exact count, but Laura was in Little Norway for over an hour, and we had to scramble back to the Gonda building to make her next appointment. Why must everyone around us move so slow? Once we get there, she tells me it’s not for another half hour. Had I known that, I would have stopped and picked up some food from one of the shop along the way. We’ve had nothing since our very disappointing hotel breakfast.
Regarding the prices at the Nordic Shop, she really liked a sweater they had in her size.
It was only $495.
Her last appointment went another hour before we headed back to the Graham Ramp around 4pm. We hung out and formulated our plan for the drive home. We wanted food, and wanted to kill some time so we wouldn’t be driving into St. Paul in the middle of late afternoon traffic. Once all of that was settled, it was time to settle up our ramp tab and head north.
Graham Ramp’s middle exit booth was lined with little plastic ducks. The woman taking tickets and payments claimed the woman on first shift likes ducks. Since they weren’t hers, I cropped her out of the picture. $9 later and we’re on our way!
Goodbye Rochester… See you next month.
Goodbye Cannon City McDonald’s… Thank you for not being boarded up!
After we left the charred remains of McDonalds, Laura and I stopped at the Speedway gas station across the street. Road drinks and smokes were needed.
At least it used to be Speedway. That sign was covered up with nothing noting its new name. Speedway took over all of the SuperAmericas a few years back, and good on that. SuperAmerica was a rotten chain. Severely run down from its glory days of 35 years ago. Speedway will be the clean refresh the brand needs! Well, Speedway was then bought by 7-11, and we all know how 7-11 runs things… Now a few years later, 7-11 is dumping Speedways at an alarming rate. Many of them are becoming Marathons, or BP stations, as they are sold off to individual owners. And all 7-11 branding is stripped away.
I think Cannon Falls is getting a Marathon.
However, they do have a a piano in the middle of the sales floor. I can now say that I’ve seen a gas station with a piano inside. Yet I can’t say WHY there’s a piano inside the gas station.
I was tempted to buy this sticker as a tribute to 1994, but it was $3.
And this isn’t worth $3…
Neither is your MOM!
We need to get home. Even the propane tanks know what time it is…
Yes, you absolutely are!
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