Welcome to Austin, Minnesota, home of the world famous SPAM museum and the fifth-ranked “Affordable Small Towns You Actually Want to Live In” according to a 2015 article on Realtor.com (written by Yuqing Pan no less).
The Entrance to the SPAM Museum. Austin, MN. July 2018.
Back in 2018 I was making my way from California to North Carolina, stopping to visit some of the most beautiful places in the United States. Yosemite, The Badlands, Craters of the Moon, and pretty much everywhere in Montana. Then I found myself in Minnesota for the first time ever. During a conversation with my dad where I was updating him on my cross-country progress, he asked if I was stopping to visit the SPAM museum. Amazingly, I had never even heard of it. So I punched Austin, Minnesota into the GPS and the rest is history. Thanks Dad.
So is it worth it? Depends on your travel preferences. Do you like stopping at weird tourist trap places like “The World’s Most Adjectivey Noun” (“The World’s Largest Spur” in Abilene, Kansas where I stopped with my brothers on a different cross-country trip comes to mind.) Then YES! You should most definitely add Austin, Minnesota to your trip itinerary. After all, SPAM is classic Americana. Just ask this Sir-Can-A-Lot (He eats ham and jam and SPAM-a-lot):
Sir-Can-A-Lot Statue, SPAM Museum. July, 2018.