“Made by one man”
Darwin, Minnesota, is the home of a ball of baler twine rolled by Francis A. Johnson. It is 12 feet in diameter and weighs 17,400 pounds. Johnson began rolling the twine in March 1950, and wrapped four hours every day for 29 years. It is currently housed in a specially made gazebo across from the town park on Main Street, and the town celebrates "Twine Ball Day" on the second Saturday in August every year. An adjacent volunteer-run, free to visit museum and gift shop has information on the history of the ball, as well as selling a variety of souvenirs.
I have been here twice. I visited a few years ago when my dad heard the weird al' song. I thought it was pretty lame to be honest but it was still a nice roadtrip. As a jokeme and some of my friends decided to go on a road trip there and I found it much more fun. My advice is to have an open mind about it and treat it as it is. It is just a large ball of twine joke around about it. I'm planning on returning with my friends and rromate this summer to get a chance to actually go into the gazebo to see the twine ball. The gazebo does make pictures difficult to take. If you end up going there and the gift shop is closed stop by The Blue Moose bar and they sell them there. they were fairly cheep I bought a shot glass and a miniature ball of twine for $8.
Stopped here because my daughter had heard about it and wanted to see it. The park across the street was a nice place for a picnic lunch. It is impressively large and a nice drive through the country to and from Darwin, but not really worth an extra trip.
It's Ok, a bit out of the way. The ball is behind glass, so hard to take a picture. Overall, kind of lame and a let down. IMO, not worth the drive. I have been to the other one in Cawker City, KS. It is much bigger and more accessible - meaning you can touch it and get up close to take PICs. You can even add twine to that one.
Out of the way but fun and cute!
Have you ever been on a road trip and NOT wanted to see the world's largest ball of twine? Um, no! It's great and the nice lady at the visitors center was sweet and friendly. A great stop off!
Fun place to stop and stretch your legs. Off the beaten path. Got us out of some interstate driving going to stops like this. Not a bad thing. Not well marked, drove past it and had to double back. Glare on the glass made pictures difficult unless you put your camera to the glass.
You can not see through the glass to take a pod picture because of the reflection. If I had known this maybe I would not have stopped. Still a cute thing to see.
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World’s Largest Ball of Sisal Twine Built by One Person
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