The Defeat of Jesse James Days in Northfield brings a lot of folks to town. The event begins Thursday night, affectionately called “townie night”, when Northfielders go downtown to get their fill of “fair-style” food. Then out-of-towners come in Friday through Sunday.
Every year my husband rides in the organized bike tour. He did the 60 mile ride on Saturday. And me….with my new electric bike…rode zero miles! HA
Instead I went downtown with the crowds and watched the reenactment – it’s been a few years since I’ve seen it. My friend and I arrived downtown early to get front row seats in the bleachers. We sat and visited (and ate mini donuts) while we waited for the show to begin. The weather was pleasant…cloudy skies, no wind and a great temperature.
The reenactment includes gunfire and horses and lots of action, and it happens quickly, but it is an interesting story and portrayed accurately. The DJJD is a celebration for the defeat of the Jesse James gang, so as to not glorify bad guys. The gang’s demise started here in Northfield…actually two were killed during the bank raid.
After the reenactment we walked down the closed-off main street of Northfield, and came back along the river walk and looked at the fine arts displayed along the way.
This led us back to the food stations where lots of people were buying their favorite foods. We decided to continue to the craft fair in Central Park and looked at all the wares offered for sale, then went to buy our lunch at the food stands.
We went into the Antique’s of Northfield store downtown, which was full of people browsing and buying antiques. Antiques of Northfield is also considered a TV Lamp museum. It has the largest collections of 1950’s of TV lamps on public display.
By mid-afternoon we were ready to leave the crowds behind and headed for the quietness of home.