By Tyler Trieglaff

Notes from the Chief

Notes from the Chief…Well, I made it back from a little vacation for the DA and I. We took a trip to Tennessee to visit Nashville and Chattanooga. We flew into Nashville on a Wednesday and one of the first stops after renting a vehicle was to Cooter’s Place in Nashville.  

This was a throwback to the early 80’s in the form of a Dukes of Hazzard Museum. The nostalgia in this place was unbelievable! Many Friday nights at our house were spent watching the Duke Boys being chased by Roscoe P. Coltrane and Boss Hogg. Uncle Jesse always provided great wisdom as did Crazy Cooter Davenport. And we can’t forget the lovely Daisy Duke.  

Back to Cooter’s Garage…This place had all kinds of souvenirs for sale and also many displays of memorabilia as well as the original toys that were produced some 45-plus years ago. There were four vehicles at the museum, the General Lee, Cooter’s tow truck, Daisy’s Jeep and a Hazard County squad car (only gently damaged). We did pick up some collectibles when we were there. I would highly recommend stopping by if you are in Nashville or Pigeon Forge, Tenn. or Luray, Va.

After Cooter’s Place we made our way to Smyrna, Tenn. and found a mom and pop BBQ restaurant. This place is one of those small family run places that did not disappoint. The food was great and the service was wonderful. After lunch we took the long way to Chattanooga, making our way through many small towns east and south of Nashville. There was no timeframe, so it turned a two-plus hour trip into a four-hour road trip. Chattanooga found us in a nice, newer hotel where we set up camp for a few days.  

Thursday was a day spent with some of the DA’s family that she has not seen for several years.  It was a happy time for her and I got to meet some family that I had not met before. We had lunch at a place called Sugar Ribs, overlooking downtown Chattanooga. The food here was equally good with some very moist brisket and all the fixings. The afternoon was spent with family and we all went out to eat that evening at another Brazilian all you can eat steakhouse called Rodizio. I was the last man standing at the table, not wanting to throw in the towel, but, soon the meat sweats hit me once again. Desert was another crème brûlée and a caramel Flan that we shared.

Friday was a day of relaxing with not much on the agenda. The weather wasn’t the nicest, although it was 40-50 vs the -20 here. We checked out a couple shops in the close vicinity but did not get into any of the tourist traps in Chattanooga.  

Saturday had us checking out of the hotel and making our way north to Nashville. We stopped at Lookout Mountain, but decided to keep on trucking as there were way too many people at that tourist stop. We took the interstate for an hour or so and that was not the most exciting drive so I hopped on a state highway that paralleled the interstate. This route took us through many small towns with lots of small cattle farms on both sides of the highway. We made it to our hotel near the airport, then to get all gussied up for a night out on the town in downtown Nashville.  We had heard stories of the downtown scene, and it was all that it was hyped up to be.

There are about 3-4 city blocks solid with 6-8 bars per block. Many of the bars are owned by famous country music singers. Each bar had the roll up doors on the open-air windows and there was a band right inside every bar. The second level had a band as well as the third level.  Some even had rooftop bars. Talk about people. All different kinds from young to old. We found a small restaurant named Jacks that was cooking some authentic BBQ. I had to be extra careful not to spill on my fancy new white shirt. After some vittles we made our way to a couple of the bars for a little dancing, (country and western) before the grand finale event for the trip.  

We had tickets for Sawyer Brown at the Ryman Auditorium. The Ryman Auditorium was the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. This is a former church that makes quite a quaint concert venue with 2,300 of your closest friends. The seating is still the original church pews which don’t fit very well on a 6’3” frame. The opening act for the evening was Sophie and the New Relics, a band made up of Sophie (17) and three high school age boys (15, 15 and 16).  They put on a heck of a show, and I believe the crowd was very impressed with their musician skills.

Sawyer Brown capped off the evening with another wonderful performance that I will remember for a long time. I saw them several times in the past at WE Fest, but my memory is a little foggy from those concerts back in the day. Lead singer Mark Miller told several stories about their career and how this was their 6,000th show as a band. He talked about winning Star Search in the mid 80’s and touring with Kenny Rogers, and they sang Kenny’s song, “The Gambler.” They also played a song to honor a good friend by the name of Toby Keith, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” The entire show was upbeat and entertaining from start to finish. I highly recommend going to one of their shows if you can.

Sunday had us waking up early to catch our flight out of Nashville. The plane to Chicago was full so we had to valet check our carry-on luggage. This seems pretty normal especially when the overhead bins get full. Now for getting to Chicago. For some reason we were behind schedule and our flight to Fargo was already boarding by the time we pulled up to the gate to de-plane. This wouldn’t have been an issue except I had to wait for the carry-on bags to be delivered to the jet way. The DA took off to try and hold the plane and I waited for the bags.  

The bags finally arrived on the elevator and off I went! I got a text from the DA claiming that we had five minutes to go. I started with the fast walk, then a trot then running as fast as I could while pulling two roller bags behind me. It was a good thing that those wheels were properly aligned and lubricated because I gave them a workout. I did make it to the gate with less than a minute to go and was the last on the plane. 

We made it to our seats, and I still had to stow the bags in the overhead bins. I knew the bags would fit but I was having a little trouble getting them in the bins as we brought more home than we came with. What made it even worse was the little petite flight attendant trying to give me tips on how to get the bags to fit, like she was going to go any better, she could barely reach the bins.

The flight back to Fargo went by without a hitch and our little getaway was over. Until next year.

Friday, Feb. 14

6:05 p.m. Assist with a female who could not get ahold of her husband.

6:55 p.m. Assist with a motor vehicle crash on Co Hwy 29.

9:15 p.m. Assist with a female having emotional issues.

Saturday, Feb. 15

7:37 p.m. Suspicious activity reported between former friends due to a debt owed for some purchased property.  

11:04 p.m. Extra patrol requested as a business found an open door. No signs of anything missing or damaged.

Sunday, Feb. 16

4 p.m. Assist with a medical.

Monday, Feb. 17

2:49 p.m. Small fire in a backyard fire pit appeared to be garbage burning. Officer warned about burning garbage and to recycle more items to avoid such issues.

Tuesday, Feb. 18

4:05 p.m. Complaint about dog outside in the cold. Officer relayed the complaint to the dog owner.

6:27 p.m. Report of the theft of gas from two vehicles in a driveway.

6:28 p.m. Complainant reporting a motor vehicle theft. The issue turned out to be someone had purchased the pickup but at one point it was being repossessed. The henchman for the prior owner thought the repossession was still valid so he took the pickup on behalf of his friend.  Once things were figured out, officer made arrangements and the pickup was returned.

Wednesday, Feb. 19

12:09 p.m. Assist with a medical.

2:30 p.m. Vehicle unlock.

5:07 p.m. Stray dog showed up at the Cornerstone. Pup was posted on social media and the owner called the police shortly after.

10:04 p.m. Female reporting that a former male friend had sent pictures of her to another male who also wanted to be her friend. Under investigation.  

Thursday, Feb. 20

5:58 p.m. Resident reporting that a FedEx package was delivered to a business in town and the business claims it is not there.  

6:48 p.m. Report of damage to a gas pump at All in All. Store employee had information about the driver and the city cameras were able to capture the incident to identify the moving company responsible for the damages. Under investigation.