ALWAYS ON

SPEND A LIVELY SUMMER WEEKEND IN FARGO, THE NORTH DAKOTA CITY THAT JUST KEEPS GETTING COOLER.

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There's always something going on in Fargo-that's the first thing I notice. On the Thursday evening I arrive, I walk out the doors of the Jasper Hotel and hear Tom Cruise thundering through a canyon. Top Gun: Maverick plays on a large screen in downtown's Broadway Square. Couples picnic on the AstroTurf; kids spin on bright red-top chairs. I pause to watch a few scenes, then meander toward my dinner plans.

Wandering down Robert's Alley, an unlikely dining and shopping corridor tucked behind the main drag, I must seem lost, because a young family asks if I'm looking for Marge's Bar. I wasn't, but I've got some time before my reservation, and the opportunity to dip into a local secret sounds tempting. In the not-at-all-obvious, pint-size bar, I sip a Spicy Scandinavian (an aquavit mule with hot honey and lingonberry syrup) surrounded by year-round Christmas decor. It won't be the only hidden bar I enter tonight.

Fargo has always had a streak of quirky-cool charm, but in the last few years the city's gone into overdrive. The big revamp started with Broadway Square, a 2020 initiative to bring a community gathering space to downtown. The boutique Jasper Hotel arrived soon after, in 2021. Two years later Drekker Brewing Company, a hugely popular brewery just outside of downtown, opened Brewhalla, a combo food hall and beer-focused hotel, further solidifying this eastern North Dakota city as a destination.