Sattre General & Antiques

So how does a tourist from San Francisco wind up at Sattre?
Easy! Miss a turn on a dark Decorah night and start a backroads gravel-​kickin’ adventure! We didn’t actually get into the store — it was after 11pm… but for a couple of lost left-​coasters a five-​way crossroads tells you to GET HELP! So, we owe a debt of gratitude to the crossroads and Sattre store, which will be forever embedded in our minds and will be an important destination next time we come through the land of the Vikings.
Getting straightened out without navigational aids — just enough clouding to block the good ol’ North Star — is easier said than done in Decorah when your cellphone is on AT&T… literally backing up or going forward 20′ could be the difference between «NO SERVICE» and one flickering bar.
Plagued with cellephonicus interrupticus, we tried getting directions from the front desk at our hotel… but they managed to get us deeper into Iowa’s heart of darkness. I asked the hotel desk to give me the number for Decorah police. That took care of it. Just another ten-​fifteen on gravel roads and then a sprint to downtown. Victory, so sweet!
A three-​hour tour, Iowa style. There’s a song in there somewhere… hey, how about a few lines…
Never been so lost as I was in Sattre,
Yet somehow, it made me sad when I was found.
I didn’t know that crossroads
Could come to mean so much,
Yes I’ll see you
The next time I come around.