CLEARWATER, Minn. — Each day, between 1,500 and 2,000 fresh doughnuts are added to the bakery's display cases for hungry customers stopping by the Clearwater Travel Plaza.
Long johns, cake doughnuts, red velvet doughnuts, and more are lined up on shelves in glass cases, and a child passing by peers wide-eyed into the store and points to a frosted doughnut covered in sprinkles.
There are many different types, but the most eye-catching ones are the ones bigger than a face, so big that they cover this child's face.
Oversized doughnuts are lined up in the display case at Nelson Brothers Bakery on Friday, April 12, 2024, inside the Clearwater Travel Plaza.
Macy Moore/West Central Tribune
The Clearwater Travel Plaza on I-94 in Clearwater is known for the two-handed treat, which is so big that bakers have to use two chopsticks to flip it in the fryer.
“I can travel to pretty much anywhere in the U.S., and people know about the Clearwater Travel Plaza, which is great,” said Wendy Johnson, the plaza's chief operations manager. “I'll be wearing a sweatshirt or something, and someone'll comment, 'Are you going to that place for donuts?'”
“So it gets some good press and makes you feel good.”
On Friday, April 12, 2024, visitors will enter the Clearwater Travel Plaza at Exit 178 along I-94, which includes Nelson Brothers Restaurant and Bakery, a gift shop, a gas station and a convenience center.
Macy Moore/West Central Tribune
Like its oversized Boston Cream doughnuts, the Clearwater Travel Plaza itself is bigger than you'd expect. Since opening in 1976, the plaza has been a magnet for long-haul truckers, commuters, traveling families and locals. Many swear that Wright County Plaza is a must-stop along Interstate 94.
The bakery is a big attraction: like the rest of the Travel Plaza, it has expanded and now makes cookies, muffins, fritter bread (great for French toast), candy apples, and more.
“You can ask us for anything, we'll make it,” Johnson said. “That's the great thing about it, we make it here.”
Karen Powell
Contributor / Clearwater Travel Plaza
Much of the charm of Clearwater Travel Plaza is the people who work there, and it's not uncommon for customers to be greeted two or three times with a cheerful “good morning” and a smile.
The title of “most saluted” may belong to Karen Powell.
Powell is one of hundreds, maybe thousands, of people who have been employed by Travel Plaza in the 48 years since it was founded (more than 200 work there today).
But having been appointed in 1978, two years after the museum opened, she is probably the woman who has been there the longest.
At the Clearwater Travel Plaza, she met a “gas station driver” named Jerry, who offered a full service, she said, including pumping gas, filling tires, washing windows and moving trucks for drivers in a hurry.
Karen and Jerry eventually got married.
“A lot of people met here, a lot of marriages took place here,” she said.
Slithy Poh, left, and Mary Moo decide which items to buy while shopping at the Clearwater Travel Plaza on Friday, April 12, 2024.
Macy Moore/West Central Tribune
Powell said she started out working at a gas station making $2.95 a year, but eventually became a shift manager and then a cashier at a convenience store.
She currently manages the Minnesota Reflections gift shop, which is filled with state-themed trinkets including T-shirts, key chains, books, collectibles, novelty items, jewelry, etc. Recently, the shop also began carrying Carhartt merchandise.
“A lot of people know us because of the bakery. I'd like them to call us the gift shop. Maybe one day that will happen,” Powell said with a laugh.
Jamarquis Smith reaches into a display case to grab a doughnut while shopping at the Clearwater Travel Plaza on Friday, April 12, 2024.
Macy Moore/West Central Tribune
The Clearwater Travel Plaza, where kids fall in love with doughnuts, has changed a lot since it opened. Johnson said the plaza has undergone two or three major renovations since 1976.
The basic amenities of the old truck stops — showers, black coffee, and a corded phone in a diner booth — have evolved into a “Relaxation Station” lounge with a 52-inch plasma TV, free Wi-Fi, and hot meals.
“I think one of the things the Plaza has done particularly well is continually reinvesting,” Johnson said. “And it has to do that. When you go to the Plaza, there are a lot of places that are so rundown you don't even want to go in.
“It's very difficult, especially with the traffic, because one bus can have toilets that look like they've never been cleaned.”
The Plaza currently offers gourmet deli fare, a pub, and the popular Nelson Brothers Restaurant, named after the Travel Plaza's founder and longtime owner.
Caramel Apple will be on display at the Clearwater Travel Plaza on Friday, April 12, 2024.
Macy Moore/West Central Tribune
(Dave Olson of Clear Lake purchased the plaza in 2019. He also owns several convenience stores and two truck stops: Olson's Truck Stop in Hasty and Truckers Inn in Sauk Centre.)
There is an Atrium and a Holiday Station convenience store.
Clearwater Travel Plaza also offers catering for your next event: Nelson Bros. Cutting Edge Catering is available for cocktail parties, wedding receptions, corporate events, and other events in the Clearwater area.
Not bad for a roadside truck stop.
Over the years, more travel stops have popped up on I-94. There's a Kwik Trip about a half mile away on the other side of the interstate. There's a Love's Travel stop at the Highway 23 exit for St. Cloud. Closer to the city, a new truck stop has been added in Rogers.
“Everybody said we were going to go out of business … but we're still here,” Powell said. “Everybody thinks when you build a new place, other places are going to go out of business, but everybody keeps surviving.”
“We come here all the time, so it's all about the quality of what you have,” she added.
On Friday, April 12, 2024, customers shop inside the Clearwater Travel Plaza.
Macy Moore/West Central Tribune
At Nelson Brothers Restaurant, a table in the back is reserved for a group of patrons, the spot informally reserved, with coffee carafes and teabags ready to drink.
Retirees continue to trickle down to Nelson Brothers for their weekday breakfast tradition.
Tom Allen and Mike Victor will be the first to arrive this Friday morning.
Allen and Victor explain the group's daily routine and arrange the place to their liking: the TV channel is changed from cartoons to a news program, they use winter gloves to leave the back door slightly open to allow late arrivals to sneak in easily.
They look out the window, point out familiar cars, and make note of who is coming to work and who are regulars coming to dine.
A shopper selects a beverage while shopping at the Clearwater Travel Plaza on Friday, April 12, 2024.
Macy Moore/West Central Tribune
“That's my morning ritual,” Allen said.
They were soon joined by friends including Gary Rohrman and Andy Anderson, and have made it their breakfast hangout spot since 2021.
They reminisce about their high school days, discuss local and national news and world politics, and share jokes.
“[We]talk a little bit about everything, but not too much about anything,” Lauerman joked.
And, of course, they eat, and the breakfast table is lined with English muffins, scrambled eggs, French toast and sausage.
“This is the best restaurant in town,” Victor said.
Enough so that we'll do it again next week.
where:
The Travel Plaza is located at 950 Minnesota Highway 24 in Clearwater. From Interstate 94, take exit 178.
time:
The Travel Plaza, Nelson Brothers Bakery and General Store are open seven days a week. The Pub is open Sunday through Thursday from 8 AM to 10 PM and Friday and Saturday from 8 AM to 11 PM. Nelson Brothers Restaurant is open Sunday through Thursday from 5 AM to 10 PM and Friday and Saturday from 5 AM to 11 PM. Minnesota Reflections Gift Shop is open daily from 8 AM to 9 PM.
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