Prague, CZ, to New Prague, MN

I found Bit-o-Honey candy at my parents' local grocery store and just about fainted because it tasted like caramelized sunshine. Or because it stuck my jaws together and I couldn't breathe. Suffice to say, you can't get St. Paul, MN-made Bit-o-Honey in Prague and I didn't realize how much I yearned for it until I flew thousands of miles home and saw it sitting on the shelf of Millers' Fresh Foods. 

Family is much the same. Living far away makes you miss your loved ones more than you've ever realized you could. Thankfully, we get a full month in the American Midwest!

On our second full day in the United States from Prague, we picked up BW's grandparents and visited... New Prague, MN, coincidentally. It was named for its original settlers, who were Czech immigrants. Aren't BW's grandparents adorable? They're of German ancestry, but New Prague is a handful of miles away from their Jordan, MN, farm.

The place was smack full of nods to Czechness, from food offerings...

...to local businesses with Czech names.

There's even a St. Wenceslas Church! (Doesn't it look related to the church with the same moniker in Smíchov, Prague, below?)

We also spun through Jordan, MN, where BW's parents grew up, met and were married. It should be in the dictionary next to the word "bucolic." These two have been coming to these falls since they dated in high school :)

We visited the family burial site, and we saw Grandma and Grandpa W's farmland, including a parcel they donated for wetland conservation.

Finally, we stopped at a veterans' memorial in Jordan, where GrandpaW has a paver stone. The cannon in the photo was captured from the Germans during WWI and weighs about 7,000 lbs. 

I'm thankful we're getting this time to do meaningful things with our loved ones - things we should have been doing when we lived in the United States. Practicing a lot of mindfulness right now...