According to a story in this morning's Mankato Free Press, a couple was disappointed to learn that Mankato (MN) does not live up to its billing on the web:

[Rosaura] Prada, of Edinburg, Texas, brought her mother, Maria Alcantar, of Garden City, Kan., on vacation to Mankato Monday to see the underwater city, the pyramid and maybe do some whale watching. But when they arrived at their motel, they found no one knew about these and dozens of other attractions that the Web site at http://city-mankato.us claims Mankato offers.

I'm guessing the Pradas have already left the area and I won't get a chance to sell them the Red Jacket Bridge just south of town. Rats.

Minnesota State professor Don Descy's site has probably done more than anything to put our litte town "on the map." When I ask folks in workshops if they know anything about Mankato, they often say, "Isn't that the place with the funny website?" One of the earliest spoof sites on the Internet, Descy purposely created the page to emphasize the need for evaluating the information found on the "new" medium of the web. I guess it is still teaching people - albeit within the school of hard knocks.

And it continues to embarrass the local officials. 

Oh, bonus points if you can find my picture as "Sheik Yabouti" on the site.