Sauk Centre is a small central Minnesota town with a literary chip on its shoulder. Sinclair Lewis was born here, used the town as the raw material for Gopher Prairie in Main Street, and left behind enough friction that the place is more interesting than a standard freeway stop.
The best reason to come is the Sinclair Lewis Boyhood Home, a preserved 1889 house where the first American Nobel laureate in literature grew up. A few blocks away, the Palmer House Hotel anchors the Original Main Street Historic District and still carries the atmosphere of an old railroad-era hotel.
Sauk Centre also sits on the Lake Wobegon Trail, so it works as a pleasant biking stop between the dairy towns and lakes of central Minnesota. It is not a full weekend destination for most travelers, but if Lewis, small-town America, and easy trail riding appeal to you, it is worth more than a quick exit from I-94.