There are some things about living in Minnesota that East Coasters will never understand, and that Minnesotans will never recognize as being odd. Taking your shoes off at the door for one...its just understood that you will do so. Handyman coming to fix your disposal? His holey socks are walking across your floor. Hosting a party? Expect 15 to 20 pairs of shoes to be lined up by your front door. Coming home to grab a kid and immediately run out on some errand? Add a few minutes to remove and then replace your shoes because you really can't in good conscience walk through your own house with street shoes on!
Another thing is the way everyone is from here...having come here from DC and before that Chapel Hill, its been YEARS since I lived anywhere that people were "from". In Chapel Hill we were all there for college or graduate school on our way somewhere else...in DC, everyone was there to work and get experience and work some more but we had all come from somewhere else and were likely to be going somewhere else at some point. Here in Lakeville, and even at my office (thus making up my entire experience in Minnesota) lots and lots and lots (most) people are from here. They went to school here, got married here, are raising their kids here. Having lived in many different places during my life, and having married a Navy kid, it is quite a different experience being the only person in your daily encounters who is not "local" from way back.
Another thing is the Cabin culture. Back in Rocky Mount, NC where I went to high school, one of my friends parents owned a beach house and I babysat for a family with a lake house, but other than that, no one I knew had a second home. I mean, we rented a place at the beach for a week every summer like lots of folks, and people sometimes went to the mountains for vacation, but there was not this Cabin culture. The closest thing I can think of to compare to it is the twenty-somethings I knew in DC who went in every summer on a house on the Maryland shore and headed to the beach every Friday night and returned every Monday morning for work each week between Memorial Day and Labor Day. But it was my understanding those people were mostly going down to the shore to get drunk and hook up (or other things that I can't talk about on a family friendly blog). The Minnesota Cabin Culture is a whole other thing.
The "Cabin" can be anything from a shack that barely holds itself together to a High-end Luxury villa-the term "Cabin" is equally appropriate to these and everything in between. These cabins, everyone seems to have access to one if not through their own purchase then because their parents or uncle or godparent has one. The Cabin is a place to go year round to get away from the City. And the idea is not really to just go up there an relax, though of course that is part of it. These cabins must be maintained and most Minnesotans (by my account anyway, and in the interest of full disclosure its not really a scientific account) take pride in taking care of their cabin themselves. The same people who have someone clean their house every week and mow their lawn during the summer do all their own housekeeping and maintenance at the "cabin".
Well, this weekend we got to experience this Cabin culture firsthand. Our friends Julie, Jakob and Rylie invited me and the kids up for the weekend and so we went off on our first Cabin adventure! Jakob was in D's 1st grade class this year and plays on his baseball team. Rylie will be in kindergarten with M this fall. The kids get along great and we parents have fun hanging out too. Since Jason was gone off on his Williamburg adventure we figured we'd go and check it out. It was fun and the following series of pictures are all from our weekend at the Cabin. J loved the boat, M loved tubing and D loved having someone to hang with 24/7. I loved just getting away for a low-key weekend and hanging out with another mom! Thanks Julie for inviting us up and we are now initiated into the Cabin culture and can truly appreciate it for the great thing that it is! One more reason to love life in Minnesota!
