Northern Minnesota

Besides having walleye on the restaurant menu, other little things about being home resonate with me.  One is having the waitress tell me with a straight face that they don't have any vegetables on the menu.  It's meat and potatoes.  Period.  That is a good indicator not to ask the waitress for a glass of wine.  Other fun things about being home is people know how to pronounce Leinenkugel and don't give you a weird look asking for it.

There is something so basic and yet so sophisticated about Minnesotans.  The Minneapolis airport has iPads everywhere with internet access for people to use -- for free.  Nobody messes with them, nobody steals them, nobody vandalizes them, there isn't any scratched gang graffiti on the screen...  having something like that would never happen in San Francisco or Oakland. 

Walk a little around the Minneapolis airport and you will find poster boards for aquatic nuisances.  The poster board begs for people to clean their boat motors to stop the spread of harmful fish and plants.  My personal favorite is the plea to stop the spread of "rock snot."