Freivalds: Is the cabin getaway really worth it? |
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Published 10/29/2018
By John Freivalds-Coffee by the Lake
Lakeshore Weekly News-SW Minneapolis
There are many huge natural migrations on earth: Canada geese flying south, swallows of San Juan Capistrano heading off to Argentina from California and humpback whales leaving cold Alaskan waters to go off to the warm currents of Hawaii.
Meanwhile in Minnesota we have endless miles-long bumper-to-bumper migrations of Twin Cities residents heading to their cabins up north to “open” them in the spring and “close” them in the fall.
Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates (MLRA) note that “seasonal property owners occupy/utilize their properties on average only 55 days a year.”
Not a Minnesota native, I have been struggling to find out what the attraction is. I have used friends’ cabins two hours away near Hinckley, Rice Lake and Amery, Wisconsin; three hours away in Hayward, Wisconsin; and five hours away in Ely. All are on lakes and all have neighbors right next door and the constant hum of personal watercraft and fat-tire pickup trucks with loud bumblebee mufflers all day long.
Peace and quiet? Do I need to mention the constant and enervating presence of millions of dive-bombing black flies and mosquitoes? And if you are not retired and cannot go up during a weekday, Interstate 35, Interstate 94 and U.S. Highway 169 are packed to the gills going north on Friday and the same going south on Sundays.
All the Zup’s markets in Ely, Babbitt, Aurora, Tower, Silver Bay and Cook are full of cabineers buying sausages surrounded by signs warning you not to put your trash in their dumpsters. And I pity the poor millennials who find that it’s hard to get Wi-Fi up north.
