While Minnesotans spend their summers retreating up North to the cabin and the lake, my new client is looking to retreat from the hot summer sun of Texas and to a cabin right here in Nokomis.  It got me to thinking, what are we retreating from?

When I go up North, I look forward to spending time walking along the lake, stopping periodically to skip some stones.  Before sunset I like to stop by the local shops to browse, and then leave with an ice-cream cone.  Then I take a seat and watch the sun dip into the lake.

I walk around Lake Nokomis all the time.  And while I was thinking about it as exercise, I saw a couple standing on the shore skipping stones.  Rarely do I stop by the shops at 50th St and 28th Ave to browse the local wares, or buy myself a Nokomis t-shirt at the Nokomis Shoe Shop.  I make a run to the grocery store for a gallon of ice-cream, but I don’t walk to one of the many local cafes or beach pavilions to get a cone.  And now with one of the Twin Cities’ best ice-cream stores (Grand Ole Creamery) opening a Nokomis location at Cedar and Minnehaha Parkway, what excuse will I have for not savoring a cone while I watch the sunset from the hill just east of the lake?

We should all take a cue from my Texan client and vacation right here at home!