Yow, there’s a lot of mosquitoes here! These Minnesotans tout the heck out of their 10,000 lakes, but nowhere do they remind you of the nurturing relationship that all this standing water has with the little parasites. Deet has become our new favorite bouquet. Interestingly enough, the natives seem to take no notice of the clouds of bloodsuckers. While I chatted it up with the locals, I needed to constantly swat away the skeeters in order to see who I was talking to. But my new friends stood there unfazed by the onslaught. What's more, I think they took my flapping arms as a sign that I wasn’t right. I couldn’t be bothered, though—I was too busy speculating about my waning red blood cells.

For as long as I lived in neighboring Wisconsin, it surprises me that I never made it into Minnesota more than once. No worries, we made up for lost time and saw much of the state. In the urban realm, we delved into Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth. They’re all lively cities, but the only one giving the impression of being livable is St. Paul. Minneapolis is gritty and Duluth is rough-edged. Actually, Duluth walks the line of being cool, but isn’t quite there. Out in the sticks, one of the coolest drives you can do is along the north shore of Lake Superior, on Highway 61. It’s a two-lane road that eventually takes you into Canada, but before you get there you’ll feel like you’re time-traveling. That’s because of all the smallish 1960s-era cottages and resorts you pass on your way. No deep-pocket developers have taken over and the shoreline communities shine because of it.