Here's why we left Minnesota

Minnesota is a lovely place to live. Transplants, however, eventually realize the need to move.

The move to Minnesota began on a rain filled November Thursday night in New York. I was sitting on the hook at JG Melon finishing dinner watching suits and skirts wade to the front door.

Unbeknownst at the time, my future wife had walked in for dinner. I noticed her immediately, one thing led to another, fate stepped in and six months later in May 1988 a whirlwind Manhattan romance touched down in St. Paul, Minnesota.

In late September that year I asked a neighbor what the falling white stuff was. ‘Snow, winter’s round the corner,’ was the smirk-accompanied response.

A series of events led to career changes.

In December 1990, we purchased the Crocus Hill Market, knowing little about food except how to eat it. The 100-year-old grocery store was a St. Paul icon.

Months later, the April 7, 1991 edition of Time Magazine, featured Karen and the Crocus Hill Market in a cover story – The Simple Life – that changed our lives yet again.

Three months after the story appeared, we were jettisoned into the restaurant business, leasing a small lakeside grocery store in Deephaven, a tiny Lake Minnetonka community. The store’s owner, Rob Dick, walked in with the Time issue in hand and offered a deal we couldn’t refuse.

We transformed that store into our first 20-seat restaurant and went on to open a small group of restaurants around Lake Minnetonka with the help of Minnesota supporters.

Karen and I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit and had launched businesses before meeting and moving to the Twin Cities. However, it was the encouragement, advice and support from friends and customers that contributed to our success. Minnesotans are a giving group and prompted us to open our second, third and fourth eatery around the lake.

Those ventures allowed us the opportunities to meet many Minnesotans over the seven years we lived there. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to experience their welcoming hospitality as they shared ours.

Minnesotans are a kind, fun loving family oriented group. They’re resilient. You need to be if you choose to live there. We both have many fond memories of our life there and the friends we made.

However, the seasons are different in the North. In order to live there you need to be tough, but compassionate (November), you need to enjoy the moment (December), but also have a vision for the future (January).

You need to be able to accept help from your neighbor (February), and offer it when needed (February). In order to be happy there, you need to remember there eventually is more light than darkness (March), and that once the ice melts (April) you can get rid of the mobile fishing hut and put the boat back in the lake. (May).

The primary reason anyone elects to leave Minnesota is the Winter - or possibly a new position in Washington.