Five friends, a record player, and a lake.

Every year my family spends at least two weeks at my Nana’s hundred year old lakeside cottage in Detroit Lakes, MN. It’s usually a place to relax and hang out with my extended family. However, this week at the cottage it was just me, Brenda, Sharon, Mareyuna, and Ally. It was actually my first experience living “on my own” and the lakeside is very different without adults around. 

Here’s some highlights:

1. Getting lost. I’ve been to Detroit Lakes every summer for my entire life and yet somehow I don’t know how to get there at all. With road construction, we ended up taking a half-hour detour and completely missing two important exits. It’s all good though. Brenda kept the music going. Sharon navigated from the backseat brilliantly. Mareyuna and Ally slept and offered telepathic moral support. And we got there eventually (and found a really delicious sandwich shop, the Muddy Mouse in Pelican Rapids, along the way.)

2. Grocery shopping. After taking an inventory of our food supplies and making a list of items we’d need for the week (ramen noodles, s’more fixings, pizza rolls, etc.), we headed to Central Market. Everyday we cooked in the kitchen with Brenda’s portable record player playing in the background. 

3. Round table. Usually at the lake, my Nana has my sisters and I clear dished as soon as we’re done eating. But this week, we sat around talking after every meal. Sometimes for hours. And the dirty dishes sat on the table. They got washed eventually.

4. Optional rules. We took out the kayaks and paddle boards almost everyday. It honestly never occurred to me to get the life jackets out of the closet. Tipping a paddle board isn’t as much fun if you’re wearing a life jacket. 

5. Late nights. Every night I was up until almost three. Sometimes we watched movies (White Chicks, She’s the Man, The Sound of Music). Sometimes we danced. Sometimes we just hung out. 

The King Kong. On our last night, we went to the Lakeside Tavern for dinner. We almost got kicked out for being underage, but they let us order food before the kitchen closed. Mareyuna ordered a burger call the The King Kong (also know as The Heart Stopper—no kidding). Cheese, onions, mushrooms, and 1.5 lbs of meat. I still can’t believe she finished it. 

Our week was lazy and fun and full of weird little responsibilities (like deciding what to make for dinner and remembering to wear sunscreen). It was pretty perfect.