When I was growing up, we used to go on a family vacation every summer that involved driving up in to Northern Minnesota and staying a week or two in a cabin on a lake. We never went to the same resort twice, although I think we stayed on Lake Edward more than once.
The first trip was back when I was maybe six. It was a working trip for my Dad, who was writing a story on Outward Bound. We drove up to Ely and stayed in a place called the Burntside Lodge. Mom and Dad only took the older kids, leaving Margy and Billy who were babies, behind. I don't remember who took care of them, at my age I probably thought you could stick them in a drawer and just pull them out again when you came home.
Such a good time was had by all that we did it (but brought alone everyone) every summer till we began to move away.
The cabins we stayed in were always comfortable (indoor plumbing, kitchens) but sort of rustic; no televisions, most of the time. I do remember the big place we stayed at on Lake Edward must have had a tv because I remember JP and me watching Nixon resign while there.
The vacations always featured lots of swimming, fishing, cribbage and card games. They were great fun.
But one of the legacies of the family vacation was the
Betsy-Tacy books. My Mom gave me the first one when I had just learned to read and we were getting ready for an hours long car trip to a cabin. Each year after that, when it was time to go North, a new Betsy-Tacy book was presented for the trip.
Next to Winnie the Pooh, the Betsy-Tacy books are the best kids' books ever written. (I don't consider Harry Potter a kid's book. It's a kid -accessible adult story. So there.)
Betsy Ray is the literary persona of Maud Hart Lovelace, who made her own childhood exploits in Mankato, Minnesota the stuff of legend. The books are simply wonderful from beginning (Betsy's fifth birthday, when she meets her BFF, Tacy) to end (Betsy's Wedding, in which Betsy marries Joe, Tacy has babies and WWI begins) and give a wonderful and fun glimpse into life in Minnesota at the turn of the last century.
I've never understood why Laura Ingalls Wilders gets all the props. The Betsy-Tacy series is far more fun than the Boring House on the Boring Prairie Bore books. And they'd make a much funnier tv series.
There is a Betsy-Tacy Society, which has bought the homes of Betsy and Tacy in Mankato and turned them into Literary Historical Sites. The society also makes sure the books stay in print.
Meg Ryan's character is talking about these books in You've Got Mail, when she says to some child that "Unfortunately, her real name is 'Thelma'." she's referring to Betsy and Tacy's best friend, Tib.
Steve Rushin mentions the books in his new novel, Pintman.
Those of us who are fans of the books are what amounts to a cult; we LOVE THEM TO DEATH.
So when Lucia suggested a few weeks ago that we take the Minneapolis tour of where Betsy, Tacy and sundry other characters lived, we were all very excited.
Lucia's a member of the Society (so's my Mom) and she has a map of where the homes were and which are still standing and it just so happens they're all in her neighborhood. So the other day, about 7 of us got together for lunch and a walking tour. It was a gorgeous day and we had a blast.
Not all the houses still exist; at least one home was where a park now exists. Several of them are still there, looking just as they were described in the book. We were all stunned to realize that the apartment building where Betsy and Joe first resided after they got married was the same place our brother Bill had lived in when he first moved out. That could have been the very building where Delos Lovelace (Maud Hart's hubby) first thought up the idea of his great literary work; King Kong.
Our walking tour and lunch was great fun and I want to thank Lucia for the putting it all together!
That's one of the things I did this week to avoid going to work.
