Samantha

Geography - Cities Description:

Finally a group to help remind all of us born and raised in Minneapolis why we'll never leave! This city is filled with far too many memories and there will be plenty more to come. Please feel free to share anything that tells us how you know you're from this great city!

And so we begin... You know you're from Minneapolis when:

You've been eating at Shorty & Wags since they sold wings AND ribs.

You know what main roads the 18, 21, 23, 19, 5, 14, and 2 bus drive on.

You went to Washburn, Southwest, South, Edison, North, Henry or Roosevelt.

You and St Paul don't get along, but you have no idea why.

If your friend invites you over and they live in any suburb (including surrounding ones), you consider it too far and dread the drive.

You know what and where Cup Foods is.

You know all of the fast food restaurants that are open after 2am.

As a kid you would go to the Richfield pool.

You say "I live OVER South or Norf".

There are many attractions at MOA that you've never seen and that's because you only go there to shop.

If anyone ever bad-mouthed Minneapolis you would let them know just how crazy they are.

You are familiar with Eat Street.

You've seen the cherry and spoon sculpture at the Walker Art Center.

Your elementary school took you to Chutes and Ladders and your high school took you to Valley Fair.

You know what the Bomb Shelter is.

You listened to Atmosphere when you could only buy his album at Electric Fetus.

You have gone BEHIND Minnehaha Falls and partied at one of the 4 bridges.

You have partied at White Sands.

You could get anywhere just by using 38th, 42nd, or 46th St.

You have jumped off the Nokomis Bridge.

You have had many drunken nights eating breakfast at Perkins.

You have eaten Juicy Lucy’s at the 5-8 club or Matt’s.

You hated anyone that didn't live inside Minneapolis city limits.

Hardly anyone you knew had a car, yet you never had any trouble getting around.

You would rep “South Side” in your high school hallways by putting your hands together to make an S and now that you’re older you feel like a dumb ass for ever doing so w/such enthusiasm.

You remember Pizza Shack was the only place that would deliver to half of your friends’ houses and they stayed open later than any other pizza place. They would also deliver cigarettes.

You refer to neighborhoods by the park they are closest to.

All of your friends’ parents have always been known as Ma or Pa.

At least 10 of your friends were Graffiti writers.

You thought the 2-1 click was the biggest joke.

You remember when it became Murderapolis in 1995.

you remember uptown with all the punks n thugs, before it went all yuppie.

You ALWAYS cheer for the Minneapolis side of things at the St. Paul Saints games and get SERIOUSLY mad when St. Paul wins.

You have had your picture taken with Wally The Beerman.

For the sole reason that they play in St. Paul, you don't like the Wild as much as the Twins, Vikings or Twolves...

You would skip school just to slowly cruise around the lakes and do things that maybe weren't so legal!

You believe in the blue ghost woman in lakewood cemetary.

You remember how Chicago and Lake USED to look.

You remember how Franklin and Nicollet USED to look.

You saw no problem with splitting a gallon of Polka Dot Grape Drink with your friend who stole it from a gas station.

No matter where in Minneapolis you lived, there was always a corner store that was walking distance from your house.

You know EXACTLY where you were when the 35W bridge collapsed and thought about the last time you were on it.

You know about the Elf Tree/Troll House on the path at Lake Harriet.

You've been to the Boulevard or Riverview Theater.

You remember when the Twins played at the Met Center (where MOA is now).

You are convinced that Washburn will always be better than Southwest (and Vice Versa).

You've been to Hidden Beach/Cedar Lake before they ruined it by taking down all the trees.

You would ponder at how it was possible for a city to exist without alleys, sidewalks or stop signs (i.e. many parts of Richfield).

As a teenager, you referred to the Park Police as squirrel chasers.

You don't lock your bike up as a kid and it gets stolen while running in the corner store to get candy.

You don't understand how cities can exist w/out alphabetized streets, or lakes.

Your mom took you to Hi-Lake shopping center and Sears on Chicago and Lake to do your school clothes shopping (and you may even remember the smell of the candy counter at Sears).

You remember Lake and Hiawatha before the Light Rail came around.

You would buy records at Butler’s Drug on Lake St.

You would trick or treat in Richfield/Bloomington to get better candy.

You used to shop at New Market on Broadway.

You remember Hiawatha Ave before they tore down all the trees to turn it into Hwy 55 (and may remember the protesters that camped out in the trees).

You know about or have seen the Irish guy downtown who wears the big hat and is always bugging you to take your picture.

You know how to pronounce ‘Nicollet’.

You can’t get enough Ted Cook’s bbq.

You remember when 1st Ave was Uncle Sam’s (w/the disco floor and all).

You remember Shinders (and possibly the woman who poured gas all over herself and lit herself on fire in protest of the nude magazines they sold).

You remember Moby Dick’s and probably got into a fist fight there…. Don’t leave home w/out your knife and/or gun when heading to Moby Dick’s!

You know where ‘the rocks’ is and the swing that hang there until Montana broke it.

You ever had one too many Wanderer’s Punches at the Nankin.

You got the blue plate special at Woolworths Five and Dime.

You loved going to K-mart on Lake St w/your mom just so you could get an Icee.

You remember Suns on Hennepin downtown and may still have some concert memorabilia from there.

You were there when they filmed scenes from Purple Rain.

You would hang out at Nokomis Lanes.

Squad 550 or 320 = RUN!

You’ve celebrated at least one birthday at the Roller Gardens.

You remember the King of Wings on Broadway and Washington.

You would hang out at Pop’s Arcade downtown.

You remember the Clark’s gas station on Lake St.

You remember the ACE Hardware on 54th and Nicollet being a Richfield Hardware and you always wondered why.

You remember getting delicious BEEK’s pizza at 54th and Lyndale in a paper bag with the grease soaking through.

You remember being able to hang out at Lake Harriet after 10PM.

You remember all the fast cars that raced near the Porky’s on Lake St

You remember partying at the Rose Gardens and being chased by the “cushman patrols!”

You remember the A&W drive-in on Marshall and Lowry (now Psycho Suzie’s).

You remember being able to hitchhike down to the lakes w/out fear.

You remember when the Minnehaha Creek would dry up in the summer and you could walk down the middle.

You remember the White Castle on Grant and Nicollet.

You remember being able to drive all the way down Nicollet before some idiot thought it would be a good idea to stick a huge K-Mart in the middle.

You’re familiar w/the Jewelry store on Lyndale that’s in a White Castle, also w/the White Castle name still on it.

You remember Corral bar on Franklin.

You remember Pearson’s on 26th and their strong drinks that made you lucky to actually be able to walk out of the bar.

You had friends that would hook you up w/free stuff at Ron’s Market and could buy cigarettes there while you were still in high school.

You jumped out of windows to escape the MPD shutting down house parties, hiding in between houses, fences, cars etc

You listened to KMOJ on the elementary school bus.

You remember the Diary Queen on Broadway that’s now a North Memorial.

You have given change to the guy downtown that plays on a white 5 gallon paint bucket. (The guy outside of Refuge on 5th and Hennepin every Friday and Saturday night).

You remember Grand Dairy and how filthy it was.

You would hang out at Gold Medal before it became expensive lofts.

You know about Othie – the guy in a wheelchair between Mcrae and Phelps.

You remember what REALLY was going on around the Lake St tracks before it became the Greenway.

You took a field trip EVERY YEAR to the Roller Gardens.

You’ve bought shoes from either Freeman’s over north or Robert’s over south.

You remember the Brueggers Bagels on 46th and Nicollet being a fire station.

You remember when there was a Piggly Wiggly on 46th and Nicollet.

You had a favorite SA at 40th and Lyndale and wouldn’t cross the street to go to the other one. (The smaller one that’s now closed used to be a 7-11 also).

You would frequent the YMCA on Blaisdell next to the Burger King.

You have lived w/in a 20 mile radius your entire life.

You remember when Ron’s Market was Meachums.

You know about the house on Penn that’s really colorful and used to have a ghost on the front door that many people mistook for a KKK hood. You may have even thrown eggs or tp’d the house. (Crazy Mary's house)

You got soundproof windows and A/C from the airport/MAC, but not everyone who really needed it including myself. Punks

You have ice skated, played hockey or have seen a hockey game at Parade Stadium and remember when the Mighty Ducks was filmed there.

You have taken some sort of formal pictures at the Rose Gardens.

You give everyone from Edina a hard time and at one point have referred to them as "cake eaters".

You’ve had to fend off pimps at Cup Foods!

You know what MIA, MCAD and MCTC stand for and you know where they are.

You’ve ended your bar night at either Uptown Diner or Pizza Luce downtown.

You remember the SA on 38th and Chicago being a 7-11 and having a Taco Bell Express in there before someone drove right through the front of it.

If you went to Washburn and were a 2001 graduate or younger, you remember how the vending machines first 3 levels consisted of Flamin' Hot Cheetos only.

Even if you weren’t into graffiti, you couldn’t turn around without seeing PUZL (PU) sprayed everywhere.

You think the statues of Peanuts characters in St. Paul are stupid.

You remember when they closed down Hard Times… the first time.

You remember when 612 became the area code for Minneapolis and Richfield only.

You’ve ate in the courtyard at the McDonalds in Uptown.

You remember the old GJ’s that occupied the current Kowalski’s on Lyndale next to the old Boulevard Theater.

You wonder why Dupont Ave turns into King’s Highway for 10 blocks and then changes right back.

You call Nordeast… Nordeast.

You remember the Mad, Mad Mexican restaurant on East Lake St and ate there late nights after bar close.

You can look at vacant lots in Phillips and Central neighborhoods and remember the houses and apartment buildings that used to be there.

You remember when Oxendale’s market was Applebaums.

You remember the giant ‘Sex World’ sign that sat on the corner of Central and Broadway and how there was a huge fight about taking it down.

You remember hanging out at Diamond Lake Lanes and shopping at Super Valu and Total gas station on 60th and Nicollet before they tore it down to build a Cub Foods.

You remember what the old city buses looked like. Big and red with huge sliding windows!

You know that the Pioneer Press doesn't even begin to compare to the Star Tribune.

You've been to at least one Holidazzle Parade (and maybe even were in one).

You refer to the University of Minnesota as "the U".

You remember Aunt Nora's restaurant on Lake St.

You remember the A&W on Hiawatha.

You remember the Baskin Robins that was at the corner of 50th and 28th.

You've watched a milk carton boat race at Lake Calhoun.

You remember watching movies at the Nile Theater that was on 37th and 23rd Ave that closed down in 1982

You remember the fire at Donaldson's department store downtown that ruined the whole city block including the 16-story headquarters of Northwestern National Bank. (November 25th 1982).