It happened again. I took my family out and we stood out like a sore thumb, and made vividly aware of it. This time it happened at Lake Elmo Inn in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. I love this restaurant, especially their Sunday brunch. Every now and then I take my family out there as a special treat. We would go more often were it not for the 45 minutes trek from our house in South Minneapolis.

The day was a cold one, two days after my daughter’s birthday. This was sort of the family’s celebration of that joyous occasion. We showed up at the restaurant for our noon reservation to a packed house (as usual). While we waited to be seated, I scanned the place—at least the areas I could see—and discovered what I suspected: there were none that looked like us. (more…)