Blog Becoming Part of Larger Network

The South Lake Minnetonka Blog is becoming a part of the Wayzata.com network beginning next week. Wayzata.com, operated by Dan Gustafson, has been online for several years and has a great track record of keeping fresh, current, local content on the site.

Dan will take over primary authorship of the blog, but the current contributor(s) to the South Lake Minnetonka Blog will continue to post occasional columns. The transition has two primary purposes: First, to ensure that a more full-time focus can be given to the blog resulting in more frequent and relevant posts, and second to help create a larger network of information as the Lake Minnetonka area is really one large community.

We have full confidence in Wayzata.com to take this blog and the entire network to the next level. Thank you for your readership thus far.

Summer Festival Season in Full Swing

The South Lake’s festival season is in full swing. Already concluded is Art on the Lake, Crazy Day, the 4th of July Celebration, and the Fire Hall dance to name a few. The remainder of July and the months of August and September offer plenty additional opportunities to enjoy the area’s events. Among them (this is not a complete list) are:

August 9: Deephaven Days and Triathlon – http://www.cityofdeephaven.org/
August 4: Tour de Tonka Bike Ride: http://www.minnetonka.k12.mn.us/tourdetonka/Pages/default.aspx
September 6: Apple Days: http://www.southlake-excelsiorchamber.com/calendar.html

This is all in addition to regular happenings such as the Excelsior Commons Thursday evening concerts, Farmers Market, and County Fairs (Waconia has one in early August).

Best of Lake Minnetonka Awards

I'm trying to find an online link, but many of you have probably already seen the hardcopy Lake Minnetonka Magazine circulated in late May. Several South Lake Minnetonka businesses did very well, including 318 Cafe (Best Kept Secret and Best Service), Gatherings of Excelsior, Maynards, and several others. My apologies -- I'm writing this from memory and don't have the details.

If you find a link, please let me know in the comments to this post.

Best Breakfasts on the South Shore

Lake Minnetonka has several excellent breakfast spots surrounding it, but unfortunately for us on the South Shore they tend to be clustered in Wayzata. Sunsets and the Original Pancake House, just to name two, are reliable and high quality places that are sometimes worth the drive.

But for those of us who prefer to keep our business closer to home, there are a couple smallish breakfast places that have every bit the quality of our neighbors to the north. Here is the South Lake Tonka Blog's first ever breakfast joint honor roll:

1. Beanhaven Cafe, Minnetonka Blvd, Deephaven. This small eatery at near Chowen's Corner offers a creative breakfast menu with high quality food every time. The speciality seems to be omelettes (there are many to choose from) and other egg dishes, but you won't go wrong with something as simple as french toast. If the place has a downfall, it is the limited seating capacity -- there is room for 30-35 max and it is not oncommon to have quite a wait for a table. However, as with many neighborhood places, the small size is also what gives it its charm.

2. 318 Cafe, Water Street, Excelsior. In what was voted the Best Neighborhood Eatery in a recent Twin Cities publication, 318 continues to create tasty and unique dishes for all three meals. Breakfasts are excellent, with high quality and a step-up in thoughtfulness from your basic pancake and sausage menu. The scrambled egg sandwich and breakfast burrito are personal favorites. This author also believes they serve the best coffee in the area. They open a little late for early risers -- 8am Mon-Sat and 11am Sun -- but if that suits your schedule you won't be disappointed in the food.

Both are excellent choices!

While Beanhaven and 318 are the only two that make our honor roll as true breakfast places, there are a few places that serve good Sunday breakfast or brunch. Hazellewood Grill on Hwy 19 in Tonka Bay and Maynard's on Minnetonka Blvd. in Excelsior are both worth a Sunday try. Additionally, the Cottagewood General Store serves excellent cinnamon rolls on summer weekends, but can't be classified as a true breakfast place.

For those who prefer an economical if not exciting breakfast, Hilltop Restaurant just off Hwy 7 in Excelsior offers quick, basic, and cheap eats in the morning. In the same category is Perkins in nearby Chanhassen. These places are nowhere near the two that made our honor roll in terms of food quality, but will provide your breakfast fix in a pinch.

The bottom line? Beanhaven and 318 are excellent neighborhood places, but one has to believe there is also room for another choice in the South Lake area without taking business away from the established eateries. It might be a new entrant, or it might be a place like Hazellewood expanding their hours to become a daily breakfast place.

Thank You to November Readers

Since the inception of this blog, no month has ever possessed the readership that November has. I won't divulge all of the numbers, but the day before the 11/5 School Board elections alone had more visitors than what I had hoped I'd get in a typical week ongoing.

Through a nifty little tool called Google Analytics, I can get a sense of what people are interested in reading about. One of the categories that is on the Google report is "Top Keywords". That is, which keywords were people searching for most often when Google or Yahoo routed them to your site.

In November, Virtually all of the top keywords had to do with the election. Things like "Minnetonka School Board", "Minnetonka Referendum", and individual candidates' names were all in the top 15 keyword searches. Additionally, 4 of the top 10 search terms had something to do with Bill Wenmark. While I wrote before the election that wasn't thrilled the election was becoming about one candidate's history rather than today's pressing issues, I admire that people of the area took it upon themselves to research the issue on their own, as is evidenced by the number of search hits on that topic.

Writing a blog like this can be a crapshoot. Staring at the monitor while writing a column, it reminds me of the line from Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb that goes "Hello, is there anybody in there?" I'm glad to know that there is indeed someone in there, and that whoever they are care about local civic issues.