We yearn for a place to escape, yet we destroy that very place once we get there

The North Shore, along Lake Superior in Minnesota, has long been a favorite retreat for city-dwellers. Just the words themselves, North Shore, bring up visions of boulders to be climbed, pristine woods brimming with wildlife and wildflowers, and rivers swollen with fish. We anticipate the earthy scent of woodsmoke, of hunkering down by a campfire or loading birch logs into a wood stove. Only there can we find the serenity we seek, be it from the chirping of songbirds, the crickets’ concerts, or the blackened sky—away from the city lights, where we can view a kaleidoscope of stars and constellations. And at night we can go to sleep in a woodsy cottage or cabin, and feel as if we’re a part of nature.

A new breed of North Shore tourists is seeking getaways now, however, according to an article by Richard Meryhew, in the Oct. 28 Star-Tribune. They still want to see the lake and other scenery, but they insist on having hot tubs and flat-screen TV’s, too. So Twin City (Minneapolis and St. Paul) developers are forging in to tear down the few remaining quaint hotels and resorts so they can build sprawling vacation condominiums and modern restaurants. http://www.startribune.com/stories/110/5694015.html

An explicit example is “the 110-mile stretch of picturesque shoreline between Duluth and Grand Marais.” The area “was defined by mom-and-pop resorts, home-grown cafes and souvenir shops.” When you visited, you truly felt you were on a vacation, in another world. “Now,” Meryhew wrote, “it’s evolving into a getaway for the well-to-do, with rooms, restaurants and real estate developed to fit Twin Cities lifestyles at Twin Cities prices.” Basically, everything that made the area such a naturalistic haven, including the people, is being destroyed and replaced by everything we sought to escape.

Other examples in the article: 1. A $27 million vacation complex with twin-home “cottages” that go for $450,000 or more. Built on a former campground south of Two Harbors, the development has a recreation center with a heated pool, whirlpool, and rooms for massages, games and exercise. 2. An $80 million vacation condominium featuring an indoor water park, which is being built on a bluff overlooking a scenic bay in Two Harbors. The list goes on, along the North Shore. It doesn’t cover other areas in Minnesota, and it doesn’t cover other states.

Uproot more natural habitat for wildlife, ravage the land, manicure the “lawns” down to the shoreline so they “look civilized,”—who cares about all the species whose existence depends on what lives there? Cover up more wetlands, chop down more trees, and replace all the earth with cement…soon the wilderness will disappear and the wildlife we’re seeking will have no place to live and procreate. Who cares about what happened to the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker?

I guess it’s human nature for these people to want to “get away from it all,” but to also have what they’re getting away from waiting for them when they get there.