My husband and I love to entertain and we especially love to have out of town visitors. So when Terry’s cousin Carrie and her then-boyfriend, now-husband Tim were going visit Fargo from Kansas City, we were very excited to help represent our area and show them what Fargo and North Dakota is all about. Carrie’s brother Danny had moved to Fargo from Kansas, so this visit was quite the family affair. The couple visited Fargo during the spring months, which was smart on their part as we had just thawed out after a long winter.
Terry and I are always watching to see what new restaurants and shops are popping up in the area of our twin cities and anything within driving distance. We love taking guests to local stores and trying foods with a different flair.
We took our Kansas visitors to Rhombus Guys Pizza, one of our favorite pizza joints that has unique and inventive flavors – including Thai Peanut Chicken and specialties that are only available for a limited time, such as Tator Tot Hotdish pizza. That is not a joke. In case you’re wondering, both pizzas are extremely delicious.
About halfway in to the weekend, Tim was really getting into the North Dakota vibe. He sounded surprised when he looked around and said, “I really like it around here – I think I could live here.” This theme continued throughout the visit, as Tim loved the layout of Fargo, the friendly people, and the unique restaurants and shops.
Remember when I mentioned it was Spring? And Tim is from Kansas?
Tim’s love affair with Fargo was going strong after just a few days. His perception began to alter during a visit to our home where we ended up talking outside under the beautiful night sky. Something shiny and silver hanging from the garage rafters caught Tim’s eye.
“Hey, what’s that?” he asked, intrigued by a contraption he had never seen before.
“That’s a roof shovel,” Terry replied.
“You have to shovel your roof?” Tim asked, horrified.
Just like that…poof! Tim’s view of Fargo changed and his thoughts about ever moving this far north fell right out of his head.
Terry and I never realized what kind of an impact that moment had on Tim. In fact, we had forgotten about that conversation completely until a few weeks ago when we attended Carrie and Tim’s beautiful wedding in Kansas City.
Before our arrival, Tim told people that story. He reminisced about how he really liked Fargo, “Until I found out they have to shovel their roofs.” That defining, and apparently, scarring moment painted such a picture in Tim’s head that I think he is still baffled that people live here during the winter. What he doesn’t realize is that we are not outside everyday cleaning snow off the tops of our houses.
Terry’s dad didn’t help the case for Fargo when he said, “Well, we have to shovel the roof so the weight of the snow doesn’t make the roof collapse.”
“That can happen?!” Tim reportedly said.
As ambassadors for our great area, we realize we lost a couple potential residents. We’ll have to be better about hiding that roof shovel. Maybe we’ll get the next couple.