Northland Hunches: Things Only Someone From Duluth + Superior Would Understand

Living in the Northland, there are just some things that we take for granted.  Useful things - that everyone who lives here is aware of, but someone from outside of the area might not understand. For lack of a better term, we'll call them "Northland Hunches".

Some of these Northland facts have to do with the weather.  Things like "warmer by the lake", "cooler by the lake", "you'll need a jacket", "you usually don't get a lot of snow when the temperature gets really cold", and "clear skies make for cold winter nights".

Many of the other "givens" don't have to do with the weather - but they're factual for this part of the world.  These are things like "it's going to be super busy in Canal Park in the summer", "the grocery store will be deserted when the Packers play the Vikings", consequently the bars will also be packed in these situations, weekend trips up the North Shore will be less busy during the middle of the week, and the like.

These Northland facts are totally part of the knowledge base of someone from here; but these same "givens" might not be understood or known by someone from outside of the area.

I thought about another one of these things just the other day while I was driving around.  I happened to be on Highway 105 - the highway that runs between South Superior and Oliver.  Heading east back to the city, I started to meet a lot of oncoming vehicles in the other lane - heading west towards the Oliver Bridge.  Four or five cars - grouped together.  Then another five or six cars; followed by (probably) another ten of fifteen cars - all grouped closely together.

If you've driven Highway 105, you know you don't normally encounter heavy traffic.  I mean, it is a rural highway and all.

But I instantly knew where the cars were coming from and why there were so many, all grouped up together like that.

And I bet you do, too.

While I have no way of fact-checking it, my educated "Northland Guess" is that those cars had been waiting for a train to cross - probably at track that crosses Highway 105 closer to South Superior.

What about you?  Do you have any other "Northland Hunches" that someone from outside of this area might not understand?