Really? Your going to have to show me where in Minnesota Lake Wobegon is. I always thought it was located inside Garrison Keillor’s head. 
I suppose then, technically, it is in Minnesota. At least most of the time.
I was wondering the same thing myself. Does Lake Wobegon exist?
To the rest of the English-speaking world, a hotdish is a casserole. (Although most of the English-speaking world that cooks casserole includes enough spice to include taste.)
ABC interviews Howard Mohr
Lake Wobegone would be about 35 - 55 miles west-northwest of Anoka if it existed in a physical reality. Anoka is also where Gary (now Garrison) Keillor grew up.
…Can’t…resist…any …longer
Show and Tell at school. Students instructed to bring in something related to their faith.
Kid #1-Jewish-Brings in Star of David, explains sybolism.
Kid #2-Catholic-brings in cross-explains symbolism.
Kid #3-Lutheran-brings in casserole-explains symbolism.
Funnier when I tell it.
That is sort of a philosophical question. There is no town in Minnesota named Lake Wobegon. It is a fictional creation of Garrison Keillor. But the characters and places of Lake Wobegon were lifted from real people and places in Minnesota and the upper Midwest.
So it isn’t entirely incorrect for chique to mention Lake Wobegon as a place where people speak with an accent. I know exactly what she means, even though no such place actually exists in real life. It sort of depends on your point of view. 
Tallahassee, Florida checking in.
I’ve surmised thus far that Minnesotan are a bunch of freaks.
Here’s our colloquial sayings.
Hahyeh Dune. (How are you)
Mash the gas, hit the switch, cut the lights (A friend of mine attending NYU said she hadn’t heard anyone say these in months as I said something about “mashing the brakes”)
I’s. (Contraction of I was) E.g. I’s gonna drop by, byt you weren’t home"
Carry (drive) E.g. I’ll carry you to work if ya want me to.
Hell Yeah is our equivalent to “you betcha”
I’ve heard Casserole… never heard “hotdish”… sounds like something you would heat something in… Do y’all have croc pots?
Do y’all have a plural second person word like “y’all”?
Do y’all eat pecan pie, Mac’n cheese, onion rings, fried wings, and sweet potato casserole?
Do y’all have the Waffle House?
Do y’all have Steak’n Shake?
I can’t imagine living somewhere that I couldn’t:
- Walk around in shorts in november.
- Drive for 30 minutes and arrive at the beach
- get fresh seafood
- see rebel flags plastered on pickup windows and T-shirts (very common at my high school)
- people look at you funny if you say y’all.
If you’ve ever wondered, y’all is so common here that it’s exclusion from the dialect of other areas isn’t even noticed until an outside says “Ooo my god! You guys sound like such southerners” Duh!
I can’t imagine living somewhere that I couldn’t:
- Walk around in shorts in August (instead of having to hide inside from the heat and humidity).
As for:
- Drive for 30 minutes and arrive at the beach (You can’t either. I’ve been in your traffic.)
Didja hear about the Minnesota man who married a Palestinian woman? Named their first son Yassir Youbetcha. (Stolen from the Prairie Home Companion Joke Book)
Moved from Minnesota to Chicago when I was 4. I remember going back to a family funeral when I was about 12, and an aunt asking me about my strange accent!
I go to school at The Mystery Universty Across The River From Finnlandia U. (10 pointsd if you know what I’m talking about), and let me tell you, the pizza hotdish that the cafeteria serves is the most foul noodle-bearing concoction I have ever eaten.
That is all.
Dr. Lao hit it on the head
If Lake Wobegon DID exist, it would physically be located in central Stearns County, MN - just west of St. Cloud, near Avon, Albany, Collegeville, and Meyer’s Grove (another town you probably won’t find on your average atlas).
But Lake Wobegon is fictional, so you can place it wherever you’d like 
Having read your post, I’m not so sure Tallahasians aren’t freaks as well.
“Then”…
I’m surprised to see “then” in this connection, as I’ve never been up there to your cold neck of the woods. But I know a guy from Liverpool (Cheshire, UK) who uses it as indicated. It seems to be pretty common usage by “Scouses”. I reckon it has more to do with the intonation at the end of sentences that some regions use than anything else. Also, it seems (to me) to be adding additional emphasis to the question or statement, kind of like writing with additional punctuation marks. You know what I mean???