Charlies like a cat. (Finds a spot in the sun everywhere she goes)Grateful to our friend @jessica.eileen.drogosz for these pics of this little blue eyed blonde tornado love of our lives. (Modeling the collab we did with @topdrawershop )Last shot of our camp business office for guests shot by @nathanmichael for the catalog cover.

January 31, 2023 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

Thank you for the love & generosity @sohohousemiami ! (And that guests ride parked out front was a beautiful thing to wake up to yesterday morning its got us thinking about all of our former woodies of years past around here- like lost loves)

January 30, 2023 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

When you need to get something done, CALL IN THE AMISH.Weve been working on a side project BTS since last yearWe found a talented crew of builders in Columbus, Wisconsin who specialize in building horse shelters.We came to them with some napkin sketches, a stack of antique salvaged windows, doors, and an idea that seemed simple enough:Street facing = rustic cedar shake shingle cottage. Business in the back = full modern roll-up door. Theyll both be used for our fleet / machines shop & storage We ended up building two: One custom for extra Hillhouse storage and another for the Sycamore (artist cabin)Now that theyre here, the fun part begins: how to finish them off??The planning begins again. Thanks menzels Amish

January 29, 2023 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

>> That time Michael Cera tried to lead us in Changes” on our busted piano – but he was the only one of us who could remember the lyrics. Weve had a good bit of music here over the years. Everything from @corinnebaileyrae doing a set on the beach. @ErinRaeMusic doing a record release set in the lodge, @camcountry by the bonfire. (And, yes, as you’d expect Michael Cera tried his hand at just about every instrument he could find).Serenades on the beach, karaoke in the lodge. Chris Connely (Pigface, Revolting Cocks, Ministry) pulling together the Lake Wandawega Resort Band and creating an outdoor studio to record the album The Episodes, featuring a who’s who of colleagues Tim Kinsella @gootiming Nate Kinsella, Ben Vida, Adam Vida, Ben Massarella, Jason Adasiewicz members of Califone, Joan of Arc, Town & Country, US Maple, etc.The Empires, Margot & the Nuclear So & So, @emmettmulrooney and so many more. Most of the time its totally impromptu – kind of how everything is around here. (Like the time Glenn Kotche of Wilco played some pots and pans in the kitchen)Sometimes the less-planned things are the things we remember the most.Musical accompaniment by @mattg0re

January 28, 2023 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

WHAT IS OLD IS NEW AGAIN.(Aka: what 80 year old linoleum tiles look like before)>>> 5th slide (yes, bringing back the beauty of our budget lodge of 1920s-1940s flooring makes me weirdly emotional) Were discovering that this process is sorta like cleaning a century old oil painting, we thought that our floors where just created to be this dark color by design.After research provided by the State of Wisconsin,And finding the original linoleum tile maker (from the 40s) we found the tile ID- and found out that was actually several shades lighter And all of these decades of waxing it had been adding to the layers of surface that aged it more, giving it a patina much deeper than was ever meant to be. @forboflooringsystems Were peeling back the decades now. And restoring the bathroom floors as I type this. The restoration of historic tiles is sometimes more expensive than just throwing new pergola over the top. But it wouldnt turn back the clock if we did that. We just finished the bunk house/brothel lounge, bedroom floors, hallway. Its like somebody just turned on the light. @travelwisconsin @wisconsinhistoricalsociety to learn more see: wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS4201

January 27, 2023 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

Its here!Warm days and nights (in this cold wisco winter) will be filled with friends, campers and aromatherapy ..Photos of the lovely Hanna and Charliegirl by our buddy @iamcraigsteven

January 26, 2023 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

Even as were sitting in snow, were dreaming of the warmer days to come.We start the (long) process of setting up camp in under two months. As we are prepping for season open, long days of sun (and the sun seekers who will descend upon us) were taking stock of the lake gear weve got, and what we could use more of :Paddle boards CanoesRow boats Kayaks Tire inner tube floats (our favorites) can never have enough. They never survive the winter, so were gonna hit up the local tire shop and then our favorite place on earth @fleetfarmofficial Shots here by all sorts of friends of camp (Comment below if youre one of these campers or documenters so we can add your name )@evantsheehan @alexwallbaum@prezpipe@jenniferlawrencephoto

January 24, 2023 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

Wanna come this season?We open up remaining rentals this morning!Every year we hold/ block our calendar while we finalize our all-camp takeovers. Then in the spring, we open up remaining spots for anybody to snatch up on airbnb. (For smaller groups and invididual cabins)PLEASE NOTE:All bookings are DIY on a first come-first-serve. Sorry- were too small to have a concierge, phone or anybody to help anybody.We open up at a different time each year. The date is determined by everything from mother nature (and our) moods to our own sanity levels, the zodiac. So this year were thinkin early May.THE FINE PRINT: for the bigger creative brands & big dreamers- if you wanted to do an all-camp takeover retreat- we always hold a couple secret squirrel weekday window blocks in our back-pocket, (we dont announce those dates, so just DM us)AndABOUT THE MIDNIGHT DIPPERS Everybody in! You gotta zoom in on these (check out the dog’s expression looking longingly before he jumps in too)Alex & Olivia ended their best-day-in-their-lives party with everybody taking the leap. We couldnt love these moonlight swimmers night more. These are the moments these folks are gonna remember forever.The lovely @oolliivviiaa, Alex and friends captured by@indiaearl

January 23, 2023 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

Hanging onto things.If you know us at all,Or have been here,You know that we have a love of old things.Midwestern, blue collar, Friday night fish fry things. Old School supper club, Wisconsin dive bar things.They show up on our dining hall paper placemats , in our beer van, on our half broken flickering bar signs, on matchbooks & taster glasses. On our bars and coasters, on the scruff of our staff jacket lapels.Functional things built to last. Made in America.Its not the physical things that have a way at pulling at us.Its the memories they hold of a time when things were just- easier. These little things remind us of a time when social meant the time we spent together around the campfire, bar and ice fishing shack.That there was a time that we wrote to each other with postcards.It took effort.We hang onto the befores around here,They bring to mind that the things our grandparents enjoyed on their modest Midwestern lake vacations are the same things we still love, too. I would have liked to have a beer with my grandfather when he was my age.Ill bet he was a good time. In the meantime, Im hanging on to his beer steins, Whiskey mallard decanter & beat-to-hell duck decoy. He made his own fishing nets, taught me how to shoot a 28 gauge & drive a stick shift before I could reach the clutch of his Ford pickup.Heres to hanging onto things….Pics : all around camp- last one is such a doppelgnger to grandpa Glenn I thought it was him when I came across it- his favorite beer and all.

January 22, 2023 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

We found original ads for the Wandawega Inn & are lake advertising Dancing in the pavilion. We dont know where on the property it would have been, but more than one old timer have recalled an elevated deck that sat between the bunkhouse and old main lodge. Our campers dont seem to mind that we dont have an official designated spot like there once was They dance everywhere (mostly converting the tennis & basketball courts for the bigger throw downs)First pic: @tuanbco *Photos here shared with us -DM us if one is yours so we can give credit where its due Running list:Wandawega Lake Association archives+++

January 21, 2023 • Published by Tereasa Surratt