Quarantine views from Charlie.. . (AKA: When your 9 year old takes your phone and comes back 10 minutes later to put all your college photography classes to shame).Seems like maybe kids notice things in new ways when they suddenly have time to look..At her age, the best I could muster were shots of blurry feet. (Still trying to beat that). .Having the extra time with this pint sized ball of inspiration reminds us to keep trying to see things from another perspective. .
March 29, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
Were finding that by distracting ourselves with the little things these days, its helping take our minds off the bigger things.. So were trying to embrace the little as much as possible right now..FOUND: Deadstock GAY PENCILS 1950s retail display. We couldnt just leave it lonely without any pencils to hold (and since it had already waited 70 years to serve its purpose) we made some customs to keep it stocked and stand pretty for guests..And any reason in these times to support small family business like the folks at the 100 year old @musgravepencil :. . The Wandawega SCOUT deets:Straight grain Cedar bonded lead No.2Colors: National Park Service Brown, Evergreen,, International Harvester Yellow,, cedar and black.Made in the U.S.A (same spot in Tennessee) .Someday when we all get through this, and the world can open back up again, you will find these stocked in the camp commissary. We have enough to last several lifetimes..*last shots of the original factory, lovely assembly line worker, and the way the pencils are still made today ..More at #wandawegacustoms
March 28, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
We took a Social Distancing Staycation & this is what happened.For sanity sake, we decided to go off the grid (even farther up north) last week for a bit. Turns out that renting a museum house in its off-season (& when its closed to the public) is a novel way to avoid people, and still feel like youre taking a vaca. We got to move into a the literal time capsule 4-bedroom riverfront house that Frank Lloyd Wright designed for 1938 @LIFE Magazine. (This is Charlie in the living room one morning)..The (almost) best part: It cost less than the price of one night in hotel room in downtown Chicago. And anyone can rent it.Top 10 favorite things that we did without coming near another human – that well will def do again once the world is back to safe:TYPE up plans B,C & D on the original antique house typewriter..CRAFT something from GirlScouts 1952 camp curriculum book. .BUILD an endless hearth fire (aka: roasting smores in a literal work of art) ..DRIVE the tourist route of the 1886 Two Rivers Harbor fishing village & THE @hamiltonwoodtype .HIKE along the the riverside (right outside the door) ..SKETCH from the tutorial from the 1961 book How to draw Wildflowers. ..VISIT Oprahs fav 1932 confectionary time capsule (with curbside pickup) @beerntsens ..READ an architecture book from the in-house FLW collection library. ..TOAST with friends zoom cocktail soiree ..BAKE virtually – guided cookie class (thank you, @tanjababich)No.of days : 4No. of family members : just us 3 No. people we came in contact with : 0 .Thank you, SCHWARTZ HOUSEhttps://tinyurl.com/v7lzdzz
March 27, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
Best spot weve found here so far for some social distancing. All suggestions/ ideas / treatments welcome for finding a little anti-anxiety zen right now . …#WandawegaHillhouse By @kohler
March 26, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
In case of emergency :Break out a puzzle..We try to keep each room at camp stocked with a vintage one just in case. Grateful to have separate buildings on the grounds so we can have @nathanmichael and @julia_and_child here last week- able to practice social distancing from another building 2 acres away but still share the other 24 acres of open air woods. .Thanks for sharing your good inspiration and pics with us, guys
March 25, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
Spending some family time together.#CountYourPennies Weve been collecting vintage souvenir squeeze coin purses forever, so we finally got off our tails and made our own. .Each keychain comes with a real Indian head penny, a copy of the original patent, and some history of penny:This Indian head penny is a lucky talisman. They were made from 1859-1909.In the era of this penny…A newspaper was 1 cent.5 cents could buy you a beer.2 cents bought you a cup of coffee.5 cents for a loaf of bread.18 cents was a shirt makers day wages.$1 got you a hotel room.(Then later in 1925 here at Wandawega Hotel you would have paid $1.25 a night)These are our newest addition to our metro camp store, in our 1940s deadstock Gay Products Co. Retail display for our camp commissary and swag kits for guests (the little things make us happy).##first run: 200 . Busy hands, happy hearts (although Charlie quit after 2 purses) ………..For those who have expressed concern about our coin purse coming with these type of old penny:We try to be sensitive to the differences between appreciating a culture and appropriating a culture. Many images that we take for granted are cultural staples that represent things, people or moments important to the spirituality and everyday lives of indigenous peoples. We try to make sure such items at Camp are presented as a reflection of their traditional usage in 20th century Americana, even though we acknowledge that was a controversial period in the relationship between the tribes and the government. For better or worse, our history is steeped in controversy – from the faux-native name of the lake, to being a Prohibition-era speakeasy with multiple federal raids for gambling, prostitution, and illegal liquor. For all of these topics we try to find opportunities to foster a dialogue with guests around the historical context. We still have a lot to learn, so we’re always happy to take pointers from others who are more knowledgeable about these important topics..More at #wandawegacustoms
March 24, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
Power to the people. We love American made small businesses, and these folks are one of our favorites..Especially now with so many mom and pops struggling right now and even shutting down, its reminded us that sometimes the smallest things can make the biggest difference.So after nearly a hundred years of being open, we finally brought this place one little step closer into the 20th century – with the help of @conwayelectric..The founder Kevin (last shot) designed a custom weave cloth wrap cord (on 50 year old cast iron machines) and paired it a National Park brown powdercoat – to bring new corded power to our guests..Youll find one in every room at camp (and now folks will be able to charge their phones finally; not sure if thats a good thing?).If you want some humbling perspective – read Kevins story Why we bother with being made in America on their blog..He talks about lessons learned from watching his dad build a business at home. it reminded me of my own dad, and the importance of staying grounded.#supporteachother More at #WandawegaCustomsPhotos by @nathanmichael …The deets from the crew; Its an Ext Smart USB C – the first smart USBC power cord and has two 15amp outlets + a USBA port and a USBC port for powering most devices including the new USBC.
March 23, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
R.I.P. our favorite furry co-worker….We are sad to say that Charlies bunny Sophie has just died of natural causes. .She was sweet and calming and loving and will be missed dearly. .We know shes bouncing around in full green pastures now with endless parsley and friends to play with..A little family memorial service will be held this spring when the flowers bloom again. .And they will bloom again for all of us..Sending everyone at home some virtual Sophie softness
March 22, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
Give a little. .With the extra time weve been spending at camp, finally got around to organizing the cleaning closet.We have been bulk stockers for so many years. 10 bathrooms and 6 kitchens is a lot to keep up with! .We admittedly love that we can basically color-code every bathroom room here with its own hand wash .The result is weve ended up with more than enough to see us through this thing and then some. .So every day this week weve been pulling from the teeny camp warehouse weve been stockpiling all these years and gifting @mrsmeyerscleanday sets to our friends & neighbors. #sharingiscaring people – so pass it on. (But wipe it down first).Be safe and wash those hands, friends!
March 21, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
We feel like now may be a nice time to start hand writing people notes and letters again. .Next up in our Commissary collection: the write home camp set. .Took us forever to find these – memo pads (they where government issue for MilItary homesick soldiers to write home in the 40s) they could fit in their military breast pocket. .We had Bic make us our own custom pens – this style was present at every utilitarian mom and pop business in America. (This one was inspired by my dads auto repair shop when I was a kid). Utility and simplicity never go out of style. .The black and white photo here is of some tourist guests of Hotel Wandawega in the 1949…. back when people took the time to writ each other letters and read the paper. (And cared to dress up in heels to do it.). (Sets available to guests in our commissary gift shop this spring)First couple shots: @nathanmichael
March 20, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
