Sadly, last night a group was forced to cancel their camp stay this coming weekend due to COVID. (Sending them good vibes )…Which also means that we have last minute rare openings for both levels of our bunkhouse at peak fall season for THIS weekend. Since this is happening last minute, were gonna do a first-come-first-serve for 30% off. These are open to anyone as few as one person or up to 12.- (youll just also get extra empty rooms to bounce around in, since we are only able to rent via multiple rooms in blocks here). This is for a 2 day min for either the top/mid bunkhouse or rustic camping cluster. Its DIY booking by going to wandawega.com/visit.social distancing is our first priority, so even though we are on 24 private and remote acres here, we have shut off some of our cabins entirely for the season, so we can host fewer, smaller, separate groups for “self-guided” camp stays. To get the discount hit contact host button on the Airbnb listing and in the message ask for the 30% off reduced rate, well then custom set the price for whoever the first takers are. Love, Camp W .Photos :@bobcoscarelli @aimeemazzenga @nelsoncash
October 6, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
A few years ago, we gathered some renowned outdoors experts to help us host a weekend of skeet shooting, trout cleaning, crossbow hunting, tree felling & more. It was an epic series of workshops with our favorite outdoor friends, style gurus, chefs and sponsors. And now were thinking of doing round II… and opening it up to even more folks. #staytuned !Thank you to our sponsors @llbean @basilhaydens @defybags For this event, we of course hosted women, men, gay, straight, bi- everybody was welcome. (The Invite just had sportsmans in its name as a historical tribute to the old school sportsmans clubs of Wandawegas heyday of the 1920s.) Every man should master was meant to reference humankind, not to be taken literally as only man or offend anybody who doesnt like being told they have to master a skill, (or to throw shade if youre a person who cant bow hunt or clean a trout). For our future event like this, well write a new invitation line that is more overtly inclusive- cause we love & welcome everyone equally here.Peace, Love & CampPhotos : Daniel Davis
October 5, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
An elderly man showed up one day at our doorstep – holding a photo album of the vacation he took here with his family almost 71 years ago.This is him with his sister, arriving for their two week stay (which was the norm at the time).These are memories, that he can still relive in detail because his mother documented everything so well. He remembers how his mom Insisted that his sister have her hair pin curls done before they arrived. That they needed to dress up – down to the loafers (zoom in) for the dinners in the lodge. His dad, always with a stogie, and being the commander of the rowboat.But mostly, he recalls the fishing and swimming and catching late night fireflies. Which are what you want your kids to remember. We are so honored to have met this old gent. And inspired to take more family vacations that have a fraction of a chance of being that memorable.Ever think about what will become of your memories of vacations – decades later?Bless his mom in her espadrilles and updo, posing for this family portrait, reading the newspaper on the hilltop Adirondacks (that is still here)We rebuilt so much of camp from the details we discovered in his album full of photos. We recreated the loungers. The entrance sign. The rock ring boarders. A pergola. Hydrangea bushes. Flower boxes. (Even a 900 pound 18 foot Adirondack style log fence).So, we are throwing this out into the universe in hopes that somebody, somewhere, has other photos or memories of Wandawega Inn/Hotel Wandawega (1925 – 1942)Wandawega Lake Resort(1940s – 1961)Vandavega (1961-2003)to share.Its our obsession to turn back the clock on this place (no detail too small). Shout if you are a genealogist, historical researcher- or know somebody who knows how to dig up secrets that were buried during the Prohibition era (we have almost no photo documentation from the era).We want to Dig up the past.Embrace the present.Preserve it for the future.So maybe someday 71 years from now, somebody else will remember that the best things are the simple things that really never change.
October 4, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
Every self respecting camp should have these. But we never have.They arent one-of-a-kind (you can find enamel mugs lots of places). But theyre special to us, cause it will help us get better at equipping campers for the great outdoors.So were finally stocking all the camp kitchens (and just added them to our campstore).They hold 16 oz of anything, and come in three colors.They were meant to hold up to anything (even being thrown in a campfire).Like everything we do, we wanted to do our homework on the history & origins of this camp staple.WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT ENAMEL:It arrived in North America in the 50s. Standard decorations by region: USA: plain enamel & speckled.UK: white enamel w/navy blue brim. SWEDEN: cream w/green frame. HOW ENAMEL MUGS ARE MADE IN 10 HARD STEPS:-Cutting of the metal disk-Punching the mug mold-Wash + dry-Weld on handle-Firing-Enamel internal color + dry-Enamel exterior color + dry-Ceramic decal application-Fire again-Enamel edge + dry-Final fire Enamelware is made of steel, so it conducts heat better than other mugs. Thats why IT FEELS HOT IN YOUR HANDS. (Use with caution, campers).WARM MUG, WARM HEARTS, FRIENDS.Love,Camp
October 3, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
Charlie : Mom!!! Youre never gonna believe who is here at camp right now!! Me: the septic pumper guy again?The reality was so much cuter and more cheerful. Her music crush was in from Nashville paid us a visit last weekend. She was so sweet and kind and chill- And I was so happy to meet our daughters idol (and equally happy to not have to meet the emergency plumber again)Last video here is the song Charlie played for me to help me understand the blonde staying in the lakeview cabin was who shes been singing along with everyday on the radio. @josiedunne – wed love to have you and your adorable family back anytime
October 2, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
About last night… I cant boil an egg. Never could cook.Which is one of the many reasons that we love to have chef friends here so much.Bless you, @mindysegal for taking over the #wandawegahilllhouse kitchen last night and bringing your talent to the outdoor messhall for an epic spread..We have a little surprise announcement coming this month… (for what may be our favorite custom camp product collaboration to date).Heres a few hints: 1. Its hot (and not just because Mindys a @beardfoundation chef). 2. Its a century old camp tradition. 3. Its small, but packs a punch. #stayTuned* the wandawega supper club dinner placemats are left over from the @sohohousechicago with @mrsjoey8 – a supper club dinner we did a few years ago with our friends at @landandseadept – we had to order the minimum of 500- so youll start seeing them a lot more often @mindysbakery
October 1, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
Our viewpoint from this little lake last night…Now more than ever, we are not giving up on the hope for a future of living in a compassionate country of equality, human rights and love for all. A unified place where we respect each other, respect science and respect Mother Earth. This was taken at6:45pm, as the sun was setting on Lake Wandawega…..this next moment is now.6:45am, as the sun is now rising again on this same little lake.Quarantining here during this pandemic has given us the gift of getting to see first hand the beauty that nature (and we all) are capable of…. a little visual reminder of the choice to embrace every new day with hope vs hate.A new day is coming, and hate will not have a home in it. Or here. #NoVacancyForHate #LoveThyNeighbor #VOTE
September 30, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
Anybody like splitting wood? (weve got a job for you).But well have to take you to the woodshed…This is actually a horse windbreak that we had a northwoods Amish family build for us this spring. We stained the inside planks, hit the outside with a few coats, added a Carhardt yellow roll-down canvas drop front, and kitted out its walls with a multi-bin wood crib. (To keep all our different species of wood and kindling separated into neat, dry, OCD piles).Its currently parked by the rustic camping cluster Scout tents on skids (so we can move it around with a bobcat & extended forks). On a rainy day it keeps firewood, campers (and their spirits) dry. Makes being taken to the woodshed a little more tolerable. The only challenge is keeping it stocked.Honest question: Is there such a thing as a lumberjack internship? Like a work-for-college-credit-in-forestry-school kinda thing?Asking for a friend. Although…we do have 25 wooded acres here and not enough hands. .. @katebe_ & @nathanmichael @luk.e
September 29, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
Fall is heeeeere!.Charlie and I hit up the farm store to get the hay bales to outfit our new hay rack ride farm wagon. Weve got a new addition to camp that were excited to share in the next couple of weeks Hint: its red & white, weighs 2 tons, was made in 1949 & is both a work horse and the cutest thing any pumpkin patch has ever seen
September 28, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
Just off the press and new addition to the shop..Bar coaster obsession. Weve been collecting the antique ones for years (last pic). We have a lot of bars here at camp and have always wanted our own coasters. But modern bar coasters are just not made the same (Theyre cheap digital smooth and slick) … and too common to want to keep around. Which is why you can only find the best old school designs in antiques shops and fleas..So we called up our favorite print master – Gary at @accucolorplus in Milwaukee (hes the guru in antique printing techniques and works on vintage presses). ours on heavy pulp board on a 1940s press.These are going to sit under every cold brew at every bar here, now- and going up as sets in the campstore this morning. Cheers, Campers!THE DETAILS: (For design and printing nerds only- straight from Gary)The paper is a heavy weight pulp board- 100% recycled and un-bleached, making it very environmentally friendly.The print method is letterpress. Given the small size and for one coaster, the round shape, each coaster was hand fed into and out of the press.To keep the inking as full and even as possible, the press let the inking rollers pass over the plate three times before making a printed impression. (The norm is only one pass of the rollers.)The halftone of the building was tested, using my normal 210 line screen (210 halftone dots per running inch, 44,100 halftone dots per square inch). This fine screen ruling did not work well with letterpress and the resulting printed image was something of a flat gray field. I developed a halftone ruling that is unique to todays world, but common 70 or so years ago, A 60 like halftone screen, with only 60 halftone dots per running inch, 360 halftone dots per square inch. This course halftone is typical of printed matter up to the 1950s and even into the 1970s for newspaper printing. The larger halftone dots, placed further away from each other let the letterpress printing method, on the pulp board stock, render a pleasing halftone image.The press used is a Craftsman, 12 X 18 maximum print area. Manufactured by the Chandler and Price Company in 1948.
September 27, 2020 • Published by Tereasa Surratt
