Keep close to natures heart…and break clear away once in a while and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. – John Muir .Hes not called the father of our national parks for nothing. (And he learned to love nature while growing up in Wisconsin)Good advice. these photos our friend @anda_Marie shared from her visits reminds us to take his counsel.
We you too, Wisconsin . our little team here is so happy to have been included on this short list of Wisconsins Most Instagrammable PlacesSome of the other spots on their top pics (that are a must- see) : Milwaukee Art Museum, Frank Lloyd Wrights Taliesin & House on the RockThe show : THE CABIN About : Welcome to The Cabin, a weekly podcast produced by the crew that brings you the nations longest-running tourism TV show, Discover Wisconsin. Joined by producers, travel experts and tourism leaders, hosts Mariah Haberman and Eric Paulsen take you behind-the-scenes to the heart of the Midwest -presented by the Wisconsin Counties Association This weeks Campfire Conversation: No one questions the beauty of Wisconsin but have you taken a trip to these picturesque spots? Here are some of our favoritesExcerpt:A Hidden Gem- Go look up Camp Wandawega in Elkhorn. This place is a photographers dream.It has been featured in a bajillion magazines. You can go to retreats, you can tour the facility. Its completely restored, its the coolest version of a campground. Very popular. It has Beautiful cabins. You can tell the people who run it are extremely detail oriented. And its in Elkhorn, you wouldnt guess it. It is so cool. Even the website, it screams instagram. Go check it out#discoverwisconsin
We have a long history of bonfires here..(Shots here at camp from the 1971 annual St. Johns summer solstice festival, “Jani”. Davids family was part of the community who dressed up in traditional garb & celebrated with a huge bonfire.)It’s why the inside of our matchbooks says HOME OF THE KING SIZED BONFIRE’We now have a socially-distanced version, with 5 separate campfire sites across the campgrounds for each small guest group to build their own smaller version. Upon camper registration, each group gets a DIY “Campfire Kit” to learn the art of fire-making, and get the satisfaction & lumber jack confidence of finally being able to achieve what every 10 year old scout has already mastered: the art of camp fire building. .photos: @lakeaffectchicago @liztaylor @chrisstrongphotography @girlscouts
This left me equal parts intrigued, fascinated, mesmerized (and a little freaked out).Its a Music video shot entirely here at Camp. .What this film team went through to get these shots They brought in a dump truck of dirt to bury her alive on the beach. She was wading in frigid temps out in the middle of the lake forever. And dont know how they got her inside the tree, tho?).I may never be able to watch the TV set in the bunkhouse lounge again after seeing her image there… but the whole video is so beautifully executed and such gorgeous cinematography, we have to give the team props .(This is just a clip & the images are other scenes: to see the full edit, visit YouTube Katie Dey- Dissolving ARTIST: Katie Dey – “Dissolving” (Official Music Video)Directed by: @johntereick & Dakota SillymanProducer: Lainey MuhlbergDirector of Photography: David Hughes JrStarring: Ashley Thompson Editor: John TerEickColor: The Mill Chicago
For the first time, and likely only time for 2020, due the cancellation of all of our “all-camp” events (for everyone’s safety) we now have openings in the calendar for small groups – or even just 2 peeps – youll just also get extra empty rooms on your rental floor.Every week for the next 3 months, we are going to share out the remaining spots open for the following week, at 30% off.This is our first announcement for openings left for next week:We have two avails, 2 day min for either the top or the mid level of the bunkhouse. Its first come first serve DIY booking wandawega.com/visit – select bunkhouse (photos here of a few of the rooms)(Were making this price discount so that folks can come in smaller COVID-FRIENDLY pairs of couples and small “quaranteam” small groups – (sorry, this is not single rooms for single nights). social distancing is our first priority, so 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.Love, Camp W .UPDATE: for those sending questions: our rentals are STILL for groups of rooms, (not single rooms for single nights) – its based on our business license as a camp- so even if you only come solo, you are still renting the block (but at a 30 percent discount). Thanks !!.Photos :@bobcoscarelli @aimeemazzenga @nelsoncash
A camp / hotel owner sees a lot of things. From weird to gross, to hilarious things we just cant mention. We find things in rooms after checkout that folks didnt mean to leave behind and certainly wish we didnt find.@FathomAway asked us to share some stories for their series TALES FROM THE INNKEEPERS.I contributed a handful but have yet to write the one that nobody ever talks about. So here it is: TOP TEN DIRTIEST JOBS RUNNING A CAMP:The shots here are #nofilter, to paint a real picture of what it looks like to resurrect a derelict campground. We get calls all the time from folks wanting to pick our brains when they open a resort, buy a camp, open an inn. Always happy to help!1. Ripping out moldy carpet from the Sterlingworth Cabin (getting a face full of 60 years of DNA)2. Raking out algae slime-sludge from the swimming area (when we had to restore the beach)3. Scraping up countless rodent carcasses. (Not to mention a rotting 50 pound snapping turtle)4. Shoveling out a latrine overflow situation during an ad agency creative retreat 5. Shopvac up a blanket of ant eggs from under a tent mattress (during a wedding retreat)6. Over-served wedding guest vomit situation clean up. 7. Gutting out the crawl space under the bunkhouse (& being confronted with an angry family of groundhogs)8. Morning ritual of shoveling goose poop off the fishing docks. (Fun fact: Geese each make 5 lbs of poo a day. And they love piers.)9. Helping guests who: ripped off a toenail / knocked out a tooth / fish-hooked their hand / stepped on a wasp / got their nipple bitten by a fish / rope burn from the tireswing .10. Retrieving unmentionables from under the bed after a bach party ( this should have been # 1)Restoring, building, running a camp isnt a turnkey job. (Unless youre made of money -in which case, good for you)Its true what they say: When you are building a house, the house ends up building you. There is nothing like investing literal sweat equity that makes you appreciate everything more.(I personally would appreciate never having to do any of the 10 things listed above. Ever. Again.)#OnceIsEnough#buildyourhouse …@vavoomstudios
GIVING IT AWAY (good vibes with a side of our new pennants). TO GET ONE. tag a friend who follows camp, (who you would like to go camping with) We pick a handful of winners in the morning to send a pennant to.Theyre heeeere… to celebrate the launch of this little trio, were going to do our fav thing and give some away!(We are now in our final dash to add products to the camp store before opening )The new Camp Wandawega pennants were spanned from a 15 year addiction of collecting every retro tourist, historic, old school vintage souvenir pennant we could get our paws on (shot 6 is some of our inspiration- we always try to pull from the patterns. Colors and fonts of history, vs modern interpretations).Our collection ( crafted by @oxfordpennant) comes individually or in a set of three. .Silk screened, two toned, hand sewn felt. The embroidered tag says it all; CELEBRATE EVERYTHING (for us, it feels like a good reminder for keeping a positive mindset In these unstable times) . I think well start with celebrating a cup of coffee on the dock right now. ENTRY DEETS: if both you and your friend are following us at time of you tagging them in, you are entered!*friends, please celebrate responsibly . Thank you B & @williammgolden for modeling
These campers know how to have a good time. . (Frankie agrees and would not stop following them around.).Pics: #lonewulfnomore Congrats to the bride to be!..*PLEASE NOTE: the family and friends in this photo socially distanced from other rentals groups who arrived here separately – each group has their own private building, campfire & picnic grill zone- with no shared access to other guest groups. The only guests shared space for camping groups is the treehouse and beach, (waterfront has four separate zones consisting of docks & piers spread out across hundreds of feet waterfront). These very respectful ladies kept separate from other groups at camp while they were here (as all of our groups do). Although Wisconsin is an open state, (with packed bars )…. here at camp, we are committed to providing 25 acres of ample social distancing opportunity between groups for their stay here. But please note that we do not have a police force here on staff to moderate and mandate each individual guest within a singular group to distance from each other when they are in the out-of-doors, those who come here are ultimately responsible for their own safety)To learn more about our CDC recommendations and plans, cleaning protocol and social distancing offerings, please visit our homepage
Our official mascot of 2020: Washes his hands incessantly. Always wears a mask. (With the letters in RACCOON, you can spell CORONA)We learned from the locals that a raccoon had been a featured house guest at Camp as far back as the 1930s during the days of The Wandawega Hotel. One particularly social furball would come to the door of the restaurant on a regular basis. If he wasn’t granted immediate access, hed scratch until a patron would come to the door. Then hed make the rounds, table by table – staring down diners until they handed over bits of whatever they had on their plates..Around the same time, Calvin Coolidge and his wife Grace had a pet raccoon living with them in the whitehouse they named Rebecca, so it was considered a strange but chic pet at the time. .Wed heard this legend for years and so adopted George the RACCOON as our mascot. He has since become a recurring character in our brand partnerships with @crateandkids on bedding, toys & pillows. In our @penguinrandomhouse childrens book, And with @Gant on our Wandawega kids line in shirts, tees and oxfords. Most recently for the new projects like magnets, flasks and decals that will be launching in our campstore soon..But to date hes still most popular with guests who sneak him off the mantel onto a canoe or in a group shot.George is a little stiff and worse for wear these days (having lost a few toes over the years). But we keep patching him up and will keep him forever as our reminder to wash our hands and wear a mask..All shots of the OG George & his camp iterations since – (except pics 1&3).The second photo is from the cover of the brochures here from the 1940s – which featured George climbing on the main lodge sign.
We have never seen a hatchet throw like this (20sec Mark) Our tiny staff here are excited to see the new spot Wisconsin just created and released about Camp Wandawega..We may not have been not born here, but we are so proud to call the dairy state home- and were happy to see small businesses like us included in tourism spots worth a visit..And grateful to Brad (@bhwoodworks ) Ash (@ahutchgram ) Joe, Ellie & Kerry for being the small but mighty crew who make this place worth stopping by.Thank you to our guests who are patient, chill and have a healthy sense of humor when they visit. Because we are still Not new. Not Improved. Since 1925.@travelwisconsin #wisconsintraveler
