Wandawega Blog Archive

.crying on the plane posting this(not at all awkward for the people next to me) Just got this email.The first overseas trip I took, I picked up the best travel book I could find. It was a Fodors. I dog-eared the hell out of it, filled it with gutter notes & unrealistic hopes to see everything in it. (This was 1993, pre-dating todays ocean of travel bloggers- having an actual book as a guide felt so… official)If someone would have said that all these years later a little place Id adopt with my future husband would end up in these pages- I would never have believed it. Those pages under the orange cover were sacred. Far away places & fancy hotels. That 1st book opened up my eyes that there was something beyond the 2 stoplights in town.Davids response: How is that even possible? Were not a hotel, and were not fine. (Agreed). .So today were grateful to @fodorstravel for including some of us little guys on your list. Then, tomorrow (& every day after) well be grateful that there are people out there who can embrace you even though you may not have a pedigree.Coming home now with a new perspective: Im going to go dig up that first dog-eared copy of Fodors & read the gutter notes of a 22 year olds travel wishlist. .FODORS.com: WEIRD & WONDERFULYou may not have heard of this Wes Anderson-like camp property, but many big & trendy brandslike Anthropologie, Warby Parker, and Crate and Barrelhave used its vintage-inspired rooms stocked with antiques (from felt pendants to cozy Pendleton plaid blankets) and its whimsical grounds that feature a teepee and a treehouse, for photo shoots and design collabs. At the hands of a Chicago advertising couple, this former mobster hideaway (1930s), family-friendly lake resort (1950s), and Latvian priests church camp (1960s and 1970s) has been made uber-cool, with accommodations spread out over cabins and cottages. Archery and taxidermy never looked so enticing. @travelwisconsin Were lucky to be on this list with our friends places that we love so much:.@touristswelcome @thepontchartrain & @shinolahotel @bobcoscarelli @aimeemazzenga

October 3, 2019 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

Dont rain on our parade (or flea market) …Even when half-drowned in a rainstorm, The Elkhorn Flea Market did not dissapoint ..found a few things on this mornings treasure hunt for the new nature stand:.* Old Milwaukee vintage beer cooler* Schlitz 1960s S&P shakers* Fairbault Woolen Mills vintage blanket throw* Old Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer pitcher* Mission era side table .* German beer garden table & bench set (like the one that is in there now, but for less ) ..Good times with our flea market @sohohousechicago buddies ..Cabin photos by @bennett_young

September 29, 2019 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

24 hour countdown to theTHE LAST FLEA MARKET of the season .tomorrow morning at 7 am the Elkhorn Flea will open its gates. …500 booths, stalls and dealers will be unloading their finds (usually discounted so they dont have to store it in the off season). …I still cant believe the Magazines who’ve given me budgets to shop fleas for stories. (I dont tell them Id do it for free, just for the fix).(having @RandomHouse and @Hearst publish my books on how to shop them was my damn dream come true)But I will never, ever take for granted that I’ve somehow ended up with an 8 year old who likes to explore them too. (By this time next year shell probably be over it, #hopingnot). Today & tomorrow Im feeling super lucky ’cause we get to host a big ole group of fellow flea junkies from @sohohousechicago for an weekend event to celebrate this last market of the season – can’t wait!PREP CHECKLIST:-Pick up truck is gassed up.-Greased wheels on the flea wagon.-Stocked up with cash.-Super-tanker of coffee filled.- list of alllll the things we need.SEE YOU AT THE FLEAAAAA!!!!.@travelwisconsin@walworthcountyfairgrounds@visitwalworthcounty .Shots 1.3,7 @bobcoscarelli

September 28, 2019 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

…then this happened.That flailing blur in the left corner is my contribution to this years annual company retreat portrait…..the precise moment that I started an epic series of trips and almost knocked out all of my front teeth (for the second time in the past decade).A very near skull-to-gravel-faceplant That I escaped only by the grace of God(Because Lord knows that I was not gifted with any grace of my own) ..The best way to wrap up one of our favorite parties of the year with some of our favorite people..To fully appreciate just how bad this moment was- Zoom in to my co-workers expressions- it says it all. . .#NoFilter #timeforadrink

September 25, 2019 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK.100 years ago a farmer ordered it from the pages of a old Sears & Roebuck farm building catalog.Some 80 years later it would be moved to another farmers field here in Wisconsin to become a small animal outbuilding.Last year we hauled it over the timber and through the woods, and plopped it down here overlooking the kettle in the back acres, as a nature watching stand.Were installing custom iron roof brackets & solar lighting …And finally found the old German Beer Garden table & benches, so folks can play some cards, drink beer – or if youre like Davids dad Herb, take down other campers in arm wrestling.HAPPY 73rd BIRTHDAY, HERB!!You are literally the best. Especially when you let us win at armwrestling.The next time youre at camp, give this guy a beer and a pat on the back. He & his wife Anna are literally what keep this place going.

September 22, 2019 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

What my big sister does while the rest of us are sleeping…. .The oldest of us 5 kids, when shes not working shifts in the ER, @amypoturnicki is patiently stalking wildlife with her long lens.None of us really know how or when she developed this particular skill- (this amazing gift of talking animals into posing for her)….but its equal parts impressive and scary (check out that wolf starting her down in shot 7).Shots here from wandawega and her own lakehouse as well..#dontknowhowshedoesit

September 20, 2019 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

WHO WANTS TO PLAY BINGO? WINNER GETS BEER.This has been called the game roomSince before David can remember (because this is the place where all the poker and bingo went down). When we first got camp 15 years ago, we found bingo artifacts everywhere. Beat up cards, chips retired from VFW halls, bars and church collections.IN 1950, ANYONE WORTH HANGING OUT WITH PLAYED BINGO. Back then, every lodge, tavern, lounge & club had their own house-branded custom cards. (Friday nights in the midwest at any Elks Lodge meant an old fashioned in one hand & a fistful of bingo chips in the other). Weve been adding to the cabin imp collection for years, gathering inspiration at every yard sale, barn sale, junk store in Walworth county… until we could find someone to create our own custom Wandawega version.Finally, our search turned up with Regal Games (who invented the “auto slider card.” ) Turns out they are still right outside of Chicago some 70+ years later. In our efforts to recreate our Eisenhower-era bingo dreams, we failed to get them to make it on the stitched genuine heavy double-ply board stock, but havent given up yet. We are working with the amazing @Rohnerpress – who pulled the original 1950s stitching equipment from the Regal Bingo factory – to sew them. We opted for the “scavenger-hunt” model -folks scour camp to find the sites to close their shutter slide. The first one to hit a row across wins.So now when you check-in, youll find one of these on your camper registration clipboard. In honor of the beer of choice from Bingo (and Wandawegas) hey-day, whoever brings us a winning card (& can tell us where they found the clues)wins a can of PBR, Schlitz or Hamms.Second to last shot is an early wandawega Bingo squad (Davids mom Anna is lower right)last shot is Davids dad Herb (top) in the lodge kitchen drinking said beers, and maybe actually playing cards-and possibly bingo.

September 19, 2019 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

The last souvenir shop…We found one of the last old school shops on our recent trip to the tourist capitol Wisconsin.Got to meet the owner- an elderly man that goes by Greg – his store is The Moccasin Shop. He explained that the next day would be his final day of business after 71 years of selling souvenirs. His father opened that business (all i could imagine was decades worth of backstock in the cellar).I had to ask- he was kind. if you have a few minutes, ill take you to the storage shelves. I dont think weve ever thrown away a thing in all these years.It was an honest-to-god treasure hunt.digging through piles of deadstock on shelves that hadnt been touched in decades. .1: vintage leather beaded comb holders .2: Deadstock of seed bead leather belts.3: Hoards of deadstock leather moccassins.4: Backstock of souvenir postcards.5: US set of fridge magnets.6: Miniature keychain minnetonkas .7.Native american dolls (the most un- PC).8: Tourism auto decals.9: Crockware salt & pepper shakers .10: collectible spoons .Greg gave me his number- so We could come back the following week & hit the upper floor too.But after days of calling, Greg didnt answer- and after calling all the neighboring stores on the Dells strip, the owner of the fudge shop finally walked over and handed him the phone.Greg explained that the new owners had already gutted the place- and that all of 71 years of souvenir deadstock was nearly gone – he guesses a trash truck, junk stores. He was moving away to retire. (I seriously could not get the lump out of my throat for a hour)Someday I want to open a souvenir shop stocked only tourist gifts that you cant find anymore. Today, shops only stock modern bedazzled, neon, battery-operated disposable crap.R.I.P. Moccassin Shop, thank you for 71 years of making vacationers happy. Update: we did go back anyway. And although the main shop and attic had been gutted- he let us sift through the remnants left in the basement- where we gathered all that we could that was left behind (shots here are a small sampling of that merch- were making a plan to for how we can give it to guests- stay tuned.

September 18, 2019 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

If you had to pick one song to play on the camp jukebox – what would you choose?For us, its Old Dogs & Children by Tom T. Hall .It won CMA song of the year in 1972.He wrote it about the time at the 72 Democratic National Convention, where he had a conversation with an old porter at a hotel bar.I love it because its the first song I can remember our dad singing to us.He loved kids. He had five.He also taught us to love all dogs – but pay extra favor to the old ones.He hated wine, but would tolerate grandpas dandelion wine (he never did let us taste it – but it still sounds like hell)..He never put us in seatbelts, but put us on motorcycles before we could read. He was a mechanic, a collector of old things – he found the most broken things and fixed them up. Always out of necessity, but also as a passion for breathing new life into what others saw as worthless.They say that we influence our kids in so many way we dont even realize – what they hear us sing to them, what they watch us doing, collecting, saving.If thats true, it helps to explain why at camp we have a (bordering on unhealthy) obsession collecting old trucks, bikes, motorcycles – and songs for our Jukebox.It also helps explain why our camp fleet has organically grown with what we gravitate towards – things he either had himself (Ford Model A, Apache, IH, Ford pickup) or things he would have loved too – Harley golf cart, Ural sidecar, Indian Chief). Charlies Suzuki dirt bike is the same style we had as kids. Our camp pickup is the same year he had – does anybody else have childhood memories of riding to town rolling around in the back of a pickup with your four siblings?For good reason, Rolling Stone ranked Old Dogs, Children-& Watermelon Wine as one of the greatest country songs in history -If you dont know it & are looking for some simple perspective, go give it a listen. But if you get the chance, come hear it on our jukebox. Our craigslist salvaged Wurlitzer is over 5 decades old, so the speakers are nearly shot – its scratchy, rough & bumpy, but we have learned to appreciate the older things -(in all forms of life).They tend to have more character.

September 17, 2019 • Published by Tereasa Surratt