Wandawega Blog Archive

We have some news!…The cat may have just been let out of the bag a little.Just did a little interview with the @BostonGlobe about ‘Immunity pods of family and friends starting to venture out on private Vaxicationsexcerpt:Camp Wandawega in Elkhorn, Wisc, has had so many bookings that its building new cabins, – Its also setting aside separate coves, picnic tables, and even beach zones for visiting pods.*This seasons new additions are still going through final inspections this spring with our local permit authorities – but heres a couple hints of whats to come : One of them – (we wont use the word glamping)is our biggest new canvas decked camping addition and fancier than anything weve had before… it sleeps 4 In our woods and feels more like the #WandawegaHillhouse than a 1920s Scout camp. The two smaller ones that well be offering this season are straight out of Moonrise Kingdom tucked into the back acres – cantilevered over a gorgeous kettle that we havent used yet.One things for sure: We are ready for the 2021 season, (all hands on deck with our new hires, opening up over the next couple of weeks). Were already booked for our hot months – but have openings still left. If youre new to our little feed, the way we work here is that we book out our big all-camp events first for events, retreats and charity / cause based groups…and then make the unused inventory available for smaller self-guided groups that can be booked by anybody.Weve just opened up our remaining spots on the calendar for the 2021 season, and look forward to welcoming you if youre looking to get off the grid this summer. See: Airbnb.com/p/wandawegaWith a couple shots by @anda_marie

April 11, 2021 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

SUPPORT OTHER PEOPLES DREAMS….heres a great little spot we stayed at this week right here in Wisco (NOT a sponsored post. Just a spread the love post) If Ron Swanson, Nate Berkus & Wes Anderson took a vacation together, theyd like to stay here.Its 3 hours from Chicago, tucked into 3 acres of the Kettle Moraine State Forest,And is the literal log cabin of all of our dreeeeams.um.do you also ever stay in somebody elses house & fantasize about what it would be like to live there?We do.We love seeing other folks living their dreams of finding their perfect vacation spot.Then buying it. decorating it with all of the things they love.Then opening its doors to complete strangers like us.A FEW BACKSTORIES FROM THE OWNER THAT WE LOVED:The mysterious longhorn velvet wedding mirror – it was exchanged between meatpacking families (shot 7)The mid-century stereo cabinet is something we picked up in a rather terrifying Silence of the Lambs situation”We fell in love with the reclaimed planks and stairs, the deep fireplaces, and the quirky little corners and up/downstair splitsA local painter did the European lime/plaster paint and white-washed the ceilings and brick workFavorite pieces: The leather club chairs, the Black Forest / boar bristle chandelier, my great-grandfathers homemade hutchThe 4th bedroom in the upstairs loft are a pair of little beds tucked in under the eaves- we call it the Harry Potter room.THE 8 THINGS YOU HAVE TO DO:DISCOVER local historic little shops still in business (last shots) Our favorite is a sewing machine & vacuum cleaner repair shop that is a museum where everything is for sale we picked up a time capsule 1950 vacuum we found an old road house inn thats a bar & a barbershop that is literally stuck in time. All within 20 min of our cabin.+ KAYAK the lake & hike the trails thats 5 min away.+ EAT at Kohlers restaurants closeby.+ VISIT Lake Mich beach & dunes just up the road.+ COOK up a feast in the stocked kitchen, hilltop brick patio w/BBQ & smoker.+ CURL UP with a book and a cocktail at one of the huge beautiful fireplaces.+ PLAY the game roomCheck out @maaike_interiors

April 9, 2021 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

Advice from the camp woodshed. (and Henry Ford, a priest and a refugee)”Chop your own wood once and it will warm you twice”.When we bought camp, we found axes everywhere.The Sports shed.The crawl space under the bunkhouse.We found a two-man-saw under the lakeview cabin.and a hatchet with half a handle in the towel closet of the priests bathroom.Finding all these broken bits around camp made me wonder why they bothered to save this junk.- but then we where given the stern reminder from Rita (the 90 year old Latvian refugee who had been coming here for 40 years)The people who came here had lived through WWII. We arent wasteful like people now – we dont throw things away.She also explained her habit wed noticed of reusing coffee grounds to run through the maker a second time. As a teen in the refugee camps of Germany she gathered grounds from American soldiers trash, and as orange rinds to make tea – she said it was a luxury and the soldiers where nice to her…seeing photos of her as a teen we can see why. (She ended up marrying one of them).So we could understand that they wouldnt throw a way a perfectly good axe just because it had a snapped handle.It was the Save everything generation, and now we cant look at a broken axe in the same way again. They needed a home, so we gave this sketch (shot 10) to an Amish family to build us this woodshed to give them one. Rita didnt get to see our woodshed built- (she probably would have scolded us that it was too fancy for the purpose of covering kindling & broken axes)- but we suspect shed still appreciate that we are respecting the old….and shed probably still be making her own campfires like she did up until she was in her late 80s.Weve heard that Reagan and Ali kept chopping their own wood into their 70s, too – something to be said for that.Cut your own firewood.Make your own campfires.Dont be wasteful.(PS: the new @BestMadeCo. axes arent ours, but we suspect that theyll be around a hundred years from now)

April 7, 2021 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

(dark past)Weve always been from the wrong side of the tracks (In our case, lake chain.)Were sandwiched between lakes that are way fancier than us (Geneva, Delavan, Lauderdale), so the cottages around here were built as affordable summer cabins for the working class. The land was so cheap back in the 20s that you got a free lot to build just by buying a newspaper subscription. Were so excited to launch a new secret squirrel project with our friend @austinsailsbury soon. (And its got us digging into archives to unearth some of what made this place a blue collar getaway and hideout for criminals)These photos are of the OG ads & postcards EXCERPT FROM AMERICAN GETAWAY.100 Years of Saints & Sinners at Camp Wandawega Land Boom (1920 1925) In July of 1925, the Elkhorn Independent made front-page news of the land boom currently taking place: People from outside the state are flocking to Walworth County right now and are buying the choice summer site building lots at prices which would astound older residents … who can remember when every lake in Walworth County was considered free property. Better roads to and through Walworth County made it practical for subdivisions to be built, as well as easier for Model Ts full of out-of-towners to pour in from Chicago during the summer months. Located just four miles north of Elkhorn, with 4,800 building sites, Made for an idyllic locale more than ripe for the picking. In a 1925 newspaper ad, the US Bond & Mortgage Company of Chicago described the area of the new development as beautiful … good, rolling, partly wooded land bordering 4,000 feet on Lake Wandawega. The ad promised the locals that the migratory occupants of these future summer homes would soon become new neighbors who will trade in your stores, bank in your banks, and buy from your farms. parcels located on lands adjacent to the lake originally sold for $240 per acre and were reserved for sale to the respectable. This era of development brought those eager to seize a variety of money-making opportunities with both hands.including one Chicagoan who would buy a 25 acre parcel to build a resort called THE WANDAWEGA HOTEL

April 6, 2021 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

Leave your mark.(Carve your name into our furniture)…this is a peek into cabin No.3, it was built 95 years perched on the edge of the lake.- The next shot is actually the only place where well let you do this. its become a camper tradition- guests whittling their own carpe Diem advice and stories into the bunk beds before they check out.Take a closer look when you visit, we try tuck stories into every corner, surface and drawer- some of them we tell, but most you just have to ask us about (even though they have more layers than well ever know about, we try our best to dig up every objects backstory)Hope that all these names carved in this bed lasts in some way or another. 50 years from now somebody finding the year 2020 carved next to somebodys name might spark a story about what happened to the world that year. This bed has been a good reminder for us at camp to tell our story- And ask others to tell us theirs.

April 5, 2021 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

Winner !! @katepearsall Giveaway!A crate just showed up at the camp gates filled with all of our dreams. Spoiler alert:guests this season are about to get a @bestmadeco upgrade. We cant wait to start outfitting our little camp corners & quarters. A few new tools & gear will find a home alongside the vintage equipment that weve been sourcing for decades (from barn sales to farm auctions, the hunt has become a second job… that we love) Unboxing this morning, I realized that the axe shipping crate might actually be nicer than my first college apartment.Its just too good to throw away- so weve decided to give it away instead. so if anybody wants to give a custom long wooden axe crate a good a home, were gonna fill it with camp swag-y things and ship it to you. (drop a comment below & well pick one tomorrow)*sorry we arent giving away the actual axe itself with the box- (but its legit the nicest gift anybodys ever given us) so to try to ease our guilt, we promise to pack the box with as many little throwback camp souvenirs and gifts as we can fit in there. (Last shot here is the starting point of what it will come with but we are throwing in some surprises, too)my grandpa always said that when somebody gives you something, you need to give something away to another person- Thanks to our friends and Wisconsin neighbors for the chance to share little things that make us happy. #bestmadecoThe best shots here from their last visit with us – the bad ones are my iPhone

March 31, 2021 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

When we first met, David asked me if I wanted to come over to see his beer can collection. We almost didnt have a 2nd date. 22 years later, we still have boxes of cone top cans and pull tabs in the back rafters. That was also about the time we also started collecting church keys.With every candle and can of syrup we ship out of the camp store, we throw in a can piercer (Some know it as a church key,)… one end is a for punching can holes and the other is a bottle cap lifter. Our model is called Royal Roy, and we tie off the end with a leather boot lace & our house souvenir sticker. We have a soft spot for the everyday things folks take for granted – its why we have amassed an embarrassing amount of vintage Pabst can openers, that youll find in every kitchen drawer here. SOME USELESS FACTS THAT WE CANT HELP BUT FIND FASCINATING :+ World’s Largest Collection of Bottle Openers Guinness Book of World Records = 32,411+ The pop-top beer can, 1959, made can piercers a thing of the past. (Except for bottled beer & soda, which still needed an opener)+ One issue with pop-top cans was that the person could choke on the pop tab if it was dropped into the can. (Jeez, can you imagine?) By the 1970s, a stay-tab can was introduced by Coors solving this problem.+ The Handbook of United States Beer Advertising Openers and Corkscrews” Pictures over 2,000 types. Enthusisasts call it the BibleIf you really nerd out on this stuff, rejoice in knowing there are others out there like you. You can join just-for-openers.org and hit up the national convention. We might just need to make a road trip.Shots:Pic 1: our house candle (needs the bottle cap end)Pic 5: our church keys Pic 6: our camp brand syrup (needs the piercing end)Pic 7: how everything comes wrapped

March 30, 2021 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

It seems crazy that for a couple hundred bucks, you can move into the last house Frank Lloyd Wright designedIt was his smallest commission, both in physical scale and fee. And the last one he took in his lifetime. He died at 91 in 1959.A 24-year old Seth Peterson shared a birthday with Frank, and it was a life long FLW Fanatic. So when Seths original lake cottage burned down in an accident, he took a shot in the dark to fulfill his obsession/dream of building a Frank Lloyd Wright house.At the time, it was rumored that Frank was hard up for money. So in an attempt to coax him into designing a small cottage, he wrote to Frank and included a check for $500. It worked. In need of funds, Frank cashed the check (which ultimately served as the contract to design Seth a home).Even at 91, Frank was able to design the most spectacular, tiny cottage but unfortunately he died before the house was completed (and Seth also met his own tragic demise almost immediately after).You have to watch the documentary Jewel In The Woods to learn the incredibly sad backstory of what happened to Seth but the house ended up getting finished by someone else, and then fell into the hands of the DNR then became abandoned & eventually fell apart. (at one point vandals started ripping siding off to burn in the fireplace, and pillaging the interior for scrap).Until a group of volunteers rallied together to raise 300K to bring it back to its former glory. it is an incredible space.We stayed for a few days & just got back to camp last night. (All these shots are from our stay).We feel like everybody should know about this place and its story. David volunteers on the board of directors for @FLWTrust (Frank Lloyd Wright Trust) so weve been on a mission for years to support and rent as many of Franks historic masterpieces as possible. Were on our 3rd one so far this year.The mission of the trust is to engage, educate and inspire through Wrights design legacy & preservation of his work for future generations.We are here for it.SethPeterson.org for more details

March 29, 2021 • Published by Tereasa Surratt

We just moved into Frank Lloyd Wrights Seth Peterson Cottage (on Mirror Lake, Wisco) for a socially distanced vaca. And you can, too. For the price of a standard urban hotel room, you get to literally take over the totally secluded wooded acres in Mirror Lake State Park right on the water. This is what we did, and highly recommend to anybody else whos into architecture, crafting, hiking, reading – basically all things old school vacation vibe1. READ.In gorgeous house FLW history library of vintage books (pic 3)2. SHOP.Hit up the local pottery shop (were restocking bisque for the Camp Craft Cabin & the fudge shops to restock the canteen candy jars (pic 7)3. VISIT.the old 50s era hotels on the main Dells strip… to collect brochures from tourist racks to stick in our new Camp visitors center pic 4)4. EXPLORE.the 90+ year old Trading Post (scored some deerskin Minnetonkas & a treasure trove of deadstock souvenirs & postcards-Pic 8)5. HIKE. Hiking the trails down to canoe on the dock to see first hand why they call it Mirror Lake6. SOAK. up the epic FLW stone fireplace, (the cottage has its own woodshed just to keep the fires burning -pic 2)7. DINE.at 4:30 dinner (before everybody else rolls in) at the infamous Del-Bar supper club designed by Franks protege James Dresser (pic 10)8. WATCH.Catch the sunrise on the cantilevered stone patio and sunset on the dock.9. PLAY.Hit up the house game closet. Stocked with every old school game you could ever want (pic 5)10. FEED.the birds in the MCM feeder using the house supply of seed + bird watching books (pic 9)David voluntarily serves on the board of directors for the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust (we like to promote the preservation of historic homes and lodges – especially those in Wisconsin) SethPeterson.org#SethPetersonCottage #FrankLloydWright @flwtrust 1st photo: sethpeterson.org *note: David & Charlie didnt go into all places since he is waiting for his shot, I was able to mask up & speed shopbecause I got my vaccination. be safe, friends

March 28, 2021 • Published by Tereasa Surratt