Childhood Nostalgia
Today's wonderful weather has activated my nostalgia so I thought I'd post about it.
I remember so many wonderful things about being at The Lake. After camp we would go and get to spend at least 3 weeks in heaven before we had to go back and get ready for school.
Today is like most summer days in Eagle River, WI- puffy clouds, plenty of sunshine, and low humidity. Heaven. At night it gets cold enough that you have to close windows and get out the wool LL Bean blankets and a sweater. The mosquitoes are the size of pterodactyls and will suck you dry in one sitting. The fresh water clams in the lake would do their best to slice open your feet if you are not careful. But the air is clean and fresh. The man made noise is mostly motor boats driving by your dock and laughter. The area is filled with lots of wildlife- birds, bats, porcupines, bald eagles and even the occasional black bear.
I remember so many wonderful things about being at The Lake. After camp we would go and get to spend at least 3 weeks in heaven before we had to go back and get ready for school.
Days were occupied with swimming, water skiing, boat rides around the lakes (often leading to lunch at the Chanticleer Resort for beer cooked brats and an ice cream), laying out on the deck and reading or visiting with neighbors that drove their boats over to see if you were home. Occasionally someone would get out the Sunfish sailboat or canoe and go out for a bit. A few times we would load everyone up and go to the upper lakes for a ride and lunch. It was always exciting for us kids to load the boat into the lift and watch it be raised over the lock. There were many bike rides down our quiet street and around the area. There was always the probability of water skiing and where the glass was- sometimes over by the Cohen's house and sometimes in the bay by the island. Hardest part was deciding if the water was warm enough to get into.
Evenings were spend reading on the porch after a well grilled dinner, fending of the giant mosquitoes. Late night was spent watching Johnny Carson on the tinny little 13" TV that we set up on a foot stool next to the fireplace. The reception was always terrible and we were lucky if we got all three major stations (ABC, CBS, NBC).
Mornings were in the kitchen all around the bay window seat/table watching the humming birds feed.
The house was filled with things from the 50's. The plates, the furniture, the games, the giant stuffed fish on the wall (a marlin on one and some freakishly huge carp type upstairs on the back of the fireplace) There were also two huge deer that stared at you while you were in the living room.
When it rained we would get out card tables (we had more then one household should have) and would build forts upstairs with blankets and pillows around the tables. Then we would have "sleep outs" in them.
We would make calls on the rotary phone, but it was always hard to hear because it was a party line. Sometimes we would just listen in on other peoples conversations because it was the kid thing to do.
We ate Tombstone pizzas and drank soda's that had fortunes printed in the bottom of the can.
As a kid we would go often to a place called "Buck and Doe Forrest". It's long, long gone and certainly not very PC for these days. When you went in they would give you a cake cone filled with deer food. The second you got in the gate, about a million (or so it seemed to a little kid) deer would appear out of nowhere, knock you over and steal your cone and food. None of them would stick around long enough for you to actually pat them once the food was gone. Once you went through the second gate you could visit with all the native animals that lived in the NE Wisconsin area. Most were in cages like at any zoo. There was a huge black bear in a cage that you could buy a bottle of soda for and give to him. Poor thing must have had some terrible diabetes, but that's what was done, so we didn't question it. At the end there were a handful of smaller animals that you could actually hold and pat. I remember there being a fat woodchuck (which lead us all to saying the woodchuck poem- every time), a porcupine that for some reason let us touch him, several bunnies and a fixed skunk. My mom has a wonderful picture of my brother and the skunk. He has his 70's bowl cut and a wide striped brown shirt on. It's an AWESOME picture.
Outside the petting zoo you could buy all the normal cheezy Indian inspired trinkets and there were a few cheap carnival games, our favourite was trowing the ring on the bottles. You got to keep whatever bottle you ringed. The cool thing was that they were all glass soda bottles (leftover from what the bear drank I'm sure) that they had heated the necks till they could stretch them and twist them around. Then they were filled with coloured water and corked. They were very cool and highly coveted by us kids.
I remember going for boat rides to get brats and having to stop for gas on the way. The smell of boat fuel (50-1) always brings back those wonderful memories.
I remember going out for dinner in the boat to The Hiawatha or The Chanticleer and then trying to find our way home through pitch black channels. More often then not we would run into something under the water and dread that we had punched a hole in the hull of the boat. It was a rare occasion that someone would remember to leave a light on in the boathouse, so it was always a treat to try to dock in the pitch black. The small flashlight we had was useless of course.
There were the nights that we would go to the Tijuana restaurant for steak. It was still pretty bad, but a big treat and the best 'out to eat' food around. There was taxidermy all over the place and for some reason we always got placed by the stuffed armadillo. They didn't even serve Mexican food there- noone knew why it was called Tijuana.
Some days we would take the little boat (a glorified fishing boat with a motor that had been rigged to a steering wheel at the front)and drive several lakes away into town. You were supposed to be 16 to drive the boat. None of us were. The boat patrol gave us all plenty of warnings every summer. :) We would tie off to a small dock under the big bridge going out of town and walk the rest of the way into the main part of town. While there we would make the usual stops- A&W for lunch, penny candy, get some of the best fudge out there (Tremblay's Fudge) and then browse the other stores on the main strip till we were tired or out of money.
Often we would go to 'ski shows' and watch amazing feats! The big ramp was always a crowd favourite and so was the 10 woman pyramid. How they kept all those ropes from getting tangled was anyone's guess.
I remember "bat hunts" late at night. We got bats in the house often. When they would start flapping around the ceiling and wake us kids up, then there was a hunt!! We would all go running into my mom/step dad's room and alert them to the hunt. Then we would all doff hats (because we all know that if your wearing a hat you are automatically protected from bats) and badminton rackets and capture the creature. My step dad had the fishing net and would always be the one to catch it and set it free outside again. He was our hero many a night!
They were amazing summers and a wonderful way to spend a childhood. I'm so happy to be able to call upon them any time I want. Today was one of those days that made all that come back easily. Thanks Mother Nature!!!
I remember so many wonderful things about being at The Lake. After camp we would go and get to spend at least 3 weeks in heaven before we had to go back and get ready for school.
Today is like most summer days in Eagle River, WI- puffy clouds, plenty of sunshine, and low humidity. Heaven. At night it gets cold enough that you have to close windows and get out the wool LL Bean blankets and a sweater. The mosquitoes are the size of pterodactyls and will suck you dry in one sitting. The fresh water clams in the lake would do their best to slice open your feet if you are not careful. But the air is clean and fresh. The man made noise is mostly motor boats driving by your dock and laughter. The area is filled with lots of wildlife- birds, bats, porcupines, bald eagles and even the occasional black bear.
I remember so many wonderful things about being at The Lake. After camp we would go and get to spend at least 3 weeks in heaven before we had to go back and get ready for school.
Days were occupied with swimming, water skiing, boat rides around the lakes (often leading to lunch at the Chanticleer Resort for beer cooked brats and an ice cream), laying out on the deck and reading or visiting with neighbors that drove their boats over to see if you were home. Occasionally someone would get out the Sunfish sailboat or canoe and go out for a bit. A few times we would load everyone up and go to the upper lakes for a ride and lunch. It was always exciting for us kids to load the boat into the lift and watch it be raised over the lock. There were many bike rides down our quiet street and around the area. There was always the probability of water skiing and where the glass was- sometimes over by the Cohen's house and sometimes in the bay by the island. Hardest part was deciding if the water was warm enough to get into.
Evenings were spend reading on the porch after a well grilled dinner, fending of the giant mosquitoes. Late night was spent watching Johnny Carson on the tinny little 13" TV that we set up on a foot stool next to the fireplace. The reception was always terrible and we were lucky if we got all three major stations (ABC, CBS, NBC).
Mornings were in the kitchen all around the bay window seat/table watching the humming birds feed.
The house was filled with things from the 50's. The plates, the furniture, the games, the giant stuffed fish on the wall (a marlin on one and some freakishly huge carp type upstairs on the back of the fireplace) There were also two huge deer that stared at you while you were in the living room.
When it rained we would get out card tables (we had more then one household should have) and would build forts upstairs with blankets and pillows around the tables. Then we would have "sleep outs" in them.
We would make calls on the rotary phone, but it was always hard to hear because it was a party line. Sometimes we would just listen in on other peoples conversations because it was the kid thing to do.
We ate Tombstone pizzas and drank soda's that had fortunes printed in the bottom of the can.
As a kid we would go often to a place called "Buck and Doe Forrest". It's long, long gone and certainly not very PC for these days. When you went in they would give you a cake cone filled with deer food. The second you got in the gate, about a million (or so it seemed to a little kid) deer would appear out of nowhere, knock you over and steal your cone and food. None of them would stick around long enough for you to actually pat them once the food was gone. Once you went through the second gate you could visit with all the native animals that lived in the NE Wisconsin area. Most were in cages like at any zoo. There was a huge black bear in a cage that you could buy a bottle of soda for and give to him. Poor thing must have had some terrible diabetes, but that's what was done, so we didn't question it. At the end there were a handful of smaller animals that you could actually hold and pat. I remember there being a fat woodchuck (which lead us all to saying the woodchuck poem- every time), a porcupine that for some reason let us touch him, several bunnies and a fixed skunk. My mom has a wonderful picture of my brother and the skunk. He has his 70's bowl cut and a wide striped brown shirt on. It's an AWESOME picture.
Outside the petting zoo you could buy all the normal cheezy Indian inspired trinkets and there were a few cheap carnival games, our favourite was trowing the ring on the bottles. You got to keep whatever bottle you ringed. The cool thing was that they were all glass soda bottles (leftover from what the bear drank I'm sure) that they had heated the necks till they could stretch them and twist them around. Then they were filled with coloured water and corked. They were very cool and highly coveted by us kids.
I remember going for boat rides to get brats and having to stop for gas on the way. The smell of boat fuel (50-1) always brings back those wonderful memories.
I remember going out for dinner in the boat to The Hiawatha or The Chanticleer and then trying to find our way home through pitch black channels. More often then not we would run into something under the water and dread that we had punched a hole in the hull of the boat. It was a rare occasion that someone would remember to leave a light on in the boathouse, so it was always a treat to try to dock in the pitch black. The small flashlight we had was useless of course.
There were the nights that we would go to the Tijuana restaurant for steak. It was still pretty bad, but a big treat and the best 'out to eat' food around. There was taxidermy all over the place and for some reason we always got placed by the stuffed armadillo. They didn't even serve Mexican food there- noone knew why it was called Tijuana.
Some days we would take the little boat (a glorified fishing boat with a motor that had been rigged to a steering wheel at the front)and drive several lakes away into town. You were supposed to be 16 to drive the boat. None of us were. The boat patrol gave us all plenty of warnings every summer. :) We would tie off to a small dock under the big bridge going out of town and walk the rest of the way into the main part of town. While there we would make the usual stops- A&W for lunch, penny candy, get some of the best fudge out there (Tremblay's Fudge) and then browse the other stores on the main strip till we were tired or out of money.
Often we would go to 'ski shows' and watch amazing feats! The big ramp was always a crowd favourite and so was the 10 woman pyramid. How they kept all those ropes from getting tangled was anyone's guess.
I remember "bat hunts" late at night. We got bats in the house often. When they would start flapping around the ceiling and wake us kids up, then there was a hunt!! We would all go running into my mom/step dad's room and alert them to the hunt. Then we would all doff hats (because we all know that if your wearing a hat you are automatically protected from bats) and badminton rackets and capture the creature. My step dad had the fishing net and would always be the one to catch it and set it free outside again. He was our hero many a night!
They were amazing summers and a wonderful way to spend a childhood. I'm so happy to be able to call upon them any time I want. Today was one of those days that made all that come back easily. Thanks Mother Nature!!!