Somewhere on a Lake

Ever since I was a small child, lake adventures have been a huge part of my life. If I wasn’t at school, you’d most likely find me somewhere on a lake with my family. Almost every week of the summer was spent on the lake with our Bayliner. If the weather was nice, we’d be on the water, soaking up that wonderful Vitamin D. My dad would hitch the boat onto the truck, and we’d drive north to Lake James to fish, tube, and swim. Eventually, we reserved a spot on the lake for our boat because we spent so much time there; it was easier than hauling the boat to and from the lake every week. Those lake days spent tossing fishing poles, tubing wildly across the water, and bobbing around in the sandbars inspired our annual summer vacations.

For the past couple decades, my family has packed up our truck, hitched our boat that we loaded down with suitcases, food and all the outdoor gear that we’d need, and embarked on a road trip. When I was just six years old and my brother was a mere three and a half, we set off on an extended weekend trip to Door County, Wisconsin, where we were introduced to all things fishing and outdoors. My memories, however, really started collecting a year later in Minnesota, where our extended family would rent a handful of cabins in a resort, and we’d spend the entire week fishing, tubing, swimming, playing games, and warming up on cool evenings around glowing bonfires.

Even though I was very young, I have a few vivid memories of Minnesota. I remember the sound the waves made lapping against the shore, the grassy plot of land that lie in the center of a semi-circle of cabins, the navy lake that provided a backdrop for the resort. I remember my brother, cousins and I entertaining ourselves by making comical commercials for products like Mountain Dew and Southwest Airlines. We’d spend countless hours riding our bikes and throwing horseshoes. Back then, we had no phones, no internet; all we were concerned about was spending the entire week outdoors. Together. As a family. The glory days!

We enjoyed years of bluegill and crappy fishing, heated Boggle and Scrabble tournaments, and continuing generational traditions that involved lemon heads and Twizzlers, things that only our family would understand. We carried the same traditions over to Wisconsin and later, to Ontario, Canada.

Wisconsin was our transition year. We were contemplating our next vacation destination, desperately seeking a place that resembled our cute resort in Remur, Minnesota. I remember one specific story of our short, one-summer adventure in Wisconsin. The week was packed with the typical fishing, boating, tubing, and games, but one excursion was added to the mix, and that activity was sailing. My dad rented a sailboat because we had decided not to bring our boat that year. Though I didn’t go, my parents and uncle embarked on a windy journey across the glassy lake. Long story short, the sailboat tipped, all passengers fell off and submerged underwater. My cousin and my brother, both just ten years old at the time and the only two to witness this, hopped in a fishing boat, jetted across the lake with little to no knowledge of how the controls operated, and rescued the stragglers. It was a story that has been retold time and time again in our family, evoking laughter every time it’s recounted.

2009 was a milestone year. It would house the vacation that would continue to live on for a decade. We began our annual summer vacations to Ontario, Canada at Brennan Harbour Resort. For the last decade, we’ve enjoyed countless laughs, unforgettable memories, and of course, plenty of fishing and tubing. A boat seat broke; a satellite dish was set up outside our cabin; a uHaul was brought every year; and phrases like “comin’ in hot,” “shorty’s fire burnin’ on the dance-floor,” and “slot fishers” that get tossed around in our family lingo originated in Canada on these very vacations. Every year, we’d celebrate my mom’s birthday at the lodge or down by the campfire pit with cake and presents. The resort had its very own beach that we explored each year; we named it “Camp Snow” for a reason that I can’t remember. Most families or couples that stayed at this resort were diehard fishermen. They’d wake up at sunrise, eat breakfast, pack a lunch to eat on the boat, and drift or troll until dinner time; they’d head back out after eating until sundown, when lights were required to illuminate the boats. Us? We loved fishing, but we entertained the resort by tubing–they called the tubes, “ringoes”– in wild circles around the bay. Our screams and laughter drifted all the way up to the cabins. Again, everyone thought we were insane because this resort generally hosted religious fishermen; therefore, fishing was the only item on their weekly agenda. For our family, our weekly agenda included boating, fishing, tubing, swimming, games, bonfires, and food!

Preparing for the vacation was almost as fun as the vacation itself. The girls would get together a week or two before our departure to discuss meal plans. We’d split dinner responsibilities so that each family’s food cargo was dramatically lessened, and the stress of cooking each night was eased. My mom made a trail mix every year that became a family staple.

Our schedule was simple, but jam-packed with a perfect combination of activity and relaxation. My mom and I would read books on the dock in the mornings, listening to the waves lapping against the pier, tube around the bay in the afternoon, gather for dinner at the lodge or in our cabins and share stories of the day, family fish in the evening, and play games at dark until we were all ready to sleep and begin the fun cycle again in the morning. The cabins had electricity and plumbing, but no heat or AC; it was the perfect accommodations for our family. We kept coming back every year, after all!

When people think of Canada, typically cold weather comes to mind. This is true during most months, but June through August are tolerable. I wouldn’t say the temperature would ever reach an excruciating heat level, but 60s and 70s, sometimes an occasional 80 degree day, are normal for summer months. Rain was frequent, but we didn’t let it harsh our moods; we just spent the day indoors, playing games and sipping hot chocolate, while the boys reeled in the bass, walleye and northern out on the lake.

The most recent two years were very memorable. We added my wife, Erica, my brother’s wife, Kelli, and my cousin’s wife, Erin. We brought all our dogs, so that definitely added some extra excitement. We tubed, kayaked, played card games and loud group games until we were sure we would be shushed by the other residents, fished at sunrise, afternoons, evenings and nights, spent a day exploring an island and lounging on a hidden, secluded beach that the resort owners showed us, drifted lazily in the middle of the lake on rafts, and even boated over massive, six-foot waves on Lake Huron!

Memories after memories of these vacations are engraved in my brain, never to be erased. Etched in my memory bank are some of the funniest, most outrageous, joyous moments that tie my childhood up in a beautiful, perfect bow. Boats tied up with rope, bumping against the dock. Waves lapping into the shore. Vibrant orange and pink sunsets painting the evening sky before sinking into the horizon. Family fishing nights spent tossing our poles in the water, sucking on lemon heads and biting Twizzlers. Country music blaring from the boat’s radio. Early mornings fishing with my dad, sipping coffee and munching on PopTarts while reeling in bass and northern. Afternoon boat rides, hair whipping behind me and goosebumps crawling across my skin. Trips to the marina to fill the boat up with gas. Dozens of mosquito bites trailing my body. Sunburnt noses and raccoon eyes, proof that we received no shortage of Vitamin D. Tubing across the lake in wild circles, tumbling into the water and raising a hand to be “rescued.” Watching my brother learn to kneeboard and eventually, wakeboard. Laughing hysterically when my uncle broke our boat seat. Victory dances from my grandma after she beat us all in a heated game of Scrabble. Exploring beaches and islands with my brother and cousins and our spouses. Countless baseball caps, fishing poles, and even a pair of RayBans lost in the water. My mom’s pizza bagels warming in the oven after morning fishing. Books sprawled across my pillow, waiting to be read by the pier. My mom’s morning runs through the woods, and her encounter with a bear. The resort crew astounded, year after year, about the volume of belongings that we brought. Photo shoots on the rocks. Wednesday Fish Fries (later transformed to BBQ) in the gazebo. The WiFi we’d get only at the lodge, where we’d spend an hour going through all of our pictures from the day. The loud games played in the lodge and the gazebo. The daily fish scraps thrown to the birds from the cleanings. The massive dogs that roamed the resort with GPS tracking collars. Those iconic DVD’s that captured all of these moments perfectly.

These are memories I will treasure forever. These are the memories that will live on as we continue to travel and make family vacations a top priority. Whether we continue to go to Canada or we chose to transition into new traditions, family vacations will always be a highlight of the year.