The Cottage
A Vacation Site For Decades
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WINNETASKA The Cottage A Vacation Site For Decades |
COTTAGE HISTORY A detailed history of Winnetaska and the cottage THE COTTAGE Every picture shows at least part of the cottage IN THE WOODS On the Hill Pictures from all around the cottage THE LAKE AND BEACH Pictures featuring Lake Michigan and the Beach Pick this entry if you want to see all the cottage pictures at one time Return to MCD home page |
For many years the McDowell family shared a vacation cottage on a high hill overlooking Lake Michigan. My mother, Alice McDowell, and her sister Elizabeth Jouse (Aunt Buffy), were the two families involved. Muskegon, Michigan was the nearest big town. Several other families from Chicago also joined them. Of course several families from the local area were drawn there. With the beach on the large Lake Michigan was in constant gradual change, At times was deep enough for games and large picnics and other years it was much smaller. But it was always much used and enjoyed. Winnestaka was within walking distance of a large sea port. We walked it once in a while. The walk I most remember was on a very windy day. On the way back to the cottage the sand was blown hard up against our bare legs. All four of us were not all that happy about that, for sure. From that port a ship sailed on a regular schedule across the lake. We made that trip twice with our car on board. One of the trips was on a stormy day. High waves and many a sea sick passenger. Since the cottage was on a high hill we got to see many ships and smaller craft daily. Liked that. Erosion was a visible problem. We did not walk straight down tha hill to the beach as that would have quickly damaged the hill. So the wandering walk was farther but a nice walk. It most likely would have been possible to better protect our hill from erosion but for a variety of reasons it was not done. Cost, difficult to get agreement between involved families and a variety of other things. The cottage was built about 20-25 feet from the drop to the lake. Over some where around 50 years erosion sent the cottage into the lake, In the pictures that follow you will see its last stages. In the 1920s the original cottage burned down. It was fortunate that even though the cottage was in a forest, the surrounding trees were spared. This was a wonderful place to vacation. It was treasured for decades by many extended family members and several other families in the neighboorhood. Just sit back, look at the pictures and try to imagine how wonderful it would have been to be there at the time.
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