Previously on What I Did On My Summer Vacation…
We covered the period from when my family first visited Bass Lake, Michigan, until the early 1970s. The resort was put up for sale, and my dad actually entertained the thought of buying the place, but wisely passed. He was pretty ill at the time and, although relatively young, was already planning for his retirement. He was going up to Bass Lake as often as he could. My mom and he, sometimes he would take a few of the brothers up with him, and there were times when we spent three weeks straight at the resort. Unfortunately, he passed away a week after he retired in 1971. That was the end of our first chapter at Bass Lake. Now for a few commercials.
I was drafted into the Army in early 1971 and served for two years. I was unable to return to the lake until I was discharged and got back on my feet (and that is another whole story). As soon as I got married, I took my wife. Sometimes my wife’s dad would join us, and another time, my mom, even though relocated to California, came back and accompanied us for a week. And the next chapter of our story began. Trust me, this is like a James Patterson novel: Three-page chapters, and we move on in a hurry.
Vince and Lea purchased the resort around the time my dad passed away, and they made some improvements, including clearing the weeds and performing repairs. Lea handled the business side while Vince was in charge of maintaining the resort. He was a skinnier version of Claude, but the same guy. He spent more time schmoozing and offering fishing advice to anyone who walked by him. When my mother met Vince, she revived the tradition of making a cup of coffee and chatting with him. It seemed like old times. The most significant improvement was that they replaced the old, steel boats that leaked so badly with “newer” aluminum boats that were much lighter in weight and leaked a lot less. If we had given reviews back then on the Internet, I might have given them a star.
My wife and I relocated to California in the 1980s, and after a couple of years establishing ourselves out west, we started coming back to the lake again. We now had three boys, and I would drive with my two oldest ones, while my wife flew back with the youngest. Do you blame her? Would you want to be confined with four males in a van and stay in questionable motels for four days? I had more vacation time than she did, and I have always loved the drive cross-country. My sons and I created some great memories on these drives, like when we missed Nebraska. You ask, how does one miss the State of Nebraska? Well, that is a story for another time, and as a result, we were able to mark Kansas off our list of states we have traveled to, but not intentionally.
As more intelligent people say, as you follow your plans, life gets in the way. There were a few years where this so-called “life” got in the way, but that didn’t stop us completely. When we could, we headed back to my Nirvana. Not the grunge band, a term that basically means one has reached a place of peace. If you have ever heard a Nirvana album, you’ll realize there is no peace in the song, Smells Like Teen Spirit.
As time passed, one of my cousins purchased a cottage down the road from the resort. Vince and Lea eventually sold the resort to a man who bought it with the intention of tearing down all the cabins and leaving it looking like a sad, unused park that no one was allowed to enter. I was heartbroken when I saw all the cabins and weeds gone. Some of the cabins were well over a hundred years old and were full of history. They all should have been landmarks.
Many of my cousins still go to the lake and now rent cabins near their sibling’s cabin. I have continued our family tradition of spending our summer vacation at Bass Lake, Michigan…and I still hate the day I have to leave.
I could go on forever about all the adventures, disasters, fun, and traditions that were experienced on our Bass Lake vacations, but that would turn into a book as long as War and Peace, but much less dry.
My family’s branch is creating new traditions. My oldest, who lives straight west across Lake Michigan in Wisconsin, either drives around the big lake (Michigan) with his bass boat in tow, or takes the ferry across to join us. My youngest son flies back from California to join us. My middle son’s career prevents him from joining us.
All my boys have fond memories of visiting Bass Lake when they were just boys and love repeating some of our traditions. I once told them how my dad used to make blueberry pancakes for us when we were kids, so now, I have to make blueberry pancakes each time we visit, and boy, do I make a mess of it. I leave the kitchen looking like a typhoon went through it for them to clean, but that does not deter them. If I don’t make them blueberry pancakes at Bass Lake, the earth will go hurtling into the sun and cause a mass extinction…or something like that.
Another tradition my family repeated was visiting the local ice cream company, located in Ludington, a city north of Bass Lake. We always have our first meal there and sample their very special treats. I’ve noticed I seem to gain weight while at Bass Lake. I wonder why?
We are now renting two cabins. One for my wife and I, on the lake, and a second one across the road for my oldest son and his girlfriend. My youngest stays with them (Thank goodness. He’s a big guy and takes up so much space…he’s never reads this, I think, so I should be safe).
Each year, we are also trying to bring someone from my family who doesn’t have the opportunity to visit the lake to join us. A few years ago, I brought up my oldest brother for one final visit. He passed away a couple of years later. It was a special moment for me, and I hope he felt the same way. This year, we invited one of my many cousins and her husband to stay with us. Unlike her siblings, who get up there every year, they have not been able to. We had a wonderful few days with them.
I have another brother whom I would love to get back to the lake. It’s been decades since he’s been there. I hope we can get that done soon.
We have reserved the cabins again for next summer, and I am already starting my preparations. I don’t bother asking my sons if they are going to join us each year. They spend most of their time at the lake discussing how we might approach things next year.
Why haven’t I just purchased a place on the lake, like my cousin did? Even though I considered it every time I go up there, I can’t justify it. I couldn’t rent it out enough to cover its cost. My boys would be taking up most of the prime weeks for themselves. I don’t think it would still be my happy place if I were worrying about cutting the grass, painting the place, repairing the roof, managing the rentals…or I could be like Claude. Just by a pair of bib overalls, quite shaving regularly, and trade stories for a cup of coffee with whoever is staying in my cabin at the time. Heck with the chores, it was the right thing for him to do for 50 years.
This started with my dad looking for a lake with good fishing. When we first visited Bass Lake, the fishing was excellent, for everyone else at the resort. The guy in the cabin in front of ours would go out each morning and come back with three lunker (very big) bass. Our family, while catching enough fish for a fish fry on Friday, usually relied on panfish and bullheads (catfish) to supply our meal. In the years since, the fishing has declined. There are many reasons. The lake could be overfished. Some invasive fish have entered the lake, and they are preying on the native fish. The lake is shallower than it used to be, and the water is warm enough for a bath. Not suitable for fishing anywhere. We could also be lousy fishermen…naw…can’t be that. We still beat the water with lures and drop live bait in hopes of bringing a whole stringer home. In the Bible, the Lord once instructed the fishermen to cast their nets on the other side of the boat, and it resulted in a catch that almost sank them. No matter how many times I try casting on the other side of the boat, all I got was my line tangled with one of my sons.
My wife still doesn’t understand why we don’t eat fish every night when we are staying on the shore of a lake and we fish everyday. She points towards the lake and tells us to go get some fish for dinner. We were lucky this year to catch just enough fish to do our traditional Friday Fish Fry (The tradition goes back to when us Catholics couldn’t eat meat on Friday). As for my wife, she still grumbles about the lack of seafood dinners.
I have alway awakened while it is still dark to launch the boat and head out to our chosen fishing spot for the morning, I get to enjoy one of my favorite things about Bass Lake: the most beautiful sunrises anyone will ever see. While it was fishing that brought us up to Bass Lake, Michigan, it’s the memories that bring us back.
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