Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Monday, May 21, 2018

Up North (with John Sanford)


There was a time when the phrase "up north" meant going to a mom and pop resort for a week or two of a fishing vacation in Northern Minnesota. That tradition has faded quite a bit over the years. Today, fancy resorts with tennis courts, golf courses, computer game rooms and "conference centers" dominate. Ah for the good old days.
 
Here I am checking out the beach with my Aunt Pearl and my mom (on the right) sometime during WWII.

A few years later, can you believe the striped pants my mom made me wear. The cabins were always "rustic." But what fun. I was an only child in those days as my little brothers didn't show up till I was almost nine...
 

This sudden dash of nostaligia may have been inspired by my perusing my childhood picture album on a rainy day yesterday. I'd just finished another John Sanford thriller. As typical the setting was in Minnesota.   The images of long past fishing lakes "up north" kept flashing through my mind. They are far away in time and distance but not in memory. Farm Island, Ball Club, Potato, Sawbill, Mantrap, Battle Axe, Lida, Hoot Owl, and on and on. Those were the days my friends.....

18 comments:

  1. You were such a cute little guy! LOVE these photos!

    We grew up camping, so the "rustic" part always makes me smile. I miss the days of vacations being away from amenities and getting dirty. We raised our kids in tent vacations and I think they liked those days away from the TV and computer screens too. It forced them to have fun together and find creative things to do.

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  2. Simpler and rustic has its place.

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  3. Growing up my family traveled around North Dakota visiting all the lakes and campgrounds. Fantastic memories for me. You were a handsome little fellow!

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  4. Hi TB - wonderful photos and memories ... lovely to see - cheers Hilary

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  5. Such a cutie you were. Somehow I think your "up north" had more lasting effects than today's version.

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  6. We went Up North every year. Sometimes that meant Canada, sometimes just northern Wisconsin of Minnesota. Always it meant a lake and swimming and camping. Often there were some cousins involved. Highlight of the summer!

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    1. Oh, and fisheries ng! How could I forget fishing!

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  7. We did much the same when I was young - long drives on narrow two lane roads to places like Wasaga Beach and Buttermilk Falls where we'd stay for a week or two in little cabins.
    You were a sweet child and I'm sure you're a happy and contented man because of those experiences.

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  8. I too still relive those treks taken. Every year my father took the boys and mother the girls for a week or two.I miss our road trips and expeditions into the north woods.

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  9. I know many of those lakes:) Good days:)

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  10. Nice memories from some old photos.

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  11. Seems you and I are on the same remembrance path since my old family photos have just gone on line. Have to say, though, that you looked a real cutie.

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  12. Dear Troutbirder, I, too, feel nostalgia sometimes for the days of my childhood and youth. But with regard to the North Shore and going to the Northlands, I think I did all that after the changes you mention. I didn't move to Minnesota until 1973. It was then that I began to go up to Gooseberry and other parks to camp with a friend. Later, after she died--in the 1990s, I went to Fensted's Resort right on the shore of Lake Superior and stayed for a week in a cabin the owners had built. It was based on a Scandinavian design. I did that twice and remember both stays fondly. Peace.

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    1. Exactly, rustic cabins and camping is still alive and WELL. And honestly all that many families now can afford. It takes two incomes now to live at the same standard as a one income family in the 1950's and 1960's. I don't know anyone who goes on vacation to play tennis. They go in vacation to get away from working nonstop so they can sit on a beach with their kids.

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  13. My husband's family did a rustic lake resort cabin, complete with ROW BOAT, every year. They were very frugal people and Dad's vacation time was limited, so those weeks were sure a treat for them. My family went Up North in Wisconsin, but stayed with relatives, sometimes at a lake. I wonder now if they pitched in any $$ for those stays. My husband and I have lived in up north Minnesota for 40.5 years, but never have lived at a lake. We've gone to cabins a few times. A real treat!

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  14. Neat nostalgic post. Those of us with those vintage photo albums are lucky indeed.

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  15. I love old photos for the great memories they bring. Those rustic lake vacations sound great!

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