July is always a great month, not just because it’s the month of my birth, but also because it’s the time when Island Fever sweeps the country and happy people everywhere head to that friendly place North of the Tension Line. I know it’s August and I’m already a month behind, but I still want to say a few words and show a few pictures from this summer’s vacation.
We drove up on a Sunday, a perfect day for driving. The traffic was light and the sun was out. We took US 151, a mostly rural route that follows the east side of Lake Winnebago for a while, avoiding the Oshkosh-Appleton-Green Bay mess on the west side. We eventually headed north on WI 42 and made our usual stop for smoked fish at Charlie’s Smokehouse in Gill’s Rock. Then we drove to the ferry dock in Northport where there were only two cars waiting.
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As you can see from the photo below, sometimes on Saturdays there are more than two cars waiting! To be fair, however, I should point out that this old photo was taken a few days before the 4th of July and before the Madonna was added to the ferry line.
As we pulled into the Island ferry dock on the Robert Noble, the flags of Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland could be seen waving in the breeze along with Old Glory. With a name like “Anderson” I felt like I was right at home.
Leaving the ferry behind, we drove to our rental property. Despite the name “Berkeley House” on the rental contract, the sign hanging outside said “Hafod Y Llyn” which, as we all know, is named after an area perched in the stunning Welsh countryside of Treflys, near Morfa Bychan in Gwynedd, close to the majestic Eryri National Park. The Berkeley House is actually perched on a limestone cliff on the northwest corner of the island near Little Lake. It has four bedrooms, two upstairs and two downstairs and a crazy spiral staircase. It was not only difficult to navigate the staircase with a suitcase, it also was difficult to walk up or down without getting dizzy!
The best part of this year’s Island vacation was that the “kids” were able to join us. Eric could only stay for a few days but Matthew, Lisa, Pepper and Ollie were there all week. Matthew and Lisa know that at least one puzzle needs to be assembled during the week. They were able to accomplish that task! Although our usual breakfast spot is now out of business, we did enjoy a meal together at the Red Cup. Actually, due to the presence of our four-legged friends, some of us ate outside and some of us ate inside. Our most important task every year is getting our Bitters Cards. You need one in order to “mingle, dance, etc. with all other Islanders.” There’s always a feeling of pride when you walk out of the Bitters Bar with your new card!
One other task that Kathy and I have accomplished every year since 1971 is taking our annual family photo. It was, of course, just Kathy and me the first year, but our family has now grown for over 53 years. Here’s our 2024 Family Photo. You can see all the rest at Anderson Family Photos.
The Berkeley House faces west and provides a view over Lake Michigan designed to capture beautiful sunsets. We enjoyed our share. Even the cloudy sunsets were pretty. Sometimes you might see a flock of pelicans heading back to roost in the evening. If you’re lucky you might see an ore boat passing, looking as if it’s trying to catch the setting sun.
Of course, we didn’t spend the entire week alone. This was not a vacation for just the Kathy and Mike Anderson family, but a vacation started long ago by my sister and brother-in-law (Min and the late Pudge Sustachek) at least as far back as 1957. Over the years children and grandchildren and their significant others joined the crowd along with friends and pets. The group does fluctuate from year to year but I try to remember to take a Washington Island Group photo every year. This is the 2024 group photo. I think 3 people had already gone home when I took this so it just shows the 28 lucky folks who remained on Friday.
With groups this large we are spread out all over the island. Several times during the week we all gather at one of the cottages to share a meal prepared by the renters of that cottage. Kathy makes the best meal of all when she bakes two hams and serves them along with green salad, potato salad, beans, yams, corn bake, jello, Elsie Leuker’s brown bread and more. Kathy does almost all the work with some help from a couple of our nieces. I contributed a quart of my spicy homemade dill pickles! After the meal we all wandered down to watch the sunset, make a fire, and make s’mores. The next morning a gray fox explored the site of the marshmallow roast with interest.
The most popular sport during Island week is fishing. Since I don’t take part in that activity I don’t have many photos to show. One afternoon, however, Matthew and I spotted a big salmon in Jimmy Sustachek’s cooler and it reminded me of a photo I took in 1979 showing Matthew lying on the ground next to a salmon. So, Matthew decided to pose next to the cooler for a new version and, with the help of Photoshop, I was able to make the 2024 photo look like the 1979 photo. The main difference is that now Matthew is larger and the fish is smaller.
To make the week’s fishing more fun, all interested fishermen and women put $5 into a kitty on Saturday and on Friday a trophy and money were given for the biggest fish (The Pudgeweiser Trophy) and the biggest bass (The Al Leuker Trophy). Anna C. and Chris were the emcees for the award night. Jason took top honors for the Al Leuker Trophy and Jimmy won the Pudgeweiser Trophy. Maybe some year they should award the Popiel Pocket Fisherman (now called the Ronco Pocket Fisherman) to the loser.
The last big event of the week is the sing-along. Although I am happy to say that I accidentally started this in the late 60s when I first brought my guitar to the island, I am much happier to say that since then, two nephews — Steve Sustachek and Dan Sorensen — and two grandnephews — Jimmy Sustachek and Brock Shoff — along with some friends have not only continued it, but made it more fun with songs from the younger generations. The other nice thing is that I no longer have to sing 20 songs, I only sing 4 or 5 and then let the younger singers take over.
I only have a few photos of the sing-along that Kathy took for me. Of course she took some of me. One challenge I had this year was that I just had cataract surgery and needed Nancy’s help to see the music for our usual closing song, “Those Were the Days.” And Kathy also captured one of Brock, who always provides a great set. At next year’s sing-along I have to remember to do the following three things:
- Sing “Figenschau Bay,”
- Invite people to write their own verse to “South of the Tension Line Blues,” and
- Take photos of all of the singers.
Maybe I’ll even try to learn a new song, like something from the 70s instead of the 60s.
It was sad to see everyone leave. We stayed one extra day to relax and pack and then we also had to leave. On the way home we stopped again for more smoked fish at Charlie’s!
As the old song says…
And soon this week will end in too short a time,
And I’ll be heading south of the tension line.
Lord knows next year I plan to come back this way
And lose another bunch of lures in Figenschau Bay!
Some Final Comments:
During the sing-along I bored quite a few people with some old stories. Only three people were able to stay awake. Don’t worry, I won’t repeat those stories here, but I thought some of you might enjoy seeing a couple pictures from 1967, my first year on Washington Island.
The 1967 group was rather small, as you can see from the photo on the left. Is that boy standing alone Steve Sustachek? It could be since he would have been almost 9-years old that summer. In the front row of the group are my sister Min (Mary Ann), her husband Pudge (Harold), and their friend Marian Peterson tending her daughter Vicky. In the back row are Pudge’s friend Vince Sienko (?), yours truly, and Gil Peterson. I have no idea who took this picture. I don’t think we had tripods and self timers in those days.
The photo on the right is from a voyage to Rock Island. The men were braving the elements and challenging Death’s Door to make their way to this scenic outpost. Chester Hjortor Thordarson (1867 – 1945), an Icelandic-American inventor, owned Rock Island for 35 years. His two sons and their families continued to enjoy the island until the early 1960’s. In 1965 the State of Wisconsin purchased Rock Island, the land and buildings, and made it into a state park. So, my first visit was only two years after the state bought it. There were quite a few more buildings on the property then. I don’t know who took this picture either. It wasn’t Chester Thordarson.
If you’re interested to know more about Chester Thordarson, check out Thordarson and Rock Island: C.H. Thordarson and his Lake Michigan Island Estate by Richard Purinton.
If you’d like to see some photos of Washington and Rock Islands that I exhibited in 2018, please see North of the Tension Line.