Why I Started This Blog

When I was 13 years old, my parents rented a cottage on the shore of Lake Superior in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan for a week-long vacation. Looking back, the cottage was not in the best of shape, smelled a bit musty, and had its share of mice co-inhabiting the space with us. But it was right on the lake, and you could hear the sound of the waves swooshing over the cobbled beach at night. You could walk across soft pine needles outside the cottage. Best yet, you could walk for miles on Gratiot Beach and not see another cottage or  another person. I knew then and there that I wanted to have a cottage on the Great Lakes later in life.

Although I've always loved the Keweenaw, I found another wonderful location in the Upper Peninsula to build our own cottage: the Les Cheneaux Islands on the northern shore of Lake Huron. East of Mackinac Island, the Les Cheneaux is an archipelago of about 35 small to medium size islands hugging the north shore of the lake. Only two of the islands are served by causeways and roads. Antique wooden boats, sailboats, kayaks, and canoes ply the channels. The swimming is great once the water warms up in June.

So we found a great lot on one of the 33 "other" islands not served by a causeway, and our adventure began. Now, 19 seasons later, we have had many experiences and ideas about how to maintain and sustain a vacation cottage on an island. We love our island getaway, and have decided that we want to share some of our ideas with everyone who is interested.

We hope that our stories, observations, and ideas are helpful to all of you, and we welcome your reactions and your own good ideas so we can all learn from each other. Welcome to the island!