If you were not born and raised in the Northwoods, I’m sure your family has stayed at some resorts, as many did. After staying at a relative’s house on Mercer Lake for two years, for reasons I can’t explain, my father decided to try different resorts. Being so young I didn’t ask or care where we stayed because I loved being in the Northwoods so much. So, over the next nine years, my family called three different resorts home for two weeks a year. Maybe we moved every three years to a new location so my dad could fish new water, or there might have been something my parents didn’t care for at one resort or another.

Twenty years later, I started dating my wife Monica and we talked about different vacations we each took, and she mentioned that she had been to Canada (THANKS FOR THE UNHEALTHY AIR QUALITY) fishing. Well, that’s when I knew I meet my future wife. I told her about my family vacations to the Northwoods, and that is when we started to plan a trip that started the tradition my dad began years before.

Upon returning to Mercer, we stayed at the last resort my family vacationed 25 years before and I couldn’t have been happier. From my memory the property and cottages really hadn’t changed much. This is when we started to plan yearly trips to the Northwoods but wanted to try different resort locations. This is when I realized that not all resorts are the same and now, how much resorts have evolved, and the vacationers have changed also.

RESORTS THEN.
Here are a few things I remember about the old resorts my family stayed at. Basic and small bathrooms. I remember one resort didn’t have a bathtub or shower; there was a six-stall community shower in the middle of the cottages. For lighting, there was only ceiling lights in each room. I don’t remember any tables with lamps. The furniture was old and beds were mostly twin or full size and were not comfortable. Few resorts had fish cleaning facilities. Two resorts we stayed at, the fillet house was a tree stump. The kitchen in most resorts were mostly small, as were the refrigerator and stove/oven. The kitchens also didn’t have many pots or pans.  A few had a community building with tables and board games. For bait, you drove to the nearest town. For ice, you drove to the nearest town. Pretty much all had a swim area. All had a 14-foot rowboat that came with the cottage, but none of them rented outboard motors.

RESORTS NOW.
I don’t know one resort that does not have a full-size bathroom. The furniture in most cabins is newer with a Northwoods theme. The bedrooms have different size beds; some have queen and even king size beds. Every cabin I have been in at different resorts have tables with lamps along with ceiling lights. The kitchens are well stocked with cooking utensils, have larger if not full-size refrigerators and stove/ovens. Now add a microwave that wasn’t heard or back in the day. Many resorts have a small bait shop/store you can buy a few basic items to save you a trip to the nearest town. As for those 14-foot rowboats, some still have them, but they also not only rent outboard motors but fishing boats and even pontoon boats.

I WASN’T GOING TO ADD THIS PART, BUT WHY NOT.
I believe vacationers have also changed over the years. What was it like when I was young being in the Northwoods? I WOULDN’T HAVE CHANGED A THING. But back then we didn’t know about or need to unplug from electronics. We entertained ourselves. We fished, took day trips to few waterfalls and went for boat rides and even went horseback riding. Now if cabins do not have Direct TV because people can’t be without it or they can’t connect to wi-fi, so people can see their Facebook page, they are not happy vacationers. Don’t people come up north to get away from all that? Resorts old vs now? No TV, no fire pit, no fish cleaning house, no bait shop, no screened in porch, no air conditioning, I’LL TAKE THE OLD.