I saw Wes Anderson’s impeccably set-designed Moonrise Kingdom over the weekend, so the new camp shop that just opened at Wandawega seems particularly on-time. Retro canteens, Boyscout-issue axes and antique rackets! Slingshots! Wooden arrows! Guests at Camp Wandawega ask so regularly where they can find similar camp-style goods (if you’ve seen the place, then you understand) […]

Tereasa from Wandawega emailed me a few months back after reading the post about the Red Welly in Wales, saying that she was “so getting a teepee.” And true to her wildly ambitious, girl-who-never-sleeps form (see her treehouse for proof), she had the thing ordered, erected and decorated in a month’s time. It’s officially the […]

I think I’ve gushed sufficiently about Camp Wandawega that you ought know what it is by now: a sprawling, super creative camp in Wisconsin with a rustic lodge, old hotel (once used for the sake of the country’s oldest female occupation), boy scout tent, outdoor chapel (the place was also previously a Latvian summer camp), […]

Sometimes returning to an old favorite is just as exciting as discovering a new spot. At Wandawega, David and Tereasa are perpetually making changes*–from a brand-new boardwalk along the lake to incorporating their latest hauls from the local flea markets. Here, right in line with her new book Found, Flea and Free, a look at […]

My friends Tereasa Surratt and David Hernandez are the super-creative, handy and beyond-generous folks behind Camp Wandawega (Tereasa’s getting ready to release her second book, Found Flea & Free–follow all her projects on her blog). We had a giveaway last fall to stay at their amazing spread in Wisconsin. This year, the flood gates are […]

Our first giveaway! Two nights at Camp Wandawega for two adults (and your kids, if you have them). The date is set: the weekend of Oct 1-3. If you can’t make it, please do not enter. There are no rain checks. Food, drink and transportation are not included. The winner will get a welcome package […]

When Chicagoan David Hernandez, who spent boyhood summers at a Latvian summer camp in Wisconsin, took his fiancé (now wife) Tereasa Surratt to see Camp Wandawega, they left with a parting request to the elderly priest: “If you ever decide to sell this place, call us first.” The call came five years later and the […]

So the weather’s been a little unpredictable this summer–sweaters in July?– but of course, now that the precious season is nearly over, it’s all endless, cloudless beauty. Sunshine for days. In a little round-up to honor these final weeks of summertime, I’ve pulled together some favorite posts from the archives (and elsewhere)–about places you need […]

A couple weeks ago, my talented baker friend Jess and I drove to Wandawega to spend two days making Christmas gifts and crunching around in the woods. We left on a Sunday afternoon and arrived after dark. I really wanted to sleep in the treehouse, which was in mid-construction phase during my last visit, but […]

   The New Innkeepers, Conde Nast Traveler, March 2014 Detroit’s New Food Scene, Conde Nast Traveller UK, February 2014 Top 10 Hotels in Chicago, The Guardian, August 2013 Prop stylist Jeffrey Moss, Martha Stewart Living, October 2012 Top 10 Characterful  Hotels, The Guardian, October 2012 Corktown, Detroit, Martha Stewart Living, September 2012 Hilltop Hideaway, Civita […]

I love to see what people find interesting when they travel–the details they choose to capture: a memory, a well-designed interior, the way the light shines down a busy street at dawn. Here, Tereasa Surratt, owner/decorator of Camp Wandawega (including recently featured treehouse) and design book author (A Very Modest Cottage and about-to-be-released Found, Free […]

jhkjhkl Honor & Folly Food & Wine, June issue Soul food for hungry city: a group of young urban pioneers is bringing the community together around excellent barbecue and fabulous coffee and cocktails. Plus, innkeeper Meghan McEwen reveals her haunts. Bon Appetit, June issue “Five spots to hit in Corktown… Snag a room at the two-bedroom […]