Monday Memories

Have I ever told you about the cottages we used to rent?

This week we're at Lakeside, OH, where our family began vacationing in 1974. We've rented some nice and not so nice cottages, and bought our own place in 1988 (see this Monday Memory for that story).

Our first place was on Plum--a four family and really dreary inside and not too clean. Racoons ran up and down the gutter next to our screened window at night--nearly scaring me to death. But it was only $45/week and worth every penny. We spent a lot of time at the beach at East Harbor.

I believe this was the next summer, also a four family and was lakefront, so we had some great views when the storms rolled in. The decor was similar, however, I knew to bring a small vacuum cleaner and a fan. The kids had a great time playing on the rocks and fishing right outside the cottage.

This little cottage on Poplar, the last street on the east side, had a nice kitchen where we could see Lake Erie. There was a hammock on the front porch. We used a photo of the kids in the hammock with our neighbors' dog for our Christmas card that year.

We stayed in both of these, maybe our fourth and fifth summers. The gray one looked adorable on the outside, but the furniture wasn't very comfortable. The beige looked plain, but was very nice inside with great beds. Met lots of neighborhood kids to play with.

Then it was back to the lakefront, just 2 houses from the fourplex where we'd stayed. A duplex and we were upper level. This was the year we brought along one bicycle, which we all shared. Started bringing friends along.

This cottage on Jasmine was the first we rented that had 1.5 bathrooms, and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! Plus, there was a family next door (who are still there but now with grandchildren) who had a daughter one year old than ours and a son one year younger than ours, so they included our children in family activities--like fishing! This house has been through several color changes since we rented in the 70s and now has vinyl siding and a paved driveway.

This red log cabin, 3 bedroom ranch on Laurel was my very most favorite of all the cottages we rented. I think we had it our last 3 summers for a family rental. Our final Lakeside summer, the kids were sneaking out the windows at night, which sort of took the fun out of being here. The owners sold it and the new owners didn't rent. So I think 1984 was our last time here as a family.

If you'd like to join in on Monday Memories, leave a comment and I'll link back to you.

1. Friday's Child, 2. Libragirl, has no MM today, 3. Reverberate58, 4. Renee 5. Pixie, 6. Lazy Daisy, 7. CrazieQueen, 8. Chelle
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Lakeside, Ohio