Vacation at Clear Lake a snapshot of bygone summer day

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jul 13, 2008 | by Jenny Slafkosky

Around this time every year we start talking about the lake.

"Who's going this year?" someone will ask, though it's kind of a silly question. The same people go every year.

For more than 40 years my boyfriend's family, along with an extended network of friends, has been making an annual summer pilgrimage to Clear Lake to swim, boat, fish, barbecue and, most important, spend time together.

It's a tradition that started when Ginny, my boyfriend's mom, was a child and her parents started taking the kids to the lake every summer. In 1978 Ginny started taking her own children to Indian Beach resort in Clearlake Oaks, always staying in Cabin 10. The family has been known collectively as "Cabin 10" ever since.

When Ginny died two years ago, it was her specific wish that the family continue going to the lake. The truth is it's not something we'd ever miss.

"I can close my eyes anywhere and hear the sounds of the lake," she wrote in one of the three thick scrapbooks that hold the history of the family's lake adventures. "The ducks, the birds, the waves on the gravel, the docks creaking, the screen door slamming, the trucks on the highway, the bell at the little store, the jet ski motors -- everything that is tied up with the many memories I have."

I am a relative newcomer to the family, but like everyone else who's stayed at Cabin 10, the place has gotten under my skin. We daydream about jumping in the water to swim off the heat of late afternoon, or dozing on the dock while the waves lap on the shore. We reminisce about the time our friend Justin bought a six-foot- tall sculpture of a hot dog (which he dubbed Hot Dog Man) on an antiquing trip and about the time we had to rescue the dog with a Jet Ski as she eagerly chased a duck into the middle of the lake.

We bet on how many fish Boris will (or will not) catch and how quickly we can knock Rachel and Ali out of the towable inner tube as we pull it behind the boat. We look forward to Indian Beach's weekly potluck and pancake breakfast, and to seeing the other resort regulars -- families who, like us, have brought children and then grandchildren back year after year. In the age of jet-setting and package vacations, going to the lake seems rare and special, like a favorite snapshot of a bygone summer day.

We want the funk

While Clear Lake is known for its exceptional natural beauty -- it's California's largest freshwater lake and a destination for bass fishing, birders and rock collectors -- parts of the county have a reputation of being, well, funky.

Many Lake County resorts that thrived in the 1950s and '60s fell on hard times as the family lake vacation fell out of vogue in favor of more all-inclusive theme-park-oriented trips in the '70s and '80s. In economic decline, the county gained a reputation as depressed and deserted, a stigma that it still struggles with today.

As a result many resorts, including our favorite, are not "mint on your pillow" types of places. Instead they offer a little bit of the Lake County of yesteryear (this occasionally includes decor) in which families gather to fish, swim, laugh and play games -- and if you come into the cabin dripping lake water, you'll be the one to clean it up.

Renaissance in action

For my first several years on the family trip to Clear Lake, the county seemed to be in a time warp -- stuck between what it once was and what it might again be.

But in the past few years, we've all noticed some changes. Wineries and tasting rooms are popping up in unexpected places. Signs for car shows and wakeboarding festivals and blues concerts and guided tours are posted along Highway 20 and in communities such as Glenhaven and Kelseyville.

Lake County is experiencing a renaissance, partly due to a burgeoning wine industry and partly because an ever-increasing list of activities is drawing curious travelers looking for a vacation destination just a little closer to home.

"We are growing, but still trying to keep that small-town feeling, which is nice," says Linda Armstrong of the Lake County Visitor Information Center. Within Lake County are the two incorporated cities of Lakeport and Clearlake as well as 16 small communities including Clearlake Oaks, Lucerne, Nice and Upper Lake.

Armstrong notes that the town of Upper Lake has seen a great deal of development for tourists in recent years and now boasts the Tallman Hotel, a recently restored 1890s Victorian. Adjacent to the Tallman is the Blue Wing Saloon, which features a menu of local ingredients and live blues music. The 2008 Blue Wing Blues Festival is Aug. 6-9 and will feature blues legend Charlie Musselwhite.

Down Highway 29 in Kelseyville, the Konocti Harbor Resort offers waterfront access, including boat docking and rentals, and a spectrum of accommodations from hotel rooms to apartments. Perhaps Konocti's largest draw is the outdoor amphitheater featuring headliner music acts such as Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. The recently renovated Edgewater Resort offers recreational vehicle camping as well as rental cabins and boat docking.