Message in a bottle...

"The cabin" - '61

"In 1960 when I was 15 years, my parents bought "the cabin" across the road from Lake Ballard. There were two cabins on the property. The first had living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. The second was just a couple of rooms with no plumbing. Two months later the electric meter box was struck by lightening and the living-room and bedroom burned down. The Holmes volunteer fire dept saved the rest and some of the old furniture. Mom had insurance and they rebuilt. That summer was so much fun. We drove from Stamford, Conn. almost every weekend. My sister, Ginny, was 18. We would drive up on Friday nites, my parents not coming up until Saturday. My grandparents lived in Lake Carmel. I had spent many years swimming at the beach near the fire dept. on Rt 52 below Barrett Hill Rd. My cousin, Linda, also lived in Lake Carmel and her boyfriend, Billy, lived past White Pond . We met some of the local boys. I would go down the hill to the lake dive off the rock, swim to the stump, shampoo my hair, climb on the stump, jump in, swim across the lake. I met the kids in camp, Peter, Geraldine, Bobby, Joey, Larry, Mona Lou... Throughout the fall and into the winter, we'd make the drive to "the cabin". We had a fireplace and a kerosene heater. We had an outhouse, we called "Mary". The next summer the fun continued. There were lots of parties. We'd play records and dance. The boys would drink beer. There were parties in camp, too. I took many walks in the woods and to Flossie's. Watched the boys jump off that big rock hoping they'd be OK. My parents retired to "the cabin". They added a room. They lived there until around 1980. We had many family picnics with the grandkids. We still swam in the lake. I would walk thru the camp. For a few years the "hippies" lived there then everything was just gone but the lake." - Janet Gill

#2 Cabin

The approach

Entrance off Milltown Road, just east of "The Rock."

Thanks to Janet Gill for all these great memories!