Unfortunately, I don't have many memories from the glory days of the lake. In fact, the year they closed Hanson's, I was a year old. Having the opportunity to sit and read all of these messages makes the lake almost seem legendary. If it wasn't for the pictures, I wouldn't believe much of what the lake is described as. No traffic after Labor Day?!? Now, constant traffic year round. Enough room for steam boats?!? Now the lake is filled with boats all summer. And docks with the ice cut away? There are only about 5 spots on the lake where the ice meets the shore because of the amount of docks and their bubblers. It really does seem legendary. It almost saddens me because of the way people abuse the lake sometimes. They take the greatness of it for granted. Not knowing the history. Not knowing what it once was....
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Unfortunately, I don't have many memories from the glory days of the lake. In fact, the year they closed Hanson's, I was a year old.
Having the opportunity to sit and read all of these messages makes the lake almost seem legendary. If it wasn't for the pictures, I wouldn't believe much of what the lake is described as. No traffic after Labor Day?!? Now, constant traffic year round. Enough room for steam boats?!? Now the lake is filled with boats all summer. And docks with the ice cut away? There are only about 5 spots on the lake where the ice meets the shore because of the amount of docks and their bubblers. It really does seem legendary.
It almost saddens me because of the way people abuse the lake sometimes. They take the greatness of it for granted. Not knowing the history. Not knowing what it once was. The grand hotels, amusement parks, dance halls, the trolly, trains. The lake had it all back then.
Growing up through the 80s and 90s, I remember going out some evenings early in spring. This is when the ice starts cracking due to thawing. The noises the ice would make and the sounds echoing off the mountains sounded really spooky back then. Then in the summers, I lived close enough to The amphitheater(lakevi ew terrace), that I didn't even have to go to the concerts. I was able to listen to them from my porch.
One time in highschool, a few buddies of mine and myself decided to build a massive snowman in the middle of the lake. The ice was EXTREMELY thick that year, and I knew this from the ice fishing holes about 50 feet away. We spent about 5 hours of our day off from school putting this massive snowman together. In the end, it measured about 15 feet tall, and actually was in the Dallas Post as a random photograph with a caption. The snowman lasted until it fell through the thinning ice in the spring.
The memories I have are great, but are totally different than the ones from decades before. I enjoyed this site and have shared it with family who has lived at the lake. Thanks for taking the time and effort of putting this site together.