Same Time Next Year

For Bluffers, summer travel is as much tradition as destination.

Long before Lake Bluff became home to year-round residents, it was where families came to spend the summer.

Chicagoans escaped the city by train, filling cottages along the lake with children, picnic baskets, and weeks of lazy summer days. They swam, played cards on the porch, strolled through town, and, perhaps most importantly, came back the next year to do it all again.

In many ways, Lake Bluff was built on the tradition of the family getaway.

Today, we’re lucky enough to live where others once vacationed. But each summer, many Lake Bluff families continue a tradition as old as the village itself. The destination may be different—a Wisconsin lake house, a Michigan cabin, a favorite beach town—but the memories are what matter. The overpacked car. The annual family photo. The same dock that grandparents, parents and grandchildren have all worked to repair over the years. Pancakes on paper plates. Kids who cry because they have to get out of the water. As families head off on their summer adventures this year, we asked Bluffers to tell us about the places they’ve been returning to for generations.

THE HEINTZELMAN FAMILY

Lakeside, Michigan • Since 1995

For the Heintzelman family, summer means Lakeside, Michigan. Known and beloved in Lake Bluff, Jon and Kris have lived on Woodland Avenue since 1978 and still continue to serve the community, while enjoying life with their three children and many grandchildren—Jon (Jr.) and Carmela Heintzelman and Dane and Britta Johnson of Lake Bluff and Tom and Julie Heintzelman-Haley of Albany Park.

The family has returned to the same beach every year, building a tradition that now spans three decades. Last summer, the annual gathering took on special meaning, as the family celebrated Jon and Kris Heintzelman’s 50th wedding anniversary there.

“The times we are together are moments to treasure,” said Jon.

From shared meals and beach days to blueberries from Sawyer, treats from the Swedish Bakery, and ice cream from Oink’s, the annual trip is the most anticipated of the year.

“This tradition has filled our memory bank over the years to overflowing,” Jon reflected. “It’s our favorite week of the summer.”

A FAMILY TRADITION SINCE 1876

For Lake Bluff resident Morley Thomson Vahey, the tradition and memories run deep. Her first name comes from her family’s surname—the Morley family, which has been part of the Lakeside community in Michigan’s North Woods since its founding in 1876.

When the community was established, four siblings purchased four neighboring plots of land. Over the generations, their children and grandchildren bought nearby properties, creating a family legacy that continues today.

Nearly 150 years later, the family’s seventh generation is still returning. Summers are spent around the same dining hall, on the same shoreline, and among relatives and lifelong friends.

“It’s the kind of place where someone calls out ‘Morley,’ and half of the room turns around,” Vahey said, wistfully. “It’s my favorite place in the world.”