Miller's Shorewood Vista — Lake George, Rhinelander WI

Pencil sketch of the stone entrance arch at Shorewood Vista, with Lake George and pines beyond — The fieldstone arch at the water's edge — "Your Gateway to a Better Vacation!" A pencil drawing kept by the family.

Three miles east of Rhinelander, at the end of West Lake George Road, a fieldstone arch stood between the cottages and the beach. For close to seventy years, walking under it meant one thing: you were on vacation.

This page keeps the memory of the resort that stood at 4239 W. Lake George Rd. — first as Blaesing's Shorewood Vista, then for decades as Miller's Shorewood Vista, a full American Plan resort where three meals a day, square dances, and talent nights came with the cottage key.

1926: A farm that wouldn't farm

George and Hazel Blaesing bought land near Rhinelander intending to farm it. The soil had other ideas. In 1926 they built Blaesing's Shorewood Vista instead, one of the pioneering resorts of the Wisconsin north woods tourism boom.

When flagged, trains from Milwaukee and Chicago stopped near the resort entrance — a selling point for guests who chose not to drive. The first brochure promised a fireplace, a dining hall, and Sunday chicken dinners, and reminded guests of the wonderful fishing.

"Virgin pines, birch, and oak trees surround the place in abundance, making it a place of health and haven for hay fever and asthma suffers [sic]."
— from the Blaesings' first brochure, quoted in the Wisconsin Magazine of History

Wisconsin Magazine of History page showing a postcard of guests on horseback at Blaesing's Shorewood Vista — Guests ride horses at Blaesing's Shorewood Vista in a postcard reproduced by the Wisconsin Magazine of History.

The Millers make it theirs

Under Lucille and Clyde Miller — owners-operators, later joined by Jay and Toni — Shorewood Vista grew into what the ads called Rhinelander's largest modern American Plan resort. Cottages with picture windows and wall-to-wall carpeting. Three tennis courts, shuffleboard, ping pong, weekly tournaments, a gradual sloping beach. Controlled pets allowed.

American Plan meant food, and food was the point: three meals a day in the dining room, home-baked breads and pies. "Pamper Mom — no cooking."

A happy resort where there is no room for blues, no matter the season, the weather, or what.

Vintage foldout brochure for Miller's Shorewood Vista showing the beach, a speedboat on Lake George, and a stone-faced cottage — The foldout brochure: waterskiing off the beach, the stone arch, and "Wisconsin's Complete Resort."

Forty-two cottages, every one with a name

Nobody stayed in unit 12B at Miller's. You stayed in Tamarack, or Moss Oaks, or the Country House. The hand-drawn property map handed to every guest shows them all, ringed around the dining room and the road down to the beach.

HemlockWrightwoodMoss OaksWillowsTamarackNorway PineBirchwoodWhite BirchWhite PinesRed OakWhite OakBalsamsSprucewoodMaple LeafCedarsArbor VitaeElmsBasswoodTwin OaksMountain AshOakwoodThree PinesOak RidgeSumacPinesSilver SpruceThe Cottage AptsThe Country HouseRanch House

Hand-drawn illustrated map of the Miller's Shorewood Vista property showing named cottages, dining room, beach, and Lake George — The property map: "You found it!" Office, dining room, Campus Rec Room, cocktail lounge, and the beach on Lake George.

Hand-drawn fishing map of Lake George, Oneida County, marking fish shelters, weed beds, rock bars, and depths — The fishing map given to guests: fish shelters, weed beds, and where the walleye and musky held.

A week at Miller's

The 1986 rate sheet spelled out the evening schedule. Dinner Tuesday requested a coat, or at least a shirt and tie. Wednesday belonged to Talent Night — "Your favorite waiter may perform. Our waiters are talented hams."

SundayGet acquainted at the Campus Lounge — 50¢ discount on all drinks, 8 to 10 p.m.
MondaySquare dancing
TuesdayDress up and dine to piano music. Later, dancing at the Waiters' Disco Party.
WednesdayTalent Night — for the whole family. Sing, dance, do a monologue, pantomime, a magic act, or play an instrument.
ThursdayOn your own — "a good nite to try one of our local Supper Clubs or fun around town."
FridayGame Night

Paper trail

What survives of a resort is paper: rate sheets, ads in the back of magazines, holiday letters, and the things guests made because they missed the place.

1986 rate sheet for Millers' Shorewood Vista listing American Plan rates, cottage names, dining room hours, and the evening schedule — The 1986 rates: a week in a one-bedroom cottage, three meals a day included, ran $187.50 per adult. Boats $5 a day, bicycles 50¢ an hour, babysitter "reasonable."

Yellow magazine ad for Miller's Shorewood Vista headed 'Wisconsin's Complete Resort' with photos of the stone arch and the beach — "Lucille, Jay and Toni, a family they are and make others theirs too." Magazine ad, late 1980s.

Children in a conga line led by an adult across the wooden floor of the recreation hall, stone fireplace behind them — Game night in the rec hall, 1980s. This photograph was the only thing on millersshorewoodvista.com for years — it seemed right to keep it.

Homemade shadowbox diorama of the Miller's Shorewood Vista roadside sign, stone arch, sand, and beach toys — A guest family's homemade shadowbox: the roadside sign, the arch, real sand. "Slow down — you're on vacation."

Lake George: 446 acres
Shoreline: 5.5 miles
Max depth: 26 feet
County: Oneida, WI

"Hope you feel like it is coming home"

The holiday letters read like family news, because that is what they were. The 1995 letter catches up on the summer's weather, Jay's six truckloads of fall leaves, the compliments on Toni's cooking, and the guests who kept coming back — one of them first vacationed at the resort at age five.

"You know a hug warms and charms, must be why God gave us arms. You kept those hugs alive in '95. It will be '96, so make them stick!"

And a postscript for Clyde, gone by then but not far: "Will never get over missing our Clyde, but you know he is watching over us. Do you think he was in charge of the weather this summer? If you were — thanks, thanks, thanks, Clyde."

— Lucille Miller, December 1995

"It's the place people go to escape,
a place made of cabins, pine trees and lakes…
When you arrive Up North you'll know
in your heart."

— from "Up North" by Suzanne Kindler, a favorite among former guests

The resort is gone, but the fieldstone arch still stands on the Lake George shore — and nearly five hundred former guests and family members still trade photographs and stories of their summers at Miller's.

You'll like Miller's Shorewood Vista