Birch Lake isn't big. At 198 acres and a maximum depth of 27 feet, it's far from ranking anywhere near the top of the largest lakes in Oneida County. Even so, the fishing here is abundant. As lifelong residents and operators of Jung's Cottages for nearly 40 years, we've heard plenty of fish stories—and whoppers, too! But Michael Rhines, who stayed with his family in Tranquility this summer, has the photo evidence to prove his catch—just not the photo he wanted most. Michael has kindly let us cross-publish this story from his blog, North Woods River Runner. BY MICHAEL RHINESWhen…
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Every once in a while, a guest will write to us not long after departing—to express gratitude for the lodging and share something they've written online about our little resort: a comment, a review, or a blog post. Such was the case this past August, when Michael Rhines was so taken in by the charms of Tranquility that he wrote about his family's cottage-style quarantine on his blog, North Woods River Runner. Michael has graciously allowed us to cross-publish his story here, but we recommend clicking over to his blog where he's posted even more photos and videos. BY MICHAEL…
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For any person living in a small, rural community, being written about in the local newspaper is one of the highlights of life. We were so lucky then to have been a part of a wonderful story that originally appeared last summer in The Lakeland Times. And we were even luckier for such a story to be written by one of our longtime guests, Ted Rulseh, who was so charmed by Birch Lake as a visitor that he chose to call it home permanently. Ted also writes at his blog, The Lake Where You Live, and is the treasurer for…
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When we started Jung's Birch Cottages nearly 40 years ago, things were different. In the winter, we would drive down to the local print shop to pick up boxes of freshly pressed brochures. Evenings were spent, while the icy air whipped and whirled outside our windows, sticking postage stamps and hand-writing the addresses of the past summer's visitors. Then, once our tidy brochure bundles were dispersed through the U.S. Postal Service, we would sit and wait for the phone to start ringing. By spring, we would begin to hear from families—many of them returning guests—looking for a quaint, quiet, and…
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