Walk In The Water Cottages

Ad for Midway Motel Cottages (now Walk In The Water Cottages)
from the July 1, 1964 Vermilion Photojournal

One of the charming aspects of Vacationland is the abundance of small cottage resorts to be found on U. S. Route 6 between Vermilion and Sandusky and beyond. They're a throwback to the early days of automobile travel, when today's modern motels really hadn't been invented yet.

Cask Villa – spotlighted here yesterday – was one of those early tourist camps.

With so many more exciting and luxurious options available for vacationers these days, it's impressive that there are still cottage camps in business on Route 6 in 2019. It's obvious that they cater to a loyal clientele, who return year after year to enjoy the timeless simplicity of the accommodations, in addition to the cooling breezes of Lake Erie.

I've written about some of these cottage resorts that have managed to survive, including Lakeside Lodges and Mari-Dor Beach (as well as some that are no longer around such as Peck's Cottages).

Another one that happily is still in business is Walk-In-The-Water Cottages, located a couple of miles west of Vermilion. (Here's the link to its website.)

In the old days, it was known as Midway Motel Cottages, as shown in the ad at the top of this post. As noted in the 1964 ad, it was managed back then by Karel and Colette Fiser.

Karel Fiser was quite a colorful character. At the time of his passing in 2014, his obituary noted, "A professional soccer star and restaurateur in his native Prague, Karel immigrated to England following the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. In England, Karel met and married his wife of 62 years, Colette. 

"In 1956, Karel and Colette immigrated to the United States, settling in Cleveland, Ohio. Over the next 4 decades, Karel opened and operated a series of successful restaurants and nightclubs. 

"Renowned for his interpretation of central European cuisine, Karel was featured in many newspaper articles, appeared on the Mike Douglas Show, awarded the Key to the City of Cleveland and was requested by Former First Lady, Rosalyn Carter, to prepare his signature recipes while she was travelling through Northern Ohio."

Anyway, today Walk-In-The-Water Cottages advertises air-conditioned cottages and a heated pool. It must be a winning combination, since the place has been busy every time I've driven by it this summer.

Courtesy Walkinthewater.com