![\"A](\"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/TheEscapeHatchGL.jpg\")
<\/a>In my career, I taught teachers how to use art in teaching, and name signs communicate directly by using various simple visual styles. I started wondering about the categories that the names fell into, and I found several; some names even fell into multiple categories. Here are some examples, but be on the lookout yourselves, as they can surprise you. (Some resort names may not always be obvious).<\/p>\n
Fewer than 10 percent of the cottage names I saw proclaim perfection: Elysium is a prime example, so are Blue Heaven, Delighthouse, Land of Ahhhs, Paradise Too!, Glen Heaven, Unger\u2019s Utopia, Shingri-La (playing with a last name), and\u2014now gone\u2014the mixed message of Paradise on one side and Pandemonium on the other. I was surprised by this low count of only 10 percent. <\/p>\n
Although we talk about our Up North places as idyllic escapes from everyday life, we name them mostly with simple descriptions. We let those characterizations speak for themselves.<\/p>\n
Most cottage names simply allude to what is visible\u2014the setting, the house itself, the view, or weather features. More than half fall into this \u201cdescriptive\u201d category. Thus, we have Leafy Dell, Tall Timbers, Cedar Shores, Edgewater North, Sandy Shores, Birch Grove, The Hilltop House, The M-22 House, and \u201cOn The Rocks\u201d (in quotes, surely a double-entendre), as names describing the setting. Actual houses and their features appear in names such as Shinglewood, The Cottage, Pinecot, Grey Logs (with matching mailbox), Gray Gables (matching mailbox), and CedarCot. <\/p>\n Weather conditions and view are proclaimed in Blue View Too, Windswept, Sailview, Windridge, Water Colors, Crystal Clear, True Blu,e and The Blue Line.<\/p>\n There is a strong theme of comfortable settlement and ownership, with about 20 percent using names such as Our Particular Harbor, B\u2019s Nest, Nesting Place (now gone), Our House, Aunt Margaret\u2019s, and The Roost. <\/p>\n Additionally, a noticeable thread of personal enthusiasms\/loyalty\/identity is apparent, as in Maize and Blue Shores, Hoosier Hideaway, Hoosier Glen, The Cat\u2019s Meow, or just a family name like \u201cStow\u201d that is painted on a fish-shaped board. True Blue, featuring a very blue Glen Lake, might also be University of Michigan alums. The Ahhhs people could be from Kansas.<\/p>\n Equally strong\u2014no surprise\u2014is a theme of escape, refuge or protection: Northern Escape, Snug Harbour, Woody\u2019s Time Out Retreat, Second Wind, Boone\u2019s Time Out, Dry Dock, The Sweet Escape, The Escape Hatch, as well as many havens and harbors. This \u201crefuge\u201d theme is clear.<\/p>\n Puns and wordplay appear: Boot Camp (depicting hiking boots, not military), Dune Good (laidback Adirondack chairs facing the lake), Been There Dune That. But more frequent are plays on family names, like Payne\u2019s Staking, The Wright Place, Herendune, Blenman\u2019s Bluff, JenLake, B\u2019s Nest, Faye\u2019s II, Shingri-La, MacIntosh (on a big red apple), and Roman Empire, near Empire.<\/p>\n Some fun but small categories, with only a few examples, are: second home (Second Wind, Fay\u2019s II, Windswept Too!, Branch Office), literary and historical references (On Waldie\u2019s Pond, Narnia, 10 Downing Street), goal achieved (This Is It, Finally, and\u2014good one for the Old Mission Peninsula\u2014Mission Accomplished). A few use the family name to create a welcoming message (Sadow\u2019s Do Duck Inn, Bob\u2019s All Day Buffet, Walke Inn, Wade Inn).<\/p>\n Only Empty Pockets seems to hint (and with humor) at the cost involved. <\/p>\n As interesting as the wordplay of names is the range of visuals illustrating them. More than half of the cottage name signs include images of some kind. There\u2019s a wide range, from elaborate depictions of the setting, house, or lake view to stylized trees, boats, and water. <\/p>\n The most elaborate images are full landscape compositions (some gorgeous lake views, as in houses named Water Colors, Willow Point, and Hilltop House). Others are simple abbreviated references to boats, oars, fish, those boots, and empty pockets.<\/p>\n<\/a>