Chelka Lodge Blog

We at Chelka Lodge are doing our part toward becoming more “green”. For the past several years we have been part of Project Planet, a program which encourages guests to reuse their towels and linens, thereby reducing water and detergent usage. Although we have always recycled glass, aluminum cans, plastic, newspapers and magazines, this year we introduced blue recycling containers in every guest room to make it even more convenient for our guests to recycle. All of our toilets (30+) have been replaced with low-volume flush models and we are in the process of converting all light bulbs to energy-saving fluorescent brands. Last, but not least, we recently replaced our old A/C units with new, more energy efficient models.

Motel Front Lawn

After a long, cold winter, spring has finally arrived at Chelka Lodge.Although the trees are only just beginning to bud, the grass is greening up, the loons have returned and the dogs are swimming in the lake.The water is still too cold for mere mortals; however, Saturday was definitely warm enough for Judy to start her tan!We’ve been raking, cleaning up winter debris, and finishing several projects, so, by opening day, we’ll beready for the 2009 season.We look forward to greeting our new and returning guests.

Early Spring is an interesting time on Lake George. The ice on the lake is melting, and as it does, it moves! Depending on the direction of the wind, it will move out of our bay, having no impact on us, or it can shift and cause all sorts of damage. So far we’re okay though our neighbor’s new dock got hit badly! If you look closely at the pictures taken from the deck you can see the ice moving across the bay. Winter or summer the view from Chelka Lodge is always memorable.

Spring is also a time for major clean-up. The winters here are harsh, causing tree limbs, pine cones and pine needles to fall. No matter how much we rake in the Fall, it appears as though we never did it! But, it’s great to get outside and see the lake come back to life. Our two labs, Heidi and Lacey, have already been swimming-sometimes among the loose slabs of ice. The days are getting warmer and the birds have returned. Summer isn’t far away!

Ice out on March 31

Ice out evening of March 30

While the lake is still frozen and the ice fishermen are still out in front of Chelka Lodge, we have finally begun to get some snow melt and we can now begin our spring clean-up. To get our property ready for our guests it takes several weeks of hard work. Hoping for continuing good weather we have numerous outdoor and indoor painting projects underway.

We began taking reservations for the 2009 season back on January 3 and we anticipate this year to be a relatively normal year, even given the state of the economy. A normal year at Chelka Lodge during the summer months does mean that we will run at close to 100% occupancy so please do not delay in making your reservations  to ensure that you are not disappointed.

The 1 Bedroom Carriage House, which was completely renovated in 2008 and is one of our most popular units, does currently have availability. Normally it is sold out immediately but several of our regulars have had to cancel their plans for 2009 so the unit is currently available for most of August.