…one of my favorite all time movies..
I bet most of you knew the line…
Johnny Castle and Baby Houseman charmed many…
I was smitten with the whole deal…
What I loved most about Dirty Dancing
was the era… a time when families
still vacationed together for entire summers in resorts like the one depicted
in the movie… I believe it was Kellermans Mountain Resort.
The pool and lake activities, yard games, dinners at the hall, the Friday night dances,
bonfires, golf, ice cream and pie eating contests, the list goes on.
The key here was, it was done together.. as a family community.
Some families returned year after year… can you imagine?
Maybe some of you have experienced it for yourself..
I can only fawn over Dirty Dancing.. because those days are mostly gone.
Sunrise Resort, just up the road from the vacant Johnsonville in my previous post,
was one of the largest and oldest of what used to be
dozens of summer resorts in the Moodus section of East Haddam, CT.
It was the Catskills of Connecticut….but most are now gone.
According to Google 🙂 …. Sunrise opened in 1916 and owner Henry Engle partnered with a Mr. Ted Hilton to expand in the 1920s. Dot Lindvall, who had worked at the resort since 1937, bought it in 1965 with her husband, Frank Davis. It was then called the Frank Davis Resort and ran until 1986, when the Johnson family took ownership. I’m not clear if it’s the same family that owns the vacant town just down the road. Years ago the Johnson family closed down the family resort, as it has not been as profitable in recent years due to cheaper air fare and therefore less visiting families. The State now owns it, and plans are up in the air. Meanwhile, the property and all it’s buildings sit empty and neglected.
This is a postcard from Sunrise in the 50’s… it’s halcyon days…
And this is a shot from almost the same spot today…
The resort has been vacant for years… has this beach ball survived all that time?
Vandals have destroyed much….
This must have been a young children’s pool.. only about two feet deep,
now coveted by frogs.
As I walked through the property, I could almost hear the children’s laughter…
It’s as if a bomb was dropped and all humans evaporated from the scene,
leaving their things behind.
Makes you wonder… what’s happening over there in that neck o’the woods.
There is a folk tale… called The Moodus Noises
Ray Bendici of Damned Connecticut had this to say:
For centuries in the town of Moodus, odd noises have been heard — spooky rumblings that have been described as sounding like everything from thunder to trees falling to the Earth itself belching. No one is quite sure from where they originate or what causes them, but people do know them when they hear them.
Actually, the name “Moodus” comes from the local Native Americans who called the area “Machimoodus” long before settlers came to Connecticut, which roughly translated means “place of bad noises.”
Coincidence? The Mystery of the Moodus Noises..
the vacated town and resorts
all in the same vicinity?
Or is something wicked working it’s way through Moodus…
Hi Karen and all the fellow blog followers.. I am L., over at crazyasaloom and i just wanted you all to know that Hilary is coming home tomorrow, sat…. she is doing much better with a long way to go.. she said that she wants to sleep for a week but my guess is she will blog before she goes into early hibernation. very good news but we expected nothing else from a woman you just can't keep down. Lois
(ooh, just read the comment above – great news for hilary!)
the place, abandoned like that, full of stuff – is just sad!
the legend of the noises is kinda cool and spooky.
Yay Hilary! Our girl is coming home. Could it be due to Moodus?? Karen, the sight of that empty swimming pool just makes me sad.. It looks like a wonderful piece of property that should have people there enjoying themselves.
Great news for Hilary !!! That is such I shame on that property , it always amazes me how fast a house or property can go without work ! Have a great labor day !!!
It all does seem so eerie…and makes for a great story! 😉
It seems so strange everything just left there..the chairs..everything! I love these glimpses of history. Must be even stranger for those that holidayed there at one time or another.
Love the stories about the town & the strange noises. I don't think it's a coincidence at all what that town is now named. So interesting.
Yay for Hilary!!!!
Those days of family vacations were so much simpler. How much fun did we have just playing with a little cheap plastic beach ball? Lots of fun! I'm sure the adults were smoking and drinking cocktails in the evenings after the children went to bed. No cell phones, just that sad pay phone out in the woods. Thanks for the little trip to the past.
Yay, Hillary!!!
Karen, this place appears to be in much sadder shape than Johnsonville. I just hate to see neglected, forgotten places, that once were so obviously special. Such a waste.
Oops… Hilary… I added an extra "L". Sorry 'bout that.
Moo hoo wah ha ha!!!!! Cue the eerie music!
That is crazy and what a shame that it has just been abandoned that way. So sad…
Terrific update about Hilary.
A ghost town of sorts. I wonder if any memories linger there.
Something so popular is now largely forgotten is… sad.
Sadly yes, they are almost all gone. I loved Dirty Dancing. Some of it was filmed at Lake Lure in the mountains of North Carolina. They have a Dirty Dancing Festival every year.
What a shame Sunrise has been left to sit in such deplorable condition.
Sam
Was about to make a comment when I read Lois' above. Oh, that makes me happy!
And hey, Dirty Dancing was on last night. I needed to watch something to calm down after viewing The Hunger Games. Perfection. Love that movie.
I think it's so sad the direction modern life has taken us. And to see old buildings that were once so full of life and families playing together sit not only vacant, but vandalized…well, it's a pitiful sight for sure.
I grew up quite poor and vacations were only a dream. Unless you count summer vacation from school – those were fun!
It makes me feel so sad to see something like that go to ruin. I know nothing lasts forever…but you just wish someone could still be enjoying such a beautiful spot! Happy weekend my friend…look out tonight and the moon will look much like it did last night…beautiful!
Good news about Hilary!
Abandoned places like this always make me sad. We've driven though Sullivan County in the Catskills, where a lot of those resorts were. Many, many are gone now. Abandoned or torn down. Imagine how it must have changed the local economy!
xo
Claudia
First of all YAY to Hilary!!! So happy she is coming home and how wonderful that her daughters keep us informed!
I LOVE that movie…one of my all-time favorites! And when I was a teenager I worked at Camp Merriwood on Highland Lake in Stoddard, NH for a couple of summers. Probably gone now…but it was full of families…and little cabins…boats, swimming, horses…sigh. Sad to think of all that gone!
we watched the end of dirty dancing last night for like the 125th time….i love that move !
and this place….omg, what a treasure trove. totally my kind of place and you're right, the way it was just abandoned with so many thing still there is a bit spooky…..xo
Happy for Hilary! If I were a ghost hunter I would head for that place. Makes you wonder what is wandering around. The past had so many things about it that I wish we still had.
Karen – What a shame. It makes me feel like crying. I so remember those days in the Poconos when I lived in PA. They were still going strong in the 60's when I was young.
I'll bet you could hear echoes of the past all around when you were there- xo Diana
How sad that it has been abandoned like that.. I just don't understand how people walk away from properties like this and they just sit and rot. It's always a shame to see. Hard to believe there isn't someone, somewhere that could come and bring places like this back to life!
Had our senior picnic here!
Very strange taking a trip through those grounds. Once a place filled with noise and laughter, now quiet. Sad huh?
Kinda sad to see the stark deterioration of such a beautiful place. You're right about places like that dwindling to the point of extinction. Maybe with the economy as such and more folks taking stay-cations places like this will reopen.
In the movie Dirty Dancing I dreamed of going to a place like the Kellerman's Mountain Resort. They have similar resorts, small cabin style, here in Minnesota, up near Bemidji. It's a family owned business since the turn of the century (20th).
The good ole' days.
Donna
Total chills reading this. Is almost reminiscent of some of the shots I have seen of Chernobyl in terms of "a place frozen in time"..although certainly with less tragic story. Poignant shots, for sure.
How sad…I remember taking family vacations in places like that. I came over from Woulda Coulda Shoulda because of a beautiful comment you left. In reading your About page, it appears we have a lot in common…
How sad…I remember taking family vacations in places like that. I came over from Woulda Coulda Shoulda because of a beautiful comment you left. In reading your About page, it appears we have a lot in common…
I remember going to the Frank Davis resort with a friend of mine that worked for Ponds. It was run down then. So sad that the state has done nothing with it.