about_us

This picture is of us, Anne and Dave Whalen. We are your hosts and owners of the Lake Ontario cottage rentals. One of us will be at the cottage to greet you upon your arrival so that your questions, if any, can be answered and to ensure that we have provided everything we can to help make your vacation fun and enjoyable.

David and I like the beach, the water, fishing, hunting, nature, wildlife, and photography, (not necessarily in that order.) We really enjoy being outdoors. Up until 1985 our activities were pretty much limited to Connecticut and Maine.

The rest of the story......

In 1985 a friend suggested going fishing for Salmon in Lake Ontario. We had heard about those huge king salmon and fishing for them in the Salmon River, Pulaski. We had also heard about the Salmon River fishing frenzy - standing on the rivers edge shoulder to shoulder, lines crossing, 'three toed spiders' whizzing past your head, the shouting "FISH ON! comi'n up"..... "comi'n down!" - but this was the first time we had heard about fishing for these big fish in the lake. We didn't know anything about Lake Ontario, only that it was one of the great lakes, and that we learned in 4th grade geography. Needless to say, we went fishing and we were hooked. Why? We hadn't imagined it's grandeur . It was like the ocean, you could almost smell the salt air, except there is no salt. It could be as ferocious as the ocean or it could be as flat as a mill pond. Pulaski and the surrounding towns also intrigued us. The area was sparsely populated. No hustle bustle. No plastic glamour. Everything was home spun. It was as if we had stepped into the pages of Outdoor Life. We couldn't help thinking that this fabulous place was enjoyed by so few people. In our minds it was one of the best kept secrets. We were so hooked by the fishing, the lake, the Salmon River, and Pulaski, that we decided to make the area our permanent vacation spot.

We bought our first cottage in 1986. Dave searched all roads from Oswego to Henderson Harbor. We settled on a cottage on Sandy Pond. We call it the 'Tight Lines (a good idea when fighting these monster fish.) 'Settling' is not quite accurate. We were thrilled to find just what we were looking for - a cottage with land and dock able water.

The cottage was just that, a cottage - not a house - a real cottage. Something from the 50's. A place where you could relax, put your feet up (on the furniture even) and not worry about scratches, nicks or sand. It even had one of those old wooden screen doors mounted on tension springs that would slam if you didn't hold it as it closed. I must have opened that screened door 15 times just listening to it slam shut. And not once did I hear "Don't slam the door!" I was a kid again - at the lake.

Another reason we liked this spot was because of it's spacious land. Waterfront property is limited (I understand that God isn't making any more according to my father in-law) and there seems to be a tendency to cram as many cottages together as possible, kind of like seeing how many people you can stuff into a Volkswagen bug. It never appealed to us to be able to watch our neighbors TV from our living room which is another reason why we thought that this cottage was perfect. It had at least 100 feet on either side of the cottage before another property began.

In time we purchased the cottage next door. It is another cottage from the 50's. Cute and cozy, it reminded us of the time when we went duck hunting, therefore we called it the 'Duck Blind'. We also converted an out building on the original property (it was one of those old logging camps) into a cottage which we stay in, allowing us to rent the other 2 cottages.

We love Sandy Pond, Lake Ontario, Pulaski and the Salmon River and want to share with others all of what we found to be the better part of life.

Thank you for visiting our site. We know that your time is valuable and we appreciate that you have spent some of it with us. We hope that it was time well spent.

Keep your rod tips up and your lines tight.

Dave & Anne

Our Lake Ontario cottage are three waterfront cottage rentals in New York State. Guests return each year to enjoy family vacations, family reunion vacations, fishing NY’s famous Salmon River, fishing Lake Ontario and Sandy Pond, hunting New York Deer, ducks, geese and wild turkey and to photograph diverse scenery of NY’s Salmon River, Sandy Pond and Lake Ontario. We New York!