We lived at a fly-in community for a few days and never got off the ground.
A couple weeks ago, Bit and I spent four days larping as fly-in community residents at Voyager Village in northwestern Wisconsin. The weather was dreary, the clouds low, we had to drive in rather than fly in, but we were able to move around and explore and get the feel of the place.
I’d wanted to vacation at Voyager since last year when I flew in to go kayaking for a day. I spent a few hours exploring the property that day and found the combination of environment, amenities, and location–close’ish to the roads we traveled to our cabin every weekend when I was a kid–made it a great candidate for a getaway spot where I might spend a week or two each year. Maybe three.
I did some research and found that there are a number of rental homes available in the community. I booked one of them from August 16th through the 19th. I booked a plane, too, but the weather didn’t allow us to use it this time. Voyager’s airport is VFR-only.
Notwithstanding the weather, the primary allure of Voyager, for me, is the airport. I can fly from Madison in two hours, maybe a little less. The runway is open to the public, well maintained, and the staff and clientele treat fly-in visitors exceptionally well. They’re given a 10% discount on food at the restaurant. There’s a designated camping area for pilots, also well maintained, and there are no fees for landing or tie down or anything else. Renters are welcome to park on the ramp provided a spot is available–you don’t get priority over transient guests. There are four permanent three-anchor tie down spots (the tail anchors are off in the grass, you have to look for them, but they’re there.)
There’s a grocery store and the cheapest airplane fuel in northern Wisconsin ten flight minutes away in Siren.
Expanding beyond items of specific interest to pilots, Voyager is a wooded rural community built around a golf course. Obviously, golf is the main draw in the summer, but there is plenty to attract non-golfers as well. There are several miles of hiking and biking trails, a number of small lakes and ponds with swimming areas and kayaks for rent, tennis and basketball courts, a playground and mini golf course, and a network of recreational trails for ATVs and UTVs.
In the winter everything flips to cold weather analogues; the cart trails on the golf course and the hiking and biking trails become ski and snowshoe trails and the ATV trails become snowmobile trails. I’d imagine most of the bustle settles down in the off season. Voyager is not crowded in the summer, but you see people most everywhere you go, at least occasionally.
All of this is exactly what I was looking for: a place with things to do where I can escape for a few days with only a plane, a bike, and my feet for transportation. And maybe a kayak or a pair of cross country skis.
On the periphery
If you have access to motorized ground transportation, the community of A&H is about an eight minute drive away. Twenty minutes by bike. There’s a nice family restaurant there–counter service, friendly people–and a small general store, likely to be put out of business imminently by a large new Dollar General a few steps down the road, for better or worse.
There is a surprisingly good pizza place in Webb Lake and a number of tavern-style restaurants a little closer in (this is northern Wisconsin after all!)
It’s rural, quiet, but there are places to go when you want to get out and you don’t have to drive all that far to reach them.
Accommodations
Our house was typical of the rentals in the area. It was well maintained, located in a quiet neighborhood, and abutted a hiking trail that extended from Hanscom Lake in the north to the airstrip, clubhouse and restaurant in the south. It was perfect for lunchtime dog walks, with some fairly deep deciduous stretches that would be beautiful to wander in the fall. We hiked about eight miles in total on the various trails.
All of the Voyager Village amenities are available to renters, including the pool and fitness center. The internet service isn’t blindingly fast, 50mbps up and down, but perfectly sufficient to support a work day. In theory this could vary by home, but I expect there’s only one provider operating here, so it’s probably the same everywhere you go.
The cost was somewhere in the range of $300-$400 per night, which I think is reasonable for what you get. You’re in a mostly wooded area, it’s quiet, you have a restaurant, a gym, and a pool within easy walking distance, and you’re right next to a runway! Does it get any better than that?
The future
I could see myself coming back here two or three times a year. Maybe once in the late spring for the activities, once in the fall for the colors, and once in the dead of winter for the cold and snow and silence. I’d be lying if I said the idea of buying or building a place in the area didn’t cross my mind. I don’t think I’ll do that, but never say never.
Voyager is so many of the things I enjoy packed into one place, having my own little corner of it is, at the very least, fun to think about.