Big Cheap Summer: Silver Lake Beach // Baraboo photographer

My husband recently started a new job in Portage. He used to come home for lunch each day, and I didn’t realize how much I would miss that little mid-day window of time with him until it was gone. I promised him and the kids that once school was out we would venture to Portage to picnic with him, and today, on the second day of summer vacation, we did.

We chose Silver Lake Beach as a picnic spot, but I had no idea it would be such a nice beach. (If I had I would have brought swim gear for the kids instead of letting them frolic in their clothes until they could frolic no more, then loading three wet sandy bottoms into my car. But I digress.)

“This sand was definitely brought in,” my 10-year-old noted, in admiration. “It’s too perfect.”

It was like the super-fine white sand in one of those little cigarette receptacles, you know? As a kid did you ever look for one with no cigarette butts in it, and run your fingers through the sand, imagining how wonderful it would be to go to an entire beach of that sand? Just me?

Well anyway, it’s a lovely little beach with a small concession stand, picnic tables, a little playground, the aforementioned amazing sand, and a lifeguard on duty (at least when we were there). As Barabooians we of course love Devil’s Lake State Park, but it was nice to explore someplace new… and Silver Lake Beach was definitely less crowded than Devil’s Lake would have been on a day like today.

All we did was have a simple picnic at a free beach, and all three kids agreed it was a “super awesome day.” Mom for the win.