American Getaway: The Very True, Very Strange Story of Camp Wandawega
For the past 100 years, what is now known as Camp Wandawega has been many things to many people: a speakeasy, a brothel, a hideout for Chicago mobsters, a summer camp, and the site of a gruesome murder-suicide. Now, for the first time, Camp Wandawega’s stranger-than-fiction story is being shared as a six-part audio experience. Inspired by tall tales told around the campfire, American Getaway blends history, humor, mythology, and music to tell a uniquely American story. The series was created by Austin Sailsbury and Lars Hauschildt and edited by Chad Michael Snavely.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 14 minutes
- Episodes
- 8
- Years Active
- 2022
Part 6: Rescue and Renaissance
When David Hernandez and Tereasa Surratt bought the old ‘Vandavega’ campgrounds in 2004, they had no idea what they were getting into. Throughout the property, they discovered countless mysteries: tr…
Part 5: Vandavega Days
In 1961, the Vatican sent a brotherhood of priests from the Catholic order of Latvian Marian Fathers to the shores of Lake Wandawega. The plan was to create a quiet retreat for retired priests. Inste…
Part 4: Vacation Wonderland
In 1951, a family of immigrants took over the old Wandawega Hotel and converted it into a ‘vacation wonderland’ for middle-class Americans, ushering in a wholesome new era for a property that had lon…
Part 3: Haunted Hideout Just Off Route 12
Every summer camp in America is haunted by at least one ghost. At Camp Wandawega, it’s the specter of John Gabriele who wanders the campgrounds at night. Known in the Chicago papers as ‘Johnny Sweeth…
Part 2: Bawdy House of Ill Repute
Loved by some, feared by others, but respected by all – no single person has left a more notorious mark on the history of Camp Wandawega than Anna Anderson, the legendary madam of the Wandawega Hotel…
Part 1: Some Distant Place Well Worth Journeying To
Pioneers and profiteers, the first Americans, a murdered Mormon ‘king,’ and the intriguing origins of the name ‘Wandawega’ – there’s a deep shadow of mystery that surrounds the pre-history of what is…
Series Trailer
Get ready to crack open a cold one, wrap up in a blanket, and gather in close around the campfire, because ‘American Getaway: The Very True, Very Strange Story of Camp Wandawega’ is coming to Spoti…
Series Teaser
American Getaway: The Very True, Very Strange Story of Camp Wandawega is coming soon to Spotify and Apple Podcasts.