08/13/2026
A note about Buddy’s Harbor from the front lines and from the heart… (Sorry it's a bit long...)
First... We’ve now moved into our shoulder-season schedule:
Buddy’s Silo Bar & Patio
Thursday–Sunday from Noon
Buddy’s Lounge
Thursday–Sunday from 2pm
Buddy’s Pizzeria
Thursday–Sunday from 1pm
Well, it’s been quite the season — and, for that matter, quite the year to date — for me personally and for Buddy’s.
Without question, it’s been my most challenging year since taking on Buddy’s. I’m rather battered and bruised, but I’m still standing and forging ahead.
First and foremost, I want to say thank you.
Thank you to everyone who has supported Buddy’s as guests, customers and friends, and particularly to those of you who have reached out to me personally as I’ve been dealing with the loss of Kristin. I’ve appreciated it more than I can properly put into words.
Kristin’s passing on July 1 was a real body blow, both for me personally and for Buddy’s. She was my partner in life and in the business, and losing her has been the saddest time of my life!
Against that backdrop, there have certainly been loads of other challenges at Buddy’s this season too.
It was hugely disappointing not to have our new kitchen and dining room ready in time for the summer. That meant we weren’t able to offer the full menu and some of the new culinary wizardry we’ve been working on, that we had hoped to share with you.
We also know we disappointed some customers and resort guests by not having our boat and jet ski rentals available this year. I’ll save the full story of how and why that came about for another day, but suffice to say it wasn’t what we had planned.
The good news: we’re already planning a new Buddy’s rental fleet for 2027.
Then came the July 4th storm.
We lost power for two days over one of the biggest weekends of the year. Most of our guests were absolutely fantastic. We muddled through it together, improvised where we could, and actually had some fun along the way.
A small number were less understanding, and we’ve subsequently spent a ridiculous amount of time dealing with complaints, disputes and even an Attorney General complaint because some automated communications hadn’t caught up with changes to our menu and boat rentals.
Not exactly what any of us needed at the time.
We’ve had staff injured at work. We’ve dealt with some extraordinarily difficult guests. And yes, you may even have spotted the occasional one-star review amongst all those great ones!
But here’s the thing…
Despite everything, Buddy’s has had a tremendous season of growth and development.
And that's the bit I don't want to get lost amongst all the noise.
Our guest ratings remain exceptional. Buddy’s continues to score amongst the very best properties at the Lake across the major travel sites, including 9.2/10 on Booking.com and Hotels.com, 4.6/5 on Expedia and 5/5 on Travelocity.
That means a great deal to me because ultimately those scores come from hundreds of real guests telling us we're getting a lot more right than wrong.
We’ve also accomplished a hell of a lot physically this year.
The new marina slips are in. They're bigger, stronger and a huge improvement on what was there before.
We’ve rearranged and improved the gas dock and C-Store.
We built Buddy’s Drinking Shed and continued developing the Silo Patio into what I think is becoming one of the most relaxed little spots at the Lake.
We got the updates completed inside Buddy’s Lounge.
And we built our new, much larger wood-fired pizza oven. That has allowed us to double down on the pizzas while the main kitchen has been delayed, improving both capacity and consistency as demand has grown.
And we're not finished.
Work has now begun on the new Buddy’s kitchen and dining room.
We’re hoping to have the extension to Buddy’s Lounge open before Thanksgiving.
That changes quite a lot for us.
A proper commercial kitchen. More dining capacity. A much broader menu. More catering. More events. And finally the opportunity to bring together the food side of Buddy’s in the way we’ve envisaged for some time.
Behind the scenes, our fundraising efforts have also been met with a great deal of interest. That support will help us undertake 2027 works early, deal with the changes to Buddy’s ownership following Kristin’s passing, and position the business for its next phase.
I know there are plenty of friends and guests of Buddy’s who have watched what we’ve been building over the last few years. If you’ve ever thought you might like to have a little more than a bar stool or boat slip invested in Buddy’s, feel free to reach out to me privately. I’d be happy to share what we’re doing, where I believe the business can go from here, and the investment opportunity we’ve put together. No hard sell. Just an open invitation to have a look.
A little housekeeping…
We’ve now moved into our shoulder-season schedule:
Buddy’s Silo Bar & Patio
Thursday–Sunday from Noon
Buddy’s Lounge
Thursday–Sunday from 2pm
Buddy’s Pizzeria
Thursday–Sunday from 1pm
There’s still plenty of season left, and fall at the Lake is one of my favorite times of year.
So after everything 2026 has thrown at us, I'm actually incredibly optimistic about where Buddy’s is heading.
The new marina is here.
The Lounge and Silo are finding their feet.
The new kitchen and dining room are underway.
Boat rentals will be back on the agenda for 2027.
And there are several other things being worked on behind the scenes that I’m looking forward to sharing when the time is right.
Buddy’s has never been about building another cookie-cutter Lake resort.
We’re building something with a bit of character. A bit of history. Great food. Cold drinks. Music. Boats. Cabins. People having fun.
New Old Skool for sure!.
There have certainly been moments this year when it would have been easier to throw my hands in the air.
But that's not happening.
We keep building.
Thank you again to everyone who has stuck with us, supported us, visited us, eaten with us, drunk with us, stayed with us and occasionally put up with us.
See you at Buddy’s. Thanks for listening...
Oscar
Buddy's Lakefront Silo Bar | Buddy's Lounge Bar & Artisan Wood-Fired Pizza | Music | Pool Table, Bar Games & Fun!
