Lake Geneva, WI

Warning - this post is probably going to be a little long and full of pictures! :)

While Mom was here, we decided to take a mini-vacay north to Wisconsin. I'd heard really great things about Lake Geneva, so we booked a 2 night stay at the Grand Geneva Resort. It's about 90 miles from Chicago and honestly, a great little town. The downtown is darling and the lake is beautiful! It's been a Chicago getaway for years and years for folks like the Wrigley's, Schwinn's and Maytag's to name a few. You may have heard of them. :)

After talking to a few friends who were familiar with the area, we hit up a few local spots and I'm so glad we did! We got there on Sunday and could not check in until 4 pm, so we had lunch on the porch at a cute house turned restaurant called Bistro 220. Then, we roamed the streets of downtown Lake Geneva for some shopping and ventured into a cute shop for some wine tasting.

One of my girlfriends told me about this adorable place called The Baker House. I believe you can also stay there, but they have a great restaurant and bar that is right on the lake. The house was built in 1885 and has a ton of history. We ended up eating at the bar since we did not have a reservation {oops! Poor planning on my part. I didn't realize they were going to be closed on Monday, so it was a game time decision to go Sunday night}. If you have reservations the tables are set all through the house {I believe} so it creates a cool atmosphere. They also have hats everywhere if you want to "dress up" while you eat your dinner. At sunset, they ring a big bell and everyone goes out to the front lawn and they pass out a drink and give a toast. Really unique and fun!

 A view of the front of the house. The owners are standing on the steps about to give the toast.

 We took our wine outside {a girl never leaves her drink out of her sight, right?!}, but we didn't realize they would be passing out drinks too. PS: Isn't my mom so cute? love her.

Mother/Daughter vacay 2011! I think this is the only picture we took together, but we had lots of fun while she was here!


Monday, we went on the famous Mail Boat Tour. It's really the only way to see all of the gorgeous homes {most are mansions, really} on the lake and it was so worth it. This particular boat is one, if not the only, remaining boats in the country that delivers the mail from the lake. Of course, many have opted to have their mail delivered the conventional way, but there are some who still have their mailboxes on their docks and every day, the boat comes by and a the mail carrier JUMPS off the boat, delivers the mail and jumps back on the boat. Oh and by the way, the boat never stops moving!!! It's really a sight to see. The person only has about a foot wide ledge to jump back on to, so there isn't much room for error. Tryouts for the job are entertaining to say the least!

Here are a few pictures of the homes on the lake. There were so many amazing and gorgeous homes, this is really only a small fraction of what we saw. I only wish we could have seen the inside of these homes! Mom and I would have really been in heaven!

Eenie meenie miny moe... I mean honestly, can you really say you wouldn't live in any of these homes? Or at least want to stay a week or two in one?! Gorgeous!

Finally, we had lunch at The Cheese Box. They have great little sandwiches and sell lots of cheese and treats. We bought some cheese curds and toffee for the road trip home. The owner is Ed Schwinn {yes, of the Schwinn's} and he is really a very nice man. He came out while we were eating our sandwiches and chatted with us for a good 20 minutes or so! Love local business owners!

Thanks for a wonderful getaway, Lake Geneva! I hope to return soon!