Lake Geneva area

[EMAN51]

I am in SoCal and will be in Lake Geneva for a few days next week visiting my wife's relatives with my family. Any recommendations as to activities, watering holes, restaurants?

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. For upscale dining, the restaurant at the French Country Inn.

Casual, try Popeye's or Mars Resort. Lake Lawn Resort on Lake Delavan.

All are watering holes. Activities, the lake (lakes, actually, there is a lake called Como just to the north and a bit west...both French Country Inn and Mars Resort are located on it), good stores, neat countryside drives in the area and through the surrounding countryside. Boat trips around the lake.

If you wife is into antiquing, the entire area is excellent.

Have fun! And please refrain from calling us Illinois residents FIBs (fucking Illinois bastards).

:hi:

[xray s]

2. Oh yes!

Go to the town of Lake Geneva on the east end of the lake. Popeye's is a great casual restraunt right across from the lake (try the broccoli cheese soup!) Take the mail run boat tour (they deliver the mail to peoples docks). Then, walk west from downtown along the lakefront. There is a path that goes all the way aroud the lake (21 miles). You don't have to go all the way, but if you head along the north shore of the lake you will see some of the big old mansions built by Chicago industrialists around the turn of the 19th century. Check the local stores for a guidebook about the lakefront path.

Have fun!

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. Thanks, I forgot the walk around the lakefront!

By law up there, all houses (no matter how grand) must have public access via the lakefront. I've only walked part of it, but you get fantastic lake views...not to mention looks at some houses that I will never set foot in. Think mansions.

[phaseolus]

5. I should look at those mansions one of these days...

...since Milwaukee isn't that far, and I've never explored Lake Geneva.

You know it's only a matter of time before some jerkwads demolish the old mansions to replace them with ugly modern McMansions or those wall-of-condo things.

[greatauntoftriplets]

6. Oh that's happening already....

And I haven't been there for about 18 months.

The gods only know what has happened in that time.

When I was a kid, we had friends up there. One had a house on Lake Como, the other kept a boat at Williams Bay. Wonderful times.

[phaseolus]

7. sigh....

I'll never understand why someone buys a century-old architect-designed masterpiece just to replace it with something shoddy that won't last 50 years, just because they want the status of having their own movie theater, granite countertops, and a full-sized basketball court in the basement. :mad:

[EMAN51]

4. Thanks for the prompt replies!

I will look forward to exploring the environs.

[mark414]

8. if you want to check out the mansions

your best bet is to go on one of the boat tours. just walk onto the docks directly across the street from popeye's and off you go.

scuttlebutt's (right next door to popeye's) is a great place for breakfast...

another dinner idea is the couple of restaurants found at the grand geneva hotel which is 5 minutes outside of downtown lake geneva (and it even used to be a playboy club!). there's also a couple golf courses there if that's your thing, but it's a bit on the pricey side...(one of the courses was designed by jack nicklaus).

i grew up 10 minutes from LG and have plenty of memories of causing trouble there as a teenager...good times, good times