Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

    Lake Geneva is a town a little under two hours from Chicago. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, many of the Chicago upper class had second homes in the area, especially around the lake. (The town is Lake Geneva, the lake is Geneva Lake.) We stayed there for a two-night getaway. We stayed at The Cove, which conveniently located a block from Main Street and has very nice swimming pools. 

    There is a path, the Shore Path, that runs all the way around Geneva Lake. It is public access, but goes through private property. My dad and I walked along it for a while. It is a wonderful way to see the big houses. Just be warned, the path is not always smooth. 

    One of the big things to do in Lake Geneva is the boat ride. We were not impressed. The boat was nice, but the narration was too loud, and got repetitive. 

    For evening entertainment, I recommend the Tristan Crist magic show. I preferred the more quiet tricks with more patter to the more elaborate ones with more apparatus. 

    The Yerkes Observatory is supposed to be very impressive. We opted out of the tour of the building and went to see the grounds, supposed to have very nice gardens. We couldn't find them! Just overgrown grass.

Lake Geneva Veterans' Memorial

Lake Geneva Public Library