COVID19 & A Door County Getaway

Hi everyone- well here it is- almost another year since my last post. I say I’m going to do better but business happens and I get busy. This year with COVID I have had more downtime. I’ve spent more time with the children and searching for our new nanny.

Fred and I were planning a group trip in July- on a river cruise, Emerald Waterways, on the Danube river. We were so looking forward to it and then COVID-19 cancelled all plans. So we planned a closer to home- getaway to a place that we’ve talked about but have never been, Door County, WI. It was an easy 6 hrs drive from central IL. We made a slight detour to drop off our son at his cousins house and then we had to go through numerous and expensive toll booths in Chicago before getting to WI Border. Typically though you can skip the traffic of Chicago.

Door county is the THUMB of Wisconsin and boasts several small towns/villages. All are accessible to each other with a mere 10-40 min drive. We did ALOT of driving as we wanted to get around and “see it all”. We stayed in Egg Harbor. One of the southern-most towns along the peninsula. Next time though I personally found that I loved Fish Creek or Ephraim- these are super cute, beautiful, quaint villages.

In Egg Harbor we stayed at the Landmark Resort– I would suggest this resort to any family. It had a wonderful little hiking path, 3 buildings and 3 pools, tennis courts, kids play area, shuffle board, BBQ areas and the rooms were CONDOS of 1-2-3 bedrooms. Great for families!

We ate breakfast at White Gull Inn one morning- I HIGHLY recommend it! One of their dishes was cherry French Toast (won a price on the TODAY Show for this dish)- it was well worth it! We are big breakfast people and love eating out. The other “fun” place/ “must eat” place in Door County is Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant– there are LIVE goats grazing on the grassy rooftops. What a fun family stop!

Aren’t the goats cute on the rooftop? Al Johnson’s Restaurant

In the evenings we ate at CHOP (a steakhouse in Sister Bay), and my personal FAVORITE was Donny’s Restaurant at Glidden Lodge. This place is hidden away on the “quiet side” of door county- across the peninsula from Egg Harbor- it was so good and the scenery and the restaurant itself were beautiful! Wild Tomato is a pizza chain up there referred to by a friend of mine, we did not make it there but if he drives 4 hrs to get it- then it must be good right? On our “next time” list for sure!!

After dinner you will want to hit up an ice cream place and maybe play some miniature golf. Of perhaps you’d like to stroll the shops? Or sit by the bay and watch the sunset! There is even a drive in movie theater! Being the old people that we are – we chose to wind down back out condo with some old re-run episodes of Hogans Heroes or my favorite- Golden Girls and just relax and unwind. But there is certainly plenty to do in a very laid-back atmosphere.

Daytime activities are in abundance. If your water people there are LOTS of Kayaking options, boating options, swimming options, and public beaches. There are national forests up there with great hiking trails, skiing and snowmobiling trails in the winter, bicycle paths galore, and beautiful lighthouses to tour as well! There are also farmers markets, vineyards and wine tastings, cheese tasting warehouses and so much more!

We enjoyed 3 nights and 4 days there- but would’ve been happy with 4-7 nights as well. I would’ve loved 1 day to sit at the poolside and relax after all the running around we did!

If you are looking for a family vacation for next year, romantic couples getaway, or maybe hosting a reunion next year… consider Door County! So much to do, so many places to go, and so many activity options for everyone!

Ask me your questions today!

A needed getaway and a site review: Spotlight on Lake Geneva

As I typed the title for this “a needed getaway…” I thought to myself– aren’t ALL getaways NEEDED?  There are studies that show and prove then when given a time of rest or a break people’s stress decreases and their motivation increases.  Think of computers.  Sometimes, well lets admit it, they freak out!  They are slow and screens pop up and things go wrong and so we “reboot” the computer.  And in most cases, if done properly, the computer comes back to life refreshed and renewed and ready to work for you again!  It’s the same concept with vacations and getaways.  Whether one night or seven nights we all need to recharge!  So during this {very} rainy season in our lives my husband and I chose to getaway for two nights.  Some might be thinking- she left her baby?!  Yes I did.  Because you see– while he is a GREAT baby– he is still another tiny human.  And us humans… tend to be very demanding on one another.  And as we speak this tiny human is tired and crying and wanting to nap but won’t settle down.  Whats a mom to do?  A mom takes breaks with the love of her life so she can come back and keep doing this mommy thing… 365 days a year for 24 hours straight!

So then last Thursday we set off to lake Geneva, WI! This was a place we had talked about going with another couple but it had never worked out so with their guidance, blessing, and dining recommendations we took the leap!

Lake Geneva, population of 7,651, was once considered the “Newport of the West”.  {Reference to Newport RI which in its day was home to the Eastern coast “high society” and socialites.}  It was here that many Chicago socialites and high society came to their summer homes.  Many of those moved temporarily to Lake Geneva after Chicago’s Great Fire in 1871.

The Riviera Building downtown lake Geneva. Hosts shops, carnival type food counters and access to the tour boats.

And it was during that time that many decided to lay down roots for summer homes.  Some of these high society included the Schwinn families {the namebrand bicycle company}, the Wrigley families {Wrigley’s chewing gum, Wrigley Stadium/Cubs, and more}, and many more family names you would recognize {Pinkerton, Montgomery, Sears…}.

Where to stay:
Lake Geneva has several quaint hotels, resorts, condos, and bed and breakfasts.  I like unique looking places and so we settled on the Maxwell Mansion.  This mansion dates back to 1856 but has recently been revamped and reopened in 2013.  {Excerpt below is taken from Lake Geneva’s tourism website}: “In 1856 the fourteenth president of the United States, Franklin Pierce, was waging a bitter re-election campaign… and America was nearing the precipice of civil war. During the spring of that year Dr. Philip Maxwell, a prominent and wealthy Chicago surgeon, started construction of a large, handsome summer dwelling in Lake Geneva on a site he had acquired seventeen

Maxwell Mansion

years earlier for that purpose. The estate was called “The Oaks” in honor of the centuries-old trees surrounding the mansion…. Indeed, he was acknowledged as “The Father of Lake Geneva”.  Regarded as one of Lake Geneva’s finest landmarks, the building predates all of the area’s notable summer mansions and served as a summer residence for several prominent Chicago industrialists. It was the site of an early courtship of Nancy Davis, who later became the wife of President Ronald Reagan”

The Maxwell Mansion is NOT a bed and breakfast.  They have rooms available in the mansion itself, in the new carriage house, and the latest rooms are in the stable house.  Nothing comes into the Mansion unless it is dated to the time frame of the mansion.  there is even one room that utilizes an “old-style” shower!  Fred and I opted to stay in the Carriage house. We had a king jacuzzi suite.  It was rustic and quaint.  We loved our room!  While the mansion is dated in order to keep it historical our rooms were anything but!  We only had to type in our key code on the door to access our room.  No carrying around keys or key cards and losing them.

Here is the Carriage house that we stayed in located behind the Mansion. (to the left of the fire pit is the stable rooms). This picture is taken from up by the pool deck. Nice outdoor pool!

King Jacuzzi Suite in the Carriage house…. OUR ROOM… isn’t this cool?

This was our bathroom- how cool is this? Check out the re-invented barrel for our sink!

There are several quaint towns and cities nestled around Lake Geneva.  Fontana and Williams Bay are two of these towns.  In Fontana the place to stay is the Abbey Resort and Spa.

Abbey Resort and Spa, Fontana, WI

While it was raining {yes it was raining THERE too!!} Fred and I took time to drive around the lake looking at neat historic homes and current age mansions/homes.  We drove to Fontana and toured the Abbey.  This is a great location for business meetings and retreats, family reunions and vacations, couples, and health and spa retreats.  Lake Geneva, situated just an exact 3 hours from Central Illinois (almost direct shot up I-39), makes it a great choice for families, businesses, and more.  They also have many children’s summer camps up there as well!  It is definitely the place to be!

What to do:
There are lots of offerings in the area.  In Lake Geneva there are about 2-3 main blocks of quaint small town shopping. Almost an atmosphere of Mackinac Island if you’ve been there.  There are boat tours around the lake which Fred and I choose to do.  There are several options- an ice cream social tour, the Mail boat tour {we wanted to do that one but note: mailboat service only runs in the summer months and it hadn’t started up yet}, the shorter tour, and the full tour.  We did the full tour- last 2 hours and took us around the full lake, soaking in many of the beautiful mansions and estates dotted along the

This was the boat for our 2 hour full lake tour, The Walworth. The sun finally peeked out towards the end of the tour!

shoreline.  For the water adventurist there is also boat rentals, paddle boarding, kayaking, jet skis and more! There are stables for horseback riding.  Golfing, spas, and more…. And for the winter-goers?  Nearby there are ski slopes, winter sleigh rides and other winter outdoor activities.

Where to eat:
We could go back just to experience MORE of the food! Wonderful quaint settings awaited us at every turn!   For breakfast we went to Egg Harbor one morning and Simple the next morning.  Both places were recommendations to us and they did not fail!  Egg Harbor {recommended by our friends} was the “Bob Evans of Lake Geneva”.  A little bit of everything was available and they served lunch as well offering sandwiches, wraps, and more.  Simple was a little more unique in that it had some basic offerings but also had an air of Korean infusion with it.  Now, I have to admit- I was hesitant with this one. It was recommended by the bellboy at the Maxwell Mansion and I am not a HUGE asian food fan so when he mentioned BBQ pork, Korean, and Breakfast in the same sentence I just about turned my brain off and tuned out!  However– again this place has something for everyone.  If you like trying new asian-flare breakfast dishes then go here.  If you like just eggs and toast– you can go here too!!  I got the mushroom omelet {THREE different types of mushrooms- ok so I may be a mushroom-aholic…you caught me…i’m addicted!  Love em!}  Ahem.  Anyway.  SO it came with potatoes, and 2 slices of toast.  Here’s where it gets good!  I got their Rye toast.  Big news for me.  Prior to marrying Fred I didn’t like: Asparagus, Rhubarb, or Rye (or other wierd breads like pumpernickel).  Rhubarb is his favorite so I quickly learned with sugar and ice cream Rhubarb can be GREAT!  I also learned to like the other two.  Anyway- back to the story- I tried RYE bread for the 1st time at a restaurant and OH MY GOODNESS!  It was WONDERFUL!  Loved it!  So not only would I recommend the restaurant Simple, but I’d recommend the mushroom omelet dish with rye bread!  Seriously this wasn’t your “buy in a bag” at the store kind of rye bread, it had to have been made fresh.  Oh and did I mention the food from Simple is all provided and grown by local farmers.  (Might be organic but I honestly don’t remember?)  Being a farmer ourselves we liked that we were able to support the local farmers!  Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, tied with dessert of course!  So obviously I’m much more outgoing about the breakfast options.  Ok so for

Oakfire Restaurant, wood burning oven = GREAT pizza! Located along the shore in Lake Geneva

lunch we tried Oakfire and Popeyes. Both were good but Oakfire was my favorite- we got the pizza and a salad!  And for supper we ate at Tuscans.  An Italian place.  It was pretty good- note: the creamy garlic dressing was wonderful!! And of course we had to stop at Starbucks for a mid-morning snack and at Yogeez for some frozen yogurt!  Goodness but we like to eat?!

Starbucks Fix! #badselfie

Misc
One last note of caution…all around downtown you have to pay for parking except a two spots we saw you didn’t pay.  They charge $1 hr.  One nice feature is its computerized so when you pay for your space you can use your credit card and pay up to 5 hours max at one time. It will also allow you to enter your phone and it will text you a reminder when time is going ti expire and it gives you the option to add minutes on!  Pretty cool huh?  We were hoping ti bypass all of this and walk but the rainy-chilly weather changed our plans.  To avoid these charges I recommend you stay someplace within walking distance of downtown.  Maxwell mansion is 2 blocks and is doable.

Thanks for reading my long blog post!  Until next time….

Safe Journeys,

Megan