4/23/2010 Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Whew! What a day. Over 5 hours of driving, 4 hours on a plane, 3 states, wake up in Illinois, bed at home in Washington. The wonders of modern day travel. First this morning I got a call that my camera had been found. I had to describe all the pictures that were on it to Carmen first and sure enough, it was mine, so we headed into the outskirts of Chicago to the City Cab Company to retrieve it.  I left a nice tip for the cab driver who was honest enough to return it. I think it's pretty amazing that I got it back.
After that we headed to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to tour the countryside instead of heading back into the city itself. We definitely made the right choice. Lake Geneva is a quaint town on the banks of the lake, where a lot of rich people built mansions after the Civil War. Some of the homes are truly amazing. We ate lunch at a great little place called Scuttlebutts, and then took a walk along the lake to view some of the homes. The trail, which is made of bricks and stones, goes along the lake and actually across the front yards of these homes. The homes are magnificent. Some of the biggest places I have ever seen; they remind me of a slightly smaller scale of the places in Newport, Rhode Island, and indeed it is known as the Newport of the West. http://www.lakegenevawi.com/Discovery/History.aspx  I have no idea who owns these homes now, but they are amazing.

These are just two of the homes we saw along the path. There were many more.  They all sit on the hillside looking towards the lake. This would be a great place to visit for a longer period of time then we spent here today.  My walking route is here: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/691738  We walked for just 30 minutes, 1.26 miles out and back, but what a walk it was!!