Wine and Spirits Travel

It was day two of my girls’ getaway in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I had brought two friends on this trip, Cortney and Amy, and we were having a blast. I let them sleep in at Maxwell Mansion and I met with Karen Arthur, Lake Geneva's Convention & Visitor's Bureau Marketing & Communications Manager, for breakfast at Simple Café. It was a bright and friendly spot with an inviting menu. We talked about everything there was to see in Lake Geneva and I knew this trip would only be the first of many. It was also probably going to be the first of more trips to Simple as their Pumpkin Pancakes were delicious. I went straight from breakfast back to the Lunt-Fontanne Project Center for a tour of the Ten Chimneys estate that had once belonged to the acting duo of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. Maggie and Richard, dressed as Dolcet and the Shadow, were my guides. I received a private tour because I was working on a Midwest Living Magazine story, but publi

It wasn’t long after I moved to the Midwest before I started hearing about Lake Geneva. I honestly didn’t know much about the Wisconsin town before this, but when I met with a representative of their Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) at the Chicago Travel Show , I knew that I had to put it on my trip list. Finding a friend to come along was an easy task. In fact, my friends Cortney and Amy were both begging to come. I checked with the Lake Geneva CVB who was making all the arrangements, and they agreed that it sounded like the makings of a great girls’ getaway. They weren’t wrong. The drive to Lake Geneva only took a few hours. We arrived at Maxwell Mansion 1856 late afternoon and were immediately taken with the property. Chicago Surgeon Dr. Philip Maxwell built this property for him and his wife to move into in 1856. It joined the list of Lake Geneva properties that had become vacation homes for the wealthy in Chicago. Among those who have stayed at Maxwe