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THEY CAME, THEY SAW, THEY STAYED INSIDE!
The City of Milwaukee will be busy during the Republican National Convention, and some other Wisconsin destinations are expecting new crowds in their towns as well. About an hour south of the main convention, Lake Geneva will be a secondary hub for the RNC, with some delegates taking advantage of our popular summer destination.
Several delegates stayed in Lake Geneva hotels during the RNC. Two events on the RNC calendar took place in Lake Geneva.
One on Monday morning for the New Hampshire GOP at Timber Ridge Lodge, and a multi-state program on Tuesday morning at Grand Geneva Forum. Lake Geneva Cruise Lines had special rides planned for RNC visitors, and dinners are planned in the area. “A lot are flying into Milwaukee or Chicago, and if they’re coming through Chicago, a lot stay at that mid-way point, which is us,” Stephanie Klett said. The Abbey’s 340 rooms have been booked by the RNC, hosting more than 700 people. Bars even stayed open till 4 a.m. just for the RNC. As prescribed by Wisconsin 2023 Act 73, closing time is extended until 4:00 am during the Republican National Convention between July 15, 2024, and July 19, 2024, for any Class B Beer, Class B Liquor, and Class C wine premises.
In Lake Geneva, as opposed to so much of Milwaukee closed because of the new assassination attempt, security was working overtime. The New Hampshire delegation is staying at Timberlake, the Ohio delegation at the Abbey, and the Michigan delegation at Grand Geneva. Lunches and dinners catered to the Riviera, rented for the occasions, are frequent for all of them, as are breakfasts and lunches at the Chalet and Timberlake when the delegates are not in Milwaukee attending meetings.
Milwaukee’s loss (once again, as the 2019 democratic convention was blown apart and became mostly virtual because of the attack of the Covid) has turned out to be Lake Geneva’s gain, as well as gain for places like the Ridge on Highway Fifty, Fontana’s Abbey and the Grand Geneva and all grounds around it.
Last weekend every bike, electric, mountain, and regular, were all rented out as well as their scooters. The bigger motorcycles require motorcycle licenses so most of them were still there, as the delegations are mostly made up of older representatives and staff members. Hotels are charging rack rates and doing very well with this seeming intrusion out into the countryside. Lamers Bus company equipment can be seen everywhere if one looks closely. That’s the major transportation operation to get the delegates back and forth to Milwaukee.
Gage Marine is doing very well too, as the delegations have booked many of the boats for transportation to and from Lake Geneva (from the Abbey) and tours of the lake when the delegates have spare time. The huge intensification of security following the assassination attempt has kept the flow of information at a minimum and it’s very difficult to find out not only what delegations are where but what meetings they might be having. Covering these events by the media, such as the Geneva Shore Report, has been almost impossible simply because of not only those concerns but also the normal reticence of law enforcement of all kinds to keep the media as distant as possible unless the news can be contained and controlled.
