LITTLE GEMS
The good, the bad, and the ugly of ‘stop in and eat or drink’ places in Lake Geneva.
On a quiet day, in all three areas we check out, you can hear McDonald’s suck from the shore of Lake Michigan. The place is cold in temperature, all the time, like 65 degrees, the music is one awful hard country station, and the people are diffidently uncaring behind the counter with no manager to be found.
Culvers is almost the same thing; except they have an excuse for the coldness. The only thermostat is right next to the kitchen, and it’s comfortably set at 70. Inside the eating area, 67. Where does the sunshine?
Speedos, great varying music not played too loud, great people, and perfectly warm and comfy.
Avant Coffee and Bicycle Shop is ditto. Inspiration Coffee is pretty great although a few degrees of temperature increase wouldn’t hurt there. No music when we checked them out. Want some rare retail ambiance?
Check out Haberdapper. You can even convince the loveable Steve to give you a cup of coffee, as you browse the great inventory.
The Thrift-In, with Sally Nimmow behind the counter. Great everything. The Geneva Shore Report will continue to ‘get around’ and check out all the other places where you might want to hole up on cold dark days and nights.
Niche Coffee Shop, at the entrance to Geneva National, remains a local but slightly distant bastion of everything great for being a winter getaway and hangout, as does the Richmond Café in Richmond just across the state line down into Illinois.
The ice castle will once again return to Lake Geneva.
This attraction is weather dependent so dates and times may vary. Plans are to open in January 2022 and run through February or March. This magical winter wonderland will be located on Lake Como in Geneva National, the same place it has been for the previous two years. Guests can once again enjoy a variety of interactive attractions including ice-carved tunnels, slides, mazes, caves, fountains, and color-changing LED lights.
The experience is built by using hundreds of thousands of icicles ‘grown’ on location, and hand-placed by professional ice artists. Attendees will also be able to take advantage of a sledding hill, ice skating, igloo dining, princess brunch, and a lantern-lit snowshoeing trail, all located within Geneva National. Tickets for the ice castle typically go on sale one week before opening and sell out quickly so stay tuned for an official date. Bring on the cold weather (at least for this facility and event)!
Place of the Week
Advance Auto Parts. This place is special. They change your windshield wipers on your car, cheerfully and for free…and your battery too!
