Usually on July 4th, we park on Jim Dahmer drive, and while the mosquitoes feast on us, we watch the fireworks. Now Iâve heard that this year no one was allowed this âDelight on Dahmer,â but thatâs another story for someone else. No, this year, in a sudden fit of impulsivity (my spĂ©cialitĂ©), we booked a room in Lake Geneva at the Geneva Inn for two nights. The Inclusive Package included a lake view deluxe room, dinner at the innâs restaurant, continental breakfast, turndown service with chocolates (teeny-tiny), and a single rose each night. Our room had a huge soaking tub in one corner.
Well, the views of Lake Geneva were wonderful from our balcony. During late afternoon on the third, on the patio below, a young woman sang and a quartet played soft music. Lovely. At night we watched about five separate firework displays from our room. On the fourth we wondered if there would be any fireworks we could see, but the woman at the desk said that âthe rich people across the lake sometimes put on better shows than the towns.â And someone didâa twenty-minute extravaganza. Who was it, my writer self wondered? A CEO? A venture capitalist? Inherited money? No, I thought. Old money doesnât flaunt it. This was probably a nouveau riche sort, probably youngish, married to a Barbie lookalike … oh, forget it. This is just how a writer thinks, thatâs all.
My husband and I got into the deep, slick sided soaking tub, the warm water and abundant bubbles so inviting, so romantic. Oh, get over it. Weâre old, not dead. But thereâs a warning here. Itâs easier to get into such a tub than to get out. Do not attempt unless youâre willing to have housekeeping the next morning drag your … well, you get the drift. No, this did not happen to us, but let me tell you, there was not one thing graceful or romantic about getting out of there. Cost of Geneva Inn package: $610
Hereâs another warning. Do not go into town early on the fourth and congratulate yourself on getting a diagonal parking spot in the shade. By the time you are ready to leave, there will be at least a mile of traffic lined up on the street behind where you parked, and when you back up, you may damage someoneâs tail-light and your own car as we did.
His name was Steve. He was delivering a pizza in his beat-up rusty Chevy. Steve called his parents who came right over despite traffic grid-lock, and by the time they called the police and we all talked to Geico, you would have thought Steveâs slightly damaged tail-light was gold plated. Nevertheless, he was a nice young man who was working to get to college. We wish him well. Deductible: $500. We wonât be visiting cousin Norma in Ohio this year.
Food: I ordered the most expensive item on the menu at the Geneva Inn since it was part of the package. It was a porterhouse steak. Now I am a hamburger person, so I wondered if my mandible had lost its chewing capacity, but no, my husband had a hard time trying to cut the meat for me. His salmon, he said, was tasty (his favorite word regarding food) and our salads were rife with crumpled bleu-cheese and the CrĂšme Brule was fab, so B for the overall grade, Grandview Restaurant.
Drove our now slightly dented car over to the Egg Harbor CafĂ© for a hot breakfast in town on the 5th after querying the desk clerk at the Geneva Inn for a good place to eat. My husband, a breakfast man if there ever was one, found his poached eggs over-cooked and the breakfast potatoes âworse than tasteless.â And do not sit in the wood slatted booths if you go there. Choose a table unless youâve never had back pain and are sure you never will.
P.S. We are going back to the Geneva Inn next year. We are not getting a room with the soaking tub, and the Inn shuttle will take us into town and pick us up.
