Walk, Talk & Gawk around Lake Geneva

29 LSSC members and friends set foot on the scenic Lake Geneva, WI Lakefront Shore Path on Nov. 2 & 3. Co-host Wendy Wasson described the  hike as an opportunity to “walk, talk, and gawk”—24 miles of hiking, shared conversation, and amazing homes and vistas across the lake. Even though the weather was on the cool and breezy side on Saturday, most of the group completed the 11 mile Northside part of the path from the hotel to Fontana that included a lunch stop at “Harpoon Willie’s” in Williams Bay. The amazing and often “over-the-top” homes of Chicago’s summer vacationing 19^th, 20^th and 21^st century elite were definitely a big part of the journey.


The path circumnavigates the entire lake right through everyone’s lakefront yards. Participants often debated the tastefulness of the architecture as they learned more about the history of the homes, owners and architects on the Lake Geneva app. Of course if the architecture got to be a bit much, one could take in the beautiful fall foliage & the views across the lake.

After exploring the vibrant shopping district in town, dinner on Saturday featured the wide ranging Wisconsin based food and beverage fare at conveniently located Sprecher’s Restaurant and Pub.

On Sunday only about half of the group conquered the second part, 13 mile, Southside half of the lake. Sunday was sunny and warmer which made for a lovely day of hiking even if the muscles were beginning to “talk-back”. We were all rewarded with a unique hiking experience while we learned more about our region.




Special thanks go to Richard Osgood and Wendy Wasson for organizing this trip and handling all of the logistics gracefully and with good cheer. Volunteers like Dick and Wendy make our organization thrive and we're all grateful to them for their thorough guidance and support.

--Ed Hanlon