Lake Geneva’s Winterfest. Half the fun is guessing whether or not it’ll be winter!
That’s not the official tag line of our Winterfest, but it probably should be. And that’s not some sort of slight, not against the city or against the weather, it’s just a mention of something rather obvious: In Lake Geneva, we are not guaranteed winter weather at any time. Sure it’ll be sort of winter, that’s for sure, but that’s not really enough winter to merit an actual fest. If we were celebrating kind-of-winter, we would do so quietly, in our homes, without much ado.
Tuesday the temperatures soared to 60 degrees, give or take. Wednesday, the temperatures will do no such thing. It will be cold, as it will be Thursday and Friday and Saturday and probably Sunday, which means the Lake Geneva Winterfest will, in fact, be a fest about, and in the middle of, winter. If the forecast high for Saturday was 60, I wouldn’t even bother telling you that you should come up. Snow sculptures require all sorts of things. Chisels, saws, beards, snow, and North Face jackets. But paramount of the requirements are sub-freezing temperatures. It’s no fun to watch grown men carve slush sculptures.
So this weekend is our Winterfest, and you should be up here to see it. There’s a slim chance of some snow between now and Friday evening, so we might even have a little of it left on the ground. The iceboaters should be happy with this freeze/thaw/freeze cycle, as it should leave a nice layer of water on top of some existing ice. That’s God’s zamboni, and if the weather cooperates over the next several days there should be plenty of hot dogging iceboaters out this weekend showing off their shiny racing boats.
The main attraction this weekend is, of course, the sculptures. But unlike some ridiculous little town somewhere far, far away, there isn’t only one attraction to this fest. There are carnivalized events like helicopter rides and sled rides and horse drawn carriage rides, and these sorts of rides are all fun and they’re yours to explore, but Lake Geneva doesn’t need to have some mid-winter festival to make it a worthwhile winter destination. We have lots of cool things, and we have restaurants, plenty of them, so next time you hear someone complain about the dining scene at Lake Geneva just do this, and do it softly yet quickly. Tell them to eat breakfast at Boatyard Bagel, and have a coffee there too. Then tell them to head to Simple for lunch, and on their way out they would do well to grab an almond croissant at the bakery next door. Then, have dinner at Medusa. Then walk away from them.
Our retailers will be ready for you this weekend, with all sorts of valuable sales. There will be sales of this and of that, and if you’re smart you’ll visit my friend at Haberdapper and buy some of his wares. I hate being the only male over the age of 9 who wears clothing adorned by sharks. There are plenty of other stores to visit too, which is a very key component that makes Lake Geneva so much more than just a pretty place. We don’t close down. Not in January and not in February, and if you think well, then, we must close down in July, you obviously haven’t been here before. Time to change that.
Because I’m benevolent, and in the mood to meet new clients, I’ll be at an open house this weekend. It’s my Winterfest open house, which is just like all my other open houses except it happens during Winterfest. I’ll be at the Eastbank condos, just a block or two south of downtown Lake Geneva. This unit is large, it’s on the lake, it has a canopied boat slip and a two car garage. It’s worth a visit. I’ll be there, the guy at the end of the little blue sign trail that I’ll leave for you, from roughly 10:45 until 2 pm. After that I have to leave to watch my son play basketball, so please don’t be late. See you this weekend, at Winterfest, and at my Winterfest Open House Extravaganza.