weekend getaway

since i got back from spain in august (i know, poor me, right?), life has been crazy.  fall is the busiest season for me at work for many reasons - walk events, health fairs, workplace giving kickoffs, etc. - and often requires me to work a lot of weekends, extremely early mornings and sometimes evenings.  in addition to work, it's just seemed busy this fall with trying to make time to see family, visit friends and stay caught up on the daily grind like cleaning, errands, and all of those other necessary things.  the bf and i had been talking about going somewhere for a weekend just to get away, so when we saw that groupon had a deal for two nights at the lake lawn resort in wisconsin, we decided to get it and make a weekend of it. 

last friday after lunch and an hour of indoor tennis we got on the road and made the short 2-hour drive up to lake delavan.  our room was huge - a loft with a king bed and two bunks upstairs (way more space than we needed!) and a great little balcony with two rocking chairs.  we had a great view of lake delavan, too.

that night we got dressed up and went to dinner at the resort's upscale restaurant.  after a delicious seafood dinner, we headed to the more low-key pub at the resort for a few after dinner drinks.  the lookout proved to be very entertaining as it was karaoke night and there were some serious singers hitting the stage.  we had a great time singing along and, let's be honest - making fun of some of the crazy singers and songs. 

saturday morning was sunny and clear and we were happy to find that it was unseasonably warm outside.  when we arrived on friday night it was pretty cold and we started thinking we were crazy for going to wisconsin in november!  the bf went on a coffee mission while i was getting ready and came back with a large cup of joe for me.  bless his heart.  we went for a walk around the grounds of the resort and along the lake before leaving to check out the nearby towns of delavan and geneva.  our walk was really pretty and i can imagine how the resort is in the summer with the boat docks out and people everywhere.  it was nice being there in the off-season though, very peaceful and serene.

we drove through delavan and as our server at dinner the night before had warned us, there wasn't much there.  so we headed to geneva, a little town right on lake geneva that is a favorite summer spot for chicagoans.  the town center is a really cute little area with a lot of local shops, the obligatory starbucks, a few watering holes, art galleries and restaurants.  after walking around for a bit we popped into "hogs and kisses", a fun little bar and restaurant that seemed to be a local favorite.  my crab cakes even arrived on a pig-shaped plate! 

after lunch we walked around a little more, stopped for coffee and then headed back to the resort to relax before dinner.  while the bf visited the fitness room and indoor pool, i took a nap.  deciding we wanted to experience more of the local flavor, we set out to find a place to have dinner later that evening.  we didn't make it far before stumbling upon waterfront pub and eatery just down the road from the resort.  waterfront had a band that night and after dinner we relocated to the pub side to enjoy some live music. 

after several songs and a couple more drinks, we headed back to lake lawn resort, hoping to hear another round of karaoke at the lookout.  unfortunately there was no karaoke and the band that was playing was pretty bad so we called it a fairly early night.

sunday we checked out around 11 and made a stop at the outlet mall in pleasant prairie on our way home.  after a couple of hours of shopping we finally finished our journey back to chicago. we both took off on monday, as well, so we had an extra day to relax and enjoy the long weekend.  all in all, we had a great time and i really needed a stress-free weekend away, though i was happy to get back home to my cute kitty.