The Handfelt Happy Hour: A Cheese-y Vacation Up North

To close out the summer (seriously, where did it go? No really, I demand an explanation and I can't seem to get one), we packed our portmanteaus and diaper bags and headed a few hours north towards Lake Geneva, settling upon the quaint little village of Delavan. We rented a 3 bedroom hacienda that was positioned mere feet from the lake, although the unspoken laws of private property didn't allow us to go actually go down to said lake as often as one would hope. None-the-less, the fridge was stocked with cold beer, traffic was but a distant memory and Blackberry service was sketchy at best.

Goodbye Chicago. Hello Wisconsin.

We were joined on this little getaway by my parents, Ron and Susan, along with Katy's parents, Harry and Cindy. Their motivations were as clear as the lake water...to spend as much time with Lily Beans as humanly possible. Given her pleasant demeanor, poofy cheeks and Vivian Ward-esque laugh, this was deemed to be perfectly acceptable.

The whole week proved to be the perfect remedy to our Big City Blues, as we recharged our batteries on beautiful weather, Wisconsin ales, Katy's taco pizza, Pandora's Jimmy Buffet station, morning jogs and evening bonfires.

Of note, we rented a pontoon boat about midway through the week and took it out on Lake Geneva. This proved to be a huge hit with Lily, who was previously unfamiliar with the physics of boats, but came away with a deep appreciation and unabiding love for sailing vessels and really just life at sea in general. The boat, along with the Delavan petting zoo*, both qualified as "game changers" for our fuzzy haired little tike.

Katy and I were also able to sneak away for a "date night" in Lake Geneva, where we were able to indulge our inner foodies at the sublime (and well researched) Medusa's. The restaurant was small, dark and cozy, the service impeccable. I opted for the lamb chops, which proved to be a much better decision than that time right after college when I tried to substitute baked beans for ground beef in a lasagna recipe. Katy had the veal medallions. Both were served with mashed potatoes, corn and healthy dose of "OMG!"

After dinner and a few glasses of vino, we went to Baker House bar, which was a pretty nifty little bar located in an old Victorian house, where the wait staff were dressed as flappers and dapper Dan's and the martinis had more kick than a coked up mule. They even had fedoras and other flamboyant headwear for customers to borrow, along with a tap dancing waitress. While this all sounds like it could have veered into 'unbearably cheesy' at the drop of a cloche hat, it was actually pretty neat. I refrained from doing any taps myself, but had to fight a strong urge to talk like a 1920's newsie.

The rest of the trip was more of the same. Sleeping, biking, walking, shopping, eating, drinking, golfing and many a Piggly Wiggly run, all built around copious fawning over Toonces.

It was the cat's pajamas I tell ya old boy! (Twirls mustache, bites into oversized turkey leg, goes to sleep without bath)

*It was here that I found out that goat's really freak me out. Much moreso than they do even my 8 month old daughter.