lake geneva mail delivery

lake geneva from dinner table one evening

"Mail carriers are always in the swim of things in Lake Geneva, Wis., because they travel their delivery routes by boat. Every piece of mail arrives by special delivery.

CBS News Sunday Morning correspondent Bill Geist reports they've been doing it that way since 1873. He says it's a treasured tradition that could almost pass for a love letter.

Or an old postcard come to life, as a steam yacht known as the Walworth II, which also serves as the mailboat, slips across the clear, sparkling waters of the lake.

Geist says people in the town still enjoy the same simple pleasures they always have, in a timeless place where the arrival of summer is announced by the first mailboat."

- cbsnews.com


most of the pictures in this post are gray, gray, gray due to the cloudy day ... but click below for details on the lakefront mail delivery tour i went on while patrick was in training ...

lake geneva neighborhoods

in lake geneva, when this is what your neighborhood looks like (above),
there is a good chance your mailbox is located somewhere like this (below):

mail boxes on docks.
which means that mail arrives by boat.

here is the boat:

from cbsnews.com

mail delivery by boat is accomplished per a mail delivery person jumping off the moving vessel, then leaping back on. i secured myself a spot on said mail delivery boat, but did not have the best view from my seat. however, here are some shots from the side video cam (kind of hard to tell what is happening):

looking at the screen, the mail delivery girl is in red. here, she has jumped off the boat onto the dock, put mail in the box, and has just turned around to make her way back.

now running, running back to boat ...

leaping ... and, she made it!


like i was saying, i had a bad angle for pretty much ALL photos.


from my spot on the boat, the most unobstructed view was out the back.
yep, not the best spot.


but to keep going ...

some people waited on the dock for their mail:

and so did some dogs:
(i think christine&leslie are gonna like this one!)

yes, this fido is carrying the mail in his mouth! he goes out to the dock and waits until mail delivery comes -- it is then placed directly in his mouth and he then dutifully carries it home. he's been doing it since he was a pup!

it takes TWO AND A HALF HOURS to deliver the mail! so while en route, i took lots of photos of the lakefront homes.

after the great chicago fire of 1871 sent families fleeing to the north, lake geneva flourished. familie such as wrigley and wacker established estates on the lake, among many others. and the area became known as the "newport of the west" ...

here are the photos in a collage, but some were automatically cropped in ways that chopped out the home from the photo. sorry!

even though the weather was overcast, i loved oogling over the homes. and then wondering how so many multi-million dollar mansions could be so hideous!!?! it was kind of like spending an afternoon driving through beverly hills, but on a boat!

wisconsin

{i parked on wisconsin street because i was in, duh, wisconsin}

if you asked me several years ago if i could picture myself hanging out by a lake in wisconsin, i probably would not have thought it very likely. i guess i technically found myself in pennsylvania doing the same thing all those years back at camp, but was that a lake or a pond? my point is that i never expected myself to be in these states and have been surprised by the beauty i found in unexpected places! surprise! you're in a random state and it's PRETTY!

as it turned out, my second trip wisconsin was a lovely time. each morning i awoke just in time to walk patrick to class and pick up a cup of joe from the the coffee counter on the stroll back. i took in the morning on the balcony* and was left with the rest of the day. i walked around the lake one day, sat poolside with pina coladas the next, read my book club novel, had lunch with another wife, played with my camera on a cloudy day, ran, caught up on emails and felt like i never wanted to go back to real life.

patrick finished class at 4:30 in the afternoons and we either hit up the golf course, or went into nearby lake geneva for dinner.

coming up, some pictures of lake geneva and a little game i like to call 'pick your favorite lakefront mansion!'

* (that "airhorn" was bug spray ... the deck was uninhabitable until i gave it a spray -- i felt so guilty for using it, hoping that the bugs could get away before breathing in the fumes -- i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry for hurting the pretty earth and the innocent bugs!! but in reading the comments earlier, my DAD was able to identify that mystery can!)

blogging to you from lake delavan, wisconsin

patrick is doing a training course here at lake delavan in wisconsin, so invited me to come with and relax for a few days. we got in yesterday morning and go back friday night. so i've taken the opportunity to catch up on some blog posts.


we're staying at quite a lodge

morning at the lake.

evening at the lake.

sunset from our porch, after a round of golf!

finally, about the cake*

yes! the cake was a chocolate & red velvet layered cake (good job, les & courtney) with a whipped cream cheese frosting. and there is a story behind each layer.

layer #1 - i already spilled the beans (the beets?) with the photo above, but this chocolate layer was made with a special ingredient. i am not crazy to use this, just google for a recipe! i used fresh, local beets and had to ROAST them first, then peel them. they turn the batter a deep purple, but bake out a dark chocolate color. made this layer a week early, then froze.

layer #2 - i used a recipe in cakes from scratch in half the time (prior post here) ... and below you'll see what happens when you use half the time ...

expand with full post link below to see!


layer #1:

layer #2:

ooops! patrick took this out of the oven for me while i was watering the plants. i didn't know he didn't check it with a toothpick first!!


voila, all done:

p.s. i need to invest in a second cake pan this size, because it takes tooooo long using just one!
but it turned out well -- though i think i'd add more chocolate to the beet layer next time.

*p.p.s. to answer holly's question, adapted from the cook&eat blog: the sugars in beets pair exceptionally well with chocolate, bringing out its fruity and spicy qualities while the chocolate completely softens and complements the strong earthiness of the beets. and the beets keep the cake amazingly tender.

the 21c museum hotel

i wanted to stay at the 21c museum hotel in louisville, but could not find any good deals and refused to pay full price. lucky for us, the bride&groom were staying there and invited us for sunday brunch. this is a cool hotel, people!

the lemon ricotta pancakes were good, but norma's (at the parker) were much better. the parker, however, does not have an art gallery. so 21c wins on an artistic level. art EVERYWHERE!

click below to see!

walking from restaurant through the bar ...

... to the main gallery.

(steph, best man, ryan, patrick, friend who did wedding video)
this room had stunning photographs of circumcision rituals for young boys in africa - no anesthesia, no pain medication, big knives

post video-gaming snapshots

"we are the opposite of tongue"

balcony off steph & ryan's room

lobby


creepy.
my favorite painting.

beautiful chandelier made from nose-hair scissors.
dude stepped into shot.
dude's hair was styled after the flowers behind him.


the eyeball videos in the mirror appeared to watch you ... but in reading the artist's summary, it turns out these were videos taken of the blind.

we had so much fun exploring with steph + friends!

cake!

leslie has asked about the cake in my party post. very politely at first, then in all caps. i will explain all about the cake (ahem, leslie!) but first have a busy-busy day at work to get through and catching up on reading everyone else's blogs (mmm, pineapple salsa on holly's blog).

and stephanie has requested a post on the 21c hotel. i'll do that one, too!

in the mean time, any guesses on what kind of cake it was?

party aftermath ...

dang, i was way too busy running around during our bbq to take photos! and if i was too busy to take photos, then you know i was reeeeeaally busy. but please check out katherine's blog for the few that she was able to snap (you'll have to scroll past the cubs game).

but i do have are a couple photos from the day after...

my birthday hat. patrick had a hat with a blue star that said: sheriff.

here's the invite patrick sent:

"devon is turning 30 and we're celebrating up on the roof! join us for a bbq and
views of neighboring city fireworks. we will be providing beef and turkey
burgers, beer, and birthday bubbly!! please feel free to bring appetizers and
side dishes. best americana-themed apparel wins a super-duper prize!! we mean
it, people!! that means red, white and blue!! show your patriotism and vigilance
against terror by sinking the bis… let us know if you're coming, and who you are
bringing,so we can plan accordingly!!"

click below for more!!

the day started out so gloomy! and then it ended up raining for hours and hours!! people even texted me to see if we were still having the party despite the rain. umm, yea-ah!! but we were going to do it inside our place instead of up on the roof ... then at about 6pm the rain stopped and the skies cleared.

it was a mad dash when we decided to throw the party on the roof again -- the party was starting at 7pm -- furniture needed to come out of storage and all goods needed to get up to the roof (nikolai and christine came early to help):

• big table (for which its four big legs had to be attached)
• two buffet tables
• chairs
• the gas barbeque
• two speakers
• stereo and receiver
• a friggin' lamp
• small white christmas-like lights
• cooler full of condiments
• a half keg of miller light
• a quarter keg of goose island matilda

that was A LOT of work and because of all of that, there was no time to organize before people started arriving!! really would have liked the time to figure out the best way to set up the food. I count that 25 adults, plus 2 babies, passed through our shin-dig and we still had WAY too much food! can you say leftovers?

we had christine and nikolai over again the next day for more burgers, chips, guac, veggies and fruit (they even brought leftover salad). they even helped us move everything from the roof back into storage. and we're having them over again NEXT weekend, plus their friend, for more leftovers - traditional and chicken sausages and potato salad. anyone who is hungry can come on over. especially if you like buns.

this was a watermelon that was cut into the shape of a whale and filled with fruit salad. my friend nikki brought it -- my mom used to make these too!

remnants of the 'make your own berry champagne cocktail bar'

these were the two articles that inspired the cocktail

i guess i did take one photo before the bbq.

birthday cake!

the '30' and the other charred candles were SPARKLERS!! i know leslie doesn't like the idea of blowing out candles on a cake - but it's been years and years since i've done this and it turns out it's quite fun! gina pulled the plug on the light source and patrick brought the cake up to the dark roof - so pretty with all the candles and sparklers!

oh, one photo from the bbq!