There is no excuse in not being able to find something to do in celebrating our nation’s birthday this 4th of July weekend in Walworth County. I will allow you to gripe about having to narrow down the choices, however, ‘coz there are many! Walworth County communities know how to celebrate the 4th of July and our nation’s birthday and it’s with more than the spectacular fireworks they are known for. Whether a fun festival or parade is your thing, or you enjoy live music and a cookout, or seek out the thrill of a waterski show or a ride on the midway, or whatever is your go-to for the 4th of July, Walworth County’s choices won’t disappoint.
East Troy kicks off the holiday weekend on Thursday, June 29 with the East Troy Lion’s Club 4th of July Festival, affectionately referred to as ETBT by the locals. The East Troy Beer Tent is the largest beer tent in the area, featuring, of course, beer and other Miller products, and live music daily as well by some well-known area bands. Enjoy the carnival, car show, truck & tractor pulls, and a slew of other activities offered through Sunday, July 2. Don’t forget the parade on Sunday at 1pm.
Whitewater is another community that knows how to celebrate the 4th. Starting on Friday, June 30 and going through Tuesday, July 4th, Whitewater is all about celebrating our freedom and independence for families, friends and community. There is so much to do with carnival rides, live music, a petting zoo for the kids, car & bike show, waterski shows, fireworks on two nights, and a parade. Food and drink are available as well, of course.
Delavan shows their patriotic side with Delavan Township’s celebration on Friday, July 1, 4-11pm, with live music, food & beverages and fireworks at dusk. On July 4th, the “Let Freedom Ring” celebration gets underway with a pancake breakfast at the Delavan Fire Station. The day continues with the Carp-O-Rama Fishing Derby for kids, live music at Phoenix Park, including the UW Marching Band, a parade downtown, and the flag ceremony followed by fireworks at Veteran’s Park.
If patriotic music makes your heart strings sing for our nation’s birth, then Elkhorn is the place to be with their Star Spangled Celebration on Friday, June 30 at Sunset Park. Enjoy music performed by the Holton Band in the historic bandshell. Bring a blanket or a chair, family and friends, and partake of the fun with activities for the kids, food and all followed by a grand fireworks show at dusk.
Burlington’s Browns Lake Venetian Fest on Saturday, July 1, brings the water into the celebrating with a boat parade, waterski show and a kayak/canoe/paddleboard excursion. Live music, food & beverage will be available all day as well. Don’t forget the fireworks, which are being doubled this year! On July 4, the City of Burlington’s Fire Department will once again be having their annual fundraiser and dance, so put on your best dancing shoes and come support them. There’s a bag toss tournament, live music, food & beverage, and fireworks at dusk.
Sharon starts July 4 with a parade at 11am beginning in the downtown area and ending in Goodland Memorial Park, followed by food, music and kids activities, with fireworks at dusk.
Celebrate the spirit of Independence Day in 19th century America through a living history presentation and fun hands-on activities at Old World Wisconsin on July 4. Help make ice cream, participate in a pie eating contest, play games and enter the greased pole contest. All this is highlighted with an interactive parade through the village.
Area resorts, including the Abbey, Geneva National, Grand Geneva, Lake Lawn Resort and the Ridge, are making preparations for the holiday weekend for everyone, not just guests. The Abbey will have live entertainment, family activities, food, and of course, fireworks on July 4. On July 3, Geneva National provides a spectacular Independence Day celebration with their barbecue, drinks, assorted jumbo inflatables and carnival games for the kids, and live music for everyone, followed by fireworks. Grand Geneva, also on July 3, has their grand picnic, plenty of kids activities, a performance by the UW Marching Band and appearance of Bucky Badger, all wrapped up with an array of pyrotechnics to wow your socks off. Lake Lawn Resort holds their All-American buffet on July 3, with live music playing, all lakeside. Celebrate with Ridgeapalooza at the Ridge on July 3, as they fire up the grills, adding in festive music all day, capping it off with Geneva National’s fireworks, perfectly viewed from the Ridge’s “backyard”.
Get on the water for the fireworks with Lake Geneva Cruise Line’s Fireworks Jazz Music Dinner Cruise on July 4 to view Fontana’s fireworks. The Grand Belle leaves the dock at 7:30pm, providing gorgeous views of the setting sun, then spectacular views of the fireworks. Make your reservations now so you don’t miss the boat!
So how will you celebrate the 4th of July? How many different commuities will I find you at as you get your fireworks fixation taken care of? You can never see too many fireworks displays, in my opinion!
The Lake Geneva Motel is Walworth County’s hidden gem when it comes to a place to stay in Lake Geneva. While the resorts and the national hotels certainly have their appeal and place, there’s just as much said for the individual options as well, and Lake Geneva Motel is one of those options. Offering affordable rates of $69/night on weekdays (Monday-Thursday) and Friday-Sunday as low as $129/night, clean and comfortable rooms, outdoor heated pool, and only blocks from Geneva Lake and the downtown, this is definitely an option to be considered.
Okay, so it’s supposedly 64 degrees as I write this, cloudy, rain imminent and not feeling like summer is soon to be upon us at all, but Memorial Day weekend is historically thought of as the opening weekend to summer. Who wants to notify Mother Nature to check her calendar as a reminder that it’s practically the end of May and to get with it in warming things up?
On Mother’s Day itself, plan on attending the Mother’s Day Brunch, available from 10am-3pm. Brunch includes: breakfast specialties such as made-to-order omelets, waffles, eggs benedict, and the usual assortment of side dishes; lunch specialties like goat cheese and spinach stuffed pork loin with charred grapes, pan fried chicken breast with roasted tomato jus and white cheddar mac ‘n cheese, to name just a couple of items; a carving station with prime rib, turkey breast and ham; wonderful seafood choices; a large variety of salads; a cheese and sausage display; and the grand finale, the dessert table (one of everything, please!). You’ll need to schedule a round of golf after this to help burn off all the calories, but oh, what a wonderful array of food and a beautiful golf course to make it all worth it!
offered from 2-9pm. With 3 equally delicious choices for each course, such as grilled shrimp and avocado salad with a roasted shallot vinaigrette, bacon and fried chickpeas, followed by petit surf and turf with rustic mashed potato, fennel salad and beurre blanc, then ending with orange blossom crème brûlée (okay, so you now know what I’d be getting!). It could be easier to choose which club to use during golf then to decide what to eat, but it’s all guaranteed to be mouthwatering!
breakfast buffet in the historic 1894 Clausing Barn, on Sunday, May 14. There are multiple seating times from 9:30am to 1:15pm, with time allotted for dining of 1-1/2 hours, and advance pre-paid registration is required. After the meal, head outside to enjoy the views of Old World Wisconsin’s springtime landscape, with all Moms getting in free to the site. What a great way to spend a day with Mom – delicious food and a trip back in time.
Black Point Estate, an 1888 Queen Anne Victorian “lake summer cottage”, on Sunday, May 14, at 2pm. The narrated boat tour will focus on many of the remarkable women that have lived along the shore of Geneva Lake, and includes a tour of Black Point Estate, with a focus on the equally remarkable women of the Estate. Mimosas will be served at Black Point Estate before returning to the boat. You know Mom is remarkable, so why not learn about other remarkable women as well?
Day Brunch and a show on Sunday, May 14, with reserved seating at 11:30am and 1pm, with the show then at 2pm, is right up her alley. Offering fresh, farm-to-table cuisine and a musical cabaret performance of their “Legends” show, lips will be smacking and toes will be tapping. The “Legends” features music by Elvis, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, to name just a few, and is a show of unforgettable voices in popular music that is both timeless and ageless. Did I mention there’s an unlimited bloody mary and mimosa bar, too?!
to be a beautiful day on Mother’s Day. With that in mind, head over to East Troy’s Price Park for their 5th Annual Mother’s Day Bird and Nature Walk, from 9-11am. Enjoy roaming the woodlands and prairies on this guided tour as local experts help you look for and identify birds, flowers and trees. What a calming, peaceful way to start off Mother’s Day morning.
for Mom to get some free root beer. Being a Mom, she’s sure to share, as she’ll be getting a free four-pack of root beer when dining. Now, take that free root beer home, put it with some vanilla ice cream in a chilled tall glass, a little chocolate syrup, repeat the layers to fill the glass, and you’ve got a root beer float divine! Yes, I said chocolate syrup in a root beer float… It’s how I was raised to make them, so don’t judge ’til you try it! 🙂
classes, but are designs/scenes that anyone can not only paint, but will want to hang in their home. Led by award winning owner/artist Kathy Jackson, her career experience in designing home decor products for companies such as Kohl’s and Bed, Bath & Beyond, is reflected in the painting choices. Kathy will walk you through the steps necessary to complete your painting, and everything is included: paint, usually a 16″ x 20″ canvas, and a glass of wine to loosen your creativity! Let the artist in Mom come out and enjoy both her company, a little wine, as well as an appetizer buffet especially for Mother’s Day.
The best part is that Mom doesn’t have to lift a finger! Mom will also get both a fresh cut flower and entry into a special Mother’s Day Drawing where she can win a fabulous pampering in the Calladora Spa. As usual, reservations are required.
e Literacy”, with the goal of wanting every student across the world to be an environmental and climate literate citizen by the time they graduate high school, prepared to take action and be voice for change. This is a global issue and education is the key to advocacy and advocacy is the key to change.
ednesday, April 19, from 1-2:30pm, at Heritage Hall in Elkhorn, the Walworth County Historical Society will feature the fascinating life of bees and beekeeping. Presenter David Koester started beekeeping as a hobby in his retirement and it has grown to be a passionate cause for the preservation of bees. David will show his honey operation, from installing bees in the hives during early spring to extracting honey at summer’s end. There is no admission charge, but donations are gratefully accepted by the Historical Society. Come away with an appreciation of one of nature’s creatures and a perspective you might not have had on the sweet treat we all love.
Reach for the stars, the moon and the planets! Can’t quite touch them? Well how about being able to take a look at them through a really large telescope? Happening tomorrow, April 19, 8:30-10:30pm, and Thursday, April 20, 8:14-9:45pm, is the opportunity to look through a large telescope at Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay. Yerkes Observatory monthly during the year on select weekday and weekend evenings offers observing sessions with their 40-inch diameter refractor telescope, the largest in the world of its type, and with their 24-inch diameter reflector telescope, weather permitting. Both telescopes were formerly used for astronomical research and are now available for public observing opportunities. Space is limited and subject to availability, so reservations are required. For an affordable, general night sky tour and introduction to astronomy, I suggest the 24-inch reflector telescope ($37.50/person). For a truly once-in-a-lifetime and unforgettable experience using the same telescope as some very famous astronomers over the past century used, then I’d say go for the 40-inch refractor telescope ($100/person). Either telescope you chose, what a way for seeing the celestial wonders of the evening sky as they change through the seasons and to think that a famous astronomer (or two or five or whatever) once used these, too, and discovered things never before seen!
Go climb a tree! Seriously, I mean it… At House in the Wood, Delavan, on Thursday, April 20, from 5-7pm, you can travel back to your childhood and climb a tree! Using ropes and harnesses, climbers of all ages and abilities can climb into the tops of the towering oak trees all over the grounds. Not to worry, unlike our childhood, okay I’m talking about mine…, where you just started at the bottom and climbed to the top without a care or thought to anything else, there are trained and certified staff that will provide a thorough and comprehensive tutorial on how to use the equipment and have a fun, yet safe, experience in the trees. All equipment is provided and you just need to wear comfortable clothing and shoes, preferably closed-toe and with a hard sole, and bring your sense of adventure! It’s fun, it’s great exercise without being thought of that way, it’s a great connection to nature and just putting you back in that day of being a kid again. You’re never too old to climb a tree, but preference is for ages 7 and up for this event.
Thinking an iced cold drink of lemonade or tea or soda would be good about now as you climb down out of that tree? Well, have you thought about where the ice comes from when you don’t have an ice maker in the freezer or your plastic ice tray breaks and you haven’t gotten a new one yet? What about in the days of yore before there were even freezers, let alone refrigerators? On Thursday, April 20, from 7-8:30pm, the Delavan Historical Society with feature Carol March McLernon, local teacher and children’s author, as she discusses ice harvesting on Geneva Lake and tells about her book, “Ice for Sale”. “Ice for Sale” tells of the beginning of the ice industry in Massachusetts during the time of George Washington. Southeastern Wisconsin had many ice companies, with the largest and longest running one established by Otto Jacobs, harvesting ice from Button’s Bay on Geneva Lake during the Depression, with his last harvest being in 1946. Carol March McLernon will talk about the tools of the trade, the use of horses in the industry and the dangers of the ice harvesting business.
Anyone ever told you to take a hike? Not sure it was always meant in a nice way, but on Friday, April 21, from 9-10:15am, and offered every Friday morning from April through October, Kishwauketoe Nature Conservancy has guided hikes that are completely meant in a nice way. Kishwauketoe is the largest watershed on Geneva Lake, offering the many natural environments in one place. Kishwauketoe represents a rare and evolving lakeside ecological area that is open 365 days as a place to visit, enjoy and learn. The land on which Kishwauketoe sits was purchased in 1989 and formerly dedicated as a protected conservancy in July 1990. It is full of Native American history, as the Potawatomi once inhabited the area. The name Kishwauketoe was chosen because of its Potawatomi origin and loosely translated means “clear water” or “lake of the sparkling water’. Spend a short time enjoying Kishwauketoe, learn a thing or two about the area and then plan on coming back for a longer wandering around, soaking in all the grace and beauty of nature that exists there.