Diner’s are my thing. I love diner coffee — diner booths — diner front counters — diner baked goods — diner breakfasts — diner soups and salads — diner sandwiches — I love it all….well if it’s a good diner I do!

I love everything at Joni’s Diner in Lake Geneva — so much so that I actually go there by myself when I’m out running errands. Joni’s is off the beaten path in Lake Geneva enough that it’s not overrun by tourists, but it’s so good and people know it — that it’s still always busy. I’ve only ever not had to wait during a lunch stop on a Thursday, otherwise I’ve always had to wait — but it’s worth it. Trust me.

Joni’s is what you’d expect from a small diner inside an old  L-Shaped Jerry O’Mahoney (according to its website) — it has booths around the edges with window views and a counter along the back wall overlooking coffee pots, soda fountains and a bakery case.

Let’s start with breakfast: I recommend getting one of their giant cinnamon rolls before your main breakfast — kinda like a breakfast appetizer. The dough has a great flavor, the cinnamon and sugar isn’t too sweet, the icing isn’t overbearing, and it’s huge! They’re made fresh so when they run out, they run out — do yourself a favor and claim one when you sit down!

My favorite breakfast by far is their Homemade Corned Beef Hash — with pulled corned beef, sliced fresh cabbage, onions, green peppers and potatoes topped with swiss cheese and two eggs. It also comes with toast. This is truly a homemade version of the diner classic, and I love that it’s not greasy or mushy.

If you’re a coffee drinker — Joni’s serves up hot, fresh coffee every time of day.

Lunch time: First thing to note is they serve breakfast all day, which I love! But if you’re not feeling breakfast, their lunch options are also great. I can personally vouch for the Tuna Melt and BLT sandwiches — both were fresh, toasty and tasty. Recently I wanted soup and salad. Their homemade chicken noodle didn’t disappoint. It was flavorful, homey and had huge chunks of chicken with some veggies and noodles.

The Chicken Caesar Salad was exactly what it needed to be — fresh, crunchy lettuce with grilled chicken, parmesan cheese and croutons. The dressing was a tangier Caesar than I’m used to, but it was good.

Joni’s is and will continue to be my go-to spot for breakfast or lunch — or breakfast for lunch — in the Lake Geneva area. Grab yourself a cinnamon roll appetizer and a cup of coffee while you peruse the menu and decide what to get.

Note: They’re only open until 3pm and have different hours in the winter vs. summer.

I’m always on the hunt for a great coffee shop. I am one of those people willing to pay $4 for a great cup of specialty coffee, but I can also appreciate a fresh cup of gas station brew too — I’m an equal-opportunity coffee drinker. So in my travels, coffee stops are almost always included.

Things I look for in a coffee shop:

• Classic coffee options: Fresh brewed and  cold brew options, plus mochas, lattes and chais
• Milk options: I’m recently a fan of oat milk (thanks for that Bryan — Oh Hey! If you like baseball, check out his website!)
• Snacks: Baked goods or packaged snacks are always appreciated as options
• WiFi: Free WiFi (so I can get some work done…obviously) is a must
• Seating: I like seating options (comfy chairs and tables) — outdoor and indoor
• Traffic: It’s always a plus when the coffee shop has other people there, but it’s not so busy that I feel like I have to hurry up and leave

Steamers Coffee Shop in Williams Bay checked a lot of the things on my list. Steamers is located in the main building of businesses you see when you’re driving through The Bay on Highway 67. It’s attached to the Green Grocer — they serve soup and sandwiches, and also have a small grocery, wine and beer selection. On the Steamers side, they have a couple baked goods available (from Simple Cafe in Lake Geneva).

The cafe side isn’t large, but there were plenty of seating options (including tables and comfy chairs) when we were there. It’s a pretty standard local coffee shops with cute decor, mismatched tables and chairs, and creeky wood floors — I loved it all!

They also had free WiFi — hint: the password is on a framed piece of paper hidden up (kinda high for this shortie) closer to the front door. And we were able to sit at one of the tables and get some work done without feeling rushed or in the way. There were definitley people in and out, but it wasn’t crazy busy.

Now to the coffee — I got an iced non-fat mocha. This mocha was probably one of the best specialty coffee drinks I’ve ever had. It was smooth, creamy and super chocolately but not too sweet. Most of the time with mochas you can’t get all of those things at the same time. Usually if it’s chocolately — it’s too sweet. Or if it’s smooth and creamy it’s not non-fat. Or if it’s not too sweet — then it’s kind of bitter. This basically tasted like high quality chocolate milk mixed with espresso — it was amazing!

And if you want to bundle up and enjoy a view of Williams Bay, or wait until spring, they have a nice little view from right in front of their shop!

Other coffee shops in the area I like:

• Boxed and Burlap (just up Highway 50 from Williams Bay)
• Avant (Lake Geneva)
• Lake Geneva Pie Company (they have amazing brewed coffee too!)
• Friends on the Square (Elkhorn)

TELL ME: I need to add more local coffee shops to my rotation. If you have a favorite coffee shop in Walworth or Rock counties…let me know!!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog about Lake Geneva Country Meats. You can go read it here. I said their cheese section was a bit small and anyone looking for a large selection of Wisconsin cheeses could go somewhere else.

I’m sticking with my opinion that their are places you can go that have more options, but I will say that you might not want to go to those places over LG Meats. After trying some of the options LG Meats has in their cheese case, I can say that anyone will find something they love, something they maybe haven’t tried before, and something you will want to come back for again and again.

The team at LG Meats has spent a lot of time curating their collection to have something for everyone, and to offer some really special cheeses. My favorite type of specialty cheese has always been any of the Sartori BellaVitano flavors, and they have that but they also have some other amazing cheeses you need to try.

The bacon cheddar is made with LG Meats’ own bacon that they cook up and deliver to Hill Valley Dairy. Hill Valley is a true family operation — they make cheese with milk from their family’s farm. The bacon cheddar is amazing. It’s a good cheddar with amazing bacon (and A LOT of it), and some black pepper to bring it all together.

Hill Valley’s Whiskey Cheddar is also something special. It’s a white cheddar finished in whiskey (from Great Northern Distilling, which is also owned by a family member!). Whether you love whiskey or aren’t a fan — you have to try this cheese! The creamy cheddar pairs amazing with the smoky whiskey. And if you don’t love whiskey, the flavor is subtle so it’s still worth trying. They also have a Whiskey Gouda.

LG Country Meats also have some great cheeses from Carr Valley, Hooks and Uplands Cheese. You can’t go wrong with any of the cheeses in their case, and they’re always bringing in new options and adding new cheeses!

 

When I moved here five months ago part of my transition was finding a new grocery store. When I lived in Madison, I was a die-hard Woodman’s shopper, but with Woodman’s about 30 minutes away it wasn’t an option for regular shopping anymore.

I started going to Aldi and Piggly Wiggly in Lake Geneva, but it wasn’t quite what we were looking for. Aldi had all of the produce, dairy and dry goods we liked, and Piggly Wiggly had the deli we were looking for, but neither had fresh or frozen meat we were interested in. My boyfriend mentioned he’d been to Lake Geneva Country Meats a couple times, so we went to check it out. I was instantly sold.

The larger-than-expected store out on Highway 50 east of Lake Geneva has fresh and frozen meat, canned and jarred goods, beer and wine, cheese and produce. During my first couple of trips, I picked up a couple canned goods along with our other items. All of the canned goods I tried (esepcially the pickled brussel sprouts) were super good, but a little pricey. They’re worth it for a fun treat, but not a regular purchase.

I’d also say the same thing about their cheese. They have a lot of novelty cheeses like bacon cheddar and whiskey soaked cheddar. If you’re looking for a lot of options of Wisconsin cheese — there are other places you could go. [UPDATE: Read an udpated post about their cheese.]

The produce section is surprisingly fresh. I’ve been getting most of my produce at Pearce’s recently, but earlier in the spring I was getting several items a week at LG Meats. The prices were similar to Aldi and usually cheaper than The Pig.

But let’s be real…I’m not going to LG Meats for the produce. Some of my favorite purchases:

• Thick cut bacon
• NY Strip Steak
• Ground Beef
• Marinated boneless skiness chicken breasts (Italiano Romano is my favorite flavor)
• Green pepper, cheddar brats
• Butterflied porkchops

We also love their chicken wings and their twice baked potatoes. They have a lot more things, including a more flavors of brats, deli meat and salads, cuts of meat, and fresh and frozen items. Oh and did I mention the wine and beer?

 

Summer and ice cream go together like peanut butter and jelly. I could keep going with great pairings (like oreos and peanut butter) but I’ll move on with this post.

In the summer, my boyfriend and I like to go on motorcycle rides. Now some riders will say you don’t need a destination, you just ride. But I like having a destination or something fun to do to break up the ride. That’s where my “Ice Cream Store Round-Up” posts will come in. We like checking out little ice cream stands on our rides.

Our first (definitely not first ice cream stop of the season…just the first one I’m writing about) is the Straw Hat in Twin Lake. I was in Twin Lakes for work a couple weeks ago — missed my turn and found this place!

The Straw Hat is a little roadside walkup stand that has all the standard ice cream options plus some food. You can see Lake Mary from their front benches, and it’s a good place to sit and people watch in the summer. We were down there on a Thursday and the main road was pretty busy for mid-week. We both got a shake — rootbeer, and peanut butter chocolate (seeing a trend here?). The sizes are very generous and the flavors were decent…almost a little too much peanut butter and not enough chocolate in mine (almost!).

It’s definitley a cute place if you’re down in that area…which is basically Illinois!

I love a good farm stand. Most of the time farm stands are on the side of the road and have a handful of items — mostly fresh produce — to choose from. Sometimes there’s someone manning the stand and sometimes it’s a self-service stand. I’ve found that produce from these stands is usually the same price or cheaper than the grocery store, and it is always better. Then there’s Pearce’s. Pearce’s is much larger and way more involved than most farm stands, but that’s what makes it so great.

Pearce’s is on the corner of two county highways between Walworth, Williams Bay and Delavan. It’s a large building, but it only took me about 15 minutes to get in and out. It was mostly what I expected, except for one thing — there was an adorable older man singer old-school country music off to the side. It definitely made my time there way more memorable than it would have been without him. Hats off to whomever at Pearce’s thought of that!

Based on their Facebook page, I’ve learned that they sell a lot of homemade products and products they bring in, but they don’t open for the season until their own sweet corn is ready to be picked and sold.

What they sell (based on what I saw this weekend):

• Canned Goods
  • Jam
  • Salsa
  • Pie Filling
• Pickled products
• Baked Goods
  • Cookies
  • Breads
  • Donuts

• Maple Syrup
• Honey
• Homemade beer cheese dip
• Cheese curds
• Tortilla chips
• Decorative gords
• Flowers
• Kettle Korn
• All. The. Produce.

I’m sure there’s more that I’m forgetting or that they’ll start selling as the season continues, but it’s got a lot of options. I went there expecting to buy some corn and tomatoes, and ended up buying so much that when they were packing up my stuff — they pulled out a box to start filling up. I definitely spent more than I was expecting but I got a lot of quality stuff. I wouldn’t say Pearce’s is expensive — I’d say bring extra money because you’ll end up wanting to buy more than what you expected!

Pearce’s isn’t exactly a secret, but it’s still worth checking out if you’re in the area.

A couple months ago I learned about the Lake Shore Path that goes all the way around Geneva Lake. I was very curious about the 26 mile route that puts you between the lake and the million dollar homes…literally right on the Wrigley, Stone Manor and Casa del Sueno properties. After doing some research and recruiting some friends…I decided to try completing the route in one day (Gulp!).

Well…to not keep you in anticipation…I failed. I started at Pier 290 in Williams Bay and made it to the library in Lake Geneva. I’m not sure how far that was (didn’t start a distance tracker…whoops!), but I was over it by the time we got to LG. I do plan on attempting this again, but during a much cooler time of year. Here are some of my mistakes, tips, observations, and the sights from my partial lake shore path walk.

MISTAKES

• Trying to walk the entire 26 miles in the humidity of July
• Not using a distance tracker
• Not spraying down with bug spray

TIPS

• Start early in the day
• Make note of where bathrooms are…and use the ones you see no matter what! Once you’re on parts of the path, there’s no getting off to find a bathroom.
• To go along with the first one, drink water even if you’re afraid of having to pee too often (I think this is why I got so tired so fast)
• Wear sunscreen and bug spray
• Bring extra socks to change out your sweaty ones (thanks for the tip Angie and Clare!)
• Bring chapstick and gum
• Pack snacks/lunch
• Be prepared to get wet: There are sprinklers that directly cross the path and if they’re on, you can’t avoid them.
• Know where you’re going to stop and take breaks, but have a time limit…otherwise you might never get back up and keep walking.

OBSERVATIONS

• There’s a lot to see on the path, make sure you pad in some time to take it all in.
  • Ex. There are cute spots to take pictures (remember: stay on the path!) and there are a couple interactive spots — like the “Mystery Mailbox” in Williams Bay.

• Keep an eye out for sights on the lake…like Steam Yatch Louise from Lake Geneva Cruise Lines!

• Be prepared to walk on anything from grass and mud to rocks and boardwalks.
• On some properties, it is very hard to tell where the path is..don’t feel bad about “trespassing” and just keep following the lake. You’ll find a marking eventually!

• You can’t help but stare at some of these homes…whehter you like the big guys or the cute “little” cottages.
• There’s one home on the north shore very close to downtown Lake Geneva that makes you walk behind and around their fenced in home…I have many questions about this property. How are they allowed to do this? Who are these people? Why do they think they’re special and can do this? I was annoyed with this house…if that isn’t obvious.

Have you walked the Lake Geneva Walking Path? Have you walked to entire thing in one day? Tell me how!

It’s the little things in life right? Well it’s also the really big things that are meant to make a little statement…like this hidden slingshot. I’ve seen this dead tree, turned pumpkin slingshot dozens of times, but today while out on an afternon walk it just made me smile!

I don’t know the history of it and I don’t know how long it’s been there, but if you aren’t paying attention or know where to look, you will definitely walk, drive or boat right past it.

It’s located on the north side of Lake Como on Lake Shore Drive, but I’m not telling you exactly where. You have to go find it on your own of you want to see it!

RECOMMENDED ACTIVITIES (on Lake Shore Drive)

• Walking
• Running
• Biking
• Boating
• Go on a slow Sunday drive