Green Lake, Wisconsin, a leisurely three-and-a-half-hour drive northwest of Chicago, is probably best described as a resort community–a vacation spot–but it will likely seem a little quiet to anyone expecting the usual resort-community diversions. Whether this is because of its location–in the dead center of Wisconsin, surrounded by farmland–or because of the abiding influence of the nearby American Baptist Assembly, one cannot say for certain; probably both reasons are viable. In any case, the lake is the area’s greatest resource, and most diversions concern some kind of boating. Green Lake is 237 feet deep at bottom, on the south end, and attempts to sustain a lake-trout population there have been successful. Deepwater motor trolling is done on Green Lake as it is on Lake Michigan. The marinas, boat rentals, and guides are really too numerous to mention, but as with many things in the area it’s hard to go wrong with the name “Norton,” which seems to be to Green Lake what the name “Bailey” was to Bedford Falls. There are two separate Norton guide services (John, 294-3286; Mike, 295-3617–all area codes 414). The lake covers over 11 square miles, so there is ample room for sailing and waterskiing
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The two most frequently recommended lodgings in the area are both on the eastern side of Green Lake, but otherwise are quite divergent, the one that sounds like more of a bed-and-breakfast place is actually more of an inn, and vice versa. There is an actual Heidel House, but the Heidel House Resort and Conference Center (Illinois Avenue, 294-3344) is actually more of a compound comprising several different buildings. We stayed in one that was as close to a Holiday Inn as one could hope for. We are told that if one is naturally charmed by a place with a name such as “Heidel House,” one should ask for a room in their Pump House–and ask early. The Oakwood Lodge (365 Lake Street, 294-6580) is a homey little place just down the street. It has ten rooms–some with their own baths, some that share–with nice, unpretentious chenille bedspreads. The ground-floor room off the porch has a bathtub with an old-fashioned shower head that will leave marks on the skin–perfect after a day on the lake or golf course. Oakwood is not a bed and breakfast, in that the bed and the breakfast are charged separately, but both are very reasonably priced. Optional jump-start service for weary anglers who leave the lights on in the car is provided with a knowing smile and free of charge.
The bars are all attached to restaurants in Green Lake, but the one where the two are most separate–and, we’re told, where the college kids hang out, in season–is the Goose Blind, Etc. (512 Gold Street, 294-6363). This’s all there is to Green Lake’s Rush Street and will seem fairly familiar to any denizen of public houses. A pool table and digital darts are available. (As yet, thankfully, digital billiards has not been developed.) An otherwise better-than-adequate jukebox (including the Coasters’ “Charlie Brown” and the McCoys’ “Hang on Sloopy”) is marred by such unfortunate inclusions as Grand Funk’s “Loco-motion” and R.E.O. Speedwagon’s “Riding the Storm Out.”
Do what he says.
