Twin Lakes, Wisconsin
Lodging in the Twin Lakes area is available, though hard to come by. People who remember Nippersink Golf Club and Resort (1055 N. Tombeau Road, outside of nearby Richmond, Illinois, 262-279-5281) as a Catskills-like Jewish resort will be disappointed to find that the new owners are developing it into a corporate retreat center. The pier on Lake Tombeau and the tennis courts are worn, but the green-and-white cottages can still be rented by individuals ($77 per night in June, $87 in July and August). There’s a swimming pool, and for a fee guests have access to paddleboats and flat-bottomed rowboats, but there’s no food except what’s available at the pro shop for breakfast and lunch. The Pink House Resort, a pastel-colored motel on Lake Mary in Twin Lakes (201 Lance Dr., 262-877-2783), has a deck on the water and ten unadorned rooms at $45 a night, $50 on weekends. Proprietor Peggy Hawes runs a bar that used to offer sandwiches in baskets, but she gave up food service a couple years ago because, she says, “there are too many restaurants in town.”
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Back across the Illinois border from Twin Lakes you’ll find Richmond, Illinois, a picturesque town incorporated in 1872. It underwent a second bloom 30 years ago, when buildings along Main and Broadway were recycled as antique and collectibles stores. “We’re a nice alternative to the interstate for people heading into Wisconsin,” says potter David Trumbel, who keeps a shop and studio in Richmond. “You can stop here and still have enough time to check into your hotel in the Dells before nightfall.”
Broadway, both east and west of Main Street, is lined with spacious old frame houses that make it worth a walk. The house where you can stay, the Richmond Inn (10314 East at Broadway, 815-678-2505), dates from 1893 and now boasts a long porch and gazebo attached by a previous owner, an architect. Its five guest rooms range from $79 to $159, which includes not only the morning meal but wine and appetizers at cocktail hour.
–Grant Pick
