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Lake Geneva LbNA #4468

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Jun 23, 2003
Location:
City:Lake Geneva
County:Walworth
State:Wisconsin
Boxes:1
Planted by:Moofie & Blaze
Found by: I.Hope.There's.Pudding
Last found:Sep 22, 2016
Status:FFOFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFaa
Last edited:Jun 23, 2003
Lake Geneva Letterbox
Placed: June 23, 2003
Owners: Blaze and Moofie
Difficulty: terrain is easy, but it's about an hour hike round trip.



CAUTION: This letterbox is only accessible during certain months of the year. Basically Memorial Day through the end of October or so.

Lake Geneva is a small town located in southeastern Wisconsin. It is found at the junctions of Hwy's 12 and 50, approximately 10 miles north of the Illinois border, and about 6 miles south of I-43.

Lake Geneva has long been established as a summer hideout for the wealthy, and often, famous, who have owned many of the town's beautiful mansions in their families for years. Estates dating back to the 1800's belonged to families such as the Wrigleys, Montgomery Ward, Pinkerton, Sears, and Harris Allerton. In more recent times, celebrities such as David Letterman have made use of the summer homes. During your search for this letterbox you will get to walk along the lakeshore and have upclose views of many of these summer homes, and get a chance to see how that other half lives. Enjoy, it's a beautiful area - try to make a day of it so you can explore the rest of the town with it's quaint shops and restaurants (I recommend Popeye's right on the lake...great food and a great view. Or take some time to take one of the many boat tours around the lake where you can enjoy a closer view to some of the restricted mansions. You can also just stretch out on the beach and enjoy the waters of this spring fed lake. For the more interested, their website gives background and information on what to find there…www.lakegenevawi.com .

Your journey begins at the lakefront, which is easy to find once you are in Lake Geneva. Park wherever you can find - there are abundant metered spaces around town, or travel into the neighborhoods to find free curb parking. Walk to the lakefront where you will find Riviera Beach and Boathouse. There is a brick lined, paved path that you can follow along the top edge of the beach that leads down to where people can anchor their boats. You will be heading west between the library and beach. Stay on this path to where it seemingly ends and the lakefront houses begin. You will be by the area where people anchor the rowboats necessary to get out to the docked motorboats and yachts. Walk past and toward the wooden fence where you will find a gravel path heading south and a welcome sign posted by the Geneva Lakes Association, welcoming you to enjoy the lake path along the shoreline.

Head down that gravel path, which along the way takes on many forms…paved, stones, woodchips, etc. This path winds all the way around the Geneva Lakes but you will not be taking the whole tour! While you are basically walking through people’s backyards, it’s an open and encouraged route of travel. Just be respectful of their property, and enjoy the views – not only of the lake, but of the bountiful estates.

Keep walking westward along the lake past the beautiful homes and their owners boats. Continue on and soon you will see a private “mini" park and beach area which is horseshoe shaped. Continue and you will come to one of the larger properties on this side of the lake. It is bordered by a white wooden fence whose posts make large X’s. About halfway down the fenceline you will cross a stone bridge.
When you come to the end of the fenceline you will see a daycamp ahead of you. On a summer day it can be crawling with children, so be discreet. Across the lake you get a full frontal view of the famous Stone Manor, too. Counting back 5 of the vertical posts,including the end of the fence, look towards the lake. You will see a berm. Climb over the berm and take one step to the left. Look down at your left foot and you will see a hole that goes into the berm. In this hole, you will see some bricks. (You may have to kneel down for this part) The box is located under one brick and between the other two. When done please replace securely. As you will read below, the box can be carried out into the lake if not returned securely.

Be aware of passing traffic – on a summer weekend it can be busy along the path! Once you replace the box, you are invited to continue along the path (it goes through the daycamp and continues on the other side) and see how far around the lake you can go! Or turn around and explore the path that borders the eastern side of the lake or the fun downtown area. Enjoy!!

A very interesting story concerning this box. A few years ago a boater, who actually lives in Alaska, saw something floating in the lake. Turns out it was this letter box. Apparently the box was washed out during a storm and floated in the lake for an undetermined amount of time. The boater saw the reference to letterboxing.org inside the box, looked up the clues and replaced the box. Very Cool!

SO, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU PLACE THE RED BRICK BACK ON TOP OF THE BOX, AND WEDGE IT IN THERE WHEN YOU REPLACE IT.

Hopefully, it will keep the box from being washed away again. We may not be so lucky if it happens another time.

NOTE: There is another letterbox type log book and date stamp very near by. The first page says that it was left as a memorial for Jimbo. Several of his friends have stopped by to leave notes for him. We have not found actual LBNA clues listed for this other box, but here is where it is. Go back to the path by the white fence. While facing the lake climb to the top left side of the same mound our box is hidden under. You will see a brick stuffed into a small hole. Remove the brick and you will find this other box. As I mentioned, we are not really sure if it is actually a letterbox but if you are respectful, there should be no harm in stamping into this book and leaving a little note. Please return both boxes to their individual and intended locations. PLEASE REPLACE THE BRICKS.