Lake Geneva WI Trip & Lincoln Navigator

Kelly: Cocoon Coat / Cable-Knit Sweater / Skinny Jeans / Over-the-Knee Boots Emma: Bow Boots, Mini Cocoon Coat, Leggings, Button-Down and Plaid Vest Mitch: Tartan Button-Down,Navy Quilted Coat and Sperrys

Kelly: Cocoon Coat (50 percent off with code “TGIF.” I have in gray and red, too, and LOVE! Also try the City Coat and the Lodge Coat, which look so similar and are still available in camel.) / Navy Scarf (Use code “GOWILD” to take up to 30 percent.) / Cable-Knit Sweater (I also adore this popcorn sweater! Again, use code “TGIF.”) / Skinny Jeans (I’m wearing the maternity version, though.) / Similar Over-the-Knee Boots Here, Here and Here / Emma: Bow Boots, Mini Cocoon Coat, Leggings, Button-Down and Plaid Vest / Mitch: Tartan Button-Down (Women’s version here), Navy Quilted Coat and Sperrys (Women’s version here)

Mitch here!

As you might’ve heard, things are pretty crazy here at the Larkin headquarters. Our family’s expanding, Kelly’s been very sick, we’ve been cooped up inside while preparing for our busiest season of the year, Emma’s been bouncing off the walls, and Noodle is completely oblivious and asleep on my lap as I write this. Must be nice.

It’s times like these when it’s easy to get caught up in the mayhem. So as Procrastinator in Chief, I decided to whisk my family away to exotic Wisconsin a couple of weekends ago for a little getaway. (It was actually my Wisconsinite brother–a guy with three kids and who recognized the sound of the fatherly desperation in my voice–who suggested Lake Geneva!) What follows is an account of our last moments of calm before the holidays.

It already seems like a distant memory.

Anyway, I definitely thought Kelly would reject the idea when I first proposed it, and understandably so. Morning sickness can be pretty terrible, and for her, it’s unfortunately been a 24-hour thing for the last few months. But she immediately said yes with the following stipulations: that she could sleep in the car the whole way there and back, and lights out at 10 p.m. or so. Done deal!

Finding an SUV

As luck would have it, a friend at Lincoln Motor Company reached out literally three days after our discussion and asked whether we’d be interested in test-driving the new Lincoln Navigator for our little road trip. The stars aligned, and I can’t tell you how excited I was to trade in our tiny Prius for a few days for the SUV of every guy’s dreams.

Kelly and I plan on buying an SUV this year. Being city dwellers, I honestly never thought this day would come, but it’s time. First, our family is expanding and the Prius is simply too tiny. It’s next to impossible to get Emma into her car seat without banging her head or throwing out my back, and we can’t fit a stroller and luggage in the trunk. (A huge problem considering how much traveling we do!) Second, we’ve destroyed the thing. It smells, its gross microfiber seats are falling apart, and it lies about whether the doors have been locked and thus we’ve had two break-ins this year. And this is the truth: I apologize to people before giving them a ride. It’s that bad.

The Lincoln Navigator is the king of all SUVs. Testing it out was kind of like staying in a five-star hotel for a few days. It was the epitome of luxury, and it helped us identify what’s most important to us in an SUV. It also put Lincoln on the radar for us since we were so impressed with how well-made and thought out the Navigator was. Who knew there were so many options at so many different price points?!

Mitch: Tartan Button-Down,Navy Quilted Coat and Sperrys

The Navigator

The morning of our trip, the Lincoln team came to drop off the Navigator and give me a quick tutorial on all its features. A couple of things became abundantly clear to me almost immediately:

Cars are freakin’ sweet now.
We were about to have the best weekend getaway in our history.

Anyway, you’re about to witness a grown man full out gushing over a car. Apologies in advance.

From my first moments with the Navigator, I realized what it had to offer for a guy with two kids. When carrying the suitcases out to the car with the keys in my pocket, it recognized me and illuminated my path to the rear. It saw my foot under the bumper and automatically opened the rear gate. They call this “approach detection.” I had tears in my eyes.

Another almost unbelievable feature?

The back seats “PowerFold,” and with the press of a button, the seats disappear. But don’t even for a second think that storage needs to be maximized. In comparison to my current car, I’d say the Navigator offers unlimited storage space. Honestly, I think I could park my car in the trunk of this thing. You might’ve caught Emma on Instagram Stories screaming, “It’s so big!” And it’s so true. It’s also plain awesome.

The car is filled with all these thoughtful design tweaks and inventions that make it a pleasure to be in. There’s the automatic running board that intelligently just appears to make your entry and exit easier. And then there’s the “heads up” display that gives you all the driving information you need so you don’t need to take your eyes off the road, day or night. There’s also a center touchscreen on the dash that essentially turns into a big, easy-to-use iPhone via Apple CarPlay. Oh, and there are cameras around the Navigator that intelligently stitch together a 360-degree real-time video of the car’s perimeter so you don’t bump into anything. And if you’re feeling lazy, there’s a button which will straight up take over and park the car for you. (It’ll even parallel park.) I’m not joking. You completely take your hands off the wheel and everything.

The particular Lincoln Navigator we drove is what they call the Lincoln Black Label, which I think we can safely assume means “the dopest one.” The seats either heat or cool your bum, and, as if that wasn’t enough, they also give out massages. Again, not joking. (Kelly says that this was her favorite part of the car.) On top of that, Kelly and I were both able to select our own temperatures. I rocked 65 degrees and a cooled seat, while Kelly predictably opted for 85 with a heated seat.

The Lincoln Navigator is like flying first class, but, like, everywhere you go.

We spent a solid hour just driving around the lake because we didn’t want to get out of the car. People kept stopping me on the street to talk about it. Friends texted when they saw it on Instagram Stories. Some of them even called. I’m telling you: this car is hot stuff. I felt like a car celebrity.

Okay, I need to stop talking about the car. Maybe this is the expectant father’s version of nesting, but something about that big ‘ol Lincoln SUV made me feel deeply comforted. And I liked that feeling a lot.

Moving on!

Lake Geneva

Lake Geneva is the kind of place that’s filled with special memories for everyone involved. People in town walk around smiling all day. I can imagine hundreds of breakfast table conversations:

Hun? What is on the agenda?

I dunno. Wanna walk around and smile all day?

Well gosh! Heck yeah I do.

Lake Geneva is the solution to suburban Chicago’s… um… let’s call it geographical monotony. The drive there is only a little over an hour, and you can feel the state line like you can feel the water hitting your body while walking through a sprinkler.

Accommodations

Wisconsin is lousy with lakes, but Lake Geneva is clearly the good one. We stayed at the Ridge Hotel, which was just perfect for a family. The room was giant and it even had a little parent chilling zone that we utilized for a couple of hours after Emma’s bedtime. (Stuck to that 10 p.m. lights out stipulation, though!) Our room was also right next to the pool, and Emma could hardly contain her excitement. The pool was spectacular; there was a faux tree on a little island in the middle of it, and we spent a lot of time swimming to and from.

And I can’t forget the hotel’s Crafted Americana restaurant, which offered up my single favorite dining experience: the breakfast buffet. I ate about two pounds of bacon, and I’ve never seen Kelly or Emma eat as much as they did that morning. It was fantastic. I should also note how much we appreciate it when a hotel has a great restaurant within it. You kind of never know what’s going to happen when you’re traveling with kids, and having that option can really save you. For example, Emma was ravenous when we woke up on Sunday morning… but it only took us four minutes to get ourselves over to Crafted Americana, which saved us a meltdown! We also utilized the Ridge Hotel’s coffee and convenience shops a few times. Stellar coffee and a beautiful area to relax.

Oh, and the highlight of the entire weekend for me was the hotel’s Hunt Club Steakhouse, where we were treated to a meal that capped off a near perfect day. In a true dad move, I even sought out the chef to compliment him personally. It was that kind of a meal.

Activities

We lucked out and our weekend fell right in the middle of peak fall colors, which made everything extra special. We honestly spent most of our time walking along the lake, as Emma’s obsessed with playing in leaves and playing hide and seek right now. (It’s insanely adorable.)

But we did a fair amount of meandering around town, and popping in and out of cute little shops. Kelly loved the Cornerstone Shop & Gallery. I had to drag her out of there! It’s really preppy but also eclectic, and we found a ton of awesome Christmas gifts for family there. Emma’s favorites, of course, were Kilwins (an awesome candy store) and Allison Wonderland (a sweet toy store where she could have stayed for hours).

And we all loved the Highfield Farm Creamery, outside of town, where Emma ate enough cheese to impress Ron Burgundy. The Creamery falls on State Line Road, which means that if you were to walk north from Illinois in this particular spot, the first step you’d take into Wisconsin would be a dairy farm. (Hilarious.) It’s also funny because from that vantage point, Wisconsinites are literally looking down on Illinois, as they like to do.

You know how families fall in love with a place and spend the rest of their lives recreating the same trip over and over? This was that kind of weekend for us, and I can guarantee that we’ll be back next year!

Other Lake Geneva Recommendations:

Eats:

Activities:

Mitch. Out!

Kelly: Cocoon Coat / Cable-Knit Sweater / Skinny Jeans / Over-the-Knee Boots

Kelly: Cocoon Coat / Cable-Knit Sweater / Skinny Jeans / Over-the-Knee Boots Emma: Bow Boots, Mini Cocoon Coat, Leggings, Button-Down and Plaid Vest

Emma: Bow Boots, Mini Cocoon Coat, Leggings, Button-Down and Plaid Vest

Shop the post:

This post is sponsored by Lincoln, but all opinions are our own. As always, thank you so, so much for supporting the partnerships that keep Kelly in the City up and running!