Saturday, August 21, 2004

Paul Newman a no-show in Elkhart Lake I had my camera with me in our booth at the Elkhart Lake farmer's market this morning on the outside chance Paul Newman was in town and might stroll through the market.  I figured I'd give him a bass hat from Big Guy Hats and see if he'd wear it for a photo. But he didn't show.  As far as I know, he still has a place in the area and is occasionally seen around town or at the race track.  When I mentioned my plan to another vendor, she said rumor has it Tom Cruise had been there a couple weeks ago.  And we were in Port Washington! I pointed out a suit-wearing market-goer who stood out in the crowd wearing mostly shorts and Topsiders to two vendors, and asked them if they thought he might be packing a sidearm.  (There was a lump under the back of his jacket just below the neck that might have been a shoulder-holster strap.)  The vendors, bot women in their 40s at least) said maybe he was a mafioso.  They mentioned that Elkhart Lake had been a popular gangster haunt back in the day, and that a number of slot machines were rumored to have been dumped in the lake.  That's probably a walleye reef now, I said. Anyway, the place is rich in history and legend, but the crowd was not into spending money today.  Other vendors said they do not do as well on race days, and this weekend is the Road America 500 American Le Mans, so it was buzzin' at the track, if not at the market. After a so-so morning (sales in Port were better by 50 percent), Shivani and I checked out the Back Porch Bistro (Have to come back for lunch some time.  We brought sandwiches, or would have spent our meager earnings today on one of their tantalizing sandwiches.) at Victorian Village Resort, and then discovered the path around the lake.  Like the trail that circumscribes Geneva Lake, this path circles the entire lake.  You can hike, jog or bike it for a 4.5-mile trek that takes you past the back door and through the garden of everyone who lives on the lake.  Folks were very friendly, although it must get old saying hi to strangers walking through your hard on the weekend.  We stopped to admire the natural garden of a man who spends four days a week in the Prudential Building in downtown Chicago and three days at his lake home.  He hopes to end the commute soon and spend all his time at the lake. The path is an adventure in itself, reminding me a little of the kite tails we used to make as kids, using a strip of white sheet, then a strip from an old plaid shirt and maybe a couple abandoned neckties.  It ranges from gravel to wood chips to bark to dirt to paving stone, as it winds just feet from the lakeshore, past some of the biggest oaks and cedars I've seen in the state, under walkways from hilltop homes to the lake, behind a garage here, next to a boathouse there.  Sometimes the lake is screened by cedars, but here and there, the path pops out to a point with a panoramic view of the water.  We stopped and sat on a cement bench next to a stone wall below a magnificent home.  And the homes range from quaint old cottages with screen porches to modern A-frames and sprawling brick structures.  Most fit tastefully into the wooded hills that surround this glacial lake.  The only drawback to living here, if you could afford to, is the drone of the cars at Road America on race day.  I'm sure the residents tune them out, but they were loud and clear today with a west wind. Elkhart Lake is one of the better muskie lakes in southeastern Wisconsin.  It is so clear, you can see bottom in 15 or 20 feet of water, so it is not uncommon to see muskies as they follow your bait but refuse to hit it.  On one trip here a few years ago, guide Robert Wozniak and I raised four nice fish on shoreline  structure and an offshore bar, but had no hits.  I need to get back there with the boat at least once this fall and give it another shot. Later... 9:51:52 PM    comment []