At Stout's Island Lodge, the world is quiet. Nearly off the map on Wisconsin's Red Cedar Lake, the historic resort has been a Northwoods escape for 121 years. "Your mindset changes immediately," says Bob Kody, a 12-times-plus guest at the iconic retreat. "It's just like the old days. For once, you're without distraction."
Nearing the end of Stout's season, the sugar maples, oaks and birches are flaunting their October colors, and the lodge is starting to quiet too. After circling the trails on a morning walk-the island is car-free-I grab a coffee and a coveted seat in the Great Room, right next to the grand fireplace. Ella Fitzgerald's "Sentimental Journey" is playing, and though it's only been 24 hours, I can tell I'm about to have my own.
A man comes in to toss a log on the fire, a couple plays chess in the corner, and I dally with a book on the resort's historyhow the timbered lodge was originally built bark-on, à la the Adirondack Great Camps; how its owner Frank Stout, who inherited a lumber fortune, practically owned half of Chicago but still considered this his "Island of Happy Days"; how the steel walking bridge just steps away was a gift from Andrew Carnegie. I was in the home of a legend, welcomed like a good friend, experiencing the origins of a Midwestern legacy: life on the lake.
"We do not take a back seat to the finest Adirondack Camps," says Tom Dow, co-owner of Stout's since 1990. "This is an Adirondack Camp that got away."
Accidentally Adirondack
This story is from the Fall 2024 edition of Midwest Living.
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This story is from the Fall 2024 edition of Midwest Living.
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NATURAL FIT
WITH LANDSCAPES NEAR AND FAR AS THEIR GUIDE, A MINNEAPOLIS COUPLE BUILT A NEW HOME THAT COMPLEMENTS ITS ESTABLISHED NEIGHBORHOOD AND SOFTENS THE LINE BETWEEN INDOORS AND OUT.
AT LONG LAST
AT SUNNY MEADOWS FLOWER FARM IN COLUMBUS, OHIO, THE SAME CUTTING BEDS THAT FEED SUMMER'S FRESH BOUQUETS ALSO PROVIDE BUNCHES OF EVERLASTINGS FOR USE IN DRIED ARRANGEMENTS AND WREATHS-BOTH THEIR OWN CREATIONS AND YOURS. COLOR US INSPIRED.
COLOR SHOW
FALL IS A BIT LIKE THE HOLIDAYS, WITH SPECTACULAR DISPLAYS OF COLOR AND LIGHT EVERYWHERE-EXCEPT NATURE DOES THE DECORATING. TREAT YOURSELF TO THE SEASON'S SIGHTS AND SOUNDS ON A VISIT TO ONE OF THESE DAZZLING PARKS.
IT'S CHILI TIME
AT A TAILGATE, A CAMPOUT OR JUST BECAUSE IT'S FALL, NOTHING HITS LIKE CHILI. AND FEW MEALS STOKE MORE REGIONAL PRIDE AND DEBATE. (TEXANS, WE SEE YOU. WE RESPECT YOU. BUT WE LIKE BEANS.) SO WE'RE GIVING YOU FIVE NEW CHILI RECIPES INCLUDING ONE FOR LEGIT CINCINNATI CHILI-PLUS CHEESY SCALLION CORNBREAD AND AN ODE TO CINNAMON ROLLS. (DON'T ASK. JUST READ ON.)
The GREAT ESCAPES
IN WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA, HISTORIC LAKESIDE RESORTS KEEP ALIVE A CENTURY OF TRADITION. GENERATION AFTER GENERATION, THEY HAVE YET TO GO OUT OF STYLE.
TWO FOR ONE
PLAN A FALL WEEKEND TO BENTON HARBOR AND ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN, AND YOU'LL HAVE DOUBLE THE FUN.
DAY OF THE DEAD
DURING DÍA DE MUERTOS (NOVEMBER 1-2), TRADITION HOLDS THAT THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE SPIRIT AND LIVING WORLDS WEAKENS, ALLOWING A REUNION WITH PASSED LOVED ONES. HERE ARE SIX PLACES TO CELEBRATE.
MAIN ATTRACTION
FRESH LOCAL FARE AND SLEEK COFFEE SHOPS RUB SHOULDERS WITH STYLISH BOUTIQUES AND VINTAGE MARKETS IN MOUNT VERNON, IOWA.
A CHANGING LANDSCAPE
GLACIERS ONCE SHAPED THE TERRAIN OF SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA. TODAY, PEOPLE DO. THEIR IMPRINT SHOWS EVERYWHERE IN A LIVELY FOOD AND COCKTAIL SCENE, THROUGH A KALEIDOSCOPE OF OUTDOOR ART, AND AT A WATERFALL PARK THAT LOOKS BETTER THAN EVER.
PEAR HUGS
AS COMFORTING AS A LIFELONG FRIENDSHIP (AND AS SPECIAL TOO), THESE PEARS COME WRAPPED IN PASTRY, DRIZZLED WITH CARAMEL AND INFUSED WITH GOOD FEELS.
