The early morning fall air of Wisconsin’s Elkhart Lake is cool and brisk. From the balcony of our room at Osthoff Resort, my husband and I watch the low clouds over the lake break apart with the rising of the sun. As we sip our coffee, we watch the grand display of autumn sunlight as it alchemizes the cold gray water into first gold and then, magically, just the color of sparkling sapphires. The transformation is magnificent, and for one purely selfish moment, I believe that Mother Nature has put on the show just for us.
For the life of me, from neither an aerial nor a shoreline view of Elkhart Lake, I can’t make out the image of an elk’s heart. That’s what some say the spring-fed lake is supposed to resemble, but I think it looks more like half of a Rorschach inkblot than a heart of any sort, elk or otherwise.
But that color is so pretty. Glacial ice, so clear that it’s blue, was the genesis of Elkhart Lake thousands of years ago, and it left in its melt this intensely hued and gorgeous tiny lake that’s just a shade under 300 acres, a mere speck to its nearby cousin of Lake Michigan that measures in at more than 22,000 square miles. Great herds of elk once roamed these happy hunting grounds of the Native American tribes of the Ojibwa, Potawatomi and Menominee, with the near-mythical lake and its purported sacred and healing powers the epicenter of their existence.
Every January, most of us make resolutions for better health and wellness, and the Osthoff, with its address on the shores of Elkhart Lake, its renowned Aspira Spa and pretty hiking trails, is the ideal place to kickstart both a romantic first-of-year renewal of your love and partake of those healing powers that will get you on the road to good health.
The all-suite Osthoff Resort, spread out among 40 acres, dates to 1886 when it was first opened by Otto Osthoff, a German entrepreneur from nearby Milwaukee. He chose that verdantly forested land near Elkhart Lake because of its reputation as a healing community, resulting partly because of the prime real estate location on the lake and also because of the reputation of the Native Americans who practiced a harmonious blend of peacefulness and wellness.
The word Aspira means “infused with spirit,” with a tip of the hat to the language of the local indigenous tribes, and it also alludes to the idea of breathing in deeply for balance and calmness. As such, its spa treatments are designed and curated with local organic botanicals, among them cedars and elderberries that grow around the lake.
Even as spas go, Aspira seems more tranquil than most. It is a cozy, calming place, its ambiance soothing, and I do not exaggerate when I say that it was easy to shed my always-on, high-octane anxiety at the door. Aspira is deliberately designed architecturally as three concentric rings that follow the principles of feng shui so it produces a pleasing flow of energy. Hello, peacefulness. Goodbye, anxiety.
The menu of Aspira Spa’s body wraps, massages, facials and yoga services is vast, but among its signature treatments are the Sacred Waters Massage, which incorporates water drawn from Elkhart Lake, and the ultra-comfortable Cedars Massage where you’re covered with a weighted blanket filled with fresh, aromatic native cedar sprigs.
For the ultimate romantic experience, consider booking a SpaSuite. You never have to leave these specially designed rooms complete with fireplaces, candles and private showers and whirlpools as the therapists come to you. Treatment options include a warming, deliciously scented whirlpool bath infused with arnica Epsom and Himalayan salt to sooth not only the muscles but also the soul, all followed with an almost hourlong massage or facial, one for you and one for your significant other. You can even have lunch brought in so that you don’t have to leave the suite.
Several restaurants, including the Concourse Restaurant and Lounge and Otto’s are on site at Osthoff. The must-tries are fried cheese curds and three-cheese pizza with mozzarella, provolone and parmesan, because, well, when in cheese-centric Wisconsin, eat like a Wisconsinite. The Osthoff also offers French cooking classes at L’ecole de la Maison, the resort’s own highly regarded culinary school. At the end of the session, simply nosh on your own creations. Our class included baked eggs with feta cheese and heirloom tomatoes and dessert of lemon-raspberry chia seed pudding, although I was gratefully tasked with the fairly simple roles of slicing and preparing the tomatoes and squeezing oranges for fresh juice.
Elkhart Lake is also within driving distance of Sheboygan and Kohler, as all three towns are in Sheboygan County, so tons of dining options are within a few minutes’ drive. If you want your cuisine with a side of history, the American Club of Destination Kohler offers a range of restaurants, starting with the elegant and intimate Immigrant Restaurant and Winery, a virtual warren of several rooms, each of which pays homage to the style of early Wisconsin settlers from six different nationalities. Try the casual Horse and Plow for a more tavern-like experience, or you may prefer the farm-fresh cuisine of the Wisconsin Room, the original dining hall of immigrant workers for Kohler.
In Sheboygan, my husband and I made our way to the highly recommended Lino Ristorante Italiano for the most truly authentic Italian cuisine on this side of the Mediterranean. My tastebuds shouted “Bravo!” and “Bellissima!” after I selected the “ravioli burro e salvia,” a spinach and ricotta stuffed ravioli. While it sounds as if it’s a simple meal of pasta, it was, as with all of the restaurant’s pasta, handmade, and its buttery richness was extraordinary and simply exploded with flavor.
Several pounds later, on our last night at the Osthoff and Elkhart Lake, we walked to the water’s edge and watched that lake of sapphire as it began to take on the vibrant hues of the setting sun and transform it into a glittering layer cake of gold, yellow and deep rose. The late fall wind whipped the surface of the lake into a series of diminutive waves, their rhythmic cadence lapping against the shore.
Elkhart Lake was a good, if not colorful, place to get away for a few days, and to get a sense of it, and really of Sheboygan and Kohler, too, think of it as a melding together of Midwest culture with international flair and all bundled up with Adirondacks charm. But, you know, without the mountains.
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If you go
For information on Elkhart Lake, visit www.elkhartlake.com. For more details on Sheboygan, visit www.visitsheboygan.com. Information on Kohler is at www.kohler.com. The closest major airports are Milwaukee (MKE) and Green Bay (GRB).
More information on rates and packages for the Osthoff is found at www.osthoff.com. Other options for lodging are the Tudor-style American Club in Kohler, founded in 1918 originally as lodging for immigrant laborers who worked at Kohler Co., is now an AAA Five-Diamond resort and hotel that includes the Kohler Water Spa. Visit www.americanclubresort.com for more information. The Blue Harbor Resort, in Sheboygan on the shores of Lake Michigan, offers packages including romantic retreats. Visit www.blueharbordresort.com. The turn-of-the-century Siebkens Resort is also on Lake Elkhart, as is the Shore Club Wisconsin that has both guestrooms and condominiums. Visit www.siebkensresort.com or www.shoreclubwisconsin.com.
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