Weekend Getaway to Lake Mills, Wisconsin

Day 1

In Lake Mills' historic downtown, the renowned Ephraim Faience Pottery Studio Gallery sells heirloom-quality, hand-thrown Arts and Crafts Revival-style vases, tiles and more.

Descriptive tags explain the vintages at the boutique Lewis Station Winery.

If you visit during summer, the American Legion sells sliders from a little stand on Fridays until they run out—visitors take bags of them to nearby Commons Park for picnics.

Whenever you go, don't miss James J. Chocolate Shop, an old-fashioned candy store hidden in a business park that makes top-notch toffee and chocolate-covered cherry clusters.

A wraparound porch invites relaxing at the end of the day at Fargo Mansion Inn, a Queen Anne-style B&B with four guest rooms.

Day 2

Lake Mills calls itself City of the Pyramids, thanks to mysterious stone structures on the bottom of spring-fed Rock Lake. You can see the lake from the Glacial Drumlin Bike Trail, a 52-mile path following the old Chicago and Northwestern Railway.

Zeloski Marsh, a wetland and grassland under restoration in Lake Mills Wildlife Area, is a great place to bird-watch, and a herd of bison graze just north of the trail between London and Lake Mills.

Built in 1902, the neo-Gothic L.D. Fargo Public Library is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Tyranena Brewery serves samplers and house-brewed root beer.

More information: legendarylakemills.com