My parents want to host a weeklong family vacation for five adults somewhere in the Midwest.

My dad's vision: a 3 bedroom cottage or condo on or near a lake, access to fishing/boating/swimming (and maybe a Christmas ornament store!) but not much else, and a local tavern/casual restaurant with a great Friday fish fry/legendary hamburger and cold beer.

In other words, a lazy, getting-out-of-the-city, no dressing up required, anti-Hamptons kind of vacation. Lake Geneva and Door County have been deemed "too fancy."

Three of us will be traveling from Milwaukee, two from Chicago. We'd like to find something a few hours away from both cities.

Does the place I've described sound familiar?

OK I know Wisconsin Dells has a bad rep as being too touristy but there are a lot of cottage rentals in the vicinity of the Dells - but NOT IN the Dells. Check out Sand County Rentals at www.sandcounty.com - they rent woods and lakeside cabins and many are 3 bedrooms.

South Bass Island in Lake Erie.Nothing else compares. I highly recommend D&D Rentals for a place to stay. Here is the url.

www.put-in-bay.com

When I was a kid & we would rent a cottage with relatives coming in from out of state, a few of the places I remember best & had those qualities you were looking for wer Brown's Lake near Burlington , WI.; Paddock Lake, WI; Lake Puckaway, WI; Gunn Lake, MI, Shawano, WI. My favorite was Brown's Lake - Good fishing & swimming. Lacke Puckaway was good for fishing & swimming also, & near the small town of Princeton,WI.

You could probably find something on Lake Michigan which is absolutely gorgeous! Try New Buffalo up to South Haven area. Wish I had more specifics for you Good luck!

As always I will suggest Kelley's Island, Oh. in Lake Erie. It certainly fits you criteria depending on how far you want to drive.

Minocqua/St. Germaine area of Wisconsin--comes complete with the Christmas ornament store. Check out the area on the web, if it is what you want, repost and I'll give you a bar and lodging suggestion.

In Wisconsin you need to go WAY up north to get to the non-too fancy places. Farther than Minocqua to get away from the real touristy areas.

Slinger, area is nice and fairly laid back, up near Copper Falls State park is also nice. You could head over toward the Mississippi River near Arcadia and find some nice state parks around there.

I love the UP (upper michigan), great state parks & forests, not touristy at all.

If you are looking for laid-back out of the way; don't choose big towns that you know the name of. There are alot of little out of the way places within an hour or two drive of "big" places that are perfect for what you want.

Call local City Chambers for the best information on what is available in their areas.

Slinger????? I'd pass on that.

Door County too fancy??! I grew up in WI and and now live in the San Francisco area and when we come back we love to go to Door County - sister Bay. The best fish fry is at the bowling alley there in town - about as un-fancy as you can get. Lots of great condos in town with pools for kids but there you are surronded by water. The others sound a bit too far away...