Break The Cabin Fever

Group-Snowshoe-Bay-Point-Inn

 

There is no place like your warm, cozy home in your favorite easy chair in the dead of winter, right? But let's face it, too much time inside can make you stir-crazy. Cabin-fever usually sets in just about now, even for the most hearty Wisconsinites. When your efforts to beat those winter blah's at home have been exhausted by finishing that good book, putting the last piece of the puzzle together, or completing that home-improvement project, then we have some terrific remedies to help cure those winter blues. We have winter activities!

Wisconsin does have some beautiful, picture-perfect winter days. You know the kind... when the sparkle of the sun shines on the newly fallen white snow, making everything look like magic glitter. We feel the best way to beat the winter doldrums is to get outside and enjoy this winter snow globe. We have perfect suggestions on where to go and what to do to enjoy some memorable winter activities. Whether the tried and true sledding (Spoiler alert: You don’t have to be a kid to indulge in this one) and skiing or a new winter activity like fat-tire biking or snowshoeing. A Wisconsin B&B getaway is just the ticket... staying at home and having to shovel is not what we have in mind when we say, go out and experience the Wisconsin winter wonderland! 

 

winter 2012 house + barnCrystal River Inn - Winter through the trees

         Apple Tree Lane B&B, Waupaca                                                                 Crystal River Inn, Waupaca

With a resort community like Waupaca, located in Central Wisconsin, there are plenty of winter sports for you to enjoy in and around the city.  Among the favorites, is  cross country skiing, snowshoeing , or fat tire biking on the many trails throughout Hartman Creek State Park. Just north of Waupaca, in Iola, you will find 6.5 KM of lighted trails at the Iola Winter Sports Complex, which also features ski jumping and Nordic Combined. Nearby, in Wild Rose, Nordic Mountain has fantastic tubing hills and downhill skiing! You can ask any Waupaca innkeeper for ideas and recommendations to suit what you're looking for when it comes to getting out and about this winter. The innkeepers at Apple Tree Lane B&B, Crystal River Inn, and Green Fountain Inn are the experts in Waupaca.

 

Eagle Centre

Eagle Centre House, Eagle

Eagle Centre House B&B in Eagle is located very near the Southern Kettle Moraine Forest and Lapham Peak, which has miles of snow shoe and cross country ski trails as well as snowmobile trails in the area. The many lakes scattered around make for great ice fishing spots. About 20 minutes away from the inn is Alpine Valley Ski Resort in East Troy. Don't forget to also check out the sledding hill right on the property of the Eagle Centre House B&B!  After a day of chilly winter activities, head back to the inn where the wood burning stoves add heat, ambiance, and romance in the "tap" room and the ladies parlor.

 

Hidden Serenity

Hidden Serenity B&B, West Bend

Speaking of the Kettle Moraine, Hidden Serenity B&B in West Bend is located adjacent to the Northern Kettle Moraine, which offers incredible cross country skiing, snow shoeing and down-hill skiing. Just 10 minutes away from the inn, you'll also find Sunburst - a fun, family-orientated ski, snowboard, and tubing area located north of Milwaukee. Sunburst offers 77 acres of pure winter fun with skiing, snowboarding, and the world's largest tubing park with over 40 runs. They offer 12 runs with the longest being 2,600 feet. Or, tap into your inner child and build a snowman, or two or three or...!

 

Stewart Inn f.p.-1

Stewart Inn, Wausau

The top skiing resort in Wisconsin is just five miles from the Stewart Inn, located in Wausau. Granite Peak offers 75 runs, a 700-foot mountain, two high speed lifts, and skiing mid-November through early April. They also offer groomed cross country skiing trails (9 mile recreation and Sylvan Hills) and tubing. After a day on the hills, relax in style with a nightly wine & cheese reception and a gourmet breakfast the next day, all included with every stay at Stewart Inn!

Don't forget, you can always find a list of more member inns that participate in or offer Snow Sports experiences under the "Area Experiences" tab of our website.

After a day of winter activities, you will look forward to heading back to your warm and welcoming Inn and enjoying a hot chocolate or glass of wine, asking the innkeeper for expert recommendations of the best restaurants and evening activities and then knowing your luxurious accommodations will be waiting for you upon your return. And, don't forget, you won't have to shovel!

 

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Sustainable Travel Leap

  Looking for ways to tread lightly on the earth when you travel? Try green-certified independent inns to start, and then ask the innkeepers for recommendations on locally owned shops and restaurants. Spring always seems like the ideal time to talk about eco-lodging, what with Mother Nature waking from winter slumber, delicate plants and edibles poking through the once ice-crackled earth, and travelers eager to inhale the fresh air and exhale wind-chill hangovers.     Here in Wisconsin, we have a voluntary certification program called “Travel Green Wisconsin,” and we’re proud to say the Wisconsin B&B Association was a pioneer in this movement to promote eco-friendly travel. Among the many inns that are certified are Lake Ripley Lodge B&B in Cambridge with their new rain gardens boasting Native Wisconsin wildflowers, and Crystal River Inn in Waupaca, who serve food from their garden, harvest local wild fruit, and make all their jellies and jams. [caption id="attachment_2315" align="alignleft" width="260"] Lake Ripley Lodge B&B[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2316" align="alignright" width="263"] View from Crystal River Inn[/caption]                 Going above and beyond what Travel Green Wisconsin requires are Pinehurst Inn B&B in Bayfield, which was named one of the “Top 10 Eco-friendly Inns” by BedandBreakfast.com and received the 2014 Wisconsin Governor’s Stewardship Award, and Artha Sustainable Living Center in Amherst, where guests appreciate local, organic food and are welcome to attend the yoga studio’s weekly classes. You can find a more complete list of travel green certified inns on our website. [caption id="attachment_1394" align="alignleft" width="300"] Pinehurst Inn[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1395" align="alignright" width="268"] Artha Sustainable Living Center[/caption]                 But the Wisconsin B&B Association’s commitment to the environment doesn’t stop there. We’re also proponents of “conscious travel,” with innkeepers always happy to suggest ideas for shopping local, dining at locally owned restaurants, and visiting attractions that preserve the history and culture of the community. We’re all in this together!

WBBA Seek the Unique

Are you ready to Seek the Unique?

The Red Chair Travels will be Visiting a B&B Near You

[caption id="attachment_1831" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The photo of The Red Chair that started a phenomenon in 2011[/caption] The Red Chair Travels is coming to Wisconsin!  The WBBA is so excited to part of this phenomenon that started 5 years ago in Cape Cod, MA. Beth Colt is the innkeeper of the Woods Hole Inn on Cape Cod.   She took a picture of this red chair perched out on a frozen pond in Woods Hole in the winter of 2011.  When she posted the photo on Facebook her computer lit up with "likes" and this simple image journeyed all over cyberspace, and landed in the in-box of a California-based photographer, who was inspired to come visit the Woods Hole Inn in the off season.  When she asked to borrow the chair she was surprised; when the fruits of her labor arrived in the mail Beth was in awe. [caption id="attachment_1832" align="alignright" width="300"] Captain Freeman Inn Cape Cod, MA[/caption] The red chair became a symbol, a metaphor for connections made across invisible boundaries. In 2012 Beth contacted other Inns in Cape Cod to see if they would like to "host" the Red Chair for a few days and photograph the chair's visit.  Since then the Red Chair has visited more than 20 states in the U.S., and parts of Canada. For Beth Colt, "the red chair is an invitation to come explore yourself in a quiet and beautiful place.  It is an open seat at the table of relaxation.  It is the beckoning hand of civilization, marking the edge of the wildness of nature.  It is the dialogue between artists and innkeepers, dreamers and shop-girls, lost travelers and those that welcome them into warm beds." We know the Red Chair will feel right at home in Wisconsin and we are excited to see all the different adventures it has along the way.  Listed below is the schedule for the Red Chair Travels in Wisconsin.  Are you ready to Seek the Unique?  Book your stay at one of the participating WBBA B&B's today so you can take part in the Red Chair Travels!

Dates Property City
3/29-4/3 Curriers Lakeview Lodge Rice Lake
4/4-4/8 Phipps Inn Bed & Breakfast Hudson
4/9-4/13 Pleasant View Bed & Breakfast Chippewa Falls
4/14-4/18 Stewart Inn Wausau
4/19-4/22 Crystal River Inn Waupaca
4/23-4/27 Lindsay House Manawa
4/28-5/1 Franklin Street Inn Appleton
5/2-5/6 Brayton Bed and Breakfast Oshkosh
5/7-5/11 Greenway House Bed and Breakfast Green Lake
5/12-5/16 Hidden Serenity B&B West Bend
5/17-5/21 Honeybee Inn Bed & Breakfast Horicon
5/22-5/25 Inn at Pine Terrace Oconomowoc
5/26-5/29 Pedal'rs Inn Bed and Breakfast Wales
5/30-6/3 Christmas House Bed and Breakfast Racine
6/4-6/7 At The Lake House Lake Geneva
6/8-6/11 Hamilton House Whitewater
6/12-6/15 The Livingston Inn Madison
6/16-6/19 Inn at Wawanissee Point Baraboo
6/20-6/23 Ringling House Baraboo
6/24-6/27 Valley Springs Farm Reedsburg
6/28-6/31 Bowman's Oak Hill Bed and Breakfast Wisconsin Dells
7/1-7/4 Fountain Chateau B&B Hustler
7/5-7/8 Justin Trails Resort Sparta

WBBA Seek the Unique  

Wake up early at a Wisconsin B&B Association Inn

On this day in 1869, influential Wisconsin naturalist, John Muir penned these words in his July 19 journal entry in an effort to capture the experience of awakening for the first time in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California:

Watching the daybreak and sunrise. The pale rose and purple sky changing softly to daffodil yellow and white, sunbeams pouring through the passes between the peaks and over the Yosemite domes, making their edges burn; the silver firs in the middle ground catching the glow on their spiry tops, and our camp grove fills and thrills with the glorious light. Everything awakening alert and joyful… John Muir, Entry for "July 19" from My First Summer in the Sierra, 1911. "California As I Saw It": First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900
Courtesy of Library of Congress.

We at the Wisconsin Bed & Breakfast Association couldn't agree more! Our member inns are here to make daybreak a  joyful experience. Not only will you be greeted with a delightful breakfast, but many times the grounds also offer spectacular opportunities to fully experience the wonders of nature. While our highest point (Timms Hill at 1,952 ft) is not exactly as awe-inspiring as the Sierra Nevadas, we believe sunrises at our 46 rural inns are definitely camera-worthy!  Case in point: Crystal River Inn, Waupaca. Innkeepers Robert and Deb Benada got these great shots around their inn.  To plan a getaway focused on bird-watching and nature preserves, we invite you to visit our birding map which will help you locate nearly 400 birding sites within 30 miles of one of our member B&Bs. [caption id="attachment_1261" align="aligncenter" width="559"]Morning Mist at Crystal River Inn, Waupaca. Morning Mist at Crystal River Inn, Waupaca.[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_1262" align="alignleft" width="215"]Indigo Bunting, Crystal River Inn, Waupaca. Indigo Bunting, Crystal River Inn, Waupaca.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1263" align="alignright" width="300"]Monarch Caterpillar at Crystal River Inn, Waupaca. Monarch Caterpillar at Crystal River Inn, Waupaca.[/caption]              

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