Breath of fresh air

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Breath of fresh air
Bed and breakfasts offer more than rest and relaxation with golfing, fishing, hiking and crafting

by heidi katchkey

Watch the red and yellow flames rise and dance in the fireplace while drinking hot chocolate. Wake up to the aroma of a home-cooked breakfast waiting right outside the bedroom door. Ease sore muscles in a steaming whirlpool. Experience the tranquil and harmonious sounds of nature with the leaves turning from green to yellow to red, all with the feeling of being at home. Get away from it all and experience a bed and breakfast. No work, no Internet, no phones. The chaotic cities disappear, replaced with a breathtaking view of the yellows, blues, pinks and purples mixing to create a stunning sunset.

Each bed and breakfast offers something unique to guests, which makes choosing just one a difficult task. While most bed and breakfasts offer a quiet and calm getaway, each offers a different type of activity connected to or located around the inn. From golfing to crafting, a bed and breakfast encompasses different interests for different people. Throughout Wisconsin, visiting a captivating bed and breakfast is easy, but finding one that suits an individual’s interests can prove challenging. Check out these enticing options for weekend getaways located throughout the state.

Get out on the green
Rocking chairs sway gently in the wind in front of a charming log home. Surrounded by countryside, Tauschek’s Bed and Breakfast Log Home is tucked away just outside of Plymouth in Sheboygan County. According to Golf Magazine, four golf courses in Sheboygan County are among the 500 best in the world. With award-winning golf courses literally minutes away, Tauschek’s Bed and Breakfast is a great choice for golf lovers.

Innkeeper Steve Tauschek built the log cabin with his own hands with help from friends. It is the only log bed and breakfast in the area. The log home has a rustic country feel and offers three rentable rooms: Bear, Moose and French Cottage. The French Cottage room is handicap-accessible with a private bathroom down the hall. Rates range from $85 to $135 per night, depending on the season. The warm, restful Bear and Moose rooms each come with private whirlpools. Beautifully designed secluded decks and sitting areas with accents of wood and cast-iron fireplaces create a country aura. Rates for the Bear and Moose rooms range from $100 to $145 per night.

Innkeeper Mary Jane Tauschek strives to accommodate guests in every way. “I want my guests to feel they could come home to comfort with a cozy space to get away in,” she says. Guests find chocolates on their pillows and a keepsake bar of soap to remember their stay at Tauschek’s. Homemade breakfasts also entice guests with inviting aromas each morning.

At Tauschek’s, guests remove themselves from a metropolitan lifestyle, but remain 10 minutes away from great golf courses. Whistling Straits, home of the 2004 PGA Championship, offers two challenging courses. Blackwolf Run Golf Course, in nearby Kohler, also boasts two award-winning courses, River and Meadow Valleys. Right down the road are Quil Qui Oc Golf Club in Elkhart Lake, and The Bull in Sheboygan Falls, which was rated one of the top 10 new courses to play in 2003 by Golf Magazine.

There are no shortages of excellent golf courses in Sheboygan County, making Tauschek’s Bed & Breakfast Log Home an excellent getaway for golf enthusiasts.

Crafting treasured memories
Explore 150 acres of wide-open spaces and wooded areas, including two ponds on an Amish homestead located in Cashton. Surrounded by an Amish community, Country Pleasures Bed & Breakfast invites guests into a unique niche of Wisconsin. Delighting visitors for more than three years, Country Pleasures innkeeper Mary Lou Reinwand hosts quilting and scrapbooking weekends for creative guests.

A quilting or scrapbooking weekend includes all meals and work areas are available from Friday evening check-in to check-out Sunday afternoon. Quilting weekends cost $100 and scrapbooking weekends cost $125. “[Guests] just scrapbook or quilt as late as they want, stay in their pajamas, and get lots of uninterrupted work done,” Reinwand says.

Country Pleasures has a total of five comfortable and simple rooms. The inn can sleep up to 28 people, and during themed weekends it sleeps up to 17. Rooms can either accommodate families or couples, and some have private bathrooms. On non-crafting weekends, rates range from $75 to $95 per night. In addition to the crafting weekends, the Reinwands offer retreats for Christian adults and youth.

Surrounded by nature
The Thimbleberry Inn immediately immerses visitors in wildlife, seeing eagles soar overhead as foxes, squirrels and bears play outside. Located in Bayfield, the inn sits on the edge of Lake Superior. Innkeepers Craig and Sharon Locey custom-built the inn in 1992. It remains open all year.

Sharon Locey says guests value the peace and quiet they find at the Thimbleberry. They enjoy watching eagles and seagulls fly overhead, she says.

The three guest rooms, the Basswood, Hermit and Madeline, each have lake views, private viewing areas and wood-burning fireplaces. Each room features a different comfy quilt spread across either a king or queen-size bed. The Madeline room sleeps four and includes a full kitchen and a loft overlooking Lake Superior. The Basswood and Hermit room rates range from $89 to $149 per night, depending on the season. The Madeline Room rates range from $109 to $159 per night. There is an extra charge of $20 per person for parties exceeding two people.

Romance the Wisconsin way—wine and cheese
Experience a romantic Wisconsin-style getaway with rich wines and aged cheeses at the Victorian Treasure Inn. Located in Lodi, the Victorian Treasure Inn attracts lovers of wine, cheese and romance alike.

Guests enjoy a picturesque evening with a wine and cheese gathering in the main parlor, which is included in the room rate. Innkeeper Eric Degelau says the gathering is a way for couples to mingle and meet other people. Wine connoisseurs can also check out Wollersheim Winery, located nearby in Prairie du Sac. Wollersheim offers daily guided tours that conclude with tastings of their finest selections.

The Victorian Treasure Inn consists of two Victorian houses and one Craftsman home, complete with a total of eight rooms, including six suites. The six luxurious and romantic suites include a two-person bath and a gourmet breakfast served in-room. Relax away from it all in full-length, custom-made robes on queen-size beds with goose down comforters. The rooms range from $119 to $279 per night.

Explore outdoor sports
Unwind after a hard week at work with whitewater rafting, trout fishing or cross country skiing. Named one of the 15 best wilderness getaways by Midwest Living Magazine, Jesse’s Historic Wolf River Lodge overlooks the Wolf River. The lodge, located in White Lake, offers four rooms and four cabins to accommodate the outdoor sports lover.

The pristine Wolf River, a prime trout spot, invites the avid fly fisher. Visitors can catch trout and prepare them at the Wolf River Lodge. Wintertime outdoor enthusiasts enjoy the cross-country skiing and snowmobile trails located just a quarter mile away.

The Wolf River Lodge offers a climbing challenge to willing guests. The homey Treehouse cabin, affectionately called “The Nut House,” has a second loft only accessible by a seven-foot ladder and can accommodate up to six people. The Nut House rates start at $260 for four people and vary depending on the season and number of people staying. The other rustic rooms and cabins run from $100 to $320, also depending on the season and number of guests.

Anyone from a savvy crafter to an adventurous whitewater rafter can experience an ideal getaway at a Wisconsin bed and breakfast. The wide array of bed and breakfasts across the state offers everyone a restful vacation. To locate more inviting bed and breakfasts throughout Wisconsin, check out the Wisconsin Bed and Breakfast Association’s directory, which highlights 250 bed and breakfasts across the state. Visit the WBBA at www.wbba.org.