Inn at Lonesome Hollow » Valentine Getaway

Romance in the Country

knapik — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:00:50 +0000

There is nothing more relaxing, more private, more romantic than time spent together in a rural countryside. No traffic, no noise, no neon signs to distract. Conversations are uninterrupted, unhurried, and uninhibited. It’s even better if the countryside offers spledid, pastoral scenery. The southwest corner of Wisconsin offers the beauty of the Driftless Area. There are thousands of square miles of rural landscape. Steep, forested hillsides begin in peaceful valleys and end on rugged ridgetops. Trout filled streams flow into a dozen different rivers and offer secluded waterscapes in which the muted sound of running water soothes the soul.

The Driftless Area offers beautiful rural bed and breakfasts, places to call home for a couple of days while enjoying your loved one’s company. Curl up to your own fireplace and soak in a hot whirlpool tub. Be pampered at breafast with unique country cuisine prepared for just you, not for a noisy room full of diners.

If you choose your lodging wisely, you can hike right outside your door. Whether it’s snowshoeing in the winter months, or hiking down private forested trails in the warmer weather. You may be dazzled by a palette of gaudy woodland wildflowers or serenaded by flock of early summer songbirds.

Most B&Bs offer lovely patio areas and some even offer large ponds with private gazebos and a babbling waterfall. Bring your loved one to the country. Relax, talk, feast you senses on all the beauty that surrounds you.

Romantic Valentine Weekend

knapik — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:28:56 +0000

Valentine’s Day is the time for romance, but it should also include great food and good fun as well. We have a special place , a B&B in rural Southwest Wisconsin where romance, food, and fun come together in a very relaxed, low key fashion. To properly celebrate Valentine’s Day, we like to go away for a couple of nights so that it really feels like we have escaped from our everyday chores and obligations. A two night stay also makes it easier for us to drive a bit further than we would for just one night away.

Fun: let’s face it, in Wisconsin Feb 14 falls in winter. There is no hint of spring in the air. It’s cold and almost always snowy. We have some favorite winter fun activities that make Southwest Wisconsin the perfect destination. We bring our snowshoes and will spend a couple of hours per day out on a snow blanketed forest trail. The landscape is white and the sounds are muted. The sight of a few cardinals or blue jays in a winter setting is striking. While we’re out getting healthy we will take in some wonderful scenic views. Snowshoeing at Effigy Mounds National Monument (IA) or at Wyalusing State Park (WI) will offer views from 400 ft high ridgetops that overlook the frozen Mississippi River. Winter is a great time for viewing bald eagles, and the Upper Mississippi always holds a large number of these majestic birds. Finally we’ll try to squeeze in a visit to the Amish community near Cashton (WI). Seeing old world craftsmen in action and children sledding on the hills certainly has a romantic, nostalgic feel.

Food: this is not a place of fancy restaurants, but it is a place for great food. Some of our favorite dinner places include the Old Town Inn in Westby (WI), Optimo Cafe in Viroqua (WI), and Old Man River in McGregor (IA). Couple a great dinner with a wonderful B&B breakfast and you will find yourself skipping lunch. Or ask the innkeepers for a couple of scones and an apple to eat on the snowshoe trails.

Romance: you’ve had your exercise and a great dinner. Now you can return to your B&B, turn on the fireplace, and soak in a roomy whirlpool tub. Put on a comfy robe and enjoy an evening glass of wine and perhaps some chocolate. Sorry, but we must stop here because this is a family blog.

Hope this gives you a Valentine getaway inspiration.

Take Your Valentine to the Country

knapik — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:16:04 +0000

Valentine’s Day, more than any other holiday, is an occasion to spend quiet time with the one you love. In the wooded hills and valleys of Southwest Wisconsin, three miles from the tiny villages of Soldiers Grove and Gays Mills, the Inn at Lonesome Hollow offers luxurious rooms and suites set on 160 secluded acres. The Inn offers two person whirlpool tubs, fireplaces, beautiful decor and an amount of privacy that can’t be found in even a small town.

Between your full breakfast and your liesurely afternoon soak in the whirlpool, hike or snow shoe on four miles of private wooded trails. The Inn offers complimentary use of snow shoes. Additional hiking is available nearby at Wyalusing and Wildcat Mountain State Parks in WI, Effigy Mounds National Monument and Pike’s Peak State Park in Iowa, and at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve, an incredible 8000 acres of public land near La Farge, WI. Restaurants in Soldiers Grove, Viroqua, and Prairie du Chien offer excellent dining opportunities.

Be alone, enjoy the natural beauty of the Kickapoo River Valley and the incomparable Driftless Area, drive the rural county roads that wind through the hills. A special Valentine Package is posted on the website – www.lonesomehollow.com.