Seek the Unique June 2014 
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Greetings!
Staying at a Wisconsin B&B isn't just about sleeping and eating. Today's B&B experience is really about, well, experiencing what you love to do in your free time. We're talking biking, kayaking, sailing, tennis, disc golf, even grilling out at the end of the day.
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Know Your Cadence 
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Get it out of granny gear with a trek on the Ozaukee Interurban Trail, a 30-mile paved trail that runs the entire length of Ozaukee County in southeast Wisconsin. Washington House Inn in Cedarburg will supply a complimentary boxed lunch for two when you book their June bike special. At Fargo Mansion Inn in Lake Mills, they supply water bottles, fruit and muffins to take on the Glacial Drumlin Bike Trail (which opened the same summer as the inn, 1987), plus the tire pump is always available, they have several TREK Pulse bikes for guests to use, and they provide secure overnight bike storage. |
Kayaking and Sailing
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Tennis Anyone?
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Die-hard tennis fans will be delighted to know there are B&Bs in Wisconsin with their own private tennis courts. Hidden Serenity B&B in West Bend is one and Cold Spring Inn in Hubertus is another. In the spirit of "silent" sports, don't imitate the pros - keep shrieking while ball striking in check! Inns with courts nearby are also plentiful.
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Golf Like a Disc Golf Pro
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Justin Trails B&B Resort in Sparta has not one but two disc golf courses - one is recreational, the other championship - each with 18 baskets, 250 feet of elevation change, concrete tee boxes and water hazards. Innkeepers Don and Donna Justin mow the course themselves, which we venture to guess takes just a bit longer than your average lawn. Looking for disc golf courses close-by to the B&B you're staying at? Here's a handy disc golf course web site.
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Sporty Types Should Book These B&Bs
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Lake Ripley Lodge B&B
in Cambridge has kayaks and canoes, provides bike maps, and suggests yoga on the pier at sunrise and croquet and bocce ball in the early evening. The grand prize for "Most Sporty" might just go to Pine Grove Park B&B Guest House in Reedsburg. They have catch and release fishing on their pond, bird watching, tons of biking options nearby, hiking at Devil's Lake and Mirror Lake State Parks, tennis courts less than a half-mile from the inn, canoeing on the Baraboo and Kickapoo, and horseback riding near the inn. What a terrific way to get in a workout that you'll actually enjoy.
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Ravenous for Dinner
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A day in the great outdoors can work up an appetite. You have options if you don't want to leave the grounds of the B&B for your evening meal. There are inns that regularly offer dinner right on premise, and those that will whip up a dinner for you just by asking in advance. Or grill out on your own at the Grapevine Log Cabins in Sparta, after you've biked the Elroy Sparta and La Crosse River trails that is.
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Margarita Muffins
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At the Canyon Road Inn in Turtle Lake, grab a complimentary bottled water before you head out for a bike ride on the Gandy Dancer Trail or Stowers Seven Lakes Trail. Or don't even leave the inn and enjoy fishing on lake! Then reward yourself with one of their Margarita Muffins, a recipe that hearkens back to the innkeepers' days in Arizona before they moved back to Wisconsin. Canyon Road InnMargarita Muffins 2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp baking soda ¼ tsp salt ½ cup butter, softened ¾ cup sugar 2 eggs ¾ cup sour cream ½ Tbsp orange zest ¼ cup lime juice 1 Tbsp tequila powdered sugar Preheat oven to 375°F. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beating well. Fold in sour cream and orange zest. Combine lime juice and tequila. Alternately add to creamed mixture with combined dry ingredients, blending just until combined. Do not over mix. Spoon into mini muffin pans. Bake 15-18 minutes until center springs back when lightly touched. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from pans. Dust with powdered sugar. Variation: For a light lemon muffin, skip the tequila, use lemon zest in place of orange zest and lemon juice in place of lime juice. Yield: 30-36 mini muffins |
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