About Us

Second Wind began as a dream in our heart

A dream since the beginning of our married life. We often talked of it and had even picked its name years before it became a reality. We built Second Wind on family property that was homesteaded in 1904 by my (Kelly’s) family. Our children are the fifth generation to live on this land that was once farmed by my (Kelly’s) great-grandparents, grandparents and dad. Often, we are visited by our sweet tribe of grandchildren, the sixth generation to enjoy these beautiful country acres. All 18 (and counting) live in the surrounding area and love to come to Papa and Gramum’s.

Ground breaking to build Second Wind began in the fall of 2003. We opened for business with our first guests arriving in July of 2004. Our children were ages 7 to 17. Since then we’ve had thousands of guests. We hope we have impacted their lives as much as they have ours. We appreciate the hundreds of five star reviews folks have written. It’s always so fun to hear what they enjoyed in our beautiful neck of the woods here in Northern Wisconsin.

When we opened the doors of Second Wind over 20 years ago, we were a fully operating Bed and Breakfast. Over the first 15 years of business, we enjoyed serving thousands of breakfasts at our lovely log table. We loved what happened at our table.  We made many new friends, and many other friendships (guest to guest) developed over breakfast each morning. Then two life changing things brought an end to this beautiful tradition at our inn. The first was rather positive, a tsunami of grandchildren presently all under the age of 11. The second life changing event was what we call “the Covid Chaos”. Covid Chaos came with the heavy handed government overreach that had a devastating effect on many businesses, including Second Wind. It brought us to a place of evaluating the manageability of all that was required of us. No longer serving breakfast made the operation of Second Wind manageable. A peek at our packages/specials will show you the more limited breakfast and food options we offer.

To keep your visit to Second Wind at a high value and a unique experience, we now require a 3 night minimum stay during our busy summer/fall months. We do consider a one and two night stays with direct bookings during our quiet season from September – May. So give us a call to inquire of that at 715-682-1000.

Come take a little rest along life’s highway. There’s beautiful night skies to enjoy, campfires to build, bocce to play, snowshoes to strap on, donkeys to pet, horses to harness up for a sleigh ride, trails to explore, porch swings to swing on, and sunsets to enjoy.

Your host and hostess,
Mark and Kelly