Our winters are quiet here at Second Wind in comparison to our busy summer months. Spring flowers and the warmer weather of May bring great anticipation to my heart.
I have been starting seedlings of vegetables for my garden and flowers for my many container gardens. They sit under grow lights. As I see them pop through the soil, spring fever overtakes me. I appreciate every bit of green coming forth in my world here in northern Wisconsin. Though I must confess I often grumble that we have leaves on our trees here for less than five months out of the year. That seems a little wrong to me… but this is where my family settled in the early 1900s. And family trumps all, so here I am, a northern Wisconsin girl.
Often I dream of winters in tropical places. At times I even threaten Mr. Innkeeper of a future that includes winter months on my favorite island of Culebra, off the coast of Puerto Rico. He has played along with this dream of mine a bit. Our Longest stay there was 10 days. Surely not long enough I think perhaps he shutters at what dreams of mine will indeed come true. I will have to do some further convincing, but until then, I will make the best of my long Wisconsin winters and let spring unfolding to summer bring hope to my heart of warmer greener days.
I’m a “sign girl”. I have signs all around our inn. My favorite sign hangs in my bedroom. It reads, “The beach is calling and I must go”. The beach calls me all year long, but the call is especially strong in our beautiful Wisconsin summers. Mr. Hubbs a.k.a. Mr. Innkeeper, knows my propensity to get my work done and head to the beach. It’s just the way I’m wired.
My favorite beach is a short bit away from us into the UP of Michigan. Just 40 minutes from Second Wind. It’s called Little Girls Point. I love picking rocks there. They are beautiful smooth round stones perfect for painting. I also love going in the evening with a UV light, looking for a rock known as a Yooperlite. Yooperlites are a form of sodalite-rich syenite. These stones are mainly known for fluorescing due to the high sodalite content in the matrix of the stones. The minerals glow under UV light, making the stone look like a glowing coal. They are called Yooperlites as they were discovered in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan. “Yooper” Is a slang name for the people from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Second to the beach, is the river. The river, like the beach, is enjoyable all year long, but of course, my favorite time to enjoy the river is in the summer. My favorite river here in the north is the Siskiwit River. It is a river accessed in Wisconsin’s most northern town, Cornucopia, with almost a fourth of a mile of stair-step waterfalls and bends in the river. During the summer months I hike right in the river with a good pair of water shoes.
One of the highlights of my week in the summer is a morning where I take folks out for an early morning hike on the Siskiwit River. I pack a warm yummy breakfast and we head to the river. The many different shades of green are especially vibrant and beautiful in the early morning light. The rustle of the water is the most peaceful. We often enjoy seeing various wildlife. One morning we were even pleasantly surprised by a bear crossing the river 100 feet before us. Oliver our Airedale has been the beloved tour guide on many of my river walks. He was not with me the day of our bear sighting. Had he been, that bear would have been treed. Treeing bears is one of Oliver’s favorite ways to please his master (Mr. Innkeeper).
So with hope of the warmer greener sunny days, and hope of a busy bustling summer we invite you to come join us here at Second Wind to take in the beauty of Northern Wisconsin.
Perhaps you’ll want to book an early morning breakfast and riverwalk with “This Innkeeper Chic”. Or maybe, the lake is calling and you must come.
