Over this past weekend, Lori and I took this trip and stopped over in Sparta, WI for one night and Gays Mills, WI for two nights, then back home.

In Sparta, WI, we stayed at the wonderful Franklin Victorian Bed and Breakfast. We’ve stayed there before, but we tried a new room this time — the Franklin Suite. We had an excellent stay and recommend this B&B to anyone.

In Gays Mills (actually, half way between there and Soldier’s Grove), we stayed at The Inn at Lonesome Hollow. This was quite the find, and I hesitate to mention it here for fear that it will become too busy 😉

Lonesome Hollow is tucked back in a small valley of its own, and really gives you the feel of being secluded. I wish we had stayed longer so we could hike and explore around more of the acreage.

While we were in the Gays Mills area, we visited several apple orchards. Most of them were very commercial and easy to find, so they don’t warrant mention here. If you want to go off the beaten path to an orchard with more of a family farm appeal, check out Turkey Ridge Organic Orchard. Here is a write-up with some info about the orchard. Here is a map of the location. We didn’t buy a lot, but the apples were delicious, the cider tasty and the people working there were very friendly.

My only regret is that we didn’t take gobs of photos. I’ve gotten out of the habit of taking photos and need to re-acquire this important skill for trips like this.

Here are a few more maps:

• The route we took to visit orchards on Friday. This starts at the Franklin Victorian in Sparta, WI and ends at the Inn at Lonesome Hollow in Soldiers Grove, WI.
• The scenic road trip we took Saturday. The next two routes are more detailed maps of the two side trips we took around Ontario, WI.
• Route we took Saturday through Wildcat State Park.
• Route we took Saturday through the Amish area just West of Ontario, WI.