Let's Hide-Away!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

I am home from my overnight excursion with my Southern Born and Bred hunk o'manly.  Can I say...fun?  Romantic?  Lovely? 

This is where Jon whisked me off to:



Shhhh....it's a secret!  I wondered what I was in for!



This is the lodge.  There are several cottages on the property, but they were booked up.  I thought it was great to be in the main house. 

The owners of the bed and breakfast are Carl and Diann Cruickshank.  The house has the most amazing history.  The builder was a visionary.  Read all about it here


Diann & Carl
(photo is from their blog)

Upon entering the home, we were welcomed by the Cruickshanks like we were family.  I was immediately in awe of the Great Room.  It was huge and packed with memorabilia.   I about jumped for joy when I found out the their son in law is a member of one of my favorite christian bands mercyme.  (Okay, now they are my favorite.)










After taking in all the neat little do dads and chatting with our hosts, we headed up to our room. (Side note: Diann did an excellent job of recommending a restaurant to us.  Unfortunately, we selected somewhere else.  We heard how wonderful the food was at the restaurant she recommended.  Next time-we will listen to her!)



This was in the hallway. 








How Sweet!!

Hey there, stranger...

It's customary for Jon to use the bathroom as soon as we get anywhere.  So while he did that, I looked around the room for the booklets Diann told us about when we arrived.



I found these.  When I opened them up....



 ... I read a note from Diann and Carl addressed to their guests.  After that, there were entries from those who had stayed there before us and the stories of the wonderful time they had.  Okay, this was too much for me.  I almost cried.


After I was all verklempt, I moved on to the folders that held the info on various restaurants and attractions.




Just perfect for a romantic weekend getaway was our choice:




Yep...Beans and Greens.  Yeah.

Now, don't get me wrong.  The food was very good.  It was down home cooking, way out in the country.  I mean...way out.  The staff was friendly, but the girl at the register had a look that reminded me of Nurse Ratched.  She was a bit of a heavy.  A scowling gal.  Iron fist.  Tough cookie.
This joint had a buffet that had all the fixins.  Beans, cornbread, cobblers, cole slaw, peas, corn, fried chicken, hush puppies, you name it.  While we were eating I told Jon, "You know almost every item on that buffet is gas producing."
Without missing a beat he said "Well, the room has two beds."  Charming.

After gorging ourselves on various forms of cabbage, we headed back to the lodge.  We tried to remember the code to get in the back door.  Jon tried it twice and promptly set off the alarm.  Oops!

Once we were back in the room, Jon decided to go pick out a movie downstairs.  (There is no cable or satellite in the rooms.  You can get a movie, or play sudoku, or stare at each other.  I loved it!)

He told me that Diann said she would never let Carl pick out a movie.  Maybe I should adopt her policy, because his choice was Grumpy Old Men.  I was in a really good mood so I didn't complain.  Besides, that movie is down right funny.

Before we watched the movie, I thought we needed a little "quiet time".  So we were "quiet" for awhile then watched the movie. 

Morning came far too quickly.  The beds were so comfortable.  The linens were obscenely soft.

Breakfast was served at 9:00 am sharp. 


That is a giant lazy susan in the middle!

Once again, we loaded up on scramble eggs, biscuits and gravy, grits, sausage, orange juice and hot coffee.  Can I say "Yum?"  Oh yes, I can!  Everyone shared funny stories, especially Diann.  Jon and I just listened and laughed.  Yes, our hosts sat down and broke bread with us.  Such lovely people.
This is also when we found out that EVERYONE else at the table had taken Diann's advice and gone to Tony's.  While they raved about the steak, I kicked Jon under the table.  (Kidding!)

The most amazing thing about the secret is the view.  It is knock your socks off beautiful.

Please forgive my meager camera for not conveying the majesty of the view.



You. do. not. even. know. Ok?


This is a roof top pool.  Amazing.  See what the couple is amazed by? Yep, the view.  It's unreal.  Yet real.

A newspaper clipping in the lodge sums it up perfectly:


Me too.  Amen.


Now, these next pictures are something that I tried to avoid entirely.  Jon would not have it.  He was not leaving without a picture in this beautiful chair:

LOL!
After seeing his joy, I couldn't resist.

Finally, a chair that is perfectly sized for a tall gal!

 I am so happy that Jon drug me off for the weekend.  I am even more happy that he chose the secret.  I had a wonderful time.  Thanks again to Carl and Diann for making it wonderful.  We will definitely have to go there again.

Dear friends, if you should ever venture my way, please stop by the secret.

4 comments:

HerminiaRegolf February 13, 2011 at 5:00 PM  

A little love on Valentine's Day.
Greetings from the Ebro Delta, Spain.

Joni February 13, 2011 at 5:29 PM  

Oh a weekend alone. How lovely. You know, usually ;) Sounds like you two had fun. Wink. Wink.

Lizzie February 13, 2011 at 6:11 PM  

Greetings! Thanks for stopping by!

beth February 14, 2011 at 1:39 PM  

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun!! I don't know how long it has been since me and my hubby got away by ourselves. At least 5 years. Terrible, huh?!
The Son in law of the owners of the Inn you stayed at is a member of Mercy Me?!! That is so cool! Mercy Me is one of my favorite Christian bands as well. Love them!!
Hope you have a wonderful Valentines Day!
Beth.

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