29 Hour Vacation

You have a babysitter for 29 hours. It's your 18th anniversary. Your husband has been home a total of 10 days this month, and your "vacation" is sitting in your laundry room in the form of a new washer and dryer, due to the last one dying suddenly and taking the existing peel-n- stick floor tiles with it.

 

Where do you go, as go somewhere you must?

Why to Kilmarnock, Virginia of course!

Never heard of it? That's exactly what I said when my friend Tammy told me I should go there. But the more I poked around, the more I realized she was absolutely right.

REASONS TO GO TO KILMARNOCK, VA

 

1. The Hope and Glory Inn. (click to go straight to their site)

 

 

 

This darling B&B was rated one of "the Top 10 Coastal Inns in the Country" by Coastal Living Magazine. It is a well deserved honor. The main inn building is a re-purposed Victorian style school house. They have cleverly turned all the classrooms into beautifully decorated suites.

 

 This is what greets you as you walk through the door:

 

This is the view to the right, a nice checkered game table and comfy sofas in front of a fireplace:

This the the view around the staircase to the left, another darling game table.

And if you keep going to the left you'll find....

 

 Detention. Which is an excellent name for a bar in a school, if you ask me.

Check out what's written on the board:

And you gotta love a deer with a tie. An impersonation of the Vice Principle perhaps?

 

 When you go up the stairs, there is a spa waiting at the top of the first landing. They have a masseuse on staff so all you have to do is schedule your massage and show up.

 

 

 It smelled divine inside this room. And the door walks out to a large balcony. The massage room is right around the corner to the left.

 

 

Here was my darling room in the attic. I was on a budget, so I literally got the cheapest room in the house. It comes with a claw foot tub in the room. Love!

 

 

Sorry, my pics of the bed didn't turn out so well. You will just have to imagine a big, plush, over pillowed bed with a picket fence headboard and a bunch more white framed vintage mirrors around the whole thing. The mirrors were so cool. They gave the whole room this really understated sparkle.

 

 

 Behind the main building are cottages, the former teacher residences and a few newer buildings, also for rent and lavishly decorated.

 

 

Cottages, one of which has an upstairs and downstairs. There are more cottages to the right of the path in the picture. They were very charming, actually. But I was just there more for an escape than a blog shoot, and my photo card was getting full. So you'll just have to go there to see them for yourself.

 

There is another campus to the hotel, a simple bike ride away, in a nearby vineyard.This section is comprised of cabins, referred to as "tents", which surround the hotel's swimming pool.

 

Vineyard

 

 

Here is my favorite of the "tents":

 

 

Overall, it was luxurious, accommodating, beautiful and comfortable. If you need to escape, this is a great place to do it. Starting at $240 a night on summer weekends, their rates are on the very top end of what I would spend, but it really was a gorgeous place and I would definitely stay again, given the opportunity. Also, they prefer a two night booking on the weekend, but if you only have time or budget for one night, call. They are super pleasant people. Most likely they would be happy to make an exception for you. They did for me.

 

Here is the link to their site. They have way better pics of their rooms than I do. Plus their site has relaxing music in the background. Norah Jones will make your worries melt away.

BTW, The Hope and Glory Inn knows that I am blogging about them, but they do not know what I am writing, nor have they compensated me in any way for this post. They did, however, generously allow me free reign to take pictures anywhere I wanted, as long as I didn't desturb the other guests.

All opinions here are truly my own.
 

2. The Bikes at the Hope and Glory Inn.

 

  

We never actually had time to use these, but I loved that they were "comfort"bikes. I totally want one. The town of Irvington, (where the Hope and Glory is located, just 3 mintues down the road from Kilmarnock), is very charming and would be a lovely canvas for an afternoon bike ride. Ooooo...especially in the fall when the weather was cool and the leaves had started to change. Hmmm. Might just have to come back for that.

Here is where the bikes can take you: And yes, that is a 40 ft corkscrew.

This gorgeous locale is the Hope and Glory Vineyard. They have tastings, and events here. And the pool for the hotel is on the vineyard grounds as well.

 

 

3. The Outdoor Tub and Shower at the Hope and Glory Inn

I know you are all gasping and going "Me? Naked? Outside?" Well worry no more! You too can partake in this decadent ritual without the fear of prying eyes.

This is what you see outside the tub surround:

 

 Can you see through that fence? Well, neither could I. And I have to admit, I checked very carefully, albeit from the path, to see what was inside. I really wanted to use that tub. And it was in almost constant use from the time we got there until the next morning after breakfast.

We ate and busted down the path to see if we could get our chance .....

 

and were greeted with an open gate (The sign that the tub is available) and this view:

 

 

You are completely surrounded by a stockade fence, so no one can see you. Well I suppose if somebody wanted to put their face right up to the wood and look through a crack, they might be able to see you, but it's a risk worth taking because it is AMAZING to bathe outside!

This is the view from the tub. Don't you just wish you were there right now? It is super relaxing. And if you look up, all you see is the sky and leafy trees. It's heaven. And just a little bit naughty.....

 

And they even went to the trouble to add a mirror, so you can be beautiful in the outdoor tub where no one can see you. Or maybe that's just for when you go back to the Real World. Hmmm...

 

 Allen and I are already talking about where and how to build one of these at our place.

 

 

*Note to the reader*

 I had originally planned on doing one big post (which is why it has taken me so long to post), but things have become rather unweildy. So think of this as the "where to stay" portion of the post. Later this week, I'll add part 2: "What to do in Kilmarnock." So until then, you'll just have to wonder what we did.....and with me, that really could mean anything.