As I may have mentioned before, our original intent for our anniversary trip was to find a nice, quiet spot where we could just chill out with a good book on a porch somewhere. Now, we had a grand time on our trip but our hotel wasn't such to lend itself to relaxing a quiet, beautiful spot even though the room description did way it was a room with a view...and it was...of sorts. If we looked out our window, we could see the mountain and it was beautiful. Unfortunately between us and the mountain was a JLG crane distribution center which the description mysteriously left out. We laughed about it but we were a little disappointed.
When we thought about this weekend and what we wanted to do, we were still longing for a nice, quiet weekend in a beautiful spot, to just chill and read and take walks together. Being it is a holiday weekend, every cabin, lodge and resort is booked so it appeared we were destined to spend the weekend at home. (I think we are getting a little spoiled with our weekend adventures.)
Then it hit me! White Sulphur Springs! WSS is a retreat and conference center nestled outside of Bedford near a little town called Mann's Choice and very close to the quaint restaurant I highlighted in my last post. I have been there several times for Ladies' Retreats and I love it there. When I showed it to my husband he thought it was very nice as well. It is owned by the Officers Christian Fellowship and sits on over 1000 acres of historic wooded land. So I prayed and asked God for favor and called them to see if they had any rooms available. You see, when they are not hosting events, they rent out their rooms as BNBs to help supplement finances that they need to minister to the military personnel of the eastern US.
When we thought about this weekend and what we wanted to do, we were still longing for a nice, quiet weekend in a beautiful spot, to just chill and read and take walks together. Being it is a holiday weekend, every cabin, lodge and resort is booked so it appeared we were destined to spend the weekend at home. (I think we are getting a little spoiled with our weekend adventures.)
Then it hit me! White Sulphur Springs! WSS is a retreat and conference center nestled outside of Bedford near a little town called Mann's Choice and very close to the quaint restaurant I highlighted in my last post. I have been there several times for Ladies' Retreats and I love it there. When I showed it to my husband he thought it was very nice as well. It is owned by the Officers Christian Fellowship and sits on over 1000 acres of historic wooded land. So I prayed and asked God for favor and called them to see if they had any rooms available. You see, when they are not hosting events, they rent out their rooms as BNBs to help supplement finances that they need to minister to the military personnel of the eastern US.
We were fortunate to get a room. The beds are super comfy and we have enjoyed the porches with their rocking chairs, even though we had to bundle up to sit out there. The baby grand piano in the main meeting hall sang joyfully under my fingers as I went there to worship first thing after breakfast. The fireplace inside the great room was also a nice place to sit and chat as the flames danced around in front of us. After dinner, we went to the basement and had a serious game of ping pong. It brought back fond memories. The first time my husband came to my house when we were dating, I obliterated him in a game of ping pong in our basement. Following that was his humiliation in a game of P-I-G on the basketball court. For someone as seriously competitive as he is, I'm surprised that he kept coming back for more, but I'm awful glad that he did. The tables have turned though. He won today, quite handily I might add, even without taking into account the extremely lucky shots he had to seal his victory. He is SO competitive and that is what got me. When we volleyed for the serve, he was all relaxed and normal looking, but as soon as the actual game started, his face changed and his body got all stiff and jerky. I laughed so hard, I nearly peed my pants. That threw me off my game, I guess, but I don't care. I like to win but it doesn't ruin my day if I don't.
The highlight though was exploring that old hotel on the property that once was a healing spa hotel that was quite popular in the 1800's. WSS still uses it for functions and housing larger groups but on the first floor is a museum of the history that was fascinating. The curved banisters, narrow hallways, nooks and crannies all lend themselves to the charm of this beautiful place. The massive fireplaces and furniture that still represents the time period make it seem as if you have stepped back into a slower, more detail oriented past. There was an 18th century bowling alley beside the barn that up until recently was in full operation. You had to stand outside the building and reach through trap doors to reset the pins. I guess that was a sunny day sport back then.
And as a bonus, we happened to be looking in a book on local history we found in the library which gave us even more information about his relatives here. Since his family is made up of mostly farmers, we were perplexed when we say that the Egolf who was responsible for establishing the park was a businessman. No one in the family knew what business he could have possibly owned...until today. It turns out that he owned the local newspaper. Who knew?
We saw the biggest bull frog we have ever seen in the spring. Must be the mineral water that everyone came here to drink, which is still potable for human use. We decided that we would wait until all the frog eggs were gone before trying it for ourselves. LOL! The trails and streams that run on both sides of the property are beautiful and of course, the sound, oh the sound of the water amidst the green of the forest is the next thing to heaven to me.
Darrell couldn't understand why I didn't want to leave and go into Bedford to see more sights, because that is usually how I roll, but it is so beautiful here, even in the rain, that I was perfectly happy to plop by a window with a good book and my Bible and read the day away.
The highlight though was exploring that old hotel on the property that once was a healing spa hotel that was quite popular in the 1800's. WSS still uses it for functions and housing larger groups but on the first floor is a museum of the history that was fascinating. The curved banisters, narrow hallways, nooks and crannies all lend themselves to the charm of this beautiful place. The massive fireplaces and furniture that still represents the time period make it seem as if you have stepped back into a slower, more detail oriented past. There was an 18th century bowling alley beside the barn that up until recently was in full operation. You had to stand outside the building and reach through trap doors to reset the pins. I guess that was a sunny day sport back then.
And as a bonus, we happened to be looking in a book on local history we found in the library which gave us even more information about his relatives here. Since his family is made up of mostly farmers, we were perplexed when we say that the Egolf who was responsible for establishing the park was a businessman. No one in the family knew what business he could have possibly owned...until today. It turns out that he owned the local newspaper. Who knew?
We saw the biggest bull frog we have ever seen in the spring. Must be the mineral water that everyone came here to drink, which is still potable for human use. We decided that we would wait until all the frog eggs were gone before trying it for ourselves. LOL! The trails and streams that run on both sides of the property are beautiful and of course, the sound, oh the sound of the water amidst the green of the forest is the next thing to heaven to me.
Darrell couldn't understand why I didn't want to leave and go into Bedford to see more sights, because that is usually how I roll, but it is so beautiful here, even in the rain, that I was perfectly happy to plop by a window with a good book and my Bible and read the day away.
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