Horses, Hotels, History, and Hospitals

I hope you have a minute or maybe twenty because this is going to be one of those long and winding posts.  So go grab a cup of joe, a snack, and maybe some Visine, because there are lots of pictures too!

A few posts back, I asked for places you thought Mr. Tide and I might enjoy visiting for our week away.  There were so many great suggestions (thank you all!), and we actually almost booked flights to Maine and Colorado, but in the end we stayed much closer to home.  Expensive rental and flight rates, due to our last minute planning, coupled with my not feeling great led us to the conclusion that going someplace for less than a week and somewhere within driving distance just made more sense.

So we headed a few hours south to Williamsburg, Virginia.  Home of handsome horses (see the pic above), history, and hospitality. 

Williamsburg is a place we are very familiar with, and a place we always enjoy visiting.  Growing up, my family made our annual pilgrimage to Williamsburg each year to satisfy my parents' need for everything colonial.  My parents both loved the architecture of the time period and my father would return with a renewed vigor for building an accurate colonial reproduction home modeled off of the homes constructed to create what we know as Colonial Williamsburg.

My mother was enthralled with the furnishings and formality afforded the gentry of the 1700s.  She would load the car up with hand dipped candles, baskets, bird bottles, and enough potpourri to kill us all as we cruised back home in our large station wagon.

So it's no surprise that we opted for a colonial B&B instead of a hotel when we visited a few days ago.  Above is a photo of one of the guest rooms at the beautiful Bentley Manor Inn where we stayed.

The photo above was not our room...I actually forgot to take pictures before we messed our room all up, but I can assure you that it was just as lovely.  Just look at that lovely pencil post bed with its gorgeous handknotted, crocheted canopy...even Thomas Jefferson would have been at home in this welcoming and comfortable room.


 

But TJ would not have had the luxury of indoor plumbing and a beautiful new bathroom with an oversized shower.  I love the colonial look, but I have to have my modern amenities and the Bentley Manor Inn has everything from ensuite bathrooms to free wi-fi.


 

The B&B consists of 4 guest rooms on the second floor, and each one is as lovely as the last.  The inn keepers, Fred and Jane, could not be any nicer and after this first visit I can assure you that it will be the place we will return to whenever we visit...fingers crossed they will have availability because they are ranked #1 on TripAdvisor!

We were lucky that it was the slow season when we booked or we likely wouldn't have gotten to stay here or meet Fred and Jane.  These two are seasoned inn owners as they used to own a place in Maine before deciding to head south.

Each morning we lingered over breakfast, which was delicious and consisted of everything from fresh fruit with granola, made to order omelets, to delicious gluten free apple pancakes that melted in your mouth!  Because Mr. Tide and I have been gluten free since January, it was wonderful that the inn not only accommodated our dietary restrictions, but provided us with truly delicious fare that made us forget we couldn't have gluten!  But even better than the food was the conversation.  Both Fred and Jane are delightful hosts who truly make you feel as though you are a guest in their home.

 Wren building steps 

After fortifying ourselves each morning, it was time to head out and do a little wandering, shopping, and picture taking of course!  We started with the campus of The College of William and Mary which is located within walking distance of the B&B and Colonial Williamsburg.

We know the area well since our daughter is a graduate of William and Mary.  It is the second oldest college in the US, I believe that Harvard is the oldest, and besides our daughter, it boasts some pretty famous alums, including Thomas Jefferson.  The place  is steeped in history and tradition and it truly is a beautiful campus.

 Wren Building

Although I've visited Williamsburg all my life, and had a niece and a daughter who graduated from W&M, I have to admit that I really haven't spent much time wandering the campus.  When you visit your child at college, they rarely want to stay on campus, so when you come for a visit you do things away from their everyday surroundings.  So it was fun to take the time to go through one of the most famous buildings on campus, the Wren Building.

The Wren Building is said to have been designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the famed architect who designed St. Paul's Cathedral in London and the Wren is also the oldest college building in the United States, as well as the oldest building in Williamsburg, dating to sometime between 1695 and 1700.

 Wren Building Exterior

 Wren Building Upper Hall with Portraits of College Presidents

And although it has undergone many changes since it was built, including being gutted by fire several times, it continues to be used by the college for classes and administrative uses, and is an important part of the school's history.   It even houses the Wren Chapel where many alumni choose to get married.  It's where convocation takes place each year to signal the start of the academic year and to  welcome incoming freshman who are then led on a procession through the building, and upon graduation you do a final walk through the Wren building to signify the end of your time at W&M.

After leaving the campus, we headed to Colonial Williamsburg to grab a bite to eat along Duke of Gloucester Street, affectionately called DOG street by the locals.  And as you go further away from Merchant's Square which houses shops and restaurants, you get into the colonial portion of Williamsburg.

It's here that you find one of my favorite buildings, Bruton Parish Episcopal Church.  Completed in 1715, the church is a beautiful example of American colonial architecture, and I can just imagine attending Christmas services in this lovely old church, complete with hand bells and candlelight.  Although much of the church has been electrified for safety reasons, that big brass chandelier is still lit by the flicker of candlelight...how lovely an evening wedding must be!

And as if the interior of the church weren't pretty enough, the grounds, which include a small cemetery, are lovely as well.  Expansive branches from old growth hardwoods, and at this time of year beautiful crepe myrtles in shades of deep pink, give the grounds a peaceful and reverent sense, even all these years later.

Now, you may be wondering why the title of this post includes "hospitals," well it's twofold actually.  First, I wanted to update you on dear friend Jim, and to thank all of you for sending healing thoughts and prayers his way.  After several additional surgeries, he is recovering, albeit much slower than he anticipated.

Then, not long after taking the photo above, Mr. Tide and I headed back to our B&B for what we hoped would be a lovely glass of wine and some cheese offered up each evening at 5:00 pm, but we ended up taking a little detour.  As we were leaving a side street to enter the main road we were rear ended!  Yup, nothing says vacation or quiet getaway like a trip to the emergency room in an ambulance.  Thankfully, the other driver stopped, and our best guess is that when Mr. Tide edged up to be able to see oncoming traffic better, the driver behind us thought we were going to turn and didn't look to see we were still there before he accelerated and hit us.  

It's amazing how much of a jolt you can get, and thankfully Mr. Tide had his foot on the brakes or we would have been pushed out into oncoming traffic and that would have really been bad!  He ended up being transported to the local hospital because he hit his head on the side beam of the car while watching for traffic and immediately had blurred vision and became nauseous... all classic signs of a concussion.  Almost 5 hours and a CT scan later, we headed back to find someplace still open to eat and then back to the B&B.  

The next day, we cut our trip short and headed back home...with more bumps and bruises than when we left, with less pictures than I would have hoped for...especially night shots which I hoped to get while we were in the ER, but very thankful that things had turned out as well as they had.  The Williamsburg fire and rescue folks couldn't have been any nicer, the hospital was wonderful, our stay at the B&B was unsurpassed, and our time in Williamsburg, before we got hit was truly relaxing.

Now it's back to reality and dealing with car repair estimates and insurance claims...oh the joy!

I hope that each of you have a wonderful weekend and that you can manage to avoid some of life's little bumps in the road!  If you would like to see more pictures of Williamsburg, you can visit my website by clicking HERE and then clicking on the gallery labeled Williamsburg.  I'll be adding to it daily.

Breaking the Rules

What a crazy couple of weeks since I have been back.  First of all one of the stories I wrote for Romantic Country made the cover!  This is the second time this has happened, another story I wrote made the cover of the last issue.  And even though I just wrote the story and didn't take any of the photos, it is still exciting to see them make the cover!

The talented Dan Mayers was the photographer, and Fifi worked her magic doing the styling on this beautiful home featured in the latest issue of Romantic Country.  And the homeowner, Sharon, who I now consider a friend, was so thrilled to see her living room on the cover...who wouldn't be right?!

Sharon owns a great store in Occoquan, Virginia called Brambles and if you are ever in the area, I highly recommend stopping by.  I did a post on her shop awhile back...click HERE to read it.  The same time and effort she has put in to creating her shop is evident in her lovely home.  And her hand painted furnishings and artwork are simply beautiful!

I know that those of you who read Romantic Country will enjoy getting a peek inside Sharon's home, and I want to thank her for letting us invade her house to create the story!

(picture of us taken by my daughter)

Last Saturday, Mr. Tide and I ventured up to our nation's capital, to meet up with my bloggy friend Traci and her husband Jeremy from Atlanta.  Our daughter also tagged along as we strolled through the American History Museum, where we even got to see Julia Child's kitchen which has been on display for awhile now. 

We also managed to avoid the demonstrators and the pepper spray which was all taking place just a few blocks from where we were...phew!

Our daughter headed off to meet a friend for dinner, and the four of us went to Old Town Alexandria for a yummy dinner together.  It was great getting to spend time with both Traci and her husband, especially since we have known one another for several years now, both through our blogs, but before that through Garden Web, where we connected over kitchen remodeling.

So there you have it, I broke my own rule and posted a picture of myself, which I never, ever do!  Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age, or maybe I just don't give a damn anymore, hard to say which it is.  Either way, I'm glad I have a photo to remember the day, which was great fun!

Who knows what my next post will be, I'm going buck wild folks...I tell ya, it could get crazy around here!

Dismal

Misty Belle's face kind of says it all.  Although it was supposed to be a bright sunny day with lower humidity, instead it is gray and overcast.  Not because the weathermen and women were wrong (don't even get me started on their accuracy these days!), but because there is a a thick cloud of gray smoke which has enveloped the lower Chesapeake Bay and it's tributaries. 

You see, tragically there is a large fire burning south of here in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia, some 200 miles from where we live.  So although it means no running around outside for puppies and no yard work that desperately needs to be done, my heart breaks for the animals that live there and now have no home as nearly 6000 acres have burned.  And there is no end in site to this fire that was started by a lightning strike over a week ago, so if you know how to do a rain dance, please dance away before more people and animals are affected!  Click here to see pictures.

It truly makes me appreciate the folks in other parts of the country, and the world, who have endured even greater fires, and much more often!

I thought this haunting blue grass song entitled Return to Dismal Swamp was fitting.  And yes I like bluegrass!

A Sneak Peek and A Reminder

I finally got a little mojo going last night and finished the tree in my living and dining room.  It's not a complicated tree, or even a tree in the traditional sense really, but after several days of staring at bare branches in a container I decided it was time to dress them up a bit. 

Once I'm done with both of these rooms I'll take some pictures to give you the full effect of it, I'm really loving the way it turned out.  Simple and natural with a touch of sparkle and beachy'ness, my favorite combination this time of year.

I also wanted to remind you of a few wonderful things going on this weekend.  Starting today, there are two wonderful barn/tag sales happening.  One is at Ekster Antiques outside of Leesburg, Virginia.  I featured Ekster's last sale in a post (HERE).  And several of the photos I took at that sale are also gracing the pages of this month's Romantic Country Magazine (Yipee!!), which should be in your mailbox or on newsstands sometime in the next few days.

If you live in or around DC or northern Virginia you won't want to miss this weekend's barn sale at Ekster!

The other sale which starts today is a tag sale going on at Chartreuse and Co. in Frederick, Maryland.  I've never been to Chartreuse and Co., but my dear friend Connie has and she tells me it's a "must" see.  If you click on the link above to their site you'll be treated to lots of photos of all of the wonderful things they currently have for sale!

It's also a Vintage Source weekend, the last one for 2010, and it's sure to be a good one!  The Vintage Source girls always end the year with a bang, and based on their "New Arrivals" page this sale looks like a great one!  During their sale weekend in December last year I picked up my lovely horse pull which holds my Christmas stockings!

I also want to take this opportunity to say goodbye to a wonderful woman, great friend, and one of the Vintage Source "mommas,"...Cathe Chiomento.  From the moment you meet Cathe you can feel her warmth and great infectious personality.  Cathe also has an amazing sense of style as you can see by the photos above of her home, which sold in just a week!  She and her husband are moving back to Pennsylvania to be closer to their children and grandchildren and St. Mary's County will be a little less bright once they leave at the end of this month.  Best wishes Cathe, and I can't wait to see all of the beautiful things you will do in your new home...I'll definitely be coming for a visit sometime soon, with camera in hand!

And last, but certainly not least, don't forget about the wonderful sale going on this Saturday at my friend Susan's home which I wrote about HERE!  Trust me when I say that you won't want to miss this sale either, and why not make a day of it and go to both Susan's sale AND The Vintage Source's sale...with lunch in between of course! 

If you live too far away to go to any of these sales never fear.  Over the next week I'll be sharing with you a few of my favorite Etsy stores and online retailers.

And for those of you who live in southern Maryland, I'll also be sharing a few of my favorite local stores so be sure to check back!

In the meantime...Happy Shopping everyone!

Old Town

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments about my daughter's new apartment!  She knows she is very fortunate to live where she does, and as Miss Char so nicely said in her comment, I'm thankful every day that our daughter is able to live some place where she is safe and comfortable!  The stylish part is a definite bonus though!

In my neck of the woods, this is what a traffic jam looks like!  Not that we don't have regular traffic congestion too, but when you live in a rural area, sometimes slow downs are caused by cool big green tractors!

But just by driving for a few hours we can get to real traffic jams, and ones that aren't caused by farm implements.

The Woodrow Wilson bridge, which spans the Potomac and connects Maryland and Virginia is the easiest way for us to access not only DC but also the suburbs that surround the city.

When most people think of cool DC areas filled with shops and restaurants, they immediately think of Georgetown.  And although Georgetown is a great area, the parking can sometimes be difficult and the prices are equally hard to deal with, so I prefer Old Town Alexandria for lunch and some browsing on a Sunday afternoon.

Old town has such great history, and its waterfront location makes it a beautiful place to take a stroll on a lovely fall afternoon, which is just what we did last weekend.

Still considered a pricey area, it is a little less expensive than coveted Georgetown, and there is so much to see and do in Old Town, which I love!

Old brick sidewalks, tree lined streets, shopping and dining choices galore, it's my kind of place!

But what I love the most is the architecture, and how you can wander the side streets and be treated to secret gardens behind beautiful fences!  Even a parking area looks good when it's behind a lovely iron fence like the one above.

Or dream of living in one of the glorious old mansions which line these old streets....sigh!  Any chance the owners of this house might invite me to take tea on that grand front porch?!

This one caught my fancy the other day...I wonder if they would be interested in doing a house trade for a few months?!

Those ornate windows, and the huge leaded glass fan light above the front door had me at hello!

Everywhere you turn in Old Town there is beautiful colonial style architecture.

Just look at the detail on this building...I love the dentil moulding and those lovely corbels framed by more delicate ornamentation!  Can you imagine the cost to create something like that in this day and age?!

And look at the brick detail above this entryway...so pretty!

If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend spending a day...or even a weekend in Old Town Alexandria, located in Virginia just outside of DC.  It will take you back in time and feed your soul in more ways than one!

Ekster, Ekster, Read All About It

As I mentioned in a previous post, I went to photograph a barn sale for Fifi O'Neill and Romantic Country Magazine a few weekends ago.  It was my first "real" photo assignment, and I was a little nervous about the whole thing.

But I knew, based on what I had seen from previous Ekster Antiques barn sales that it really couldn't be too hard.  I mean, how hard can it be to shoot beautiful things in a gorgeous setting just outside Leesburg, Virginia?  Lots of great vintage items, antiques, ironstone, chippy furniture, and so much more...so what's not to like or better yet, take pictures of?!

Caroline and Jon-Paul Saunier (pictured above) live in a historic home set among rolling hills in the rural town of Hamilton, Virginia.  The same wonderful sense of style they have used to create their own home, (which was photographed for Fifi's upcoming book entitled Romantic Prairie Style), translates to their wonderful barn sales held several times a year.

In between sales, Caroline (a native of Holland) and her sources scour Europe looking for the perfect pieces to sell at each of the sales she and Jon-Paul hold in one of the huge old barns on their property.

Before each sale, they post pictures on their Facebook fan page "Ekster Antiques" to help whet buyer's appetites.  And lines form early each morning during their weekend sales as people eagerly anticipate the event!


 

Fifi selected her favorite photos from the shoot to use in an upcoming issue of Romantic Country, but here are a few to give you an idea of how truly massive and wonderful each of the Ekster sales are.  It was all I could do to snap photos instead of grabbing everything in sight to take home with me!

Caroline and Jon-Paul work tirelessly before, during, and after each sale...I don't really know how they do it!  And even though these shots were taken in 100+ degree heat, and at the end of the first day of their sale, they were still going strong and looking fabulous!  In the photo above they were enjoying a quiet moment before closing up shop on the day I was there.

If the items alone weren't enough to make you swoon, the way they are displayed is a feast for the eyes!  Just take a look at some of the beautiful displays and unusual wares they have for sale at great prices!

This beautiful old turquoise metal bed was calling my name!

And in addition to 2 stories worth of barn to ooh and ahh over, they also have tents set up outside for even more wonderful things to choose from!

And in case your tastes run a little funky, never fear, there is something for everyone at an Ekster Antiques sale!

I had so much fun meeting Caroline and Jon-Paul and wandering around photographing all of the really cool stuff they had for sale that day!  And just before we left, Mr. Tide and I went downstairs to pick out one of the beautiful old glass fishing floats I had spied earlier.

I loved its deep green color and how someone had apparently repaired the old netting which had finally let go over the years, not to mention how large it is!  And when I took it up to the counter to pay for it, Caroline gave it to me as a gift for coming out to do the shoot!!

I was floored by her wonderful generosity and now this beautiful float is happily living in my front flower bed surrounded by yellow and coral colored lantana!  When I get a free moment I plan to clean it up a bit and bring it inside.  I'll find the perfect spot where it can reflect the sunlight and brighten even the darkest winter days, so thank you again Caroline and Jon-Paul!

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few photos of this wonderful barn sale and to find out exactly when the next Ekster Antiques Barn Sale will be held (sometime in December), be sure to become of friend of Ekster Antiques on Facebook!  Trust me, you'll want to mark your calendars...I will be heading back to get some ironstone which I'm still kicking myself for not bringing home!

And be sure to check out Romantic Country Magazine to see more pictures I took of the Ekster sale!  They will be in one of the upcoming issues!  I'll be sure to let you know when it will be featured!