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.

New Things

As the years have marched on, Mr. Tide and I have decided that giving each other elaborate Christmas, Birthday, Anniversary gifts is not really necessary and certainly not very prudent with children going to college and renovations to be done. Even so, the gifts we do give one another are equally as wonderful and infinitely more meaningful because sometimes it's much harder to find something for $20, $50, or even $100, depending on the occasion that will stand the test of time and not be something that ends up on the donation pile the following year.

This past Christmas we settled on a budget of $100 for each of us and I think we did pretty well with our choices. He wanted some polo shirts and sweatshirts from the Navy's Test Pilot School, which he attended many years ago now...over 20 in fact...my how time flies...no pun intended! And I wasn't able to give him any ideas whatsoever.

I'm not very helpful when it comes to being the gift "recipient" I'm afraid. I love giving gifts and am adamant about searching for just the right thing for the person for which it's intended, but when asked what I want I become a wishy washy puddle of goo! This fact has not been lost on Mr. Tide over the last 24 years, and even my children have become acutely aware of this rather annoying trait of mine.

Sometimes I think it's because I like TOO many things and I just can't bear the idea of having to choose between so many wonderful things. Sometimes, I simply rationalize away the need for a particular item, saying that I don't really NEED it or I really should put that money toward something more useful instead of something frivolous.

Let's face it, my house is full of frivolous stuff, but is it really frivolous if we love and cherish it? Probably not, and my frivolity is inherited since my mother and father left their 4 children a houseful of crystal, silver and as my daughter would say "enough dishes to feed a third world country from". So I'm not really to blame am I? They did however also bless me with some measure of good sense and practicality which is actually a good thing, since Mr. Tide's standard answer when I'm out shopping and trying to decide if I want something is...BUY IT! He's practical in a "can we go eat now?" sort of way.

This past year I decided I would try to be more helpful to those around me about what I REALLY wanted for my birthday and Christmas, yes I only add to my family's delight by being a December baby. Though I fell short for my birthday, leaving everyone with little or no ideas, I am always delighted and surprised at how well they all know me and the wonderful things I end up with each year. They are always happy too that they can find something I will like, but then just a few weeks later it dawns on them that they've exhausted their one great gift idea on my birthday and now they are left flapping in the wind like a flag in a hurricane.

My father always believed that we should all buy our own presents throughout the year. He thought you should then wrap all of your own gifts and the big surprise would come from watching each person open up the gift "you" gave them to see what it was you bought! This was genius he thought, and his theory was that then everyone would get exactly what they wanted, and there would still be an element of surprise. As I'm getting older, I'm starting to see the merit in his way of thinking.

So this year, with only a few shopping days left before the big day I set out to do just that. I found the perfect mirror on Ebay. It was a bullseye refracting mirror I had admired from Williamsburg Marketplace nearly 5 or 6 years ago, but my practical side talked me out of it even when it was on clearance. I had kicked myself over the "one that got away" for all these years hoping they would magically carry it again. When I saw it on Ebay I could barely contain myself and woke Mr. Tide up at midnight to tell him about my find...or should I say "his" find for me! He said "did you bid on it" and I shook my head no, it just didn't seem right to buy my own gift, but the thought of letting it slip away again had me up bright and early the next morning putting in a bid and I won! It even made it here BEFORE Christmas!

Here is the mirror in our master bedroom.

I love the way the little refracting mirrors multiply the light reflected throughout the day.

Ok, so $60 down of my $100 budget...now what?! I'm sure Mr. Tide was happy to have at least one check in the block for Christmas morning, but he wasn't thrilled that "I" had picked it out, bid on it, and even paid via Paypal for my perfect gift. Then I was on a decorating forum and someone was asking about pillows for their living room. Always up for a challenge I started the hunt to help this woman find the perfect pillow for her chic and stylish living room when fate stepped in once again. While perusing the Williams Sonoma Home website I found the perfect pillow for our living room. White *check*, Nautical *check*, Inexpensive *check* Understated *check*, Elegant *check*...clearly it was THE one, it surpassed my original criteria which were White, Cheap, and Nautical, so the rest was a bonus! $29.99 AND it had FREE shipping...GO ME! Needless to say I was thrilled when it too arrived in time to be placed under the tree.

I hope to replace these couches someday or at the very least slip cover them in
cotton or linen white duck.

The fabric reminds me of old sealife engravings, it was just what I've been looking for.

Now this might not sound like the best way to handle gift giving, and I doubt we will ever embrace my father's unconventional shopping style but as I wandered around my house today and straightened my new pillow and caught a glimpse of myself in my new mirror, I decided two things. One, that frivolous things which bring beauty and joy to our lives aren't really frivolous so long and they aren't the ONLY things that bring joy and beauty to our lives and Two, that sometimes shopping for yourself isn't half bad!