A Bath, Bed, and Breakfast

A Bath and Breakfast

Soaking in the Jefferson Pools was really cool, and just one of the “walking in the footsteps of history” experiences that Virginia is filled with…like the tale of George Washington throwing a silver dollar across the river, you can’t throw a rock in Virginia without hitting a historical site. And, it’s easy to imagine our early leaders and socialites retiring to The Homestead in the summers to take the waters and socialize. I talked with an employee who had been working at the resort for over 40 years, and she remembers the days when you walked into the lobby after 5 p.m. and the dazzle of jewels would be shooting rays of light off the walls.

Things are more business casual these days, but breakfast is still an elegant affair in the Main Dining Room, with one of the largest buffets I’ve ever seen. Literally rows and rows of banquet tables hold silver chafing dishes filled with everything from cheese blintzes, waffles and pancakes to every kind of breakfast meat and side dish imaginable. Egg stations on both ends will prepare anything you request, if you manage to have room left after the pastry and fruit table.

Breakfast and dinner are included in the hotel’s meal plan, the best value at the resort, and special packages available on their website make a weekend here an affordable splurge. www.thehomestead.com

Hanging Out With Thomas Jefferson

I just got back from a weekend at one of the most historic resorts in Virginia, The Homestead in Hot Springs. Since 1766, America’s presidents and most prestigious families have been retreating to this mountain resort for a little R & R, a lot of golf, and to take advantage of the therapeutic springs.

The view of the stately red brick colonial hotel is breathtaking when you arrive. Decorated in colonial style, The Homestead has a laid back, Southern vibe where casual golf and tennis clothes are replaced by jacket and tie for dinner in the Main Dining Room. The resort offers a European-style meal plan which includes dinner and breakfast, definitely a better value than booking your room separately, especially since other dining options off property are minimal. This is a resort made for extended stays, whose slogan is “your home away from home”.

My sister and I took the hotel shuttle to the nearby Jefferson Pools in Warm Springs to soak up a little history. It is widely accepted that regular visitor, Thomas Jefferson, designed the octagonal-shaped men’s bath structure. You can soak in either that pool or the women’s pool for $17 an hour in the warm mineral springs that have been rejuvenating weary travelers since George Washington’s day. In the women’s bath, there’s a chair on a platform with a pulley mechanism that may be the first handicapped-accessible bathing in America. It was designed for Robert E. Lee’s invalid wife so that she could partake of the healing waters. Feeling very relaxed after floating in the bath-tempature mountain waters, we headed back to The Homestead to dress for dinner in the Main Dining Room.

This elegant ballroom is filled with sparkling crystal chandeliers and tables are set around a central dance floor. A three-piece combo played classic tunes, and fathers took their daughters for a spin before and after dinner.

The dinner menu offers several selections of appetizers, entrées, and desserts, and special dietary needs can be easily accommodated. For my starter, I chose the portabello mushrooms wrapped in phyllo with goat cheese and beets. The sweet beets were a wonderful complement to the chalky goat cheese. For my entrée, I went for the fresh Mountain Trout, a local specialty that the resort’s fly fishing outfitter will teach you to catch in one of the mountain streams. It was perfectly cooked, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

Unfortunately, there was no chocolate on the dessert menu and since I was stuffed anyway, I retired to my room in the West Wing to rest up for the gigantic buffet breakfast. www.TheHomestead.com

Breakfast Under Glass

My breakfast in the Main Dining Room of the Greenbrier was elegant, and my server, Joyce, had great stories since she has worked there for 40 years. She recommended the Eggs Benedict, which are included in the huge buffet, so I ordered those and then set off to load my plate with raspberry stuffed brioche, blueberry Belgian waffles, fresh fruit, quiche lorraine, and tons of other goodies.

By the time I returned to my table, Joyce was approaching with my beautiful eggs. I devoured those and moved on to the dessert portion of my morning meal. It’s good that experts say you should have a hearty breakfast, because I ate as much at that one meal as I usually do in a whole week.

Dinners here are formal (jacket and tie required), but breakfast is resort casual. Even at breakfast, the chandeliers are magnificent, setting the tone for an elegant meal

Gourmet Golf at the Greenbrier

Growing up in Washington, D.C., I had heard about the fabulous Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia for as long as I can remember. My mother, who worked at the Pentagon in the Defense Department, knew about the secret bunker built into a hillside at the resort that was intended to house Congress in the event of a nuclear attack, but never said a word about it until it was declassified in the early 90’s. Finally, this past weekend, I had a chance to visit both the bunker and the restaurants at this incredible mountain retreat in the Allegheny Highlands.

My sister, her daughter Susie, and grandson Joe, accompanied me and we started with dinner at the Sam Snead Golf Club. No burgers and club sandwiches here…touted as the “casual” dining room (no jackets and ties required), the Club overlooks one of the beautifully manicured golf courses at the resort. I started with the huge sea scallops, while Susie chose the Beef Carpaccio. Both were wonderfully tender and tasty, and I couldn’t wait for my “Maine” course, lobster.

I wasn’t disappointed. If lobster isn’t fresh, it can be as chewy as a rubber band, but this was melt-in-your-mouth pleasure, and the savory broth full of vegetables was complemented the rich and buttery taste of the crustacean. My nephew, Joe, only had a bowl of French Onion soup, since he already had his eye on dessert, a raspberry crème brulée.

He pronounced it the “best” of all the crème brulées he’s ever had, and even waited for 10 seconds to dive in, so I could snap a picture. The table next to us burst out laughing, whispering and pointing at us when I whipped out my camera to capture the dishes we had ordered. I guess they thought we were a bunch of hillbillies who had never eaten at a nice restaurant, and that’s why we were taking pictures of our food.