The Rest of the Story

Apologies that this is so late. I was honored that so many of you emailed me wanting to know what was up with the blog. Blogging is much harder than I had anticipated. I had to take a break. :)

When I last posted, Dan and I were embarking on our Fabulous Five Year Anniversary Trip at the Grove Park Inn.

Let me preface this by saying that we dont typically indulge in resorts such as this one. We are more of a

Hampton Inn Kind of Family. However, in light of it being our "5 Years" and all, Dan decided to splurge and go for the gusto. He was quite proud of himself, and rightfully so.

I had pretty much left all of the planning in his hands, including choosing the location. After planning every single date night in the past few years, I felt that I was due. I was interested to see what he would come up with and when he finally told me a few weeks ago that we would be headed to the Grove Park-I was quite impressed. He was even more proud of the fact that he had booked us a room with a "good view!"

The Grove Park Inn sits in the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the city of Asheville. Dan and I had each been to Asheville a time or two, and Dan had even been to a day conference at The Grove Park a few years back so he had at least SEEN the resort.  However, neither of us were even slightly prepared for its grandeur.

In an effort to save money, I had loaded us up with all kinds of snacks, breakfast foods, and wine. I was very proud of my stash. Hummus, crackers, grapes, cheese, pepperoni,  and gourmet Root Beer were just a few of the things I had stashed in our cooler.

On the way up, we discussed whether we would splurge and pay to use the spa services. Everyone who had been there had told us that we simple COULD NOT miss the spa. However, just to take advantage of the therapeutic waterfalls, the mineral baths, sauna, steam room, hot tub, pools, etc... it was $80 a day, Per Person. We were just not quite certain that ANY spa could be worth that. And forget about getting a massage or other spa treatment. It just was not happening.

Anyway, I called to confirm our reservations just outside of Asheville and the lady on the telephone confirmed that yes, we did have reservations for 3pm on the Club Floor. Not having a clue what the Club Floor was, I went on to confirm the rates for the spa services. At the tail end of our conversation, I heard her say that Club Floor visitors did not have to pay to use the spa facilities (other than specific treatments like massages). I was ecstatic and very impressed that Dan had unknowingly booked us the "special rooms."  He simply thought he had just booked a good view.

Well, turns out he was right. Upon arriving at the GP, we were told that the manager had noticed that it was our 5 year anniversary and upgraded us to the Club Floor for free!

So we had all sorts of extras. A special key to access our private floor,  free appetizers and cocktails in a private dining hall for Club Members each evening (needless to say, we did not TOUCH the food or drinks I brought), free breakfast each morning, a fabulous room with a great view and of course...free access to the Spa. We were like 2 kids in a candy shop. Seriously. We just walked around with these goofy grins on our faces the entire first day.  I'm not sure how Dan lucked out this time, but I have now appointed him in charge of all of our trips. We later found out that the rooms we were in are typically $800/night. Dan told me to enjoy it, because we would not be booking those rooms on our own-EVER!

So we did. We had so much fun.

This was our first view of the Grove Park upon Arrival. We are both suckers for some stone, so you can imagine just how much we loved the architecture. 

Another view from the front

And here is a shot of our room. I did not do so well capturing photos of our fabulous abode!

Another room shot. This was Dan leaving a message for the manager to thank him for our upgraded accomodations. 

On Friday night we headed into Asheville to eat at Tupelo Honey. It was by far the most recommended restaurant by friends and family. It opens for dinner at 5:30. We arrived around 5:15 and were still about 10th in line. By the time the doors opened, the line was halfway down the street. It was fabulous food though...Good home cooking. I had the famous "Nutty Fried Chicken!" Yum...My favorite part was the grits and the biscuits and honey. 

Afterwards, we walked across the street to a small local park. During dinner we could hear a continuous drum beat going on and we kept seeing people run across the street with random drums, bongos, shakers, etc..

Turned out to be what looked like a traditional drumfest that 1/2 the town showed up to. (Maybe not half the town, but A LOT of people). There were women out there dancing with hula hoops (quite professionally I might add) and then toddlers with their parents right next to them. You could tell that it was something that happens often and is enjoyed by all. We certainly enjoyed watching it. Asheville has it's own unique culture that is difficult to explain. It is way ahead of many cities in terms of organic, whole and natural foods, and definitely has a more "natural" feel in terms of dress and culture. Sort of a 60's timezone combined with a very New Age feel. 

And here is the one picture I had taken of us on our actual anniversary night. 

On Saturday, we were so lazy. We walked around the Grove Park, just taking in the amazing scenery and enjoying the wonderful fall weather. We went down to the spa and enjoyed ourselves. We had actually gone down there on Friday night as well, so we felt like experts by Saturday. At one point we split up for about 20 minutes to take advantage of the male/female services that you could not do together. This included the saunas, steam room, whirpool therapy, private lounges, etc...When we met back up in the lobby, I asked Dan what all he tried. He grinned and said, "Everything" to which I replied, "Me Too!" Again...Kids in a Candy Shop! We were soaking it all in. We spent the afternoon laying by the large outside hot tub, reading and listening to music and playing some board games to pass the time. It was bliss....

This is Dan in the waterfall therapy pool. Better than any massage we've ever had. 

I could have spent hours lying in this bubbling goodness!

View from our room. 

If you look at the top row of windows (not the ones above the roof), our room was the second one from the end. You can see our open windows. 

This is Dan, waiting on me to get ready and enjoying our view. 

Another room view. Check out the fabulous outdoor hot tub. 

On Saturday, we ran into our friends, Jenny and Gary. They were also in Asheville for the weekend. We asked them to join us for the Dueling Piano show that night. We had so much fun and were thrilled that they chose to spend part of their weekend with us. 

Dan and Gary being silly. 

Dan requested a special song in honor of our anniversary. We did get that song, but also got a little bit of ribbing which I wont repeat. I'm sure you can see how humiliated I was. 

Jenny felt that she should catch some of the interactive dancing we had to do. 

All in all, you can tell that we had a wonderful anniversary weekend. We spent Sunday morning just relaxing and soaking up as many final moments as we could. We sat inside in front of their famous giant fireplaces (which were not lit yet) and saw the following quote:

"Take from this hearth, it's warmth

From this room, it's charm

From this Inn, it's amity

Return them not-But Return"

We most certainly will try!

PS. When we returned home, we laid in bed all afternoon and evening with Hollister and decided to have a picnic on the bed with all the food that I had bought for the trip. (that we never ate), It was a great ending to a great weekend. Thanks to Carrie for taking care of our sweet boy. 

L