Being Thankful Is SO Inn

Last week flew by. FLEW! And it's a good thing, too, because THIS week is spring break, and I don't think I would have made it through last week without that carrot dangling in front of me. 

As if that weren't thanks enough, here are ten more things of thankful:

1. I'm currently sitting in the living room of my Person's home in Nashville. We are both in our jammies, and we are writing a bio for her for her new job. Besides my family, she is the only person I am ever 100% myself with, and I am so thankful I have her.

2. Terri, my Person (you know, the friend who knows where all the bodies are buried), and I went on a little girls getaway to an inn about 70 miles outside of Nashville. Terri had visited there the weekend before on a whim, and I am SO THANKFUL she did!

3. This inn we went to was in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee. After the Civil War, the healing powers of the town's mineral springs attracted visitors, and the town once boasted 9 hotels and 12 boarding houses. The boom ended after World War II with the advent of modern medicine and better automobiles and roads. There are still three hotels in the town, and we believe we found the very best one, Armour's Hotel.

From armourshotel.com

4. Seriously, people, if you want to take a step back in time, go visit this place! The entire place is decorated with antiques: furniture, pictures, memorabilia, knickknacks and collections. Think the Christopher Reeve movie "Somewhere In Time." There are vintage touches everywhere, one of my favorites being the ladies hats hanging on the walls. It made me feel warm and comfortable inside to be there, like visiting a beloved elderly relative's home, and I truly did not want to leave.

My pictures are not good, but the room
was lovely and so comfortable!

We were in the "executive suite" so we had
a sitting room and bedroom.

Downstairs hallway. Can you see all the
antiques and collectibles?

The kitchen. It reminded me of my
great aunt's kitchen (but much
bigger). Very homey.

5. We were the only ones staying there the first night, and we got the undivided attention of the staff (which consisted of the owner and the chief cook and bottle washer, as my mom would have said). It was like we were royalty!

Samantha, who cooks, cleans, blows leaves,
and who knows what else (she IS Wonder
Woman) whipped up this sandwich and
salad for us when we finished our
mineral baths and massages.

6. We took mineral baths in big, claw-footed tubs. The "mineral" is mostly sulphur and smells absolutely disgusting, especially when hot. The smell almost cancels out the positive aspect of the delicious hot bath experience, but not quite, so it's a thankful. Plus, we followed up with a massage, so total win.

Ready to be spoiled!

7. Winter is having to be pushed out kicking and screaming, and spring is in no hurry to get kicked, so the walk we took on Saturday afternoon was a chilly one. Across the road from the hotel is part of the "Quilt Trail" that runs through two parks in town (by the way, "town" is about a thousand people). Painted samples of quilt blocks are posted on a walking path with explanations about each pattern. The walk took us by a covered bridge and along a lovely little creek, and in spite of the cool wind and the refusal of the trees and flowers to come out of hibernation, the sky was the most gorgeous shade of blue you could ever imagine. Spring CANNOT be far away with a sky that blue!

Covered bridge that goes over
Salt Lick Creek.

Look at that sky! Completely
unfiltered and not retouched.

I'd be lion if I said it wasn't a lovely weekend.

Or a bird brain. Only a bird brain would
not enjoy this place!

8. The park had a teeter totter. A real, honest-to-goodness teeter totter. Nothing modern about it, no safety features, but a teeter totter just like we had on our school playgrounds as children. 

I took the seat with the big
ol' crack in the middle,
because I'm that good
of a friend!

Show off.

9. We did not fall off the teeter totters, and believe me, dismounting is not what it was when we were 10! Side note: we did not pee our pants laughing, either.

10. While our trip to the inn is over, my visit to Nashville is not! A few more days of much laughing and much eating await!

Be ever thankful.