Weekend(s) Away

The Knight and I usually try to get away in the spring.  Because he just started a new job and was without a job for a while, we weren't quite sure we would be able to make our annual pilgrimage to Amish Country in Ohio.

 

We didn't quite make it to Ohio, but the Lord blessed and we were able to get away -- a couple times.  Two weekends in a row, in fact.  The Knight's new employer has a company party in February instead of during the busy holiday season.  We knew we'd get an evening out and a nice, catered dinner at a Pittsburgh hotel.  Just a few days before the party, the Knight was told that one of the rooms the hotel had compensated the company wasn't going to be used, and that we could have it!

Beautiful gardens, waterfalls and fish in the hotel interior

 We didn't know until we checked in that we would also receive two tickets for the breakfast buffet.  There was a great selection of food -- beautiful fruit, the best french toast we've ever eaten and omlets made to order.  The line was too long though, and we had slept in.  I didn't want to chance not getting anything else to eat, so I opted for made-to-order scrambled eggs.  Those were some serious room darkening drapes in that room -- pitch black when we finally woke up at 8:50 am!

 

Since the night was free, I splurged on getting my hair done and found my whole outfit at the thrift store for $10 -- including shoes! Our picture before the company party. . .

 

 

A local church hosts a couple's retreat every year.  We attended a few years back when they stayed in Pittsburgh.  A friend of mine who attend another local church was going to attend this year and invited us to join her and her husband.  This year's location . . . Nemacolin Woodland Resort.  Um, it's like a 5 Diamond Award kind of place.  And the cost to us . . . $150!  These rooms go for $400/night and up!  We didn't think we'd ever have another opportunity to stay at this place (a place we had looked into before) AND a favorite chapel speaker of ours from college, Jeff Redlin, was going to be the guest speaker!  The Knight had worked a side job not to long ago and it was just enough to cover the cost and have a little bit for food costs.

 

We pulled up to the Chateau and were greeted as they opened the car door for me.

 

The view from our room (towards the front door)

Our room

Refreshments area and bathroom -- Yes, that is a stool to get into the jacuzzi tub/shower.

We had been warned about the $12 cashews and $9 gummy bears!

 

We laughed at how we must have looked carrying our bag of snacks into this luxury hotel, but we couldn't afford to buy snacks from our room.  Last time we went on the retreat, we were given snacks by the host church.  We didn't want to count on them being there since we were going to stay far from civilization.  The church went above and beyond this time by adding a $25 gift card to Darden restaurants in our goody bag.  That paid for our dinner Friday night, and I was even able to have Tiramisu for dessert!

 

After the Friday morning session, we headed on the long trek to the other end of the resort towards The Tavern restaurant we had researched as one of the more affordable places to eat at the resort.

Along the way there were many seating areas . . . some had historic information and photos.  One of the Knight's favorites was a check from June 1959 for $24,000 written out to the founder of Nemacolin Woodland Resort.  There was also a check from the Wright Brothers for $2.47.  Cheapskates! HA!

That's a real wood burning fireplace!

These were all live plants.

This is PJs -- a fun little restaurant in the kids' area of the resort.

There was a kids' spa, play area (playground for little kids, air hockey, etc for the big kids), pool and probably more.  The pictures didn't turn out well, but there was kid-sized chairs in the salon for getting your hair and nails done.

 

There were also many framed photos of celebrities that had visited Nemacolin -- everyone from Victor Borge to Troy Polamalu to music stars.

The 8,500 gallon fish tank near The Tavern restaurant.

Notice the ladder in the above picture's background? Ya, that area including The Tavern was under renovations.  Apparently, they are going restaurant by restaurant renovating during the winter months.  So we trekked back up to Autumn -- a fine dining restaurant.  It was about $12 for a sandwich, but oh my, was the food good!  Being the hamburger connoisseur that I am (Ha!), I had to get the burger.  Wow, was it tasty!  My side dish was fresh fruit and it was cubed up almost perfectly and was just the right amount of ripe for my liking.  The Knight got the Triple Decker Club with fries and he let me take a bite or two.  It was top-notch as well.  I'm glad we ate at one of their restaurants just to say we experienced it.  Thanks to the gift card in our bag and a gift card from my secret sister, two of our meals were pretty much free!  I had to add there was a Starbucks inside the resort.  I was kinda bummed that they wouldn't take my gift card, but whatever limited them to not taking the gift card enabled them to still serve Pumpkin Spice Lattes even after the fall season!  Unfortunately, I didn't see the poster in the window until after I bought a Chai Tea Latte the first day.

 

 

This is Lautrec. You might need to take out a loan to eat here.  Sunday brunch is $49/per person. Their dinner is a preset menu at One-Hundred-Ten Per Person (as written on their menu).

 

 

We're so thankful to have been able to get away for a couple days of refreshing.  The sessions were very encouraging -- something I really needed.  It was nice to be waited on by such great staff and be treated like a queen by my wonderful husband.

 

And we couldn't have done it without the help of Nanny & Pappy!  Thanks so much!