My Mother’s Day gift this year . . . a get-away! And a surprise one, at that! Chris did break part of the surprise to tell me we were going away a couple weeks ahead of time so I could make sure my responsibilities were covered but he had already lined up our home/baby sitters. That, in and of itself, was wonderful! But, I still had no clue where we were going. It’s a good thing because with different circumstances that came up during that time, Chris’s location plans changed at least 3 times.
We left Friday night and drove for about half an hour – long enough to leave the suburbs and get the rural feel. When I didn’t think we could get any more rural, this is what we drove up to –
a castle! A castle turned into a bed and breakfast! The inside was amazing and we were able to have a nice bedroom off of ‘King Alfred’s Suite.’
Saturday morning after waking at the crack of dawn (why do they not put curtains in castle windows?!), we had breakfast and went exploring in the castle. Because they were getting rooms ready for a wedding party that night, many rooms were open . . and, of course, we went in them to look around. Then we found a game room on an upper level – let’s just say we were here for at least an hour shooting pool. Chris was convinced we needed to buy one as soon as we got home (he decided against this by the time we got home). I am happy to say that I impressed Chris (and myself) with my pool capabilities (must have been beginner’s luck).
After prying ourselves out of the game room, we went outside to explore as the castle lies in the middle of a State Botanical Garden. Not all the flowers were out yet and the grass was quite wet from all the rain we had the night before, but we had a nice time exploring the landscaping and different varieties of vegetation. More than that it was just nice to be by ourselves with no little ones vying for either of our attention.
Back inside the castle we explored some more. I decided that out of everything, this was my favorite spot – I loved the stone walls, the spiral staircase, and the bust positioned ‘just so’ on the landing.
Just in case things weren’t peaceful and relaxing enough, Chris had arranged for me to have an ‘in-room massage’. Honestly, I was very uncomfortable with the thought of it but the woman was so nice and we talked the whole time she was setting everything up. Then she stayed and talked to both Chris and I for awhile after. I commented to her how I loved the head massage – it was so relaxing and she said that was where she found the most knots – in the lower part of my head and my neck. So, now I’m going to enlist Chris and the kids to do frequent head massages!
That night Chris had also made reservations at a really nice restaurant . . one with a dress code (loose though it was). Being Mother’s Day weekend there were a lot of families taking their mothers out so when they saw it was just the two of us, they put us in a separate dining room so we could have some quiet. The food was great – Chris was so excited to have a steak made exactly how he asked for it, authentic Italian.
Sunday was check-out day and time to think about returning to our small brood . . . and hoping our friends who were staying with them would still like us. But, even though we were only 30 minutes from home, we had planned to be away from all church responsibilities that day, so we attended a different ward. It was nice to meet some new people . . and surprisingly know a handful of them from our church duties.
When we finally arrived home, the kids heard the front door open and immediately came to us for hugs. There is just something about being away for a couple days that makes you appreciate so much more . . . and somehow helped me feel like a better mother because of it.
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