Celebration and Relaxation

I cannot express how much Russ and I needed a night away. It has only been more than five years since we’ve gotten away for the night, just the two of us. Our best friends invited us on a short getaway to celebrate my best friend’s 40th birthday with three other couples (family). Yes, please! [Char and I have been best friends for 25 years, and her family is my family. Russ and her husband, John, have been best friends for even longer, so John’s family is Russ’s family!]

[We made a stop at IKEA before ending up at our final destination. Which meant that we had some shuffling to do in the car. We weren’t planning on buying a piece of furniture!]

We stayed up at McMenamins Edgefield. McMenamins takes random old buildings and turns them into pubs and hotels. Edgefield is one of the most fascinating locations—an old poor farm!

The walls are covered with old photographs and hand-painted (quirky) murals of all sorts.

Each room is named after a musician. We stayed in the Etta James room.

The grounds are gorgeous. We all started the afternoon together at the outdoor soaking pool next to the spa—fluffy white bathrobes and all.

We dressed up a little for dinner and toured the gardens while waiting for our table at the outdoor café. (The very top three windows in the picture on the left belonged to our room.)

After a long, rousing dinner, we walked back to the hotel building in the dark, twinkling café lights guiding our way. We went up to John and Char’s room, which her sister, Lori, and I had decorated all over with candles and flowers and birthday banner. We feasted on the yummiest cupcakes and the three younger couples sat around chatting until we were all falling asleep.

The guys went mini golfing the next morning before breakfast, and then we all ate together (scrumptious!!) before packing up our rooms. Russ and I took the round-about scenic route before heading home. More pictures coming…