It's a Country Inn Day

Today I'm enjoying  a Country Inn Day.  Country Inn Days are a little invention I created more than twenty years ago.  I had to invent them because I absolutely love Country Inns and my very favorite Country Inn is about 600 miles away situated in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.  Though Ohio has a few here and there I needed to  come up with something that would satisfy my craving for regular  inn experiences.

Luckily I have a wonderful imagination so this was not a difficult challenge for me.  Also, it happened to be very convenient that my husband, an avid golfer, seemed to need a handy place to play golf most every day.  He therefore joined The Lake Forest Country Club in my Hudson where he happily enjoys his golf and  I am able to enjoy the clubhouse, its gardens and amenities.

I do love historic preservation, and lucky for me, Lake Forest is an old place and looks even older  because of its architectural style.  It's also quite nice that it sits at the edge of a lake, Lake Forest.  There's nothing quite as refreshing as viewing a body of water, well,  except for viewing beautiful gardens and Lake Forest is truly endowed with beautiful gardens.

 I love flowers, don't you?  I love flowers  almost as much as I love letters so Lake Forest  is a very good place for me to spend time writing  letters.  Just look at some of the flowers I can feast my eyes on as I write.

I keep telling my husband I need  the Lake Forest gardener to help me with the garden at our house.  He seems to really know what he's doing.  The view from every window here is a vision of natural beauty.

And though my Country Inn days take me on all sorts of adventures in and out of Hudson, as well as all over the world, having Lake Forest right here in my own neighborhood helps me enjoy some of those very nice inn experiences I love so much - experiences like being served food and drinks in a beautiful old world setting.

[caption id="attachment_2662" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Jeremiah Brown House[/caption]

Of course many of my inn days are had at my very own home, The Jeremiah Brown House.  This house was built in 1853 so it has what many of my favorite inns have, a historical feeling.   Here at the house I have the fun of playing the part of inn chef, inn gardener, inn maid and innkeeper - inn guest too, but it is still nice to have Lake Forest in the picture.

I do like to remain at my home for many inn days though, because the Jeremiah Brown House is personal and very private.  Any inn guests that do appear must be invited by me.  Sometimes these guests appear for tea or intimate dinners.

 Sometimes I plug in my imagination and the Inn hosts my "dead friends" - so many -   Chopin will be at the piano in the next room playing his waltzes (via cd),

Agatha Christie will be telling me stories of her life on the porch over cocktails (via biographies)... so many wonderful inn experiences are powered by my imagination.  So you see, staying at The Jeremiah Brown House can be the setting for a wonderful inn day.

Still

popping over to Lake Forest for lunch, dinner, or some letter writing adds a little spice to any Country Inn Day.

Step inside with me.

I'll take you for an interior tour on some cold, rainy Autumn day. but the weather is so nice today, we'll cut through the building and go out to the terrace.  Here in the entrance you see the staircase that goes up to the women's locker rooms.

And in this picture you see a bit of the living room looking into the entrance and up at the very high ceiling overhead.  It's here at Lake Forest Country Club that I  give talks on The  Art of Letter Writing to interested groups while they enjoy lunch, dinner or tea.  If you belong to a club and have interest in such an event contact me via my website (carolannmccarthy.com)

See out the window where we're headed?

Now, standing on the patio we are looking out over the pool to the lake beyond.

And a  nice pool it is too, quite peaceful now that most kiddies have gone back to school.

 But I prefer the lower terrace where food and drinks are also served, but where the view of the lake is so much better.

I rather like the tables way at the end of the terrace for here I have solitude yet the society of my letter friends - and here it is I write today's letter,

I'm answering a letter from Candi.  She lives in Mankato, Minnesota.

I am so behind in answering Candi's letter, but she is a darling and I'm sure she forgives me.  I haven't even sent her pictures of my son's graduation from UCLA in June.   Well, better late, than never.

So I write Candi and you from my Country Inn Day.

Country Inn Days happen regularly for me -  every week.  After all, everybody needs to get away from it all now and then, don't they?  Don't you?  And what's better than getting away without having to pack a suitcase,  spend a lot of money and get all tired out?  Country Inn Days grant us adventures, if that's what we want, or rest and relaxation.  We have the power to design our Inn days  any way we like.  How would you design yours?  Plug in your imagination and  see what you come up with ...create some Country Inn Days for yourself.  You'll be glad you did.

So till we meet again I'm signing off from the Inn.

Love, Carol Ann