Hotel Review: Augustus Zevely Inn Winston Salem, NC

Historic Salem, North Carolina is literally in the shadows of the skyscrapers in downtown Winston-Salem. It is an amazing sight to be standing on this historic Main Street and look down to the modern city such a short distance away. The Augustus T. Zevely Inn is a wonderful historic building right in the middle of the village. The history of this lovely house is available on the inn's website.

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We stayed here the last weekend of January and the weather was amazingly delightful. We arrived at around 3 p.m. on Sunday and since check-in is from 4-8 p.m. we had time to walk in the village before we checked in. This whole area is a photo op.

From the exterior, the building is impressively tall and brick. Parking is available in front of the building, on the side street and on the street behind the yellow house which is behind the inn. Our room which is the Master Suite was on the first floor in the front but on the second floor in the back. It was more convenient for us to park on the side street and walk up one flight of outdoor stairs. There are two levels of outdoor porches in the rear with chairs and benches so that you can sit and absorb all the history.

Linda, the Innkeeper, was there to greet us and to show us the ropes. We actually had two bedrooms with a little sitting room in between. They can be rented separately but we wanted them both. It is called the Winter Kitchen Suite, The Master Suite has a king size bed, a fireplace and a pair of wing chairs that face the fireplace. A TV can be found in the armoire and Wi-Fi is available, it is both fast and easy to access. The bathroom is spacious and includes a jetted tub.

The fireplace is gas and it adds a lot of heat and ambiance to the room. It was a really lovely room, we loved it. Our friend was in the Guest Room. He had a queen sized bed and his TV was in the little sitting-room between our bedrooms. When we got there the door between the rooms was locked, Linda opened it for us.

Your key also lets you into the main part of the house where there is a refrigerator with cold drinks and an ice maker. You are welcome to help yourself.

I was able to tour many of the other bedrooms and they are all charming. Some are more spacious than others and not all have a bathtub so be sure to let Linda know your preference. Two rooms also have two beds, a queen and a twin. You really can't make a bad choice.

Breakfast was served at 8:30 a.m. During the week it is a much expanded continental. We were greeted with coffee and juice and a very nice spread. Yogurt, a fresh fruit salad, muffins, boiled eggs, pecan sticky puns, Moravian sugar cake, bread to toast and sausage muffins were all offered. On the second morning, we had the option of oatmeal or granola and a biscuit with scrambled egg and bacon which was delicious. Needless to say, we did not leave the table hungry. On the weekends there are French toast on Saturday and egg casseroles on Sunday in addition.

I highly recommend a stay here, the house is lovely and very comfortable, the innkeeper is friendly and will offer you any assistance you might need and the location is perfect. What could be better than waking to the tweeting of the birds? On the other hand, if you are looking for lively entertainment and a wild time, this is not the place for you. Come here to enjoy the peace and quiet of a bygone age, you will be glad you did.

Maine: Traveling along scenic Route 1

Scenic Route 1 in Maine runs from Kittery all the way to the New Brunswick border at Calais and then north to Fort Kent, 734 miles in all. A variety of different attractions are located along the way and are sure to please every member of the family. Several beaches are worth a visit and located just slightly off of Route 1 including Old Orchard Beach which has a lot of attractions and Ogunquit Beach which is much quieter. Both are located in Southern Maine.

Kittery

Time was when Kittery was one of the major outlet destinations in the Northeast. It still has a lot of outlets but there is a lot more competition today. What they have over outlet areas like Westbrook and Clinton CT is lobster. What could be better than a day browsing through outlet stores or the Kittery Trading Post where even the most reluctant husband is happy to spend a few hours.

The Weathervane is one of several restaurants on Route 1 in Kittery where you can get a whole lobster, lobster pie, lazy mans lobster or a lobster roll. If lobster isn't your thing, there are plenty of other choices but in Maine, it is a lot easier to just love lobster.

Portland

While Maine is known more for spectacular scenery, there is also culture available. Portland has a wonderful art museum, the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow House and enough entertainment at the old port to justify a full day or more.
Freeport

When everyone thinks of Maine one thing that doesn't usually come to mind is a desert. That is wrong, however, outside of Freeport off of Route 1 is The Desert of Maine. Freeport is also the home of LL Bean and for many people, the main reason to make the trip to Freeport.

Camden



Camden is the home of Camden Hill State Park. If you are into hiking this is a great place to stop on Route 1. There is a small fee involved but you can opt to hike the tallest of the coastal mountains. If hiking isn't your thing, you can still enjoy the spectacular views from Mount Battle at the lookout on top of the mountain which is drivable. Besides Mount Battle, Mount Megunticook offers hikes from easy to challenging.

Belfast

If you are into sea kayaking, Belfast is a great place to stop. There are kayak rentals as well as several tour companies offering a variety of options for kayaking in Penobscot Bay.
Calais

If you are looking for a place to play a little golf, Calais has a nine-hole course. If however, you want a better option, you will have to have your passport with you and cross over into New Brunswick where there are several options quite close.

Presque Isle

This is the home Aroonstook State Park where you can enjoy a picnic, swim in a crystal clear lake, boat, canoe and paddle boats are available to rent. This is a very family friendly place to visit.

Van Buren Maine

The home to the Acadian Village which celebrates the heritage of these displaced French Canadians who made their home here in northern Maine. Houses have been moved to the village from all over the area.If you are up for taking a vacation of more than 700 miles, a drive on Scenic Route 1 in Maine will offer these attractions and many more. Take the drive and make enough memories to last a lifetime and fill several vacations.

Presidential Sites: Abraham Lincoln Home Springfield Ill

Visiting Springfield, Ill. is a fascinating experience for anyone who is a history buff and especially those who have an interest in Abraham Lincoln. In 1860 when Lincoln was elected president, he was living and practicing law in Springfield. He intended to return here when his second term of office was over. He came back to Springfield after his assassination to be buried here. His wife Mary, distraught and half-crazy with grief, never returned to the home they had shared. This may be a good thing because it remains pretty much as it was at the time that they left to go to Washington.

When the Lincolns purchased the house that you visit today, they had only one son, nine-month-old Robert. They would have three more sons, all born in this house. The home has 12 rooms and is what you would have expected a relatively successful Springfield lawyer to have in this time period. 

The home is now maintained by the National Park Service and is visited on a guided tour. You sign up for the tour which is free at the visitor center. The visitor center has two films that are worth watching and other displays relating to the Lincoln property and to his time in Springfield. We watched "Abraham Lincoln: A Journey to Greatness" which dealt with the arrival of Lincoln in Springfield in 1837 and the beginning of his career in this town. The other film is a tour of the house. They last between 20 and 25 minutes and run on the hour and half hour. 

In addition to the house visit and the visitor center, there are scheduled events on the property, it changes day to day and the meetings occur several times each day in the summertime. It might be a Union soldier who is available to speak with visitors as was the case during our visit but there are other options. They are listed on the website and takes place during the summer months only.

I visited in August and the temperature was in the upper 90's. The house and visitor center are air-conditioned so it was a treat to go inside. The house dates from 1839 and was originally built for Rev. Charles Dresser who was the minister who actually married Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln. Two years after their 1842 wedding, he sold them the house. Today the houses nearby are not occupied, it looks like a neighborhood but actually, it is not.

The tour of the house takes about 20 minutes and you need to be able to climb stairs. Questions are encouraged and the more you engage your tour guide the more information they will impart. The guide that we had loved his job and with a little encouragement gave out a great deal of additional information. You will see Lincoln's bedrooms, the mirror that Mr. Lincoln used to shave in and the beds they slept in. The furniture is all original and the wallpaper, drapes, and carpets are to the period. The front parlor was a no children zone and it was where Mary loved to display her latest purchases. 

Free parking is available on the street if you are lucky or there is a parking lot at the visitor center. The Lincoln Home is located within an easy walk of many of the other sites that you will want to visit in Springfield including his law office and the Old State Capital Building. As you walk the streets near the home you will definitely get the feeling that you are walking in the footsteps of the great man since he often walked to both of these destinations.

 

Shirley is one of the James River plantations. It is called “Virginia’s First Plantation” because eleven generations of the same family have lived in the house. The original family name was Hill and in the fourth generation, Elizabeth Hill married John Carter and the house has been in the Carter family ever since. The original land grant given to Sir Thomas West, Baron de la Warr was named West and Sherley Hundred after his and his wife’s family names, she being Lady Cessalye Sherley. The name Shirley has stuck since 1613.

Captain Edward Hill was the first of the family to own the property in 1638. He married the widow of his neighbor and vastly enlarged his holdings. The first family home called Hill House was used by three generations of the Hill family. In the third generation, the eldest son died at the age of 16 and since the two eldest daughters were married and in England, Shirley Plantation went to the youngest daughter Elizabeth. Her husband John Carter was the son of the richest man in America, Robert “King” Carter. After their marriage, the building began for the plantation house that exists today.

The plantation is located down a long road lined with fields; it still appears in many ways to be farm country. We actually stopped and picked up a cotton ball that was still attached to a stem having never seen one before. After parking, you walk up to the gift store where you sign up for the tour of the house. You can visit the outbuildings before or after the house tour, there is no right or wrong way to tour.

Our house guide’s name was Julian Charity and his love and devotion to Shirley were evident from the moment the tour began. You enter directly into the hall from the portico, there is no entrance. Originally almost all guests to the house would have arrived on the river so having the Great Hall on the landside is not the usual setup. We learned a lot about the history of the house in the Great Hall where there are some pictures of the early residents. The square-rigged flying staircase is of particular interest, it appears to be unsupported for three stories. It is original to the 1738 house so has been soaring under the weight of countless family members, visitors, and servants for over 270 years.

The tour of the interior of the house visits the first floor, the current family lives on the upper floors. The ceilings in the house are tall ranging from 11.5 feet on the first floor to nine on the third story. From the Great Hall, the tour moves to the parlor which faces the river. The parlor was removed in 1771 and wonderful woodwork which is still very much in evidence was added. The parlor was also the place where many family events took place. One of particular interest to history buffs was the marriage of Ann Hill Carter to Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee who had a rather famous son, Robert E. Lee. 

Shirley Plantation survived the Civil War literally unscathed but it wasn’t because of its connection to the Lee family, rather it was the women of the house who helped injured Union soldiers who were camped on the grounds of Shirley that led to the order to not hurt the women or the house. Two additional rooms are visited on the tour, the dining room, and a first-floor bedroom. The tour takes between 30 and 40 minutes depending on the number of people, questions asked, and how busy it is. In January, our group was the only ones on the tour and the property so it was a bit longer.

Randy Carter joined us at the completion of the house tour to add some information about the grounds and the running of the property today.  The show “Turn” filmed some scenes on the grounds and in the house at Shirley. The kitchen is certainly interesting and located at a distance from the house to protect it from fire danger. There is also the ice house, smokehouse, laundry, stable, corn crib, pump house, storehouse, and dovecote. The willow oak is a beautiful old tree and there are gardens that were not worth a visit in January. Be sure to browse in Lady Cessalye’s Shop which offers a nice selection of items related to the house and Virginia.

A visit to Shirley Plantation is a lesson in Virginia history. The Hill and the Carter family were all politically active and involved in some of the most exciting and traumatic times in American history.

The Stunning Inn at 835 Springfield, Ill.

The Inn at 835 is a stunning bed and breakfast located in Springfield, Ill. which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The inn was designed by George Helmlebuilt and built in 1909 during the Arts and Crafts movement. It was one of Springfield’s first modern apartment buildings. The original design was for six apartments of about 2,000 sq. feet each.  

The building had all the modern amenities, private baths, central heating and half gas/half electric lighting. It was a woman, Miss Belle Miller, who owned the building and hired the architect to create the quality building that she dreamed of. She was very proud of what she created and there are some who say she has never left the building. Today, the inn consists of 13 luxurious rooms and suites.

The Rose Suite is an amazing room on the 3rd floor. It faces the front of the building and has two large windows. A door provides access to a balcony shared with one other room. A table and chairs allow you to enjoy the outdoor space. The bed is a massive king with four posters and curtains. Tons of decorative pillows adorn the bed and the bedding and curtains are lush, combining gold and crimson very elegantly. It is the epitome of luxury and comfort.

The room also has a seating area with a gas fireplace and two wing chairs with a table between. The TV sits on an antique bureau facing the chairs. The floors are wood with an oriental rug for warmth. A stereo is available if you want romantic background music and there are loads of TV channels.

The bathroom is a show stopper. We just walked in and went oh my, oh my. A huge Jacuzzi tub, an armoire that holds the robes, a very pretty mission style vanity and the piece de resistance, a two-person shower with glass block walls. It was the most amazing bathroom we have ever seen and we have seen a few. The Jacuzzi tub came with herbal salts which were welcome after a long day walking around in the heat.

A basket appeared on our doorknob around 8 p.m. with four sugar cookies in it. They were still warm from the oven, what a nice treat. After a leisurely soak, sitting watching TV in my Inn at 835 bathrobe, eating cookies and drinking a cup of decaf was a perfect way to end the day.

Public rooms are located on the first floor. A lovely parlor where, if you are interested, you can look at the photo album showing the renovation that went into this building in 1996 and 1997. A formal dining room, as well as, the breakfast room is nearby. Breakfast is served from 7-9 a.m. during the week and 8-10 a.m. on the weekend. Cold cereal is available if you want and then your juice, coffee or tea and a hot entree are delivered to your table. On the morning we were there it was scrambled eggs, a sausage patty, and blueberry pancakes. The chef is a great cook and friendly as well.

In the afternoon from 5-7 p.m. wine, as well as cheese and crackers, are available in the first-floor hallway. Coffee is available there at other times. On the third floor, a guest pantry is available where you use the honor system to help yourself to cold drinks and snacks. Prices are very reasonable. Rooms come furnished with a coffee maker.

The Inn at 835 provides free internet access and parking adjacent to the building. The location is within walking distance of the capital building and convenient to everything else including the Dana-Thomas House. This is such a beautiful, friendly and romantic place to stay and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a place to stay that is beyond anything they can imagine.

Presidential Sites: A Visit to the Adams National Historic Park Quincy, Mass.

I have been fascinated by the love story of John and Abigail Adams ever since I read the book Those Who Love by Irving Stone 40 years ago. I decided that I really had to visit the Adams National Historic Park in Quincy, Mass. 

John and Abigail Adams seem in many ways to be an odd pairing. John, well John was opinionated and difficult and a bit of a hypochondriac and Abby was outgoing and way too smart for a woman. Actually just how smart she was is proven by her marriage to John, who was perhaps the only man in Colonial America who was appreciative of her sound advice and financial expertise. 

No shrinking violet Abby, she used her very considerable skills as a businesswoman to keep her husband's interests from failing and to supply him with the funds he needed to survive in Europe during his several appointments there.

A visit to the Adams Historic site involves three houses that you get to visit. The first two are the birthplaces of John Adams and John Quincy Adams. They are the two oldest presidential birthplaces in the US. The first house was purchased by John Adams's father Deacon John Adams in 1720. Originally it had six acres of land and was a two over two construction. It is furnished with period pieces, but not original Adams pieces.

We begin the tour in Susanna Boylston Adams kitchen. They were not a wealthy family so Susanna would have done her own cooking over an open fire in the kitchen. In order to know how long to cook certain things they would sing a song or recite a verse the right length, pretty inventive I thought. John Adams wanted to be a farmer when he was young but his love of books won out and he attended Harvard and became a lawyer.

I was much more interested in John Quincy Adams birthplace. This is the house where Abby and John lived and had their children. But what really interested me was the parlor. It is the home of the original desk where Abby wrote all the wonderful letters to John, many of which have survived. 

While he was away on his lawyer circuit, while he was in Philadelphia, in Paris and London, their letters are one of the best historical records of the times, especially at the ground level. We get her view of events as they transpired. She watched the battle of Bunker Hill from a hillside in Quincy. She was always hungry for information about what is going on in negotiations wherever John was. We also get John’s view on some of the other great figures of the time. He was not a big Ben Franklin fan. It is a simple house by today’s standards and small, the Adams were always struggling to pay their bills.

The third house called Old House is a much larger house and it was here that the Adams came after John returned from England. It is built in the Southern style, and Abby had her uncle buy it while they were still in Europe. It was not nearly as well kept as Abby remembered, and required quite a lot to get it into shape. John Quincy Adams lived here until the end of his life and changed it from a farmhouse to a country estate. 

The last Adams family members to live here were the grandchildren of John Quincy. It is furnished with original Adams furniture and that alone makes the visit worthwhile.

You can also visit John Quincy’s library which is fabulous. John Adams had 4,000 books when he died, 3,000 were sent to the Boston Public library, John Quincy added an additional 12,000 books. It is now managed by the National Park Service and security is very tight. All three of the houses must be visited on tours that are conducted by the park service. 

In 2017 256,000 people toured the houses. Visits to the Adams National Historic Park the visitor center where a trolley provides transportation. The number of people is managed so you need to get your tickets early. The last trolley leaves the visitor center at 3 p.m. Allow 2 to 2 ½ hours to visit the three houses.  a carriage house that may be visited.

Hotel Review: Holiday Inn Brookline, Mass.

Located just one mile from the Boston Fine Arts Museum, The Holiday Inn Brookline is the perfect location, just outside the center city and easily accessible from the Mass. Turnpike. The hotel provides very good directions on their website. The T runs right up Beacon Street with a stop directly in front of the hotel. The hotel has its own parking garage, as these cost change frequently, check with them at the time you plan to visit.

I have to admit I had serious doubts after I booked this hotel for a ridiculously low price on one of the discount sites. Trip Advisor had some scathing reviews, which only deepened my doubt. Relax, this hotel is just fine and an excellent bargain to boot.

One of the complaints was about the smell of chlorine from the pool. We had room 189, which was located right next to the hot tub and adjacent to the pool. No problem whatsoever. Yes, you can smell chlorine when you walk by the pool, that is a good thing. In our room nothing. If you want to use them you call the front desk and it is then unlocked. I loved that because we had the hot tub all to ourselves.

Our room had a king size bed, very comfortable, and with feather pillows optional. It was a very good size room with a desk, chair, table, and good lighting. Everything was very clean and in good repair. I have not one disparaging thing to say. No, we didn’t have a view from our window (another Trip Advisor complaint) but there was a flower box to compensate. Do I wish they had a deeper tub, you bet but I can live with just taking a shower.

The small gym is located right behind the pool area, which you can access with your room key card. They had cardio and weight machines. 

You can choose to eat in the hotel, there are a restaurant and a lounge. We stopped at the lounge Saturday evening for a drink Our bartender was a charming Irishman who gave us good service but did fail to offer us a bowl of pretzels. Just as well, I suppose, since we shouldn’t be eating them anyway.

The breakfast buffet that the hotel offers is quite good and has an omelet bar. It offered a variety of cereal, bread, fruit, yogurt, bacon, and sausage, pancakes, and potatoes. Your waiter will deliver your juice and coffee.  

Overall I was very impressed with everything at the Holiday Inn Brookline and I have actually bought another visit. Where else could I stay for under $100?