my 20th anniversary

Bob and I celebrated our 20th anniversary this past week (February 10).  I can't believe it's been 20 years already.  It seems like just yesterday we were going on our honeymoon.  We had only two cats, I had a new job as a bank teller, and we were living with his parents.  Twenty years later, we're in our second house, we both have good jobs, and we have 11 cats. It's been a great 20 years, and I look forward to another 20, at least.

As usual, he sent flowers to me at work.  He never forgets.  Aren't they pretty?  And, of course, they're purple, which is my favorite color.  There was a balloon attached, also.

We didn't go out to dinner for our anniversary this year.  We typically combine our anniversary with Valentine's Day and go out once, and never on Valentine's Day; the wait at restaurants is awful and we prefer not to deal with it.  This year we decided to go to Sturbridge, MA, for the weekend.  We're members of Old Sturbridge Village--an early 1800s village--so we don't have to pay to visit.  They were having some demonstrations of chocolate grinding, and how to make hot chocolate and baked chocolate pudding, and I wanted to see that. 

The weather people were forecasting arctic-like temps for the weekend, so we left Friday afternoon and stopped at Cabela's on the way up so I could try and find fleece-lined jeans; I have nothing warm enough to keep my legs protected in zero-degree, windy weather. I didn't have any luck, since it's the end of the season.  Once we got to Sturbridge, we made the obligatory Walmart trip so I could buy a pair of cheap leggings, which I wore under my jeans on Saturday.

We stayed at the Oliver Wight House, which is part of the Old Sturbridge Inn & Reeder Family Lodges.  It's a historical house, which has been converted into a 10-room inn.  The hallways were lit with electric lanterns and the interior doors had the old levers for door handles, which is what our house has. The room was beautiful.  It had original wide-plank wood flooring, which was painted white, a small decorative fireplace, and a four-poster canopy bed, which was my favorite part.  The bed was very comfortable, the pillows were perfect, and the bed was so high we had to climb into it.  Neither one of us slept well, though.  I suspect it's because we're no longer used to sleeping in a queen-sized bed.  Also, it was very quiet.  We're used to having white noise from a fan or heater, but the heater in the room was pretty quiet.  We were provided with robes and slippers, which we loved. It left very luxurious overall and we both really enjoyed our stay. And the price wasn't bad at all.  It wasn't much more than what you would spend on a weekend night at a Holiday Inn or Comfort Inn & Suites.

Looking into the room from the entry.

The bed.  I want this bed!!

The bathroom. It was nice, but they should have used nice switch plates for the light switches, not the cheap plastic ones. There was attention to detail in the room, but not much in the bathroom.

Friday night we ate at Cracker Barrel.  It's nothing special, but the Cracker Barrels near us are always crowded and this one wasn't, so we took advantage.  I had the grilled chicken tenderloins with fried apples and hash brown casserole.  I ate the chicken and a few bites of the side dishes, plus a biscuit.

Saturday was breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  I had eggs, sausage, bacon, and grits.  Most of that went to Bob as leftovers, though.  I didn't touch the biscuits, which was really tough.  Then we went to the Village for a few hours.  I'm so glad we went early, as the wind started picking up quite a bit later in the day. I got to see the chocolate demonstrations.  We took a horse-drawn sleigh ride, which was nice.  Very cold, too.  It was really nice being in the Village this time of year.  Very few people, which means we got to spend lots of time lingering in the buildings and looking at things.  We have an old house, so this helped to give us ideas.

The meetinghouse in the Village.

Saturday night we ate dinner at the Oxhead Tavern.  It's also a historic building, built in 1820, so it was very rustic.  It's heated only by the huge fireplace, so it was pretty cold if one wasn't sitting near the fireplace.  And we weren't.  we were towards the back of the dining room and next to an outside door, so we were pretty cold the whole time.  The food was actually very good.  Bob had the bacon-wrapped meatloaf and I had the Sturbridge Salad, which was greens, Gorgonzola cheese, grilled chicken, candied walnuts and dried cranberries with a raspberry vinaigrette.  The service, however, was very slow.  I believe the kitchen was backed up, as everyone around us was experiencing the same long wait.

Sunday morning we went to brunch at the Oliver Wight Tavern. It's a little pricey, and buffets are definitely a  waste for me nowadays, but it was really nice.  The Tavern is, of course, another historical building.  Wide-plank wood floors, wood fireplaces, and period furnishings. The waiters are all dressed nicely and are very friendly and accommodating.  I started off with eggs Benedict, bacon, potatoes, and some tortellini seafood alfredo.  I ate the seafood, but not the pasta, and had a few bites of everything else. I finished most of the eggs Benedict, although I left some of the English muffin behind.  My second plate was Caprese salad, a French toast stick, a slice of beef sirloin, and some Caesar salad.  I ate a couple bites of each and I was done. I had a couple cups of tea and some water in between.  A no-no these days, but I wanted to be able to eat a little more considering the price; I still have a really hard time wasting food.  On the way out I grabbed a chocolate-covered strawberry.

Then we drove home.  We're only a hour from Sturbridge, so it was a short ride.  Then it was back to life.