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Weekend Getaways
by Linda Barrett
for Virginia Business Options
March
2006
The Hope and Glory Inn
Romance awaits
In the small
Northern Neck town of Irvington, the Hope and Glory
Inn is a
retreat
for the romantic at
heart. Snuggle into sumptuously pillowed beds or enjoy
the sensual treat of bathing outdoors in the inn’s
private claw-footed tub. With its eclectic, shabby-chic
décor, this is definitely a “put your
feet up” kind of place.
Owners Peggy and Dudley Patteson have taken an 1890s
schoolhouse and turned it into what they call a Nantucket-type
retreat. Guests stay in one of seven soft-hued rooms
or four guest cottages, amid English gardens planted
with hollyhocks, antique roses and artemesia.
Off-site, six newly-constructed three-bedroom/three-bath “tents” cottages
add extra space to the inn’s capacity (with six
more to come). Called Hope and Glory’s Tents
at Vineyard Grove, they are situated on the headwaters
of Carter’s Creek, adjacent to the White Fences
Vineyard.
Visitors can walk to a variety of
shops near the Inn offering men’s and women’s
fashions, handcrafts and gourmet treats. Or they can
go aboard the Faded
Glory, a Chesapeake Bay work boat, for the Friday night
Crab Cruise ($65) or Saturday afternoon cocktails ($30).
For those desiring more active pursuits, golf, tennis,
kayaking, bicycling, croquet and bird watching are
all available. Afterward, call for a soothing in-room
massage.
Dinner at the adjacent Trick Dog
Café is always
a treat, offering big-city sophistication in small-town
Virginia with such entrees as pheasant, crab cakes
and lamb. An evening stroll and drinks on the waterfront
round out a romantic day.
Hope and Glory Inn
Rates: From $170-$375/night
1-800-497-8228
Poplar Springs Inn
Ahh, spa
I first heard about Poplar
Springs — the Inn
Spa from a friend who considered it the ultimate place
to celebrate a “milestone” birthday. Here,
owners Howard Foer and Lauren Levine have created an
inviting balance of old and new in their $10 million
boutique hotel on a historic farm in Casanova, just
50 miles from Washington D.C.
Each of the hotel’s 22 rooms
is elegantly appointed, with oversize baths, down coverlets
and beds triple-sheeted
with imported linens. Awake and step onto a private
patio for a refreshing stretch and views of the rolling
countryside. Guests can rejuvenate body and soul at
the European spa by selecting from its menu of treatments,
including a basic Signature Massage, deep therapeutic,
hot stone soothing or Indian massage. Afterward, they
can relax in the steam room, hot tub or pool, enjoy
tennis, biking or horseback riding, or just roam the
200-acre grounds.
Chef Foer delights in creating meals with fresh ingredients
in his Manor House Restaurant, a European-style fieldstone
house. If guests ask him to create what he recommends,
they could be surprised by three-course French cuisine.
Every morning, a continental breakfast is delivered
to each room.
Nearby are a dozen local wineries,
and patrons who don’t wish to drive can arrange to tour them
by limousine. Favorites include the Naked Mountain
Vineyard, and the Mediterranean Cellars. Poplar Springs’ Wine
Aficionado Getaway offers a behind-the-scenes tour
and barrel tasting at local vineyards, plus a bottle
of wine and signature glasses. Poplar Springs
From $225 a night,
packages available.
(800) 490-7747
Renaissance Mayflower Hotel
A walking vacation in Washington
If a walking
vacation has appeal, visitors will love the Renaissance
Mayflower
Hotel
in downtown Washington.
The elegance of this luxury hotel
is immediately seen in the block-long marble promenade
hall lined with
crystal chandeliers. It’s easy to understand
why the hotel was for decades a regular venue for presidential
inaugural balls.
Upstairs, the rooms are beautifully outfitted following
a recent $9 million renovation. Soft bathrobes and
downy beds are but a few of the luxuries.
The hotel’s location on Connecticut Avenue is
a perfect spot from which to explore the capital on
foot. Halted after 9/11, tours are once again available
at the White House, located just four blocks away.
Visitors should contact their congressmen in advance
for tickets. For those without a ticket, the White
House Visitors Center is equally as interesting.
A few steps from the White House
is the Corcoran Gallery of Art on 17th Street (admission
$8), where an Andy
Warhol exhibit recently was under way alongside a William
Clark collection of European art. Art lovers should
also visit the Renwick Gallery (also on 17th Street)
where they can marvel at Wendell Castle’s “Ghost
Clock.” At first glance, the piece appears to
be a grandfather clock covered by a cloth. Closer examination,
however, reveals that the entire piece, clock and “cloth,” is
carved from one piece of solid mahogany. A Grant Wood
exhibition opens in March.
Renaissance Mayflower guests don’t have to go
far to enjoy themselves. They can take afternoon tea
in the hotel’s Promenade Café and shop
at world-class shops like Burberry, Filene’s
Basement and Rizik’s that surround the hotel.
For dinner, Galileo (on 21st Street)
offers upscale Italian cuisine. Our party was seduced
by the six-course
offering ($95). The homemade tortellini was firm,
with an excellent black truffle sauce, and the black
cod
in a fennel lobster sauce melted in our mouths. When
in town, chef/owner Roberto Donna prepares a 12-course
feast in his Laboratorio del Galileo, an intimate
setting where diners survey their meal’s preparations
on an overhead mirror ($110-$125, reservations recommended).
Back at the hotel, don’t miss
the magic tricks of bartender Sam Lek or his menu of
more than 100
martinis. He is well known throughout Washington,
as is this
grande dame hotel. Renaissance Mayflower Hotel
Rates: From $189 a night,
$28/day for overnight parking
202-347-3000
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