After harvest, Mark enjoys a weekend getaway to celebrate finishing and just to take a break. We booked our trip to Bellevue Iowa to our favorite Bed and Breakfast. I had taken Mark for his birthday 3 years ago. This time we invited our good friends. We planned to stay two nights and they stayed for one. The Saturday evening Murder Mystery Dinner is one of the main features with amazing food, entertainment with costumes and all. Another favorite is the amazing morning breakfast served hot and fresh with more food than you can eat. Due to our unpleasant intruder named COVID, both were cancelled last minute. We decided it was in the books and we still wanted to go. It was quite a drive, 3.5 hours. Mark and I stopped for dinner along the way and got in to the B&B after dark. We were staying in the "East Room". Each room has a name and theme. The entire house was built in 1893 and has quite a history and a number of owners. At one point there was a massive fire that destroyed the whole top floor. The décor is as close to the era as possible. Each room has a jacuzzi and fireplace of which we enjoyed both. The room got so warm we had to shut the fireplace off and open the door, which allowed the house cat to make his way in and right at home. First thing the next morning, the cat was at our door meowing. He knew I was a cat person. Our morning breakfast was "help yourself," reheat a quiche, some rolls and fruit. It was very good, just different not having the guests at the table for family style, hot, and fresh. There was another couple at the house with masks on that stayed far away. We only saw them briefly when they grabbed the breakfast and ran. It was a gloomy, drizzly, cold day on Saturday morning so our plans to walk and see the area did not happen. We drove to the edge of the bluff overlooking the city. We drove into Dubuque and found a really nice western store. We found several Christmas gifts and did some shopping. We had lunch in Bellevue at a local café. Restaurant customers were so scarce. Everyone is so fearful of the virus. Back at the B&B, Mark and I grabbed a book. I sat in the sunroom with a space heater a couple feet away. It was perfectly warm while I read in the cute little room. I so want to have a room like that in our home. I have yet to find a way.
In the evening, Buhr's arrived and we went out to supper at Potter's Mill. The old flour mill was built in 1843 including a waterwheel. Wheat came in from Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin by way of the Mississippi to grind onto flour. In more recent year, it had been renovated into a restaurant. There was a lot of history there also. The atmosphere was so neat inside. There were only two other tables of people in the restaurant and us. We ordered drinks, appetizers, and food and took our time. I am sure they appreciated the business. Back at the house, we sat in the fancy chairs of the day and visited into the late hours. We had the entire place to ourselves. We discovered some awesome vintage music players. One was an old music player with large metals disks, similar to the one pictured. Dan got it playing and we were all in awe. He also plugged in the piano and got out the music sheets. He figured out how to set the music sheets in and got the "Player Piano" running. We all oved that! The sound quality was amazing, it played every note on key without missing a beat. It played loud and fast and a little fragile sheet of music with notches in it would roll along. The piano and music were 100 years old!! Amazing. I hope someday we we retire to have on in my home. We sat and listened, and danced to the beautiful music. It was a sweet time away with friends. In the morning we had our reheat breakfast before heading back home. The drive was long with pretty hilly country roads and farms.
Comments