Spending Some Time With My Bride: First Bed and Breakfast of 2012

Jamie and I finally worked in some time alone this year, thanks to Groupon. We stayed a night at the Hattie Mae Inn in Ft. Worth. As part of the deal from Groupon, we got the Romance Package (which included a bottle of wine and some chocolate covered strawberries) and one night in the Oriental Oasis Room, all for a very reasonable price. (It would have been cool if it was snowing as it is in the picture.)

When we arrived at our B&B we were greeted by the owner's cat, Fred, who walked us to the front door.  After checking in and getting a brief tour, we left the Inn to purchase advance tickets to watch The Hunger Games, which we plan on watching as a family on Caleb;s birthday (the 24th). We used two free tickets from Rave Cinemas, that I won by entering a contest sponsored by the Coffee News.

After that we tried to find an On the Border restaurant to eat at, but road construction in the area made it difficult to find. We ended up eating a place called Buttons. It was a little pricey; however, the food was very delicious. After Buttons, we went back to the Inn and enjoyed our chocolate covered strawberries and a glass of the wine.

Our delicious breakfast was scrambled eggs, bacon and some little fried pancakes. Juice and coffee of course came with the meal. While eating our breakfast we talked to Trish, the lady who made breakfast and cleans the Inn, who told us about the "ghost" stories the Inn has and showed us the bullet hole in the side of the house, where the original owner of the home was shot and killed during a robbery. We did not experience any ghostly activities during our stay.

We had a great time!

Bed & Breakfast

My wife, Jamie, and I love to go to Bed & Breakfast whenever the budget allows! So far we have visited eight of them. Our most recent visit was to The Jones House Bed & Breakfast in Nacogdoches, TX. It was a fantastic place to stay. That evening we dined at the local Fuddruckers and we spent the rest of the evening talking together. We don't get chances to talk as often as we like, with busy schedules and all, so this was a treat.

The next morning we used our "breakfast vouchers" to go eat at the Hotel Fredonia. The breakfast omelets were delicious.

We hope to stay at another Bed & Breakfast soon!

Other B&B's we have stayed at include; The Woldert-Spence Manor in Tyler, TX, Roseland Plantation in Ben Wheeler, TX (near Tyler), Oaklea Mansion and Manor House in Winnsboro, TX, White Oak Manor in Jefferson, TX, Wisteria Gardens Bed & Breakfast in Marshall, TX, Dowell House in McKinney, TX (Really liked the hot tub here!), and the Durning House in Van Alstyne, TX.

The Dowell House (Our B&B Experience)

My wife Jamie and I just got back from our stay at The Dowell House, which is a B&B in McKinney, TX. We stayed in The Chardonnay Room, which had a hot tub on a private balcony. Out stay was very nice. After spending some time in the hot tub, Jamie and I were so relaxed we could barely stay awake to watch a little TV before going into a nice relaxed sleep. The bed was very comfortable and the room and bath accommodations were fantastic.

The breakfast this morning was delicious. We had Baked French Toast with a cream cheese filling, some sausage and some fruit. Our host were very friendly and we had a nice breakfast conversation with them and two sisters who were also staying in at the B&B.

While milling around in McKinney my bride Jamie introduced me to two restaurants that I had never eaten at before. We had a nice lunch at Pei Wei, an Asian style place, where we ate their famous Lettuce Wraps. Yummy! Later for Diner we ate at Cafe Brazil, a coffee house with a breakfast style menu. We split an order of Chicken Crepes with a spicy sauce, some Rosemary potatoes and toast. We also had two cups of coffee each, of course.

Now it's off to LTC this evening in Dallas. The events are held at the Dallas Regency Hyatt Hotel where we stay for one night. I'm sure the kids will do fine in the events they are participating in.

Happy Late Valentine's Day To My Bride!

To make up for our lack of a Valentine's Day, (wife was sick) I decided to book a Bed & Breakfast for my wife and I to stay at right before the Easter holiday. We will be staying at The Dowell House in McKinney, TX. We will stay in The Chardonnay Room. The kids will be stay with my wife's sister's family just up the road in Howe, TX. We are already looking forward to spending some quality time by ourselves. Especially in the Hot Tub! (The 1970's movie "Benji" was filmed using this location as the main home of the family who owned Benji.)

My wife and I try to stay at a least one B&B every year just to get away from it all. Other B&B's we have stayed at include: Oaklea Mansion & Manor in Winnsboro, TX, The Woldert-Spence Manor in Tyler, TX (this was our first B&B), Roseland Plantation & Winsor House B&B in Ben Wheeler, TX (near Tyler, TX), White Oak Manor, in Jefferson, TX and Wisteria Garden B&B in Marshall, TX.

I have created a list of several B&B's within a decent traveling distance from our home town of Longview, TX. I especially would like to stay in a "haunted" location. The White Oak Monor in Jefferson was suppossed to be haunted, but nothing happened while we there anyway. We did go a "Ghost Walk" while we were there though.

On a side note: our Nintendo Wii (that I broke) is on its way home! My kids were very happy about this. I was just enjoying the peace and quite without it. According to Nintendo USA it should arrive by UPS sometime this weekend or early next week. JOY JOY!