Sunday, November 7, 2010

The Fall Weekend Get Away


Have you ever wanted to just get away? A change of scenery or a chance to turn your focus to things that you are not responsible for and just relax your mind?

Last weekend was one of those weekends....for 24 hours, My husband and I left the farm, the kids, the grand kids, the dog, the cat and the horse and went south.....to the very small town of Linden, Tennessee. The weather was perfect, the sky was blue, the fall colors were brilliant and the drive was slow and lazy as the country roads wound this way and that way. I am surprised I didn't fall asleep as I usually do on long drives, but the breathtaking scenes from the windshield of our car kept me awake and captivated.

Now if you haven't been to Linden and ever get a chance to go, don't blink or look down to change the station on the radio or you will certainly miss the historic down town area....in fact the whole 2 blocks of the city was under construction for new sidewalks. That was fine since a walking tour of the city didn't take that long and we hardly noticed the orange cones warning us of the construction obstacles to avoid. The size of the town was a surprise, but all the more inviting for a weekend get away.

The Commodore Hotel was a treat......a 1939 hotel restored with modern conveniences, but still a step back in time.......how many people get to stay in room # 1 and the key to the door is a real key. This has to be the most unique place we have ever stayed........the room was kind of like an upstairs bedroom, like you would find in a bed and breakfast and was really comfortable. We were told the hotel door was locked at 9:00pm and if we went out we would have to use a code to get back in. Well, we weren't going anywhere, there was no place to go!!

The hotel had a restaurant with a Chef and the Waitress was also the front desk clerk. Since we were there on Halloween weekend, dinner was prepared by a character from Goosebumps and served up by the bride of Dracula....what a frightful night it was....





The meal was excellent, a delicacy in a rural little town where time has stopped compared to hustle and bustle of the outside world. And when I say time has stopped....I mean literally.

Someone forgot to tell the folks of Linden there is crime and criminals out there in the world.....the information book in the room listed under services that guests could have their guns cleaned during their stay, in fact, the hotel would arrange for pick up and delivery for the guests. Then during dinner, cooked and served by very strange characters, trick or treat-ers came in to collect candy from a big bowl set out by Dracula's Bride.......A dad and mom brought in a tiny little goblin with dad in camos and a deer rifle slung on his back.......this was deemed a natural way of life for the small town and no one appeared offended or threatened.....
The night was peaceful, sleep was deep and we awoke rested and ready for a nice breakfast to send us on our way back to reality.....but we took our time, reminiscing about the things we had seen and enjoyed in the last 24 hours.....A quaint little town where the stress of the outside world had not yet penetrated the lives of the locals, the Mennonite farms where we had bought fresh bread made by a sweet grandma who had ground the flour to make it, the Native American PowWow that we happened upon where they were honoring the soldiers from all areas of the military and I found a real Indian Talking Stick, and where time had slowed down to a pace of years gone by.....