Happy 40th Birthday to John!!!

We're currently at the Ann Bean Mansion in Stillwater, enjoying a delicious cup of strong, organic Joe up in the tippy top of The Tower Room. This has been the most wonderful night in a B&B! I must say, this B&B goes quietly to the Nth degree of luxury, every detail is understated and elegant, and yet casual and accessible to us punker-dorks. This was a winner pick for celebrating John's big four-oh! We've had the BEST time here!

We got to Stillwater early yesterday to avoid too much snow build-up and rush hour traffic. We wandered up and down Main Street, then stopped into the most adorably cute coffee place, The Daily Grind Espresso Cafe, where John enjoyed a Naughty Norwegian (oh yes, I can attest to that! ;) and I had a regular latte sprinkled with cinnamon and loads of sugar, dentist advice be damned! Then we took a meander down to a local bookseller and I bought Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, one of my absolute favorite authors. Ever frugal to the core, I was going to pass on it, but my sweet love urged me to buy it so I'd have something to read with him later that evening :) Big happy smiles!

Then it was time to check in, and we got a very friendly and attentive welcome, though we haven't seen the resident Kitty yet. The owners showed us the room and gave us tidbits about the coffee maker and fireplace, brought us a couple of their home brews, delicious and dark stout, and chatted us up a bit. We discussed brewing a bit with Jeremy, and Erin gave us a run down of good eateries in town. Then we flaked out for a bit on the luxurious bed before driving down to The Madcapper Saloon & Eatery for a lovely evening supper of fish and chips. John tried the Surly Smoke and the Liftbridge Farmgirl and I tried the Liftbridge Biscotti. The Smoke was a bit too smokey, Farmgirl was very good as was the Biscotti, which took just a little while to grow on me with its *almost* too complex flavors, but I ended up really enjoying it.

Back to the B&B for some bubble time in the incredible jacuzzi!! As far as jacuzzi's go, I've never had so nice as an experience as this one (other than me getting a little too hot and whining about it til I finally took a cold shower). We plopped in a bath fizzy that made the whole thing fizzle and smell like mint, pine & rosemary, and let the bubbles massage us as we soaked quietly.

Brekkies were unique and tasty as a B&B guarantees, which we enjoyed eating by the fireplace. Then we headed up to the point to enjoy the chilly sunrise before bidding the place goodbye. What a relaxing trip!