STEP BY STEP

 

Despite my nearly 90 years, I still look good in my navy blue Kiton suit… especially when I complement it with either a pink or pale green open necked shirt by Bugatchi. The cynic might then well add, “yeah, but who doesn’t?”

Alright, I will concede that, but still, I think I am doing okay…especially for a guy whose rolodex (remember those?) contains about 85% dead folks.

I set up this preamble for part two of my Notes regarding the automobile trek to New England and back because of an overriding (no pun intended) reality check, concluding that I am simply too old for this. One month on the road and I am exhausted.

The whole thing was an ill-thought-out mistake. I had just finished my book, along with a year that involved three separate surgeries on the same hernia with three separate surgeons. I needed a holiday. My friend Renee Taylor was previewing a new play in the Berkshires; what better way to celebrate her and to relax than a leisurely drive along the Eastern Seaboard, with spa visits at known-to-me… as well as new-to-me… resorts?

Never mind that I live on an Island paradise with a perfectly fine spa,  as well as a pristine beach, replete with a staff of long-time employees who seem to take pleasure in meeting my every desire. I would eschew all of that for the open road.

It would appear I have learned little since being born in 1937.

What about “bloom where you were planted,” the grass not always being “greener” …. “not seeing the forest for the trees” … the best things in life are not only free, but right under your nose?

The second half of the trip… southward from the Berkshires to Miami would be driven on an inland route rather than the Atlantic Coast traversed on the way north. Pennsylvania, the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, the Highlands of North Carolina, simply gorgeous country.

The trip was, by most standards, wonderful … but at 29.5 days… simply too long. There was also the matter of the stairs.

The Crossroads Inn of North Carolina was an interesting stop, provided you are into quaint. Built sometime in the early 19^th century, is long hand meaning no elevator, along with stairs that no 21^st century building code would even consider, let alone permit.

Steep, like you cannot believe… and long… with no intermediate landing between floors. When those carpenters in 1820 took their hammers to wood, they were not contemplating an old guy such as myself walking to another floor. The literal bottom of the second floor intercepts the Bannister that would normally help one up and down those stairs in the first place. And “up” is by far the easier part. I opted to pass on dinner and spend the night in my upstairs digs rather than try to navigate any non-essential downward journey on that stairway.

You want to complain about government regulations? Try navigating an over two-hundred-year-old stairway built in the land of the too free. You may change your point of view about such things.

Primland… an Auberge Resort… was next and it is a beauty. A great lodge on 12,000 acres where fly fishing, golf, skeet shooting, archery, horseback riding, tennis, bird watching, great scenery along with a not-too-bad spa, are all available for guests. The last two were my destination points, but the majority of the folks in residence had a more active lifestyle in mind. That, along with classes on how to make Bourbon cocktails and sampling local Moonshine, can fill out a day nicely. And, good news, there is an elevator… unless you want to go to the observatory. Even then, the steps were designed in this century.

Have you been to Blowing Rock, North Carolina? A visit to the Westglow is well worth doing. Ms. Jennifer Hale is the Director of Hotel Operations and a lovely hostess of this historic Manor House built on 11 acres that overlook the very beautiful Grandfather Mountain. The food is top notch… the views sublime… the staircase wide and sweeping with big rails. I presume by the time it was built (1917) for the famed artist and writer Elliot Daingerfield as his summer home, some learning had been accomplished in the area of safer stairs. Either that or old Mr. Daingerfield recognized a thing or two about approaching his 60^th birthday. Whatever, the place was lovely and ultra comfortable. Maybe I should have extended that visit… you think?

Old Edwards Inn is the high point of the Highlands of North Carolina. It has been a favorite of mine for years and was to be the last of the primary destination points of the trip. The three-story brick structure that was first built in the 19^th century, improved and enlarged in the 1930s, is the centerpiece of the town and its spa is well known throughout the state. The food is good, the service first rate, the Dove Bars are free and the only problem is too many people have found out about it.

The Old Edwards Inn has become so successful over the years that management keeps buying more and more real estate and building more rooms. The latest ones are blocks away from the original building as well as from the heart of town. The new rooms are nice (some-to-most would say nicer, but not me). I like the camaraderie of the old building and I love the easy access to the free Dove Bars (oh, yeah, and the town).

The problem in the old building is, of course, those ancient stairways. Not as ancient as those constructed long before any reasonable building code was put into place but plenty steep for these old bones.

I had been through enough. After several miles of the curviest mountain road anyone is likely to encounter this side of the Amalfi Coast, I wended my way home by the Gulf route… saw a bit of Tampa and promised myself that one day soon… when/if I recover from this journey… I will revisit that part of my adopted state, along with St. Petersburg and Sarasota about which I have some curiosity.

Whenever it is that I decide to go… it will be a while from now… it will take a lot less than 29.5 days… and you can take all bets that all the hotels to which I give my business will have at least one elevator.

 

Barney Rosenzweig