I went to heaven this weekend, and it involved pink stripes, a Lilly shop next to a Ralph Lauren store, casual blue and white ginger jars strewn about, liberal use of pineapple motifs, and a specific dress code for every possible event, activity, and situation.
This was in close competition with our Snowshoe trip for our favorite local weekend getaway. (West Virginia: wild and wonderful, indeed!) We drove through the beautiful misty mountain scenery and a very small, sleepy town, to arrive at this, tucked back into the woods:
If you need a soundtrack for this post, might I suggest this?
This is pretty much the ideal place for an extended family vacation. You can eat the ridiculously amazing breakfast buffet in the main dining room together, split up to enjoy everyone’s choice of the 55 possible activities, or the spa, the pool, shopping, etc. then reconvene for dinner in one of the 14 restaurants and bars, followed by some live music or a show, and a night in the (very classy) casino before retiring to your adorably and uniquely decorated rooms.
Checking In
This chandelier is from the movie set of Gone with the Wind!
They handed us champagne upon check in, which was a good start, followed by this amazing palm leaf wallpaper leading to shopping and the casino. We were then given the option of more champagne or peach tea and shown to our room where our luggage was waiting. That’s when I officially had a melt-down over the decor.
Our Room
Once I got past the stripes-on-florals (LOVE) I was able to note the darling furniture set trimmed in kelly green. And then I went into the bathroom, where this delightful wallpaper was everywhere, including the ceiling.
This was the view from our windows.
The Interior Design and the History
This is part of the breakfast room.
This is where they serve afternoon tea (see below).
In addition to all the usual entertainment (a great golf course, tennis club, indoor and outdoor pools), some of the things you can do at the Greenbrier include horseback riding, archery, falconry, paintball, whitewater rafting, croquet, hunting, hiking, fly fishing, etc. Will played golf, but I’m really cool, so I started my morning with a history tour of the property after breakfast.
People started coming to the location to “take to the waters” in 1778, and the main building was built in 1913. During WWII it was a huge army hospital, which required Dorothy Draper to come in and create this shrine to unabashed prepdom in 1946. The simply shameless use of color and pattern is pure brilliance. There are many, many lobbies in the main hotel building, including 85 chandeliers, so this took a while. I was able to work on my manual photography a lot.
I am obsessed with the black and white checkerboard flooring. There was often someone playing this piano and even singers performing at night.
All the carpet was appropriately loud, of course.
There were many more rooms with historical paintings and sculptures and whatnot, but my photos weren’t very good, so you’ll have to go see them for yourself. Also, there was a painting class going on in one of the prettiest rooms, and it would have been weird to shoot them. Sorry.
Eventually the tour let out onto a huge balcony, and I grew weary of Grace Kelly stories and took myself on a tour of the rest of the building and grounds.
This indoor pool is so retro it’s not even for real.
There is a nice salon where Monty from Say Yes to the Dress was visiting (they have lots of special events all the time), followed by some cosmetic stores, the gym and fitness classes, the above pool, a bowling alley and the spa.
Outside, this likely would have been nice had it been sunny.
I’m from Charleston, MO, so I am loving these azaleas.
There were carriages, people on the croquet lawn, tennis skirts abounding, and an equestrian lesson passing the chapel.
This is apparently where it all began: the original structure of the 1778 bathing house, which is also a symbol frequently used at the resort. I had to turn back before I could get to the pool, golf and tennis areas because it was time to meet Will for lunch!
This is the side entrance.
Lunch
I had a second to pop into some boutiques and photograph the entrance to Draper’s, a little old-fashioned cafe and ice cream parlor.
Are you dying yet? We had some Southern chicken salad and more peach tea and then had to change (again) for our afternoon outing to the gun club!
The Shooting Course
We took a quick shuttle ride past the Greenbrier’s football complex where the Saints practice, and arrived at this cute little hunting lodge at the top of a hill. Excuse me, the Greenbrier Gun Club. Several adorable old men were really excited to get us suited up and to tell us this was their dream job. Directly in front of the club is a field set up for shooting skeet, which you can kind of see behind Will in this cell phone shot. But we pressed on into the woods for the 10-stand sporting clays course.
It’s hard to tell from my photos, but basically our guide, Willis, took us to different stands on the course where we could try different clay targets. The different stands weren’t even necessary, since each one was rigged so the clays could come from at least three different directions, but no one is to get bored at the Greenbrier. Willis kept telling us to “watch the bird,” but for heaven’s sake, I had just gotten used to the last target! We don’t get this fancy on the farm at home.
See, guns are fun!
I would never mention this, but I might have hit one more bird than Will did.
Changing (again.)(and again).
When we got back from the gun club, we had to change again to suit the dress code for afternoon tea and socialization. One thing you should know about the Greenbrier: be prepared to change clothes for various occasions and activities about 10 times a day. We had a great rest of the afternoon exploring the building and shopping. Did I mention there are 37 boutiques in the building? I got a cute dress for a trip we’re taking in June, and Will got a Greenbrier golf shirt.
Then it was time to get ready for our black tie dinner, and voila!
I loved my dress, it was super comfortable (full coverage is awesome: no fuss), and we had a fabulous time.
On Sunday, I didn’t take any photos, but we had another incredible breakfast, and I got a massage at the spa before packing up to head home. We love the Greenbrier!
