A Lovely Time !

It started with a sweet card and a CD by the coffee pot Friday morning before we left …

While we made our way south (so northern Michigan was quickly eliminated) I thought perhaps a weekend in Ann Arbor?
But nope, we went “international” after all and ended up at the Benmiller Inn in southern Ontario – about 4 hours from home. Good thing hubby had the passports in his coat pocket (sneaky fellow).
The main building at Benmiller is a converted wool mill over 100 years old. When we checked in I was informed I had a massage appointment for 9am the next morning (another surprise!). It was wonderful.
Back in the 1980s Benmiller was one of THE places to go for a weekend away (especially the Toronto crowd). However times change - Hubby did not know it had just come out of receivership. You certainly could tell it had suffered from neglect – but hopefully the new owners will provide some TLC to bring it back.
It does have some neat architectural features – this motif is every where – the original iron work came from a widow’s walk on a house in London, Ontario.
The weather was not the best – we did not see the sun until Sunday morning (when I took all these pictures) which really did not matter since I was having such a lovely break with hubby. Our building was right by the river that had powered the mill in the old days - the water rose substantially overnight because of all the rain. We were not in any danger of flooding but it was pretty incredible to see it rushing by.
We spent a wet but fun Saturday in Stratford, Ontario – known for its wonderful theater (and also as the hometown of Justin Bieber for those who care about that sort of thing LOL). While it was off season for seeing plays, there are lots of shops to go into and poke around – at our own pace.
This was THE find of the weekend – a solar powered Queen E (her hand waves) – how hysterical (yes – of all the things we could have brought back). We ate (too) well but did a lot of walking also (which helped to balance things out I like to think).
As for Miss Gwendoline – well her babysitter posted how much she LOVED her on Facebook – and offered to trade Gwen for one of her bigger dogs. Apparently she was a little angel all weekend (hmmmm) – we even had a phone pic sent to us of her and babysitter cuddling on the coach. So she had a great weekend to!
I had a marvelous time and was spoilt rotten. What a great guy – I’m willing to rent him out as a consultant to other hubbies (for a small fee of course). He sure made my weekend. LU sweetheart! Jewels ♥♥♥

(p.s. I never did get in the pool LOL)