Fast Forward August 20, 2008

Les & I got a chance to go away overnight for our 14th Anniversary thanks to the help of our wonderful family! The girls got to go stay with Kevin & Carrie's family and Griffin got to spend the night with Grandma & Grandpa and as a special surprise for him he got to go have supper with Doug, Lisa, & Kaelyn!! I think this is the first time Les and I went somewhere by ourselves since I was pregnant with Griffin! We really should do it more often! We had such a great time!

We decided to head down to West Baden/French Lick area. We had stayed at the French Lick Hotel on our wedding night so we thought we'd celebrate our Anniversary by going back down there but this time we stayed at the West Baden Springs Hotel...it was pretty much run down back in 1994...but the last several years they have done an entire rennovation of the place and was completed in 2007. Les & I both are history buffs and enjoy the nostalgia of yester years! I know, I know, I know how exciting are we!! A few years back when they were just starting the rennovations at West Baden.....we had rode Les' motorcycle down and took a tour of the old place so it was breath taking now to see the entire place brought back to life! The atrium is where I just stand in awe..and It makes me think back to when the place was actually built and how they didn't have the cranes and equiptment they do today to build it and my mind wonders if the walls could talk what fascinating stories they could tell! There are tons of old pictures along the walls with brief descriptions of when and where the pictures were taken.


Even though Les & I were gone a short 24 hours it was a total escape for us...we enjoyed their spa services...which was totally relaxing..and I actually got to enjoy a "milk bath fit for a queen"! that's what the brochure said...anyway I thought how pathetic that I have to pay to get some time to soak in a tub but it was worth it just for the mere fact that #1 no other children were in the bath tub with me #2 NO interruptions from children screaming MOMMMM. and #3 you know it's going to be nice when they take you to a room called "the tranquility room"!

We also enjoyed dinner over at the French Lick Hotel...the waiter had asked if there was any special occasion and we told him it was our anniversary and at the end of our meal he brought out strawberries dipped in chocolate with a candle standing on plate that was all swirled with chocolate designs! I told Natalie about it (you know she is my chocolate lover) she said I'm so jealous! ha ha.

Below are pictures from our brief escapade. The architecture of the place is just astounding all the beautiful landscapes and porches lined with rocking chairs (mind you...I almost had to fight off all the old blue hairs to get a chance to sit in one! ha ha lots of retirees and charter buses in and out down there). Of course the casino is also there..we had no desire to really see that..but Les & I both agree if it took a casino to restore both of these magnificent places then I guess good can come out of the bad! The service was top notch...we basically just had to snap our fingers and someone was right there getting whatever we needed! We also went to a couple of antique shops in downtown French Lick and picked up our kids some antiques' for their souvenirs...the girls got little old antique purses and Griffin we found an old story book that was entitled "ABCs on the Farm"...it even had a picture of a little boy riding a tractor with his daddy! I definitely see that area developing in the next few years and in fact they were in process of building a hotel with a water park on top of a ridge across from the French Lick Hotel. It's definitely one of our favorite places to visit!