Where was your favorite overnight or weekend getaway?

Benleva hotel close to Loch Ness in Scotland is my favourite place to stay. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, dogs are welcome and the food was simple but very enjoyable. In fact, I had one of the best boiled eggs I have ever had there!! It is also in my favourite place in the whole world.

The Inn at Gristmill Square in Virginia is a family favorite. All rooms are different, the food at the restaurant is excellent, and there is plenty to do on a weekend getaway, including the local naturally warm springs for swimming. The inn also has onsite spa treatments.

The Inn on Mt Ada on Catalina Island.
Catalina has many fun things to do, but the best thing about Mt Ada, aside from it being so historical (It was the Wrigley residence) is that when the island gets crowded from the cruise ships, you can sit on the veranda and feel like aristocracy. You can sip your tea in the warm breeze, smell the salt sea air and the various flora, and hear the sound of the common folk bustling and playing on the beach and in the shops. It’s impossible not to say “this is the good life.”

taroko.silksplace.com.tw/en/aboutus/.html

Traveling by train form Taipei city Taiwan two years ago to the Toroko Natl. park outside of Hualien Taiwan. Amazing food, amazing marble gorges, and the added excitement of watching your footsteps through the jungle zones where the Cobras and Bamboo vipers cavort. lol
The Toroko natives were head hunters until a mere 100 years ago and the buddhist temples overhanging the gorges were spectacular.

A weekend in Rotterdam, for the purpose of watching Newcastle United play Feyenoord (and get beaten 2–0). We stayed in an independent guest house in Delfshaven (Delft), spent a lot of time in a bar called De Pelgrim. We also visited Rotterdam’s market which is huge.

The Inn at Spanish Bay at Pebble Beach. No, I don’t golf, but a wonderful place to stay, great spa, great walks, wonderful food and shopping in Carmel.

The Little River Inn just outside Mendocino.

The Hotel Hana, in Hana Hawaii.

Since you narrowed it down to “weekenders” I would have to give it to the 3 days we spent celebrating our 10th anniversary at a luxury log cabin in SW Wisconsin that was on 500 privately owned acres over looking the Mississippi, Wisconsin and Green Rivers. The owner was a builder in the area and rented this place out as a show piece to their handiwork which nothing was spared and the hot tub overlooking the merging rivers was the bonus. My avatar shows the bald I sat on to read in the early am while surrounded by deer you can’t see in the shot. A slice of heaven.

Turnberry hotel in Aventura, FL. A room with a balcony facing the pool. There are lots of places in FL actually, but I lived there. Turnberry was one of the few places I actually stayed in a hotel in FL, and it always felt like an amazing escape, like I was secluded away for a few days.

Below are cities I really enjoy for a night or two, but I don’t have a recommendation for lodging:

Quebec City, QC. A charming city, looks and feels very European. Can see all of it in a long weekend.

Vancouver, BC. A wonderful walking city with a mild climate.

Charlevoix, Michigan. Beautiful waterways.

The Catskills in NY. Rolling hills, very green in the summer. Small towns each with their own personality. I haven’t been there in years, would love to go back.

Stowe, VT I stayed at the Mountain Lodge resort, but if I went back I would stay closer to town. They have annual events in Stowe like British car parades. Must sees are the history tour at the Von Trapp Lodge, the Ben and Jerry’s factory tour, and there are multiple other things to do nearby.

Driving distance from where I live I would say Hot Springs, Arkansas. I love the baths at the Quapaw, I stay at the Embassy Suites in town. But, I would not recommend it to people who have to drive great distances or fly to get there.

I remember San Antonio, TX being very nice also, walking along the river, but I have not been there in years.

I love weekend getaways! Generally I would rather do a bunch of weekend trips that one 7–10 day long trip. With the exception being traveling to places that are great distances away.

An ex and me went to a small hotel overlooking Lake George in NY. We went wine tasting, and walked around on the frozen lake. People were riding snowmobiles on the lake, and they also had one of those contests where people in bathing suits run into the lake water from the shore.

I can’t find the name of the hotel, because there’s a bunch lining the lake. We also ate at the restaurant that was attached to the hotel, and that was good as well. I had salmon and she had pasta. There was a young guy playing the piano, and he took requests. I asked my ex if I could request Metallica, but she said no.

Keep in mind this was for Valentine’s Day, lol.

Seeing the ballet, Dracula, in Auckland. The ballet was beautiful, the company was beautiful… having lunch in Devonport in the sunshine was perfect. One of those almost perfect, but bitter-sweet memories I will hold onto until my last breath.

Palm Springs. Because I love nature, you basically get a two-fer out there. You get the warmth of the sun and the beautiful desolation of the desert landscape, but then whoosh, ten minutes later you can be whisked 8,000 feet above the desert floor to the mountain top by way of a tram, where even in the summer, you might be able to find a little bit of snow. If you go in spring or fall, you truly get the best of both worlds, warm summery desert, and cool snowy mountains.

Also, Palm Springs has tons of great restaurants. You can literally eat you way up and down the main drag. And they have lots of really cute small-ish hotels. Some are from the 20’s, when Palm Springs became a resort town, and then there’s the gorgeous mid-century hotels and houses from the 50’s and 60’s when Palm Springs became the playground for the Rat-Pack and other Hollywood celebs. But unlike Hollywood, Palm Springs is small and clean and gorgeous! And it’s gay friendly and dog friendly, which is always a plus in my book.

My own favorite was a weekend we spent at a cabin at the foot of Mt. Rainier on a bend of the Cowlitz River. The cabin was beautiful. It was surrounded by snow-capped mountains. It had a cedar soaking tub on the deck. I woke up the next morning to go to the bathroom and saw movement out of the corner of my eye. There was a herd of elk in the meadow right outside the cabin door. it was magical.