Time Off

ATTENTION: If you think I used too many words and too few pictures, take advantage of this entry while you have the chance. The most pictures I've ever used, and probably the most pictures I will ever use. Enjoy!


It's taken me a while to ease back into my blogging habit. A few days off stretched into a week pretty fast. That time away was amazing, but getting the inspiration to get back into the daily grind has proven difficult to come by.

After all the stress of school, Christmas shopping, Hamish's illness, and general pent-up irritation and exhaustion, Kate and I decided we needed to get away from everything for a few days. So off we went to Galena, IL, to a quaint, cozy little B&B for some much needed R&R. The place: the Inn at Irish Hollow.

We went last year; and though we both agreed that Galena itself was perhaps too dull for a young couple, the Inn was completely charming, offering ample opportunity for solace, respite, and reflection. And the food is among the best we've ever eaten. Seriously. That was actually the deciding factor. It wasn't quite enough to go away a few days to simply read, sleep, relax, and forget about cellphones, Facebook, TV, and Hamish (love him though we do) - the food is what really tipped the scales.

Not much to say about the first day. We picked up an audiobook (Death of a Gentle Lady, which is part of the Hamish Macbeth mystery novels that serve as our puppy's namesake), dropped Hamish with a friend for dog-sitting, and left. The drive is pretty long, and check-in is after 4PM, so we spent most of the day in the car. Upon arrival, we checked into the French Maid cottage, which is where we stayed last year (and, strangely, is the cheapest on all the property, even among single rooms in the main building).

The cottage is very nice, very quaint. There are four rooms - kitchen, sitting room, bedroom, and bathroom - as well as a screened porch in the back, which we did not utilize this year or last (probably could have, but so far our favorite pass-time has been reading in front of the fire). If you're seeking a traditional hotel, this is not it. The only phone is in the main building, there are no televisions anywhere, and the general feeling is one of "Stay in and take it easy" rather than "Sleep here but spend your day on the run." I love that atmosphere. A friend from college recently challenged people to go one day without Facebook - the fiancee and I happily went three.

Day two was much more eventful. We started off with a lovely snooze past 9AM and then headed over for a delicious breakfast. The innkeeper told us the eventual goal is for all the food to be grown on-site, so for now they make due with getting the freshest possible ingredients and making everything themselves. If this is their idea of slumming it, then I will literally salivate when they get their crops up and going.

First course: a half-grapefruit dusted with brown sugar and a strawberry in the center. The sweetness of the strawberry and sugar compensate for the tartness of the grapefruit, which I'm generally not a fan of. This, however, was delicious and left me wanting more.

Second course: blueberry muffin topped with powdered sugar and a little helping of cinnamon butter... at least, I'm pretty sure that's what it was. I should have gone in for a closer picture, but as you can see from the knife I was ready to dig in and almost forgot to take the picture!

The main course was phenomenal. An omelette with all manner of delicious stuffing and toppings. From memory, I seem to recall mushrooms, cheese, broccoli... I forget what else. A nice, fresh veggie omelette. Then as you can see some potatoes to the side and an orange slice. The real star (and a signature item, coincidentally) is the bacon. Let me tell you: this is best bacon ever! They top it with brown sugar, twist it, and then bake it in the oven. Result: amazing. A shame you only get two pieces.

After that we went back to the cottage to let food settle and come up with a game plan for the day. We had toyed with the idea of going snowboarding on a slope of fake snow, or venturing into Galena again like last year to walk the streets and check out the local merchants, but ultimately we decided to take advantage of the property's scenic environment.

The inn sits on a property of two hundred and fifty acres, the back half of which is very hilly and difficult to develop, so they've instead turned it into a series of nature trails. We spent a few hours wandering the property. Just look at how vast and expansive it is! You could see for miles!

Like I said, the property is very hilly. We actually had a little trouble getting up some of the hills, considering the mud. Not that we turned back or anything - just saying, they were steep. We even saw a group of deer running down below in one of the valleys. It was like something out of a movie: look off into the distance, and there they were, bounding through the foliage. It was so picturesque... and of course I don't have a picture. If it weren't for the tails, we wouldn't have even seen them - they blend in perfectly, except when they're on the run.

On the way down, we found a little clearing, so we got a little silly. Kate took advantage of the space to do a few cartwheels; I stayed behind the lens. Nothing incriminating, you realize.

Look at that hang time!

Then we finally headed back to the cottage to relax and prepare for the feast that lay ahead. We spent the next few hours reading (Kate nearly read an entire book in that span - she's fast!), though I also snapped a few pictures - the best of which are below - and we even did a little workout routine with medicine balls and a weighted vest. Trying to get back in shape for the wedding.

The costs at the inn are quite expensive considering the lack of amenities on the property, as well as the general lack of activity in the surrounding area, but part of what you're paying for is the seclusion... the other part is the food.

Dear God, the food. You get breakfast each day you're there, and a seven-course dinner the night before you leave. I cannot emphasize this enough: for a full experience, the Inn at Irish Hollow offers the most satisfying and complete meals I've ever had. Truly delicious, but not overbearing. You eat every last morsel - not because you feel obligated, but simply because it's that good.

Stuffed fig, apricot, and mushroom

Crab flan with pumpkin pesto

Organic greens with roasted sweet potato and pear

Stuffed beef tenderloin with beet-wrapped asparagus, smashed potatoes, and... squash (?)

Kate doesn't eat red meat: she switched the beef for salmon

Berry and lemon pound cake trifle

Not pictured: the sorbet "intermezzo" (palate cleanser) and a delicious fennel soup. I may have been too excited to take the picture, or the picture may have turned out too blurry (still getting used to this new camera). But seriously, I can't say enough about the food. It's amazing. A perfectly cooked, well-chosen menu full of items which are unique without being pretentious. I'm getting hungry thinking about it.

Once back at the cottage, Kate built a roaring fire, and we whiled away the remaining hours in blissful serenity. I had been putting together a massive list of vocabulary to learn for my upcoming GRE, but quickly decided to abandon that and focus on relaxation rather than work. It was a good decision, and we went to bed fairly early.

Breakfast the next day was amazing. The Irish oatmeal pictured above is one of my favorite dishes: oatmeal topped with loads of fresh fruit and a syrupy drizzle. Normally I find oatmeal too bland - no matter what you add to it - but this is so creamy and delicious it puts all others to shame. And the eggs florentine were a delight - not too heavy, but rich all the same. A difficult balance.

After that, we debated once again whether we should spend the remaining time doing something more "active," and again decided not. The whole point of the trip was to go, relax, and get away from it all; we wouldn't accomplish that by getting back into the mix. So instead we packed things up and headed home.

Once there, the car was unpacked, some official business taken care of (I'd been meaning for weeks to ask my cousins to be a part of the wedding - they said yes!), and we spent the evening with friends after we picked up Hamish. All in all, a success. Couldn't have asked for anything more.

So now it's just a matter of getting back into the swing of things. The two days immediately after my return were long, hard days at the hospital, so it felt a little like jumping into the frying pan, so to be speak, but thankfully I'm getting back into the routine. Not looking forward  to school starting up once again. All for the greater good, and I've decided to take it easier on my body this semester (ie, part-time hours at one job rather than full-time hours at one and part-time at another; plus no more night shifts if I can help it)... but still, things will be very challenging the next few months.

Just need to keep my head up. No matter how rough things get - the wedding is on the way!