Weekend at the Greenbrier

This past weekend Tommy and I joined another couple for a weekend away at the Greenbrier, a resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

As you can see the resort property, landscape and scenic views were gorgeous:

Tommy and I walked around the resort on Saturday and we were amazed at how large the Greenbrier’s property was, but I guess it would have to be since the resort offers plentiful indoor and outdoor activities.

Indoor activities include:

• Casino
• Spa
• Bowling Center
• Indoor pool
• Movie theater

Outdoor activities include:

• Falconry – as previously thought, my friend didn’t end up taking a lesson. I guess I’ll have to try my hand at falconry sometime in the future!
• Carriage rides
• Golf
• Gun club
• Hiking

On Sunday I ran two loops around the golf course per my training plan and enjoyed the beautiful landscape and open area.

The resort offers several restaurants to eat at. We all ate brunch on Saturday in the main dining room. It was all-you-can-eat so it was of course, amazing. Some of the highlights included a omlette bar, a wide selection of fruits, biscuits and gravy, sausage, bacon, Quiche, pastries, the list goes on!

Mimosas anyone?

Later that night Tommy and I ate dinner at the Forum, the only Italian restaurant at the resort. Don’t worry – I didn’t eat any pasta! This is what we did have:

For our appetizer we ordered the PEPE IMBOTTITI:

Banana Peppers stuffed with house made
Sausage Sweet Tomato Sauce
and melted Parmesan Cheese

For the main course we split the BISTECCA FIORENTINA:

A grilled 8 oz. Angus Beef Filet, served with
Fingerling Potatoes Confit in Frantoia
Olive oil, fresh rosemary, and arugula tossed in balsalmic vinegar.

I also tried two of their cocktails:

BACIO DEL LIMONE
Fresh blackberries muddled in a champagne glass,
with crushed ice, chilled Limoncello and sparkling wine

And because I was told to order one of these (apparently the Greenbrier is known for their Mint Juleps and Bloody Marys):

Mint Julep

The Forum’s cheesy bread was also delicious. We asked for a couple of baskets of those. 🙂 What made this dinner even better? We paid for it using our casino winnings from house money won a few hours before! SCORE.

Some other things we enjoyed over the weekend were a complimentary afternoon tea on Saturday complete with tea, little pastries, and a waltz performance, as well as a champagne toast at the casino on Saturday night, followed by some more dancing. (Sadly I didn’t take pictures in the casino).

Afternoon Tea in the main dining room.

Delightful!

Some things to note:

• The resort prides itself in its “southern roots” which is very evident in the resort’s decor (flowered wallpaper, heavy drapery, dark carpets, chandeliers – one from Gone with the Wind! ,dark furniture. Just warning you, if you happen to come with a male guest, he may not particularly care for it. :-))
•  The staff is incredibly attentive and friendly. Whenever one of us had a question to ask, it was never just a question and the end. It was always followed up with several questions, suggestions, and a conversation. I found that very refreshing and entertaining.
  
• Come prepared to spend money! Not just for gambling, but for meals and resort activities. Our package, at least, didn’t include any activities (minus the tea, the indoor pool & gym and the trails to hike or run along) so if you come ready to hunt, golf, go to the spa/sauna etc know that you’ll be paying an additional sum of money. While the restaurants we ate in all served yummy food, the price points were pretty high.
• It’s about a 4 hour drive to the Greenbrier from D.C.

It was great to spend a weekend away. Special thanks to our friend Sara who let us in on this weekend away. 🙂

For more information on the Greenbrier, go here.