THREE MORE ROMANTIC GETAWAYS
Coast for a while
Seeking an escape with your significant other from the blurry pace of workaday life? An island retreat may be called for.
One of only a few accommodations on Sapelo Island, the unspoiled barrier isle between Savannah and Brunswick, is the Sapelo Island Birdhouses. To reach this nest from the mainland, guests take the state ferry from the town of Meridian. (Have your camera ready, you may spot dolphins, among other wildlife.)
Most of the handful of cottages and cottage suites lay on the creature comforts — pillow top queen beds, WiFi access, 46-inch flat screen TVs, coffee and espresso makers, among them. But Sapelo treats visitors to an enveloping show of nature that should cause anyone of sound mind to turn off all electronic devices and diversions. (There also are two recently refurbished, smaller cottages with fewer amenities and more affordable rates.)
Guestbooks are rich with testimonials about catching sheepshead fish and glimpsing a family of wild boar, exploring the historic Hog Hammock community (where most of the residents are descendants of West African slaves, or Geechees) on bikes or golf carts and visiting the longleaf pine forest on the isle’s remote north end.
That, and just generally aligning with the slower currents of island time.
Sapelo Island Birdhouses. Nightly rates start at $150, with 15 percent discount offered through February. 912-223-6515, www.sapeloislandbirdhouses.com.
A wealthy experience
No one who visits the Biltmore Estate possesses the Gilded Age gelt of George Vanderbilt and his family, but the handsome inn that shares the grounds with the famed manse gives guests cause to at least dream.
The Inn on Biltmore Estate is turning up the pampering Feb. 1-14 for those with romance in mind, with a two-night Valentine’s Day package that includes a dozen red roses, Biltmore label red wine and chocolates delivered to your room, breakfast buffet daily and three-course dinner nightly (with a champagne toast) in the Dining Room, estate daytime admission, Biltmore House audio guides, valet inn parking and complimentary estate shuttle service. The package starts at $959.
Want to heighten the amour? Consider adding a carriage ride, choosing between a 45-minute tour on a 12-passenger wagonette ($30 per person) or a private 90-minute ride in a vis-a-vis carriage ($350 for up to four guests). Guests usually turn bubbly during the Biltmore Bubbles Tour that includes a tour of the champagne bottling room and tastings of six sparkling wines. And of course there’s a spa offering all sorts of rejuvenation.
All this and you’re mere minutes from one of the Southeast’s artsiest downtowns as well as the gorgeous vistas of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Inn on Biltmore Estate, 1 Lodge St., Asheville, N.C. 1-866-336-1245, www.biltmore.com.
Mountain hideaway
If mountain sunsets, crackling fires and and beds covered in soft quilts spell romance to you, consider the Long Mountain Lodge, 10 minutes outside Dahlonega.
The rustic but upscale B&B Inn is on 14 acres on the scenic slope of Long Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Guests can try catch-and-release fishing in the two spring-fed trout ponds and stroll trails around the property boasting waterfalls and gardens.
A stay here puts you close to the five wineries on the Dahlonega Wine Trail, waterfall hikes, cycling workouts and the shops and restaurants of the Dahlonega square. There you'll find live music spots such as the Crimson Moon Cafe, a converted 1858 storehouse where acoustic music prevails — the Celtic band Emerald Rose holds forth on Valentine's evening — two chocolatiers and five wine tasting rooms (purchase a Wine Walk Passport to try them all).
Long Mountain Lodge, 144 Bull Creek Road, Dahlonega. 706-864-2337, www.longmountainlodge.com.
HOWARD POUSNER
Many inns, resorts and other fine lodgings like to play up their storybook settings, sensual spas and other romance-encouraging niceties as Valentine’s Day approaches.
Barnsley Resort, the garden spot built around the ruins of an 1840s Italianate-style manor in the northwest Georgia town of Adairsville, has all of that. But it also boasts an asset that no other hideaway can lay claim: a Fairy Godmother who doesn’t stop casting “love spells” once all the heart-shaped decorations are packed away at other places.
Denise Webb estimates she’s played a part in more than 650 marriage proposals since being appointed to the unique position in 2000 by the resort’s former owner, Bavarian Prince Hubertus Fugger. She’s sparked or reignited countless other romances, as well.
Her mission is to help Cupid’s arrows hit their mark, and she said she’s good at it because she customizes every spell based on what those who request her help tell her about the object of their affection.
"Cupid resides with me 365 days a year," Webb said. "We are always busy with love. It's dear season" — she spells it out, in case anyone misses the nuance: d-e-a-r — "12 months out of the year."
The Fairy Godmother, who wields a crystal-studded wand but whose magic powers emanate from an active imagination, said she thinks romantic thoughts for people who don’t have enough time to do so for themselves.
“The world has become so busy. We work, work, work and then when we’re home, we cook, eat, clean, run the kids, this and that. And people lose touch with each other.”
For Valentine’s this year, she’s introduced a Black Tie Affair package in which guests returning from dinner find the glow of tea lights illuminating their room. A bottle of sparkling wine and chocolate truffles await, as does a gift box filled with secret elements “certain to dress up the evening,” as the flyer teases, and bubble bath soap. (The price, not including room or dinner, is $225.)
Many subjects of the Fairy Godmother’s love spells are drawn back to Barnsley Resort when it’s time to pop the question, and Webb has myriad ways to make it special.
One of her recent brainstorms was a 55-foot-long sign lit by more than 4,000 bulbs that spell out “Will You Marry Me?”
She had the couple stroll into a pitch-black pasture under the guise of seeing a special cottage, then hit the switch, suddenly illuminating the darkness, to screams of surprise and joy. The same life-changing query can be painted on the side of a white stead.
Sometimes proposals don’t go exactly as the Fairy Godmother choreographs them. This summer, a guest worked with Webb to create a perfect scenario for the big question on the pond. The prospective bridegroom’s intended thought she was continuing a scavenger hunt when she climbed aboard a canoe with her boyfriend that Webb had filled with rose petals, candles and iced champagne. When they reached the middle of the pond, he stood up to fish the engagement ring out of his pocket. Suddenly realizing what was happening, his girlfriend jumped to her feet, too.
That’s when the canoe capsized. Still, she said yes.
“It was the greatest moment of my life!” Webb cackled at the memory of the drenched lovebirds who dried off around a pond-side fire that the think-of-everything Fairy Godmother had lit.
For Valentine's Day, Barnsley is offering, among other specials, a two-night package Feb. 13-14, including breakfast, a chocolate truffle sweetheart gift, a four-course dinner in the Rice House and moonlit carriage rides. The deal comes with a $100 resort credit for additional dining or activities such as horseback riding or a spa visit. Rates start at $500 for Manor Room accommodations.
Barnsley Resort, 597 Barnsley Gardens Road, Adairsville. 770-773-7480, www.barnsleyresort.com.
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