Anniversary Weekend

Our backyard on October 3, 2013

October 3rd was our fourth wedding anniversary! We celebrated by spending the weekend at the Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. It is just over the Potomac River bridge from Maryland. This is our third time staying at the inn and this go around we booked a riverfront room in one of the chalets. We had planned to do a lot of hiking on the C&O Canal Trail just across the bridge but it was just plain too hot, and besides, it was probably closed because of the federal government shutdown anyway. So we spent the weekend relaxing, reading, eating, flea-marketing, and sleeping in very late!

Arriving on Friday evening just in time for dinner, we scoped out our awesome room and then made our way across the manicured grounds to the Rathskeller Pub. The pub serves the same menu as the dining room upstairs, but you don't have to dress up all fancy. It is so cozy in there with the low lighting, it really feels like a european pub. I ordered the shepherd's pie for dinner while we shared the pate appetizer, both were very good. Christopher had the jaeger schnitzel entree and then we had a raspberry torte for dessert. There was a dad and son dining next to us and I couldn't help but hear their adorable conversations the whole meal. They were so sweet, you could really tell the man loved being a dad and took his role very seriously. A conversation they had: Approximately six year old boy: "I'm just not used to beautiful…" Dad: "You'll never really get used to it son." The young boy had been staring at a women in the dining room and was infatuated with her. When they played "I Spy" he would always name that woman. At the end of their dinner the dad was trying to encourage his son to go up to her and say hello and tell her she is beautiful, but the boy was too embarrassed. I saw them head away but I don't think they spoke to her. She would have just melted because this boy was so sweet.

The Inn was much more crowded than usual, which we were mostly pleased about because when we were there last summer it was so deserted that we were worried for the inn. We didn't like the lack of parking because of the popularity though! There was construction going on at the pool but it didn't bother us because they weren't working during the weekend.

On Saturday morning we watched the sunrise over the Potomac River while we sipped our coffee and tea. Then we enjoyed breakfast at the main building's backyard patio. My goodness I love eggs benedict. Afterwards we went to check out the Harper's Ferry Flea Market. We zipped through most of the aisles without seeing much that interested us except for some boxes of infant sleepers marked $0.50! I picked out a few and we were on our way again. At some point I decided it was just getting too hot out and I needed some ice cream. We drove to main street Harper's Ferry in search of an ice cream shop my coworker had told me about. Unfortunately, the parking lots are leased by the federal government so they were all closed, leaving us nowhere to park. The streets were already crowded with tourists and it looked like a really fun place to explore. We made a mental note to come back some other time as we drove to Dairy Queen.

Dinner was spent at the Rathskeller again after Christopher announced my heels didn't dress up my leggings and tunic enough for the dining room! We "shared" the wild game slider trio and it was amazeballs you guys. Venison, lamb, and pork was my order of preference. We also ordered the onion soup and it was also splendid. Christopher had sauerkraut trio and I stole some of the delicious potatoes. I really enjoyed how they tasted like fresh potatoes rather than pure garlic or butter (though I love those as well). My entree was a crab and shrimp stuffed avocado salad but I was too full to eat more than a few bites. No dessert today but I did sample an Oktoberfest… yum.

Bavarian Inn's backyard on October 5, 2013

Clearly it was a weekend devoted to food and Sunday was no exception. Sunday Brunch in the dining room is from 11am-2pm. A smorgasbord of german fare along with fancy seafood and the traditional breakfast elements are what you'll find at the buffet. I particularly enjoyed the fried beer battered scallops! Yum. I also was very fond of the french toast, it tasted exactly like a cinnamon bun. And let me tell you how hard it was avoiding the brie and other fancy soft cheeses; really really hard. All cheese in America is pasteurized, but these were marked "imported international cheeses" so I didn't risk it. If you can only go to The Bavarian Inn for a day, Sunday is your day, and you must go for brunch.