Southern Delights :

Your Route du Bonheur in Southern Delights: From Washington, DC all the way to the Blue Ridge Smoky Mountains, city sophistication and ancient national forests are all part of Relais & Châteaux Route du Bonheur (road to happiness), the traditional traveler’s journey between one luxury Relais & Châteaux hotel and the next.

Any trip to this part of the country must begin with a stay in the nation’s capital, the seat of our government. It’s a fascinating city at any time of year but it is at its best in spring when the cherry blossoms are in bloom and again in fall when Congress goes back into session and the heat begins to fade. Unlike New York City with its skyscrapers, Washington is low profile, lots of open spaces and memorable sites. If you’ve never been the Lincoln Memorial is a “must-see”. The 19-foot marble statue created by sculptor Daniel Chester French honors the United State’s 16th president.

The Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens once belonged to our first president. Only 16 miles from the heart of DC, of the 500 acres that are left of George Washington’s original five farms, 50 are open to the public. Still it’s something you won’t forget. Tour his former house and marvel at his incredible taste through the lovely antiques he collected during his lifetime.

Within the city limits there are several well known and lesser known sites of interest. Most have heard of the luminous National Gallery of Art filled with riches from the Middle Ages to modern times. Fewer may know about the clandestine International Spy Museum the only facility in the country dedicated to the study of international espionage. There are all kinds of spy gadgets and items that would make James Bond proud.

If you’ve never seen it, tours of The White House, are held Tuesday through Saturdays. The Capitol with its soaring rotunda is truly impressive. This imposing structure houses the Senate and the House of Representatives whom you can hear argue by obtaining a ticket. Save lots of time when visiting the 14 institutions comprising the Smithsonian Museums. There are more than 142 million objects d’art focused on tracking American history and culture.

For those staying in the city center, no place compares to The Jefferson, Washington DC, which recently reopened after a major remodel. Named by Fortune magazine and Wallpaper as one of the top new business hotels of 2010, The Jefferson is a 99-room Beaux Arts gem with a giant history. First opened in 1923, it was a magnet for Washington’s elite back then, and little has changed except the décor which includes eclectic antiques, period artifacts, documents signed by Thomas Jefferson and a full service spa. Guests enjoy personal butler service, complimentary high-speed internet, and touches such as basic black belts and dress shoes for those who came short-handed. Plume, the formal dining room, is helmed by British-born Chef Damon Gordon. Walls are hand-painted to replicate views of Monticello’s south vineyard setting- an enticing background for entrees ranging from risotto of Maryland Crab and gunpowder tea smoked organic shrimp. For a luxurious visit to DC, no one does it quite as well as The Jefferson.

Just 67 miles from the nation’s capital, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the incomparable Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Virginia comes with only eight rooms and six suites and a restaurant that has been making culinary news since it opened more than 25 years ago. A recent $5 million renovation includes a new state-of-the-art kitchen with a rear wall of panned glass overlooking the Inn’s herb and cutting gardens. Grand Chef Patrick O’Connell’s inspired American cuisine includes a prix-fixe dinner with a dozen or more first course options, salads, entrees including Kobe beef or local veal with wild morels and an array of desserts to send you off to bed with sweet dreams. Guests of the Inn are also treated to breakfast, either in bed or in a light and airy dining room, while lunch might be a picnic lunch in the countryside. Small wonder that this tiny luxury Inn, with its powerful gourmet restaurant, is famous around the world.

For more time in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Westglow Resort & Spa lies in western North Carolina, just outside the quaint and intriguing village of Blowing Rock, with one-of-a-kind shops and restaurants. Housed in a restored Greek Revival mansion, the property began life as the summer home of artist and author Elliott Daingerfield, who built it in 1917. Named Westglow for the subtle and glorious sunsets that appear each evening, the 20-acre estate has become, in this modern era, a haven for the mind, body and spirit. The mansion itself has six guest rooms while three more secluded overnight accommodations are found at the Cedar Lodge, where every suite has private decks, fireplaces and deep Jacuzzi tubs. Besides hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains, guests horseback ride in summer and ski in winter. Most important to many guests is the full-service wellness center with luxury spa facilities and a Life Enrichment Center. All of this sits against one of the most stunning backgrounds in the county with 360 degree views of Grandfather Mountain and the Blue Ridge Parkway and vistas beyond.

From here the trip to Charlottesville, Virginia, home of Clifton, luxury hotel and restaurant, will be one steeped in history and culture. Charlottesville, besides being a village of exceptional beauty, was once home to two of eight U.S. presidents who hailed from Virginia. Thomas Jefferson, principal author of the Declaration of Independence and our third president, lived here and left behind his estate, Monticello, when he died. It is a testament to his brilliance. Designed and revised by Jefferson over the 40 years he lived there, Monticello is today part home, part architectural splendor and part museum. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1987, it is a splendid example of Colonial Revival style and is available for tours on a daily basis.

While Charlottesville is special year round, and has the added benefit of owning four distinct seasons. Spring is particularly colorful when the flowers bloom and Garden week takes over the town. It is also the time of the Virginia Festival of The Book, the largest gathering of authors, writers, and readers in the Mid-Atlantic region. Fall is for the changing colors of the leaves and also sets the stage for the Virginia Film Festival at the University of Virginia. Over 60 films are shown over four days with more than one hundred speakers, directors, actors, scholars and writers in attendance. Summer is a time for outdoor activities which might be anything from tubing down the James River to attending a Fridays After Five free concert on the historic downtown pedestrian mall to a day at the Foxfield horse races. Cold winters bring snowfalls for skiing at the nearby Wintergreen resort.

Whenever you choose to visit you’ll have a rich variety of cultural and historical sites to visit. Ash Lawn-Highland, a 535-acre farm was the former home of President James Monroe. Today it is host to a summer-stock opera company with nine weeks of full-length operas and musical theater productions held under the stars. The campus at the University of Virginia is generally considered one of the most gorgeous in the country. Designed and laid out by Jefferson, the central grounds are a lovely place for a stroll or a picnic. Don’t miss the Rotunda, a half-scale version of the Pantheon in Rome which has become the signature landmark of the University.

What you may not know about Charlottesville is that it is a center of winemaking as well. The Monticello Wine Trail actually fulfilled a vision of Thomas Jefferson’s, who always wanted to produce quality wine in his home region. The result is 500 acres of vineyards surrounding Monticello and no fewer than 21 farm wineries, the largest concentration in Virginia. Most are open to the public and names such as Kluge Estate, Jefferson and Veritas are among the wines found here.

Setting the backdrop for Charlottesville are the Blue Ridge Mountains. The backbone of this scenic mountain region is the Blue Ridge Parkway, a road following the highest ridges between the Shenandoah and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, sometimes reaching altitudes of 6,000 feet. Those who like views will find great rewards along the parkway, but there are also some wonderful hikes for those who want to be more active. Hikers and walkers also have the 20-mile Rivanna Trail nearby, a wilderness hiking trail encircling the Charlottesville and meandering through forested buffers which protect the city’s streams and rivers and connect six city parks. You should get back to the Clifton just in time to savor the exemplary tasting menu of Executive Chef Dean Maupin.

Spring and fall are undoubtedly the favorite times of year to visit the luxury hotel of Fearrington House and the pretty towns of Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham which surround it, mostly because the climate is cooler and the gardens which seem to flow from every inch of open space are in full regalia. The Village of Fearrington, once a working dairy farm owned by a family of the same name, still has many of the original farm buildings which have become the shops, restaurants and inns of the Village Center. Again, the gardens at Fearrington Village are the star here. Some of best include Jenny’s fragrant white garden; the Perennial Border garden, and the Herb garden, used to flavor the gourmet cuisine at the award-winning Fearrington House restaurant. Only 30 minutes away are the amazing Sarah Duke Gardens at Duke University while the 700 acres known as the North Carolina Botanical Gardens are a mere 15 minutes away.

Popular events at other times of year include the Fearrington Folk Art Festival , which plays host to more than 30 of the Southeast’s best known folk artists each February. The art is colorful and whimsical and the event is free to the public. In June and July the American Dance Festival takes the stage in Durham. More than 25 dance companies from around the world come to participate. There are premieres from young and untapped as well as established choreographers and a slew of ancillary programs ensuring the groundbreaking tradition of modern dance.

While staying at the Fearrington House you can choose to simply relax on the rolling grounds taking time out to enjoy meals prepared by Executive Chef Colin Bedford and his American/European gourmet cuisine. Or you can be as physically active as you like. Jordan Lake, with 14,000 acres of water for fishing, hiking, boating, and water-skiing is just a 20 minute drive. It is also one of the largest summertime homes of the bald eagle. A bit further, The North Carolina Zoo, is an hour and a half away, but many consider it well worth the effort to visit one of the most distinguished zoos in the country. It was the first in America to be designed from its inception around the “natural habitat” philosophy in which animals and plants live very similarly to the way they do in the wild.

For golfers, Fearrington is also the convenient to some of the finest courses in North Carolina. Finley Golf Course at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Ridge Golf Club, The Preserve at Jordan Lake, and the Twin Lakes Golf Course are all within 20 minutes of The Fearrington House. Baseball aficionados will want to see a game at The Durham Bulls Athletic Park, a new stadium which opened in 1995.

Shoppers will find plenty of booty at the Shops at Fearrington Village, where unique items for the home and garden, unusual bookstores and gifts are in abundance. In downtown Pittsboro, the Antiques Walk has 17 shops with more than 25,000 square feet of antiques. Seagrove Potteries, about an hour and a half from Fearrington, is a haven of traditional pottery-making by potters who adhere to the techniques of their ancestors.

From here it’s on to the historically important town of Charleston, South Carolina, home of the luxurious boutique luxury property Planters Inn. Charleston combines the beauty of a scenic harbor and stellar beaches with the finest of dining, shopping and historical sites. Plantations, museums, formal gardens, old churches and military sites tell the story of the city’s bygone days. Ft. Sumter, for example, is where the Civil War began. You can get there and to Fort Moultrie, a unit of Fort Sumter, via a scenic boat ride from Patriots Point or the Municipal Marina. Visitors also flock to The Charleston Museum, America’s first museum, founded in 1773. Exhibitions feature a variety of objects including many that highlight the Lowcountry. There are slave tags, early trade ware and Charleston silver.

Though Charleston is a year-round destination, like North Carolina, it is particularly popular in spring and fall, when temperatures are moderate and gardens are in full bloom. There are several festivals that shouldn’t be missed by visitors to this part of the country. The annual Spoleto Festival is a 17-day event in May and June filled with more than 120 performances of opera, theater, music, dance, jazz, and visual art. March and April is for the Spring House and Garden Tours, which take place during the city’s peak blooming season. The month long festival offers guests the rare opportunity to explore the private residential interiors and gardens of Charlestonians colonial and antebellum homes. The Fall Tours of Homes and Gardens takes place under the glow of candlelight and has become the preservation society’s main fundraiser. And each March you may indulge in the culinary wonders of the Charleston Food and Wine Festival. If you’ve ever been curious about the famous Lowcountry southern cuisine in this region, there’s no better place to learn about it than this famous yearly festival.

A leisurely drive from the Planters Inn will take you to Highway 61 through the winding oak lined roads where the marvelous Charleston plantations are still in existence. Best known is probably the Magnolia Plantation and Garden, founded in 1676 by the Drayton family. It has survived everything from the American Revolution through the Civil War and beyond. The gardens have quite recently been restored to their former glory and each season brings something new to see at this incredible spot. Boone Hall is also one of America’s oldest working, living plantations, dating back more than 320 years. Once known for growing cotton and pecans, the plantation is now famous for its peaches, strawberries, tomatoes and pumpkins all of which may be purchased to take home. Besides fruit and vegetables, the plantation also has sites that include everything from original slave cabins to butterfly gardens.

Middleton Place is a National Historic Landmark and a beautifully preserved 18th-century plantation that housed four generations of Middleton’s, including Arthur, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Drayton Hall was built in 1738 and is the oldest surviving example of Georgian-Palladian architecture in the American South. Walk along the banks of the Ashley River which runs beside the plantation and indulge in a picnic lunch under the ancient oak trees. Afterwards, return to the urban oasis of the Planters Inn and the four-star regional American gourmet cooking served up at the Peninsula Grill.

Many of the same festivals, plantations and sites enjoyed by guests of the Planters Inn will be extended to those choosing to stay at the luxury hotel Woodlands Resort & Inn as well. Located in the town of Summerville, Woodlands Resort & Inn is a luxury getaway for residents and visitors of Charleston. The town of Summerville was first inhabited in the late 1700s as a respite for Charlestonians who wanted a respite from the heat. These days the town may be best known for the millions of azaleas that bloom in the spring. Come for the Flowertown Festival held each spring and you can join in the celebration of the South Carolina’s largest arts and crafts festival, with concerts and tours of the historic homes and gardens.

Another popular event is the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition held each February. It runs out to be the largest wildlife art and nature festival in the nation. Showcasing original paintings, carvings and sculpture by the most renowned artists of that genre, this is not to be missed by anyone who loves the great outdoors.

Many visitors to the Woodlands Resort & Inn are curious enough about the nearby Mepkin Abbey, whose monks belong to the worldwide Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, to make the half-hour journey. The Order was founded in France in 1098 though Mepkin Abbey wasn’t founded until 1949 by 29 monks coming from the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. Visitors are welcome to walk the gardens or visit the Church. Eggs, candies, and preserves are all sold at the Abbey’s farm.

Beidler Forest is in Harleyville, only half an hour from Woodlands. An astonishing sight, this is the world’s largest virgin cypress-tupelo swamp forest. It consists of approximately 12,500 acres that date back 1,000 years. Recreationalists may kayak the black water streams or take long nature walks along the elevated boardwalk to get the best look at this incredible wildlife sanctuary.

Golfers may have it best of all in this recreational paradise. Woodlands Resort & Inn is located less than an hour away from three of the most famous golf resorts in the country and only minutes from local championship courses as well. Take the drive to Seabrook Island a 2,200-acre privately gated beachfront community with two championship golf courses designed by Robert Trent Jones and Willard Byrd. Wild Dunes has two 18-hold courses both designed by Tom Fazio, one along the Atlantic Ocean and the other laid out by the Intracoastal Waterway.

Before departing Woodlands Resort & Inn, pick up a souvenir to take home at Moo Roo, where designer handbags and accessories are created by the highly-praised local resident Mary Norton. Moo Roo bags are hand crafted with exotic feathers, skins, semi-precious stones and purchased by celebrities too numerous to mention. Her flagship store is here in Charleston.

End your journey through the south with a stop by Walland, Tennessee, home base for the Blackberry Farm, and perhaps the grandest resort in the Great Smoky Mountains. Actually, Blackberry is equally close to the town of Townsend, known to locals as “The Peaceful Side of the Smokies,” That’s because Townsend remains free of amusement parks, high-rise hotels and any sort of carnival atmosphere. The emphasis is on the great outdoors, something this lovely region has in abundance.

Though many feel that fall is the most scenic time to visit here, with the changing of the leaves, there are festivals taking place throughout the year that keep things lively. The Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage is a seven-day event in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Though there is great beauty to be seen, this is an educational event as well with natural history walks, photographic tours, indoor seminars and other programs that examine how the Park is currently at risk from a variety of threats.

For sheer fun attend the Grainger County Tomato Festival, where rotten tomatoes are all the rage. Each July, tomatoes fly during staged “wars.” But there’s an equal amount of good times found in the old fashioned quilt shows, storytelling, beauty pageant, Civil War encampment and street dances. All proceeds go to support local charities.

A celebration of the region and its culture is the main focus of the Cosby Ramp Festival, held in May. Attended by thousands who come to honor the potent mountain ramp, “the sweetest tasting and vilest smelling vegetable in Mother Nature’s bounty,” the festival differs a bit from year to year though you can always count on food, music, dancing, politicians, celebrities, and the crowning of the “Maid of Ramps.” Come fall it’s time for the Townsend Heritage Festival and Old Timer’s Day. Arts and crafts, bluegrass music, a writers’ tent, old fashioned cakewalks and bake sales, and a scarecrow auction may make you think of Mayberry from the old Andy Griffith show. It’s all part of the charm stemming from this part of the world which seems locked in time.

Of course the main attraction remains the Great Smoky Mountains and recreational activities surrounding this spectacular national treasure. Though Blackberry Farm has 4,200 acres right on the property to be explored and enjoyed by hikers, fly fishers, campers, cyclers, etc., those who want to see the surrounding area are outfitted with picnic lunches, backpacks, and blankets by the helpful staff. Many begin their visit with a drive along some part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Parkway is open 365 days per year, weather permitting. At each parkway entrance there are directional signs indicating “north” or “south.” North” will take you to the Shenandoah National Park while those who head “south” wind up at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Authorized in the 1930s as a Depression-era public works project, the Parkway took more than half a century to complete. There are several recreation areas within the park, some as large as 6,000 acres. It is absolutely gorgeous and is a “must-see” for any visitor.

Closest to Blackberry Farm is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with its rich cultural history. It is an International Biosphere Reserve as well as a world Heritage Site which both help to protect and preserve it for generations to come. There are five forest types in the Park representing all the major forest types found in eastern North America. Additionally there are more than 130 species of trees and more than 4,000 plant specimens. Peak wildflower season falls in April, but Cades Cove, the largest open air museum in the Park with original pioneer homesteads, barns, pasture and farmland, blooms from spring to fall. The Cades Cove Nature Trail, however, is most beautiful in spring when the dogwoods bloom and later in the Fall when the sourwoods and maples turn a stunning red.

Bikers, pedestrians and equestrians often spend time on The Foothills Parkway, which skirts the Great Smoky Mountain National Park’s northern side. Only three sections of the Parkway are open to vehicles with the uncompleted sections left open for recreationalists. Spending a day here will leave you with memories not to be forgotten. Even more walking trails are found in the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. This 3,800 acre remnant of virgin wilderness was dedicated to the poet in 1935. It had been the uncharted hunting ground of the Cherokee Indians hundreds of years ago. There are more than 14,000 acres in all in the surrounding wilderness area with more than 60 miles of hiking trails including one that winds through the Forest to the base of the largest of the virgin trees still standing. Then its home for a massage in Blackberry’s relaxing destination spa followed by a gourmet dinner and a wine chosen from among the cellar’s some 78,000 bottles.

Southern Delights : nearby Relais & Chateaux properties