One of my favorite pastimes is to travel around and visit different hotels and inns. Most of the inns I’ve seen and learned about have been located somewhere in New England. My favorites to date are the Blantyre in Lenox, MA, the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge and the Spring House Hotel on Block Island, RI. Click on those links I just shared. I think you’ll be pleased with what you’ll find. Those inns are huge and wonderful and beautiful all in one. If I had to pick one to run away and retire to, it would have to be Blantyre. It just suits me well.
I may have to add another great inn to my list, but I’m not sure about it yet. On the way home from our recent visit to North Conway, NH, we stopped off in Bethel, Maine. I’ve been eyeing this town since we moved to Maine from Florida. It’s out there in the middle of nowhere and it’s got lots of money. I simply don’t know what’s not attractive about that.
Anyway, the town of Bethel is somewhat built around the Bethel Inn Resort. There’s the inn and then a town green with a gazebo in it right next door. There are tree lined streets with old houses that are in nearly perfect condition. Main Street has restaurants situated on it and there’s pretty much everything else a small town offers nearby. Bethel is an out of the way, exciting place. I just wish it wasn’t two hours away from where we live.
While we were there, we decided to take some photos. This isn’t unusual for us. We did visit the inside of the inn, but it was so quiet that I felt strange about taking pictures. I will tell you that it was very nice. The word “elegant” comes to mind. It’s upscale and much more than what I was expecting. I didn’t know if it was going to be a country inn where everyone goes to kick back and relax or an exclusive one where only those who are “in” go to spend their days. I’m still not sure about which one it is, but when I find out, I’ll tell you.
Here’s the front of the building. Don’t worry, this isn’t all. It’s actaully quite expansive.
As I said, there’s a green and a gazebo near the inn. I took a photo of the gazebo for you. Everyone loves gazebos.
Toward the center of the green was a fountain. I admit that I had a bit too much fun taking photos of the water. I’ll summarize all that fun with just a photo or two.
And finally, this is the fountain farther away. This image shows the corner of the green.
That’s about it. It was a quick stop. We almost ate dinner at a restaurant right across the street from the hotel, but decided not to. We instead ate at Sunday River Brewery. That was a good dinner.
If we make it back to Bethel, you can count on many more photos. As I said, it’s a pleasant town and I wouldn’t mind exploring it some more.
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