Michelle Smiles

Teaching my children to question authority, except mine.

Stay-cation

January5

Steve and I haven’t gone away alone together ever. Like ever. We’ve taken a vacation almost every year we’ve known each other but it has always been with a group of friends or family. This year, our Christmas trip to Pittsburgh was longer than normal so we started kicking around the idea of leaving the girls with Steve’s parents and going somewhere for a couple of days. Because the weather is iffy this time of year, we decided to find a place in or near the city and have a little staycation. We rarely get to wander around the burgh anymore so this would be our chance.

We decided on The Priory – a little inn on the north side. Surrounding neighborhood isn’t one I’d want to walk around in by myself after dark but it isn’t unsafe either. It was a Benedictine monastery back in the day – and quite lovely now. We enjoyed checking out all of the period details in the lobby and breakfast area. I was enchanted by the huge, solid doors and ornate hinges.

Door to Monk’s bar

I could barely get my arms around this newel post.

We had a lovely room and spent 2 days/nights. We wandered around our old favorite spots and spent time playing our new board game (Agricola – why yes, we are geeks) each night when we returned to our room. It was so nice to reconnect with the Steve and Michelle who met and fell in love while wandering Pittsburgh. It was also nice to be reminded of how much I like my husband.

posted under travel
6 Comments to

“Stay-cation”

  1. On January 6th, 2012 at 12:21 pm jane Says:

    Sweet! Looks like a nice place. And sounds like a nice getaway, too!

  2. On January 7th, 2012 at 9:31 am Andrea Says:

    Very cool! And I loved your last line- liking our husbands is so important! Sounds like a fabulous getaway!

  3. On January 7th, 2012 at 12:24 pm Laurie Mitchell Says:

    AWESOME! 🙂

  4. On January 7th, 2012 at 1:48 pm Heather Says:

    Congratulations on getting away from it all, even if it’s not that far away!!! The place looks amazing. And it’s great to spend time alone just the two of you. It’s hard to think about it, but someday, the kids will be grown and it’ll be just the two of you again. I always tell my daughter I married my best friend. It’s best that way!!!

  5. On January 8th, 2012 at 9:09 am Laurie Mitchell Says:

    I thought this place looked familiar…I went to their website to make sure. My sister used to be a Graf. Her ex-husbands family is somehow related to the owners of this place. We got a tour. Although it was before their huge renovation project. I would love to see it now! 😉

  6. On January 9th, 2012 at 5:38 pm Melissa Says:

    happy to hear you got some alone time to rekindle the romance and just have time to think without a little kid in your ear