10 Fitch

For Mother's Day weekend, J's parents asked us to join them at 10 Fitch, a Bed and Breakfast located in Auburn, NY. They had gone to this Inn earlier this year and befriended the owner and Inn Keepers.

This was my first experience at a Bed and Breakfast and I wasn't too sure what to expect. I am uncomfortable with people waiting on me and I knew that the staff does that at B&B's. I was nervous about it being awkward essentially staying at a stranger's home. The fact that I was staying at a B&B with J's parents made me nervous. His parents are great, but it's always nerve wracking getting to know the boyfriend's parents.

As soon as we arrived, all of my nervousness and concerns subsided. The Inn is beautiful. You walk into the main foyer, to your left is a library/sitting room and to your right is the kitchen. Off of the library is a solarium with a gorgeous view of the grounds. This leads into another sitting room with fireplace and dinning room. We were the last ones to arrive so we got the last room, The Gardenview ( I would have picked this one :) ). I loved the room. It was decorated in soft greens, yellows and pinks. It has this really neat frog print on some pillows which matched the print on one side of the comforter. There was a little room inside our room which had a TV, two wicker chairs and a round ottoman. Each room at the Inn has it's own private bathroom. I absolutely loved the tile that the bathroom had. The shower was pretty impressive too. J's sister was teasing us because our room shared a wall with his parents but that didn't bother us.

After looking at the rooms, we joined his parents, M, J and Katie downstairs where Katie had cheese, crackers, fruit and wine ready for us. She is this young, bubbly, smiling and friendly Inn keeper . The owners were out of town so Katie ans Sean ( her boyfriend) were doing all the work for us. Well mostly Katie but Sean did help when he could. He had to work at the Sushi restaurant he is a chef at. We gathered outside, ate, drank and listened to J's mom tell us all about her trip to Spain. It's pretty impressive that for her 60 birthday, her and a couple of friends walked 75 miles ( I believe) through Spain over a period of 5 or 6 days. She had gifts for everyone. I got this really pretty red purse and cute silver hoop earrings. She also shared some postcards and such that she got on her trip. The pictures are yet to come, I think she said there are about 1,000 she took. After drinking a couple bottles of wine, the men went off in search of more wine and snacks. Us ladies sat around and talked for a little longer and then got ready for dinner.

We arrived at an Italian restaurant around 8pm for dinner. J and I ordered beers at the bar while we waited to be seated. The wait was much shorted than anticipated. I was having a hard time deciding what I was going to order since I was not exactly hungry after the cheese and crackers. Everything sounded good on the menu. I settled on a steak salad and it was delicious. It was really nice to be out to dinner with everyone, relaxing, drinking, eating and having good conversations. I like when everyone is laughing and enjoying each other's company. After dinner it was back to the Inn for for bed. I was exhausted.

The sun was shinning the next morning when we got up around 8am. I could hear a ball bouncing outside and to my delight, Sean was outside playing catch with his and Katie's dog Gully. He is a really cute dog. Black poodle mix and very friendly. He loves his mama for sure, he followed her around everywhere. It was very sweet. After getting ready for the day, J and I went downstairs to find everyone waiting for us except for mom. The wine and food did not sit with her well and she had been up off and on throughout the night sick. She did miss out on an amazing breakfast Katie and Sean prepared. It was a quiche served with a salad and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. I wasn't sure about how salad and coffee would go together but it was delicious. After breakfast was over, mom joined us downstairs and let us know she was feeling much better.

After some discussion, it was decided that M and J would go to an Antique shop and come back at 1pm to pick mom up and meet J, me and dad in Skaneateles at Kabuki for lunch. Kabuki is the Japanese/Sushi place that Sean is a chef at. Skaneateles is a beautiful town just 10 minutes from where we were staying. It is right on the lake and the view is breath taking. There are shops and restaurants of all sorts up and down the main road. The lake is so clean and clear that you can see to the bottom even when you are out on the pier. J, dad and I walked in and out of the stores, not really looking for anything but just to see what each one was all about. There was a small wine store that offered tastings, of course J and I participated with that. *wink*

The pier at night

View from the pier

Village shops

Village Park

( For more pictures, check out Rel's blog- under the microscope)

At about 1:30pm we met up with group at Kabuki and enjoyed wonderful Japanese food and sushi. I ordered crab cakes that came with steamed rice with a seafood sauce on top. It was really really good. J ordered some sushi rolls and pieces. He liked his lunch too. We suggested that M should try goat cheese in the lobster/goat cheese salad. I got a chance to try a little and it was delicious. I am not too sure if we convinced M that goat cheese is tasty but she did say it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

After lunch and some coffee, we went back to the Inn to get ready for dinner. J's mom and Katie had worked together on planning what we were going to have that night. After everyone caught a short nap, we met in the dinning room. Katie brought out the first course. It was a salad with figs wrapped in goat cheese and bacon on top with balsamic vinaigrette. It was superb. I never really had fig but the combination was perfect. The main course was a grilled salmon steak on spinach with cranberries and pine nuts on top of red potatoes. I was impressed by the presentation and taste of the meal. The food the whole weekend was phenomenal. Little did I know what was in store for breakfast the next morning. We went into the library after dinner to watch the Sabres play Ottawa in game 2 of the conference finals. I was trying to contain my enthusiasm for the game but F bombs and such were flying by the 2nd period. Katie also served Orange Chocolate Souffle for dessert by the 2nd period along with coffee. It was really good. All warm and chocolaty and melted in your mouth. I could only eat half of it though. Sorry Katie. I was full from dinner and so nervous about the hockey game that I gave myself a stomach ache. They ended up tying the game with seconds left in regulation and lost the game in 2nd overtime. By then, everyone had gone to bed and J and I were exhausted.

Sunday morning was sunny again and the house smelled of cinnamon. Yummy!! I was running a little behind getting ready for breakfast that would be served at 9:30am so I had to stop doing my hair and join the family downstairs. Katie served us waffles with cinnamon bananas and whip cream. They were so good. I have never had anything like it. I love sweets, especially in the morning and these were just the thing I needed. After we were done we took some pictures outside by this beautiful tree with purple flowers on it and finished packing to go home. The guys packed the cars while I finished getting ready and we all met downstairs by the cars. We hugged goodbye and hit the road to home by 10:30 am.

My weekend was amazing. J and I don't really get to spend a lot of time together during the week so this was perfect for us. It was nice that J's mom had 2 out of 3 children around to celebrate Mother's day. I can't wait to go back to the area. My thoughts on B&B's are forever changed.

Thanks to J's parents and Katie who made this weekend happen