Thursday 24 February 2011

The Mini Honeymoon

With the young man away on his skiing trip, and the Dancing Queen at Uni, hubby and I found ourselves on our own for the first time in almost 19 years!!!! We decided it was time for a mini honeymoon. In August, I had purchased a book of vouchers from Charity Unleashed. The idea is that local businesses donate goods and services for free (they usually have 2 for 1 offers etc) and the public pay £50 for the voucher book - with all the £50 going to Weston Park Cancer Hospital. Its great value as you only have to use 1 of the vouchers to recoup your £50 and the value of all the vouchers is around £1000. We had a voucher for a free night at the Maynard Arms in Grindleford (should have cost £80) - so off we went.
The Maynard has changed hands over the last few years and they have slowly been refurbishing it. It is a lovely comfortable hotel just 20 miles from home, on the edge of the Peak District. We finished work on Tuesday afternoon, and arrived at 4.30pm

We only had a standard room as part of the deal, but it was lovely and the bed was huge and exceptionally comfortable.
They have decorated the rooms with a mixture of very old and very new bits and bobs. Hubby was delighted to find Sky TV in our room as we don't have this at home. He was a bit grumpy when I asked him to see what was on the Culture Channel, but he was utterly delighted to find an artist painting one of his crushes - Julia Bradbury - in the nude!!! (I think he only fancies her because she walks UP hills enthusiastically, whereas I complain all the way up hills!)

We only got our room for free, we had to pay for our food. We decided to eat in the bar as I have got to that age where I can't sleep if I have a big meal at night!!

The food was delicious and reasonably priced too - we will definitely call back for a meal another time.

I loved the old stained glass windows on each floor.






The next morning, we had breakfast and then checked out. We didn't
talk about the kids as much as I thought we would, and we remembered what it was we loved about each other as this can often get lost in the whirlwind that is life, family and work.

We had both booked the next day off work, so we togged up, and set off into the mists of the Derbyshire morning for a long walk.

I'll show you where we went tomorrow.

27 comments:

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Was it UP hill lol :o)

So glad you had a lovely time. The bedroom and the food look lovely. I would call that BIG myself that piece of fish. Hope you are looking forward to Cornwall soon :o)

xx

WinnibriggsHouse said...

What a brilliant idea, I know what its like to rarely have a minute on your own. You certainly made the most of it, the hotel looks great and what a fab idea the vouchers are!

Janet said...

What a fabulous treat ! The hotel looked lovely and the food .....makes me feel hungry just looking at it-what a great idea those vouchers are !

elsy said...

what a lovely thing to do....we need these little practice runs at being a couple again for when 'they' leave home (although i know you not quite there yet)...hotel looks a real treat

Simone said...

How romantic!!! When just me and my husband are together we both talk about our son all the time!!! I bet it was a real treat to spend a bit of time away doing different things and the food looked lovely! x

walter and me said...

What a lovely romantic interlude! Yummy food, too.

lazylol said...

How lovely that you could get away somewhere nice together. It looks lovely, I love that the chips were in little newspaper bags, what a fab idea!

Dianne said...

You've had a wonderful treat! I love the beautiful stained glass window.

Kathy said...

How lovely! I'm so glad you had a romantic time!! Grindleford is one of my favourite places in Derbyshire.
I'm ahead of you in this child rearing game and one of the delights of being at this stage of life is rediscovering that you really love the man you married and still enjoy spending time together. We manage to get away quite often now (in the caravan, not in a hotel) and have started having date night mid-week!
Something to look forward to when you're older!!!
Love Kathy xxx

Lx @ Twelve said...

Very romantic!

My best-freind-at-the-time had her reception there, she married G's best freind...

Its good to get away as a couple sometimes!

And all for Weston Park, what a fab thing to do.

Lx

Rosie said...

So glad you had a super time - the hotel looks wonderful! My b-in-law had exceelent treatment at Weston Park early last year and now has the 'all clear'. The voucher scheme is a great idea:)

Anonymous said...

Oooh lucky you, I would love a night away!!
Anyways so glad to hear you enjoyed yourselves, the hotel looks beautiful.
Em xxxx

andamento said...

I want some of that fish and chips, looks yummy!

keshling said...

The hotel looks lovely and it's so nice to just get away by yourselves - we do that as often as we can and it's just so relaxing and .... different, I suppose. Glad you had a super time!!
K xx

**Anne** said...

I'm so glad to hear you had a night away together. Such a treat for you both. The stained glass windows are beautiful. Looking forward to seeing your photos.
Anne xx

Jo said...

What a great idea those vouchers are. How lovely to have a mini honeymoon, I can't imagine the time when we're on our own again, hard to imagine.

Rebecca said...

It looks and sounds lovely, just what you need once in a while x

Lisa said...

What a lovely looking hotel you went to, fab to spend some time together whilst the children were away, very treaty!
Sorry to lower the tone, but did you notice what was printed on the wrapping of the fish and chips in purple ink?!
Lisa x

Diane said...

What a wonderful way to spend the night away from home and at half price. What a pleasure. Diane xx

Lisa said...

Promise I don't examine every photo, it just kind of jumped out at me!
Lisa x

The Girl said...

Oh what a lovely idea you old romantics you!

Looks really lovely, right up my street actually. And those fish and chips look amazing - man that's all I want for my lunch now!

Jackie, Erik, Jake, Drew said...

I love the hotel, the combination of old and new makes it look really trendy. If your pub meal is considered 'small' then you should definately go back and try the restaurant meal! Looks yummy. Glad to read you guys can still have fun without the kids! Enjoy...!xx

Deborah said...

The hotel is a beautiful building and the food looks amazing.

Happy honeymoon!

Bee happy x

A garden just outside Venice said...

...I got a bit confused about all that maths!
xxxx

topchelseagirl said...

So glad you had a lovely time. The hotel looks great, especially the windows.

Lyn said...

Sounds like you had a perfect 2nd mini honeymoon!
the place looked wonderful!
love
Lyn
xxx

Sandies' Patch said...

Aah! Mushroom soup at the Maynard Arms! Many years ago. Walking around there and the cafe at Grindlford station...happy days!

Sandie xx