The English Inn

For our wedding, Louie's co-workers gave us an "Ultimate Getaway Package" from the English Inn in Eaton Rapids, Michigan.  This weekend, we FINALLY went there, and it was wonderful!  Thank you!!!

We arrived just in time for our dinner reservation.  We were seated right next to the fire (ahhhh) and given a bottle of champagne.  Our meal included one appetizer, house salads, two entrees, and dessert.  We split mushroom caps stuffed with Swiss cheese, watercress, onion, and bacon for our appetizer.  The house salads were amazing!  They were topped with this awesome olive tapenade - yum!  I had a stuffed quail with a mushroom farce, Madeira cream, green beans, and whipped potato.  It was SO rich!  They managed to de-bone the entire quail except for it's wings and little legs that were sticking up in the air (hehe).  Lou had the pork gratinee which was a grilled bone in chop with carmelized onions, gruyere cheese, port wine reduction, green beans, and crisp polenta cakes.  It was also delicious.  Then came dessert.  I had a mango white chocolate mousse (oh my gosh!), and Louie had this fudgy chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate sauce.  I have never had such a fancy dinner!  It was delicious!  

Then, we headed over to the Ivy Cottage.  The Ivy Cottage used to be the estates milking barn, but now it's this cute little cottage complete with Jacuzzi, fireplace, and deck.  The views were lovely!  We could see down the hillside to the river.

Breakfast the next morning was just as impressive as dinner.  We started with coffee, a muffin, and a fruit cup.  I had poached eggs over a potato cake with a side of bacon.  I cannot even begin to describe to you how delicious this was!  The potatoes had this excellent herb flavor, and the eggs went with it perfectly.  The chef even apologized for breaking one of the yolks.  Seriously, I have never been to a place fancy enough for someone to care if a yolk is broken!  Totally not a big deal.  It was amazing.  Lou had pancakes with an apple chutney and a side of bacon.  Unfortunately, the pancakes left a little to be desired, but the chutney (and bacon, of course) was amazing!

Then, we took a walk around the property...

We checked out around 11 am and headed over to the Potter Park Zoo.  Amazingly, it was entirely free!  This, my friends, is why you must go to zoos in the off season.  Not only do you avoid annoying crowds and get to see the animals actually moving, but it's cheap!

Momma tiger (I think), and the babies!  They were so sleepy!

Mr. Lion was sleepy, too!

Even though the big kitties were pretty tired, we got to see lots of animals playing around including the river otters, snow leopard, camels, lots of the monkeys and lemurs, and the birds in the aviary were having an awesome time playing with their toys.  The kookaburra even sang for us!

We had an awesome weekend!  It was so nice to escape the craziness of everyday life and just get away with Louie for a while.  The food was amazing, and I really love visiting zoos, so that really topped everything off.  Thanks to everyone who made this weekend possible!