Anniversary! 10 October 2012 and 12-14 October 2012

Andrea:
October 10 was mine and Richard's first anniversary, and we wanted to celebrate it in the best ways we could think of. That Wednesday, we went out to the Cheesecake Factory for a marvelously delicious dinner. But that was only the beginning of our anniversary adventures.
We had been planning our anniversary for something like a month and a half. We knew that we wanted to go somewhere, and hoped we could make it somewhere we had never experienced before. I spent nearly a week scouring the internet for places to go in nearby states, finding so many of them were too far away, or too expensive.
Then, one Saturday afternoon, I got an email from Livingsocial.com. They send me emails daily about various deals that would appeal to people in my area, and there it was: the perfect deal. We bought reservations for two nights at the Resort at Glade Springs in West Virginia for half price, a mere $112 per night in their Executive King Suites. So, last weekend, we drove five hours down to Daniels, West Virginia to enjoy our time and relax. The room was amazing. We had a sitting room, a large bathroom, and bedroom with king-sized bed. The atmosphere of the whole place was so relaxing. Since it's the middle of autumn now, the property was surrounded with trees changing their leaves.
Further, there was a lot to do on the resort itself, and it's actually more than a resort; it's a gated community, so there are a lot of people who have built their houses on the resort. On site, there are two golf courses, horseback riding, an indoor swimming pool, indoor and outdoor tennis, an athletic centre, playground, bowling alley, hiking trails, boat rental, and so much more. There are several places to eat on site, as well. In the main building, a buffet breakfast is served. You can go to the Small Talk Cafe, which serves things like pastries and small sandwiches, as well as coffee and bottled drinks. The Glade Springs Grill and Bar is the fancier place, where the fare is more refined and expensive. For a more "dressy casual" dinner, Richard and I went to the Bunker Sports Bar, for a delicious meal and dessert. We also bought a bottle of wine from the restaurant to have back at our room.
Before leaving West Virginia on Sunday, we traveled to Tamarack, which is about a half hour away from the resort. There, they have vendors that sell local made items, from paintings to sculptures to jewelry to wine and jams. There, we bought two bottles of wine, two jars of honey, and a jar of plum jelly.

Driving down

View from our room

Dinner at Bunker's

On a walk

At the playground, they really had this sort of ninja training set up. I passed.

At the rec centre

Bowling. Richard said to me, "Give me your warrior face!"

We took this photo after completing our shopping adventure at Tamarack

Everything about this trip was amazing and wonderful and beautiful. We have a great time exploring most of the grounds in a several hour-long walk. We took the time to stay in at night and just watch television (we don't have cable at home). We got to experience a whole new place that we've never seen before, and we hope that we can come back some day.

Comments We spent a lot of time planning this trip, from deciding which days to go to where and how we'll deal with the financial costs of the whole thing. Since we don't have a joint account, we just decided to split things in various ways, and it all worked out evenly. My suggestion to any couples who want to plan a big trip is to take the time (perhaps an hour or so) to organize the whole thing. Decide on what you'll need to bring, how much money you want to or are willing to spend, and think of some of the things you want to do there. For us, we were content to keep our activities limited to walking around and a cheap round of bowling, but other people might wish to golf, or go skiing, or take tours. Whatever you're thinking about doing, you should plan for it well, as there's nothing worse than being stuck somewhere you're not familiar with with no money.

My best advice to anyone trying to plan a special trip like this is to enjoy it to the fullest, and try to go somewhere you've never been before. Exploration is the source of much of the world's happiness, in my opinion, and when you get to experience new places, there is a special joy that stays with you as long as you remember the trip. Get out, and do something new and exciting. Experience the world with the people you care about, and enjoy the time you have on this earth.

And that's the low-down on our very special anniversary trip to West Virginia! Thank you for reading this article of the Endorphin Walrus, and we hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully, we were able to give you some ideas for your next big trip! As always, please feel free to leave comments, questions, and suggestions below!