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The Artist's Inn & Gallery
Terre Hill, Pennsylvania
Located in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, we arrived at the inn and parked the Eagle in the off-street parking and admired the yard and porches full of flowers. Our host and hostess, Bruce & Jan Garrabrandt, greeted us on the wonderful porch overlooking the rolling hills and farms in the background and we began a tour of their home with the dining room.
The dining room is in the oldest part of the home, which was built before 1853 and has walls made of two feet of stone. Combined with the antiques throughout the home, the wide doorways and window sills are very inviting. On the music stand in the dining room is a porcelain picture frame with the next day's breakfast menu in it. Throughout the home you will find the color pencil drawings done by Bruce. Nearly all are a reflection of local color and scenery. The detail in each of the drawings is amazing. Each one is numbered and limited in production. All the drawings, as well as reproductions on T-shirts, are for sale at the inn.
Jan and Bruce are only the 4th owners of the home since its construction. They purchased it in August of 1996 and were ready to open for business in January, 1997. The floors are wonderful old hardwood and the narrow hallways and staircase only add to the charming setting they have created.
In addition to the dining room, the downstairs also features a very comfortable sitting room for guest use. Upstairs is another common area, complete with books, games and always a puzzle! There are 3 guest rooms, each with a private bath. Our room was Uncle Sam's Room....
The room decor was pure apple pie! There is bunting and flags on the walls, several Uncle Sams carved from wood, stars and stripes, great American country accessories and the entire room was, of course, done in red, white and blue. It was great! The king size iron bed and thick terry bath robes made the room perfect. Our bath had a tub/shower combination, lots of thick towels and even a hair dryer was available.
After checking in, we departed on another photo taking tour of the area. We visited the local park, which is entirely supported by donations from the community. There was a softball game going on as we drove through. On our way in we had spied a beautiful old church just a few doors from the Inn. We discovered that this was the church that Jan & Bruce attend and they contacted Pastor Dick Wilcock, who came over near dusk and turned on the lights so that we could see the beautiful stained glass windows. We also had a tour of the Town Clock Hall, where the town clock still is hand-wound twice a week!
Upon our return to the inn, we met Randy & Mike, really nice folks who were also staying at The Artist's Inn & Gallery. We spent a good deal of time on the porch talking and laughing. Later, we retired to our room to get some work done and then a great night's sleep!
In the morning, Cindy rose early to check the email and send up some files. Jan had coffee ready when she came down at 6:30! Breakfast was served at 8:30 and what a treat it was!
On our way out, they presented us each with a T-shirt with Bruce's drawings screen printed on them! We promised to wear them during our next press interview and be sure to tell everyone where they came from --- Thanks!
We can heartily recommend The Artist's Inn & Gallery as a fantastic place to stay if you will be exploring the Amish & Mennonite communities or if you need a weekend escape from the big city! Please visit their website and when you make your reservations.....
....where else would you put Cruising America!!!???
Jan and Bruce keep a record in the computer of which breakfast has been served to each guest, so that when they return (and we are sure they have MANY return guests!), they are not served the same menu, but something new. What a nice touch and typical of the thought and care that seems to go into everything they do at the inn.
be sure to tell them Cruising America says Hi!
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