Kathy
Thanks for the "heads up".
We'd be interested in coming, if we could get a roomm for a couple of nights. I'll talk with the wife.

Jabez, that will be great if you and your wife can join us! (And Earline, great that your husband wants to join you too... this is a good thing, right??!)

Everyone, I did talk to Susan the owner of the B&B today and gave her my credit card number to reserve our room. If Nicole (sorry-- CarpeDiem!) has "assigned" you to one of the rooms at the B&B (see her previous post here dated November 11th, please be sure that you contact Susan at Mountain Grove at 800-226-5585 or 706-862-6676. It sounds like most have done this, but maybe not all.

I also talked to Susan about accommodations for anyone else who would like to stay over (like Gail and John or Jabez and his wife), as there are just the five rooms. They do have access to several cabins that are only about a mile away and usually use these when they have overflow groups. She said that she can handle these reservations and that anyone who stays there could come up to the B&B for breakfast. (There's probably an extra charge for the breakfast.) If anyone is interested in this, just call Susan at the number below early next week.

I think our GTG is going to be the best Slow Travel GTG ever! And the more the merrier. If you are reading this thread and would like to be with us, just post here and let us know and contact Susan if you need an overnight accommodation. We will post sometime before Christmas with more information about our group meal and other arrangements.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Kathy

Sounds like this will be a great GTG! I am also thrilled to see that most of the people who were at the Atlanta GTG we had this past winter will be at this one and we are finally going to get to meet the Heckos

All The Best,

Leslie

Maybe Jabez' wife will be able to make this one also. Wasn't she grandbabysitting last time?

quote:

(And Earline, great that your husband wants to join you too... this is a good thing, right??!)

Kaydee, I trust that it will be. We'll all find out!

Thanks, Leslie! We're looking forward to meeting you and everyone else, too. It sounds like a great group.

I'll get in touch with Susan this weekend about a place to stay overnight.

A presto!

Gail
http://www.chicktrips.com (couples, too)

I'll try and talk with Susan this week. We'll probably stay 2 or 3 nights. Not positive because I have a number of January business trips that I have to juggle.
Judy was grandbabysitting during the Atlanta GTG. With 6 grandbabys in the Atlanta area, this is normal part of our lives.
We'd also be interested in the hikes.

Jabez, I didn't pay attention to the mention of hikes on the B&B website when I originally looked at it. It looks like there would be several great hikes. That made my husband far more interested in coming with me. Of course, all the pictures are in the summer with foliage. If we have good weather, January can be beautiful in its own way. With no leaves on the trees, we can get a better view of things like the waterfalls, right?

I haven't checked the thread since I posted on 10-28-05 . . . noticed our change of plan and I am still interested. I called Susan at Mountain Grove B&B and left a message to see if there was any room as I plan to drive up from Birmingham and then spend Saturday night and return on Sunday.

Judy, so glad you are still with us! If there are not any rooms at the inn itself (there are only five), Susan will make arrangements for some cabins that are very close. The people staying in the cabins will come up to the B&B for breakfast Sunday morning.

Just curious-- has everyone who is coming made a reservation for their room? We need to firm up these arrangements so we can start making plans for our wonderful meal on Saturday!

Kathy

Susan at the Mountain Grove B&B returned my call last night. She said that all the rooms at the B&B are full; however, she inquired of my interest of sharing a cabin. She said that there is one that has 3-bedrooms, kitchen, bath etc. - I would have my own room but sharing the common areas. I am amenable to sharing with other "Slow Travelers" and she is going to explore this possibility. If no one else is interested in sharing, she will find me a B&B Room nearby. I will be traveling to the area from Birmingham, AL on Saturday and staying the night and returning home on Sunday . . . so I will only be spending one night.

Anyone interested? If so, contact Susan at 706-978-9425.

I am looking forward to this event!!

Happy Holidays to my fellow slow travelers.

Judy

Hi Kathy,

I may have already mentioned this to you but I confirmed "our" room via credit card with Susan a few weeks ago. We are set.

Thanks for following-up with this. It's going to be alot of fun!

Leslie

I just talked to Susan & she's still in California, but I'm confirmed for Saturday (1 night) with my sister, Elaine, from Woodstock, Ga. Sounds like it will be great fun!

Kaydee, I've confirmed with Susan (credit card) and my husband is also coming with me.

I think this is going to be a great GTG. How many do we have now?

E

I've gone back over all our messages, and here's where I think our group stands as of today:

Kathy, Charley and Kelly
Earline and husband
Nicole (CarpeDiem) and maybe husband (not overnight)
Leslie, Brent and Riley
Linda and Wes (l&w) (not overnight)
Lynne Zielinksi and husband
Judy from Birmingham
Karen Morgan (kmmorgan) and sister
Gail and John Hecko (unsure if confirmed overnight)
Jabez and Judy (unsure if confirmed)

There are a couple of people I'm not sure have confirmed, but I've just listed TWENTY-ONE people! And should anyone else read this and want to join our group, just post here and let us know.

Since we have such a large group, I'll plan to bring some nametags. Those of us who use a "different" name on Slow Travel can decide what we want to be called!

Kathy

Kathy, Wow! This is turning out really great. It makes me feel like we're the Little Train That Could!

My husband's name is Cal.

E

I've been sloooow getting my act together, but I've contacted Susan and we're in for the night. Don't know where yet, but she'll let me know.

Wouldn't it be great if we got snowed in??!!

Gail
http://www.chicktrips.com

Gail, sounds like a winning thought as long as we have plenty of food and wine. Oh, does that mean that I should maybe consider bringing extra vino just in case?

I can think of worse places to be snowbound!

We are starting to talk with Susan about our meal on January 14th! We definitely want it to be special and will have a family style meal... not ordering off a menu.

So, before we get too far along with this... does anyone have anything that they can't eat or really don't like at all. If you have any special dietary issues you don't want to post here, just e-mail me at kdcwood@aol.com.

Kathy

Hubby (Ed) and I have no dietary restrictions at all. We love food! Susan returned my call on her way home from California. She was to call me when she got home to obtain my credit card info, but I haven't heard from her. I'm ashamed to admit it ... I've lost her phone number. If someone can email me, I can get this shindig finalized. Okeedokee?

Lynne, here is the website for the Mountain Grove B&B. There are two phone numbers: 800-226-5585 or 706-862-6676. I know Susan is back now.

See you soon!

Kathy

We've had a little change of plans, but in a good way! We are still coming to the lunch and we may be bringing our Italian tour guide Pino and his wife, Angie, with us. We just heard from them today that they are planning a trip to the U.S. next month (spontaneous, aren't they!), and we will know soon when they are coming. Hopefully, it will be our ST weekend!

Judy, we were in the middle of checking overnight options in the area when this came up, so I have a list of accommodations. I'm sure Susan will help you, but let me know if you need mine. My email address is in my profile.

Hope everyone has a great day tomorrow, and we'll see you soon!

Gail
http://www.chicktrips.com (couples, too)

Gail, I certainly hope Pino & Gail's trip coincides with our GTG. Wouldn't that be wonderful to have some real Italians there? They are Italian, aren't they? Or did I read too much into this?

Not every GTG would have such illustrious visitors. We're special.

Hi, everyone. Hope y'all are having a good week.

Susan and I are trying to think through the menu options (what's available there, what's nice this time of year, etc.) and we were going to check on costs before we got too much further:

Would $35 per adult for appetizers, entree, vegetables, dessert, & nonalcoholic beverages be within everyone's price range?

If not, we will try to figure out where to economize, but I'm hoping that number will be okay.

Susan can serve - but not sell - wine and other alcoholic beverages. So we can bring our own wine (I always bring enough to share, though - and I can pick up extra if y'all would rather I bring it. )

Earline, yes, Pino and Angie are Italian from Camucia, right outside of Cortona. He has been the tour guide for my groups for five years and we consider each other family! Angie is actually from Canada (long ago), and she loves the chance to speak English with us. Kathy, Charley, and Kelly met them when they visited us in Montisi.

I hope they will come. It feels like it will be a last minute decision for them - quite different from the way we travel, planning a year in advance !

A presto!
Gail
http://www.chicktrips.com (couples, too)