OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY: MEETING CI NDY (aka APPLESTONE COTTAGE) IN BEAUTIFUL GALENA, ILLINOIS!

This past weekend The Husband and I stayed at a B & B in beautiful Galena, Illinois in celebration of our 23rd wedding anniversary. We also celebrated meeting a fellow blogger and her husband, Cindy from Applestone Cottage, and Dan. Cindy and I had been in cahoots about meeting for some time since we are two of the few Midwestern bloggers in our little community. So we agreed to meet in historic Galena, Illinois, which is very close to the Illinois/Iowa border, situated on the Mississippi River with the Galena and Illinois rivers running through. It is about a three hour drive for each of us from different directions. Galena was home to our 18th president and 9 time General, Ulysses S. Grant. The town boasts 19th century architecture and 90% of it is on the National Historic Registry. Above is a beautiful B & B, not the one we stayed in, for I neglected to take a picture (see Cindy's post for that) and I thought this one would do. Pretty isn't it?
Here is the room we stayed in Friday night, the biggest in the home. I absolutely loved it for I have stayed in B & B's where I could lie in bed and touch all four walls. I love the big four poster bed. It was high enough to get a nosebleed.
And a gorgeous gas fireplace to keep us snugly all night long, well sort of, but I will explain that later.
Off we went for dinner and settled on a little pub called Benjamins. I had a scrumptious veggie sandwich made with fresh foccacia bread and The Husband had beef brisket.
I wish I could say we sat holding hands and staring into each other's eyes, but the reality is that The Husband watched a basketball game on one of the televisions and I doodled on the paper tablecloth with the crayons provided for bored adults that whine and squirm in their seats.
One glitch at the B & B. The above room became a bit chilly overnight, given that our temps slumped down to the single digits and the only heat in our room was from the fireplace. This particular room was used as a kitchen, separate from the main house and later connected. I actually felt fine the next morning and sat outside the room on a cute wicker filled porch watching the little birds flit from one flocked evergreen to the next. The sun was beginning to warm everything up and I admired the rose garden and all the pretty statuary. But alas, the husband whined and repeated several times, "Jane, it is 60 degrees in here!!" He was adamant about changing rooms so I had to give up the rose garden and little winter birds and move to another room which you can see in the pictures above and below. This room was quite nice and how much time do you spend in the room anyway? I did encounter a problem with the down pillows as I am allergic. My eyes puffed up a bit and I spent most of breakfast sneezing between bites of the gorgeous croissants stuffed with crab meat in a delicate white sauce. That in addition to a delicious apple tart and fresh fruit, all served on Spode china, the Christmas Tree pattern, of course.
We met Cindy and Dan at a restaurant named Vinny Vanucchi's, and if you guessed Italian, you are right. We were a little nervous to say the least about meeting virtual strangers and then being stuck with them all weekend, but they turned out to be the nicest couple and as would have it, we had an absolute blast all weekend. Never a dull moment. Cindy is exactly as she is on her blog, down to earth, funny and cute. Dan is one of the nicest guys I have ever met and he and The Husband hit it off really well. I know a lot of bloggers say that when they meet it is like they have been friends forever, and this was definitely the case here.
So off we went shopping after Cindy and Dan checked in to the B & B. The shopping area was so quaint and festive, done up in all it's holiday finery.

And there was a bit of play fullness in the air. This is one of several snowmen flanking the outside of the shops.
This was a very cool shop that we stopped in. In the store windows were children that at first looked like those mechanical mannequins you sometimes see, but they were real, busy decorating cookies, well, er...actually eating all the decorative candies instead! The Husband bought a large cloche here as he has been wanting me to make a floral arrangement in it for the conference room at his office. This is going to be a lot of fun.

The husbands were directed to go upstairs to a special 'Men Only' room, where they could watch sports on a big screen television and help themselves to cold beverages. Cindy and I, being quite like minded, let them enjoy the Man Cave for about 5 minutes before we disregarded the rules and entered the male domain. Here we are posing with our seat warmers, as of course all females who forcibly enter are required to sit on the hard bleachers.
Back at the ranch, Wendy, the owner of Annie Wiggins (our B & B) was preparing for a progressive dinner which was starting at her home with beverages. A gifted seamstress, she made this beautiful period costume and was quite proud of it.
She posed for a picture in the parlour for me. Look at that fancy bustle!
Later she showed me her sewing room, her favorite place in the house.

Isn't it wonderful? Look at the bolts of fabric! This really makes me want to sit down and start sewing on that new machine I have that is gathering dust.

After having cocktails in the parlour and joining in on some parlour games with the guests of the progressive dinner, who were quite a nice bunch of people, we headed out for dinner and settled on this restaurant.
Tasteful but casual, I was too busy tucking in to my Pasta Puttanesca to pay much attention to what anyone else was having.
After dinner we grabbed an innocent bystander to take a group photo of us.

When we got back to the Inn, Wendy pulled me aside and led me to the dining room where she had the table set for breakfast. I had been admiring her collection of Johnson Brother's Old Britain Castles and so she had set the table with it rather than the the holiday Spode. I was so touched. Cindy has more pictures of her collection. I loved her napkins rings which were fashioned out of silk flowers with the stems bent around the napkin. What a neat idea!
You can see her buffet with some of her pieces on it. The dining room was just beautiful! The following morning, breakfast was french toast stuffed with a cream cheese and orange marmalade filling. Oh, heaven. She is a wonderful cook.
After packing up the next morning, my eyes even more swollen from the down pillows, we headed off to a sports pub to watch the Green Bay packers beat the Chicago Bears. Now how ironic was that? Cindy and Dan from Wisconsin and The Husband and I from Chicago. There was some friendly rivalry but we all remained friends.
During the three hour game, Cindy and I talked non stop. We had so much in common and after 2 days of sharing time and meals, we were best friends. After a bite to eat, we parted ways with a promise to meet up again in the summer. When that happens, I am going to have the room that looks out at the rose garden and little birds and I am going to bring my own pillows!!
I am linking up with Susan who hosts Outdoor Wednesday and Susan from Between Naps On The Porch for Tablescape Thursday. You can go to their blogs by clicking the icons on my sidebar. Thank you all for visiting. I am off to make my rounds of all the events!