Friday, July 29, 2011

A little taste of LUXURY.....in Saint Andrews


Last week I had to go to Saint Andrews, New Brunswick to deliver some paintings to the Kingsbrae Gardens Gallery. It was a five hour drive so my mum and I decided to to spend a couple of nights.

This is where we stayed, the Kingsbrae Arms.

It was absolutely gorgeous and I felt pampered and special.

The house was originally built as a summer “cottage”in 1897, by a prominent Nova Scotia businessman. He and his wife had lived for many years in Shanghai where he owned a fleet of cargo boats loading and unloading trade from foreign ships. His daughter created a salon for artists, poets, writers, and statesmen during her years in residence and was herself, an expert on Chinese art and culture.
All throughout the house are interesting things to look at and books and out the many windows are vistas of their beautiful garden.

This is the dining room and at the far left ( which you can't see), the floor is raised like a stage and there is a grand piano in the corner. The original family liked to perform little plays and have music in the evenings after dinner.

The staircase leading up to our room.

Ours was on the left just beyond that arch.

Voila! So beautiful! There was even some soft jazz playing on a cd playerwhen we entered the room. I could feel the stress literally fall away.

But wait.....there's more..... a window seat!!!

With a view !!!!

And then we had dinner......just had to show you the menu for our first evening. A five course meal with a cleanser of lemon sorbet topped with iced vodka after the gazpacho and butter basted lobster for the main. Creme brulee topped with flambéed bananas and roasted cashews for dessert. Yum. Most of the veggies came from the kitchen garden. The second night we elected to eat on the main street.

It was heavenly....

More to come about the gallery,The Kingsbrae gardens, Saint Andrews and the historic Algonquin Hotel ( We even went on a ghost tour there)
Part 2

5 comments:

Lynda said...

Wow! Luxury is right! We've never stayed anywhere quite that lovely in NS (too scared our boys will be boy-like and break something important!)

YogaNan knits, too... said...

Wow! You are helping ease my intense wanderlust, vicariously. No time or $$ for it right now, so thanks for sharing. Maybe some day...

Suzie Ridler said...

Well haven't you been living it up! Absolutely beautiful Shelagh, probably just what you needed right now. So glad you are pampering yourself and spending time so beautifully.

Gill said...

Oh Shelagh!!!! Look what I have missed. You lucky woman. What a glorious place to lay your head for a few days.
xoxo

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Such a beautiful place, Shelagh! I'm glad you and your Mom treated yourselves!

I hope you are having a wonderful summer. Busy times here in Brooklyn as I try to survive the heat.