Friday, July 25, 2014

Sweet Berries B&B (Maryville, TN)

From Sweet Berries's website
Last weekend, Kameron & I stayed at a lovely B&B in Maryville, TN. We had just finished up a week-long missionary orientation with TEAM missions agency and needed a vacation to clear our minds & sort through all of the new information about fundraising, working with our church, and realizing our vision. We also wanted a few days to postpone jumping into the business of work, life, and the beginnings of writing support letters (watch out! they are coming for you!).

Instead of searching for the cheapest hotel room for the weekend (our usual game plan), I decided to surprise Kameron by reserving the "Out of Africa" room at Sweet Berries B&B. As we plan to be missionaries in Zimbabwe Africa, I thought it would be appropriately thematic. I was referred to the B&B by none other than, Google! They were the first result when I searched "Maryville, TN bed & breakfast. And we were sure pleased!

Sweet Berries is run by a lovely Christian couple named Darrel & Louise. They were the perfect hosts after the spiritually challenging week we had at missionary orientation. They are both nurses (like me!) and really had a heart for serving & hosting. It was quite obvious that their spiritual gifts are both hospitality. (I felt bad asking for an extra towel because they hated the idea that my needs were not being met). Darrel is a very supportive husband that is able to read Louise's mind & help out wherever is needed. He leads prayer before breakfast and always ends with a phrase that goes something like "Thank you Lord for this wonderful life, and for my lovely wife." (this picture of them is taken from their website & is a little out of date. D&L no longer have those hairstyles).
There is covered parking. (Perfect if you come on motorcycle which many guests do).
 We walked into building and were welcomed by this lovely sign. (notice K's name is spelt right!)
 Our "Out of Africa" room was very cozy!
The bed was like a cloud. I could have slept for days!
 
There was a safari theme with all of my favorite animals (look at those giraffes!)
 I liked this statue of the tribal people.

Each room has a closet, a dresser, a private bathroom with a bath tub & shower, bath robes, toiletries, and a mini fridge.
 The food was to die for!
Each night Darrel & Louise set out desert.
The first night was carrot cake with the best frosting. Wow!
The second night was peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream (not pictured). Since they knew we were not coming back to the B&B until later that night, they kept the ice cream in a mini-fridge freezer that was located in our room. Wasn't that thoughtful?
 This is the view from the breakfast table. Birds of all color would perform dances in the air for us as they feasted on their own breakfast.
Breakfast is served around a common table. I loved how as a community of strangers, we could come together at the breakfast table and share in the heavenly three-course breakfast Louise prepared for us.
Yep. You read that right. THREE-COURSE BREAKFAST!
 Chocolate chocolate-chip muffin
 Fruit plate, featuring grilled pineapple
 Blackberry & cream cheese stuffed french toast
Those were served on the first morning we were there. & you better believe as much as we wanted to finish every bite. We could not! Good thing Darrel brought everyone out to-go boxes. There was a couple staying there that weekend as well, who are regulars. They had been there some 14 nights in the past 3 months. Before the meal started, they warned us to "pace ourselves." Yeah, even the regulars were not able to finish all three courses. 
The following was served on the second morning:
 A lemon muffin/cake. (moist, tart goodness) with blue berries.

Fruit cocktail with a mint sauce. 

Quiche.

Did I mention that the berries, veggies & herbs are from Louise's garden?










& if some how you were still hungry between all the breakfast & dessert, there was snacks & popcorn available in the common area that you could munch on while watching one of their many DVDs on the big screen TV. There were also sodas & bottles of water, as well as hot tea & coffee whenever you wanted. 

Unfortunately, it rained ALL WEEKEND, otherwise we would have make much use of their outdoor sitting areas. Porches. Decks. Hammocks. Garden benches. Swings. Something you should know about us: Southern porches are our favorite things. They also have outdoor games like lawn darts & corn hole. Kayaks are available to rent (something we wanted to do, but decided not to get soaked in the rain). 

Wow. Wow. Wow. We really do recommend Sweet Berries B&B. When can we go back? We want to return one October to see the Smoky Mountains in the fall. What could be better than Louise's breakfast with a side of autumn leaves?

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