Greenbrier Resort

Brad has been intrigued with the Greenbrier ever since the PGA started hosting a golf tournament there every summer. He had researched everything about it and has been begging me to go since last fall. Now that Craw is older and we are sooo very fortunate to have grandparents who love keeping him we decided to take a trip to West Virginia. A little history on the Greenbrier--it was founded by Native Americans in the 1700s  due to this spring that they thought produced all of these healing powers. The spring left a white residue. People began gathering here to use this "healing spring water" and they decided to build a resort. It is now a very proper resort. You must wear coats/dresses when leaving your room after 7 and there are strict dress codes in the restaurants and casino.

Outside the resort before dinner.

We brought our Frogs Leap wine that we bought on our first anniversary trip to Napa and enjoyed drinking our wine that we had saved for a "special weekend getaway ocassion."

The first night we had dinner at the steak restaurant Prime 44 that is Jerry West's (a famous basketball player's) restaurant. We spent the evening walking the large resort. It basically reminded us exactly of the Biltmore house except that we were staying in the house. There were lots of older couples and a Girl Scout convention when we were there.

Dinner

On Saturday we signed up for a bunker tour. I didn't really know what a bunker was before our trip. However, this was built back after World War II during the Cold War Years. President Eisenhower met with the president of this resort and the federal government offered the resort $11 million to add on a wing to the resort. The catch was that they would be building a bunker to hold the legislative branch (~434 people) in the case of an emergency or terror attack. So from 1962-1992 the hotel was able to keep this "bunker" hidden from the public. They had to have enough food to feed all of the members of congress for 2 months. They had bunk beds for everyone, a way to create their own water and electricity. It was crazy to think that a couple of goverment agents were constantly updating the bunker and making sure it was ready to operate at any given time. They had blast doors that weighed in at 30+ tons that would keep air from getting in in case it was contaminated. Below is a picture of a blast door that was hidden behind the wallpaper for 30+ years. The funny part is is that they used part of this wing throughout those years so people really couldn't suspect anything. It was used to host conventions and they also have 88 guest rooms in the wing. Anyways, it was very interesting and I learned a lot of great information. It's crazy to think that there are certainly bunkers located in the US right now that would be ready to operated if needed.

The parlor where they host "tea time" every afternoon

Our delicious dinner--obviously we don't get out much anymore we were soo excited about our dinner

Took a walk and toured the grounds--checked out the golf club, workout facitlities, etc.

I enjoyed my Saturday  by relaxing in the spa--reading, getting a massage while Brad toured some more of the resort and watched some basketball. We had a great weekend!