I’m about a week later than I wanted to be getting this Valentine’s Day 2016 blog post out. I blame it on Fallout 4. Some of you will understand only too well. If you are like me, you will find almost any excuse to not do the very thing that you are supposed to.

Our Valentine’s Day getaway begins on Saturday with a drive up to the northwest corner of Connecticut. Our destination is the Mountain View Inn ( http://www.mvinn.com/) in Norfolk. Nestled in the foothills of the Berkshires and boasting the summer session of the Yale School of Music and Art.  What’s drawing us there is the Infinity Music Hall & Bistro (http://www.infinityhall.com/Venues/Infinity-Norfolk/) and a Saturday night concert by Tim Reynolds and TR3. If you are a Dave Matthews Band fan, you will recognize Tim Reynolds as the wildly talented guitar player for the band. When DMB is not touring or recording, Tim Reynolds & TR3 can be seen in smaller venues all over. We had never seen the TR3 and were looking forward to the event. It was coincidental that it was on Valentine’s Day weekend and in such a picturesque location. That being the case, we decided to make a weekend of it. It’s hard to plan on the weather, and that weekend happened to be one of the coldest in recent memory. Below is a pic from the temperature gauge in our car.

We located the Mountain View Inn about a mile from the venue and checked in. We were greeted at the door by one of the owners, Dean. We met his wonderful wife, Jean Marie, the next morning. Dean led us up to our beautiful room which included an un-heated sleeping porch! Our very survival dictated we save the sleeping porch for a return trip in the summer. Look closely at the photos, notice the  frosted windows and a temperature reading -9`?!  The Inn is truly a thing to behold and if you want to see additional photos, check out their many positive reviews on Trip Advisor.

We had just enough time for a quick nap before heading to our reservations at the Bistro, part of the Infinity Music Hall & Bistro.

The restaurant was a busy but well run operation, with most of the patrons trying to get in and out in time for the show. We had checked out the menu online beforehand (Remember me giving that advice in an earlier post?!?!) so we knew there would be vegetarian options. We just didn’t know the decision was going to be so difficult. We decided to split a Baked Brie Turnover (Fig Marmalade|Toasted Walnuts|Cranberry Coulis) and a Goat Cheese and Beets salad. (I don’t want to blow anyone’s mind or anything, but did you know that not all cheese is vegetarian? I’ll save the entire story for another blog but if you just can’t wait, google ”rennet” and remember; don’t hate the messenger, hate the people that can’t stop finding uses for calves). For an entrée, my wife had the Baked Gnocchi (Spinach|Walnut Pesto|Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce) and I went with the Teriyaki Tofu Chow Mein (Soy-Plum Glaze|Udon Noodles|Broccoli|Carrots|Scallions|Sesame Seeds).  All the food was fantastic and had nothing to do with the fact that my wife and I were nearing the end of a 6 month weight loss study during which we had drastically cut down on eating out. This weight loss study had created a fundamental shift in the way we think about food and now influences not only what we eat but our exercise, podcast listening choices, books we read; in other words, a lifestyle change. I’ve lost 25 Lbs I didn’t know I needed to lose and my wife has lost 38 lbs and is still going. But, you don’t want to hear about that, do you?

We finished up and headed to our seats in the concert hall. This is an intimate, 300 seat venue that was built in 1883 as an opera house. It’s a great place to see a show. I’ll let someone else provide the concert review, but suffice it to say we had a great time!  Tim Reynolds is a gifted, prolific guitarist and the bassist and drummer are fine musicians in their own right.

After the show, we hurried back to our car through the -9` night for the quick drive back to the Inn and a warm bed.

We awoke to the windows frosted over as a result of the continuing deep freeze. Staying at a Bed & Breakfast is different than staying at a hotel in a lot of ways. It’s much more personal, as you are sharing a home with the owners, no matter the size of the accommodations. The “Breakfast” part of the B&B for the Mountain View Inn was posted as being from 8:30 am – 9:30 am. Since we were a little early, we poured coffee and walked around the lower floor, admiring the artwork painted by Dean himself. Dean let us know when the meal was ready and we headed in to the dining room.

As long-time vegetarians, there are certain meal situations in which you expect to be disappointed and hungry. A B&B is one of those places. They serve a minimal number of guests fresh homemade breakfast. They don’t serve multiple options to the masses. Most importantly, this is someone’s home and we did not expect, or ask, them to do anything differently.

There was plenty of good food for us vegetarians including sweet potatoes, egg-bake with asparagus, fresh fruit, and muffins. We left the table and the Inn well-rested and well-fed for the drive back home.