The Alluvian

We decided last Wednesday to take an anniversary trip to The Alluvian in Greenwood, MS. Early on, I was supposed to run in the Dallas White Rock marathon last weekend, but I've been having some plantar fasciatis issues so that run was nixed. We are celebrating 8 years on December 13 and decided to take advantage of the open weekend. Plus our parents graciously agreed to keep the kiddos, that was a plus:)! So the Allivian is a small hotel that features the Viking Cooking School across the street. The owner of the hotel is from Greenwood and renovated and reopened it in 2003. From what we saw, this guy pretty much owns the whole town, although there isn't much to look at. If you go, you'll understand what I mean!

The Alluvian

We got to the hotel around noon on Saturday, but check-in wasn't until 3. We parked the car and didn't get back in it until we left on Sunday afternoon. Everything you need is within walking distance from the hotel. I loved talking to the front desk clerk about The Help since it was filmed in Greenwood. She talked about how nice Bryce Dallas Howard was(who played the bully Hilly Holbrook) and some of the other characters. They normally have tours on Saturday but the manager was out of town, so there were no tours that day:(. I plan to take my mom back to do the Help tour of Greenwood and then they have the Help dinner at the cooking school across the street where many of Minnie's specialties are featured. If you haven't read this book, DO SO!

So we shopped around Greenwood and ate lunch at the Delta Bistro. Very good! The town has several little shops that were fun to look at plus a very cool 2-story book store. Dinner started at 5 and lasted until 8. You cooked the entire meal and we had a fun group that included some LSU fans. This worked out great as we watched the SEC championship game while we cooked.

Getting ready to cook a rack of lamb, crab martinis, roasted vegetables, green beans and tiramisu

This was some of our group. It was 10 people total and the instructor, Mary Helen, was great.

Matt and our new friend Molly cooking a sauce that we put into the tiramisu

Sweet couple from Little Rock, Rob and Molly. They were celebrating 5 years and have 2 young sons.

The finished product. This was a lot of fun!

The next morning, Matt surprised me with a couple's massage at the Alluvian Spa. It was fantastic and well worth it. Below is a picture of the town. It is pretty bare other than the hotel and a few shops. There wasn't a whole lot to do but I must say this was my FAVE anniversary trip yet. This would also be perfect for a girls trip!
And I really thought about not posting this next picture because I didn't want it to look as though I was boasting. Then again, this is my blog:), so why not. Matt totally surprised me with diamond earrings on Friday night. We aren't huge gift exchangers and I'm not one to ever expect diamonds(or gifts for that matter). This was beyond thoughtful! I am blessed to be his sidekick in life. He always keeps me laughing. The last 8 years have been filled with peaks and valleys, but we all have trials. They make us who we are today. God knew long ago who was perfect for me and our family is so blessed to have him. I love you, Matt!

Hope you enjoyed this post. Have a great week!