Alter Ego Escapes

Looking for the Celebrity Shine

by Sandra Scott

When I my mind goes tilt because it is overloaded with work I want to escape and be treated like someone special. I deserve it! So, I head to where the famous go to avoid the paparazzi and hope some of the celebrity shine will brighten my life.

Inn at Cedar Falls

Where to do the governors of Ohio head when they need to get away from the pressures of the office? They head to the hills – Hocking Hills, Ohio and the Inn at Cedar Falls. And I know why. It is a total escape into the past with all the luxury of the present. I walked into my 1840’s log cabin through the comfy sitting room out the sliding glass doors to the deck, and startled a deer nearly hidden in the heavily treed parkland. According to Ellen Grinsfelder, the Innkeeper, "Ex-governor, now Senator George Voinovich and his wife visit every year as have former governor Bob Taft and present governor Ted Strickland." Ah, to be in Strong Wolf Cabin mellowing out in the Jacuzzi tub with nature’s wonderland spread out before me. www.innatcedarfalls.com

Mirbeau Inn

Speaking of politicos I know a place where Hillary and Bill stayed. No last names needed! Located in the heart of the New York State’s Finger Lakes the Mirbeau Inn and Spa in Skaneateles has a definite European flair. When a presidential-hopeful and an ex-president feel the need to escape to France – but can not - they can get their French fix at the Mirbeau. The French Country architecture, with Monet-inspired gardens, luxury accommodations, a decadent Greco-Roman Spa Resting Room, and the open-air all–season Aqua Terrace make it one of my personal favorites, too. I hanker to return to relax in the alfresco heated whirlpool on a snowy day with gentle flakes falling, then grab a heated towel and cuddle up in front of the huge open-hearth fireplace with a hot toddy! Maybe I’ll meet you-know-who there. www.mirbeau.com

Roycroft Inn

The Roycroft Inn in East Aurora, New York, helps me get in touch with my artistic side. In keeping with its designation as an U. S. National Landmark, the Inn retains its original Roycroft style. In 1895 writer-philosopher Elbert Hubbard established the Roycroft Arts and Crafts Community, a self-contained community for craftspeople. Since it opened in 1905, the Roycroft Inn has hosted a plethora of notables including authors Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charlotte Bronte, Steven Crane, and Henry David Thoreau. I love sit by the fireplace – possibly in the same chair used by Charlotte Bronte – with my pen poised over my notepad, looking pensive, and hoping people wonder, "Who is she? An author? A poet?" They don’t have to know I am only a wannabe writer making an entry in my journal. www.roycroftinn.com

Century House

I majored in history and when I want to get in touch with history, I head to the Century House on the historical corridor between Albany and Saratoga, New York. The Century House began in 1790, when the Stephen Van Rensselaer family paid a five shillings for several hundred acres. He rented to the Frederic Roff family for 251/2 skippels of saleable winter wheat and four fat fowls per year. It stayed a farm until 1949 when James and Dorothy O’Hearn purchased the land and established The Century House Restaurant. They expanded the restaurant and added a hotel but remains in the O’Hearn family. I stop to admire the 360-mural in the hotel entrance celebrating the early days of the Albany before exploring the many historical sites in the area. When I return I enjoy dinner in the Century House Restaurant. In the Federal-style dining room with wide-plank vintage chestnut flooring and a fireplace created from stones salvaged from the old barn with old keys found in the cellar incorporated into the mortar I can actually touch relics of the past. www.thecenturyhouse.com

Emerson Inn

There are times when I don’t want to be anyone special I just want to be treated special and leave all my worries behind. When I just want a total escape I pick The Emerson Inn that recently hosted Bobby McFerrin who suggested in song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!” The Emerson Inn with Rajasthan architecture, a first rate spa, a gourmet restaurant, plus a serene location along with the world’s largest kaleidoscope is a place where McFerrin has chosen to “Be Happy” – more than once. It is a place where the staff does everything to ensure that the song title rings true for all guests. McFerrin is not the only music icon to stay at the Emerson, Ray Charles entertained there shortly before his death, and Woodstock is just down the road – but the music event “Woodstock” did not take place in Woodstock but about an hour’s drive away. www.emersonresort.com

Inn at Mystic

When my desires turn to romance I journey to where Bogey and Bacall honeymooned, the Inn at Mystic, in Connecticut. What could be more romantic? Humphery Bogart and Lauren Bacall were married in Ohio in 1945, traveled to Mystic, CT, and spent their honeymoon in the Gate House of their stockbroker friend, Fred Mosel, who owned the place at that time. The Gate House, just one of the Inn’s accommodation choices, is nestled in isolated tranquility overlooking the orchards. With the lights off, the fireplace aglow, there is a knock on the door. It is the waiter from the Inn’s gourmet Flood Tide Restaurant delivering our dinner. He pours our wine, bids us a good evening, and leaves, And, I hear my love paraphrase Bogey’s immortal words, "We'll always have Mystic." www.innatmystic.com

After being in touch with my celebrity alter ego, I head home – back to the grind until I go “tilt” again and have to head out to where the famous go to be treated like everyday people and where I go to be treated like a celeb.