The last weekend in February my husband needed to take a trip to Knoxville, TN to purchse some sheep. (See S & J Sheep ranch blog for that information). He is increasing the herd to include milk sheep. That allows their crossbreds to produce more milk and the lambs to grow that much faster.
He likes to include me on his trips, even though I am not the farming type. When we planned his sheep buying trip, he suggested we find a bed and breakfast to spend the night at. Well you know me, he suggests taking a trip and I am on it. I searched the internet, and found a bed and breafast within 40 minutes of our destiniation to Knoxville.
While I was searching the internet I found several good choices for bed and breakfasts. Before I get into our weekend, I wanted to give a few tips on where to search. The best place to begin your search for bed and breakfasts in TN is BnBfinder.com/Tennessee. As an aside, BnBfinder.com is also a great place to search for any B and B you wish to visit around the USA. BnBfinder.com allows for a search or breaks up the sate by regions. Therefore you can choose your B and B by the area in which you plan to visit.
White Stone Inn won out over other deserving bed and breakfasts because of the ammenities provided, nearby attractions and the location to our final destination.
Taking the Kingston Exit off I-40, we drive through the countryside; past homes and farms, wondering if we are lost. The winding roads take us far away from the city. After driving twenty minutes, we turn a curve and view two large white buildings, letting us know we were in the right place.
White Stone Inn sits atop the hills above Watts Bar Lake.
The inn consists of 6 buildings. Five of those buildings have rooms for rent, while the 6th building is a church for Sunday worship and weddings. I can only describe WhiteStone Inn as picturesque. Each building sat atop a hill with valleys dipping low around them. Trees void of leaves surrounded the farmhouse rose cottage and entrance barn, while a pond and pasture gave way to the valley where the working barn and horses were stabled, and on the opposite hill where the church and the lion and the lamb lodgings sat.
Our room was situated at the back of the farmhouse. The downstairs consisted of three bedrooms, the game room and the message therapist's rooms. Our room, which was called the Canada goose room was off the patio at the back of the main house. The large bay window gave a spectacular view of the the church and the Lion and the Lamb building. We also had a nice view of a portion of the lake and horses, but once we opened our door to the patio we had a full view of the lake.
Each room at Whitestone Inn is given a name and a theme, such as Blue Heron, Mallard Suite, Robins Nest, Oriole Suite and Eagles Landing Suite to name a few. Since ours was the Canada Goose room, our furnishings were light colored with beiges, whites and some brown and green thrown in. The large king size metal bed was covered with egyptian cotton sheets, and the thick mattress and down pillows were heavenly. Opposite the bed was the large bay window. Below the window, centered in the room was a gas log fireplace. Two chairs and a table sat off to the far side of the room. Our bathroom had an oversized jetted tub, yes large enough for two, a shower stall, toilet and large vanity. The room was equipped with a small tv and a personal size refrigerator, which held drinks.
Other rooms in the farmhouse have similar ammenties as ours. The humming bird suite, situated at the other side of the game room on the lower level of the farmhouse has the best view of the lake, and similar ammenities, but the room was much larger than ours. Nine bedrooms on three floors made up the sleeping arrangements in the farmhouse. The Entrance Barn houses four bedrooms, Rose Cottage and the Lion and the Lamb each have three bedrooms and the school house, which is where you check in, has two bedrooms.
Since Whitestone Inn is a bed and breakfast, I know you are wondering about the food. Breakfast is included in the cost of the room, but dinner reservations, which anyone can make, is not. I highly recommend booking dinner reservations. The meal was fantastic. The dining area is situated on the main floor of the farmhouse, and diners eat on an enclosed porch with a view of Watts Barr Lake. The tables are cozy and intimate with your names and city printed on a small card, showing you where your table is, and so the owner can relate to the patrons when he stops by your table during supper.
The dinner menu is a 5 course meal. The meal begins with an appetizer. The night we were there we had a small cup of corn chowder to ward off the cold. Our appetizer was followed by a salad or spinach leave, strawberries, pecans and feta cheese topped with a choice of poppy seed dressing or a vinegrette. While waiting for our entrees the staff brought in small cups of lemon sorbet for us to cleanse our palettes with. I had heard of this, but it was the first time I had experienced it. The sorbet was light and refreshing just before our entree.
The entree choices consisted of a beef, chicken or pork, a fish choice and a vegetarian pasta for those who do not eat meat. Steve had the steak while I chose the chicken. His grilled steak had sweet and smoky flavors that complemented each other. The choice of chicken that night consisted of a grilled chicken breast, spinach a tomato slice and melted mozzarella cheese. Our sides were rice with vegetables and a selection of squash and carrots. The dinner rolls were light and fluggy. Steve and I shared a piece of pie. The frozen dessert was made of chocolate, peanut butter, coconut, and nuts on a chocolate crust and drizzled with chocolate. It set us over the edge.
Breakfast the next morning was a large buffet with eggs, bacon sausage, cereals and oats, yogurt, fruit, hasbrowns, toast, biscuits and one of my personal favorites scones. The blueberry scones had just the right amount of sweetness to complemen my eggs and bacon. Juice, coffee and milk were served. We once again ate on the porch and our view of the lake just made breakfast that much more enjoyable.
We left all too soon, but had to get on the road to Knoxville. Since we had several hours to kill before picking up the sheep, Steve and I decided to take a little side trip. We left the Inn and went east taking a different route out than the one we came in on. The day was wet with a light rain, but the winding road around the lake, hills and farmland was just beautiful. We drove towards Loudon, Tennessee and I-75 to the Tennessee Valley Winery. It was just a short 30 minute trip to the winery, and once we left there we would continue on north on I-75 to I-40 and our destination to knoxville.
Tennessee Valley Winery is situated on top of a hill in a nondescript tan metal building. While the building is nothing to talk about, and the inside of the winery is quite small, the wines are quite good. You have to wait your turn to get a taste of the wines, but it is worth it. The owner is from Australia, who found his way to Tennessee. His wines include 9 red wines, 8 white wines and 3 fruit wines. We brought home several bottles, but my favorite was the Golden Muscat, a "medium white wine with strong fruity flavors." It is similar to Reisling and well made.
After our purchases we were on our way to Knoxville. I am sure you are thinking why is she bothering to tell us about the sheep purchase. Well it isn't just that. The sheep we bought are milk sheep, which produces sheep cheese. While we are not getting into that end of the business, crossbreeds with these milk sheep will increase the size of our lambs and we can take them to market much sooner.
After purchasing our sheep we bought some of the cheese. The hard cheeses had ripened and were ready for sale. The taste is similar to an aged cheddar, but with less moisture. The soft cheeses are not ready until May, and as of yet I have not purchased any of the soft cheeses. Locust Grove Farm sells their cheeses online and at local farmer's markets. You can visit their website at http://www.locustgrovefarm.net
Take a weekend trip to East Tennessee. While Whitestone Inn and the winery were our destinations, there are several bed and breakfasts in the area, and several wineries from Crossville east. Choose your own destinations and enjoy the beautiful scenery Tennessee has to offer. We are so much more than just Gatlinburg and Dollywood.
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