Thanksgiving Gratitude/22 hours in Rowley & Ipswich
Two days before Thanksgiving my husband and I pressed pause on normal life and snuck away to the Green Briar Inn in Rowley. This isn’t far from our house, and that was kind of the point. I have been incredibly stressed, for what reason I’m not exactly sure. I blame it on a variety of astrological phenomena, Mars Retrograde in Gemini for an extended time, and a recent eclipse season that felt exceptionally challenging. Maybe it was those things, maybe it’s just midlife. Either way, I haven’t slept well in weeks and my nerves were fried. I didn’t want to travel far, all I really wanted to do was lay in bed and watch TV for 10 hours. And so, we took ourselves only a short distance from home and did just that.
The Green Briar Inn sits on a little campus set back from the main road that includes the Grove Restaurant and a spa. I felt like I was walking into a holiday village, complete with overflowing planters full of holiday greens and ribbons and a lobby warm and glowing with a fire and garlands on the railings. Grove happened to be closed when we were there but we’ve eaten there in the past and I would recommend it. The food was delicious and every detail has clearly been given serious attention, down to the adorable hobnail cocktail glasses.
We spent most of our time there snuggled up in the super comfy bed watching the two Enola Holmes movies. I don’t watch a lot of TV these days, it feels so hard to find something that isn’t either super violent, totally depressing, or just plain cheesy. The Enola Holmes movies avoided all of these dark corners and I could literally feel my nerves release.
The next morning, in the lobby we found a buffet of flaky pastry from A&J King in Salem, MA. I cannot resist a chocolate croissant, and these did not disappoint. My husband chose a maple scone, he’s a sucker for anything with icing. But we didn’t stop there. Bakeries are kind of our thing so we made our way to Sandpiper Bakery in Ipswich. It’s a small little shop with tall windows letting in bright morning light that glowed against the clean white walls. The pastry case was piled high with all manner of goodies from nut and chocolate croissants to butternut squash/kale/feta quiches to buttery biscuits and cookies. I had to stop my husband from ordering the biggest box they had. I tried the quiche, I love anything with butternut squash, and it was maybe the best quiche I’ve ever had. The flaky, buttery crust mixed with the sweet squash and fluffy eggs were heavenly. The honey drizzled biscuit with jam and preserves in the middle were our true favorites though. My husband went back and got more. I guess I should have let him get the biggest box after all.
Some might find it odd to leave the house two nights before Thanksgiving when you’re hosting. Honestly, I’m realizing my typical response to exhaustion is to push harder. This little trip was a wakeup call that pushing was not helping me. I was not a well functioning human and desperately needed to rest. Our time away inspired me to skip the usual Thanksgiving morning road race and stay home by myself and prep the turkey, finally realizing after all these years that the best thing to do was to put it in the oven as early as possible so we didn’t have to be worrying about when it might get done. Staying home, in the quiet house on Thanksgiving morning, and our little getaway were not only gifts to me, but everyone else too, as the comment I heard most Thanksgiving day was that it was the most relaxing Thanksgiving we have ever had.
I want to note that I do realize that this kind of thing is a real luxury, for which I am truly grateful. I’m grateful to have a husband who is just as excited as I am to take little adventures, to have kids who can stay by themselves, and to have the resources to take these little trips. It is so easy to take my life for granted when I’m just chugging along. Pausing helped give perspective on these things and helped me truly feel gratitude for all that is wonderful in my life.