50 in 50: We Made It!

If we achieved nothing else during our current road trip in America, we did get over the line to our 50th Wedding Anniversary - a Golden occasion. It seems a little unreal but is something to be proud of and to celebrate although those celebrations were somewhat muted due to the fact that we were 4000 miles away from family and friends!

That said however, we had chosen somewhere special to stay in the form of a historic American B&B home called Blessings on State in Jacksonville, Illinois. I call it historic but of course American history is very recent in comparison to our own but does retain a certain fascination when you can see actual photographs of historic figures, the likes of Wyatt Earp and Abraham Lincoln to name but two!

We were made very welcome by owners Gwenn and Glen who have worked very hard to achieve the status they hold in the world of American B&Bs and their story has been widely published and we can understand why when you hear just a little about their lives.

Anyway, we had a lovely day although most of it was spent in nearby Springfield rather than Jacksonville, the latter we perhaps unfairly labelled “a one horse town!” It was only due to our failed efforts to find a coffee shop open to feed our morning caffeine fix! Mind you, to counterbalance that comment, we did enjoy an early morning walk around the historic district of Jacksonville to view some of the stunning historic houses.

More about our fascinating time in Springfield in another post but we did return to the B&B to be greeted by owners and other guests to enjoy cake and British Airways champagne on the beautiful porch. It was a lovely end to a very special day.