Royal Flush

         It’s my first blog post of the year and I think it’s important to set the right tone, perhaps even elevate the mind. Here we are entering a shiny new year and it’s always good to get off to a fresh, clean start. So in keeping with that aim, I thought I would begin this year’s posts with . . . .a retrospective of 2014 in bathrooms.

          Admit it. At some point or other we’ve all found it necessary to answer nature’s call in unfamiliar surroundings. On more than one occasion I’ll bet you, too, have been stunned by the experience for one reason or another. Here is a small sample of mine.

           

           There are some ladies' rooms that you almost hate to leave. In April at Orvis' flagship store in Manchester, Vermont I contemplated taking the furniture home. 

      

     In May a bus trip took me to the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

   


Not only does it offer comfy seating -

one of the stalls even boasts 

a fireplace.

     

        In June my travels took me to a restaurant that offered an opportunity for reflection.

 (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)

  

   At the Norman Rockwell 

Museum, also in June, I 

wondered if they'd notice

me crossing the lobby with

this cute side table under 

my arm.

                                                               

                                 

                In August, our annual trip to Cape Cod reminded me that some bathrooms, like this one at a hole-in-the-wall chowder place, are more utilitarian. 

Our trip to Italy in September was a useful lesson in being grateful for American self-indulgence. 

        As unfamiliar as things occasionally were, at least the graffiti proved  that some things are universal.

       I did manage to finish the year on a high note, with this December visit to the facilities at Ventford Hall, in Lenox in the Massachusetts Berkshires. It's one of the surviving Gilded Age "summer cottages" that once belonged to New Yorkers such as the Vanderbilts or J.P. Morgan.