Chateau Elan

WARNING: This is a lengthy post!

Several months ago, we made reservations at a resort and winery in Braselton, Georgia. Lately, our lives have been so hectic that we hardly get a chance to speak to each other much less spend some quality time together. It was great to get away and take a break from the chaotic lives we have awaiting us here.
Chateau Elan provides golf, nature trails, tennis, spa treatments, and of course the winery. We headed down Saturday for a round of golf before we checked in. It started out well (by this we mean Kristin beating Phillip), but it soon became apparent that the sweltering heat was not going to be nearly as bad as the humidity. Wow! Despite this, we had a good time. Phillip definitely laughed a lot! This is us BEFORE we fell victim to the horrid humidity.
After golf we decided to head to the pool for a while and relax. Phillip introduced me to a new phrase. While we were sitting by the pool it began to rain a little, but the sun was shining just as bright and beautiful as could be. Phillip looked at me and said, "The devil must be beating his wife again." WHAT!?!? 1) What in the world does that mean? 2) What does that have to do with sporadic rain shower. I laughed. Only my very Southern husband would announce the devil's domestic abuse problems at a fancy pool. Bless him.

After a long day on the course and at the pool (I know, life is tough), we decided to try out the authentic pub at the resort. Apparently the couple that established the resort spent 20 years working in Ireland. They commissioned an architect in Ireland to design and create an authentic Irish pub. He did so and they had it shipped to Georgia in 1997. CRAZY, but great food and the entertainment was awesome. I don't do beer, so I enjoyed sweet tea! :-) Phillip of course had a beer.
For my Raleigh friends, this was one of the signs hanging in the pub. :-) Oh the good ole days!
This gentleman provided the entertainment for the evening. He was great. Lots of Irish songs. I thought I would get very annoyed with live music, but he was amazing.
We started playing with the settings on the camera. Phillip enjoyed learning how to take pictures of things up close. Typically, I am the photographer for us.
I loved the bar area in the pub. It reminded me of something you'd find in a Western film. Please excuse the glare from the flash (I am far from a professional). After staying at Paddy's for a while we decided to head to L'Auberge, a resort lounge area with pool tables and live music. Besides a very random, very drunk woman, we enjoyed being able to sit back and chat for a little while. Not being a big drinker, I decided to try the resorts Chardonnay (I do love white wines). Wow! So very good. I even had Phillip try some. His response was that it wasn't terrible (aka: good).
We wrapped the night up a little later. The rooms at the resort are not adequately described when using the word "amazing." They are elaborately decorated; there is marble everywhere in the restrooms, with a gargantuous corner tub, walk in showers, and the world's best king bed with down comforters and pillows in abundance. Sleep was well-deserved and appreciated!
The chair and ottoman in the room are my new favorite. It was corduroy and incredibly comfy!
We decided to visit the winery the next day. It was so peaceful (a state of being neither of us are accustomed to lately). Here are a few pictures from the vineyards.

Phillip said the netting protects the grapes from critters. I am not sure if that's true or not since he seems to enjoy seeing just how gullible I am, but it sounded good. They are having the Festival of Wine in two weeks, so there was a lot of preparation for that.
This is a statue that sits right between the winery and the vineyard/equestrian arena.
Last but not least, we always get a Christmas ornament from our travels. Here's the ornament from Chateau Elan.