I kidnapped my husband

"what are you doing this weekend?"

"Oh, just kidnapping my husband."

Yes. This is real life.

Last weekend, I told mike I had made dinner reservations at Vin Rouge, a little French restaurant in Durham that we had never been to {decoy number one}. I drove his car to work because mine was "making funny noises" {decoy number two}. Little did he know I packed us an overnight bag and hid it in the trunk. After he got off work he drove to my work and we jumped in his car. It was pouring rain so he blindly followed my directions instead of following his {whew!}. We drove through Durham and in about 10 minutes were surrounded by beautiful pastures and open air. I told him to take a left at the next light and it would be immediately on the left. Little did I know there would be a massive sign with the words Arrowhead Inn at the corner of the stoplight. Hmm. Mike started giggling like a school girl. I fumbled around for a cover up "oh I forgot to tell you the restaurant is in an inn... Isn't that cool?!?" immediately followed by "just kidding... Surprise! No dinner! We're staying here! Well we will eat dinner too and uh yeah surprise!" I am not one with words.

Luckily the rain broke as soon as we pulled in and we were greeted by a beautiful white plantation home surrounded by beautiful lush gardens. I grabbed our bags as mikes mouth hung to the floor.

Arrowhead Inn was amazing! The hosts told us the history of the home and that we were staying in the original master bedroom from the 1770s! Our room was decked out with a huge soaking tub, a STEAM shower {best thing ever}, fire place, robes, mini fridge, wine glasses, chocolates, etc. they didn't forget a thing. They even wrote us a cute letter that welcomed us and made us feel at home. I pulled out the camera to capture it all and forgot the memory card.. Arg! Forgive me for phone photos!

follow me on Instagram (@ckhurtig)

We enjoyed the room for awhile and then made our way to vin rouge for dinner {see I didn't completely lie to him}. Our tastebuds were in for a ride. A sweet French man helped us make delicious choices that paired well together and told us all about each dish. We love food and wine so having the little details put the cherry on top. As we devoured our stinky cheeses, bottle of wine and fresh seafood, we enjoyed the beautiful porch and talked through our hopes and dreams. It was perfect. After two hours we made our way back to the inn --full and happy.

The next morning we headed down to breakfast to be surprised with a cute setup for two and an ah-maze-ing breakfast. I forgot to mention the cook at the inn is a chef that is part of a culinary genius group with other chefs in the area. note: that is not the the of their group-- just what I'm calling it. We stuffed ourselves to the brim and headed to the gardens for a morning walk. It was a true escape... And only 30 minutes from home.

Lately we've had so much going on that we haven't had enough time to enjoy one another. Lots of changes in our lives and a busy schedule leaves little room for us. Our marriage is way too important to let little things get in the way. We decided to have a monthly getaway where we could forget obligations, schedules, plans and just focus on each other. First escape... Success!