Vermilion Getaway

Mr. H and I had a fun little weekend, a bit out of the ordinary. For my birthday in February, he gave me a "gift certificate" for a getaway to Vermilion, Ohio. A stay in a B&B and dinner at Chez Francois. As one of Ohio's top rated restaurants, it's been on our culinary to-do list for a while, and Vermilion is just far enough away that we hadn't made it happen yet.

We stayed at the Gilchrist Guest House B&B. It was just a short walk away from Chez. It was charming, and somewhat reminded me of staying at my grandmother's house.

We chose this particular weekend to go, because the Chamber of Commerce was hosting a Chocolate + Wine Walk around town. Local businesses were featuring a wine and chocolate tasting at each stop. While the samples were nothing special (with the exception of a couple), it was a great way to see the town and go into shops, businesses or restaurants that we may have overlooked.

After a relaxing nap back at the B&B, we got all dressed up and headed to Chez for dinner. More on that later this week!

The next morning, we went to Granny Joe's for breakfast.

Some French Toast hit the spot.

Then, we popped over to a business that we had been into during the Walk the day before. The Olive Scene was just begging to be sampled.

We had a great time wandering the store and tasting the olive oils and vinegar.

We used to just purchase flavored oils or vinegar to use for dipping or salad dressing, but we've recently started cooking vegetables and fish/seafood with them, and it's been quite fun to work with them more. I highly recommend it! A quick, easy way to add interesting flavor to your meals. They have multiple locations around Northeast Ohio, so give their website a look.

For a quick overnight getaway, Vermilion was a lot of fun and we truly enjoyed our time there. I wish the rain had held off so that we could have spent more time by the water, but, eh, you can't be picky this time of year in Ohio.

Any other suggestions for a one-night or weekend stay within an easy driving distance of Cleveland?