Front Porch of Piney Hill B&B

Way back when, in about 1969 or so, my Cousin Wiley and I went to play in the woods and he got us lost. He was older and he was in charge, so yes, by default, he got us lost. We were missing most of the day and my mom had her friends and the local police out looking for us. Toward the end of the afternoon, we found our own way home and sat on the porch waiting for everyone else to come back from their search. I think it was my younger sister, Janet’s, birthday. I know we had hot dogs for a late lunch, because I’ll never forget how good that pig-face-cow-bowels-lips-butt-and-other-uck tasted on that Wonder Bread bun. Needless to say it was the last time I set out for the wilderness with Cousin Wiley.

Sitting in the wilderness with him is a different story. Wiley and his partner Hank own and manage one of the top B&B’s in Virginia. Piney Hill Bed & Breakfast sits nestled between Skyline Drive and Massanutten. The wraparound porch is the place to sit for spectacular views of both. I could go on and on about their place, but I’d sound biased because he’s family, and there are so many great reviews out there that do a fine job of saying all that.

What matters to me is how being there makes me feel. When I cancelled my 2008 move to LA at the last minute, I made two phone calls, one to the friend I was not coming to work with, and one to Wiley and Hank. I needed to get away from everything that had brought me to making that decision and everyone who knew me and step back to reassess where I would go from there. I arrived at their place in a heap of exhausted tears, and within 10 minutes was sitting around the kitchen table hanging with my innkeepers and a bunch of other guys I’d never met. Wiley got tickled about something he’d said and couldn’t stop giggling and before long the lot of us were swept away into that uncontrollable laughter. That’s just the kind of guy he is ~ down to earth, no pretense, real, and with a sense of humor that reflects his outlook on life. I like to think I’m like him, but I don’t know. He comes by it all so naturally. Hank, as the author of this Sunday’s AssociatedContent.com Travel article says, is a riot. He’s also a fantastic cook and well, just a love. I know the lawnmower story is true as I have seen him on it and have photos as proof.

Real was what I needed when I stepped off my own planned course of reality and flipped it inside itself. Real. Comfortable. Accepting. Safe. Cared for. Yes, this, from the little boy who got us lost in the woods and then threatened to leave me there when I cried. I yearn to be there still when I am feeling lost or lonely or like the world is too big or too mean. To be where laughter sits on the other side of the table and to hear the summer sounds of the country: crickets, cicadas, frogs blending together in the darkness of a land illuminated only by the fireflies that glow throughout the night.

Hank and me and Wiley

Piney Hill Haven

Lazy Susans at Piney Hill B&B

Morning Coffee with the Cows