Stateside adventures can be just as exciting as oversea travels. I’m beginning to recognize the truth of this idea, and the Historic Eureka Inn in Jonesborough, TN, helped to seal this idea in my head. Despite being a world power, the United States is still so young compared to other countries.
The oldest structures in the USA barely brush the 1700s. The Historic Eureka Inn is one such place. Built sometime between 1798 and 1800, the inn still has a good portion of its original structure.
Quirky part of that is that nothing is level inside the inn. Is it TMI if I say that the first time I noticed the sloping floor was while, um, sitting in the bathroom?
In a brisk ten minutes, you can walk the whole of the thoroughfare in Jonesborough.
Fun Fact: Jonesborough has the International Storytelling Center and hosts the National Storytelling Festival in October.
But let’s focus on the Historic Eureka Inn.
Okay, so when I arrived to the Historic Eureka Inn, I took that side street next to it and parked in their little roundabout so I could check in (I then promptly forgot about my car for a solid 30 minutes) and bring my stuff in.
Blake and Katelyn are awesome. They remembered my name from hour 1 until I left three days later. Like, how cool is that?
As Katelyn showed me up to my room, explaining that it was pink, I wasn’t so sure I’d like the look of that. But when I entered The Cottage Room, it made me smile. For me, it wasn’t too much pink. Charming.
Oh, hey, so the reason that I visited the Historic Eureka Inn was for the Novel Writing Intensive. The authors in charge of this intimate, learning time believe in the importance of setting so we met in a town where storytelling is important.
Side Note: While the Novel Writing Intensive is over for this year, they are doing a Character Intensive Writing Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
Okay, it’s hard to take a photo that reveals how uneven the entire building is. Due to the age of the building, nothing is level. Yeah, scroll up to the above picture and admire the crookedness.
Although it made walking an adventure, I loved this quirky feature of the beautiful inn.
If you’ve read any of my book reviews, then you know: I love food. And goodness gracious, the Historic Eureka Inn definitely has some yummy food to offer.
As a yogurt addict, I particularly appreciated their cute yogurt parfaits. But I also love that I could order eggs as I wanted, and have waffles and syrup or biscuits and gravy for breakfast. I think one morning I had it all. Not (maybe a little) ashamed.
Jonesborough has all sorts of cute nook and crannies. They have The Corner Cup shop (mmm chai) and a bunch of sweet munchie places. If you love hiking, you’ll find that too.
If you’d like some cozy adventure, I think you need to book yourself a room in The Historic Eureka Inn.
Have You Ever Stayed in an Old Inn?
Tell me in the comments below! I’d love to hear about a new place to visit.
That’s such a cute place! Crookedness always adds character. And you should never feel bad about eating too much breakfast food.
I’m from England so have stayed in lots of old places, but the best/worst depending on your viewpoint was a pub in the spooky plague village of Eyam, Derbyshire. The landlady took great delight in telling us about all the ghosts and how we were the only guests that night. We said ‘but you’ll be here’, and she looked at us like we were mad and said ‘ooh no, we don’t sleep here’ (emphasis on the ‘here’). Spent most of the night hiding under the covers!
Ohhhh my goodness! Jo, that story totally had me shivering. Did you know all of those ghost stories when you booked the spot or was that a surprise when you arrived? I’m surprised you didn’t follow the landlady home after that conversation!