“Hay Fever”

As reported by Lolly Merrell, in the Weekend Magazine September 2006:

“Green acres are calling, and these seven welcoming farms have a spare room for you.

In the early 1880s, when the family farm was the center of American rural life, farmers regularly took in travelers who were fleeing cities for a vacation. ‘Those ‘farm stays’ were the original B&Bs,’ says Sandy Soule, editor of BedandBreakfast.com. But as B&Bs moved into cities and family farms gave way to corporate operations, the farm stay all but disappeared. Recently, however, with travelers looking to get back to their roots, farm vacations are on the rebound. Whether you call it agritainment, agritourism or country B&B, these seven farms will all leave you feeling well fed, well rested and closer to the land….

Weatherbury Farm
Avella, PA; 45 minutes
southwest of Pittsburgh
724-587-3763
weatherburyfarm.com
Doubles from $112, including breakfast.

You won’t find anything that comes as close to your grandparents’ farm. That’s what Dale and Marcy Tudor have capitalized on at their 100-acre spread in the Allegheny foothills of southwestern Pennsylvania. Guests stay in six rooms in structures around the property, including the 150-year-old farmhouse and the Livery, a reconstructed stable. Here, in your second-story loft room with a 20-foot-high ceiling, you’ll wake up under handmade quilts to a view of Hereford cattle grazing in the meadow. Breakfast is served downstairs in a brick-walled dining room; apple pancakes, perhaps, or peach-stuffed French toast. Meet Farmer Dale for a morning of bottle-feeding lambs and baby goats (children can earn a “Farm Kid” certificate for mastering their chores) or take a walk through the pasture with the goats. At night, soak in you claw-foot tub while gazing out the window at the darkened sky.”

Proprietors Note: Doubles start at $81.80 (six night stay). The hall at the Livery has stone and board walls and brick floors. We do have claw-foot tubs and wonderfully dark skies, but the skies are not visible from the tubs.