Missing in Action in December - Sawmill Creek Resorts Season of Joy

I think I'm realizing I can't participate in activities and document activities at the same time. I am really in awe of how often you all post and all that you share. I love reading your blogs! I wish I could do the same! I do want to share this is not a sponsored post. 

During Covid when I was online way too often I learned that Ohio has several Christmas Inns, you know, like Hallmark! I started decorating my bedrooms for Christmas because I realized my dear husband would never ever go to a Christmas Inn.  A nearby resort even had a special event last year. I was talking to my youngest daughter in September and she mentioned she wished she had gone too! 

Well. I had money burning in the envelope in my undies drawer, earned from working the three elections Ohio decided to have this year plus my money from serving on a practice zoom jury for a law firm. Reservations were made. 

I knew this would be my opportunity to live my Hallmark dream so I spent all my free time drawing up a schedule of our activities, planning meals and outfits, even making several calls to the resort to clarify as they were rolling out the event. 

My partner in crime, my seven year old granddaughter, was totally on board with the Hallmark magic.  Luckily we already had sequin dresses for our Taylor Swift concert in our car at the drive-in and I was busy shopping sales to outfit us all. Including her four year old brother who is still able to be talked into things. I drew up a complete schedule of events with little Christmas trees to mark our many outfit changes during the two night event. Excessive? Why, yes. Have you ever counted outfits in a Hallmark movie? We even noted necessary accessories. We also made sure her doll had appropriate attire. 

My advice, if you want to plan something like this, is to go into it with the attitude it will be totally magic and wonderful. It will convince everyone else how wonderful it is too! We could not have had a more special experience from the moment we arrived. 

I would recommend Sawmill Creek Resorts "Season of Joy" to everyone of any age group. The vibe is defiantly adult, but with your planning I do believe it is perfect for everyone. 

We started with the most polite and helpful check-in on Friday night when we arrived in our semi casual Christmas outfits. I had made reservations at the Millers Table, their best restaurant. I studied the menu prior to arrival and we did see sandwiches for our first night. We planned to split a plate for the children. We were pleasantly surprised to find they had a children's menu!. We also met the most wonderful server we have ever seen, Laura. She made our whole experience extra special and was so wonderful with the kids, too.  

Our gourmet burgers were delicious and the kids felt very special. During dinner we spotted two elves that we did not know would be part of the experience. As you can see, both Candy and Cane were part of the magic we will never forget! 

I rarely drink alcohol. My children kid me because I buy a six pack of hard cider in the fall and bottles can remain in my refrigerator by the next summer. But, as part of my vision as a sophisticated Hallmark Christmas heroine, we did order the special Christmas Cocktails when we got a chance. 

After dinner we remained in our casual outfits to attend two music events, The Misteltones and the Fireside Family Christmas. My normally shy grandson even answered a call for volunteers, although I think he regretted it the moment he got up in front of people.

We retired to our room to put on our matching pjs (of course) and it turned out the movie "Home Alone" was on television. The kids pretended to watch it as I think it was a little over their heads. 

The next morning we put on our Saturday daytime attire and went to the buffet breakfast. As early risers, I think we were the first ones there. The staff could not have been more friendly and helpful, even serving the kids. As more people came to breakfast we realized we were really getting special service. 

Unfortunately a friend's mother had passed away a few days earlier and I wanted to attend her memorial service. My daughter had found a nearby box store was having a gingerbread house activity so we did leave late morning and returned in the early afternoon. 

The resort offered a series of "Christmas Boot Camp" activities for an additional fees such as cookie decorating, charcuterie board making and cocktail mixing, all geared more toward adults. I did ask the children if they would like to decorate cookies, but they had seen the pool and we spent the afternoon swimming, mostly by ourselves. 

It was a great way to get their wiggles out and I think they enjoyed it more than an organized activity. We toured the entire resort which was decorated to the nines and they posed for us in front of every setup. Later in the afternoon Candy and Cane began to appear in various locations, too. 

The resort offered s'more kits and hot cocoa for an outdoor activity in a decorated terrace. Unfortunately it rained the entire weekend, but we did sneak a peek at the decorations. 

Again we made reservations for the Millers Table for our special Fancy Hallmark Dinner. We retired to our room so we could wear our Fancy Christmas Clothes and headed to the restaurant, attracting lots of looks and smiles from other guests. There was a long line at check-in for some corporate Christmas parties and they were all quite taken with my grandson's tie. 

The hostess greeted us and admired the outfits so much she begged to take our picture in the restaurant lobby. Note for next year - lose the purse. 

We were then seated directly in front of the Christmas tree and discovered our favorite server Laura was assigned to our table again!  

We had studied the menu knew our order. We started with a fabulous charcuterie board. My granddaughter abandoned the children's menu for a big girl meal. Luckily her brother had extra chicken tenders to share since grownup food was not what she had expected. I cannot tell you how delicious the food was. I am still dreaming about it. All leftovers were safely packed and stored in our room's refrigerator. 

After dinner Laura asked if she could take pictures for us and paraded us all over the dining room in front of every Christmas arrangement. We felt like royalty.

We returned to our room for our Saturday evening wardrobe change and then attended three music events, The Carolers, The Mistletones and the Fireside Family Christmas. 

We were pretty tired after all the festivities and slept well. 

Again in the morning we dressed in our Sunday casual Christmas outfits and were first to arrive at the luscious breakfast buffet which we enjoyed greatly.  After breakfast we returned to the pool until shortly before checkout. 

He loved breakfast - this is his "Grinch" face.

Our Christmas getaway was exactly as I had hoped and pictured it and I couldn't wait to make my photos into a scrapbook. I worked on a Shutterfly album and I decided there was no way I could justify the cost. I remade the book at Walgreens and picked it up on Monday.  Then Shutterfly ran a very good special with half off and free extra pages and the price went from unaffordable to astronomical and I ordered it too. 

Hopefully I will be back soon to share the events after December 3rd!  Yes, this was just the very very first of December!