Blackberry Farm

This years Mothers Day was a good one for gifts.  I got something special from each kid vs one gift.  Emily decided that we should take trip together down to Blackberry Farm before she takes off for the summer.  I had never heard of Blackberry Farm before but it ends up I was obviously not in the know. 

We flew down on Sunday night and stayed through Wednesday.  We got in late in the afternoon and took it easy until dinner.  The property is owned by the Beall family.  The Beall family founded the Ruby Tuesday Restaurant Group.  They bought the original acreage to create a family place and over time continued to purchase property and that eventually evolved into what it is today.  There are 62 rooms on the property including some private homes.  The farm is attempting to be completely sustainable at one point but it is not quite there yet and of course there is the change of seasons.  You can go there and eat three magnificent meals over the course of the day, take a horseback ride, a hike or even spend time doing a little farm work.  The experience is unique. 

This is the barn where dinner is served nightly.   This barn is actually three barns that were brought down from Pennsylvania and then rebuilt on the property as one. 

Inside the barn is absolutely beautiful. 

Due to the size of the resort every room comes with their own golf cart.  It is pretty clever.  Emily and I made our way down to the barn for dinner.  Every night there is a different menu and that alone is pretty impressive. The kitchen sits open for everyone to see.  Here are few of the highlights from the meal. 

Cornmeal fried gulf oysters over a watercress bacon salad mixed with a ramp aioli.

Fried Sweetbreads in a shellfish cream mixed with crayfish, fava beans and asparagus.

Roasted artic char over a local grain, smoked onion jam and asparagus. 

We split the cheese plate every night for dessert.  The cheese is made on the premises.  We also had a bottle of white burgundy from Domaine Marc Morey. 

All and all it was a good start to the perfect get away.