In the Middle of Nowhere

Wild Child and The Blonde are visiting from Oregon this week, and The Blonde arranged for us (and Little Guy) to spend Wednesday night at a bed and breakfast in the middle of Nowhere, Oklahoma.

Heritage Manor, located between Cleo Springs and Aline, is actually three houses put together. The owners, A.J. and Carolyn, have created a unique and fascinating place. They are also collectors, and the manor is filled with antiques, treasures, heirlooms, and curiosities.

A.J. and Carolyn welcomed us warmly, and did everything possible to make us feel at home. It’s a quiet, calming retreat for city folks.

I'm showing you just enough photographs to give you a feel for the place.

I liked this room a lot. They have mannequins here and there modeling styles of days gone by.

I love stained glass windows, lace tablecloths, and flowers on tables.

We each got to order exactly what we wanted for breakfast from a large list of items. A.J. is the cook. He owned a restaurant at one time,which must be good training to cook for their bed and breakfast guests.

Here's one of the dining areas. We ate our breakfast here.

Everything was perfect, down to the special little details. I love these little salt and pepper bowls and spoons! I felt like we were in another era.


Here's Carolyn telling us about the early phonograph. Every item seemed to have an interesting history. And please notice that we cleaned our plates. Breakfast was delicious.

A.J. took Wild Child and me for a ride in this little roadster. I kept thinking of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Not that A.J. drove as badly as Toad, but that's the image I have when I think of roadsters. A.J. even wore a special roadster driving cap. Too bad no one took our picture.

Have you ever seen a suspension bridge in a house? I'm telling you., it's pretty cool.

One thing I particularly liked was the number of books in their house. Although one room was designated "the library," books could be found everywhere--even in the bathroom!

They had unusual pets, too!

We spent time sitting on this side porch. At night, we heard frogs, and in the morning, birds entertained us with their songs.

Although we came away with about 135 photographs, somehow we missed getting a picture of one of my personal favorites, the jail cell door, which A.J. picked up for ten dollars many years ago. I have a feeling we’ll be back, and I’ll be sure to take a picture of it then.

This would be a great place for a writing retreat, especially for those who write historical fiction. (Writer Friends, let me know if you’re interested. I’ll be ready to go back very soon.)

Now go look at their website, http://www.1aj.org/. What a fun place!