Saratoga Stay-cation

A couple of months ago,  the Sailor and I stayed overnight in Saratoga at the Batcheller Mansion Inn, a beautiful old Victorian B&B in the heart of town. Saratoga is only about a half hour from where we live, but it was a fun change of pace to break up the monotony of snowy winter weekends. Built in 1873, the mansion has Victorian, French Renaissance, Italian and Egyptian influence... and a storied history.

The entire mansion is richly decorated with intricately carved woodwork, exotic antique finds and elegant fabrics. I could have spent hours just wandering the common rooms, admiring the furnishings of this sophisticated yet not stuffy grand mansion.

I was excited that we had reserved the "Roosevelt" room, which is decorated with horses in honor of President Teddy Roosevelt being a fine sportsman. But when we arrived, we were upgraded to the "Grant," which is named in honor of President Grant appointing the house's first owner, George Batcheller, as Judge and Special Representative to a high court in Egypt. 

The Grant has a full size pool table, which the Sailor took advantage of. He cleared the table while I watched-- it's not really my game of choice. He also took an interest in the historical book collection spread throughout the mansion. 

And then we headed out for a night on the town. We started at Maestro's at the Van Dam. We'd never been before but had heard rave reviews-- Well deserved, as we found out! It was packed, so we were thrilled to be able to get a small table in the bar area, where we sipped cocktails and shared some apps. We shared the eggplant, described as "cheesy goodness"(Yes it was!) and calamari from the small plates menu before heading over to Sperry's, a Saratoga landmark that's been open since 1932. 

We had a second round of apps and shared the Asian nachos-- seared ahi over wontons with a wasabi sauce. To die for!  By the time dinner (surf and turf for me, steak au poivre for the Sailor) was served, I was already stuffed! We definitely indulged on our little mini getaway!  

Not ready for our night to end, we had a nightcap and listened to live music at One Caroline Street Bistro before walking back to the inn through a winter wonderland.