DECEMBER 2011

THE WILBUR PHILOSOPHY
Sustaining Wilbur Hot Springs Hotel and Preserve as the perfect place to relax.



A FREE FORM RETREAT
Wilbur Hot Springs is a free-
form retreat, unobstructed by structure or dogma, self-
directed by mutual respect,
and is the creation of everyone who comes here. In short, it's organic."—RD

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.”
— Luciano Pavarotti

The air outside is crisp, the kitchen inside is warm, and it is officially holiday time at Wilbur. Guests arrive with large sacks of their favorite foods to prepare their own meals. Brightly colored vegetables picked fresh from a home garden. Trays of take-out sushi. Juicy slabs of steak. Exotic healthy supplements and ingredients.

Our 18-burner gas stove bubbles with pastas and sauces, long-simmered soups, whistling teakettles. A cookbook is propped open to a new recipe. Fragrant scents mingle. Food conversations ensue. On occasion, sheets of hot chocolate chip cookies appear from out of the oven and are passed around to anyone lucky enough to be nearby. Pots of hot coffee, teapots brimming with tea. A birthday cake! Long conversations over a bottle of wine. And oh yes, that big bowl of popcorn. Wilbur time is your time to slow down and savor life.

DRAWING WINNER

Congratulations to our Green Festival drawing winner, Amy S. She will receive a free night stay at Wilbur. Congratulations Amy!

MONTHLY SPECIAL

December Special: December Special. Stay two nights in a room of equal value, and receive 50% off your second night. Offer good Sunday through Thursday; non-holiday periods. Excludes camping. Offer expires December 15, 2011.

GUEST CHEF WEEKEND - December 30th - January 1st

Ring in the New Year at Wilbur December 30th to January 1st as Charlie Cascio and Timothy West serve up five fabulous gourmet meals complete with appetizers and champagne!

For more information about the chefs Click Here.

NOTES FROM THE CARETAKER

Dear Friends of Wilbur:

Some years ago I sent out an email inquiring about your thoughts and feelings regarding dogs at Wilbur. I received almost 1000 responses. The size of the response may have made it eligible for the Guinness Book of Records! About half of the responders strongly favored canine companions at Wilbur and about half were opposed (for a variety of reasons). Based on these responses, we continued to exclude canines from Wilbur the exception being the therapy dogs I travel with: Dr. Bovar and more recently, Dr. Franklin, and now also Abigail Adams.

As a dog lover, I searched for a solution that pleased both groups of respondents. I have since created a place at Wilbur for people with dogs which is located past the parking lot, and thus, far from the hotel and medicine water area. Guests' dogs are allowed to romp on Wilbur's 1560 acre Nature Preserve but not on the hotel property (240 acres). The name of the dog friendly abode is Franklin's Retreat. The living place is self contained with kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and a living room/dining room area. Franklin's Retreat sports its own deck overlooking the valley. What more could a dog and its humans want?

My canine friend, Dr. Franklin, has asked me to tell the 500 people who said they wanted to bring their canine companions to Wilbur: Now is the time! When you arrive at Wilbur, be sure and ask for the two Ridgebacks, Dr. Franklin and Abigail. They are waiting to play with your canine pal!

Please say hello to me as well. I am the tall, thin guy with the laughing heart.

Richard Louis Miller, M.A., Ph.D.
Wilbur Caretaker since 1972