Sweet dreams
Honey Run soothes the weary with scenery, solitude and supper
By Steve Stephens
The Columbus Dispatch
Here in Amish country, where horse-drawn buggies are more common than Saabs, the Inn at Honey Run seems a bit out of place.
Not that the 45-room inn doesn't reflect the area's innate restfulness. Far from it.
Set between Millersburg and Berlin on 70 wooded acres, well away from any major highway, the inn is a perfect place for quiet rejuvenation. After a light snowfall, I was privileged to leave the first boot prints on several of the property's trails, although deer had blazed the way with their own impressions.
But the inn and its marvelous restaurant also offer a level of sophistication unexpected in a region known more for summer sausage and mashed potatoes than for haute cuisine.
Don't fear, though. There's nothing pretentious about the Inn at Honey Run, and the friendliness is pure Holmes County.
I stayed in the Honeycombs, a group of 12 rooms separate from the main inn. Built into the side of a hill, each has a large sliding glass door that opens onto a cozy private patio. The round stone openings framing those patios make the rooms look something like Hobbit holes from the outside.
But sun streams in through the glass doors, filling the rooms with light. And all of the patios have a tremendous view of the surrounding farmland.
My room also had a wonderful floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace with gas logs. The comfortable bed, with minimalist corner posts tapering almost to the ceiling, added to the ambience. The Honeycomb building has its own small common spaces, including a workout area. But I really enjoyed spending time in the lobby of the main inn.
The main lobby has ample comfy seating, much of it around a huge stone fireplace in the center of the room. It was a great place to while away the time with a newspaper and maybe a glass of wine from the inn's fine selection while waiting to be seated in the attached dining room.
The inn also has a downstairs lobby, with books, games, a piano and the Pheasant's Nest Lounge, a small bar area on Friday and Saturday nights and a place for receptions and special events. The conference center is also located on the lower level.
The decor is outdoorsy without veering too far into the rustic. Reflecting the natural beauty surrounding the inn, the inn incorporates leaf patterns, natural wood, stone and Amish crafts.
Indeed, when the main inn was built 25 years ago, heroic efforts were made to preserve as many trees as possible during construction. Now, seeing the inn from any distance, even in winter, is difficult because the trees press so closely on every side.
From the inside looking out, the effect is like staying in a lavish treehouse.
Bird-watchers will stay busy trying to spot some of the 102 species identified in the area. Hikers will encounter more than 1,200 varieties of plants on the property's hills, streambeds and woodlands. Honey Run, the babbling stream that gives the inn its name, meanders through the property and can be crossed on picturesque footbridges.
Visitors can make friends with the inn's two goats, housed in a small barn between the main inn and the Honeycombs.
Amateur astronomers (or those who simply enjoy picking out the Big Dipper or trying to find Venus or Saturn) also will appreciate the dark night sky of rural Holmes County. From the patio outside my room, I could watch the full moon playing hide-and-seek in the clouds above the barns in the valley below.
The inn also offers a full-service spa and sponsors a series of symposiums, classes, music seminars and art exhibits throughout the year. Upcoming examples include a course on beginning calligraphy and a seminar on helping to preserve the Eastern bluebird.
For me, the biggest surprise was the exquisite food.
Even folks staying elsewhere in Amish country, or just passing through, should consider stopping by for at least one meal, if only for a change from the area's standard egg-noodle fare (which I also love).
During the day, I feasted from the area's ample cheese-and-bologna shops -- with beverages from the burgeoning number of "Amish-country" wineries. But I was happy I ate my dinners at the inn.
The restaurant uses produce and meat from local providers, prepared in a stylish -- and tasty -- manner. Everything was great, but especially outstanding was a thick pork chop with a light whole-grain mustard sauce, which I followed with creme brulee.
I also had mushroom and lentil soup thick with beef that brought to mind some of my all-time favorite soups. For a moment, I was transported by memories of other great soups -- pineapple gazpacho at the Lodge at Koele on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, and a soup with white beans and cabbage from a trendy little place near the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. (Does anyone else have soup-inspired out-of-body experiences?)
I'm just sorry I missed the inn's weekly "raid-the-kitchen" Sunday dinner, in which patrons go into the kitchen for a casual buffet-style meal and chat with the chef.
My travels often leave me feeling more bedraggled and run down than when I started. But after a few days at the Inn at Honey Run, I couldn't help but feel refreshed.
It was as if my batteries were recharged, or -- because this is Amish Country -- like my hay was in the barn.
