Cozy Travel To The Virginia Cliffe Inn Glen Allen, VA

I recently traveled to the Virginia Cliffe Inn in Glen Allen, Virginia a small town located outside of Richmond, VA. Like most people I travel for various reasons: family, work… but sometimes I travel for the experience of visiting small towns, staying in charming accommodations like a cozy cottage or in this case…. a bed and breakfast.

I enjoy learning about history, like I love reading a good book. So when I travel for myself, I try to find areas with great historical value and accommodations with history and character. The town of Glen Allen fit the bill, and the Virginia Cliffe Inn – the only B&B in the town was the perfect place for me to take a few days for myself to write, practice. yoga, visit a local winery and just unwind.

During my visit, I interviewed both the owner, Janice Clifton and the Innkeeper Judy Truitt to learn more about the property and what it’s really like to run a bed and breakfast.

Janice Cliffton, owner of The Virginia Cliffe Inn

I was surprised to discover that the owner had grown up in the house. And the furnishings were family heirlooms, and the paintings of men and woman from the past decorating the walls were her ancestors.

Knowing this fact gave the house a bit of extra charm for me. How special for her to be able to share her beautiful home with others as the owner.

Her parents purchased the property in 1950 in order to build a family home. The property on Mountain Road held a landmark farmhouse built in 1840. Her father, who was a general contractor, dismantled the farmhouse, reclaimed the materials, and modeled the new home after George Washington’s former military headquarters in Newburgh, NY.

After raising their four children, Margaret and James Clifton opened their architecturally designed Georgian-style home as a B&B in 1997.

During breakfast, Judy sat down with me until the other guests arrived and we had a little chat. Listen in to the audio interview + images as we discuss the life of an innkeeper. We talked for a long time! But the video covers just a few minutes of our discussion.

I thought it was interesting that the bed and breakfast received many international guests. When I was there, a couple from Canada had been staying for a week and using the B&B as a base to visit Williamsburg, Richmond, Virginia Beach and Washington DC.

Judy also said they’d recently had visitors from Norway and Germany.

I asked her about the various reasons people stay at B&B besides weddings which they do a lot of, and she shared a story about a group of friends that got together once a year for the past 30 years which I thought was very sweet. There were also girlfriend weekends with movie nights and customized dinners. Anniversaries, babymoons… all reasons to book a room or three.

Breakfast was delicious, but Judy’s talk about using local produce, and canning jam, apple butter and fruit syrup for pancakes made me even hungrier. I was really pleased with the breakfast – which no one could finish because there was so much of everything.

After an enjoyable breakfast, I decided to take a stroll along the grounds. Full of flowers, shrubs and trees, the surrounding area provided a calm environment to breath in the healing scent of plants, watch clouds trail by and read in a patch of sunlight.

As I mentioned earlier, bed and breakfasts are often selected for large groups and special events. But if you’re a solo traveler in search of some me time, it’s important to find a B&B that hosts events. I participated in yoga outside on the lawn and under the sky. I taken many a yoga class but never outside.

I loved it! Talk about getting one with nature. I couldn’t have felt more relaxed.

By the end of my stay, I was well-fed by the delicious breakfasts, inspired by the natural beauty of the estate, stimulated by the good conversations I had and the new history I learned, and most importantly, I was relaxed and reinvigorated.

There really is something to be said about getting away all by your lonesome just to unwind, perhaps reconnect with yourself an spend time doing what makes you happy.