Bradford

The Lodge at Glendorn, Bradford, PA., (breakfast & lunch),10/24

~ hsnixon ~ 6 Comments
gates – 1000 Glendorn Drive, Bradford, PA., 16701

There are only about 10 tables in the main dining room and another half dozen on the porch.  Breakfast meals, which are included with your room, were divided between both room but lunch seemed mainly served on the porch.  There is also an option to have your food delivered to your room or to somewhere on the property.  They really aim to please and will customize your experience as you’d like it to be.  Reservations must be made for meals and only people staying on the property can partake of them.  It’s lightly dressy for dinner with the lights dimmed and such but very casual at the earlier meals and with all the windows, sunlight fills both dining rooms.  Being there in a cooler time of year fires were going in the fireplaces. Service was super friendly and delivered by young and enthusiastic people.  In between meals there are several walks outlined in the material and graded for difficulty and mileage.  Golf carts are free for the asking and available to use on paved and graveled paths, of which there are miles.  Even though it was a really popular time of year to be at the place we rarely saw anyone else on the various paths.  Within the buildings there is a lot of art and sculptures are located on the grounds.   If you need a snack there is a popcorn machine, self serve ice cream bar as well as chocolate chip cookies.  I hope you’ll get an opportunity to enjoy a bit of time here. Continue reading →

The Lodge at Glendorn, Bradford, PA., 10/18/24

~ hsnixon ~ Leave a comment
Big House – 1000 Glendorn Drive, Bradford, PA., 16701

The Big House was built of redwood as the property Dorn bought had been previously clear-cut and redwood would cut the risk of fire.   The logs were from California and shipped via the Panama Canal to the building where they were left rounded on the outside and planed smooth for the interior.   Meals and the bar are located the Big House, along with several rooms/suites.   Also on the property is a spa, workout room, and play room that had a self serve ice cream bar and fresh popcorn to go with games and such.  The property has numerous fishing lakes for fly fishing only and they have gear for you to use.  There is also skeet shooting, biking and golf carts to supplement the numerous hiking trails.  We got fish food from the staff that we could toss to the growing fish and boy did the fish go crazy for it.  On Friday and Saturday nights they have live music at dinner.  On Fridays it’s a guitar/singer and on Saturday it’s a pianist.  It was a lovely accompaniment to dinner.  They also had a buffet set up outside the cocktail room with boiled shrimp and cheese in the foyer.  Each night the menu changes some of the selections and the quality of all varies but is overall quite nice, however many of the service staff are fairly young and inexperienced. Continue reading →

The Lodge at Glendorn, Bradford, PA., 10/17/24

~ hsnixon ~ Leave a comment
lodge – 1000 Glendorn Drive, Bradford, PA., 16701

The Lodge at Glendorn dates back to 1927 when C.G. Bondieu purchased 1,250 acres as a retreat for his growing family.  He built a “Big House” and some cottages in the American Arts and Crafts style.  They continued to add buildings to the property over the next 80 years, opening it to the public in 1995.  One of the families that frequented it, fell in love with it and bought it when it was auctioned off in 2009, after most of the family no longer resided in the area.  Cliff Forrest and family then made Glendorn their home and set about preserving the history and natural surroundings while doing restorations, improvements and expanding to 1,500 acres.  Today, many of the furnishings and artworks were original to the home when the Dorn’s owned it.  We were lucky to snag a room at this Relais & Châteaux for 2 nights during Fall leaves.   Breakfast is included with your stay and I’ll cover that and lunch in a separate post.  Dinner is in a 4-course tasting format where you choose between multiple options.  You can also choose to have just 3 courses, pick more than one from each category, or add additional at a la carte prices.  They will customize it however you want.  Prior to dinner, they served snacks in another room with a bar, pool table and roaring fire.  I’ll talk more about the place in the upcoming posts but it is a beautiful spot and the staff could not be more welcoming or helpful.  The food is locally based and good but marvelously enhanced by the stunning yet cozy 2 story dining room.  If you can get there I know you will enjoy your visit. Continue reading →