vip in the city

The Chambers (Danville, KY)

Our dining choices were limited on the road, and as the dinner hour grew late (in Kentucky time, that’s 7:30PM) we finally settled for a lackluster meal at Village Restaurant in Liberty, KY where I was introduced to red-eye gravy – a thin gravy, made from the drippings (i.e., fat) from pan-fried country ham, mixed with black coffee or water (or according to J: Coca-Cola.)

We arrived in Danville a little before 8:30 and noticed a marked change in our surroundings: fields gave way to strip malls, and then to expansive Southern mansions.

The Chambers Bed and Breakfast is located on North Third Street, a.k.a. “Beaten Biscuit Row” — so named in the 1800s when it was said that one could walk down the street and hear the sound of cooks in the back kitchens, beating biscuits for breakfast.

After a long and hot, discouraging day, the clean and beautifully appointed home of innkeepers/partners Wynne Creekmore and Carolyn Hogwood was an oasis of gentility. Their Greek Revival home was actually fashioned from the combination of two 19th century homes — a main house and the servants quarters behind it — and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

We were assigned “The Cottage Chamber” with its adjoining bathroom, featuring a refurbished original claw-foot bath tub/shower and iron lavatory sink in which to soak and rinse away the grit and grime of the day.

Early the next morning, we were greeted with fresh, hot coffee set out on a silver tray outside our room, to ease us into the morning until the hearty breakfast prepared by Carolyn would be served in the dining room. Fresh fruit salad topped with real whipped cream, eggs — or is that “aigs”? — and bacon, a homemade apple turnover, and a currant scone, but disappointingly, no beaten biscuits.  In their stead, we got what turned out to be (after J just had to ask) a round cut-out of cake, buttered and pan-toasted. Now that’s brilliant.

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