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Westport/Essex The name was “the first thing that dawned on me,” Tom Haley said of his 1993 purchase of the former Gables adjunct to the Inn on the Library Lawn a few doors away. He entered it in a national contest and, lo and behold, the name won fourth place. The cutesy name perhaps does not do justice to this rather stylish, full-service inn with a guest dining room and nine bedrooms, all with private baths. Or perhaps it does. Energetic Tom, a former lobbyist for the state Civil Service Employees Association in Albany, shelters guests in rooms with sitting areas, caters to their every whim and plies them with caloric afternoon refreshments, home-cooked dinners and ample breakfasts. “Eating here is not a low-cholesterol event,” he says. He’ll prepare anything from a back-yard cookout – perhaps chicken and ribs, or filet mignon – to a candlelight dinner with soup, salad, entrée and dessert, $20 for four courses. The day we were there he was serving black bean soup, tossed salad, chicken with stilton cheese and sundried tomatoes in a port wine sauce, and three-berry cobbler. He might make peasant soup (sausage with white beans and leftover veggies) or clam chowder (“which people tell me is the best they’ve ever had”). Dessert is likely to be an ice-cream sundae. “Sweets are my weakness,” he explains, “and I make what I like.” Dinner is optional and BYOB, served by reservation around 7. Breakfast is not optional. Tom prepares fruit, homemade raspberry or apple muffins, sausage and bacon, and offers a choice of three main courses: eggs (from omelets to eggs benedict), pancakes or french toast. Bedrooms are scattered about the summery, country-style house and reached by different stairways. Most have queen or king beds and sitting areas with wing chairs. Five have lake views and three have fireplaces. A main-floor suite comes with a private porch. They’re cheerfully decorated down to their coordinated sheets, quilts and bed covers. Horse prints and memorabilia reflect the owners’ love for the Saratoga racing season. Tom runs the inn on weekdays while his wife, Claudia
Ryan, a lawyer, is in Albany. Claudia sheds her lawyer’s mantle on
weekends and becomes a waitress, serving Tom’s meals to receptive
guests. (518) 962-4400 or (888) 255-8825. Nine rooms with private baths. May-October:
doubles, $65 to $110. Rest of year: $55 to $110. For more information: www.alltuckedinn.com. Material excerpted from Inn Spots & Special Places / Mid-Atlantic, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2003. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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