Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 45
country riVer inn
9060 GaTeWood Road, FayeTTevIlle,
WesT vIRGInIa
304-574-0055 | CounTRyRIveRInn.CoM
Two rooms can be rented inside the schoolhouse at the Whitestone Country Inn
near Kingston, Tennessee.
Lying near West Virginia's popular Hatfield McCoy Trails, the
Bramwell High School ATV Lodge
caters to customers who love to
ride all-terrain vehicles.
"It's kind of a dormitory-style
set-up," says the owner and operator, Eric Dunham. "People get to
hang out and meet different people, and they end up having a
really good time together."
The old high school at Bramwell
closed in 2004. But one section -
the gymnasium and the band
room - was recently refurbished as
the lodge in Mercer County. "And
I like knowing it is being used for
something to bring people here,"
says Bramwell's mayor, Lou Stoker,
who attended the brick high
school in the 1950s.
Sleeping in this old school -
with group rates averaging about
$25 per person - is kind of like a
giant sleepover: You bunk in communal sleeping quarters and take
turns sharing the bathrooms.
Restaurant for Recess: Sample the
crab cake slider - with some sweet tea
- in nearby Bluefield, West Virginia,
at the Rail Yard (304-800-4141), a
restaurant where postcards of the
past lie under glass on the
tabletops.
Alice Cooper may have had a hit
singing "School's Out" for summer.
But, in the heat of summer from
June to September, it is actually cool
to be in the school now known as
the Country River Inn in Fayette
County, West Virginia.
"There are times when we go 110
days straight without a day off,"
says the owner, Richard Arnt, who
operates the six-room inn with his
wife, Lois Amos, and their daughter,
Delilah.
A portion of this old school
building dates to 1929; another section was constructed in the 1960s.
The exterior walls still look like
it's time for bells to ring and children to sing. "There's really not
much that you can do to the outside
of the building to disguise it," Arnt
says. "And I don't know that you
want to."
Just before this school was shuttered and subsequently sold, officials put on a fresh roof and installed
new windows. Soon after, Arnt's
father-in-law, the late George Amos,
bought the brick building at an auction in 1987.
"He bought it just because it was
a good deal."
It took another 14 years before
Arnt assigned himself a task that
most shop class students would only
dream about: Refigure walls, bust
out blocks, paint and plaster.
In the end, the Fayetteville
Consolidated School became the
Country River Inn in 2005. "And a
lying near WeSt Virginia'S popular
hatfield Mccoy trailS, the BraMWell
high School atV lodge caterS to
cuStoMerS Who loVe to ride allterrain VehicleS.
May/June 2015 45
http://www.CounTRyRIveRInn.CoM
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015
Best of the Blue Ridge Parkway
Western North Carolina Food Foray
Is Harvest Table the Region’s Premier Farm-to-Table Restaurant?
Rhododendron Season Arrives: The Photoessay
The Secret Biltmore You Never See
Sleeping in School
Saving West Virginia History
Cabins at Cosby Creek
Blue Ridge Weekend
Landrum Weekend
From the Editor / Worth a Click
Mill Creek Stories
Mountain Report
Creature Feature
Great Home Buys in the Mountains
The Hike
Festivals & Events
Country Roads
Mountian Garden
Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Intro
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 3
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 4
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - From the Editor / Worth a Click
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Mill Creek Stories
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Mountain Report
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Creature Feature
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Great Home Buys in the Mountains
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - The Hike
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 11
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 12
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Festivals & Events
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 14
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 15
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 16
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 17
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Country Roads
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 19
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 20
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Best of the Blue Ridge Parkway
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 22
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 23
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 24
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 25
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Western North Carolina Food Foray
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 27
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 28
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 29
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 30
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 31
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Is Harvest Table the Region’s Premier Farm-to-Table Restaurant?
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 33
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Rhododendron Season Arrives: The Photoessay
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 35
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 36
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 37
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - The Secret Biltmore You Never See
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 39
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 40
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 41
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 42
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 43
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 44
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 45
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 46
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 47
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Sleeping in School
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 49
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Saving West Virginia History
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 51
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cabins at Cosby Creek
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 53
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Blue Ridge Weekend
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 55
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 56
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 57
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 58
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 59
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Landrum Weekend
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 61
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Mountian Garden
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 63
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 64
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 65
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cover4
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