Maybe you can’t spend the weekend at Downton Abbey, but you can spend it in a stately mansion with a marble vestibule and fireplaces in the bedrooms. Etiquette talk happens during a comfortable dinner with a detailed explanation of table settings, etiquette history, and properly managing everything from unfolding a napkin to holding your coffee cup. Gain new appreciation for the downstairs staff by decanting through a silver funnel or serving the sauce, all in a dining room which has hosted elegant dinners since before the Titanic went down. Breakfast will be laid out on the sideboard each morning with strawberry jam and lemon curd for your toast which will be served in silver toast racks. There is also full English afternoon tea and tea etiquette talk. Join us for this informative weekend and you’ll never hear Lady Mary say that you’re not fastidious about doing things properly. There is an optional add-on cooking lesson on Sunday morning – learn to make chocolate truffles with someone much less grumpy than Mrs. Patmore.
Weekend rates $395 single or $335 pp double, include two nights’ lodging, full breakfast each morning, one dinner with etiquette talk, one afternoon tea with etiquette talk, and warm cocoa at bedtime if you like.
