Quirky Sleeps by Bruce and Susan Armstrong—Train Car Update

Whistle Stop B&B

I first reviewed Quirky Sleeps by Bruce and Susan Armstrong in May, 2015.  Quirky Sleeps is a travel book that lists unusual hotels across the United States. As I mentioned in that review, I had already checked one remarkable hotel off the list—the Dog Bark Park B&B in Cottonwood, Idaho.  I loved sleeping in the dog-shaped hotel!  It’s not something you get to do very often. But we had more funky hotels planned. At the end of September my husband and I finally took our postponed vacation, which included two uncommon stays listed in the book, plus a bonus one I found on my own.  
Imperial Car

First up was the Whistle Stop B&B in New York Mills, MN.  What can I say about this luxury train car?  Well, it exceeded all my expectations.  My husband and I stayed in the “Imperial Car,” a former day coach on the Yellowstone Park line, built at the turn of the century.  It was just gorgeous—and big.  I’m guessing it was about 70 feet long.
 
Living Room

The car was a Victorian wonder—looking up we counted eighteen stained glass windows in tall rounded, tin-pressed textured ceilings.  The walls were dark wood, the carpet dark green with a flower motif.  The long train car was pure luxury split into separate sections. There was a bedroom, dining room, living
room and sitting area in front of a wood stove. Details were well thought out—velvet valances hung over the many windows, brass hat racks held vintage purses, gloves and stoles. Steamer trunks and suitcases were strategically placed throughout. Oh yeah, I forgot the private toilet room and a separate soaker tub—pure heaven.

The B&B is in the middle of nowhere. The town is a bumplet in the road with no other attractions, but that’s perfect because there was no reason to leave this place. We had burgers delivered to us and we sat at the dining table eating and drinking wine and listening to the soft music of the CD player that was on when we arrived. I kept thinking how lucky we were to experience this!



There are actually three luxury train cars and one caboose as well as rooms available in the huge Victorian home.  I don’t know about the others, but our train, the “Imperial Car” was perfect. 
 
And it wasn’t over yet.  Breakfast was brought to us in a basket with a little vase of flowers, and piping hot omelets, along with honeydew melon, strawberries and blueberry scones and of course, coffee and orange juice. Yum! 

At the time of our stay, I was reading Eighty Days: Nellie Bly andElizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman.  This true event of the race took place in 1896, right around the time our train car was built, which made my stay even more exciting being able to imagine Nellie or Elizabeth right there beside me. It was like stepping back in time with them.
 
Find out more about this unique B&B at


Happy travels, happy reading,

Annette



Comments

Unknown said…
Ohhh, this is too COOL!!! WOW!!! I would love to stay here. Thanks again for sharing all these fabulous places with us! :)
Anonymous said…
Sounds so fun. Thank you.

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