Suzanne Boden's Jane Austen Weekends

 

“She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.” If these words spoken by the aloof Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy about Miss Elizabeth Bennet in Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice” strike a chord in your heart, then you are sure to fall in love with the romantic Jane Austen weekends at The Governor’s House in Hyde Park Vermont. For the past four summers, inn keeper Suzanne Boden has been creating these magical weekend retreats for her guests, who are encouraged (but not required) to dress in Regency attire. Ladies wear floor-length empire-waisted dresses (expectantly anticipating gents in cutaway jackets), as they participate in period activities like carriage rides, a game of whist, doing needlework, writing letters using a quill pen, and participating in an after-dinner dessert and talk in the library. Classical music playing in the background helps transport everyone to a time when precise speech and polite manners were the rule.

 

Each special weekend, which begins with a talk on Friday night after dinner, carries the theme of one of Jane Austen’s novels. For example, the talk for the “Persuasion” weekend begins with a talk about Captain Wentworth’s Royal Navy. On Sunday during brunch the guests enjoy a Jane Austen Quiz, which includes questions like, “At what time of year does Mr. Bingley take possession of Netherfield?”  (You will have to discover the answer for yourself.) Suzanne promises that the questions are hard, but engender some lively discussions.

Jane Austen Weekends The Governor's House in Hyde Park 100 Main Street Hyde Park, Vermont

 

While hanging out fancy cutwork linen to dry behind the Georgian-style inn on a sparkling afternoon, while strains of Mozart drifted through an open window, Suzanne had the thought that she could be Jane Austen. After this happened several times, she thought that others might like to experience the same sense of stepping back to a gentler time, and the Jane Austen weekends were born.