Holler Hospitality
Inn's cozy charm makes for a perfect winter getaway

Luscious homemade eggnog generously laced with rum began to warm my innards as my toes thawed by a crackling noonday fire. Thick gray clouds had been spitting sleet on our windshield as we wound up forested Red Lick Road to dead end on the gravel of McSwain Branch. The sturdy country house, lights blazing from its windows, had been a welcome beacon.

It turns out that winter, with its “skeleton trees,” is the favorite time of year of Barbara Napier, who owns and enthusiastically runs Snug Hollow Bed and Breakfast, deep in the woods of Estill County. A bit of a drive off the well-traveled road, her 3,500-square-foot home and 175-year-old lovingly restored log cabin lie at the mouth of a quiet Appalachian hollow sheltering a 300-acre certified organic farm.

The aroma of freshly baked bread and a spunky Jack Russell terrier named Hillary greeted us in the kitchen. As the frozen rain gave way to fat flakes of snow, we tucked in napkins, passed steaming bowls and watched the woods turn white.

Not many such businesses outside the ski belt welcome guests this time of year, but then there’s nothing remotely usual about Snug Hollow, from its feisty, warmhearted owner, who greets first time visitors like friends who’ve only been away for a while to its “you’ve got to want to get there” location to huge portions of luscious gourmet vegetarian meals. (Though Napier hasn’t eaten meat for 30 years, only hard-core vegetarians will ever find tofu on the table. Card-carrying carnivores leave one of her mythical meals completely stuffed, often swearing they’ve eaten meat.)

On this particular December day, our lengthy table happily groaned with tummy-warming fare. Thanks to the herbal magic of sage, rosemary and garlic, “Kentuscan” bean soup tasted for all the world as if flavored with a hunk of ham hock. Fried kale, sweet potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce and a platter of sweet cornbread ready for buttering followed.

Breakfasts – so hearty you may not think of food again until suppertime – can include pancakes with gingered bananas, crunchy oatmeal-cornmeal waffles, smoked cheddar omelets, homemade biscuits and gravy, and fresh fruit smoothies. Every meal is a culinary work of art.

Accommodations consist of three comfy bedrooms with private baths (and one Jacuzzi) in the main house with its wonderful wide window views, cooling ceiling fans, warming woodstove and a mammoth split-leaf philodendron, its vines tumbling from the second-floor balcony. The cute chestnut log cabin accommodates seven to nine, with a mini-kitchen, sunny sitting areas, private back porch and handmade quilts on every bed.

Perfect for a small retreat, Snug Hollow regularly greets artists, church groups, writers and chums intent on finding a bit of quality time together.

For couples beginning a life together or rekindling that spark, Southern Living magazine has declared this spot on the Appalachian Artisan Heritage Trail to be “one of the five most romantic getaways in the South” for 2005.

Walking paths wend through woods ablaze with wildflowers. You can grab a picnic in the kitchen and spread a tablecloth by the pond, help can homegrown beans and tomatoes, and poke around in an old cemetery.

There’s no television, so instead, stick your nose into any of the eclectic assortment of books lying about, schedule a professional massage, or settle into a comfy chair and simply gaze out at the ever-changing mountain meadow and woodlands. There’s no telling what you may spy – horses grazing peacefully in the summer sun, a doe leading a clay-spotted fawn on its first outing, a flock of wild turkeys single filing through near-psychedelic-hued fall leaves or stars sparkling over the treetops in an ebony winter sky.

If you drive eight miles down the road, Jeff Enge and Sarah Culbreth will show you the fine art of throwing pots at Tater Knob Pottery and treat you to tea and cookies.

“Down here we’ll show you holler hospitality,” says Napier with a smile. “What that means is that we’re real friendly. And if you’re lost, we’ll bring you home, feed you, put you up overnight and have someone take you to the bus station!”

If you still need convincing, check out the photos at www.snughollow.com or call (606) 723-4786 for reservations.

Katherine Tandy Brown is a staff writer for The Lane Report.
editorial@lanereport.com

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