Best Friends for 30 years!

From check in to check out, our stay was glorious.    It became obvious very quickly that the Garden Inn Hilton in Springfield, MO knows their stuff in the area of customer service.  Greeting us as we walked up to the counter was Clayton, energetic, happy, and ready to make a good first impression.  Check-in meant the usual banter between employee and guest, but of course Yvonne and I had to put our unique spin on things…

Clayton: Checking in?

Yvonne: Yes

Clayton: Last name?

Yvonne: Henderson

Clayton:  I show that as a one night stay, 2 queens

Debbie: Why yes we are…

Yvonne: Yes, we are royalty!

And that’s the way we were treated during our whole stay.  Thank you, Clayton for laughing genuinely and heartily at our joke!

Darren at the bar was amazing.  Asking all the right questions, joining in our conversations when appropriate, and serving up much appreciated Jack and Cokes for Yvonne, and cold Miller Lites for me….(Hey Darren, it all happens for a reason.  We take on the qualities of those who pass before us and share them with others, making us people with more than enough to give.)

We ordered dinner…Yvonne and I agreed that we had never had a chicken salad sandwich quite so delicious.  Served on crescent was a mixture of finely diced chicken that had been marinated with rosemary, tossed with fennel, dried apricots, celery, and a honey aioli (Yvonne, you will be quizzed on this word at a later date) base.  Our sandwiches were served with a chilled fruit cup of melons, pineapple and strawberry, perfectly cut and fresh from the farmers market next door.  Yum!  Ordinarily we would have opted for a box, but not this time!  Obviously, we were not concentrating on our diets.

Our room was fabulous and had everything we needed.  The next morning we enjoyed a ‘made-to-order’ breakfast.  Chrissy was our wonderful waitress, James and Ethan our willing chefs, and Jennifer mirrored Clayton’s fine example as we checked out.  I must make mention that this hotel prides itself in being ‘green’ making great efforts to help the environment.  This building is certified by Project Leed and the US Green Building Council.  Kudos for that!

Yvonne and I would certainly recommend the Garden Inn Hilton for anyone who is traveling through Springfield, MO, especially those who need slumber after navigating the twists and turns of the great Route 66.  Visiting our sons at college and touring the Mother Road provided us the opportunity to live it up in true royal fashion!

This is a great beginning to my travels on the famous Route 66.  While I won’t be able to travel all of it, I most certainly will try to share much of its history and existing structures with my followers….PS  Did you get your kicks today?

Side note-my apologies to any staff member that I forgot to mention or if I misspelled a name.  It goes without saying that there are many folks who made our stay enjoyable – including house keeping, dish washers, grounds keepers, etc.  The behind the scenes staff is just as important!

Garden Inn Hilton

Hotel entry

Clayton is specializing in Hotel Management at MSU

Ready for Royalty!

Watching the Cardinals game…

Hotel dining

Yummy!

Lights turn on when you walk down the hall.

Not as cool as mine, but very nice

Country music with the press of a button!

Just a little night cap.

Going Green

Going Green

Making it easy!

Best Friends for 30 years!