Saratoga

After driving all afternoon following the cutting event with Uncle Joe, we pulled into Saratoga around 5:30 pm and stopped at the Hotel Wolf to check if they had availability. They did except they only had 2 rooms left, each with one bed, so we took rooms 14 & 15 which were opposite each other at the end of the corridor. Perfect! We changed into our swimsuits and headed to the 'Hobo' hot springs which turned out to be walking distance from the hotel. Perfect again! This lovely hot spring turned out to be free, open 24/7, and already populated with about 20 people. Sounds like a lot, but actually there were two pools and they were pretty big, so it didn't feel crowded. We met a few people who were on a big adventure trip organized by Northern Illinois University and we spent about 30 minutes soaking and chatting. Bliss!

Then we walked back to the hotel, changed clothes for dinner, had a quick game of pool (w/ beers for Rhods and me) and then walked up the road to dine at Bella's Bistro.

Uncle Joe had spoken highly of this place so we figured we would give it a go. What a fabulous meal we all had! We sat out in the warm summer air on the fairy lit terrace and made the most of this 'grand finale' meal.