Located in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Chatham is a beautiful town that is perfect for a summer vacation. Chatham is home to the Chatham Lighthouse, which was established in 1808 by Thomas Jefferson to protect the ships circling the Cape. Main Street Chatham has a provincial feel with its numerous family owned and operated shops and restaurants, including the Captain’s House Inn – great for a gourmet breakfast before you start your busy day.

Chatham is also home to the Cape’s second oldest theatre, Monomoy Theatre. Open for fifty-one years, the theatre offers a summer theatre program for college students. Each summer the students perform eight plays with the mentoring help of seasoned visiting artists, actors and directors.

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Warm weather means being able to relax outdoors – and where better to take a stroll through the woods than beautiful New Hampshire. Holderness, NH, located in Grafton County, is home to the pristine Squam Lake and Rattlesnake Mountains. The area’s serene scenery was discovered in the 19th century by visitors to the area, and continues to bring guests each year.

The Rattlesnake Mountains are home to 173 acres of protected, public property with a network of trails waiting for your footprints. If you are adventurous, you can even climb Mount Webster, the highest point in Holderness, reaching an elevation of 2,076 feet.

After your tranquil hike, visit the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center to learn more about the wildlife in New Hampshire. Open for over forty years, the Science Center offers live animal exhibits, education programs and even lake cruises. Visit http://www.nhnature.org/for more information. To complete your stay in Holderness, enjoy a relaxing getaway at the Manor on Golden Pond where elegant surroundings, kind hospitality, and fine dining await.

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The Saturday evening event is a five course dinner with paired wines at each course. The reception starts at 7:00pm and costs $75 per person. Below is the menu we will be serving.

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Distinctive Inns of New England founding member Cliffside Inn has received the prestigious AAA Four Diamond award for the fifth consecutive year. The luxury Newport RI bed and breakfast is one of five Distinctive Inns hotel or inn properties that are AAA Four Diamond rated, the others are Vermont’s Rabbit Hill Inn, New Hampshire’s Manor on Golden Pond and Inn at Thorn Hill, and The Captain’s House on Cape Cod.

The Cliffside Inn joins its sister Newport RI bed and breakfast Abigail Stoneman Inn with the AAA Four Diamond distinction. Owned and operated by the same family under the name Legendary Inns of Newport, the group is now in the unique position of running more than a quarter of all the AAA Four Diamond inns or hotels in Rhode Island.

The coveted Four Diamond award is given each year to only about three percent of the more than 32,000 AAA rated inns and hotels in America. Only seven Rhode Island bed and breakfasts, inns, or hotels have been honored with AAA Four Diamonds for 2008. Cliffside Inn was the first Newport RI bed and breakfast or inn to be awarded AAA Four Diamond status in Rhode Island. Check availability at Cliffside Inn. See all DINE inns.

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Many people often wonder the difference between bed and breakfasts, country inns, and historic inns. One kind of bed and breakfast, known as a homestay, is usually a private home with just a few rooms and offers a simple breakfast to its visitors. Homestays are often a part-time operation run as a means of extra family income.

Most bed and breakfasts, however, are professionally run and offer more rooms than homestays. The Camden Maine Stay has nine rooms, while the Cliffside Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, and Captain’s House Inn, in Chatham Massachusetts, have around sixteen. B&Bs are owner managed and operated, and usually employ additional staff to help with cooking, housekeeping, and guest services.

Country inns are bed & breakfast inns that offer dinner service as well as breakfast. Often, their dining rooms are open to the public like Gateway’s Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts, which is an ideal getaway for conferences and weddings. Country inns tend to have between five to thirty rooms and, like the Windam Hill Inn and Rabbit Hill Inn in Vermont, or the Chesterfield Inn in New Hampshire, can have a staff of 20-30 people to maintain the inn and care for their guests. Some inns go one step further by offering on-site spas like those found at New Hampshire’s Manor on Golden Pond and Inn at Thorn Hill.

Many inns and bed & breakfasts are also historic inns as they are located in historic areas or are themselves a National Historic Landmark like the Deerfield Inn located in Deerfield, Massachusetts. The Deerfield Inn opened in 1884, and is part of a 350 year old village that is home to an assortment of 18th and 19th century museum houses.

Whether you are looking to visit a quaint bed and breakfast, a renowned country inn, or an inn that is part of history, New England is your destination and the Distinctive Inns of New England offer it all.

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The Tour of Italy Friday Event on May 2nd at the Inn at Thorn Hill will start its wine weekend with a strolling feast of Italian foods and sixteen carefully selected Italian Wines. The event starts at 7:00pm in our lounge and costs $75 per person. The menu follows:

Come and join us for fun, food and wine and look for our Saturday night wine dinner menu to follow. Call us at 1-800-289-8990 or email us stay@innatthornhill.com

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