The Treasure of the Wilkes-Barre,Pennsylvania, Hillard House Inn

My wife and I are from Oregon and we always felt that Oregonians were some of the friendliest people in the country. After a visit to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and our experience at a wonderful B&B called the Hillard House Inn, we have to rank Wilkes-Barre right up there with the best of towns and an area we definitely will want to visit again.

Wilkes-Barre is a very nice town with the beautiful old Susquehanna River flowing through it. Old is no exaggeration as there is evidence that this is one of the oldest river systems in the world going back over 300 million years.

We decided to stay at the Hillard House due to its proximity to the river, the university and downtown. Online reviews were universally positive which peaked our interest. The proprietors, Cecelia and Gordon Williams, were wonderful hosts from start to finish. We arrived in the afternoon and Cecelia proudly gave us and our friends a tour of the grand old house. It even has an old elevator that still works. After the tour we settled on the shady front porch and Cecelia gave us a wonderful afternoon snack of grapes, cheese and crackers. A bottle of wine rounded off a perfect afternoon for the four of us. We were all very impressed!

The bedroom was neat and clean. We had a great nights sleep. Cecelia and Gordon were gracious enough to let me poke around the yard with my metal detector so I awoke early to indulge in my hobby. A 1934 penny and an 1800's suspender clip were found among other "treasures". I always have fun looking for historical evidence wherever I go.

I worked up an appetite that was well satisfied by our hosts. We started out with a delicious fresh fruit salad. Knowing our interest in history, Gordon entertained us with coal mining stories and we were delighted to confirm that the famous gingerbread pancakes were all that they were cracked up to be and more. I had seconds!

The hospitality felt like being with family. The small refrigerator in the room even came stocked with water and soft drinks. It was great to grab a bottle of water without having to pay anything. The ridiculous prices major hotels charge are irritating to a penny pincher like me. It felt great to write the check for our stay knowing that in our little way we are helping to support people that love to preserve a magnificent part of history and that offer good old fashioned top notch service. Staying at this B&B was the best treasure we found on our vacation!