The Swag Resort

The Swag

Written by Bridget Williams

It was after 10 p.m., and my eyelids were heavy after a day on the trails. Despite being one of the younger guests at The Swag, a delightful country inn in Waynesville, North Carolina, my energy seemed to pale in comparison to that of our welltraveled cohorts. Surveying the lively scene, I turned to Deener, the proprietress, and said, “You must tell me where you hide your fountain of youth.” She smiled coyly, looking some two decades younger than her stated age, and asked why. “Well, there’s a woman here celebrating her 70th birthday who hiked nine miles, another marking her 50th wedding anniversary who is presently accompanying the after dinner piano music by doing soft shoe and high kicks to rival a Rockette, and you seem to have channeled the power of the Energizer Bunny,” I replied. Her answer was something about the purity of the mountain air and the fellowship of friends and loved ones, but I know that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to recanting all that is special about The Swag.

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The Swag

Deener and Dan Matthews had not intended to become innkeepers in 1969 when they purchased 250 acres of meadows and forest adjoining the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at the Cataloochee Divide fence. The name “The Swag” refers to the dip between mountain peaks and a moniker given to the place where the inn now sits by the residents of the area long ago.

In 1970, a summer of blasting and bulldozing resulted in a marvel of excellent grade road construction, with the 2.5 mile road at the base of the mountain gaining more than 1000 feet of elevation until it culminates at the original homesite, remnants of which date to 1795. Careful stewards of the land, the couple avoided felling trees for utility right-of-way by having the foresight to dig a four-foot deep trench a mile long for the power and phone lines.

Before long, Dan, a former rector of the historic Trinity Episcopal Church on Wall Street in New York City, began using the family’s second home as a church retreat. Understandably,

word of this mountaintop oasis spread quickly and requests to visit grew in spades, leading them to officially open as an inn in 1982. In what seemed like the blink of an eye to the Matthews, in 1995 Andrew Harper selected The Swag as “Hideaway of the Year.” The inn persists in its pursuit of excellence, an effort rewarded again in 2010 when readers of Condé Nast Traveler voted The Swag to the magazine’s Gold List.

Open from late April until mid-November (heavy winter snows make the property accessible only by four-wheel-drive vehicles), The Swag is located approximately 50 minutes west of Asheville. The 14 guest accommodations are varied and include private cabins and spacious suites, all individually outfitted with handmade quilts, woven rugs, early American rustic antiques and original artwork, befitting its rural environs. The flexibility of room configurations makes The Swag ideal for group or extended family travel, as evidenced by the several generations of more than one

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family present during our stay. Children under the age of seven are welcome in the three cabins.

After checking in at the main house, we were instructed to select a walking stick and mark it as our own by tying a wood disc with our name inscribed on it to the top. The handsome stick, decorated with a medallion bearing the logo of the inn, was ours to use on subsequent hikes and to take home as a souvenir.

We were delighted to stay in the Woodshed Suite, located across from the main house and sited directly on the fence line that marked the park boundary. The original one-room cabin has been tripled in size to create one of the property’s most desirable suites. The space was expectedly rustic, but with luxurious amenities, such as Wi-Fi; a wet bar outfitted with a copper sink, stoneware mugs, and a selection of coffee, teas, soft drinks and fresh trail mix; a walk-in closet with a safe; XM-equipped radios in each room; a spa-like bathroom suite with L‘Occitane toiletries, a deep hammered copper soaking tub, steam shower, dry sauna and double basin vanity; and a rear deck overlooking the park with an open-air shower, a towel

warmer and comfortable lounge chairs complete with cozy blankets to ward off the evening or early morning chill.

I loved the combination of natural materials and richly hued fabrics throughout, such as the headboard, whose frame was fashioned from logs with a padded toile fabric center, or the window box cornices made of tree bark with paisley drapery beneath. I could not wait to select a book from the many scattered throughout shelving in the room, light a fire in the sitting room and settle into the inviting wing back chair.

One notable absence in the room was a television, but believe me, after a day on the trails and a full stomach from the bounteous meals (more on that later), television will be the furthest thing on your mind. For those who cannot go without, there is a television room in the main house.

After taking a moment to settle in, we were off to “high” tea, a reference made not to the formality of the occasion but the altitude at which the tea and pastries were being served. Guests who had already been there a few days warned me not to overindulge, as dinner was an experience I would want to come hungry for.

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The Swag

At 6 p.m. guests gather at the “Dogtrot,” a covered breezeway outside the entrance to the dining room and the inn’s living room. The spread could have been a meal in itself. There was a selection of gourmet cheeses, veal wontons, mushroom cheesecakes, fresh hummus and olive tapenade, and feta and watermelon stacks to name a few. The Swag is located in a dry county, but guests are free to bring their own wine and liqueurs, making for interesting pairings when oenophiles start conversing. The chiming of the dinner bell at 7 p.m. summons guests inside, where place cards mark each person’s spot, personally selected by Deener, who spends a good portion of each day organizing the seating arrangement based on guests' interests and personalities.To be honest, my husband was not too keen on sitting with strangers, but by the end of the meal, we were convinced by Deener’s keen intuition and lingered well after the last bite of dessert to converse with our tablemates, who included a Methodist minister and his wife (a widely published author of racy romance novels) and a prominent divorce attorney from New York City, whose passion was his renowned rose gardens.

Prior to the meal being served, Deener greeted everyone gathered and said a little something about each group or couple. There were birthdays and anniversaries, and one couple even

announced they were to be parents for the first time, eliciting shrieks of joy from the grandmother-to-be. The four-course meal was nothing short of divine, with the ingredients sourced locally from places like Sunburst Trout Farms in Pisgah Valley, heirloom tomatoes from a grower down the street, and asparagus and greens from The Swag’s own farm. Meals for vegetarians and those with restricted diets can be made upon special request.

After dinner the group retired to the living room, where Dan led a sing-along to the tinkling ivories of the player piano. Each season, Deener and Dan host storytellers, naturalists, photographers and the like to entertain guests. During our stay we were treated to the storytelling of naturalist Charles Maynard, a true bastion of the art who had our sides hurting with laughter with tales of encounters with black bears and country life in the valley.

Before heading off to bed we were given a form to fill out to select how we wanted our lunch prepared the next day (a not so easy task on an incredibly full stomach). We could choose to have it packed in a wooden picnic basket to take to nearby Gooseberry Knob or in a backpack if we were planning to hit the trails. We chose the latter as well as the time we would be picking it up and then headed off to bed, excited about exploring the trails the next morning. Guests staying on

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Wednesdays are treated to a gourmet meal served picnic-style atop Gooseberry Knob. Those unable to make the 15-minute hike can be transported to the site via Land Rover shuttle.

One thing is for certain: you will not go hungry while at The Swag. I love breakfast food, and while I wanted to try everything laid out before me, from the cider-simmer oatmeal, bacon, waffles, fresh fruit, made-to-order omelets and the like spread out as part of the country breakfast buffet, I had learned from dinner to pace myself. My husband is not too keen on hiking, so while my overindulgence at breakfast made me wish we were going double the distance, I chose one of the shortest trails for our day's adventure: a three-mile roundtrip route with a 600-foot gain in elevation. After hearing Charles the night before say that it is pretty likely there are always black bears watching, I was hoping to get a glimpse (albeit a far away one), since my last sighting in the wild came as a young child. No bears were to be found, but the views afforded at the crest of the mountain at the turnaround point were enough to take our breath away. A fenced area with picnic tables and a map of the surrounding peaks provided the perfect spot to break for a gourmet lunch, topped off with a Swag Bar.

We returned from our hike and explored the grounds, taking time to make ourselves feel like kids again by trying out the rope swing over the pond and the nearby swinging bridge

and capping off the afternoon by playing (rather badly) a round of badminton on a grassy court surrounded by a thicket of rhododendron. Those seeking active recreation during inclement weather can take advantage of the underground racquetball court, while more passive activities can be pursued via the books, games and videos in the well-stocked library. There is also a small but well curated gift shop with books of local interest, jewelry and crafts by local artisans and clothing.

Returning to our cabin to dress for dinner, we saw the kitchen staff rolling out large grills in preparation for an overthe-top barbeque that takes place every Thursday. The selection of meats and fish were savory; the salads and side dishes were as colorful as they were tasty; and the desserts were to die for. It was easy to see why so many of our fellow guests were repeat visitors and why, while packing to leave the next morning, I was already making plans to return. sl

Details: The closest commercial airport is in Asheville. Room rates range from $490-$785 (for the Two-Story Cabin) per day and include three meals for two people. A 15 percent service charge and taxes are additional. A few outside dinner guests can be accommodated by reservation only. For more information or to make a reservation, visit theswag.com or call 800.789.7672..

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