For 12 people it's just a short hop from Baltimore, MD to The Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania, assuming you have 3 airplanes and a brilliantly cool day fall day for the jaunt. We did, about a week ago, and had a delightful day discovering Nemacolin and enjoying a tour and a decadent brunch. The place is full of eye candy – art (including an impressive collection of Norman Rockwell's work), food masquerading as art, sculpture, wild animals, antique cars, and vintage airplanes.

The Laurel Highlands is an area of rolling hills and sparkling streams that is east and south of Pittsburgh. In 1968, industrialist Willard F. Rockwell of Rockwell International created a private game reserve on the area that is now the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. Over the years he added a hunting lodge, golf course, and airstrip as well as a couple of lakes. A natural creek was developed into a trout stream for fishing enthusiasts. The property changed hands a couple of times, a conference center was created, and townhouses and private homes built on the estate.

Then in 1987, Joseph A. Hardy III, founder of the 84 Lumber Company, purchased a large portion of the Nemacolin property, and working with his daughter Maggie, transformed it into a 3,000 acre world-class resort. These days Nemacolin includes a spa, wildlife habitats with white tigers, black bears, buffalo zebras, and wallabies, an off-road driving academy, plus specialty shops, winter skiing, even dog sledding. Add to that several restaurants and lounges, cooking classes, wine tastings, and a multi-million dollar art collection, and you can imagine the sensory overload.

The day was magnificent, and we made it home in time for Lee to watch the Raven's Game!

Here are a few of the delightful sights: