The Greenbrier, in White Sulfur Springs, puts the posh in posh and makes just about every other resort in the world seem like Motel 66. The hotel sits nestled on a 6,500-acre estate and contains 739 rooms, including 33 suites. There are also 96 separate guesthouses on the property, as well as three championship golf courses and indoor and outdoor tennis courts. The main complex includes 10 lobbies, a conference center with 35 meeting rooms, a 37,000 square foot spa, a bowling alley, indoor pool, movie-theater, a grand ballroom and seven restaurants. As I pulled up to the front of the hotel, a troop of bellhops, dressed in bright green uniforms, danced out to assist us.

After checking in, we hurried down two flights of stairs to the reception area for the 3 p.m. Falconry class. A half a dozen others had also signed up. But as we looked through several brochures on Falconry, one by one, the others called in to cancel due to rain. By the time our guide and instructor, Cody, arrived, Karen and I were the sum total for the class. A shuttle picked us up a few minutes later and took us to a clearing in the forest. The birds lived in two large pens next to the woods. The guide explained the history of the sport and how hunters had marveled at the prowess of raptors in catching animals that were otherwise inaccessible.

By keeping them at an optimum weight, the birds remain ready to hunt. If a bird fills up too much, it has no desire to hunt. If it doesn’t eat enough, it becomes weak. Thus, the birds are weighed every day and fed accordingly. The hunter rewards the bird with small strips of meat to distract the bird from a successful kill and then quickly hides the prey, merely covering it or masking the raptor’s eyes. Using these simple reward techniques, the hunter can work the raptor all day to bag a variety of game.

For a time, Cody explained, Falconry remained the sport only of kings and anyone lacking noble birth caught using raptors to hunt would have a hand cut off. Even among nobility, social rank played a role. Only kings could fly the Gyr falcon. Peregrine Falcons were the province of princes, while dukes flew Rock Falcons, a subspecies of the Peregrine. Barons were relegated to the Common Buzzard.

Cody led us over to the pens and introduced us to the various birds sitting on perches, several species of falcons, an owl and two Harris hawks. The owl was used for hunting at night. He had bright orange eyes and squawked loudly and with disdain when either Karen or I approached his perch. A leash attached at a band on one foot kept the birds from straying too far from their perches. Cody untied one of the Harris hawks and we trooped out into the rain.

First he demonstrated the animal’s single-minded focus on securing food. Cody swung his arm and the bird went off and perched in a nearby tree. Cody then removed a small sliver of chicken meat and held it in his gloved hand. The hawk dove in, landed on Cody’s arm and seized the meat in its talons. He launched the bird into the trees again and asked Karen and I to stand facing each other about two feet apart. Cody stood offset between us and pulled out another piece of meat. The hawk swooped right between us as though we weren’t even there. Cody explained that as long as the hawk could see the food, everything else was irrelevant. We repeated the procedure twice more with Karen and me moving in closer to each other each time. We stood less than 6 inches apart and still the bird was able to tuck its wings, fly between us and gently land on Cody’s arm in a graceful flare, wings extended.

Next Cody demonstrated how the hawk would follow us because it knew that we carried food. As we walked along a path into the woods, the hawk hopped from branch to branch at the edge of the woods. Cody gave Karen a glove and showed her how to hold the bait. With her back to the woods, she extended her arm to reveal the meat and the bird instantly materialized on Karen’s arm. Karen launched the hawk and repeated the catching game, this time facing forward. She handed the glove to me. As I held out the piece of food, I expected to feel an impact on my arm. The bird was so light I wouldn’t have known it was there unless I looked. I asked what would happen if I moved my arm and Cody suggested I try running the next time. I held out the meat as I jogged down the path and the hawk locked its wings and caught up to me on a straight glide.

As a further demonstration to show the hawk’s ability to track moving prey, a piece of fur was attached to a line that ran along a square course on the ground. Cody engaged a motor that pulled the piece of fur out of a small hutch. The hawk chased the quickly moving mat of fur, banking tightly at each corner and ensnared the imitation prey after the second bend.

We finished up the class by each having our picture taken with the large falcon. The rain, once again, had turned out to be a non-issue. Total time without a roof over our heads was less than 20 minutes, and hooded jackets kept us dry.

 

A violin and piano duet filled the air with soothing classical tunes as we enjoyed afternoon tea and cookies. And things were about to get a lot more soothing…… we were heading to the spa for hot stone massages. I hoped for a buxom, statuesque Swedish masseuse. Instead, I got a short elderly gentleman. Rats! With this type of massage, hot stones are used both to heat and relax the muscles and as a tool to work tight areas. And the rocks are HOT!!! Several times I thought my flesh seared when the rocks were applied. But as I relaxed, the heat literally melted the tension out of my body. After the treatment, I sat in the sauna for about ten minutes and then in the steam room, scented with menthol to open the sinuses. Every imaginable treatment is available at the spa and you could spend an entire vacation there. There’s even a restaurant in the spa, but we had dinner reservations at the main dining room.

Gentlemen are required to wear a jacket and tie for dinner. I wore a green sport coat that was acquired for a summer wedding - green for Greenbrier. Karen told me I looked like a car rental agent. Dinner consisted of a choice of several appetizers, salads and main courses. We each chose vegetarian pasta as the entrée. The food was very good, but not remarkable. What was remarkable, however, was the service. Every person at the Greenbrier, the receptionists, shuttle drivers, bellhops, meal servers were not only highly competent and courteous, they were genuinely friendly.

After dinner, we wandered around through long hallways reminiscent of the movie, The Shining and ended up at a tavern where a jazz trio played show tunes, big band hits and oldies. I felt like I was in a Vegas lounge sipping whiskey sours as the bandleader crooned out “Memories.”

The following morning we arranged for a horseback riding excursion through The Greenbrier’s stables. Several others had also signed up for the 10:00 a.m. ride, but again everyone canceled due to rain. Our guide, Susan, seemed glad to have experienced equestrians to ride with for a change and also relished mixing it up with the weather atop her horse, Cimarron. We trotted away from the resort and into the forest, galloping up the mountain. Rain turned to snow as we climbed higher on the trail. Snowfall on foliage of crimson, orange and yellow leaves looked both surreal and magical. People sure do miss a lot when they hide away from a little foul weather.
 

Afterwards, we only had enough time to clean up and change before a noon checkout. The Greenbrier and Greenbrier County in general, offers every sort of diversion, adventure and activity possible - Land Rover driving school to golf, croquet to skeet shooting, fishing to rock climbing. For skiers, Snowshoe Mountain Resort is just minutes away. One of the highlights of the county is its numerous caves. Since the rain wasn’t about to let up, we stopped at Lost World Caverns for a 45-minute self-guided tour of breathtaking subterranean formations.

We departed Greenbrier County as rain mixed into sleet and planned another trip for the summer so we could hike and bike and kayak and enjoy some fun in the sun. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. But if not, let it rain.