Aurora, A Relaxing Movie Night “Inn”

The last package I talked about was about a classic pairing of wine and chocolate.  The next package I'm going to write about is a pairing most people don't even know about.  Mike heard about this pairing and was skeptical about it.  Popcorn and Champagne?  That's crazy!  It really is a great pairing.  Aurora, A Relaxing Movie Night “Inn” adds to that pairing with another classic, popcorn and a movie.  The package is just $20.00 and is a great addition to your stay at The Craftsman B&B.  A bottle of our Bin #03 Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut with a bowl of fresh made popcorn.  You'll be sipping in 2 Keepsake Craftsman B&B Flutes while you enjoy snuggling and watching a DVD from our collection.  Most people travel with a laptop computer and they can watch a movie, but if you left it all behind for a relaxing weekend, we have DVD players for you.

I wrote about Freixenet Cava in the Taliesin entry to the blog, read more about it there.  We like it so much we have offered it in several packages.  It's good, available all over and well priced bottle aged bubble.  Did I mention matte black?  Mmmmm!

Aurora, more exact, East Aurora, New York is the home of Roycrofters.  I mentioned them in the Asheville package as they furnished the Grove Park Inn.  This guild of craftsmanship and philosophy lead to the rise of the Arts and Crafts movement in the United States.  Elbert Hubbard was inspired by William Morris.  Morris had his own press, Kelmscott Press. Hubbard's was called the "Roycroft Press" by latter-day collectors and print historians, the organization called itself "The Roycrofters" and "The Roycroft Shops."
The name comes from the printers, Samuel and Thomas Roycroft, who made books in London from about 1650-1690. And beyond this, the word roycroft had a special significance to Elbert Hubbard, meaning King's Craft. 

Hubbard edited and published two magazines, The Philistine and The Fra. The Philistine was bound in brown butcher paper and full of satire and whimsy.  The Roycrofters produced handsome, if sometimes eccentric, books printed on handmade paper, and operated a fine bindery.  The guild also included a furniture shop, and shops producing modeled leather and hammered copper goods. They were a leading producer of Mission Style products.

A quotation from John Ruskin formed the Roycroft "creed":  "A belief in working with the head, hand and heart and mixing enough play with the work so that every task is pleasurable and makes for health and happiness".

The Roycroft Campus, a National Historic Landmark and was placed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation on its 11 Most Endangered Places. The Roycroft Campus Corporation (RCC) was established to preserve and restore the Campus.  They successfully rehabilitated The Roycroft Inn. The RCC now plans to embark on a $50 million acquisition and restoration of the remainder of the campus. Its ultimate goal is to preserve the unique architectural setting of the Campus, but moreover, to bring back to life the Roycroft community and ideals by re-introducing working artisans on the campus; developing comprehensive, compelling, and multi-faceted interpretative and educational programming; and encouraging the development of a center for creativity and innovation in the decorative arts, fine arts and literature.

In 1915 Hubbard and his wife, noted suffragette Alice Moore Hubbard, died in the sinking of RMS Lusitania.