The Inn at Walnut Bottom in Cumberland, Maryland is a delicious place to stop if you are traveling through this area. The house is a well-maintained older Victorian and the rooms are large and nicely furnished with antiques, but the best thing about it is the breakfasts.

The chef-owner does a great deal of baking every day. Breakfast begins with a basket of her fresh-from-the-oven treats – muffins and sweet breads or coffee cake. Then there is an offering of the day like an omelet with bacon or crème brulee French toast (her specialty). If you are not partial to the special, you can also opt for one of her standards – homemade granola or oatmeal with grated apples. Everything was fabulous!

We ate so much at breakfast that we didn’t have lunch any day of our stay here. But we did have just enough room at teatime for the freshly baked cookies and iced tea that she put out in the common area every afternoon. Diet before you come here so you’ll have some space in your clothes for a couple of extra pounds.

Cumberland is an easy place to stop if you’re traveling through western Maryland, the inn was only a couple of blocks from the highway (and a couple of blocks from downtown), but still fairly quiet. Downtown has a pedestrian mall with small shops, restaurants, and a farmer’s market twice a week. If you want to take the Western Maryland Scenic Railway, Cumberland is its starting point (though, after I saw the plumes of black soot it sent into the air, I no longer wanted to go on it). There is also nearby hiking in the mountains or cycling along the canal.