As part of my trip to check up on Sweet Springs, WV, my thesis site, I decided to stop by the Greenbrier in neighboring White Sulphur Springs. Since the late 1700s, Americans have gone to these places during summers to avoid heat and endemic diseases like malaria as well as pandemics. Although we have not experienced a pandemic in over one hundred years, this was still true there and it was fascinating to see a resort built for such times operate during one.
The Greenbrier itself is the hotel at White Sulphur Springs and it replaced an antebellum structure known as "The Old White" in the 1910s. Yet, it is still surrounded by much older cottages that had been built to accommodate people escaping cities during outbreaks like cholera. In those times, before viruses and bacteria were understood, it was believed that diseases were caused by bad air that could be warded off by good smells as expressed in the popular nursery rhyme "Ring Around the Rosie." The prescribed treatment at springs like White Sulphur were clean air, bathing in their water, and imbibing mint juleps. Rather than having a pocket full of posies as in the folksong though, resort guests enjoying a mint julep would have thought they were preventing sickness by sticking their noses down into a bouquet of mint leaves.
In August 2020, all visitors to White Sulphur Springs had their temperatures checked before coming onto the property and were asked to stay six-feet apart from others while there as well. The Greenbrier was immaculately clean inside with numerous employees wiping down handrails and every surface. Placed outside public rooms were signs which politely reminded:
PLEASE COVER YOUR COUGHS & SNEEZES.
IF NOT WEARING A MASK:
-Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
-If tissues aren't available, use the inside of your elbow.
-Immediately dispose of used tissues in the trash.
-Immediately wash your hands for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer.
While the transmission of diseases is better known nowadays, the mint julep still remained a drink of choice for many in the lobby bar although the ye olde reason for this custom has long been forgotten by most people. If guests were not seated in distanced chairs, people were conscious about wearing masks when walking between rooms. Children were playing on the staircase and a wedding was being celebrated in the Cameo Ballroom. It was all encouraging to see there, especially these blips of joy made possible because of good management.
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