In 1951, at a small California inn, George (Alan Alda) and Doris (Ellen Burstyn) have an affair. Instead of writing it off as a one-night stand, the pair decide to meet at the inn every year for a romantic retreat, away from their respective spouses and families. In the decades that follow, both George and Doris face their own personal struggles and hardships, and together they develop a level of love and intimacy that exceeds the ones found in their own marriages.