Diary of an Innkeeper

Ending The Season... Almost Unscathed!

2011-11-14T17:05:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we closed the inn for the season. During that last week, I stayed at the inn by myself one night. It was a very slow night with just a couple of guests and George stayed home with Aidan. Our last room of guests checked in around 9 pm. And they were hungry. During the Fall there are very few places that stay open for dinner late. Hell, during the season most restaurants don't stay open very late up here.

When the guests walked in that night, they promptly asked, "Where can we go get dinner?" OMG, that question! That late! It happens every so often and almost always happens after the people have just driven through Cooperstown (past many restaurants) and arrive at our inn after everything's closed!

These guests had just come back from Main Street. Most of the Main St. restaurants close at 9 pm. They drove the 15 minutes past about 10 restaurants to us to ask us where should they go to eat. They even commented that Doubleday Cafe looked good. I called Doubleday Cafe. They were closing.

I told them about the Rose and Kettle (one of my favorites) one block up the street from us. I called the restaurant. They would be open for one more hour. I showed them the menu and told them it was wonderful. "No, we really just want hamburgers." Really, you are going to be picky right now? I tell them they should go, they will love the food and considering there isn't much of a choice, they should hurry.

As they left for the restaurant, they asked what time did I serve breakfast until. I said 10 am. They said, "Oh, ok, then I guess we will be in around 9:30." Not seeming very happy about the hour. "We wanted to sleep as late as we could." I said, "Oh, ok, well, see you at 9:30." Not really budging on the time. I found out the next morning, that timing wasn't really important to them. 10:15 am. Still no sign of life. How long do I leave breakfast out for them?? They strolled in at 10:30. Ugh, how many more days until we close??

The next day, Mr. & Mrs. Invisible checked in. They checked in late, so we left an envelope with their key in it and the welcome letter stating what time breakfast was. The next morning the guests and I were all still mingling in the lobby at 10:30 when The Invisibles from Room 7 drove away. At first I felt bad. Maybe they thought they missed breakfast and didn't want to come in because they were late. Oh well, I thought, we would see them later.

Then Emily, my cleaning girl came in. She said the Invisibles had left a note requesting more toiletries, toilet paper, bathroom cups. She always replaces what is used, but they checked in late last night. They went through 2 rolls of toilet paper already?? As she was making the beds, she came across a plastic bag hidden under their pillow. In this bag - all the toiletries, toilet paper and cups. Are you kidding me??? Really? If you are going to steal all the stuff out of the bathroom, and ask for more, can't you find a better hiding spot than the bed that we are going to make??? May I suggest your suitcase? Not that I'm condoning stealing our stuff!

I asked Emily, "What did you do?" She said, "I took everything out of the bag and put it back in the bathroom." After I stopped laughing, I told George, who was happy with Emily's decision. That afternoon "The Invisibles" came back to the inn. No one saw them come back but, then again, no one saw their car come back later that evening either. But, we knew they came back at some point. When Emily went in to clean their room the next day, the beds had not been slept in and all their stuff was gone. No check in, no check out. We never saw them. Thank god their credit card went through.

This last weekend of the season. We had four rooms of some of our best returning guests. What a nice way to end the season. But of course, we had to have a little crazy thrown in. Just to remind us of how much we need this break from the inn. Spring will be here soon enough, with plenty more stories to tell. But for now, enjoy the winter and enjoy the holidays!

to be continued...

Welcome! We're Not Here Right Now....

2011-10-27T14:39:00.000-04:00

Sometimes when we have errands to run or maybe go out to dinner, we leave an envelope with a "Welcome Note" for our guests. This envelope is left on the front counter with their key inside. Now for the most part, all the guests find their notes and make themselves at home. But then there is that odd guest. Last week we had two of them.

The first was a very nice couple. I was out at the supermarket and the phone call came.

"Hi, we just wanted to let you know that we have arrived."

"Well, hello, welcome. I assume you found your key on the lobby desk?"

"Oh, you want us to go into the lobby?"

Wait, what??? You are outside in your car??? You are calling me to tell me you have arrived - from your car - in the parking lot!!!!!!!!

"Well, yes, go inside and get your key and make yourself comfortable."

"Oh, I am going inside right now and there it is. I see it."

OMG!!!!! This was definitely the first time someone thought that they should check in from their car. Maybe I should get a pair of roller skates. We could change our name to The Meadowlark Drive-In Inn. Hey, that's catchy. I don't know if there are any of those.

The second guest came when we were at a town meeting and George answered his cell phone. "Hi, I just wanted to let you know that we are here. We are in the lobby and there is an envelope with our name on it. I am assuming that there is a key in it." Well yes, there is, so this phone call wasn't really necessary was it. Why wouldn't you just open the envelope? WITH YOUR NAME ON IT!!!!! You called to let us know that you see an envelope, with your name on it, and you are assuming that there is a key in it. Really??

When things like this happen I immediately think - Was it something we did that was not completely clear. For the first guest, I suppose we can install a neon flashing sign that says "Enter Here". That would probably work well for the 1/2 dozen or so guests in the past that just can't seem to find the front door. We see them pull in the driveway, slow down, drive past the door that says "Lobby," go around the building to our own driveway where we park and sometimes pull all the way into the back. Like the inn's "Entrance" would be in the backyard. We even had one guest knock on the back door to our apartment saying "Hi, we're here to check in." I couldn't even hold back my, "Really, you completely missed the door, and the light and the sign and this is where you think you check in? Really?" I said it nicely, but I just couldn't hold it back. Next year - a brighter front door light, a bolder "Lobby" door sign. But the neon flashing light idea, may just be too tacky.

For the second guest, I've decided a voice activated recordable "Yes Man" Doll could work wonders for us. Guest walks in and "Yes Man" will announce Welcome in our own voice. And as a bonus, on days when I'm not feeling so great there are 8 pre-recorded ego-boosting statements, like, "I'm sure whatever you're thinking is correct," "Say I wish I'd thought of that," and "I couldn't agree with you more completely." Hmmm, my dream man.

Oh well, back to reality. So, as a guest comes in with questions, like, "Should we enter the lobby to check in?" or "Should we open the envelope with our name on it?" We will do our best to answer these and other seemingly obvious questions with our best, "Of course, and welcome to the Meadowlark Inn!"

Goodbye Summer Rentals!

2011-09-08T18:07:00.000-04:00

When the summer season ends, so does the weekly tenants for our three vacation rentals. After this, our income takes a dive. Enter phase two, scrambling for winter rentals. The weird thing about Cooperstown though is that we have had pretty good luck with finding nice tenants for the winter season. Each year from Sept. - May we have people stay for a variety of reasons. Sometimes someone is building a home, sometimes they are interning at The Hall of Fame, some are traveling nurses at Bassett Hospital. There are lots of different reasons why someone needs a home for only 8 or 9 months.

This past week we got a call from one of these people. George was going to meet him to show him the apartment on Saturday. Since this person was going to be living next door to me for the next 9 months, I had a lot of questions. Now George, always ready to pimp out our places, had asked all the right questions before he was to meet him. But the problem was, he got all the wrong answers AND he was still showing him the place. He was going to give him the benefit of the doubt. I on the other hand was not!

Questions:

Where do you live now?

"NYC."

Why are you coming up here?

"I need to relocate."

Okay.......hmmm......

How will you pay the rent?

"I get a check from social security."

Sounded pretty young to get social security.

Can it cover the rent?

"No, but my mother also gets social security and she will be living with me."

Your... mother. Wow.... this is looking... better by the minute. You did say... your mother, right?

Can that cover the rent?

"No, but my wife is a model."

A model... Of course, she is.

Well what is her weekly salary?

"Well... nothing right now. She is pregnant."

Well, there now, it just got worse.

So how do you plan on paying for the rent?

"I have a website that could bring in $4,000/month."

COULD bring in $4,000, not DOES bring in. I COULD win the lottery this month too.

What is the website?

"You could go to my website to see what I look like - www....... "

(as he was saying it, I was typing it in. What a surprise! There was no such website!)

No, not really a surprise. But boy was I curious to see this guy.

You know we are renting the place weekly starting June 1st, so you would have to vacate by then?

"Oh yes, we are going to buy a house and move out by then."

Because that $4,000/month website is really going to help with that deposit on a house!

Now all of this and George was still planning on meeting him. Could any tenant be worse! He actually had me type up a new contract to bring with him. With added reasons why someone could be evicted! One of the reasons was - "If there is excessive yelling, this is reason for eviction." LOL, excessive yelling. You think these people are going to be fighting and you still want to meet him? Can't cover the rent, husband and pregnant wife and mother in law in same apartment = possible fighting, non-existent website, relocation, no real reason to ever leave. Now if these aren't red flags. Forget about red flag, this was a freaking rainbow colored flag flapping in George's face.

So here I stood in my pimp of a husband's way, with my "No way, this is where I draw the line!" look on my face. Well actually it was more than a look. I think I said the word NO about 20 times in 5 minutes. But he's used to that.

"You know I gotta be honest with you. This really doesn't look good, and it would probably be better if you found another place," George said. Thank you George!

It's a long cold winter up here, and I think these neighbors/tenants were going to make it a lot longer!

Hello! Hello!

2011-09-02T17:55:00.002-04:00

There are long hours with being an innkeeper. The day starts at 6:30 am and sometimes it doesn't end until 11 pm. There are specific jobs to do throughout the day, but you are "on call" all day long for other things like directions, restaurant recommendations, etc. Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem with helping people for legitimate reasons. George and I both enjoy talking to all our guests, but the "Hello, hello" people, well, they are another story. These are the people who come in at the most inconvenient times (dinner, laundry or finally just sitting down for the night). These are the people that just want to let you know..... They have no questions and really no reason for coming in. They just want to let you know....

We are always upstairs when this happens and hear someone yelling for us to come downstairs...

"Hellooo. Hellooo."

We come downstairs and into the lobby.

"Hello, hello... Just getting some tea."

Did you want to know if I wanted any?? Why are you telling me this?

"Hello, hello... Just picking a different movie. My wife already saw this one."

Oh, ok, did you want me to help you decide on a movie? I liked "I Love You Man."

"Hello, hello... Just wanted you to know that we decided to go to that other restaurant."

Why? What was wrong with the first restaurant? Let's discuss this before you leave.

"Hello, hello... Just wanted you to know that we're gonna take that other road into town."

In case you come up missing? Phew, now I can direct the police in your direction, thanks!

"Hello, hello... Just wanted you to know that we are leaving for dinner."

Oh, are you asking me to come with you? No thanks, I was just sitting down... to eat my own dinner!

"Hello, hello... Just wanted you to know that the toilet paper in the lobby bathroom was running low."
Not out! But low. I'll get right on that!

"Hello, hello... Just wanted you to know that my sons were going to play a game of chess in the lobby now."
Ok, do they need me to watch?

"Hello, hello... I just left my key on the front desk."
Oh thank you for telling me, now I can I safely put it in the drawer.

or alternately

"Hello, hello... I am going to leave my key in the room when I check out."
Oh, I'm glad you told me. I would have worried that you were one of those "non-checking out guests" (like in my previous blog).

With 12 rooms of people there are bound to be "Hello, hello" people here a few times a week. And yes, all of the above have been said to us at least once, and some of them many times throughout the years. But we always try our best to walk into the lobby with a smile on our face and say "Hello! Oh thank you for telling me."

Check-Out Time? Whenever!

2011-08-21T17:25:00.005-04:00

Fridays are our busiest days. Not only do we normally have a lot of check-out/check-ins, but it is the turn-over day for our rental houses. It was 10 am this past Friday and I was getting ready to leave to check on our rentals. George was cleaning up breakfast and the girls had started the room cleanings. All the guests had either checked out or had gone out for the day. There were no cars in the driveway.

Around 10:45 Emily came in to tell me that I had mistakenly put Room 9 as a full-clean, but it was a refresh since the guest's things were still in the room. Oh, ok, I don't normally mess up like that, but let me just recheck that on the computer. No, that guest was supposed to check out. I went down to the room. Maybe they had packed up and ran out to get gas, were coming right back to check out and get their stuff. Yeah, that's it, I had convinced myself of that on my way down to their room. When I opened their door, nothing was packed. This was a very lived in room. There was a tip for the girls on the bureau and it looked very much like they had gone out for the day. All I could think about was that in 3 hours there would be a family arriving to check into this room. I ran to the front desk to hopefully get their cell phone number off of their reservation. But there was just a home phone - no way to contact them. George and I decided to wait about an hour or so and we would have to start packing their stuff up ourselves.

George started calling around to see if he could find them another hotel to stay at. Obviously they thought they had reserved for two nights, not one. When they got back and found we had evicted them from their room, they were not going to be happy. Oh, damn you TripAdvisor! Hopefully, they never have heard of THAT site. But they reserved their room, got a confirmation, and paid for one night!! How could they think they had two nights booked??? Did they just decide to stay another night and forget to ask if it was available for another night?? WHERE WERE THEY??????

Me, never one to panic (ok, panic is my middle name), started running around like a crazy person. I put a yellow sticky note on their door to come immediately to the office if they came back. We found a place for them to stay that night and decided we would start packing up their things around 1 pm.

Then around 12:30, the wife came walking into the lobby.
"Why did you want me to come down here?"
"Do you think you are staying another night?"
"No, we are checking out today."
Oh thank God! But then it hit me, she was very casual with her, "No, we are checking out today."
WHAT TIME DO YOU THINK CHECK OUT TIME IS???? ANYTIME YOU WANT????
No, I didn't say that! But if you were in my head, you heard it loud and clear. What actually came out was, "Check out time was 11 am. We were so worried that you had wanted to stay another day and we had no rooms available."
"Oh no, we went hiking this morning and it was such a beautiful day that we decided to stay out longer. Then we went to the farmer' market. Sorry if we worried you."
"Well, I was more worried that you had no where to stay tonight." And that I was going to have to pack up your stuff, and wait around all day to explain to you that you were staying somewhere else, and change the locks on that door because god forbid you walk into the room that others were staying in. And then you would give us a bad review!
"Oh no, I wasn't worried."

A little while later she walked into the lobby to check-out. "I had a very nice stay, but I do want to inform you that you do not have an updated menu in your binder in the room for The Rose & Kettle restaurant and you should really update that." Are you kidding me! And you should check out on time!!!! You check out 1 1/2 hours late and I should be reprimanded for not keeping up with the changing menus of the restaurants in the area!!!!

I keep adding more and more things in the rooms or in the lobby. Along with that updated menu, you will now see a frame in the room, complete with check out hours.

A Vacation During the Summer - Unheard Of!

2011-08-15T13:34:00.002-04:00

When we got the invitation for the Macaluso Family Reunion, at first I thought, George and Aidan would go and I would stay home and watch the inn. We've never left the inn for a long period of time in the seven years we've been open. George really wanted us all to go as a family and after talking to Emily, one of our employees, we decided that not only was she willing to take on the responsibility, she was more than capable. So what started as a one day away family reunion, ended up being a five day glorious all expenses paid Caribbean cruise! Well, not exactly, but that is how I looked at it! It was five days away from the inn. And that's all that mattered. But before we visited friends/family/and the Jersey Shore, we had to make sure everything was taken care of. First we called the local Bed & Biscuit Getaway for our dogs. (What a better name than kennel!) The owner said to George, "Oh, you're trying to get away DURING THE SEASON! That is never going to work!" Ok, that didn't make me feel better!

It was 9:30 pm on Friday and we were leaving Emily in charge Saturday morning. I was packing and writing 175 yellow sticky notes to be left around the inn. Then we got a phone call from one of our rental house guests. Now this particular rental house guest had already been stressed to the max. In all of the years that we have had rental houses, we have never, not once double booked. But this time, well, something went awry and I found out several weeks ago, that I had done it. Two separate renters/one house. Not good!

Thank god we had our own house to fall back on because we were able to put one of the renters into our own house. Ok, good, they were happy. It wasn't a nightmare anymore. Until they arrived at the house to check in! On our property we have two houses. One is ours, a one family house and the other is our Pottery House, a two family rental house. Both have separate driveways. So here it was 9:30 pm and the couple who had originally been double booked show up at our house to check in.

9:30 pm/Phonecall:
"Hi, Tina, we are at the house to check in. What house is it? There are two houses on the property."
"The one on the right."
"The lights are on in that one."
Did I leave the lights on when I was there earlier. I guess.
"That's ok, I must of just left them on."
"But the TV is on too."
Now I know I didn't leave that on. Oh crap!
"Can you hold on a minute?"
George, there is someone in our house. WTF! Why would there be someone in our house!!!
"Hi, I'm back again, are you sure you are at the right house? Maybe you're at our neighbors."
"There is a red wall in the living room. And the TV is on and stuff is in the living room."
Oh this is bad.
"Can you hold on a minute more?"
George what are we going to do??? You have to go over there!!! Who is in there???

George, always the calm in my tropical storm, says, maybe it's the other renters. Maybe they went to the wrong house. I called the renters up on their cell phone. Because of course, there was no one at our house, even though all the lights and two TV's were on! Why yes, they did move into our house, along with moving into the other house!!! After renting a 5-bedroom 2-family house, imagine their luck when they showed up at the house and found a "bonus" house on the property. The Pottery House renter said they thought, "well, now this is too good to be true. This is more space than we even need."

Even though I want so very much to be that calm, even keeled person - the crazy came out in me.
How can anyone think that they get a "bonus" house!!!
George went over there and took care of everything. But the people who had mistakenly moved in, REALLY MOVED IN. George had to reclean the entire house, while the poor double-booked couple waited in the driveway for 2 hours.

George finally came home after midnight. Oh this was going to be a rough week. The following morning, Emily showed up at 6:30 to start taking care of things. While we packed and finished getting things ready for her, one of our guests came up to me and asked to book a room for next year. The weekend she wanted already had 11 rooms booked with the last room on hold. I told her I would let her know as soon as I found out if that room was being taken. Five minutes later her husband went up to George and asked to book that last room. George told him I had already told his wife that I would be in touch with her as soon as I found out about the room. About 20 minutes later, Emily came up to me and said that the wife had gone up to her and told her that I had said it was ok to book that last room but to talk to Emily about the booking. Are you kidding me? They were trying to sneak-book that last room!

The following morning while we were gone, Emily called me to tell me that while she was making waffles for the guests, that particular woman came up to her to tell her that the Raisin Bran container was low. Emily looked up at it and saw that it still had 1/3 cereal in it and that it could wait. But I guess the woman was insulted that Emily did not immediately take action because she then went over to the cereal dispenser, put a bowl under it and turned the dial until all the cereal was emptied. Even though it overflowed out of the bowl and onto the table and floor. This is one of those times that I wish I was at the inn, but probably best that I wasn't. Emily's response: cleaned up the mess; George's response would have been: Excuse me, what is wrong? Can I help you with something; My response: What the F@$K! is wrong with you?? Why the hell would you do that???. Yeah, probably best I was getting my tan on at the time. Boy do I need this vacation!

So aside from some minor repairs that our girls all took care of, everything actually went smoothly at the inn. Between phone calls and texting, we were kept abreast of all that was going on. And we felt confident that everyone was happy. And no more phone calls from any of the rental houses. It was a wonderful five days away. Maybe we can do this every month!

Everything's Not Always as it Seems

2011-06-16T10:18:00.003-04:00

When we moved up by Cooperstown, we were surprised to learn that there is a large community of Amish people here. Over the years we have befriended several of them. A wonderful simple lifestyled group of people, they have worked for us doing construction with George and housekeeping at the inn. A couple years back when we had one of the girls work for us, she was barraged with questions from the other housekeepers and myself. George also finds himself asking his workers many questions. It's such a different lifestyle that it's hard to believe people live like that in this day and age.

Well maybe not so different really. The other day while working on the new rooms, George had a couple of Amish working with him. He walked into the room and noticed a particularly familiar stance. The 16 year old Amish boy had his back to him, elbows out, head bowed. For a second you would almost think he was praying. But having a 16 year old ourselves, George immediately recognized this position! He was praying to the texting Gods! Something was quickly shoved into this 16 year old's pocket. George noticed a distinct outline. "Jeremiah, do you have a cell phone??," George asked. "Wah, wah, what?" "Come on, you heard me, do you have a cell phone?" Then just a slight smile came across these two Amish faces. The older one even asked to borrow our boat that evening. He said he had driven a boat before and George really likes him, so he gave him the keys. What? Isn't that like driving a car? That's allowed in the Amish handbook? I have a feeling that handbook gets rewritten every year.

We are familiar with many of the last names of the Amish here. So a while back when we received an online reservation under one of these familiar names, I thought, Oh they must have relatives coming to visit. Would I have to turn the electricity off in that room? How would it work? But that seemed wrong. They would most likely stay at the Amish home. I was so curious to see if they were Amish when they checked in.

I was downstairs at the front desk and George was upstairs when they arrived. In walked a young husband and wife and their three children. All dressed in very fashionable summer clothes. Other than their clothes everything else screamed Amish. They had the accent and a very distinct Amish look to them. It took everything I could to hold in my, "Oh my God, are you Amish? Why are you dressed like that?" No, I know, that would be wrong. So I pretended not to notice.

The mom and dad looked around the lobby while the three little boys sat on the couch in perfect formation. I excused myself for a second and ran up the stairs to get George. "You have to come down. There are Amish in our lobby dressed in really cool clothes!" We ran down the stairs and walked casually back into the lobby. George introduced himself and talked to the couple about the Baseball Hall of Fame and other attractions. Then, never being one to mince words, George said, "You know, your last name is a very popular Amish last name." WHAT?? WHAT did you just say? I thought we were pretending not to notice!!!

It was then that they explained that they were raised Amish and left their community when they were adults. They seemed to enjoy talking about their Amish upbringing, so I was glad George brought up the elephant in the room. I don't think I would have had the nerve to. Between this couple and all the Amish people we have come in contact with, we realize they are not so different than us. They like a lot of the same things that we do, and as the Amish handbook keeps being rewritten, it won't be long before we see them, out and proud, holding their cell phones in public and texting each other, instead of actually talking to one other, like the rest of us.

A Trip to Cooperstown with "Mom"

2011-06-08T22:10:00.015-04:00

Baseball isn't just for men, women like it too. A while back this was evident when three sisters and their mother checked in for a "Ladie's Weekend." These four women loved baseball. The sisters, aged 60-70, decided to take "Mom," aged 92, to the Hall of Fame. "She just loves baseball." Well that wasn't the only thing she loved as I was soon to find out.

That night, after the lobby closed, we got a knock on the door. I opened it and one of the sisters said, "Mom is sick and we are going to need you to come to the room and clean up a bit." Oh man, really?? Can't I just give you a roll of paper towels and call it a night! I thought. Then she said, "Probably are going to need a bucket and a mop. It's pretty messy." This wasn't going to be good!

I got my cleaning supplies and off I went. I knocked on the door and when the sister opened the door, there was "Mom," tucked in the bed with the covers up around her nose. An almost unrecognizable "Sorry" came out of her mouth. As I walked in I couldn't help but notice the extraordinary amount of liquor bottles lined up on the bureau. OMG, Mom's drunk! Really? Isn't she like really, really old. Couldn't the Hall of Fame trip have been enough? Did they really need to party with mom too??

"It's in there." They pointed to the bathroom. It? Oh this was going to be bad. As I opened the bathroom door and walked in, I wanted to die! It's as if a 90 year old Linda Blair had been in there. Someones head had to have been spinning for this mess to happen. I closed the door and before I did anything, I cried. Yes, cried. Maybe this was a dream. Maybe I would wake up from this nightmare. But no. This wasn't going away until I made it go away.

Many times our guests have said to us, "We too have always wanted to run an inn. It seems like fun." It's times like this I think of "Mom" and the darker side of innkeeping.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong??

2011-05-20T09:35:00.000-04:00

A couple of months ago George came to me with the idea of renovating our garage at the inn to include two more rooms. Our garage consisted of the front 2/3 as George's workshop and the back 1/3 as our Suite. George said he could take the empty space and make a small workshop, a storage room and two brand new rooms and it wouldn't cost us a crazy amount of money since the building is already there. Ok, I said, but I asked, "Is there anything that could go wrong?" What could go wrong? "Any chance that we would have to change the septic or the well??" No, of course not, it's just some 2x4's and some sheetrock. What could go wrong? "Are you sure?" Yeah, I'm sure. "Anything else that you could think of that the building inspector might say we would need? Anything?" Nope. "You sure?" Yes, I'm sure, as he grabbed his drill and nail gun and headed towards the garage.

Every year George seems to come up with a project. Last year was the baseball field. Yep, that was going to be an easy one too. And not cost a lot of money either. Well he was wrong on that one. After about two weeks of a bulldozer leveling and pushing dirt around, I finally just screamed, "Make them stop!! It's level enough! The Yankees aren't coming to play in our backyard!"

So back to the these two rooms....that weren't going to be a problem. He framed the rooms, installed the plumbing, installed the electricity, installed the doors/windows, renovated the exterior. It looked great. Now, at this point, he needs it to be inspected so he goes for the permit. This, he probably should have done first. After reviewing the permit application, the inspector informed George that all new temporary residence construction requires a sprinkler system. What? A sprinkler what? Really? This isn't the Best Western. Oh, that doesn't sound cheap!! And it's not!!! The estimated cost - $25,000 and likely to be much more because we would need a holding tank for the water since we are on a well. Just shoot me.

So now George can't continue working on the rooms until he gets a variance or a set of plans for the sprinkler system. Since we have to wait a month or so for the variance, George decides to also get the sprinkler plans. I immediately ran for my iPhone. George said, what are you doing? I said, "There's gotta be an app for that." But there wasn't. And plans aren't free! First estimate - $2500! Luckily, there's the internet. Chad, from Arizona, was willing to do it for $400.

Now think about these rooms - on the ground floor with an outside door on one side of the room and an escape window on the other side, no cooking capabilities, non-smoking, and the fire department is three buildings away from us. If there was a fire, the sprinkler system isn't what's going to save someone's life, walking the 10 ft. out the door is!

We've applied for a variance and are waiting to hear from the state to see what they decide. The local fire chief even wrote a letter stating that he thought the sprinkler system in these two rooms wasn't needed. So here we wait, with our fingers crossed, hoping, praying! For that letter that says we won the lottery. I mean, that our variance went through. And if it doesn't, maybe we will win the lottery. To help pay for this little tiny renovation that wasn't going to have any problems.

But, as the saying goes - What could possibly go wrong?

Open For Business

2011-04-22T17:53:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday we opened up the inn for our 7th season. I can't believe we have had the inn for this many years. It seems like just yesterday. Normally we open May 1st, but we got a call from a very nice woman who was disappointed that we weren't open this weekend. George had answered the phone that day and being the accommodating person that he is, it didn't take much for him to be convinced to open up two weeks earlier so she and her boyfriend could stay with us. I thought he was crazy. Opening early for one room. Luckily that one room turned into several rooms and we had a very successful five days.

When we open for the season, there is always that "Where did we put that?" or "What did we use this for?" or "Did you remember to buy something?" It's like we've been away for years and forget all the things that we normally do. There are so many things to buy and I thought I had everything covered.

Since the first night open was a school night, I stayed at our home with Aidan and George stayed at the inn. That first night we only had one room, and that room checked in after 11 pm. George went to bed and left their key outside in an envelope for them. He woke up and found a note outside the door stating that they wanted gluten-free waffles for breakfast. As I was driving Aidan to school, George called me on my cell. "Where's the gluten-free mix?" Just when I thought I had bought everything!! Usually people let us know that they are gluten free when they reserve their room, so we are always prepared. But this day, at 8:30 am (before the health food store opened), here we were, with no gluten-free waffle mix. Not knowing what else we could serve these guests, I panicked. I ran to the supermarket and found a very sad gluten-free section. Maybe they would like gluten-free cookies or pasta for breakfast. No that wouldn't do. As I was buying gluten-free flour (don't know what I was going to make with it), George called me on my cell. He said that the man that owns Cooperstown Health Foods was at the store and will open the door for me. I flew over there, got the waffle mix, ran to the inn, prepared the batter - all before their 9:30 breakfast time that they had requested. Whew! We did it.

Then at 9:45 the lobby phone rang. They wanted to know "if they could have room service. All they wanted that morning was coffee." What!? Really? But you asked for gluten-free waffles, and fruit salad, and eggs, and english muffins. "Do you know what we went through to get this stuff?? Do you know how pretty George set up breakfast for you??" Well we didn't actually say all that, but I think there was some disappointed tone in Georges voice that brought the boyfriend down to the lobby to eat the waffle. By himself. While his girlfriend slept in. Oh well.

The next four days passed without a hitch. Everything went smoothly. Tuesday morning as we were closing the inn as the last of the guests checked out, I was grateful for the slow start of the season. Mostly weekends until June. It gives us some time to get in the full swing of things. To be better prepared for all our guests. And to stock up on gluten-free waffle mix. It's gonna be a long season.

You Can Take The Girl Out of Jersey, But.....

2011-01-06T19:10:00.000-05:00

Cooperstown in the winter... Beautiful! A virtual winter wonderland. There are days when I walk around town in amazement at how peaceful it is here... Well, today wasn't one of those days!

It started like any other day. Errands to run, bills to pay. An 11 am appointment at an insurance office at the hospital. I arrived at the hospital parking lot at 10:45. It was overly crowded and hard to find a spot. I saw someone leaving and just stopped and waited. I put my blinker on and he got in his car. While I was waiting, a woman came into my aisle approaching from the opposite direction. She sees me, but stops. While the man pulls out of his parking spot, this woman immediately pulls in. WHAT THE $#%&!!!! I beep my horn, she doesn't even turn around. I beep again, she turns off her car.

And then it happened. My inner Nicky Newarker came out (if you're from New Jersey, you know what this is. It's sort of when you mix the entire cast of MTV's Jersey Shore together). As if possessed by some crazed Snooki, I jumped out of my still running car and ran over to her car. Grabbing a hold of her door (and thinking, I hope it's unlocked because if it's not, my entire scare tactic isn't going to work) and yes, pulled that unlocked door wide open. Startled, she turned around to look at me. I yell, "Get out of my spot!!!" But I'm thinking to myself, Who am I??? What am I doing??? This is Cooperstown, no one acts like this here. I am still yelling, "How do you do that? Just take someone elses spot after they have been waiting like that." She replies, "From where I'm sitting, it looks like it's my spot." WHAT?! Omg! I'm, I'm gonna...... tell on her.

I then yell, "I'm getting the guard!" What am I thinking here? I could have yelled, "I'm telling my mother or I'm telling the teacher." It would have all sounded the same. Like I was 10. So here I go. I run to the guard's little cubicle and tell him someone took my spot. He looks at me like I am totally out of my mind. I run back and the woman is now walking away from her car. I start yelling with a smile, "Hey, the guard wants to see you!!!" She walks back as the middle aged "can't I just get back to my crossword puzzle" guard waddles over. He says, "What seems to be the problem here." I reply, "She took my spot and I was waiting for it for 10 minutes (ok maybe it was more like 3, but it seemed really long). She just pulled right in! Tell her to get out of it!" The guard looks at me and yawns, "I can't do that!"

Wait! What? You're the guard! You are supposed to combat evil spot stealers! This is when the bitch from hell looks at me and smiles, "Well, I've got to go now, have a good day." I reply in my best adolescent voice "No, YOU have a good day. What comes around, goes around!"

As I get back in the car, I realize I am shaking. Thank god another spot opened up 3/4 of a second later. Ok, it wasn't like I was never going to get another spot, but I did not want to be stepped on. My God, road rage is an ugly thing. Hopefully I will not run into her in the future. Maybe she was from out of town and not from this teeny tiny town where we run into everyone at the supermarket one time or another. It could get really ugly if she cuts me off at the deli counter.

This just goes to show, that even after six years in upstate NY, you really can't take the Jersey out of the girl.

PS: I'm not too sure you can take the Jersey out of the boy either. After the meeting, I called George from my cell phone and he said, "I can be over there in 10 minutes. I can slit her tires." WHAT? Who are we? I'm pretty sure George was kidding. I've never actually seen him slit anyone's tires. But you never know. This Jersey thing, it's hard to get rid of.

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-20T23:02:00.001-05:00

We wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and a wonderful healthy New Year!!

We hope to see you all next season!!

George, Tina & Aidan

A Thanksgiving to Remember!

2010-11-27T23:06:00.005-05:00

When George suggested we host Thanksgiving for his family this year, I thought, "Really? No, we can't do it. It's so many people, for so many days." I was nervous, I'll admit. Living 4 hours away from family, hosting a dinner party is a little different than hosting it 20 minutes away from family. Everyone stays. For days.

I broke down and said, "Ok, I can do this." Arrival started Wednesday afternoon. There was Mom and Dad, and Aunt and Friends. Next day, Cousins, and Brothers and their families. All totaled, 21 people arrived. Luckily, we have a guest house, so we were able to house everyone. It was gonna be great. Or so I thought...

Owning the inn, I thought, "How hard can this be? We're used to serving breakfast to many people everyday. We can do this". And it went off without a hitch. Everything turned out perfect. The kids played. The adults bonded. It was better than I ever thought it could be. I was relaxed and had a wonderful time with everyone!!

It was a picturesque several days. Friday evening Santa arrived by horse drawn wagon in Cooperstown. It was beautiful. The kids loved it. It couldn't have been better.

Until.... It hit. One of the kids had arrived with a tiny...... lingering...... STOMACH VIRUS!!! Noooooooooooo!

Late Friday evening, the first round of vomiting. My two sister-in-laws at the same time sharing the same top floor apartment with only one bathroom in the guest house. Picture a slapstick version of The Exorcist. Where a vomiting Linda Blair falls into (literally) a second vomiting Linda Blair right around the kitchen corner. Let's just say... It wasn't pretty. Next, my mother-in-law. As I write this, she is still at the hospital with George. Dr. says she's going to be fine. But, at one point, I actually heard the words, "I think I'm dying." Then I got the phone call that George's cousin was hit with it after he got home.

Wait, it was all so beautiful only 24 hours ago! With everyone gone now, I've started the sterilization process. Masked, gloved and praying. Hopefully there won't be any more victims. We'll know in 48 hours if everyone else is safe. Although with all the sickness, it was still almost perfect. Even my sister-in-law, Glynis, shaking and feverish when she left, texted us to say how wonderful the holiday was. This Thanksgiving I am thankful for our family and friends! And I am thankful that no one died on my first-ever hosting of Thanksgiving. It will definitely be.. a holiday to remember.

Closing Time!

2010-11-10T14:32:00.005-05:00

As another season comes to an end, I can't decide if I am relieved or disappointed. After 6 months of innkeeping, it is nice to be able to sleep a little later and talk a little less. Last weekend, we had a couple of rooms of guests (now friends) that come every year for our last weekend. It was wonderful to see and spend time with them again. On Halloween Eve, we all went to the Farmers Museum for their "Things That Go Bump In The Night" Evening. A walking ghost tour, but scary - well, not so much. My son kept hoping/praying for something to jump out (and wake him up). More of a historical walk with a couple of (sort of) scary stories. Still it was a wonderful way to end our last weekend.

As George made his last waffle of the year (for himself I might add), we debated on whether or not to bring home the waffle maker for our own home use while we are closed. "No, I'm sick of waffles!" "But we can use them on Thanksgiving when the family comes up to visit." "Ok, as long as I don't have to eat another one of them until next May." Not that they're not good. They're delicious. If you haven't already had about 173 of them in the past 6 months.

So after everyone left, it was time to start the packing/cleaning and loading of the car. Along with bringing in all the outdoor furniture, George and Aidan tackled putting away the 697 cute things that I have bought over the years to put around the gardens/meadows/decks. It's sort of like an Easter egg hunt. Looking around for all the things that we so carefully placed in April.

At least the snow has held out. Nothing worse than looking for a little ceramic rabbit under a blanket of snow. Well the snow sort of held out. All of a sudden it started to come down 1/2 way through our packing phase. Pretty hard too. Aidan yelled for me to look outside. It looked like a storm and then 2 minutes later the sun came out as bright as, well, as bright as the sun. Beautiful.

Saturday was our first weekend home in 6 months. I slept until 10. It felt amazing. And Sunday, like a gift from God was Daylight Savings Time. An extra hour of sleep. I slept even later. I have to stock up. Springtime will be back before you know it. But for now, I'll be sleeping late on weekends and staying up late (just because I can!). And already missing our guests! But May, although 6 months away, will feel as if it is here in no time. Just as the past 6 months flew by (and the past 6 years of owning our inn)! Time does fly by when you're having fun :)!

Yes, We CAN All Just Get Along!

2010-10-25T12:08:00.003-04:00

October/November is a time for debates and differences. Whether it is which baseball team you want to win the World Series or which side of the political fence you sit on, there is always someone to debate your views with. At the inn this weekend it seemed as if there was every side of the fence to debate your views with.

First off, this weekend determined which teams would go into battle with each other in the World Series. Being in NY there seemed to be many Yankee fans. All of which would come into breakfast Saturday morning without their pennants waving in the air. But I was surprised at the tone of some of these people. "It is nice for Texas. They've never won a post season series." Huh?? And then the other fans at the inn, the Phillies fans, solemnly entered the breakfast room on Sunday morning; but they too had a similar thought of sharing the World Series love. One couple was even wearing opposing sweatshirts - (wife) Phillies/(husband) Yankees.

The other major debate this time of year is the mid-term elections. Getting closer to November 2nd, it seems as if every commercial on TV is a negative campaign ad. So it was not surprising when politics came up at breakfast. But surprisingly, a liberal, a republican, a democrat and two conservatives can sit at one table and have a very serious, very calm discussion for 1 1/2 hours and not one voice is raised. With every mention of Bill O'Reilly or Christine O'Donnell, I was just sure that something would get heated. But no! To my shock everyone seemed to enjoy the conversation. The conservative couple even commented when they left, "We want to find out when that other group is coming back. We really enjoyed talking with them." What? Really? Phew! I let out the breath I was holding all morning!

How could this be? Did George put something "funny" in the coffee? We've had more heated discussions in the past about who's going to win Dancing With The Stars. With our last weekend of the season rapidly approaching, it was nice to see so many guests enjoying one another. Now if I could just figure out that perfect harmonious concoction of breakfast items, I could send a basket of them to Washington.

Addendum!

2010-10-15T12:00:00.001-04:00

For those of you who read my last blog, this is Part II of that story...

That 90 year old woman and her family had stayed with us two years in a row. Yep, there were two years worth of guests that she inflicted her pain on! Last year they arrived having just bought a 4-family home that they were going to fix up. This year when they checked in they informed me that they were still working on it and that they were making it a big one-family home. Ok.....

Fast forward to Day Two of their stay... That morning they walked in asking me what do my cleaning girls use in the rooms? "It was sooo clean.... It smelled sooo fresh...." Ok.... They acted so sweet and complimentary.... A good act!...

Fast forward to the Morning Of Checkout... After they left breakfast (after being oh so friendly to me and George), they went directly over to our cleaning girls. "Do you have any business cards? We are opening up an inn next summer..." Wait, wait, WHAT???? The HOUSE that they are renovating is going to be an inn in the area?? AND they tried to STEAL my cleaning staff. I love my cleaning girls! Do Not mess with them!!

The last words this family said to me when they checked out - "See you next year." I think not! Between grandma and the attempted stealing of my cleaning staff, I can pretty much guarantee you that I will not be seeing them next year. Turns out they don't plan to live at their inn. While living in NYC, they will hire someone to run their inn and there won't be enough room for them to actually stay there when they come up. So they'll need someplace to stay. Not here! Not again! Not ever! At least 2011 Columbus Day Weekend guests can now be assured of a Eunice-free weekend!

A nasty guest I can deal with. A backstabbing lying guest.... that's a whole different story!

Be Kind To Your Elders!

2010-10-11T11:02:00.001-04:00

DISCLAIMER: I have never done this before! So for all those who may not see me in the lobby, I am not hiding. Really! I am just doing other things. Really!!

Normally, I love to talk to all of my guests. You meet so many different types of people from all over the place. It is a very interesting life. But on this particular weekend. Well, not so much. She checked in and having been here once before I remembered her immediately! The conversation started like this, "Where's George? I want to see George. You, I don't remember your name!" Oh, it was going to be a long weekend!

I was sitting at the front desk with a mound of paperwork, and in walks Eunice, wanting to know how my year has been. Actually not really wanting to hear anything from me, but just wanting to talk and talk and talk. After 10 minutes of her talking/me listening, she picked up our guest comment book and decided to read me the comments, out loud, for the next 10 minutes. I've read them all before. All of them. If my attention swayed, at all, she asked if I was listening. I felt my body starting to shake. She stopped for a second, put down the book and said she was just going to get a drink and be right back. She walked around the corner to the water cooler and I did it...

I grabbed my stuff,

Opened the cellar door and ran down the stairs,

and then out the basement door to the outside.

Freedom!
Ahh!! The fresh air, the blue sky... the ocean.
Well, there's not really an ocean there, but that's what it felt like anyhow!

I then went in the back door and
up to my apartment where I finished my paperwork.

Coward!

Almost 90 years old and very opinionated. That would have been ok, if every other one of our guests didn't think she was my mother and that she lived here. She was the first one in for breakfast and the last to leave. She greeted every one of our guests and then stood at their table talking to them. Not your average, "Where are you from, what are you doing today" talk, but ..... abortion, religion, politics... all the taboo subjects that we normally don't bring up with our guests at breakfast!

When things were rearranged in our lobby, I knew exactly how they got there. We were told if plants needed to be watered and when tt (toilet tissue) was running low. (These two things were both told to George in the middle of waffle making. Fully expecting him to stop everything and attend to what she felt was important. And stop he did! To show her how much water WAS in the vase with the plant. "Oh, I thought it needed more!.") When I didn't water a plant quick enough, it ended up front and center on the lobby desk. This morning I woke up and found one of my outside plants sitting on the front desk. For 1/10 of a second I actually said, "How did this get here?" How the hell did I think it got here!!!!!! When the coffee cups got low, she told our guests (unbeknownst to me) that she was going to have me fired for letting things run low.

She asked a family with a 1 year old if she could hold their baby (1 minute after they entered the lobby). She called a 12 year old a "bum" for wearing his baseball cap into breakfast. She listened to other people's conversations and then proceeded to give her opinions on each and every subject. This after she told me she was forced to come with her family and that she didn't even want to be here. First, who would ever force her to come with them anywhere? Second, this gave her a chance to spew her judgements on many people in the course of three days. By the way, has anyone ever seen that movie Throw Mamma From The Train? That was random. Don't know why that came to mind.

Her favorite subject. Jesus. She loved to tell religious jokes. Thought they were the funniest things ever. She was a devout stand-up comedian. I'll bet she really knocked their socks off in church, but in our lobby, not so much. And you better laugh! If you didn't, you heard, "What don't you understand? (long drawn out explanation of joke), you have no sense of humor! What is wrong with you." Yep, that's exactly what she said. To me. And hopefully no one else!

I can only assume that her family knows exactly what she does. Her son asked a teenager, "Is she bothering you?" And the kid said, unabashedly, "Yes, she sort of is." Kids and old people. They say what they want without hesitation.

DISCLAIMER #2: All statements in this blog are true. Any normal human being would have had the same "fight or flight" response. And given that fight was definitely not an option....

Hollywood Comes to Cooperstown

2010-10-04T14:14:00.004-04:00

Not a whole lot of exciting stuff happens in these parts, but this weekend was the annual Baseball Film Festival at the Hall of Fame. Now normally this isn't something that I would rush out and get tickets to, but Billy Crystal was kicking it off with a reception and the viewing of his film 61*. This sounded fun, so we quickly got our tickets. First, there was a reception with food, drinks and Billy. Everyone stood in line for photos with him, but we were told - no autographs. Crap! Aidan brought a photo that he wanted signed. Oh well, I told him, just ask him if you could show him the photo and maybe he'll offer to sign it. He didn't. But he went one step further.

This particular photo is of George and Billy. Back in the day, when we were first married, George was pursuing an acting career. And he was damn good at it too! Just wasn't in the right place at the right time! Well, back to the photo. It is a still shot from the movie City Slickers. Billy is walking down a NYC street and you can see George in the background. (Maybe not one of George's more earth shattering performances, but still exciting, nonetheless!) Aidan shows it to Billy, he looks at it and then looks up at George and says "Wait a minute, let's reinact this photo." So he stops everything and positions George in the background and has us take a photo to simulate the first one. It was so funny but the other people in line must have thought we were all crazy. Very cool. But still no autograph on it. Oh well.

After the reception we all moved to the Grandstand, where they show movies, for a discussion of the film. Billy is so funny and so was the star, Thomas Jane, who played Mickey Mantle. Then after that, Billy, Thomas, the screenwriter and the producer came and sat in the audience with us and we all watched the movie together. Great movie. If you haven't seen it, rent it.

Then on Sunday keeping with the "Hollywood" Theme of the weekend, we went to the Woodstock Film Festival. After we had cleaned up breakfast and everyone had checked out, we closed the inn and set out for Woodstock. It is a very cool little town that's claim to fame is having lent it's name to the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival. "Woodstock Ventures" originally wanted to hold the festival in Wallkill, NY (actually almost an hour away from Woodstock) and then settled on Bethel for the 3 day concert. But after 5 minutes of arriving in this quaint little town, you would swear that the concert had been held here. There are old hippies and "Woodstock" memorabilia everywhere you turn. Two such hippies were Grandfather & Mrs. Woodstock. Looking to be around 100 years old (with matching grey beards, wtf?) and doing no more than the occasional peace sign, these 2 fixtures drive along on their bike/home with their dog taking photos with people.

Well, back to the reason that we actually came to this town - film. We had tickets to the 4:45 movie, "Norman." So we decided to have some lunch, walk and browse around. Around 4:00 we asked a man who owned one of the stores where the Bearsville Theatre was. "A couple blocks up on the left." Ok, so off we went. We walked for about 1/2 hour and still no theater. WTF! A couple blocks up! We should have realized! This man owned a store with organic coffee and tea and incense and other enlightenment items. As George was paying for his coffee, this guy started complaining about the bullshit of organic products and recycling and other crap he seemed to deem as fact. George told him maybe he was in the wrong business and thanks for making us feel depressingly enlightened! So back to our walk. After about 1/2 hour and still no Theater in sight, I was beginning to think we would actually miss the movie! We got to town 3 hours early and now we can't even find the $%&#ing theater! This is so typical of us!

George starts to walk backwards and puts out his thumb pretending to hitch. I start complaining, telling him to put his hand down. All of a sudden a small bus stops, the door opens and the driver says, "Want a ride to the Theater?" WHAT??? REALLY??? I felt as if I was in a dream as I floated onto that bus. Did someone put some Woodstock Kool-Aid in our coffee?? It was a free shuttle straight from heaven that takes you back and forth from town to all the Theaters! We weren't going to have to walk back to the car later!!!! YAY! (This was pretty much all I could think about on the walk down there - the walk back!) After boarding the bus we drove for another mile or so. Yep! I've already emailed that depressing storeowner to tell him to STOP giving people directions and to en-lighten up a little! He lives in Woodstock for god's sake! The home of peace and love and harmony, with a touch of craziness added in just for fun!

"What a Drag It Is Getting Old!"

2010-09-27T15:08:00.001-04:00

Even though this weekend was another festival filled weekend, we decided to pass on the annual Cooperstown Pumpkinfest and stick around the inn. We had lots to do and almost procrastinated by asking each other on an hourly basis, "Want to take a ride over and see what's going on?" I think the time it turned into, "We're not going to make it this year, are we?" was about 2 pm on Sunday. That's ok, there is always next year to see the 1500 lb. pumpkins.

Later in the day on Sunday, George left for his sister's, where he is doing some work for her all week. Hmmm, but that means he will miss an important holiday in our household. The annual, "I can't believe I'm not 18 anymore! How did I get this old! Day!" Tomorrow I turn "One Year Away From 50." That is how I will look at my age for the next year. It was about 8 months ago when the AARP started sending me their unsolicited junkmail. Wait, wait, what, no, I'm too young for this! So far, I have two of their cards in the landfill in Cooperstown. I refuse to accept that I am anywhere old enough to be retired. I also refuse to accept that I have a child in high school, but he keeps reminding me of that on a daily basis! He also took great pleasure in telling me what he learned in school last week. As I was helping Aidan study for his Career and Financial Mgmt. class, I learned that the ages 25-45 are the "Establishment Stage." I am in what is called the "Maintenance Stage." Just shoot me!!

So what to do for this wonderous day tomorrow?? When George is out of town, Aidan and I like to go to the movies and have dinner at the Japanese Restaurant in the big city.....Oneonta! Yep, the home of the Southside Hall, I mean Mall. Living in upstate NY, you get used to shopping at Walmart, BJ's..... or online! Yesterday, one of our guests asked if we had a Borders Bookstore nearby. Really??? Did you not drive around the area and see mostly cows and trees and barns? If you are in the market for a variety of baseball t-shirts, you're in luck! So tomorrow, off we go to the movies at the Southside Mall, where the two anchor stores on each side of the Hall/Mall are JC Penney's (annex/not even a full size store) and the other side - nothing! Yep, the second big anchor store has been empty ever since we moved up here. (Ahhh, how I miss NJ and the land of shopping.) And to put salt on the wounds of my big day, Aidan wants to see a movie called Buried! Really? There has got to be a happy movie that doesn't remind me of the fact that I am 4 years into my "Maintenance Stage"!

Well, Happy Denial Day to me... and to everyone else, have a wonderful week!

Fall Festivals - So Much To Do, So Little Time

2010-09-19T21:30:00.019-04:00

It was beautiful and sunny and 70 degrees this weekend here in upstate NY. It was one of the busiest weekends in the area with soooo much going on. It was a Festival Bonanza - two Harvest Fests, an Applefest, a Garlic Festival, and a Kite Festival. We were booked with 1/2 our guests coming up for the Kite Festival and 1/2 our guests up for the Sharon Springs Harvest Festival. I really enjoyed my morning talks with all of my guests this weekend. And I learned a lot about kiting (and not just your average kid's kites, we're talking kites you should have insurance to fly, kites that might kill someone if they fall out of the sky!).

Well, we woke up Saturday morning with so many plans. After we cleaned up breakfast, our first stop was to go to Sharon Springs, then later to the Kite Festival and if there was time, on to the Garlic Festival. This years Sharon Springs Festival was expected to be huge. It is the home of the new reality series on the Planet Green Discovery Channel called The Fabulous Beekman Boys. It is the story of a New York City couple, Josh and Brent who buy a farm in upstate NY and become organic farmers. Josh, a writer, still lives part time in NYC and Brent, a doctor and a one time consultant on The Martha Stewart Show has moved up here full time. They buy the Beekman 1802 Farm and raise goats, make cheese and market goat's milk soap. It is a hilarious look at city boys/gone country boys. Along with Josh and Brent (and the ups and downs of their relationship), is Farmer John and his 100 goats who move onto the farm.

Well, if anyone has ever been up to this area and visited Sharon Springs, it is a sleepy little town, about 15 minutes from our inn. A one time bustling spa and resort town, it is now home to several huge abandoned hotels and an abandoned sulpher spring spa. In the past years, several businesses have popped up to begin its rejuvenation. Josh and Brent bought the Beekman Farm about 3 years ago, but this past summer was the premiere of their reality show. Last years Festival drew 300 people. This year - 3,000 to 5,000 people came and the majority came for one reason - The Beekmans. Yep, and that's why I went. I am a closet reality show watcher and the Beekman is one of my favorites. Josh and Brent (my new best friends in this area) well, actually, I haven't really met them yet, but when I do, I just know they are going to be my new best friends, have breathed a new life into that town. When we got there, there were about 100 people in line with about a 1 & 1/2 hr. wait to meet and greet them. What! Damn! Well, I'll come back next week, when there is only the usual 3 or 4 people in town and try and meet them then.

Several of our guests came from out of state to see the Beekmans. Two couples came from Massachusetts. The odd thing was that I don't think these guys even knew each other and it wasn't until after they all checked out that I noticed that they lived 2 minutes away from each other - in the same town. Weird! Another guest came with her daughter (they watched the show together). The last guest that came for the Beekmans drove 5 hours and had talked her cousin (who had never heard of them) into coming with her. She was soooo excited to be here and I told her she seemed a little stalkeresque! I told her not to do anything that would involve the cops and our inn being on the news. Well, maybe that could be a good thing. Any publicity is good publicity. Maybe. All throughout the day there were film crews filming next season's show. I think we may have strategically placed ourselves into some (ok, many) of the shots. I'm sure we will be cut out, but maybe one shot will end up on the show. Damn! Why didn't I order those Meadowlark Inn t-shirts we had talked about. We could have been like "Where's Waldo". "Oh I see them again. There's those weird Meadowlark Inn people, right there, in the background!"

So there we were, stalking, I mean enjoying the Harvest Festival, and boy did the time fly. Next thing we knew, it was 4:30 and we missed all the other Festivals. But that's ok. We had a great time. The weather was beautiful. The food was great. We met some really wonderful people. It was a perfect day. And it was nice to see new life breathed into a town that hasn't seen that much action in years. Hopefully, for Sharon Springs sake, they'll stick around for a while. And in the meantime, maybe we can do lunch!!!!!

George and Tina, We Aim to Please, and Please, and Please Some More!!

2010-08-08T14:03:00.003-04:00

I debated on even writing about this one. I worried that at some point in all of this, maybe I would end up sounding like a complainer. But I see it not as complaining, more like storytelling! So, a few days ago this lovely couple arrives at the inn. Checking in for a few days, they seemed to like it here immediately. And I liked them immediately too. They brought their things to their room and were back in the lobby licketey split. "Oh they loved it here! It's just lovely!" "Did I have any ideas for them for dinner for their two nights?" After discussing all the possibilities, we decided on two places that I would make them reservations at. A few minutes later, they came back in and wanted to see menus so that they could decide on what they wanted before they arrived at the restaurants. Ok, check. Dinner reservations and menus, done.

Then a couple minutes later they came back in and needed a luggage rack. All the rooms have luggage racks in them, but what happened to the one in their room? Gone. Ok, don't know what happened to it and we're not exactly in an area where I can run out and buy a new one. "Well, what are we going to do?? We can't possibly put our luggage on the floor?" I'll find something, a chair, something for you to use. When I arrived at their room, they already had their luggage on one of the 5 chairs that were in their room. Luggage, check, all taken care of.

A few minutes later, they were calling me from the lobby, "Tina, Tina", they couldn't get their remote control to work. Battery check, they're fine, reprogramming needed, maybe. I told them I would take care of it while they were at dinner. "Do you have any ice?" Of course! A little while later they came in, "We're off to dinner." Great, have fun! The next morning at breakfast they came in to find all the tables taken. "Where are we supposed to sit?? Can you get an extra table and chairs?" Why, of course, and can you wait a couple of minutes while I build an addition to put them in too? Another lovely couple overheard them and asked them to join them at their table where there where two extra chairs. "Oh that would be lovely!" A couple of minutes go by. "Do you have any plain oatmeal? There only seems to be oatmeal with fruit." I am sorry but we only have what is out. How did I know that of all the 58 things we have to choose from at breakfast, she would want the one thing that we didn't have! A few minutes later, "Can you check the times for the art museum for us?" Why of course. I would love to.

After breakfast they left the inn for a while. Now, this evening, I have already made reservations at a restaurant for them. All taken care of. But they passed by a different restaurant and looked at the menu (a restaurant that I told them not to go to because it was wayyyyy to pricey for what you get). They came into the lobby and wanted to discuss this restaurant and why I thought they could charge those prices and could they see the menu for the restaurant that I am sending them to tonight to make sure it wasn't the same as this expensive one. I told them that they had already looked at the menu last night and had already decided on what they were going to order last night and that they thought it was fine. No, they wanted to see it again. Sure, of course. After a few more questions and requests that day, they were off to their dinner and opera.

This morning at check out they told my husband that they had a small problem with their room that they wanted him to be aware of. George said, why didn't you tell us about this during the weekend, we could have fixed it for you immediately. "Well, we would have, but no one was around all weekend." Wait, wait, what!!! You mean during the 147 times you came in and asked for things, we weren't around! Really! That's ok, maybe we can do a better job serving them next time. They'll be back. They've already made reservations for next year and will possibly be back in the fall. Because.... "our inn is so lovely!" At least this will give us a chance to redeem ourselves and be "more around" for them. Perhaps they came in while we were in the bathroom, or sleeping, and needed something. We will be sure to do a better job next time! Because.... we aim to please!!!

You Learn Something New Every Day!

2010-07-29T11:48:00.000-04:00

When we decided to start making belgian waffles for our guests, we also decided to offer a gluten-free option for those who have wheat allergies. Usually, the people with these allergies either call ahead to let us know or put a note in their reservation when they reserve online. Yesterday, we got a phone call from one of these guests. It kind of went like this:

Me: Hello, Meadowlark Inn.
Guest: Hi, I saw on your website that you serve a gluten free breakfast.
Me: Well, we do serve gluten-free waffles.
Guest: How do you prepare them?
Me: (long explanation of exactly what goes in them)
Guest: Where do you prepare them?
Me: In our kitchen.
Guest: Is it the same kitchen that prepares the non gluten-free foods?
Me: Yes.
Guest: Then you really aren't gluten-free and shouldn't be saying that you serve a gluten-free waffle.
Me: But I don't cross contaminate. I have a separate bowl, spoon, separate waffle iron. I thought I was doing everything right.
Guest: When you prepare foods, the gluten is airborne and contaminates the other foods.
Me: So what you are saying is that when people prepare gluten-free foods you would need a separate kitchen to say you are actually gluten free??
Guest: Yes.
Me: Well, I have a hard time believing that all gluten-free preparations are done in a separate kitchen. How long is the gluten airborne?
Guest: 48 hours.
(a lot more back and forth of me being told how to properly prepare a gluten-free meal!)
Me: We actually do have two kitchens, one in our apartment and one outside our inn dining room. So, if I do all the preparation of non gluten-free foods for 48 hours before you come in in only our apartment kitchen, then the inn kitchen would be pure enough to make the gluten free waffles when you come. Right?
Guest: Yes. But would you mind if I called you in a couple days before I come to remind you of all of this?
Me: Of course. Now, do you already have a reservation with us so that I can put it in your notes?
Guest: Oh no, we aren't staying with you. We are staying somewhere else and just want to come eat at your place because our place doesn't serve gluten free!

WHAT????????? Omg, I just can't make this stuff up. I then went on to tell her that we are not a cafe or restaurant and we only serve a complimentary breakfast to the people that are actually staying here. She seemed disappointed and then asked if we had any openings for the night that she wanted in case she could cancel her other reservation (we didn't).

The more we add or the different things that we do here, there always seems that there is always something more to learn. At first, when I got this phone call, the caller seemed very argumentative, so I almost thought I was being "punked". I quickly realized that she was serious and I thought, "Ok, there is always more to learn, and I do want to do everything right so...". But when I heard she was staying somewhere else, it took everything for me to keep my "WTF!!!" bottled up! And although I learned more about how to keep from cross contaminating gluten foods, this is what I learn every day.... Be nice, be kind, be considerate to all of our guests, even the ones that aren't staying here!

The Dreaded Double Booking! Just when I thought we were safe!

2010-07-07T22:11:00.001-04:00

It's the one thing that all innkeepers fear the most.... the dreaded double booking! Accidentally booking two guests in the same room! When we bought the inn six years ago, the previous owners handed us their reservation system for the following season. A shoebox with reservations written on index cards in it. Really?? When they went over the business with us, one of the lines they used was, "And when you double book and you will..." I never remember the rest of the line, but I always remember thinking - NO, I won't double book! I signed up with one of the best online reservation systems, making it impossible to ever double book! Many lodging facilities that we know have done it at least once in the past, but this is something that we have prided ourselves on in the past six years of never doing! Well... at least until this week anyway.

On Sunday, one of our guests still hadn't shown by the time we were going to bed. We left the usual envelope with their name and key outside on a hook in case they showed up later that night. But no. There it was - still hanging when we woke. It was one of those moments when you realize something has gone terribly wrong. Things start flashing in your mind. Maybe they cancelled and I forgot. And I left their reservation in place (for four nights!) when we could have rerented the room. No, I know it wasn't that. But I was going to check my past emails and see if I found anything. And there it was..... Not a cancellation, but the original email from months ago. The email where they stated they would like to reserve a room for four nights starting Monday...NOT Sunday. Now this could have been an easy fix. Just shifting their reservation one night over. But we were fully booked on that last night. We only had Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday for them. We now have 11 guests on Thursday with only ten rooms. I sat at my computer just staring at the reservation calendar for hours. As if something would just pop out and tell me what to do.

The choices you have when this happens are never ones that you want to approach a guest with. You can find another hotel for them for all four nights, you can find another hotel for them for their fourth night, or you can let them have your apartment for that fourth night and you and your family and your dogs and your pride can sleep in your car. I stared at that computer and saw that one of our other guests arriving on that Thursday have come several times before and they come just to enjoy the area and the lake. Maybe just maybe they wouldn't mind coming next week. George said he would call them and ask if their trip dates were set in stone and maybe they wouldn't mind coming a few days later, when we had openings.

With my tail between his legs, he explained that we have never done this before and how sorry we were and would they mind changing their dates. Just then, the clouds parted, the stars aligned themselves directly over our inn, and the guest told George that she actually wanted to postpone her trip and was hoping that we would let them out of their reservation this week without a penalty. What! What did she just say! No, this can't be true. From the smile on George's face, I can tell that all was well in the world. The four hours sleep mixed in with the four hours of worrying was all for nothing.

I am sure this is something that I will never live down. "Remember that time that you......blah, blah, blah." Yeah, I did it. But I will never do it again. I will be more careful. And I will take an extra dose of ginko biloba "Natural Mental Sharpness" Formula. And all my future guests can feel confident that yes, that room that they booked for that romantic weekend away will not be shared with complete strangers. And Dear Higher Power in the Sky, thank you, thank you, thank you for watching over me this time and fixing what could have been the ultimate in bad tripadvisor reviews.

Local Businesses Helping One Another - Well sort of!

2010-06-19T19:44:00.012-04:00

Yesterday a local businessman came into the inn with some promotional flyers. "Would we be willing to put them in our lobby?" They said they were a cafe that served breakfast and lunch. My husband, George, said sure and asked if he would like some of our brochures as well. "Well no, we couldn't do that." Oh, ok, well, um, why not? Turns out this local business was an inn that serves breakfast to not only their own guests, but the general public. After closer examination of the flyers, George realized that this was a competing business not far from us. Are they kidding?? George was quick to point out to the guy that "didn't he think that this was a bit of a conflict of interest??" He had the nerve to say that "no he didn't. They charge $30-$60 more a night for their rooms, so they serve a different clientelle." Ugh! Is it just me, or is this just plain rude. Oh yeah, he also said that maybe some of our guests would like a "real good breakfast." Wait, wait, what did he just say???? Are you kidding me! Obviously he hasn't heard about George's famous waffles! From the sound of it, George gave him a good WTF talking to!! I am glad I wasn't there when he showed up. Looks like we won't be going out to dinner with our new found local business friends anytime soon.

Oh, and an update on our backyard baseball field - It's finished!!!!! And from the moment we finished it last night, there were kids playing on it. Kids and their fathers! Yesterday afternoon George was placing the bases and I was painting the backstop. George spent soooo much time putting the bases in the exact spot that they needed to be. Out there with measurements and his tape measure, I kept telling him no one was going to be going out there measuring that we had it right, but he had to have it perfect. While I was painting the backstop, one of the kids that had checked in yesterday came over to ask if he could help. I didn't know if he was bored while he was waiting for his other teammates to check-in or just wanted me to hurry up and finish so they could play on it. Well about 7 pm last night our first game was played. And they were out there again this morning before they left for the day! They called it awesome! And I think it's pretty awesome too. George did an amazing job. Now all we need are some bleachers and an electronic scoreboard. That would be sweet. But I think it's done, we're good. Until our next project. Oh and by the way, that other business, the one that thinks they are in a different league than us.... no backyard baseball field!

Oh and another thing.... my 14 year old son (who will someday be the next Martin Scorsese) posted his movie on YouTube. It is going to be in the Oneonta Film Festival. It's in 2 parts - Carnage of the Minds.

And one last thing... We had an absolutely wonderful photographer that stayed with us a couple of weeks ago as a guest. She was shooting a local wedding. She wrote about us and took some really cute pictures of Sammy (our pup) - North Photography. If anyone is looking for a fantastic photographer, contact Kathleen!

Happy Father's Day to all you dads!!!

Wake me up in September!

2010-06-05T17:27:00.011-04:00

Some days you just can't shake the blahs. Today started off badly. When you wake at 1:30 in the morning and can't go back to sleep until the sun comes up - you just know it's gonna be a bad day. Waking with a total of 3 1/2 hours sleep this morning, I just kept telling myself - you'll take a nap later and catch up. Well, there really is no such thing as catching up on sleep when you are an innkeeper. I laid down around 3 this afternoon, to be woken up by my son 45 minutes later, who said I was needed by a guest in the lobby. Nooooooo...... Just a couple of hours really. That's all I needed. So off I go to see what I was needed for. Directions. To a place that was already closed for the day. Oh well. There is always something to do, someone to help.... I'll sleep in September.

Now I can't go back to sleep. I keep thinking... well I am going to have to wake soon to cook dinner anyway. And who feels like eating. I just ate that leftover donut that was staring me in the face (that I didn't need, wasn't hungry, and now I feel even worse than I did before). And to top it off, I sit down at the computer just now and see that there is a tornado warning in our area until late tonight. What is this? Kansas? And it's going to be almost 20 degrees cooler tomorrow with heavy rain and a thunderstorm. Maybe I can just go back to sleep and wake up in a few days. On Friday, when summer comes back.

It's amazing how the weather can sometimes affect our moods. Yesterday was a warm and sunny day. We went out on the boat with friends from NJ (who happened to bring Italian bread, garlic peppers and fresh mozzerella fresh from Hoboken, NJ). Top that with some beer and life was good for a few hours. We barbequed last night and hung out talking with our friends and our guests. A good night. When I woke at 1:30 last night it was to one of the worst thunderstorms I have ever seen. It was as if a switch was flipped. I got up to make sure all the windows were closed and that's when all hell broke loose with my internal clock. Well, I will try to go to bed early tonight... possibly... probably not. A couple Tylenol PMs/some earplugs. Yep. That's what I need. So I can wake up refreshed and chipper. Ready to meet the day... and guests. We just have to get through tonight... and that upcoming tornado. Maybe I dreamed that part. During that 45 minute nap. No, just checked again, it's still there. That warning. With big red letters. And with the way my day is going I can only hope I sleep right through it.

Getting in Shape - Innkeeper Style

2010-05-15T20:23:00.022-04:00

It was a quiet weekend here with some really sweet guests. George and Aidan went away for a few days to Delaware for NASCAR. They met some friends down there and camped out in what appears to be a mall parking lot. Well, Aidan camped (in a tent). George was in a luxury RV, so not really the equivalent of camping. And the added bonus of being in a mall parking lot - Aidan got to go shopping for dvds and video games. Yep, they were living the good life, the American dream. Camping/malls/car racing, all at the same time! While I held down the fort, George had sent some videos from his phone. A real guy weekend. Aidan was standing next to a fence with cars racing by. I was carsick just looking at it on my 2 x 2 phone screen. Yep, I'd rather be here all cozy with my 2 puppies. Just me, Maggie and Sam and half a dozen strangers, I mean guests.

Only a few guests this weekend, but fine by me. I need a breaking-in phase when we start up the season. Can't throw 10 rooms of guests at me. I go into a panic. Especially when I am by myself. One room of guests were men from the UK. They were traveling by bike from Boston to Chicago! Did I mention - by bike - bicycle. Did I mention they were around 65 years old. Yeah, if that didn't make me feel out of shape! I don't even like to ride my bike to the store. Even with that cute basket that I have on there to carry the groceries. It's just so much easier to get in the car. A couple of months ago George saw an infomercial for P90X. This extreme workout DVD set. He convinced me to do it with him. You work out for 90 days/7days a week. By the end of that time period (if I was still alive), I was to have the body of a 20 year old. Well, I gave it a good 34 days. I was then officially a P90X drop out. First, I gained 6 lbs. If I am going to suffer for an hour every day, I'll be damned if I am going to gain weight. Yeah, yeah, George said, "But it's muscle!" I Don't Care!!

Well, after meeting those incredibly in-shape older men, I am going to start working out again. Tomorrow. Well, maybe Monday. Not today. Too much to do with the inn this weekend. Remember, I am holding down the inn all by myself. When it's slow like this I can't justify hiring my cleaning girls yet, so isn't - checking in guests/making breakfast/cleaning rooms/washing linens a workout in itself? I am definitely going to start working out again, though. Starting Monday! Not P90X working out, but - maybe I'll go for a bike ride. To the store. With my cute basket. And maybe this 48 year old body can look - 42 1/2 again!

If You Build It, Will They Come?

2010-05-03T19:52:00.014-04:00

This past weekend we opened the inn for the season. We had some really nice guests, some we knew from previous visits and some were new. It was a great start to hopefully a wonderful season. Every year we try and do something a little different as we open the inn. Sometimes it's as subtle as buying new comforters, one year we added a volleyball court, another we brought in a dvd library for the guests. This year it's a baseball field! People love to play ball in the backyard of the inn. We thought, "Hey, they'll love having their very own ballfield to play on when they stay here." I don't know what we were thinking!

A couple of weeks ago, we had someone bulldozing a couple of old flower beds away. George wanted to plant grass and remove some old rotted railroad ties. Well, when that was finished and the day was still young, and the bulldozer was right there on the property already anyway, why not just start that ballfield we always wanted to build. Why is it that whenever we do anything, we always hash it out for a good 4 or 5 minutes. We never sleep on it. Like when we bought the inn. We had originally planned on buying an investment property. Maybe a small house that we could rent out seasonally and use occasionally on the off season. Then we saw the inn. We had always thought that eventually, maybe when we were older we would own one. But why wait until then, we decided to buy it that day. Yeah, we don't like to dwell on things.

So back to the ball field. We have that big back right corner of property that we never use. "Wouldn't a field be perfect there?" Sure, George. So within the hour, there was no turning back! For a couple of days we seemed to be the talk of the neighborhood. Hmmm. Heavy equipment, lots of digging, The Meadowlark must be adding more rooms. The man that owns the land next to us was over in a flash. He'd heard we were building rooms on his land! People slowed down to see what we were doing, what we were building. Some even stopped by to ask, "So what are you building back there anyway?" Ha!

You wouldn't believe me if I told you how many hours a bulldozer has to push dirt around to level land. Day after day I would look outside and the dirt was still being pushed around. And then raked and then pushed and then raked. Damn you incredibly unlevel land! Do you not know how much a bulldozer costs per hour? Then came the base lines. That stuff's expensive too! Yep. Didn't think this out! We are a little over a week into the build and it is finished. This past weekend we spent wayyyy too many hours putting hay on the seed so that the grass will grow faster. George has worked soooo hard on this field! But in a couple of weeks it is going to be beautiful. And green. And people will play on it. George promises me that!

The End of the Season Blues

2009-11-12T07:58:00.009-05:00

Last Sunday we closed the inn for the season. Every year it is such a bitter sweet moment for us. Although we are tired and we need a break from innkeeping, we miss the inn and we miss our guests. And as the next 6 months go on, the feeling only gets stronger. Which is a good thing. Because by May I forget all about the reasons why this business tires me so and just can't wait to reopen.

Closing down the inn is a time consuming event. There are over 2 dozen plants that need to come home with me. And some of these plants are huge. If someone didn't know me, and saw me going from the inn to our house, they would think I was a florist making deliveries. You can barely see me in the car as I drive down the road with my mobile rainforest. And then there are the frogs. Who decided that was a good idea?? Taking apart their terrarium and bringing them home is such a job. Why do I do this to myself? They seemed so pretty at the Butterfly Pavilion when I saw them. "Let's get frogs." "They look easy to take care of." "How hard could it be to raise fruitflies for them to eat." Pretty. Yes. Easy to take care of. Yes. Raising fruitflies for the next 15 years. What the hell was I thinking. (Oh yeah, the lifespan of a frog - 15 years!) And moving them back and forth twice a year. Not fun. And then there's the 4 story 6' tall chinchilla cage. How I love moving our animals back and forth. Thank god I put the brakes on the whole chicken coop talk. A few years ago Aidan and George wanted to raise chickens. "Oh, wouldn't it be nice to have fresh eggs every morning?" No!! I will buy them in the supermarket like every other normal person! Most people with chicken coops don't live in two places. Don't bring them back and forth to their houses. What were they thinking? Oh, thank god we don't have chickens too!

The next step in closing down the inn is cleaning and packing. 10 rooms have to be stripped. Ugh! The 1,478 things we have outside all around the property have to be rounded up and put away. Ugh! The sign needs to be wrapped to protect it from the upcoming many snowstorms. Ugh, upcoming snowstorms! The lobby needs to be cleaned. The apartment needs to be packed. The refridgerators, freezers, cabinets all need to be stripped of food. I'm tired of just writing this, you can imagine how good I slept by Monday night. I still have a few more times to go back to finish up some odds and ends, but for the most part, it's done.

I get to live in one place for 6 months! Yay! Well, it doesn't really feel like I get to live in one place. With the upcoming holidays and the fact that all our families live in different areas, we will be packing our overnight bags many times in the next two months. Even this weekend, our first weekend home, we have to go to a wedding in NJ. It's been 6 months since I've spent a weekend home. And it will have to wait a little longer. Next weekend! Yup! I'm sleeping in my own bed and I'm sleeping late! God help the dog, kid, husband or freakin chinchilla exercise wheel that decides it's a good idea to make noise and wake me. I'm sleeping in .... November 20th. It's a date!

You Can't Please Everyone!

2009-10-31T10:13:00.010-04:00

Ok, so I'm doing it again. I'm taking it personally! But it's so hard not to. We had a couple of women here last week, I will call them Elphaba and Nessarose. Elphaba was bringing her sister, Nessarose, up for a one night trip for her birthday. Elphaba called me and wanted a bouquet of flowers put in her room for Nessarose's birthday. I made sure everything was perfect for them. The flowers were delivered and I made them a reservation for a wonderful restaurant about 5 miles away. They arrived and seemed to like to our place. They came in and sat down in the lobby, relaxing. We were having wine with some friends and offered Elphaba and Nessarose some. Elphaba replied, "Whadya got??" Okay....should have been my first clue! Well, she didn't like red, so we opened up a bottle of white for her. Being probably too accommodating, but wanting things to be nice for them. After hanging out with them for almost an hour, they decided to take a couple of DVD's back to their room and head out for dinner. A little while later they returned. They couldn't find the restaurant. It was just one block up, make that right, but they couldn't find it and didn't want to try again. They said that they had cheese and crackers and that was enough and they were just going to watch their movies. I said, "No, you need more than that. We are having Brooks barbeque chicken and we have more than enough. Let me make you a couple of plates." No, they said their cheese and crackers and snacks were enough. And they went back to their room. The next morning they came in and it seemed as if everything was ok. They had waffles for breakfast. They sat and talked to us and the other guests for a while. And then they checked out.

Then they posted their review on TripAdvisor! Ok, they gave us a positive review saying it was "clean, spacious, cozy, beautiful and that we were nice and that they enjoyed talking to us". BUT, she entitled the review "Different" and gave us 3 out of 5 stars because she was "disappointed because she thought she was staying at a B&B and this was more like staying at a motel". Ugh! We couldn't have made these women feel any more welcomed! We actually invited them for dinner and opened up a bottle of wine for them. Not something a B&B usually does (and certainly not a motel!). The average price of a B&B is $65 - $100 more than what these women paid here. They saw our website and all our photos and anyone can tell that we aren't an old house B&B. We don't claim to be a B&B but it is our fault that this woman thought we were a B&B and punished us by giving us 3 out of 5 stars and called us "Different".

The ironic thing about all this is that another guest posted a review that very same day (but just BEFORE this woman did) and entitled it "All the Comforts of a B&B, But Less Costly!" Ha! How funny! This just goes to prove how different everyone is AND you can't please everyone. That will be my motto for next season! "You can't please everyone, you can't please everyone!" And when that unpleaseable person checks in to the inn, I also need to remember, "Don't take it personally!"

Where Do I Live This Week???

2009-10-22T13:18:00.009-04:00

This past week was our last full week open. (We still have two more weekends until we close for the season). Because of my husband's crazy construction job, he is so completely stressed out. I told him to stay home at our house with Aidan and just concentrate on getting the job done. So that left me living at the inn, by myself, with my two dogs. I made sure to go home (about 20 minutes away) every day around 3 pm to see Aidan when he came home from school, cook dinner, (clean up their bachelor mess) and then go back to the inn. We weren't crazy booked last week. With only 2 or 3 rooms each night it wasn't too stressful for me. Plus, we had some very nice guests. One couple in particular made last week a lot easier. Bonnie and Michael came from Missouri for Michael's birthday. They drove almost 1,000 miles. A very cool couple, I really enjoyed our morning and evening talks (and laughs!).

When Friday arrived, George and Aidan came over to the inn after work & school. We had a lot of guests on Friday and Saturday with most of them coming for completely different reasons. We had three more couples come for their husband's birthdays. (Obviously a very popular gift idea this year!) One came for their 5 year anniversary, one came to work on a house that he is restoring, one came to show a friend land he bought in the area, and four rooms were a group of 11 women who were traveling together. I came downstairs this morning to start setting up breakfast at 6:30. It was still completely dark outside. I heard 3 of these woman outside the front door already. When I went to go look they had walked away heading back to their rooms. Already all dressed up and ready for the day, it was just so early! They came back around 45 minutes later, with the rest of their group. I needed to hurry myself up a little. What a day to tell George to sleep in. They told me they were heading over to the Russian Orthodox Monastery about 15 minutes away. They said that on this trip they had gone on a Cayuga Lake wine tour, to a chestnut festival, the Oneida tour, Turning Stone Casino and now the Monastery and after that a large outlet mall. I asked, "So how many days have you all been traveling together?" They looked at me like I was crazy. "Since yesterday morning," they said. Yesterday Morning!! 11 women were organized enough to travel the 4 hours from Buffalo to our inn and take three different tours in 3 separate areas of NY and still have time to have dinner and play slots at the casino. Now if you have been reading my blog, you may remember that George and I drove to Skaneateles to see the wine country and weren't able to actually arrive at a wine tour until after the wineries stopped giving tours. I think we need these women to plan our next vacation!

After all the guests left this morning we closed up the inn for the week. Although we have a little break from innkeeping this week, it won't be much of a relaxing week. Aidan said to me tonight that he was glad to have me home. I told him not to get used to it. Tomorrow I have to go and visit my parents in NJ for 3 days. Yep, Aidan and George are back to being bachelors again tomorrow. Although the difference this week will be that there won't be this magical housecleaner/cook that arrives each day to sprinkle fairy dust on the mess. They are on their own. I hope they remember we have dogs/chinchilla/fish/frogs. (Did I leave anything out?) Just the thought of what the house will look like on Wednesday makes me shudder. But I will have Thursday to clean it all up, before it is back to the inn on Friday.

Seniors Gone Wild - Always Young at Heart!

2009-10-19T11:14:00.021-04:00

For the past several years, we have had a group of friends meet at our inn for a reunion once, sometimes twice a year. This past weekend, this group, which we have lovingly dubbed "Seniors Gone Wild", arrived. These wonderful people were strangers to us four years ago. We now consider them family. Many years ago they went to camp together and sometime in the 90's they reconnected and started to come together for a reunion a few times a year. Luckily for us, Marcia, found our inn on the internet in 2006. Since then they have been coming back each year to brighten up our days. Heading up the group are my husbands three "cougars" - Angela, Marcia and Anna. Last fall, Angela invited us to her daughter, Julia's wedding, and truly made us feel as if we were part of her family. Then there's Jean and Phil. One of the sweetest couples ever! We always joke that Jean has to watch her back, because George and Phil have a serious case of "man love" going on! Ha! Next are David and Alice, "The Vikings"! A fun couple who introduced us to Lemoncello. Yum! David does a mean Joe Cocker Impression (YouTube Link). Rounding out the group this weekend were Greg and Carol, a quiet and sweet couple, who seem to sit back and really enjoy the crazy antics of this group. There are several other couples that couldn't make it this weekend and hopefully we will get to see them next year.

The weekend was a mixture of laughs - from times long ago and the present. As I have always said, "There is nothing like an old friend to make you feel young again." This group is the embodiment of that statement. Several weeks ago we decided to make a banner to welcome back the group. "The Meadowlark Inn welcomes back Seniors Gone Wild." The addition of the clip art of the geriatric patient learning to walk again seemed funny at the time..... :{

After a fun filled weekend of eating, drinking, laughing, shopping, and of course, karaoke, these friends, who love each other enough to make sure they always stay together, had to say goodbye. They'll stay in contact regularly through phone calls, emails, and visits. And George and I, being unofficial members of this group, will also stay in touch - already talking of plans to visit them in the coming months.

So thanks to Marcia and her keen sense of searching out the best inn in the Cooperstown area, (ok, so we are a little biased ;), we have the great pleasure of knowing these wonderful people. After the last of this group, Angela, left this morning, I felt sad. It was too quiet. But I know that it will not be a year until I see them again. And I realize yet again another reason why I absolutely love this business!

30 Years - It Seems Like Only Yesterday!

2009-10-10T21:09:00.006-04:00

Last night was my 30 year high school reunion. It's been a long time since I've seen most of my classmates and I have to admit, I was a bit nervous. I woke up yesterday morning with anxiety, Why didn't I lose those 10 extra pounds?, Why didn't I tone up my arms?, (Why didn't I buy a long sleeve dress?), What if my alzheimers kicks in and I don't remember anyone?, What if no one remembers me? All of these fears were quickly put to rest and replaced with feelings of joy from seeing old friends. What made this reunion even more special was the time I got to spend with my 3 best friends - Cheryl, Debbie & Darlene. The laughs that we have when we are together bring us immediately back to being 17 again.

The reunion committee did an amazing job putting this night together. Projected on the back wall on a large screen behind the DJ was a series of past photos played on a loop throughout the night. They thought of everything, including the yearbook photo/name tag sticker we were to wear all night. Today we laughed that the typeface could have been a bit larger for us. We're aging and we all need reading glasses. A quick glance down to look at a name badge was bad enough, but leaning in close to actually read it - not good.

The cool thing about reunions is that any clicks or groups that there were 30 years ago are now gone and replaced by just one big group - called "Our Graduating Class". The talking, the laughing, the singing and dancing, the evening was filled with everything you could want and left us not wanting it to end. Luckily it didn't have to. The committee had planned that everyone should get together this afternoon at the Nutley High School football game. There we would wear the T-shirts we were given the night before and at half-time everyone would go to the Elks Club for hot dogs and beer. It was fun!

After half-time I realized that I should get on the road for the 3 1/2 hour trip back upstate to the inn. On the way to my car, I walked past the high school and decided to see if the front doors were unlocked. They were. I hadn't been inside in 30 years. As I walked through the hallways it was if time had never passed. I still remember where my old locker was and across from that was the class where I took Steno. I wonder what is being taught in that class now. Not Steno I'm sure! Back then we listened to albums, we wore platform shoes, earth shoes and bell bottoms, classic rock was just plain rock, we had mood rings and pukka shells, we loved vests, we watched Charlies Angels and Happy Days, it was the birth of disco and the death of Elvis. It was a simpler time for all of us.

My life as an innkeeper is very different from my life in NJ. Although I would never trade a moment of my life now, the nostalgia that I feel when I am with my old high school friends is very strong. There were several people that came long distances to attend the reunion. With over 130 in attendance, some came from as far as California, Vermont, Florida, Oregon, Virginia, and one even as far as Hong Kong. I want to thank the committee for such a great job and I am looking forward to the next one in 5 years. Although 5 years seems like a long time, I am sure that it will fly by, considering that the last 30 went by in a blink of an eye.

Thank you to the Nutley High School Class of 79!

The Age of Innocence - Back for Just a Moment

2009-10-07T11:23:00.014-04:00

This past weekend was kind of slow for us. On Friday night we were able to get away to take our son to a movie that he was dying to see. As a teenage boy, the movies he usually wants to see are somewhat inappropriate. So you can imagine my delight to take him to the reopening of Toy Story (1 & 2) in 3D. When he was younger these were his favorite movies of all time. He still has every Toy Story toy, packed away, ready to be handed down to his own children. Now as a double feature, this lasted a good 3 hours. So in between my (& my husband's) dozing off now and then, we were able to catch glimpses of our son, on the edge of his seat, watching this wonderful classic. Believe it or not, Aidan was one of the youngest kids in the theatre. Who would have known that there would be such a cult following of Toy Story. The theatre was packed with young adults all the way up to the age of 70.

We were also able to go out on our boat for one final hurrah. Although a hurrah wasn't exactly what I would call it. A couple of friends came up for the weekend and on Saturday we thought we would bundle up and go out during a sun filled afternoon. After buying lunch, uncovering the boat and driving out into the middle of the lake, the sun disappeared, never to be seen again! It was quickly replaced with gray clouds and yes, rain. Our friends, Joannie & Chris, couldn't be more different. Chris just wanted to get off the boat. He didn't dress for the weather and seemed as if he was in pain the whole time. Joannie, dressed in a warm coat & gloves and optimistic as ever, kept saying it was going to clear up in a couple of minutes. It seemed as if the sun was shining in other areas of the lake, but I was convinced it was just a mirage. So after about an hour we realized that summer was over, it was time to store the boat :(.

That evening, Aidan went to his first high school dance. Last year he always complained that the dances were boring. Not this year. Dancing was different in high school. He used the words - mosh pit. (From Wikipedia: aggressively pushing or slamming into each other). I hope the chaperones are paying attention! The dance hours are different too. It ends at 11 pm, and 11 pm for an innkeeper is late. I realized as I was driving back to the inn that night, as Aidan quickly fell fast asleep in the car, that I was blessed this weekend with a glimpse of the past. The Aidan that we remembered almost 10 years ago was back for a short time on Friday. But that's ok. With each new day comes a new chapter in our lives. And someday, in the future, we will cherish these wonderful times with nostalgia too.

The Weather's Getting Cooler - No! Stop! I'm Not Ready!!

2009-10-01T08:32:00.015-04:00

As the weather turns cooler, the inn begins to slow down to a pace where we can really begin to breathe again. The leaves are turning, so the "leaf peepers" are still coming up here to see the colors on the weekends, but the weekdays are very slow. We have been able to spend a lot time at our house this week in Fly Creek and we've begun to feel like a regular family again. This week started our regular meetings of the Cooperstown Winter Carnival committee. When we moved up here full time two years ago, George joined the local gym. As he was running on the treadmill, he got to talking to a woman next to him. She was the chairperson on the committee and was looking for new members. She also happened to be the chairperson on the PTO. George had decided I needed to meet people and came home from the gym informing me that he had signed me up with the PTO as well as the Winter Carnival Committee. YOU DID WHAT?? Are you kidding? I don't sign up for things! I'm a watcher. I'm a sitter. I'm definitely not a joiner! The Winter Carnival Committee is a THREE YEAR commitment. I knew one other person on the committee and I thought, all right, I'll go to one meeting and check it out. Well, now in my third year, I am a co-chairperson on the committee. I have met so many nice people and had so much fun planning for this wonderful event.

Each February we have a three-day event. Hoping for snow, we plan a lot of activities outside. We bundle up and enjoy fireworks, a parade, a dog show, sleigh riding races, snow sculpting contests, 5 & 10K runs, assorted shows, several food contests and lots of good eating, drinking and dancing. It is a lot of work planning for this and between the 11 people on the committee it takes a lot to pull it off. After this third year, it was going to be nice next year to be able to sit back and enjoy it without being involved in all the planning though. Except for the fact that after seeing me having so much fun for the past two years, George decided to join this year. So that means he will be on the committee for 3 years also. So much for being in the background next year. Although we haven't updated our carnival website just yet, check back later in the month for more information as to this years events: Cooperstown Winter Carnival.

When I had first heard about the winter carnival, I thought "who in their right mind would have a carnival outside, in upstate NY - in the winter!!" Two days after we moved into our new house it had snowed 3 feet. Welcome to the neighborhood! Of course this snow lasted until April. With the cold weather - nothing melts up here. It really is pretty, though. Basically, it snows every day in the winter. Most of the time just enough to cover the ground, but it makes for a beautiful sight - a winter wonderland. There is never that - just drived on, dirty, mushy looking snow. About 4 days after that first snowfall after we moved up here, our friends from NJ came up for the weekend. I remember the look on my friend, Janice's face at 8 am in the morning when she saw the outdoor weather thermometer. "Is that thing broken?," she asked. It read -17 degrees (yes, negative 17!). No, unfortunately, it wasn't broken. But it did warm up to a balmy 28 degrees by noon. AND that was the day we went to see the annual Polar Bear Club jump into Goodyear Lake. Yet another yearly event up here that makes you scratch your head. Hundreds of people take turns jumping into an area of the lake that is carved out into the size of an backyard pool. As we watched these crazy people in their bathing suits jump into the water, every inch of our bodies, faces, hands were covered with many layers of clothing. That is one club I don't think I'll be joining any time soon!!

As I drive my son to school each morning we pass the town's municipal building. And each morning we comment on how much more salt and sand has been added to the storage shed in preparation for the winter. I realize how we should be enjoying this fall weather and taking advantage of going outside in just jeans and a sweater instead of the mandatory daily long johns. This weekend we have some friends staying at the inn and hopefully with the 65 degree weather forecast we will be able to take one last ride on our boat before it is put into storage. We have a few more weeks before it turns cold, so go outside and take a walk with a loved one, go apple picking, and just breathe in the air. Of all the seasons, fall is my favorite. Enjoy!

Facebook - The Ultimate Time Stealer/Friend Maker

2009-09-27T16:24:00.010-04:00

A year ago if someone asked me how many "friends" I had, I would have a different answer than I do today. With the popularity of Facebook, people have more friends than they ever could have imagined. Some real friends, some new friends, some old friends, and some acquaintances, Facebook is the new time stealer for all ages. Here you can look up people you knew many lifetimes ago and reconnect. I have reconnected with people that I haven't talked to in many years. I recently became Facebook "friends" with a past classmate of mine. Wanting to take his wife somewhere for their 20th anniversary, he decided on The Meadowlark. So this past weekend, they checked in. I never really knew Scott in high school in NJ, and his wife, Valarie, was from Vermont, but when they checked in, it seemed as if we had all been friends for a long time. Thanks to Facebook, I had seen pictures of their son, their wedding, their life. For the past few days, George and I spent quite a bit of time with them. (Yes, and some of that time was wasted on going on Facebook together :). ) We enjoyed having them as our guests and we enjoyed having them as new friends, not just Facebook friends. Check out their website: Heavenly Honey Apiary. A very interesting hobby/business, these beekeepers make the best honey ever.

Along with Scott, I have over 100 other "friends". Now normally that would seem like a lot of friends, but in Facebook land, that is pretty low. Most of my "friends" have hundreds of friends and some of my "friends" have thousands of friends. Thousands. Who are all these friends?? Thousands, really? One of my "friends" has almost 3,000 friends. Who needs or wants 3,000 friends?? Maybe I'm just being unfriendly! It is just crazy. About a year ago, Facebook was reserved for the young. But now more and more older people are joining in. Even my mother-in-law and father-in-law have pages. Some people refuse to join in, I call them closet Facebookers. The ones that will not have a page, but go on someone else's to look around. My husband used to be in the closet. He'd go on my page and talk to friends. He would sign his name, but his words would be next to my photo. One day I made him his own page, put up his photos and friended people for him. 20 minutes later, he was an official Facebooker, and now 3 months later, hours of time have been robbed out of his life reconnecting with his many new "friends". Still others refuse to ever get a page. Yes, you know who you are, (Cheryl), and we know you are out there watching us.

It may be the mother of all time wasters, but talk to anyone and they will tell you the same thing. It's fun, and it gives us the chance to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. Only through Facebook would Scott & Valarie, beekeepers from Vermont, end up at an inn outside Cooperstown that was run by an old classmate. And that is very cool!

The Innkeepers Stay at an Inn

2009-09-21T09:14:00.007-04:00

This past weekend we closed the inn and decided to go away for our 20th anniversary. Not wanting to go too far, we decided on Skaneateles, NY, a beautiful town in the Fingerlakes area. We had never been to the Fingerlakes before and decided it was perfect since it was only 2 hours away from home. We stayed at a beautiful B&B called The Hummingbird's Home located on Route 20. Now in case you aren't aware of it, our inn is located on Route 20. So we headed west about 2 hours and stayed on the same street our inn is on. Well at least we couldn't get lost. It's funny when we go away. We spend way too much time comparing everything to what we would or wouldn't do. This particular B&B lived up to our high standards. It seemed weird in the morning to be the ones sitting at the table talking to the other guests and being served by someone else. We've decided we need to get away more. This winter for sure.

The first morning we woke up we decided to go on some wine tours. This area has over a hundred wineries. We headed out to wine country after breakfast. To get to wine country you need to pass a small mall with a Bass Pro Shop. George had heard about this store and said he wanted to stop in - just for 10 minutes. Well, 2 hours and $200 later we were on the road again. This time to be detoured by a very cool farm/pottery production studio called MacKenzie-Childs. Beautiful, but expensive, I walked away with dozens of photos for creative ideas. Back on the road we were hungry and decided to stop at one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at Pumpkin Hill Bistro. Every single thing we ordered was amazing. Feeling full, we still had to order dessert. Well, in case you haven't been keeping track of how much time we may have just used up in our day, it was now about 4:45 pm when we finally finished our lunch. Yep, we were off to wine country! Only wine country closes at 5 pm. WTF! What happened!! Where did our day go?? We were supposed to tour wine country all day! Well, we noticed a winery down the road and decided to try and see if we could still get in. We arrive at 5 pm and there were still plenty of people there drinking. Tours ended at 4:30, but they will gladly give us a tasting. It seems as if all the workers are walking around drinking wine too. Not a bad job. We taste 6 wines. We hate 6 wines. What?? Wait! We actually question whether maybe we just don't like wine anymore. Well, we leave and decide that that was the lamest wine trip anyone has ever gone on. On the way back to Skaneateles, we pass a small storefront that says "Wine Tastings" and stop. Here we taste 6 wines and like 6 wines. We didn't realize just how different wines could really be. We definitely have to come back to this area when our inn is closed and try the whole wine tour thing again.

The next morning we head back home, going east on Route 20, stopping to see several of the towns along the way. By the time we get back to our inn, we decide that the most beautiful landscape we have seen on Route 20 is in our own town and the most beautiful lake that we have seen in upstate so far is our own lake, Otsego. We are happy we chose this area to settle down in. For us, there is definitely no place like home!

A Guest Returns Home

2009-09-15T10:26:00.010-04:00

This morning two of our guests who are staying with us for a week came in and decided to stay for an additional week. These two people just may be our longest staying guests so far. They are visiting family up here. Both born and raised right here in town, they moved many years ago to Jacksonville, FL. This very sweet couple arrived Friday night during a cool and breezy rainstorm. Peggie got out of the car to come and check in. Fred wouldn't get out of the car. He said he was cold. He said it was too windy. He said he wanted to go back to Florida where the weather was warm and balmy. George went to the room and turned on their heat, waving to coax him out of the car. After many minutes, Fred finally came in to say hi and that he wasn't happy with this weather. Fred grew up on a farm in this town and both he and Peggie went to the stone schoolhouse that stands across the street from us. Now a private home, this schoolhouse consisted of approximately 10-13 children per grade.

I can tell that they are enjoying themselves on this trip. They are visiting family in all directions, and then coming back here to their own private home away from home, not wanting to be an imposition to any of their relatives. Every morning they enjoy the conversation with the other guests. Having sat for breakfast with the couple who survived 9/11 two of the mornings was something that Fred told me touched them deeply.

I, myself, am enjoying the stories that they tell each morning. The stories about the area as it was in the 40's, 50's and 60's. When life was simple and this town was bustling. Back then there were several gas stations, hotels, restaurants. Although mostly a two lane road, Route 20 was a major roadway used heavily for traveling east and west. After the New York State Thruway was built in 1958 things began to change all along Route 20. It became a quieter country road, with many businesses closing, only to leave standing the remnants of what used to be. A beautiful road consisting of farms and meadows, I like it this way. I am guessing many of the residents here do too. Over the past several years, a few major businesses have wanted to develop right here in town. To take advantage of the beauty of the area, Madison Square Garden Music Festival, Cal Ripkin Baseball Parks and a Motocross Raceway have tried to acquire land, all plans to be eventually knocked down. Maybe someday, someone will succeed in capitalizing on the land, but for now, the pure beauty is the attraction that brings people back. Oh yeah, that, and The Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Smell of a Peach

2009-09-12T11:08:00.011-04:00

This weekend we are lucky to have 10 rooms of amazing guests. It feels very appropriate to have one special couple here on this particular weekend. In 2001 on September 11th, they worked at Morgan Stanley in Tower 2 of the World Trade Center. On that particular morning, Al, for some reason unknown to him, was waiting for his bus to NY when he didn't get on the bus. He just stood there thinking and dreaming until finally he realized he was going to be late for work, (and Al was never late for work), so he got on the next bus that arrived. This is from where he watched as the first plane crashed into Tower 1 to his horror. When the bus was inside the Battery Tunnel, he had the bus driver stop and he got off, having felt an explosion under his feet and thinking the Tunnel too was being attacked. He was able to get in a car which took him back out of the tunnel and after many emotional hours arrived safely home. His wife, Lila, was just outside Tower 2 when she smelled fresh peaches at the Farmers Market. Stopping to buy some for her breakfast, she delayed her arrival at her job. As she entered the lobby of the building she felt/heard the crash. Fortunately, she was able to get out of the building unharmed, physically. But the effects of this morning will last a lifetime. On this morning, Al & Lila were friends/coworkers. But a week later as they arrived at the Brooklyn building where Morgan Stanley had taken up shop, they entered their new office not knowing who had survived. Amongst the tears and the hugs of all the coworkers was the beginning of a beautiful new relationship. The love that they have for each other is profound, and the joy that they have for life is obvious for all to see.

When thinking of all the reasons we love this business, nothing compares to having people come into our lives and touch us in this way. Watching the 9/11 tributes on TV brought back the horror that I felt on that morning, but listening this morning to these two beautiful people recount the nightmare that they lived made me feel the horror and appreciate all the blessings and love that I have in my life.

Splitting Up Our Time

2009-09-08T10:00:00.011-04:00

With the end of Labor Day comes yet a different kind of life for us. We split up our time between our inn and our house in Fly Creek. George stays at the inn during the school week when we have guests, while Aidan and I stay at the house. This morning I passed George on the road as he went to his construction job and I made my way to the inn to put out breakfast after dropping Aidan off at school. We waved. Weekends we all stay together at the inn. It is a back and forth life, but the commute from only 15 miles away in Fly Creek is better than when we lived in NJ. For three years we lived in NJ and ran the inn. We stayed up here for the summer and the day after Labor Day we moved home. Every Friday we came back up to open for guests for weekends. Every Monday I took Aidan to school at 5 am to get to NJ by the 8:30 bell. It was a crazy life with a lot of driving. Things are much calmer now that we live up here full time and my son gets a little more of a stable life.

Yesterday my son informed me that he won't be going back to the inn this fall. He is going to stay at home by himself on weekends. Now call me overprotective, but at 14, I just don't think that is going to happen. I said no. But then I have had this same conversation with him 2 other times and somehow he forgets what the answer always is. Well, he is one month older than the first time he asked and 2 weeks older than the second time he asked.

During this past weekend, along with our other 8 rooms of guests, we had two rooms of my in laws up. My brother in law and sister in law have 4 of the cutest girls I have ever seen. We had an awesome weekend of just relaxing and enjoying each others company. The second room was my mother in law and father in law. Divorced for almost 30 years. The only room we had left, so unless someone wanted to sleep on the couch in our place, it would have to be shared. And it did have two comfortable beds in it. I kept teasing them that this was going to be the weekend to rekindle that old flame. Didn't happen. But they didn't kill each other either.

Labor Day - A Time to Reflect

2009-09-04T08:56:00.008-04:00

After the hustle and bustle of the summer, it is a nice change of pace when the season slows down in September. The first two weeks of September are always the slowest two weeks of the year for us. But it gives us a chance to take a minute and breathe and get our son ready for "back to school". This year he starts High School. The time is flying by. When we bought the inn, he was this cherub faced little boy, so innocent. Now there is a little man upstairs, still asleep at 9 am. Probably would still be asleep all morning if I didn't wake him. On the wall in our bedroom are marks of growth. With a mark of my height as a reference, we watched as his marks slowly creeped up on my height and now have surpassed mine. Now looking up to my son, I realize that he is not my little baby anymore, but a boy on the verge of manhood.

This weekend is Labor Day. A quieter one than usual. It is later this year, so it almost seems as if last week was Labor Day. We have several rooms of return guests, which is always nice. It's nice to see familiar faces each year. We know we are doing something right. It must be those waffles :). People have started writing about them online. Others have asked when reserving, "Are you still making those waffles?" Many have actually bought a waffle maker after they have left here. Just a couple of days ago, a guest actually Mapquested a Bed Bath & Beyond on her way home so she could get the same one we have. Funny.

We have some of our family coming up this weekend. With the beautiful weather forecast and the slower pace of the weekend, we are hoping to get away for some R&R on our boat. The weather this summer was so uncooperative that we were only able to enjoy the lake about 4 times. Coinciding a slow moment at the inn with a beautiful weather forecast is a tricky thing. And beautiful weather was not exactly how you would describe this past summer, but a lot of rain means an amazingly colorful fall. (So come up and visit and enjoy the colors!)

I hope everyone has a fantastic Labor Day! Relax, enjoy the sun and spend it with the people you love. It might be the end of the summer, but it's the beginning of a whole new season (and all new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Dancing With the Stars!). Enjoy!

A Day Off - Really!

2009-08-31T21:59:00.003-04:00

Sunday was my first real day off all summer. George did breakfast and I made the 3 1/2 hour trek down to my old hometown Nutley, NJ to meet up with my 3 best friends from high school - Cheryl, Debbie & Darlene. We are still friends after all these years. 34 years! How could it be that long. Are we even 34 years old?? I feel like I'm 18. Well mentally anyway. Sometimes my body feels like I'm 70. So, on a spontaneous whim we decide to go to The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ to see our old childhood crush, Peter Frampton. Could it get any better?? Best friends/Jersey Shore/Peter Frampton! Perfect!

We arrive and go to a boardwalk restaurant for dinner before the show. Beautiful weather, outdoor seating, so many laughs!! It was great seeing the girls and laughing about old times. We arrive at the show around 8:30. We manage to push our way to (almost) the front of the crowd. There's just a few heads in front of us. Annoying, bopping, swaying heads. I feel old going to the concert, but after a few glances we realize we are actually on the younger side of the spectrum of these concertgoers. Peter comes out and if you haven't seen a recent photo of him, he looks, well, a little different than you may remember. What would the opposite of "aging gracefully" be? Well, that is what he is.

He plays for about 45 minutes when he begins to get annoyed at a technical difficulty. Obviously and outwardly annoyed. Flapping his arms around, stopping the music, cursing, WTF, Peter! After one more song, he puts down his guitar storms off, and leaves the crowd wondering. Several take out their lighters. Is this the way an encore works these days?? Hmmm. Odd. Still not coming back. After about 10 minutes we see the roadies packing up. Is it over? No. He didn't say Goodbye/Goodnight/Thanks for coming! He'll be back! The crowd's getting angry. Maybe we should leave. Yeah, let's just go. We see his tour bus and decide we can't leave until we tell someone that we are upset. Cheryl asks some roadie guy "Where's Peter?" Like we are going to summon him over here and give him a talking to. He says he doesn't know, but we see a movie playing in the tour bus through the window. Hancock. Maybe he really needed to finish this movie. We tell the roadie man that we are upset and that Peter should have at least said Goodbye and Goodnight. He seems to agree. We're sure he will relay our message.

Oh well, who cares. By this time we are all tired anyway. Debbie and I agree that we didn't want to stand up anymore anyway. We're too old for this. It was our last Frampton hurrah. He is a crochety old man now. But an awesome excuse for four old friends to get together to reminisce. In another month we get the chance to be together again - our 30 year reunion. And another chance to be 18 again. For the 30th year in a row!

Don't Take It Personally

2009-08-29T14:02:00.005-04:00

This summer my husband decided to take on a construction job, which left me running the inn M-F, 7am-7pm all by myself. Not an easy task when we are 100% booked 99.9% of the time with anywhere between 20-36 guests coming in for breakfast every morning. Now everyone has a bad day once in a while, but imagine having 10 rooms of guests in your house every single day of your summer. You are bound to have an off day, right. Well, now imagine on that bad day someone that you run into can review your personality and post it online for all the world to see. That is what happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

What seems to be the bible of travel is a website called TripAdvisor. We have been reviewed by many of our guests, all with 100% positive reviews. Even this particular woman that reviewed us (well actually me) liked our place and said that she "wouldn't hesitate to stay here again." But she wanted to point out a few things that she wasn't happy with..... well, mainly me. She stated that she was checked in with "businesslike efficiency". Now I don't know about you, but is that really so awful? Is that really worth writing about negatively? She goes on to say that she "didn't feel the love that others have raved about." Now I know I was never rude to this woman. So on my worst day, if I checked someone in "with businesslike efficiency" is that really so bad! And as far as not "feeling the love," who books a place with the expectation that the innkeeper is supposed to embrace them lovingly? Should I be hugging all my guests? Is that what everyone wants? That's what I'll do... I'll hug everyone when they come through the doors. Everyone will feel the love. No, then I will just be reviewed as being too forward, too pushy, too..... well, weird. No, I think I will stick with my usual normal personality and just try to be nice to everyone. And if I have that bad day once in a very rare while, I will try my hardest not to ever check a guest in with businesslike efficiency because now I know, that it is wrong, and you can be spanked in public for this horrific offense.

Do Not Disturb

2009-08-28T10:11:00.009-04:00

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband George!

Today all of our rooms are checking out. So that means that we have 10 check-ins. Probably the most exhausting day for all innkeepers. Well, all of our rooms are supposed to check out. We have one still missing in action. Breakfast is supposed to end at 10 am but we still haven't seen Room 6 and it is now 10:30. Curtains closed, room dark. Did they forget they are checking out today?? I am leaving breakfast out, I am sure they will show up at some point. I've done that before. Cleaned everything up. And then they walk in. Oops. I just figure now is a good time to write while I am waiting.

I had time to run out and pick up my Amish cleaning girl while I am waiting too. She works 3 days a week and of course, I have to pick her up. During that 3 minute drive it is amazing all the questions that I can fit in every day. I am amazed at her lifestyle. No electricity. Really! One of our other cleaning girls (not Amish) gave her a book by Jodi Piccoult this week. I was surprised to learn that she is allowed to read that. I asked her if she is finished yet. It's been 4 days. She said almost. I asked her if it was dirty. She didn't seem to understand what I was saying. But I think she is enjoying it :). She reads by kerosene lamp everynight. I guess when you don't have a computer, tv, dvd, cell phone, iTouch, and assorted other electronic devices to waste your time with, what else is there to do. Read. Remember reading. Remember reading an actual book. Yes, I still read, but most of the time it is a book that I have downloaded onto my iTouch. Freaky when you think about it. The guests are amazed when they find out that there is a large community of Amish people in this town. It is very cool to see their horse and buggies drive by. We had one guest ask if that was an "actual" Amish girl. I said, "No we just like our cleaning staff to dress like that because we thought it would look more touristy if we pretended our staff was Amish." He believed me for a minute.

Where is that couple? Remember them? Should I put the food away? Should I ring their room? It's check-out time! I have to clean up. The girls are one room away from having to clean their room. Maybe I'll have them knock. Yeah, I'll have them do it. Oh, thank god. Here they come. They are putting their stuff in their car... They are heading this way... Phew! It's not the murder/suicide that I thought it could be, because I once read about that happening, somewhere, in the midwest at some hotel, on my itouch ebook.

Patience! Patience!

2009-08-26T08:21:00.005-04:00

Today is George and my 20th Anniversary. How can that be, when did all this time pass? I think we may actually get away from the inn tonight for a nice dinner out. Maybe. With only one check-in it's a little easier to get away. Everyone else is here for the week. It's nice having people here for several days at a time. We get to know them a little better. Everyone keeps coming in this morning wishing me a Happy Anniversary. It's nice.

Yesterday our most demanding guest in 5 years checked-out. She was only here for 17 hours but in those 17 hours she had over 20 requests. And of those 17 hours, she was asleep for 9 of them. Requests ranged from the normal ones that everyone asks: dinner reservations, directions, ice, wake up call, etc.; to ones that were a little odder: can you show me where the air conditioner is (it's right there), can you show me where the refrigerator is (it's right there), the 0 on my phone doesn't work (yes it does), can I use another room's phone? After using a vacant's room's phone for 20 minutes, the room actually had to be cleaned. She used the table and two chairs, the bed was laid on, the bathroom was used and the shower was turned on (WTF!).

Our guests are really loving our Poison Dart Frogs in the terrarium in our lobby (not poisonous when raised in captivity, don't worry future guests). Someone actually wrote a review on Tripadvisor and mentioned them. Every kid that comes through loves to look for them every time they are in the lobby. And it is funny to see the reactions of the parents when they realize those bright blue, orange and green frogs are real and not plastic. The question is always the same, "Where do you get frogs like that?" It is amazing the things you can buy on the internet :)!

Sunday's a day for resting?

2009-08-23T17:08:00.000-04:00

So here it is 5 pm on Sunday, and I'm washing linens/paying bills. Always something to do. George is outside on the tractor doing manly man tractor stuff. We had some new guests check in today. They lived in the town next to my sister down the Jersey Shore. (I miss the Jersey Shore!) They said "no, we don't know anyone with the last name Kalucki down there, but we do know a family in North Jersey". Yup same family. My sister moved from North to South Jersey. Small world!

Last night people checked in our "suite." It's a separate building in the back, a beautiful room. A mere 80' behind the house. Mind you, not in the next town, just in the back a bit. A city woman looked horrified to find out her room was wayyyyyyy back there in the dark (lots of lights on) and she would have to walk on a stone path to get there (horrors!). Ten minutes later I am asked by her friends if there was any possibility she could move up to one of the "regular" rooms up front. She is scared she may get attacked by possibly a snake (never seen one here), strange animals (????), a bear (are you kidding?) or bugs (what?). I say very politely, "no I am sorry, we are booked and we can't move her anywhere." I am asked, "Is your mommy or daddy around?" WTF! Now at 48, I know I may look a couple years younger, but WTF! How funny! Well, needless to say, I was delighted to see that she survived the night when she came in for breakfast.

Finally starting my blog!

2009-08-22T15:53:00.001-04:00

So after 5 years of innkeeping I have decided to keep an online diary. I wish I would have done this sooner, since many memorable guests have come through our doors. But as I write I will try and remember past stories to tell about also.

Five years ago when we bought the inn, we didn't realize how much work it actually was going to be. Watching Newhart on television it always seemed so romantic and fun. And that it is, but the amount of work involved, I wasn't prepared. Imagine having ten rooms of guests in your house everyday for three straight months (June, July & August. We do mostly weekends in May, Sept., Oct. & Nov., so there is that break). Then comes the closed months - Dec through April. That's when we can rest. And do we need it. It is a very demanding life with so many guests, but we love (almost) every minute of it.

When we first started, my son was eight years old. So cute and little. He loved meeting new people and was always up for breakfast with the guests. We would turn around and he would be sitting with the guests eating & telling them all his favorite places to go to and favorite restaurants to eat at. He was such a good little innkeeper. The first couple of years when the guests were out for the day, you would find him on his dirt bike riding all over the property. As the years went on, he still loves to meet and talk to the guests, but getting a teenager up early to have breakfast with the guests is a little harder.

Over the years, the amount of amazing people we have met is incredible. We have so many guests who come back year after year who are now considered true friends. One group in particular that comes to mind are our dear guests whom we have named our "Seniors Gone Wild" group. This group of friends went to camp each year when they were younger and now get together twice a year for a reunion. We love them all dearly and consider them our true friends. Although sometimes I think I have to watch my back. At first I thought I had to worry about my husband's three "Charlies Angels" Cougars, but now I think I have to worry about his man love with Phil :).

In a couple of weeks another group of our friends/guests are returning. These two couples come once or twice a year from CT and we always look forward to seeing them. We have a lot of laughs together, mostly at the expense of Susie/the klepto and Donny/the storyteller. (Pam & Steve are the normal ones :). Only kidding. Maybe I should say now that I have changed all names in my blog to protect the innocent, but I haven't really.

Our guests come for different reasons: baseball, opera or just to enjoy the beautiful area. And they are all very different. Breakfasts are very amusing when an opera couple is seated next to a die hard yankee fan. I was shocked last week when one of our serious opera guests turned around and knew sooo much about baseball, name..stats...scores.

Well, I guess I should stop for today. It's 8:13 pm and I still have plenty to do tonight (and 5:30 comes pretty quick in the morning).

More to come...

ps: Mick, Debbie and Rob, thanks for the conversation. It prompted me to start putting it in writing.

pss. I miss the Bucklers, we need to see you! I guess we are going to have to come up to Boston!