**** *** **** *** ****
My family enjoys staying at B&Bs. Our experience started when I took Dan and Sam on a west coast trip years ago. I alternated B&Bs with really inexpensive motels to keep the lodging budget in line. On that trip we found a delightful one along the northern California coast, the Howard Creek Ranch, and another worth revisiting on the ocean in Oregon, the Sylvia Beach Hotel. We stayed in two others, and while they were not unpleasant, they didn't sparkle. The boys and I got into a good discussion about what made us feel good in the places we enjoyed. We fantastized that one day we, too, would have a B&B and make it a sparkler that people would enjoy.
We've come to our senses now. After many more visits to B&B and frank discussions with their owners, we also have good friends who own a B&B nearby and hear their stories. Running a B&B is not easy work. One aspect is the early morning start. While Graham , for example, makes divine omelets, he is not a morning person, so a B&B owned by Graham would not serve breakfast, at least not until 9am. LOL
On this trip we stayed in 3 B&Bs---Phoenix Risin' in Baltimore,MD; the Queenstown Inn in Queenstown, MD on the Eastern Shore; and the Silver Thatch Inn located in Charlottesville, VA. Each has its wonderfulness. We best enjoyed the Queenstown Inn, partially because the decor better fit our sense of comfort, but also because the host made time to be with us and he was warm and relaxed. The Silver Thatch innkeepers were very nice people and the place was very cozy....perhaps a bit formal for me. The food was great, both breakfasts and we also ate a dinner there. We can strongly recommend both those places for any of you to visit.
I'm still pondering the experience at Phoenix Risin'. When I was searching for a place to stay I ran the gamut form the hotels in the Inner Harbor (looking for off-price deals on Priceline and similar websites) to suburban locations but I kept looking at the B&Bs. Most seemed to be decorated in Victoriana, which is not a comfort zone for me, so although they may have offerred a great experience, I chose not to look at them further. I narrowed the choice down to two B&Bs whose websites really shone with the personality of their owners. I sent emails to both and although both answered, the one from Jo was so warm and inviting, the choice was easily made.
When Sam was invited to the Governor's School for Math and Science and I learned we would be attending an orientation program that would start at 3pm, I informed Jo that we would be arriving late. No problem, she assured me and told me to telephone her when we left Morgantown and had a better idea of our ETA.
I was eager to meet her in person. The website told a bit about the naming of the B&B and hinted at overcoming something and a "rising from the ashes." I can relate to that kind of spirit. We had had that email exchange as well as a phone call where she asked if we preferred cider or champagne for our welcome beverage, what we would like for breakfast and if we had any food dislikes or allergies for her to avoid. We talked at length about her recent trip to Egypt and Dubai. It sounded like this woman really had a sense of giving us warm and welcoming hospitality and one who has a travel bug in her blood as I do.
Well, we left Morgantown earlier than I had expected and I called her, eager to tell her that we would be there 7-ish and could she make reservations for us at some place wonderful for 8pm. I got her voicemail and chatted the request. Several hours later, as we were maneuvering the route the GPS had given us through the slums of Baltimore she called and told us she had just awakened. She gave us directions, warned us parking would be a bit tough because of a street fair nearby, and told us to call when we got closeby.
We went around the block a couple of times and then lucked into a parking spot just half a block from the B&B. I telephoned and she said she would be right down. We unloaded what we needed and made our way to her door, expecting her to be there already. We waited. We waited. We waited. I rang the bell. We waited. We waited. And we waited some more. I telephoned her. She said she was still up on the 3rd floor and would be down shortly. Graham went back to the car to get one more thing and she finally opened the door. She was clearly right from bed, not quite dressed for unfamiliar people to enter her home, but it also surprised me that she was wearing arm crutches.
I'm at a point in my life where I will NOT ignore the elephant in the room I said "No wonder it took you a while to get down here. This is a tough house for that." Her answer amazed me...."I was already using the crutches when I bought the house." A couple of days later I asked her why and she simply said she loved the historic area and she had purposely looked for a house that could serve as a B&B.
Her house is like a museum of all the things she has collected on her travels. Fascinating, but a tad overwhelming. So although I enjoyed taking time to look at the collection, there was not a sense of peace in there for me. There was too much calling to me for attention.
Probably the hardest thing during our stay was her delay in getting breakfast. Graham had two meetings that Monday and he had to be at the first one at 9. She offered breakfast at 8, but she only came downstairs to start preparing the meal at 8. Graham left at 8:45, about 10 minutes after she gave him food. To make things a bit easier for her, we suggested 9 for the next morning.
I woke at 7 and used the time to edit photos and write an entry for this blog. Graham came down around 8. We would have loved to go out and take a walk around the neighborhood but saw that the security system was armed and decided to wait until she came downstairs, surely any time then, to prepare our breakfast.
At 9:06 Graham knocked on her door and woke her. She came downstairs a few minutes later and told us she had to run to the store to get eggs to make us breakfast. I told her no, we didn't want eggs. What I didn't want was more delay. Graham told her we would take a walk around the neighborhood to take photos of the area while she made us some kind of breakfast..and so it happened.
I have no idea why Jo was so different from her website persona and the woman I had chatted with weeks before. I am purely speculating that she is going through an emotional turmoil which should be personal. However, she is running a B&B, a type of business that requires a certain amount of service. And she could not provide that to us.
I admire her sense of self that empowers her to rise about whatever illness she has and take on the endeavor of a B&B. I wonder why she could not get help in if she was feeling in a funk, unable to provide the service she so proudly offerred. I hope she gets through this phase and finds her phoenix is stronger than ever. THEN, I can tell you all to go there also!! There is a lot to learn there.
Later Note: Jo and I have been in touch and she is saddened that we did not find her B&B restful and rejuvenating...the pheonix of our own pysche healed and rising ready to face the world. She is getting things working and wants us to come back. While we have no plans at this time to return to Baltimore, in time we will I imagine, and I would love to be there and discover what she offers when she herself is at peace.
**** *** **** *** ****
Our gastronomic goal was to test crabcakes while we were in Maryland. Truthfully, they all were good and after 4 times, it was enough. And we had that fun whack-a-crab dinner where we had to open the shells ourselves to get the meat. That sure showed me the labor intensity of getting chunks of crab meat out to make available for those crabcakes, for example. I explained in one of the blog entries (below) about how the crab cannery employs most of its workers from Mexico.
The owner, who gave us the tour, explained the legal process of being allowed to hire guest workers. He said most of the people he hired came back to him season after season. That's what I want to muse over here now.
Imagine living in an economically depressed place where work is hard to find and it becomes necessary to leave your home and family for six months of each year. And that the wages you earn are so profound to your household that you are willing to repeat that experience year after year.
These people don't make a lot of money. They get paid by the pound so they work as fast as possible. They work 8 hour days. April to October.
Could you?
What type of hardship in your current location would make you change your mind?
We know people came to the US and still come to the US to escape difficult times in their home country, often sending money back to help the household or to pay for passage for another family member to make the voyage across the ocean. People are still doing that today. We are a beacon of opportunity here in this country, despite our current economic recession.
Count your blessings.
No comments:
Post a Comment