Trip Report
November 2002 - "To Minnesota & Back Again"I would love to give you all a long chatty accounting of our trip to Minnesota and back, but if I do, I'll never get anything done! We went to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday. The road trip itself was wonderful, because we stayed in four B&B's on the way up, and three more on the way home. Please take my word for it that all the innkeepers we met along the way were terrific, and I wish they'd all come home with us.
We got great B&B ideas everywhere we stayed, including this one: use printed tissue paper for guest-room waste basket liners (from Linda at The Ivy House, Fortville IN) - that's one I can incorporate right away. Thank you! What an elegant touch!
Quickly, in no particular order and not necessarily the most significant thing I learned at any one place...
At Rose Hill, Versailles KY - Make your own wrappers for miniature Hershey bars - won't those look great with a picture of the stream, and "Timberwolf Creek" across the bottom?
At The Tranquil Cherub, Indianapolis IN - Add pistachios to your fruit salad
(We brought all our hosts afghans made right here in Western North Carolina, and they were intended to match the places we stayed. This one sure did!)
At The Speckled Hen, Madison WI - Sour cream and orange juice make an incredible sauce for bananas
At Quincy House, Minneapolis MN - When you have more than one key, draw an outline of each on a piece of paper and label them on the paper - then I don't have to get out my glasses to read the labels, I can tell which key fits which door by the shape!
At University Heights, Madison WI - A ribbon tied around the shower curtain gives the guest a sense that the room has been specially prepared
At The Ivy House, Fortville IN - Slate inserts on room doors mean a great big Welcome to guests
At George Clarke House, Lexington KY - Kathryn greets her guests in costume... which has me thinking along the lines of Granny Clampett for my place.... and having Jeeves serve at breakfast - the height of decadence!
Of course the whole purpose of this journey was to celebrate the 80th birthday of Larry's father. We surprised him. Yes, we've heard ALL the jokes about surprising old people. Make fun if you like - but Roger loved it. (That's Larry's dad.) We came up from North Carolina, sister Patty & her husband came in from Colorado, and brother Randy & his wife came from Florida.
What's more, we surprised Larry, too. His sister Diane - who lives there in Minnesota - couldn't be with us for Larry's 50th this fall. So, she had this cake made up that says "80" for Roger, and "50" for Larry, complete with little photos of each of them as little guys.
We had campfires (complete with marshmallows and hot dogs and egg nog - oh stop it; if we want to have egg nog with our hot dogs then that's what we're gonna do) and we did crafts and played music and ate (boy did we eat) and visited and laughed till our sides hurt. It was a really incredible week.
That's pretty much it in a nutshell. To everybody concerned THANK YOU for making it so memorable! We had a blast.
All the best,
Sandee
