Winter '05 Newsletter

The first day of winter! The way I usually celebrate is to look forward to the days getting imperceptibly longer, week by week. Hooray, summer is coming! But, as summer will not be here for another while, we need to enjoy winter for what it is, a time of rest from our labors and a storing up of energy for the seasons ahead. (This doesn't mean we're closed, just that the pace is a little slower at this time of year. In case you're thinking of coming up, the prices are also lower at this time of year! Just a thought...)

To that end, we have been taking some time each week to acquaint ourselves with all the great outdoor spaces Freeport and Maine have to offer. We had a wonderful snowfall 2 weeks ago and we have been out showshoeing with Bre in Wolfe's Neck Woods State Park, which is a short drive from the Inn. Bre loves the snow and being outside with 'her people' is one of her favorite things.

The paths at Wolfe's Neck meander through white pines woods (White Pines being one of the trails). Suddenly, though, you find yourself coming out of the pine-scented woods and facing Casco Bay. It's quite pretty at this time of year. The woods are still, the bugs are gone and there are random wedges of Canada geese still honking overhead.

Even though we were on snowshoes, this is a wonderful walk with just boots. Especially after all the snowshoers have gone through and packed down the trails.

Next on the agenda is Pineland Farms in New Gloucester. That is more of a wide-open experience. We need more snow and we'll take the cross-country skis out for that trip.

Rock is busy doing little repair jobs on the house. He's freshening up all the bathrooms, replacing worn caulking and wallpaper. His goal is to have them all done before the end of the year.

We want to take this time to thank everyone for this wonderful year we had. This was the best October on record as far as the number of guests who came to stay with us. We do truly appreciate the business! Even though the fall colors were not what they were in past years due to the relentless rainfall, many guests traveled here from Europe and were quite thrilled with our New England. We're hoping to get our maps put up in the living room so everyone can see where all the guests hail from.

We hired a designer to redo the kitchen area. She should have a proposal for us in the next week or two. We hope to start work in the near future, if the plan is to our liking.

Around town the word is that LL Bean is expanding. The word is they will be taking over the old Levis building to have a 'storefront' on Main Street. The Information Booth will then be able to stay in the niche between the two storefronts. Also on the table is a plan to expand the outlet store and put in a parking garage where the outlet store is now, locating the store itself so that the parking garage is hidden. Nice idea!

A new upscale pizza shop is due to open in early January down on Depot Street, across from the Hose Tower. Yum! We can't wait. We've heard there will be panini sandwiches as well. Double yum!

The town development board has been working on getting more shops to open in town. (We heard a quilt shop may be coming! There's something I've been waiting for!) A movie theater has been mentioned as well as another restaurant. More details here as we hear about them.

Hopefully, you will plan on coming up in January for WinterFest. We have a package special that includes lodging, dinner, breakfast and 2 tickets to the ice park. Check the details here.

The B&B Open House during Sparkle Week was a great success! We had about 6-7 tour groups come through the Inn, share cookies and mulled cider and take a look around. Several women who came through relayed to us more information about 'Capt Dan' and the talks he used to give in his sister's parlor. One woman revealed that the entire wall in the living room, where we now have the fireplace, was once covered with memorabilia from Capt Dan's trips to Labrador. She said as a child she was fascinated by 'Eskimo' clothes and toys she got to see here. We were so pleased with the response we got to the tour that we are planning to have it yearly. Next Sparkle Week we'll have it advertised in travel columns so more people will be intrigued by getting a peek at the 'old houses'.

Speaking of Sparkle...many of you have been through town during Sparkle and have noticed (or been noticed by) the 'Talking Tree' outside Bath and Body Works. Well, not to give away any Sparkle secrets but Rock did a stint as the Talking Tree this year...he really branched out, you might even say he went out on a limb to show how deep his roots go in Maine. (Now I wouldn't say that, that's the way he told it to unsuspecting holiday shoppers!) Rock had so much fun, he's made a note to store away more awful puns for next year. (This year he got all spruced up for the job, if they don't ask next year, he'll pine away!)

The new website will be launched in early January. I would appreciate your comments. Things don't always show up on other computers the way they look on mine so let me know if something looks odd to you. The more I learn the better the site will be. I should take a class!

In other news at the Inn, we were closed the Saturday after Thanksgiving so our families could stay with us and celebrate my birthday. It was one of those milestone birthdays so it was good to have the kids and grandkids (and I'm especially lucky to have had my parents here, too!) gathered round. Besides which, this old grammie needed help with all those candles!

Please take note that we now have online booking. If you're up at 2 AM and just need to make your reservation, you can do so without waiting for us to wake up! It's very easy, just click the availability link on any page and select the date you would like to stay with us. Then pick the room and fill in the reservation form. We'll get back to you as soon as we get the reservation. If you would like to stay on a day that is already full or your favorite room is taken, please call or email in case we have gotten a late cancellation or someone doesn't mind switching rooms with you. However, if you're not a big fan of online purchasing, please give us a call, we'd love to talk to you! (As anyone who has ever gotten Rock started on the Navy knows!)

OK, gotta go...Bre has a vet appointment today. As some of you know, she has had some epileptic seizures and she's taking medication. We have to make sure all is well so she needs some tests. Not to worry, though, she's still her same old happy self, plenty of tail-wagging left in this old dog! (Update: Bre's tests came back A-OK! She needs to take the medication for the rest of her life but it should be a good, long one.)

Take care until we see you again!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And a Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish friends!

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