A slight departure...

Monday, March 22: The cross-country trip continues...

We first visited friends in Virginia for a couple of days. It was great to see the old gang again!

Then a two-day trek to Austin, Texas (with an overnight at a B&B in Jackson, Tennessee) for the 4 day PAII (Professional Association of Innkeepers International) annual conference. We heard some great presentations and met many of the innkeepers we had relationships with online. Nice to meet them in person!

Next it was a super-long day, driving south to San Antonio, where we saw the Alamo, then up the west side of Texas (there isn't much there but cactus and sagebrush!), through El Paso, and into New Mexico, then across to Tucson, Arizona. Next day we had a short drive north to Williams, Arizona, where we had a lovely stay at a B&B just off Route 66, and a great visit to the Grand Canyon.

Next a drive to San Jose, California to visit family and collect some belongings, then north to Salem, Oregon to collect more things that needed to come with us and visit more family. After that we went farther north to Seattle, Washington, to see more family, then headed east through Idaho, to Montana, and today, through Wyoming to South Dakota.

So now for the "departure" - recommending something outside of Maine! I know, but you have to hear this...

We had no reservations heading for Mount Rushmore, so pulled out the ol' smartphone, and checked out area B&B's and found none (!) that took online reservations or showed availability. Because the area B&B's are spread out among a number of small towns, it wasn't feasible to just drive around to find one with vacancy, so we checked TripAdvisor for hotels near Rapid City, SD. The number one listing was a small motel, called Big Sky Lodge, owned by a nice couple, Jay and Alicia. The reviews were absolutely overwhelmingly positive. We found them to be right on the money. The rate was very inexpensive, the room a bit dated looking, but super-clean and comfortable, with cable TV and WiFi included. The view over the city is wonderful. Jay recommended the Colonial House (about a mile away) for dinner, and it is a family place, where many locals go, and the food was incredible, and very reasonable.

So... if you're going anywhere near Mount Rushmore, I can't do better than to recommend Big Sky Lodge and Colonial House Restaurant.

Meanwhile, we're on to Mount Rushmore tomorrow, then eastward...

On the Road Again

As many of our guests and readers know, we've been making a number of changes at Brewster House, including redecorating Room Five, painting the hallways and stairways, new carpet on the third floor (the second floor got new carpet last winter), repainting Room Six, and a few other details. We still have some more nice changes in the works, for April/May, but it was also time for a break.

This month (March), we are attending the Professional Association of Innkeepers International (PAII) conference in Austin, Texas. This annual conference for innkeepers includes keynote speakers on marketing, food presentation and preparation, technology issues, and more, as well as a trade show where we can meet the vendors we work with, meet new vendors, establish (or rekindle) friendships with innkeepers throughout the country (or the world), etc. Scott is also presenting sessions on choosing reservation software and on reputation management.

We drove to Austin, stopping for a few days in Virginia to visit some dear friends, and are currently enjoying the Innkeeping conference. From Austin we drive to Tucson, Arizona, then to the Grand Canyon, and on to San Jose, California, where we'll visit friends and family. The next stops will be Salem, Oregon, Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington, for more family visits. We'll be turning for home after that, with stops at Mount Rushmore, in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Jackson, Michigan to visit still more family, and finally a return near the end of March.

Once we're back in Freeport, we'll be preparing for the Flavors of Freeport festival which takes place April 9-11. If you haven't booked your rooms for Flavors of Freeport, we still have rooms available (and we do have our reservation book with us!).