April 2011 Archives

On May 14 and 15, history comes alive at this opportunity to stay and learn what farming and family life was like little over a hundred years ago.



A Weekend In The Life Of An 1880's Farm Family


In conjunction with the New York's Hudson Valley Heritage Weekend, Thyme in the Country will be offering a special weekend to learn about Small-Scale farming and Family Life in the 1880's. 

There will be opportunities to participate in farm chores, making butter and yogurt, learn about gardening in the 1880's.  There will be a sewing corner, woodworking, Strawberry picking and Jam making, old fashioned games, campfires in the evening with  stories and songs. Fee is $50.00/family/day in addition to regular B&B room rates.  1880's Breakfast and picnic lunch provided each day.

Innkeepers of America's Bed and Breakfasts and romantic inns know the very best their area has to offer and this comment below about an Illinois romantic inn - The Irish Bed and Breakfast Inn - is a good example. The country inn opened the door for their bed and breakfast guests to be able to attend a Cherokee Gathering in their area. This couple didn't expect such an amazing benefit of their bed and breakfast trip. They treasured it and feel they will never forget the experience that the bed and breakfast innkeepers made possible for them. Often when I travel, because writing about bed and breakfasts is my day job, I don't really have the inclination to plan the details of my trip. I've been visiting bed and breakfast inns for 30 years and I already know that pretty much all I have to do is show up and if I say the magic words - "What three or four things will I wish I would have seen and done while at your inn, when I get back home?" I am always taken care of. Innkeepers of the country inns and bed and breakfasts that I visit give me the prioirty items and they know just the right questions to ask . In the end, I'm totally delighted in how they connect me to the right thing - and believe me I can be a challenge. Whether it's kyaking amid the alligators in Georgia or flying up hilly dunes in coastal California in a military hummer, I have had the most amazing experiences because of the advice of innkeepers of country inns and bed and breakfasts. Here's the comment from an Irish couple about the Irish Bed and Breakfast Inn mentioned above: "Like No Where On Earth - A wonderful experience for us to travel from Chicago to Memphis and Nashville. On the way to and from Chicago, we stayed at The Irish Inn, a small bed and breakfast in Southern Illinois. Being Irish ourselves and coming from the same county as Brian, we were treated like family. Being able to meet real Native Americans and attend a Cherokee gathering was something few Europeans ever have a chance to experience. Both of our visits were wonderful. We will always treasure our time in this romantic inn like nowhere on Earth among people we will never forget. We will be back again next year and bring more friends from Northern Ireland to stay at bed and breakfasts.

Three Tips for Planning Your Next Bed and Breakfast Getaway

1. Spend a little phone time talking with the innkeeper of the country inn before arrival to see how resourceful the inn's staff is.

2. Spend more time talking once you arrive at the inn with innkeepers, guests and staff

3. While at the Bed and Breakfast ask "What three things will I wish I would have seen and done when I get back home?"

Cabernet Inn of North Conway, New Hampshire can solve a big problem for you. What to buy your man to celebrate a birthday or other big event. Has he just survived April 15 tax deadline? Reward him and yourself!

Mancations, typically done without the female persona, and include sport bars, cigar smoking, microbreweries, golfing or escaping to the great outdoors for some adventure. But what if a woman wants to treat her man to a vacation all about him, wouldn't that be a mancation too? Ladies whisk your wonderful man away for a little adventurous beer loving smoking good time. Sample Getaway: A Pail for the Male, Brewery, Cigar & driving range certificates, two nights accommodations & so much more. Starting at $339

Doesn't this sound like a great bed and breakfast and nature-rich getaway? You can enjoy the Catskills, the Rip Van Winkle trail, the area's wineries and read a little Rip Van Winkle literature from your country inn. From the Van Winkle Bed and Breakfast Inn Bed and breakfast getaways can help you blend an ideal inn vacation destination with a romantic inn that can satisfy both couples and families. The Van Winkle Bed and Breakfast is in a restored historic Georgian Colonial bed and breakfast perfect for an elegant, pet-friendly retreat. Relax on the front porch with a beverage, sit by the firepit in the back yard or soak in the hot tub after exploring the nearby Rip Van Winkle Trail. Enjoy a restful night's sleep in a guest room or suite and wake up to savor the innkeepers hearty breakfast made with local products and fresh seasonal ingredients. Gather in the fireside front room to plan the day's adventures in the northern Catskill Mountains. Staying in a historic bed and breakfast inn is a way to maximize both your time and your dollar. Inns keep maps and trail information, directions to activities and personal and experiential information that will help you make the best choices for leisure and entertainment activities. At this inn, all you have to do for a unique time is to take a short stroll up the road to visit the Wolf Fly Creek Alpaca Farm. You can also leave the bed and breakfast and go skiing on the slopes of Windham Mountain, visit Howes Caverns and taste the wines of the Hudson River Valley vineyards. Albany, the New York state capital, is a 25-minute drive.

2 Tips for Your Next Bed and Breakfast Road Trip

1. Look up inns on iLoveInns.com and compare activity pages

2. Print out the activity pages on the bed and breakfasts you review and highlight those of greatest interest.

Millersburg, Ohio is a popular getaway town for Ohio travelers and offers historic inns and bed and breakfasts in an town noted for its Amish culture. There are several wonderful little hotels and bed and breakfast inns here, including small country inns that please the most demanding guests. I grew up in Ohio, and I've enjoyed backroads travel myself to the Amish area but I never knew about this little bed and breakfast inn. That's the amazing thing about bed and breakfasts - many times you don't know they are around. We wrote an iPhone app for this problem of finding bed and breakfasts. It's called InnTouch and we offer it for no charge on iTunes. This bed and breakfast application makes it really easy for you to find wonderful little inns while you are on a road trip. We are proud to say that the Apple staff chose it as a "staff favorite". They must love bed and breakfasts as much as we do.

The inn below, The Garden Gate Bed and Breakfast, offers special events from time to time and here's one of them - "A night to remember, June 3". They call their country inn the Garden Gate GetAWay Bed and Breakfast. This bed and breakfast can be found on iLoveInns.com by searching for Millersburg, Ohio in the search box on the home page. Here's what they say about their special evening.

"We've invited Grammy-nominated Bud Preston to our Bed and Breakfast to introduce his newest songs. Preston is both a storyteller and guitar artist. His latest songs tell of story of building the Ohio Erie Canal. As he tells different stories he plays songs that go along with the theme. We will host this 2-hour concert on the grounds of our bed and breakfast around our evening campfire and serve a picnic dinner for you to enjoy during the concert. This music is in the process of being published and we hope to have CD's for sale of this concert music!"

Americans love Irish hospitality and you don't even have to fly into the Shannon Airport  to get some to sustain you. Just trek on up, over, to Ozark, Illinois and there's a little Irish Inn waiting for you, complete with stories by the fire. Samuel Johnson would have been happy here. (He's the one who said - 'There is no private house in which people can enjoy themselves so well as at a capital tavern... No, Sir; there is nothing which has yet been contrived by man by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.' March 21, 1776) Well it seems that this kind of appreciation is still being expressed about life-giving joyful times at an inn, this time by by Jim and Dei Dei.

"There is so much to thank you for...the list is just too long!  Your hospitality, the wonderful breakfasts, lists and directions of places to go and interesting things to do, helping with our genealogy, the entertaining people we met here, and the great conversations every evening by the fire!  You are both warm and wonderful. God Bless The Irish Inn!"   

After a long cycling day, this guest found heated bathroom floors and wonderful bread at this little New Mexico inn. Although there are many bicycle/bed and breakfast tours available, it's easy to design your own with the help of innkeepers stationed along the way and ready to tend to your re-hydrating and relaxing.

Andy C. said, "I stayed here with my sister as one stop on our cross-country bicycle ride. The lodge was very inviting, with the wood stove by the door and the historic feel of the house. The room we stayed in was clean and very comfortable right down to the heated floors in the bathroom. The hosts were also very gracious, and the bread in the morning was to die for!  I would highly recommend this spot to anyone."

Arbor View House in New York is a great place for a birthday celebration according to Elaine D. whose husband struck gold when he picked a Bed and Breakfast getaway for a birthday gift.


 My husband always surprises me with something wonderful for my birthdays. This year he made it very hard to out do himself next year. The Arbor View helped my husband create such a special experience for my birthday. The personal touch they provided made me feel like I was celebrating my birthday with family. Vita's breakfast is by far the best home cooked meal I've had since childhood. Their hospitality and welcoming ambiance made it hard to say good bye. We stayed in the Zinfandel room, it was ultra comfortable. We will most certainly return!!!

The White Lilac Inn in Spring Lake really wants you to come for a visit! Now while Spring is here you can get out of Dodge, as my brother always said before leaving town. You've had a big winter so restoring your soul with green could be just what you need to refuel your own soul tank.

"Free gas, no fooling" program:   Spring is in the air...get in the car and take that ride to the Jersey Shore. The White Lilac Inn will help you STRETCH your gasoline budget?

It won't even take you a tank of gas to get here... we're only a short drive from Manhattan or Philadelphia. Stay 2 nights and receive $25 you can put toward your gasoline bill.

Car-pool and bring along another couple and will give you (the driver) a $50 credit toward your gasoline bill. While you're here our complementary bicycles are a great way to get around town. (This package may not be combined with any other offers, gift certificates, or previous reservations. This offer is currently available till May 15th   Call ...732-449-0211