Archive for category Holidays
Happy New Year, … I think
Posted by Admiral Peary House in Holidays, Local Events & Attractions, bed and breakfast on January 29, 2009
Its been a busy month. Derrek and I got back from England just before the New Year and since then its been a long round of conferences, office work and shovelling snow! Not to mention trying to stay warm. I don’t know what all this Global Warming thing is about, but so far this year, its been a good old traditional New England winter – cold!!
Its very obvious to most of us innkeepers up here that the effects of the economy have hit. Despite some great winter weather that normally would have attracted guests from all points south of here, its been abnormally quiet. The locals (that’s us) can get into restaurants, onto ski lifts and drive down the road, all without waiting in line, even on a Saturday. So if you’re done with the gloomy news and are in a position to come and spend some quality time in our neighborhood, do it! You’ll get some awesome snow conditions with more than a few great deals too. Check out what we have here.
Looking ahead, Derrek and Jonathan (from the Oxford House Inn) are planning their second annual Cinco de Mayo Fiesta. What started out last year as a bit of a culinary giggle for about 20 of our friends and neighbors, ended up packing out the dining room with 75 bona fide reservations on an otherwise quiet Monday night. Such was the success that they’re doing it again, except that this year its on a Tuesday. So mark your calendars and get your reservations in (Oxford House Inn 800 261-7206) for a night of probably the best authentic Mexican food anywhere in the North East. The Admiral Peary House will of course, be open too for bed and breakfast, should you want to stay overnight and congratulate Derrek personally at breakfast the next morning!
Anyway, its nearly February so I have to run. Don’t forget Valentine’s – its on a weekend this year – so no excuses for not paying attention! And if you’re looking for something a bit out of the ordinary and creative – give us a call. We can usually help put something together that’ll surprise and delight!
Innkeepers do get vacations … eventually!
Posted by Derrek in Holidays, Miscellaneous on January 3, 2009
So after waiting for over a year, we finally escaped for our annual holiday to visit family and wander the English countryside.
Our first two days were spent in London. Hilary surprised me with tickets to see the revival of ‘Oliver’ at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. And for those who know of Rowan Atkinson from “Black Adder” and “Mr. Bean”, he played a brilliant Fagin. We also wandered through parts of the British Museum to see some family silver. While there I came face to face with the Rosetta Stone. I had no idea it was in London and sitting in a large glass case in the museum. The next day we went to see the crown jewels and see where Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned in the Tower of London.
From London we headed to Yorkshire and despite the worst storm of their winter season we really enjoyed our short stay there. Our innkeepers, Simon and Jane, at the Thorney Mire Barn B&B were perfect and we highly recommend staying there if you ever find yourself in Wensleydale. You’ll be pampered! We toured the Wensleydale Creamery (where they make the favorite cheese of Wallace from “Wallace and Grommit”), then moved on to the Black Sheep Brewery to see how they make really good beer. That little visit has now resulted in my first batch of home brew!
From Yorkshire we went back to the middle of the country to spend Christmas with Hilary’s family. Much food was eaten, Christmas crackers pulled, gifts unwrapped, children filled with chocolate, and generally a wonderful Christmas was enjoyed by all.
From Christmas we headed to Plymouth in Devon to find my ancestral roots. Aside from the wind and cold we found some of the significant roots of the Bickford family, to which I am related through my grandmother.
I really enjoyed eating and drinking my way across England. This turned out to be such a fun packed trip that we’re now both ready for another one, but somewhere warm and beach-like.
Winter is Coming to a Bed and Breakfast near you ….
Posted by Admiral Peary House in Holidays, Innkeeping, Local Events & Attractions, bed and breakfast on November 30, 2008
I knew it had been a long while since my last post, but when I looked this morning and found I hadn’t written in 2 months, I was astonished! The time has certainly flown. As those of you who’ve been following us for a while will know, the fall season is our absolute busiest and we have very little time during October to do anything more than look after our guests. However, there’s no real excuse for November, especially this one as we haven’t even been away! We have been busy though; me with some Business Planning contracts and collaborating on the book, “Running a Bed & Breakfast for Dummies”, which is being written by my friend Mary White to be published in April, and Derrek doing his thing at his full-time job and acting as tour-guide for his visiting parents.
Our first real snow came last week and Fryeburg is white and looking like winter, unlike North Conway where you can still see grass! Most of us up here are hoping for good skiing weather again this season, though we’re not sure we want quite as much of the white stuff as last year. Great Glen Trails opened for the season just before Thanksgiving and Bretton Woods has about 25% of its terrain available, so the skiing has started! Other expected opening days are Cranmore – Dec 6th and Shawnee Peak – Dec 13th.
The next big event here is the annual Inn-to-Inn Cookie Tour on December 13th/14th. As always, we’ve come up with some unique ideas for the theme this year which is “Holidays around the World” and as usual, we’re having to work hard to make sure it happens! Things are kind of under wraps until the day, so I’m not going to tell you what it is – you’ll just have to come and see us 
If you enjoy touring inns and seeing all the decorations, not to mention the free cookies and candy from each inn, give us a call. We have one room left for the weekend! Or, if you can’t stay, there are some limited day tickets available by calling 800-233-8309.
Cinco de Mayo coming to Fryeburg
Posted by Admiral Peary House in Holidays, Innkeeping, Local Events & Attractions on April 16, 2008
Stop Press!! For those of you who’ve been badgering Derrek to cook dinner one night – here’s your chance! If you’ve always fancied really good authentic Mexican food without going all the way south, its coming to Fryeburg May 5th. Derrek’ll be the Guest Chef at the Oxford House (where we send all our guests to eat) working alongside good friend and Oxford House chef Jonathan, to produce a menu of scrumptious regional Mexican cuisine, drawing on Derrek’s heritage and culinary flair as well as Jonathan’s education, creativity and skill. This should be one great meal, folks, so get your reservations in early as the locals in the know are already lined up at the door! (Reservations: 800 261-7206)
Easter Egg Hunt
Posted by Admiral Peary House in Holidays on March 23, 2008
Today is Easter Sunday, though to look outside our window it might as well still be the middle of winter. The temperature gauge is also non-too inspiring, having just crept north of freezing a little while ago. True, its a gorgeous day to look at with bright sun and clear blue skies, however its also blowing a gale for the 3rd straight day in a row.
So it’ll come as no surprise to learn that my favorite holiday past-time, the Easter Egg hunt, has been cancelled for this year. As much as I love the ritual of searching for those wonderful coloured eggs, both real and chocolate, nothing in the world would possess me to go digging in the snow for them. Easter for me means daffodils and bunnies and some semblance of Spring weather (yes, even in England, though my Dad tells me there was snow there this morning, though not this afternoon!), not the cold, white tundra that currently lurks outside my door. Having finished the cleaning for today therefore, I find myself here at the computer hunting for Easter Eggs online. Believe me its not quite the same.
Though not a chocoholic by nature, I have to get my Easter fix which means Big Chocolate Eggs. Not the itty-bitty ones you find in stores over here but the ones I grew up with – Galaxy Eggs, Quality Street Eggs and the king of them all, Cadbury’s Chocolate Buttons Eggs. Scarcer than a snowball in summer, Buttons eggs sell out fast, especially online to all us ex-pats, usually by Valentine’s day. But late as I am, I’m sitting here, fingers flying, hoping that my online Easter Egg hunt might just snag me the last Buttons Egg on the web, though I’m rather afraid that it’ll prove fruitless (or is that egg-less?) If you find one, let me know.
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