March
30, 2006
Welcome
to Spring!!
The
winter was a busy one, renovations wise, at the Inn at Bath
. We were closed for 5 weeks, reopening the second week of
February. There is still plenty to do; Britt and I chip away
at the list, but new jobs seem to be added at least as rapidly
as others are crossed off. And now with the weather being
so fabulous, we just want to be outside!
 |
"Where
in the Inn is Atticus?", you ask. |
Tom, the ‘itinerant painter' from Illinois who did such a
great job restoring the hallways last winter and painting
them a great shade of buttery yellow, returned for another
6 week stint of repairing walls and ceilings, this time in
the living room, and then painting the walls a wonderful mint/sage.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the Inn , we tore into the
kitchen! The diagonal wall and the pantry walls came down
and we created a wonderful new kitchen that has at least 3
times the useable counter space, room for more than one person
to move around, and an area for guests to enter without being
in the middle of the work space. And the new gas stove has
a convection oven with a door that actually closes! If you've
been here already, you will remember the oven door held closed
by a bungee cord; if your first visit is this spring or summer,
you will only be able to imagine trying to get biscuits to
rise when the door won't close!
We've
posted before and after photographs of the kitchen on our
web-site. You can get there by clicking below
http://innatbath.com/KitchenRenovation.htm
Bath
is more wonderful than ever- besides the great selections
of restaurants we have been able to send you to, we have a
new arrival as of last summer, the Solo Bistro. Perfectly
prepared food, a frequently changing menu, and lunch and dinner
are entirely different!
There
is a great web-site for the area, www.visitbath.com
that has a current calendar of events in the area and
proves to be very helpful to visitors planning trips to Maine
's Midcoast area.
We
are looking forward to seeing many of you this summer, and
if you haven't been back in a while, consider a return trip
to the Inn at Bath- put together a group of friends and create
a house party in your ‘home away from home'!
I'll
stop rambling and let you get back to your day, but don't
forget to check out the photos!
Elizabeth
December
31, 2005
It
has been a year and a half since I began running the Inn at
Bath and I am finally getting around to updating the news
letter; the good news is that it can second as a very newsy
Holiday letter!
On
May 26 th , 2005, after a year of negotiations, and running
the Inn at Bath all the while, we managed to complete the
real estate transaction and the Inn is officially mine! We
have enlarged the parking area and it is now able to hold
9 – 10 cars, depending on the size. (If you need to choose
between the Hummer and the MG, please bring the MG! ) Some
plants were moved from the parking area gardens to the back
of the house where we installed 2 new gardens and some lawn;
even as an immature garden it was really quite lovely this
summer.
My
sister Britt came the first summer to help me get started,
setting up bookkeeping systems, organizing the books, helping
me to put life in order. It went so well she decided to leave
Los Angeles and return to New England . She is living here,
working in the office as well as the gardens, painting, repairing,
and trying very hard to keep me on task- a thankless job.
Britt spent the winter scraping and painting the shutters
which are now, once again, hung on the Washington Street windows;
now that they're back, it seems that they have always been
there. I love having Britt here, it is great to have her help
and advice, not to mention her company. She is a wonderful
addition to the Inn at Bath .
Last
fall I was contacted by a house painter from the Midwest who
was looking for winter work and thinking, correctly, that
there might be some in Maine in January. He came and stayed
for a month while he lovingly repaired and painted the front
hallway upstairs and down. It's a warm butter color - a perfect
backdrop for paintings and fresh flowers. He will return this
winter to tackle the living rooms. Meanwhile, there is wonderful
new art adorning the walls, much of it by local artists. And
we have installed a gas parlor stove in one of the living
rooms – 4 guests are there as I write, playing cards next
to the Christmas tree.
My
sister Joy lives in Damariscotta and has provided great advice
and assistance in the garden's designs and execution. The
goal for this summer was to add COLOR! Lots of it. The results
were fabulous – lilies bloomed everywhere, the coleus loved
the shade and sun in the front of the house, the nicotiana
wouldn't quit, and the impatiens and begonias quietly edged
the shadier beds.
Jody,
Renee, Caroline and Jess are still here, doing a fabulous
job and making my life so very much easier. I could not do
it without them. Renee announced late last spring that she
was going to have a baby – her husband Robby called just last
night to say that Adrianna Nicole Cook had just been born:
6 pounds, 10 ounces and a head full of hair! Everyone is healthy
and doing well.
This
fall we installed both a new fire alarm system and a sprinkler
system. The
maize
of black pipe has been painted, and we worked really hard
to have a minimum of pipe exposed, not an easy feat in an
old house. We are now in compliance with every agency in the
city, county and state that has ever had an opinion about
an old historic building being converted to a B&B! I have
already convinced myself that the occasional red pull station
and the pipes running along the walls are a small price to
pay for the peace of mind they provide to guests and owner
alike.
And
then there is Atticus! Two summers ago I started looking at
dog breeds that I thought would be a good fit in a B&B.
Not too big, not a shedder, a bit aloof but friendly all the
same. In my  search
I found Spanish Water Dogs and fell in love with their size,
their hair and their disposition. The litter was born on February
27 th , I picked Atticus up on April 28 th – he is wonderful.
He's got lots of energy, is a great swimmer and retriever,
he's agile, coordinated, smart, and has a huge personality.
And isn't he cute! He forces
me to get out and walk, and I have made lots of new friends
through him – we organize off leash play times by the river,
and I am finding new trails around town. The down side is
that he is my latest excuse for not going to the gym – I feel
guilty leaving him contained while I get a workout!
This
winter we are closing for most of January so we can do the
long awaited kitchen renovation. I've sold the classic enameled
cabinets but the bungee-corded wall oven is still up for grabs
– anyone interested? I have found a local builder who is promising
that it can be done in 5 – 6 weeks, so with fingers crossed
we will start tearing down the pantry wall and incorporate
that space into the kitchen. It will be wonderful when it
is done, and you will be able to come in the back door and
walk by the kitchen, (not through it) without hitting your
shins on the dishwasher!
Last
spring the National Trust for Historic Preservation designated
the City of Bath as one a Dozen Distinctive Destinations in
the country, a great and well-deserved honor. The City of
Bath continues to florish- we have a wonderful new restaurant
called Solo Bistro Bistro – open for lunch and dinner and
well worth a visit. (See the attached review from the Portland
Press Herald) There is a new Gallery, Minerva's Bounty, that
is full of arts and crafts by Maine artists. And the Antique
stores gift and clothing stores along Front Street as well
as our great supply of restaurants within walking distance
make this a great place to visit. While we get lots of summer
tourism activity, Bath continues to be a thriving, year round
coastal town, worthy of a visit of a few days. This fall we've
had a number of visitors come for a few days and do all their
Christmas shopping in Bath, Brunswick and Freeport- pretty
painless!
A
group of cousins and friends came for the weekend and have
inspired me to encourage other family/friends groups to take
the entire Inn for a few days- it could be a yoga weekend,
or a foodie weekend, or a wine tasters weekend, or a massage
weekend, or a fabric arts weekend, or a ‘Big Chill' weekend,
you fill in the blank. And it does not need to be a weekend.
Give me a call and we'll talk!
Finally,
I need to mention the wonderful guests we have had since July
2004. Without our wonderful guests, both new and repeat, the
Inn at Bath is just another place. All of them contribute
to the life and energy that makes the Inn at Bath a special
place to visit.
Your
encouragement and support enable us, and The Inn at Bath ,
to grow, to change, to evolve. I thank you all and wish you
peace and good will for the holidays.
Elizabeth
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