Howdy! As the title states, I have been following this forum for quite a while (3+yrs) and just absorbing all the knowledge and experience to be found here! I feel that I 'know' so many of you from reading your posts and comments and decided that I should finally jump in, introduce myself and say 'Hi'!
Here is a little of our back story...
My DH (yep, learning the lingo) and I started on this path a little over 3 yrs ago. Our kids were almost out of school, and after a long career in the military (DH) we were asking ourselves "What next?" DH joked that since we liked staying at them we should buy a B&B, I laughed, said "NO!" and then promptly dismissed the idea. However.....the seed had been planted. 'Why not?' I thought, 'I like to entertain and besides, how hard can it be, it's just breakfast?!' (I know, I know, you are all laughing manically at that statement)
We made a few newbie mistakes......like going to look at places before knowing anything about how to actually run a B&B! (go on, shake your head and sigh heavily, you know you want to!) Thankfully, someone took pity on us. and told us about an upcoming conference. We attended, got a HUGE dose of reality, went home and cried (just kidding - we drank instead
) and then we got organized.
After many, many additional conferences, seminars and classes, not to mention stalking this website, we felt ready(ish) to take the leap! Last February we bought an existing 5 room B&B located in the Mid Atlantic Region. It's near several historic areas and neat touristy towns, about an hour and a 1/2 from where we were living, and........we love it! DH is the full time Innkeeper and I am the 3/4 Innkeeper. (I commute one or two days a week to our old city and work, depending on how busy we are)
So, Thank you!, Thank you!, Thank you! Even though you didn't know it, you were helping us on our journey toward this wonderful new adventure! I look forward to being a part of this great group of people and if you're ever in the area, stop in, have a cup and see what you helped create!
Here is a little of our back story...
My DH (yep, learning the lingo) and I started on this path a little over 3 yrs ago. Our kids were almost out of school, and after a long career in the military (DH) we were asking ourselves "What next?" DH joked that since we liked staying at them we should buy a B&B, I laughed, said "NO!" and then promptly dismissed the idea. However.....the seed had been planted. 'Why not?' I thought, 'I like to entertain and besides, how hard can it be, it's just breakfast?!' (I know, I know, you are all laughing manically at that statement)
We made a few newbie mistakes......like going to look at places before knowing anything about how to actually run a B&B! (go on, shake your head and sigh heavily, you know you want to!) Thankfully, someone took pity on us. and told us about an upcoming conference. We attended, got a HUGE dose of reality, went home and cried (just kidding - we drank instead
After many, many additional conferences, seminars and classes, not to mention stalking this website, we felt ready(ish) to take the leap! Last February we bought an existing 5 room B&B located in the Mid Atlantic Region. It's near several historic areas and neat touristy towns, about an hour and a 1/2 from where we were living, and........we love it! DH is the full time Innkeeper and I am the 3/4 Innkeeper. (I commute one or two days a week to our old city and work, depending on how busy we are)
So, Thank you!, Thank you!, Thank you! Even though you didn't know it, you were helping us on our journey toward this wonderful new adventure! I look forward to being a part of this great group of people and if you're ever in the area, stop in, have a cup and see what you helped create!
