On running a Bed and Breakfast

Well, we just got back from a seminar in Camden, Maine, on how to start and run a bed & breakfast. We had a great time. We stayed at the Timbercliffe Cottage B&B, along with 4 other couples. The seminar was called Inn Your Dreams and was conducted by Don Johnson, a veteran in the Maine B&B scene, having owned and run his own inns for 12 years and now in the brokerage business.

Since we're thinking of running our own B&B when we retire in seven years, we thought it would be a good idea to find out more about the whole business and see if it's what we really want to do. Inn Your Dreams was a great way to do that. Don began by giving us a quiz to see if we've got the right temperament and personalities to be innkeepers, and took us through the whole process, including finding the right B&B, buying it, shopping for supplies, pricing the rooms, and then the daily demands of running it. In the afternoons, we went on tours of the local B&Bs to get ideas to use in our own inns. Overall, Inn Your Dreams was a great investment for our future career. Don was thorough in his training and brought in a few experts in various fields, such as financing and webpage design, to enhance the experience. We'd highly suggest the seminar for anyone interested in running their own inn someday.

Another facet to Inn Your Dreams that made it very rewarding was the fact that we actually stayed in a local B&B. In this case, our hosts were Karen and Dave Kallstrand at the Timbercliffe Cottage (as mentioned above). We stayed in the Chauncey Keep Chamber, the best room in the inn. The room had a beautiful view of Penobscot Bay and felt very cozy with a warm fireplace. Karen was an excellent cook, providing delicious gourmet breakfasts every morning. Dave and Karen went out of their way to provide that "home away from home" experience. And of course, Caffrey, the Kallstrand's golden retriever, offered her own hospitality by greeting everyone by the dining room. Timbercliffe's common areas offered a great place for guests to sit and visit with each other, drinking coffee or wine by the fire.

Christine and I were very glad that we took this opportunity to learn more about innkeeping. It made us even more eager to start on the next stage in our lives after the Air Force.