A New Place to Stay

 

    We got an unexpected call from the couple that owns the B&B we stay at in Door County.  They had decided to move back to Milwaukee in order to help care for an elderly family member and had sold the B&B. The new owners were not planning on running it as a business and were going to make it into a family home. C and I were in shock. We had stayed at that same place every trip we made to Door County since our honeymoon in 2004.

   We loved coming back to the same place each year. It was was almost like having another home. It was quiet and private. The back of the B&B was on the border of a nature preserve. Tall trees lined the street leading to the B&B. It was the place we stayed on our first trip as a married couple. It was our place of rest from our hectic life in the city. It was the place where we planned many things. It was a place of escape during some hard times. It was the only place we always came back to.

   Now we would need to find someplace else.

   C hung up the phone and we were both quiet. It was sad. The B&B was the perfect place for us. We really liked the innkeepers and were beginning to form a friendship. We enjoyed meeting new people every year. There were only four rooms so it is easy to meet people and converse with them. The thought that we would never go back there again was a hard thought. Although the innkeepers said they would keep in touch, I didn't think so. I have heard that many times. It seldom happens.

   C and I decided to do some preliminary looking at other places to stay. We looked at a few places in Sturgeon Bay, but decided it was too far away as most of what we like to do is on the peninsula. Some places were already booked up for the time we wanted to go. I was grateful for the fact that we visit in October. We had time to find a new place. The closing on the property was in two weeks. People who had made reservations for April and late May would have to scramble. 

   We hoped to find another B&B but there weren't many and those were a bit out of our price range. We decided that we didn't want to stay at a resort. We started looking at some of the small hotels and inns. (There are no chain hotels in Door County.) We found one in Egg Harbor that looked just about perfect. We will have a hot tub in our room. There is a small indoor pool. We decided to make a reservation.

   Although I'm a little sad that we will not be able to enjoy the familiarity of the B&B and the innkeepers there, I'm excited to stay at the new place. We've gone to Door County for so many years that I think we had fallen into a rut. This could be the spur we need to explore parts of the peninsula that we had not explored before. We could spend more time  in the small towns south of Egg Harbor.

   It's not going to be the same, but that's all right. There will be new people to meet and new things to see. It'll be an adventure. I'm looking forward to it.