Personally, New Years’ Eve isn’t my favorite holiday. I think of doing taxes, of what I haven’t accomplished this year, what I need to accomplish next year… but every year, our guests jolly me into appreciating the holiday more than I would were we not innkeepers. After all, 2012 sounds more well-rounded than 2011. I like even numbers. THERE WILL BE FIREWORKS at the beach, in view from Boreas, on New Years Eve!! I almost forgot!
The Christmas tree is still fresh and lovely for some reason (Bill takes good care of the tree!) and we haven’t tired of the decorations so prettily placed by our decorating crew the first weekend in December. We had a great time decorating this year. This year was extra special with a sweet blend of family and beloved guests who are now family too. We are hoping that we fill up for New Years’ weekend. We are always filled up after Christmas but not this year! Groupon and Living Social may be the reason—people shopping for bargains. Frankly, for what Boreas offers, we are a bargain! But we’re offering the Carpe Diem, Walk-in Special rate starting today. $150 for luxury and pampering! Even the cottage is open this weekend.
Our guest list so far is a fun one and Odell will be here to help us dismantle the decorations if we can work around our desire to watch football…at Mark and Helen’s Lost Roo, of course! Go DUCKS! Everyone is invited to take DOWN the decorations with us and go to The Roo!
Fresh Dungeness Crabcakes and Champagne on Sunday morning, New Years’ Day, sounds pretty perfect for one of our FOUR courses, and Bill will do beautiful work on the crab cakes as always and I will bake pastries, whip up sauces and make the fruit entrée glow so that consuming all that vitamin C seems very sexy. Well…it is! But I hope that if it’s going to be cloudy this week end, that it is also stormy so we can feel comforted by the fireplaces. But I also hope that there is a break in the weather so we can go for a fresh walk to start the New Year. We have been fortunate with fine weather this fall.
Come stay with us this weekend at the prettiest inn on the Long Beach Peninsula—featherbeds, down comforters, fireplaces, fine and fancy breakfast fare, freshly baked brownies, and the incredibly-wonderful-almost-brand-new hot tub for two with a little aromatherapy—mint and eucylptus, to soften your skin. Boreas Bed & Breakfast Inn is posh but hip, fun, but mellow and very food-crazy with a great location on the beach in Long Beach Washington. Relaxation is the best way to start the next banner year—2012! Happy New Year!
Odell Hathaway, our guest/friend/budding videographer likes to take pics and video of me doing the “Food Tour” at breakfast time. You might be able to focus on the food in the video while I am focusing on my ever-drooping face! Both are entertaining. In this video, I have prepared breakfast for a small group of returning guests a couple of weekends ago. Bill was in Eugene for the weekend and I had our guests/friends all to myself! The baked apple french toast I am describing is an adapted recipe originally from The Shelburne Inn, our dear friends, David and Laurie. I love making this dish–something you can put together the night before and bake in the morning. Thanks to Odell for posting this video to YouTube! Come to Boreas Inn–we have availability over Memorial Day weekend—which is NEXT weekend. We promise to make you very happy indeed at our Long Beach Washington Bed and Breakfast. Boreas inn is upscale, but never pretentious!
Soak your troubles away in our new hot tub, located with a view to the dunes and ocean….there are eagles, osprey, deer and invisible bears (at least I’ve never seen them, but apparently they are around)! So I finally remembered how to upload a YouTube video to the Blog! Odell Hathaway produced this darling little video and added very auspicious music. This spa makes going to Boreas Inn, our Bed and Breakfast on the Southwest Washington even more wonderful. We are looking for guests this weekend…great weather, fabulous gourmet breakfast, local dining that exceeds anyone’s wildest dreams…we can make it happen for you!
We also have availability over Memorial Day weekend (3 days will make you very happy). So come visit us and have very private time in our new spa. Remember, there is a single key that assures you total privacy in the spa. Light the candle and put it in the window…and make time just for you!
It’s blowing sideways tonight. We awoke to the same intensity of wind and are going to bed to a different storm. In between, we had sunshine and rainbows. Pre-spring weather is ever-changing. Who would have thought we would have a glorious weekend with lots of sun?
Weather forecasters can really affect tourism on the Long Beach Peninsula when they forecast bad weather on the beach when we are actually experiencing sunny days instead! If you like storms, however, tonight is the night! The inn is empty, except for Bill, who is painting the living room.
We have plenty of availability this weekend, so come sleep in our dreamy beds, dine on our perfectly plated breakfast feasts, dream in the new hot tub, and plan on some great weather, perhaps between the storms. So romantic…. Perhaps we will have mountains of foam after this storm too!
Can you tell the sea foam from the cumulus cloud after a great storm?
Boreas Inn can be ALL YOURS, decorated with love for the 2010 Holiday. Rent one room or all five for $595 plus tax per night for a three-night minimum. This is a $320 per night savings!! Boreas Inn’s ready-made holiday removes the stress and will let you relax and enjoy the Holiday–invite the people you want to be with and let Susie and Bill do the rest of the arranging. Just bring your gifts for under the tree! This price includes our signature breakfasts and champagne on Christmas morning! Starting December 21 and ending December 27, you can rent Boreas for a grand and luxurious escape for you, your family and friends. You pick the three nights you’d like to stay, and we will supply an inn full of warmth and wonder and of course, breakfasts to die for! Susie and Bill will arrange your Christmas dinner at one of our fine restaurants open for Christmas (and Christmas Eve of course)!
We ask for a maximum of 10 people and no children under 10. Wander the beautiful beaches, sleep in fine linens under down and on top of our feather beds. Maybe you will be held captive by a big Pacific storm by one of the fireplaces or maybe the weather will be warm and sunny! Wander the Discover Trail and look for whales from the North Head Lighthouse or the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, dine out in our fabulous restaurants, take naps and soak in our brand new hot tub! Before somebody else grabs the chance, make your reservation now! If you book online, just request all of the Inn’s guest rooms, put in the three nights you would like to request and mention the Ready-Made Christmas Special and we will adjust the cost! Or feel free to call us at 888-842-8069. www.boreasinn.com This offer is not valid with gift certificates and there is a 30-day cancellation policy. We will hold the first night (plus tax) as deposit. Make your request soon!!!
Odell Hathaway, one of our most devoted friends and fans of Boreas Inn took this video of our brand new spa at dawn on the 3rd of September! So this is truly the Dawn of Boreas Inn’s New Hot Tub. Odell is so clever! The Space Odyssey music just fits!
Our Brand New Spa--Come Bubble Your Troubles Away!
The tub new spa is a bit smaller than our older one and very roomy for our “couples” only soaking. There are three seats, including two side-by-side recliners, 36 jets (!) and beautiful revolving underwater colors, if you like a little light. It’s hard to get a good picture of the new spa unless you dangled from the gazebo ceiling! The tub is made by Cal Spa’s division “OC Hot Tubs”. I thought Orange County motorcycles were gorgeous, but this spa is pretty lush! Bill and I tried it out on Thursday night and it was just perfect. The operations and materials are quite “green” and so far, our guests say they love the new spa. So in addition to fine regional cuisine, the most comfortable beds, and extra special whatever we can think of for our guests, we now have a new spa with a beautiful view. The ex-spa works fine–and we’re looking for a home for it. It sprung a leak around a seal (we think) but other than that, it works fine. So if one of our former guests would like it, we can arrange for that to happen. You will have to haul it away! It was very sad to see it leave the gazebo (and quite a project to get it out of there!)
Our favorite shot of the Dec. 19, 2008 snowfall from the Garden Suite.
Kitties are Angels with Attitude is our favorite decorating party gift given by Cindy (Zikes) and Robert Davis.
The Boreas Hearth glows with warmth and holiday lights!
We have hosted over a dozen holiday open houses for our locals each year.
We will be having a full house at Boreas Inn this weekend. The inn will be bustling full of Santa’s helpers! Each year, our loyal guests come to Boreas on the first weekend of December to work and eat (and get a free night!) and make the Inn beautiful for the holidays. We drag out the decorations and make the tree (this year a perfect Noble Fir) beautiful. We call it a Hanukkah Bush/Christmas Tree to be inclusive! We will not be holding our traditional Open House on the second weekend of the year, but will be open for informal tours and will hopefully be finding a time when the Long Beach Peninsula Visitor’s Bureau volunteers can come to Boreas for a Open House to thank them for their work! Cindy and Robert Davis, Walter and Tracey Voll, Fred Humphrey, Odell Hathaway, Su and Ray Benson are among long-time Boreas friends and loved ones. Jessica and Chris Miller will also be helping out. Chris is the new school district psychologist and Jessica is a teacher who helped us out over the summertime. They moved here in June from Colorado and we have adopted them. We are looking forward to the decorating, the potluck and the company. So come see Boreas Inn decorated for the holidays. We have rooms open for Christmas and for our New Years three day holiday weekend. Take advantage of our “Walk-in” Special rate for all of December and January, except for one night over New Years’ when you will pay our regular price for that night. We have included our Annual Dungeness Crab Cake and Champagne Breakfast for New Years’ Day! Make your reservations now! We would love to see you!
Bill and I have beautiful and unique guests at Boreas Inn, of that, there is no doubt. Do they come for our stuffed pears, our buttery pastries, great coffee, wild mushroom and smoked sturgeon fritattas? Sure they do. Do they come for a dreamy nights’ sleep on glorious beds? Yep–they do. Great views, laughter, open space and us, the silly innkeepers….uh huh. But do our guests come to entertain us with exceptional music played just for us at the breakfast table? Very very seldom… Today was such a treat for us. David and Dana Berge, after knowing each other for 30 years, decided to marry last month. They came to Boreas for one night, last night, as part of their ongoing honeymoon. (So sweet!!) We didn’t know they were talented musicians and played music with our treasured local resident (well, now he lives across the river…), Hobe Kytr. Dave Berge and Hobe recorded a CD called “Dog Salmon and Rutabagas, Songs of the Northwest“. This morning Dana and Dave sang and played “Fisherman’s Life” and “Ilwaco Town” and another fine piece on their autoharps. They held a private concert just for Bill and me, impromptu! We were entranced with the picking and the strumming, the beautiful lyrics, and the fact that the music they played for us have meaning to where we live and who we are. Then, winning our hearts even more, they graciously gave us one of the CD’s. It was a wonderful trade–we were rewarded by the generosity and grace of these two lovely and talented guests who have found love with each other–we cooked them a great breakfast and gave them a good nights’ rest–they played beautiful music together. Such a nice morning. We are grateful to have them as new friends and thankful to Hobe Kytr for sending these very special newlyweds our way. Thank you, Hobe, thank you!
Dave and Dana play Songs of the Northwest for Susie and Bill
It was the second weekend of May and we needed comic relief (apparently!). Some folks think we’re sort of picky about what we serve for breakfast at Boreas Bed and Breakfast Inn. This picture tells you everything! I told our guests that weekend about our dear guest, Tosh, who many years ago visited Boreas Inn with her husband for the International Kite Festival week. When confronted with the apparently, ominous, three-course breakfast we were about to serve her, she asked for cereal. (I’m certain that I looked surprised!) Always aiming to please our guests at whatever personal sacrifice, I had a box of Crispix cereal at our house, so I ran over and got it and served her a bowl of cereal with fresh raspberries. The next day, she got the Crispix and one course of our breakfast, and the third day, she tossed in the towel and denied herself the Crispix altogether and ate the entire breakfast with gusto and continued to enjoy the feasts for the balance of the week.
Hearing the story that fun weekend in May, guests Steve and Amy Hughes and returning guest Karen Carpenter(always with a mischievous glint in her eye) and her daughter, Lori Anne, teamed up to prank Bill and me the next morning. We arrived to cook breakfast and on everyone’s plate was a box of cereal. On our cooktop was a box of Crispix. I swear that our laughter woke everyone up that morning. (Not a bad way to wake up!) We have always said that on April Fools Day, we’re going to get a McDonald’s bag and fill it with goodies and serve it as a first course. But, again, we’re just too picky about what we serve for breakfast at Boreas Inn! The morning of the prank, I went to our house and guess what I had for breakfast! That little box of Crispix!
The Hughes and the Carpenters Prank Susie and Bill
Well, finally, things seemed back to normal at Boreas Inn–we had a wonderfully busy long weekend with lovely guests. The weather was glorious, the stars were brilliant each night, and the Long Beach Peninsula was looking beautiful.
Over the last two nights, we had a couple staying in The Dunes Suite on their honeymoon. Around our age, these two amazing people were in so many ways very inspiring to us. (This is one of the real rewards of this work–we get to meet phenomenal people!) Alan has metastatic prostate cancer, is solid and hopeful and that helped us to be as optimistic as he is! He is totally in love with his new wife, Susan, who is like an old friend. After the wedding, she tripped and dislocated her left ring finger (I think), and of course, she’s left-handed. Her hand was swollen and very painful. In spite of all the challenges, they were extremely gracious with us and so very loving with each other. How fortunate that they found each other and graced Boreas. Alan, as it turns out, is a most talented photographer. Yesterday, he caught an eagle in a classic pose down in the wetlands area at Beard’s Hollow at Cape Disappointment State Park. I tried to to copy the eagle image he sent me, but the format couldn’t copy so I will ask him to re-send the photographs as attachments. He loves taking pictures of flowers–and I may copy some of those onto a blog when I get a chance. Alan and Susan will be back to celebrate their first anniversary next year. Hopefully they will be back sooner!
The Chocolate Lover’s Dinner at The Depot Restaurant was phenomenal this past weekend. Our guests loved it! I forgot to bring home a menu. The specialty dinners at our local restaurants never cease to amaze me. We had an early Valentine’s dinner there on Friday night to celebrate Bill’s birthday, which was marred by his fracturing his right ankle on the 10th. It’s as swollen as Susan’s left hand. He will get more x-rays tomorrow and find out the prognosis.
Now for a bit of trivia about one of the most frequently asked questions at Boreas. For those of you who don’t know why Cape Disappointment and the Columbia River was so named, here’s the explanation courtesy of Washington State Parks. In 1788, while in search of the Columbia River, English Captain John Meares missed the passage over the river bar and named the nearby headland Cape Disappointment for his failure in finding the river. In 1792, American Captain Robert Gray successfully crossed the river bar and named the river “Columbia” after his ship, the Columbia Rediviva. Only a few years later, in 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived at Cape Disappointment. So now you have the real story!
