That’s a little levity for this Saint Patrick's Day blog. Kathleen and I stayed at the Wild Iris Inn B&B in La Conner, WA over the weekend and I kept thinking of that darned song.
The Wild Iris Inn was awesome; big beautiful rooms - some with fireplaces and spas, the food was excellent, the hosts Laurie and Steve were very gracious (hope I've spelled their names correctly) and the price was right. I give the Wild Iris my highest recommendation. La Conner is a quaint little tourist trap on the Swinomish Channel, which feeds into the Puget Sound. The town and the surrounding Skagit Valley host an annual tulip festival featuring fields and fields of colorful flowers. If you go there you’ll be glad you did. Try to book your stay at the Wild Iris Inn.
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| The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in April features acres of blooms |
I don’t know about anybody else but I love B&Bs. I’ve yet to stay in one where I didn’t thoroughly enjoy myself. I especially like the ones where you sit around a large dining table with other guests to eat your meal. You meet some really interesting people that way.
My first experience with a B&B was in London. The place I stayed wasn’t foo-foo plushy like so many of them are today. I had to share a bathroom down the hall with other guests, the toilet paper reminded me of waxed paper, there was no big-screen TV (of course this was in 1975) and the breakfast was basic eggs and bacon and toast. One drawback of that place? I learned after slathering a big spoonful of marmalade on my toast that the English didn’t sweeten their marmalade. Eeeeyuck!. I had a good time though.
I stayed at a bed & breakfast, owned by the flying Karamozov Brothers, in Port Townsend, WA one time too. That was fun although I never got to meet the famous jugglers themselves. One B&B Kathleen remembers fondly is one we stayed in at Ashland, OR, when we attended the Shakespeare Festival. We also stayed in a B&B in Napa, CA, that had formerly been a wine cellar. That was cool. A really pleasant surprise was one in Dayton, WA, where we spent a weekend while we explored the nearby Walla Walla wine country.
I’d almost always rather stay in a bed a breakfast inn than a regular motel. We like so-called “boutique" hotels, like The Heathman in downtown Portland, OR and the Mayflower in downtown Seattle too, but we don’t always want to visit the big city and stay in a pricey hotel.
The Wild Iris Inn was very reasonably priced I thought. The original concept of a B&B (started in Europe) was that they would be an inexpensive accommodation where intrepid travelers could rest their weary heads and enjoy a little fellowship with a friendly family. That idea kind of went astray once greedy American hosts got hold of it. I’ve seen B&Bs here that are so filled with “cool,” artsy-fartsy, supposedly romantic crap that they totally lose their charm and the owner(s) feel justified in charging a really exorbitant price for a night’s stay. It was refreshing to come across a gem like The Wild Iris.
My first experience with a B&B was in London. The place I stayed wasn’t foo-foo plushy like so many of them are today. I had to share a bathroom down the hall with other guests, the toilet paper reminded me of waxed paper, there was no big-screen TV (of course this was in 1975) and the breakfast was basic eggs and bacon and toast. One drawback of that place? I learned after slathering a big spoonful of marmalade on my toast that the English didn’t sweeten their marmalade. Eeeeyuck!. I had a good time though.
I stayed at a bed & breakfast, owned by the flying Karamozov Brothers, in Port Townsend, WA one time too. That was fun although I never got to meet the famous jugglers themselves. One B&B Kathleen remembers fondly is one we stayed in at Ashland, OR, when we attended the Shakespeare Festival. We also stayed in a B&B in Napa, CA, that had formerly been a wine cellar. That was cool. A really pleasant surprise was one in Dayton, WA, where we spent a weekend while we explored the nearby Walla Walla wine country.
I’d almost always rather stay in a bed a breakfast inn than a regular motel. We like so-called “boutique" hotels, like The Heathman in downtown Portland, OR and the Mayflower in downtown Seattle too, but we don’t always want to visit the big city and stay in a pricey hotel.
The Wild Iris Inn was very reasonably priced I thought. The original concept of a B&B (started in Europe) was that they would be an inexpensive accommodation where intrepid travelers could rest their weary heads and enjoy a little fellowship with a friendly family. That idea kind of went astray once greedy American hosts got hold of it. I’ve seen B&Bs here that are so filled with “cool,” artsy-fartsy, supposedly romantic crap that they totally lose their charm and the owner(s) feel justified in charging a really exorbitant price for a night’s stay. It was refreshing to come across a gem like The Wild Iris.
The one big drawback for me when traveling these days is the fact that we can’t always take Sam with us. I worried about him and missed him this whole past weekend. Man! It’s as bad as leaving your kid at the babysitters. Thank God for Debbie Reintzell and her staff at Top Dog Day Care. I'm now looking for a bed and breakfast camper for my truck.
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