Recommended B & B's by Hallauer House

From a previous post, I wrote about our youngest daughter going off to the Coast Guard Boot Camp at Cape May, NJ. Well, she graduated on Feb. 29th and is already at her first station on the Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk out of Key West, Fl. She wrote that it is sunny and 84 degrees! And here we are enduring cold and snow!

Anyway, on our way to her graduation, Joe and I took a mini vacation along I76 to explore Gettysburg, Philadelphia, and Cape May itself, staying at bed and breakfasts along the way. And in this post I would like to highly recommend the two that we stayed at. After enduring the horrendous Philadelphia 2 hour traffic jams along I76 and I676, we finally arrived at the downtown Thomas Bond House Bed & Breakfast.
We were greeted at the door by Tim and Dan who welcomed us, showed us around the common areas and then up to our room. After we were settled, they offered us wine and cheese in the parlor where we shared stories about inkeeping and the historical locals of Philly. The breakfast was fantastic and the conversation lively. If you are going to Phiadelphia, this is THE place to stay, within walking distance of everything important! Thank you Tim and Dan for an Inn well done!

And then off to Cape May, NJ where we checked into The Bacchus Inn on Columbia Ave.
Here we were warmly greeted by Lisa who introduced us to the Inn and then offered us a welcome array of cheese, crackers, cookies, and more wine! We met John, Lisa's other half, a few hours later and enjoyed a lively conversation about numerous topics related to innkeeping and Cape May itself. The next day when we experienced major car trouble, John assurred us that he would get us to the Coast Guard gradaution on time. As it turned out, we ended up renting a car while ours was in the garage, but John and Lisa have to be commended for coming to our aid, showing us great hospitality, and letting us have a late check-out after retrieving our repaired car!

To all of these Innkeepers we say "Thank You!" The food was fantastic, the conservations lively, the local information most helpful, and the friendliness most appreciated. And to all of you tourists and vacationers who may be heading to Philadelphia or Cape May, you will not be disappointed while staying at either the Thomas Bond House Bed & Breakfast or The Bacchus Inn!

It's a Blizzard!

If you're not in Ohio this weekend, you are missing a real snow blizzard! It began yesterday (Friday) around 11:00 AM here in Oberlin and is predicted to last until 4:00 AM on Sunday! Now it is blowing and causing drifts and when all is said and done, we should end up with well over 20 inches! Airport, shopping malls, libraries, just about everything is closed or canceled except the Cavaliers
basketball game and the Playhouse Square production of 'Wicked' in downtown Cleveland. The snow is quite a site to see and a lot of fun for some but when it comes time to clear the driveway it is a real bummer! Oh where is spring?

The pictures taken at Hallauer House show the snow but with the drifting and blowing, it's not as deep as it would be. We can only hope that the sun will come out tomorrow and melt it all away!

History Buff's Take Note!

One of the most popular packages that we offer here at Hallauer House B & B in Oberlin is the History Buff Package and one of the things received in that package is the book "The Town That Started the Civil War"
by Nat Brandt. So mark your calendar now and make plans to visit Oberlin in mid April when Nat Brandt will be presenting several programs co-sponsored by the Oberlin College Archives and the Oberlin Heritage Center in partnership with the Oberlin Wellington Rescue Coalition. His visit will be the kick-off to a series of events planned throughout the year on the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue. Mr. Brandt will speak about his newest book, In the Shadow of the Civil War: Passmore Williamson and the Rescue of Jane Johnson. at the Oberlin Public Library on Friday, April 11th at 4 p.m. There will be a book signing after the talk.

Then on Sat., April 12th at 2:00 p.m., Nat Brandt will present Oberlin's Finest Hour and How It Resonates Today: Reflections on the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue of 1858. This presentation will take place at First Church in Oberlin, 106 North Main St. and will be followed by a reception and book signing.


April is a very busy month in Oberlin with students returning for final decisions, so if you are really interested in delving into Civil War history, now would be a good time to make your accommodations at Hallauer House B & B for that weekend. Enjoy our History Buff Package and receive your personal copy of "The Town That Started the Civil War." Then take your new book and have it signed by the Author! And remember to mark your calendars to be here in September for the re-enactment of the Oberlin -Wellington Rescue. More info on that coming later!

"Baby It's Cold Outside!!!!"

Last night the temperatures began to drop and finally stopped when it reached 2 degrees but the wind chill made it feel about 10 below! It's now 11 degrees! We've had some heat problems recently in our private section of the B & B, all related to our natural gas well. Everyone is always fascinated when we tell them we have FREE heat in the downstairs of our house because the furnace, stove, and hot water heater are fed from our private gas well 1000 feet underground! The well was put in in the 1960's and has served us faithfully for 16 years. But in Jan. the gas all of a sudden stopped. Finding a gas well repair person was no easy task but after serveral phone calls we found someone who would come out. He found water in the well and managed to bail it out down to 850 feet and then discovered that it had developed holes below that allowing more water to come in. He sent us to another
driller who could go deeper and he said we needed to pack the well and install new pipe as it had collasped at the bottotm! So in order to have hot water, we had to install a supplemental electric water heater and we are still waiting for the driller to insall the new pipe. I think that all the money we have saved over the years getting our "free" gas has been eaten up with the cost of repairing the well! But with the cost of propane (we can't get Columbia gas in the country) we figured we can still recoup the repair cost. Let's hope so! I'll write an update when we start getting our gas back! The guest bedrooms are quite warm and toasty, there is plenty of hot water so the B & B is still running smoothly. It is just our private areas that can get a little chilly.