Perhaps the greatest thing about being innkeepers is meeting people from all over the world and sharing stories about our families, customs, traditions, jobs, hobbies, and yes even politics. During our 8 years at the Apple Bin Inn, we have hosted guests from 45 U.S. states... and last week we achieved our own milestone of welcoming visitors from 50 foreign countries! Our 5 most frequent are Australia, Canada, England, Germany, and France, and rounding out our top 10 are Italy,
Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland, and Ireland. And last year we completed our list of "All 7 Continents" when we had a guest who actually lives much of the year in Antarctica (he told us the only inhabitants who live there longer than him are the penguins)! Our son, Dylan, also enjoys meeting our international guests, and these experiences certainly enhance his 3-year participation in his high school's "Model United Nations" organization.
Okay... for the curious among you, here's our full list of 50 visiting countries, listed alphabetically... Antarctica, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Latvia, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Virgin Islands, and Wales.
We hope to keep the list of states and countries growing, so if you live anywhere on Earth, we look forward to welcoming you to Lancaster County and the Apple Bin Inn!
The holidays are such a special time for our family, and also for our B&B guests! This week we had a wonderful family from Australia staying with us. They had asked if there was some holiday tradition that they could share with us during their stay, and we thought that making our annual Christmas cookies would be the perfect fun activity for us all. Jamie prepared a large batch of cookie dough the night before, so we were all set for some baking magic when the Kelly family arrived. After Sarah, Emma, Austin, and Lizzie donned their aprons, everyone got their hands covered with flour, as we rolled out the dough and began using our myriad of cookie cutters. Cookie sheets rotated into and out of the ovens, as the pile of baked cookies grew. Next we moved into the dining room, where colored icing and sprinkles had been prepared for decorating. The artistry of children is always an amazing sight, and this evening was no exception. Their mom, Jo, even added her touch of whimsy to the festivities. Of course the best part came at the end, as cookies were gobbled up by everybody. Finally, it was time for the Kellys to retire to the Braeburn Cottage, where we had a 4-foot Christmas tree waiting for them to decorate with some of our traditional family ornaments. We hope that we gave this delightful family some lasting holiday memories of their time at the Apple Bin Inn... we'll certainly remember our time with them fondly. Happy holidays to our family, friends, and guests, wherever in the world they may be!
