Louie's New Ride

It was a sad day at the Addison when One-Eyed Louie moved out. We feared we would never see him again as he now lives too far away to run to work and he can't drive or ride a bike (the whole no opposable thumbs evolutionary thing). That all changed today with the introduction of Louie's Limo, his new pull-behind ride.

We took him on a test ride today. He was OK getting into his limo and sat nicely while he was pulled around the block behind the bike. He was trembling a bit at first but got used to it quite quickly and now hops in and out easily. The front screen door zips up to keep him safely inside and has a plastic window in case of rain.

Now One-Eye can come to work every day and hang out with Maggie Doone and life at the inn is as it should be.

Business Is Slow But We Are Busy!

As I said last week, January is a slow month here in Fernandina Beach. Maybe something to do with the weather (72 and sunny today)? So what do we do when business is slow? We get busy!


This week we've got a couple of Repeat Offenders with us for a few days. They are both interior designers with "chair in the air designs, inc." (404-851-0000) out of Atlanta. Shannon loves interior design, as any past guests will recognize, and really hit it off with Deborah and Tammi. This afternoon they are tearing apart the living room and taking a second look at what we originally put together when we bought the inn. Over the next couple of days they will be going through the inn, room by room, looking at redecorating ideas for updating the decor and the colors. I sense that my To Do List will be enormous over the next few months. It is a good thing that I like painting. I find it very therapeutic and relaxing when given the time.

What else are we doing? Odie is power washing all of the lower level decks today and once they dry off we will put down a wood preserver. Starting next week we will be washing all of the exterior windows. When you own a 134year-old house there is always something to do and if you don't keep on top of the maintenance it will get away from you.

My favorite thing to do, of course, when business is slow is to exhale and relax. Maggie Doone and I went down to the Green Turtle this afternoon and had a cold beer while sitting on the front porch. The water view is minimal from the porch (you really have to look closely between the trees to see the water) but it is a nice spot in which to sit in the sun and contemplate the enormity of my To Do List.

A Few Days Later And Winter Is Over!

My neighbor George, who has lived in Fernandina Beach all of his 62 years, says that this was the worst winter he has ever seen. We had 5 or 6 nights of freezing temperatures and even lost a few ferns to frost damage. You know it is cold when both myself and our mailman are wearing long pants.


That cold weather is now but a distant memory. We are back to serving breakfast out on the veranda and will have Happy Hour out there again as well. Maggie Doone and I just got back from a brisk walk down to the marina and back and we are both plenty warmed up. The sun is out, the high clouds are moving fast in the wind and we are looking forward to a gorgeous afternoon.


January is a slow month here so we take the opportunity to relax a little or paint some guest rooms. The only big excitement for us has been the arrival of our Latte Mugs for the gift shop. Not that we serve lattes but the mugs are nice and are big enough to be a soup bowl too.

Even though we are slow in January we still do have several guests over the weekend. Some people like to avoid the crowds and travel in the off season. Tomorrow they are going on an Eco-Tour with Captain Carol and if the weather tomorrow is anything like today they are going to have a great time.


Today is Sunday and we all know what that means... wiener day for Maggie Doone at the Green Turtle and that big front porch of theirs is going to be a nice spot to relax in the sun this afternoon. I know some of you live where winter, snow and cold temperatures are still hanging on. If it gives you any comfort as you huddle in your parka feel free to live vicariously through me and imagine yourself on the front porch of the Turtle, enjoying the warm sunshine and a cold beer.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

The skies are clear and blue but it is cold outside! The overnight temperatures dropped below freezing the last couple of nights and we had some ice on the fountain this morning.

The high today will be around 40 degrees but starting tomorrow we'll be heading back towards 60 during the day.

Here's how cold it really is here: I'm wearing long pants. I had a hard time finding a pair but I'm wearing them. Cold weather or not, it is Sunday and I'll be taking Maggie Doone to the Turtle for her Sunday treat, a weiner. We'll just walk on the sunny side of the street.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Now that 2009 is done and I have had a couple of days to reflect on what I am about to write here I must say that 2010 is going to be better, much better, than 2009.

We at the Addison had a pretty good 2009. Our guests seem to like what we do and based on their comments we are the top-rated B&B in Florida on TripAdvisor.com and one of the Top Ten Overall B&Bs in the USA according the BedAndBreakfast.com. These two honors are especially meaningful to us because they are based solely on the number and positive quality of our guest reviews. For those of you who posted reviews in the last year... we thank you!

Another big step in the 2009 development of our inn was the recognition of the inn by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as a Green Lodging property. This means a lot to Shannon and myself and we both take our commitment to saving and protecting the environment seriously.

For me, however, there is an annual disappointment in the New Year. Back in the 60s and 70s I read Popular Science Magazine every month. We were promised great things back then. By the year 2000 we would have robots that cleaned our homes and cars that flew. What is the quote from the movie Back To The Future? Doc says "Where we are going we don't need roads!" And what did we get? Roomba, a vacuum cleaner that scoots around on the floor and scares the dogs and cars that are still stuck to the road. We are no closer to living the life of the Jetsons than we were then.

The biggest technological breakthrough that I waited for was the personal jetpack. I could see myself flying to work every day and zipping around on the weekends, high above the ground. Where is this that we were promised? The technology is clearly available as evidenced by this actual unretouched drawing (that is me on the left) from Popular Science magazine.

OK, so we don't have fusion technology that provides clean, safe energy that is affordable for everyone. Even some kind of small advance would be appreciated. Back in the 70s we had cars that got 30 and 40 miles per gallon. Now, 40 years later, we have hybrid cars that boast the same, or less, mileage.

My Grandmother lived to be 107 years old. She was born in 1898 in England and saw the advent of automobiles, telephones and air travel. It took her 3 months to emigrate from England to the west coast of Canada. She was born before the internet, reliable mail service and the modern shrimping industry. She saw all of this unfold before her eyes over a period of time that included three centuries. Amazing breakthroughs including the taming of electricity, modern antiseptic medical practices and indoor plumbing took place in her lifetime. What have we got? A 3G network that lets you get spam e-mail faster than ever before and the Atra-4 with a closer shave than ever imaginable.

So, with a new decade less than a year away, I implore the industrial and technological powers that be... Don't waste your energies on a smoother shave, a faster download or even a better Roomba. How about a car that gets 100 miles per gallon of water or fusion energy that can power a city from the contents of an average compost pile? Or better yet, dude, where's my jetpack?

Again, thank you to all of our guests in 2009, we hope to see you all again soon! Happy New Year.

The Christmas Pig

A few weeks back (see post of 6-Dec-09 for details) I requested that if anyone felt compelled to buy me a gift for Christmas that I would appreciate donations towards a pig. The pig would be sent overseas to be given to some family in need. They would raise it, breed it and eventually eat the pig.


This was to be no ordinary pig. This was to be a terrorist fighting pig. To paraphrase a friend of mine:

To eliminate terrorism we have to elimiate the roots - poverty and lack of education - all of those things that lead to fear and hopelessness. To get a peacefull world we must fill people's basic needs so that they stop fearing survival and start thinking, and participating in, a constructive society. If we do this then those who sow hate will gradually fade because they won't be able to find constituents.

The response was overwhelming and my friends and family donated enough to buy almost two pigs. For those who contributed, I thank you. I'll top up the donation list so that two full pigs will be ready to go fight terrorism. A half a pig isn't much of a fighter.

The pigs will end up at some poor family's farm, maybe in Honduras or in Thailand. The people will feed it rotten yams and garden scraps and the pig will thrive. Some day a few years from now they will kill the pigs and eat them. And the world may be a better place. Thanks again to those who contributed.

Florida Green Lodging Certification

We have had more big news here at the Addison this week. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has recognized the Addison with a Green Lodging Certification. Several of the bigger hotels on the island have achieved this designation but we are the first B&B on the island to be recognized as a Green Lodging business.

Everything we do at the inn has some element of environmental thought put into it, from cleaning product and amenity selection to maintenance and landscaping. We recycle everything we can and we encourage our guests to do so as well by placing recycle bins in the guest rooms. Our Environmental Practices are on our web site and we do take them seriously.

We minimize the need for little bars of soap and little bottles of shampoo by placing dispensers of soap, shampoo and conditioner in most guest rooms. How big of an impact do the little bars and bottles have on the environment? The B&Bs in one of our northern states used to donate all of the once used bottles and bars to their State prison system. After a few months they were asked to stop as the prisoners had all they could ever use.


As Kermit sang "It's not easy being green". There is a balance between totally green practices and the provision of a luxury guest experience. We could reduce our propane consumption by reducing the temperature at our hot water tanks but that would diminish the bathing experience in our water guzzling double-sixed jaccuzi tubs. We ask our guests to consider re-use of the towels but we always have fresh, thirsty Turkish cotton towels on hand. We also provide make-up removal cloths that are washable and do not require bleaching

All of these small efforts at reducing consumption, recycling where possible and re-using what we can do make an impact on the carbon footprint of our inn but what I'd really like to do is something that makes a big impact. We have looked at a few projects and I like the solar water heater the best. We have a big south-facing roof that is out of street view and is right above our hot water tanks. The project would reduce our consumption of propane by about 1800 gallons per year. The solar water heating system would pay for itself in 4 years even without government grants, rebates and tax credits. Unfortunately, you have to spend the money up front in order to get the payback later and that is where we are stuck right now.

Meanwhile though, we continue to monitor our energy usage, reduce our consumption and recycle what we can. If any of you have some good ideas about Green Lodging that you would like to share with us please let me know. We are committed to continued improvement in our practices and we would like to hear any new ideas.