I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir, since I suppose people who check out these websites are people who already frequent B&B's. I was not one of those.
I was the person who vacations at the only spot my high maintenance husband will lodge, The Four Seasons in Kona.
So how does a girl from Calabasas, CA end up at Rachel's B&B in Annapolis? This girl grew up in St. Louis, MO. I had not been to the city since my father's passing 5 years ago.
I grew up in a HUGE 13 room house on Flora Place by the Missouri Botanical Gardens. That house was the meeting place for my sisters and I and the families we made for over 40 years.
With daddy and the house gone, there would never be a place that could feel like home again. So when my oldest sister started talking about a family reunion to celebrate our mother's 85th birthday,
she received a lack luster response. When all of my excuses failed, she suggested we try a place where we could all gather, a place she had visited before, Rachel's Bed & Breakfast.
I dreaded the drive, after flying 4 hours to get to Lambert Airport. I dreaded the beds that I was sure would be uncomfortable and the noise that I was sure would keep me from sleeping even with my
Advil PM. What kind of a room would accommodate me and my 10 year old triplets? I was pleasantly surprised! There was no traffic on the simply beautiful country roads, that would eventually be lit by
something familiar from my childhood that my kids had NEVER seen. FIREFLIES! There was a beautiful breeze as the kids compared the smell of country to the golf course in Kona. I could have driven all night,
were it not for how wonderful and welcoming everything was at the B&B from the moment we arrived. There on this quiet little street, in the little town of Annaoplis, sits a veranda I had only seen on
book covers or in movies. There was a sign welcoming our family as we pulled in. We were greeted by our hosts Sharon and Joe Cluck (who named the B&B after their youngest daughter Rachel).
Immediately you're feeling as though you couldn't feel more welcomed unless you were written into a scene from the Waltons. Aside from running a spotless, yet warm and inviting B&B, they are also eager
to tell you all the water fun and history of their quaint town. Our room was on the second floor. The kids loved the jaccuzzi. I loved the private entrance, the fact that there wasn't a trace of cigarette smoke anywhere,
the beds were as comfortable as my temprepedic mattress at home and considering my entire, very loud family was spread throughout the house, I never heard them once I had shut my bed at night.
Kids were playing piano in the parlor and it couldn't be heard upstairs. We slept some days until 9am though others had been up having their first cup of coffee on the veranda by 6:30.
Luxury hotels are not this quiet. When we did surface, I had never enjoyed being barefoot so much. The carpet was like butter. The downstairs smelled of coffee and bacon. All of the food was AMAZING! especially the dinners.
I had the most amazing shrimp one night followed by BBQ the next. My suburban kids enjoyed many firsts: Catching lightning bugs (and letting them go), catching crawdads, swimming in a river that you could float in without a raft,
watching a thunderstorm from the front porch, but mostly they got to wrestle on the floor with cousins, lay their head in their grandma's lap and sit around in a huge living room or front porch telling stories with the rest of their huge family.
They saw their grandma and aunts dancing on the back deck the way they had with their grandpa. They heard them sing songs that he taught them while sitting around the living room. I'm quite sure that Rachel's B&B is a very
romantic spot for a wedding, big enough for a graduation, the spot you would want to be for Christmas or Hannukkah or any holiday for that matter. But this time, for this family, it provided us with A HOME that felt every bit as
welcoming as the one we grew up in...only much quieter if you chose to be in peace and the food and service was WAY BETTER...(no offense to my mother). If you're planning a trip to the midwest you really should check out Rachel's Bed & Breakfast.
You can thank me later!
Rikki Fortson
Calabasas, CA