Fall is good for Innkeepers

Week after week, the beautiful fall weather keeps coming. I guess this is in payment for the 9 weeks of oppressive weather we lived through this summer. I can never remember that long a spell of heat without rain, and now I cannot remember a fall this pleasant.

One of the privileges of being an innkeeper is the quiet time spent in the old house between guests, and with special guests we love. My favorite times of the day are mid-morning, when the guests are just finishing breakfast and often want to sit and talk and then again at sunset, sitting on the back porch waiting on arrivals, sipping my favorite wine and contemplating life. The same things that bring our guests contentment, brings me contentment, and the atmosphere of the Walnut Street Inn still does it for me.

I do get a chance to slip away to the Ozark hills now and then. Three times during this stretch of perfect fall weather I wandered off, twice alone, and once with my “first friend” Kim. I’ll post some pictures here of those trips and the majesty of the Ozarks. The top one is from Truman Lake, close to Warsaw, MO. I was all set up on a bluff photographing the night sky when the northern sky turned a glorious red. A sun spot caused the aurora borealis to be visible all the way down to me here in central Missouri. Another thing checked off my bucket list.

I have traveled the world, and been to 49 states and have enjoyed the natural beauty that is inherent in this good ole USA, but nothing touches my soul like the Ozark hills and streams. For years I have wondered what that draw, that connection was. I think I have puzzled it out for me. It is the perspective of the Ozarks.

I can appreciate the Rockies, marvel at the high deserts, and wonder at the ocean’s power, but when walking along a spring-fed stream in the Mark Twain National Forest I feel at home, at peace. The size of the river, the height of the trees, the distance to the horizon, the amount of sky that is exposed; all these things add to the perspective that is the Ozarks. It feels grand, but not overwhelming, open and inviting yet enclosed enough to feel friendly and comforting. One knows for every hill there is a valley, and for every valley there is a stream, for every vista there is a canyon. The predictability of the forest is a comfort. It is like an old friend. I walk along, singing a song as old as the hills and one to which I know all the words. Even the smells of the forest each season are inherent in me. My father once said it was because all our water ran through limestone passages in the Ozarks. We drank that water all of our formative years, so we have limestone in our blood.

Maybe that is why I feel at home, sitting on a limestone bluff overlooking an Ozark vista. Maybe that is why I have settled here when “here” could have been so many other places. I am grateful I found that connection. I fervently hope you find your place for contentment as well.



Click below to view my videos:

One of my favorite places in the Ozarks, Greer Spring

A quiet place to get away, McCormack Lake, northern Organ County, Missouri

Gary at Walnut Street Inn

900 E Walnut StreetSpringfield, MO 65806
Info: 417-864-6346
Reservations: 800-593-6346
Visit our web site at: walnutstreetinn.com

Time again for Artsfest on Historic Walnut Street!

It is time for Artsfest again! This is a "reblog" of one posted last May, right after the festival, but updated to be correct for this year's festival. I just wanted to remind you of this wonderful street festival that takes place right in front of the Walnut Street Inn. Read on!

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Springfield, Missouri, spring isn’t spring until Artsfest. This urban street celebration of all kinds of art, from theater to photography, marks the beginning of a wonderful time to be in the city. Trees and flowers are in bloom, nights are cool and refreshing, and the days are just warm enough to get out the shorts and find the sunscreen. Artsfest celebrated its 30th year this past weekend. We are so lucky to have this Arts fair take place right in front of the Walnut Street Inn. With the beautiful weather this year, estimates were that over 20,000 folks each day wandered Historic Walnut Street, purchased plants, paintings, jewelry, and sculptures, listened to amazing music, and of course, tasted their way around the world with great food!

My Artsfest staples are smoky bratwurst and corn on the cob, but this year, along with those, I added Indian food from Gem of India, one of our favorite restaurants for Sunday brunch. The corn guy challenged me to try something different from my normal butter, salt and pepper, and Cajun seasoning. He recommended the hot corn on the cob be lightly covered with mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, dribbled with lemon juice, and sprinkled liberally with chili seasoning....Okay, I’m game. It was delicious, but I went back later for a traditional ear just to be sure.

I love to walk the busy streets. I always run into friends I haven’t seen since last year’s Artsfest, or maybe not since college. Four stages of music (including one on the front lawn of the Walnut Street Inn) give you plenty of musical variety until you run into that old friend. Our Walnut Street Inn guests walk the street, select their lunch, then retire to the back porch of the Inn for a picnic under the umbrellas. After lunch, they often go off to their rooms for an early afternoon nap. When they wake, it is time for the three-block stroll through Artsfest again, to purchase that hand-made item you saw this morning.

As I wandered the street, I overheard snippets of conversation - “We can buy a bunch of stuff now, we are almost back to our car!”, “I have $1.40 left, I wonder what I can spend it on”, “That snake guy is back again this year! Yuck!”, “Did you see the belly dancers? I could do that!” “...and then I went, I could tell Heather if I wanted to, but she went, If you do, I’ll tell Dad...”, “ Do you think we could tie it to the roof of the car?”

I love Artsfest. The best of spring and Springfield get together for just a moment in time to celebrate the arts, celebrate the rebirth of the green planet and a plethora of reasons to be hopeful about the future. Our economy is still recovering, and our incomes may be low, but our spirits are high as we walk from booth to booth, from friend to friend. Artsfest reminds us that we are not in this alone. We are in this together, and with the help and support of each other, life will go on.

Artsfest is sponsored by the Springfield Arts Council and is always the first Saturday and Sunday of May, and It is always right in front of the Walnut Street Inn. For an opulent spring weekend, spend it with us! For updates on this May’s Artsfest: http://www.springfieldarts.org/artsfest

Gary at Walnut Street Inn

900 E Walnut StreetSpringfield, MO 65806

Info: 417-864-6346 Out of town

Reservations: 800-593-6346

Another Springfield "Hole-in-the-wall" - Pappy's Cafe

Note: This is a continuation of introductions of “hole-in-the-wall” restaurants in the Springfield area. My favorites, and I hope yours, are listed on Google Maps here.

Today is mid-week, mid-March, and the Inn is slow. Dan and I were headed to lunch, but a last minute change left me solo. I had already passed on the responsibilities of the Inn to Jessica, so I struck out alone. Barbecue pork from Pappy’s Place immediately came to mind, so off I went!

Pappy’s has been there pretty much unchanged since 1971. Paul Ankrom, with his wife Dorothy, owned and operated Pappy’s through 1978. I was in and out of college during those years, and would slip in to Pappy’s with friends and family for pork ribs when we could afford it; if not, just a cold, cheap beer, and a place to complain about our professors. In 1996, after being gone for 15 years chasing the corporate dream, we moved back to town to purchase the Walnut Street Inn. After a few years back in town, I wandered over to Pappy’s and found it not only still open, but it exactly the same!

Well, not exactly the same, the pay phone used to hang on the south wall, right over a table. If you were sitting at that table when someone needed to use the phone (this was well before cell phones), they would have to lean over your table across your food to reach the phone. Needless to say you were involved in the conversation whether you wanted to be or not! When I walked in, I immediately noticed the phone was gone and said to the bartender, “Hey! You moved the phone!” She looked at me like I was crazy and after a minute of thought, said “Well, yeah, we did… 20 YEARS AGO!”

Pappy’s is no bigger than your living room and often is full of the best and worst of society. Frequently, a blue haze of cigarette smoke hangs over the bar. It is small enough, and serves enough liquor to be exempt from our current smoking ban (that may change on April 5th when we vote again.) If you are like me, it is hard to sit and enjoy a meal if patrons at the tables around you are smoking, but this is one place I will put up with it to be able to reminisce, complain about the students, eat great barbecue, and drink cheap beer.

At one time in this part of the country, most bars and cafes were like Pappy’s. Now, this is one of the few remaining and should not be missed if you are a connoisseur of nostalgia. One thing to look out for if you sit at the bar is you may be taking the seat of a “regular” who comes in every day after work, so if a thirsty local is staring at you, don’t take it personally, just get up and move!

What should you have to eat? Well, I would recommend the smoked pork sandwich with gold BBQ sauce, served with half a plate of crinkle cut fries. I forgo the customary ketchup for the fries and go straight for the sweet red Pappy’s BBQ sauce as a dip. Or if you are really hungry, choose a large order of meaty pork ribs with two sides (baked beans and coleslaw for me) and bread (nothing but white.) I find the pork sandwich with the gold BBQ sauce is enhanced with a dollop of the regular red BBQ sauce squirted on each bite. Neither of the sauces is hot, but the flavor is wonderful and they sell both by the pint ($4.95) or the gallon ($21.95) for those “jonesin” for some Pappy’s flavor at home. I have a jar in the Inn refrigerator right now and will stir up some Pappy’s BBQ hashbrown potatoes as a side dish to any breakfast entree if you will just ask!

Want to know more before plunking down your hard earned $7 bucks for lunch? Well, they don’t have a website (those are not available in the early 70’s where this place stays) but you can see a bit more, and read the reviews at Urbanspoon.

On the front of their menu it says “Welcome to Pappy’s Place: It aint much, but we call it home. Where the beer is cold, the food superb, and the company divine.”

On the back of the menu is a paragraph that says “Happy Hacker Day! - Jim Hacker, the local hero here at Pappy’s. Doctors predicted him a goner in the late 70’s; Jim proved them wrong. Mr. Hacker came to Pappy’s 6 days a week for over 13 years. Jim passed on in the summer of ’93. We celebrate Jim every day and every year Hacker Day is December 23.”

I think that sums up who and what Pappy’s Place is. I hope it speaks to you as it always speaks to me.

You can find Pappy’s Cafe at 943 N Main, Springfield, Missouri. There (relocated) phone can be called at 417-866-8744.

Gary at Walnut Street Inn

900 E Walnut StreetSpringfield, MO 65806

Info: 417-864-6346

Reservations: 800-593-6346

Springfield “Hole-in-the-wall” fun places to eat!

I've always been a collector; not a collector of stuff, but of places and experiences - especially unique little family-run restaurants and cafes that make it year after year, not because of a good marketing plan, but because they do one or two things very well, and people seek them out.

An excellent example of that is Casper’s Chili Parlor, in a quonset hut straight out of WWII, just a few blocks west of the Walnut Street Inn. Casper Lederer opened on Walnut Street in 1909 and after moving twice has been back on Walnut Street for decades. Their "one thing right" is, as you would expect, chili; no beans to be seen, and surprisingly, no tomato product of any kind either. This chili is smooth, mild, and rib-ticklingly delicious! I almost always order a cup of chili with cheese and onions and a cheeseburger. The cup of chili comes on a platter with chili running over the entire lip of the cup, and if you wish (highly recommended) covered with cheddar cheese and finely chopped sweet onions and served with a basket of saltines. The cheeseburger is fully cooked (no rare burgers here!) on a hot grill and served on a grilled bun with just the correct amount of grease to make the bun shine in the neon lights, the burger slides down easily, and sends you looking for napkins. Fry cook Etta Mae Buckner has been cooking exactly the same way for the past 43 years.

All that gives me a reason to recommend it highly and go back often, but the atmosphere, employees, and second owner (Belinda Harriman) will be why I'm betting you’ll become a "Casper Regular.”

Casper’s is open, Monday through Friday, beginning the first Tuesday after Labor Day and closes for the summer the last Friday in May. Cash only, but I’ll bet Belinda would barter if you had something fun! In the 15 years I've been an innkeeper on Walnut Street, I have never gone into Casper’s and found Belinda absent. She is always there greeting, smiling, taking time to share a personal story, or listening to a regular's opinion on anything. She offers the pineapple-upside-down cake like it was gold, and is never discouraged if you pass it up.

That is just one of my collection, and what good is a collection if you don’t share it? I plan on introducing you to each of them over the next few months.

I’ve created a google map of several of my favorite Springfield “Hole-in-the-walls.” If I missed your favorite, please email me, and I will gladly check them out. The link below will take you to my map.

"Hole-in-the-wall”

I’m working on a fine dining map for downtown Springfield as well, and will post it here when it is ready to go.

Thanks for listening!

Gary at Walnut Street Inn

900 E Walnut StreetSpringfield, MO 65806

Info: 417-864-6346

Reservations: 800-593-6346

Being contented in January

I haven’t blogged in a while, but winter is here, we have passed the solstice and the time to contemplate our existence is nigh. It is January, the slowest time of the year. Nights are long and the reflection of the fireplace around the room dances hand in hand with thoughts of “what if’s” and “if onlys”.

The guests we have now are often seeking solitude, separation from their hectic life, and even distance from their children. Two months of “holidays” have depleted the emotional reserves of many. Our task is to offer a few short hours of contentment.

I have talked here of contentment before. It is our mantra, our goal every day to set the stage for our guests to find a little peace, a little love, a measure of understanding. If we do our jobs right, that place is the Walnut Street Inn. Whenever I have a blue day I go into one of the rooms, find a comfortable reading chair with good light, and read one of the Guest Journals. These are just books with empty pages; many guests are moved to record a thought. The next guest finds the journal and is moved by the words of the first to share a private thought or witness about his or her stay. Some praise their spouse for planning the retreat. Some share a poem or even draw a picture to record the moment. Some thank us for offering what they needed, that moment of contentment with their lives.

The need for public witnessing is in us all and is a way to clarify a thought, to solidify an emotion, live in the moment. By sharing it with strangers, we testify to the world of the love for our spouse, the peace of the moment, or whatever emotion is important to us. By sharing, it makes the moment more real, more important and eternal.

These guests’ words reassure me like a hug, and remind me of our purpose here and what our charge is each day. It points out, when we get it right, that we make a difference in our guests’ lives. We set the stage for stability to take root, for love to be rekindled, for peace to quiet the voices in our heads. It is still up to the guests to seek, and they come looking whether they know it or not. When they find it here, we sense their pleasure in the moment at the breakfast table, in the parlors, or soaking in the winter sun on the back porch. We see they have “landed,” if only for a short time, from the hectic life that we all lead out there in the real world.

I’ll share a few snippets here from one of the many journals that have been filled through the years, hoping you can understand what I am trying to say.

“We came in town for a wedding, but we will leave with a special set of memories all our own…”

“I always thought Bed & Breakfast Inns were for couples, but as a single person, I found that I felt less “alone” in this home away from home…”

“I am grateful tonight to be tucked in all warm and cozy. I’m grateful for the love of my family and friends; for my home, health and job. I am grateful for my faith…”

“It was only a few hours drive, yet I feel worlds away from the hectic everyday life of work/family. Just walking in the front door and being greeted…, you begin to relax and feel like you are in another world, like a dream come true.”

“I was completely taken away and surprised, both with the proposal and the lovely accommodations. Thanks Walnut Street Inn for a fantastic, memorable time.”

“There are some experiences in life that are so delectably succulent and infused with life and pleasure that you know, at the moment, this feeling, these impressions, the sensations of the experience will be with you forever, in good and in bad. …I am relaxed, mellowed, vibrating, exhilarated. Blessings to the folks who have created this lovely space. Kudos to the folks who invented that jet tub!”

Obviously these guests were in search of something when they came here. We are not the perfect place for all guests. We are not the most luxurious B&B in the country. But we do strive to be what our guests are looking for. And that, more often than not, is contentment.

Gary at Walnut Street Inn
900 E Walnut StreetSpringfield, MO 65806
Info: 417-864-6346
Reservations: 800-593-6346

While sitting in church this morning, I listened to the minister quoting an article in the New York Times about how small businesses were coping with the recession. The author broke them into two camps, those who “hunkered down” and tried to ride out the recession by cutting costs, delaying expenditures of any kind, and just waiting for things to improve, and secondly, those who continued to market and spend, although cutting costs where practical. As you can imagine, the second group, those who continued to market themselves, were the ones doing better during the recession.

This is the point where my concentration left the pulpit and wandered the two blocks back to the Inn…

How were we coping? Were we in the first group, hunkering down, or were we with the forward thinkers, marching ahead with guns ablazing in spite of reduced income? I had to answer, we are closer to the first “hunkerers” than the “blazers.” This recession has hit us hard. Our volume (occupancy) took a dive in July of 2008 and hasn’t recovered yet. Our average room cost (ADR) is down too, so not only do we have fewer guests, but those staying are spending less. I certainly don’t blame the guests. They are just reacting to their own financial situations, by coming less often, staying in less expensive rooms, or not coming at all.

We, as consumers, are doing the same thing. We have cut out wedding showcases, website listings that were weaker performers, dropped our membership in the Chamber of Commerce, have one fewer amenity in each room (now 4 bottles of bathroom supplies, not 5) and have limited the variety of cookies we place in guests’ rooms every night. To keep the pay to our employees up to acceptable level, we have had to cut our staff to the bone, and those remaining have had to step up and, through cross training, do more than one job.

Are we still marketing as strongly as in the past? Are we still innovators, trying new ways to reach the traveling public? Well, I can’t name one new innovation or one new marketing campaign that I have instigated during the past two years, so I would have to say we are “hunkerers” not “blazers.”

Speaking of burn-out (and unconsciously at least, I think I was), it seems to be rampant in the B&B industry right now, as well as many areas of small business and society. We (the collective we) have been through the toughest times most of us can remember. I do think there is a “new normal” that we all will have to adjust to. The freewheeling days of fast money and easy credit are gone. Small businesses, if they are still alive, are gasping for air and ready for a recovery; even a slow, minor one will be greatly appreciated.

As for my own burn-out, I don’t think I’m there yet (although my wife disagrees and mentioned it this morning as I left for work). Sometimes I feel like chucking it all, buying a trailer and living down by the river. Other times, after sitting on the back porch, talking to amazing guests that have incredible insight to so many things, I think, “This job is the best ever. Don’t tell anyone about it or everyone will want to do it!”

So what has this little aside into Sunday thought brought to me? A plethora of new exciting ideas? Courage to borrow tons of money and invest in growth? No, but it has awakened a desire to try new marketing campaigns this next year. I’ve got a few ideas, simmering on the back-burner. Maybe now is the time to turn up the heat, find the funds, and blaze into the new year, leading the charge into financial growth, storehouses be damned!

Gary at Walnut Street Inn900 E Walnut StreetSpringfield, MO 65806Info: 417-864-6346Reservations: 800-593-6346

I got my first "video thrill" yesterday

I got my first “video thrill" yesterday! A lady called and booked a three-night reservation for later this month, saying, "I saw your video on YouTube.” Wow! What a high! Advertising works! For those of you who have not found it, or I haven’t pestered into finding it via FaceBook, YouTube, or our website, the Walnut Street Inn now has an introductory video.

A year ago March, I attended a Bed and Breakfast Inns of Missouri (www.BBIM.org) workshop that finally pushed me over the top to get a video produced. I quickly traded rooms for video work with a local video company, thinking professional work would be the best. They gladly stayed at the Inn then went belly-up in the “Great Recession” before filming one scene.

That is when I discovered (not really “discovered” -- I knew it was there) the video button on my Canon PowerShot SX20 IS still camera, and started playing around with it. My first attempt was video taken on a float trip I took this spring with Cat, my daughter, and Emily, one of my daughters “by other parents.” (If you want to see it, it is posted on my personal FaceBook page and become a “FB friend”). It was fun, and I learned two things; You gotta compose horizontally for video (duh!), and you don’t have to narrate everything that is happening. Your audience can see what is happening. So for the Walnut Street Inn introductory video I did no voice-over, just music and the natural sounds of the Inn.

When I finished it and posted it for my FaceBook friends for feedback, I got a lot of good suggestions on how to improve it. Some of them I could incorporate right away; some will have to be done over time. Thanks to all who participated!

I launched the video, officially, last week, and if you haven’t seen it, I have attached it here, or you can find a link to it on Walnut Street Inn Facebook site, on the opening page of our website (www.walnutstreetinn.com), or by searching for “Walnut Street Inn” on YouTube.

The theory is that some of us are more visually stimulated than just with words or pictures. Movement and sound help us “complete the picture” in our minds of what the experience should be like. A combination of video and stills, along with written descriptions, should convey as accurately as possible what the “Walnut Street Inn” really is, and what it would be like to stay there. We are not for everyone, but the majority of folks who take the time to search us out come with a pretty good understanding of what we offer.

Yesterday when I checked a couple into the Jordan Room, the lady said, “This is exactly like I pictured it from your web site.” That is what we want; Truth in advertising. Better to underplay and surprise them with more than they expected than overplay your offerings and disappoint the guests. I’m hoping this video will do just that.

Now, if I can just find a way for potential guests to smell our breakfasts and the cookies in the evening…

Gary at Walnut Street Inn

900 E Walnut StreetSpringfield, MO 65806

Info: 417-864-6346

Reservations: 800-593-6346