Lancaster is Open for Business! - May 2021
Although we have technically been open for business after the quarantine for almost a year, things around here are finally feeling open. We have had occasional visitors – two or four at a time – especially in our Carriage House Cottage. We sat folks at separate tables in the dining room or the living rooms, exchange pleasantries as they came and went from their rooms, but the laughter and comradery of meeting new friends and sharing stories was missing.
Slowly over the past few months things have been accelerating. Still local activities and places to dine indoors have lagged behind. I first noticed the biggest change a few weeks ago when we got the mailing and call for consignment items from the Bird-in-Hand Carriage and Antique Auction. For 21 years (except 2020) this auction has been held to benefit the Fire Department in Bird-in-Hand. Although we spend an enormous amount of energy fussing about the traffic jams along Philadelphia Pike from June until November, honestly, we missed it last year. This auction, to be held this year on June 24 and 25, 2021, brings visitors from all over to hunt for special treasures out in the fields at Bird-in-Hand.
Also back on the calendar for June 18 and 19 this year is the Intercourse Heritage Days Festival. It is held right up in Intercourse Community Park, about a mile from the Mill House. The schedule this year features an antique tractor parade, a volleyball tournament, a cornhole competition, horseshoeing demonstration, music, local food and fireworks on Saturday night.
This week we also heard that with the capacity limits being lifted, the American Music Theater is also reopening in June with its lineup of concerts and other shows. Always lively and entertaining, we have frequently gone there ourselves to see Willie Nelson, the Beach Boys, and even the Preservation Jazz Band with Dr. John. The Theater has been completely dark since March 2020, and we rejoice that we have not lost this venue permanently. See the Attractions page pf our own website for more details.
As you ponder the many things to do in Lancaster County, rest assured that we are ready and eager to welcome you back to the Osceola Mill House whenever you are comfortable to travel. And while you have many lodging options when you travel to the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, we truly believe that “staying small” in a Bed and Breakfast is your best bet for quality-controlled, individualized accommodations. Yet as I speak with prospective guests, I hear so many lingering fears that remain after our year and a half quarantine. But let me highlight here the procedures and processes that we take at the Osceola Mill House to insure your health and wellbeing.
As we always have, we continue to clean and sanitize the whole house before, during and after each stay. In following the hospitality industry recommendation, we do not enter a room once it is occupied by a guest unless they request something or until they check out. We have decided to maintain a two-night minimum stay for each reservation because we find that it allows us the time and energy to best maintain the house for our guests. With each guest, either as they make the reservation or while they check in, we have a conversation about where they are with their Covid-Comfort level. We share up front that we are both fully vaccinated, but we have decided that for now we will continue to wear masks and encourage distancing so that all guests can feel at ease. We also ask that while indoors in common areas, all guests also wear a mask out of respect for everyone else. We then inquire as to their preference for breakfast. While our dining room has one long table that has seated as many as 12 people for a meal, we have also acquired over the past year several small tables for two or four people that we can arrange in the Gathering Room or Living Room. We also have a few “picnic” baskets that we can fill for guests to take up to their room or out on the lawn. Guests are encouraged to tell us how they prefer to be served, and we do our best to make it happen for them. Not only has everyone been cooperative, most have gone out of their way to thank us for helping them to feel at ease.
As I sit here writing this, it is a Saturday night in late May. We are in the middle of our first full-house occupancy in more than a year. Twelve people are spending two to four nights sharing our home and enjoying Lancaster County. For this morning’s breakfast, we had two guests who chose to isolate over in the Carriage House, six guests who chose to sit about three feet apart at the dining room table, two guests who sat at a cozy table for two in the living room, and two who asked for a basket and sat under the trees out on the front lawn. This afternoon several of them gathered out on the lawn and visited with each other as the sun set and the temperature cooled a bit. The voices and laughter echoed throughout the yard and I thought to myself “This is exactly what I’ve been missing – the companionship of others. We’re back. “
