B&B busy-ness

Maplecroft has been extremely busy this summer so far. I thought I was shopping for food a lot (nearly every day), but then I decided to add up the guest nights - 74 by last Friday, with a week left to go in the month. Last year we had 48 for the whole month! This summer we have had a host of interesting, nice guests including:

• my brother, his wife, and two daughters
• master's degree graduates from Norwich University and Vermont College and their families
• craftspeople attending the International Preservation Trades conference
• two sets of mothers and their daughters for get-aways
• people attending weddings and family reunions
• genealogists and researchers
• several writers, including a noted travel writer
• tourists from Canada, Texas, California, Virginia, and lots of places in between, visiting the granite quarries, Ben & Jerry's, Trapp Family Lodge, and so much more. Vermont looks so good at this time of year!

Last weekend was Barre's Homecoming Days celebration, and the new configuration - closing off part of Main Street for performers and concessions - seemed to work very well. Paul helped set up tents for the library booksale in the pouring rain on Thursday, but by Friday, the sun was out, and the booksale seemed to be a huge success. Guests raved after showings of the film "If Stone Could Speak," shown at the Old Labor Hall by the Barre Historical Society. And we were pleased that our very first B&B guest, a Barre native who has become a dear friend, could come for the weekend with her husband and join the fun.