The Recession and Dreams of Yesteryear

As I'm out and about, people will often ask me if the bed and breakfast business has slowed down due to the recession. You know with the recession our country is in, I really did not expect people to be traveling as much, but I find my expectations are wrong. I can happily reply that business at Dreams of Yesteryear has been steady and is even surpassing last year's statistics. So who are these people that can afford to travel? Well, let me tell you what I'm observing.
There are still the big events in the area that attract certain guests--events that people look forward to and plan for year after year--kind of like the square dance conventions that Bill and I would plan to attend year after year. :) This weekend the 20th annual Midwest Renewable Energy Fair has our guest rooms full. Next month, Riverfront Rendezvous, the National Wellness Conference and the Iola Old Car Show will bring guests. Later the Jazz Festival, Art in the Park, the Amish Quilt Auction will bring people to our community. But, in between the events, what reasons do people find to travel? I think that recession or no-recession, people work hard and need a vacation. So to meet that need for a vacation, I'm finding people are being resourceful and taking vacations closer to home. Some guests come from as close as an hour's drive, some come from right here in Stevens Point to get a peak at our historic home and to experience bed and breakfast hospitality. Guests may not be traveling as far to get away, but they still can feel rested, relaxed and "vacationed" by checking into a nearby bed and breakfast.
Low cost and free activities abound in Stevens Point so once here guests do not need to spend a lot of money to have fun. Some bring their bikes and ride our beautiful and free Green Circle Trail or experience hiking in our many parks. Others take architectural walks to view our many historic buildings and homes in nearby downtown. And when it comes to food, a full gourmet breakfast at Dreams of Yesteryear starts your day and is included in the price of the room. For lunch and dinner, Stevens Point has a wide variety of restaurants to choose from so dining out does not have to be expensive.
So to make a long story short. The recession has not been bad for the bed and breakfast business. It's actually great to see people stretching their imaginations to come up with ways to vacation without stretching their wallets.
I'm sure you've already thought of ways to take an inexpensive vacation, but if not, consider staying at a nearby bed and breakfast. And, while you're at it, why not stay at Dreams of Yesteryear! :)

Jensen House Article

One of the wonderful things about living in an old house is the history that comes with it. Every now and then I learn something that deepens my mental image of what life was like living here before Bill and I and our two girls moved here in 1987. This past week the Portage County Gazette (pcgazette.com) featured a story by Tom Jensen. The article was entitled, "Jensen family home provided enough space for mischief." The article by Tom was well written and gave a pretty good picture of the life of a young man growing up in a big old house like this and the kinds of things kids get into. Without getting into parphrasing the whole article, lets suffice to say that one of the paragraphs explained an incident that included grass snakes in the peach bathtub. I wish I would have known this before I took all those relaxing bubble baths in this oversized tub. Well, too late now. The tub was part of our last renovation project and is no more. Maybe a good thing. I don't think I'd enjoy a bubble bath knowing snakes had been in my tub.

Tom, thanks for sharing your stories.

About Time I Blogged

Well, I certainly have taken a vacation from blogging. Sorry about that. Finally made it through another academic year at UWSP where I work as an office manager in the Mary K. Croft Tutoring-Learning Center. It was a great year. The students are wonderful--must be, I've worked 32 years in this department. Hmmmm--I'm dating myself. Anyway, it's summer and time to focus on gardens, grandchildren and all those summer bed and breakfast guests. I really had wondered if gas prices would take its toll on the B&B business. So far I haven't noticed a great decline in guests. I guess we all need to get away once in awhile. I'm glad people are feeling Dreams of Yesteryear is a worthy getaway and want to come visit.

Last weekend we were full of folks attending the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Custer. Three of my guests were main speakers at the fair. One of the speakers we were honored to host was Venezuela Ambassador Carol Moselay Braun. What a wonderful lady. We shared old house stories. Carol too has an old house. I wish this were the term she was running for US President. Anyway, be assured, there were great conversations around the breakfast table regarding alternative sustainable energy resources. I heard that 20,000 people attended the fair and that the MREA fair is the largest in the world. I'm amazed the kinds of things that bring people to this part of Wisconsin.

I'm looking forward to some busy weekends in July with the Iola Old Car Show and the National Wellness Conference coming up. At Dreams of Yesteryear we mark our anniversaries by the Iola Car Show. We hosted our first bed and breakfast guests the weekend of the Iola Old Car Show in 1990. So here it is eighteen years later and we're still loving this business. We still have lots of openings left for July and August. Hope you'll plan a summer getaway with us. Cheers.