The Innkeeper's Lifestyle

Bed and breakfast on Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans

After this weekend, which contains both Independence Day and Essence Fest, things slow down in New Orleans.  They've been slowing down since June started, but after the 4th of July you really start to notice it.  You can't escape it by August.  Then things pick up again in September.  Tourism is New Orleans' biggest industry so it has it's own seasons.  It's slow in summer.  It's hot.

We've slowed down a little bit.  We get to spend more time with our guests at breakfast.  It's always nice to have a full house, but we enjoy it more when we can share time with one or two or four people in the morning.  

People always ask us, "What's it like to be an innkeeper?"  Usually, these people are younger, too young to remember Newhart.


I suppose running a B&B in Vermont is a lot like running a B&B in New Orleans, except the part that everything in New Orleans is the opposite of what you'll find in Vermont.  That said, there is an ever-changing cast of interesting characters.  We always feel honored that you chose us to be your hosts in our fair city.

It's not like Newhart, but ours is a very interesting profession.  We enjoy it.  We don't have any background or training.  We're self-taught in the arts of hospitality.  It doesn't hurt that Frau Schmitt is the nicest person you'll ever meet or that your humble narrator is a licensed tour guide and armchair historian.  We enjoy our days and we enjoy our guests.  We enjoy sharing.

There isn't much routine to our days.  We get ready for breakfast and then we sit and chat with our guests for the next hour or so.  Once you leave we may clean the suite ourselves, or we'll let Tammie the Housekeeper do it.  Or, we'll get a phone call from Tammie the Housekeeper to tell us she can't come in today.  I'm not going to say it happens more often than we like, because we both like Tammie the Housekeeper.  I'll just say that Tammie the Housekeeper has a very interesting family life that keeps her engaged, and family is more important than anything else.  Who can disagree?

Tammie the Housekeeper

I suppose they could make a television show based on our lives.  It wouldn't be as interesting as you might imagine.  Good times, mostly; never any drama.  It's a varied routine revolving around taking care of other people and making sure they enjoy their time in New Orleans, introducing them to our neighborhood that we enjoy so much, and inviting them to enjoy a little sliver of our world.  It's nothing at all like this:

  

Though some people mistake Frau Schmitt for Suzanne Pleshette (who was my grandfather's favorite actress) because they have the same smile, it's been four years since your humble narrator wore a suit and tie, or a sweater.  Most people mistake your humble narrator for the handyman.  I am the handyman, but they think that because I talk like Tom Poston.  

A votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.