An early Valentine

I know it is only January, and mid-month at that but I am, as they say, feeling the love. (And wishing happy birthday to my brother George who took his hospitality inclination to Whitetail Bluff Camp and Resort, a fun campground and bar and grill they started in southwestern Wisconsin).

I had heard that Cullen from Fairwinds Florist, our local flower girl and purveyor of many things gorgeous, had her picture in February's Martha Stewart Living magazine. So I found myself paging through the glossy celebration of red hearts and deliciousness. And, turning corners down on lots of pages, before even getting to the lovely article that focuses on Black Dinah Chocolatiers.
During the season, the inn is a playground for new recipes, pretty flower arrangements, and hospitality adventures. The quiet season brings its charms--snowshoeing, reading books (just finished the Elegance of the Hedgehog; Juliet, Naked; and A Gate at the Stairs); and visiting restaurants (tried Finn's in Ellsworth--get the artichoke appetizer, the Mache Bistro in Bar Harbor--I'm still melting over the beef bourguignon). But I apparently was hungry for some entertainment on entertaining so you might see me whipping up some glittered roses (page 41) or you might find a filigree heart on your waffle (page 39). For certain, though, you will find me praising Black Dinah Chocolatiers all the more.

Kate, the chocolate maker, led a class at the inn during the October Food and Wine Festival last year--the aromas! The oooooos and ahhhhhhhs from the guest-cum-apprentice chocolate makers (and the innkeeper). My tip, though? Don't be so cliche as to get your loved one chocolates for Valentine's Day; you will be dismissed as unoriginal and your amazingly fabulous gift of Black Dinah Chocolates will go under appreciated. Instead, choose to pamper your sweetie on Groundhog's Day, or perhaps the Ides of March, or even April Fool's Day ("Ha! You thought I didn't get you anything for Valentine's Day!"). One last tidbit about the mouthwatering candy Kate produces--the ingredients are so fresh that it makes no sense at all to save the box day after day waiting for the perfect time. They are meant to be savored right away. Mmmmmmm.

Blue Hill for the Holidays

I can only hope you are having as luscious a holiday season as I am. For me, the highlights are music, people, and food.

Blue Hill is lucky to have the Bagaduce Chorale, with 80-plus voices. They perform two concerts a year at the Congregational Church. Their winter concert included a newly commissioned piece by Anna Dembska. The spring concert, schedule for April 30 and May 1, will include new work by Paul Sullivan.

High school concerts can be scary but not when you have an award winning music department. George Stevens Academy, directly across the street from the inn, has a wonderful array of musicians and their winter concert includes a band, various steel drum combos, a handful of jazz combos, and an acappella vocal ensemble. Guests have asked about George Stevens. The history of who he is and how the school acquired his name can be found at the school's website. One of the great things about living in a small town--the cast of characters is small, even with a history that goes back to the early 1800s.

Ellacappella is another Blue Hill treasure.
They've been out in their bright colors for the tree lighting and at the library for my favorite Christmas event of all--the reading of Dickens' Christmas Carol. As you may know, our library is beautiful, with its central room flanked by fireplaces. In front of one is where three local gents read out the carol, with appropriate chain rattling and hat changing to cover many characters. We laugh, we cry, we eat more cookies.

For me, too, part of the charm of the season in this small town is the proximity. The inn is just around the corner from the Congregational Church and the library and shops on Main Street. We can walk to three bookstores! For me, that describes a great town perfectly. The fact that you can get great espresso in one and fresh bread in another and the third has the best, smartest inventory of a bookstore ten times its size is just like frosting on the cake.

On Last Night, we wander the streets listening to live music and being entertained by an impressive array of locals. This year, Noel Paul Stookey began the evening to a standing room audience. Guests staying at the Cape House, where there are two options of rooms for you, had a great time. One couple ventured to the Arborvine for a fabulous dinner and then walked about town in the snow, to return to the Suite before midnight to enjoy a cozy fire.

If you stayed with us at the inn, you know that we don't have televisions in the rooms in the inn, just in the Cape House next door. But we have books, boy, do we have books. Just in the last month I've added a new one by Rebekah Raye, Bear-ly There. Jonathan Lethem's Chronic City is finally out (I had the pleasure--O so pleasurable!--of hearing him read from an almost final copy with a small group tucked into the East Blue Hill Library). You can borrow it when I'm finished.

Then, too, I've added some art to the inn's collection.
But I'll have to tell you about that another time as the snow is still falling and I'm the snow shoveler today. I do hope you are making snow angels and enjoying the winter wonderland. (Sand angels, for you folks a bit more south, sound painful... You should just visit us and bring your snowsuits).

Happy, happy 2010 to you!
Sarah Pebworth