A Great Overnighter!

Gordon and Linda Mueller;  Oft's Bed and Breakfast

One of the benefits of running a Bed and Breakfast is finding out from our guests, great places to go.  This we we got a 3 day break and it was time to relax and go on a road trip.  We had a couple from  Sioux Falls, SD stay with us and they told us what a great city they lived in; we had never been there.  

Its less than a 200 mile trip and on the way up we stopped at the Sergeant Floyd Memorial.  He was the only fatality on the Lewis and Clark Expedition and he is buried near Sioux City, Iowa.
There is a visitor center and nice museum there.

Our next stop was Falls Park in Sioux City.  Its the top visitation destination for the City and there is a really good reason, its beautiful.  Take a picnic lunch, good book, take the kids, grandma and grandpa and spend some quality time.  The old power plant is now a restaurant and we stopped for Ice cream. 

We stayed in the Cathedral Historic District at the Victorian Bed and Breakfast.  The house was built in 1888 and is operated by Nichole.  It is a beautiful house and the breakfast was gourmet.

After eating a delicious breakfast we visited with Nichole and her chief chef Marie about our 'inn keeping' experiences.  It was fun comparing 'notes'.

Linda is a big fan of large churches.  We stopped at Saint Joesph's Cathedral which is the show piece for the historical district.  It is certainly a beautiful and amazing church.  Next to the Bed and Breakfast was the Pettigrew House and Museum.  Pettigrew was a South Dakota Senator when it became a state.  We happened to walk in just as a tour was starting and got a grand show of the entire house.  

Pettigrew House

 The Senator was quite a traveler and collector and the state added a museum to the back of the home to hold some of his collections.  One side of his home is constructed of petrify wood.  Its really beautiful!  Some of the specimens are polished, many are rough.

At the side entrance of the home there is a 'prayer rock'.  It ways 3 tons and has two hand prints carved in the rock.  It looks like someone actually pushed their hand imprints into mud, but this is solid rock.  It is very old.  The hand imprints were large, slightly larger than my own hand.  

17 Beautiful Places to Stay in Nebraska 

Oft's Bed and Breakfast, Bennington, NE

We recently had guests who said they found out about us on Facebook.  We have a Facebook site but this was the first time anyone had mentioned that was where they found us.  They went on further to say we were listed as one of the: "17 Beautiful Places to Stay in Nebraska".  We tried a search on Facebook and there WE WERE!   We thought we would share some of the photos we took this year.  

Our flowers this year were beautiful; especially our lilies.  Star Gazers coloring up the pool.

Our fish are holding a Community Meeting!

Our florist is hard at work arranging flowers for our rooms.

Front door parking by request only!

Spring is HERE!

The tulips this spring are beautiful.   The recent rains have woken up the plants and birds.  It is a beautiful time of the year!

A Gift, In the Form of a Poem

Gordon Room,  Oft's Bed & Breakfast, Bennington, Nebraska

The fun of owning a B & B is meeting all the nice couples who come and stay.  We eat breakfast with our guests and its wonderful simply visiting.  Recently we had a couple from Lincoln who came to 'get away' and have a retreat.  We have comment diaries in our rooms for guests to leave messages.  This is what Linda and Ned left:

“Hush! 

There are poems in these walls; these halls.

Stitched in the trapunto bed coverings,

Tucked in the curved dresser drawers,

Winking in the matching mirrors

Just enough for me to be

Playing “store” again with Grandma Louise,

Fashions cut from the J.C. Penny catalogue,

Stitching quilt blocks together,

On the Singer treadle,

Just before we board the sleigh bed

Bound for yesteryear dreams.”

Linda and Ned

What a nice gift!

Happy Valentines Day!

Valentine's Day is always popular with Bed & Breakfasts; we've been booked for quite a while.   One gentleman asked Linda to fix up a surprise for his Valentine, a dozen red roses.  Linda put the final touches on this bouquet.   They're lovely!

This one reminded me of my Valentine, the BEST in the bunch.  God bless.....  Gordon

Video Presentations About BENNINGTON!

We are proud to announce that we've started a YouTube channel; its:  "bennhistsoc."   Just like bennington-historical-society.    If you get into YouTube and search for bennhistsoc you will find our narrated presentations about Bennington's history.  Currently we have a presentation about: 

• Who and What was here before Bennington (pre 1887), 
• Bennington's Business District (pre-1913),
• The Downtown Fire of 1913,
• German Settlement and the Dutch Hall 

Learn something about Bennington and "share" with your friends.  

Fire Place Mantel and MORE

One thing our home didn't have was a fireplace.  We always wanted one and with the advent of "ventless" fire boxes we became interested.  We started checking Craigs list and found a few period fireplace mantels scattered through Iowa and Missouri.  We went on a road trip in February looking at fireplace mantels that took us through Savanna, MO, Kansas City and then Columbia, MO.  We bought two we liked on the way home.  We selected this white oak mantel which was  built about 1900.  Then came the work of stripping, refinishing and fitting.  It took about a month to strip and prepare the wood for refinishing.  We then picked out some beveled marble tile, some grout and the tile saw.  The dust finally settled. We now have a fireplace in our parlor and we're very proud of how it turned out.  

Oft's Bed & Breakfast's New Parlor Fireplace

 The sculptured figure above the firebox was made by Earth Song, a firm in Canada that makes custom tiles.  Its called "Wind Man" which reminds us of olde man winter and the winds we get here in Nebraska.  

 I think this guy will help blow on our hot chocolate and pepper schnapps this winter.  We're ready.  Take care.