Yesterday a lady called hoping for accommodation in August. I gave her our available dates, but unfortunately her vacation did not coincide. She asked then, “Do you write the blog?” Hearing the admiration in her voice made me feel warm inside. When you send your words out into cyperspace, there is not usually much feedback. The stat counter tells me how many people visit per day, but it is always fun to hear from guests who enjoy reading this blog about living in Wellfleet and being a green innkeeper. Today we are going to move cross the country to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where my green innkeeper friend Sheri Gibbs has opened her doors for one last season. The inn is up for sale. The building has been maintained without chemicals for more than half a dozen years. Anyone who has chemical sensitivities and wants to be an innkeeper should look into Sheri’s marvelous White Pines Victorian Lodge.
Here is Sheri’s seagull story:
“Some tourists walked into the Sister Bay tourist info office during the summer I managed the place. They just got to gabbing and asking questions...and, along with, ‘Okay, I see the hotel across the street...how do I get there?’ was ‘Do the locals eat the seagulls after tourist season is over?’
What does she think they are? Stage props ?? How could anyone resist? I told them, 'Oh, yeah, every one of them. We light huge bonfires all along the beaches, put bones in our noses, dance around, and cook them. We poke them right into the fire on the ends of our spears.'
This explanation didn't phase them. They thought I was serious.
The women in each of the info offices used to call each other whenever we had a reaaaaaaaaaaly wild one, kind of kept us going on the most hectic days to have something to laugh about. I called the woman in the next village...and, by later that night, so many people had heard the story all over the county, that waiters and waitresses in restaurants were asking local people they knew, 'Would you like your seagull broiled or fried?' Everybody had a great time with it, enjoying the reactions of the tourists at other tables. Some even got more than a few, 'Uh...wh...what's this 'seagull'? Sounds good, but we don't see it on the menu.'"
Here on Cape Cod, I know people did once eat seagulls. However, they caught them, put them in some kind of cage, and stopped the fish diet for a few days prior to consumption.
