Wednesday, March 03, 2010

A March Day in the Life

“Do we want to restore/create a healthy environment with a clean water supply or turn Cape Cod into a toxic waste site?” I found this startling question, from an organic gardener, in my in-box this morning. Last night I posted a link to the Dennis Planning Board blog, which decided its readers should hear what Christine Van Hooft has to say about our precious Cape soil. I also posted a YouTube video by organic landscaper Laura Kelly. In the afternoon, I made myself return to innkeeping. I booked two weeks of summer for Seagull Cottage and placed an order for more organic cotton sheets. I also spent many hours re-registering with the largest bed & breakfast association site of them all. I had hoped to remain off it this year but have accepted the fact that their Hot Deals blast does attract weekend guests in winter, and Seagull Cottage has been empty since Valentine’s Day. This decision was motivated by a recent discovery: the recession has caused some residents of Wellfleet to open their homes, not only as weekly rentals in summer but for shorter periods of time as well. How did I notice this? A confirmed four-night reservation was canceled and the guests told me they had chosen one of these rogue rentals instead. My conclusion was to sign up for another year on bedandbreakfast.com to obtain more exposure in this tough economy. Check out the Chez Sven page here. The next step will be getting former guests to write reviews … Any volunteers? Finally, yesterday, I made a late New Year’s resolution to improve my non-existent social media skills on Facebook and Twitter after watching this fascinating video: