Posted in authors, Baer House Inn, blogging, camera, Family, friends, Holidays, humor, innkeeping, Jansen Schmidt, travel, vacation, Vicksburg, writing, tagged America, Americans, Baer House Inn, flags, foreign countries, foreigners, guests, inn guests, international, maps, Mississippi, thankful, the deep south, the south, tourists, travel, traveling, traveling abroad, United States, USA, visitors on January 21, 2019| 15 Comments »
One of the things I really like about innkeeping is meeting folks from all over the world. When we first bought the inn, I never imagined that I’d meet people from so many different countries. I truly never imagined there’d be so many people from other parts of the world interested in the deep south. (more…)
Posted in authors, Baer House Inn, dogs, drinks, Family, food, friends, humor, Jansen Schmidt, vacation, Vicksburg, writing, tagged Baer House, Baer House Inn, Baer-Williams House, chairs, common, eating, historic inns, innkeepers, innkeeping, inns, Mississippi, observations, questions, relocating, Vicksburg on June 26, 2017| 16 Comments »
Photo courtesy P. Rickrode
So, we’re coming up on two years now since we made the big cross-country move and relocated to Mississippi. Innkeeping has been rewarding and challenging and . . . a real learning experience that will forever change the way I stay at hotels, motels, and/or B & B’s in the future. (more…)
Posted in Baer House Inn, driving, Family, first car, humor, Jansen Schmidt, love, writers, writing, tagged budget, California, Canyon truck, Constitution, driving, freedom, freedoms, GMC, lease, leased cars, Mercedes, Mercedes Benz, Mississippi, moving, new car, new wheels, red car, red truck, Subaru, transportation, used cars, walking on June 12, 2017| 12 Comments »
We all have our own individual definitions of freedom and freedom comes in many forms. (more…)
Posted in authors, awards, blogging, crock pot, Family, food, friends, humor, Jansen Schmidt, soup, writing, tagged antacid, charity, charity events, chili cook-off, Chili For Children, chli, food, food tasting, fundraisers, Lady Luck Casino, Mississippi, tasting, Vicksburg, Vicksburg Children's Home on February 6, 2017| 10 Comments »
Last Saturday I attended the Chili For Children chili cook-off at the Lady Luck Casino here in Vicksburg. It was a charity event to raise money for Vicksburg’s children’s home. (more…)
Posted in Baer House Inn, blogging, camera, Family, Fiction, food, friends, goals, Happy New Year, Holidays, humor, Jansen Schmidt, resolutions, Vicksburg, writing, tagged Baer House Inn, Civil War, Duff Green Mansion, ghost tours, ghosts, haunted, Haunted Homecoming, haunted tours, Haunted Vicksburg, January, January events, McNutt House, McRaven House, Mississippi, Mississippi paranormal, Mississippi paranormal society, MPS, nighttime, paranormal, paranormal investigations, tour homes, Vicksburg events, Vicksburg tours, Victorian homes on January 9, 2017| 15 Comments »
January is what the folks of Vicksburg call, “the slow season.” I guess it’s probably pretty slow everywhere what with the holiday craziness settling down, kids back in school, lousy weather for traveling, tax preparation looming, and getting started on all of those awesome new year’s resolutions and all. (more…)
Posted in authors, Autumn, Baer House Inn, blogging, camera, cement walls, Family, Fiction, friends, humor, Jansen Schmidt, love, short story, Vicksburg, writing, tagged abandoned house, back yard, bulldozer, condemned house, demolish house, family, historic Vicksburg, history, house demolition, houses, memories, Mississippi, old houses, Victorian homes, Victorian houses on October 24, 2016| 6 Comments »
Houses have souls. I’m sure of it. Have you ever noticed that a house starts to deteriorate when it is no longer occupied? Why is that? I believe it’s because when humans move out, the house loses it soul. Without a soul, it dies. (more…)
Posted in awards, Baer House Inn, blogging, camera, Family, friends, goals, humor, Jansen Schmidt, love, moving, romance, success, vacation, Vicksburg, words, writers, writing, tagged Baer House, Baer House Inn, bed & breakfast, bed and breakfast, business owners, Chamber of Commerce, Grit Magazine, guests, made up words, Marilyn Jones, Mississippi, P. Rickrode, small business, small business awards, testimonials, travel, travel bloggers, travel magazine, traveling, Trip Advisor, urban dictionary, Warren County, weddings on July 25, 2016| 18 Comments »
I know what you’re thinking – bizi what? Biziversary. Yes, that’s a made up word. I thought of it all by myself, but I think it might catch on and some day make it into the urban dictionary.
Biziversary. Let’s break it down: part 1; biz, short for business – part 2; iversary, annual celebration of something important, in our case, the Rickrodes buying The Baer House Inn. That’s right – it’s our biziversary. We’ve owned The Baer House now for a year! (more…)
Posted in April, authors, blogging, Family, friends, goals, Jansen Schmidt, Vicksburg, writing, tagged bandwagon, business owners, choices, courtesy, gays, lesbians, Mississippi, Mormons, soapbox, tolerance, wedding cake, weddings on April 18, 2016| 6 Comments »
I usually avoid these topics, but lately stuff has been happening here in Mississippi that gets me all fired up.
I’m about as tolerant as a person can be. My motto is live and let live. If you want to do something, knock yourself out, just don’t try to cram it down my throat. I think there are good people and bad people, good Muslims and bad Muslims, good Christians and bad Christians, good teachers and bad teachers. It’s our job as people to use our intuition and fact-finding abilities to discern which category people fall into before we become too intimately involved with them. (more…)
Posted in blogging, Family, Fiction, Holidays, humor, Jansen Schmidt, Vicksburg, words, writers, writing, tagged ballroom, California, church, Cracker Barrel, DMV, family, holidays, license plate, Mardi Gras, Mississippi, Natchez Trace, outhouse, parlor, polish silver, silver, Sundays, Vicksburg on January 11, 2016| 16 Comments »
It’s a new year and here in Vicksburg, it still has the new year smell. I’ve been settling in here in Mississippi and loving every minute of it. Well, maybe not every single minute, we did have the hot snap in December (80 degrees at Christmas?), but for the most part, LOVING it! (The irony of that is that where I used to live in California, they had snow on Christmas day for the first time in like 12 years. Go figure.)
Photo courtesy Google Images.
Anyway, they definitely do things different here in the south. For instance, when I went to get my new driver’s license, they handed it to me right then and there. No waiting weeks for it to arrive in the mail, hoping it didn’t get lost or stolen. No written or driving test. Nothing. Just, “here you go.” I didn’t even have to wait in line at the DMV. (And – bonus – it’s right across the street so I could walk over.)
Same thing with the car registration; I walked in, handed them some basic paperwork and BAM, they handed me a bright shiny new license plate. On the spot. No waiting. No mailing. Again, I walked right up to the window. No taking a number, no standing in line, no internet appointment necessary.
I know – weird. All my California folks will know exactly what I’m talking about.
And here’s a strange thing – daily operations here cease on holidays and Sundays. No signs posted in the windows, no ads announcing holiday hours, just lights out and locked doors. That took some getting used to. If you want to go out to eat on Sunday, you have about one choice – Cracker Barrel. (Or the casinos – need I say more.) I think that’s kind of cool though. A lot of guests here at the inn don’t get it, but I’m getting used to it. Sundays are church and family days.
Photo courtesy Google Images.
I also find myself saying things here that I never imagined I’d ever say in California. Here’s a short list:
1 – There’s an alligator in the backyard. (No, this hasn’t happened but it’s entirely possible and even very probable with the river already above flood stage. Stay tuned.)
2 – We have to get ready for Mardi Gras. (That’s right, even though we’re 2 1/2 hours away from New Orleans, Mardi Gras’s a big deal here.)
3 – Are you taking the Trace? (Referring to the Natchez Trace highway. It’s basically “the back road.” Not sure why it’s called a Trace, but it is and I like saying it. For more information visit here: http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm)
4 – It’s time to polish the silver again. (Really? Polish silver? Yup. About every 3 months that stuff has to be shined up.)
5- I’m in the parlor. (The parlor? How cool does that sound? Who even has a parlor these days?)
6 – This ballroom is hard to heat. (I have a freaking ballroom!!)
7 – You want to see my outhouse? (See this post https://jansenschmidt.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/a-peek-at-my-rare-2-story-4-hole-outhouse/ for more details in case you missed it earlier.)
Photo courtesy Google Images.
How about you readers, ever find yourself saying things that sounded foreign at one time, but now seem natural? Ever been on the Natchez Trace? Ever polished silver? Inquiring minds want to know.
Word of the Day: Uraeus
Fun fact about me: I want to host a ball. Seriously, I want to have a ball in my ballroom.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, January 2016. Photos courtesy Google Imgaes.
