For me, when given a choice of
staying in a top rated hotel or bed and breakfast, the bed and breakfast always
wins out. There is warmth, a feeling of belonging that innkeepers exude; a genuine
interest in their guests. If you have
never stayed at a bed and breakfast your vision just might be a revitalized
Victorian mansion with beautifully decorated suites, spacious common rooms,
modern amenities yet still maintaining that slice of living in past times. And
that vision would all come true with the Mill Street Inn Bed and Breakfast in
historic Cambridge, Maryland. Guests luxuriate with a gourmet breakfast,
lemonade and cookies on the veranda while feeling a cool summer breeze or a
glass of wine fireside taking off the winter chill.
What made Jennie and Skip Rideout,
retired educators, want to take on a rundown, over-worn historical house and
spend two years, 8 months uninhabitable, and go into the hospitality business?
The answer is passion, sheer passion.
That passion for creating their own bed and breakfast started during
their domestic travels throughout the east coast and travels abroad to the
United Kingdom, having relished their stays in bed and breakfasts.
In our chats, Jennie responded
to my question as to who was the most unusual guest or guest scenario at the Mill Street Inn Bed and Breakfast?
She smiled, laughed and said, “A magician who tried to make his bill
disappear.” For a more realistic look at their guests it has run from a
mortician’s conference to Brits on a mid-Atlantic history tour from
Philadelphia to Williamsburg. On my stay, a couple picking up their 6th
grade daughter who was finishing her work at Hornpoint,
University of Maryland’s environmental camp on the 850 acre old DuPont
Estate. When I inquired why the couple picked
the bed and breakfast over the traditional hotel/motel experience they
responded, “We wanted a more local experience, to get a sense of the community.”
View the slideshow, read the full story and get the recipe for grit souffle HERE.
