The end of an era…

Wow, the past two days were emotional! As of today, my two terms on the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia (TIANS) Board are over. I have spent the past four years working with some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met – people who also live & breathe tourism every day. I have tried to write this post many times this evening, but between exhaustion & emotion, am finding it difficult to find the words… Instead, I will post one photo and try to put it all into words tomorrow…

Thank YOU TIANS!! I’ve learned so much in the past four years!!

Running in Truro

I admit that I am more of a fair-weather runner than a serious runner.  I do go out running, but more because I should than because I have a burning desire to run.  D’Arcy, on the other hand, really seems to enjoy running.  I enjoy running in races like the Bluenose Marathon 5 & 10k, but that’s because there are people lining the streets cheering me on!

Truro is a great place to run, with routes of varying degrees of difficulty.  You can run around the downtown which is very flat, or expand your run to include hills.  Victoria Park is a favorite of many, running on groomed paths under the overhang of evergreen trees.  The park has many more challenging trails and even the dreaded Jacob’s Ladder!  It always amazes me to see people running up & down and up & down Jacob’s Ladder!

One of my favorite trails to run in Truro is the Cobequid Trail.  The Cobequid Trail is a 14 km walking and cycling trail network through central Colchester County. The Cobequid Trail takes you along a former railway, through Acadian dykelands, through forests and along brooks, and beside the tidal Salmon River.

Last Sunday, after the cleanup was finished, Alex & I set off to run the 3.5k (each way) Old Barns section.  It was beautiful!  When I run along that trail, I can hardly believe I am so close to Truro!  I took some photos with my phone, as the camera would have been a little awkward to carry! Despite the poor quality of the photos, I think you can get an idea of the beauty!

Off we go!!

Taking a break for a moment to capture the beauty before turning around...

A view of the trail.

When you come stay with us at the Belgravia Bed & Breakfast, don’t forget to ask and we’ll share our favorite running/walking/biking trails with you!

The Cornell Experience

Arriving home on Wednesday after an intense few days at Cornell, I hit the ground running.   My flights had gone smoothly, and we even arrived in Halifax a few minutes early (11:30 p.m.) – only to be slightly delayed when the Jetway wouldn’t move to meet the door of the airplane, so we had to wait for the specialists to arrive and fix it.  I sailed through customs in this direction and was so happy to see D’Arcy waiting for me!  We chatted on the 45 minute drive home; he had spent the evening at Graduation and I was excited to tell him all my stories.  I opened my suitcase at home to discover that it had been searched, probably because I had packed my wine, Grappa and Squash Seed Oil from Six Mile Creek Winery in my checked baggage.  Although I was still wound up from the trip, I knew I had to be up early to make breakfast!

Thursday was the last day of school and we couldn’t be more proud of our children – their report cards were outstanding!  D’Arcy said goodbye to Hants East Rural High; he will be switching schools and teaching Grade 7 & 8 Math and Science next year at Central Colchester Junior High, just a five-minute commute from our home, rather than 30 minutes each way.  He will be happy to gain an extra four hours in his weeks next year!

I’ve had a few days now to reflect on my experience at Cornell University’s Professional Development Program.  Was it everything I had hoped for when I applied?

Absolutely – and so much more!

The following is an excerpt from my application:

In 1991, when I began my degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management at Mount Saint Vincent University in Bedford, Nova Scotia, I would spend many hours in the library, pouring through the Hospitality Journals from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.  I found the articles interesting and informative and of all the hospitality journals I read during my early years of studying, the Cornell Journals are the ones I remember! 

It has been twenty years since I began my Tourism degree at the Mount.  I have spent my working career in the Tourism Industry, starting as a waitress (in those days), and progressing to bartender, server, supervisor, dining room manager, Bed & Breakfast owner & operator, and core faculty member for the Tourism Management Diploma program at the Nova Scotia Community College in Truro.  I have had a position on the executive of the Nova Scotia Bed & Breakfast Association since 2005, and a position on the Board of the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia since 2008.

In 2007, I won an outstanding volunteer award from the Nova Scotia Heart & Stroke Association, presented by Nova Scotia Lieutenant Governor Mayann Francis, at Province House.  That same year, I was named Outstanding Young Person by the Colchester Chapter of the Junior Chamber International.   In 2008, Belgravia Bed & Breakfast was named Accommodation of the Year by the Central Nova Tourist Association, and in 2010 The Belgravia was named Best B&B in Colchester County by the Truro & District Chamber of Commerce.

The Strategic Hospitality Management course, as part of the Cornell University Professional Development Program is of interest to me for many reasons.  I am a believer in life-long learning and leading through example. After eight years as owner/operator of the Belgravia Bed & Breakfast in Truro, I welcome the opportunity to be challenged and presented with fresh opportunities.  Often we get stuck in our same patterns after a long period of time and I relish the prospect of being challenged. 

I would look forward to developing a “mastery of the analytical tools to perform analyses of the industry and competitors” as well as “strategies for building competitive advantage and generating superior value for customers.”  These skills would be passed on with my colleagues in the tourism industry through my work with NSBBA & TIANS.  Also, the new ideas and information I would learn would translate into positive benefits to my guests.  In my experience, attending a course like this always seems to re-energize a participant in the industry.

As core faculty in the Tourism Management program at NSCC, I would also take these skills back into my own classroom as I guide learners who are about to enter into the industry.   These students are the future of the industry and the knowledge I would gain through this course would be multiplied as I pass it along in the classroom.

The experience at Cornell was intense.  I would meet my group before class, attend class all day and then meet my group again in the evening.  (There was a beautiful welcoming reception after the first night of class where we all got to get to know each other in a more relaxed setting – so it wasn’t all work…)

As I mentioned in my last post, my classmates were from all around the world  and the networking I did was invaluable.  I’ve already lined up a couple of my classmates to Skype into my class when we are completing our Strategic Hospitality Management course, and my professor, Dr. Jeffery Shay, copied course notes onto a USB stick for me to use!  It was challenging and exciting for me to be in the classroom atmosphere, learning and collaborating with other leaders in the Tourism Industry around the world.

In class...

In class...

Break-out groups, discussing our "Atlantis" case...

Receiving my certificate!

My class photo!

These are exciting times of growth & change both in the Tourism Industry and in our family.  Since I’ve been home, I’ve been looking at our B&B through fresh eyes.  I look forward to using my new knowledge to better our B&B, to guide my students, and to support the growth of the Nova Scotian Tourism Industry in whatever ways I can!  That being said, I hope I have the opportunity to take another course next summer!!

Cornell – here I come!

I am officially on an adventure!  This winter, I became aware of a professional development opportunity, sponsored through the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia (TIANS) and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to attend the Professional Development Program at Cornell University.  As a university student studying Tourism & Hospitality Management, I used to pour over the journals from the Cornell School of Hotel Management.  I doubt I ever passed in a paper without at least one reference to those journals.

I knew I had to apply!

I was accepted to take the first course towards a Certification in Strategic Hospitality Management.

The past few days, I have been scrambling to get ready for the trip.  It’s a busy time of year to start with; D’Arcy’s been marking exams and coming up with final assessments, the kids have all had their year end activities and the B&B has been in full swing!  D’Arcy was up all night last night so that he could get his marks submitted and bake bread (our end-of-the-year teachers’ gift).  When I came downstairs this morning at 5:50, the table was set, the muffins were made and there were eight loaves of bread on the counter and four in the oven!

Oatmeal Brown Bread for the teachers!

This morning, as I served breakfast, I mentioned to the guests that I was excited because I would be leaving late morning to fly to Ithaca, New York.  We had a West Coast crew this morning – British Columbia & Washington State.

As president of the school parent-teacher group, as soon as our guests left I scooted out and, with my sister-in-law, took two trays of fruit and six dozen muffins up to the school for the teachers to show our appreciation for all they do.  I came back home and helped my father finish the kitchen clean-up.  Before we knew it, it was time to hit the road for the airport!

I had received an email that my flight was delayed by and hour, but my father was anxious to get me to the airport!  (Keep in mind that this is the same man who tried to get me to my wedding a half hour early!)  My flight was delayed, so I dropped some of our Belgravia Bed & Breakfast brochures off at the airport Visitor Information Centre.  As I was talking with Natalie, we discovered that her cousin is my teaching mentor at the Nova Scotia Community College!  It’s a small world!

I went upstairs to US departures and breezed through security.  I went on to be cleared through US Customs and got pulled aside!  At first I thought it was because the purpose of my trip was to study and they thought I needed a certain Visa.  I got taken into a secondary area and asked to sit in  a sterile environment while I waited for the Customs Agent to look up all the information.  It turned out I was screened because the name on my passport is not the name on my birth certificate!  I’ve never heard of this!  He told me all my information is incorrect and that I can’ t just “change my name”!  Talk about stress.  Luckily, I had other ID with me and so pulled out my driver’s license and my Nova Scotia health card which have my name on them, exactly as written on my passport.  He allowed me to go through but told me when I get my passport renewed, I should get them to change my name.  Actually, I will be applying for a NEXUS card instead to be pre-cleared and avoid the opportunity of something like this happening again!

Through security but before going through US Customs!

I went into the holding area which was really quite lovely.  It is bright and airy and clean.  I had a burger and watched the planes, then did some homework.  Our daughter has a severe Peanut/treenut allergy, so we never eat nuts of any kind when we are around her; since I will be away for a week, I had my first Crispy Crunch chocolate bar in over four years!  Yum!! The Halifax Stanfield International Airport has been voted best airport in its class for the past seven years, and after traveling through three airports in one day, I understand why!  It was a very pleasant experience.

My flight finally took off from Halifax to Philadelphia and I figured that when I landed I would have about 20 minutes to switch terminals and make my connecting flight to Ithaca.  As it turned out, I needn’t have worried as when I arrived, I discovered the flight to Ithaca had been delayed by an hour-and-half.  My friend Kate, who grew up in Upstate New York, but now lives in Boston, has met me for the weekend, so we spent our time in the airport getting caught up after I called the owner of the B&B where we were booked to let her know what was going on.  When we boarded the plane to Ithaca, we were told that due to severe weather earlier in the day, there was a backlog for take-off and we were behind approximately 22 other flights.  We ended up sitting on the runway for an 1hour and 45 minutes before take off, so it was close to 9:00 when we finally arrived in Ithaca.  Luckily, our bags came right through and the rental car was waiting for us.

We drove to Thomas Farm B&B and brought our things in.  We have a sweet room with a loft, so freshened up a bit and then headed back into downtown Ithaca to find something to eat.  Along the side of the road, Kate pointed out the fireflies – the sky was just full of them and it was just beautiful.  We also had a possum run across the road in front of us which was another new experience!

Most of the nicer eating establishments were closed and we decided that we weren’t quite up to going to one of the College pubs, so we went to “Collegetown Pizza” and had a slice of pizza and wrote our names on the wall with many others!  We came back to the B&B where we poured over the tourist literature of the Finger Lakes area and made a plan for Saturday before calling it a night.

My name is there for posterity

D’Arcy is home looking after a full-house by himself.  We had some returning guests arriving who I am disappointed to be missing…

Next up:  Exploring the Finger Lake Region of New York State!

 

Bay of Fundy

I came across this video on CNN today, showcasing our beloved Bay of Fundy.  What’s even more exciting about the video is that we know everyone in it!  Don’t forget to vote for the Bay of Fundy in the new Seven Wonders contest!

Happy New Year from us to You!!

Happy New Year from the McDonahs at the Belgravia!

What a year that 2009 was for us!! When we weren’t busy welcoming old & new friends from around the world into our home, we had many exciting adventures. We were proud to receive two accolades this year: In March, we were named “Accommodation of the Year” by the Central Nova Tourist Association, and in November, we were named “Top B&B in Nova Scotia” by Canoe.ca. We always strive to provide the best possible experience that we can and it is reassuring to know that others feel we are achieving our goals!

We closed down during the week of March Break, pulled up the carpets in our living & dining rooms and discovered beautiful hardwood floors underneath. D’Arcy refinished them himself and we are thrilled with the end product. Planned renovations for 2010 are not as exciting: fixing the section of our 105 year-old stone wall that crumbled during a rain storm, patching and resealing the driveway, and insulating the basement.

Life continues to be busy on the home-front as well as with the B&B. My parents, Dave & Deanna, are well and continue to be an integral part of the Belgravia team. If it weren’t for them, we would not be able to commit to all that we do.

I continue to be a member of the Board of the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia (TIANS) and the Nova Scotia Bed & Breakfast Association (NSBBA). I love my positions within these organizations and am committed to encouraging others to provide the best tourism experience possible. This year saw the inception of the Belgravia Blog which can be found either by going through our website at www.belgravia.ca or directly at http://belgraviabedandbreakfast.wordpress.com . We now also have a Belgravia B&B “fan page” on Facebook, so if you’re a fan of the services we provide, please stop by and join! It can be found at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Truro-NS/The-Belgravia-Bed-Breakfast/55069133411?ref=ts We try to keep in touch and provide information about interesting events or discoveries we have made that could be useful for trip planning.

D’Arcy plans to finally graduate with his M. Ed from St. Francis Xavier University in May – the Thesis is almost finished!! We were able to surprise him last month with a coveted “X-Ring” and the afternoon off school to receive it at the Ceremony. We were thrilled when he received a permanent teaching contract with our local school board this year, attached to a job at Hants East Rural High School after resigning from his position with the Halifax School Board last year. He received his 5-year pin for being a leader in Scouting and coaches in our boys’ basketball league.

The children are wonderful and we have had some exciting milestones this year! Evan won a plaque for completing all six stars in Cubs, and a gold medal in the skills competition at curling. Alex after 5.5 years of eye patching is finally finished! His vision sits between 20/50 and 20/60, but his eye “knows” how to get to 20/40 so we are all happy with that. He was pleased to pick up a couple of new ribbons for his collection at the Truro Music Festival this year. We delayed Sarah from starting school for an extra year due to her Fall birthday, but she stays busy with preschool, highland dancing & ballet. Olivia went an entire year without anaphylaxis and had a number of food challenges: shrimp (pass), strawberries (pass), blueberries (pass), grapes (pass), cinnamon (fail), pineapple (fail) and DAIRY (PASS!!) She still battles allergies to peanuts, treenuts, egg, soy, cinnamon and some fruits, but her allergist feels she will eventually outgrow all with the exception of peanuts. We can live with that!

We participated in the Atlantic Canada Grading Authority Survey this year, where after their stay with us, guests could fill out a survey and we were compared to other B&B’s. We are thankful for the overwhelming response and the number of guests who said they were 100% satisfied overall with their stay with us. We have also been delighted to receive so many delightful reviews on Trip Advisor. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g181762-d679192-Reviews-Belgravia_Bed_Breakfast-Truro_Nova_Scotia.html More & more people are not booking before they go to Trip Advisor, so every positive review helps! (Hint!) We appreciate any of our guests who would be willing to write us a review either there or on bbcanada: http://www.bbcanada.com/7123.html?showpage=6

We did manage to get away ourselves a few different times this year. We spent the long weekend in May in Halifax, where D’Arcy & I and the boys participated in the Bluenose Marathon. I ran my first 5k race and loved it – the energy & excitement was palpable. We intend to run the 10k this year and the boys will run the 5k. The kids also participated in the Not-Since-Moses run in Five Islands to kick off our summer vacation. D’Arcy & I would like to run that one this year as well, but registration sells out quickly. Our nephew was married in Halifax in August so we made a vacation of it and spent a day along the waterfront playing tourist. At the end of August, we took off in a 29’ RV to PEI for five days (my parents moved in here and ran the B&B). I had “won” the RV Rental in the silent auction at the TIANS Conference. Everyone agreed that our RV vacation was one of our best vacations ever!

D’Arcy & I spent four nights alone in Halifax last month while we attended the TIANS Conference. The dates happened to coincide with our wedding anniversary. We were thrilled to sit with Dick Lemon, whom we had nominated for the Tourism Innovator Award, and friends at the Gala Dinner. (More details on that can be found farther down on the Belgravia Blog!)

Our garden thrived this year and we fed our guests with its bounty as often as possible. We also joined Club Salad Bowl Gardens, a community sponsored agriculture initiative. Every Tuesday, for 18 weeks this summer, they would set-up in the Belgravia driveway and deliver boxes of organic produce to members. We certainly had many interested guests and we will definitely be joining again this year!

Our Christmas “break” has been a busy one, surrounded by friends & family. We have had time to recharge and are ready for another busy year of welcoming guests and friends from far & near. We have great expectations for 2010 and are already getting reservations for summer. We wish you, our treasured colleagues & guests a prosperous New Year. You enrich our lives and we are thankful everyday for the life we lead.

Fondly,

Anne & D’Arcy,
Evan, Alex, Sarah & Olivia
Dave & Deanna

DRUM!

We had a chance to get to Halifax on Saturday for a performance of DRUM! I am having a hard time putting into words just how much we enjoyed it! The show is explained in the program by the following:

“Before the Tall Ships came, there were the drums of the Mi’Kmaq, the rhythm of the rugged, beautiful lands of Nova Scotia.  For thousands of years, their songs and those of the other ancient native peoples were the only music accompanying Nova Scotia’s crashing waves.

Then came the others, displaced people all, carrying their faith and their music as precious reminders of the homes they had left behind.

First the French, who settled and farmed, transforming the ways of the old country into a new culture – the Acadian culture – as vital and rich as the new land they ploughed.

Then the Celts, the Scots and the Irish, who coloured the landscape, so like that of their homeland, with swirling tartan and the airs of the pipes, the harp and fiddle.

And north from the Thirteen Colonies and the Caribbean, the black settlers, twice dispossessed, the weavers of rhythms rooted in their African heritage and fired by hard times.

Each nation born of a timeless culture, dancing to their own rhythm, their own unique beat.

DRUM! is a gathering of all these rhythms.  It is the musical heartbeat of Nova Scotia.  A spectacle of sounds, styles and traditions, ultimately coming together in a world beat grand finale.

DRUM! communicates a message to the world:  we can hold on to who we are and still share a song, a stage, a country, a world.”

The show especially captured the imaginations of our own drummer, performer, and highland dancer.

The show is over for this year, but we highly recommend for anyone planning a trip to Nova Scotia at this time next year that you try to get tickets!!  We’ll definitely go again!

Afterwards, we went to the Henry House for dinner.  The Henry House was formerly the home of the Granite Brewery, where D’Arcy & I first met while working there together.  The menu and the beer remain mainly the same, and we were happy to see Mel, who is still working there on Saturday nights after all these years!

It was a fun night out, as Halifax is such an easy trip from here for the day.  We will definitely put up a reminder for guests when DRUM! comes to town next year!

Fall

I’m embarrassed that it’s been so long since I put an updated post on here.  I guess that it’s a good thing that we’ve been so busy lately I’m having a hard time keeping up!  D’Arcy & the kids are back to school and it is definitely starting to feel like fall – our burning bush has started to “burn” and our Maples have a touch of red; we even have a frost warning again for tonight!

We’ve been harvesting our garden, using the tomatoes for Eggs Florentine and freezing those we can’t keep up with for winter.  The other day, I grated 16 cups of zucchini to freeze and use in muffins this winter.  I’ve also made pickles & jams, and this weekend I intend to make some salsa.

D’Arcy has been busily working at jobs around the house that need doing before winter, like replacing the basement door including the sill & casing and rebuilding the steps.  When he took off one of the boards, we were interested to find the name “Randall” written on the back.  It obviously was an original, there since the house was built by Dr. Ambrose Randall in 1904!  We love finding these little pieces of history!

We expect to be steadily busy for the next few weeks until the Fall Colours start to peak in late October.  It’s the perfect time to be traveling in Nova Scotia, now that our days tend to be sunny & warm(ish) and our nights cool.  The air is clear, the bugs are few, and the foliage is beautiful.

What a great time of year!

Last weekend was a long one, to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Birthday.  We spent Saturday & part of Sunday in Halifax at the Blue Nose Marathon.  Our boys both ran in the Doctors Nova Scotia Youth Run (4.2k) on Saturday and D’Arcy & I both ran the 5k race on Sunday morning.  It was my first race and I was pleased to finish with a time of 32:01!  I sent D’Arcy on ahead of me and he finished with a time of 26:35.

D'Arcy & Anne, before the race started

We took a picnic lunch out to Peggy’s Cove Saturday afternoon and played tourist.  We lived in Prospect when we got married, so it was fun to drive down the coast and visit some of our old “neighbourhood”.  I was so disappointed to find that the little house we lived in when we were married has been rebuilt as a two story modern home.  What a view the people who live there now have – I still miss it!  We could see the ocean out of every window in the house…

A sunny and calm day at Peggy's Cove

A view from the lighthouse, towards the Village

The obligatory photo on the rocks to prove we were there!

We got home on Sunday in time to greet our guests for the evening and get unpacked.  

It is currently lobster season in this area of Nova Scotia, so we went out on Monday and got three beautiful lobsters for only $5.77/lb. This is the lowest price I’ve seen for lobster in years.  D’Arcy’s father was commenting the other day that lobster is actually less expensive than bologna now which reminded me of the stories my father used to tell about hiding behind the school at lunch to eat his lobster sandwiches as a child because lobster was what the poor kids ate!  I made a German potato salad and we steamed some fresh local beet greens and had a wonderful supper!  I love this time of year!