Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour 2007

2007 is the 36th Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour. This year's tour offers 12 homes in Historic Oakwood on December 8 & 9 from 1pm to 7pm. Prices are $15 per person in advance or $20.00 the day of the Tour. The tour is the major event that the Society for the Preservation of Historic Oakwood has to raise money for the use in the Historic District. The money is used for various improvements of the neighborhood. This past year we saved an old house from the wrecking ball. We had the house moved from its location at Peace Street and Boylan to 207 Linden Street which is in Historic Oakwood. The house was repaired and brought up to code, and is now on the market for a new owner.

Every year the tour is on the second weekend of December. All of the homes on tour are decorated for Christmas in their own unique fashion. Advance ticket sales are throughout Raleigh. You can also go online and purchase them for a $2.00 fee per ticket at E-tix at http://www.historicoakwood.org/. This is our second year using E-tix for make purchases for advance sales, making it very convenient for you to buy the tickets at the advance price without having to physically travel to a location. When you purchase them via E-tix, you receive a voucher for tickets. To pick up your tickets, take the voucher to The Oakwood Inn Bed & Breakfast on the day of tour and just exchange them for your tickets. It's that simple!

The tickets are more like a brochure, which has a map and location of all the homes and areas of interest on it. This year, we will have a horse and carriage ride, as well as a bicycle rickshaw ride provide by Raleigh Rickhsaw. The horse and carriage or the rickshaws will be able to provide a little more fun this year.

The Tucker House will be open for cookies and refreshments along with some entertainment. The Historic Oakwood Cemetery will also be open for tours. For more information or advance ticket sales, call The Oakwood Inn B & B at 919-832-9712 located at 411 North Bloodworth, Raleigh, NC 27604. Come and Join us for Fun, Food, and Pleasure! Call for information at 919-832-9712 or go to http://www.historicoakwood.org/, or http://www.oakwoodinnbb.com/.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR BUSINESS MAILER

You received a letter from us introducing you to The Oakwood Inn Bed & Breakfast. The letter was mailed out to all North Carolina registered principals that handle the lobbying for various companies and interest groups.

Now for those who live a great distance from Raleigh, staying with us makes logical sense. However, for some of you who live/work in Raleigh or fairly close, obviously staying with us to visit the legislature may not seem rational, and we agree.

However, we DO get many guests that stay with us for a night or two, just to getaway from the everyday stress and mundane routines. It may be an escape from work, or from the kids, or from the pressures of home, or just to do something a little different. We DO have quite a few guests that just need a weekend away without having to drive to far to enjoy it.

We have some nice dinner/theatre packages... stay a night at the Inn, have dinner at a downtown restaurant, and go see a play at one of the eight theatre groups in downtown Raleigh. Make plans with your spouse or significant other to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, or date that is meaningful for the both of you.

So you see, you may live in or near Raleigh and you don't need to stay with us for a business event, but you can and should stay with us for a short little vacation!

SPECIAL OFFER:

For those who stay with us for 1 room night, we'll include two free Oakwood Inn coffee cups (a $10.00 retail value) WITH PRESENTATION OF COUPON.
For those who stay with us for 2 consecutive room nights, we'll include two free Oakwood Inn coffee cups AND two free Oakwood Inn wine glasses (a $24.00 retail value) WITH PRESENTATION OF COUPON.

1. IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR THIS OFFER, YOU NEED TO EMAIL US AT OUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND ASK US TO SEND YOU A SPECIAL OFFER COUPON WHICH IS ONLY VALID UNTIL DECEMBER 20, 2007. You can do this now without having to make a room reservation. email: innkeepers@oakwoodinnbb.com

2. When you decide on a date, call for a reservation, please inform us at this time that you have a coupon for the SPECIAL OFFER.

3. At the time of check in, you must present us with the coupon in order to receive the SPECIAL OFFER. Again, this is subject to a reservation and the COUPON MUST be presented at the time of check in.

4. Offer is subject to room availability and some black out periods may apply.

5. Lost coupons will NOT be replaced. One coupon per email address request. Offer is only good for one time per couple during 2007.

6. Photocopies or computer reproductions of coupon are not valid nor allowed.

Thank you for reading our Blog and we hope that you will take advantage of our SPECIAL OFFER for the year 2007. Check our Blog on a regular basis for news about the Oakwood Inn and area events.

Gary L. Jurkiewicz

JUNE Murder Mystery CANCELED

I'm am sorry but due to an overwhelming schedule and some unexpected projects, I will have to canceled the June 2007 Murder Mystery Weekend. I hope to have it done and ready for the Fall of 2007, I will keep you all informed.
Gary

What Is A Bed & Breakfast?

Bed & Breakfasts.... Inns.... B & Bs..... Country Inns..... Guest House..... Cottage Inn...... What Are All Of These Things?!!

There are many different types of establishments that are classified as B&Bs.
From an historical perspective they originated as someone’s home where the homeowner rented out bedrooms for weary travelers and offered them a breakfast to start their day for a low, reasonable charge…. probably in Europe and more so in the United Kingdom.

The concept came over here to the United States where many B&Bs started on the east coast especially in the New England area. Over time the concept evolved and caught on by many more people, and this part-time occupation or sometimes hobby for some innkeepers has now turned into a full blown profession, with innkeepers holding down the Inn as a full time job, taking classes to improve the operations or procedures in running this type of business, and even organizing into professional associations locally and nationally.

Some Bed & Breakfasts are ran as a fulltime venture with the innkeepers earning a living and some are doing it part-time and also holding a fulltime job or they just may be doing it as a hobby for fun to meet other people and earn a little side money to help supplement their retirement. In any of the cases, the Inns are uniquely different as are their owners/innkeepers. That is what makes a B & B such a wonderful travel experience, each Inn has its own personality that has transpired from the personalities of the owners or innkeepers.

What makes the difference among a Bed and Breakfast, an Inn, a Guest House, or a Country Inn? This sort of a gray area. It really is semantics. Some people refer to an establishment with 1-4 bedrooms as a B &B, while a place with 5-10 is an Inn, and a place with more than 10 as a County Inn. Others have no distinction, so a B & B can also be called an Inn.

It is hard to say what is a bed & breakfast and at what level the lodging becomes a hotel. I would say that a B & B and/or Inn are smaller, more quaint and homey. Many B & Bs offer almost the same amenities as a hotel except a breakfast is included, as well as many other perks. Sometimes the more expensive perks like bike rentals or packages for weddings nights, birthdays are sold separately form the room price. Some hotels are trying to be like a B & B and offer a variety of “free” amenities, or included perks, but what they lack is the real essence of a B & B and that is the personalities of the place due to the one-on-one owners/innkeepers. The innkeeper-guest interaction, whether for suggestions for restaurants or area events, or just a social chat about world economics, is where a B & B differs from a hotel.

To the innkeeper, this is their life not a job as in the place of a hotel/motel. Due to the smallness and this bonding with the innkeeper, there is also a chance for the guests… total strangers to each other, to bond and form relationships. It happens all the time around the breakfast table in a B & B, but try sit with a stranger at a breakfast table in a hotel, or in the lounge… it doesn’t happen… not as often as at a B & B.

Bed & Breakfast and/or Inns are becoming more wide spread and frequently used by travelers for vacationing or for business. Yes, the business traveler is finding out how nice traveling can be if they stay with a Bed & Breakfast. Now that’s another Blog post, so I’ll hold on that for now.

So, when making a reservation at an Inn, be sure to book early because this type of lodging has become very popular with vacationers, people just passing through, and business travelers. Innkeepers are charming, informed about their area, gracious hosts, and even just plain fun…. They can be some of the nicest folks around!

You can always find out more information on the Bed & Breakfasts and Inns of North Carolina by visiting the North Carolina Bed & Breakfast and Inn Association at www.NCBBI.org

OR....... Just Come Visit Us Sometime If You Are Ever In Raleigh, North Carolina! www.oakwoodinnbb.com

Gary

Murder Mystery Weekend in Raleigh

LOOKIN' FOR ALL COLUMBO'S, MATLOCK'S, PERRY MASON'S, OR EVEN
INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU'S (Pink Panther movies)....

The Oakwood Inn Bed & Breakfast in Raleigh will be hosting another Murder Mystery Weekend on June 8 & 9, 2007. Pricing and more details will be posted as they become available. I will be hiring actors to play the character roles in the murder mystery will be centered in part around a Civil War Conspiracy Theory. Guest sof the Inn will be in the "role" of detective. Prizes will be award to the person(s) who guess who dunnit and why they did it or also known as The Motive.

We hosted our first Murder Mystery weekend in late August 2006 and it went fairly well. Actually, it went very well as far as the guests and actors went. Since I'm my worst critic, I felt that a couple of things could have been better. The script in this weekend was written by me, Gary Jurkiewicz, the Innkeeper at the urging of Ira David Wood of Theatre In The Park in Raleigh. I used some of Theatre In The Park's actors and Ira David Wood himself was also in the show... in videotape form.

For the show in June 2007, I am still in the process of writing it and it will be done a little different. Once I get those details worked out, I will post the entire article on the blog. I chose a Civil War theme hoping that there is a special interest crowd, and many of them, that would be interested in this type of murder mystery. The setting of the murder mystery, is in current time and located in Raleigh. It should be fun!

If you are interested in attending, just please contact me via email at innkeepers@oakwoodinnbb.com. Or call at 919-832-9712.

I will be putting out an email broadcast to all of our past guests near February sometime about this Murder Mystery weekend package.

Gary