The Carriage House in Jefferson has had a record number of Corporate and Organizational Retreats in 2017 that have stayed with us or planning to this Summer. Organizations from Education, Military, and Business has found that a retreat in Jefferson is a great place to hold a planning, educational or strategy retreat. The Carriage House has the ability to transform its main room into a classroom or lecture style area to accommodate groups of up to 25 people and larger groups can be accommodated at the Jeffersonian Institute in downtown Jefferson which is a short walk away from the Carriage House Bed and Breakfast. Quitman School District, Barksdale AFB, Pro Train, TCEA, and Private corporations have found that Jefferson has just the right mix of relaxation and recreational activities to make for a productive getaway..of course, Jessi’s cooking helps too. We offer extras like Welcome Bar-B-Que’s, lunch and dinner plans, and of course the Breakfasts that we are known for. So if you’re company or organization needs a break from the city in a place that is a true “Retreat” then Jefferson Texas and The Carriage House Bed and Breakfast is the place for you. There are several other B&B’s that have agreed to participate if you need more rooms than the eleven we offer.
Just call Jessi and we can put together a custom package that will make your corporate retreat a memorable one 903-665-9511
The 2013 Winter Coffee Mugs are here and are available while supplies last. The 2013 Winter colors are Light Teal with a Cinnamon/ White Glaze and Black with a Sand White Glaze. Both of these mugs are available only in the Barrel shape.
All of our mugs are hand thrown by a potter from Deneen Pottery in Minnesota In this day of Chinese assembly line products, our mugs are American craftsmanship at it’s best.
If you are interested in purchasing a mug, please call me at 903-665-9511. The mugs are $18 plus tax and I will ship them directly to you.
A few weeks back, I was proud to have Bob Griffin, his beautiful wife Denise, and their dog Sport come and spend a few days with me here at the Carriage House. For those of you not in the Shreveport TV air space, Bob is the weekend anchor on KTBS, Channel 3. Before his tenure with Channel 3, he was with KSLA Channel 12 also in the Shreveport area.
Bob never stops working and his passion for what he does was evident during his stay here. He is a “news man” at his very heart.
He put together a 3 minute video on the Carriage House and all the things he enjoyed about his stay. He was most impressed with our pet friendly accommodations and the fact that you can walk to just about anywhere from right here at the Carriage House.
I hope you enjoy this video. Here ya go!!! Enjoy!!
Like everyone else, we have a project list about a mile long.
One of our many projects is to get some awesome breakfast photos for our website. So I commissioned my favorite photographer, Tom, and we had a photo shoot this morning right after breakfast. The Pasta Frittata was colorful and really did photograph well! As is not unusual for us, we were quickly distracted by cleaning and giving directions to the guests. When we walked back into the kitchen we had a surprise. The plate had been licked clean and The Bug was looking very guilty!!
It ain’t easy being an innkeeper. The hours are long and the laundry never seems to end. There is always one room that needs to be cleaned or needs some sort of repair. You live your life in a constant state of being one project behind where you should be.
However, there are some real pluses to the job. We LOVE our guests (really do!). We get to experiment in the kitchen a lot (not always with good results) and we get to live in a beautiful old home full of stories and charm. One of the other big pluses to the job is drinking awesome coffee…every morning.
I did not realize that I had become a coffee snob until last week.
Tom and I went to the Professional Association of Innkeepers International (PAII) Innkeeping show in Little Rock, AR. It was awesome!! I got to see some friends I only see once a year and learn some amazing cool things (watch for some new stuff to come).
However, the coffee in the hotel and at the show was AWFUL. I mean really AWFUL!! I mean rot gut! Blech!!
We have been ordering our coffee from a roaster in Shreveport called Jelks Coffee for some time now. We change the flavors for the season and order whole bean so that we grind fresh coffee every morning. Right now we are working our way through Mardi Gras/ Valentines Day flavors. We drink what the guests drink and I forgot what bad coffee tastes like. YUCK!!
We spent a lot of time at this year’s show talking about why bed and breakfasts are a “Better Way to Stay” then hotels. Well here is one reason. We will NEVER serve you a bad cup of coffee ever and we will ALWAYS serve your coffee in a fabulous mug (think a Deneen Pottery Mug) not a Styrofoam cup.
A good cup of coffee to start the day really does make us a Better Way to Stay!!
I would like to extend an invitation to all of you to the Grand Opening of Beje’s Diner on Friday, September 30th. Below is a schedule of how the day will run…
FRIDAY 30th
6:00am- open for breakfast
Breakfast Special: Texas Size French Toast with bacon or sausage: $3.99
11:00am-2:00pm: Live on air remote with 103.9 KMHT.
Menu for Lunch: Fried Pork Chops or Grilled Pork Chops, Chicken & Dumplings
(Choice of 2) Smashed Taters & Gravy, Chuckwagon Corn, Blackeye Peas, Mac & Cheese, Glazed Carrots, Salad,
roll or cornbread
Grand Opening Special Lunch Price: Meal, Drink & Tax: $8.00
Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies will begin at 5:30pm
Full Menu Items available
Dinner Special
7:00pm – Live Piano Music begins
7:00-9:00: $2.00 from the sale of each burger will go to benifit the Marion County VFD Fund.
Complimentary Pinto beans & cornbread and chips & salsa will be served thru out the day.
SATURDAY:
Open at 6:00 for breakfast..
Breakfast is served every Saturday til 2:00pm….
$5.00 Bowl Dinner Specials
After spending the last 8 weeks doing some major restoration work on the Carriage House B&B, we are almost ready to begin serving breakfast to our guests again. We had to shut down the kitchen (and the main house) to do our final push in remodeling and the restoration of this 130 year old house. We have been restoring this old house for almost two years now and this is the big (hopefully) final push.
The appliances were beyond awful. They were unlevel and cooked inconsistently. The counter tops were cracked and the cabinets had holes in them. It was a hobby of Tom’s and mine to complain about the kitchen. For plumbing concerns, visit sites like https://www.homechoiceplumbing.com/plumbing/installation-replacements/ for professional help.
So we spent a couple of years planning our new kitchen and decided that the best time to do the work was in the slow season which is the heat of the summer for us. We had to view the website of some cabinet makers too, to get some decent cabinets installed in our kitchen. It has been a grueling process that tested both our patience and our good natures at times but we are almost done. All that is left is to paint and do the nit-picky stuff.
If you are planning to build a rustic country kitchen or a modern kitchen with this beautiful selection of wall and floor tilers you can make a great project.
Friday night we cooked our first meal in the kitchen. We made up a batch of Mama Ronchi’s Marinara sauce. It is Sunday morning and we are making a mess and fixing breakfast (only for ourselves).
It feels good to be back! Life is starting to get back to normal.
Next week, we officially reopen the kitchen and the main house for guests. Come on by sometime and we will show you all of the awesome changes that we made.
You know when you live in an old house, there are always things you don’t know about your home. The Carriage House Bed and Breakfast is no different. So far, we have not discovered anything really bad during this kitchen renovation. We have a portion of floor near where the sink used to be that needs to be replaced, but so far that is it. What we have found that has surprised us is more structural. It seems at one time there was a chimney (and fireplace) and a door where there are none now. Take a look at the photos above.
Has anyone else ever had a really cool discovery during renovations?
One of the things that we discussed through out the planning process of this kitchen renovation was “Discovery”. It is an old house so we knew there were going to find surprises. We anticipated that the plumbing was going to need to be updated or that the wiring was not in code. What we were not expecting was a message left under the cabinets by one of the previous owners.
So now I have a little mystery on my hands. What does it mean? I am taking that the 19 and 88 are supposed to be the year 1988 which means that the kitchen was 23 years old (not surprised). But what does the rest of it mean?
One of the challenges to owning an old house is that there is ALWAYS maintenance to be done…and oh by the way, the warranty was up over a century ago. Some of the work can be challenging such as old plumbing but other work can be fun such as picking out a new paint color or new curtains for the room.
I always hated the color of the Diamond Bessie Room. It was this yellow buttery color that never went with the theme of the room. We didn’t paint it that color. It was that color when we bought the place. The room badly needed a fresh coat of paint since it probably hasn’t been updated in 10 years or better. However, other projects always took priority to this room getting repainted. Finally, the Diamond Bessie’s number came up this week and the room is getting a fresh and new color of paint. I have chosen a darker, richer color of brown for this room. I am hoping that this new paint color really amps up the elegance of the Diamond Bessie Room.
This is one of the benefits of staying at a Bed & Breakfast versus a hotel or motel. We are always looking for new ways to improve our guest experience. We are always looking at our rooms, our service, our breakfasts, and our packages to determine if it is the best that we can deliver. Tom and I are always tweaking things so that we can make a stay at the Carriage House Bed and Breakfast the most romantic, the most adventurous, or the most relaxing place it can be for our guests. That is why we say that staying at a B&B is a Better Way To Stay!