Our guests arrive to an idyllic retreat nestled within a national, state and locally designated historic district. Old Seminole Heights has long been celebrated for its Craftsman and Mediterranean-style bungalows.
Every room of our two properties has been lovingly renovated to reveal the original charm of the arts and craft period uniquely furnished with period touches combined with modern-day conveniences that provide for a relaxing and luxurious break for your next business trip or affordable getaway. In addition, the gardens are a horticulturist’s delight for the depth and variety of Florida native plants.
Back in the ’20s, families returned year after year. People today come for a different experience, a pleasant throwback to when people grew up, knew their neighbors, sat on their front porch and everybody talked to everybody else. Come, stay awhile and enjoy.
By Henry | Published
November 15, 2010
Folks simply love our beaches.
We’ve just finished our annual repair and refreshment of the cottage and in late April will move onto the bungalow.
Funny about spring in Florida—it doesn’t does take being a scientist to know when beach time is upon us. The Gulf of Mexico off Fort Desoto State Park reached 73 degrees in early April, email inquiries for summer are streaming in, and we all know just being around the water brings on contentment. But why? Is it the color blue that makes us relax? Is it acoustic, the Beach Boys, children playing, sea gulls calling, waves crashing ashore?
Here at Erehwon, we so enjoy receiving notes of inquiry or letters of thanks with comments like, “When we looked out onto the Gulf or walk along the strand of Bayshore, our imagination for travel opened up seeing a boat on the horizon, smelling salt in the air, and, oh, there’s that sensation of sand between our toes.”
By Henry | Published
April 8, 2013
CC Photo courtesy of Roslyn via Flickr.
During Christmas, the only table open one morning at Starbucks placed me next to the condiment bar (cream, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg, etc.). With all the fly-drives to Florida and whistle-stop tours of America I witness from the vantage of hosting foreign guests at Erehwon Retreat, I realized this morning that if you want to discover the essence of American diversity sitting next to the condiment bar will not widen the gulf but rather provide new insights.
Once guests have gotten over their amazement at the size of everything—from mountains, to prairies, to portions of food, to the super-sized Tastee Freeze stands—a still more bewildering syndrome afflicts them: the geographic diversity. For example, in West Ashley there’s a lot more latte sold than coffee, likewise the crayfish in Cajun lowlands is a lot different than dining at the Crab Claw in St. Michael’s, Maryland.
One can never form close bonds with 311 million Americans, but taking notes on what guests talk about during their visit—number one is variety, followed by contrariety, and, most important, the discovery that there are plenty of folks who are not only simpatico, but are also indistinguishable from those they left at home.
East is east and west is west, and while the twain may meet, perhaps its at Starbucks condiment bar.
By Henry | Published
January 8, 2013
