George Washington Would Eat at the Bistro de Leon

President's Day weekend is almost here, and we just got an awesome deal to pass on to our guests.

Bistro de Leon, one of the best restaurants in town, is offering our guests a free kir chardonnais from February 17 through the 20th. If you're interested, just stop in the office and we'll print a coupon for you. The coupon is only good this upcoming weekend, so celebrate the holiday the George Washington way--with a wonderful Frenchman (if you care more about food than history, I'm referring to Washington's bud the Marquis de Lafayette).

Jean Stephan and Valerie Poinard (two of our favorite French) have brought a little bit of their country to 12 Cathedral Street in Saint Augustine (about 3 blocks from our inn, so if you have really really cute shoes you want to wear to dinner, you can probably do it without too much pain). Jean Stephan is a fifth-generation chef, and his dna shows up in every meal, from the complementary amuse buche (last time I went, it was an amazing little spoon of soup) to the French pastries that greet you from behind glass as you walk into the door.

Don't plan on running into the Bistro for a quick bite. In fact, the menu itself extolls the virtues of slow food (it warns in a pleasantly broken English "as everything is home made "a la Minute" be aware that Chef Jean and sous chef Florian need some time at least 25 to 30 minutes to prepare and cook your entree, so order an appetizer waiting for it"). I have to agree--get an appetizer. I recommend their goat cheese salad...the smooth cheese is baked in honey and datil pepper sauce, and its combination of cool and hot and smooth and fiery is an awesome way to start the night.

For an entree, I love the Chicken Tajine, a breast of chicken slow cooked in candied lemons and Moroccan spices. It's complex and warm...a perfectly cozy little dish.

I usually don't have the gumption to get dessert, but as I said, the pastries will beckon you from the case (that's them, pictured above). I've been known to ask for one in a to-go box.

No matter what you ultimately eat, make sure you come downstairs and get your coupon for a free drink. And then get out there and celebrate...George Washington would want you to.

Guest Profile: Lovebirds Angela and Robert

You know how they say it's never to late for a new beginning?

Well, Angela and Robert Prescott of Georgia know it. They're guests who just got married at the BMH. Besides being very nice people, they also have a very cool love story. (Attention Hollywood: this would be a great flick!)

Angela and Robert grew up in the same rural neighborhood. In fact, Robert was the first boy that Angela ever kissed (he was a very smooth 15-year-old she said, to her sweet and innocent 13). They were what Robert calls "school bus sweethearts."

And then Angela disappeared. She didn't move, but her parents pulled her out of the public school and shipped her off to a private one. (Having met Robert, who is so friendly and sweet, we're sure it wasn't because of him. He is literally the type of person that parents would love--quick to laugh, very considerate, and very handsome. Come to think of it, he's probably exactly the kind of boy that parents don't want their 13-year-old daughters to meet. So never mind!)

Angela's parents were strict, and Angela didn't get a chance to hang out with all of the boys and girls from her old school.

"I used to drive past his driveway for years," she said, "and look in there and think, Oh, that's where he lives!" She sounds a little like a smitten teenager even as she says it now.

So, time passed. Their lives went on. They met other people. They divorced other people.

But they didn't forget those school bus kisses.

And then a little thing called Facebook hit the scene.

"I kept looking for her, and looking for her," says Robert, laughing. "But she didn't use her maiden name online, so I couldn't find her!" Then, Angela's brother opened an account, and Robert asked him what had happened to Angela.

In a few days, they were Facebook friends. They talked, caught up on old times, scrutinized each other's picture, and finally decided to meet up again.

The rest, as they say, is history. They got married last Friday--on 2/11/2011.

"She could run, but she couldn't hide," says Robert, laughing again.

But who would want to hide from such a sweet man? Not Angela, for sure, who looked beautiful and happy during the wedding, and earlier today when they checked out. Robert bought her a Bayfront Marin House robe and some coffee mugs to remember their special day. They shared kisses in the dining room before they said goodbye.

"It won't be goodbye for long!" promised Angela. "We'll see you before our first anniversary!"

We hope you do, Mr. and Mrs. Prescott! And, in the interim, be sure to stay in touch on Facebook!!!

Lights Out!!

The lights went out on the Nights of Lights on Monday night. The town is still beautiful, of course, but it seems so much darker at night!

Luckily for us, we're currently getting bids for new landscape lighting. So in the next few weeks, expect the trees and the stairs at the BMH to be back in glowy-ambiant light. We told the contractors we want the inn to look warm and inviting. And maybe even a little bit sexy! (insert wolf whistle here)

We'll post photos as soon as it's finished.

In the meantime, mark your calendars for Nights of Lights 2011...they start on November 19!!

Happy National Carrot Cake Day!!

Yes, kids, it's a whole day to celebrate the only decent way to prepare carrots. (Eat up, it's good for you!)

Instead of making carrot cake, however, we've been busy in the kitchen experimenting with new quiche recipes. Tonight we sampled four of them--a delicious ham and cheese quiche, an awesome ABC quiche (asparagus, bacon and cheddar--and yes, we kind of made it up), a traditional quiche Lorraine, and a spinach and sausage quiche.

There were four of us in the kitchen tasting--and the ham and cheese won by an onion (seriously, Donna put it well when she said she liked the onion in this one). But that ABC quiche was pretty darn good too...I would expect to see that on the menu this spring.

And now, while the rest of the world is getting ready for bed, I am just starting my next experiment: teeny tiny little cheesecake bites. If I'm lucky, I'll have them read for prime time just in time for National Cheesecake Day.