And there it was....our 3rd season as owners/innkeepers of the century-old Atlantic Inn, officially over!
9 months of 5am starts, prepping, cooking, and serving a few thousand breakfasts.....endless laundry....food shopping, maintenance and repairs, and of course the best part - looking after our guests that visited from all over the US and abroad, ensuring that they had everything they needed for a relaxing and refreshing vacation........and all completed with only a handful of days off 😁
We had an incredible Spring/Summer/Fall season and would love to thank all the fantastic people who visited with us this year - and hugest of thanks to those special guests who return to see us time and time again and have become great friends, you all are the best!
To our absolute delight, at an approximate guess around 65-70% of our guests this year had stayed with us before....and many of those we were seeing for the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and up to 15th time!!!!! We really couldn't believe how many returning friends we had - and it's only our third year of being open to guests.
So glad we expanded and resurfaced the car park, it certainly got plenty use this summer😊
From couples, families, friends and solo travelers to bird watching tour groups and wedding parties, birthday and anniversary celebrations to simply relaxing on the decks of the inn with a cool drink and a good book, the "Atlantic" was definitely the place to be this year. And the Courtyard Deck quickly became the favorite of many.
The Courtyard Deck
The Shades came in useful during our long hot Hatteras summer
Now, some may notice that we have closed a little earlier this year than last, but as anyone who knows our story.... (if you don't you can read all about it in this earlier blog: https://www.theatlanticinn.com/post/and-so-the-adventure-begins ),
Work-Life balance is super important to us.
Both JB and I had high pressured careers in healthcare/clinical research before deciding to give up our stressful lives to renovate and then run our beloved century-old inn in the beautiful village of Hatteras, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The biggest driver of our decision was simple.....
Life is too short and far too precious to let it pass you by 💕
For years and years, we had been spending all our waking moments either working or worrying about work (and trust me, there were many waking moments during the night when sleep alluded me completely 😔), and had little to no time left to enjoy the life we had built together....not enough time with family, friends, my beloved horses, even each other and absolutely zero time for ourselves - Everything was always done in a rush!!
It's funny how quite suddenly we realized that life was passing us by way too quickly, and we knew we had to do something about it..... and that something happened to be our grand Atlantic Adventure.
Fast forward 4 years... and JB and I are so happy and thankful for the way our crazy adventure has turned out. We own a beautifully serene, historic inn, in what we think is the absolute best village on the Outer Banks - Hatteras Village 🥰, we love what we do.... and we really do have the best guests ever!!!
The season kept us busy, but we always managed to find some time to play...
JB in his Happy Place 😊
Pam in her Happy Place....Loving Hammock Life 💕
Catching the sunset over Ocracoke
Time off the island at Tryon International Equestrian Center....The Silo Bar
Back to our beloved Hatteras.....and Pumpkin
Dinner with absolutely amazing Pennsylvanian friends
Two of our absolute faves...Hatteras Sol (where my son LLoyd and his girlfriend Britt worked the summer)
And Gidget's Pizza in Avon, where during the summer, I drive twice a week, every week, to pick up the most amazing pizzas for JB and me 😉
I just can't get enough Gidget's Pizza!
What started as a new beginning for us....a chance to escape the hustle, bustle, chaos and stress of our previous lives, is now allowing us to provide a respite for others - a haven of tranquility, where they can escape their hectic lives for a few days to completely unwind, relax and find themselves again💕
Here is just a sample of some of the wonderful reviews that we received this summer from our awesome guests/friends 😊
With all this good stuff going on it could be really easy to get carried away with our small success and want more (as anyone who knows me personally knows, I can sometimes get a tad competitive and driven 😉) - we could stay open 24/7, allow more large groups, have more large events, advertise on huge commercial vacation platforms like Expedia, Travelocity, Trivago etc. to ensure that we stay at capacity as much as possible......to name just a few ideas. But.....by doing so, I think we would spoil the serene and tranquil retreat we have worked so hard to create, the unique ambience of the Atlantic would be gone, and we would have defeated the purpose of why we set out on our Atlantic Adventure, to be able to take time for our family, friends, new friends that we make, each other and ourselves (I do love my "me time" when I get time to write).
So, after 9 months with only a handful of days off, and comfortably exceeding last year's number of guest stays, it was definitely time for a break 😊.....and we have already got a busy schedule ahead:- John will be off visiting with his 94yr old Dad in Nebraska for a few days, then we'll have some time together over Thanksgiving, before I head to Scotland (via Iceland) to visit with my Mom and Dad💕, then I'll have a few days being a tourist in Iceland (although that is now highly dependent on how the volcanic activity on the island is 😳)....all before Christmas!
In January we will be focusing on a few projects that we'd like to complete before re-opening in Spring....and we're super excited about the winter projects this year. All I can share with you at the moment is that a couple of the projects have names:
"The Sanctuary at the Atlantic"
"Restless Adventures..."
Just watch your inbox for updates, if you've subscribed to receive news from the Atlantic Inn. If you haven't already subscribed, you can do so by using the link below and scrolling to the bottom of the page
or
Keep checking our Facebook Page for updates at: https://www.facebook.com/atlanticinntime
Other good news... We'll be open again for our Spring Season March 2024 💕
and for those that want to ensure they have their fave suite/room booked for their next vacation getaway at the "Atlantic", we are now taking reservations for 2024
And remember for summer season reservations (Jun 1st- Sept 30th), there is the 10% Early Discount rate, that will be available for bookings made until February 29th, 2024 (not a typo....2024 is a Leap Year🐸).
Just visit the inn website: https://www.theatlanticinn.com/
and when making your reservation use the promo code "EARLY24"
For now, I'm off to hang out with the pups for a bit.... We love being able to spend more time with Bailey and Bodie, and they both love the attention. Pumpkin on the other hand misses his role as official "Atlantic Inn Greeter"😺.... introducing all our guests to the inn and receiving lots of fusses and love. I think he gets a tad bored just seeing us every day in the off season.
The pups having a beach day...🏖️
Pumpkin Pie Puss - self-appointed official Inn Greeter 😺
Bailey and Bodie (my little Blue Devil 🥰) chilling in our apartment
But just before you go, as I didn't have time to post many pics this summer, I thought you might like to see some from our 2023 Season...here goes:
Not content with cooking great breakfasts.....JB's baking skills were pretty impressive ♥️
The ever-changing beauty of Hatteras beaches
Now, it wasn't all sunny days...we also had the occasional storm
But it was never long before...the sun came back again 💕
An unexpected guest 😊
Jake the Jeep was "ducked" on several occasions 😁
So much to be Thankful for...
Happy Thanksgiving Week!
Take Care,
Love and Hugs,
Pam & JB 💕
PS. For those that follow my other blog "My Atlantic Life" massive apologies for not posting for a while....but I'll be back regularly in the next week!