Seasoning the Inn

It's December, which means bare trees, sunset at midafternoon and holiday decorating at Cove.

With Narragansett doing a major event, the Festival of Lights, centered around the lighting of the town Christmas tree, we decided to get the inn holiday-ready earlier than usual to showcase for any passers-by who might want a peek at our accommodations.

Fortunately we had some extra help from our teen tyros, Annie and Liz. Dedicated readers will remember that they signed on last summer to help us with yard work, and they were so helpful that we have been finding other tasks for them ever since.

On Saturday, I was assigned outside lights duty for two crucial reasons: I don't mind working in the cold and it keeps me out of the way of those handling breakable items and making artistic decisions.

In a little over two hours, the girls, under Foreperson Seely's energetic direction, managed to unsnarl and test 17 strings of lights, wrap some of them around all three flights of stairs, add garlands of fake holly, hang round red ornaments on each segment of the glass block border, and cover every flat surface with some kind of holiday knick-knack. Everything from sea captain Santa to the snowmen picket fence found its place.

By 1:30 all that was left was the tree. While the junior innkeepers hauled out the stand and washed it down, I toted the 9 foot balsam in from the yard. For once we got the size just right, so no radical surgery was required before we could lock it into the stand.

We then sent Seely's helpers home. She tackled the lights for the tree while I returned to stringing popcorn. Ornaments may have to wait until tomorrow, but we should be ready by the time the town lights its tree at 5.

Check back tomorrow for photos of the decorations. Better yet, stop on by for our impromptu Open House and see them for yourself.

Innkeeper Dave