As of minutes ago, our blog was linked to our web site http://www.logcabin-maine.com/ . It has been a couple weeks since our first entry as I took a short trip south to get away from the intense cold here in Maine. Today is not cold by Maine standards, 26 degrees, sunny and windy. You can see just how windy if you go to the web site and click on the live streaming video.



I thought today may be a good day to give a bit of history of the Log Cabin Island Inn. I hope I do not bore our past, regular guests. ( To those guests, feel free to skip this blog.) Anyhow, my name is Sue, and I have owned the Log Cabin along with my husband since August of1979. The building was previously owned by John Wiseman, who used it as his summer home. Over the winter of '79-'80, we doubled the size of the building, and converted it to a restaurant. We actually cut down the trees and de-barked them.



The Log Cabin Restaurant opened on March 13, 1980. For many, many years we were a busy restaurant, open seasonally. I had worked on the island since my teens in family owned restaurants....the Square Deal, owned by my Aunt Gert, and Rock Ovens, owned by my brother Bruce. So, it only made sense that I open a restaurant of my own, right? Well, after40 years of restaurant work, I wanted out! But, the Log Cabin is a unique building, the panoramic views of Casco Bay, sitting on top of Bailey Island.....who would want to part with that. Back in 1980, our family lived above the restaurant....our sons Matt and Adam were only 7 and 9. We had alot of history in the building.



So, then what? What to do with this big building? How to get out of the restaurant business and keep the real estate? Many ideas were hashed over, and the final idea was to turn it into an Inn. I convinced my husband that this was a great idea (obviously this was going to be a costly idea), and the winter of 1996, we converted the building into a 6 room Inn. When we opened in the spring, we still served the public as a restaurant (much smaller dining room, as we used dining room space for one of the rooms). Over the next couple years, we added a couple more rooms, and finally closed the restaurant to the public, and now serve rooms guests only.



But, you know what? As much as I wanted out of the restaurant business, I love the Inn business. There are many reasons....I will just list a few:



1) Now there was time to actually talk with the guests

2) We have the worlds best guests

3) We have a very small staff vs. a large one as a restaurant

4) The whole Inn is really, really beautiful



So, that is it in a nutshell.



I just want to talk about the small staff for a minute. I have the pleasure of working with my son Matt, and his wife Aimee. I could go on and on here.....but, let's just say they are the greatest. I also work with one of my best friends in the world , Alicia, who said one day that she thinks she was put on this earth to do Inn work. I agree. And, we have Laura, who is a native islander. Laura has been a friend for years and I can only describe her as a combination concierge/comedian. That is the core group. Usually, we have some other part-timers to help us out.



So, this blog will be a group effort. We will all participate in it. So, you will get to know us all.



Let me conclude that if you have not had a Maine vacation, and/or not been to Bailey Island, please come visit us. We open back up in April. To those many loyal past guests, I hope you enjoy the new blog. We will post some pictures soon!



Signing off for now......