Inn Focus by Kristen Hertzog
| Inn Focus by Kristen Hertzog — Owner of Hertzog Homestead Bed and Breakfast | ||||
| I own a Bed and Breakfast in Lancaster County, and I have to admit it’s a little cliché. The 200-year-old farmhouse, the farm-fresh breakfast, the buggies that go clip clop, and I’ve got friends (forty of them!) who all own Bed and Breakfasts in Lancaster County. As a matter of fact, there are so many of us, we decided that we are stronger if we ban together — thus The Authentic Bed and Breakfasts of Lancaster County was born!
Every month we come together for a meeting to take the mystery out of being an innkeeper. We eat a community meal (it’s like a church pot luck on steroids) and discuss the joys and challenges of being an innkeeper in Lancaster. We are all so incredibly different. Some of us hail from old New York, others were raised Old Order Amish, so you can imagine the accents flying around the room! Our Bed and Breakfasts are as diverse as we are! We have got little country back road ones (like mine) and Lancaster City trendy ones and small town living ones, but we do all have one thing in common: natives and experts alike LOVE Lancaster County! It shows up in the things we do as a group: like where we all pitched in to welcome visitors from all over the world and see some of the best sewing artwork known to man at the Quilter’s Party in downtown Lancaster. Some inns have welcomed local veterans to stay with them on the house over Veterans’ Day weekend as a way of saying thanks for serving our country. |
Video Source: hertzoghomestead.com | |||
| The Hertzog Homestead Bed and Breakfast, near Ephrata, has been in my husband’s family for nine generations! Our 4-year-old son, Kiefer has no idea about the legacy we have left for him and is far more concerned about his Legos. If these walls could talk! We have farmland views from every window and our Old Order Mennonite neighbor is a wonderful cook! Our guests enjoy breakfast at the time of their choosing in the privacy and comfort of their suite.
We have a heart for those who are less fortunate, especially in the earthquake-torn country of Haiti. One of the ways we are giving back is by hosting fundraisers for a Lancaster-based nonprofit organization Haitian Connection Network right here on our large front lawn to raise money for a school down in Haiti. We had a Haiti Harvest Fest last fall, and this summer we are in the planning stages of another event to help in whatever way we can. After all, owning a B&B is more than cooking up some mean scrambled eggs and taking out the garbage. It’s about helping people make memories and making a difference locally and abroad.
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