In the News
Inn brims with down home, country comforts
TROPIC - The beds are heavy with handmade quilts,
the windows open onto freshly-plowed fields and lush vegetable
gardens, and the walls are filled with the telltale creations
of local artists and family photographers: acrylic floral arrangements
and the toothy grins of children long since grown.
And as if such down-home decor weren't enough, the
hosts are more than ready to offer some country charm of their
own to the road-weary traveler - complete with a cup of steaming
cocoa and an invitation to join them for a little late-night television
in the living room.
As a symbol of America's fascination with interstate
travel, the roadside motel has long enjoyed the financial rewards
of a nation schooled in the nomadic spirit. For a growing number
of station wagon clippers and motorcycle maniacs, however, the
traditional motel experience is yielding ground to a new boarding
option borrowed from the Old World - an option that owes more
to childhood visits to grandmother's house than to plastic room
keys and loud neon signs.
An established staple of the European tourist scene,
bed and breakfast enterprises are beginning to make a steady appearance
on American travel agendas as well. Taking advantage of a bleak
economic picture that finds more and more families opting for
stateside vacations, couples the nation over are converting homes
and farms into appealing glances to old-time country living; and
the result is nothing short of a profitable exchange for hosts
and voyagers alike.
In transforming their own family home into the Bryce
Point Bed and Breakfast, Lamar and Ethel Lefevre of Tropic are
ready to offer the sights and flavors of small-town Garfield County
to visitors drawn by the epic grandeur of nearby Bryce Canyon
National Park. For many of the couple's international boarders,
an evening's stay at Bryce Point is a first-time opportunity to
wake to the sound of goats bleating and the smell of thick country
bacon on the grill; and the rustic beauty of the experience keeps
the inn all but filled through the entire summer season.
Adding to the appeal of Byce Point is a heady dose
of family exposure unequalled on the traditional motel circuit.
Lamar and Ethel have given the rooms at the inn the names of their
own children, and the decor of each reflects the occupations of
their enterprising sons and daughters.
In the Lynn and Karen room, a working telescope
and a plaque granting honorary status in the Royal Air Force betrays
the man's work with Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, while
Clark County Fire Department Captain Les finds his namesake quarters
decorated with an official department hat and a copy of a favorite
children's book, "The Fire Cat." And in perhaps the inn's most
popular room, the one dubbed simply "Grand Kids," visitors are
welcomed by familiar bunkmates - a pair of teddy bears dressed
in authentic Levi's overalls.
"The house is built around family values," said
Lamar. "Visitors get a real kick out of learning about the whole
family; they really get into it."
Another feature of Bryce Point guests dig into with
all the zest of a new country day is the Lefevres' hearty breakfast.
Gathered around a table brimming with figures from a number of
foreign countries, visitors are free to stuff themselves on Lamar's
7-UP pancakes and Ethel's famous apple cider syrup - and all while
sharing a rare bit of dialogue that bridges hemispheres and political
ideologies alike.
"Our breakfast table is the world," said Lamar of
the morning feast at Bryce Point. "It's enjoyable to meet all
these people; we have a lot of fun with the guests. They all love
to be conversationalists."
Talk on a warm Sunday morning in Tropic turns quickly
to the country staples at hand. Unaccustomed to the fare, a German
man pokes at his pancakes, then asks for "two toasts," while an
energetic woman from Michigan insists that Ethel really should
market her syrup recipe.
Once the coffee has been poured, however, the conversation
seems to take on a life of its own. And after a quick glance to
high school basketball and a lengthy discussion on the racial
makeup of the American West, the guests are ready to go their
separate ways - but not without first thanking their cordial hosts
for a memorable return to slower, simpler times.
"Thank you! It's, a very nice peace here and you
are so friendly," wrote one couple in the "Grand Kids" room guestbook.
"When we return to Switzerland, we remember to you."
"You folks really do leave the light on for us!"
added a family from northern Utah. "It has been wonderful being
your grandkids for a night."
A French couple who spent an evening with the Lefevres
could only echo that sentiment as well.
"Two very friendly hosts, a beautiful house, an
excellent breakfast, a very comfortable room and two cute teddy
bears," they wrote. "We couldn't want anything else."
For a growing number of local and international
travelers, the comforts of such personal service are fast becoming
a vital part of any successful vacation - and as long as couples
like Lamar and Ethel Lefevre are around to open the doors to their
warm country homes, the bed and breakfast trend will likely find
more and more voyagers passing up a traditional motel in favor
of another visit to grandmother's.
"Thanks for stopping by," said Lamaer as he sent
another couple from the eastern seaboard on their way, a personalized
guide to the park and a sensible rattlesnake warning firm in hand.
""Here's hoping you have wind in your sails."
The Daily Spectrum, Saturday, August 22, 1992
