Thanksgiving and geocaching in Placerville

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Albert Shafsky House B&B

Find more than Thanksgiving leftovers by geocaching in Placerville! You will never look at the world outside the same way.

PLACERVILLE, CA, August 14, 2009 -- Albert Shafsky House B&B to offer geocaching with the innkeepers this Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving you can find more than turkey and stuffing in Placerville. The Albert Shafsky House Bed and Breakfast is offering a "How to Geocache" over the holiday weekend with the innkeepers. Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt, where you use a GPS to locate a cache that has been "logged" into Geocaching.com. Fun for all ages, there are plenty of caches in the gold rush town of Placerville to keep you busy all weekend.

The $150 package includes:

special check-in reception
introduction to geocaching and hands-on experience hunting for caches
tips for successful "finds"
Geomate.jr. for guests to use and take home (one per room)
supplies to make your first "hide"
** 3 nights lodging at the Albert Shafsky House B&B in Placerville (AAA rated and number 1 on Tripadvisor) not included in package - rates will vary depending on your room choice
The Geomate.jr. is preloaded with 250,000 geocache locations in all 50 U.S. states and is a great way to get started in the world of geocaching. The festivities will begin on Thursday at 6 pm with wine and nibbles at check-in. Learn how to cache after breakfast on Friday, then head downtown with the innkeepers to find your first cache of the weekend. Saturday after a delicious breakfast, we will create your first hide (materials provided), be shown how to create a free account on geocaching.com, and look up hints and tips for finding more caches. “Geocaching is not only great fun for kids and adults alike but an excellent way to explore any neighborhood” said Warren Hewerdine, Senior Director of Marketing at Apisphere and co-inventor of the Geomate.jr, “By offering a geocaching program like this, the Albert Shafsky House B & B is not just offering a great way for their guests to explore the local area, but introducing them to an activity that they can enjoy long after their visit.”

For still more reasons to visit, Placerville will be starting the holidays off with a tree lighting on Friday, November 27th from 5:30-8:00 pm which closes Historic Main Street to cars and offers music, entertainment, Santa, stagecoach rides and shopping for that special gift. Saturday, November 28th the shops on Main will welcome you with coffee, cider and seasonal goodies to tempt you...and maybe you can find the cache at the Historic Bell Tower too!

The innkeepers of the Albert Shafsky House (Rita Timewell and Stephanie Carlson) have been hunting for caches for over a year and have over a hundred "finds", large and small, near their award winning bed and breakfast. "It gets us out of the inn, and let's us see the world (and our neighborhood) in a new way" said Carlson. The inn has three guest rooms, each with private bath, offers wine, wireless and of course a delightful breakfast during your stay.

SOURCE: Albert Shafsky House Bed and Breakfast

CONTACT:
Albert Shafsky House Bed and Breakfast
Email: stay@shafsky.com
URL: http://www.shafsky.com

For more information about the Geomate.jr: email warren@apishere.com or to to www.mygeomate.com

Now that I am an innkeeper, what do I do?

So, you have decided to become an innkeeper and purchased the perfect place...now the trick is to keep your sanity while working your dream job.

When we first took over the Albert Shafsky House B&B in Placerville, which had been a dream, we worked 18 hour days for several weeks.  It was grueling, it was hard and it was stupid...I am sure we were not nearly as prepared for guests as we should have been, since we were exhausted.  There was so much to do...

There is still much to do all these years later, but we have learned how to take care of guests and ourselves.  Treat yourself...take a day off now and then....leave the inn to an innsitter (a good one) and take a vacation...or a long weekend...if you are not rested, how will you possibly take care of your guests?

What's in a name?

Some folks call them inns, some bed and breakfasts, some bed and breakfast inn.  Why all the names?

A bed and breakfast is typically a small, owner-operated home that serves breakfast (full or something close to a full breakfast) to the 1-5 room guests.

An inn also serves breakfast, but also probably offers food to non-guests in their restaurant. Generally speaking, an inn is larger than a bed and breakfast with 6 or more rooms.  Sometime a 1-5 room property will call itself an inn rather than a bed and breakfast--and not serve breakfast.

A bed and breakfast inn is one that either could not decide what to be called or just thought they would make it very clear that breakfast was included with the stay.