Saturday, February 1, 2020

It All Started with a Rug


It All Started With A Rug

Have you ever wondered why things happen?  What chain of events leads to certain outcomes? Why certain decisions make all the difference? This is a story of faith and friendship at Swan Song Inn.
Many of our followers know the story of how Inn Keeper Doug and I gathered all of the furniture and decorations here at Swan Song Inn. I love to shop at out of the way places where I find some of the most unique treasures that I adore. One of those items is a rug, a simple entry way rug.

Facebook Marketplace, online yard sales, regular yard sales and estate sales. I am a treasure hunter. I answered an online sale ad for a rug. I didn’t know where I would use it but it looked pretty and I was sure I would need 8 or 12 rugs soon anyway. So off to House Springs MO I go to meet a gal about a rug.
I drive out there after work and it was getting dark.  I parked my truck where the headlights would shine into the pole barn where said run was being stored. They had other things for sale too and we gabbed and chatted and then her husband came out and we gabbed and chatted some more. I liked these people, Kris and Susan.


Now,  I was still in the planning stages for an Inn that I had not yet closed on the purchase of. But I had business cards made up with my cell on them and a picture of the beautiful home on the front. The cards looked really “real” for a business that didn’t yet exist. I gave these nice folks one of those cards.

I turned to leave with my rug, and my truck would not start. I had left the headlights on too long. Kris immediately got his truck, jumped my battery and got me running. We chatted and gabbed some more. We found we had a lot in common, outdoors, fishing, hunting and good times with friends. I learned that he really liked to duck hunt. I had told him about the water fowl on my lake that I didn't yet own.  I left feeling good, convinced that there are still nice and kind people in the world. This was sometime in October of 2016.



Life goes on and I kept acquiring furniture for the Inn that I still had not bought. A dining room table from some nice folks in South County and an awesome wine cabinet in Wildwood, MO from a couple who even loaded it for me. 

An amazing bedroom set in Fenton, MO, a bedroom set in Farmington MO, and bed in Waterloo IL. You, my readers have seen all these pieces in the website in the rooms here at the Inn, if not, take a look. swansonginn.com

Finally we closed on the Inn and we moved to Marshfield MO in December 2016. Swan Song Inn was born. So we open January 1, 2017. The website is still not up yet, and we are still putting touches here and there on the 4 rooms. Swan Suite, Lake View, Park View suites and the Cygnet room.  We have a few bookings, people who know us and want to help support us.  














 Photo by Ryan Wallace
Then I get a call from Susan. She asks, did you ever open that B and B? She had kept my card. She
booked a Valentine get away weekend and brought another couple with them. Really, they were our first guests who we didn’t have a prior relationship with. It was a great week end and Susan found out that she LOVES steel cut oatmeal. (And my Stuffed French Toast)






They booked again and brought more friends down with them. We planned Murder Mystery weekends and more friends came. Kris and Susan seemed to be our main cheerleaders, and they wanted to share the Magic that is Swan Song Inn with others.
Photo by His Fingerprint Photography

They come down for the Hunts, both Egg and Pumpkin, but they don’t act like guests, they pitch in and help. The get the bonfires started, they help set up the tents and tear down, all in between rounds of fishing of course. By this time they have tried several of the rooms but always seen to migrate back to their favorite, the Park View Suite. This room is large enough to have an extra bed set up in the walk in closet. Yes, that is true, it is a huge closet. Their teen age daughter loves sleeping in this closet on the queen size bed. Their son, snoozes on the couch in their suite. At one of the hunts they won a garden bench. They really didn’t have a place for it at home and asked if we would just set it up here by the lake, and they donated it back to the Inn. I knew that Susan’s Mother had passed away so I dedicated it to her Mother with an attached plaque. It still sits lakeside on the far side of the lake, really close to the best bass hole to fish.



Susan is such a giving person and loves to bring presents when she comes. I have been presented with many gifts over the years. A beautiful wreath to celebrate the Cherry Blossom Festival, which is huge here in Marshfield, hangs in my dining room. A string art wall plaque that looks great hanging in my kitchen is yet another gift. Kris is ever ready to lend a hand with anything. I am blessed. As you can guess, by now, we are friends.  They have been here I think, 9 times in 3 years.



                                                                                        Photo by His Fingerprint Photography
They decided to renew their vows this past October. The planning had begun. Susan and I both were florists in our earlier lives and between us we had the wedding details down! We do a lot of weddings here at Swan Song Inn. The lake is the perfect setting and when Mrs. Lola and Mr. glide by and photo bomb the photographer, it can’t get much more perfect. They renewed their vows, with Inn Keeper Doug officiating and myself coordinating.
     Photo by His Fingerprint Photography

We always say "Enter as Strangers and Leave as Friends" This is just one example of the friends we have made here at Swan Song Inn. Inn Keeper Doug and I have so enjoyed the past three years Meeting and Greeting strangers into the Inn and waving goodbye to them as new friends. I like to say                              " A Guest is just a friend I haven't met yet."
     Photo by His Fingerprint Photography
 Now if I can only get Mr. to start thinking that way.


Valentines Day is on a Friday this year. Visit our website swansonginn.com and book your stay. If you shoot us an email at stay@swansonginn.com that you read the February Blog and you stay the 14th and 15th of February, we will have chocolate covered strawberries in your room for you.


So if you are a past guest, we thank you for the time we spent together and may our paths cross again. If you have never experienced the Magic that is Swan Song Inn consider this an invitation to come meet us and experience the Destination for Relaxation for yourself. Remember, it all started with a rug.




Inn Keeper's Doug and Cheri Colson
Swan Song Inn
Marshfield MO
417-859-0140
stay@swansonginn.com
www.swansonginn.com