Social gaffes II

• I was showing some guests where Route 30 was, with all of the Amish attractions, and they asked about restaurants in the area. My hand happened to be on White Horse which made me think of the White Horse Inn. I've never been but I'd seen many recommendations, plus it is historic, so I heartily recommended it. Turns out I was thinking of the Iron Horse Inn, in Strasburg. The White Horse Inn is a coffee shop in a 1950s-era ranch house. But since I had highly recommended it, my guests ate there anyway, and told me how bad it was later.
• I had a guest with a thick Boston accent. While chatting about the weather, she mentioned that she hates New England weather, and doesn't know why she stays there. I replied, "Because nobody would understand what you're saying any place else." Yeah, I said that.
• I had another guest with a strong English accent. Years ago, Dawn and I had been turned on to PG Tips tea, which is very popular in the UK but not sold in the US. We still had a box from our England trip, so I thought it would be nice to put it in her room. As I grabbed it she said, "That's fantastic, I was just thinking how I'd love a cup of tea." Still thinking I was doing a good thing, I took the box to her room, and pointed out the coffee maker. It wasn't until several hours later that I realized I should have made the tea for her.
• I bake fresh sourdough bread most mornings, using a breadmaker on a timer so it is ready right at 8am. However, we have a room above the kitchen and the breadmaker woke the last guest at 4am! Not wanting to repeat that, I put the breadmaker in the library (which is beneath our bedroom), figuring I was usually the first one up and nobody would know. Needless to say, the next day two of our guests came down at 7:30am and they went in the library to watch some TV. They initially though the small was from a scented candle, but then they found the breadmaker behind one of the chairs. At about that point I came down and saw them in the library. Lacking any mental faculties at that hour, I just walked in, said "good morning," picked up the breadmaker, and walked out like it was a perfectly normal event.

Dawn had some, too:

• We were hosting a family reunion, with the parents, their four children, and three grandchildren. The parents were saying good-bye to each child individually, and probably would have been fine except I suggested Dawn take a group photo in front of the mansion. After she had gathered everyone together and snapped the photo, the mom just broke down, crying "my babies are leaving me!" That made Dawn burst into tears, and soon everyone was crying. Dawn quietly put down the camera and slipped back inside.
• We actually had a full house and so one of the children had to make reservations at another B&B. Then we had a last-minute cancellation, which I didn't mention to the guests, but Dawn did. The one couple cancelled their other reservation, which was really unfair because B&Bs don't overbook rooms like hotels do, so when you cancel last-minute the B&B has no chance of reselling the room. When I found out, I called the B&B and told them we would cover the entire room cost, so they didn't lose any revenue. So we got to make the breakfast and clean the room (and pay room taxes), and they got all the money.
• I was cleaning up after the family reunion and I got a late start, plus there was more to clean than usual, so I was running quite late when the next guests arrived. Dawn met them at the door and asked them to have a seat in the parlor, while she came out to check my progress. The guests misunderstood, and they followed her to the room. So as Dawn unintentionally showed them the unmade beds and dirty floor, the bags of trash and empty bottles, she tried to explain what had happened, but we all just glared at her, even me. (And I was the one at fault for not having the room ready at three o'clock!)

It's nice not being the only contributor sometimes...