Post by Ella.
Sometimes I am lucky enough to meet an AirBnB host who is not a property management company, who has not asked us to strip the sheets or take out the garbage, and who genuinely seems to care if we enjoyed our stay. Whether owned by a person or a company, most AirBnB places we use these days are self check-in. No longer are there texts or calls back and forth about who will be meeting us with keys where and when. Now there are lock boxes and most often, key pads on the front door. The combination is usually sent a day in advance of arrival. It’s all pretty anonymous.
With this cabin/cottage, the host had texted that the door would be unlocked and just walk right in. There was a key on the table and a hand written note telling us we could lock the door if we wanted but it probably wasn’t necessary.
Then we got to meet the host Jenn and her two year old son Ethan in person. She asked if they could stop by Sunday morning before we left. They live right “next door” which is on a path through the woods.
Ethan handed me a zip lock bag with 4 home made blueberry muffins and immediately took it back, carefully plucked one muffin out for himself, handed the bag back, ate the muffin and studiously picked up the crumbs.
Jenn and her husband had purchased the cabin/cottage from the Zimand family who had owned the place for three generations. They left everything intact including an eclectic book collection among which Grubb spotted the 60’s cult classic novel “The Gay Place”, along with some dusty, ancient law reviews.
According to Jenn, the town of Randolph has a permanent population of 306 which of course swells when people from all over the country come to enjoy the White Mountains. But during the quieter times, the people of Randolph keep alive traditions that are a hundred years old like the annual Barn dance and the yearly friendly competition of forest charades where groups go out into the forest to act out their word or phrase.
I think everyone in town must belong to the Randolph Mountain club. They even have a published book on all the hiking trails in the Randolph area. There are many. Many, many.
Life in a tiny town. The tourist and summer cottage people season, maple syrup and maple sugar season, and winter.