Babymoons, Booties and B&Bs
Jennifer and Craig Ruckert, a very attractive 30-something couple were sitting in front of a terrific fire, enjoying some great cheeses and local wines, a regular pre-dinner ritual at the Tidewater Inn, in the laid back, classy Connecticut shore town of Madison .
Except Jennifer wasn't drinking wine. She was nursing a sparkling something -drink because she's pregnant with the couple's first child.
"This is a special weekend for us," she said. "This is the weekend we pick a name for our baby, and probably the last time Craig and I will have alone together for a long time. Just the two of us, no stress and no intrusions."
The special weekend, called a Babymoon is the brainchild of innkeeper and Tidewater owner, Victoria Kolyvas. " Look," she said, stoking the fire in the comfortable common room, " pregnancy can be very stressful! The questions from friends and family, the exams, the preparation. I just wanted to do something special for expecting parents."
And she did.
Her Babymoon package offers two or more nights at the inn, complimentary non-alcoholic bubbly, hand-crafted chocolates, a gift certificate for dinner and special gifts for the mother-to-be.
In Jennifer's case, the special gift was a pair of hand -crocheted baby booties which Victoria made ( while having her car serviced), and Jennifer loved.
This Babymoon package also came with a maternity gown with lip gloss, mirror...."It was wonderful," Jennifer said, "It made me feel so special."
Kolyvas is known in inn keeping circles for her low-key but imaginative approach to the business of satisfying and surprising guests.
On Christmas morning, guests find stockings filled with fun things outside their rooms, and a breakfast festooned in red and green foods, like a cranberry coffee cake and a red pudding flecked with green parsley.
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