all good things

Terry and I recently received some disappointing news.

Our all-time favorite bed and breakfast, the Goose and Turrets in Montara, California, has closed. Emily, who with her husband Raymond owned and ran the B&B, emailed me the notice posted on their web site:

The End of the Road

After 32 successful years and thousands of wonderful and interesting guests, the Goose & Turrets B&B is closing. Raymond and Emily Hoche-Mong are in their mid-80s and have finally admitted it is time to retire.

As of 1 April 2018, we’ll have no more guests. Will we miss them? Yes. And no. We figure we have prepared approximately 18,000 breakfasts; (no gluten, vegan, name the allergy and we have met it). We’re a little bit tired.

Thank you to all of our guests. We’ve treasured the many experiences we’ve shared. We have been educated by many of you and our horizons expanded. What are we going to do now? Go to France a lot more often and EAT.

I have a long history with the Goose & Turrets. My first wife Ruth and I went there in 1986 just as Raymond and Emily were opening the place up, when some rooms had a shared bath and they continued to work at Bechtel during the week. We made a few visits there.

I lost touch with the G&T for a couple years after Ruth’s death in 1989, but after Terry and I got (back) together and I wanted to arrange a quiet getaway I checked back with Emily. By that time every room had a private bath and she and Raymond were operating their B&B full-time.

Terry and I made many visits to the Goose & Turrets between 1991 and 2014 and it was always such a pleasure to be there. If we arrived when Raymond and Emily were away I would, not intentionally but reactively, look askance at the inn sitter in a way that her or she could not help but notice. (“What did you do with Raymond and Emily?”)

We always enjoyed the quiet, the comfortable themed rooms (our favorite was the Hummingbird), the interesting conversations, the afternoon tea, and, of course, the breakfasts. When Terry and I departed the Bay Area in 2015 I was recognized as the longest-term continuous guest at the Goose & Turrets.

Raymond and Emily have earned the opportunity to relax and will continue to live at the George Street location when not in France, but it its truly the end of an era and I shed a tear or two knowing that the one-time lodge for Spanish-American War veterans is no longer an operating bed and breakfast.