United States Archives - Page 3 of 3

Kat in the Hat

April 16, 2015 by Laurie Deppa Leave a Comment

Our friendship started with Richard’s first visit to our home for a boat show. He was a CouchSurfer – not the typical 20 something college student. He was a very kind and interesting man from Atlanta. We had great discussions on life and politics. We shared our common love for a life near the water.

I took him to one of our favorite restaurants Yellowfin where Richard, my baby and I all enjoyed ourselves.

Laurie, baby Ellie and “Surfer” Richard enjoying a meal at Yellowfin

Richard later returned with his better half Kat but they didn’t require a place to lay their head. They were in fact cruising their boat Kat in the Hat on the Great Loop and we were on one of their stops. It was great catching up and getting to know Kat. They invited us, as well other guests we were hosting, to join them for drinks on their boat. It was a very nice, large cruising vessel, on which to enjoy a lovely evening in Annapolis. Another night we all had a lovely dinner at the Fleet Reserve Club, a great place to view the water.

Laurie & Brian with Couchsurfing Friends at the Fleet Reserve Club

My husband was away on business at the time. Kat and Richard were setting off to continue their journey north and invited us along for a bit. I was very intrigued to take my daughter and get away for a bit with our Couchsurfing friends. I politely and reluctantly asked for a rain check. Believe me – I will cash in that rain check someday.

My husband did happen to be on business trip to Atlanta recently. I quickly reminded him that our friends Richard and Kat live there and he should look them up. My husband ended up meeting them for dinner and getting a nice break from eating alone on the road.

As it happens, we often try to reconnect with guests. We now have so many friends around the world!

Peaceful Lake Retreat

April 16, 2015 by Laurie Deppa Leave a Comment

Location, location, location. I believe if you live in an interesting area people will always want to exchange with you. I get requests to exchange so often, that many of them I have to reluctantly refuse the offer.

In 2013 we did a fantastic home exchange right here in the good old USA. People might think you have to swap with some exotic location in another part of the world, but there are great places within a car ride.

We had an unbelievable offer from a beautiful custom built woodland retreat house on a private lake in the Adirondacks of NY. I am not normally the mountain type of person, more so a beach any day. We filled up the gas tank, loaded up the SUV and took a lovely drive up through PA and NY into an area which I am totally unfamiliar.

It was a rather large house and IT WAS FANTASTIC! We were only 3 in our party so I had asked a girlfriend and her daughter to join us. It was so my daughter would have a playmate and It worked out really well.

That’s another great advantage of swapping a home – you can invite others along if you wish. You could even arrange to swap two houses along with a family member or friend – and all go on vacation together without being too cramped.

The house was like something out of Architectural Digest. My house is a very modest duplex – why would they want to trade with me – LOCATION!

We took long walks on the beautiful, bucolic grounds and private driveway (2 miles long I think). We roasted marshmallows in the outdoor fire pit and relaxed immensely in the great outdoors. We enjoyed breathtaking views of our private lake – while dining and doing yoga every day. Oh yes, and that amazing house had a gourmet kitchen and large playroom for the kids. Don’t forget the master bedroom with a large sliding glass door and a view of the lake.

The owner’s brother lived in another house up the road. We drove by one day and invited them to join us with drinks by the fire. We ended up making new friends and our kids found new playmates!

There was so much to do in the area with all of the area lakes, small towns, outdoor concerts, and bike rides with the ones we brought from home. We even indulged in a day at Six Flags Great Escape, where we were able to use our Six Flags season passes from home and enter free of charge (one day of commercialism allowed 🙂 ).

Laurie, Ellie & Brian exploring Lake George, NY

It was a fantastic, frugal, family vacation. We ate most every meal at home, paid nothing for accommodations and yet had one of our best family vacations!

Triumph Across America

November 5, 2014 by Laurie Deppa 1 Comment

Andrew and Laurie at the Gettysburg battlefields

Andrew is one of those people to which I can truly relate. NEVER boring with Andrew (or Laurie). He asked to stay with us on his Arctic Ride for Dreams Trip. We really had a lot of great stories to share about hospitality stays and just the world in general. He is a Brit but moved to States a couple of years back. His big passion in life was riding his Triumph motorcycle. This time he was driving from Florida to the Arctic Circle on HIS MOTORCYCLE for charity. Truly an amazing feat and an incredible person!

I really thought he was such a great person so I asked if he wanted to visit Gettysburg, where my mother lives. She happens to have two guest rooms so I had Andrew follow us up there on his bike. We had great visits with my family and his company was a pleasure for the whole family. I took him around the sites of Gettysburg and he greatly enjoyed his second historic city in our company.

You should check out his site and see for yourself what an interesting guest I had in my home.

Jet Setting with the Deppas

October 23, 2014 by Laurie Deppa Leave a Comment

Our guests arrive in Annapolis by JET SKI ;-O

I have to say I thought after so many guests that I had seen it all! This handsome family contacted me and asked if they could stay with us during their stop in Annapolis. They were traveling by jet skis around the mid-Atlantic coast. I picked them up and right away was so excited to have them as our guests.

Their family, with three kids, just integrated beautifully with ours. My step kids were teenagers and living with us then. The boys had fun playing video games – which was really great since my stepson has Asperger’s and has difficulty in social situations. The girls had a ball together and the loved playing with little baby Ellie.

One big happy family 😉

They wanted to go to the beach but OC was too far for our time schedule so I took them to Sandy Point State Park, just about 15 minutes away. It was perfect for a summer day in the beautiful sun! This time everyone in the family was really sorry to see our guests leave.

Really hope to see them again someday!