Our Bed & Breakfast guests always seem to inspire us!  Through conversation, we learn a lot about them, but more importantly, we learn from them. When we welcome a guest, we will ask about their life, family and careers.  In turn they ask how we got into the B & B industry; did we build our house, and how long have we been in business.  This is the get acquainted phase.  

Maybe over breakfast the first morning, we enter more into a relationship with our guests as we learn how a couple met, how a mother-daughter traveling itinerary works, or how guests from Germany are experiencing the United States.  Amazing conversations evolve.  

This past winter, a guest at our B & B inspired me.  I enjoy writing, but sometimes I lose my inspiration.  One comment inspired to do some writing.  In sharing stories with her about how we built the B & B while living in our airplane hangar and how we got our loan because of being extras in the movie “Wish you Well,” she said we should write down some of our stories to be sure they are passed down to our children.  She commented that these are “Blessings.”  Indeed.  

This bit of advice helped me turn a corner in writing to consider my life’s stories of gratitude, grace and blessings. Just released, “Whispers of Grace” is my collection of stories that Jack and I have experienced that are wrapped with my interpretation according to how I believe God spoke to me, acted through me, or was present beside me during situations in my life. It is published under the name Karen DeBord Phillips (along with my other children’s books)

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2

Recently I finished the lovely book entitled “Theo of Golden” by Allen Levi.  It was given to me by a dear friend for my birthday.  Not a very exciting title nor cover art, but I could not put it down.  My feeling is that this is a story about relationships.  It’s a story of listening over talking and hearing over being heard. 

Both of these works may point to the phase of life in which I find myself.  As life’s lessons are hard to learn, being present and listening (for even what is unsaid) is something I am continuing to work on in my hospitality practices and indeed day to day life. It takes time, and it takes stepping away from being a parent and teacher; two roles which has filled my life.  How about you?

Come see us at Bedford Landings!  We can chat (if you want). I will listen!

Ever heard of a Staycation?
stay·ca·tion  ˌstāˈkāSHn/  noun,informal
a vacation spent in one’s home country rather than abroad, or one spent at home and involving day trips to local attractions.

If you just need an overnight- we are happy to host you.  For a little bit more of a relaxing time, stay two nights!  Jack and Karen at Bedford Landings B & B will greet you, give you a map, a list of restaurants, things to do and cook you a hot tasty breakfast the next morning! Their goal is to provide you with “comfort better than you have at home!”

We have space where you can just watch a movie and munch popcorn in our theatre room, sit on the deck and rock, sit by our water feature and ponder life, or go out into the community for a historical day, a shopping day, a wine tasting excursion, a hiking day or a boating-fishing day!

Just click Book Now or call us directly!

Late January and early February 2026 has been colder than a…well it’s been cold baby! Jack and I took a short cruise to try to warm up mid January but we are back and missing our guests! We know it’s not prime travel time, but we are afraid we will forget how to cook our PecanEncrusted Bacon! So, we are offering you a deal in February. Just indicate HELLO FEBRUARY in the comments line of the reservation.

We will build a fire for you, pamper you, give you the wifi password and warm your stay with conversation and good food!

My dad took early retirement at age 55. He lived in Florida in a retirement community, and, to me, it seemed like bliss.  As a young mother, I yearned for his stress-free life. Instead, I was raising two young children and working about 60 hours a week.  Yes, I loved the children dearly but with children, comes constant interaction, activity and little down time.  I awaited the time that they would be grown, self-sufficient, and and I could retire. 

Well, life isn’t always such a neat little package.  My dad, sadly died at age 65 after 10 years of marriage to his second wife, my stepmother. Then, my children were just ages 2 and 7 years. But because I had worked for 30 years for the USDA (the federal government) and as a university professor, I too was able to retire earlier than age 65. I was 56.

Like my dad, I remarried and yes, the children did grow up.  But now that I have been retired for 15 years, I can reflect on this major life phase and have some advice and some thoughts for those “yearning for retirement.”

First, realize that your life is full of unexpected events and surprises – not all of them are filled with delight!  Dad contracted prostate cancer that led to lung, then bone cancer.  Having just been married to my stepmother for 10 years, he wasn’t ready to die. It was a surprise to all of us that his retirement was cut short.

Alternatively, I have enjoyed 15 amazing retirement years.  Most of it happy, but some very sad.  Not to dwell on the sad part, but to instead recognize that after 10 years in retirement, I have experienced my share of losses including the deaths of my beautiful daughter at age 35 and my only brother at age 63.  

The positive parts have been more than I could have imagined.  So here are my tips and my experiences.

1. If you can afford to, go ahead and retire while you are healthy.  Don’t wait until there is a major health issue.  That’s no fun.  You have put in many long hours, and you deserve it.
2. Make a plan.  Don’t think that doing those little extra chores like painting the dining room or making a piece of furniture will sustain you.  You need a larger plan.  You can only sit and rock on the porch for so long until relaxation turns to loss, sadness, and depression. Many become consultants in exactly what they did prior.  I made the decision to do something completely different.  In my second marriage, we could create something that we both invested in.  Investing in a mutual goal is good for the marriage!
   Perhaps ask yourself, how you can use your talents and skills to re-create yourself in retirement.  Will you become a volunteer working on a major community project?  Will you start a small business?  Will you take on a second career?  I chose something totally different than meetings and teaching, yet I still use my talents and experience with meetings and teaching in what I do.  I worked in a university setting (some may even call a bubble) for my professional career. In retirement, we are running a small business. The beauty of owning our business is that I (we) can still work in the community too!  And with a Bed & Breakfast, the interaction with some remarkable people who walk through our door is a bonus!
3. Retirement is longer that you think.  I am healthy (except for my worn our joints that have had to be replaced) so I it is perceivable that I could be retired for as long as I had worked!  My mother lived to age 84 so predictably, I could live until my 80’s. But the question becomes, do I want to run our small business with Jack until I am 86?  That is just 15 more years. So, maybe I need another new plan.
4. What are your dreams? When I think back to my career course, as with many people, I could have taken various paths. I didn’t plan and calculate that I would complete a Ph.D. and become a tenured professor but I did, and I loved all of it (except the stressful parts).  I often dreamed that in my NEXT LIFE, I would like to be a country singer. I didn’t see that as a fit in this life with being a professor. In retirement you can reflect on those dreams. Make your dreams a reality.
5. In retirement there are surprises.  Go with them!  I never thought I would join a rock band.  Along with eight retirees, we create boomer-era music as a way to fulfill ourselves while turning music into a community action by playing shows for free to help non-profits. It’s amazing!  Of course, there are rehearsals and personal expenditures, but luckily this fits nicely into my retirement life. It was a total surprise. 

6. Hopefully there will be grand children to enjoy in your retirement. It’s your chance to interact with children all over again, then give them back to their parents!

Retirement is a journey, equally as important as your career years! It’s just another phase! And like one of my heroes, Fred Rogers said, “Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.”

If you build it, they will come!  That’s what we heard when we designed and built Bedford Landings Bed & Breakfast.  Many of our friends report, “We run a bed and breakfast too, but we don’t get paid for it!”  That is the sentiment of many families that surround Smith Mountain Lake (SML). Visitors come and go all summer long.  Many generations have grown up with the lake.

Since 1966, SML has been “full pond.”  Having once been farmland with hills and rallies, covering three counties, there is over 500 miles of shoreline with many beautiful homes enjoying lake front property.  People who visit the lake area enjoy boating, water sports, hanging out on the dock, and roasting marshmallows by a firepit!  Some visitors to our B & B ask, “What is there to do here?”  To which we respond, “It depends on what you are interested in.”  We can help you design a historical day, a shopping day, a wine tasting excursion, a boating day, a hiking day, or a sit inside and do-nothing day!  

This summer, we have enjoyed having our grandchildren visit.  Each morning they attended Vacation Bible School at Bethlehem United Methodist Church.  Each afternoon, we planned an excursion including water play in the yard, fishing, visiting Bridgewater to feed the carp while making a stop by the game room, floating down the Wasena river, and or course, boating on the lake.  

But if you still have Grands coming this summer, there is still time for Pirate Days (Yes, even the big kids dress up), a new event at the lake – a balloon festival and even Arts Camp for kids sponsored by the Smith Mountain Arts Council.  Every weekend, you can find live music somewhere around the lake!  There are several SML Facebook pages with events listed and the Chamber of Commerce maintains an events calendar for those organizations who submit to it. 

Summer at Smith Mountain Lake activities are wrapped in choices! Come stay with us at Bedford Landings and we will help you plan!