The View from St Francis Cottage - A Chattanooga Bed and Breakfast

2017 New Year's Brunch

Emily Fieser, Tucker McLelland, Christine Anderson, Sharon Shier, Sue Roman, and Colleen Fieser
finishing up first course of Blackened Shrimp & Grits with asparagus at our New Year's Brunch.
Not pictured Micah Hausler, Laura Hausler, and Reg McLelland.

A drizzling rainy January 2^nd in Chattanooga ended up as a perfect New Year’s gathering with eleven wonderful friends who braved The Weather Channel’s forecast and ventured out to celebrate 2017 with us.  Amidst lots of laughs and good conversation, our friends graciously sampled some of the dishes we plan to serve at St Francis Cottage.  With helping hands that pitched in to cut vegetables, fruit and bread, we served a first course of blackened shrimp-and-grits with Creole sauce and asparagus along with homemade bread and Amish butter, and a tropical fruit salad of fresh pineapple, kiwi, oranges and organic mango and bananas, seasoned with citrus ginger and honey sauce.  

The second course was pancakes topped with slow-cooked pulled pork, baked organic Granny Smith apples and made-from-scratch Jack Daniels pancake syrup. 

Bret & Carol Noblitt enjoying second course of Pulled Pork Pancakes with Jack Daniels syrup.

Laura Hausler. Emily Fieser, Tucker McLelland, Christine Anderson, Sharon Shier, Sue Roman, 

and Colleen Fieser after second course of Pulled Pork Pancakes. 

The rain held off long enough for everyone to take a walk over to tour St Francis Cottage as the workers finished various tiling projects.  

Now that all the floors are in, the rooms have been painted and ceiling fans hung, and the bathroom vanities, fixtures and mirrors have been installed, the ambiance of St Francis Cottage is slowly coming to life.

Wallace and I have been extremely humbled at seeing our random “finds” over the past four years come together in just the right ways to create a warm, unique personality to each of the guest rooms.  What a gift to see our 12-year dream transform into reality these past months.

Over the next two months, the remaining utilities will be installed and inspected; painting and tiling touch-ups will be completed; the detention pond dug and the driveway with parking spaces paved; and we will finish planting the zoning-required landscaping and build another privacy fence.  Upon receipt of the Certificate of Occupancy, our daughter Hannah has kindly offered to fly down from Winnipeg to help us set up the seven guest bedrooms. 

Thank you for walking this journey with us, and we can’t wait to personally welcome you to St Francis Cottage!