The Old Iron Inn B&B, now in its 30th year of business in Caribou, is celebrating with the publication of a new book of stories and recipes. Kate McCartney, Innkeeper, has been called the Muffin Queen of Aroostook County and has jokingly suggested the name of the Inn should be “Kate’s B&B and Counseling Service.”
The new book, titled “Make yourself at home: Tales and recipes from a Maine innkeeper,” includes stories about the B&B that include some of the people and experiences encountered in running a small business in rural Maine, as well as some of the Inn’s most-requested recipes.
The book also gives an overview of the Inn’s interior, which is decorated in period oak furniture, original artworks, and antique irons. The Old Iron Inn is home to a collection of about 400 antique irons and 150 trivets, with iron themed advertising, trade cards, and other ephemera.
Thirty years in the hospitality business is a long time, and there are very few B&Bs in Maine that have lasted so long under single ownership. Approximately 10,000 people have stayed at the Inn through the years, which means a lot of interesting people and experiences to relate. As McCartney says, running a bed and breakfast gives you a front-row seat to the theater of humanity and it is a big, beautiful world out there.
The book is available for sale at the Old Iron Inn Bed and Breakfast, as well as Neighborhood Books, Merchants on the Corner, Country Collectibles and Goin’ Postal in Presque Isle and Sleeper’s Market, Monica’s Scandinavian Gift Shop, Brambleberry Market, and Noyes’ Florist in Caribou.