Upon our sister-in-law's unexpected death, Mr. V made the decision to take us into the innkeeping business giving me the bed and breakfast that I had always wanted and his brother the restaurant that he wanted. The overall goal was ultimately to give his chef brother a new focus. So Mr. V took off to the mountains of Virginia in search of finding an existing inn property or the right property to convert. Money was thought to be a relative non-issue because our home in Florida was valued at $400K more than we owed on it. After a week of exploring mountain communities in NC and VA and nearly giving up, a chance encounter led him to the Davis Bourne Inn in Independence, VA. An appointment was made and after consulting with me by phone, we agreed on a price to offer and that we would talk before the "check" was written. The next phone call that I received was the "I wrote that check" one. At that point, we were committed but we soon realized that more exploration should have been done in regards to legalities and local issues before the writing of the check.
One of the issues that hurt us most was the local alcohol laws. In Grayson County, there is only a beer and wine permit available and, for the duration of my time at DBI, no wine and beer on Sunday. A fine dining restaurant without a full bar is really not very fine in spite of white linen table cloths, service personnel in black and whites and fine food. We had an amazing Sunday brunch but most people expect a glass of wine, mimosa or Bloody Mary with brunch and we could not offer it. Many bed and breakfasts offer a complimentary arrival glass of wine or snifter of brandy, neither of which we could offer. No freebies. No happy hour specials either to entice early diners.
Another problem, that I have mentioned in previous posts, was the lack of a true visitors center and tourism director. Initially, upon our arrival, the county tourism director was half time tourism, half time Section 8 housing. Strange combination of mindsets and duties and not fair to her or tourism. Also, because of a "political" dispute some years prior, the tourism director's office was not located in the visitor's center which was confusing to tourists. The visitor's center, also a nice museum of the area, is in the Historic 1908 Courthouse and is the focal point of the town. The museum and visitor's center is staffed by volunteers and remains closed on Sunday and if the scheduled volunteer is out for some reason. At one point, the county went without a dedicated tourism director for a number of years. All of this discord and the lack of regular visitor's center hours is frustrating, particularly considering this county has so many natural, historic and cultural tourism features.
Grayson County has the longest stretch of the New River, a designated Wild and Scenic River, in the Commonwealth of VA offering fishing, tubing, kayaking and canoeing. A significant stretch with multiple venues of the Crooked Road; A Heritage Music Trail passes through the county along Highway 58 where the old-time and bluegrass music talent is among the best. Artisans of every media abound along the 'Round the Mountain trail. There are five state and national parks within the county's borders, the Blue Ridge Parkway touches on the eastern edge and the Appalachian Trail on the western edge. The list of things to do in the area goes on but it is tough to promote when many in the county don't believe in the power of tourism.
For some reason, maybe just the independent mindset, the community has had a lot of contentious issues through the years. Along with the historic courthouse dispute, there was a disagreement among members of the historical society which led to a lockdown of all the genealogical records by a judge and a split into two groups. Prior to the lockdown, we received a number of guests per year who came to do genealogical research and during the year of no access to the records, no guests. Folks on both sides of this dispute were my clients, even good friends, so I stayed out of it but it did not help my business. There was also the incoming prison that divided citizens and businesses and turned away guests and potential residents with the Pro and Anti Prison signage everywhere.
Another issue, unknown at the time of the writing of the check, was that the previous owner had alienated many of the native, local population with her mindset of "a restaurant for those who can afford it" so the public opinion of the restaurant was that it was too snobby, too fancy. Even though we unfancied the menu significantly and tried to do lunch, we struggled to garner the business of enough of the locals to keep our average covers per night at a level to cover costs.
When looking into a potential area previously unknown to you, my suggestion would be to play tourist at the visitor's center. Meet with the tourism director as a prospective tourist. Ask questions at local businesses, especially convenience markets. If the local business people tell a traveler "there is nothing to do here" then potential tourists will move on to the next town down the road. Check out the town and county websites and Facebook pages. Are they active with social media and the state tourism website? What is the tourism related budget at the town and county? If on a significant tourism highway, do the businesses in town look inviting? Do the other tourism related businesses have websites and Facebook pages? Is there nice signage at the edge of town? Are there potential major changes that may affect your business such a prison coming into town or a major business closing?
Would I go back to Grayson County? Yes, because now it is a known entity to me and a number of progressive changes have been made. And I love it. For all the issues, I have never been so embraced by so many people as in Independence, VA. But having to learn all the nitty, gritty issues the hard way cost us money, time, my credit and ultimately, the business.
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