Happy New Year with 50% OFF!

We wish you all a very Happy New Year!

January 50% OFF
To kick-start 2012, come for a relaxing stay during our
January Cabin Fever Month
and get 2 NIGHTS FOR THE PRICE OF 1!

For more information,
Call 717-249-0350 or visit www.thecarlislehouse.com!

50% OFF Rooms - Cabin Fever Month

6th Annual Cabin Fever Celebration
the entire month of January at the
Carlisle House

Don't feel house-bound in January!
Start your new year off with a getaway!

Come spend a delightful and restful TWO nights but pay for just ONE night! Enjoy all our special accommodations, wonderful amenities and delicious breakfasts. Wander around Carlisle to try the restaurants and browse the shops!

We look forward to your first visit of the year...it will become an annual trip
for you as it has for many others.
Call 717-249-0350 or book online and mention our Cabin Fever Special!

FIRST NIGHT CARLISLE - New Years Eve

FIRST NIGHT CARLISLE

The historic town of Carlisle joins other major US cities in celebrating First Night, an artistic and cultural celebration on New Year's Eve. Music, dance and art are interwoven throughout the evening in many beautiful historical venues, indoors and out, in our exciting college town....churches, the old courthouse, theatre, etc.

There is certainly something for everyone to enjoy including fireworks and a mini-Indycar drop at midnight.

Buttons are just $10, or $15 on Dec 31. Book with us early as we are in the center of the action!

December and Holidays - Come Visit Carlisle!

Time to

Deck the Halls!

Alan is decorating the outside and Mary the inside in anticipation of your holiday visit.

SPECIAL - Now until December 30

TAKE 10% OFF YOUR ROOM RATE

January 1-31

Get out and celebrate our ANNUAL

Cabin Fever Special


2 Nights for the Price of One!

Looking for a unique holiday gift? May we suggest a
Gift Certificate for a pampered stay at the Carlisle House OR
a special present from our Gift Shop!

"Murder and Mayhem" - at breakfast?

"He killed my Uncle John."

In 2010 local historian and Sentinel reporter Joe Cress wrote a book Murder and Mayhem in Cumberland County relating tales of the dark side of this county's history.  On the cover, a man in handcuffs is being led away by the sheriff after he had murdered a Carlisle lawyer, and shot three others in August of 1955 in the courtroom of the Old Cumberland County Courthouse on the next block of our street.



Before his departure this morning, one of our young guests glanced into our gift case and suddenly pointed at the book saying "That was my great-grandfather."  Already sensing his response, Mary asked who, and Aaron said "Percy Haines!", to which Mary said quietly "He killed my Uncle John".

Needless to say the departure was delayed and it was a matter of moments before Aaron and Mary were poring over old clippings from the Sentinel and other newspapers, as Mary told Aaron of the happenings that sad day in 1955.  And Aaron responded with his family's views about Percy Haines.

Breakfast here at the Carlisle House is always interesting, and never more so than when the guest coincidences are as close to home as this one!

Veterans Day 2011

The Carlisle House Hosted

6 Veterans

for the Nationwide

B&Bs for Vets Celebration!

Innkeepers said thank you to those who’ve served our country by giving veterans a special Veterans Day wake up on 11-11-11. Hundreds of Inns and B&Bs throughout North America opened their doors yesterday, November 10, 2011 to active and retired military by offering a free room to those who’ve served.

The Carlisle House celebrated with 4 rooms and 6 active duty and veteran guests…two couples were both active and/or former military members. As Mary is a former Army Nurse, the breakfast conversation was lively and hugs plentiful! These photos capture the special guests.

One vet, whose wife (a Vietnam era Army nurse) could not be with us, told of his 3 daughters...all Army nurses as well. He gave us a 2004 article in the local paper about the four amazing women in his life! Another regular visitor with family in the area announced that she was ALSO a veteran so we had 8 in the dining room.

Dickinson Discovery Day - Nov 12!!

Visit Carlisle for the Dickinson Discovery Day

Visit Dickinson College November 12 for a special introductory visit, offering a glimpse of the Dickinson education and opportunities. Learn about the global scope of the renowned Dickinson international curriculum and studies.

Learn more about the academic experience from the faculty and students. Tour campus and eat lunch in the dining hall. Talk with admissions, financial-aid representatives and senior administrators.

The Carlisle House is just 4 blocks from Dickinson. We have a few rooms still available for Friday, Novmeber 11. Complete your stay with a delicious dinner in one of Carlisle's gourmet international restaurants: Belgian, Moroccan, English, Thai, Italian, Japanese...all within 3 blocks!! See you soon!

Call 717-249-0350 for reservation!

B&B = Balloons and Breakfast Today

Hardin Minor - Entertainer!

What great fun we had today at breakfast! Hardin Minor, our special guest and entertainer extraordinaire, on his way home to Charlotte from a performance in NYC, gave young Ella, an enchanted and special performance with his humor and balloon creations...from teddy bears to magic hats and swords!

What a great B&B morning!

I'm Dreaming of a White Halloween in Carlisle, PA

Who would believe snow for Halloween! Possibly 6 inches too. Had many Dickinson parents here for the Centennial Conference cross country meet. What a day to run!

We hear many trees and branches are down including this one 2 doors down the street.

Our back deck and patio looked more like January. Hope it is not precursor of things to come this winter!

Luigi's Ristorante - Carlisle PA - Special Seafood Night!!

Luigi's Ristorante
presents
Una Serata Nel Golfo Di Napoli
November 12 - 6:30pm

Luigis Ristorante, under the new ownership of Luigi and Anna Esposito, celebrated their Grand Opening today with the
Carlisle Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting.

One of their first big event evenings will feature a delicious dinner spotlighting seafood from the gulf of Naples. The menu sounds to die for so get your tickets now before they sell out. The price for a couple is only $50...that's a mere $25/person for 6 courses. BYOB!!

Better yet, stay at the Carlisle House and walk to Luigis!
Give us a call as we have several rooms still open!

Ribbon Cutting photo courtesy of Revelation Photography!

Fly American Airlines to the Carlisle House!

We really love American Airlines! With all the renovations we've been doing, our AAdvantage card has been really well used - to the extent that when we go to Little Rock in January for the International Professional Association of Innkeepers conference, we will be flying free with AA frequent flyer miles! So next time you use one of our gorgeously renovated bathrooms here at the Carlisle House, think American! Although I must tell you that our bathrooms are considerably bigger than theirs,

on the other hand ours don't fly at 36,000 feet! So next time you're flying into Little Rock, AR think to yourself "The Carlisle House Bathrooms have Grohe Aquatower showers with body sprays!" amd when you land, pull out your smartphone, go to TheCarlisleHouse.com and book your stay at ground level!

For us though, it's a big "Thank You" to

David Baldacci at the Carlisle House

Carlisle, although you may not know this, is the Center of the Universe! Sooner or later, people we admire from all walks of life find their way here, and to our great pleasure most often stay at the Carlisle House.

Tonight we feel particularly honored because one of our most favorite authors is staying with us. David Baldacci is here in town, and is the keynote speaker in tomorrow's "Celebrate the Book" Central Pennsylvania Book Festival.

David's books have been a great source of pleasure from his first, "Absolute Power", through the King and Maxwell series, and Alan's particular favorites, the Camel Club series, to his latest book "One Summer" - a very different sort of novel from the preceding ones.

A prodigious writer, David still finds time in his life to contribute to literacy efforts across the country. These include the Wish You Well Foundation founded by David and Michelle to support family literacy in the United States, the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, and the Virginia Literacy Foundation.

He is also involved in support for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and Cure Search, this last supporting lab research and state-of-the-art care of infants, children, teens, and young adults with cancer.

If, like me, you are curious about the genesis of a writer, then read "An Overnight Success" by David. You will enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed having him stay with us. For us, "The Whole Truth" is that David's writing is "Simple Genius", and "The Simple Truth" is that he is "The Winner", and David - we "Wish You Well"!

Special Guest with a Story to Tell

Severin Fayerman
Holocaust Survivor and Autobiographer

We were delighted to host a special guest last night. Severin Fayerman and his dear friend Toni. Severin was in the area to give one of his many inspirational presentations to young school students about his life in Poland and survival in the horrid and notorious prison camps of Nazi Germany, one of which was Auschwitz.

His book, A Survivors Story, details his life and the horrors experienced. Following the war and reunited with his family, young Severin's family came to the states, bought the small Baldwin Tool and Die Company in NJ and developed it into the prestigious Baldwin Brass Company!

History is personal and all around us

Those of you who have stayed in our Ewing Room or Rose Room, and certainly those of you who have the pleasure of being a Carlisle local, or Carlislian, will know that our B&B used to be the home of the Ewings, and that the twins, Seymour and Bill, grew up in our house.

We are reminded of this, and of them, often during the renovations and maintenance we are constantly performing, and yesterday as we were stripping old wallpaper we came across yet another Ewing Signature on the wall. Now, Seymour has been the most prolific writer, with comments on walls all over the property, but this one is by Bill, or William as he clearly liked to be called in his younger days. I said that Seymour did most of the writing but Bill made up for it with this one - it is almost 3 feet across!

For the first 5 years that we owned the Carlisle House, we often used to see Seymour and Bill drive into our parking lot and circle slowly around looking to see what changes we had made, and of course they were always available for open houses when Seymour would quietly sit in a chair in the Rose Room until he was noticed, then he'd say in a loud voice "It's alright! You can come in, I'm not stuffed!".

The next story about Bill and Seymour needs a little explanation. Our B&B was built in 1826 and has thick rock walls in the basement with enormous floor joists sitting on top of them, with the brick walls outside the joists, and on upward. Imagine, if you will, that between each joist is an open-fronted box with the rock as the bottom, two joists forming the walls, brick at the back, and the floor above is the top. Keep that in mind!

In the basement are the electrical breaker boxes, and we always keep a clear path between the basement steps and the electrical boxes so that we can reset breakers when needed. As we do a lot of maintenance, the path is used often and one day Mary went to the breaker box - maybe an hour or two after I had last been there - and in the middle of the path were scattered what looked at a quick glance like dollar bills. Mary picked them up, and noticed that on the back were typed Seymour and Bill's names. She called me and we stood there mystified as to where they could possibly have come from. As we looked around we shone a flashlight into the "box" described above, and saw an old leather wallet stuffed with play money!

The problem is that the opening of the wallet was facing into the box, toward the bricks. We still don't know how the money got out of the wallet and about 4 feet to the path to the breakers! Maybe it is the twins' way of saying "Don't forget us! We're still going to be here for as long as people remember us!".

We miss the twins, but are so glad to have known them. They truly were a part of Carlisle's history.

New PATRIOT Mugs by Deneen

HOT OFF THE
POTTERS WHEEL!

Handmade in America
St Paul, MN

Our new mugs with Deneen's newest "just introduced" shape:
the PATRIOT.

It offers our Carlisle House branded mug in new shape and color. They include Hunter with Dijon glaze and Gloss with Blue reminiscent of Pennsylvania salt glazed pottery.

As the first to order the new shape, the Carlisle House mugs are all signed and numbered by company founder, Peter Deneen!

The logo is "Glaze Engraving"TM and is an exclusive process in which original studio art is cut directly into the clay and filled with glaze, achieving a distinctive detailed image. The process was developed by Peter Deneen assisted by artist David Christofferson.

Please just give us a call to place your order... the holidays are coming!

In memory!

Blood Sweat & Tears in Concert - Oct 9 Shippensburg

Blood Sweat & Tears in concert

Friday - October 9 - 8pm
H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center, Shippensburg, PA

Blood, Sweat & Tears is known for blending rock, blues, pop, horn arrangements and jazz improvisation into a hybrid that came to be known as brass-rock.

Some of BS&T’s most well-known songs are “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” “Spinning Wheel,” “And When I Die” and “Lucretia Mac Evil.”


For tickets, visit the box office, call 717-477-SHOW or click here.

Come stay at the Carlisle House after the great concert!

Wedding Celebrants - Mr & Mrs Stout

Welcome to the new
Mr & Mrs Alexander Stout
Special guests at the
Carlisle House
this weekend.

Dickinson alumni, Bernadette McFadden and Alex Stout, were married today at the historic St John's Episcopal Church on the square in Carlisle, moved to the Old West campus of the college for a fabulous reception and then partied into the night at the Old Ribbon Mill.
Congratulations!!

Shown as they departed for the festivities!

Keep on Truckin' in Carlisle!

Three Luxurious suites are still available this weekend for the Carlisle Truck Nationals. We don't guarantee it, but we would like to point out that one of our guests won a 3rd Place prize last year, and who knows what she'll win this year!

So join us here - remember "all roads lead to Carlisle", and to the Carlisle House, winner of "Best of Carlisle" for 8 years running, one of TripAdvisor's top 2 B&B's in Pennsylvania, a BedandBreakfast.com Diamond Collection B&B, and a Select Registry property.

And even better, you really don't have to have a truck! You could visit Carlisle just for our wonderful restaurants and antiquing. Whatever reason you have for visiting, we'd love to have you stay with us, so book on-line from our web-site or just call us at 717-249-0350.

Kayak Long Pine Run Reservoir - Kings Gap, near Carlisle PA

Registration is still open for this program!!

Novice as well as experienced paddlers are welcome to participate in a relaxed 1.5 hour exploration of this quiet reservoir located in Michaux State Forest near Caledonia State Park.

This peaceful, 155 acre lake has approximately three miles of shoreline, most of which is mixed hardwood and pine forest. While small electric motor boats are permitted, canoes and kayaks are more typical. Fishing and hiking are also available at Long Pine Run Reservoir.

Kayak program participants meet Kings Gap staff at the lake. Single kayaks, paddles and life vests are provided. Basic instruction and safety procedures will be reviewed before launching.

Please be aware of these safety restrictions when registering:

Participants must be 12 years or older, and able to swim.

Each participant age 12-18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

300 lb. weight limit for kayaks.

Kings Gap Staff will provide a natural history program during each session.

Registration is required. Cost is $15.00 per person.

Call 486-5031 to register by noon on Thursday, August 4^th

Corvettes at Carlisle 2011 - Rooms Downtown

August 25-28, 2011

Come join the fun in the downtown area of Carlisle when the Corvette Parade stops right in front of our inn.




We have 2 great suites still available, and at 1 mile from the showgrounds and with many delicious restaurants within 2 or 3 blocks, where else would you want to stay?


Call ASAP for reservations

717-249-0350

thecarlislehouse.com

Mini Vietnam Reunion

This past weekend, we had 2 wonderful Vietnam veterans staying at the Carlisle House. The three of us shared photos, stories, hugs and distant memories.

John has returned to Nam with his son and had many more photos of that very beautiful country.

1968 - 1970

The Bikes are Back in Carlisle

Our great biker guests are back for the Carlisle Bike Fest weekend! Dawn photo shows part of the line up out back.



Softail Harley


Our group from from the VA Tidewater area riding out!

A Distinguished Inn of North America

We are pleased to announce that our Carlisle House has been “selected” for inclusion in

Select Registry, Distinguished Inns of North America.

Sentinel article July 19, 2011

The Association was founded in the late 1960s by Norman Simpson, the "father of country inn travel in America." In his pioneering book, Country Inns and Back Roads, there were 12 properties listed, primarily in the New England region. Today, Select Registry represents approximately 400 of the finest country inns, B&Bs and unique small hotels from California to Nova Scotia - the very best the travel industry has to offer.

Perhaps the most important distinction between a Select Registry member inn and any other is their system of quality assurance. Select Registry carries out a regular quality assurance inspection of each of its nearly 400 inns. This program involves independent inspectors - not employees of Select Registry - with years of experience in the hospitality industry. The inspectors arrive anonymously, spend the night, and evaluate the inn based on a detailed ten-page point system, which translates into a pass/fail grade for the inn. Inns applying for membership are inspected periodically as are existing member inns.

We feel that this success validates our approach to inn-keeping, exemplified by our basic principles that "It should be a place where we would like to stay, offering extraordinary hospitality and concierge service with no extra charges, be they for parking, in-room beverages, or any other of the charges added by many hotels.” The quality assurance program also looks at the location - in this case Historic Downtown Carlisle - and the amenities available in the immediate vicinity, from the many boutique stores to the amazing selection of foods offered in Carlisle restaurants, and the innate attractions of our beautiful downtown and environs.

We are more than happy to share the credit with all our friends, colleagues and businesses in Carlisle who promote this town as a wonderful place to visit, stay, and enjoy.

Carlisle means Corvettes! Downtown Rooms Available!

Every August the world's largest Corvette show takes place here in Carlisle, PA! From the Carlisle House it is just 1 mile to the Fairgrounds, and at our B&B on South Hanover Street, we get a front-row seat for the Corvette Parade on Saturday evening! For two or three hours you can wander up and down Hanover Street looking at about 400 immaculately preserved and awesomely interesting Corvettes! Here are a few pictures to whet your appetites... Amazingly we have a few rooms left for this extravaganza, so don't delay, call today!