60 Visitors
The day opened to
overcast and fog and was chilly. We could faintly hear people walking about
outside the house as we woke up. I raised the flag while Fred took a shower.
The tide was
starting to come in and there were people coming and going for a bit. Soon the
tide was high enough to keep people out and we had the island to ourselves. We
finished the popovers for breakfast and finished up 2 days of blog entries. My throat
was still trashed and my voice was pretty bad. We had time for a lunch of just
some pasta and fruit. We weren’t slated to open till 3 pm and Fred had time to clean
the lantern windows while I wiped down the lens.
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| The Double Barrel Fifth Order Lens |
I could see the people
gathering across the isthmus waiting for the water to recede enough to cross.
There would be about 20 people initially, another rush to start and today it
was just the two of us to handle everything. Since my voice was still shot I
would man the gift shop and Fred would give tours of the entire house. We
actually opened 10 minutes early to get started on the tours. Our setup with
our positions didn’t work for very long since there were just too many groups
waiting for tours. The initial rush is always a nightmare, trying to keep the
groups apart and remember who was in them and who paid their donation. There
are also people who come in and don’t want a tour and want to shop and then are
standing around the gift shop where the tours start. They listen in and take up
space from the people who should be in the room for the tours. You have people
handing you money for tours and for merchandise at the same time and it get
very confusing as to who anybody is after awhile. You want to be nice and
accommodating but it is hard to do that with the way the tours start in the
gift shop. We found it was better to talk about the lens that is on display only
for a few minutes and then move the group into the other room and fill them in
there about the house and initial history. A minimum of 3 people are really needed
to handle the groups especially with the initial rush. Most people were
understanding and patient to wait their turn but it was very stressfull on us
since it was a zoo and we still didn’t feel well. Next time at the start I will
give all groups numbers and ask them to please wait outside till we are ready.
They can shop after their tour but then what do we do with people that just
want to look in the shop? I did have to ask people to leave in the shop who
were not on the tour so I could get tour group in and I could start the tour
and not have to worry about the cash register too! We are limited to 8 people
in a tour group since that is the max that will fit up in the tower
comfortably. It calmed down a bit after ½ hour and I started having the other
groups wait outside with the tour in progress sign on the door and closing and
locking the door so new people couldn’t enter. With just the two of us that is
the way it had to be. Since there were so many groups I started the tours in
the gift shop without anyone else in there and with no one entering the front
door. Even though my voice was very bad, I had to talk and get the tours
started. I chewed gum and sipped water and everyone was sympathetic and paid
careful attention to my weak voice. Since we had so many patient groups we
stayed open an extra two hours on top of the scheduled hour that we were open.
Many people thanked us for doing that. I was able to get some sales of
merchandise also from patient visitors. We put up the closed sign about 5:45 pm
and told the alarmed patient, waiting people who were promised tours that they
would get their tours. No new wandering tourists would get tours. It had
mercifully slowed down by then. We actually finished at 6 pm with one last
husband of another lady. He waited outside for about an hour holding two tiny
dogs (yes, I kindly told them dogs were not supposed to even be on the island) He
was very responsible and his wife paid us for the $3 donation and he just raced
up to the top of the tower took a look and was out. Whew, that was not
fun!
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| Whale Sculpture Made Out of an Old Cypress Tree Stump |
Oh I forgot to tell you in the
middle of all this, on one tour I started I heard the sound of liquid hitting
the floor – I saw a small boy standing by the postcards and thought, oh no he’s
peeing on the floor! No, he was just dumping a water bottle on the floor and an
adult dropped the rest of it on the floor. I calmly said no problem we will
clean it up later and kept going with the tour since we had more groups
waiting. There was a big puddle on the floor but we all waited till Fred
returned to take the group into the other room and he got some towels. The
adult proceeded to mop up the floor as her group filed into the other room.
Well, at least we have a nice clean gift shop floor! I got in two very quick bathroom breaks and
one water bottle refill with the front door locked and no one in the gift shop
also!
We rushed out just
after 6 pm to town to get some Thai food, Fred retrieved his glasses that were
left at the Mexican place the night before and we got a few things at Safeway.
We got back by 7:15 pm and safely across back home to our utopia of serenity.
Well almost – a few people were coming and going for a bit before the tide kept
them out. We caught the end of the hockey game – Yea! Chicago! We did
our evening walk and fed the gulls and enjoyed another pretty sunset. I watered
a bit and finally retired to our little lighthouse abode. I made a small salad
and worked on the blog before falling exhausted into bed. Not sure the state of
my fragile throat after talking for two hours – will find out tomorrow and see
if I need to hit urgent care. There are no tours tomorrow since the tides don’t
allow it. We will take off though for the day and see some local Crescent City
sites and rest my aching throat. Hopefully I will be able to talk better on
Wednesday.
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| Our Adopted Seagull with the Sunset Behind |
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