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A Trip to Boone, Iowa

Weddings are always so much fin, there is the exchange of vows, the tender moments shared by two in front of their family and friends, and then there is the reception where there is always time for catching up with families. We were so pleased to hear that Sandy's cousin Mike Sundall was getting married to Jonna Moore in an early October outdoor wedding. The family is from Boone, IA, a small community in central Iowa. The wedding itself was at the Madrid, IA Arboretum.

The weather was absolutely perfect with partly cloudy skies, a light breeze, and warm temperatures. The arrangements were very nice with a 4 piece string group playing classical music before the ceremony.

The ceremony was held in front of a gazebo and included several musical selections by a very talented family gospel brother and sister. The images below say more than any description that we could add.

The reception was held in the community center in Ogdon, IA. The hall was decorated with fall colors and the table decorations were made with pumpkins hollowed out and filled with fall flowers. Unfortunately we did not get any images of the tables but did take a picture of the cake table.

The reception included a dance and the image below shows Mike and his mother during the dollar dance.

As we mentioned in our trip log page part of this wedding was an opportunity to stay in a local Bed and Breakfast in Boone. We must be perfectly honest here, our original intent was to stay at the motel where the rest of the family was staying, but due to our delay in making reservations we were unable to make arrangements. So we searched the Internet and found a listing for Barkley House Bed and Breakfast. A call to them revealed that they had a room available and their price was very reasonable.

We will go on record by telling you that we are not experts on the Bed and Breakfast scene, rather this is our second B&B, so all comparisons are based on one previous experience. But regardless of our previous experience we were very much impressed with this facility and our hosts.

We checked about 8:00 PM and were greeted by Shelene McDermott who showed us to the second floor room that is pictured below. The room was very roomy and icluded a private bath, antique furniture, and a modern king size bed. As you can see below the room included a fireplace.

The Barkley House has three rooms on the second floor, the image below shows one of these rooms with this beautiful walnut bed. This room has a private bath as well. The third room uses a bathroom down the hall, making all three rooms having a private bath. The McDermott family lives on the third floor.

As the name states, a Bed and Breakfast offers it's guests a bedroom and of course breakfast in the morning. This B&B offers it's guests a desert in the evening along with breakfast. Our previous experience with a B&B featured a continental breakfast in a cafe style dining room (multiple small tables). The McDermott's, on the other hand, set a beautiful table for a full breakast that included a fruit plate, blueberry Belgian waffles, coffee, and juice.

Following breakfast we had a moment to take pictures of the other public rooms on the first floor. The house is really a fine example of a Queen Anne Revival style that shows a lot of attention to detail in it's decoration and furnishings. We can highly recommend the Barkley House, it is like stepping back in time.

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