While at first we were a little disappointed that this guest gave us our first 4-star review, we decided to look a little further at what she wrote and see if we could learn something. And boy did we ever! Upon closer inspection of the plumbing and hot water heater in the cabin, we learned that the water heater was 20+ years old and indeed could not live up to the demands of filling the big soaking tub while a family's regular activities (using washer, running dishwasher) were also taking place during a normal day's activities. So... we expect to be installing a brand new, up-sized hot water heater in the cabin next week along with some other plumbing adjustments which should resolve the issue.
Re. the pond and the creek: and the non-cooperating fish: Tusquittee Creek is a trout stream stocked by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission several times a year. We've seen guests and neighbors catch plenty of trout in the creek, but a fisherman-neighbor of ours surmised, with a twinkle in his eyes, that perhaps mid-January is not the best time of year to fish the creek-- the fish are too busy trying to keep warm and so are the fishermen (mountain humor!). The pond, while not stocked, is home to bass and bluegill and we've had many guests spend delightful hours fishing there (catch and release), being rewarded with a nice size bass or bluegill. We'd love for this family to come back and try their luck again!
One final note regarding this delightful young family-- We've had our rental cabin and cottage for 2+ years now and while almost all of our guests leave the cabin cleaned up a bit, we can honestly say that when we checked the cabin after this family's departure, you would never have known that a young family with four children under the age of 12 plus two dogs (gotta love those little dachshunds!) had ever spent a single minute there. It was immaculate! Everything was not only tidied up and all check-out instructions had been followed, the level of cleanliness and order in the cabin was astounding. So we want to again say thank you to this amazing family for choosing to stay with us and we'd be delighted to welcome them back any time.
