We have so many interesting guests here at Hampton Terrace that it occurred to me that it might be fun to share some stories here in my blog.   Of course, everyone is special in his or her own way…..but let’s limit this to those you might want to read about.

Several weeks ago Debra and Fred Zeller stayed over a weekend.    My background includes music promotion and the subject of music came up at breakfast..   It turns out that Fred has been a sound engineer at NBC, 30 Rock, for almost 30 years….about 10 as the sound engineer for Conan, and the last year doing the same for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.   Over the years he has met and worked  with virtually every celebrity and musical guest on the planet.    We talked about Macon, GA, my hometown, and the Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker Band, etc.    I produced an Allman Brothers reunion in 1986 which turned out to be pivotal in reuniting the band after a 10-year break.

I get an e-mail a week later from Fred saying that The Allman Brothers were playing the Fallon Show on March 9th and he would hold tickets for me.  So Susan, my sister-in-law, my daughter and I went to New York to spend the day with Fred.    Fred got me in about 11 am for equipment set-up and sound check.   I was able to spend a couple of hours backstage and reconnect with some of the Allmans:   Jaimoe and Butch Trucks, the drummers.   Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes, guitarists.     Fred was old friends with some of their tech guys so we spent considerable time listening to road stories.   It was great.     I watched the band do a couple of noon run-throughs….and even though the technical crew at the Fallon Show had seen just about every act there is….they applauded the sound check.   This band has remained vibrant, fresh and tight, in spite of a 40-year career.  Their line-up changes have been careful and deliberate.

While Susan, Lynn and Lauren sat in the live studio audience, I got to sit in the sound production room with Fred.  The layout is not too much different than the cockpit of the space shuttle.    This guy is the ultimate multi-tasker.   His hands fly all over the board, flipping switches, pushing slides, punching buttons.   His chair rolls around his work space methodically as he moves from panel to panel.    I am hearing the director cueing cameras, sound augments, props.     Although I had seen an earlier run-through for the show (with a Fallon stand-in), it turns out the live production is pretty much like Saturday Night Live….theater on the fly.    They know that a really bad screw-up can be edited out before the evening show, but much is left in.   A spontaneous-looking performance is the goal.

And screw up this show did.   A national headlines-type screw up.   Jimmy had challenged guest Chelsea Handler to a martini making contest.   The goal was to make 3 martinis, grab them and race around the audience, return to the stage and dump them in a container to see who could spill the least over the contest.    Chelsea got back first, but the mess they both made had soaked the stage.   As Jimmy was running back to the  table his feet went straight up the in the air and he crashed on his back, breaking all three glasses.    When he got up, he was bleeding profusely from his hands.    It turned out not to be serious…. but it was terribly funny because with his Saturday Night Live experience, Jimmy was not stymied by the moment…and Chelsea Handler was so quick that she had two great one-liners within seconds.   The perfect guest for the moment.

I had the extra thrill of hearing and seeing the way the production booth handled the mishap.    Close-ups.   Slow motions.   A running gag for the rest of the show.    The injury turned out to be just minor cuts and Jimmy had the hand wrapped for the rest of the show.    It was not wrapped the next  night.

The Allmans, meanwhile, were fabulous.    I cannot thank Fred Zeller enough for giving us this unforgettable experience at 30 Rock.    Owning an inn has many types of rewards.

If you think this is the only guest story I’ve got….just wait.

I love every time this happens.

For the Valentine’s Weekend, Randy and Heather checked in.   They’ve stayed here twice before, in our king suites.   This morning at breakfast, Heather held out her hand and showed me a new addition to her finger, a beautiful engagement ring!   I asked Randy where he had proposed…and they said in their room, the Rosalyn Elkan Suite.

I am estimating this is the tenth time or so that we have hosted couples who have become engaged here.   It really makes us proud that we have played a tiny role in such an important milestone in their lives.   Susan and I were engaged in New York City under a streetlight about midnight on the upper East Side.    That was not my plan.

I had an engagement ring in  my pocket and I had flown Susan to NYC from Macon, GA to give her the ring at Studio 54 (this was 1978).  Unfortunately, there was a large crowd at the door and we did not seem to pass the minimum "coolness" criteria from the doormen.   Susan had no idea I was looking for the right place to propose, and we tried about four places before I gave up.    One place was too dark, one had a cover charge too high.   Another wasn’t located where we were told.   I wish I had had a better Plan B.

At Hampton Terrace, you won’t need a Plan B.   Let us help make this important occasion what it should be.

After more than 60 years operating as an inn, Hampton Terrace’s guest rooms finally have names.   It is not that they needed names…King Suite 2 was pretty descriptive…but we decided that this was an opportunity to help tell the history of the property in a colorful way.   Our Main House Rooms have been named after pre-inn owners of the property.   Our Wynnstay Cottage Rooms are named after the famous race horses owned by the Bonner family, who lived here from 1917-1937 and gave us the name Hampton Terrace.  We have decided to name our king suites after strong women from our family.

The 1929 Steinway in our living room has great significance. It was a wedding present from Stan’s great-grandfather, Eli Elkan to his new daughter-in-law in 1929. Rosalyn, an opera major at Indiana State, moved to Macon, GA and over three quarters of a century was the unquestioned Grand Dame of classical music in Macon. Founder of the Macon Concert Association and a co-founder of the Macon Symphony, she also was on the National Council of the Metropolitan Opera and knew all of the major classical music names of the day. Many would stay at, or be entertained in her home while traveling through the South and that list included Robert Merrill, Claudio Arrau, Marilyn Horne, Roberta Peters, Jerome Hines, Artur Rubenstein, Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Richard Tucker, Emanuel Ax, and Arthur Fiedler. She and her husband, Stanley traveled extensively throughout the world from the 1930s through the 1970s, with many of those trips lasting months. Rosalyn lived until her mid-90s.

Treat yourself and someone special to the best!   Our King Suites are provide a romantic escape any time of the year. Private, spacious and beautifully appointed, they feature a fireplace and the largest 2-person corner Jacuzzi we could find. The King bed is so plush and soft, you may never want to leave.
Relax in your living room area (not a separate room) with an overstuffed couch (can be converted into a bed), romantic gas fireplace, wet bar and refrigerator.

The suite also features a television with built-in DVD and a beautiful, gold hand-ragged luxurious private bath. Your personal entrance and sitting porch overlook our outdoor, heated pool.