Robbie and I won a New Ulm Chamber of Commerce drawing back in March when we saw the New Ulm-based movie, New in Town. The Chamber’s gift basket contained all sorts of goodies, but the biggie was a night’s stay in the Silverson Suite at the Beyer Haus B&B, courtesy of the owners (also bloggers), Bill and Peggy Beyer.

The meticulously restored Beyer Haus B&B has many charms, including luxurious hot tubs, a hilarious dog named Mr. MacDougal who can briefly balance a basketball on his nose while zooming around the backyard, and miniature dioramas hidden in the baseboards of every room.

We were joined at breakfast by a neighbor of the Beyer’s, Ann Makepeace, who serves on New Ulm’s Heritage Preservation Commission. Ann was one of those involved in the creation of the Historic Downtown Walking Tour Video Podcasts that I’ve heard so much about from Northfield Historical Society’s Hayes Scriven. We checked out two iPods from the Visitors Center and spent a couple hours downtown on Saturday afternoon on the podcast walking tour, including the Post Office/History Center above. We used most of the 50 dollars of Chamber Bucks that were in the gift basket for some outdoor dining at the ‘upscale Italian’ Lola’s Larkspur Market (newspaper story) restaurant. Fun coincidence: our waitress, Maggie Mae, grew up in the Beyer Haus. Maggie’s Room was her bedroom.

See the album, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow: