It took twenty years

David Smith selected Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Montani as the "VIP Guests of the Day" at The Inn at Amish Acres yesterday. As he was checking them in they were excited for the recognition and proceeded to tell the story of how they found Amish Acres.

Mrs. Montani mentioned that while traveling 20 years ago they found an Amish Acres brochure lying on the seat of an airplane. At that moment the both promised each other that they would one day visit this Amish Acres. So today, 20 years later they arrived with their confirmation neatly written on the back of a vintage Amish Acres brochure.

It also was their first day of their visit to the United States; the Montani's are from France. With their complementary Amish Acres Recipes cookbook in hand, they were all smiles. I remember the warm reception we received in our hotel on our last visit to Paris; and whenever I think back to Paris, it is not the Eiffel Tower or the Louve that were visible out side our hotel room window that comes to mind first, it is Jon Paul's warm welcome at the Hotel Brighton at 218, rue Rivoli. These experiences are what make tourism such a potent force in creating a world community to go along with the new world economy.