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Are you a history buff? Do you love traveling to explore forgotten cultures? Do you enjoy stepping into the past and learning the rich background of the area you are visiting, well then Lancaster needs to be put on your bucket list. Despite it not being adorned with castle relics or rich artwork, Lancaster is among the first settled areas in the new world. The short story goes a little something like this: Settled in 1681 as part of William Penn’s Penn’s Woods Charter, the Lancaster town then known as Hickory Town, was eventually laid out in 1734 by James Hamilton. The name, Hickory Town, came from the large hickory tree at the center of town (very original, I know). This hickory tree was a place of worship to the Conestoga Indian tribe that inhabited the land before it was settled. Renamed for settler John Wright’s hometown in Lancashire, England, Lancaster soon became known as the… Read More

When you think Bed & Breakfast one doesn’t normally think brewery or events first thing, but when you choose the 1777 Americana Inn B&B they should be the first thing on your mind. Our unique B&B features a delicious on-site brewery where we have hosted several events in the short year it has been open. Events include: business meetings, trolley brewery tours, anniversary parties, bridal and baby showers, 5- course food & beer pairings, corn hole tournaments, and local musicians. With the unique combination of our inn and brewery, the possibilities are endless. A huge benefit to any event is of course having some to help you coordinate the thing, whether they are just involved as support or organizing it as a whole, it makes an event so much easier to handle.  So, when looking at the 1777 Americana Inn B&B or Black Forest Brewery as your next event location, know we can… Read More

We all know the holidays can be stressful, especially when it comes time to decide what the menu should be for your special dinner.  It’s always a challenge, unless you have a long standing menu tradition to decide what to make for the  special event; you want delicious, satisfying food items with a little wow factor to impress the family and friends you are spending your day and night with. You want something festive, but still easy enough to prep in-between all of the everyday chores. You want something new but don’t want to be tied down reading a 3 page recipe. You want to make the dinner table actually look like a dinner table, below are some suggestions to help make any occasion go a little bit easier. When it comes to food, you don’t always have to make EVERYTHING from scratch. Cheating a little can save a large amount of time and effort. For example, instead of making your… Read More

Enviably every January 1st social media is flooded with people's resolutions for the upcoming year, there's always the exercise more, eat healthier, spend more time with friends, limit technology use, but it's on the rare occasion I see people who make a resolution to travel more. I think that's a wonderful resolution, it possibly combines all of the above resolutions and incorporates the wonderful concept of expanding your horizons. So, the question is, how does one keep your resolution to travel more?   CNBC posted some great ideas for how to keep travel affordable, keeping in mind that not every trip needs to be the trip of a lifetime, but your lifetime should be full of trips. Websites like Airbnb and Homeaway allow you the chance to get away with affordable locations , or you could consider Nomador- a website for house-sitting ( and i can tell you from experience, house sitting… Read More

Now that we’ve worked through how you can best keep your New Years resolution to travel, let’s talk about how one goes about picking the right B&B for your vacation away. This seems like a tall order at first, with so many choices especially in tourist areas.  How do you find the inn that meets your expectations of a home away from home? This wasn’t hard for me because the first time I ever stayed at a B&B it was a surprise from my husband and I had no say in the planning, but knowing him he meticulously researched until making his selection. When I asked him, “how did you go about doing that”  he replied, “I just thought about you, about me, and what would make us comfortable.” Now that doesn’t seem like much help, but if you take a few minutes to sit down and make a short list of the 5 top things you want from your stay, it makes the process much easier. Here are… Read More

Food Envy, it’s a real thing people. Most accurately described as the moment you receive your food, look over and see your friend’s selection and wish you had ordered that instead. I’ve experienced this many times, and it becomes particularly frustrating when you narrow down your choice to two selections and when you get your food you realize you made the wrong choice. Frustrating, aggravating, all the words that enrage the hulk to turn green are what food envy does to a person. BUT, I’m here to tell you there are ways to curb this emotion and remain calm and collective during your meal out.   If you’re hungry for something, just get it. Don’t let diet, time of day, or peer pressure drive your decision- if your body is craving chocolate, go ahead and order that piece of cake because if you don’t and watch the waiter walk by with it to another table- food envy will… Read More

December was a big month for us, as we celebrated the one year anniversary of our on-site pub, Black Forest Brewery, threw its 1st Anniversary celebration, and what a celebration it was. Coordinated by Amanda DeVine of DeVine Destinations, the day-long celebration included raffle prizes, a local performance by Two Pints Shy, a delicious Italian buffet from Antonino Elia, and a Russian Imperial Stout beer reveal. The event which was released to the public in early November saw over 300 people through its doors on the 12th and welcomed many new faces to the Black Forest family. The owners of the pub and the 1777 Americana Inn Bed and Breakfast could not have happier and surprised with the amazing turnout on the day, they felt simply overwhelmed with gratitude as the community they entered only one year ago came out to celebrate with them. The day started right away at noon with new faces… Read More

Discovering Lancaster in my mid-twenties was about the best thing that could have happened to this Berks county girl. My first trip to downtown Lancaster was in the spring of 2014 and I’ve been hooked ever since. The vibrant community that exists within the 5-block radius of Penn Square blew my mind and exceeded anything I had experienced in Reading. I was able to visit the oldest farmers market in the U.S., I browsed in and out of countless art galleries witnessing the rebirth of sculpting, painting, drawing, and printing, and  I ate food that had nothing to do with potatoes, meat, and sauerkraut, it was simply magical. After my first trip, it took me a few weeks to make my way back, but when I did it was for a most epic date day with my husband. That’s the glory and charm of Lancaster (especially downtown) that you can make a date day and then make a date night and have them be completely… Read More

When it comes to wine, I can pinpoint the exact date and location I fell in love. October 12th, 2010 at a grand little vineyard called Hilltop Berry, twenty miles outside of Charlottesville, VA. My husband had surprised me with a weekend away at The Mark Addy Bed and Breakfast (highly recommended if you're in VA visiting) and we decided to explore the 20+ vineyards that surrounded our home for the weekend. We had our doubts because neither of us really drank nor enjoyed wine before this weekend, but oh boy did that change. We took our first couple sips at Hilltop and we were hooked (case in point by the 10 bottles we left the vineyard with that day). The rest of the weekend was spent tasting and relaxing amongst the vineyards and eclectic wineries and when it sadly came time to head home, I was officially a changed woman. Since that weekend I have made it my mission to experience and enjoy… Read More

If you’re looking for a getaway weekend for the holiday season, I think I’ve proven that the 1777 Americana Inn B&B is obviously the best choice in the Lancaster and Berks county areas, but if you need further proof, let’s talk Lititz. Voted one of America’s Best Small Towns, Lititz has something to offer everyone and it’s only a short 10 minute drive from the 1777 Americana Inn B&B. I encountered Lititz around the same time I found my affinity for downtown Lancaster, this quaint little town has so much to offer in only a 3-4 block radius that I became enthralled. There are antiques, jewelry, exotic meats, olive oils, kitchen gadgets, beautifully crafted wooden tables, boutiques with scarves galore and a chocolate factory…what more could a person want. Lititz has become one of my top choices for local recommendations especially now that the festive holiday season is in… Read More