The pretty eastern Iowa college town of Mount Vernon (home to Cornell College) is one of our favorites – especially with its great restaurant the low-key but ambitious Lincoln Cafe and its offspring, the Lincoln Wine Bar. Now comes word in the DM Register of a place to stay overnight when we don’t feel like making the two-hour drive back to Des Moines after dinner or from Iowa City (where I daughter will be a student at U of Iowa next fall). It’s the Blythe Cottage Inn and the rates are tres reasonable – $60 to stay in one of the guest bedrooms or $75 for an entire guest cottage. http://www.pollyanns.com/blythecottageinn.html)
TakeBetsywithyou- View from the nosebleed seats – Symphony Center and the Auditorium theatre in Chicago
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TakeBetsywithyou 
Hi Betsy! I just wanted to say thank you for the publicity in the Register! We had our first call and booking this morning. The rate you quoted is outdated, but we are happy to honor it. (We went up a little to cover a new water bill charge.) We invite you to come and stay with us, free of charge, anytime you would like to come and check out our bed & breakfast and the many other wonderful places Mount Vernon has to offer, including the antique mall my husband and I have run for the last 20 years.
Thanks again for the mention!
Polly Ann and Bob Blythe
Blythe Cottage Inn & Polly Ann’s Antiques
http://www.pollyanns.com
http://www.pollyanns.blogspot.com
Hi Polly Ann,
Congratulations on your first call and booking. I didn’t write about your business in the Register (although I used to work at the Register). I wrote about it in my travel blog (after reading about your inn in the Register.)
Regards, Betsy