doe bay resort & retreat

“Autumn's the mellow time.” - William Allingham
September 2008 Issue

Welcome to the New Doe Bay Newsletter

let us host!

Doe Bay has been the place for some magical weddings and special family events.

We are already booking the 2009 season. If you or anyone you know has an interest in getting married at Doe Bay, please contact Maureen who is our wedding and events manager. (She is also the owner of Doe Bay, which tells you how seriously we take your special days!) Maureen@DoeBay.com.

For more information see Events at Doe Bay

call for entries

Help us spread the word about Doe Bay and get your 15 Minutes of Fame..

Maureen Brotherton in her Doe Bay shirt, somewhere in Africa

Got a picture wearing Doe Bay clothing while traveling? Send it in and take a chance on winning a dinner for two in the Doe Bay Cafe.

Got a picture of Doe Bay that you'd like your friends to check out? We'll post it online and give you credit!

Remember, we don't spend so much on traditional print advertising and prefer to follow a word-of-mouth inside scoop model of spreading the word. Talk about us on Yelp, Trip Advisor, our own Feedback page, or to your friends.

We love hosting your photos and videos. Let us know where they are and we'll get the word out on your pics/videos.

holiday booking

Bookings for Thanksgiving and New Year's are OPEN NOW.
Book a 4-night stay with us from either November 26 - 30 and get your $150 food package and we'll offer you a 25% discount on both.

Book a 4-night stay from December 30 - January 3 and receive a 25% when you book our $100 food package. Sandman, The Rappin Cowboy will be joining us again to help usher in the New Year!

Book both packages and save 30% on both. Note that you MUST CALL IN-PERSON TO BOOK THESE EVENTS.

(in honor of our successful first annual dbFest, we are using the festival logo in place of our Doe Bay logo, this month only!)

In this Issue…

A review of the greatest music festival in Doe Bay History!!!
Plan your holidays now – No better place than Doe Bay!
Upcoming events
Island News
Missing Cat… Reward Offered!

We hope your Labor Day Weekend was fantastic. It sure was at Doe Bay. Now that the weekend’s over and the ferry lines are lower, it’s important to note that the summer weather seems to have finally arrived! It’s an especially nice time to enjoy our hiking in Moran State Park (yes, we do have some fall color) or biking (mountain biking expands radically after September 15). Book now through September 30 online for a stay through December and enter code DBWTH08 for a 25% discount on weekend stays through and receive a 33% discount on midweek stays! (Discount doesn’t apply to events or holiday weekends…).

Doe Bay Fest 08

The First Annual Doe Bay Fest was a success on so many levels.

The new stage and amphitheater worked perfectly. The weather cooperated and our first annual dbFest was a success.

Planning is underway for next year’s festival. This newsletter will be the first place to find out the dates, lineups and other updates. If you're not a subscriber - signup now.

Here is what the Seattle Times said about dbFest in advance:

"But you've never heard of...

Doe Bay Music Festival, Saturday, Orcas Island (360-376-2291 or www.doebay.com)

So Anacortes is too conventional for you? The Doe Bay Music Festival is so shoestring it makes What the Heck Fest look like Bumbershoot. This first-year fete is all about intimacy: Promoters expect around 300 people and most everyone — including the bands — will stay in cabins and tents at the Doe Bay Resort, a slice of hippie heaven in a gorgeous natural setting. And the bands! Here you have a gathering of the Northwest's best alt-country talent, including the Maldives, 17th Chapter, Tim Seely and Friday Mile from Seattle; Indian Valley Line from San Francisco; as well as someone known as "Sandman the Rappin Cowboy."

Read the Seattle Times dbFest 08 review here.

Click on one of the many YouTube videos from the festival. If you like it there are a number of additional short clips put on by JoeJoeBrother so search YouTube and you will see a clip of the Maldives relaxing on the Point the day after, among others.

We urge you all to the support the bands who performed on July 19th at dbFest 08

The Buzz

Come Stay at Doe Bay in the Quiet Season

As lovely as Doe Bay is in the hottest part of the summer, every year we get dozens of guests who say the Fall Winter and Spring are the real PEAK SEASONS. Plan your vacation now. Did you know that you can book for 2009 right now, if you are staying a week or if you need 5 cabins? If you are interested, please call now.

Up and Coming Things You Want to Know About

Halloween!

Speaking of off season, Halloween at Doe Bay is always an event. It is on a Friday night this year so we will turn it in to a weekend celebration!!!

Garlic Festival

The 3rd Annual Garlic Festival will be held on November 15. $50/person gets you the chance to indulge in considerable decadence with a mélange of heirloom and unique garlic-based and inspired meals. Add $20 for a paired wine flight. Embrace the Stinking Root with a roomful of like-minded fans. A portion of tonight’s proceeds will go to support the island’s Farm-to-Cafeteria program, helping to put local food in local schools.

Thanksgiving

An Island Thanksgiving $150 meal package and a 4-night stay gets you a 25% discount on lodging. Arrive on November 26 to welcoming tapas, enjoy two more days of brunches in the café, mix in a Thanksgiving dinner. Add family. Mix well. Enjoy old and new friends. Return to a more thankful existence on November 30.

New Year’s Eve – Sandman Returns

New Year’s at Doe Bay $100 meal package and a 4-night stay gets you a 25% discount on lodging. The festivities end with filling New Year’s Eve appetizers, continues with the musical performance of the unique Chris Sand (Sandman, the Rappin Cowboy), gets better with a midnight toast, and sends you to sleep with a Midnight Toast. In the morning, start your 2009 with a lazy brunch. Stay for three more days to get a jump on resolutions, relaxation, and rejuvenation. Go home and make the world better.

We will let you know about Christmas at Doe Bay soon!

Island News – Rosario

We at Doe Bay are saddened to hear that the employees of Rosario have received their 60 day termination notices in anticipation of the sale of the property at auction on September 30, 2008. We will do what we can to accommodate Rosario Guests as well as employees. The following is an excerpt from my recent letter to a local reporter who had written about the Rosario sale:

I read your article about Rosario auction with interest. I bought the Doe Bay Resort & Retreat (www.DoeBay.com) in 2003 in similar circumstances. The resort was a historic location but had lost money and gone downhill. I had first visited Doe Bay as a teenager in 1971 and fell in love with the place. I was a hippie kid from West Seattle and couldn’t have imagined owning Doe Bay (and probably didn’t believe in private ownership of anything). I got distracted for 30 years and then ran into the opportunity. When the former owner said to me that his biggest problem was the “damn guests”, I realized that he should be out of the hospitality business. He began a plan to break it up and sell it off, so I decided to step up and buy it.

There were years of deferred maintenance (we removed tons of garbage as well as several cars from the woods) and basically started from scratch in terms of guests, employees and facilities. I told my crew that we would have four goals in the rehabilitation of this Northwest Icon. We would make it safe, clean, hospitable and efficient. Ironically I often said, “we want to change Doe Bay but not too much; we don’t want to be another Rosario.”

I am pleased to say that Doe Bay is thriving. We have invested over a million dollars in improving the place, while trying to keep it a mellow retreat. We rebuilt the saunas and soaking tubs, but they are still clothing optional. We have turned the Doe Bay Café into a gourmet restaurant with most of the food harvested on-site in our new organic garden. We are active in our community with a weekly fundraising event (Pizza, beer and music on Thursday evenings) that supports Orcas Island charities. We instituted dbFEst this year (as reported in the Times Seattle Times article on dbFest 08 ) which will be an annual music event. Our business has bloomed and, while still not quite profitable, it is approaching sustainability. This year, while most hospitality businesses were down we experienced more growth. We are busy all summer and the rest of the year is getting more active. We sincerely hope that Rosario finds a niche, as businesses like ours and theirs are vital to an island community.

JOE Brotherton
Owner

Post-script – To answer a question many are asking, yes I may bid on Rosario.

Missing Cat

If you have been coming to Doe Bay for over 30 years, like I have, you remember the Lion.

It “disappeared” some years ago and I have been waiting by the phone for a ransom demand. The FBI tells me the chances of it still being alive are now remote.

So now I reach out to all of you to help us figure out how to replace it. Are you a carver or sculptor or do you know one? If so, write to me with your ideas.