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Hi Dear Friends.......

And a very very Merry Merry Christmas to all! Hard to believe another year has come and gone. As we head into our favorite season, the winter, good things are afoot to brighten the next few months, so we're sending you some fun ideas as well as photos of our pride-and-joy new Thomas House rooms. To my fellow computer-challenged here's a hint. If the photos come in "x'd out", try right-clicking to display them. Or it's easy to adjust your email to let them in: go to Tools, then Options, then Security, then Download Images, and temporarily uncheck the "block images" box. Who knew?

Holiday Gift Certificates

Delight someone on your list with the gift of a memorable stay at our Inn, and we'll delight you with a 10% discount off the gift certificate's price. They have all year to use it, and amounts can be from $50 up. Plus, if you give them a mystery weekend and they can attend in January, we'll attach another 15% discount because all the January mysteries are discounted! Gifts of travel are great for those who have everything. Check out our gift certificate page, and then email or call us with your choice. We can even help if it's Christmas Eve and you forgot someone!

Crystal River Happenings

New Year's Eve..Whatcha doin' New Year's Eve? It's the best event of our year, restful, safe, unforgettable, easy, and crazy. Irresistable.

January Mysteries..These are discounted 15% so they make great Christmas gifts! Bring anyone you want on Jan. 18-19, or ladies, grab your mom or daughters and come to the Mother-Daughter weekend on Jan. 25-26.

Winter Specials..Beat the winter blahs by coming to hit the Outlet Malls for some post-Christmas therapy. On Jan. 11-12, Jan 18-19, and again on Feb. 1-2, we have a few rooms that can be discounted by 25%.....or 30% if you stay both nights!

Ladies' Escape Weekends and Spa Services..Starting mid-January, we're opening some specialty spa service rooms in the new Thomas House. Come with your friends to be pampered and to scarf up post-Christmas sales at the outlet malls.

Romantic Interludes for Valentine season..bring your main squeeze to the Crystal River Inn for a peaceful romantic getaway. Our new Thomas House rooms all have special tubs and big awesome beds. Think wineries, fireplaces, gourmet picnics, spa packages, and carriage rides.mmmm.

Food Glorious Food

Here is our guests' very favorite breakfast bread, great for Christmas morning....enjoy!

Banana-berry breakfast bread
(makes 3 good-sized loaves)
2 sticks margarine
3 c sugar
4 eggs
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups mashed overripe bananas
1 can strawberry pie filling (or cherry pie filling)
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, bananas, pie filling.

Sift in dry ingredients, gently stirring everything together. Fold in nuts. This is a double recipe, and it makes 3 good-sized loaves. Grease the loaf pans with softened margarine or butter, and dust them with cinnamon sugar. Fill the pans 2/3 full, and bake the loaves at 350 for 1 hour, until they test done.

Christmas Carols for Those Over the Edge

• Schizophrenia -- Do You Hear What I Hear?
• Multiple Personality Disorder -- We Three Kings Disoriented Are
• Dementia -- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas If I Can Find It
• Narcissism -- Hark the Herald Angels Are Singing About Me
• Manic -- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and ...
• Paranoid -- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me
• Borderline Personality Disorder -- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why
• Personality Disorder -- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire
• Attention Deficit Disorder -- Silent Night, Holy oooh look at the Froggy - Can I have a Chocolate Why is France so Far Away?
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder -- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells.

The Innkeeper's Diary

Thanks to all who have visited us during this banner 23rd year. The inn has continued to thrive and grow. We were happy to be named "The Best in Austin" by CitySearch, an honor even if we are 30 miles from Austin! People from all over the country have visited us for murder mysteries as the popularity of these fun weekends continues, and numerous newlyweds called on Crystal River to get them married in style. Thanks, ya'll!

Our best news is that we're the new owners of the great old building next door to the main inn. You may remember that its downstairs used to be an animal hospital; and its upstairs now sports four glamorous new guestrooms. After 20 years of hiking across the street to the Young Building rooms, having rooms right next door is heaven. With oriental rugs, Jacuzzi tubs, elegant new furnishings, wireless internet and flat-screen TV's, the new Thomas House is our shining star for 2007. By early spring we'll have in-house spa services in two new dedicated spa rooms, so your getaway can be even more relaxing.



The action isn't stopping with the Thomas House, however..the other buildings and the grounds are getting dressed up to match. New paint, new carpet, new beds, new linens, and new kitchen appliances are just some of the upgrades in progress.

But upgrades aside, it's always great to have people who were here 10, 15, or even 20 years ago...walk in and say things like "it's just like I remembered it". We've even had a recent rash of teenage visitors whose parents married here, stirring a mixed bag of "Eek we're old".and."Wow, so awesome that we're still having fun doing this innkeeping thing." We are aware of only one other inn out of the thousands in Texas (and that would be the matchless Limpia Hotel in Ft. Davis) which has been continually run by the same family for as long as the Crystal River Inn has.

As the rest of the country withered, the Hill Country boomed in one of the wettest years on record. The rivers are still high and beautiful; this summer everything was as green as Ireland; and our gardens have never been happier. We have a new Master Gardener on staff who is putting in hundreds of bulbs, so a glorious spring lies ahead.

Please check the rest of the newsletter for this winter's special offers. We'd love to entice you to come back and visit us, or to give a gift certificate to someone who needs a bit of R&R. We promise to be here for years to come, taking good care of them, and of you, whenever you can escape to our part of the world!! Have a wonderful Christmas.

- Mike, Cathy, Sarah, Tatiana, and Alexey - the Dillons
(Assisted and indispensably supported by Tracey, Teri, Carina, Julie, Martha, Erica, Reese, Saralynn, Josh, Sawyer, and EllyMay the inn cat)