Photos: Ali Prieve
Home away from home offers holiday visitors a room (and more) of their own.
Here come the holidays, and with that—here come family and other out-of-towners. Not every home (or host) has the space or bandwidth to accommodate extra people over the holidays. While hotels are wonderful options, consider a local Airbnb for guests, so they feel a little more “at home,” and hosts feel a little more relaxed!
Christina (Preiss) Mara, lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband, Brian, and son, Benjamin, 5. While she grew up in Minnetonka (Minnetonka High School Class of 2000), she has familial roots in Excelsior. (Her mother grew up there, and her grandfather owned Howard Wendt Minnetonka Cleaners—now The Lobby Coffee & Leisure—on Water Street.) “The western suburbs and Minnesota are very special to our family, and the magic of the town of Excelsior is indisputable,” she says. “We tend to travel back for Thanksgiving to be with…
