The cottage was lovely, very nice. Same for the the town and merchants (especially Buck's Bikes!)
However, we'd picked the town, and the location of the cottage, specifically for quiet and rest. As of this writing, the cottage is still described in the first paragraph on it's vrbo page as "restful, relaxing and renewing."
That description is misleading (to put it kindly.) The first morning we were there, we were awakened (at 7:45am) by the loud engine, and loud incessant reverse-beeping, of a diesel big rig dump truck, dumping gravel out of a metal truck bed less than 20 feet from the bedroom window. (The front grill of the truck probably actually considerably less than 20 feet away, just across a gravel path from the back door of the cottage.)
That truck, along with a backhoe and other heavy equipment, including the occasional brain-searing sound of a circular saw half a block away, were a constant during work hours for our 3 night stay. The gravel road between the cottage and barn are used by the construction teams throughout the day, and the gravel piles behind the cottage are part and parcel of their work.
Thankfully, the rental office was understanding enough to refund the cost of one of our three nights, which helped make up for the lack of the quiet that we came for.
The person at the rental office that we spoke with mentioned that "the website" (not sure if she meant vrbo.com or seabrookwa.com) used to have text alerting renters to the possibility of construction noise, and how to rent a place that is away from construction. Since that text is no longer present, we had no warning at all that we'd be staying on an active construction site. That's a pretty significant bit of information to omit for a place that is being sold as restful and relaxing.
Don't be as trusting as we were. Call before you rent, and ask pointed questions about construction noise, and how to avoid it. Unless you enjoy the sounds of construction sites, in which case, you're gonna love the "farm district."
