Photo by Skip Lawrence Nancy Bickel operates Saint Joseph’s Valley Farm on Keysville Road near Emmitsburg.
	AT A GLANCE St. Joseph's Valley Farm Bed and Breakfast, 10307 Keysville Rd., Emmitsburg ON THE WEB n stjosephsvalleyfarm.org; 301-447-3361

Three other buildings also underwent massive renovations. The property is home to St. Joseph's Valley Farm Bed and Breakfast, which hosted the Emmitsburg Business and Professional Association recently.

The Bickels will quickly tell you this is no ordinary Bed and Breakfast operation.

"David and I were entrusted with this place to share, so people can have a place to be closer to God and have peace," Nancy Bickel said. "This place offers a spiritual get-away, a place people can reconnect and reflect on things spiritual."

One of the buildings has a small chapel complete with wall paintings of angels Michael and Gabriel, and a rendition of Jesus.

"St. Joseph's Valley Farm Bed and Breakfast exists to say 'yes' to all that God asks of us and to faithfully respond to His grace," according to the farm's mission statement. "In this way we desire to daily grow in holiness, to witness to the Gospel and to serve the kingdom of God."

Several groups of people have spent the night at the B&B but not as many as the business owners would like, Nancy Bickel said.

The farm offers several services including six and eight-day retreats for groups of 12 to 15 people. Double occupancy and single rooms are available. Private directed or non-directed six and eight-day retreats are scheduled regularly throughout the year.

Individual and group spiritual direction are available by appointment. The B&B offers opportunity for complete silence and solitude in the form of a hermitage retreat. Depending upon space availability, the duration may be up to eight days.

Nancy Bickel, a retired nurse, also offers childbirth education.

The Bickels looked at many locations before settling on Emmitsburg .

"We weren't looking for a farm, but when we saw this farm, it sort of spoke to us," David Bickel said. "Being a couple of prayer, God wanted us to use this place. This was such a picturesque location."

David Bickel is a retired former trial attorney who worked in private practice, in corporate business and in the U.S. Department of Justice in Texas and Washington, D.C.

A professor at Mount St. Mary's University, Bickel has a master's degree in theology and is a doctoral candidate in church history at Catholic University.

Nancy Bickel, a retired nurse, practiced in various fields of nursing with the majority of practice in hospice care and psychiatry.

She has a masters degree in Pastoral Care and Spirituality and is studying for her Doctor of Ministry at Catholic University in Washington, D.C.