July 31, 2007

Mountain vacation

Front lawn of the inn

I've gone to the mountains on summer weekends my whole life, mostly to stay in a tent at campsites on mountain lakes. These are the mountains where my father spent his summers as a musician when he was a young man. I've come to the mountains as a child, a teenager, and an adult. And I've brought my own kids to the mountains on camping trips.

For the last five days, though, I stayed in the mountains with my husband, just the two of us. Our kids are old enough now to stay home by themselves, allowing us to vacation by ourselves. We stayed at an old inn on Large Ungulate With Antlers Lake, an inn with sixteen guest rooms, a restaurant on the first floor, a fireplace in the lobby, and three docks with canoes and a paddleboat.

When we sitting by the fire the first night at the inn, I told my husband the story about the famous 1906 murder that happened on the lake. A man killed his pregnant lover by taking her out in a rowboat, whacking her in the head, and leaving her to drown. The sensational case inspired Theodore Dreiser's book An American Tragedy.

My husband, who is not a strong swimmer, listened to the story, and said to me, "Okay, now I am afraid to go out in a boat with you."

Well, he did get over his fears and go out on the lake with me one evening at dusk. We also spent time hiking many of the trails in the area, sitting on the rocking chairs on the porch of the inn, walking along lake edges, and just talking. When it rained, we stayed in our cozy room where we had a view of the lake, spectacular even in a drenching rain. We could look east down the lake at a sunrise in the morning, and west to the other end for a sunset at night. The days went by fast. It was hard to come home.

View from our room

The top photo is the view from the front porch of the inn. The bottom photo is the view from our room. The long legs in the photo belong to my husband.

12 comments:

RageyOne said...

Sounds like a lovely time.

Yankee T said...

I know you enjoyed the outside and the inside time. Good for you.

Anonymous said...

Could you mention the name of the inn? (As you have already left, this is not an attempt at stalking.)

jo(e) said...

Chris: It's Big Moose Inn on Big Moose Lake, near the town of Eagle Bay. They have a website if you want to google it.

Queen of West Procrastination said...

Wow, does that place ever look lovely. I'm also headed to a mountain lake, next week -- one that looks a lot like that lake, but on the opposite side of the country. It will be good.

Jenevieve said...

My husband just walked by and said "Wow, that place looks nice. Let's go there."

Um, if we ever get to upstate NY, that is. :)

Jenny F. Scientist said...

That story reminds me of 'By the Banks of the Ohio.'

BeachMama said...

All of your vacation posts sound so romantic and make me want to get away with Hubby. Unfortunately it won't be for a few years, but I do hope we can enjoy some time together like you and your husband do.

jo(e) said...

Beachmama: It's the big advantage to your kids growing up and not needing you so much anymore. My husband and I didn't have a vacation together without kids for about the first 17 years of our marriage: so we figure we deserve it now. In some ways, it's like going back in time and being teenagers again.

Andromeda Jazmon said...

As I read these posts about your vacation I am thinking of the book "A Northern Light" by Jennifer Donnelly . It's a young adult title telling the same story. When you mentioned your dad playing at the resorts (in the Egyptian sheet post) I started wracking my brain for the title. It came to me on this post. It's a great book. Have you read it?

purpleteardropsofhappilymarriedness said...

Me and My-Other-Half stayed at a wonderful inn on July 28-29 up behind the Train-Station Where the ADK Scenic RR Drops Off After Remsen. It was really cozy and a bear was roaming about outside. Plus, the owner was really nice to us and asked us to come back next year. She even offered us jobs. Glad you had fun.

Druid said...

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