After navigating Friday night rush hour traffic, E, J and I pull into Strawberry Creek Lodge five minutes before supper is due to be served. Five ladies have arrived before us. Two other ladies arrive a few minutes after us so we are now 10, all hungry and ready to shed the work week and enjoy camaraderie, solitude and the quietness of the countryside.
Brenda, the chef, is in charge of the meals and serves us wholesome, tasty meals. Over the weekend we dine on fresh bread and muffins, hearty soup, fresh fruit and veggies, wonderful egg dishes and scrumptious desserts.
We are each assigned a napkin ring and napkin at the first meal and Brenda moves them around for each meal between the two round tables so we all get a chance to talk to everyone else. I think this is a wonderful idea and think that the live aboard dive boat we were on in the Maldives should adopt the same plan.
My side our our bedroom
Most bedrooms have two single beds. I share a room with IC and we are easy roommates for each other. The rooms are small but comfortable.
Living Room
The living room has a number of sofas and chairs that can be moved around for ease of conversation. The sofa swallows me and makes me feel like staying there forever. We discuss our book one evening with everyone sharing thoughts.
View of the creek (photo by IC)
The lodge sits on a point overlooking Strawberry Creek. We walk down to the creek and spend time wading in the water, sitting on a sand bar, skipping stones and chatting. It is warm and we all drink in the sunshine while we wiggle our toes in the hot sand.
The swing outside the lodge
We sit in the swing, chatting, laughing, swinging and chatting some more. We sit on the deck in the sun, chatting and laughing. We walk down the gravel roads, we run down the gravel roads and then in the afternoon we bike down the gravel roads.
On the drive home, E, J and I decide that this has been a relaxing weekend at a wonderful place and we feel more connected to our group of ladies. We will have to return to Strawberry Creek Lodge, a quiet destination for a group of like minded people to study, reconnect, sew, meditate or just be.