We all have that one vacation destination that we cannot stand to live without. For me that place is a lodge in the Adirondacks in New York State called Hemlock Hall.
The day of vacation started when I got up early every morning to make sure I was the first one at breakfast in order to ring the breakfast bell. This bell that told everyone staying at Hemlock Hall that the meal was ready. Then, I would enjoy eating meals with complete strangers that happened to be assigned to my table. The meals are served family style and of course all you can eat. All I could remember was my dad always asking for more food and me always getting yelled at for filling up on the delicious warm, homemade bread.
After breakfast, I would love to go down the lake to go swimming. There is a floating dock in the swimming area not far from the shore where anyone can swim and enjoy a game of "who can stay on the longest" while others try to push you off. Also, if you didn't want to get wet you could take a kayak to the floating dock and enjoy lunch there.
Another fun event is canoeing to the "jumping rock", where adrenaline junkies jump off the cliff into the water. I was always told to "jump far forward or you will hit the rock." I first completed the jump when I was 5 years old. When I came back the next year I was too afraid to do it again. This is because the year before I did not know what fear was, I was simply having a good time. As I matured I realized how frightening it actually was. The beauty of children is that they are not frightened of anything yet, they do whatever there mind desires. Just think of how different the world would be if adults did not know what fear was, like children.
In addition, an adventure I shared with my family was going to "Castle Rock". This steep climb up rocks and dirt resulted in a panorama view of the Blue Mountain Lake. I loved hiking up there with my family and enjoying a lunch at the top. On the way, my sister and I would play the “trail marker game.” To play this game we would shout out “trail marker” whenever we saw one. Trail markers are shapes in different colors that are nailed to trees along the hiking trail. Each color represents a different route. If you follow the markings they will lead you in a path. My sister always won the game we created by shouting the highest number of trail markers, which resulted in me having to jump in the ice cold lake after breakfast.
At night, all the kids would gather at a table in the lodge to play card games. My favorite game to play when I was a child is called “Spoons.” In the game “Spoons” the playing cards are passed around in a circle until one player receives four of a kind. Once a player does, the person grabs a spoon from the center of the table. If a player grabs a spoon, anyone else who observes a missing spoon may take a spoon for themselves. Whoever does not have a spoon at the end of the round is eliminated. All I can remember was jumping across the table to pick up the last spoon and my chair often falling over. When the players heard the chair falling, they knew I was getting a spoon so the brawl over the spoons began.
Another fond memory I have is kayaking with my family and watching the sun set. We found a place where our words would echo. Our screams would bounce off the rocks and come back to us. I remember my dad always calling my mom’s name “Beth.”
Hemlock Hall was not just a fun vacation destination, it taught me how to socialize with strangers, overcome my fears, enjoy the outdoors and being with my family, and showed me the unity children create with each other.
