Sunday, September 30, 2012

ESCAPING TO RECHARGE


I love writing. I can spend hour after hour happily writing in my pink cave. Wait, I DO spend hour after hour writing. Occasionally, every muse needs a break to recharge. A couple of weeks ago in honor of the Annual Celebration of My 39th Birthday, Hero and I ran away together to East Texas. No, that’s not an exotic place like Paris or London or the Mediterranean. We enjoyed ourselves, though.

Road to our getaway
We went to Blue Gill Cabins between Canton and Athens, Texas. Hero loves to fish, and blue gill are his favorite target. For this stay, we were in the old feed store. Yep, a genuine historic building with corrugated tin outside.

Former feed store now cabin
When the owner found the feed store building, his uncle had sheetrocked over the inside. The owner, Devon Weatherford, removed the sheetrock to display the wide plank walls. You can’t buy wood like that now, so we think he did the right thing.

Bathroom with claw-foot tub
The floors are also wood, although not all the same size planking. Seeing them was a pleasure. Judy Weatherford, Devon’s wife, had decorated perfectly with old advertising signs and feed sacks. This is not the Ritz-Carlton, folks, but a charming rustic cabin with all the comforts like modern plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and large TV with all the channels...but no Wi-Fi.

King-sized bed surrounded by
plank walls (and a window)
The complex includes five small lakes stocked with blue gill (hence the name) plus a few catfish, crappie, and bass. There are four cabins, each with a nice dock. Devon and Judy currently have the site for sale, but can’t decide whether or not they really want to sell. I hope they don’t, or that if they do, the new owners are as hospitable. Caring for the grounds and four cabins must be a huge undertaking, but the Weatherfords do a great job. In addition to the feed store in which we stayed, there is a bunkhouse, an extended A-frame, and Rose cottage. This is a family-friendly site, plus they let us bring our dog, Webster. We only stayed two nights, but next time we’re staying longer. And next visit, we’ll try the Rose cabin.

Whether it's to Paris, France or Paris, Texas, each of us needs a change of routine to recharge and relax. Where do you go to recharge?


Winners of copies of HIGH STAKES BRIDE are MK, Sue, Michelle, Jenn, Pat, and CLivingston. I'll contact you by email and arrange to get your copies to you.

Thanks for stopping by!

2 comments:

Elaine Stock said...

Caroline, may you forever enjoy those 39 birthdays ♡

Glad you enjoyed a little getaway. As you know, for me, my annual "retreat" has been writing conferences. Really! And the past few years, specifically the ACFW conferences, are like a holy pilgrimage for me where I recharge my spiritual and writing batteries.

Call me weird

Christina Livingston said...

That place looks really neat! and thanks for doing your giveaway for the ebook! I can NOT wait to read it!!! Do you know when you might be emailing the winners? I just want to make sure I don't miss it and it gets sent to and deleted in my spam folder.