An All Too Brief Summer Vacation Part 4: SUNday

(...if it's all too brief, why are there already 4 parts?  How many parts are there going to be?  Stay tuned!)

I'd like to say Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny...it didn't.  It was a little chilly with rain on and off.

Breakfast is served in the Windsor Dining room from 8-11 on Sundays.  Hubby and I headed downstairs around 8:30.  We would be joined by my son closer to nine.  (He is a teen now!)  Breakfast was okay.  There was nothing wrong with breakfast, it's just that several years ago (I believe the fall of 2016) I was really wowed by breakfast.  Then, just as now, they knew of my food allergies, but during that time they were ready for me and had special items waiting for me.  (Like pancakes with no eggs with fruit on the side.)  The problem with that is once you offer something so spectacular (at least for me) is that you hope for it again and everything else is a slight let down.  (This is what got me into trouble last year, but that's another story.)  The bar was just set too high and that was in the autumn when it might have been a little less busy than it is in the summer.  (While I knew family reunions were a popular thing that Skytop; I had NO idea that families were so large.  There were groups of 12-30 people in one family!  That's a LOT of family!)  For most, breakfast is a buffet, but since I have severe food allergies my food has to come from the kitchen so that I can be assured of no cross contamination issues.  (That lady who used the fork for eggs and then touched the bacon can send me to the hospital!)  When I asked for bacon, toast and fruit, that is what I got.  It just took a while.  And we did have to keep asking for coffee.  (We are BIG coffee drinkers.  My son just got into coffee and it’s now part of his morning routine...guess I'll have to make a bigger investment in Dunkin Donuts, since that's our ground coffee of choice...but I'm open to options if any serious coffee drinkers want to make some suggestions!)

After breakfast, despite the threatening skies, I decided to venture outside.  My first stop was up...to the observation deck.  The deck offers views that are breathtaking.  (And were actually perfect for spotting enemy planes during WWII!)

Since there was no one around, I was able to enjoy the solitude and beauty.  This is truly nature at it's finest, even with the dark clouds hovering over everything! 

I decided to take advantage of the lack of rain (but rising humidity) and wander down to the Lakeview Inn and Club House.  Heading out off the south porch, I took a slight detour off the path and went by the cottages and swinging back up towards the lower level of the lodge and then down by the lake.  Ignoring my usual (and favorite!) lake path, I ambled along Leavitt Branch road, taking photos and exploring tiny paths that I had never ventured on before.  (There is so much to see and I have yet to see it all.)

My wandering took me across the lake from the Inn.  (Where there is a beach for swimming) and paralleling Route 390 in the distance.  That path that I followed was rustic. (Meaning I never saw another soul except for some golfers in the distance.)  

I found my way back to the path/road that leads to the Leavitt Falls trail.  I have yet to do this one and I was hesitant to try it on my own, especially with the weather being so iffy.  Some day!

I did take lots of photos (the joy digital cameras and phones).  SLOWLY I made my way up to the Inn,  watching some adventurous children on the Wibit on the lake.  (A giant inflatable "thing" that I just might like to try some day!  This is the 2nd summer that I have NOT had the opportunity to go out into the lake.  As a child, I preferred the pool to the lake, but as an adult, I think I might be a bit more adventurous!)  I did check out the Golf Shop at the Inn before heading back to the lodge proper.

An hour or so later I was back on the south porch with my boys.  My MapMyWalk app said that I had gone 1.60 miles in 45 minutes.  Definitely NOT my standard walk pace, but who wants to rush where there is so much to see and take in?

But this was not the end of my walking journey.  I decided to explore the lodge a little bit more, walking the stairs at the east end of the hotel, which very few people use (if anyone at all)  These stairs will only take you from the lower level of the lodge  to the 

3rd floor.  

(Looking out towards the pool)

Headed back to the room, where my husband was lounging.  I charged my devices briefly, but the call of the South Porch didn't let me stay long.  There was a rocker out there with my name on it and I was ready to sit and read.  However, on my way out, I ran into my son and the two of us decided to take a walk around the lake.  So with umbrella in hand (just in case) we headed off.

The lake walk is easy and the path very even.  Surprisingly, the sun peaked out and it was quite warm (and VERY HUMID).  We purposely took our time.  I took lots of photos.  (I probably take the same photos every time I go.  I just can't control myself!)

This time in just over an hour (from door to door on the North porch), we walked 2.35 miles.  I was so happy to enjoy the scenery, the sunshine and NOT encounter any snakes!  (My son had seen one earlier in the day while he was doing his own walk.  I have seen snakes before around the lake and I prefer NOT to see them.)








I finally made it to the South porch to sit down and read...as the clouds rolled in.  But it was blissfully quiet that Sunday afternoon and it gave me time to reflect on a few things (and read too):

• One thing that has NEVER changed, as long as I can remember, is that there is a scent in the stairway by the dining room.  A delicious smell that is obviously there as the result of being so close to the kitchen.  But in all the years that I can recall, the smell remains the same and I can't put my finger on exactly what it is...Whatever it is, the minute it hits my nose I KNOW I am at Skytop (and my mouth starts watering.)
• There IS a new scent in the Pine room.  It's not exactly pine, but it IS in the same vein.  I can't put my finger on that either.  
• I really should learn how to lawn bowl.  It's a tradition at Skytop and my grandfather used to do it.  (He could even be seen in the distance in one of the resort's brochures from the 1970s).  No one gives lessons (at least that I know of).  I feel like I need to learn to keep a family tradition alive?
• Chess seems to be more popular than I ever realized.  There are several sets around the lodge and most of the time they are in use.  This includes the lawn sized one on the south lawn by the playset.  Of course I don't know if those people KNOW how to play or are just have a good time with giant sized chessmen.

It was getting warmer and sunnier so I moved from the porch out into the sun. (But never bothered to get my suntan lotion from the car.)  Eventually I was joined by my son who had ventured into the Corner Roast for a coffee.  (Nothing special for him; just a regular coffee with cream.  Where's the fun in that?)  He wandered off and I debated going to the pool, but when I wandered over it looked like all the outside chairs were taken.  Didn't seem worth the effort, so I settled back onto the porch (with a glass of wine).  There is nothing wrong with being lazy right??  Isn't that what vacation is SUPPOSED to be about?

I did make sure that I left myself enough time to go upstairs and change for dinner.  The meal was good, but the service was still pretty slow.  I enjoyed the Kale salad (although it was way too big!) and the NY Strip (although it was not cooked quite as well as I would have liked.)  Again, our salads and main courses came quickly, there was a LONG wait for our dishes to be cleared and our dessert order to be taken.  In other amazing news, my son TRIED the seafood soup and liked it for the most part.  (We knew that he liked crab, but now we know that he DOESN'T like shrimp, but DOES like scallops.)    

It stayed dry enough for the Lodge to have bingo, s'mores and maybe even a movie (I didn't stick around long enough to see) on the south lawn.  It looked like a lot of families were having fun.  My son had gone walking and I thought he might have ended up there, but there was no sign of him.  So instead, I went upstairs and got ready for bed.  Thanks to cell phones, I could call and check in on him and tell him to be back in the room by 10 PM. (Which he did.)  It is nice that at Skytop you can do family things or you can do your own thing and not worry.

My only "worry" that night was that it might rain on Monday and I wouldn't be able to take the scheduled hike to Leavitt Falls.