Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Viewing the Village

Gayle and I ended our day with going over to Mamie’s to help Richard dig sweet potatoes. Our timing was impeccable; Richard was knocking off as we arrived. We picked the last of Mamie’s muscadine grapes instead of digging potatoes. This was certainly easier or our knees and backs than potato pulling. The only reason I was interested in the muscadines when Richard announced Mamie’s concern over whether I had all the muscadines I wanted was that Gayle said the jelly made from this grape was her favorite. I’ve never made this type of jam; we’ll see how that cooking experiment works out.

Before Gayle’s departure, Leal, the booking and office manager of Coker Creek Village, took us on a tour of the retreat facility. I can’t even remember all the activities they offer, but I know that three “home-cooked” meals per day are part of the deal. I’ve eaten at Coker Creek Village’s dining hall; they serve some really good country cooking.

I did manage to remember that the activities include a climbing wall that leads to a zip line, which you couldn’t pay me to utilize, as I’m afraid of heights. Horseback riding and hiking on the village’s three hundred acres are very popular activities with most folks, but I’ll meet them at the end of the trail -- in the dining hall, as eating is my second favorite group activity (next to conversation.) Swimming, tennis, sand volleyball, gold panning, basketball, and a rope course are offered to those who aren’t content to swing in the hammocks outside of their cabins. I, however, will take the less physically strenuous way to occupy myself any day. I save my energy for “solving the problems of the world” with my soul sisters.

At night, Cam and his wife Beth, who run the retreat center, are often seen dancing at the hoedown in the Village barn. Sometimes, you’ll see Cam driving the tractor that pulls the hayride wagon. Or, Cam will be caught pulling on the ropes that operate the “mechanical bull” in the barn. And bonfires abound in the common areas of the cabins.

In case all these activities aren’t enough to keep a family happy for a week, whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River, kayaking on the Hiwassee River, and the beach at the mountain lake in Indian Boundary are less than an hour away. Of course, there are always the activities offered about two hours away in Gatlinburg, Dollywood, Chattanooga, Knoxville and, Atlanta.
After the tour of Coker creek Village Gayle left, giving promises to return with her husband. He’s a historian, so we can’t wait to introduce him to the Trail of Tears, the Unicoi Trail and the Gold Mining history of Coker Creek. Since his field of expertise is Church History, we’ll also include the history of the founding of the Church of God at Barney Creek.

I’d love to have a group book here so that I could be a guest of the Village. The staff would plan the meals, cook the meals, and clean up after us and our guests. I might never travel the mile it would take to return to our house in the holler.