Our Romantic Getaway

After hinting at the idea and often quite bluntly asking, I decided that for my 33rd birthday I would kidnap my husband for a romantic overnight retreat. Yes, I added another year to my life this past Friday, Nov. 14 and so Matthew did agree a few weeks ago to going away for the night as my present. I was happy to plan the outing as I'm always checking vacation websites in my spare time anyhow. The hitch, which I proposed, was that the getaway would be $100 or less.

I love the fall colors in the mountains so I knew that would be our destination. We dropped the kids off with Matthew's Mom at her school around 5:45pm and then headed up the highway to North Carolina. We arrived at Ridgecrest Conference Center at 7:30pm, checked in at registration and headed up to our room in the Rhododendron Building . Matthew turned the heat on (literally, not figuratively), we dropped our bags, and walked back down to our car to go find dinner.

We drove back two exits to arrive in the picturesque town of Black Mountain, literally cradled in between the mountains. We found the Coach House, a seafood and steak restaurant. Very yummy food and nice, quiet atmosphere! Afterwards, back to our room at the Rhododendron!

Matthew graciously shared some quality time talking with me about our roles as husband and wife, parents and our individual spiritual lives and that as a couple. I know bearing their hearts is often not top on a lot of guys' lists as to how to spend a Friday night, but I tell you, it was definitely worth it. Matthew knew ahead of time that I really wanted part of the trip devoted to strengthening our marriage by means of refreshing our communication skills. I highly recommend to couples reading this (or one spouse who wants to report back to the other) to try and set aside a time to just talk through things which you know you need to but never make time for.

Anyhow, sleep Friday night was restful but not as sound as I had hoped. I suppose waking periodically throughout the night for four years doesn't just go away all of a sudden (guess we should have brought some Benadryl along!!).

Saturday morning came and the dining hall was closed before we expected (I guess everyone else there was attending a conference which started by 9:00am and us sleepy heads met a mopping employee who told us they were closed). Looking back it was just one of the many special gifts from God this weekend because we just hopped in the car, headed back to Black Mountain and ate at the Huddle House which has a breath-taking view! Again great food and nice, peaceful atmosphere.

After showering and packing up all of our belongings, we checked out at registration and inquired about Ridgecrest's hiking trails. I was given a map of the "Ridgecrest Tranquility Trail System". This was what Matthew and I were really looking forward to as we both love being outside and feeling like adventurers. Another blessing of the day, picture-perfect weather!!! Windy and chilly at first (added to the fall feeling) but the most gorgeous blue sky with just the right amount of puffy white clouds. This picture doesn't even do it just, but here's the view from the Royal Gorge lookout.



This is the sign posted beside the Royal Gorge lookout and its words are SO TRUE!!!



Blessing number three was spending almost three hours hiking these beautiful trails and not seeing one other person besides each other. I was a little nervous at first, but as the hike became more strenuous, I was only thinking about making it out without passing out. We had packed Gatorade and some snacks which made it easier. There was one point at which we came to a trail heading back down to the car or another heading higher up the mountain to another overlook. My adrenaline was kicking so I said, "Let's go up!" Matthew said he was fine either way, but that I was the one huffing and puffing on the trail marked Moderate when we were heading to one marked Strenuous. We started toward the upper trail, but after a few minutes I began thinking how far we would have to go back the more we hiked up. We went back and forth as to go back or not. God spoke CLEARLY as we came around a curve and there was a tree laying across the trail. Matthew and I said together, "Thank you, God, we'll go back now."

After just a few minutes, I was so glad we had stopped when we did. Getting back to the trail which went down to the car, we found it to be a tight, one-person-wide trail under a "rhododendron canopy" which also meant LOTS of slippery leaves on the ground (it had rained on Friday). This trail seems to go straight down and we both lost our footing a few times. I would not have wanted to try this later in the afternoon when the sun was setting. Here I am under that canopy.



Yeah, we could finally see our car!! Such a wonderful, romantic, exhausting, quiet, tranquil time we had on those trails, but it is nice to see civilization again.

This is what we saw just steps before we got back to our car.



As it was only 2:10pm when we left the Ridgecrest property, Matthew suggested we see a movie at a theater we passed on the highway. Walking inside, we knew something special was going on... the place had just opened that week! If you've ever been in a movie theater opening week, there are special lobby entertainers, employees EVERYWHERE and people seem exceptionally HAPPY!! We were mainly because blessing number four of the day was a coupon for free popcorn and drinks with our movie tickets!! Yeah, popcorn for lunch. A great ending to a great getaway!!