Lake Wallenpaupack

Shortly after meeting my wife, I as introduced to the Pocono Mountains, but more specifically, Greentown. Over the past 13 years I have made the trip from Phily to Greentown on a very frequent basis. It started out years ago when my wife and I were dating. Before the kids and the bills and the bills and the kids. When we first went up there I got the warnings about how the house/cabin was not in the greatest shape and how, dad had basically rigged just about everything with duct tape and used fishing line. Just kidding, no I'm not. One of the early memories included siting on the toilet and having the front of the dang thing fall right to the floor. "Baby, I think we have a problem." Another fun thing was the realization that part of the kitchen floor could not be thread on as it did not have any sub flooring or anything else for that matter.

The funny part is, the house was perfect. The memories that we made there were priceless. We would play cards, make all kinds of snacks and watch the smallest television in the entire universe. We would have to keep constant watch on the fire as many times it was our only heat source. The water heater would go out from all the freezing and from dad's rigging. I learned many things in those first years. This was not the vacations I had gone on as a kid. There was work to do when you got there and for the most part it lasted until you got in the car to go home. But the funny thing is, the work is always welcomed, well not always, but I always felt a sense of accomplishment that I never got at home.

Being a city boy my whole life I never learned to ski, and really had no desire to start at the age of 28. So after a lot of excuses and some tears, my wife managed to pry my grip from the door jams and drug my sorry pituty to the nearby ski lodge. I think the speed of the whole skiing thing was what actually hooked me, but at the same time it was the stopping or lack of that really freaked me out. I mean the brakes are the hardest thing to understand. But I lived through it and we have always had awesome times at Tangelwood. Now I understand it is to become a winery. Great for the wife but not so hot for me.

Four wheeling was another new experience that came with the package. At first, I rode with my wife on hers. She would fly on that thing. She knew all the roads and short cuts. We would trade off on who would drive and I found it to be another activity where speed fueled the enjoyment of the whole experience. So, of course I had to have my own and ended up with a little sport automatic. Like everything else I partake in, along came an incident. My brother in-law and I set out on one of my first rides on the new machine and somehow, when I went to make the first turn I lost control, flipped the atv and rolled into some nice fluffy pile of rocks. From what I remember and have been told, I got up and saw blood and went back down. After one of the longest rides I ever took, we wound up in Scranton at the hospital were I was medicated till I was comfortably numb. Just a separated shoulder, bruised a#$ and some staples in the head I was good to go. "Still don't wear your helmet though, IDIOT" my wife so lovingly says. But four wheelers are a great part of our community. You always hear them and after a while you can tell exactly who it is whizzing by the house.

But the Lake is what brings the shock and awe. It's so beautiful and inspiring. it makes kids of us all. When your there you look at everything differently, even yourself. You feel like the world is at your doorstep. I have probably traveled every inch of the entire span. The lake is 13 miles (21 km) long, has 52 miles (84 km) of shoreline, and is about 60 feet (18 m) deep at its maximum depth. But there is no writing within my abilities that could possibly grasp what this body of water is capable of. I have seen it in every season. One of the first summers I as up there I went down to our cove at night and there was a fog over the water. I started noticing little fish jumping out of the water and flopping back down. It was captivating. But that's just one night over many years of walking down to see what the lake had to offer. And in the winter, it gets even more wild. When the lake is frozen over and you venture out onto the ice, you can't help but think back to the warm summer days you spent in the waters below your feet. The streams of water become little ice-slides for me and my son. The docks, that are all stored in the parking lot are perfect for climbing and jumping off of. The winds speaks to you as it swirls across the ice. When you walk out and listen closely you can hear this sort of base sound from beneath and realize just how insignificant you really are.

Since my very first trip to the region, I was taken by a local publication that is entitled, Our Town. It is a magazine type offering that is free and can be picked up at local stores and gas stations. The writer, whose name is Bob is an old fashioned type soul with a flare for bringing together some great little stories with old time values. There are many tributes to our hero's both domestic and abroad. There are jokes and community event announcements. But mostly the paper has become my connection to the place. It's a piece I can take home and covet. I have shared so many of them over the years. I have given them with friends and family. If you ever get the opportunity to appreciate Our Town, take it. It's innocent but Bob is never afraid to say what he feels. Two favorite offerings of all time are The Flag, and The Cat's Diary. Not sure if they are the exact titles but who cares, you get the idea.

All the work and play lends itself to my next subject which is FOOD. We do eat a lot of our meals at the house. We generally stop at Dutches Super Market on the way in and pick up the basic necessities. Milk, bread, sugar and alcohol. It gets you by and saves in the pockets. But when we do go out we have our favorite spots. Years ago, my wife and I found this great place. I think it was called, The Old Country Inn. Well, we had dinner there with the whole family and enjoyed some of the best scallops either of us had ever tasted. I'll never forget how we raved about that meal until the next time we went up and guess what, it as gone. Completely out of business. No remains to be found. So, the wife tried in vain, but the meal as not to be duplicated. Diners have also been one of our spots over the years and they come and go up there like nobody's business. What used to be the Tafton is now Muggs. Still the same old blah food with even more blah coffee. If Dunkin Donuts would ever open a diner they would close everyone down. The Hawley Dinner was always good and greasy, but who wants greasy in the summer heat when your about to hit the lake. One of the best barbecue places in the world is within 15 minutes. And what a nice ride it is to Ledgedale. The road follows the shore line of the lake and then the river. You come out onto a high part of the region and look out across a very pleasant valley. There is a church on that road with a huge American flag and and equally huge cross. Funny that the most heavenly food is just a shot shot up the road. Kundla's is it's name and most people who have eaten there will tell you that their barbecue is worth any drive one would ever have to make. There is always a line and no one ever seems to mind. No one complains that they are waiting and everyone says thank you to the cashier and to G-d for letting there be such a place. Kundla's offer ribs, both pork and beef, chicken, corn, pulled pork, corn bread, salads and love. They also have ice-cream but over the years I can't say I have even tried it. The food is always fresh tasting, cooked perfectly and leaves you feeling completely satisfied. I recommend it to everyone.

The Green Dreher Sterling Fair or GDS as it is often referred to, is without a doubt, the biggest and best event in our county. They start posting signs for the fair as soon as school ends for summer break. It is the most wholesome fair one could ever hope to attend. They have rides of course, which Do Not, cost an arm and a leg. An armband is generally 7 bucks for the entire night for all rides. There is food from all over the place with many organizations offering their little slice of delight. There is a market that sells little do-dads and such, some crafts and you know, fair stuff. They also have the farm section where one can walk through with the children and show a kid what an actual animal is supposed to look like. Funny how most kids from the city only ever get to see the caged ones in zoos. Then there's the arena where they hold events like the fireman's show. This is where the fireman of the lake regions get to show off how they fight a fire by using water sources other then the common fireplug. They use lakes and rivers which is simulated by filling large vats of water. Awesome time for the whole family. Then there's the truck pulls, tug of wars and the fair goer favorite, the smash-up-derby. People fill the stands and what follows is just good old, talk about it on your way to the car, type of fun. The only thing that could make it better was if Kundla's had a stand there. Wait, I'm writing a letter after I get done this blog. The really best part of it all is the behavior of the fair goers. When you go to a fair down in Philly it can get quite ugly between the out of control teens and there even more out of control parents. When you walk around at GDS you don't have to cover the little one's ears. You don't have to be embarrassed. Most importantly, you feel that your family is in a safe place.

So that about sums it up for me. I love that place! It's essence is in my veins and will be passed to many more generations because of my luck in being introduced to it. I respect it for what it provides to me and will protect from anyone who seeks to deface it's beauty. But most times there is no need for that. It has the same effect on me as most who come into contact with it. I have met people over the years who say they are not mountain people, and all I say is, "that's okay" and then I wonder how someone could define themselves as not being interested in nature, good hearted people with good hearted values. You can keep the beach, cause I'm going to The Mountains.