The Dis-Enchanted Forest

My husband and I just rolled in from our big Labor Day trip to Grand Bear Lodge in Utica. And I am exhausted. Good exhausted and even though I am not used to living in the same "cabin" as six other adults and five other kids I had a really great time.

We planned ahead and brought a lot of food. And surely I gained about 8-12 pounds because as much as I wish I had the matabolism of a 16 year old boy, I don't and the one five minutes of activity I did surely didn't counteract the enormous amounts of food I ingested. Or drank. Especially drank, actually.

The first night my husband, two brothers and sister-in-laws decided to get a little nutty and head on over to Bear Isand. Which is a one minute walk away and is literally a fake log deck with a wooden cabana type open air bar. There were scattered green plastic tables that were, well, crap. Beer was spilled. If you laughed hard or jerked your knee or leaned over the precarious cups and bottles tumbled to thier death. You got used to it.

The bartender was interesting. There must have been something really darn cool in his mini-van because every twenty minutes he would ask us if we minded if he took this "much needed break"... and the more we all thought about it the more we thought it was weird. Because there was basically nothing he could not do from inside his cabana bar. Like eat, smoke, use the phone, watch TV, or drink. Except drugs. We were convinved he was running out to the mini-van to do drugs. And in addition he kept fogetting to charge us.

Vacationers are funny people. I think it was the first time in 17 years that I went to a bar with out a bra or makeup on. Because I was on vacation. And I was caught up in the anything goes of vacation mindset. Others were dressed to the nines. Most were in casual wear. Some parents kept sending thier children off to play while bellied up at the bar. There was a gaggle of girls for a 30th birthday party and the "birthday" girl adorned herself in a felt Dr. Seuss top hat that said, "Birthday girl". One couple came in dressed like a cross between Lex Luthor and European body builders. We looked around the parking lot for thier spaceship, but we couldn't find it.

It was fun to watch. And the next night we wanted to recreate history and after the little ones were tucked away off we scampered again. To Bear Island. Only it looked like they were preparing for the hurricane. Boarded up and not a soul around. So we went to Grizzly Jacks- inside the "lodge". And the bartender ( surprisingly the same guy from the night before?? ) told us to get drinks at the Enchanted Forest - another one minutes walk away, INSIDE the indoor amusement park. Perfect place to relax and have a cold one, right? I mean, it's relaxing to sit next to skee ball machines and a tilt-a-whirl with kids screaming. The Lex Luthor couple would have for sure felt more at home there.

But it managed to do the trick. And we were ushered out at the strike of eleven because that is what time the "late" bar stays open at Grand Bear's Family Fun Park. And even though it's a lame night life it was more night life than I have had in the last year combined, so I rocked it. In Utica. In the Enchanted Forest.
For Christmas I know a few people who are getting some " I rocked the Enchanted Forest" t-shirts this year.