6

A Saturday in the Poconos

“I’m hungry as a bear,” Jackie said.

Jerry responded, “It must be the early-morning exercise. Lucky for you they have a country breakfast.”

“Well, maybe they know most of their guests like that same kind of activity in the morning.”

“If that’s the case, why isn’t it listed on the activities sheet they gave us when we checked in?”

“Ha ha. You think you’re funny,” she quipped.

“Tomorrow they have a brunch starting at eleven o’clock, which will give us time for much more exercise,” Jerry said.

“We’ll see if you can keep up, my man. I know it won’t be a problem for me,” Jackie replied.

When they arrived at the dining room, the waiter asked them if they wanted to eat alone or be seated with another couple. Jerry said, “You may seat us with other guests.” The waiter led them to a couple that looked to be in their late twenties.

“Hi. My name is Jerry French, and this is my wife, Jackie.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Frank Schmidt and this is my girlfriend, Kathy Barber.”

“Have you been here before, Frank?”

“No. This is our first time. How about you two?” Frank asked.

“This is our first visit as well.”

“How did you find this place?” Frank asked.

Jackie piped in, “This was my plan. We needed to get away from the routine, the kids, and the job for a short time. I found the inn on the internet.”

Frank responded, “You won’t believe this, but I designed their web page at my company in Philadelphia. That’s why we are here. The inn asked us to spend a weekend on them because they received so many hits on their website.”

“You really did a great job. It was the cleverness of the web page that made me call and get a reservation,” Jackie said.

“Hey, tell the manager,” responded Frank. “Maybe they’ll give us another freebie. Where do you live?”

“We live in Princeton,” Jerry replied.

“That’s an expensive area. I hear a lot of big shots from New York live there. Where do you work, Jerry?”

“Wall Street.”

“Oops! Looks like I put my foot in my mouth,” Frank said.

Kathy tried to smooth things over. “Frank isn’t critical about people who work in the big city, it’s just his way.”

“No offense taken,” Jerry replied.

“What do you plan on doing today?” Jackie asked.

“Oh, I think we’ll look around this morning and spend some time in the hot tub this afternoon. What do you two have planned?” Kathy asked.

Jackie responded, “See the sights. There seems to be so much to do in this area.”

The waiter arrived with coffee and took their order. They had a delicious breakfast and enjoyed their conversation. After they finished, Jackie said, “How about having dinner together?”

Kathy answered, “That sounds great. What time do you want to meet?”

“How does eight sound?”

“Fine. See you then. Have a fun day.”

As they were walking through the lobby, Jackie spotted a rack that held scores of brochures and maps of the area. “Let’s stop and see where we want to go,” she said.

“Why don’t you see if they have something about the candy factory you wanted to visit,” Jerry said. They began to look over the rack and took some brochures. Jackie found an area map that identified the local attractions. “Here’s something about the candy factory. It’s near a place called Cresco on Route Three Ninety,” Jerry said. Now all we have to do is find Route Three Ninety.”

“Let’s take all this stuff to our room and plan where we want to go,” Jackie said.

When they got to the room, the maid was just finishing cleaning. When she saw them, she hurriedly completed her work. Jerry said, “Maybe she thinks you look horny and need some attention.” Although that thought had not crossed Jackie’s mind, the suggestion did give her a little shot of adrenaline.

She pulled Jerry into the room and closed the door. “Let’s see if your friend is interested.” It didn’t take Jackie long to gain Jerry’s attention, and what followed was a brief but passionate lovemaking session.

“Well, that makes the effort of the maid justified,” Jackie pointed out.

Jerry got dressed and Jackie used the bathroom. They decided to drive to the candy factory. The map indicated a Christmas shop and an antique store on the way. Jackie said, “We may stop at a few places before we get to the candy factory.” They gathered up their things and walked to the car.

When they got outside, they saw it had snowed about eight inches during the night. Jerry said, “I wonder if they’ve plowed the roads yet.”

“Do you think we’ll have a problem?” Jackie asked.

No, the SUV will do just fine.” They had purchased a new Lincoln SUV in the fall, and this would be the first time Jerry would have a chance to try the four-wheel drive.

They had been on the road a short time when they saw a sign for Route 940. Jackie was the navigator and said, “We want to go east on Nine Forty.” Almost immediately Jackie spotted the 940 sign and Jerry turned east. “Now we need to find Three Ninety. The town of Cresco is where we want to end up.”

They had been on 940 for five minutes when they saw the Christmas shop. “Turn in!”

“Don’t we have enough decorations?” Jerry asked.

“You can never get enough Christmas,” Jackie responded.

“Fine. I’ll pull in so you can find some more treasures.” They spent a short time looking around, and Jackie managed to buy only one basket of decorations. Jerry paid the clerk, and they were back on the road again. “The sign indicates it’s five miles to Three Ninety. You’ll want to go north on Three Ninety.” It wasn’t long before they arrived at the candy factory.

The sign outside listed times when there was a demonstration showing how they made their candy. It was 11:20 a.m., and Jackie exclaimed, “Great! We arrived just in time. There’s a demonstration as eleven thirty.” They parked and went into the building. On the right side was a never-ending display of just about any type of candy one had ever seen. To the left of the front door was a seating area. People were starting to take their seats, and Jackie said, “Let’s sit near the front.”

It wasn’t long before the owner came out of the kitchen to begin the demonstration. He explained how various types of candy were made and a little about his establishment. He worked as he spoke and was both informative and entertaining.

It was clear he had a bit of the actor in him. He explained that they made new items all the time and often used popular issues for new candy shapes. One person asked if he made a Monica sucker. He said, “As a matter of fact, you will find several Clinton-related items in the showroom.” His demonstration took about twenty minutes, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. At the end of his talk, he told the audience of another enterprise his family owned in the area: a pretzel bakery where you could twist your own pretzel and they would bake it for you. Jackie and Jerry selected candy for themselves and some to take home as gifts. They decided to look for the pretzel bakery and drove off in the direction outlined on yet another brochure.

By the time they decided to head back to the inn, in addition to their earlier stops, they had been to a cider press, an antique store, a candle factory and a stained-glass shop. Jackie also wanted to stop at a leather and boot shop they saw just before they got back to the inn. Jerry said, “Why don’t we stop there tomorrow on the way home.”

“That sounds fine,” she agreed, and they soon found the small road that led to the inn. It was about six o’clock when they pulled into the parking lot. They locked the car, with all their treasures from the day inside, and went to their room.

Jackie decided she wanted to take a shower before dinner, and Jerry walked to the bar. He saw Frank watching ice hockey and decided to join him.

“Did you have a good day?” Frank asked.

“Yes. How about you?”

“We had a very relaxing day. The hot tub is great. I’d like to get one sometime.” They had a few drinks and waited for the girls to join them.

It was seven thirty when Jackie came into the bar, and a few minutes later Kathy arrived. They ordered a round of drinks and began to talk about what they had done since breakfast. All agreed their first day at the Inn of Destiny had been fun. A little after eight, they decided to go to the dining room. The waiter seated them near the fireplace with the now familiar soup pots simmering over the fire. They were all hungry since they hadn’t taken the time for lunch.

They took a few minutes going over the menu, and when the waiter saw that they looked ready to order he came to the table. Jackie decided to try the shrimp since she had a steak on Friday evening. Kathy wanted pasta and ordered the homemade ravioli. Both men decided on beef. Jerry had a porterhouse, and Frank a New York strip. They had an enjoyable meal and decided to return to the bar for an after-dinner drink.

The inn had a comedian, who turned out to be quite good. Most of his humor was a bit off-color, but, after all, there were no children present. When he finished his act, the combo began to play. The couples listened to the music until half past twelve and then said good night. As they walked to their room Jerry wondered if Jackie had more romance in mind. They had not made love this often since their honeymoon.