A Leisurely Labor Day | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's note: Please join me in welcoming our newest contributor to BCN, Kathy Manos Penn, a native of the "Big Apple", by way of the "Peach City" - Atlanta. Kathy, a former English teacher, authors The Ink Penn blog and is now happily retired from a corporate career in communications.

    We head to Lake Junaluska for Labor Day weekend, as we have for many years. There, we'll join our friends the Herberts at their family cabin and be joined by at least two other couples. Every once in a while, someone misses a year, but we six are the regulars. After that, you just never know which other members of the Herbert clan will show up.

    The family cabin has quite a story to tell. It was built in 1919 and was funded by the money paid the Herbert family upon the death of their son Carlisle near the end of WWI. One of eleven children, he died in the influenza epidemic that took the lives of 43,000 American servicemen mobilized for WWI. A portrait of him in his army uniform hangs prominently over the fireplace. Realizing that 2014 was the 100 year anniversary of the start of WWI makes the cabin seem all the more ancient.

    The cabin is rustic, to say the least. The upstairs windows are screened but have no glass, and instead, have heavy plastic that's tacked down as it turns cold. The open upstairs loft has numerous beds, and folks just pile in. Downstairs, there are three sleeping areas that are private as compared to the loft area, but not by much. Whether there are five guests or 15, we all share the two antiquated baths and one shower.

    Staying at the cabin is like returning to an earlier time. We spend most of our time rocking on the front porch during the day and sitting in front of the fire in the evening. There's no internet or TV, so it's always pretty quiet. To me, it's an unwelcome intrusion that folks now have smartphones that at times consume them. I'm just as happy that my phone only gets reception in nearby Waynesville, North Carolina.

    We do leave the porch daily to bicycle or walk around the lake, and our canine companions enjoy their annual encounter with the ducks. The guys may go golfing or fly fishing, and most of us make a trek to Waynesville to visit the shops, especially Mast General Store. In recent years, the town has closed off its streets for a Saturday event with artists and music, and we've attended that and had dinner out. The Sweet Onion is one of our favorites, as is Butts on the Creek in nearby Maggie Valley. I get a kick out of the play on words and enjoy both their barbecue and the view of the rushing creek.

    The rest of the time, we all pitch in to cook, and we never lack for food. Our host routinely makes grits, biscuits, and sausage for breakfast. Another couple buys a box of tomatoes-not a basket, a box-on the way up and makes a heaping bowl of guacamole. Someone usually arrives with a box of peaches, and we get to enjoy peach cobbler before the weekend's over.

    The question that always comes up on our trips is, "Will the next generation be as interested in maintaining and enjoying the cabin?" Without TV and internet, will families want to spend lazy weeks and holidays at the cabin? Who knows? For now, we'll do our part to uphold the tradition.