Deerwoode Lodge and Cabins

Martha and I wanted to celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary in some special way on its actual day, July 6, even through we are considering our trip to Britain and Ireland in August to be our 40th Anniversary Trip, so we decided to stay close to home.  Martha found a truly wonderful place in Brevard called the Deerwoode Lodge and Cabins (five stars on TripAdvisor), only one hour away, so we drove over this afternoon after lunch on our own deck.  We had signed up for the Brevard Rotary Firecracker 5-K on the Fourth of July, my first race since resuming running, so we planned to spend the night before and after as well as an extra day.

We had checked this place out a couple of weeks ago so we knew in part what to expect.  Deerwoode is located on 176 acres along a bend in the French Broad River, much of it in Conservation Easement Reserve and a Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary for over 143 species of birds.  There is fishing, hiking, canoeing, a beaver dam wetland, a bamboo forest, organic gardening, and a fitness center operated by the owner and manager, Bill Mayes, who has lived on the property for 53 years.

Our little cabin was a bit more rustic than we had expected, but it turned out to be just fine, with wooden floors, hand-made furniture by Bill, and this nice porch, on which we could sit most evenings, eat dinner, and watch deer playing in the fields that stretched out before us to the river.

The cabin is one of several on the property, most of them constructed from parts of the many cabins that were once located here when it was known as Camp Deerwoode from 1967 to 1991.

 

Bill is a real inspiration, as tall as I am and very fit looking at 82 years of age.  He has operated the fitness center on the property for years, and still has a group of regulars who come to work out with him.  "Come work out with us this evening if you like!" he invited.  We explained that we were running a race first thing in the morning and were going to take it easy a little tonight.

Bill works from sun-up to sun-down and seems to thrive on the work and the people he meets.  His two sons used to help him, but they became more interested in music and now play with a band called Jupiter Coyote, so he and his wife Elizabeth seem to run the place themselves.  I have to admit that I was taken aback a little by the gingham curtain under the kitchen sink, the single open board containing cups and saucers, and the haphazard construction, but it was clean, comfortable, and ultimately very charming in its own unique way, and we came to appreciate it more and more each day.  It was also the quietest place we have every stayed the night before a race, except for the bullfrogs in the pond on the other side of the road.

Elizabeth is an artist, and her large, gorgeous semi-abstract paintings adorn many of the walls.

We prepared our usual pre-race dinner of pasta with marinara sauce, here in our own little kitchen instead of in a crowded Brevard restaurant, and then enjoyed walking on the mowed grass path along the walnut grove.

You could look back and see our rustic little cabin, surrounded by the green woods and fields.  It reminded me, on this 40^th Anniversary weekend, of that song by the Incredible String Band, after whom I once named a beloved black cat.

Oh Black Jack David is the name that I bear
Been alone in the forest for a long time
But now I have found me a lady so fair
I will love her and hold her
Singing through the green green trees

Early to bed tonight as we plan to awake at 5:00 a.m. and drive the two miles to downtown Brevard for the race.