A Night at Camp David

Maple Cottage at Camp David

August 12th, 2010 my husband Phil & I celebrated our 21st anniversary. For the past 21 years we've typically celebrated by going out to eat & coming home. Once kids came we would send them to their grandparents for the night. Last year we just went out to eat & picked them up from some friends' house. This year we decided to treat ourselves to a night out of town. Phil took off work so we could go away on our actual anniversary date. We worked out kid care (though the girls are older, they aren't old enough to stay home alone yet). We made a reservation. I researched all the shops I wanted to visit. We planned our day & 1/2 away. We packed & headed out of town thinking we were really splurging spending $100 to be out of town for a night. What we didn't know was that this little trip would end up costing us thousands of dollars. I'll get to that later.

Our reservation was made at a little place you might have heard of. We stayed at Camp David! YES, we really, truly did! Didn't you know we were THAT important? Okay, so it really was named Camp David, but it isn't THE Camp David. I highly suspect our current president won't be inviting us for a weekend away. Nor any president for that matter! The name of our Bed & Breakfast in Fredericksburg, Texas is named Camp David. It's a quaint little "village" of cottages just on the edge of the main street. It's close enough to the shopping area to get to easily, but far enough that we had no noise of traffic from tourists. If you'd like to check it out yourself, here is a link: Camp David B&B.

Inside Maple Cottage at Camp David

Our hostess, Molly, was extremely accommodating. First, she found out that I was on a Gluten Free diet. She told me she would make me a meal that was gluten free for breakfast. Next, we were concerned that having 2 vehicles on the property might be too much, as Phil was taking his motorcycle up. No problem she said. It was so "hidden away" that no one would have seen his bike. In general, Molly and her husband have set this up to fit the needs of what most visitors looking for a B&B want: King size bed, Private quarters (separate cottages), Breakfast brought to your room (so you don't need to get up & out of pj's and sit with strangers), whirlpool tub, and some other things my mind has forgotten! LOL! From the pictures, the cottages looked simply adorable. They are described as "dollhouses" and that is just what this was like. Because the pictures look like the furniture and decor is antique, I was concerned that things might be dusty or musty. NOT AT ALL! We were amazed at how sparkling clean this place was! We truly felt pampered beyond belief. I also have decided if I had a whirlpool tub I might not have fibromyalgia issues. hee-hee!

Oh, Molly knew it was our anniversary so she left 2 little bottles of champagne on ice! Since I don't drink much, I let Phil have them both. I did taste it and later taste a bit more wine this weekend and am convinced I am allergic to the sulfites in these. I got an itchy scalp again when I tried wine. TMI, I'm sure!

Breakfast was SO good. I had some berry muffins (gluten free) while Phil had a tart that we think was made with blackberries or dewberries. The recipe is on the site mentioned above. It says Peach Tart. If it's not there, I've got a copy & will share. He said it was the best thing like that he'd ever tasted. We had scrambled eggs on top of hashbrowns with onions. Then we had a dish of fruit: Fredericksburg peaches with strawberries & sliced almonds. She served us the cutest little pitcher of orange juice. It was just lovely! You will discover that food was pretty much the main focus of what we did in this little town as this story progresses.

Yes, I really did take a picture of this!

About those $$ mentioned above. Phil took off on his motorcycle when I left on Thursday morning. He was going to do some riding then we were to meet up in "FBG" around 2. I had to take something to my mom for Bethany that I'd forgotten, so I did that, then headed to FBG. I had turned off the main highway and onto a country highway. I passed a school, then the Kendall County line. About that time I had the thought, looking at the oaks & cedars and not much else, "If I broke down out here, I wouldn't have any idea where to tell people I am." NEVER think things like that. Less than 5 minutes from having that thought, the engine made a funny noise. As Gomer Pyle used to say, "Not funny ha-ha, funny strange." I was able to pull over just in time for the van to die. I checked all the gauges & nothing was showing wrong. The oil light came on when the car died, but not before that. When I got ahold of Phil he told me that was normal for the lights to come on when the car died. I could not restart it at first at all. When I did get it to turn over, it ran really rough, then died. I called Phil & found out he was in a different area. As it turns out, he was only 45 minutes from me, but ended up not coming to where I was. I called our insurance company to find out how to get a tow truck. Found out we have roadside assistance where they will find the truck for us & automatically deduct the part they will pay. NO, we do not have AAA. Yet. I plan to sign up for that ASAP. Kicking myself for not doing it sooner. I tried to describe where I was. I told her I thought I was about 10 miles past the highway & about 15 out of FBG. When the tow truck got there he said I was pretty accurate in those estimates.

My view out both sides of the van. Could you describe where you were (without a GPS) for someone to come rescue you? 5 Oaks on the left & 3 cedars on the right. Buzzards above. Hope I'm still alive. LOL!

While I waited for Mr. Tow Truck (his name was Nick & he's a nice guy with 8 kids between him & his wife's kids!), I texted my friends Kathy & Danette. I knew they'd check texts. I also knew they'd appreciate all the "fun" I was having. Kathy had noticed the engine making that noise & asked if Phil was taking care of it. I thought he was putting it off b/c he didn't have time, but turns out, he knew it was a big problem & knew we couldn't pay for this out of pocket. Anyway, I had to let her know she was definitely right & we SHOULD have had it looked at. She didn't even have to tell Phil that as he knew immediately when I described what happened that the engine was shot. He also said he wished we taken it in earlier. It was quite warm in that van, but at least I was inside. I also had a very large coke with me. This was not such a good thing when I realized there was no bathroom nearby. Anywhere. At. All. While I sat there, Phil headed back to SA to put away his bike & get the Buick, the one whose brakes were out for a month & he JUST fixed last weekend. Praise God he got that done!

Very large Coke: Friend or Foe?

Nick arrived with the tow truck about 2:15-2:30 I think. We got to Doc's auto about 2:45. The secretary, whose real name is Sunshine Every Day (her husband didn't want her to change her name when they got married!), had her 4 year old at work with her. Miley kept me entertained while I waited for Phil, who didn't get there til about 5:15! The next day when we went back, I stayed in the car, but Sunshine & Miley came out to see me. Mom said, "Miley said, "I wonder if Miss Lori is here." It was so cute! I got a hug in from a little red-headed doll who likes to chat!

By the time we got to the B&B it was 6:00. All the local stores were closed. We headed down Main Street to a German restaurant where Phil got a full German meal, complete with some nasty smelling German beer. Yes, that's an editorial. It's my blog, so I can say that beer smells nasty, not to mention it has GLUTEN in it. He had sausage, German Hot Potato Salad & this yummy smelling white bread. I had steak, salad & a baked potato. SO GOOD!

The bed at this B&B was extremely comfortable. Phil is a poor sleeper normally & he slept great on this bed. Unfortunately, my tummy hadn't been feeling great since the day before. I told Kathy, who is half-way done with her chemo now, that I was having more sympathy pains for her (as chemo has not been nice to her tummy). This kept me up much of the night, so I missed a good night's sleep on the nice bed.

We made an executive decision right then to stay an extra night. That story will have to be shared tomorrow or another day. I am fading fast and think I need a good night's sleep in my own bed.