Had a lovely Gals’ Getaway a week or so ago with some longtime and very dear friends – the 15th annual, in fact.  I know it’s our 15th because I keep a list!  I remember very little without lists these days!

The Getaways started with an impromptu decision to celebrate somebody’s 50th birthday.  We went to Kingston and discovered that it was Regatta weekend – not a hotel room to be found.  We ended up in a very BASIC motel on the outskirts of town – orange plastic tub chairs on the concrete pads in front of each door  – but we did have a lovely dinner on Wolf Island and decided we should do this every year.

As the years moved on, we became more discerning about accommodation requirements – we must each have our own bed, there must be a dining room (who wants to cook on vacation?), there must be a fridge for wine and munchies and a coffeemaker, there must be a sitting room with  seating for 4 for our happy hours and chat sessions – and a view would be nice not to mention some things of interest to do or see in the area.

Every year is a challenge and an adventure.  We have found 5-star restaurants in the middle of nowhere, fantastic family-owned wineries – we have returned 3 times to one of our “finds” at Glen House near Gananoque – and we have only had one disaster – at Wigamog Inn in the Haliburtons.  In that case the resort had just changed hands,  the cottage was under construction (we were given no warning), there was 1 loveseat with springs showing through to sit on, the stairs up to the cottage veranda were temporary and had no railing (like climbing a ladder) – and we went out for a boat-ride and got stranded out in the lake when the motor got tangled in a whole pile of rope (somebody from the resort was driving, not us).

Most of the cottage resorts we have found to date have been nice but we haven’t yet found the perfect place that will be “our place” for the next 15 years or more.    One of our foursome moved from Newmarket to Wasaga Beach a few years ago so Glen House is now a long drive for her and we do try to find someplace that is as close to equi-distant for all of us as we can.

Maybe somebody will read this and will have a suggestion!!

How lucky I am to have such friends and to enjoy the fun of getting away from the usual drill every year.  While on our getaways, we have met other ladies (it’s always women) doing the same thing – a group of 8 nurses who have been doing getaways for 20+ years and this year we met a group of teachers who have been at it even longer.

I think it’s a very special thing, don’t you?