When I was a yoof (youth), my church retreat every fall was at a place called Kanuga, which is a conference center in the mountains of North Carolina. Then, in college, I did a couple summers as a camp counselor at Kanuga for a camp called JYP. In fact I wrote about it in the first slate of posts for this very blog!
I have fond, fond memories of this place, and was very disheartened to learn, upon moving back to Charlotte in 2022, that my church had stopped going to Kanuga for their yearly retreat. But then, earlier this year, the news: they had decided to start going again, starting with the 2025 program year!
And so it was that, for the first time in nearly two decades, I was back at Kanuga for a parish weekend, this time with Mary by my side:
We got in late-ish Friday night, having left after work, so it was dark by the time we got in and most people seemed to have turned in already for the evening - we didn't run into many of my fellow churchgoers until the next morning. But I did get to show Mary around the Inn area:
As well as the inside of the Chapel:
The next morning, we took a stroll around the lake:
Before a bit of a "and now for something completely different" moment: an offsite excursion to the North Carolina Mountain State Fair!
This was something that had been put on a list of suggested activities for us, so we decided to go!
One of the first things we did was get deep fried Oreos for Matt, because I hadn't had them I think since this here post.
What a treat.
We went in and out of the venues:
Got a coffee:
did NOT ride the rides.
Saw some crafts:
Including a lady who did calligraphy, and made us this for free!
And Mary got this small boy:
And lastly, we finished with the animals:
Before heading back to Kanuga just in time for lunch.
Next, an afternoon walk of the "campus", wherein I meandered through my own past, pointing out to Mary all the places and talking of old times:
Rain began to loom, and combine that with the semi-cool beginnings of fall weather, you got a recipe for no lake activities, which was always hit or miss back in the day anyway, but still:
I had kinda hoped that we could at least rent a canoe, and beat on, boats against the current, borne back...well, you know the rest.
Instead, we played an indoors game of giant checkers:
Soon, dinner time, and then the evening festivities: an Agape feast and a talent show (which we'd been relentlessly hounded to be recruited for).
A good time was had by all. I actually participated in the talent show back in high school once. Just on a whim. I think I won, but then again: everyone does.
The next morning was another short stroll after breakfast with our coffees. We went by the small beach (which is meant mainly for small children to play in)
...and then it was time for church!
Yes, folks, it's a church retreat: that means on Sunday you go to church.
Was a lovely service. I have good memories of that point in the weekend from my youth group days. By that point, we'd usually slept a grand total of maybe 4 hours since Friday afternoon, and church was like the home stretch before collapse. Was always melancholy, as Sundays honestly typically are; not the end, but the almost end, when opportunity is limited but not completely gone.
It's funny; I'm not entirely sure why these memories shimmer so brightly in my mind. It was only a handful of weekends from my adolescence, and I have only a few specific memories of the things we'd get up to. I guess that's those days for you. More of a feeling than an event.
I'd say it was the freedom, though. I notice those are the moments that really stick out from childhood: those times when you were master of your own domain, even a little, even in a limited way. And at Kanuga, you certainly were. Dropped off with your peers on a Friday afternoon and allowed to roam wherever you pleased until Sunday church. Didn't come by that often in those early years, I can say that for sure.
Oops, there I go pontificating again. Been doing that a lot in my old age.
After church, Mary and I - along with most attendees - packed up and headed out, but we had a couple of stops before hitting the road in earnest. After our less-than-successful attempt in early August, we wanted to try - now that we were in Western NC again - another go at Jump Off Rock. And I am glad we did:
Mary was so right about the view.
Then, because we'd liked it so much on the last trip, we did another stop for coffee at Ecusta:
So we dipped back into that trip, which itself dipped back into the March trip, all while in a place that dipped back into my childhood; a recursion enough to make your head spin.
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