Our Family Survived Four Days Without Cell Phones!
They say that when people look back on their happiest children experiences they rarely reminisce about the big trips or visits to plastic theme parks like Disney World.
Nope. Our fondest memories center around the time we spend relaxing with loved ones.
It’s the small moments, the quality family time that stick with us.
That sounds right.
My happiest childhood memories almost always settle on our annual family camping trips: the Jersey Shore, Niagara Falls, Maine, West Virginia.
It wasn’t the destinations that I remember. It was the long car rides where we played license plate games, sang, told stories to pass the time. I don’t remember any fancy meals, but I do recall the food we shared at splintered roadside picnic tables.
With that in mind, my daughter and I decided to plan a four-day last-gasp-of-summer getaway for five adults and three kids, who range in age from four months to nine years.
Where do you go to spend a couple of days of relaxation - with an infant - without breaking the bank?
“What about Shrine Mont?” I suggested.
Last summer a friend and I spent a weekend in Orkney Springs, Va. at a quirky, old-fashioned church retreat center. We weren’t there for spiritual growth. We were there for a pickleball camp.
We came away enchanted and vowed we’d be back with our families.
Shrine Mont is a sprawling compound near Bryce Mountain that’s owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. The conference and retreat center is open to the public and can accommodate about 500 guests while at the same time seeming quiet and unhurried.
The facility is celebrating its 100th birthday this summer and Shrine Mont retains much of the charm of a 1920s-style mountain resort. It’s the type of place sweaty folks flocked to in the summers before air conditioning to escape the oppressive city heat.
Church retreats, youth groups and family reunions still keep it hopping. So do yoga, photography and pickleball camps. Shrine Mont features clean, no-frills accommodations - no TV, no AC, twin beds, no WiFi - dining halls that serve up three hearty meals a day, a pool, tennis courts and access to Bryce.
The serenity of Shrine Mont is intoxicating. The fact that you never have to plan meals, cook or do dishes is a bonus.
You can stay busy during your stay or do nothing but listen to the birds and the crickets.
This is a church-run operation, but it’s not a preachy place. Just a comfy Christian vibe with Sunday services available for those who want to attend. The staff is friendly and trusting. Soft drinks are offered in a small fridge outside the dining hall with an “honor system” box for paying.
It feels good to drop $2 in the box, take your Diet Coke and realize someone actually trusted you to pay up.
There are more rocking chairs at Shrine Mont than at a Cracker Barrel, well, the old Cracker Barrel, anyway. There’s also hiking and on nearby Lake Laura there are rental canoes, stand-up paddle boards and kayaks. Golfers can head over to Bryce mountain and use that course.
We set off Thursday in a rental car with three rows of seats and made a pit stop at the new Buc-ee’s in Rockingham County. That’s the first Buc-ee’s in Virginia, by the way. Another is coming in two years to New Kent County.
Plenty has been written about these Texas-based mega truck stops that sell everything from barbecue and jerky to bathing suits and underwear so I’ll say only this: Buc-ee’s is big.
Oh, and Buc-ee’s needs picnic tables. The parking lot was full of people eating brisket sandwiches off the hoods of their cars.
How great is Buc-ee’s? We skipped it on the way home. Hey, I’m a truck stop aficionado. Give me Mississippi Chevron station fare any day.
But I digress.
What did we do for four days? We laughed, played cards and board games, hiked, swam, told stories and slept in the cool mountain air. We dialed it down.
On Friday we took the kids to the Route 11 potato chip factory where they were dazzled by the process of chip making and packaging. We left with T-shirts and a colossal bag of chips.
We’d taken a family vow of no electronic devices before we left home but it turned out that wasn’t necessary. There was no cell service at Shrine Mont. It’s off the grid. The only WiFi was in the hotel lobby and there were few people using it. Most were perusing the $1 book shelf. It was as if they’d turned back time to a period when people actually looked at each other and talked. It was refreshing!
Nope, I didn’t miss the national news or the noise of Hampton Roads. Not one bit.
As we were checking out a member of the staff asked if we wanted her to “pencil us in “ for next year at the same time.
Yes. Please.
