I should start advertising my series to folks who love the Poconos and defunct hotel/motels. bc that's what this series is, at it's heart. a tribute to all those amazing hotels that have been lost to time. while also building a modern romance story on top of it.... one last hurrah for the old place, if you will.
Being in the woods is pretty much the only time I feel relaxed. It was great. Probably 2 miles. There's supposed to be a bridge over the waterfall, but it's out. There's also a memorial for a camp counselor who was murdered in the 90s. My whole family loved it.
I don't care about what anyone ever says. If I can walk, I'm going hiking. It's free. It's good for my kids to learn about trees and mushrooms and deer while actually looking at them. My 5 year old loves running through leaves and climbing over rocks, and my youngest loves kicking her feet in the baby backpack while she tries to talk and plays with my partner's or my hair.
The woods are my peace. I'm already crippled, broke, and battered but you cannot take the woods away from me.
The Pocono Gardens Lodge was open at least as early as the 40s as a honeymoon resort and was later purchased by its more famous neighbor, the legendary Mount Airy Lodge, in 1971. As business declined for the whole Mount Airy operation, Pocono Gardens' amenities, such as dining rooms and cocktail lounges, were shut down, leaving guests to use the amenities at the Mount Airy Lodge instead. In 2000, what was left of Pocono Gardens Lodge shut down.