Inside: Vacation all I ever wanted, visiting Fallingwater, and more memories from the Memory Maker. Check out all the latest news fresh from the farm.
Vacation All I Ever Wanted
Sometimes the road calls, winding its pointer finger, beckoning. Time to leave–but only temporarily–my Missouri home. See how the other half lives. Watching mile markers pass, reading billboards, seeing land so gorgeous it makes my heart swell. Listening to songs I knew in more youthful days, singing along if it suits me. Or not. Breathing in life with big gulps.
Once a year I need this. Putting comfortable routine aside to pursue a little adventure. It’s not much, mind you, but it works for me.
Maryland mountains, here I come. . .
Visiting Fallingwater
If you’ve ever admired the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, you have to see Fallingwater. To get to this secluded abode, you walk a quarter of a mile through woods and hills to a stream, and there, suddenly, a house appears as if from nowhere. That was Wright’s intent–to blur the lines between trees, water, rock, and home, as if the home had always existed in the landscape. Water is such a central theme of the place, as well as the natural surroundings. Rock quarried from close by is integral to the house design.
The story behind the building of the Kaufmann home is just as unique as the architecture. At that time Frank Lloyd Wright was not getting work, and many considered him past his prime. The times worked against him as well–the middle of the Great Depression–and as a result he actually lost commissions.
Then enters Edgar Kaufmann jr. of Kaufmann Department Store fame. He studies under Wright and becomes a fan, discussing Wright’s ideas with his parents, Edgar and Liliane. The Kaufmanns wanted a home built in the Bear Run area where they spent so much of their free time enjoying nature. While the Kaufmanns envisioned a residence in which they would have a view of the falls, Wright did one better and built a home directly over the falls to make Fallingwater one of the most remarkable architectural marvels of the twentieth century.
The particulars: Fallingwater is located in southwestern Pennsylvania, about 90 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh. Tours are daily, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., except for Wednesdays, and you can buy tickets through their website–$30 per adult, $18 per youth (ages 6 – 12).
We’d been wanting to go for years and finally got around to it this year. So glad we did. Definitely worth a visit!
For more information, click here.
More Memories from the Memory Maker
We’ve been doing this Maryland gig for the past five years now. My friend Patty hosts a writer’s retreat for her writing groups in beautiful Deep Creek, Maryland, and I help her put it together. We stay at a large vacation home called the Memory Maker with vaulted ceilings and windows extending that high with a view of the lake. (For my local friends, think Lake of the Ozarks transplanted to northwestern Maryland.) The kitchen is my dream kitchen with several ranges (not that I’d need that, mind you) and sprawling granite counter tops and a large central island which seats eight and still has a ton of room for food prep. And the dining room table, also with a view of the lake, is the perfect place for us writers to gather and discuss authors and stories and characters. It’s great fun and relaxing and you learn from other writers as well as lending some of your own wisdom. All the while eating lots of good food–the attendees each bring a main dish, appetizer, and dessert. Food buffet heaven, to be sure!
This year we did a ’round the table story, every person adding anything from one line to several, and, truth be told, I sucked at it. I am a writer who needs time to think when I write. Creating off-the-cuff is just not me. But that said, it was great fun, and the others were patient with me. This particular story had a mysterious man wielding a couple of chainsaws and happened to be a kitten wrangler of sorts. A couple of steampunk rabbits made an appearance in the story as well. . . Okay, you had to be there.
Deep Creek is a great place to visit, a wonderful place to unwind, reconnect, create, and dream. The mountains and lake are peaceful, restorative, and every year I take something with me when I leave.
But it’s always good to come home again.
Where do you like to travel? Tell us about it in the comments.
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