The Cabins at Roan Mountain State Park were a delightful surprise.   We loved what we saw when we pulled up... the hemlock and Fraiser fir and all those rhododendrons surrounding 10 cute little Appalachian Log Cabins ... but then we went inside and our jaws dropped.  The living room had a twenty foot ceiling and the loft bedrooms (which we envisioned as being a ladder that you climbed and rolled into the loft) turned into little mini suites all their own ... complete with closets and hardwood floors and their own full length dressing mirrors and windows.  The furniture was solid wood with plush padding (I've stayed at 4 star hotels that weren't as cushy and nice) ... they even supplied the wood for the woodburning stove.  And the whole place just felt so clean and woodsy when you walked in.

There was a big surprise in the kitchen too... when these folks say that they are 'fully stocked' and all you need to do is bring food they weren't kidding.  Imagine finding everything you need right down to a veggie peeler and cheese grater! <G>

We opened the feasting on Thursday night   with Red Beans and Rice and segued into Spaghetti the next night with all kinds of salads and sandwiches for lunches.  Next time we'll do an Irish Stew (I promise).   We even had real Irish Oatmeal, Scones and Spotted Dog thanks to Treva and GreyWolf.  One thing I'll say for our Irish ancestors... they ate hearty!!!  And thanks to the suggestion by DebbieG, we interjected some good 'suthernism' into the Sunday morning brunch before everybody started to depart with some very proper 'Mimosas' <heavenly>.

And the only casualty in my kitchen (NO it was NOT from my cooking, thank you very much) was the little gray mouse I've named Ralph who managed to jump into a pot that was soaking overnight and drown.  We buried him behind the cabin along with the two eggs that we had stood on end over night on the coffee table the night of Spring Equinox. (Needless to say, I chose not to use that pot for further cooking until I could get it home and sanitize the mouse essence out of it <G>)

The Guinness and Killians flowed freely ... Celtic music graced the air from DebbieG's boombox on her porch as we were introduced to new groups of fine artists by our various members ... knots of people rocked and chatted on the front porch of the hospitality cabin in fine Celtic Appalachian tradition while others played at old fashioned board and table games and still others went for hikes and outings around the area.

The cabins were always so warm and welcoming to come back to after having been outside in the crisp spring air ... most *especially* after that extra crispy jaunt to the top of Roan Mountain!!!  We have some brave souls among our group (I'm not one of them ... just call me 'weather weenie' <G>)

Next year we're going to go for the whole group of cabins rather than just 3-4.  That way we can enjoy some evening drumming and not have to worry about disturbing any of our neighbors.