Mountain Getaway

This weekend was the much anticipated Pocono Mountain Getaway. It's been a year since the last trip and there was a record turnout this time, with 10 people making the trek to Lake Wallenpaupack. Not even a raging fondue party in Media could keep the likes of Granger, Dibs or the infamous Maxwell from attending this year.
There were no special stops on the way up this time (except for a quick beer at the Totem Pole Inn near the cabin) so the early crew (Myself, Paul, Ted and Granger) arrived at the cabin around 4pm to begin digging out the driveway from the almost 2 feet of snow. Guthrie and Maxwell were the second string and they arrived around 7pm. The six of us headed out to Crazy Fingers for dinner since the others wouldn't be arriving until even later. This was probably the last time we will ever eat at that establishment in our lifetimes. The first round of drinks were pathetic margaritas served in tiny martini glasses! They got the pitchers of beer OK, but not enough glasses! They finally switched the margaritas to larger glasses, but we were so focused on drinking that we didn't even realize we had no food in front of us until at least an hour after we ordered. When it finally came it was either cold, overcooked or undercooked, depending on what you may have ordered. I even had to send a drink back it was so weak! The bill was nearly $200 which added more insult to injury.
but we did manage to get Ray's meal taken off the bill ( he ordered a steak "rare" and it arrived so charred that it crumbled into ash when he tried to cut into it) and he got a token for a free drink on his next visit.
The Third string crew, consisting of Krotow, Huey and Dibs, were getting close, so we gave them directions to the nearest beer distributor and headed back to the cabin to meet them.
Weist wouldn't make it up until Saturday morning so the nine of us partied until the wee hours, except for Granger who went to bed about 10:30. The bottle of Cabo Wabo was gone in the first hour, but we had at least three cases of beer in reserve. Everyone had a great time.

We all seemed to miraculously awake at 8 am and Guthrie got us jump-started with some spicy Bloody Marys. Then we headed to Hawley for breakfast at the diner. We took a scenic route through the woods and stopped to admire a frozen waterfall. Breakfast was a hilarious scene as we took over the back room of the diner. The waitress seemed to remember us, but I'm sure the locals were wondering just who in the hell this boisterous group of drunken out-of-towners was.
I don't know what it is about the mountains, but I always seem to have a heartier appetite when I am up there. My breakfast consisted of 2 eggs over-easy, scrapple, hash browns, corned-beef hash, toast, creamed sausage gravy over a large country biscuit and a Belgian waffle. I figured it would be a good base for the day of drinking ahead of us. After teasing the waitresses and hassling a local man sporting a NY Jets jacket, we headed across the street to Pat's Bar. It was only 10:45 and while the place was open for business, we were the only customers at the time. We drank, played pool, domineered the juke-box and probably made the bartender's day with our jokes, jeers and healthy tab of drinks.
Weist finally made it up and actually met us at the bar where we enjoyed a few rounds with him before heading back to the cabin. We stopped at the beer distributor (we only had a few beers left from the night before) and the market, where we stocked up on steaks and snacks.
Three more cases of beer, 2 large bottles of vodka and a few bottles of wine would be available for consumption on this second evening on the lake.
We kept a good drinking pace going throughout the rest of the day and after watching Fast Times at Ridgemont High for the third or fourth time in a row, we had dinner. Steaks done on the grill, mashed potatos and ring-dings for dessert. Everything always tastes better in the mountains.
Another great night and we partied into the early morning hours again. We didn't linger long in the morning as many of the attendees had families to get back to, but we stopped at another diner on the drive home, in Hamlin this time, and we had a great breakfast. My stomach still hurts, not from the food or the alcohol, but from all the laughing. It was just non-stop the whole trip and that is what makes it such a great time. I think everyone caught equal amounts of heat throughout the weekend, although I think Guthrie's truck getting stuck in the snow gave us enough material for a long time to come.

I hope we can do it again next year!