The So-Called Eden Place B&B, & Barbeque at Arleigh and Larry's

The woman who owns and runs the Eden Place Bed & Breakfast in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada, is a small, pretty Jamaican Christian woman with bright orange hair, and a very sweet demeanor. We had been grateful to find a room with a bath on such short notice during a busy weekend in Gravenhurst...until we tried to sleep, that is.

Well, Terry slept OK -- as he says, he could sleep on a meathook. He gets lots of practice sleeping. Me, on the other hand -- a completely different story. I haven't been able to sleep through the night for about 5-6 years, but I usually can get by just fine on only 6 hours of sleep a night -- provided I sleep well those 6 hours.

I wasn't expecting the small, cramped garrett room that Ethyl put us up in, filled with all kinds of her personal junk. It was kind-of a tent-like shape, as it happens, so we joked about our tent karma on this trip. The bed was merely a double, and one that I could swear had been dragged out of the garbage pile years before, due to it being completely worn out, hard and lumpy. The pillows were in about as good condition as the mattress, and had to be squished all together to get any kind of support under one's head. For this, the Christian woman Ethyl was charging us $100.00 a night!

I managed to fall asleep and maybe stay asleep for a couple of hours, but once I turned over, the rest of the night was more like a nightmare. I tossed and turned and turned and tossed and started counting sheep at least thirty or forty times, and every time I would get close to going under again, I would be so uncomfortable that I had to turn, and that would wake me up. I was totally miserable, but finally went under for another hour or two before 'breakfast' a 8:00am.

Now I've stayed at B&B's several times before over the years, and breakfast has always been a real pleasure...until Eden Place. Ethyl served us a tiny cup of partially frozen, yet still 'old' and partially rotted fruit as a first course. The second course consisted of a storebought hashbrown patty from the freezer case and canned boston baked beans. When she finally got around to serving us our coffee halfway through the 'meal,' she served it in tiny little teacups, and we had to practically beg for seconds. There were no thirds. With those meager portion sizes, I could've used sixths or eighths or maybe tenths, even!

We went back to bed for more non-sleep before the gang came to get us to take us to Arleigh and Larry's. We were so grateful to find a place, Oliver's, to get a huge cup of coffee in town on our way!

*****

The afternoon at Arleigh and Larry's was delightful (in spite of so little sleep). We went for a walk in the woods, and Larry explained about the very hard work that they put themselves through every spring to tap some of their many maple trees, and make maple syrup (which is delicious!) .

We traversed the not quite overgrown path out to the sugar shack where Terry once spent a week in contemplation, and farther on to where the beavers build their dams and make lakes out of the marshy areas; then headed back past poisonous mushrooms and fallen birches to the wireless tower that Larry and Rob had erected for internet service.

We had a delicious meal of barbeque meat and salmon, and fabulous vegetables and fresh fruits; then started lining up for the family photos. I didn't quite get in on the picture taking at first, but here are a few of the smaller groups of folks whose pics I shot:

The siblings and step-siblings:
Dan, Jim and Arleigh Luckett,
Libby McCarthy Carlson and (my hubby) Terry Dyke

Born in the Seventies (plus one):
Carolyn Prochazka, Quin Shirk-Luckett, Elizabeth Luckett, Erin Foster, Gigi and Jeff Luckett, Teal Shirk-Luckett, and Rob

The cousins: clockwise from upper left:
Elizabeth Luckett, Erin Foster, Jeff Luckett,
Teal Shirk-Luckett, Robert Tota, Sofia Luckett, Catherine Tota, Louisa Carlson, and Quin Shirk-Luckett

Some of the younger generation:
Louisa Carlson, and twins Catherine and Robert Tota