Date: 2014-09-10
From: Cumberland Valley, PA

To: Boiling Springs, PA
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: scattered clouds

In the morning I packed up super early and headed out. Partly because of my super sketchy tent site and partly because I was keen to get to my destination for the day as early as possible. I had been hearing about the Allenberry for hundreds of miles and the idea of getting there had been a huge motivating factor for me. The Allenberry offers a fantastic hiker discount on their rooms but only for a limited number of hikers on a first come, first serve basis. There was no way I was going to let this opportunity pass me by after dreaming about it for so long. The Allenberry is a resort in Boiling Springs which seems to be primarily aimed at fly fishers. In fact the fly fishing hall of fame is located on the premises. The resort offers tennis courts, dining hall, bar, pool, lodge, playhouse, and world class fishing. What I was interested in was the playhouse. Each month they put on a different theatrical production. This month was the musical "Mame" which I had never heard of but was described to me as "an oldie but a goodie." These are quality productions too with real actors, live musicians, costumes, set designs, the whole works! I had called ahead to make sure I knew the times so would not miss any of this resort's unique opportunities and arrived early in the morning. After checking in I walked to the building where my room was located and ran into Ranger Stack, Thor and Latin From Manhattan. I was pretty shocked to see them. Apparently once they got to Boiling Springs they had come here and headed straight to the bar. After a boisterous night of drinking they had not been eager to hit the trail early and were still hanging around the lounge with a lofty goal of 13 miles to the next shelter that day. Seemed like a huge waste of a yellow blaze to me since they were not going to be that much farther ahead of me. After dropping off my pack in my room I took a long, hot, luxurious shower before heading to the dining hall for the lunch buffet. I could have showered after but figured the patronage of the resort would appreciate my rinsing off first. The lunch buffet was humongous with tons of variety. I ate constantly for an hour straight until I was stuffed to the gills. Then I was off to the playhouse for the show!In the theater I was the youngest person by at least twenty years. This place definitely caters to the older crowd. All I had to wear was my hiking outfit, and I definitely felt out of place compared to all the ladies in their skirts and dresses. Once the lights went down and the music started up though I didn't care. My inner thespian came out. The quality of the production was outstanding. For the next couple of hours I was transported back to the roaring 20s and depression era New York. A smile was plastered all over my face the entire time. My favorite line from "Mame" is one that I am going to adopt as one of my mantras: "Life is for living, and most poor bastards are starving to death." The musical had multiple life lessons to be learned from it, but this is the most important and poignant. There are so many things to do, see, learn, experience in this world, but most people get so caught up in the day to day monotony of life that they either feel too busy or just plain forget to enjoy themselves. I cannot and will not let that be me. I want to go everywhere, do everything, and enjoy life to the fullest. You only get one life. I don't want to get to the end of mine and look back with regrets at having missed out because I got bogged down in the rat race. My bucket list is long. This thru-hike is only the beginning.After the show ended I toured the grounds for a bit and then found a nice sunny spot to plop myself down for a while and called my grandmother. When discussing the trail so far she told me, "Better you than me!" I updated my trail journal a bit (yes I know I'm still crazy far behind), looked up some other information on the hotel's computer, and then headed to the bar for dinner. They had this amazing brie, spinach, and caramelized apple panini that was to die for. There were quite a few fly fishermen in the bar at the time. They took a liking to me and started buying me rounds of my favorite adult beverage, Maker's Mark served neat. They got a real kick out of my tales of adventure on the AT. By the time the bar closed I was fairly sauced, but enjoyed my night with them immensely. It was a good thing I only had a few steps to go back to my room. Having a nice hotel room to myself was a treat. I turned the air conditioning on blast and turned on the television. There were only four channels, but I didn't care because I was the one in charge of what channel got picked. I ended up watching reruns of the old classic "I Spy" until I fell asleep. In the morning I took another shower, just because I could. Then while I packed up I watched an old Clark Gable western. Before checking out I hit up the breakfast buffet. It was just as immmense and delicious as the lunch buffet had been the day before. Because I was hiking out right after I had to be careful not to eat too much, only two plates full this time. I have made the mistake of over eating at breakfast before. It does not make for a happy hiker. Instead you end up trudging slowly down the trail feeling like your belly is full of lead. No good. I did have seconds of their homemade cinnamon rolls though, sticky and sweet. Yummy doesn't even begin to describe it. This nearo had been just what I needed; a welcome respite along the trail. This may not have been something most thru-hikers would have sought out, but I was in heaven there. My time at the Allenberry was fabulous and one of the highlights of my trip. I felt like a princess and hiked out feeling completely rejuvenated.