“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
Albert Einstein
Our
annual West Point trip was finally here. We look forward to this
long weekend every year and start our countdown each year right after
we leave. We couldn’t have a more wonderful group of friends and
family that have gotten together for years at West Point to relax,
enjoy time together, along with taking in the beauty that
surrounds us here, and just plain have fun. This was Joe and mine 34th year coming since first starting this tradition. That is hard to
believe. We only had one year we didn’t come and that was during
the Pandemic.
We
pull off of Smith Clove Road at the Lake Frederick sign and onto
Proctoria Road named from the Proctor family (no not Proctor and
Gamble family but rather the Proctor Vaudeville family). Frederick
Freeman Proctor once owned 1142 acres here and called his property
“Proctoria” which means “Land of the Skies”. At one time he
had five large homes, many barns, and a gatehouse on this property.
When Frederick passed away in 1929, the academy acquired his land.
After
traveling 14 hours to get to West Point, the first thing we did after
getting out of the car is to stretch, breath in the fresh mountain air and exhaling deeply, and take in the lovely sites that we have longed to
see since leaving the year before. All our cares and worries just
fade away and feeling of total contentment arrives. We get the
overwhelming feeling that we have just come home and the year that just passed seems like just yesterday that we were here. Danny and Janet
Eichner, the caretakers, hosts, and our friends always welcome us
with a hug and say “Welcome Home,” as we check in. How blessed we
are to be back.
.jpg)
Every
year when we come back, there are more and more improvements that
have been made making this place nicer every year. This year, two
new pavilions were built and to all our joy, a handicap ramp was
added to one of the cabins. Our dear friend, Kathy is in a
wheelchair now and having that ramp made it possible for her to join
us again. I can’t thank Danny enough for working so hard to make
that possible for all of us to have our Kathy back with us. Danny and Janet are angels and treat us so well and are unbelievably sweet to all the children who are with us. They couldn't be nicer.
As
each family rolled in, we excitedly greeted them. How wonderful it is that we may only see some of these friends once a year and yet
there feels as if no time has been lost. We hugged each and everyone
and welcomed them to our peace of Heaven.
Lake
Frederick has eight family cabins that you can rent that sleep 10
people in each. There is a kitchenette with a table and chairs,
microwave, and mini refrigerator in each cabin. There are two air conditioners
that cool off the inside in the summer and that also work as heaters in
the winter. Each cabin has a porch with either chairs or swings
where you can sit and enjoy the cleared views of the 18 acre pristine
lake surrounded by mountains. On this lake, you can fish for bass,
catfish, and pan fish but it is strictly a catch and release lake.
There
are no bathrooms in the cabin but each cabin has a private bathroom
in the bathhouse to use with a shower with nice hot water. There is
also an older bathhouse that has been renovated to use with toilets
and showers.
Some
years we have had as few as 30 people and on our largest year, we had
75. This year we got up to 64 people with quite a few newbies that
we really enjoyed getting to know. One of Joe's, nephews and his
lovely significant other, showed up this year after not seeing him
for 15 years. How special. We hope everyone can come back next year. We had a
blast as always and enjoyed our time with our friends.
There
is an open grassy area to the rear of the cabins where there is a
fire pit and picnic table for each cabin and is a great area to set
up games. This year it was great fun watching all the young people
as well as some adults playing soccer and football there. It was
nice seeing such a large group of people out playing and just having
fun. At night, we have a campfire with a sing along while two or
more members of our group play guitars. Another tradition is
lighting the Chinese Lanterns and launching them in honor of those
who passed before us.
.jpg)
We
always rent the mess hall for the weekend when we are here which is a
great gathering place especially at dinner time. It has a nice
kitchen with a double stove, a flat griddle area to cook at as well
as gas burners to heat up food. There is plenty of refrigeration as
well as a couple of keg coolers and multiple sinks for cleaning
dishes. There are plenty of tables that can be set up for events.
The mess hall is great place to have special events. They are
working on having a new mess hall built here in time.
The
sandy beach is the perfect place to relax and just float around in
the cool mountain lake. Our group loves the beach and spent a good
part of time there since the weather was perfect. This year it was
manned by two lifeguards which made it great for all the parents with
children to have those extra eyes watching them while playing in the
water. You can even rent paddle boards, paddle boats, and row
boats by the hour or just bring along a kayak to canoe to use while
you are there. There are a couple of picnic tables to sit at in the
shade and there are plenty of lounge chairs to sit and relax while
working on your tan.
The
hike around the lake is about a mile and is an easy hike and well
worth your efforts. We take the hike around a few times a day to
enjoy all the sites. First you pass the beach and tent campsites on
your right. Bearing right you go up a small slope to the Red tree
which is fascinating as there are only two trees like that on the
whole property. Next you go passed the old cement swimming pool of
the Proctor family which now just looks like a fishing pond. You can
still see some of the cement walls of the pool.
Next you see the enchanted forest just passed the bridge to the left. It is a neat little area with unusual trees and bright green grass growing. Further around the lake you come up to the ruins of the mansion that once was, called the Ledgewood Ruins. It was a 15,000 square foot, two story Colonial Revival mansion and was the home of Frederick Freeman Proctor aka “Dean of Vaudeville”. There are some gorgeous views of the lake from the high parts of the trail. Then before taking the trail back down, there is a covered stone pavilion dated back to 1912 with a table making it a great place to have a picnic or just sit and relax with a lovely view of the lake. Sunsets are particularly beautiful from that location.
The
office where you check in is a historic home of called West Lake
Cottage which was part of the Proctor family’s home. This
beautiful building needs restoring and I pray they will get funding
to fix this up and preserve it. You must go to the office to check
in and to rent any equipment. They sell a number of items like
drinks, ice, ice cream, tee shirts, etc. Check it out when you are
there.
Lake
Frederick is on the southern most area of USMA and is only seven
miles from the campus of the United States Military Academy (USMA)
and only a short 50 miles from New York City. It surely doesn’t
feel like it is that close to the city. I made two trips onto West
Point this year with one tour and only took a few pictures. Then I
went back with a group of our friends to see the fireworks but
shortly after we arrived, we got soaked by a downpour. We headed
back to the camp as we were soaked to the skin. Surprisingly, they
still ended up having the firework show. We ended up missing it but
there is always next year.
To
stay at Lake Frederick you must be active duty or retired military,
DOD civilians, Installation contractor, or Cadets parents and
grandparents. You can call the office at 845-938-2649 to reserve a
spot.
Till
next year. Until then, we will cherish our memories of this most
perfect weekend. Bye for now.
“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.”
Tennessee Williams
