The Briars, Jackson's Point, ON

This weekend I was away with the 12 women at the Briars.  Angie has organized us for the last ten years ... I've made it to about five of them.

There is a spa on the resort but since I was just at one last Saturday with Gord, I didn't book any treatments.

Friday

We've stayed at this cottage for most of those years ... it's about a ten minute walk from the main buildings. There are seven bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms.


My roommate is Monica, my pal and former neighbour (she and I have always been roomies).  Here is our room.


Here is the view from the deck.

Lake Simcoe is still frozen

There is a fire pit in our backyard.


The bedrooms are in two wings.  Here is the living room in the centre of our cottage where we all gather.


Here is the dining room (which we never use).


And there is a small kitchen.


Meals are included at the restaurant in the main building.

Here's my supper ...

A mixed greens salad (I'm not a fan of salads but like the dressing here).


I had the crispy chicken and mashed potatoes.


And for dessert, I had apple cranberry pie with ice cream.


Yum!

When we went back to our cottage after supper, we had a fire.


It was fun but chilly (0F).

Saturday

Breakfast is in the main building which is a ten minute walk.

It's a lovely walk between a golf course and nice privately-owned cottages then through the woods.

Surprisingly I was the first one there. Breakfast is casual ... you show up if you show up.

I ordered ham, eggs, home fries, toast, milk with a side order of banana bread.

Yum!

And here we are ...

Amanda and Lisa

Monica and I

Pat, Monica and Angie

Sue and Jen

Then we all split up to do our own thing.  Since I'd just been at a spa last Saturday with Gord, I didn't book any spa treatments.

After breakfast, I checked out the spa to see what fun stuff they had for sale. I ran into Sue, Angie and Amanda who were waiting for their treatments.

The spa is in the tower so I went to the top for a while. It's a lovely relaxing place to spend some time.

With a great view of Lake Simcoe ...

Here's the tower I'd been in ...

I did the 90 minute history walk of the grounds which was led by Diana Rowney.

That's me on the left and Diana is next to me after the walk.

She had lots of great stories to tell us.

There was mulled wine and hot chocolate waiting for us.

And here I am enjoying a glass of mulled wine.

Most of us started gathering there since the dining room (for lunch) was nearby.

Me and Monica

Time for lunch!

I had a burger and mixed greens salad.

And a bowl of raspberries and a cookie for dessert.

I went for a walk around the grounds after lunch ... it was a gorgeous day!

I wandered back to our cottage and sat outside in the backyard in a lawn chair, overlooking Lake Simcoe, and yakked and read for a few hours. It was sunny enough that my face ended up getting burned.

Time for supper!

Jenn, Angie and Vitra

Sue and Jen

Amanda and Lisa

Rosa and Pat

Dee and Andrea

Me and Monica

For supper tonight, I ordered the roasted tomato soup ...

Then I had steak and mash potatoes ...

For dessert, I had Crème brûlée ... it was good but I was too full to finish it.

Yum!

There is a dance in the dining after supper on Saturday nights with DJ Dave.   Dave is an old dude and has been here forever, I bet. The dances are usually really lame. There are usually a handful of couples and tons of women. Dave plays fast rockin' tunes to get the girls on the dance floor and then suddenly slows things down by playing waltzes. Huh?

Tonight Dave's speakers were cutting out. Rather than waiting for him to get new speakers, we headed back to the cottage and yakked.

Sunday

Alas, time to head home ...

It was thundering and pouring rain when I woke up ... so glad we had such nice weather Friday and yesterday!


Not a lot of incentive to get up so Monica and I stayed in bed (we had twin beds) and yakked and got caught up (we hadn't really had any time alone together all weekend).

I skipped breakfast because I wanted to enjoy lunch (I didn't want to be too full).

I had the burger and fries ...


And Crème brûlée for dessert (unlike last night, I ate it all today) ...


Look who was playing around with my camera when I went to the bathroom ... Monica and Jen!