A Wonderful Fall Retreat

September 29, 2024

Our young club has done a remarkable job of building a strong community of members who are mostly connected via online tools. But we do love to get together in person when we have the opportunity.

On a sunny, breezy weekend in September, Paula Schwartz (our charter club president) and her husband Thomas hosted nearly 50 Global Travelers at their lovely northern Minnesota lake home.

Many of us drove from our homes in the upper Midwest. We were joined by fellow members from California, Florida, Virginia, and Canada. Several arrived in campers. One even pitched a tent in the front yard.

We played pickle ball, tried out the putting green, toured Paula’s amazing garden, and tagged butterflies. But mostly we talked a lot and ate a lot.

Paula did the lion’s share of food prepping before we arrived, with a strong assist from Amy Nicholson. Many of us came with pots of chili for the Friday night cook-off. We had meat chili, vegan chili, mild chili, and hot chili. A fun, good-natured competition. On Saturday night, we made pizzas and cooked them outside in wood-fired (and electric) pizza ovens. Snacks, desserts, and drinks were plentiful. We decided we need to add a fifth item to the four-way test: We eat (a lot)!

One of the highlights was touring Paula’s gardens where her flowers host monarch butterflies. Several of us learned to gently tag the butterflies before they began their migration south (which amazingly began a day after we left).

But most of all, we talked, and talked, and talked. Many of us had never met in person. Others see each other only a few times a year. Zoom is a wonderful tool. So are social media platforms. Our club couldn’t exist without them. But being together, in person, for this long weekend was truly special.