The first time I went was for a writer’s
retreat. We had way to much fun to write. Did we want Baked
Alaska or fresh cheesecake with home grown raspberries? Would
we prefer this, or that, or a bit of both?
The next time it was to share the place
with my husband, John, because the best things in life should
be shared. I called the owners, Don and Kathy Rook. “Could
we come out sometime just to look around?”
“Sure, come on when you get ready.”
It’s Raspberry Manor, Bed and Breakfast
extra ordinaire, 78 acres somewhere way back in the Ouachita
Mountains on Irons Fork Lake, in West Central Arkansas.
I was sure we were in the land of Peter
Rabbit and Little Joe Otter even before we saw our first wildlife
treats. A real live bull frog floated still in the pond and
stared as we stopped and called “knee-deep” and “ribbit”.
He was unimpressed and unblinking as we sang “Jeremiah was
a Bullfrog”. At the next pond six turtles turned their heads
in the same direction, away from us, as they sunned on the
log.
The wind was cool as we climbed the narrowing
gravelly road through newly green oaks and tall pines. Surely
we were almost there.
There was a log cabin, here a marvelous
garden, and this is it! An imposing structure that somehow
put me in mind of a very large ship. I figured from the cupola
the mist over the Ouachitas would be a treat.
We knocked, and Kathy Rook, co-owner, called
down to come on in. I was anxious to get my husband up to
the actual rooms, but he was overawed with the antique pool
table, the chestnut/oak/mahogany bar from the turn of the
last century, and the other first floor antiques.
Upstairs awe gave way to delight. Amid
sparkling treasures sat a kitchen full of goodies, finished
and in the works. We meandered and exclaimed, “Oh, look,
Honey, did you see this? Did you see that?” until I almost
forgot the main attractions, the rooms.
I had tried to prepare my husband for their
charms, but they must be seen from the breathtaking bath tiles
off the Scarlet room, to the luxuriant bathrobes in the closet
of the Rosalind room. “Forget the rooms,” I said, “the bathrooms
are so beautiful you don’t want to leave them.”
“They’ve thought of everything,” my husband
said , after walking the decks and balconies, and viewing
hammocks, hiking trails, and cardinals zooming through the
pines toward the clear waters of the lake.
The contraption amid the herbs with biscotti
inside was a squirrel lure, Kathy explained. They catch the
squirrels who get in the numerous bird houses and feeders,
and give them to their neighbor, who wants more squirrels
on his property. Even the squirrels are pampered at Raspberry
Manor.
To eat in front of the 22 foot native rock
fireplace, and drink up the beauty of a lifetime’s collections
of treasures, or to eat out on the deck in the tops of the
trees?
To stay in the Scarlet room, where charm
and opulence welcome warmly, or in John’s pick, the Rosalind,
where opulence wins by a hair? No losers here.
We wandered upstairs through still more
perfectly kept antiques of exceptional quality and beauty
- a Victorian Father Christmas, quilts too lovely not
to touch, a Christmas tree of birds. “Every year we put up
more Christmas and take less down,” Kathy explained. Wonderful
Finally, we reached the cupola and relaxed,
taking turns at the telescope, and smiling at each other.
We took our time going down the double spiral staircase, trying
in vain not to miss anything.
On our way out we swung by Don’s collection
of antique cars, totaling 77, mostly Chryslers and Packards.
As we descended Jeremiah’s hill we found him on his tractor,
(Don, not Jeremiah) smiling and joking, as fun and welcoming
as Kathy.
Word gets around. My Mom called
wanting to have brunch at Raspberry Manor. You bet!
When we drove up Don had his cart hooked
to his little tractor in preparation for taking kids (allowed
only in the log cabin for overnights) to the river to swim.
Would we like to walk down to the Honeymoon Glen, or ride
in the cart? Mom grinned at me a little wide-eyed and
we climbed aboard. Down we went through the sundappled woods,
winding through hardwoods and ferns on the rock bordered trail.
The blackberries were big, ripe, and begging
to be picked. I could hardly wait for the brunch.
First stop, feed the ducks. “Who can quack
like a duck?” Asked Don. He was serious and a very good
quacker, so we just watched as the ducks swam across the pond.
Back to the woods. Don pointed out highlights as the trail
grew cool.
The honeymoon glen was at the bottom of
a hill on a curve in the trail. A bench faced a bend in the
creek, and reflecting pool. For colder weather, Don had a
stack of firewood near the pool. We sat quietly and searched
the woods for old wagon wheels, the transplanted jack-in-the-pulpit,
and the wildflowers, of which there are 52 species on the
property.
We rode along looking for Mayapples, Teaberry
vines, and the famous 9-story woodpecker houses, one on top
of the other. The huge trunk was hollow on the bottom, and
it was alive and well! It was one of six kinds of oaks on
the property.
At Irons Fork River, where kids swim, we
got out and stepped across the sand out on the rocks, looking
for the freshwater mussels. Don explained they won’t live
in polluted water, that the river really is as clean as it
looks. Near the river we spotted yucca and giant cane. We’d
come over a mile. It was time to go back, brunch was waiting.
Kathy was ready for us. It wasn’t just
hunger that made the food wonderful. It was excellent food,
artfully prepared, and served with pleasure. We chose an
indoor table overlooking the lake, and a little of everything.
When we asked for seconds on sliced tomatoes, Don brought
a homegrown giant to the table and served the whole thing.
Don and Kathy Rook are people you never
forget, people you feel like you’ve known all your life after
one or two meetings. If there were pictures beside the dictionary
words “solicitous” and “hospitable” and “congenial” they would
be the Rooks’
Raspberry Manor is on my list of things
to do over and over. Go to dinner there, have another writer’s
retreat there. Take friends there. Best of all, go there
with the one you love. What a treat.
Written by Beverly Parker
Beverly Parker has returned many times.
She home schools her four children and is associated with
many of the home schoolers in the area. In Fall of 2003
she had a Mother/Daughter Tea at Raspberry Manor where they
taught etiquette and grace.
