Last weekend, when my husband, Bobby, and I went away for an overnight stay in Mansfield, Ohio, we took a detour to the Mohican State Lodge and Resort. I mentioned in a previous post that I knew I liked the place as soon as I walked in, but that I would tell you why later. (You can read my previous post here.) Well, it’s later. I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but sometimes when I visit a location it just makes me want to linger. That’s what happened Saturday.
We walked into the Lodge’s main doors and the space opened up into this expanse of rustic comfort. One whole side of the building was mostly glass overlooking the lake. They had a round fireplace in one section of the room. I would call it in a sunken area (meaning it is a step or two down to the level of the fireplace). Bobby says it is a split level. Whatever you want to call it, it was inviting. The fireplace had chairs surrounding it. There was a woman lounging in one of the chairs reading a book. I wish I had a book that I could be reading, too!
Then there were chairs that were facing the windows, so the visitors could relax and enjoy the view. I could picture myself sitting there with Bobby just enjoying ourselves as nature happened in front of us. Also in this area were tables with a checker board and backgammon board printed on top of them. It appeared that the Lodge must also have board games for their visitors to use. One family was playing the Game of Life (one of my favorites). There was a ping pong table and a couple of pool tables, too. I have fond memories of Bobby and me playing ping pong and pool when we were first together. This place made me want to relive those memories.
We finally made our way downstairs to the restaurant on the lower level — the whole reason we came to the Lodge — the Bromfield Dining Room. It is named after Pulitzer-prize winning author and naturalist Louis Bromfield (think Malabar Farms). I was thrilled to see we could see the beautiful scenery from almost any seat in the place. The hostess sat us at a table that wasn’t right by the window, but we didn’t miss out on the view. It was wonderful! The only thing that would have made it better was if it were just Bobby and me in the restaurant by ourselves. (It’s not that I don’t like other people, it’s just I wanted it to be only us.)
The services was great and our meals were good, too! I had told our waitress that I was trying to drink a gallon of water a day (a whole other story), so she made sure that my water glass never got empty. I really appreciated her attentiveness.
Bobby started with French onion soup and I had the battered mushrooms. We were both really hungry because of the way our day was progressing, so we might have order more than we needed. (In fact, we were so hungry we didn’t even think to get pictures until we had almost eaten all of our appetizers!) Bobby really liked the French onion soup. He said it was seasoned perfectly. I don’t like onions, so I never eat that soup, however, I was tempted when I saw how nice and melty the cheese was on top! My battered mushrooms were good, too, although honestly, I haven’t been able to find any battered mushrooms better than Jake’s, in Wooster, Ohio. (I’ll be writing about their Sunday brunch, soon.)
Then we had our entrees. Bobby got the Bromfield Burger, which is served on a pretzel bun — one of Bobby’s favorite ways to have a burger. He also added cheese and bacon to it. Bobby liked his sandwich a lot. I admit, when it came out, I sort of wished I had ordered it, too. Normally we share our meals, but since I ordered the fish and chips, we didn’t. I would have gladly shared, but Bobby hates fish/seafood/anything that swims or lives in a body of water. Don’t worry, I did ask him for at least a bite of his sandwich, which he grudgingly let me have.
I don’t want to lead you to believe there was anything wrong with my meal. It was pretty good. The fish was crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside and the tartar sauce was a great complement to it. But I was a little full from the mushrooms, so I’m not sure I enjoyed them as much as I might have if I had been hungrier.
After we got done eating, we went out into a lobby area of the lower level and sank into a couch and relaxed. We finally did have to pull ourselves away to head to our event in Mansfield. (Which if you didn’t read my early post, you might want to. You can find it here.) But we didn’t leave before we made reservations to return to the hotel for our anniversary. The next time we go, I am definitely going to linger. And maybe I’ll even write a blog or two about it.
