11/16/2023 0 Comments Black forest lodge and breakfastThe Black Forest Lodge itself is still standing though, and there is always talk about reopening. Walter passed away, and I just learned from Ada that Helga had a stroke, and has also passed on. Note- For the past few years, the restaurant and hotel have been closed. I do know that it was a special time that I will never forget. Don’t know if I should feel flattered or nervous that we were so memorable. I introduced myself, and I was amazed to find out that he actually remembered my family and their friends. I wandered around back with the kids to show them the ponds, and there was the old owner, Walter. It was always gemütlich.Ī few years ago I went to Lassen County on a camping trip, and was amazed to see the Black Forest Lodge still standing. Mom always packed games and we’d spend hours playing Rummy, Quartet, and the Memory Game. Some nights we kids could sit in the bar drinking Shirley Temples. The food was delicious and plentiful.Īfter dinner, the men would head to the bar for beer and cards. It was a family business, and Walter’s wife Helga ran that kitchen with German precision. And always always ALWAYS there were Bratkartoffel (fried potatoes). Then our meal… Schnitzel, Sauerbraten, Forelle (trout) fresh from the Teiche (maybe even the one we caught!). First we would be served the soup of the day my favorite was the Graupen Suppe (barley soup) with fresh bread. The owner, Walter Albert, would take us to our seats. You can almost imagine that you are in the Black Forest The FOODĪhhh…the meals were especially memorable. The air was fresh, and with nothing to do in the rooms, we were outside building up an appetite. We did a lot of wandering and hiking through fields and up mountains. We’d swim and play, build forts with washed up logs, and get serious sunburns on our fair skin. Inflatable boats would be pumped up, and all of us kids would have to spend the day with swimmy rings on our arms. The mothers would do needlepoint, read and talk. The fathers would drink beer and play cards. The 4 or 5 German families would travel together to Butt Reservoir ( a local lake) and spend the day playing in the water. Trout ponds behind the restaurant supplied fish for dinner…. When it was time to cut them loose… we ran! I once caught 20 snakes and put them in a burlap sack (these were harmless racer snakes). Once that was done we’d build dams in the streams, push each other in to the river, and catch snakes. The hotel/restaurant had stocked trout ponds in the back… and under Walter Jr’s supervision we could catch the day’s dinner quota. And I would give a lot to have Helga’s recipe for Graupen Suppe… it was outstanding! Heaven for KidsĮvery morning at breakfast we kids would ask the kitchen how many fish would be needed for dinner. It also meant eating German Food (lots of schnitzel and brat kartoffel). Personal computers were still years away, but there was serious fun to be had. There were cuckoo clocks on the wall, plaques with German expressions and images of stags (and for some reason, that famous dogs playing poker tapestry was hung in the bar…) There were only 9 rooms in the lodge, and there were no TVs in them. The Black Forest Lodge was a fairly rustic and basic place to stay… exactly as it should be for a place in the woods. We had the run of the place for the next 10 days with other German Families that we knew. It was like stepping out of our California life, and slipping into Germany. The owners, Walter and Helga Albert, and much of the staff were German. 10 hours later, after a million rounds of “she’s touching me” and “she’s on my side” and ” Hört ihr jetzt mal AUF!!!” (“Stop it right now!”) we’d arrive. My sleepy eyed sister and I were shoved in to the back seat… no leg room (the wells were filled with Dad’s beer and the extra cooler of food and drink), but we sort of stretched out on our designated half as well as we could. It was a 10 hour drive, and dad insisted on all of us getting in to the car at 3am to get “ an early start“. So, instead of hopping on a cheap flight to Germanyon Condor, they packed up the family’s green 1970 Monte Carlo with supplies and headed north to Chester, California near Lassen National Park where we would stay at a German run hotel and restaurant called The Black Forest Lodge. In the 1970s travel to Germany was expensive, but my parents still wanted that German Vacation experience.
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