Family steps up to lodging in state park

Never mind the heat.

Our family had reservations to spend Saturday night in a cabin at Giant City State Park.

So we packed up a few belongings and a huge cooler full of bottled water and headed over to the 4,000-acre park at Makanda, Ill.

For our daughters, the big attraction was a swimming pool located right next to a massive sandstone lodge built by the nation's Civilian Conservation Corps at the height of the Great Depression.

Built as a make-work project to employ the unemployed, the rustic, air conditioned lodge -- with its high, wood-beamed ceiling -- proved a great place to get out of the heat.

Joni and I enjoyed eating at the lodge restaurant.

We've eaten there several times. But we never had stayed in a prairie cabin before.

I'm not sure why they're called prairie cabins. They border a forest rather than a prairie.

On our way to the park, Joni said we were going to be spending the night in a rustic cabin.

Becca and Bailey worried that this meant the cabin wouldn't have television. I just hoped it had air conditioning.

Both questions were answered in the affirmative.

The cabin had satellite-dish television, and its modern air-conditioning meant we didn't have to roast to death.

Becca, our 13-year-old, initially questioned the idea of sleeping in a pull-down bed in the living room. But she ultimately concluded she could sleep on it.

Of course, the best thing about the cabin: It was only a short walk to the swimming pool for a dip in the warm water.

The summer heat last weekend took away the "cool dip." Still, it was wet, which meant some relief.

But nothing compared to the lodge. The best part about the lodge -- other than a ton of fried chicken and enough bowls of vegetables to make even your grandmother proud -- is the second level which looks down upon the main lounging area.

On the second floor, there are several tables where folks can play checkers.

There also are several comfortable leather couches. Once seated, you don't want to get up.

There's even a dining-room length table where we played Spades well into the evening.

There's something powerful and reassuring to be able to look down at those milling around on the first floor. We all like to be physically above it all from time to time even if we can't rise above the complexities of life in our own homes.

When it's this hot out, there are two things you want to do: Eat and sleep, and not necessarily in that order. Dieting is not an option at the lodge.

Of course, the park is meant for exercise. There are a whole lot of trails, some of them winding past towering, sandstone boulders. But we decided it was too hot to hit the trails.

We did climb the numerous steps of a metal observation tower to get a bird's-eye view of the treetops. Not surprisingly, even the birds weren't flying in this weather.

Thankfully, we survived the heat.

I also managed to survive the greetings of a few spiders who clearly weren't bothered by the heat.

I returned to Cape Girardeau with a few bites to remind me that even in modern prairie cabins, nature provides its own souvenirs.

Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.