Cedars’of Lebanon State Park

First, some history. For 25 years, give or take a few years, my family has congregated to Cedars’ of Lebanon State Park, east of Nashville, for a nearly annual weekend reunion. For the last few years, we had kept it simply to a single day spent at a different location in Kentucky, however, this year we returned here after I think a nine-​year hiatus.
It seems that after those nine years, very little has changed. The group lodge where we stayed has seen little to no renovation in the last 25 years, everything looks the same as it did the first time I visited. It’s like stepping back in time, which is not necessarily a good thing. The same old netless ping pong table, the same old couches, a People magazine from 1992 featuring a cover story on Tipper Gore and Hillary Clinton. It’s both wonderfully reminiscent as well as eerily gross.
Cleaning is an afterthought here, and it could seriously use a visit from Billy the Exterminator, various arachnid families and rodentia abound but I forgive some of this, it’s wilderness after all. Lights that don’t work, a cranky A/​C, all things that make the Group Lodge THE backdrop for the annual family reunion, they go hand-​in-​hand.
In the end, the lodge is a 1-​star facility, forget a good night’s sleep or any real comforts of home. What makes the park and lodge better than they could ever possibly be is the view of the sun peaking through the cedar trees, softball and basketball games, nights playing cards, conversations around the campfire, someone playing guitar to provide a little atmosphere, all that food, the too-​short time spent with family, these things make Cedars’ of Lebanon a place I will return to again and again.