week 26: came as strangers, left as sisters

this week on the little dream farm

This farm has an incredibly special place in my heart.

It’s 4:30am on Saturday last week in mid-June. I’m in the truck headed three hours south east to Rhode Island to pick up three women I’ve never met before from the airport and train station and one woman I’ve had dinner with once during a work visit to Georgia.

Thirteen weeks ago I casually mentioned in a Farm Note that I was thinking about hosting a retreat-get-together-ladies-weekend kind of thing. The first slots filled up in just a few days and three weeks later we were fully booked to get a real adventure cooking!

Here’s what I said I was thinking about back then:

I just know that if we got a whole group of us together in one room we’d have the most fabulous time together…and actually, I’ve been talking to a few ladies through DMs about doing a retreat together at a farm stay in Vermont or in Rhode Island later this year.

Think—a big old pretty farmhouse. Cute little quiet place. A group of us gathered together. Maybe one night we make dinner together. One night we hit the town for dinner and some strolling around. Maybe we get to do an easy hike or go visit a farm (or our farm!) or do some kind of cool outdoor activity. Doesn’t that sound so fun?! If this is something you think you might be interested in, comment below and let me know so that I can get a sense for who might like to go and keep you up to date as we plan it!

So back to last weekend. The original forecast was calling for high 70s and partly cloudy for the entire trip—we were booked Saturday to Tuesday at a farm stay in Rhode Island just south of Providence and a quick 40 minutes from Newport.

A few days prior things shifted—heat wave. Now we were looking at 100 degree temps and a heat index 5-10 degrees above that. My plan for us to spend Sunday walking around Providence started to seem a little crazy.

I wonder if they’d all mind if we hopped in the car and drove the three hours to the Little Dream Farm? I wondered as I made my drive through farm country to reach the Mass Pike.

I fire off a text to Chris at a rest stop to get his thoughts on my new plan.

“It’s fine with me but that seems like a lot of driving for the person who hates subjecting people to driving. But I’m totally on board if you want to do it. Just ruining my naked Sunday it’s ok.”

He was kidding. Haha or was he?!

When the first woman lands first thing in the morning I thought I’d float the idea to her and use her reaction as a gauge for whether or not they’re up for the drive to the Little Dream Farm.

A few minutes in the car after our hugs and gushing and I can’t believe we’re getting to doing this moment, I lay out the plan for her and don’t even finish my sentence before there’s screaming, laughing, listing off all the animals she’s planning to kiss and in what order, and the most pure and genuine excitement that the tears began welling up in my eyes.

Second woman lands and gets in the truck and I have the first lay out our grand plan for her, which is met with tears of joy and now the two of them are screaming and I’m actually crying…this is the best!

Third woman lands, hops in the truck, and the two of them concoct a plan to casually ask one another, “So which Furmer are you going to pet first tomorrow?” And the truck cab erupts in excitement. I couldn’t have planned it better than this if I’d tried.

Our last guest arrives and she’s part stunned and excited about these four crazy women she just got in a truck with and their grand plan.

Now that our party of five is assembled, we head to the grocery store, rattle off a quick list of the things we want and need for the dinner I’d planned for us to make that evening, and we’re off to our farm stay.

The group on our farm tour with the coolest female farmer I know!

This farm…I picked after meeting the couple exactly this time one year ago when Chris and I were looking at a house in the area. We instantly clicked with them—farmers and land owners with a similar perspective to ours regarding stewardship—and they ended up playing a huge part in helping us with negotiations for a 310-year old farm house in Connecticut that we made an offer on later in the year but then backed out of the deal.

For months I’d been wanting to book their guest house and fill it up with a group of great people. This little dream was finally happening.

We settled ourselves into the late-1700s guest farm house (their main farm house is 1750) and were scheduled to go on a walking tour of the farm with the owner-turned—beloved-friend of mine.

We SO enjoyed our tour!

The ladies absolutely loved the tour, adored this badass female farmer and artist, and were totally enamored by both her and their exceptional storied farm.

I knew other people would love the farm, would appreciate its rich history, and would enjoy the couple who worked so hard to bring it back to life in the 11 years they’ve been its steward.

But they were beyond blown away. The farmer went far above any expectation I had with her tour and deep dive of the farm for them. They made the entire stay so incredibly special for my guests, and they made me look like a total rock star like I’d cooked up the whole idea myself.

After touring the farm and meeting the llama, sheep, goats, and chickens, we made dinner and sat around the table like family.

I’d brought steak from our farmer, some local veggies, strawberries Chris and I picked on a farm a few days prior, and a bunch of other local things we love and love to share with others.

We laughed so hard about everyone’s stories of their family and friends who were like, “You’re doing what? You’re going on a trip with some lady you met on the internet and a bunch of people you don’t know?” Haha gosh, I just love this text from one of the women’s daughters.

Following dinner we made a quick fire outside then headed off to bed for our trek to the LDF in the morning.

Our hosts delivered a dozen freshly laid multi-colored eggs from their hens and a pint of strawberries to our door and we all whipped up a gorgeous breakfast together, piled into the truck, and made our way to meet Mr. Chris and the Buggos (our two donkeys), the Furmers (our seven cats), and the Girlies (our four hens).

Now this is gonna make a few people jealous!! 😝

We walked the LDF, gushed over all the animals, and took a zillion photos. Chris and I made lunch for everyone and we all sat at the table together like family—probably one of my most favorite precious moments of the entire trip. It’s the thing Chris and I enjoy most about this farm—getting to share it with others—and having the chance to invite people to our table to share in the nourishing meals we’re blessed to make because of the incredible farmers and makers we’re surrounded by.

Seriously this meal was the best!

After several hours hanging out on the farm we hopped back in the truck to make our way back to our Rhode Island farm stay. This time, we drove the scenic route through New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, as one of the ladies had never been to any of these four states.

We flopped into our beds that night and rested up for our next little adventure—a day in Newport at the beach. Thankfully, the forecast shifted enough that it made for an incredible day to be by the water.

At the cliffs by the Point Judith light house in Narragansett

We had a fabulous day walking around, seeing the Cliff Walks and the Newport mansions, bopping around the shops downtown, and sitting on the yacht harbor for our last dinner together, and walking around chasing views of the sunset.

We drove home guided by the pink and purple and blue skies that only summer sunsets bring, and we stayed up later than all the other nights sitting together and talking, not ready for our fabulous weekend to end.

A couple of times each of us said that we came as strangers but left as sisters.

It’s far beyond and far better than what I’d envisioned when I had this little dream to get a few ladies together for a girls weekend.

Our group spanned the ages of late-30s to late-60s. We came together from four different states. Each of our backgrounds and lives were so very different, and together we bonded as women.

We said we were dressed like “old money” for our day in Newport. 😎

We talked about family and food and travel and relationships and sex and the state of the wold and farming and motherhood and culture. We talked through a list of “get to know you” question prompts on our long rides in the car. We listened to one another without judgement and got to know each other deeply. We forged the type of sisterhood that happens when you bring a group of women together.

This trip was both food and medicine for my soul.

That four strangers who follow some quirky lady and her partner and their animals and farm on the internet would be brave enough to commit to a trip together, buy tickets to travel, spend their vacation time and their money, and trust me enough to come together the way we did is a blessing I can’t properly describe.

Cliff Walks in Newport near The Breakers

For one of the women in her 60s, this was the very first time in her life that she ever traveled anywhere solo. When her husband read the Farm Note with the callout for a retreat weekend, he insisted she must go (God love sweet husbands!).

That is so brave, and so profoundly special to me.

I could tell you a million more things—about how we laughed our heads off. About how much we loved staying on that precious farm. About how special it was for me to be in the kitchen preparing a meal for us all while everyone sat together and connected without me even in the room. About how I’ll remember this trip fondly for a lifetime.

Suffice it to say we had the time of our lives. This was one little dream that turned into a fabulous adventure!

Came as strangers. Left as sisters.

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Here’s a few favorites for you from our weekend adventure:

1. Want to check out the farm we stayed at or their farm stay?

2. How do I take all my photos? I use this tripod.

3. One of the ladies said my favorite compression packing cubes are SO worth it.

4. One woman came wearing this outfit during her travel and it’s stunning with a sweater draped over your shoulders.

5. This product came up in our discussions about sex and menopause. Worth checking out.

6. One woman was wearing these pajamas and I’ve got to order myself a set—so cute and cozy!

7. I got this carry on for trips just like this. Perfect to fit everything for a weekend trip.

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