Lodge

Vandals gained access to two construction loaders that were parked behind a Glen Burnie fraternal lodge Friday night or yesterday morning, then flipped over vehicles, destroyed equipment, mangled a fence surrounding a baseball field and smashed open a back wall of the lodge. The owners of two businesses that stored equipment and vehicles in the back parking lot of the Glen Burnie Moose Lodge No. 1456 said they suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses as a result of the vandalism.

For more than 30 years, the Hodgepodge Lodge endured a battering from the elements. The floor was missing, the stone chimney destroyed, and the roof bore a large hole. But with the recent efforts of volunteers and donors, and months of hammering and painting, the cabin that was the iconic namesake of a popular public television show has been relocated and restored. The 8-by-10-foot structure was moved from its longtime home in Owings Mills to the Howard County Conservancy, where it will serve as an interactive nature exhibit for children.

Del. Virginia P. Clagett lives a 16-mile drive from Annapolis, in the community of West River in southern Anne Arundel County. For the 90-day annual legislative session in the capital, the Democrat lodges a few yards from the State House, at the historic Governor Calvert House. Del. Robert A. Costa, a Republican who lives a couple of miles farther down the road, in Deale, spends nights at home and commutes each day. Clagett spent $10,556 in public money on hotel costs last year, while Costa spent $110.

In January 2005, after 26 years of Annapolis living, Sydney Brookes answered what she called "the call of the country," placing an ad in the Tidewater Trader that read: "Seeking small, well maintained, updated, two-story home in or near Chestertown [in] nice, quiet neighborhood [with] garage ... perennials, wooden floors, open floor plan." In August 2005, she moved into her dream home, which she lovingly - and laughingly - refers to as hodge-podge lodge, so named for its idiosyncrasies, both inside and out. Built circa 1871, her farmhouse sits on a pie-shaped, lushly landscaped half-acre wedged between two narrow lanes about a mile from the Eastern Shore town's historic downtown.

Live '80s music is a hot commodity in Baltimore. Every time the Legwarmers play Rams Head Live in Power Plant Live, the show sells out. So it wasn't surprising to see a decent crowd come to the Lodge Bar in Power Plant Live a few Fridays back for its monthly '80s Explosion party. There was no cover charge when my roommate Patchen and I showed up about 8 p.m. last month. The Lodge Bar looks just like you'd expect: tons of wood and deer heads everywhere. Though plenty of patrons (most in their 20s, 30s and 40s)

Prompted by the "forever stamp" issued this year, Willows Lodge, which is east of Seattle, has come up with a "Forever Willows" package that guarantees guests four one-night stays at almost any time in the future. "Forever Willows" is priced at $1,000. Now for the fine print: Though "Forever Willows" can be redeemed forever, the package must be purchased by Dec. 30. Tax is additional, and booking is based on availability. Located in the Woodinville, Wash., "wine country," Willows Lodge is an 84-room rustic retreat with a full-service spa and two restaurants (425-424-2589; willowslodge.

Mandela: A Critical Life By Tom Lodge For those who want much more than the view of Mandela as a global public hero, this biography combines a chrono-logical account of his life with dense critical analysis of his political and personal roles. Lodge is a well-known scholar of South African history, and he draws on a wealth of testimonies, letters and interviews from a wide range of sources, as well as the acclaimed authorized biographies, including Antony Sampson's Mandela. Of course Lodge also draws extensively on Mandela's best-selling memoir, Long Walk to Freedom, even while pointing out that "autobiography is not always good history."

Insecure people can find it a liberating experience to pretend they are someone else. (Actors know this -- it's why some of them became actors in the first place.) The late playwright Larry Shue used that psychological phenomenon as the basis of his comedy The Foreigner. A lively and entertaining production of the show is running at Howard Community College through Dec. 16. Charlie Baker is a young Englishman who is so shy he can't talk to people and can't stand people talking to him. We learn that his wife (we never meet her)

STAR TANNERY, VA. -- Steam wafted off the 104-degree water. Worried that I'd be scalded, I tested it with my toes and timidly stepped into the tub. As the water climbed up my body, the throbbing in my lower back from a morning horseback ride faded. I lasted in the ofuro, a Japanese-style bath, at Virginia's Pembroke Springs Retreat for 13 minutes, shorter than the recommended 15- to 20-minute soaking time. When sweat began to roll down my temples, I knew it was time to wrap myself in one of the inn's summer kimonos, called yukatas, and get a glass of water.

As the lyrics say: "It's fun to stay at the YMCA." No, really. Far from the urban recreation centers or all-male dormitories that many Americans think of, a handful of year-round historic YMCA resorts that once catered to summering families and religious retreats have become today's little-known outdoor gems. Though most of the 2,663 U.S. branches of the YMCA, or Young Men's Christian Association, are local community centers that focus on providing after-school activities and fitness facilities for members, several Y's are lodge-based camps in coveted vacation spots such as the Colorado Rockies and Keanae, along the winding coast road to Hana on the Hawaiian island of Maui.