The Navy Lodge

The military’s dormitory for families.

By Sarah Smiley

The Navy Lodge is so much more than a hotel, really. It's like a dorm for military families who are in the middle of moving from one location to another. My family lived in one this summer during our PCS from Florida to Maine. After we had settled in (and by "settled in," I mean that we had stuffed all of our belongings that the movers would not or could not take on their truck into the four dresser drawers below the television), we ventured out to the wooded trails behind the Lodge and found other displaced families who looked just as bewildered and tired as I am sure we did. Some of the mothers seemed cheerful. I guessed that they had either found the base liquor store or had grown to accept their current situation. Other mothers had an obvious inner happiness that they tried to hide with feigned looks of sympathy when they smiled and said hello to me. These mothers, I knew, were about to be released, if you will. They were on the last leg of their moving adventure.

When I looked back at the Lodge, I shuddered to see balconies with wet clothes hung out to dry on them. It was as if people were actually making themselves at home. But not me. This will never be "home," I thought.

Yet, besides the hotel-like annoyances of the Lodge, such as fitted sheets that popped off our mattresses in the middle of the night and curtains that never seemed to truly close, there was no better place for us than the Lodge. Unlike at a civilian hotel, the Lodge is accustomed to families using their accommodations as a temporary home.

I got to know the front-desk staff in a hurry. They controlled the 24-hour snack bar that had a small shelf of wine. "I'll be here awhile," I told them. "I'm going to need more wine."

Six nights into our stay, I saw a new family moving into the room next to ours. The mother seemed so optimistic when she told her children, "See, they even have a kitchen here." But my time was coming to a close. In another 48 hours, I'd be checking out of the Lodge and beginning my 4-day journey to Maine, which actually seemed like a welcome respite compared to another night of drying my underwear on the balcony and heating up macaroni in the kitchenette. I tried to smile at the other mother and at the same time hide my delight about leaving.