In the words of one of the weekend's founders, Dave Hill: “Judi (Hill) used to host wives/friends at our home for many events. One evening in late 1986 the wives were meeting and discussing how busy life is (was). They came up with the idea of capturing their husbands and taking them off for a weekend in the North Georgia Mountains for a weekend without kids. They thought Valentine’s weekend would be good and then began a search for a location. Unicoi was the choice because of the price and location (very cheap back in the 80’s with the state park food and lodging rates). No dates were available in 1987 so we picked Valentine’s weekend 1988. We were assigned a meeting room in the main lodge the first year, and it was not very private with much noise in the meeting rooms next to us. The weekend was attended by 17 couples with a threefold purpose: refreshment, discovery, and commitment. The first purpose was accomplished by just being away with your mate for some extended time alone with each other along with fellowship with other like-minded couples. The second purpose came about as you listened to those teaching and sharing. Commitment came at the end of our time together where a challenge was made reflecting on what the Lord was saying to you throughout the weekend. We had several conversion testimonies along with three couples teaching. The teaching was mostly sharing from what they were learning about many subjects (communication, forgiveness, keeping biblically aligned in your relationships, time commitments, and many others). All three couples sharing were in the same stages of life regarding ages of children and activities. At the conclusion we gave a challenge for the following year: simply "each one bring one." We wanted to occupy the “D lodge” so we could have the meeting room and kitchen to ourselves. That is how it all came about.”