Trout Run (retreat) Trout Run (retreat) Trout Run is a property in the Catoctin Mountains near Thurmont, Maryland, that was visited on several occasions by Presidents Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower. Originally called Catoctin Lodge, it is located about away from the presidential retreat at Camp David and was established by one of Hoover's senior aides. It subsequently became the property of the family of a senior State Department official, who owned it for nearly 70 years, before it was acquired in 2013 by an arm of the Church of Scientology. It became the focus of controversy in 2015 when
Dwight D. Eisenhower having to pay him. A friend reported that after learning to play contract bridge at West Point, Eisenhower played the game six nights a week for five months. Eisenhower continued to play bridge throughout his military career. While stationed in the Philippines, he played regularly with President Manuel Quezon, and was dubbed "The bridge wizard of Manila". During WWII, an unwritten qualification for an officer's appointment to Eisenhower's staff was the ability to play a sound game of bridge. He played even during the stressful weeks leading up to the D-Day landings. His favorite partner was General Alfred Gruenther, considered