Our retreat and family fun getaway weekend was at Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY, which is just about 2.5 hours away from home. The perfect little weekend trip.
Mohonk is an absolutely gorgeous rustic resort nestled high up in the mountains, with about a million things to do. It was built in the 1800s so has great history and architecture, not to mention beautiful scenery and delicious food.
It rained all day Friday so we were stuck inside most of the time, but with daily 4:00 tea & cookies in the lounge and a spa-like huge indoor pool, that didn't really matter. Riker is such a little fish, I think we were at the pool at least three times throughout the weekend.
Thankfully the weather got beautiful on Saturday, though, so we got to spend a ton of time outdoors. Spring has finally sprung!
Some of the highlights included touring the 150-year old barn, feeding fish at the lake, seeing a birds of prey demonstration with enormous eagles, and taking a row boat out on the lake to go fishing.
Going "fishing" is probably an overstatement. All Riker really cared about was pushing the button on the reel and then reeling the line back in over and over again. Ah well, whatever makes him happy.
We also did a little hiking and a walk through the hedge maze, and had a gourmet picnic lunch overlooking the lake. I can't get over how pretty the grounds are.
I have to say, though, one of my favorite parts of the weekend was actually when Riker took a nap. ;) When we're at home and Riker naps, it's my time to get as much housework done as I possibly can in 2 hours. I don't often use the time to relax, and on the rare occasion that I do, I always feel guilty that I'm not doing laundry or some other chore. But at Mohonk, when Riker napped I obviously could not do chores, so I sat on our hotel room veranda and read a book while enjoying the sunshine and serene water views.
It was so peaceful, I could've sat there all day.
After our stay at Mohonk concluded and we were headed home, we stopped at a restaurant in town we'd been told was a must-do for beer lovers, Bacchus. I obviously couldn't drink beers, but Matt was excited about the huge selection and he tried a couple of sours he'd never had before. I was excited about the Ahi tuna tacos with jicama & green apple slaw. Oh and house made sweet potato fries with horseradish dipping sauce.
Uh, yum.
It was such a perfect weekend away with my family, and I'm glad we got a chance to relax and spend some quality time together before the excitement and whirlwind begins in a couple of weeks. It was also nice to get to hang out with my coworkers on a social basis rather than in a work setting; it's not often we get to do that, and I think it makes work so much better when you know your office mates on a personal basis.
Now that we've had our fun, the next two weekends will be cah-razy trying to get everything ready for the baby's arrival. I have a list about a mile long of things to do before she arrives, so here's hoping she stays put until my due date of June 10. Fingers crossed! :)
Melissa, I am so jealous that you got to stay at the Mohonk Mountain House! I have often looked at it across the lake because when I was a kid we spent almost every weekend in the spring summer and fall at the Shawangunks in the Mohonk Trust because my dad was a climber. We'd hike around the carriage paths and often walk over toward the lake and the mountain house and look at it from afar. We also spent a lot of time in New Paltz on rainy days. That is such a beautiful area. So glad you all got to enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteWhat nice memories it sounds like you have from your trips there. I feel very lucky we got to stay there, it was incredible! Hopefully we'll be able to go back again sometime.
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