Escape to the Catskills: The Perfect Weekend Getaway
by Melissa Goldstein
Just came back from a relaxing weekend away in the beautiful Catskill Mountains, a quick 2.5 hour drive away from the NJ suburbs. Although famous in your grandparents day, and from Dirty Dancing - the Catskills have had a new, cool resurgence in recent years with the opening of trendy lodges and amazing farm-to-table restaurants. Surrounded by beautiful nature year-round, it’s a great weekend trip for families, couples and friends. Here are some highlights from our early-Spring weekend in Hunter, New York.
Stay:
Scribner’s Lodge
Scribner’s Lodge has been a family favorite of ours since its opening. The relaxing vibes welcome you as soon as you enter the huge stone floor lobby and look through to the amazing library lounge. During the winter months, our family has enjoyed skiing Hunter Mountain (across the street - and viewed from Scribner’s rooms and balconies) as well as nearby Windham Mountain. Since we visited this year in early Spring, we decided to relax a bit, enjoy the lodge and amenities and explore the area a bit more.
Highlights for our family at the lodge were the mountain view suite with full size bunk-beds, a cozy living room and king size bedroom. We also enjoyed the sunshine on the balcony and views of the mountain.
After our full days of exploring we also loved relaxing in the lodge library by the fireplace, playing some pool and enjoying the s'mores pit for an evening treat. The kids also enjoyed the glice (synthetic ice) skating rink and my husband and I enjoyed samples and chatting with the owner of a local upstate New York distillery. Yoga is also a weekend highlight for anyone up early and a DJ for apres-ski / happy hour in the lodge.
Eat:
Prospect at Scribner’s
Our favorite restaurant is Prospect at Scribner’s Lodge. We love the beautiful views of Hunter Mountain, delicious drinks and a seasonal farm-to-table menu. We enjoyed everything we ordered - salad, burrata, smoked chicken, prospect burger, and market fish - all amazing. My husband also highly recommends his favorite drink, the Maple Old Fashioned. We were stuffed and glad to relax in the library for a while before making our smores outside at the cozy firepit.
Fellow Mountain Cafe
Fellow is our favorite breakfast spot in the area. A quick drive down the road from Scribner’s, just past Hunter Mountain. The cinnamon buns are heavenly, and we also enjoyed the oat porridge and egg and cheese sandwiches and fresh sourdough bread with berry compote. Such a nice casual stop before a day of adventuring.
Phoenicia Diner
For a decadent breakfast and beautiful drive, we enjoy going to the retro-feeling Phoenicia Diner in nearby Phoenicia, New York. Huge portions on their all-day breakfast and lunch menu include vegan and traditional options. We enjoyed the eggs, french toast and vegan pancakes.
Tabla Restaurant
Down the road from Scribner’s is the quaint town of Tannersville, NY with lots of restaurant options to explore. This visit we tried Tabla Restaurant with a seasonal menu and large window views overlooking a relaxing creek. We enjoyed everything we ordered in particular the whipped feta and crispy brussels, as well as the locally sourced porterhouse Veritas Farms.
Explore:
Town of Woodstock
Since we weren’t skiing on this trip, we decided to spend one day exploring the nearby local town of Woodstock, New York. Famous for the music festival named after it, there are many Woodstock-era themed stores, and local shops to explore. We loved the candle store, Candlestock (and their 8 foot tall candle drip mountain!) and Woodstock Blues T shirt store. Lunch at Oriole 9 was just what we needed after a fun morning of exploring before heading back to Hunter. Some of our favorites on the lunch menu were the Oriole 9 burger, chicken tacos and grilled chicken sandwich.
Kaaterskill Falls
Kaaterskill Falls and surrounding hiking trails are not to be missed. We have previously done some of the longer trails, but kids opted for a quick half-mile path this time directly to the top viewpoint of the falls. Still partially frozen in early spring, the waterfall was tall and impressive. There is easy parking for the short path to the view point, or for starting out on some of the longer trails. Check out the trail maps before heading out for your adventure, since the trails vary from easy to challenging.
Such a fun weekend of relaxing and exploring - we can’t wait to go back! Hoping for a summer visit soon when my husband and I plan to try out the newly opened Rounds at Scribner’s Lodge - individual cabins on the property. Until next time!