Mohonk Mountain House Birthday Weekend

We headed an hour and a half south of Albany for Matt's birthday weekend. We had lunch in New Paltz and headed up to a Buddhist meditation lodge and B&B where we stayed a couple of nights. It was at the top of a not so little hill and fairly secluded. Much nicer than staying at a super 8 by the interstate! Breakfast was also good, all local organic food. We took a nice stroll around pond in the afternoon.

The B&B from the pond

We headed back into New Paltz for dinner at the Gilded Otter brewery. I had a pizza with pear, Gorgonzola, walnuts and greens on top and it was fantastic. It was even good leftover the next day. We decided to start the birthday cake the night before Matt's birthday. I made a flourless chocolate ancho-chili cake and it was pretty darn successful, even if I do say so myself. A little bit of heat but not too much. We ate it cold at the B&B but had it warm at home with ice cream and both were great but pretty different.

Birthday cake

On the Sunday (actual birthday) we went to the Mohonk Mountain House (www.mohonk.com). We had seen it on an episode of No Reservations a long time ago (in Texas maybe) and realized it wasn't that far away. It's pretty expensive to stay so we thought we'd go for brunch and get access to the house and grounds to see if it's worth coming back to stay. I vote yes!! 

We spent the morning exploring the trails around the lake. It was pretty cold and there had been a little bit of snow but it was really beautiful.

The lake

View of the house and lake

Me and the house

We had a brunch reservation so headed back inside to the huuuuuge buffet. And I'm not talking about a Golden Corral type buffet either! I really enjoyed all the breakfast selections and desert but Matt preferred the lunch type food and one okra dish in particular. We took our time and made sure to get our money's worth of food. We got a great window seat, so got to enjoy a nice view with brunch.

Ready for a birthday brunch

Round one

After brunch we headed back out for some exploring. We walked along the cliff edge of the lake and noticed some people up near the tower on the opposite side of the lake. We'd noticed the trail up there said closed but seeing as others were up there we took our chances and headed up the sky tower trail. It turns out you could walk up a small carriage road to get up there but we took the trail. There is also a rock scramble path with ladders but that one was definitely shut for winter!

The sun appeared in the afternoon

It was a short hike up to the top and 100 % worth it. The sun had come out and it had started to warm up so the views of the mountain house, the Catskills and the Hudson Valley were wonderful.

View from above

Happy Birthday!

Frozen mini waterfall on the trail

We were able to climb to the top of the tower and get even better views. We weren't the only ones who had hiked up there either so didn't feel bad!

Looking arty in the tower

After the trip to the top we headed back down and wondered around the gardens and house including a nice little detour for a glass of Prosecco (me) and Port (Matt) in the bar. We walked through the house (and peaked in the rooms they were cleaning. A lot of the rooms have their own fireplaces as the "firewood man" was coming round to tend to the fires. How cool!

We finished the afternoon with tea and cookies in a room overlooking the lake and headed back to the B&B for a relaxing evening eating leftovers (we weren't that hungry after all the food) and more cake. A wonderful weekend and I really hope we can go back to Mohonk in the summer to enjoy all the summer activities they have. Another highly recommended local (but pricey) activity. 

A great weekend