My sister treated us to a spa vacation at the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY for her bacherlorette party. I was really looking forward to this vacation because I would be with my sisters, I would be without my babies for a little bit, and because we left the day after her bridal shower, we could relax after all the hard work we put into the party. Here were 10 of my favorite moments:
1. Food at the Sunday brunch
I am still dreaming about this brunch. I filled my plate with salads, seafood, leg of lamb, an omelet, and of course a sampling of desserts. Everything was glorious and best of all, I didn’t have to cook any of it.
2. Our hotel room
I had been to the Mohonk Mountain House once before with my Grouchy Husband before he was my husband and was so grouchy. We had a wonderful time and I always knew I would come back again one day. My sister wanted a low key bachelorette, not too far of a drive away, where there was a great spa, and we could do activities. Mohonk immediately came to mind. I love the rooms here. Though the Mountain House has been renovated, they have kept the original rustic look while adding modern amenities like air conditioning and wireless internet. I love most that there are no televisions in the room.
I have a mild obsession with hotel bathrooms and it’s one of the key metrics I use to judge my stay. The bathroom was big, bright, and clean with lots of hooks and shelves. All of my favorite things in a hotel bathroom.
My most favorite part of the bathroom was that the toilet was separated from the rest of the bathroom. Super convenient when you have three ladies trying to get ready at the same time.
We had a little porch and this was the view from our room. Looking out the window or being on the porch was a great way to start the day.
3. Taking exercise classes with my sisters
There was a fitness schedule that was part of the spa and my sister wanted to take a class each day. The first class we took was a core strengthening class that wasn’t that hard. The teacher kept saying everyone was doing a phenomenal job even when my youngest sister was using the wall to balance…haha! I figured out a way to take our picture using the mirror in the room. I thought I was such a genius…ha!
The second class we took was a power yoga class. This class was much harder. My sisters have never taken yoga so it was great to see them struggle in a class they always made fun of me taking because they never thought it was a good workout.
4. Facial and sunning ourselves at the solarium in the Spa
We all decided to get facials at the spa. I’m going to embarrass my sister for a minute telling this story. I think this might have been the second facial my sister has ever gotten in her life. She was confused with the directions from the esthetician on how to lay on the bed. So instead of waiting for the esthetician to come back to the room to clarify her directions, my sister took off all her clothes except her panties and laid on the bed, on top of the covers, with her hands over her boobs. The esthetician was startled when she came back into the room, she quickly shut the door, and told my sister to lay underneath the covers. Duh…only my sister would do something like this. When she told me the story afterwards, I choked on my tea and could not catch my breath for at least two minutes. I thought I was going to need emergency services.
The spa had a solarium and the day was gorgeous. After lunch, we headed back and sunned ourselves for the rest of the afternoon.
5. My sister washing her clothes in the sink
I’m going to embarrass my sister one more time. With her bridal shower and the bachelorette vacation back to back, my sister didn’t pack enough underwear for the trip so she had to wash it in the sink and hang it on the porch to dry. The “China” (this is what I call all of her grungy tendencies she acquired after spending six months at a rural school in China teaching English) in her considered wearing underwear two days in a row…um, gross.
6. View from the rocking chairs on the porch
There are two levels of porches on the Mountain House that overlook the lake. On the porches there are rocking chairs and throughout the day people are reading, enjoying their cookies from the “Cookies and Milk” hour, or sipping wine from the cocktail hour in the rocking chairs.
The view from these rocking chairs is breathtaking.
7. Hike up to the tower
The grounds at Mohonk are beautiful and they have several hiking trails at varying degrees of difficulty. My sister loves to hike and she chose a difficult two hour hike for us to take. My youngest sister and I have never hiked. Thankfully, we spoke to Guest Services first and they recommended we try one of the short easy hikes to see how we feel before going on the difficult hike. As we were hiking up the mountain it was very very clear that this would be the only hike we would be going on and my youngest sister and I should not be anywhere near the difficult two hour hike.
The short hike we took was up the mountain to the tower. The view on this hike is the Mountainhouse, lake, and mountains. It is so beautiful, you can only marvel at God’s creations. At several points on the hike there are these sitting areas to take a rest and enjoy the view.
It felt like forever, but was actually only thirty minutes until we reached the tower.
The tower is a memorial for Albert K. Smiley. He and his brother were the founders of the Mohonk Mountain House.
We walked up to the top of the tower. It was so quiet.
The view from the top of the tower was amazing.
8. Feeding the fish at the lake
The lake in front of the Mountain House has a dock where you can take a row boat, paddleboat, or feed the fish. The fish come right up to the dock to eat. My girls would love doing this.
9. Gigantic creme puff dessert
For dessert one night we chose the gigantic cream puff. This dessert was enormous. It took up almost the whole dinner plate and was almost the size of a spoon. This was an individual portion that the three of us shared and could not finish!
10. Meals in the dining hall
The dining hall served all our meals. Breakfast, lunch, and the Sunday brunch were a buffet. Dinner was sit-down with a menu selection of eight to ten appetizers, main courses, and desserts. We ate everything from Belgium waffles to foie gras and it was all delicious.
Our two night bachelorette vacation was so relaxing and we did so many things. It’s hard to get time away with my sisters alone nowadays with two little girls at home to take care of. I will always cherish this time together celebrating my sister’s new life as a wife.
A relaxed Dumpling Mama,
Chrissy xo