On Holiday at the Mohonk Mountain House… with a Baby!

I first spotted in from the valley below – a massive, imposing, most incongruous structure in an otherwise placid natural setting.

That can’t be the Mohonk Mountain House, I thought. What I’d pictured, in the weeks leading up to our two-night stay here, was a small, very quaint lodge with a traditional, almost colonial feel. This place looked more like it had come straight out of a Tim Burton movie.

“They say that Stephen King used this hotel as his inspiration for The Shining,” my Aunt Louise announced as she met me at the main entrance of the hotel. At least my Tim Burton vibe wasn’t that far off, I thought. Still, it didn’t explain why everything – even the entrance of the hotel – was odd. I’d learn the reason for that later.

Months earlier, when Bruno and I had conceived the plan of traveling from Atlantic Canada down the east coast of the United States, we’d gotten in touch with Louise, who has lived so long in NYC she’s practically native. We’d visited her there in 2016, but this time – with a bus and a baby – we suggested meeting up with her somewhere outside of the US’ largest metropolis.

She suggested the Mohonk Mountain House, a historic hotel about 90 minutes north of the city, at the foothills of New York State’s Catskill Mountains. She’d always wanted to go, and here was her excuse.

As we were led through the endless carpeted halls (me replaying Jack Nicholson scenes in my mind) to our two-bedroom suite, we learned the reason this hotel has earned its fame these past 149 years. From the balcony of our room we looked out upon a turquoise private lake tucked like a secret between densely forested hills.

If I’d been nervous about bringing our not-quite five month old baby boy, Phoenix, on this mini holiday, I was now, instead, determined. Determined to make the most of this amazing place, to have an unforgettable reunion with my aunt, and to drag Phoenix around as much as needed in order to accomplish this.

We immediately set out. From the balcony we could see a little boat dock and a few wooden huts along the water’s edge, so we headed in that direction. After admiring – and perplexing yet again over – the architecture of the hotel from this vantage point, we discovered a little hiking path that followed the circumference of the lake. I suppose it was accidental, then, that Phoenix did his first ever hike. With 85 miles of maintained trails on the property and adjacent preserve, it sure wouldn’t be his last.

At the end of the hike we passed the lodge’s little private beach where a sweet-looking young lifeguard was on duty. Earlier that day, Louise had been disappointed to learn that the babysitter she’d scheduled for our two evenings had come down with a cold. Louise had tried unsuccessfully to find a last-minute replacement, and so we were facing the choice of which of the three of us would watch Phoenix while the other two had dinner in the dining room. I didn’t like the sound of that, so I went straight up to the lifeguard and asked if she knew any babysitters available. She was, she told us, if that was alright with us. YES, I said immediately. Yes, yes it was. (Don’t worry, parents, she had her first-aid and EMT training!). And that was how Phoenix got his first babysitter.

It was surprisingly easy leaving Phoenix for the first time, and even more surprising how quickly I reverted back to my pre-parent days, sipping wine and talking about adult things and eating at my first restaurant in five months. Sure, I thought about him, hoped he was still asleep (as I’d left him), and even missed him a bit, but I think I needed that evening away more than I’d realized. (It probably helped that my first time “away” we were technically in the same building and only a 5 minute walk from our room).

The dinner itself, however, was disappointing. I’d been ogling over the menus on the hotel’s website, but, because of renovations, dinner was buffet-style stations. That meant waiting in lineups for each food item we wanted and having semi-cooked, lukewarm food that we mostly ended up eating alone at the table because the others were still waiting in line for theirs. At least the sunset was something to write home about.

I knew Louise was not impressed, either. The next morning, after our breakfast (which was, by the way, Phoenix’ first restaurant – see photo!), Bruno and I went for a little stroll on another trail between the lodge and the lake. We stumbled upon an outdoor picnic-style restaurant, called the Granary, that served BBQ food at red-checkered picnic tables overlooking the lake. I spoke with one of the employees and learned that, yes, we could eat our meals there, and also that that evening, their three-course fine dining restaurant was open for limited reservations.

I immediately went to the front desk, on a mission to remedy our dining situation. Unfortunately, they could only seat us at 8:45pm. I begged and pleaded, returned later that day, and left our phone number in case anything changed, but it didn’t looking good.

In the meantime, we decided to go on the history walk offered that morning. Both Louise and I were curious to know more about the Mohonk Mountain House. With Phoenix asleep in the sling on my chest, we learned about how the Smiley family had stumbled upon this property, purchased it for $28,000 and turned it into a hotel to pay off the bank loan; how they instilled their Quaker influence into the ethos of the hotel (even today, you have to go searching for a drink as their bars are not in evidence); how the building was designed by several architects, and built, piece-meal over the years (that explained more than just the uneven floors!); and how the hotel’s reception area was originally in New Paltz, a couple hours’ carriage ride away (that was why the main entrance of the hotel didn’t feel main-entrancy!).

With Phoenix now awake and in his stroller, we ate burgers and brats, watermelon and beans, salads and macaroni at a picnic table overlooking the lake. The forecast hadn’t been looking good for our stay – and the season thus far had been incredibly rainy – so we marvelled at how lucky we were to be sitting outside on a sunny day picnicking with such a view!

While Louise went off to digest her meal, Bruno and I took Phoenix to the hotel’s beautiful indoor swimming pool. Phoenix absolutely loves swimming (luckily, during our travels, we have found several lakes and pools in which to swim) so we had a great time bobbing with him in the water.

Then, we all decided to go on our biggest and best hike yet – up to the Skytop Tower. We’d spotted this structure at the top of the hill overlooking the lake, and had learned during our history tour that that was where the Smileys first spotted the little inn below and immediately fallen in love with the property. I put Phoenix in the baby carrier on my chest (he was due for another nap) and we make the steep climb up. Along the way, we stopped at several of the 150 observation huts and were rewarded with progressively more stunning views. At the top, we completely understood why the Smileys had to have this piece of land – the view of the hidden lake, green hills, and Catskill Mountains was as beautiful as a mountain getaway could be. Eagles glided overhead, we spotted a deer grazing on our way down, and all of us felt very happy to be sharing this time together.

It was during our happy-hour drink that our third strike of luck struck (the first two being the babysitter and the weather). We received a phone call that we could dine in the fine dining restaurant that evening at 7pm! We went back to the room, dressed ourselves up, put Phoenix to bed for the night, welcomed the babysitter back, and enjoyed a lovely, relaxing, luxurious three-course meal.

The next morning – our last – as we enjoyed a final view, stroll, and meal together, I was filled with such gratitude to Louise. Not only had she invited us to experience the wonders of the Mohonk Mountain House with her, but she had given us an even greater gift – a taste of our old life, mixed in with the joy of our new life. For it was during this mini-holiday that we dared – for the first time – leave Phoenix with a babysitter, take him to restaurants, and do activities like hikes and history walks with him in tow. I’d spent five months living in a self-imposed cave with my baby boy, enjoying him, of course, but also grieving the loss of my old life.

Louise helped me see that, even with a baby, a stress-free, memorable holiday can be had.

Thank you so much, Louise, for the wonderful time, and the wonderful life lesson!