Roadtrip to the Catskills

Meghan invited me to come to the Catskills with her last week. We had such a great– and relaxing– time. I always forget how easy and quick it is to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city. Within two and a half hours (twenty minutes of which was spent navigating our way out of Hoboken), we were sitting in a cozy diner having freshly made doughnuts while the first season’s flurries fell outside.

We hopped out of the car to go pop into Twin Peaks Diner and were hit with just a wall of cold air. I wasn’t ready mentally or prepared clothing-wise. The doughnuts were so delicious and worth every calorie. I got the apple cider and maple… yum. If you’re ever in the Hunter/Tannersville area of New York, it’s a MUST visit. (My mouth is legit watering as I type this and upload the photos.)

Then we made our way to Scribner’s Catskill Lodge where Meghan had been invited to stay for a couple of nights. This is a dreamy hotel and I’m pretty sure they started it solely for Instagram. (Maybe not solely, but there are Instagrammable moments everywhere you turn.) There is not much to do in the area around the hotel, especially if it’s too cold to hike and/or you’re not into skiing, so I would only recommend the hotel if you’re looking for someplace to totally disconnect and recharge your batteries for a weekend.

(I have to be totally honest here though, I would also only go during the weekend. I’m surprised they are even open during the week as almost every restaurant in the surrounding area (including the hotel restaurant, which made no sense to me) is closed on Mondays/Tuesdays. Meghan and I figured the concierge would have recommendations for dinner when Google came up short, but they didn’t offer us any ideas within a 30-minute drive. We ended up at a BBQ place in town and it was absolutely delicious, but only one poor kid was waiting tables and it was packed since, you know, it was the only restaurant open.)

It really is a gorgeous and cozy hotel though, so again, it’s a perfect weekend escape from the city. I took so many photos! I tried my best to narrow them down 😉

The room was very cute. Perfectly simple, in a very thoughtful way. We had a beautiful view of Hunter Mountain and, while it was too cold to enjoy the balcony, it was still nice to take a peek at the foliage from the comfort of the room.

We kept the pace of our trip very, very relaxed which was so refreshing. We never had to rush anywhere and one night we ordered our dessert to go and got in pajamas to watch a movie. (Father of the Bride… It was my first time seeing it and I loved it… what the heck took me so long?!)

The hotel has a big common space where guests mingled, read, relaxed, and played games.

Meghan kept telling me about this super cute diner not too far away from the hotel. I was honestly thinking, “yea, okay… but it’s just a diner…” I didn’t really get why Meghan was insisting on going. Now I know. The Phoenicia Diner is straight out of a movie. It’s under recent new ownership and they have obviously taken every detail into account. We went for breakfast (which they serve all day), but Meghan and I both agreed that we eventually want to go back for a classic diner dinner. Everything was delicious. Pro tip: you can order half servings of the French toast and/or pancakes. Both are divine.

We did a ton of driving (~ two hours every day) and it was fun to drive through different towns and get a sense of the vibes. We didn’t have exact plans and I liked the freedom of driving through the foliage and being able to pull over to snap pics and take in different views whenever we saw an opportunity. Again, it’s crazy to think that you’re just a couple of hours away from Manhattan when you’re driving through the Catskills.

We were definitely a little late to the apple picking party. But we picked a couple and then grabbed a cherry pie and apple cider on the way out.

Two of the spots that we pulled over to check out.

And what’s better than ending the day with s’mores. I’m not even the biggest s’mores fan (love the idea, usually don’t like the taste), but as crazy as it sounds, the view definitely made these the best tasting s’mores ever. (We actually met the loveliest couple from Argentina and we got to teach them how to do their first s’mores!)

It was such a short, but sweet trip and seriously I came back feeling so well-rested. (Just in time to do laundry and repack for Paris. Ha!)