More Mohonk Magic

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(l-r Megan, me, and Karen)
Though I have been stressed and complaining about how much I have had to do, I have to admit, I did take several hours each day to meet with a different friend to have lunch.

I saw Rob on Monday at the Raccoon Saloon, Frannie Tuesday in Rhinebeck at The Beekman Arms Hotel,(that will be a separate review at some point---good one) and today was Mohonk with friends Karen and Megan. It is Karen's birthday tomorrow and because I was leaving for Tennessee, we celebrated it a day early.

I had to get up at 6:30 so I could get to Karen's by 8:30, Mohonk by 9. We were half awake when we entered the spa, did our paperwork, and then sat in the Women's Solarium waiting for our masseuse, eating the light breakfast we had bought with us.

The Swedish Massage was 50 minutes. I had a good massage, though I am used to deep tissue work and Swedish Massage is a bit too light. After emerging from the dim lit room with piped in yogic music and wonderful aromas of essential oils, we lounged back at the solarium under a chenille blanket overlooking the woods.

In spite of the fact that is was raining, the temp was 40 degrees, and the fog quite thick, we sat in the open air mineral hot tub..interesting being in the open air in a bathing suit getting rain on with ice cold rain! It was a cold run back to the sauna, where we put iced cucumbers on our eyes,. We left the sauna for the eucalyptus steam room once the cucumbers wilted. (I was hungry by now and wanted to eat them). After much sweat/purification, we took a shower, and enjoyed the sensual process of putting ourselves back together for lunch in the main dining room.

I am not a big fan of buffet food, even in one of the most beautiful hotels in the world. There are a lot of things that I avoid (oh..stories about the buffet lines in Mexico...) and don't eat.But for the money we paid for it, I was determined to eat my worth. I had a great salad and soup, and what we had was fairly good. I ate enough to hold me over till I land in Nashville at 5 pm tomorrow afternoon.

After lunch Karen and Megan went back to the solarium to sit by the fireplace and read, and I headed home to pack, but not before I played with a few photos that I took out of the dining room windows.

Mohonk is magical, though to some it is a little Stephen Kingish in a REDRUM kind of way, but the air is pure, the views grand, and it is only 30 minutes away....and if there are fairies, they surely live there!

Patti O Bather

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