A Trip to the Catskills

We were honored to be invited to celebrate the marriage of Lucas VanEngen and Jenson Smith on June 17 at Full Moon Resort in the Catskills. They were married last November but were having a party now for family and friends.   It was a three hour ride from Princeton.  We arrived in time to settle into our beautiful cabin and take a shuttle to the location of the ceremony.  Lucas and Jenson had a complete wedding ceremony with bridesmaids, groomsmen, music and vows. (And a "sermon of sorts" from Abram, Lucas's brother).     My dear friend Sue, mother of the groom, was stunning in her black palazzo pants and white cape--and it made me smile to see her escorted by two of her grandsons. And how lovely to see Jenson in her beautiful wedding dress walking up the path to the wooded setting. 

There was a time for cocktails after the ceremony and then a fine dinner in which we were seated next to one of Sue's seven sisters and Lucas's acting manager.   We watched the dancing afterwards and as always I regretted our reluctance to take the floor with the others.  I totally forgot about masks which were no longer required--until I woke up at 3:15 am in a small panic hoping we were not exposed to anyone with Covid!  But we are vaccinated;  I assume most if not all the guests were as well.  

Sue really made us feel a part of her family as we joined them for breakfast the next morning.  By 10:45 we were on the road heading to Dan and Alex's home also in the Catskills.  

But this is when we hit a problem as we lost our cell phone connection and had not brought a map.  We played it safe and headed back to I 87 where we could travel south until we got to New Paltz and then we picked up coverage again.  We were in no hurry but it was a lesson on how much we depend on Apple maps and sometimes that just does not work.

Alex gave us the grand tour of the house which was much more furnished than when we visited earlier. They had been given several items from Alex's boss.  Dan finished work at 1 and we had a leisurely lunch on their screened in porch.  We discussed options for the afternoon and settled on a trip to Minnewaska State Park with its alpine lake.  We timed our walk perfectly because the mountain laurel was in bloom and scattered all over the hills.  The views of the lake and the Catskills in the distance were wonderful but I got a bit uneasy at the heights and the sharp drop off of the cliffs and rocks.  

We were able to make good on our Christmas gift to Dan and Alex of a dinner in a restaurant when we ate at Runa Bistro, a new French restaurant in New Paltz.  We had a great meal of appetizers, entrees, and desserts.   Afterwards, Dan and Jim decided there was still enough light in the sky to throw a frisbee--a real treat for Jim to do that with his son again.  We watched the 76ers beat the Hawks and then headed up to the newly furnished guest suite over the garage where we had a very comfortable night with a cool mountain breeze coming in the windows.  The only bad aspect of all that natural setting was the woodpecker that rudely awakened us at 5:52 am.  Fortunately he gave up after a few tries and we went back to sleep.  

We had breakfast on the porch again--eggs and kale freshly picked from their garden beds for Dan and Alex and me.  We left around shortly after 10 and were home before 12:30.  We were smart enough this time to get our cell phone map going before we left our hosts.  

Even with two good nights of sleep I felt weary when we got home. I think we are so unused to being with other people that 48 hours of sociability was wonderful but tiring.  So now it is back to our quiet routine but with great memories of the last few days!