July Postcard

Hello friends! 🙂

My most exciting news is that my sister had a baby last week, a cutie little squish nugget that we got to meet a few days ago. Eep! Mom and Dad and baby are all home and doing well, settling in to their new adventure quite nicely. When my mom texted me that my niece was born, all I had done in the same time that my sister brought a tiny, new human into the world was wake up and eat a banana. In that moment I was pretty sure I’d always be the less impressive daughter. And, you know what? I can roll with that. I can roll with that till the cows come home.

The rest of this post is less exciting to me, but maybe you guys prefer to read about our travels, so, here you go!

Earlier this month, we took a trip to the Poconos and stayed in a beautiful hotel called The Swiftwater, situated off rural 611. We were looking for a hotel that was geared more towards adults rather than families, without being one of those Poconos hotels, if you know what I mean. We got what we were going for and the place was really lovely.

At check-in time, we were greeted in the lobby with little cups of complimentary prosecco that we enjoyed as we unpacked and waited for the family hours to finish at the pool at 5:30pm and for the adult only hours to begin. The adult only pool hours was a big bonus point for The Swiftwater and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the end of family hours was actually promptly enforced by the hotel staff.

By the time we got out to the pool area, the pool, pool deck, and firepit seating area were occupied by adults, the only children in sight, peeking wistfully out from their families’ rooms above in the stone and wooden hotel facade and from the outdoor seating area at the white tablecloth onsite restaurant, The Olivet. If you want to give your kids an incredible sense of FOMO and a menu lacking in kid-friendly options, please, by all means, bring them to the Swiftwater.

Not being a child, the only negative that I noticed by the pool was that there were very few fresh towels left stocked in the cubbies for guests when we arrived, so if you plan to visit, it may be wise to bring a towel down from your room.

Our visit to the Poconos was geared by our love of outdoor adventure. We had some kayaking and hiking plans ready to go for the next couple of days as well as some breakfast ideas from our last trip to the area. We paid another visit to The Cure Cafe in Stroudsburg, PA the next morning for a hearty breakfast. I opted for a chai tea latte and avocado toast with scrambled eggs.

After breakfast, we headed off to Chamberlain Canoes in East Stroudsburg to set out on a Delaware River Kayaking trip. The trip down the river was picturesque, relaxing, and a lot of fun. The water in the river was so clear that you could see the green grasses in the riverbed being pulled with the current. I am really looking forward to going back sometime soon.

While our experience with Chamberlain Canoes was not one that left us immediately ready to leave a five-star rating, let’s just say, we decided to chalk it up to the craziness of the July 4th holiday weekend and would give the adventure outlet another try in future.

After our 6-mile kayaking adventure down the Delaware, we stopped in at Shawnee Craft Brewing Co. for some pizza and brews. We shared the meat-lovers pizza and I opted for the Pear Necessities Blonde Ale. The pizza was out of this world and the beer was delicious too. Both were enough to leave us in a pleasant enough mood to not stew about our less than stellar experience with our return shuttle process from the river to the kayaking rental site.

We enjoyed some more time by the pool that evening before heading off to a treat-ourselves dinner at a beautiful restaurant called The Water’s Edge in Mt. Pocono. I had some red wine and Mike got the Smoked Bourbon Old Fashioned which he kindly let me try. It was fragrant, smooth, and very enjoyable. I ordered one for myself later in the evening. As we waited for our meal to arrive, we stole frequent glances at the pretty little pond outside the big windows that lined the back of the restaurant. For dinner, I opted for the Braised Veal Ragout, a white herb butter-based sauce with vegetables, orecchiette pasta, and tender morsels of veal folded in. Mike opted for the Pork Chop which he said did not disappoint.

The next day of our Poconos adventure led us back to Shawnee Craft Brewing Co. for lunch and then to the Mount Tammany Red Dot trailhead. We had hiked Mount Tammany before, in the spring a few years ago, and remembered it being a very strenuous hike with lots of straight up rock scrambling spots, despite the trail’s deceptively short length. We reasoned with ourselves that this time would be easier since we are in better shape now. We were wrong, my friends.

The red dot trail was just as hard as I remembered it being. In hindsight, I probably would not choose to do this hike in the heat of the summer. I would also not recommend filling up on pizza and beer before hitting the trail. Eat something healthy instead and drink lots of water to best prepare yourself. We downed two bottles of water and a big, blue Gatorade on the hike and were wanting for more well before we reached the end of the trail.

Still, the views of the bend in the Delaware and of Mt. Minsi across the gap were pretty incredible from the rocky summit. We descended via the blue dot trail, a rocky stretch that I strongly recommend proper hiking footwear for and possibly trekking poles if you get a little jelly-legged using those leg stabilizer muscles on the way down.

The blue trail ends along the banks of a pretty creek that is dotted with little waterfalls. Lots of people were cooling off in and near the creek, probably a much better idea than hiking up the mountain on such a hot day. Walking alongside the creek in the ample shade, the sound of trickling water for company the rest of the way, was a very pleasant experience. It got me thinking that it would be a nice to do an out and back hike sometime in the future, just to the biggest waterfall on the blue dot trail and back to the parking lot, especially if it were another hot, summer day.

Those are all my updates for now. Hope you are all doing well, staying cool, and enjoying any little chance at rest and adventure this summer so far. As always, thanks for reading. 🙂