Why Must Vacation End?

Although we’ve been home since Thursday, I haven’t had the chance to write about our amazing vacation until now. This is going to be a long one, so you might want to get a cup of tea or something 🙂 As you might remember, at Christmas, Drew surprised me with a family vacation to Woodloch Pines Resort in the Poconos (that’s in northeastern Pennsylvania for the unfamilar 😉 ). Originally it was planned for Monday through Thursday, however it was only a little extra per adult to add on Sunday night, so we opted for that, and it worked out *so well*. The drive was only a little over two hours for us, which wasn’t bad at all. We got there around 3 on Superbowl Sunday and our room was ready, so right away we checked in and then settled into our suite in the Mountain Laurel building. Wow! It was gorgeous: kitchen, dining area/living room, bathroom, bedroom. We had a view of the lake and were in the same building as the pool, which proved to be a good thing since it was so cold outside (I wouldn’t have wanted any of us walking around with wet hair).

There were a few activities going on, but we decided to just hang out in the room for a while. There was a Superbowl party going on in the Nightclub at 5:30 with a dinner buffet (wings, nachos, typical party food), or else you could still have dinner in the dining room. Now, when you stay at Woodloch, it’s all-inclusive, so you don’t pay for anything. You have a table in the dining room where you eat all your meals, and there are typically three options, plus a kids’ menu. Since the boys were tired (dinner was at 6, much later than they are used to), we thought the party would be too much for them so we opted for the dining room. There were only six or seven tables of people (most people obviously opted for the Superbowl party), so it was nice and quiet and a perfect way for us to kind of soak everything in. Dinner was delicious! There was soup and a salad, and Drew and I both chose the scallops casino that were on the menu that night. There were also mashed potatoes and vegetables served family-style. Everything was fantastic, and you can eat as much as you want. I won’t rattle off every meal (though it’s tempting!), but the food was excellent. It’s hearty home cooking, and I loved that every lunch and dinner started with soup and a salad. There was a featured dessert every night along with an assortment of ice creams, jellos, and puddings. The breakfasts were fantastic, too. Woodloch ruined us for bacon. The bacon there is the best bacon we have ever had anywhere! We also had Scandanavian pancakes one morning which were just out of this world. I could go on about the food, but I’ll restrain myself. I *will* come back to our last dinner in a bit, though.

Now every morning at breakfast, the day’s schedule would be waiting on our table. There were certain events that happened pretty much every day, such as snowmobiling, ice skating, snow tubing, and so on. And then there were special events that would happen on that day only (though I am pretty sure they repeat weekly), such as the cooking class I attended, a Winter Carnival, the Festival of Lights hay ride, contests, and more. So we were able to plan out our day very easily. Well, it wasn’t always easy because there was so much we wanted to do! Of course, some of the events (such as some of the board game tournaments — oh Lisanne, you’d love it!) weren’t really toddler-friendly, so we had to pass on those.

There was plenty to keep us busy with a four year old and a one year old, though. Not only is there an open arts & crafts room for the kids, but daily there is a craft activity at a certain time. Jake loved it! One day he made a bee door hanger with his name on it, another day he made a shaker decorated with crepe paper and markers, and the third day he made a fish puppet. The staff is so good with kids! There was also Woodloch Forest, which just opened a month or two ago. It’s an enormous (and I mean ENORMOUS) indoor play structure with slides, a rope bridge, lots of climbing stuff. It was very popular as you can imagine! There was also bumper cars, kiddie Jeeps, and at every meal characters were there to greet us and they walked around the dining room saying hi to all the kids.

Wednesday night was “Theme Night.” They request that you dress up for dinner and there’s entertainment. The show going on right now was written by one of the staff and is called “A Tribute To American Icons.” There is actually a full-on show in the nightclub after dinner (we didn’t attend because the boys had to go to bed), but during dinner you get a taste, and there’s live music and it was really nice. They had a table set up with three featured drinks (drinks from the bar are the only thing you have to pay for), and since it was our last night we splurged. I don’t remember what the names of the alcoholic drinks were, but Drew’s was peach schnappes, champagne, and cranberry juice. Mine was Stoli blueberry, white creme de cacao, cream, and whipped cream, and Jake’s was called “Captain America” (I remember because he was totally excited about the name being that he loooves his superheroes) and it was layered — a Shirley Temple on the bottom, maybe lemonade in the middle (not sure on that), and then raspberry slush on top. All three came with these little light-up blinking sherrif badges with the theme night logo. I guess some people might think it was a little cheesy, but I love that stuff so I was totally into it! Jake got his photo taken with both Batman AND Spider-Man that night so he was in 7th Heaven.

I really can’t say enough good things about the place. I’m sure I’m forgetting things I had wanted to write about. The staff is so professional and so nice. You can just tell that they love their jobs and they actually care if the guests are enjoying themselves. We all were so sad to go. Jake was crying in the car 🙁 We’re going to see if there is any way possible to swing another few days before the rates skyrocket in the summer when it’s crazy expensive. But now, during the off-season, we found it to be very reasonable. Even more so now that we’ve been there and know all there is to offer. My photos are right here if you want to see them. I can’t wait to go back!!!