In place of our originally planned trip to Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, we decided to plan a last minute trip to the Skytop Lodge in the Poconos. It’s like the next best thing, right? All kidding aside, we were happy to be able to travel somewhere and feel somewhat comfortable in this COVID environment. We could drive in a reasonable time, restaurants were at a 25% capacity and reservations were required, and there were miles of trails to hike in solitude.
We requested an early check in if available and arrived at 2pm, an hour before check in to find our room ready to go. We decided on the Deluxe King Inn Room. This is down the property from the main lodge, around a 7 minute walk. These rooms are located where the Golf Pro Shop is as well as the Lakeside Restaurant. We were a bit turned off at the amount of people in the area, but were told that there was a golf tournament and they should be leaving shortly. Sure enough, an hour or two later and it was empty.
The food was better than we expected it was going to be. We ate dinner at the Windsor Restaurant the first night. We both had the filet with potatoes and carrots. It had an Almond and Bacon dust on top and it was delicious. The second night was Lakeside Restaurant. I had Pistachio crusted Swordfish and my wife had Crab Cakes. We were both a bit full from the complimentary Cookies and Lemonade offered at 4pm each day, but managed to enjoy it anyway. We like to eat!
The next morning we woke up and had a buffet breakfast at Windsor. It was our first experience with a COVID buffet. They show you the food which is all behind glass, and will fill up your plate for you. This is something we are not a fan of that much as we like to pick our food. We like the crispy Bacon!!! We then went back to our room and loaded up for the hiking.
Had a 25lb camera bag with my gear with me for the hike. 14 miles of trails, climbing, and waterfalls, we were back and exhausted. It was nice to see that the trails were clearly marked and obvious in which direction to go. The downside is after all that mileage, I hardly saw any animals or birds to photograph. Pretty disappointing.
