A Little Borscht Belt History

Tourists still flock to Woodstock to wax poetically about counter-culture, the social revolution and libertine attitudes. Then again others like to think beyond the "Swinging Sixties" to a time of grandiose Mountain Houses, horse rides and train trips.

Each have their place in the Borscht Belt. First, in Woodstock, you can wander in and out of incense shops, buy some local beads or join a drum circle in the summer. In the winter, the sidewalks are not quite as crowded but still free-spirited, playful and earthy.

I'm not sure who this happy hippie is, jingle bells, flowing robes and all, but he's a permanent fixture in this artsy colony.

Following that you drive 3 miles west, up a windy narrow road to a parking lot just big enough for 10 cars. It's here you don your boots and bug spray in the summer or crampons in the winter and climb Mount Overlook. As mentioned on last blog post, Nola and I hiked this tiny mountain on Friday.

At a height of 2,920' we found the shell of this 1928 Mountain House incomplete and crumbling. Information gleaned from Hudson Valley Ruins says the place "suffered financial difficulty, and it was hard to transport guests to the site." Two others before this serviced guests in splendid opulence and modern conveniences.

Posh hotels or Mountain Houses in the Catskills catered as fashionable playgrounds for the rich and famous from the 1830's to the turn of the century. Of the 1000 hotels and 2000 bungalow colonies in the area, only the Mohonk still exists. That's a sad fate for one of America's most beautiful wildernesses.

Finally, for a little energy boost, feed off a short lecture on enlightenment at the Tibetan Buddhist Monastery (right across from where you parked). Nola and I closed out the day with a short conversation on chant and meditation.