Weddingbee Blog

Mr. Bee and I are back from our weekend at the Inn at Lake Joseph in upstate New York. I mentioned previously that it was a popular honeymoon destination, so Mr. Bee called it our minimoon.

The Inn at Lake Joseph is a 135 year old Victorian estate located near a 250 acre lake. We stayed in the main house which has 6 rooms, all on the second floor. There are also 6 lodge style rooms in a separate Carriage House, and 3 rooms in the Cottage House.

Stairs by front door leading to the second floor rooms.

We were upgraded to the Kingfisher room because the couple staying in the room we had booked decided to extend their stay. This is the largest and most private of the rooms in the main house because it’s at the end of the floor and there are no adjacent rooms.

It was a nice sized room decorated in the Victorian style. Amenities included a veranda, king size bed, an in room whirlpool bath (with a separate shower), a gas fireplace, satellite tv, and wifi (which we can’t live without! :P).

Rustic, charming, quaint bed and breakfasts are more interesting to Mr. Bee and I than modern hotels.

The view of the surrounding forest from our balcony.

A great place to enjoy a steaming mug of hot chocolate… Mr. Bee and I don’t smoke, but the rooms in the main house are nonsmoking except for this veranda - something you might consider if you’re a smoker.

Saturday morning we went on a 2 1/2 mile hike around the lake and through the forest. We passed by this random lone gas pump.

Other activities on the inn grounds - which are included with the room’s rate - are bikes, kayaks, boats, and fishing gear.

There are hammocks big enough for two everywhere on the grounds.

The Carriage House and Cottage House are pet friendly so you don’t have to leave Fido at home or in a kennel!

(image via tripadvisor)

The Inn at Lake Joseph is a great place to visit year round because there are tons of summer sports/activities, beautiful fall foliage, and tobaganning/cross country skiing/ice fishing/snowshoeing in the winter (all included in the inn’s base rate).

(image via tripadvisor)

This is Tigger - a very friendly cat who lives in the Main House.

There are several common areas to lounge in on the first floor of the main house and tons of activities to keep you occupied. Mr. Bee and I played chess on this oversized chess board…

We played pool…

Hung out in the library…

Played Scrabble in the dining room…

Our words were so sad… Mr. Bee beat me 281 to 255 :(.

We played foosball but most of all we played ping pong. (I’m getting so much better! ;)) There’s a basket full of goodies like frisbies (perfect for the huge lawns outside), soccer balls, badminton, tennis, etc.

Morning frost in a spiderweb.

Wild berry bushes were planted around the outside of the house and I kept thinking what great inexpensive and dramatic winter centerpieces they’d make.

The pool over yonder (which was frozen). The weather during the day was nice - in the high 50’s - but got down to the 30’s at night.

The back of the main house.

The breakfast veranda.

Breakfast and lunch were included with the room. For breakfast you had the option of an omelette made to order, hash browns, sausage, bacon, eggs cooked to order, and a special of the day which was fresh blueberry pancakes (scrumptious) and french toast while we were there.

There are also bagels, english muffins, toast, coffee cake, pound cake, fruit, yogurt, granola, cereal…

Lunch included sandwiches and snacks like pasta salad, eggrolls, taquitos, and more. Food and drinks were available in the refrigerator for guests to eat at any time which we took advantage of because everything was quite yummy!

One of the highlights of our trip - we came across this family of 5 deer!

If you wanted to go out to dinner, you had to drive into town which was 5 miles away. Local attractions included wineries, antique stores, museums, and more. Oh and of course Woodbury Commons Outlet is on the way! But it was just too crazy packed and I didn’t end up buying anything except candles from Crate & Barrel. I forgot my vow many years ago to never shop on Thanksgiving weekend - I’m not tough or patient enough to handle those conditions!

Mr. Bee and I had a great, relaxing time at Lake Joseph. It was secluded, the innkeepers were very friendly, the drive from New York was easy (although there is a bus from Manhattan if you don’t want to drive). We just ate, relaxed, read, played games, and hung out with each other. The Lake Joseph Inn’s website is chock full of all the information you might need, and of course you can read more reviews on tripadvisor. They have lots of off season specials so we might go back to go tobaganning/snow mobiling!

Everyone there was a couple so if you’re looking for a very chill place to take a minimoon, this is a great place to check out. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend too!