In Vernon, New Jersey there is another world
going on. It's not much more than an hour from Times Square but you'd think the urban landscape was
a million miles away. As innkeeper Jack says, "We're but an hour from the
George Washington Bridge," but you wouldn't know it from their
surroundings. Alpine Haus Bed & Breakfast is
named such because it's literally across the street from a ski mountain. The skiing
turns to a water park in the summer season, so there is always a great reason
to stop in to the Alpine Haus.
My wife and I arrived perhaps in the middle of
the season at Alpine; waning towards the end. You wouldn't know it from all the
snowsuit clad snowboarders and skiers crossing the street on Saturday. Even though
the mountain looked, at best, 1/3 covered in snow, the fact remains that there
was snow to be had. Moreover, innkeeper Alison told us that just the weekend
previous, the whole property was covered in snow.
Alpine Haus is split into two separate entities;
the main house and a second house with an upstairs room and a downstairs room.
The main house has four bedrooms on the second floor, two rooms in the
converted attic area, and two bedrooms built into what was once the basement
area. On the main floor is a sitting area, library, place to have coffee, as
well as a kitchen, the main dining area, and two rooms where innkeepers Allison
and Jack live. My wife and I stayed on the first floor of the second building
when we stayed at Alpine Haus. Upon first glance, the second house conjured the
outdoor scenes of the garage where Mike Seaver lived on Growing Pains.
The history of this second house at Alpine Haus
is pretty interesting; it was a carriage house more than 100 years ago and when
the current owners turned it into a guest house for their inn, they did some
pretty sly moves in their renovations. You can actually still see the original
arch over the doorway on the first floor of one of the buildings.
There were all sorts of kitschy little things
here and there; a pair of porcelain shoes with flowers on them, the complete
paperback works of Thornton Wilder, beautiful mirrors which were different in
each room, writing tables, electric fireplaces in each room; it was quite nice.
Also of note in our room was a sauna tub which were only found in the suites in
the guest house; all the other rooms in the main house have standing showers
only.
Breakfast at Alpine Haus was decadent to say the
least. We started out with a hazelnut strawberry muffin. This muffin was pretty
amazing; I'm always impressed when I see the baking prowess of so many of our
innkeepers; it had a warm center, crisp muffin top and a warm strawberry glaze
in the center which just blew me away. Following the muffin we were served
baked peaches with vanilla yogurt and granola. This was good too and the center
of the peach concoction was actually really hot. Lastly we were served a
sumptuous baked upside down French toast which had the syrup baked into the
bottom. After all we'd already had, the French toast was a bit much for me
(served with bacon strips, no less!) and the conversation with the innkeepers
got going and we got a bit distracted at the end.
Jack and Allison are wonderful innkeepers and
whether your mountain needs are for snow or for waterslides, the Alpine Haus Bed and Breakfast is a great place to visit
all year long.
No comments:
Post a Comment