Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge: An Overnight Getaway

DenaMarch 5, 2018

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Hello, friends! I hope that you are well and that your week is off to a beautiful start. On Friday morning, we headed up to Grand Cascades Lodge in Vernon, New Jersey for a little overnight getaway. I’ve been wanting to get away with my kids for what feels like forever. Other than a couple of camping trips, we haven’t gone away in nearly three years. It was a last-minute plan and Roman was so excited about the idea of sleeping in a hotel for the first time (that he remembers).

There was a Nor’easter expected on the day that we were set to leave, but I was hopeful that we could get on the road early and miss it. When we left there was just slush on the ground here, but as we headed up into the mountains toward the lodge, I drove into a full force blizzard. It was absolutely terrifying for me. I am so grateful for all of the years of snow-driving advice that my father had given me, without it I am certain I would not have been able to make it. Somehow we made it through and got to the lodge shortly before many of the roads that led us there were closed down.

It was a harrowing trip, to say the least, but it was so worth it. We had such a fun time and watching the snow fall outside around the resort was like a dream. I took a ton of photographs, I’ve tried to narrow it down to my favorites, but there are still a lot here, so let’s get started.

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

When we arrived, I was completely shaken up from the drive and a Mimosa was in order. We sat down for breakfast in the tavern right by a window and watched the blizzard rage on outside. Before I go on, I want to take a quick moment to wish my parents a Happy Anniversary as they are celebrating 34 years of marriage this month! Amazing, right!? For some lovely anniversary gift ideas, check out silveranniversarygifts.ca/.

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

After breakfast we headed to the Biosphere which is a gigantic tropical greenhouse featuring an indoor pool, hot tub, sauna, aquarium, and water slide. It was absolutely stunning. It felt so magical to go directly from a blizzard and into a tropical paradise full of the most lush vegetation. Since all of the walls and ceilings in the building are made of glass, we had a clear view of the snow falling all around us. It was like being inside of a snow globe and it was absolutely amazing.

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

When we were all tired from swimming, we dried off and got changed in the locker room. We headed back to the tavern for lunch. Afterward, we finally headed up to check out our home for the night. The room was beautiful with a high Chateau-style ceiling and windows. We had a beautiful view of the blizzard that continued to rage on outside. The beds looked so inviting and Roman & Marina were quick to claim their spaces.

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

After a long day, we all needed a rest before we were ready to take on the evening. I put cartoons on the television and ordered room service–ice cream sundaes for my babies, while I enjoyed a nice glass of wine.

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

After we were all rested we took a long walk around the inside of the resort. The place is so big that just walking the inside from end-to-end is a long winding walk. I had hoped we would last long enough to enjoy the fireside marshmallow roast, but my little ones were fading quickly. There was an early family movie so we headed down to the conference center to watch one of their favorites. It was a lot of fun with cold drinks, warm popcorn, and plenty of candy to choose from. We didn’t quite make it through the entire movie and headed up for an early bedtime.

Grand Cascades Lodge

The next morning we were all up bright & early, as always, and enjoyed breakfast in bed. After breakfast, I packed up all of our things and had valet bring everything to our car while we went to enjoy the pool for one more beautiful swim.

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

When we all had as much splishing & splashing as we could handle, we headed to the locker room to dry off and to change into our clothes to travel home. We headed to our car and got on the road. The blizzard had finally subsided overnight and I was able to really take in the scope of the resort from the outside during our drive out.

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Grand Cascades Lodge

Overall, with the exception of the treacherous ride in, we had a great time on our trip. I learned a lot about staying at a resort with little ones and I’ll share all of those tips & tricks in a separate post soon.

I hope that you guys enjoyed the pictures & stories from our little adventure. xo

Comments (3)

  • Anonymous

    March 6, 2018 at 7:40 pm

    Beautiful pictures! The resort looks like so much fun!

    1. Dena

      March 6, 2018 at 7:48 pm

      Thank you so much. We had a lot of fun. ❤️🙏🏻

  • taking stock // 2018 june – Live, Love, Simple.

    June 8, 2018 at 11:17 am

    […] moved so quickly that it takes my breath away. The last thing that I can remembers with clarity was February. It feels like we were there, then I blinked and now we’re here. It’s amazing how life […]

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