February
1997
Great
Getaways
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We all need to get away. Here are a selection
of places to escape to when it all gets too much. The following
is
a compilation of vegetarian/vegan bed & breakfasts, hotels, retreats,
and yoga centers in upstate New York and New Jersey to visit when
in need of some solace and renewal. Unless otherwise noted, all
destinations are two to two and a half hours by car from New York
City.
New York
Chalet Leon
3835 Route 414
Burdett, NY 14818
607-546-7171
Lakefront vegan/vegetarian motel with 11 rooms and eight cabins. Moderately
priced; open from April 28 to November 1. Six hour drive from New York
City.
Rustic Log Cabins
5685 Route 414
PO Box 18
Hector, NY 14841
607-546-8489
Self-catered log cabins. Moderately priced; open from May 15 to October
15.
*Elat Chayyim
A Center for Healing and Renewal
99 Mill Hook Road
Accord, NY 12404
800-398-2630
Jewish retreat center open year round. Moderately priced.
Vatra Mountain Valley Lodge and Spa
Route 214
Hunter, NY 12442
800-232-2772 or 518-263-4994
Vegetarian and vegan-friendly health spa open year round. Inexpensively
to moderately priced.
New Age Health Spa
Route 55
Neversink, NY 12765
800-682-4348 or 914-985-2467
Vegetarian and vegan-friendly health spa open year round. Inexpensively
priced.
Living Springs Lifestyle Center
12 Living Springs Lane
Putnam Valley, NY 10579
800-SAY-WELL or 914-526-2800
Primarily vegan lakefront retreat open year round. Moderately priced.
One hour drive from New York City.
Our House Retreat
422 Bostock Road
Shokan, NY 12481
914-657-2864
Primarily vegetarian and vegan-friendly retreat center open year round.
Inexpensively priced.
Farm Sanctuary
P.O. Box 150
Watkins Glen, NY 14891
607-583-2225
Vegetarian/vegan bed & breakfast which doubles as a haven for abandoned,
downed and rescued slaughter animals; the Farm is open from May to October.
Six hour drive from New York City. Inexpensively priced.
Yoga Assana Retreat Center
Chiloway Road at Horton
Delaware County, NY 12776
607-498-5507 or 212-889-8160
Yoga center open year round, entirely vegetarian and run by New York
City's Yoga Assana Center. Inexpensively priced.
Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch
P.O. Box 195, Budd Road
Woodbourne, NY 12788
914-434-9242
Yoga retreat and vegan-friendly center open year round. Inexpensively
priced.
Wise Woman Center
P.O. Box 64 Woodstock, NY 12498 914-246-8081 Retreat and workshop and
vegan-friendly center open from April 15 to November 2. Most workshops
focus upon women's issues. Inexpensively priced.
Sunny Oaks Hotel
P.O. Box 297
Woodridge, NY 12789
800-679-4387(May-Oct.) or 800-297-4488(Oct.-May)
Vegetarian/vegan hotel open from Memorial Day to early October. Inexpensively
priced.
*Springwater Center
7179 Mill Street
Springwater, NY 14560
716-669-2141
Zen-like retreat center open year round. Serves vegetarian meals. Six
hour drive from New York City. Inexpensively priced.
Zen Mountain Monastery
Box 197 RB, South Plank Road
Mount Tremper, NY 12457
914-688-2228
Zen monastery open year round, offering vegetarian options. Moderately
priced.
New Jersey
Genesis Farm
41A Silver Lake Road
Blairstown, NJ 07825
908-362-6735
Vegetarian ecological learning center open year round. One hour drive
from New York City. Moderately priced.
Appel Farm Arts & Music Center
457 Shirley Road
Elmer, NJ 08318
609-358-2472
Retreat center with vegetarian and vegan-friendly options, open from
June to August. Moderately priced.
Serendipity Bed and Brunch
712 Ninth Street
Ocean City, NJ 08226
800-842-8544 or 609-399-1554
A vegetarian bed and breakfast open year round. Moderately priced.
Sources: The Vegetarian Traveler [See below for addtional inforamtion].
*Sanctuaries by Jack & Marcia Kelly, Bell Tower Publishers, 1996.
Some additional information.
Vegetarian Traveling
by Jed and Susan Civic
Jed and Susan Civic of Kew Gardens, Queens, explain why they felt their
new book The Vegetarian Traveler was necessary.
Being strict vegetarians ourselves, we want to make it as easy as possible
for other vegetarians to travel in a world where so many people prefer
a meat-centered diet. We're a minority, but a growing one. A recent
Gallup poll report that 20 percent of Americans seek vegetarian meals,
and fully a third will eat vegetarian meals when they are offered.
Other surveys show that 12.4 million Americans consider themselves
vegetarian, and as many as 500,000 consider themselves vegan.
Since this many people can benefit from the service, it's time we had
a book focusing on vegetarian lodging. Guidebooks oriented toward the
general public help us research where to go, what to see, and things
to do, but offer little or no information on how sympathetic or unsympathetic
your host may be to vegetarian, vegan, or other special dietary needs.
Other books, directed to vegetarians, provide mainly restaurant listings
or are limited to specific regions.
The need became obvious, and we are responding. We've traveled around
the world, and now our passion is to discover new vegetarian locations.
We feel as if we're pioneers discovering a new land: finding a new
restaurant or B&B or resort that caters thoughtfully to vegetarians
gives us tremendous pleasure.
The above is excerpted from The Vegetarian Traveler: Where to Stay
if You're - Vegetarian, Vegan, Environmentally Sensitive by Jed and
Susan Civic reprinted with permission from Larson Publications, 4936
Route 414, Burdett, NY 14818-9795. $15.95 paperback. Call 800-828-2197
for details.
More additional information
Bed & Breakfast Review
by Mickey Z
Sweet Onion Inn
Route 100, Box 66
Hancock, Vermont 05748
802-767-3734
In a nation consumed by consumption, it's not exactly easy to find
a vacation spot that soothes the soul and nourishes the body. Hence,
when one risks becoming enmeshed in this country's network of interstate
highways and myriad fast food restaurants, what sadly passes for "healthy" these
days is usually low-fat TCBY. Where can a healthy vegan get away
and not have to spend 75 percent of her or his time hunting for suitable
food? The answer, my friends, is to head north to Vermont.
Located in Hancock (pop. 340) the Sweet Onion Inn is a peaceful bed
and breakfast nestled in the breath-taking Green Mountains. Wondrous
scenery, comfortable rooms, great hospitality, and delicious, round-the-clock
organic/vegan cooking prepared by a certified nutritionist are available.
With breakfast and dinner included in the price and Inexpensively
lunch baskets available, you'll think you've died and gone to vegan
heaven.
Breakfast, served promptly at 8:00, may be French toast or fruit
'n' nut pancakes, biscuits 'n' gravy, or perhaps, full-o-fruit tarts.
On the side, you might want to munch on fresh fruit muffins, whole
grain toast, hot and cold cereals (with soy or rice milk), and plenty
of Vermont maple syrup for those with a sweet tooth. The basket lunches
we sampled were ample feasts of fresh greens in whole grain pita,
potato salad, organic corn chips, homemade lemonade or iced tea (no
caffeine), and pasta/bean salad. At the nightly 6:30 dinner, you'll
be treated to mouth-watering experiences like shepherd's pie (potatoes,
carrots, onions, and tempeh with mashed potatoes and gravy), burrito
cake (bean and rice filling stacked with tortilla shells and topped
with fresh salsa), or maybe mountain patties (brown rice, celery,
onion, olive oil, basil, oregano, tamari, and tahini patty), all
after a scrumptious soup appetizer (the tomato soup was incredible)
and before a luscious, naturally-sweetened dessert (zucchini cake
was my favorite). One dessert warning: the cook sometimes uses honey,
but will refrain if asked.
Any spare time between meals can be spent hiking (don't miss the
Texas Falls trail), wading in the river that runs through the property,
or lounging in a hammock big enough for two. Also, adjacent to the
Sweet Onion Inn are an herb store, hair salon, and bike shop - all
run by the convivial Sweet Onion proprietors, the nicest group of
people you may ever encounter. For those of you looking for that
ever-exclusive getaway spot to cater to your "special" needs, it's
hard to imagine a more vegan-friendly vacation environment. The Sweet
Onion Inn is a moderately-priced discovery you'll never forget.
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