Holiday Happenings

The decorations are up and we had an amazing Village-wide celebration over the weekend to kick off the holiday season. Santa came to town via a red helicopter, there were horse and carriage rides and the Tree Lighting ceremony really got everyone in the spirit.

Power is Back!

Just an update. The electricity has been restored and we're back to business as usual. A big thank you to our guests who took it all in stride and seemed to enjoy the candlelight and extra fluffy blankets.

Halloween Snow!

The trick was on us this year. Greenwood Lake got dumped with about 17 inches of snow this weekend. Couple that with fall leaves still on the trees and the end result was a lot of damage, road closures and power outages. Thankfully the Inn fared well. We're hoping to have electric service restored today.

Innkeeping is always an adventure. Saturday night we hosted the cast and crew of The Weather Channel. They were broadcasting from our area since apparently we were at the top for snow accumulations. Guess it's time to start thinking about ski season.

Clinton Road

Local lore and urban legends always seem to surface around Halloween, but the stories of Clinton Road in West Milford, NJ live on all year long. If you’re looking for paranormal activity or a fearful adventure, take a ride on this 10-mile desolate road that’s just minutes away from the Inn (The NJ side of Greenwood Lake is West Milford). Clinton Road has been featured on many TV shows, books and websites, most notably on the Travel Channel’s Most Terrifying Places in America 2. Here’s a clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5Vygs1Ff5I. And just last week this article ran on Yahoo News. http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-road-jersey-most-terrifying-road-u-194000764.html

Reported incidents on Clinton Road include encounters with phantom headlights, hell hounds, freakish wild animals, Satan worshipers, KKK rituals, mob dumping ground for frozen bodies, among many others. Come check it out for yourself.

Fall Foliage at the Lake

Unseasonably high temperatures coupled with the bounty of the Warwick apple havest has made for an extrordinary fall. The foliage will be peaking later than ususal this year so there's plenty of time for leaf peeping. And there's no greater spot than at the Thomas P. Morahan Waterfront Park in the Village of Greenwood Lake. October always brings a parade of cars through Greenwood Lake and up and over Mt. Peter into Warwick. What many of these passersby don't realize is that a picture-perfect view awaits if they stop the car and explore Greenwood Lake before heading into Warwick. Mountains, brilliant foliage and waterfront, it doesn't get better than that.

Greenwood Lake's Interesting History

I'm always learning something new about Greenwood Lake's varied and historic past. Greenwood Lake has been many things to many people. Summer retreat, professional boxing camp, Hudson River School painting subject, but creative people have always had a magnetic attraction to this picturesque place. This morning I came across a fascinating article that just ran on NorthJersey.com today. Check it out here. It's an interesting read about the large number of famous vaudevillians and circus people that lived in Greenwood Lake in the early 1900s.

Joe Jackson, GWL resident

NJ Botanical Gardens

Since being apart of America in Bloom (a national municipal gardening competition) for Greenwood Lake last year, I've really caught the gardening fever. It's become my new obsession and I've certainly gained a greater appreciation for public gardens. We're fortunate to have a wealth of beautiful gardens to explore in the area. Over the weekend I visited the New Jersey Botanical Gardens in Ringwood, which is a short ride (15 min) from the Inn. The grounds are amazing and it was a beautiful fall day to walk around. Here you'll find 96 acres of specialty gardens surrounded by 1,000 acres of woodlands. It's a must see for garden enthusiasts, and casual strollers alike. October 1 & 2 is Harvest Fest at the gardens, which I'm sure will be a great event.