Great Wolf Lodge Recon!

On Friday Clara and I were making our way to Binghamton for the weekend, and wanted to find a great spot to break up the drive. I got in touch with the the Great Wolf Lodge, (the one in the Poconos in PA, there are 11 more throughout the country), and they were nice enough to let us stop by for a couple of hours. Now, for those of you who don't know, Great Wolf Lodge is an indoor water park resort for overnight guests. I had no idea what to expect, except I knew Clara was going to have a blast, and I curious to see if I would, plus was intrigued that they are super environmentally friendly, and they don't use chlorine. Well, it was awesome. All the water activities are in a huge daylit building, and there are so many elements for all interests--a little kiddie area that is so shallow and has three mellow waterslides. There's a huge wave pool (big hit with Clara!) And there are medium level waterslides to crazy ones (which we didn't go on--if Matt was there, he would've taken Clara). Plus, there are life guards EVERYWHERE, and they are super on top of everything, down to when a toddler had a Caddyshack floater moment, and the kiddie pool got shut down immediately. There's even a really nice outdoor pool. And, if you get tired of all the water, there are so many other things to do, like a kid spa, which actually is done nicely (little girls get hot pink robes and tiaras), and a Nascar area with remote control cars on a racetrack. And there's an adult spa too. We were there for about 2.5 hours, so we just did the waterpark, and had a very fast lunch. There are all sorts of food options, from a Starbucks to a pizza-to-go window, if you want to bring it back to your room. We didn't get to see the rooms, but apparently they are large, sleeping a family of four easily, and have a fridge and a microwave.  It's the kind of place that I'd visit for a Saturday night, on either a scorching hot weekend, or during the middle of winter--it's a perfect getaway that you don't have to fly to, and it's truly fun for the whole family. Really, how come more people that I know don't know about this place...it's just two hours from NYC, and it's more fun than lining up for rides at amusement parks. I don't know the last time I had exhilirating fun like that!

Here are some tips you need to know if you go:

1. Bring a waterproof camera.

2. Don't let your kid accidentally delete all of the pictures from said waterproof camera (like my daughter did--you should have seen the great pictures we took with it! Instead, you're stuck with my pics, which are just from the entrance to the waterpark, because I didn't dare get it all wet).

3. This is not a place to sport your bikini. If you have a one-piece, bring it. Or buy one. I wished I had one of those skirt-type ones by the end of our time there.

4. You're a 3 minute drive from the outlet mall (over 100 stores) called The Crossings in Tannersville, if you need to pick up a swimsuit, or whatever.