Christmas in the Catskills!

I have returned from my weekend at the Nevele Grande in famous Ellenville, New York. The heyday of the old Jewish Catskill resorts have long passed and many of them have closed. But the Nevele chugs on. My family used to go there each Thanksgiving but our last trip to the Nevele was way back in 1986. Feeling nostalgic, my mom, dad, brother and I decided to go back for Christmas weekend. And it was fun!

First off, the food was amazing. It's all you can eat for three meals a day. Our favorite waiter, Larry Fell, unfortunately passed away several years ago. The maitre D' told us that he used to be Larry's busboy and assigned us to an equally hardworking waitress. They don't offer 10 different entrees at each meal like they used to, but the 4 that they had were still excellent. And yes, you can order as many different entrees as you want and sample from each of them.

The nightclub was nostalgic in that it looked the same but the acts were a little sad. They used to get great comics like Mal Z. Lawrence but now he's out of their price range. Instead we got Lenny Rush whose ethnic humor was funny but way outdated. The singer was a former member of the Duprees. He sure had all the 50-year old women screaming for him. Oh and there was a juggler too. Yeah, there's a lot of kids who they have to cater to.

During the day there's plenty to do - a fitness room, an indoor pool, indoor tennis and racketball courts, ice skating, skiing, mini-golf, shuffleboard, an old-style video arcade room, Bingo, naps... plenty. The place may not be for everyone - it's great for families and for people who enjoy the Catskill's unique brand of kitsch - but I greatly enjoyed the nostalgia trip. My dad already wants to book reservations for next year!

A few pics are posted below...