Lehigh Valley Halloween Cocktails: Spooktacular Black Salt garnish for monster-inspired crafty cocktails
Just in time for your spooky get-togethers and Día de los Muertos celebrations Twang, a purveyor of Mexican-inspired food- and beverage-enhancing products, has released their brand new Twang-A-Rita Black Salt!
Perfectly curated for the season of shadows, it’s an enchanting black-colored salt that’ll cast a spell on your tastebuds. And as Dia De Los Muertos approaches, let our Black Salt pay tribute to the elegance of the holiday, garnishing your celebratory drinks and dishes with a touch as beautiful as marigolds on a moonlit altar.
Cheers to spirited sips and otherworldly adventures!
You can buy the Twang-A-Rita Black Salt here, each 4-ounce bag of Twang-A-Rita Black Salt is $4.00. Twang has shared the following fiendish cocktail recipe that is perfect for all you goblins and ghouls.
Monster Margarita Recipe
Serving: 1 cocktail
Ingredients
Twang-A-Rita Black Salt
2 ounces of tequila
1 ounce melon liqueur
1 ounce lime juice
½ ounce agave syrup
Honeydew melon
Blueberries
Preparation
- Rim your glass with Twang-A-Rita Black Salt
- Fill serving glass with ice
- In a cocktail shaker add tequila, melon liquor, lime juice and agave syrup. Shake for 10-15 seconds
- To garnish, scoop small balls out of honeydew melon
- Place a blueberry in the center of each melon ball to resemble an eyeball
- Skewer the melon eyeballs onto a cocktail stick and enjoy!
To learn more about Twang Beer Salts, visit twang.com. Stay up to date with Twang’s new releases by following along on Instagram and Facebook.
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Hellertown-Lower Saucon: Light Up Night 2024 Nov 29 Family Fun at Morris J. Dimmick Park
Hellertown-Lower Saucon: Light Up Night 2024 Nov 29 Family Fun at Morris J. Dimmick Park
The Hellertown-Lower Saucon Chamber, a proud partner of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, is thrilled to present the annual Light Up Night, happening on Friday, November 29, 2024, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Morris J. Dimmick Park (570 Durham Street, Hellertown). This hallmark event promises an evening full of holiday joy, delicious food, live entertainment, and a dazzling tree-lighting ceremony to kick off the festive season.
“Come join the jolly community spirit! We have great performances from the Saucon Valley Band and Choir to the local Cub Scouts Group #349, plus lots of tasty treats and gifts for everyone,” says Rod Long, Chairman of the Light Up Night committee. This year’s presenting sponsors are Mobile Technology Graphics and Bethlehem Landfill.
Event Highlights:
Light Up Night will feature something for everyone, from families looking to create cherished memories to adults enjoying seasonal beverages. Santa Claus will make a special appearance all the way from the North Pole with a few of his reindeer friends, and live entertainment from local organizations such as the Saucon Valley School District Band and Choir will keep spirits bright throughout the evening. There will be a live ice carving demonstration, free children’s activities and crafts, cash family wagon rides, special appearances from Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and so much more! Guests can shop for unique holiday gifts at vendor stalls and enjoy a variety of activities for all ages.
Make sure to stop by Chamber tent to pick up your Candy Cane Lane passport! This is the inaugural running of the trail, spanning from November 30th to December 7th encompassing your favorite businesses and restaurants in the area. Stop at each location and find the hiding Candy Cane, submit a completed passport to the Chamber to be entered into a raffle!
Food and Beverage Vendors:
This year’s event will include a mouthwatering lineup of food and drink vendors: Big Poppa’s Backyard BBQ, Cosmic Kettle Corn, Couchpota.doh, DonutNV, Fired Up Artisan Pizza, Hausman’s Fruit Farms, Nick and Noah’s, Race to Taste Curbside Grill, RK Mobile, and Tommy’s Italian Kitchen.
For those seeking seasonal drinks, Easton Wine Project, Five Maidens Cider Company, and Lost Tavern Brewing will serve a selection of wines, ciders, and craft brews. Please note: Patrons must be at least 21 years old to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages.
Sponsors:
The success of Light Up Night is made possible by the generous support of local businesses and organizations, including:
- Host Sponsor: Borough of Hellertown
- Presenting Sponsors: Bethlehem Landfill, Mobile Technology Graphics
- Reindeer Sponsor: Heintzelman’s Funeral Home
- Santa’s Sleigh Sponsor: Ron Smith
- Candy Cane Sponsor: Sure Fix Remodeling
- Hot Chocolate and Cookies Sponsors: ASR Media/Fig Magazine, Creekview Veterinary Hospital, Hellertown Dental Group, Lindsay O. Albert, EA, Service Electric Cable TV & Communications
- Sleigh Supporting Sponsor: Jim Gardner, State Farm Agency
- Tractor Ride Sponsor: Steel Club
- Wagon Sponsor: Hausman Fruit Farms
- Comfort Station Sponsors: Carl Volkman & Sons HVAC, Dewey Fire Co.
- Warm Hands Sponsors: Truist, Saucon Valley Bikes
- Jolly Supporting Sponsors: Designing Wealth Management of Raymond James, Hellertown Veterinary Center
- Decoration Sponsors: Andy’s & Pennewell’s Flower Shop, JP Mascaro, Limon Authentic Turkish Kebap House, Lost River Caverns, Saucon Valley Karate Academy
- Apple Sponsor: Bechdolt Orchards
- Cookies Sponsor: GIANT Food Stores
- Cozy Corner Sponsor: Dewey Fire Co.
- Print Sponsor: FastSIGNS of Easton
This year’s Light Up Night is expected to draw thousands of attendees, making it the perfect opportunity to connect with neighbors, support local businesses, and celebrate the season. Admission is free and open to the public.
For more details, visit the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber website or contact the Hellertown-Lower Saucon Chamber via email at AaronG@lehighvalleychamber.org.
Don’t miss this cherished tradition—let’s light up the night and welcome the holiday season together!
About the Chamber: The mission of The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce is to improve the economy and quality of life in the Lehigh Valley Metropolitan Area. We accomplish this through business-to-business networking events and marketing products, affinity programs and exclusive, money saving member benefits, training programs, government affairs initiatives and public policy advocacy, and community development enterprises. With nearly 5,000 members who employ more than 200,000, the Chamber is the largest in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and in the top ten nationwide.
Thanksgiving in Lehigh Valley: the perfect stuffing bread DOES exist – and it’s… [recipe inside]
This Thanksgiving in the Lehigh Valley, the perfect stuffing bread DOES exist – and it’s brioche. As in St Pierre Brioche Thanksgiving Stuffing
No Thanksgiving spread is complete without a hearty stuffing. While add-ins are a matter of preference, choosing the right bread is crucial. One underrated choice is eggy, rich brioche – and with St Pierre Bakery, you don’t need to go to France to get it.
Thanks to its butter and egg content, St Pierre’s Brioche Loaf provides the perfect balance of crisp toastiness while remaining soft and creamy inside, while its lightly sweet flavor adds a decadent quality that can still lean savory. Attached below is an approachable recipe for stuffing allowing for all the craveable crunch for the whole family with minimal effort required.
St Pierre Brioche Thanksgiving Stuffing
By @BrandiMilloy
Ingredients
1 loaf St. Pierre Brioche Bread
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
3/4 cup celery, diced
3/4 cup carrots, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
2 large eggs
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
3 sprigs fresh thyme, just the leaves
1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
1 small apple (granny smith works well), peeled and diced
Salt and pepper
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut brioche bread into 1” cubes and bake for about 10-15 minutes until toasted.
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Meanwhile, into a pot over medium high heat add butter until melted. Add onion, celery and carrots and cook until everything starts to soften, about 7 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat and set aside.
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Into a bowl whisk together the eggs, herbs, apples, mushrooms, and salt and pepper. Add your cooked vegetables and mix to combine.
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Pour mixture on top of toasted bread and stir to combine. Bake stuffing for about 45 minutes. If your stuffing starts to get too brown, cover until finished baking. Enjoy!
As America’s favorite brioche brand, St Pierre’s products are widely available via grocery stores nationwide as well as Walmart.
Election Day 2024: Elixir Health and Wellness Offers Free Red Light and Compression Therapy to Encourage Voter Turnout on Election Day
Election Day 2024: Elixir Health and Wellness Offers Free Red Light and Compression Therapy to Encourage Voter Turnout on Election Day
ELIXIR Health and Wellness, Bethlehem’s premier destination for non-invasive, anti-aging therapies, is excited to announce a special Election Day initiative to promote community engagement and support voter turnout. On Tuesday, November 5th, all voters across the Lehigh Valley are invited to stop by Elixir Health and Wellness, located at 1021 Main Street, Bethlehem, PA, for a complimentary session of red light or compression therapy between 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
“At Elixir Health and Wellness, we believe in the power of caring, both for the body and the community,” said Yuliya, owner of Elixir Health and Wellness.
“We’re thrilled to offer this special opportunity as a way to give back to our neighbors who make their voices heard on Election Day. Voting is one of the most impactful ways to shape our community, and we want to support everyone who takes the time to participate.”
To take advantage of this Election Day offer, individuals simply need to show proof of voting, such as an “I Voted” sticker. Those who voted early are welcome to participate as well. Elixir Health and Wellness will be open all day to provide red light and compression therapy sessions that can help rejuvenate individuals after casting a ballot.
For those registered near Elixir Health and Wellness, the nearest polling location is:
College Hill Moravian Church
72 W. Laurel St.
Bethlehem, PA 18018
Whether you’re looking for a wellness boost or a relaxing break, Elixir Health and Wellness invites the Bethlehem community to experience its renowned anti-aging therapies and celebrate the importance of civic engagement.
For more information about Elixir Health and Wellness and this Election Day event, please visit our website at www.elixirlv.com.
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Alton Brown Live: Beyond The Eats heads to Bethlehem’s Wind Creek on Nov 26
Television personality, author, Food Network and Netflix star Alton Brown heads to heading Bethlehem PA’s Wind Creek Casino on November 26
Alton Brown Live: Beyond The Eats – The Holiday Variant tour this holiday season.
He is the host of Top 10 new Netflix Iron Chef reboot “Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend.” Brown says fans can expect “more cooking, more comedy, more music, and more potentially dangerous science stuff with a sprinkle of seasonal spices. Plus, you’ll see things I’ve never been allowed to do on TV.” Critics and fans have raved about the interactive components of Brown’s shows.
He warns, “Prepare for an evening unlike any other and if I call for volunteers…think twice.”
How can I volunteer to be on stage?
Volunteers will be selected at random from the audience.What does the VIP Experience ticket include?
VIP Experience tickets include a prime seat location and an exclusive intimate Q&A before the show. VIP ticket holders will be given first access to purchase tour merchandise without a line and will receive a VIP laminate when they enter the theatre. The VIP experience will last 15-20 minutes.
Is the show family friendly?
Beyond The Eats will be a culinary event for food fans of all ages.For more information and tickets: Alton Brown Live: Beyond The Eats
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Lehigh Valley is Looking for Quality, Canned Wine — We Tasted with Kristin Olszewski from Nomadica Wines
Sommelier Businesswoman Kristin Olszewski brings Michelin quality to Canned Wines with Nomadica Wines
Nomadica offers sparkling, rose, white, red and orange options — both canned and bag in a box.
Nomadica Wines are sourced from vineyards with responsible farming practices and winemakers who engage in low intervention wine making.
Wine-lovers can be 100% confident you’re drinking serious sommelier-approved wine.
Today’s conversation with Sommelier / Businesswoman Kristin Olszewski from Nomadica Wines has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.
Joe Winger: We’re here today with Kristin Olszewski from Nomadica Wines.
What’s the most important message you want to share today with our audience?
Kristin Olszewski:
I think the biggest message that I want to get across is that everyone should be drinking more wine. That’s my mission in life to just bring consumers back to the wine category.
Joe Winger:
Outstanding. And how how are you trying to get that done?
Kristin Olszewski:
I’ll give a little context on my own history and how I came here.
My undergrad degree is in sustainable agriculture and I ended up dropping out of Harvard Medical School to become a sommelier – typical journey.
I just really fell in love with wine. I worked in restaurants to pay for school and wine was always the thing that captivated my interest.
I feel like it’s the intersection of history, agriculture and gastronomy. And then also there’s something so fun and communal and – you’re getting a little tipsy. It’s everything.
But I spent a decade-plus in Michelin restaurants all over the country, everywhere from three Michelin stars, Saison in San Francisco, Husk in Nashville, Osteria Mozza here in LA.
When Nancy Silverton was on a Netflix show called Chef’s Table, I started noticing a different customer coming into the restaurant. Usually as a sommelier, you’re talking to a very specific demographic of people. I would say 45 plus male white wine collector. That’s my demo. And when Nancy was on Chef’s Table, young people started coming into the restaurants, a lot of women, and I noticed they didn’t want to drink wine.
They would drink tequila, beer, cocktails, like anything but wine.
That always felt like such a missed opportunity because wine, it’s the most ancient beverage. Our people have drank wine for millennia. It’s also in an age where we care about what’s natural, what’s minimally processed, what’s better for you.
Great wine is literally just grapes, yeast, water, and time, so I started digging into why aren’t you drinking wine? And I found out a few things.
One, people felt like wine wasn’t a good value. If you weren’t going to spend a lot of money on wine, you couldn’t get a great wine, which is untrue.
The other one is people feel like they needed a PhD or some level of education or knowledge in order to access wine, which, again, is not true.
I want to be people’s guide, hold their hand and walk them into the world of wine. So I started Nomadica to do that on a larger level.
Joe Winger:
That’s beautiful.
You mentioned two things. We’re going to go into both. Your background in Michelin restaurants. I’ve heard heavenly amazing stories. I’ve heard horror stories.
Can you share an experience and what you learned from?
Kristin Olszewski:
Everyone always asks me if I watch The Bear or not. And I’m like, no, I can’t.
Some positive stories, Michelin restaurants have changed a lot from when I started working in them. I think work has changed a lot for the positive. I remember one of my first serious jobs in a scary restaurant. You have your hair pulled back because you don’t want it to get in the food.
I had one small piece of hair hanging down above my face and the chef takes a match from the stove, lights a piece of my hair and says don’t ever have a hair hanging down in your face again.
Some of the wonderful stories are having the opportunity, especially at Mozza, you taste each bottle you open there.
When I was at Mozza, it was a $5 million dollar all-Italian cellar with 90 pages of the best Barolo, Brunello, Etna Rosso’s, just things that like collector’s dream about tasting.
And I feel so lucky to have tasted things like Conterno Monfortino, which is the type of wine that you want to smell for three hours before you drink it.
When you have a wine like that, it makes you realize why collectors obsessively chase bottles, there’s something so romantic and intangible, and having a wine like that, you realize you’ll never have A wine that tastes the same at any moment in time ever again.
It’s just such a lucky experience.
Joe Winger:
I’m curious about how that experience inspired you to open Nomadica.
Kristin Olszewski:
My entry point into wine was always through farming. I majored in sustainable agriculture.
I was an avid farmer. I ran our community garden in college and was focused on permaculture. I lived in India and farmed for a while there.
And I always say great wine is made by great farmers, great wines made in the vineyard, not the cellar.
So when I was looking at starting Nomadica, that sustainability ethos, it was always my starting point, but I was really shocked when I found out how bad glass bottles are for the environment.
30% of glass is recycled in the US. The rest just goes into a landfill. It’s highly energy intensive to make, to ship, because it’s so heavy.
The fact is, most wine does not need to be in a glass bottle.
Yes, that Barolo I mentioned absolutely needs to be in a glass bottle. That needs to be aged for years before it even comes into its own.
But for a $20 – 30 bottle of wine that you’re going to pop open and drink it on a weeknight or on a not special weekend does not need to be in glass.
So that’s how we started.
Cans at 70 % reduction in carbon footprint. Our newly launched bag and box wine is almost a 90% reduction in carbon footprint.
Joe Winger:
I sampled your sparkling white, your white, your red and your rose, they were dangerously drinkable.
Can we talk about where the fruit is sourced from?
Kristin Olszewski:
Absolutely.
The name Nomadica is really a fun double entendre because you can take it wherever you want to go. Of course, cans and boxes can be found in places that bottles can’t.
We source our fruit from all over.
We’re truly a nomadic winery.
Our head winemaker spent time at some of the best wineries in California, like Eric Kent Cellars, which makes award winning Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and also Kosta Brown.
Before that he spent 10 years doing vineyard management in California. So through Corey, we’ve really got a handle on some of the best fruit. A lot of our wine comes from Mendocino. A lot of our grapes come from Mendocino or Lodi. I’m such a Sonoma girly. Our winery is located in Sonoma, and so I always find myself drawn back to that region.
Joe Winger:
Are there any vineyards you’d recommend us touring when we come to Northern California?
Kristin Olszewski:
I think the Sonoma Coast is the best wine region in California. They’ve fought very hard to become designated as their own AVA, which is very important in terms of quality.
The oceanic influence, what we call a diurnal shift, the extreme temperature change between night and day, like Hirsch and Littorai.
I think if anyone ever wants to see proof in the pudding of what great farming can do, you need to go see Littorai.
Ted Lemon was one of the first Americans to ever be a winemaker in Burgundy and he brought all of his practices back, was one of the first people to practice biodynamic agriculture in California and really brought that style of farming onto a larger scale.
When you go visit his vineyards, it’s like teeming with life. You look next door at a conventionally farmed plot, which is just like dead and sad looking. And then you taste the wines and you’re just knocked on your butt because they’re so good.
Joe Winger:
Nomadica Wines has several varieties. White, Sparkling white, Rose, Red, Orange.
Can you walk us through the taste profiles of any of your favorites – what’s the aromas, what are the profiles?
Kristin Olszewski:
Something really cool about our wines is everything’s practicing organic. No pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, all of our wines are fermented dry. Naturally zero grams of sugar per serving. They have nice fruit notes, but none of the wines are sweet.
Crushable bright flavor.
Across the gamut, our entire portfolio has a brightness and a freshness to it. All of our wines are like slightly aromatic because I love an aromatic variety, but part of the thought that we put behind the brand is that I wanted to take that sommelier curation and put it in the restaurant, on the retail shelf so that when you’re serving Nomadica at your home, at parties and the beach, 99% percent of people will love it.
I’m doing the work on the back end on blending, sourcing, creating these flavor profiles that’s really taking that wine experience, that decade plus of developing my own palette and giving it back to the consumer.
Joe Winger:
Are there any favorite wine and food pairings for you with your wines?
Kristin Olszewski:
I love an aperitif. Our sparkling rosé is definitely my favorite wine in our gamut. In a can you always have the perfect pour because sometimes you don’t want to open up an entire bottle of wine.
When we do that in my house, it usually gets drank. It doesn’t go back in the fridge.
Sometimes you just want a glass of sparkling. And I love that.
I love that with a charcuterie board and cheese. I also love Rose with green salads.
I think one of the best things about living where we live [Los Angeles] is we have the best produce on the planet.
I still run some wine programs in Los Angeles and I’m actually opening up a restaurant in Silver Lake next year, an Italian restaurant. Orange Wine is like the hottest trend.
I was doing the wine list at a restaurant in Hollywood called Gigi’s and I noticed I was selling more orange wine by the glass than all other colors combined, which was just mind blowing to me.
We made what I think is the best orange wine coming out of California.
There’s a lot of talk about natural wine, orange wine. They’re not all created equal. My winemaker and I tasted through my favorite Italian skin contact wines and decided on a really concrete flavor profile source.
My mother in law in Orange County is drinking her orange wine with her friends. So I really feel like I’ve achieved something. That with sushi is a mind blowing pairing.
Then our red. We found Teroldego growing in Northern California, which is a grape that’s indigenous to Northern Italy from the Alto Adige.
It’s really Alpine, like dark fruit, like a Zinfandel, but really refreshing and bright acidity and a little bit more tannin than a Zin [Zinfandel] has.
There’s a perception that we had to overcome about can and boxed wine. People think that it’s low quality.
Whenever I pour our red for somebody, the response is always, “Wow, oh my god, that’s so good.”
No matter your level of wine knowledge, you can see what I’m trying to do when you taste our red wines.
Joe Winger:
What’s next for you and Nomadica?
Kristin Olszewski:
Right now we’re in hardcore expansion mode. We were the first people to do fine wine and can, and I grew really slowly at my own pace.
I wanted to build the brand.
A lot of people just run to retail shelves and they want to be in every grocery store on the planet. I didn’t want that. I wanted to be, at the Four Seasons, at the Ritz Carlton, at music venues.
I wanted to be in places where people don’t typically expect to see wine in cans and boxes.
We are one of the highest velocity items at Whole Foods in our category.
We just launched all of our box wines at Total Wine in California, Texas, Florida, Colorado, and New York and got some really big plans for next year.
So keep your eyes peeled. People are about to see me everywhere.
That’s my goal.
Joe Winger:
Having a canned wine at some of these nicer hotels is a challenge.
What lesson did you learn by accomplishing that rather large challenge?
Kristin Olszewski:
That’s the best thing about how we’re positioned. Not only am I a sommelier, my VP of sales is a sommelier. My winemaker has an incredible reputation. Every person on my team comes from the wine industry and we have the best product.
When we’re sitting down and tasting with these buyers, these people that are in our industry. They recognize it. I always say taste out of a wine glass. Everything tastes better out of a wine glass. The second that they taste it, these are people who taste wine all the time and they taste a lot of bad wine.
So that has been amazing.
We’ve always had the industry behind us. It’s a huge differentiator for us. So I think it was slow build. Everything takes a lot more time than you think it will, which is I think the biggest lesson that I’ve taken away from this business over the last seven years.
But you got to build your brand first.
Joe Winger:
You seem like a deep-souled individual. Whether it’s wine or otherwise, is there an overall message that you want to share to inspire the audience?
Kristin Olszewski:
We are in a time where sustainability is more important than it ever has been. You can’t base your entire brand about it, but I think it’s an absolutely necessary component to any consumer product that’s coming out today.
One of my missions in life is to have that conversation about sustainability and have it with other brands because it needs to be convenient.
Otherwise, consumers will not buy it, care or participate or choose a sustainable option. That’s my big thing.
Joe Winger:
What are the best ways to follow your journey and to learn more about you?
Kristin Olszewski:
You can buy Nomadica online and our new rosé yuzu spritz, which is delicious at ExploreNomadica.com. And then our socials are at Nomadica on Instagram.
And if you want to follow me. I’m at Kristin__O.
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Pocono’s Cove Haven Couples-Only resort Perfect for pleasure and relaxation
Pocono’s Cove Haven Couples-Only resort Perfect for pleasure and relaxation
As the second-largest lake in the region, it’s hard to believe it’s man-made – but its lakeside pastimes could easily fill a week’s vacation time.
Cove Haven is a couples-only resort in the Poconos.
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It’s located on the coast of Lake Wallenpaupack and is ideal for both pleasure and relaxation. Its spa offers several services, including wraps and massages. Exclusively for couples, a champagne glass whirlpool spa for two was built with Cupid’s Corner for drinks. Moreover, every night, live entertainment is available, alternating from DJs to comedians.
- Available activities: tennis, horseback riding, golf, speed boat trips, swimming.
- Location: 194 Lakeview Drive, Lakeville, PA 18438, United States of America.
- Cost: $279 per night for two adults in the Harbor Tower suite.
Poconos adults only resorts welcome you to relax and renew.
Imagine sinking into a soothing spa bath or curling up, undisturbed, beside a crackling fire. Our adult-only properties provide a range of amenities from the rejuvenating to the romantic.
Whether you’re hitting the town on a girlfriend getaway, hitting the links on a summer golf trip, or rekindling romance on a quiet vacation for two, you’ll find ideal adult-only accommodations below, including adults only all-inclusive resorts, in the Pocono Mountains.
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