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There are plenty of reasons to escape New York City for a weekend getaway, but stylish hotelier Urban Cowboy has come up with one we've never heard before.
The design-forward boutique hotel brand is launching a new River Dining Experience at Urban Cowboy Lodge & Resort in Big Indian, New York. The concept is simple: Pull on a pair of waterproof boots, then step into the Esopus Creek to dine in rushing water surrounded by the Catskills wilderness. Even phone addicts might think twice before pulling out their devices, with the danger of dropping them into running water omnipresent throughout the meal.
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The experience taps into the growing "silent travel" and analog-travel movements, which are jargon for saying that people want to get away from screens, notifications and the general psychic damage of being reachable at all times. Here, the soundtrack is considerably better: rushing water, rustling trees and the occasional reminder that you are, in fact, eating dinner in a river.
Guests will be outfitted with waterproof boots from The Original Muck Boot Company before making their way into the creek, where an intimate dining table awaits in the flowing water. Once everyone is seated, the food comes courtesy of Chef Auggie Russo's Tiny Pizza Kitchen, with artisanal wood-fired pizzas served alongside the lodge's cocktails, beer and wine. The whole thing is designed to be intimate and elemental, with the creek doing most of the atmospheric heavy lifting.
The River Dining Experience starts at $195 per person and launches Labor Day weekend, with dinners taking place Friday and Saturday nights. After that, the experience will continue Thursday through Sunday through October 11.
In other words, if you've been waiting for an excuse to flee the city, leave your phone somewhere vaguely out of reach and eat pizza while standing in a Catskills creek, this is probably the only way to fulfill that particularly specific desire.
The River Dining Experience takes place at Urban Cowboy Lodge & Resort in Big Indian, about two hours from New York City. For more information and to make a reservation, click here.