Eastover Resort,

Eastover Resort, Lenox, MA  continued

The Eastover Mansion is the centerpiece to thespacious 1000-acre grounds. It is here you will find the dining room, a quiet study, the children’s movie following dinner, and a dark, cool, and cavernous downstairs (The Carriage Room) equipped with a juke box, tables, and unlimited ice and soft drinks. It’s a great place for the teens to meet and to get away from the little ones and the older ones, like moms and dads. A long winding corridor from the downstairs extends to the indoor pool and continues down another flight to a recreation room with a big screen TV and a pool table. Although you walk downstairs, the building itself flows with the rolling exterior terrain so you are never actually in an underground basement. Throughout you will find Civil War paraphernalia, photos, and documents aligning the walls and even a Civil War Museum. Try as you might, it is near impossible to take in all the Civil War history offered. It is a phenomenal array of American history.

The upstairs of the Mansion has 20 guest rooms, with another 130 rooms spread in nearby cottages. It should be noted that the rooms are not equipped with air conditioning or television, and only some offer a telephone. Fans are available for those who want. If you have a young child, you may want to bring along a small TV/VCR just to make your early mornings a little more manageable. The pajama early morning was the only time I felt a need to keep my little ones entertained. After that, Eastover took over.

The buffet breakfast is served each morning from 8:00 – 9:30 AM in the main dining room, with a breakfast bar available for the late risers (that’s me). Lunch is served outside by the pool and in the main dining area from noon to 1:15. The choices are plentiful, satisfying the appetites of children and adults alike. Dinner is in the main dining room, with an outdoor barbecue and an international feast offered outdoors during the week. It’s something different and new each day, keeping the kids and the moms and dads always interested in the next meal. For adult beverages, Eastover is a Bring-Your-Own resort which helps plenty on the pocketbook. Oh, and all meals are relaxed, informal, and casual. It’s come as you are. There is too much going on at Eastover to spend time getting dressed up. And if you plan on leaving the grounds for the day to enjoy the beautiful Berkshires, Eastover will gladly supply a boxed lunch for the family.

So what is there to do at Eastover? Well, you can do everything or nothing at all and it all starts the second you arrive. We pulled into Eastover Sunday afternoon and the Kids Camp was already in session. Kids Camp is a program for children supervised by the staff. There are 3 Kids Camp sessions during the day; 2 hours in the morning, 2 hours in the afternoon, and 1 hour in the evening. The water balloon toss was in full swing when we arrived. Also that afternoon for all to enjoy was a Bocce tournament, water volleyball, karaoke, and a cannonball contest in the outdoor pool. And that’s just what was scheduled. You could take advantage of any of the activities offered at Eastover throughout the day, and there are many. Available is volleyball, softball, basketball, rollerhockey, a putting green, shuffleboard, horseshoes, badminton, tennis, a pool table, an exercise room, sauna, nature walks, a playground, and an indoor and outdoor pool. We took part in a parents vs. children softball game which was well attended. As one would expect, the adults let the kids win although it won’t be long till the reverse is true. Scheduled during the week are safari rides to visit the many buffalo on the grounds, a mountain bike excursion, the driving range, archery, hayrides, a bonfire, skeet shooting, fishing, a water slide, swimming races and pool competitions, and morning poolside bingo. For an additional fee, you can rent a mountain bike, go horseback riding, or surrender yourself to a relaxing yet stimulating massage.

The Eastover waterslide is advertised as "fun for the whole family." One afternoon during the week, the Eastover staff lays out a long plastic sheet running down the side of a hill. After watering and soaping the sheet, the staff directs the kids one at a time to fly down the long homemade slide. Even the most brave and brazen approach with apprehension. Stopping is accomplished at the bottom of the slide when one runs out of plastic sheeting and wipes out along the grass. The reaction of many at the end of the run is excited fright but they all scamper right back to the top for another go. I suggest first-timers to start halfway down just to become familiar with the "stop by skidding" at the bottom. More than once I’ve heard a child cry out, "I’ll never do that again" and then minutes later find them "wheeeee-ing" down the slide once again. The waterslide is one of the many things the kids remember about Eastover weeks and months later. Oh, and the kids love to see mom and dad try it, too (from experience, may I suggest shorts and a t-shirt for protection).

After a day of fun, frolic and food, is there anything else to do? At Eastover, the day is just beginning. The kids have a choice of enjoying a movie in the library or taking part in the Kids’ Camp, followed by nightly entertainment and dancing at the Tally Ho. Many consider the Tally Ho the highlight of the day. This one-time stable, the Tally Ho has a huge dance floor with ample room, an unlimited supply of pizza, cookies, soft drinks, and a DJ playing non-stop music for all ages. Kids from 1 to 101 get up to dance all the latest dances. After all these years, I finally learned the Hustle! I bragged how I later learned the latest dance craze, "The Electric Slide" until I was told the dance has been around since the early 1990’s. Who knew? There were two other line dances, one with a cowboy/western theme which seemed to be known by all but me, and another that included jumping, clapping, and a cool jive.

I was just informed by my daughter, Dominique, that the two dances were "Cotton Eye Joe" and "Cha Cha Slide." Both dances have been around for at least 5 years, but in parent-years that’s brand new!

The Tally Ho has a definite carefree atmosphere where the kids run free and the parents just shake their heads wondering, "Where do they get all that energy?" The Tally Ho nightclub runs from 8:00 – 11:00, and even later if the dancing can keep up. As hard as it is to believe, few if any leave before it’s over, no matter the age. Following a night at the Tally Ho, it is never a problem getting everyone to bed for sleep. It’s welcomed by kids and parents alike.

With so much to do at Eastover, it is sometimes hard to get away to see the surrounding outside area. The Berkshires Mountains are rich in history, theater, music, art, and museums. Nearby one can find the Norman Rockwell Museum, Tanglewood (home to the Boston Symphony), Hancock Shaker Village, and even some professional baseball in one of the oldest minor league baseball parks in the country, Wahconah Park in nearby Pittsfield.

A stay at Eastover can be an exhausting respite. The activities are non-stop, the food is plentiful, and the atmosphere is casual and laid back. Eastover makes available all kinds of pleasure. How you utilize the opportunity is entirely up to you.

Before heading for home, we stop in at the Trading Post for a quick souvenir and postcards. In addition to an Eastover t-shirt and shorts, my girls picked out a post card to send to grandma and grandpa. After a week of summer fun, they chose a postcard of Eastover in all its winter splendor, where a family of 4 is enjoying an exhilarating ride down the on-site toboggan run. I think they were trying to tell us something.