Susan's Pleasant Pheasant Farm — Hotel in Town of Middletown

Another beautiful day spent kayaking and picnicking at Susan's Pleasant Pheasant Farm. This is a lovely large property in the Hamlet of Halcottsville, just off Rte 30 between the villages of Arkville and Roxbury, NY, in the storied Catskill Mountains. Very near the Round Barn farmer's market. It's a historic stream-fed mill pond. A long "lake" made by the old mill's dam with natural shores full of birds, bull frogs, and small animals of all sorts. While we were there this week we saw several Great Blue Herons fishing, a Beaver dam, and Kingfisher, Swallow and Cedar Waxwing families teaching the fledglings how to fish and hunt the many gorgeous dragonflies. (No mosquitoes during our sunny, breezy kayak trip--maybe thanks also to those gorgeous little cornflower blue Dragonflies :) . Other people saw baby bunnies, an Otter and baby Minks. On previous visits to kayak we've also seen Osprey and Otters and lots of fish. We've been there a number of times over several years. Always lovely. They have many small boats to rent (at reasonable rates) including single sit on top and traditional kayaks, canoes, tandem kayaks, paddle boards, rowboats, etc. The calm and friendly proprietor is an encyclopedia of information about the boats, locale and wildlife. There are other activities available on the grounds and lovely mowed walking trails, a swimming hole and scattered, naturalized picnic tables. We have a place in the area so have never stayed in the B&B but the guests we encountered seemed very happy and the entire place feels peaceful and serene. It's a very family-friendly, nature-filled way to spend a day or longer. The Hamlet of Halcottsville itself is quaint and historic, and the nearby farmer's market, in the beautiful restored red Round Barn--open Saturday mornings from May-October--is well worth a visit. We highly recommend this...

Susan and Jim were just wonderful people and their B&B was beautiful, clean, & amazing. I'm grateful that they share this B&B experience with others. ||||Lake- It sits right on the Wawaka Lake which is feed by the East Branch Delaware River. The lake is very calm and was easy for beginner Kayakers like us. We paddled slowly in the early morning, not make much noise and we saw tons of wildlife. During the day, they rent out the kayaks to others, so you share the lake from 9-5, but outside of the times, the lake is yours. That was the biggest selling point to us. Not too many places that offer kayaking on a private lake. ||||Room- The huge picture windows of our room, held views of the lake and we sat outside in the evening drinking wine, just watching the wildlife in the lake. We saw Blue Heron & Kingfisher birds fishing the evening away and while Kayaking we saw beavers going into their dam. ||||Food- Susan cooked up a refreshing breakfast, with local fruits & buckwheat pancakes, she is truly an amazing chef! She will ask you if you have any dietary restrictions, so don't worry about that.||||Hiking Trails- Trails looked awesome, and there is even a swimming hole.We didn't get to go far because it started raining, but looked great. Saw a spotted fawn and momma deer. Next time I hope we can do more hiking, Jim had the lawns cut to perfection for well groomed hiking. I guess it goes way back on the property. I would say bring bug spray if you plan on doing that. ||||Bike Rentals- You can also ride antique bikes around the area, which felt like a scene from an old movie. I can't explain it but just seemed like a historic little town.||||The whole experience blew away my expectations and it was the true meaning of peace and relaxation! The price of the B&B stay includes, overnight stay, breakfast and all...

Another beautiful day kayaking and picnicking at Susan's Pleasant Pheasant Farm. This is a lovely property off Route 30 between the villages of Arkville and Roxbury, NY, in the storied Catskill Mountains. Very near the Round Barn farmer's market. It's a historic stream-fed mill pond, a long "lake" made by the mill's dam with natural shores full of birds, bull frogs, and small animals of all sorts. While we were there this week we saw several Great Blue Herons fishing, a Beaver dam, and Kingfisher, Swallow and Cedar Waxwing families teaching the fledglings how to fish and hunt the many gorgeous dragonflies. (No mosquitoes during our breezy kayak trip--maybe thanks also to those gorgeous little cornflower blue Dragonflies :) . Other people saw baby bunnies, an Otter and baby Minks. On previous visits to kayak we've also seen Osprey and Otters. We've been there a number of times over several years. Always lovely.| They have many small boats to rent (at reasonable rates) including single sit on top and traditional kayaks, canoes, tandem kayaks, rowboats, etc. The calm and friendly proprietor is an encyclopedia of information about the boats, locale and wildlife. There are other activities available on the grounds and lovely mowed walking trails, the swimming hole and scattered, naturalized picnic tables. We have a place in the area so have never stayed in the B&B but the guests we encountered seemed very happy and the entire place feels peaceful and serene. It's a very family-friendly, nature-filled way to spend a day or longer. The Hamlet of Halcottsville itself is quaint and historic, and the nearby farmer's market, in the beautiful restored red Round Barn--open Saturday mornings from May-October--is well...