The holidays are a good time to be upstate, and an especially good time to visit the Mohonk Mountain House. The hotel marks out a couple days towards the end of the year where visiting prices dip into affordable territory, specifically for locals, and it is well worth the winding drive.

When I was little, I was convinced Mohonk was a bona fide castle, and I used to beg my parents to bring me up there. I only got to see the place on deliveries, back when the Journal printed its short-lived Mountain Guide magazine. My family discovered these “community” days maybe ten years ago, and we’ve been taking advantage of them ever since.

At the heart of our yearly tradition is the gingerbread house competition, just as fun as it sounds. People from all over the area submit outrageous edible designs, and the hotel puts them on display. I can’t imagine how people construct things like these. It reliably blows me away. I recall ice castles made of blue-tinted sugar, chocolate-molded dragons encircling cookie cathedrals. These are designs that have stuck with me over multiple visits, and so this year, I came in with high expectations.

They were indeed met. Picture craggy marshmallow mountains with candy rollercoaster tracks winding around them, icing drips like icicles on Cinnamon Toast Crunch roofs, and sugar windows you can peak through to see the mini-Christmas trees inside. Forgive me, this is just such an opportunity for fun writing. I’m remembering a dainty fondant fairy house peopled with edible gnomes and a gingerbread boat being sunk by a sweet-studded octopus. Too much fun. It makes you love humanity and the endless possibilities we tap into with nothing but raw materials in our hands.

Usually, all of these gingerbread houses are shown together in a single room (I haven’t visited in a few years, but this is how I remember it). This year Mohonk turned it into a scavenger hunt and had us wandering all over the building, hunting houses. There were little kids scampering around us, having a ball, but I think the effect is better in a dedicated space. More impactful, I’d say – Mohonk, are you listening?

Still, it’s always good to do a little wandering at Mohonk, to see how the other half vacations. Hall displays show old relics, famous guests, even former presidents on their retreats to the Gunks. It’s an exclusive place, and it used to be quite restrictive about its clientele (Mohonk was notably not a part of the Borscht Belt). Even today, these cheaper days are a rarity, opening the doors to the common folk just a few days a year to give us a glimpse of where Saudi princes spend the holidays. The ticket fares went to charity, and they should do that more often.

Of course, Mohonk Mountain House open to the public year-round, and we the public are all welcome to pay the steeper price. I recommend the discount days instead; another one will roll around soon enough. The place still feels like a castle every time I go. And when it’s got a layer of fresh snow, as it did this year, it looks just like the gingerbread houses inside.