The Traveling Board

The Woodlands
October 13, 2003
by Chris Garlock

Even with directions it isn’t easy to find. Perhaps that’s appropriate for The Woodlands, a little go Shangri-la tucked away in the verdant Catskill Mountains just a few hours north of New York City. 

A small 20-room inn, The Woodlands is co-owned by a group of New Yorkers that includes Brooklyn Go Club organizer Jean-Claude Chetrit. For more than a decade, JC has organized annual go gatherings at The Woodlands, starting with the July 4th holiday and expanding in recent years to Labor Day and, this year, workshops with pro instructor Guo Juan on the Memorial Day and Columbus Day holidays. 

As you’d expect in Shangri-la, time is a very fluid concept at The Woodlands. Schedules are loosely kept, if at all, and things never go according to plan, which is fine, because there usually isn’t a plan. Therein lies the attraction of the Woodlands for the several dozen regulars who return year after year, as well as the new friends who find their way through the questionably-marked country roads. Go players drift in, equipment appears and the games begin. It is possible to not only find yourself playing go as the sun is just peeping over the nearby mountains and the grass is still heavy with morning dew, but to still be at the board hours (days?) later as moonlight casts shadows across the now darkened lawn stretching out in front of the inn’s grand wrap-around porch. As your grip on time loosens, you find yourself noticing the sound of crickets and the sighing of the wind in the trees, the smell of thyme growing wild in the lawn. The passing of clouds or the progress of a mountain storm – brief and violent, followed by fresh-washed blue skies – reflects in and on the battle between slate and shell. 

There’s never any organized play at The Woodlands and clocks, while not specifically banned, tend to fall into disuse fairly quickly from lack of interest. Competition is as intense as you’ll find anywhere else, but at The Woodlands it’s common to come across boards abandoned mid-game for a pick-up soccer game, dip in the pool or raucous political debate. While folks fend for themselves for breakfast and lunch – everyone kicks in to stock the community fridge – someone always steps forward to whip up dinner for 40, which is fairly gourmet more often than not (Saturday night we dined on pork tenderloin medallions in a mustard-caper sauce). Evenings usually find the porch a peaceable kingdom of go and impromptu concerts, ranging from classical to folk and of course the entire Tom Lehrer songbook. 

Non-go players and children (though in recent years more and more of the children have become quite formidable on the board) are welcomed and find plenty to do, from mountain hikes to the Catskill Game Farm, caverns and the many other attractions of the Catskills, including the ubiquitous yard sales and antique shops. 

Recent repairs and a new coat of paint notwithstanding, the glory days of The Woodlands as a top-notch Catskills inn are long-gone. The beds sag in the middle, the porch roof leaks, the china is chipped and there are no mints on the pillows at night. If those things are important to you, try one of the resorts down the road. But for good company, plenty of go and a peaceful place where time slows down to a long stroll on a lazy country afternoon, The Woodlands is hard to beat. If you can find it. 
Find out more about the Brooklyn Go Club at http://brooklyngoclub.org/bgc/index.iphtml. 

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