A Quiet Escape Across the Hudson with Manhattan in View
Sometimes, the best kind of escape is the one that doesn’t take you very far.
On a day when I wanted to slow down, swim, and simply enjoy a few quiet hours away from the pace of New York, I crossed the Hudson to SoJo Spa Club in Edgewater, New Jersey.
It felt like a small getaway without really leaving the city behind.
We changed into robes, spent time moving between the spa facilities, and let the day unfold without much of a plan. There was something nice about not having anywhere else to be. We could relax, take our time, stop for a good lunch, and then wander back to the pools whenever we felt like it.
But the place I remember most was the rooftop infinity pool.
The water was warm, almost like an outdoor hot spring, and beyond the edge of the pool stretched the Hudson River with the Manhattan skyline rising on the other side.
It was a view I had seen many times before, but somehow it felt completely different from there.
Instead of standing beneath the buildings, surrounded by traffic and people, I was looking back at the city from across the water — swimming, taking photos, and simply staying there longer than I expected.
There was something especially peaceful about being in warm water under the open sky while Manhattan sat quietly in the distance.
And when the air begins to turn cooler, that feeling becomes even better.
Warm water, cool air, the river below, and the skyline beyond — it is the kind of combination that makes you forget for a while that one of the busiest cities in the world is just across the Hudson.
I remember leaving that day feeling unusually relaxed.
For quite a while afterward, whenever friends asked me where they could go for an easy day away from New York, SoJo was one of the places I kept recommending.
Not because it was a big trip.
Not because there was a long list of things to do.
But because sometimes a robe, a warm pool, a good lunch, and a skyline in the distance are more than enough.
SoJo Spa Club
Edgewater, New Jersey
