Photo Credit: PGA National

After two days in a heavily air conditioned conference center near Orlando, I nearly sprint to my rental car to make the two plus hour drive to the PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. It’s an easy drive – nearly the entire trip is via the Florida Turnpike – but it’s a snoozer. Miles and miles roll by with few exits and little evidence that I’m even in Florida! But the moment my trusty GPS guides me off the highway and I turn onto the Avenue of the Champions, I’m rewarded by the true Florida: pristinely manicured lawns and gardens, palm trees and a deep blue sky. What’s notably absent is the oppressive humidity I left behind in Central Florida.

The vibe: Noticeably high energy. Karen Cantor, the Public Relations Manager at PGA National, tells me that a generous portion of the resorts business comes from group sales meetings and other business functions. Sales meeting? These guests are having FUN! How could you not in this absolutely paradisiacal setting? The cocktail-serviced pool scene was the place to be on a recent hopping Tuesday afternoon. Still, you can find quieter nooks if poolside peace and relaxation is more your thing.

Each week, the resort hosts fun events for guests and locals like the popular Girls Night Out at IBAR, lively happy hours and sports-themed events.

The room: I’m spending one all too short night in room 4049, a 364 square foot deluxe junior suite with a generous spa view balcony. There is nothing feminine about this decidedly masculine space that has been recently renovated and is decorated with contemporary furnishings in an eye-popping color palette of chocolates, camels and red. My suite features a leather sectional, optimal storage and lighting and appealing textures. The bathroom area is smartly designed with a full bath inside a pocket door with an additional sink/vanity area.

Photo Credits: PGA National

The food: Ironwood Steak and Seafood, PGA National’s premier restaurant, is known for simply seasoned prime steaks broiled under the Vulcan 1200 before being brushed with herbed butter and shallots. But the seared diver scallops with dulce de leche (shown in slideshow), creamy grits, popcorn rice and chili oil catches my eye and doesn’t let go, mainly because of the chef’s use of bold and unexpected ingredients. Meals begin with a tempting trio of breads and spreads that you’ll have to push yourself away from because there is much more to come. First, a round of irresistible roasted beet salad with heirloom tomatoes and goat cheese coated in chopped pistachios in a tangerine dressing. Shared appetizers of jumbo shrimp cocktail and creamy crab set the tone for a meal that isn’t for the diet conscious. Handcrafted inventive cocktails fuse classic with modern while rich, dreamy desserts polish off the culinary offerings.

The spa: A Mediterranean-style women’s relaxation lounge, large locker room, steam room and indoor whirlpool are nice enough, but the piece de’ resistance – and what sets The Spa at PGA National apart from other luxury spas – is the Waters of the World (shown in photo, below left). A chance to get outside while still ensconced in the womb-like bubble of a spa is an all too rare treat. So when my soothing and hydrating Noni Body Treatment ends, I make a beeline for the lush, private outdoor space that is available to spa guests only. The Waters of the World are a series of four pools heated to varying temperatures and surrounded by lush tropical landscaping, trickling fountains, relaxing music and comfortable seating and lounge chairs. My first soak is in Salies-de-Béarn, the French mineral pool known for reducing stress and a host of other ailments. Next, a soak in a pool modeled after the Dead Sea in Israel, where travelers have bathed in mineral-rich waters famed for having positive effects on irritated skin and anxious minds.

When lunch arrives, I nibble on a generous Mediterranean platter of hummus, tapenade, tabbouleh accompanied by pita wedges, crispy flatbread and tangy olives. Perfect! Poolside! Lunch! Dessert is a popular frozen yogurt parfait layered with berries, granola and dried fruit. The poolside service is an impressive and memorable trifecta of friendly, efficient and attentive. I’m in heaven and I never want to leave.

Renovations: The PGA National Resort & Spa has recently undergone $100 million in renovations to bring the resort up-to-date and ahead of the curve. Guest room renovations are complete and there is a definite WOW! factor in the rooms and public spaces. This is more than just your standard freshening up.

Worth Mentioning:

• The Lakeside Lawn – a new waterfront outdoor venue for celebrations and special events

Specialty suites:

• Lush bridal suites
• Tranquil spa retreat suites conveniently located with prime access to the spa
• Fully loaded media/game suites

• Renovations to the restaurants and golf courses

The golf: My experience with golf is limited to a few lessons with my girlfriends in my early 20′s, followed by a few cocktail-infused rounds on amateur courses. One particularly memorable golf outing was characterized by bees following us and our sweet pink lemonade with vodka all over the course. You get the idea. Even a non-golfer would be hard pressed not to notice that PGA National is at its core a premier golf resort. With 4 onsite courses and 1 nearby, you can mix it up on the fairways with a different course every day of your stay. The problem? PGA National does everything so well (dining, bars, the spa, the pool scene), that even a hard-core golfer might be tempted to stray a bit.

If you go:

PGA National Resort & Spa

400 Avenue of the Champions, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. 33418 – (800) 863-2819

I’ve been in Florida for five days without so much as laying my eyes on a body of water that isn’t man-made. On my final day in the sunshine state, I want to see the ocean. I want to walk on the beach, feel the sand under my toes and feel the sea breeze through my hair. So I head to the Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Resort & Spa, leave my car with the valet and in no time I’m soaring up the elevator to my 19th floor suite. All the while I’m mentally formulating my plan: drop off bag, a quick ooh and aah at my luxury suite and then straight to the beach. I step outside to check out the infinity pool while searching for the pathway that will take me to the waterfront. And that’s when I hear it: rain! At first, it’s a dull pitter patter on the awning. And then, without warning, the sky opens up and dumps buckets of rain. This is the no-end-in-sight of the torrential downpour variety. There will be no beach for me today.

The spa: So what’s a spa girl to do when she finds herself at a beach resort in a blinding rain storm? Head to the spa, of course! As luck would have it, I’ve already got an appointment for a late afternoon treatment at SiSpa – an 80 minute Part the Si specialty massage, a blend of Swedish and deep tissue massage. A deep tissue massage is not for everyone, but if you want to tackle knotted muscles this treatment is a nice way to sample a deeper massage modality and temper it with the relaxing strokes of Swedish massage.

SiSpa is a dig your heels in and stay for a while kind of spa. The wet room offers an experience shower, steam room and heated lounging beds. It’s a setting capable of inducing calm and an ideal place to wait out the nasty weather. As I settle in to one of the curved beds in the cozy refuge-like relaxation room, I’m almost thankful that the rain outside has brought me here ahead of schedule.

The next morning, I’m back at SiSpa again for a 50-minute Si Radiance facial with Claudia who is excellent at her craft. With a light touch, magic fingers and deep knowledge of skincare, Claudia expertly treated my skin to a therapeutic oxygen facial and glycolic peel. The oxygen felt like a cool, moist stream of concentrated air. The results? The bumps that plague my forehead are less prominent and the hyper pigmentation on my cheeks is less noticeable.

My favorite things at SiSpa: Cozy beds and personal reading lamps in the relaxation room, an ocean inspired color palette, Zents products in the women’s locker room. The spa retail area is a stunning display of exquisite clothing, jewelry, handbags, luxury items and gifts.

The room: An 800 square-foot one bedroom condo style ocean view suite with large balcony. It’s luxury all the way with marble bath, full gourmet kitchen, luxury bed linens and high end furnishings and fixtures. The layout is inviting with tall ceilings, an open floor plan and uncluttered design elements.

My favorite things in my suite: The walk-in closet, Bose stereo, extra large bathroom with soaking tub and separate shower and killer views of the Atlantic Ocean and intracoastal waterway.

Things I didn’t make time for: Lounging poolside, hanging out at the beautiful beach, dinner at 3800 Ocean, working out in the modern fitness center.

If you go:

Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa
3800 North Ocean Drive Singer Island
Riviera Beach, Florida 33404
(561) 340-1700

What do you get when you mix mineral-rich waters, thermal sulfur springs, therapeutic mud, a dry, sunny climate and soul-altering sites? If you guessed the Dead Sea area of Jordan, you answered correctly. Its many resorts offer something for everyone from vacationers looking for health-focused getaways to honeymooners to pilgrims taking solo retreats. Indeed, the Dead Sea’s bucket-list-level pilgrimage destinations and internationally renowned spas offer holistic revitalization.

What we know today as the Dead Sea was, in biblical times, called the Salt Sea or the Sea of Arabah. Unlike the Sea of Galilee to the north, Jordan’s lunar-like seascape played only a minor role in biblical narratives, as the Ammonite and Moabite armies crossed it at a shallow place en route to attack King Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 20). But the Sea has a big biblical future, according to Ezekiel, who prophesied that after Christ returns its now-shrinking waters will be fresh, and fishermen will cast nets on its shores (Ezek. 47:1–12).

Many assume the Dead Sea is the saltiest lake on earth, but that title actually goes to a lake in Antarctica. Still, the Dead Sea is the earth’s second most saline body; if you ingested a full glass of its waters, you would die. But the Dead Sea’s mud and waters can work wonders when applied externally.

The Dead Sea area gets about 330 days of sunshine yearly, so travelers have a good chance of enjoying its rays’ natural phototherapy. And though the sun may beat down, at a thousand feet below sea level, UV rays do less damage. July and August temperatures can reach unbearable highs, but November—which is just around the corner—is one of the best times to go. Here are some suggestions for making the most of your time.

• Rest easy. Although other parts of the region convulse with turmoil, Jordan remains at peace, and the US State Department has issued no warnings for travelers going there. Jordan’s American-educated king is an ally, and the country’s citizens warmly welcome Americans. Leaving its borders open, Jordan is a hospitable place for Syrian refugees, a moderate voice amidst radicalism, and a broker of peace between warring nations.
• Transfer to resorts with ease. From the airport in Amman, the Dead Sea is just an hour away, and many hotels run shuttles you can catch for a fee.
• Know that people will understand you. Recently I spent nine days on a press junket in Jordan, and everyone with whom I spoke, with the exception of one hotel worker, spoke English.
• Pack water shoes. The beaches have small pebbles and jagged salt. Flip-flops will float away. I used an old pair of Keds packed in a plastic bag for luggage transport.
• Don’t shave. Once you’re lying in the water, you’ll discover scratches, blisters, or nicks you didn’t even know you had. The salt makes them sting. So shave at least a full day before you get in.
• Slather on the mud. For the softest skin, rub the brown resort-provided goo on your torso and legs (not your face). Let it cake and bake on you, and then go for a float to wash it off.
• Step into the water. Expect the Dead Sea to feel different from anything you have ever experienced. When I entered it, I was immediately conscious that no fish would tickle my legs, as the liquid is too salinated to support marine life. Hence the label “Dead.”
• Float only on your back. Keep the water out of your eyes at all costs. It seriously hurts. Also, signs warn vacationers to float only on their backs—instructions to take seriously. Annually several people die because they disobey this rule. Legs float better than expected, and in the stomach-down position a person can easily flip and get her head submerged.
• Float. In the words of a fellow journalist, floating in the Dead Sea “is like being dunked in a vat of hair gel.” Its liquid feels more like glycerin than water, and you couldn’t sink if you tried. It’s crazy, and it’s fun. So make sure you have a camera handy. Lots of tourists take books or newspapers into the water with them and get their photos made as their mud-covered selves read. I prefer to carry nothing and throw my arms in the air—ta da! Floating in the Dead Sea is like nothing you’ve ever experienced.
• Shower on the beach. Resorts have showers down on the beaches so bathers can wash off the salt before jumping in the pool or returning to their rooms. If you wash the salt from your body before you give yourself a wipe-down with a towel, you will avoid getting the cloth salty—and transferring salt back to your skin. That after-soak salt can make you feel itchy.
• Mix it up at the spas. The modern resorts lining Jordan’s Dead Sea area allow purchase of day passes to their spas and beaches, so check out several facilities while you’re there. Golf carts ferry guests between some resorts for the price of a tip. Know that the Dead Sea Spa Hotel, though it has “spa” in the title, actually has only a medical facility the offers therapeutic massage. If you’re traveling with kids, take them to the pool designed for them at that resort. But get your luxury facial at the Marriot. And after soaking in the hot tubs at the Mövenpick, get a shampoo and “blow-out” at their Zara Spa. Then end one of your days with a swanky dinner at the Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea. These facilities are all within easy walking distance of each other.
• Reserve at least one night for the Evason Ma’In Hot Springs Resort. Of all the places I have stayed in Jordan, I like Evason Ma’In Hot Springs best—starting with its padded swings inside the lobby. The nearby Panorama Restaurant, available by shuttle for a fee, offers breathtaking outdoor sunset views of the Dead Sea. You can retreat from otherwise monochromatic terrain in an oasis of color complete with palm trees and natural springs. All guests have swim privileges at a waterfall-fed pool adjacent to the hotel’s Six Senses spa. But I recommend paying extra for spa privileges. There you can step into a natural-sauna cave with your sweetie or swing on a hammock in the women’s-only swimming area. Either way, munch on healthy snacks poolside, and enjoy the sound of rushing waters. Ah-h-h.
• Meditate in the holy sites. Jordan is the land where a cloud by day kept people from frying, and a pillar of fire by night warmed them. The Lord’s people wandered here for forty years, and He fed them with manna and quail. On this side of the Dead Sea, Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, and Jesus once walked. On clear days Mount Nebo, the promontory from which Moses gazed into the Promised Land, offers a breathtaking view. Bethany Beyond the Jordan, the site of Elijah and John the Baptist’s wilderness as well as Jesus’ baptism site, is less than a thirty-minute drive. And nearby Madaba houses a famous sixth-century mosaic map of the Holy Land. If you want your own private local Christian guide, I recommend Samer Madanat (mosesmadanat@yahoo.com).

In Jordan you may not eat literal manna or feast on sky-fallen quail, but the spiritual food of God’s presence will nourish you. So take some time away to pamper body and soul in the land where Father, Son, and Spirit stooped to join earth to heaven.

Disclosure: The Jordan Tourism Board covered most of the expenses for my trips, but JTB exercised no control over what I said or wrote. 

Sandra Glahn, Th.M., serves on the adjunct faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary, her alma mater, where she is editor in chief of Kindred Spirit magazine. She is a PhD candidate in Aesthetic Studies at the University of Texas/ Dallas, and is the author or coauthor of seventeen books, including the Coffee Cup Bible Study series. 

Fall in Vermont is breathtakingly beautiful. I visited with two girlfriends in mid-October for a girlfriend getaway spa hopping weekend at the tail end of peak foliage season.

Just a short drive from our weekend home base in Stowe, Vermont, The Essex Vermont’s Culinary Resort & Spa is located on 18 acres between the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain near Burlington.

The Essex is a 120-room resort and spa featuring world-class cuisine in Butler’s Restaurant for formal dining and in The Tavern for more casual fare. The resort also offers cooking classes, tennis, golf, hot air ballooning, and an Orvis-endorsed fishing lodge.

The 22,000 square foot, two-story Spa at The Essex opened in June of 2009. Featuring 10 treatment rooms, a 25-yard indoor pool, an outdoor hot tub, and a Technogym equipped fitness center, The Spa at The Essex also includes men’s and women’s locker rooms with steam rooms, redwood saunas, and private lounges.

The spa is decorated in soothing tones of light gold and sage with warm wood accents. The facility offers a full-service salon for hair styling, make-up, manicures, and specialty relaxation pedicures.

On the first floor, a fireplace gathering lounge is where guests wait to be called for their treatments. The trend in spas seems to be utilizing natural light while bringing the outdoors in and The Spa at The Essex is no exception. Large windows look out over the wooded area behind the resort. Many of the common areas feature gorgeous light wood flooring.

When it’s time for your treatment, your therapist will lead you up the grand spiral staircase to the second floor. You’ll pass through a co-ed social relaxation lounge with another stone fireplace, cathedral ceilings and windows with a wooded view. The entire warmth filled space is clean and bright, light and airy. Couples wanting to enjoy treatments together have the run of the couple’s treatment suite with a private soaking tub for two and a private shower.

The motto at the spa is Recipe for Relaxation; the treatment menu showcases culinary ingredients like mandarin orange in the Mineral Mimosa Body Treatment. Ingredients like lemon, lime, ginger, olive, fig and coffee hail from the kitchen but make an appearance in the spa treatments.

After your treatment, your therapist will deliver you to a quiet men’s or women’s relaxation lounge. This softly lit transition space is meant to help you ease gradually and gently back into the world. Here you’ll find plush blankets on thickly padded lounge chairs that beg to be napped in. Before you close your eyes to drift off to sleep, look upwards; a Mathmos Space Projector projects a relaxing moving image on the ceiling.

A great girlfriend spa getaway usually follows a simple formula: gourmet meals – prepared by someone else, spa treatments, wine or cocktails, lots of shopping and some time for just relaxing and hanging out. At The Essex, you can have your meals prepared for you in the fun pub atmosphere of The Tavern or at the fine dining establishment Butler’s Restaurant. For a really fun and unique twist on the girlfriend getaway spa weekend, try a culinary class at The Essex. The unique Chef in Training Program is a hands-on and interactive three-course dining experience taught by New England Culinary Institute chef instructors.

Chef Kerri Bouffard

Chef Kerri Bouffard led us through a Harvest Time Menu of roasted Caribbean squash soup garnished with lemon mint Vermont goat cheese, maple & apple braised chicken served with fluffy buttery potatoes and apple upside down cake with Vermont ice cream. The evening began in the resort’s demonstration kitchen where Chef Kerri served an appetizer platter of locally sourced Vermont cheeses while the nine students gathered and became acquainted. When a friendly server passed around cocktail menus and wine lists then took our drink orders, I knew it wasn’t going to be an ordinary classroom experience.

Then it was down to business. Under the expert guidance of our instructor, our class chopped, diced, stirred, sautéed, braised and baked. We learned new techniques and perfected old ones; like the correct way to cut an onion without tears, and gourmet ingredient guidance. When we finished our preparations, we sat down and savored our creations. We walked away with recipes to create the dishes at home and the memories of a fabulously fun and entertaining evening.

Our 2-hour Chef in Training experience was $110.00 per person plus a 19% service charge and 9% tax. Rates depend on the menu offerings, which change seasonally and vary throughout the month. If rich dishes made with lots of butter aren’t your thing, try the Spa Cuisine culinary class for lighter menu offerings.

The Essex Resort & Spa
70 Essex Way, Essex (Burlington), VT 05452
Tel (802) 878-1100
For reservations call 1-800-727-4295
http://www.vtculinaryresort.com/home.cfm

Michele McIntyre is a freelance spa, travel & wellness writer who is happiest when lying face up on a treatment table or writing about her spa and travel experiences.  She lives near Syracuse, NY with her husband and son.  She is a regular contributor to Today’s Central New York Woman Magazine and is a National Spa Examiner for Examiner.com.  Michele’s adventures have been featured on a variety of websites including a stint as a guest spa blogger on Tripology and as a storyteller on TripAtlas.