relaxed, rested, rejuvenated?
Jul. 14th, 2004 03:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fatesfollyGot back from the spa last night.
It was my first time at a "destination spa." The trip there was uneventful. We did arrive during daylight, so it was nice to be able to look around and see where we were and scope out the place. It's near Blowing Rock, a small town near Boone. Upon arriving, a young guy showed us around the house and helped us with our bags. He was nice, but clearly a college student pulling time at a cushy spa and couldn't have really cared less about the job otherwise. I would have liked to have heard more about the history of the house and the architecture, but that's life.
Jane and I had adjoining rooms. The bathroom was closer to my room, but she had the advantage of having the door to the front balcony with a grand view. We settled our stuff and walked around before dinner.
Again, I did not know what to expect for meals. The literature said it was "gourmet spa cuisine" but I wasn't sure this country girl would like the fare. The literature had also mentioned that there was no dubious food served, ala salt, butter, or caffeine. That's "dubious???"
The rules were you had to dress for dinner so we finished our sightseeing and headed upstairs to dress. Our reservations were for 7 and we were back downstairs promptly at 7. We were handed menus and were told the specials for the evening. This place also is a restaurant for the townspeople, so the menu with choices was a surprise. Jane and I had reserved our stay with a package which included meals, so we could choose an appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert.
The menu featured several high-end type restaurant choices, but I'm pretty finicky. Frog legs have been on menus I've seen before, but I've never been one to try them. Not this time, either. Jane ordered the Nori Rolls, stuffed with shrimp and cream cheese, and she tried to get me to order them, too, (being a lover of sushi necessitates that you think everyone should love sushi) but once they came, wrapped in their little seaweed cuteness, I was fooled into trying one and I was immediately tossed back to my one and only time of trying sushi and I was thankful that the spa tea was there to help me wash it all down quickly and completely. I cannot remember my appetizer on that first night, but everything else I had that night... mixed green salad with the prettiest tomatoes I've ever seen, the tasty filet mignon, and the perfect ending of Pineapple Foster was all wonderful. Maybe this "gourmet spa cuisine" wasn't going to be so bad. Well, I thought this until the next morning when it was announced that the omelet of the day was soysage, mushroom and onion. Soysage??? Not for this girl who grew up watching the pigs on her granddaddy's farm. I had a cheese omelet.
The services I chose weren't bad, though I know what to choose next time.
The first thing I did was take a low-fat cooking class with the executive chef of the place. Because I was the only one in the class, I got to ask him everything I ever wanted to know about cooking and baking. He even shared some of his more down to earth recipes with me.
The second service was really nice. It was basically a mud wrap followed by a massage. The woman who did it was really sweet and funny. The only problem was that I had a yoga class immediately following it and I was so slippery from the massage oil that I kept slipping out of my positions and laughing at myself... not exactly the meditative act yoga is supposed to be.
Yesterday, I had a salt scrub and a metabolic assessment. I always love a salt scrub and the metabolic thing was interesting. My metabolism is faster than I thought it was.
Jane and I plan to return again next year. I enjoyed the massages, but I think I might try the facials and stuff instead of the cooking and fitness assessments. We also talked on the way home and agreed we liked the yoga enough to try the class here on Monday nights.
I thought the entire trip would be more relaxing, but because the time there was so planned and organized, I never really got a chance to go find a rock to sit on and think.
The best part of the trip was that it never got above 78 degrees. It was fun yesterday coming down off the mountain and watching the temperature rise on the thermometer in the car. It went from 71 degrees when we left during the heat of the day to 93 degrees in Raleigh.
Below are some pictures I snapped of the trip.
The main house
The rooms upstairs that are lit were ours
The view from the balcony
Grandfather Mountain is the tallest mountain
Black-eyed Susans in the garden
Jane and I
It was my first time at a "destination spa." The trip there was uneventful. We did arrive during daylight, so it was nice to be able to look around and see where we were and scope out the place. It's near Blowing Rock, a small town near Boone. Upon arriving, a young guy showed us around the house and helped us with our bags. He was nice, but clearly a college student pulling time at a cushy spa and couldn't have really cared less about the job otherwise. I would have liked to have heard more about the history of the house and the architecture, but that's life.
Jane and I had adjoining rooms. The bathroom was closer to my room, but she had the advantage of having the door to the front balcony with a grand view. We settled our stuff and walked around before dinner.
Again, I did not know what to expect for meals. The literature said it was "gourmet spa cuisine" but I wasn't sure this country girl would like the fare. The literature had also mentioned that there was no dubious food served, ala salt, butter, or caffeine. That's "dubious???"
The rules were you had to dress for dinner so we finished our sightseeing and headed upstairs to dress. Our reservations were for 7 and we were back downstairs promptly at 7. We were handed menus and were told the specials for the evening. This place also is a restaurant for the townspeople, so the menu with choices was a surprise. Jane and I had reserved our stay with a package which included meals, so we could choose an appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert.
The menu featured several high-end type restaurant choices, but I'm pretty finicky. Frog legs have been on menus I've seen before, but I've never been one to try them. Not this time, either. Jane ordered the Nori Rolls, stuffed with shrimp and cream cheese, and she tried to get me to order them, too, (being a lover of sushi necessitates that you think everyone should love sushi) but once they came, wrapped in their little seaweed cuteness, I was fooled into trying one and I was immediately tossed back to my one and only time of trying sushi and I was thankful that the spa tea was there to help me wash it all down quickly and completely. I cannot remember my appetizer on that first night, but everything else I had that night... mixed green salad with the prettiest tomatoes I've ever seen, the tasty filet mignon, and the perfect ending of Pineapple Foster was all wonderful. Maybe this "gourmet spa cuisine" wasn't going to be so bad. Well, I thought this until the next morning when it was announced that the omelet of the day was soysage, mushroom and onion. Soysage??? Not for this girl who grew up watching the pigs on her granddaddy's farm. I had a cheese omelet.
The services I chose weren't bad, though I know what to choose next time.
The first thing I did was take a low-fat cooking class with the executive chef of the place. Because I was the only one in the class, I got to ask him everything I ever wanted to know about cooking and baking. He even shared some of his more down to earth recipes with me.
The second service was really nice. It was basically a mud wrap followed by a massage. The woman who did it was really sweet and funny. The only problem was that I had a yoga class immediately following it and I was so slippery from the massage oil that I kept slipping out of my positions and laughing at myself... not exactly the meditative act yoga is supposed to be.
Yesterday, I had a salt scrub and a metabolic assessment. I always love a salt scrub and the metabolic thing was interesting. My metabolism is faster than I thought it was.
Jane and I plan to return again next year. I enjoyed the massages, but I think I might try the facials and stuff instead of the cooking and fitness assessments. We also talked on the way home and agreed we liked the yoga enough to try the class here on Monday nights.
I thought the entire trip would be more relaxing, but because the time there was so planned and organized, I never really got a chance to go find a rock to sit on and think.
The best part of the trip was that it never got above 78 degrees. It was fun yesterday coming down off the mountain and watching the temperature rise on the thermometer in the car. It went from 71 degrees when we left during the heat of the day to 93 degrees in Raleigh.
Below are some pictures I snapped of the trip.
The main house
The rooms upstairs that are lit were ours
The view from the balcony
Grandfather Mountain is the tallest mountain
Black-eyed Susans in the garden
Jane and I
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 10:14 pm (UTC)It might not be a thousand words but the picture did inspire me ;-)
no subject
Date: 2004-07-15 07:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-15 11:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-15 07:08 pm (UTC)