The 4 (or 5) Day Getaway - Part II

Looking for a 4 Day Getaway? Try these! 

• Asheville, NC 

Stay:  The Omni Grove Park Inn or The Inn on the Biltmore Estate

Best Spa (by far):  The spa at The Omni Grove Park Inn

Definitely see:  The Biltmore Estate (Mansion, Gardens, Winery)

Activity:  Segway Tour of the Biltmore Estate

Shop:  Downtown Asheville

Favorite restaurants:  Sunny Pointe Café (great farm to table) and Stable Café (historical)

• Monterey/Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 

Stay:  Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa 

Best Spa:  Vista Blue Spa - top floor of the Monterey Plaza Hotel 

Definitely see:  the beautiful Pacific shoreline via The 17 Mile (bike or drive) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Activities:  Hike Point Lobos State Reserve (gorgeous) and take a Starlight Bioluminescence Kayak Tour at Elkhorn Slough. 

Shop:  Carmel Plaza (feels like you’re in a storybook) 

Favorite restaurants:  Mission Ranch Restaurant in Carmel (Clint Eastwood is the owner) and Lulu’s Griddle in the Middle on Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey; get clam chowder in a bread bowl at any restaurant (we liked Lalla Oceanside Grill in Monterey right on Cannery Row).  

• Sedona, AZ 

Stay:  L’ Auberge de Sedona 

Best Spa:  L’Auberge de Sedona (try a massage by the babbling creek!)

Definitely see:  Chapel of the Holy Cross, Oak Creek Canyon, and the sunset over Sedona at Airport Mesa 

Activities:  Hike!!!  Sedona is one of the best destinations for hiking in the country.  If MOAB is too ginormous for you, go to Sedona.  It’s absolutely breathtaking.  Also take a Pink Jeep Tour (we liked the Broken Arrow).

Shop:  Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village

Favorite restaurants:  Indian Gardens Café and Market (best sandwiches EVER!), The Pump House Urban Eatery and Market, and Mariposa (go for lunch and sit outside for an extraordinary view).

• San Diego, CA 

Stay: Hotel Del Coronado on Coronado Island, The Sofia Hotel in the Gaslamp District (boutique hotel)

Best Spa:  The Spa Torrey Pines; if you book a spa treatment, you get full unlimited access to the fitness studio, steam room, sauna, and inhalation room.  

Definitely see:  San Diego Zoo, The Whaley House in Old Town (supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the U.S.), Coronado Island, the sea lions sunbathing in La Jolla Cove, Balboa Park and Sea World.

Activities:  Hike Torrey Pines State Park (try an early morning hike followed by spa day at Torrey Pines), and a day of wine tasting in Temecula.  

Shop: Seaport Village

Favorite restaurants:  Herringbone in La Jolla and Casa de Reyes in Old Town.

• Chicago, IL  

Stay:  theWit (it has a nice view of the city, rooftop lounge with sweeping skyline views, a great spa, and it’s located near the theater district)

Spa:  Spa@theWit

Definitely see:  Navy Pier, Millennium Park, any of the great museums, the Shedd Aquarium, or a Cubs game (Wrigley Field is historical).

Activities:  beach day at Oak Street Beach on Lake Michigan, Broadway in Chicago musical

Shop:  the Magnificent Mile, Water Tower Place

Favorite restaurants: There’s a million places to eat in Chicago!  If you go to the theater, two favorites are Trattoria No. 10 and Catch 35, both near the theater district.

• San Francisco, CA 

Stay:  at a boutique hotel.  There’s dozens and many are like B&Bs.  

Definitely see:  Alcatraz (night tours are eerie), Pier 39, and Golden Gate Park (take a Segway tour or rent a bike to see it - it’s SO BIG),

Activities:  walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, take a hike at Muir Woods; the giant redwoods are incredible.

Favorite restaurant:  The Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar at the Fairmont Hotel.

• Washington, D.C.

Stay:  Holiday Inn Washington - Capital (SO CLOSE to the National Mall)

Definitely see:  The Smithsonian (two favorites are Air and Space and American History), ALL of the war memorials, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, the White House, the Tidal Basin, U.S. Capitol, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Jefferson Memorial and more - grab a map and see what you have time for.  If you can rent or bring a bike, do it.  D.C. is a bike friendly town and there’s a lot of walking at the National Mall.  

Activity:  You’ll get your exercise walking or biking the National Mall!

Favorite restaurants:  the food trucks - D.C. is known for them and there are dozens to choose from.  There are also dozens of historical restaurants like Old Ebbitt Grill, 1789, Historic Cedar Knoll Restaurant, Occidental Grill, and Ben’s Chili Bowl.   

• Virginia Beach, VA

Stay:  on Atlantic Avenue (ocean front)

Definitely see:  Colonial Williamsburg, Historic Jamestown, Cape Henry Lighthouse, Virginia Aquarium

Activities:  Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Water Country USA, the Virginia Beach Boardwalk - biking, walking, rollerblading, horseback riding, surrey rental, fitness park 

Shop:  Town Center 

Favorite restaurants:  Chick’s Oyster Bar, Rudee’s Restaurant and Cabana Bar, Catch 31; for breakfast, The Bee and the Biscuit, Bay Local, and Hair of the Dog Eatery. 

The 4 (or 5) Day Getaway - Part I

Weeklong vacations to exotic locales are exciting and adventurous, BUT can be pricey and can eat up a lot of vacation time if you're not retired.  Sometimes all you need is a 4-5 Day Getaway somewhere in the U.S., maybe even your own (or a neighboring) state.  Retired or not, the 4 Day Getaway can be perfect.  If you’re still working, tack on a couple of vacation days to the weekend and the 4 Day Getaway will feel like you’ve vacationed without taking a lot of time off work.  For retirees, the 4 Day Getaway can save some cash by traveling between Sunday and Thursday.  You can pack a lot into 4 days - sightseeing, shopping, outdoor activities, and dining with time left to relax.  Planning the perfect trip can be a lot of fun once you get past the first 3 all-important (but most stressful) steps - Choosing Your Destination - Making Travel Plans - Booking Accommodations.  

We chose beautiful Monterey and hiked near Big Sur.

Destination.  Where do you want to go?  Whether flying or driving, you want to choose somewhere you can get to in a few hours to avoid spending a lot of time getting to and from your destination.  Choose a destination with weather conducive to the activities you want to include.  Our trip to Monterey in June was perfect for biking and hiking with temps hovering around 70, but if we were planning on beach time (in bathing suits) we would have chosen a different destination (brrrr).  

Travel Plans.  Road trip or flying?  If flying cross country, catching an early non-stop flight will afford you time to hop in a rental car and drive to your destination with time left to enjoy your first day.  Although we had to drive 2 hours to our Sedona destination from the Phoenix airport, we were fortunate enough to get an early non-stop flight, so we could take advantage of a full afternoon of activities on Day 1.  (The time change helped too!)  For closer destinations, there’s always the road trip.  Our road trip to Asheville, NC was 9 hours.  Flying time would have been the same (or more) after tallying up the hours it takes to get to the airport, sit and wait, fly, rent a car and drive the two hours from airport to hotel (no nearby airport).  Road trips can be fun, especially when you have beautiful scenery and fun stops along the way.  If choosing the road trip option, plan some attractions to see on the way to your destination.  Stops on the road trip can be a fun part of the agenda.  

This was our balcony view in Sedona!

Accommodations.  Make your accommodations part of the experience, not just a place to lay your head at night.  Our girls getaways almost always include a spa experience so we try and stay at spa resorts when we can.  Don’t forget scenery - our Sedona trip would not have been the same without a balcony view of “Snoopy Rock”.  While in San Francisco, our stay at a boutique hotel with it’s old style elevator and cozy rooms was part of the adventure.  If you are an AARP member, always mention that - you might get a discount.  When traveling with a group of friends, splurge on the fancier accommodations and share the cost.   

Once you’ve tackled destination, travel plans, and accommodations, the rest is easy and fun.  What are you going to do?  What do you want to see?  Where do you want to eat?  Use Trip Advisor and travel blogs - they can be your best friends.  Create a list of desired activities, build an agenda and make dining and activity reservations if you can.  With a 4 day getaway, you almost have to have an agenda to help your vacay run smoothly and reservations save you from wasted time and disappointment. 

On our bike ride down the Pacific coast.

Dining.  Dinner reservations will cut down on time wasted waiting for a table, so make them if you can!  Trip Advisor is extremely helpful when choosing your restaurants.  Take advantage of the reviews, pay attention to price, and try cuisine that is native to the region (again, part of the adventure).  On our girls getaway to Asheville, NC, we had fun trying each restaurant’s version of fried green tomatoes.  In Monterey, it was the clam chowder!    

Activities.  In addition to regional cuisine, try regional activities!  Challenge yourself to attempting something on every trip that’s out of your comfort zone (within reason).  In Sedona, we climbed a mountain.  In Monterey, we kayaked at night with the seals, otters, and bioluminescent plankton and biked down the coast.  Don't forget to make reservations for activities as well!  Our Alcatraz Night Tour in SF had to be booked 90 days in advance.  A nice mixture of physical activity, sight-seeing, and shopping makes for a great getaway.  Relax in the evening with a  yummy meal, a crisp wine, and stimulating conversation!                     

Kayaking with sea life. 

Next Week:  Part II of the The 4 (or 5) Day Getaway - Destination Ideas

Is Your Retirement Fulfilling or Just Busy?

If you ask many retirees how they like retirement, you nearly always get the response, “I don’t know when I had time to work!”  Their days are filled with shopping, errands, and appointments; get-togethers with friends are regularly calendared.  They have time to do everything they wanted to do when they were working but never had time for and can be  completely selfish with their time.  But does that really bring happiness?   

    

After a couple of years of retirement and going through the honeymoon period of taking full control of how you spend your day, you may ask yourself if you are happy just being busy.  You may have settled into a routine that you consider fun - lunch dates with friends, morning workouts, matinees; you may have taken on some fun projects like redecorating the house or taking trips here or there several times a year (just because you can) - all fun, or at least pleasant, but you may feel dissatisfied.  Can’t imagine feeling dissatisfied in retirement?  If you were lucky enough to find fulfillment in your career, you most likely strive to find fulfillment in retirement as well, and simple pleasures may not be cutting it.    

After the daily jubilee of “Yay!  I’m retired!  I don't have to go to work today!” wears off, it’s common to feel some type of loss - could be loss of social interaction, lack of purpose, or a feeling of disconnection - so we fill up our time with being busy.  We fill up our new free time with pleasures.  Although important, pleasures don’t always fulfill our need for a purpose.  Thinking back on your life when you worked, you were respected, valued, needed.  Your feedback and advice meant something.  You were part of something larger than yourself.  If you found your career fulfilling, you were probably pretty important.  So why do you need to have a fulfilling and purposeful retirement after years of working in a fulfilling and purposeful career?  What's wrong with just doing nothing in retirement?

Part of what kept you going in your career was your purpose - whether it be the love of your work or a need for the money.  Without purpose, you'll end up drifting along, losing motivation.  Instead of running the day, the day will run you.  The difference between pleasure and fulfillment is that pleasure comes from external sources - sitting by the lake with a warm cappuccino, walking on a sunny beach in the middle of January. Fulfillment comes from within.  Fulfillment comes from things like sharing your legacy, benefiting the social good, or continually improving your physical and mental fitness.  It might come from exploring your passion or learning a new skill. 

Retirement seems like the perfect time in your life to find that purposeful life.  What skills and traits do you possess that can be used to leave people, places and things better than how you found them?  What events and relationships are worthy of your time?  I used to shape the minds of children and help other teachers hone their craft in my previous career as a teacher.  Now, when I spend time with my grandsons, I help them discover the world by taking them on "field trips" or reading to them.  The adventure trips that I plan each year for our girls getaway inspires all of us to step outside our comfort zones and push ourselves mentally and physically.  Enrolling in a photography class to sharpen my skills has helped me preserve important events in the lives of my family and friends.  My routine of a daily dose of vitamin D through hiking, biking, and gardening sets a positive tone for my day.  After two years of the "no plan plan," I'm finding my purpose in retirement.   

Don’t be afraid to leave your profession, explore your passion, and take a risk at trying something new.  A healthy mixture of pleasure and fulfillment seems perfect.  

48 Hours in San Francisco

There are a million things to do in San Francisco.  My girlfriends and I planned our annual Girls Getaway for Monterey and Carmel, but tacked on a couple of extra days to spend in San Francisco.  We made the most of our short time there and proved that it is possible to pack a quintessential San Francisco getaway into 48 hours.     

Lombard Street, deemed the crookedest street in San Francisco (maybe the U.S. and the world) is eight ziggedy-zaggedy turns in one block on a slope that would make a great challenge for an X-treme downhill skier.  Driving down the 600 ft. red brick road is similar to riding a roller coaster (without the loops) at 5 mph and it will all be over in two minutes.  Set the GPS to 1099 Lombard Street and give it a shot.    

If you’re going to San Francisco you absolutely HAVE to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.  We parked in a lot near the Golden Gate Bridge Visitor Plaza on the southeast end of the bridge.  You can take pictures at the beautiful vista point before walking over the 1.5 mile art deco style bridge.  Some tips:  wear layers, it can be warm or it can be cool from the wind; pull your hair back if you have long hair - WINDEEE; bring a camera - you’ll take a hundred pictures; take your time and enjoy the views.  

Take a walk on Pier 39, known for it’s fresh seafood restaurants, shops, and (my favorite) sea lions who camp out on K-dock.  We spent a couple of hours strolling the pier, noshing on clam chowder (in a sourdough bread bowl of course), browsing the specialty shops, and giggling at the sea lions battling one another for “king of the hill” as they sunbathed on the dock.  You will also see street performers and musicians scattered around Pier 39 and a fresh fruit market (we picked up fresh California cherries to snack on).  

After doing my homework on awesome places to have small plates and drinks in San Francisco, we were hell bent on visiting the Tonga Room at the Fairmont (no matter how tired we were).  There was no way we were going to pass up a Polynesian themed tiki bar with a live action rain and tropical thunder storm and drinks served in a coconut.  Add to that a live band playing catchy music on a floating stage.  After all, Anthony Bourdain liked it so we knew we would too!  

SF is a great city for boutique hotels.  They’re cozy, and many include breakfast and a wine and cheese hour.  We stayed near Nob Hill at the White Swan Inn.  Loved the vintage elevator, cozy rooms with a fireplace, and personal touch.  

Obviously, one of the highlights of San Francisco is Golden Gate Park.  It’s over a thousand acres so we chose to see it via Segway on the morning of Day 2.  After taking 30 minutes to teach us how to drive a Segway, our tour guide led us on a two hour journey through the magnificent park.  We made a short stop at a food truck for lunch, then switched over to hiking mode and ventured out to Muir Woods, about 20 minutes north of the city.  

The giant redwoods at Muir Woods are overwhelming, to say the least.  Hiking trails range from very easy to more difficult.  No matter which trail you choose, you’re hiking among old growth coast redwoods, nearly 300 feet tall and 500-800 years old and they are spectacular!  

We finished our hike in enough time to shower, change, and have a little wine and cheese before trekking out to Fisherman’s Wharf to catch our Night Tour of Alcatraz - another must-see!  We headed out on the 6:30 PM ferry, arrived on the island twenty-some minutes later, and had a VERY interesting (and eerie) tour of the Cellhouse.  

Wrapping up our SF mini visit, we had drinks and small plates at The View Lounge at the Mariott Marquis to get an exquisite view of the city.  Early the next morning?  A flight back to Chicago to relax from our vacay! 

Loving Retirement: An Amazing Girls Getaway for the Spa Warriors

Loving Retirement: An Amazing Girls Getaway for the Spa Warriors: After climbing mountains in Sedona last year, our annual girls trip somehow transformed into sort of an Amazing Race meets Bravo Hous...

An Amazing Girls Getaway for the Spa Warriors

After climbing mountains in Sedona last year, our annual girls trip somehow transformed into sort of an Amazing Race meets Bravo Housewives.  There are two requirements in order to qualify as a venue for our annual girls getaway: amazing outdoor adventures and a beautiful (and somewhat unique) spa.  This year the Spa Warriors (that’s us) chose Monterey and Carmel-By-The Sea (with a two day trip extension to San Francisco) and we were not disappointed.  

There is no way I can describe Monterey and do it justice.  It’s just plain beautiful.  If you want to lay on a beach and soak up the sun all week, Monterey is probably not for you.  The temperature is an even 70s, a little cool for beach weather, and the beaches aren’t sandy - they’re rocky. But if you are active and enjoy bike riding and hiking while admiring sea life and a beautiful

shoreline, this is the place you need to be.  We fell in love with it Day 1.     

A Monterey must is the 17 Mile.  The 17 Mile Scenic Drive can be driven or biked.  My advice - bike it if you can.  We did and what a great experience!  Believe me, it’s a lot longer than 17 miles (you have to bike to the starting point, then of course you have to get back - do the math) but it’s definitely doable.  We are not even close to being Lance Armstrongs and we survived it.  There are 21 stops along the 17 Mile and you are going to want to stop at most or all of them, take photos and read the info-signs.  If you decide to bike it, it will take most of the day.  A great place to stop for lunch is Pebble Beach Golf Course.  You can even shop the little pro shops there.  On the 17 Mile you will see lots of wildlife - seals, otters, deer, birds, maybe even a whale.  The scenery and shoreline are breathtaking.  

After biking 30+ miles, we were ready for a relaxing dinner.  We drove out to Carmel to Mission Ranch (owned by Clint Eastwood).  The view is gorgeous.  Not only will you see the Santa Lucia Mountains, Point Lobos and the Pacific Ocean, but you will also see sheep grazing in the meadow right next to the restaurant.  The food? Yummy!

For our hiking day, we chose Point Lobos State Natural Reserve located in Carmel-By-The-Sea between the coasts of Big Sur and Carmel.  It’s an easy hike up the rock with the ocean and beautiful shoreline always in view and lush canopies sometimes over head.  To avoid sitting in a line to park your car, get there at 8 AM when the park opens.  You can easily get in a lot of hiking by noon and spend the rest of the day shopping in adorable Carmel-By-The-Sea (which was exactly what we did).  After leaving Point Lobos, go south on 1 to the Bixby Creek Bridge (the famous bridge shown in the beginning of every episode of Big Little Lies) for a great photo op.  To get the best photo, pull over to the left (east side) of the bridge onto a dirt road.  You can get the best photos from there with the ocean in the background.  

The ultimate girls getaway is never complete without a little retail therapy.  Carmel-By-The-Sea is peppered with adorable little homes that give it the look of a storybook village.  Carmel Plaza is a one-of-a-kind shopping experience with fairytale cottages, cobblestone sidewalks, and hidden pathways.  For lunch or dinner, check out The Treehouse Cafe.  We sat outside on the upper level and it felt like we were eating in the treetops (the food is great too!).     

Every girls trip has to include at least one activity outside our comfort zone.  This year it was a starlight bioluminescence kayak tour.  We started out at sunset, and throughout the tour had an up close and personal experience with seals, otters, sea stars, and of course the stars of the show - bioluminescent plankton.  We used Kayak Connections at Elkhorn Slough and love them!  (We even took a hot chocolate break.)

After a week of biking, hiking and kayaking, we were in desperate need of a spa day to pamper our muscles.  The spa at the Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa is rooftop with a beautiful view of the Pacific and a full menu of massages, body treatments, and facials.  

Put Monterey and Carmel on the list of “must do” girls getaways.   

What Makes a Good Mom?

This weekend we officially celebrate Moms, although I’ve always said Moms should be celebrated daily.  One of my fondest memories of Mother’s Day as a child was when we would go to church on Mother’s Day and the alter would be covered in flowers.  The children were called up to choose any flower we wanted and bring it back to Mom.  The look on her face - her big beautiful smile and her big brown eyes filled with such pride - is ingrained in my memory forever.  (FYI-You will always find me capitalizing the words Mom/Mother because of it’s importance.)  My Mother was a warm, loving and very progressive Mom.  She had a warm personality and voice, loving smile, was gentle and beautiful.  By 1960s definition, she was also progressive.  When my youngest brother was in kindergarten, her previous employer called and asked her to return to work and she accepted.  My Dad was self-employed as a farmer so my Mom would leave for work after we got on the school bus, my Dad was home after school to greet us, and they hired a nanny to live with us during the summer months.  That definitely put her into the minority of working mothers, especially living in a small farming community during that period of time.  Starting out as a government Clerk-Steno I, she was continuously promoted and retired in the early 90s as a Case Work Supervisor.  Mom was definitely an early version of what we call the Supermom by today’s standards.  She took great care of her family, rarely missed a day of work, excelled professionally, kept a clean house (back then Dads didn’t help with the cleaning - that’s what daughters were for), helped us with our homework, never missed a school function or one of our sporting events, and never let us miss a day of school - even Sunday School (barring illness of course).  She and my Dad taught my brothers and me life skills and expected us to pitch in around the house and farm as well as bring home good grades and put academic accomplishments as a priority.  They readied us for adulthood and were the epitome of good parenting.  

As I became a parent, and now a grandparent, I have seen my version of good parenting from a child’s point of view, a parent’s point of view, and now a grandparent’s point of view.  Seems like everyone has an opinion of what it takes to be a good Mom.  There is so much pressure on Motherhood and an ample amount of Mom-shaming to go around.  So many questions to answer - Shall I work or stay at home?  Day-care or nanny?  What shall I feed my children?  How often should my child nap?  Does my child need more exercise?  How should I discipline my child?  And let’s not forget to mention all of the child-rearing info coming at these young Mothers - books, dozens of websites and blogs, friends and relatives giving their opinions and all claiming to have the answers.   

With the abundance of child-rearing advice and opinions on what makes a “Good Mom”, one thing remains constant with being a good Mom - that there is no Mommy Guidebook, no such thing as a perfect Mom, and all you really have to do is love your kids and raise them using good common sense, making decisions that are in their best interest.  You will make mistakes as you navigate your way through parenting, but your kids will be great because you raise them with love.  I am one proud Grandmother as I watch my daughter and daughter-in-law raise their little boys with so much love and guidance, teaching their little ones how to grow into happy adults, doing what’s best for their families.  Just like my Mom, they are my definition of Good Mommies.  

Don’t forget to give Mom her day - she deserves it.  If you can’t spend some time with her, give her a phone call (not just a text).  To all the new Moms out there, if you are raising your children with love, you are a Good Mom and everything will fall into place.  Have a Happy Mother's Day!