Girls Getaway

The idea for a girls getaway started way back in February, when I was talking to my friend Ang on the phone. She is happily married and has three beautiful children, however she hadn't taken a vacation on her own since the first little guy was born. She mentioned how wonderful it would be to get away from it all for a few days, and what better way than to plan a girls weekend with your college friends?

Ang recruited our friend Lisa and before we knew it we had our group of three - and we began brainstorming on possible getaway locations. We had a strict budget of no more than $1000/per person. The emails began quickly flying back and forth with lots of details and ideas. After about a month of research and conversations, we settled on the Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Arizona for our first girls getaway! It looked absolutely serene and we got an incredible deal by booking their Escape Spa Package. The package included:

* Spacious Resort Casita room (1 King or 2 doubles)
* Breakfast for two in Rita's Kitchen
* Daily admittance in our 27,000 square foot european health spa
(use of our fitness room, aerobic classes, sauna and lap pool)
* Choice of 2 spa services (up to 1 hour each) per night

Translated for three people, this meant that we each got two free spa services and one free breakfast. Super deal! For me, the planning and anticipation is a large part of the fun, so I was relishing in the preparation. However, before we knew it the time was upon us. And it couldn't have been better timing for me. Work was getting incredibly stressful and I couldn't WAIT to get away.

We all flew into Scottsdale early on Friday, May 1 and met in the airport. We were going to be in Arizona paradise for four days/three nights and were so excited. We had planned to do something "active" when we arrived in town....mini golf! But before showing off our putt putt skills, we had to grab a bite to eat at none other than Denny's. We were starving. (Does anyone else visit a Denny's almost everywhere they go, or is it just a weird Nate & Kelley inside joke??).

After filling our tummies, we made the trek to Castles & Coasters.




I have to say, my mini golf skills were quite rusty. And even though it is just mini golf, my competitive nature always gets the best of me...and I get frustrated at myself for making stupid mistakes.



We were all nipping on each others heels the whole time, battling it out to the finish.



Ultimately, I was the winner. But only by ONE stroke. Whew...



Once we finished our game (and I got my first dose of the AZ sun), we were on our way to the resort. We had Lisa's Garmin telling us the way and we arrived at the resort without incident. Well, we DID drive right by it, but that was just the first time.

When we pulled up to the resort, the first thing we saw was this:



Yep, sure enough...that does say, "Where Time Stands Still." And boy, was that the truth. Heaven on earth. And the flowers, look at the flowers! I was thinking Arizona = desert = brown. Uh, hail to the groundskeepers!!







After checking in, we were lead to our room by a nice man in a golf cart. Reminded me of Tahiti a bit (sniffle). Room #288 here we come...



Since we really got such a fabulous deal, I wasn't quite sure what to expect when it came to the room. But this was a Marriott property, so I should've known I had nothing to worry about...







We had two double beds, a shower, tub and double sinks, a little kitchenette with a sink and refrigerator, a huge flat screen TV, and a cute patio.



After we got unpacked and settled, it was time for our first (free!) spa treatment.





I had signed up for the Camelback Signature Facial and it was wonderful. In fact, I was so relaxed during the service, I fell asleep! I'm sure it was a combination of being pampered and the lack of sleep I had been getting, but I came out of there feeling so refreshed and calm. And the fruity smelling products that were used on my face were lovely.

For our first evening in Scottsdale, we had decided to go out for dinner and then to a comedy show. After we got a lift into Old Town and after quite a bit of aimless wandering, we decided to eat at Metro. It was quite a treat, even though our waiter was a bit full of himself. Here's a picture of the beautiful shells that held my scallop ceveche. Yum!



We all clean up pretty nice, don't we?



After stuffing ourselves with some wonderful dessert confection, we huffed it to the comedy club. Thankfully, we had to burn at least a few calories walking there, right?



Like most comedy clubs, it was definitely a hole in the wall. But they had cheap drinks, of which we partook in several. I have to say, it wasn't the best show I've seen, considering almost EVERY comedian that got up on stage was drooling over a table of distracting girls in the front row...please.

We were wiped that night...I mean wiped. We had all had very long days, getting up early to get to the airport. But the first day in Scottsdale with my girls?
Just. about. perfect.

Stay tuned for days #2 and #3...