| Coolfont Resort, Conference Center and Health Spa in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia | |
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Spring was hectic. Long work days ran into many evenings, nights, and weekends. The kids’ schedules kept us running to Lacrosse games, school concerts, etc. My husband and I needed to get away for just a little while.
After searching the Net for likely getaways, we decided to try Coolfont, a resort, conference center, and health spa in the mountains of West Virginia. We left the kids with my wonderful and generous parents and took off on a Friday afternoon for Berkeley Springs, a three hour drive away. I had made reservations for three nights as resort guests which included a room, breakfast, dinner, full use of pool, sauna, exercise room, trails, tennis courts and fishing each day. Spas services, exercise and other classes in their Spectrum of Learning program were an extra charge. At the time I made our room reservation, I also scheduled a massage for both of us and reserved a time for horseback riding. Scheduling the massage turned out to be a very good idea.
We checked into our room in the Woodland House Lodge, a three story apartment house-like building, which had a wood stove and balcony overlooking manmade Lake Siri. The location was very convenient. We were right across the street from the restaurant and a short walk from the Spectrum Fitness Center which housed the pool, exercise room, weight room, spa facilities, hot tub and sauna. Also offered were individual chalets with their own Jacuzzi tubs, but none available on the weekend we visited.
That night we ate the first of all our meals at the Treetop Restaurant. My husband found the food very good. They have a great seafood buffet on Friday and Saturday nights with a bounty of wonderful and varied food. However, I ran into a little problem. I had begun to follow the McDougall Program, a vegan diet (no meat, dairy, egg or fat) , a few weeks earlier to lower my cholesterol. One of the reasons I choose this resort was for the spa meals it served. I didn’t realize the spa meals were not available on the regular menu. They were only for guests on the spa program. It wasn’t until the last night of our stay that our waiter told me they could have provided spa meals for me had I requested them earlier. Obviously that was a little late to do much good. Too bad he didn’t have our table on Friday or Saturday night. At the time I made the reservation, I had been told vegetarian meals were available. Since then, I have come to find out most vegetarian meals are loaded with cheese and other sources of fat. At least now I know the right questions to ask in the future. Three days of salad, baked potato, fruit and oatmeal didn’t do me any harm.
Near the reservation desk, there was a board listing the activities of the day. We were disappointed to find out we would miss the only yoga class offered during our visit while we were having our massages Saturday afternoon. However, there was an evening Tai Chi class we decided to go to. Two visiting instructors from Washington, D.C. conducted the small class in the Spectrum Fitness Center exercise room. We found the class to be very enjoyable.
Saturday was a full day starting with a hike up Coolfont’s trail to the top of Cacapon Mountain and Prospect Rock. The view from Prospect Rock includes three states (Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland) and the Cacapon River joining the Potomac. Our hike also took us to the Rock Slab Vista which overlooks Lake Siri and Coolfont. The leaves weren’t out yet so we could see for quite a distance. The hike got quite steep in places and took about 4 hours.
After a short rest and lunch, we headed over to the Spectrum Fitness Center for a workout on the Cybex fitness circuit,a quick swim in the 60 ft. pool and, finally, a soak in the hot tub to relax us before our massages. The spa is a little bit of a mill with a number of halls lined with treatment rooms. This seemed to be the most used of all Coolfont’s facilities. And no wonder. The massage I had was memorable. My therapist had been trained as a physical therapist before learning massage therapy and included range-of-motion techniques in the massage that really felt great. I only wish I had asked the massage therapist to darken the room. I think that would have been even more relaxing. We wanted to schedule another massage for Sunday or Monday morning but they were booked solid. Actually, we tried to schedule a number of other Spectrum Spa Services and the only one we could get was reflexology on Monday morning before we left to go home.
Sunday began with an early morning horseback ride on Warm Spring Ridge, the mountain across the valley from Cacapon Mountain. It was a peaceful 45 minute ride through the mountain laurel. In the afternoon, we attended a "Walk in the Weeds", a nature walk where the guide pointed out herbs and discussed their properties. We drove into Berkeley Springs and visited the Homeopathy Works, a combination homeopathy museum, manufactory and retail outlet. Across the way from the Homeopathy Works and antique stores is Berkeley Springs State Park where President Washington took the waters and you can, too.
Monday brought our first experience with reflexology where points on the soles of the feet are believed to correspond to the major organs of the body. The feet are massaged on these points. You are supposed to feel a reduction of tension and fatigue afterwards. I’m not sure if I felt any of the benefits that I was supposed to afterwards, however, having a foot massage for an hour is pretty relaxing.
Coolfont was just what we were looking for. We were busy, but our minds were not on work or other stresses we were trying to get away from. It was very casual. We never felt out of place wearing jeans or sweat clothes in the restaurant. People were there to exercise, relax, and use the spa.
When we made our reservation, we thought about going into the spa program but thought that would be too regimented. If I had it to do over, I think the spa program would have been a better choice for us. We ended up paying extra for the Tai Chi classes, the "Walk in the Weeds" class, our massages and reflexology. They would have been included in the spa program as would the spa meals. Next time.
Coolfont offers two special programs that are worth
mentioning:
The first is a "Breathe Free" program, a 6-night
smoking cessation program that teaches the skills necessary to
create a non-smoking lifestyle.
The second is the Massage Workshop, a 2-night program that
teaches couples Swedish massage techniques.
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