Trevi Fountain in Rome

Trevi Fountain in Rome
Originally uploaded by loisb46.

A lovely day in Rome

TENNESSEE FITNESS SPA

One of the best kept secrets of our Southern neighbor, Tennessee, is a spa called, quite fittingly, Tennessee Fitness Spa. It is located in Waynesboro, TN
which is about 95 miles south of Nashville. This beautiful historic site has the only double span , natural bridge formation in the entire world. Complete with an “ice” cave, the spa is bordered by the “forty-eight Creek”, which has crystal clear cool water and many species of fish which are visible from the banks. History tells of many Indian tribes who used this spot for a meeting place until the last Cherokees were ordered out by Andrew Jackson in the 1800’s.

The spa can accomodate up to 55 guests and serves guests from all over. Meals are served in a large dining room and are healthy although not austere. Everybody who I spoke with while there seemed to report that the meals were more than adequate and quite delicious even though the food is free of salt, sugar, and caffeine, and low in calories and fat.

The spa is not a fancy facility. It doesn’t need to be. With the dogwoods, wisteria and honeysuckle gracing the grounds, the luxury is not the trivial type. It is down-to-Earth and beautifully rustic with all the basic needs very well provided for, and the fact that (when I was there, although this may have changed) there are no TVs or phones in the room doesn’t seem to be a deterrent to the many repeat guests who visit the spa. It’s peaceful and natural allowing you to get into a nice connection with the natural world.

Even though it may not be called luxurious, it offers great pampering possibilities including massage, facials, aromatherapy and manicures, and large porches and time to indulge in the forgotten art of simple relaxation with a good book or just your thoughts. Some services do require an additional fee.

The spa sits on 100 plus guest-usable acres, with many trails for hiking and simple nature walks. Everyone is encouraged to choose as many or as few activities as they wish. There are many other offerings including, vigorous walks, aerobic workouts, stretches, fitness lectures, weight training, bicycling, and volley ball.

Two hiking trails with formidable names are Satan’s Hill and Moanin’ Mountain. There is a gym which has an aerobics studio, weight room, racquetball court and fitness assessment rooms. A greenhouse covers the 30 x 60 foot pool and hot tub. Guests are encouraged to try activities new to them yet to be realistic about what they can take home to incorporate into their own lifestyle. Staffers offer words of encouragement but the atmosphere is not boot-camp-like.

There are a number of evening activities such as movies, line dancing and health and nutrition presentations.

This must cost oodles, you're probably saying. No, that’s another one of the great features of this lovely spa. Prices are affordable even for a person such as myself who often finds herself with her hands in her nearly empty pockets. How nice to know that we in St. Louis have this wonderfully affordable spa practically in our back yard.

(This article or one very similar was featured in The Healthy Planet magazine a couple of years ago)

Traveling Around St. Louis

Traveling doesn't just mean leaving the town you presently live in. It can and usually does, certainly. However, traveling around St. Louis can be a real blast.

Decide what you are interested in and go there. Pretend that you are a stranger in a strange land and do what you would if you were exploring a new city.

What I have found is that I don't go to the places that I might go to if I were a visitor coming to St. Louis. I have a few rituals that don't leave me the time to actually "visit" St. Louis.

What I love to do is to poke around in thrift stores to seek out treasures. Shopping in thrift stores not only recycles some of the absolutely mountainous amounts of "stuff" our society produces, it also is like a scavenger hunt...fun! When I travel to other cities, here is my M.O.

First: Find all the natural food stores and cool restaurants.
Second: Find some interesting thrift stores.
Third: Discover the public Gardens.
Fourth: Look at the major architectural points of interest.
Fifth: Poke around interesting, rehabbed parts of the city for various unusual and interesting sites and shopping venues.

So, you see, my interests take me to where I want to go when I am visiting new cities. But dammit, in St. Louis I still haven't been to all the thrift stores that are hiding here and there.
I'm gonna make it my business to go to at least one new one in the month of Feb.

So, nurture your interests by visiting those places in St. Louis that you've taken for granted... the ones that if you were in Pittsburgh or Austin, you'd check out for sure.

Takin' a trip, takin' a trip...my, oh my, I'm takin' a trip in my own hometown.

Silly but fun...I think!

Alien Adventure

Alien Adventure-Roswell Roadtrip

If you've a free week and you want get a bit out of the box, I've got one for you.

Recently another road trip beckoned and I answered. This time I wanted to see the famous(?) town in New Mexico where aliens landed their ill-fated craft in 1947. Oh, what? You don't believe that? Well...visit Roswell.

I left for Roswell with perfect driving weather and had an easy drive to Tulsa, Oklahoma. You may think there's nothing fun going on there, but hold on. What I found in Tulsa was ever so nice.

I stayed a couple of nights in a gloriously beautiful B & B called Cedar Rock Inn (www.cedarrockinn.com). A lovely couple, Sandy and Randy Dittmann, have taken an old house and created a beautiful B&B to spend your night at rather than sailing through Tulsa without a thought.

Cedar Rock has a "money room" with bills embedded in the floor and all the rooms are stunning, each having some special feature...a sauna, a terrace, a romantic, in-room whirlpool...all beautifully appointed as well. Enjoying wine by their small, picturesque lake is a pretty darn nice way to pass an evening! The folks are friendly as all get out and the food was plentiful and tasty.

There are a few fairly healthy eateries in Tulsa. It's having a revival, much like many cities these days.

There's Camille's for breakfast or lunch...a breezy, light-filled eat-spot where the food is on par with the STL Bread Co. Healthy, tasty and abundant portions. (camillessidewalkcafe.com).

There's the long-standing Bodean's Seafood. The young chef there, Jim Richards, continues with the old favorites and yet served me an amazingly up-to-date Sesame Seared Blue Fin Tuna w/ Chilled Soba/Cilantro Salad for lunch.

The Palace Cafe is one of the Nouveau American Cuisine-style eateries that you'll find in many cities experiencing rebirth. It has a lovely dining area.
Tulsa is a cool city with much to recommend it. Stop over on your own Roswell adventure.

Next stop-Amarillo. There are numerous places to eat and stay here...just about all of them have the word steak in their name. Amarillo is cattle country and that's not my cup of protein so I searched around.
I found a great natural foods store called Eat Rite, completely unlike St. Louis' Eat Rite! It was full of healthy foods...a tasty, down to earth lunch is available there.

For coffee Roasters can't be beat...grab a yummy croissant at Village Bakery several doors down and bring it back to enjoy at Roasters.
Dinner in Amarillo was downtown at Zen 721. Very tasty fusion fare.

On past travels, I've enjoyed staying at Fairfield Inns. This was no exception. It's comfortable, affordable & clean. If you stay longer than a day, you must visit Duro Canyon for its pristine natural beauty.

On to Roswell, land of the little green men, or are they gray these days? You'll find them all and many others here. You may not be surprised, if you're a Star Trek or X-Files fan, to find out that the UFO Museum draws serious researchers from all over the world and it's chock full of volumes of accounts of abductions, UFO sightings, crop circles and official blacked-out documents. I wandered around there for over 2 hours, entranced.

Roswell has lots to offer and it truly is a surprisingly pretty little town. There's the Bottomless Lakes State Park where several lakes top out at over 90 feet deep, the Spring Park Zoo, the antique-filled Historical House Museum, a significant architectural walking tour of elegant homes plus, good restaurants and affordable places to stay. At the plain Jane hotel I stayed in, I mentioned being hungry and after getting into my room, I was unexpectedly served a meal of dal, spicy potatoes and seasoned rice; tasty Indian cuisine made by the family themselves. A nice surprise.

Roswell will stick with me for some reason. I guess I expected UFO everything and that's what I found. Is it just your imagination or is the truth really out there somewhere? Stay a day and see what you think.

Then drive back to lovely St. Lou in two days and do it all again, just backwards!

Happy Trails!