My Last Resorts (and Spas)

Our Travel Columnist blisses out in the best (and weirdest) spas in the country.

Jenny as a young model, slathered with beans in a brochure for the “Frijole Wells resort”

When Russel and I first got married, he took me to Rancho La Puerta, the famed Wellness Resort and Spa in northern Baja California, Mexico. He’d been invited to do a presentation—he was still making his living as an illustrator and artist back then, and had done some brochure work for the company, and they wanted him to do a talk about the wide variety of art that abounds at the resort. And I got to go along for free, which is saying something because even back then it was a pricey spot. Rancho La Puerta, located in the foothills near Tecate, is famous for its gorgeous views, fabulous food, fitness classes, and sunshine. I was fresh from New York City, so it sounded like heaven on earth.

So we caught the shuttle in San Diego and were whisked in air-conditioned comfort the few miles south to and over the border and then out the highway to Rancho La Puerta. We were greeted by smiling staff in a beautiful lobby—Mexican style, airy with big windows and shining tiled floors. They took us to our room in a golf cart and the short drive was lovely, glimpsing lush landscaped areas set among the boulders and cactus of a typical Baja landscape. The room had everything we needed, even a tiny patio to sit out on, and just a short walk down an attractive path through the grounds was a sparkling aqua swimming pool.

We were there for the whole weekend and I absolutely loved it. I loved the setting, the classes that are offered, even the early morning hikes where you walk up these wonderfully scenic rocky trails at 6 in the morning. (For those who prefer to sleep in, they have hikes throughout the day except in the summer when it's too hot to go in the middle of the day.)

The food was everything I had heard and more. Fresh and healthy food but beautifully prepared and presented and so tasty that it did not for a second make us feel as if we were being deprived in any way. I had a massage, swam, hiked, took a dance class, ate some great meals, and relaxed in the sun. When we were leaving I said, “I think that’s my favorite place in the world,” and I meant it.

Years later, when I was back in San Diego and working at Sunbelt, I did a book with Daniel Reveles, who lived and wrote about Tecate. He had a new book of his humorous short stories coming out, so we set up a talk and book signing event for him at Rancho la Puerta. And I offered to teach a short story class the same weekend and they said that would be a great combination. Of course, this time Russel was able to come as my plus 1, so we went for a weekend for the second time.

This time we drove our own car to Tecate and out to “the rancho” as the locals and staff often refer to it. We got a lovely room again and settled in before walking over to the central building where the culinary magic happens. Once again, the food was incredibly tasty—he got baked salmon and I got rainbow lasagna and we both went to the amazing salad bar— and we enjoyed glasses of a delicious local wine as well. I love the feeling of having eaten a truly healthful meal, which happens 3 times a day there. I'm sure that even if you ate your fill at every meal, with all the walking and swimming you would come away feeling fitter and firmer and more healthy.

On Saturday I got up early and did the morning hike, walking up a nearby hill to see the vistas, took a swim, had lunch, and then met up with Daniel for his lecture event. Then I taught my class and went back to our room for a siesta. I did the morning hike again Sunday, then took a fun dance class. Russell did his own thing, but joined me for an afternoon Yoga class where the instructor gave him a great knee stretch (which, it turned out, basically cured his year-long knee pain). After dinner we took a walk and admired the views by starlight. It is such a beautiful setting and the day had been so relaxing—I remember thinking that it might still be my favorite place in the world.

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A few years back, my mother and her friend Charlotte and I made a plan to go to Glen Ivy Hot Springs health spa, which is southeast of Los Angeles, out past the mountains in Temescal Valley. Glen Ivy is famous for its healing mineral waters and mud baths and I’d never been to a place to “take the waters,” in spite of reading about the resort city of Bath in a great many Jane Austen novels.

My mom and I drove up from San Diego and Charlotte drove separately with a friend of hers and we met up at Glen Ivy, after stopping at a nearby produce stand to get fresh fruit for lunch. I had an old friend who taught yoga there, so we were able to take his class on a wide green lawn in front of the big gate before we even went in— a great way to start off our spa day after our 90 minute drive. Then we went inside and we paid the day fee and got locker keys and put our street clothes and purses in our lockers. After donning our one-piece swimsuits, we showered off and then headed out to meet Charlotte at the pools. There were hot pools, cold pools and a big pool full of the softest smoothest mud I had ever felt.

So many women, the place was mostly women, some young, many in mid-life. (There are no children allowed at Glen Ivy, by the way, which is oddly freeing). You know, just women together enjoying being in our bodies, nobody sucking in their stomach or trying to pose sexily. All of us relaxing, taking turns jumping in the cold water pool after getting very hot in the mineral waters whirlpool. Sitting in the mud baths together—covering ourselves with mud and doing the requisite funny faces and taking pictures. So much laughter, so much fun.

None of those mud bath photos we took have survived but my friend Charlotte was able to come up with one which I will include here. I love this picture of me and my mom—we're obviously enjoying kicking back on the grass. The whole day was simply fabulous, getting friends together and doing something that felt healthful but without any pressure or strain.

One can also hike at Glen Ivy hot springs—there are paths and wonderful grounds that you can wander around, no matter your level of ability, it wasn't something that required strength and endurance. You take classes if you wanted, or get a massage. Or you could, as we did, focus on enjoying the baths and talking and sitting in the sun. So if you're planning a girl's weekend or a trip with your bestie; it is “freeway close” as they say, about 90 minutes by car from Los Angeles or San Diego.

Since I don't have a picture of me in my mud mask, I will include the next best thing. The picture is me in a commercial that I actually got paid for. I was supposed to be sitting in a tub of, not mud but refried beans. That's why it says Frijole Wells. It was supposed to be a take on a resort or spa in the hills, I guess. I think they were selling salt or tequila or something. But anyway, I was anticipating being in an actual vat of refried beans but it was Hollywood magic, of course. There was a piece of cardboard that went around my arms and my chest.And then they piled the refried beans on top of that, and put it all over my face too. So, it's kind of what I looked like in the mud bath!

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Last summer when Russel and I were up in the San Juan Islands on our boat, we finally got to Doe Bay Resort & Retreat, which had been referred to us by many other boaters and travelers. The resort is located on beautiful Orcas island which you can get to by car and ferry or you can get to it on a private boat as we did.

We had called in advance and reserved a mooring ball and we motored our sailboat into the small rocky cove, which was exciting, and easily tied it up to the only empty mooring ball. Then we rowed about a hundred meters to the beach in our dinghy to check in. We had made an appointment to go to the hot tubs—you have to make an appointment to be guaranteed a “seat” in the popular hot whirlpool tubs. I think it was 5 o'clock by then but it was August, so the sun was still way up in the sky, so we walked around and scoped out the beautiful grounds.

This would be a great place to take a really luxurious camping trip, you can come in your camper, you can come in a tent—there's even a treehouse you can rent, it is just amazing. And you can come with friends or colleagues, there are beautiful houses to rent that accommodate groups. And the campground restroom was the only one I've ever seen that had a claw foot bathtub, which for a sailor was quite a discovery. Since we’d brought in our bathing supplies and towels we took a tub and got all cleaned up, luxuriating in the hot water.

Still early for our tub reservation, we walked around and explored a bit more, strolling out the little trails—more like paths, not at all difficult to walk on—and checked out all the different amenities. There are little bridges over the creeks, Buddhas and gongs and things tucked away in different spots, so it all feels very “far out” (some might say woo-woo), but in a very laid-back campground kind of way.

There's food available, snacks and stuff, where you check-in at the office, and they also have baked goods and breakfast sandwiches in the morning for breakfast—one day it was breakfast burritos. And then in the evenings they have actual dining. We missed the dining because we arrived during the week and the restaurant is only open on Fridays and Saturdays as I recall. And by our last day, the weather had come up so we had to go back out to the boat, just to be sure it was safe, but that's boating for you.

The best part of Doe Bay was the actual soaking pools so we went for our first appointment time and we got undressed (it's clothing optional so some people came in suits, we did not) and we went and got in the water; there are three biggish square tubs spread out under a covering to keep you out of the rain, but it was a fine evening. There are trees all around so you feel like you're out in the middle of this beautiful glade forest glade. There's also a fenced in sunny glade a few steps away where you can go lie in the sun before or after your soaking time; it is also clothing optional with comfy lounges. There are fresh fluffy towels at each location. And of course there are showers, and a sauna. It was just a beautiful experience and totally relaxing.

We immediately made reservations for the next afternoon and came back to do it all again, with a short sunning period thrown in. Doe Bay made for a great “vacation within our vacation.” I highly recommend the resort as a place to take your honey-pie, your bestie, or a group of girlfriends. Somehow I missed getting my picture taken, though I took a dozen photos of the view of the bay from many vantage points. This is a picture of Russel enjoying the good life overlooking Doe Bay where our little boat is anchored.

Now it’s your turn! What is the best spa experience you’ve ever had?