When my husband and I lived in San Francisco, there was rarely a three-day weekend that we let slip by without going out of town. A three-day weekend meant we would be in Napa, Monterrey, or Lake Tahoe.
There were two reasons for this. 1. There were so many diverse places to go by car in a short amount of time, and 2. We didn't have kids in school, so we could also tack on extra days whenever we liked.
Since we moved to Chicago, 15 years ago, we have struggled a bit to figure out where to go on a three-day weekend. Before we had kids, we would tack on extra days to fly places. But now with kids in school, we can't tack on those extra days. In fact, we usually lose a day or two due to extracurricular activities that don't take the same time off. And then there are those random days off the kids get in the middle of the week or on a Friday of a non-holiday weekend. It pains me not to take advantage of these little opportunities to get away.
This past week, we had one of those Fridays before a non-holiday weekend. It was Teacher Development Day. Fortunately for us, The Grand Geneva Resort & Spa generously hosted us. We left immediately after school on Thursday (2pm), and arrived by 3:30pm. I actually had us wear our bathing suits on the drive so we could head straight to the indoor water park; which we did after checking into our amazing Villa.
Moose Mountain Falls is located at the on-campus sister property, Timber Ridge Lodge & Waterpark. We started out in the Lazy River. We always do this at water parks so we can get our bearings. The water park has an area for small children, with slides, swings, and spouts. For older kids and adults, there is a really fun body slide, and a tube slide. The water was a nice temperature. After many slide runs, (which by the way happened to have no line at all at the time), we found our way to the very large jacuzzi that is both indoor and outdoor. We slid under the little divider between the indoor and outdoor portions, and just loved being outside in the cool air while submerged in steaming water. We spent quite some time there enjoying the "jet massage".
After about two and a half hours, we went back to our Villa to wash up and dress for dinner. We had dinner at the Geneva Chophouse on the premises. We hadn't been anywhere that fancy in quite a while. The food was delicious, and even the kids found the elevated kids menu to their liking. After dinner, we enjoyed drinks at the fire pit, on the veranda outside the restaurant, and watched the pond fountains change colors.
The next morning, after a light breakfast, we went on a nature walk in the woods around the resort, and spotted turkeys, (of all things), hawks soaring high above us, and woodpeckers.
Next we went horseback riding. It was the first time for our kids. I have been many times, but never quite through such a wooded and hilly area. It was quite thrilling as the horses trotted up some rather steep inclines. The kids loved it!
We departed right after, again at 2pm, and were home by 3:30pm. It was a perfect twenty-four hours.
Next time, we hope to go for longer, (maybe with friends so we can really take advantage of the space the Villas offer), but it is refreshing to know that even if we don't have a lot of time, this is an easy and enjoyable escape for even a short stay, with or without kids.
