See the peaceful, lush image above from Kelly’s Spa at the Mission Inn? That very suite was my escape for three blissed-out hours one recent morning, which followed a scrumptious meal and a good sleep the night before. (Yes, there may have been a bottle of fine pinot noir thrown in there too.)
What was I escaping from? My son’s math homework. My deadlines. My very demanding smartphone. My 2016 tax forms. My news junkie habits. My never-ending email.
The daily grind, in other words.
Don’t misunderstand – I love what I do, I love my family more than life itself and I love being in the middle of the action. Sometimes, though, it all gets to be too much and I have to step away to catch my breath. More than that, I need time to think.
A vacation? That would be nice, I guess, but frankly I don’t have the bandwidth to plan a trip, get passports in order and spend hours out of my life flying somewhere. What’s more, I don’t actually like being away from the hustle and flow of my routine for very long.
For all these reasons I’ve always been a huge proponent of the “staycation,” the “daycation” or, as the British say, the “holistay.”
The trick for me in finding the right locale is that it be close enough to get there and back with minimal hassle, but still far enough away to feel, well, away. It also has to be plush enough that I feel I’ve indulged myself. Which makes Riverside’s historic and weirdly fascinating Mission Inn one of my favorite places, ever. No one suspects I’m going to Riverside to relax the way they would if I said I was at Pelican Hill or up the road at Terranea in Rancho Palos Verdes. (Hmmm, maybe now they will, if they read this.) Riverside sounds like it has to be business, right? With so much to explore and so many details to examine right in the Mission Inn itself (Catacombs! Giant Buddhas! Authors’ Row!), my senses start to fire on all cylinders, and ideas pop, pop, pop.
Like this one: It occurred to me that if I feel this way about staycations, surely many of you do, too. And wouldn’t it be useful and entertaining to know about all the great escapes right in our own backyard, not more than about an hour from home (traffic willing)? And just like that, The Great Escape was born, a column we are launching this month, first online at coastmagazine.com and soon in our print pages. First up: Writer Amanda Fletcher does Beverly Hills.
And keep an eye out for more additions and change-ups to our magazine’s already stellar lineup (it’s hard to be humble). Like I said, one restful night away and ideas will spring up like the wildflowers currently coloring our landscape.
