Planning a getaway in the next month or two? From now though January you can enjoy a stay at a luxurious five diamond hotel for as little as $129 per night - about a third of the normal room rate. 

The Bellagio, one of only two five diamond resorts in Las Vegas has six pools, a botanical garden, spa services, elaborate water displays, and Cirque du Soleil performances. With Italian inspired surroundings, its lobby is filled with thousands of beautiful hand-blown glass flowers by Dale Chihuly and high-end shops that include Chanel and Tiffany. 

For more information see the Bellagio site, which has a clear calendar of available days and promotional rates.  

On the outskirts of Santa Barbara is the village of Montecito – very exclusive, with homes starting at over $1 million.  We ventured into Montecito one evening to have dinner at San Ysidro Ranch. With rates between $795-3,990 per night, we had to see what it looked like. On entering the ranch, we knew we were in the right place when we passed olives trees and rows of blooming Spanish lavender. 

Before having dinner at the Plow & Angel Bistro, we wandered through the ranch’s beautiful gardens, where Vivien Leigh and Sir Lawrence Olivier exchanged vows.  After we made our way back to the restaurant, we chose a table outside so we could continue to enjoy the surroundings.  With the white linen-covered tables, pea gravel and limestone fountain, we felt like we were having dinner at a private estate rather than a restaurant.

At the other end of the ambience scale, we had lunch one day in Santa Barbara at La Super-Rica. This is the taco shack that Julia Child loved to go to.  After standing in line to order (it doesn’t matter what time you go – it’s always busy) you sit at picnic tables in a covered patio area and enjoy freshly-made corn tortillas, pork and roasted peppers – not fancy, but very tasty.

If you love almonds, stop by Andersen’s Danish Bakery & Café right on State Street. Besides many other desserts and pastries, they have an almond tart that is truly delicious.

What weekend in southern California is complete without a celebrity sighting?  While shopping at a few of the boutiques in Montecito, we passed a group of four friends having lunch at the Cava restaurant. On closer inspection we saw that it was Rob Lowe and Ellen DeGeneres with their significant others.

With its beautiful setting and great shopping, restaurants and outdoor activities, Santa Barbara is a perfect place for a girls getaway.

Related links:  Santa Barbara (Part I)  |  SantaBarbara.com  |  San Ysidro Ranch

This past weekend my three sisters and I met in Santa Barbara for our annual girls trip. I’d heard so many good things about this place and was glad to finally visit it in person. Santa Barbara is an idyllic coastal village, about an hour and a half north of Los Angeles.  It’s a postcard-perfect town, surrounded by mist covered mountains and beaches.  Most buildings have stucco and red tiled roofs with profuse landscaping, including bougainvillea.  It’s the kind of place best discovered on foot.

To encourage visitors to leave their cars at home, Santa Barbara has come up with a clever way to preserve its clean air with its “Car Free” promotion.  During 2007, several hotels, restaurants and transportation services are offering discounts to visitors looking into car free options.  The town has plenty of public and private transportation services and encourages alternatives to driving a car. One of the bargains is a 25 cent electric bus that runs in the shopping district along State Street.

The shopping district has a wonderful selection of stores, movie theaters and restaurants.  We spent many hours shopping, eating and going to the movies on State Street.  We also toured the Mission Santa Barbara, saw the panoramic views from the Courthouse tower and visited neighboring Montecito – all recommended activities. 

For lodging, the four of us stayed in a suite at the Franciscan Inn – a cute place with an ideal location - a block from the beach and two blocks from State Street.  The Inn serves a light breakfast each morning and fresh baked cookies every afternoon.  It also has a large video library with free check-out privileges. Just by mentioning the Car Free promotion we got 20% off our room rate.  Be sure to book early – rooms are reserved well in advance.

There are also lots of outdoor activities to enjoy in Santa Barbara. Walking along the beach we saw surfers heading out to the waves, people playing beach volleyball and kayakers paddling near Stearns Wharf. 

If you want to see the perfect neighborhood market go to Lazy Acres – kind of like a scaled down version of Whole Foods Market and a great place to pick up a bouquet of flowers for the room or a cake to celebrate an event (we celebrated two birthdays).

Stay tuned for Part II…

A trip to Florida conjures up images of crowded beaches and jam-packed highways. If you want to see what Florida was like when your grandmother was young, visit Amelia Island. The main road through this seaside paradise seems built more for horse and carriage than automobiles. 

Located 30 minutes from Jacksonville, Amelia Island offers plenty of outdoor activities with its miles of beaches, winding trails for bike riding, natural marshlands with boardwalks, golf, tennis and shopping. 

During our visit, we took a Segway tour given by Amelia’s Wheels. It took a few minutes for us to learn to navigate since we’d never used a Segway before, but with the help of our guide, we ended up like regular pros exploring the scenic island with all its moss-covered oak trees and exclusive homes. 

Walking along Centre Street in Fernandina Beach’s small downtown is also a fun activity. Centre Street is part of a 50 block historic district with Victorian style architecture.

There’s a whole range of lodging options on the island.  If you don’t mind splurging, stay at the Elizabeth Pointe Lodge, a beautiful Nantucket style B&B located right on the beach.  But, if you’re looking for a resort, stay at the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island or the Amelia Inn & Beach Club.  To see the whole range of lodging choices including condos within the plantation, check out the island’s detailed list.

See also: Amelia Island  |  Amelia’s Wheels  |  Island Events

I’ve written a lot of posts about some of the more glamorous places to visit in the U.S., but sometimes getting away from it all can be just what you need for a relaxing and creative girls trip.  I’ve looked into one of the latest trends in getaways and found there are quite a few places that specialize in craft getaways for women.  Usually set in scenic surroundings, these retreats have craft rooms with several work tables, die-cut tools and complimentary supplies. 

Kerry Griffin and her friend opened the Craft Retreat House in Wisconsin Dells last year to offer women a place to go to relax, rejuvenate and create.  “We have craft rooms stocked with supplies & tools so that our guests can work on their craft while enjoying a wonderful getaway.  Our guests love it!” 

Here are a few craft retreats to check out:

Whitepath Lodge (90 min. north of Atlanta)
http://www.whitepathlodge.com/group-retreats.html

Craft Retreat House (Wisconsin Dells)
http://www.bloomingescapes.com/

Craft Retreats Northwest (on Whidbey Island, north of Seattle)
http://www.craftretreatsnw.com/home.htm

Scrapbook Manor (Wisconsin)
http://www.thescrapbookmanor.com/

Scrapaway! (Big Bear, CA)
http://www.scrapaway.net/

Tree House Getaways (Michigan)
http://www.treehousegetaways.com/

Miss Lillies (75 miles southeast of Dallas)
http://www.misslillies.com/

Scrapbook Queen (Ohio)
http://www.queenofthecropgetaways.com/newindex.html 

Relax and Scrap Weekends (California)
http://www.relaxandscrapweekends.com/retreats.html

Croptopia Getaways (New England, NY/PA/NJ)
http://www.croptopiagetaways.com/

Give Me Time Retreats (Bay Area, CA)
http://www.gmtretreats.com/

After having lived in Texas for nearly 15 years I’m almost ashamed to say that I’ve never vacationed on the Texas coast.  This year we corrected that oversight and spent Christmas week down at South Padre Island.  Call it beginners luck but we found a nicely furnished condo on the beach overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.

Best known for its wild Spring Break parties, we weren’t quite sure what to expect for crowds during this time of year.  We were happy and somewhat relieved to find that this time of year attracts mostly families and those euphemistically known as “Winter Texans”.

My husband spent a few hours scouring the vacation rental sites before sending me a few candidates for consideration.  He found a couple possibilities, but he can’t help it if he’s design impaired.  I pulled up Trip Advisor and after about 10 minutes found what I was looking for. 

With Trip Advisor, I was able to search for “South Padre Island”, and see a list of lodging choices sorted by popularity.  The detailed user comments not only helped us make the best choice but also provided useful insider tips.  We stayed at the Suntide III condominiums (ranked #1 by popularity) and our experience was consistent with the Trip Advisor comments.  Our condo was nicely furnished, extremely clean and the property had good shared amenities (pool, tennis courts, beach access, etc.). 

When relying on Trip Advisor comments, I keep in mind that owners give themselves good comments so I focus on those with at least half a dozen comments about a place to get several perspectives. 

Thanks to the generosity of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, one of our readers will win a Girls Getaway at one of the luxurious Fairmont Hotels & Resorts listed below.

All you have to do to enter is comment on this post with a link to your favorite Girlaway article (excluding this one of course).  If some of you have a hard time deciding which is your favorite post, you can provide a creative suggestion for a future article.  Either method counts as one entry.  

Many of the Fairmont hotels are historic treasures located in prime city locations – the Fairmont Boston, Fairmont San Francisco, Fairmont Chicago and the Olympic Hotel in Seattle are just a few.  The Fairmont at Banff Springs is a Scottish baronial-style castle and has a spectacular setting in the Rocky Mountains.  The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess has an excellent spa and is a perfect destination if you’re looking for warmth during the cooler months. 

The Girlaway Giveaway prize includes: (more…)

Besides Orcas Island (see previous post) another popular destination within the San Juans is San Juan Island itself.  Step off the ferry at Friday Harbor and enjoy this picturesque walk-able seaside town with several interesting shops and good cafes.  

This weekend - July 15 and 16 - is San Juan Island’s Lavender Festival and Summer Arts Fair.  Friday Harbor will host most activities which will include local artists, live music performances and everything lavender. (more…)