10 Surprising Winter Hot Spots
MORE AT SMARTERTRAVEL.COM
Once the warm glow of the holidays fades, January can get downright depressing. Baby, it's cold outside, and our bank accounts are too depleted for a tropical getaway. Here's the remedy for the lingering chill: Ten drive-to U.S. destinations that heat up your winter weekend without wrecking your 2012 budget resolution. Turkish steam baths, surfable waves, and sizzling kitchens are closer than you think.
Hammam Ritual in Montelucia Resort's Joya Spa, Scottsdale, AZ
Take a pass on Scottsdale's perfectly manicured greens, and skip the renowned red-rocks hiking, too. The most magnificent warm-up in this snowbird hot spot happens at the foot of Camelback Mountain: Joya Spa in Montelucia Resort. The Moroccan-inspired spa's traditional Hammam (Turkish steam bath) Ritual is one part purification, one part detox. You spend the first 30 minutes in a steam-room sweat, a whirlpool soak, and a sauna treatment, alternated with rinses of cold water from buckets. Then comes a full-body Moroccan black-olive charcoal soap scrub. The finale is a 50-minute massage using Morocco's rare "liquid gold" argan oil. Expect to pay $219 on weekends and $209 weekdays.
If you go: Save time to enjoy the private rooftop pool's cabanas and views. The 24-hour Joya Fitness Center on-site runs classes in yoga, dance, and Pilates and has a juice bar. Check out spa packages and specials at Joya Spa.
Boiling River, Yellowstone National Park, WY
Yellowstone National Park is a wonderland of fantastic features too hot to touch. The geysers, hot springs, and mud pots bubble up and spew from an underlying magma chamber, reaching temps above 400 degrees. But there is one perfect Jacuzzi-like area that's not off-limits: the Boiling River where it meets the cool Gardiner River. In winter, steam swirls above bathers wading in to find the sweet spot. Try standing with one foot in icy mountain stream water and the other in a roasting current. Very confusing.
If you go: Follow the park entrance road between Gardiner River and Mammoth Hot Springs. Just south of the 45th Parallel sign is a parking lot with access to the Boiling River about a half-mile upstream. The 50 springs in the Mammoth Hot Springs area make up a colorful landscape of mineral deposits dripped into elaborately tiered formations.
Indoor Surfing at Avalanche Bay, Boyne Falls, MI
Forget waiting for the epic break on Oahu's North Shore. At Avalanche Bay in northern Michigan, every wave is perfect, and temps hold at a balmy 84 degrees year-round. Surf's up on the indoor water park's FlowRider attraction, where a sheet of water cascades nonstop over a sloped and cushiony platform. You can belly ride on a boogie board or carve out turns on a finless surfboard. Finding your groove is challenging, but there's an upside: Wipeouts aren't nearly as brutal as the average biff on a snowboard or skateboard. Not near the Midwest? You can find FlowRider locations in more than 40 water parks and resorts throughout the country.
If you go: Water-park admission is $19 to $39 depending on the day, less if you stay at a Boyne Mountain resort with package discounts. The megapark includes five waterslides, a climbing wall, water basketball, and a lazy river
Hot-Air Ballooning Above the San Juan Mountains, Pagosa Springs, CO
You wouldn't think flying above a frosty Colorado morning in an open-air wicker basket would be, well, toasty. But it is. For liftoff and flight, temps inside a hot-air balloon need to be around 150 degrees hotter than the air outside it, so you actually feel the kicked-back heat and the glow of the burner's flame on your face. Once you climb above 300 feet, you reach a layer of air that's typically 15 to 20 degrees warmer than ground temperature. The windchill factor? There isn't one, since the balloon moves at wind speed. Float over the San Juan Mountains with one of two Pagosa Springs balloon companies. They'll point out the San Juan River, its geothermal features, and the Great Pagosa Hot Springs that simmer at 145 degrees in the city below.
If you go: Save time for a soak in one of the 20 geothermal mineral-water pools outside at The Springs Resort & Spa.
TopGolf's Hot Outdoor Driving-Range Scene, Chicago, IL
It's about time someone turned up the heat on the outdoor driving-range scene. Automated, computerized scoring meets hot wings and beer in 76 tricked-out bays at TopGolf in Chicago's Wood Dale suburb. From comfy seats under supercharged infrared heaters, friends can knock back cocktails and snacks delivered by servers while watching each other pound microchip-embedded golf balls toward range targets. The screen keeps track of your scores, so you can socialize or take the Helter Swelter Wing Challenge between buckets of balls. Two hundred times hotter than Tabasco sauce, chilies in the wing sauce are rated—and a solid plan B if your game isn't so hot. Other TopGolf locations are in Texas, Virginia, and the U.K.
If you go: Shoot for the end of January in Chicago. The annual Suits and Boots charity event brings out unseasonable swimwear—yep, the bays are that summery—and fishbowl cocktails.
Furnace Creek Area, Death Valley National Park, CA
The hottest, driest spot in North America is only a two-and-a-half-hour drive west of Las Vegas. In Death Valley summer temps can hit 120 degrees, with record highs reaching an unbearable 134 degrees; by May the park is too hot for most visitors. Far more travelers come in winter to see the Furnace Creek area at room temperature or just above. Spectacular red-rock formations still hold their heat, and Badwater Basin's vast salt flats spread out like cracked tiles across the desert floor. Exploring the park in a Jeep is actually comfortable this time of year. Don't miss the abandoned mines, the ore-processing kilns, and the ghost towns that dot the parched wasteland.
If you go: Splurge on a stay at the park's historical and luxurious Inn at Furnace Creek Resort, which was built by the Pacific Coast Borax Company in 1927 to keep the Death Valley Railroad active after mines closed. The Ranch at Furnace Creek is a low-cost alternative.
Cook Academy At The Essex Culinary Resort & Spa, Burlington, VT
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Otherwise, tie on an apron and make something sizzle at The Essex Culinary Resort & Spa. This quintessential Vermont inn between the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain offers a fun and affordable Chef in Training package at its on-site Cook Academy. Pick up some new tricks, then unwind by your guest-room fireplace or in the outdoor hot tub, a magical spot when snow falls on the surrounding 18 acres. The spa, with steam rooms, saunas, an indoor pool, and treatment rooms, is another warm sanctuary. Heap on more luxury at the Ocean House seaside resort and spa in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, which also offers a farm-to-table culinary program.
If you go: Check out The Essex's culinary calendar in advance. It's packed with daily hands-on classes that last two to three hours and cover everything from knife skills to sensational sauces.
Hiking Florida's National Scenic Trail
Since the Sunshine State's beaches aren't exactly sweltering in winter, why not work up a sweat (and shed extra holiday pounds) by backpacking along Florida's National Scenic Trail? Peak hiking season runs January through April, when the weather is driest. Trek around swamps, salt marshes, sand dunes, prairies, and forests to cross paths with gators, wild hogs, and other interesting wildlife. For a weekender route, choose one of the Florida Trail Association's Grab-and-Go Hikes. Or, join a weeklong trip on the trail with Fitpacking, a weight-loss backpacking adventure tour company that leads trips throughout the U.S.
If you go: End the trip with a hot shower at an affordable hotel. You can get up to 80 percent off hotel rack rates by bidding at Florida Vacation Auction, a partner of VisitFlorida that helps the state's hotel industry clear out unused inventory. Even if you buy direct, without bidding, you can still save 20 to 40 percent.
Hot Classes at Tacoma Glassblowing Studio, Tacoma, WA
Some like it hot—really hot. At Tacoma Glassblowing Studio the furnace burns at a steady 2150 degrees, the ideal smoldering point for artists turning molten globs into gorgeous masterpieces. Take a glassblowing class here and feel the drips of sweat equity that go into every creation. At the Museum of Glass you can learn the art of glass fusing ($38) in an afternoon workshop. Last stop on your Tacoma glass tour: Hotel Murano's 40-piece glass-art collection that rivals museum-exhibit installations. Is it any wonder that this hometown of glass sculptor Dale Chihuly (the man behind the beauty on the Bellagio's lobby ceiling) happens to be the epicenter of America's art glass movement?
If you go: Hotel Murano's Hot Piece of Glass package, starting at $309, combines a stay with two tickets to the Museum of Glass and a hands-on class at the Tacoma Glassblowing Studio.
Hot Chocolate At City Bakery, New York City, NY
One of winter's saving graces is hot chocolate. And we're not talking wimpy, powdery mix. No, the real diet-sabotaging kind made from pure, melted chocolate bars sipped slowly in equal measures of guilt and pleasure. Manhattan's City Bakery pours a dainty, much-raved-about cup topped with homemade marshmallows. For something stiffer on especially frigid days, duck into the city's Brandy Library. This dark and cozy Tribeca haunt's walls are lined with shelves and shelves of alcohol accessed by the little ladders you see in library stacks. Do a tasting flight of rare spirits or swirl one as you sit in a soft leather chair by the roaring fireplace.
If you go: February is City Bakery's annual Hot Chocolate Festival, when a different flavor is served daily. This year's lineup includes chili-pepper, creamy stout, banana peel, and other daring chocolate concoctions.
See more of the 10 Surprising Winter Hot Spots
