By the Sea

Sigh. The Lovely Cats, the Divine M and the Boston Pobble spent the weekend at a spa. Sigh. We had salt scrubs, wraps, facials, manicures, pedicures, and massages. We have been pampered and relaxed and released to within an inch of our lives. We have laughed until our stomachs hurt. We have cried over nothing and everything. We have done both at once.

All three of us had different providers: I had Lara; the Divine M had Tina; and the Lovely Cats had Beth. TLC looked at me Friday night and said, "I have to talk to you about something. I'm in love with a woman named Beth." I laughed because I totally understood. You know what the sign of a good spa is? We've decided. It's when three people sit around listening to the raves of the others and each one still pities the others for not having her provider. That's a quality staff, right there.

And we met the Earth Mother. Wow. What an amazing lady. Technically, she is the room manager/cleaning crew for the inn. In reality, she is a huge part of the inn's heart and spirit. She's hot shit. After the Lovely Cats left, the Divine M, the Earth Mother and I sat in the suite and talked for over an hour, until if we hadn't left when we did, the Divine M would miss her train. And we still thought about telling one more story, sharing one more thought...

Okay, there was one person on staff that we didn't like. I'm not going to talk about her here because that's not what this is about. Tomorrow, when the owners are on site, I will call and give feedback ~ the positive and this one person (who really was the ONLY negative of the entire weekend). That being said, the staff is the friendliest, most professional, most caring group of people.

When I met the man who lives on site and acts as the innkeeper for the owners, I said "Hi! I'm the Pobble. My friends and I are staying in the Ivy Suite." His response? "Oh! You're the really great ones everyone is talking about!" I don't know if that was true or not but it certainly made me feel great. And the three of us kept thinking that we were the only people staying at the inn. We thought that because we were treated so incredibly attentively and well. Turns out, the place was booked solid the whole weekend. We had no clue.

The three of us kept trying to come up with new words for "relaxed" and "peaceful." The best I could come up with was that I was too relaxed to live. The Lovely Cats mentioned something about "being too relaxed to call it happy." The Divine M contributed something witty, appropriate and pithy but I was dozing and don't remember it any longer. I laughed and agreed at the time so it must have been dead on target.

And we kept bursting into tears. Sometimes, it was for understandable reasons. Othertimes, it was because the air felt so good or someone mentioned a baby or just because we loved each other so much. When the Divine M asked (sniffing through her tears) why she was crying so much, I said "Because have none of the emotional defenses up right now. We are all one big gaping, bloody, opened, relaxed wound." Hey. It worked for us.

Now, odds are this place isn't for everyone. If you are looking for rooms that come straight from a 4 or 5 star hotel, not for you. Television, fax machine, dedicated phone lines, and WiFi? Not for you. Saunas, jacuzzis, and the latest in exercise equipment? Still no. But if what you want is to relax, be pampered, sleep in the most comfortable bed, live in an immaculately clean room, and be respected and listened to by consummate professionals...This is your place.

Has a year passed yet? Can I go back now? Sigh.

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.