I am happy to report my first townsized get away is in the books and oh, you all. It was perfect.

Townsizing, you may remember, is the new trend of vacationing in smaller places, places we might drive to, where the emphasis is on slowing down, immersing in the local culture, relaxing and piddling with only the flimsiest of agendas.

Which is exactly what I and three of my friends did last week, at the West Baden Springs Hotel. West Baden is three miles down the road from French Lick, both are grand old hotels that had once seen better days and now are all gussied up to their previous splendor, with a casino to punch things up.

My friends and I opted for West Baden, the more grown up of the two, no casino, no activities for young families. The idea of West Baden suited us much better and we chose wisely, I think. Not only was the place beautiful, the staff was friendly and attentive, but with a nice midwestern charm, nothing snooty or off-putting.

We were looking for calm spa experiences, lollygagging around in the spectacular atrium at West Baden, and moving languidly from one overstuffed chair to another, then out to the rockers on the veranda, and back again for afternoon drinks. We acquitted ourselves nicely. We took a scheduled tour of the West Baden Springs Hotel, learning all about its history that took it from hotel and spa to boondoggle to seminary and back again to hotel.

It was a pleasant way to spend an hour before an afternoon tea, each of us with our own generous pot of a personally chosen tea, our own little tier of sandwiches and sweets and scones. There was a harpist. Our pal who opted not to splash out for the tea settled into a little corner of the atrium where she ordered a hoagie and then texted us throughout with the names of the songs our harpist supplied. We were in another corner of the atrium, all fancy-like and pinkies out, knowing what she was really doing was making the point she got harp music, too, for a fraction of the cost.

We didn’t care. We were joined at our table by a delightful woman who was also on our tour. Her husband and twenty three of his friends were playing golf, and had come all the way from Texas to do it. Every year they look for a new place to play, the only non-negotiable thing is the proximity to a casino.

They golfed by day, gambled by night, and returned to West Baden to sleep in old world charm. Perfect, because West Baden and French Lick make it easy to sample all there is on offer without ever having to drive. Trolleys and little buses run in a loop and they will take you anywhere you want to go–the other hotel, to restaurants in town, arcades and grocery stores.You can even summon them from out in town, if one isn’t on the horizon.

You will need your car for some things, but we parked on Tuesday afternoon and didn’t move it until Thursday morning, when we stopped by Nila’s Place on the way out of town. Perfect omelettes, by the way.

Nancy and I had massages scheduled as soon as we arrived at the hotel, and it was there I fell in love. With the spa robe.

The gigantic, soft and luxurious spa robe. I had to have it. Or one just like it. Sadly, they haven’t stocked them since COVID, but the always friendly staff helped me find the maker and with just a few clicks of the keyboard, I have one just like it on the way. What makes them so wonderful? My research tells me spas provide you with humongous robes, at least 4X, maybe 5X. So perfect for the drape, the weight, the cozy, the decadence of it all.

We did just about nothing. We did some things together, some things alone. Some of us got up early to walk. Some of us had breakfast at 10. It just worked out. Now, it wasn’t an inexpensive get away, but it was perfect for us and I could go back right now. I had forgotten how relaxing it is to have no expectations.

And the best thing? The very best thing? Getting there, getting home, was completely no stress. No Nashville traffic. No airport. We lingered at Nila’s, and still got home before 1:30pm. Can you put a price on that? No, you can’t so don’t even try.

x