Babymoon

Now, I am not usually one to follow trends. And babymoons? Well, they are pretty trendy right now. However, in my defense, all trends aside, taking a little trip to pamper yourself before having a baby is definitely a treat. One that you should take advantage of if at all possible.

My office was closed between Christmas and New Years, and Justin and I had originally thought of driving to New York City to visit his family and see the city (I've never been). Unfortunately, during several Christmas shopping adventures to London, I realized that I'm no longer capable of walking around for a whole day without wanting to anesthetize my lower back, legs and feet. Also, the thought of a 10+ hour drive did not seem appealing. What did I really want? To be PAMPERED. And where can I be pampered? A SPA.

We decided (well... I decided... and Justin agreed) to head to Niagara-on-the-Lake to relax at the Prince of Wales Hotel and Spa for a couple days. The things I was most excited about were the indoor saltwater pool, the massages we booked, and the promise of Nintendo in the rooms. I didn't plan any outings or day trips, because I wanted us just to be lazy and not feel guilty about it.

We arrived Friday night, took a few moments to marvel at the lobby, the room, and the general overwhelmingness of the place, then walked down the street to have a late dinner at a little English pub called the Angel Inn. We were told it's the oldest operating inn in Canada, and that it is rumoured to be haunted. I definitely didn't see any ghosts, but the fish and chips were good!

When I went to try out the Nintendo in our room, I was pretty upset to discover that it wasn't Nintendo at all; it was these cheesy play-along-with-your-remote games like blackjack and tic tac toe! False advertising! (Note to Prince of Wales Hotel: "Nintendo" has not become a generic term like scotch tape, kleenex or jello have. Try "video games"). So instead we went for a swim in the glorious pool and hot tub (for Justin). It's true what they say ... swimming during pregnancy feels wonderful. I didn't realize just how nice it is to be weightless until I came out of the water and felt like I had put on a suit made of iron! After swimming, we ordered up a nice movie in our room, The Illusionist. Predictable, but good. Then, a fantastic sleep ... one of the best I've had since before I was pregnant.

Saturday morning started way too early with breakfast buffet at the hotel (for me, bacon and eggs, french toast, mango, berries, and pineapple .... for Justin, eggs benedict, eggs benedict and eggs benedict). We had to get up early because our massages were at nine and we had to eat first.

The massages were amazing ... we had a shared room, which was nice, and mine was a "pregnancy massage", which basically just means they give you these special cushions so you can lay on your stomach. It felt weird because I haven't done that in so long! But it was very comfortable. Justin was thisclose to snoring near the end of the hour! On to our pedicures ... also very relaxing, although I didn't get to use the vibrating feature on my chair because I'm pregnant. Ah well. We both have beautiful toes now.

I went for another swim before lunch, then we drove around trying to find somewhere to eat (the hotel restaurant is way too fancy ... we only had breakfast there because it was included with the room). We ended up at Alfredo's, a cute little pizza/panzerotti place. Justin's stromboli was the size of my head.

After lunch we both felt naps calling, and we slept for two solid hours. It was exactly what I wanted this trip to be like! We woke up and made plans to meet our friends, Bruce and Laura, in St. Catharines for dinner. They took us to a very fun Italian place called Lena Linguine's, and we pigged out on giant plates of pasta. Afterwards, we snuck them into our hotel and took them for a late night swim!

Saturday night was another fantastic sleep, and we woke up sad that we had to leave. One more amazing breakfast and then it was time to say goodbye.

We had such a good time just being away from everyday life and allowing ourselves to be selfish before we welcome a new, demanding little person into our home!

(For more photos, click on my Flickr link on the sidebar)