Girls Getaway Guide 
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It's Back! Win Free Stuff Returns
The Getaway Girl® News
The Getaway Girl® Online
Upcoming Events
Girl Getaway to Lake Geneva
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It's Back!  'Win Free Stuff' Returns With More Free Prizes
Deadline to Enter: July 15 
wfs
It's back!  By popular demand....the Girls Getaway Guide's Win Free Stuff!  That's right, everyone loves to Win Free Stuff, and the Girls Getaway Guide helps ladies win free stuff that will make their next Girlfriend Getaway even better.

We have three great "Dive Into Summer" prizes:
  • The Happy Hour Effect: 12 Secrets to Minimize Stress & Maximize Life' Book
  • PADI Open Water Diver eLearning Gift Pass
  • Aqua Lung Women's Line "Details Prize Pack"
All you have to do to enter to win is visit Girls Getaway Guide website and fill out the form.  Someone is going to win these great prizes...it may as well be you!

The Happy Hour Effect: 12 Secrets to Minimize Stress & Maximize Life' Book
happy hour The Happy Hour Effect provides easy, fun, and powerful solutions to minimize your stress and maximize your life. Kristen's voice is inspiring, motivating, witty, funny, and down to earth, and her book provides specific and actionable steps to stress less now. It isn't hard. It isn't confusing. It's a simple, straightforward, fun approach to stress relief. 
Value: $14.95/each
Donated by: Kristen Brown
www.HappyHourEffect.com

PADI Open Water Diver eLearning Gift Pass
padi Welcome to the World of Scuba Diving!  PADI is the world's leading scuba diving training organization.  With more than 40 years experience, over 136,000 PADI Professionals and more than 6,200 dive shops worldwide, PADI training materials and services let you experience scuba diving from nearly anywhere. 
Value: $130
Donated by: Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI)
www.PADI.com.

Aqua Lung Women's Line "Details Prize Pack"
aqua lung Aqua Lung, the world's leading professional and recreational dive equipment innovator, recently launched of Details, the first-of-its kind dive line designed by women for women. Aqua Lung's new Details line offers a full range of gear to revolutionize the scuba experience for women, including the items listed below, which we're giving away to one lucky Getaway Girl reader.

Aqua Lung Details Dive Line Package
-Details hooded long sleeve shirt, $48
-Twilight Rashguard, $39
-Twilight Zypher snorkel,$35.50
-Twilight Shot FX fins, $169
-Twilight Linea mask, $90
-Twilight Ellie boots 5mm, $53
Donated by: Aqua Lung
Value: $435
www.aqualung.com/women

 
The Getaway Girl® in the News

Fourth of July Getaways - FOX 13
Check out this Tampa-based TV show travel segment for the best places to celebrate the Fourth of July!
fox 13  
Visit The Getaway Girl® Online 

Upcoming Events

July 15: Win Free Stuff Ends
Everyone loves to Win Free Stuff, and the Girls Getaway Guide helps ladies win free stuff that will make their next Girlfriend Getaway even better.  We have three great "Dive Into Summer" prizes, so enter by July 15!

July 18: Daytime TV Show Tapings - Tampa
The Getaway Girl® Casey Wohl will be in Tampa, FL to record two travel segments for the nationally-syndicated TV show, Daytime.  The first one will air on July 22.  For times/channels in your area, visit www.DaytimeOnline.tv

July 20-25: Girls Getaway to Lobsterfest
It's back to the Florida Keys for this annual adventure of catching, cleaning and cooking your very own lobster!

August 16: FOX TV Tampa
Tune in to Tampa's FOX 13 or www.MyFOXTampaBay.com to watch The Getaway Girl's® travel segment on Labor Day Travel Deals.
 

 Greetings!

 

Our popular "Win Free Stuff" is back with three fabulous 'Dive Into Summer' prizes you could win.  All you have to do is visit the Girls Getaway Guide website and enter by July 15.  Additional details below left.  Who doesn't like to Win Free Stuff???  


Girls Getaway to Lake Geneva
(By Amber Gibson)
 

You may have never heard of the Grand Geneva Resort lawn in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. In fact, you might know it better as the original Playboy Club, opened in 1968. However, this 1300-acre, AAA Four-Diamond resort is one of the best weekend getaways in the Midwest. Grand Geneva hasn't played up its Playboy connection, since it hopes to be seen as family-friendly, but this summer they will unveil a new historical exhibit showcasing the resort's history including an original Playboy Bunny costume on display.

 

This weekend, I enjoyed a relaxing getaway and catching up with my high school track girlfriend, Shelly. The drive up from Chicago wasn't bad at all, about 90 minutes, and we gabbed the entire way so it went by in a blur. Our GPS was a little wonky as we get close, but luckily signs pointed us in the right direction and suddenly we found ourselves totally surrounded by lush greenery.

  entrance  

Upon checking in, a lovely lady promptly offered us   lobby either pink lemonade with mint or champagne. I was indecisive, so she gladly acquiesced to my request to mix the two for a sweet and bubbly welcome. Minutes after setting our bags down and checking out our balcony view of the Grand Geneva's golf course, we heard a knock on our door and opened it to a dapper gentleman bringing us a selection of chocolate truffles. We're both chocoholics, so we happily indulged, and were thankful he didn't bring us more and ruin our dinner.

  golf course

Our room is decorated in warm browns and mahoganies, matching the rustic stone and wooden themes of the resort. geneva room I was impressed by the mirror in the bathroom, which doubles as a TV, allowing me to tune in to the morning news while applying mascara. Previously, I'd only seen this in Vegas, and Wisconsin is a far cry from the Strip.

 

The Grand Geneva has two upscale restaurants located chocolates in the main building, the Italian-themed Ristorante Brissago and Geneva Chophouse for steak and seafood. On our first night, we enjoyed a multi-course Italian meal at the former, with the highlight being the succulent and flaky branzino served with diced brandade potatoes and a creamy lobster stock sauce. As good as dinner was, the tiramisu and apricot chocolate cake on the dessert platter were my favorites.

 

breakfast Our next morning began with breakfast in bed - a fresh fruit platter, freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, oatmeal and a yogurt and granola berry parfait. Then, we relaxed and awakened our bodies with an hour of hatha yoga. Jeanne, our instructor, created a calming environment for yogis of all levels to challenge ourselves. The Grand Geneva has a new three-day wellness retreat that incorporates nutrition, fitness and mind/body activities. Activities are customized to each person's needs so participants of all levels are encouraged to attend. Some sample activities including personal cooking lessons with the resort chef, yoga and pilates classes, spa treatments, scavenger hunts and walks around the lake.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbDslOOkeb8 

 

After yoga, we headed to a private villa where Executive chef mark Banquet Chef Mark Gaylord treated us to a healthy cooking demonstration. He showed us how simple it is to cook tiger shrimp on a slab of Pink Himalayan sea salt and used the shrimp to garnish a spicy gazpacho. Our entrée was a grilled salmon fillet with balsamic marinated veggies, including an impossibly sweet squash.

   

Now, it was spa time, so Shelly and I headed to get facials. The WELL Spa incorporates the same Pink Himalayan sea salt that Chef Mark was cooking with in its whirlpool, sauna and steam room for detoxifying before facials properties. Himalayan sea salt lamps are even sprinkled throughout the resort. My esthetician, Dawn Kimball, was great, addressing my concerns about hyperpigmentation and moisture, while giving me such a soothing facial, complete with arm and shoulder massage that I did not want to get up at the end.

 

Later that afternoon, we had a tasty pastry class where we made coconut cream pie tartlets, a cheesecake and chocolate ganache parfait, and a chocolate covered strawberry. It was tough eating all those desserts right before heading to the steakhouse for dinner, but somehow we managed. Dinner at Geneva Chophouse was standard steakhouse fare, although the carrot cake stood out. The waiter calls it a "petite" carrot cake, maybe because it is slightly smaller than I am. It's very good, incredibly moist and generously studded with raisins and walnuts, so do save room for dessert.

3 girls  

Perhaps the best part of the entire day though was bonding with some of the women we had just met at the Embers Terrace fireside lounge after dinner. Chatting about boyfriends, favorite restaurants, yoga and puppies firepit while sipping wine in sundresses and heels is the perfect way to end the night. And even after the sun had set and the cool of the night set in, the smokeless fire pit filled with glittering glass crystals kept us toasty and didn't leave our hair smelling like smoke.

  girls group

With the short drive from Chicago, I have the feeling that I'll be back this summer to go horseback riding, rock wall climbing and maybe even golfing. And, of course, another spa treatment and star gazing.   

 

Author Amber Gibson is a Food/Travel Writer, Model & Actress from Chicago. To find out more about Amber, visit www.ambergibson.me. 

Thanks for reading, and we hope to see you soon.  Safe travels!      
Sincerely,    Casey Wohl, The Getaway Girl®
Author of the Girls Getaway Guide series
Travel Correspondent for the Daytime TV Show