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5 great/girlfriend getaways

Girls really do know how to have fun.

When it comes to curing the midwinter blahs, no one does it better than a group of girlfriends.

When women get together, they talk, they laugh, they eat a lot of chocolate. They also like to try new things. Below are five getaways that appeal especially to women.

For more ideas, see 12 months of girlfriend getaways. For tips on planning a getaway, see Where the girls are.

Playhouse in Duluth: Just a few blocks from downtown, the whimsical Hillside Cottage is a painted playhouse for big girls. It has a view of the Lake Superior harbor and three bedrooms, five beds, three baths and a kitchen, $225 weekdays and $250 weekends, with a two-night minimum, 651-770-4151, www.hillsidecottageduluth.com. And speaking of playhouses, the Duluth Playhouse's 2008-2009 schedule includes two great plays for girlfriend-getaways, "Steel Magnolias,'' Feb. 12-22, and "The Full Monty,'' March 19-April 5, www.duluthplayhouse.org. There's plenty more going on around town; check the  calendar at www.visitduluth.com.

Crafty in Galena: This town in the northwest corner of Illinois is unabashed in its appeal to women. Everything that's fun and frivolous, it's got: shopping, wine-tasting, tarot-reading, jewelry workshops, spa treatments; visit www.galena.org for the full list.

A Glaze and Graze package at Abe's Spring Street Guesthouse includes a Friday-evening session in which guests glaze their own three-piece dinner set with the master potter next door and, on Saturday evening, go upstairs to prepare a meal in a class at the Great Galena Cookery. The guesthouse, which has king beds, offers the package on the first full weekend of the month, 815-777-0354, www.galenabedbreakfast.com.

Relaxation in Rhinelander, Wis.: Did you think spas are for rich ladies only? Try Woodwind Health Spa & Wellness Center in northern Wisconsin. Lodgings are in single dorm beds, $30, or double rooms, $110, and treatments are amazingly reasonable: an hourlong massage is $60, foot rejuvenation $55 and aromatherapy herbal body wrap $75. A two-night yoga retreat that includes lodgings, meals taxes and tips is just $270 in a dorm bed, $360 in a room. Call 877-362-8902, www.woodwindspa.com.

Hitting the big city: Chicago is perhaps the ultimate girlfriend getaway; it has the region's best shopping, museums, restaurants, festivals, music — you name it. And you can spend a lot of money, in a luxury hotel, or just a little, in Hostelling International's Chicago hostel, voted Best Large Hostel Worldwide last year by readers of Hostelworld.com. It's near the Institute of Arts, www.hichicago.org. Plan ahead at 877-244-2246, www.choosechicago.com, www.877chicago.com.

Cocooning somewhere cozy: It's easier than ever to find a great inn, thanks to an amenity search on the Wisconsin Bed and Breakfast Association web site that includes "Well-suited for a girlfriends' getaway'' and "two beds in a room.'' Ask for those things as well as a fireplace, DVD player, full gourmet breakfast and evening dessert/cordials/hors d'oeuvres, and you'll get the names of 10 inns.

I've stayed at three of them, the Arbor House in Madison, Pleasant View in Chippewa Falls and Sills' Lakeshore Inn in Minocqua, and they're all good. Visit www.wbba.org for the complete list.

Larger gangs of girlfriends can rent a cabin, lodge or house. Try www.vrbo.com, www.homeaway.com or, for cabins on Minnesota's North Shore, www.cascadevacationrentals.com. For more, see Renting a vacation house.

Last updated on October 7, 2008