By Amy Dienta

Recently, my husband and I got to go away for the weekend with out the kids; the first time since Omar was born. Thank you to my parents who baby sat our two boys.

I had dreams of sitting on the beach in Maine sipping cold drinks. But the weekend we got to go away it poured. I’m not a big fan of driving many hours in the pouring rain and I had a brochure for this quaint boutique hotel in Rowley,MA. So, we headed to the Country Gardens Inn and Spa in Rowley, 45 minutes from Lowell off 495.

We stayed in one of the Country Collection suites. The suite was beautiful. Cathedral ceilings, a hot tub and gas fireplace in our room! This was perfect for a cold, damp and rainy day. You could even watch TV from the comfort of the hot tub.

We rented some Redbox movies and watched them in the room. Then got all dressed up and went to Royal Orchid Thai for dinner. They have really good vegetarian Pad Thai.

After checking out, we went to Village Pancake House and got the most amazing omelets and hash browns. We then headed home to our boys, refreshed and ready to be parents again!

What are some of your favorite short ‘refresh button’ getaways?