What to Do If You Have 24 Hours in Park City

My Mom was conspiring against me. Operation Get Me to Relax was starting behind my back. The kids were in on it. My boyfriend was too. The kids weren't thrilled, but they were on board and definetely knew that I was needing some time away. As a counselor and now as a post-divorce widow your time goes to helping people all day, coming home and helping your kids. A nice date night out is once every two weeks, minus the short hour trip to the gym together or running out to grab a quick bite to eat or go run errands. "Me time" is the five minutes of TV you watch before you pass out and find yourself on the couch at 2:00am before crawling into bed for the last three hours of sleep. Or it's the run you take the dog on before coming home and working on homework with the kids and grading papers at your second job at night.

I could think of a million and one things I needed to do like my taxes, deep clean the house, prep meals for the week and take a nap over this night away. But instead I decided it was time to get away but still stay close as I know the kids would be anxious and I would be too.

They get so anxious anytime that I leave the house. it's the stress they feel only having one parent now. It also adds even more pressure and worries on me when I leave them. My littlest now calls me in tears anytime I leave even to go grocery shopping. It's the pains of the first year, but it's hard on me and I know it's hard on them too.

So my mom graciously told me I was getting my butt out of the house for a night and she was taking over. No exceptions.

Except that ANY parent knows that getting out of the house even for a night is tough. I had to prep the meals, get the kids clothes out and make the house look presentable before I left. If you see my earlier post from the week, you also saw my oldest had a dance and I was in charge of gluten free french cooking, and my son had his cousin over.

But 24 hours in Park City close to but away from kids was priceless to feeling more rejuvenated.

Here's what to do if you have 24 hours in Park City:

1. Book a Lesson:  We looked at the price to take ski lessons and it was $225 a person so we opted to take a cross country ski lesson from White Pines Touring. I've been told it's a great workout and it was. It was also easy to pick up and learn and gave us a great workout for a few hours. During the summer they offer moutain biking lessons, etc. After brusing my tailbone and my friend breaking her tailbone years ago learning to snowboard with a friend who gave us 2.2 minutes of instruction, I opt for a lesson now to get the basics down. Morgan was our instructor and she was amazing! Their are plenty of nice beginner trails right there at the center too. So once our lesson was done, we got to ski around a duck pond and even try some hills.
2. Explore Main Street: Nothing is more nostalgic than Main Street Park City. The beautiful lights, eateries, galleries and shopping make for a fun night out. The one thing we loved was being able to easily hop on and off the free bus lines to wherever we wanted to go. It was freezing and we brought the wrong shoes to walk around in! Most shops are open late so when it's cold it's nice to be able to pop into a store or gallery for a minute before going back out again. We ate at 501 Main. The gluten free choices were so refreshing! I of course went for the pecan crusted fish. I also had my eye on 350 Main (gluten free fried chicken?!?!) Next time I go I'll remember to make reservations sooner so I can try there.
3. SLEEP!! That was my main goal. I love sleep and get way too little of it. Choose a place that is quiet and allows you to sleep comfortably. You will be exhausted from a belly full of fine dining and a day out on the slopes. You may also want to choose one with a hot tub to help soak tired muscles. I don't touch a hot tub in the winter time, but there were a lot of brave people that had been skiing that did. The best way to go when staying there is through AirBnB (lot's of condos!) or a hotel.
4. Shopping! Tanger Outlets are located in Park City, and it's always fun to walk around the outlets. They are also located right off the bus line, so it's easy to hop on and off right from your hotel or AirBnB.
5. Spa Appointment: A massage after the slopes is a must. i thought I was getting a nice two hour relaxing massage but it was a lesson in how stressed I've been over the past few months. My massage therapist attacked my muscles excitedly and every single knot she could find. My back, necks and legs are STILL sore several days after. But I'm knot free!
6. Nap! The massage was not the relaxing massage I wanted so I decided to take a nap afterward. a couple of ibuprofen and a nice warm bed put me right to sleep before I headed home to the kids. 24 hours complete!
7. That night the kids and i recapped how we got over our anxiety and worry, talked about what we did, and then talked about the upcoming week over a Blaze Pizza. I love that Blaze Pizza offers gluten free crusts for me.