At the Spa at Amelia
Island Plantation in Florida (www.aipfl.com),
the greeting between guests is, “Have you Watsued?” Watsu, a combination
of the words water and shiatsu, is the signature treatment of
this newly opened spa, and said to be offered in very few places
in the United States.
I couldn’t wait to
try it.
The spa’s 'Comfort
Coordinator' brought me to the ladies locker room, where I put
on my bathing suit. I then wandered over the wooden bridge to
Watsu Island, passing a regal heron along the way, and was mentally
decompressing from the world. That’s where I met therapist and
Watsu Practitioner Jomi (short for Jo Marie) Trotter. Tiny, with
dark hair and energized brown eyes reflecting her Native American
Creek ancestry she was limping from a knee replacement.
As we entered the special
3 1/2 foot deep Watsu pool filled with warm water and sea salts,
Jomi took my hands and explained the art of the treatment. She
would float me in the pool, my neck nestled in the crook of her
arm, and my face never submerging in the water.
I was so ready for
this water ballet.
She placed floatation
wraps around my calves to help keep my legs elevated and then
cradled my head as I closed my eyes and relaxed. I matched my
breathing to hers and soon lost track of all time.
Through various motions
she guided my buoyant body around the pool stretching my spine,
massaging my legs and body, while allowing the warm water to help
ease tension and relieve soreness. Some guests said they felt
the freedom of floating in a warm womb, while others said they
now knew how angels flew. One man experienced a light show behind
his closed lids, seeing the brightest hues to the palest pastels.
I felt an emotional, physical,and psychological comfort that I
had never felt with a 'hands-on' massage.
I trusted Jomi to watch
over me and she did.
When the treatment
was over, she told me I had spent 45 minutes in the pool, but
it could easily have been and hour and 45 minutes. The treatment
continued to work even out of the pool. We walked back across
the bridge to a treatment room, where Jomi rubbed my body with
aromatic oils, wrapped me in a blanket and left me to doze in
my cocoon.
I am reliving this
wonderful and natural experience just telling you about it.
After enjoying several
spa treatments, I took an island hopper (golf cart) to explore
the rest of the Plantation. Located just 29 miles from the Jacksonville
airport, this 1,350-acre privately owned resort has something
for everyone. Golf, pools, water sports, ocean, tennis, biking,
horseback riding, shopping, fantastic dining and more.
Truthfully, I was too
relaxed to do much more than tool around in my cart and see the
sights.
I visited Walkers Landing
in the marsh area of the resort to watch a half dozen little kids
crab off the dock. Heather Dornbrock, the naturalist from the
resort’s Nature Center was busy tying chicken legs to string and
showing the children how to wait for a nibble before slowly bringing
the line up with a crab attached. Little hands tightly held the
string, while the kids, sitting on their haunches, stared into
the water, hoping to see a crab. Patience comes with age and those
chicken legs were out of the water more than they were in. No
crabs were caught that day. We did have a visit from Walter, the
Great Egret, who hangs around looking for a handout.
A trip to Fernandina
is a must, and the resort makes it easy with free transportation
to this historic district, listed in the National Register of
Historic Places. I stopped in at the Palace Saloon, Florida’s
oldest saloon, and sampled a Pirate’s Punch made with rum, gin
and fruit juices. During Prohibition, the saloon became an ice-cream
parlor, but reverted back as soon as it was legal to do so. The
Beech Street Grill is the place to eat, and a tour of the
magnificent Key West type of home, many now are B&B’s, will gave
me the flavor of Old North Florida at its best.
If you stop in at the
Amelia Island
Museum of History, located in Fernandina, you’ll get the sexy
story of the Island’s namesake, General
James Edward Oglethorpe, who named the island in honor of
England's Princess Amelia Sophia Eleanora, daughter of King George
II.
Born in 1710, Amelia
was liberated through love. It was her cousin, Crown Prince of
Prussia, the future Frederick the Great, who stole her heart.
He was said to be intelligent, perceptive and sensitive, with
large, sparkling gray eyes. Her love was not unrequited as Frederick
was equally as in love with her. But true love never runs smooth,
as they say, and Frederick’s father, King Frederick William, did
not approve of his son spurning military tutelage in favor of
the arts and for using Latin, which the King expressly forbade.
Young Fred continued
to defy the King, even attempting to escape by fleeing to England.
He corresponded openly and regularly with Amelia and vowed to
marry her. The king, having had enough of his rebellious son,
put him in solitary confinement and threatened, “If he kicks or
rears again, he shall forfeit the succession to the crown, and
even, according to circumstances, life itself.”
His father won, Frederick
married a German princess of his father’s choosing, and they remained
childless and estranged, as Frederick assumed the throne. Poor
Amelia never married, but she did earn a reputation for scorning
appropriate behavior by playing cards, taking snuff, and hobnobbing
with stable grooms.
It was said that she
“always drank her morning chocolate in a standing posture,” and
enjoyed discussing “the diseases of horses with a crude male relish.”
With total disregard for the social mores of the day, she vented
her rage at imperialistic and dictatorial meddling that had so
painfully stunted her life. When she died, of natural causes at
age 76, only 2 1/2 months after Frederick’s death, a token of
her love was found.
Hidden from view and
attached to a chain around her neck was a miniature of Frederick.
Susan Purdy is a freelance
writer specializing in travel, food, and lifestyle. She is a member
of the American Society of Journalists
and Authors and her work has appeared in many publications including
the Saturday Evening Post, Brides, Good Housekeeping, Woman’s
Day, Meridian, Ms., Woman’s World, First for Women, Country Accents,
and Country Inns. Susan Purdy can be emailed at Suepur@aol.com
for comments and questions.
