Pampered Girls Weekend in Kingston ON

August 2009

What exactly is a Pedi-Pamper?

It’s not a pedicure, as everyone from the reservations clerk to the esthetician was careful to point out. Basically, it’s a foot soak in a big bowl of warm water and essential oils, with a delightful foot-and-calf-massage chaser.

aromaSounds nice. Did you try anything else?

I’m genetically unable to enter a spa without having a massage, so I went for the 50-minute full-body aromatherapy version. By the time I was done, I was like buttah.

Once you were buttery, what next?

It wouldn’t be a girly weekend worthy of the name without a bit of shopping. Fortunately, Princess Street was just four blocks away. As a university town, Kingston is home to lots of great independent gift shops, vintage clothing stores and bookstores—and Princess Street is the mother lode. We had hours of endless amusement at clothes shops like Fancy That (upscale women’s stuff, 48 Princess Street), Era Modern Vintage (cool new and vintage wear, 110 Princess Street), and Steilmann (European separates, 206 Princess Street), wandered into countless gift shops, and stocked up on fluffball magazines at Indigo (259 Princess Street).

What was your most unusual shopping stop in Kingston?

Without question, Sacred Source (73 Brock Street), which specializes in all sorts of spirituality books, candles, tapes and other items. It has a particularly strong collection of Wiccan goods. Who knew you could buy wand-cleaning kits?

The TangoWith all the shopping and spa-ing, you must have worked up an appetite.

We did. Based on a recommendation from the Rosemount, we reserved a table at The Tango (331 King Street East). Traditionally sized main dishes are available, but we decided we could do that anywhere and instead munched our way through a series of tapas-style appetizers. The calamari was a bit disappointing—cool and chewy—but everything else served up in this sleek, dim hot spot was superb. I was particularly partial to the sweet potato frites with aioli and curried ketchup.

What else did you do in Kingston?

Loafed around reading magazines, eating junk food and yakking, to be honest. The Edwards Suite was the perfect place to just hang—Rosemount owner Holly Doughty says it’s a very popular place for girls’ getaways. But if we’d felt more energetic, we could have checked out a concert at the new K-Rock Centre or done a ghostly pub walk with Haunted Walks of Kingston.

Where can I get more information on Kingston?

Call 888-855-4555 toll free or visit www.kingstoncanada.com.


Laura Byrne Paquet is an Ottawa freelance writer. Her latest book is Wanderlust: A Social History of Travel.

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