Weekend Getaway: Calm and Peace is less than 100 miles away.

**Temecula is Southern California’s wine country. With more than 40 wineries in the area, people can spend days exploring the different vineyards.**

By Jason Lewis

There’s no need to travel to a far off island for some calm and peace. Just head south on the I-15 Freeway to Temecula, where resort hotels and wine tasting excursions await. But about 30 miles before reaching the final destination, Glen Ivy Hot Springs will be the first stop.

Glen Ivy Hot Springs is located in Corona, about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The co-ed spa is built on one of the few mineral springs in Southern California, and it has 19 pools, two saunas, a mud bath, and a grotto. The spa also offers massages, facials, and nail services.

After spending a day at Glen Ivy Hot Springs, a person’s body and skin will feel amazing.

“Physically, this is a very relaxing experience,” said Sandra Miller, director of marketing at Glen Ivy Hot Springs. “There are properties in mineral water that can be physically beneficial. It will lower blood pressure and it will detoxify. You begin to feel the benefits from that on a one day trip here. We have members who come every day, and swear by it from a health standpoint.”

Visitors can soothe their aching muscles and joints in the heated saline pool. The water for the mineral baths comes directly out of the earth, and it softens the skin and detoxifies the body by way of relaxing the nervous system.

The hot pool and cold plunge can be an invigorating form of hydrotherapy. People sit in the hot pool for a few minutes, and then immediately go into a cold pool for 30 seconds. They repeat this a few times for a truly unique experience.

Two of the most popular attractions are the mud baths and the underground grotto. People start off by covering their bodies with the red clay mud, which softens the skin, drawing out impurities and exfoliates dead skin cells. After relaxing in the mud pool, the mud is rinsed off and people head over to the grotto where they are painted from neck to toe with hydrating aloe vera, coconut oil, shea butter, eucalyptus, and lavender. This is the ultimate moisturizing experience.

Because Glen Ivy Hot Springs is so close to Los Angeles, it can be used as a day trip as well as be used as the first day of a weekend getaway.

After finding some calm and peace in Corona, Temecula is only 30 miles south. Resort hotels and wineries await. Some wineries have a hotel or bed and breakfast attached to it. Renting houses through Airbnb is also a great option.

One of the popular places to stay is at the Pechanga Resort & Casino, which has multiple restaurants, entertainment venues for concerts and comedy, and gambling. Some people will lay out by the pool while others hit the slot machines.

While the resorts give a vacationer everything that they would need, it is great to get out because Temecula is Southern California’s wine country. With more than 40 wineries in the area, people can spend days exploring the different vineyards. There’s no better way to forget about the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles than taking in a care-free atmosphere with a glass of wine.

Tasting tours make it simple, as there will be stops at a number of wineries. Many people will take a self-guided tour by using ridesharing companies such as Uber or Lyft. It would be unwise for people to drive themselves on these tours.

For the non-wine drinkers, Temecula has a number of breweries that make some amazing craft beers.

For the harder drinkers, Temecula has a distillery that makes moonshine, whiskey, and vodka. Kalifornia Distilleries owner Billy Tiller said that his family has been making moonshine for over 300 years…with the last three being legal. His colorful presentation makes this one of the best tour stops in the area. He also said that when married couples stop by on a tour, the husbands usually want to stay at the distillery and let their wives continue on to the wine tasting stops.

Another great thing about Temecula is that the weather is great year round, and planning this weekend getaway is quick and easy. Just make a hotel reservation, gas up the car, and go.

For more information about Temecula, visit www.visittemeculavalley.com and follow them on Facebook and Instagram. For more information about Glen Ivy Hot Springs, visit www.glenivy.com, or call them at (888) 453-6489. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram. For more information about Kalifornia Distilleries, visit www.kaliforniadistilleries.com and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.