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Taking the Kids: Ready for romance?

Eileen Ogintz, Tribune Content Agency on

A romantic just-for-you dinner, a scented bubble bath for two, flower petals on your bed and someone to take care of your every need.

Raise your hand if you are ready for some romance — perhaps even an elopement for a much-postponed wedding (party to come later), vow renewal, babymoon, anniversary celebration, or just a much-needed couples’ getaway now that you’re vaccinated (hopefully) and the kids are (successfully) back in school.

You’ve got more options than ever before, whether you crave a city escape (how about Chicago?), Orlando, Caribbean beaches, Hawaii, California wine country, even dude ranches like Vista Verde in Colorado.

“Yes! We have gotten more and more of these in the last year, due to COVID-19, and we love them and want to do more,” said Stephanie Wilson, a spokesman for the family-owned Vista Verde ranch where, full disclosure, my son and his fiancé got engaged. The ranch has added new packages.

“We’ve seen elopements and weddings increase 100 percent,” said S Hotel Jamaica’s Monique Bendison. The hotel has launched an affordable (just over $1,000, plus room) Just the Two of Us” package. “We know that wedding planning has drastically changed since the pandemic, so we’re being nimble to those who prefer to leave the organization behind,” she added.

There are budget options, as well, like the Tiny House Resort, just 15 tiny house dog rentals two hours from New York in the Catskill Mountains or the Forrest Hills Mountain Resort Elopement Package in Georgia, complete with your own hot tub, where a package can be less than $1,000. For those for whom budget isn’t a concern, there’s the Nohie celebration at the Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria Resort on Maui’s Wailea Beach where the $7,500 tab doesn’t include rooms that are over $1,700 a night.

 

How about a “Getting the Love You Want” couples retreat at a beach resort in Costa Rica? The idea is to transform conflict into healing.

Perhaps you can win a Dream Anguilla Vacation.

Maybe a wellness getaway for two like at the boutique Naia Resort and Spa in Placenia, Belize, one of the Caribbean’s newest luxury resorts and spas, offering a focus on Belizean culture.

For Disney fans, a “fairy tale,” experience at Walt Disney World or nearby at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort where the resort even offers Bespoke Wedding “Wish You Were Here” boxes, custom-curated gifts shipped to guests who are unable to attend the ceremony.

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