Sisterly Bonding on a Budget

First up: the facial, which involved having my hands and feet massaged with almond oil, encased in plastic wrap and tucked into heated mittens and booties; then having a series of sweet-smelling potions massaged on my face, which kept getting wrapped in hot, wet towels while soothing flute music played in the dimly lit room. I drifted in and out of consciousness, and when my sister and I met up afterward, we were both a little glazed over and totally relaxed.

Then came the massages.

Four hours after we walked in the door, we'd both been scrubbed, rubbed and coddled and, admiring our pretty painted toenails, we slipped downstairs to our room, spacious and done up in red and white, with fluffy down duvets on roomy double beds. We basked in our blissed-out state until it was time to dress for dinner. A girl could get used to this.

There was heavy rain as we drove up the mountain to Panorama at the Peak, a three-year-old restaurant on the site of the old Panorama Steakhouse, about 3 1/2 miles west of Berkeley Springs on winding Route 9. The new iteration is a locavore's dream: Almost all ingredients are local, and many are organic. Owners Patti Miller and Leslie Hotaling have partnered with nearby growers such as Upperville's Ayrshire Farm, which supplies meats and vegetables.

The restaurant is across the road from a scenic overlook that has been heralded as one of the best in the East, with a view of the Potomac and Cacapon rivers in the valley below. Or so I heard; all I could see through the rain and fog were a few lights, even from our table right next to the window-lined wall. But the lack of a view was offset by our food: spinach-artichoke dip, filet mignon with sour-cream mashed potatoes, pot roast with veggies, creme brulee, raspberry bread pudding and organic chardonnay. We rolled out to the car $100 lighter and so stuffed that, back at the Country Inn, we both fell asleep the minute we pulled up our fluffy comforters. $29.66 left.

When we woke up at 7 the next morning, we were starving. Maybe it was all that pampering from the day before.

Rather than eating again at the hotel, we strolled across the park to try the Fairfax Cafe, a coffee shop I'd seen the day before while awaiting my turn with the pedicurist. In addition to a trip to the Sage Moon Herb Shop, Oasis Cafe and Awakening Health Center, I'd poked around the Community Health Market (shelves full of bagged whole grains, organic dog food and homegrown mushrooms), the cheerful Tari's Cafe/Inn/Gallery/Shop and Homeopathy Works, where a woman wearing a surgical mask prepared homeopathic remedies at a counter behind a small display about alternative medicine.

Breakfast at the Fairfax Cafe (bacon, egg-and-beans wrap, goat cheese quiche) was underwhelming, the only disappointing meal we'd had the whole trip. $9.16 left.

Checking out of the Country Inn, we snagged free coffee and tea in the lobby before heading back to the city, hoping our nail polish would stay unchipped and our shoulders knot-free until our next spa getaway. And the $9.16? It covered the half-tank of gas we used.