As we prepared for the arrival of our baby girl, my husband and I knew we needed a quick weekend getaway from Chicago. A little time away before the lack of sleep and the craziness begins, right?! Galena, Illinois seemed like the perfect location. Being 150 miles west of Chicago, with rolling hills, a town filled with art galleries, restaurants and history, it was the perfect location for our babymoon.

I had a few things I was looking for in my search for a hotel. I wanted a spa, several dining options, and a beautiful, quiet setting. This lead me to the discovery of Eagle Ridge Resort, located in The Galena Territory, just six miles from downtown Galena. We would be able to enjoy the amenities of the resort like the pool, spa and dining, but also head to town when we wanted. With a toddler at home, it was the ideal distance away from home while feeling a world away.

The Resort

Lodging Options

The resort has a few types of lodging options. There are the Main Lodge rooms, located through access of the lobby. They share the same building with the restaurants, pool and spa. Another option are the Courtyard rooms. These are just outside the lodge with either lake or wooded views. They also have their own with patios or balconies.

Lastly, there are homes and villas. This is where we decided to stay. It gives guests a private setting with a kitchen, several televisions, a fireplace and beautiful wooded views of the Galena Territory. Our kitchen was fully stocked with coffee, sugar, wine openers, dishware, etc. Our place was definitely big enough for a family to stay comfortably with 2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. These villas range from 1-6 bedrooms, perfect for large parties of any size!

The Property

My favorite part about staying in these villas was making coffee in the morning and sitting outside on the balcony with the gorgeous, wooded views right in the backyard. What an escape from city life 🙂 Galena is so pretty, relaxing and exactly what I was looking for. There are also trails along the 6,800 acre property and we walked them in the morning as well.

Amenities

One of my non-negotiables of this trip was a spa. Some mom time was needed! The Stonedrift Spa  was everything I wanted. I enjoyed a 50 minute prenatal massage, but they have a wide range of services they offer along with some really great specials. In fact, in the month of November, they have couples massages for $200 on Friday’s. You can learn more about this on their website. After the massage, we hung out by the pool and swam. It’s a year-round pool with a retractable roof. I’d love to go back in the warmer months to sit by the pool with our kids. Nothing like lounging by the pool on vacation right?!

Other amenities include 4 golf courses, hiking, biking, balloon rides and more. When we were in the pool, we saw the balloon rides take off over the rolling hills during the sunset and it was one the best views all weekend. Just gorgeous. On our next visit, balloon rides are definitely on our list. In fact, this summer in downtown Galena is their annual hot air balloon race.

Dining Options

There are several dining options at the resort, so you really don’t even have to leave. There is the Woodlands restaurant, which is located right in main lodge. We ordered pickup and got room service from here; both meals were great (who doesn’t love some breakfast in bed!). They have lots of options from burgers, to salads and steak.

Another option is pizza from Paisanos, which is also in the Main Lodge. We didn’t get a chance to eat here, but it was always crowded, and the pizza looked good. Could be another good option for room service.

At the General Golf Course is the Woodstone restaurant, which probably has the best views on the whole property. It sits up high on the hill and you can dine before or after rounds of golf. They serve things like wood fired pizza and sandwiches.

Lastly, the General Store is a convenience store for all your needs. There’s a deli with sandwiches, sides, burgers to pick up and grill in your villas and more. We had lunch here twice and loved the deli. We also picked up little things for the kitchen like creamer and drinks. It also has other little souvenirs and snacks to stock up on for your trip.

Galena also has several restaurants you could always pick up or order delivery from.

One of the BEST parts of all these amenities and dining options is that if you book your stay directly with Eagle Ridge, you are apart of their Eagle Ridge Advantage program. This provides Eagle guests with resort-wide discounts on golf, dining and spa services.  They range from 15%-35% off, which is really great added bonus that we always took full advantage of.

Downtown Galena

Downtown Galena is about a 10-15 minute drive and there is lots to do. We were actually there over Halloween weekend, which is HUGE in Galena! We had no idea. In fact, it’s one of the largest Halloween parade in the Midwest, attracting 30,000 people. It’s fun for all ages, everyone dresses up and there are various events throughout the entire weekend.

In addition to the Halloween festivities, the town is filled with so much to do. There are ghost tours, really great restaurants, wine tastings and some really cute boutiques. It’s filled with so much history that you could walk around for hours learning about Abraham Lincoln’s speech he made at the DeSoto House Hotel  or tour Ulysses S. Grant’s home. Many buildings date back to the 1800’s and you will learn lots of history (or about ghosts!) throughout the town.

During summer, there are lots of events happening throughout the town, like wine tasting, their annual hot air balloon race and more! We had brunch at Otto’s Place and it was incredible. See the sweet potato hash and homemade biscuits here. Also, we had some of the best desserts. Cider donuts, Great American Popcorn, fudge and ice cream. Let’s just say, we were loving it!

Overall, I can’t recommend staying at Eagle Ridge Resort enough. It’s literally the perfect getaway from Chicago.

I mean, how can you beat that?! Let me know if you have any questions about our stay or things to do. As always, thanks for following along and you can sign up for weekly emails here and on Instagram.

Until next time,

Christine

This stay was in partnership with Eagle Ridge Resort, but all opinions expressed are my own.