The hammocks at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island are a far cry from what we had as kids, where we found heaven in a hammock in our backyard. First, we grabbed an old corduroy blanket (Sears, circa 1968) and tons of rope, located two trees about four feet apart and went to work.
We tied each end of the blanket around the trees, yanking the rope as hard as we could, tied it, then jumped in our hammock. We generally got a few good swings out of it before gravity got the best of us and we plunged to the earth – butt first. Then we’d repeat the entire process until we got bored and began roaming house to house in search of cherry popsicles.
No such worries with the hammocks at the spa at the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island in Florida, where one of their treatments is Heaven in a Hammock. They are the only spa in the country with this treatment, and I got a small sample of it when representatives from Amelia Island visited Atlanta recently, hammock and all.
First I took off my shoes, and laid sideways in the hammock. Then the masseuse placed a cushiony eye mask over my eyes. This soft and comfy mask is from Eyeeco, and made me feel relaxed already, despite the fact I was in a brightly lit room full of people milling around, and I was in a somewhat vulnerable state – being shoeless, blind and horizontal.
The she went to work, rubbing my feet, then neck and shoulders. As mine was an abbreviated massage, I didn’t get the full treatment, where the masseuse will actually massage your back from below but I got enough to know I’d love the full 60-minute experience.
The hammock massage came about when the spa wanted to create a signature treatment, while recognizing the Southern culture. Voila – the hammock massage was incorporated into the spa.
Perhaps I didn’t giggle as much as I did during my childhood hammock escapades. But my butt felt a whole lot better afterwards.
