Great escapes for busy professionals: even workaholics need to take their minds off work, if only to recharge. If you can relax as well, your practice will be the better for it. Don't call it a vacation--think of it as a refresher course for the mind, body, and soul.

Resorts and spas

Green Valley Spa. This traditional spa, located in the heart of Utah's spectacular Red Rock Country, is known for its extraordinary outdoor activities and variety of fitness programs.

Hiking and rock-climbing are big draws; there are a]so 19 indoor and outdoor tennis courts, racquetball courts, yoga, a Wilson golf learning center, and tennis and golf video-analysis rooms. The 25,000-square-foot Treatment and Relaxation Center offers over 60 healing treatments, including massage therapy and skin care services.

Popular with men as well as women, Green Valley also features an adventure challenge, in which guests climb and hike through a 200-million-year-old sandstone gorge, rope down and across a canyon, and return to the spa for a relaxing full-body massage.

Other offerings include fitness classes, medical consultations, wellness programs, and a life-coaching program that helps guests make personal and professional changes in their lives.

Information: Green Valley Spa, 1871 West Canyon View Drive, St. George, UT 84770; [phone] or [phone]; www.greenvalleyspa.com.

Safety Harbor Resort and Spa. This 22-acre resort near Tampa Bay, Florida, draws accolades for its tranquil, pristine setting. Reviewers praise the ocean view, an award-winning fitness program, and mineral springs that supply the resort's water.

Highlights include seven Hart-tru clay and two championship tennis courts; indoor, oxygenated mineral-spring pools; an on-site golf academy with lessons and video analysis; and skin-care and massage treatments. Low-fat meal plans are available, and the resort hosts outdoor cookouts and weekly cocktail receptions.

Information: Safety Harbor Resort and Spa, 105 North Bayshore Drive, Safety Harbor, FL 34695; [phone] or [phone];www.safetyharborspa.com.

Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa. For most of us, a chateau surrounded by a lush forest evokes images of France, not western Pennsylvania. But this large, French-style, family-friendly resort rests in Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands. Among its attractions are an award-winning golf course designed by Pete Dye, a shooting academy with instructors certified by the National Sporting Clays Association, and an equestrian center that offers riding lessons, a polo field, sleigh and surrey rides, and pony rides for children. Winter guests receive passes to nearby Mystic Mountain, where they can downhill ski, snowboard, and snowtube.

The resort holds wine-tasting events, showcasing its 10,000-bottle wine collection, and is home to a newly renovated 32,000-square-foot spa. While you golf, your children can make some new friends--whom they may want to bring home: The resort partners with two county animal shelters to offer puppies and kittens for adoption.

Information: Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa, 1001 LaFayette Drive, Farmington, PA 15437; [phone] or [phone]; www.nemacolin.com.

Contemplation

Holy Cross Monastery. Guests experience the quiet simplicity of monastic life at this monastery in New York's Hudson River Valley, near Poughkeepsie. More than 3,000 visitors a year, from all religious and professional backgrounds, take a respire from crowds and work-related stress, and some participate in retreats that incorporate reading, writing, and walking.

Recent retreats included workshops in meditation and religious singing and an introduction to the lives of Benedictine monks. Conversation is permitted, but some visitors choose to take a vow of silence during their stay. Guests share meals with residents and stay in rooms built for monks, furnished with only a bed, dresser, desk, and lamp.

Information: Holy Cross Monastery, P.O. Box 99, West Park, NY 12493; [phone]; www.holycrossmonastery.com.

Elat Chayyim. This spiritual retreat center in the Catskill Mountains offers something for every Jewish visitor. Those seeking a deeper connection to their faith and culture take seminars on Jewish spiritual practice, mysticism, ancient texts, community building, yoga, music, and the arts. Tennis, volleyball, swimming, and basketball programs are available for guests seeking physical activity. The center's health services include Swedish massage, acupressure, foot reflexology, and a hot tub.

Although peace and solitude are typical goals at Elat Chayyim, the center is also an ideal place to meet others. Specialized retreats invite visitors to join a family group that holds daily discussions and reflections, and there are workshops for Jewish singles and a large children's program. The rooms have no telephones or televisions, and the cuisine is Kosher vegetarian, with fish options.

Information: Elat Chayyim, 99 Mill Hook Road, Accord, NY 12404; [phone] or [phone]; www.elatchayyim.org.

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Feed your soul at this Soto Zen Buddhist monastery open from May to August, 27 miles from California's Big Sur. Guests come from all walks of life and several different countries.

The center cherishes its natural surroundings and incorporates the local wilderness into its accommodations. Visitors can stay in stone, pine, or redwood rooms, or in tatami cabins with woven grass floors and rice paper screens.

In the weekend tea ceremony, called Chanoyu, a host offers Japanese sweets and prepares bowls of green tea over a charcoal fire. Guests are asked to simply "accept" the offering and share their presence with other people in the room.

The center's list of retreats is extensive, with several workshops aimed at busy professionals. A recent one, "Contemplative Practice for Lawyers," provided eight hours of MCLE credit in stress reduction, law practice management, and ethics.

Information: Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, 39171 Tassajara Road, Carmel Valley, CA 93924; [phone]; reservations [phone]; www.sfzc.com/zmcmain win.htm.

Sports

Northern Ontario's fly-in fishing. The idea of flying onto a remote island can be intimidating. Yet once you take off, see the wilderness from the air as an emerald green expanse of forest, and land on an island in the middle of a remote lake, appreciation and anticipation conquer your fears. You can catch walleye pike for dinner each night and watch the wolves, bear, and moose that wander along the shore.

Fly-in fishing is big business in Northern Ontario. For a remote, rustic cabin with few modern amenities--and loons, moose, and bears as neighbors--try White River Air. In business for over 50 years, it is close to the Michigan border and offers over 20 fishing sites. Guardian Eagle Resort provides more luxurious settings with private fireplaces and maid service. There are direct flights available from Minneapolis and Chicago.

Information: White River Air, P.O. Box 1380, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, P6A 5N2, Canada; [phone];www.marmac lodge.com/air.

Guardian Eagle Resort, P.O. Box 1448, Sioux Lookout, ON, P8T 1B9, Canada; [phone];www.guardianeagle.com.

Two regional tourist Web sites, Sunset Country (www.ontariossunsetcountry.ca) and Algoma Country (www.algomacountry.com), list several other fly-in fishing outfitters.

Pro Ball Basehall Clinie. Camp isn't just for kids. The Pro Ball Baseball Clinic in Peoria, Arizona, is designed for adults who want to be the best baseball players they can. The camp is popular with women as well as men. Held November 4-7 this year, the clinic invites Major League coaches to provide one-on-one, intensive instruction at a Major League training facility. Last year, coaches from the Atlanta Braves, Anaheim Angels, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, and Colorado Rockies participated.

Information: Pro Ball Baseball Clinic, 2759 Creston Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90068; (323)-333-8798; www.pro-ball.com.

Buck Baker Racing School. Does your fast-paced practice instill a need for speed? Then race-car driving could be just the ticket. Learn how to drive a NASCAR Winston Cup stock car from Buddy Baker--the son of Buck Baker, a Racing Hall of Fame inductee and Winston Cup champion.

The Buck Baker Racing School offers one- to three-day basic and advanced racing courses at the Atlanta, Bristol (Tennessee), Darlington (South Carolina), and North Carolina Speedways. Beginning students--who learn safety, driving, and passing-techniques practice by racing each other around the speedway. Advanced courses offer one-on-one training and more complex maneuvers. Private and group courses are available, and no prior racing experience is required for the beginning level.

Information: Buck Baker Racing School, 1613 Runnymede Lane, Charlotte, NC 28211; (800) 529-BUCK or [phone]; www.buckbaker.com.

Learning vacations

Jane Butel Cooking School. If terrific New Mexican and Southwestern cuisine appeals to you, don't just make reservations. Stir up an appetite by creating tamales, sopaipillas, Navajo fly bread, and traditional chicken mole.

Jane Butel, author of Southwestern Kitchen and Quick and Easy Southwestern Cookbook, is widely credited for making Tex-Mex cuisine a mainstream American phenomenon. Having studied Southwestern cooking for over 40 years with Mexican- and Native-American cooks, Butel wins praise from cooking magazines and students for her techniques and enthusiasm.

In weeklong, weekend, and demonstration classes, students hot only learn to roll tortillas; they also gain a better understanding of how to use chiles, corn, and herbs, the staples of Southwestern cuisine. Butel's emphasis on low-fat cooking techniques has also won her many fans.

Information: Jane Butel Cooking School, 125 Second Street, N.W., Albuquerque, NM 87102; [phone] or [phone]; www.janebutel.com.

Wildlife and underwater photography. Joe and Mary Ann McDonald's wildlife photography workshops in McClure, Pennsylvania, offer beginner through advanced courses in digital and Adobe Photoshop work. They also feature an annual, three day Reptiles of the World Photo Shoot, which provides studio settings that re-create the natural environments of snakes, turtles, frogs, alligators, and other reptiles and amphibians--on film. The shoot is limited to five photographers. The McDonalds also offer photo trips to Chile, Kenya, and other countries.

Or, dive into the marine world with Laguna Sea Sports' underwater photography class in Laguna Beach, California. The program includes instruction on wideangle, close up, macro, and zoom-lens photography in the sea; a camera, film, and film processing; and a discount on scuba equipment. Students without scuba experience can take diving courses at the center before the photo course.

Information: McDonald's Wildlife Photography, 73 Loht Road, McClure, PA 17841; [phone]; www. hoothollow.com.

Laguna Sea Sports, 925 North Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, CA 92651; [phone]; www. scuba-superstore.com/inst/classes/ photo.asp.

John C. Campbell Folk School. Leave traffic jams and the piles on your desk behind, and spend a week working with your hands in North Carolina's Appalachian mountains, only 100 miles north of Atlanta.

This 78-year-old folk school, known mainly to folk art enthusiasts, was recently named a top learning vacation spot by National Geographic Traveler. You'll find no phones, televisions, radios, or cell-phone access, just hundreds of weekend to weeklong classes in a wide range of Americana, including woodworking, wood-carving, basketry, black-smithing, printmaking, music, fly-tying, furniture-making, weaving, sculpture, glass, bookbinding, garden design, and metalworking. Students are treated to family-style meals as well as daily live performances of bluegrass and other local music.

Information: John C. Campbell Folk School, One Folk School Road, Brasstown, NC 28902; [phone] or [phone]; www.folkschool.org.

Role play

U.S. Space Camp. What the movie Space Camp didn't show you was the program for grown-ups who dream of being astronauts. If you're one, fly to Huntsville, Alabama, one weekend for a moon walk in the one-sixth gravity trainer; roll around in the multi-axis trainer; and rise 140 feet with four Gs of force in a simulated takeoff.

There's also a five-day advanced program, which includes scuba-diving in an underwater astronaut trainer and a mock six-hour mission, including the steak-and-egg breakfast NASA feeds astronauts before their missions.

Trainees of all levels assume mission-control and shuttle crew responsibilities in extended role-playing exercises. The camp includes housing in the Space Habitat, modeled after a futuristic space station.

Information: U.S. Space Camp Reservations, P.O. Box 070015, Huntsville, AL 35807; [phone]; www.spacecamp. com.

Working cattle ranches. Even if you can't bring the lasso home, you can be a cowboy or cowgirl for a week or so. In Soda Springs, Idaho, the Bar H Bar is a 9,000-acre, family-owned working ranch where visitors work hard, side-by-side with people who herd cattle for a living. Guests participate in all ranch activities, including branding, vaccinating, and doctoring. Visitors catch, saddle, and care for trained quarter horses and are invited to ride through the spectacular scenery along the Wasatch Mountains. Open May 1 to October 1, the ranch puts up guests in a renovated bunkhouse with hot showers but no phones or televisions.

For an even more rustic working experience, test your skills at the 100-year-old TX Ranch in Lovell, Wyoming. Not only are there no phones or TV, there's no electricity, either.

For a working cattle ranch with more lavish accommodations and gourmet food, try the Vista Verde Guest and Ski Ranch in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. There, you can watch cowboys from afar as you hike, fish, rock-climb, ride in a hot-air balloon, taste wine, and learn to cook at Vista Verde's culinary institute.

Information: Bar H Bar Ranch, 1501 Eight Mile Creek Road, Soda Springs, ID 83276; [phone] or [phone]; www.ranchweb.com/barhbar.

TX Ranch, P.O. Box 194, Lovell, WY 82431; [phone]; www. txranch.com.

Vista Verde Guest and Ski Ranch, P.O. Box 465, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477; [phone] or [phone]; www. vistaverde.com.

Murder Mystery Weekend. Take a step from lawyer to detective: Go solve a murder on selected weekends at Austin Hill Inn in Mount Snow, Vermont. Unlike other murder mystery events that involve many participants who can't get close to the action, the Austin Hill Inn limits the number of guests to allow one-on-one interaction with the characters and firsthand examination of clues.

Located in Vermont's Green Mountains near the Mt. Snow ski resort, the inn is also home to the Marlboro Music Festival.

Information: Austin Hill Inn, P.O. Box 859, Route 100, West Dover, VT 05356; [phone] or [phone]; www. austinhillinn.com.