We like to travel in the middle of the week for two reasons: there usually not a lot of children around and there are deals to be had on lodging, food and golf on non-weekend days. We took a 3 day, early week getaway to Mount Shasta and found a treasure of a golf course, some great local hang outs and lots of relaxation.

Mount Shasta Resort is a well appointed place. The golf course alone is enough to draw anyone looking for a challenge and a spectalular view. A rooftop deck in the shadow of the mountain, off the lounge/restaurant, serves up drink and food deals on Mondays and Tuesdays that can't be beat. In addition, the 1 and 2 bedroom chalets come complete with kitchens and decks overlooking a serene lake. The Evergreen Spa offers plenty of options and will accomodate couples as well.

Day 1:
One of the nicest things about getting to Mount Shasta, aside from the easy drive and beautiful scenery, are all the little towns on the way. We stopped in Corning at The Olive Pit. If you are in any way an olive fan, you will think you've died and gone to olive heaven. We picked up a couple of jars and had a bite to eat in their cafe. Yes, olive burgers are on the menu! Dunsmuir is a quirky place with a few treasures. We stopped in the Chamber of Commerce and found out about Hedge Creek Falls on the north side of town. It was an easy walk, maybe a third of a mile down to a beautiful waterfall. Had we been wearing the right shoes, we would have been able to walk behind the falls.

Passing through Redding and Lake Shasta, we weren't able to see Mount Shasta due to cloud cover. But once the afternoon sun burned through, it came out in all it's glory. The later winter had left it still covered in snow. Spectacular!

Check in was after 3pm so after settling into the chalet - a 1 bedroom, with king bed - we opened a nice bottle of wine and sat out on the deck to get into full vacation mode. We decided to head to Pro Shop and get a tee time for Tuesday morning. While we were there, we noticed the restaurant had a happy hour special on the bar menu and select drinks that was going to be hard to beat. So we headed up to the rooftop deck, ordered brews and sliders and sat down to one amazing view of the mountain. That was when we starting thinking we need to get a little more up close and personal (with the mountain, that is).

There is a highway that goes right up to the tree line. There are plenty of places to stop, take in the vistas and get in a couple of snowball fights. There really aren't words to describe how stunning and beautiful and peaceful it is. At the end of the road we met some folks that were going to hike to the summit the following day. We offered our well wishes and headed back down the mountain to The Goat Tavern in the town of Mount Shasta. Very local, very cool. Great selection of boutique beers and great pub food.

Day 2:
Golfing at Mount Shasta Resort isn't the cheapest golf you'll ever play at $60 or more per round depending on the time of year. But the views from the course are worth every penny. It's mountain golf and on the tight side as course go. But the tree lined fairways frame the majesty of Mount Shasta and you'll enjoy the challenge of the up and down ride. We tee'd off at 10am after breakfast at the club house restaurant (nothing special about breakfast, just convenient). We followed up the round with drinks on the rooftop deck again...the weather and the view were just too tempting to resist. Sissy booked an afternoon massage at the spa which was top notch.

The only downside of early or midweek travel is that sometimes there aren't too many options for open restaurants. We did run into that, but found an excellent Thai place downtown. The window of the place framed the mountain and we watched the snow fade to pink as we dined.

Day 3:
We decided to get up early and head back to Dunsmuir for breakfast. We had spotted The Brown Trout Cafe on our way up and saw they had Short Rib Hash on the breakfast menu. Bob couldn't pass that up. It was as delicious as we knew it would be. The place serves breakfast and lunch, mostly caters to locals and the added bonus is they know how to brew a proper pot of tea!

Since we had a bit of a drive, we decided to head toward home and play another round of golf at our home course.

All in all, a great little trip and one we plan to repeat!

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