Unplug and Renew With a Relaxing Vacation

Deep Bay Retreat Center
Lakeside, Mont.
From $2,050 a week per house (8 to 12 people in a house)

Set on 10 acres of Rocky Mountain wilderness — less than an hour-and-a-half drive south from Glacier National Park — this nonprofit, nondenominational retreat overlooks Flathead Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River.

Where to sleep
Visitors can choose from four first-rate timber-frame guesthouses named Earth, Wood, Fire and Water. The houses have large picture windows, with views of the nearby Mission Mountains' snow-topped peaks. Each house has a full kitchen; catering is available in the town of Lakeside.

How to unwind
Deep Bay has its own private cove, a picnic area, and a boat dock and a sun dock for swimming and sunbathing. A short but challenging hike on a woodland trail leads to the shores of Flathead Lake, whose clear green water originates in Glacier National Park. (406-844-2611; deepbay.org)

Bethany Spring
New Haven, Ky.
$70 (large house); $80 (cottage)

About 50 miles south of Louisville, Bethany Spring is the retreat center for the Merton» Institute, a spiritual think tank named for Thomas Merton, a jazz-loving Trappist monk who wrote more than 70 books, including the classic The Seven Storey Mountain. Lectures and programs encourage what Merton referred to as contemplative living: "living in relationship with oneself, God, others and nature free of the illusion of separateness."

Where to sleep
The main house sleeps up to nine people; smaller cottages sleep two or three.

How to unwind
Wooded paths lead to a small lake and the Abbey of Gethsemani, a mile away, where guests are invited to pray with the monks. (502-549-8277; bethanyspring.org)

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