By Bernard Burt
Located 90 miles from Washington, D.C., Berkeley Springs claims to be America’s first spa. To prove it, they have enshrined George Washington’s bathtub and Martha’s bathing costume.
Nestled in the mountains of West Virginia, the tiny town where George and Martha Washington took the waters in the 18th century now has five full-service spas, a homeopathic pharmacy, and more healers per capita than any place in the Mid-Atlantic states.
Celebrate Washington’s Birthday at Berkeley Springs’ Winter Festival of the Waters. From January through March, spa-goers can taste waters from around the world, tour historic sites visited by George Washington, and shop for $1 bargains with Washington’s image. And you, too, can bathe here.
The future president first visited this mountain hamlet in 1748 as a surveyor for a British peer who had been granted a large hunk of the Virginias in return for helping King George III in the colonies. Young George, then 16 years old, noted his visit to “ye fam’d warm springs” after bathing in a rock-walled open-air pool, now in the center of Berkeley Springs State Park.
George and Martha Washington returned many times, had a cottage built near the springs, and helped develop plans for a health resort modeled on the British spa town of Bath.
“Many places claim Washington slept there,” comments local historian Jeanne Mozier. “We have his bathtub – the only outdoor monument to presidential bathing.” A new book on Washington’s watery sojourns by John E. Douglas puts Berkeley Springs into the broader context of the birth of the nation. Taking the waters became fashionable, along with horse racing and cock fighting during this time. Bathhouses designed in the Roman style by James Rumsey, builder of the first successful steamboat on the nearby Potomac River, featured the ultimate in privacy and sanitation, and are still in use.
Operated by the State of West Virginia, the historic bathhouses offer the best bargain in town. The basic “rub-and-tub” ($40) gets you a soak in a claw-foot tub, 20-minute massage, plus towel, locker, and use of exercise equipment. Longer massage costs $70 weekdays, $80 weekends, plus gratuity. Forget ambiance; built during the Depression, the main baths haven’t changed much over the years. Mountain springs supply water at a constant 74°F, heated to 102℉ by massive copper boilers in separate facilities for men and women.
The Roman Bath House dates from 1784, has eight rooms with sunken pools that hold up to four bathers. Upstairs are displays of early days at the springs, including a bathing costume worn by Martha Washington that has weights built into the skirt hem to prevent exposure of a ladies’ ankles.
CONFESSIONS OF A WATER TASTER
Tasting water is not like tasting wine.
Having served as a taster at the annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting several times, my palate was attuned to how the water feels on my tongue, as well as variations in saltiness and minerals. Since the waters are served in unmarked decanters, we had no idea of what brand was being tasted. Adding a professional note is the “Watermeister” and author Arthur von Wiesenberger (www.bottledwaterweb.com) who briefs the tasters before the action starts.
Should we swallow or spit out the water? Confronted by more than 100 waters, the best course of action was to simply stay afloat.
The tasters go to work at public sessions held in the Country Inn, adjoining the State Park in the center of town. Municipal waters compete for the coveted honor of best tasting tap water; bottled waters, both still and sparkling, are judged Saturday evening. All day Saturday, the public can vote for the People’s Choice award for best packaging.
Said to be the largest water tasting competition in the world, it’s the best free show in town. The 2008 tasting is scheduled February 23, with preliminary seminars on waters issues confronting the community.
SPA HOPPING
Rapidly becoming a center for alternative healing and complementary medicine, Berkeley Springs still looks and feels like a small village. Shop owners actually explain all the nuances of the products. Healers have set up shop in Victorian houses along Washington Street near the vintage Star Theatre where Mozier shows movies on the weekends for $3.75.
Clustered near historic bathhouses in the four-acre state park at the center of town, an apothecary called Homeopathy Works fills prescriptions, The Bath House is stocked with home spa luxuries and has massage rooms upstairs. Five day spas offer treatments plus an abundance of products you can buy to take home and extend the feel-good experience.
Dean of Berkeley Springs massage therapists, Frankie Tan opened Atasia Spa after migrating here from Indonesia. With approximately 6,000-square-feet on two floors, a steam room, pedicure room, and specially designed wet treatment room for scrubs and wraps, Tan offers bodywork based on Eastern and Western traditions.
You may still drink freely and fill your water jugs at Lord Fairfax’s public tap, and wade in the ancient stone pools in the nation’s smallest state park. The town has endured cycles of notoriety, fashion, war, and depression, but remains the country’s first spa town, a quiet, friendly haven surrounded by West Virginia’s natural splendor.
For more information, call Travel Berkeley Springs at (800) 447-8797, and ask for a Winter Festival of the Waters calendar covering events in January through March, or check Berkeley Springs’ website at www.berkeleysprings.com for dates, lodging, and spa contacts.
Photo credit: Travel Berkeley Springs
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