PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida invited me to their Sweet Treats Weekend. I loaded my 13-year-old daughter up in the car and we took a little road trip for some sugary mother daughter bonding. What’s not to love about a weekend of cupcakes and ice cream? (The fun actually started off with a chocolate buffet the night before.)
We started the weekend off with cupcake decorating Saturday afternoon at “The Great Cupcake Challenge.” We were given 18 cupcakes, plus a decorating kit filled with frosting and toppings. Half of the cupcakes were for us to to take home and the other went towards a special project I’ll tell you about in a minute.
My daughter loves to bake, so this was right up her alley. Our decorating kit contained white and pink frosting, gummi bears, sprinkles, cherries, Oreos and more. The box the supplies were in doubled as a way to transport our share of the goodies home.
Here are our favorite designs:
We made a bit of a mess…
After we decorated cupcakes, we checked into our room and headed out to have some lunch by the pool. We both had burgers. Oh, were they good! Mine was topped with cheese, bacon, caramelized onions and mushrooms on a brioche bun. My daughter had hers with bacon, cheese and avocado. Yum.
Then we went back to see the world’s largest cupcake wedding cake be built. Seriously – world’s largest! PGA National Resort and Spa earned the Guinness World Record for longest ice cream sundae last year and set out to get in the book again with a giant wedding cake made out of cupcakes.
This thing was 10 feet high and 12 feet wide and contained a whopping TEN THOUSAND CUPCAKES.
We even got to watch a little cake-in-the-face action between PGA staff members.
We left the resort for some shopping, then headed back for an evening swim before crashing for the night. We woke up and had omelets, bacon and fruit for breakfast. Check out is noon, which is the same time Sunday’s event was scheduled to start, so I called the front desk to request a later check out and got a “No problem.” Love that!
The afternoon was all about ICE CREAM. “The Big Taste Ice Cream Social” was sponsored by Whole Foods and featured 42 flavors of ice cream, plus dozens of toppings. Get this: my kid opted to stay in the room. She’s trying to eat healthier and didn’t want to be tempted. She also didn’t eat a single cupcake. (I cannot say the same.)
Attendees were given a souvenir ice cream bowl and spoon when they arrived. We were encouraged to use our bowls to sample as many flavors of ice cream as we wanted. I overheard a little boy gleefully say, “I am going to get SOOO FAT today!”
Blackberry, butterscotch, pistachio, fruit punch, lemon cake and Cherry Garcia were just a few of the flavors offered. Lactose intolerant? No problem! There were ice creams made from soy, coconut, rice and almond milk on hand, too.
Toppings included the usual contenders (sprinkles, candy, fruit, cookie crumbs), as well as some more exotic offerings, including candied bacon and wasabi peas.
My favorite flavor was one I actually expected to be gross: chocolate caramel bacon. Delicious!
Both events also featured fun stuff for the kids, such as face painting, a petting zoo, bounce house and more. Local celebrities faced off in an ice cream eating contest Sunday.
It was a great little getaway with my daughter. We love staying in hotels and road trips – even short ones like this was – are great for getting teens to chat. Something about the lack of eye contact of a car ride allows them to open up.
PGA National Resort and Spa frequently has food themed events. It’s a beautiful resort and the rates are surprisingly reasonable. Check it out next time you need a little getaway.
I know we will again!