Day Tripper: College Point

Between keeping within your budget and scheduling time off from work, planning a vacation can be stressful.

If you find you have too little time to travel and not enough money in your bank account, there’s no need to fret.

Each Thursday, Douglaston Patch will profile one of the five boroughs’ unique neighborhoods, where you can sample some local culture and culinary delights.

This week’s pick is College Point:

9 a.m.

Start your morning on a relaxing note at Spa Castle, a five-story Korean spa and bathhouse that includes rooftop hot tubs, heated pools, steam rooms, baths, massages, bade pools and lockers.

Upon arrival, attendees are given the Spa Castle uniform, which consists of a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, and are required to proceed either barefooted or in a pair of slippers that can be purchased on-site.

Grab a bite of lunch in the castle’s food court, which includes Korean, Japanese, Italian or American cuisine.

Reservations are not required. The entrance fee for the day is $35 during the week and $45 on weekends.

Visitors are encouraged to bring a bathing suit and towel. Spa Castle, which is open from 6 a.m. to midnight, is located at 131-10 11th Ave.

Click here to visit the website.

3 p.m.

Stop by the historic Poppenhusen Institute and take part in one of the center’s numerous classes, view its exhibits or take in a performance.

Currently, the 143-year-old institute is offering oil painting classes for adults on Saturdays at 11 a.m. and art classes for children from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Also available are drama classes for youths, ages 8 to 16, on Saturdays at 10 a.m.

Poppenhusen has karate classes, which cost $40, at 5 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays. There is currently a waiting list for the classes.

The institute, located at 114-04 14th Rd., also has two current exhibits – a memorial for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and a Native American display.

It offers school tours, including one during which children will be led through the institute by a local storyteller, who will reenact a kindergarten experience from the 1870s.

This weekend, resident theater company E. Phoenix Idealis will perform “Circle Mirror Transformation,” for which door tickets will be available. The play, written by Annie Baker, sets its story in a drama class at a dance studio.

And the institute will present “A Taste of College Point” at 5 p.m. on Dec. 3. The event, which will include food samples from local restaurants, will cost $35 for seniors and members and $40 for nonmembers.

For more information, visit Poppenhusen’s website.

7 p.m.

End your day with a meal at Boulder Creek Steakhouse, located at 134-15 20th Ave.

The eatery offers a variety of steaks, hamburgers, wraps, sandwiches, pork chops, rack of lamb, seafood, pasta, chicken dishes, meatloaf, quesadillas, soups, a vegetable platter, salads and desserts.

For drinks, Boulder has a variety of cocktails as well as lemonade, floats and smoothies for the non-alcoholic drinker.

Click here for a link to the steakhouse’s menu.