If you have the need for speed, tempered with a bit of spa, then you’re a prime candidate for the newest package at the stately and romantic Lodge at Sonoma. In conjunction with Jim Russell Racing School, just up the road, the inn offers three days in wine country, part of which you’ll spend doing laps in a formula race car at Infineon Raceway, learning techniques only the pros can teach. After burning rubber, unwind with a wine tasting at Viansa Winery, followed by a 50-minute Swedish massage, then dinner for two at the resort’s Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar. Then return to one of the lodge’s revamped cottages and sink into one of the cloudlike beds for Formula One dreams.

Having a great time! “I thought I knew something about driving, but was surprised at how much there was to learn,” says Doug Smith of Oakland. “I especially liked it when the instructors told me to ‘quit saving gas!’ ” 

-Sarah Mueller Bossenbroek

THE THREE-DAY PACKAGE IS AVAILABLE SUN.–THURS. FOR $4,795 THROUGH DEC. 31. FOR RESERVATIONS, CALL THE JIM RUSSELL RACING SCHOOL: 800-733-0345, EXT. 21. THE LODGE AT SONOMA: 707-935-6600, THELODGEATSONOMA.COM.