Things To Do in Emmaus

Designed by renowned course architect Geoffrey Cornish, Center Valley Club's verdant pastures embrace two distinct nine-hole terrains. The Scottish-links-style front nine incorporates hidden mounds, lakes, and undulating greens ideal for concealing surplus goose eggs. Duffers then march toward the championship-style back nine, populated by woodland, lakes, and sand traps masquerading as restful turf-side beaches. Golfers can also practice on Center Valley's Club's driving range before embarking on orb-pummeling odysseys, choosing from five levels of yardage based on skill level and distance covered by “fore” yodels.

Sportations connects amateur adrenaline jockeys to certified professional adventurers, drawing from a nationwide network of aeronauts and speed demons to introduce habitual pedestrians to the wonders of skydiving, ballooning, hang gliding, and stock-car racing. Thrill seekers can zipline across a forest canopy, hollering like Tarzan or taunting nearby birds until they agree to race. Helicopter tours ferry patrons skyward over landmarks and cityscapes, whereas paragliding adventures get up close and personal with blue skies and clouds. For most sports, Sportations accommodates groups of any size, from physics classes empirically proving gravity's existence to solo ballooning supervillains declaring dominion over all they see.

Since its inception in 1919, the historic Oakmont Tennis Club has improved ball-smacking skills and boosted camaraderie and sportsmanship amongst racket-swingers. Tennis pros such as George Henry, once the coach of Venus and Serena Williams, use Oakmont's soft ground of seven maintained red-clay courts for instruction and one-on-one domination. With single or family membership, you’ll get use of the clubhouse, unlimited court time, and discounted rates on lessons. Members can use Oakmont's comfy clubhouse to take a brisk shower, secure their five-leaf clover once kissed by John McEnroe in one of the lockers, and stroll around the wraparound deck.

No men, no makeup, no mirrors. It’s a pretty stringent philosophy, but it’s one that’s helped members of the Curves community since 1992. Part fitness center, part support group, Curves is a women’s only club that takes a streamlined approach to health, fitness, and weight loss. Full-body, 30-minute workouts combine strength training, cardiovascular exercises, and stretching into calorie-torching sessions, enhanced further by the Curves Complete Program. The program, available at an extra fee, supplements efforts at the gym with personalized meal plans and weekly one-on-one meetings with a certified Curves coach. Outside the facility, members and non-members alike can purchase a variety of Curves products, from workout apparel and accessories to the protein powders and vitamins used to build strength or distract people from all of the caterpillars in your medicine cabinet.

The idea that running should be fun is the philosophy behind Run Lehigh Valley, an organization that pairs runners of all levels with running events. Whether the races include giveaways or beer, or just start off with a quirky premise, such as a zombie 5K where runners dress as the undead or a Christmas-themed race where runners dress like undead Santas, all of the events check pretention at the starting line. For their latest venture, Runners Escape, Run Lehigh Valley gathers people for out-of-town races, giving like-minded pavement-pounders a chance to meet friends.

Voted the valley’s Best Martial Arts Studio by Lehigh Valley magazine and The Morning Call, and led by a pair of skilled sensei and an experienced staff of instructors, Leading Edge’s fitness and martial-arts classes adopt techniques from various combat styles to cultivate toned muscles and self-defense techniques. Students of all ages and abilities can toss excess calories into the dragon's fire in fitness classes that encourage participants to punch through perceived fitness limitations at their own pace. LEMA Kardio Kickbox classes eschew strict martial-arts training for a range of aerobic fitness techniques, and half-hour Cage Fitness workouts adhere to the five-minute-round format used in championship MMA matches. Cage Fitness classes never involve contact or partner training, so students can save their fighting skills for trips to the DMV and late-night walks home through kung-fu-movie sets. Noncompetitive martial-arts classes for adults and children provide an overview of strikes, holds, locks, and throws designed to manipulate opponents and expose their animal spirits as runts of the ephemeral litter.

In 1976, educator, musician, and kinesiologist Robin Wes longed for a children's gym program that prioritized personal growth over competition. Unveiled at a time when physical-education classes pushed students to focus almost exclusively on winning, Robin's program was swiftly adopted and is now used in more than 300 Little Gyms worldwide. Robin still pens original music to accompany lessons, which engage whippersnappers 4 months to 12 years old with gymnastics, dance, karate, and parent and child activities. Each of The Little Gym's classes introduces simple movements that sharpen motor skills and set brains whirring, allowing kids to progress at their own pace until they can finally build a computer out of macaroni and glitter. Staff members strive to build a base for lifelong social skills and self-assurance with each exercise, including activities rooted purely in fun, such as summer camps or birthday parties, which helped The Little Gym earn title of #1 Birthday Chain in Parents magazine.