Find respite in magical butterflies, hothouse plants, spa offerings, and island delights

Remember thinking last month's thaw was a blessing?

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That week of above-freezing temperatures had cleared a path through the labyrinth of snowbanks and freed your car from its cryogenic slumber. ''Winter's almost over!" you cheered. You had even begun thumbing through seed catalogs, allowing rows of carrots, lettuce, and sunflowers to sprout in the Eden of your mind's eye.

Alas, when the mercury plunged, that half-melted snow covered sidewalks with a substance twice as hard and slippery as regular ice. The wind seemed doubly bitter. And when the inevitable snowflakes began to fall again, so did any hope of departing for some kinder, gentler, more southerly locale.

Even if you haven't been able to afford a Caribbean trip this season, there are reprieves from the cold to be found. Close to home, pockets of tropical warmth do hide within the snowbound states of New England. The pleasures of these balmy places -- a butterfly conservatory, a botanical garden, a spa, and a Polynesian eatery -- may seem fleeting, if not cruelly bittersweet. Yet, sampling one of these four distractions should raise your core temperature and spirits, and perhaps make you feel less like a desperate castaway stranded on Ice Floe Nation.

Have faith and hold out a few weeks longer. When spring arrives, we shall all be rescued.

Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens. Resembling an ordinary mini-mall, the exterior of Magic Wings won't catch your attention. But like a chrysalis whose dull shell hides a brilliant and delicate creature, the interior of this 8,000-square-foot butterfly preserve in Deerfield teems with color and life.

Spend an hour or an afternoon here and the word ''awe" comes to mind, often. Why? Because only rarely can we see firsthand the flashes of iridescent blues, reds, yellows, and greens of some 3,000 butterflies -- zebra longwings, blue morphos, emerald swallowtails -- flying about freely in an 80-degree setting that replicates their Central and South American rain forest homes.

After the astonishment passes, you can begin to identify species by their color, size (some have 8-inch wingspans), or the way they move (some zip, others dance). Rice paper butterflies are the most ''fluttery" of them all. They're also attracted to certain shampoos: One visitor had a dozen rice papers clinging to her hair. So, on your way out, please check for ''hitchhikers."

While Magic Wings cannot guarantee that a butterfly will choose you as a landing strip, plenty do pause on the verdant foliage and feeders to show off their colors. Butterflies are less camera shy than people. They also don't live nearly as long.

To replenish the supply, Magic Wings continually breeds most of its 50-odd species. A glassed-in nursery displays rows and rows of chrysalises and cocoons lined up like parked cars, waiting to burst open with new life.

After a visit to Magic Wings, your eyes and antennae may feel reborn, too.

Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens

281 Greenfield Road (Routes 5 and 10), Deerfield

413-665-2805www.magicwings.com

Daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Adults $8, seniors $7, children/students $5, under 3 free. Gift shop, garden shop, food court.

The Lyman Plant House of Smith College. In winter, most of Smith's outdoor plants and trees are, of course, brown, dry, and dormant. Down by the shores of Paradise Pond, however, the Lyman Plant House proclaims a different wintertime story: green, moist, and thriving.

The Northampton college's central greenhouse is the Lyman Conservatory, one of the few remaining Victorian-era structures of its kind in the country. Combined with more modern structures, the overall conservatory complex spreads over 12,000 square feet and shelters about 2,000 species of plants arranged biogeographically.

Moving from house to house is like traveling the world. There is a Fern House, Camellia Corridor, and rooms chock-full of orchids, begonias, giant lemon trees, and water plants. The Succulent House contains nothing but cacti from Central and South America, the Sahara, and other arid regions.

Standouts are the two largest hothouses: the Cool Temperate House and the Palm House. The former, where redesigned plantings and a waterfall debuted in January, contains plants like arrow bamboo from Asia and highland coffee from Africa. If you're lucky, you'll be standing nearby as the fogging system switches on, spritzing you and the plants with a humidification treatment.

In the Palm House, plants completely fill the original 1895 conservatory, whose 30-foot-high peak allows huge specimens like banana, cocoa tree, cycad, and rhapis palm to flourish. Sitting on a bench under the lush canopy, late afternoon light knifing through the fronds, you may as well be in the rain forest.

The annual spring bulb show (through March 20) adds vibrant color to the Lyman Plant House. About 1,000 pots of tulips, daffodils, crocuses, and narcissi have been coaxed carefully to flower simultaneously. Best of all, every breath of chlorophyll is free.

The Lyman Plant House of Smith College5 College Lane, Northampton413-585-2740www.smith.edu/gardenDaily 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. Bulb show: suggested donation $1. Bulbs on sale March 26-27 to benefit the Limbe Botanic Garden in Cameroon.

Spa at Stoweflake. Outside, through the window of the sauna, the spruces clinging to Mount Mansfield glisten in the sun like frosted whiskers. But you're inside, moving from the Jacuzzi to the Hungarian Mineral Soaking Pool, or from the steam room back to the sauna, and you're getting very warm.

Hard to believe, but at the Spa at Stoweflake in Stowe, Vt., you can overheat. Hence, the cold showers and soothing ice-water-soaked eucalyptus towels. Or the outdoor heated pool and bubbling hot tub where, after a moonlit dip, you can dash barefoot through the snow for a quick cooldown. Or, the 12-foot waterfall.

Waterfall?

The centerpiece of the spa is the Aqua Solarium, whose Bingham Hydrotherapy Waterfalls are modeled after a local swimming hole. Pouring over a faux-rock boulder, the water pummels your body, giving a complimentary neck or back massage, while the sound almost tricks your mind into thinking summer has conquered this frigid, northern Vermont ski town.

Later, perhaps, a game of squash? A few laps in the indoor pool? A run on the treadmill or a yoga or pilates class? Or drift down to the basement treatment rooms for one of 20 types of bodywork or 15 kinds of body treatments, including a Native American ''La" hot stone massage and a maple sugar body polish.

Then, it's back to the Jacuzzi, another plunge under the falls, or tea or juice in the fireside sanctuary. Warm in your robe and slippers, you could spend an entire weekend without leaving the 50,000-square-foot facility -- which seems to be the point. If you can't beat winter, ignore it.

Spa at Stoweflake Mountain Resort

1746 Mountain Road, Stowe, Vt.

802-253-7355 or 800-253-2232

www.spaatstoweflake.com

Daily 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Spa and fitness center day passes $40 (free with overnight stay at the resort). Other services include massage and bodywork ($65-$290), fitness services ($25-$90), body treatments ($65-$175), skin care ($35-$200), salon services ($30-$115), nail services ($35-$80), and waxing ($20-$70).

Kowloon restaurant. Forget cruise ships: Your Polynesian island escape is but a short drive from home. Just north of Boston on Route 1 looms the godfather of New England's kitschy theme eateries: Kowloon, a pan-Asian palace serving Cantonese, Szechuan, Japanese, Polynesian, and Thai cuisines.

Founded as a Chinese restaurant in 1950, when it attracted the likes of Ted Williams and Phyllis Diller, Kowloon expanded over the years into a 1,200-seat eatery with a bar, a comedy club, a massive 500-seat Luau Room function space, and several themed dining rooms, all guarded against the outside world by a 20-foot tiki statue.

The food, while at times showy, wins no culinary awards. No matter: The reason to visit Kowloon is the over-the-top tropical ambience. While you warm your hands at the flame of a Peninsula Pu Pu Platter, take in the fake palm trees, thatched huts, and sunset murals. In the Tiki Lagoon, rainbow-colored fountains flank rows of swimming-pool-blue booths. The ship-shaped Volcano Bay Room is festooned with nautical rigging and actual boats suspended from overhead.

For maximum fun, don't bring just a date: The Kowloon vibe thrives on group energy. With the right party attitude, even the batter-dipped chicken, Flaming Ambrosia, served in a fresh pineapple and topped with roasted maraschino cherries, can be enjoyed.

Besides, once the communal warmth of the scorpion bowls and volcano drinks seeps into your veins, you will be blissfully confused: Are we still hopelessly snowbound in Saugus, or happily marooned on Gilligan's Island?

Kowloon

948 Broadway (Route 1), Saugus

781-233-0077

www.kowloonrestaurant.com

Daily 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m. DJ music Thursday and Sunday; live comedy and music Friday and Saturday.

Ethan Gilsdorf is a freelance writer in Somerville.