Travel Leisure USA June 2021
Travel Leisure USA June 2021
Travel Leisure USA June 2021
2021
Celebrating 50 Years
E S C A P E S
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LU X URY
INCLUDED
C O N T E NT S
Departments
8 Letter from the Editor
12 Discoveries
Learn what “locally
sourced” really means
at four chic farm stays;
check out hotels in Capri
and Washington, D.C.;
celebrate 50 years of
Vilebrequin swimwear;
and more.
Experiences
4 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
C O N TR IBU TOR S
1.
City. “And I was pleasantly
surprised to find a high
AB S OLUTELY Î LE DE RÉ
number of women in
(P. 70)
the profession.”
Although the Paris-based
writer was familiar with 4.
the south of France and its
Atlantic coast, the joys of AB S OLUT ELY ÎLE DE RÉ
the Île de Ré came as a
surprise. “The island is Last September, the
very different from the photographer traveled
other places I’ve been in from his home in Paris to
the region,” he says. “I was the Île de Ré, and enjoyed
expecting something its slow pace and bikeable
colder, but the sunlight scale. “I loved cycling past
was brilliant. It felt like a the amazing salt marshes
quintessential summer.” and beaches,” Obadia-
Wills says. “Plus, the
seafood was so delicious
2.
I could hardly think of
S MALL TOW N, BIG HE ART
(P. 78 )
anything else.”
CLO C KW ISE FROM TOP LEF T: D O MI NIQ UE NAB O KOV/C OURT E SY O F T HOMA S W IL L I AMS ; EB RU Y IL DI Z / C OURTE SY OF JORDAN K ISN ER ;
Provincetown, on Cape TH E PACIF IC (P. 92 )
C O URT E SY OF MANUEL O B ADI A-W ILL S ; C O URT E SY O F TONY LUO NG; C O URTE SY OF CEL E STE N O C HE ; C OURTE SY OF W ENDY L E S SER
Cod, over the busy
summer season. “I fell for Portland, Oregon–based
the singular, small-town Noche relished the oppor-
atmosphere,” says the tunity to shoot her home
writer. “The flowers in the state on assignment for
front gardens! The dunes T+L. “There are so many
1 2 outside town! The wind! I moody, stunning beaches,”
grew up in a small surfing she says. “The road trip
town, so returning to the was a great reminder that
rhythms of summertime you don’t always have to
by the seaside was a joy.” get on a plane to explore
someplace new.”
3.
MURDER MO ST NORDIC 6.
(P. 4 0) S MALL TOWN, BIG HE ART
6 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
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LE T T ER
T
HIS SUMMER COULD SEE you taking your first
proper vacation in more than a year. Proper in
the sense that you may reunite with and hug a
loved one. Or you may take a road trip and feel
comfortable dropping in to a local restaurant,
on a whim. Or you may listen to music—any
kind of music should do—at a bar. Yes, a bar.
With the world upended and our priorities reordered,
there’s been a back-to-basics effect when it comes to
travel. I’ve felt it on my recent trips. Every experience—
conversations with strangers, smells in the air, the clarity
of the stars—puts a new spring in my step. Vacations give
me a boost in a way that they never did before.
Every story in this June issue is brimming with hope,
with this sense of promise. Jordan Kisner journeys to
Provincetown, the LGBTQ-friendly destination on Cape
Cod, and is won over by the inclusive culture and the
rhythms of the sea. John Bowe flies south to Chile to
witness a once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse, and meets other
travelers in search of a higher purpose. Richard Godwin
discovers he’s a natural at the adventurous sport of Jacqui in the entrance hall of the Mayflower Inn & Spa,
coasteering, along the magnificent shores of southwestern in Washington, Connecticut.
Wales. James Hannaham falls in love with two Rhode
Island resorts that, though close to home, give him all the
sense of escape he needs. And Eleni Gage immerses herself
in the life of Patrick Leigh Fermor, the celebrated travel FROM MY TRAVELS to lose yourself in
A road trip took me when you look up
writer, whose inspiring home in Kardamyli, Greece, is now
to Litchfield County, and try to zone out
available for rent. Connecticut, and for a little bit.
This new era of travel is far from perfect: there are still the just renovated Other highlights:
flight delays and lines at airports to contend with (and Mayflower Inn & the food, which
now, of course, testing and quarantine requirements). But Spa, Auberge sings and nour-
Resorts Collection ishes thanks to
more than a year into this pandemic we, as travelers, are (aubergeresorts. chef April Bloom-
starting to find our sea legs. I still long for the days when com; doubles from field (please order
I could lose myself in a big, joyful, outdoor crowd. To me, $890). This once- the thick-cut
that says summer. A few years ago, my family and I did a traditional country bacon for break-
inn is now a riot of fast, the fried
one-night stay in Zurich and participated in Züri Fäscht:
color thanks to chicken for lunch,
a massive outdoor celebration of carnival games and designer Celerie and the Flint &
food vendors, aerial shows and fireworks. This beautiful Kemble, who added Steel cocktail—
lakeside city was alive with laughter, and so were we. Züri wicker chairs, tequila and lime
Fäscht happens every three years. Count me in for one wallpaper from juice, topped with
Sister Parish a splash of
raucous party in 2022. Design, and scotch—a little
ceramic Penny later on), and the
Morrison lamps, spa, which had
among other warm great bones to
C O URT E SY O F JAC Q UEL I NE GI FF O RD
8 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
Dorado Beach: A Ritz-Carlton Reserve
Dorado, Puerto Rico
VICE CHAIRMAN Mell Meredith Frazier For all advertising inquiries, please e-mail [email protected].
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10 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
THIRTY YEARS FROM NOW, SHE MIGHT BE FISHING FOR BROWNS
IN THE BATTENKILL, OR HUNTING THE HIGH HILLS OF MONTANA.
BUT SHE’LL ALWAYS LOOK BACK ON THESE MINI-ADVENTURES
WHERE YOU HELPED HER CATCH THE BUG.
T H I S F AT H E R ’ S D AY ,
GIVE ORVIS NOT ORDINARY
Cotton-rich, soft fabric for next-to-skin comfort
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 13
D I S C O V E R I E S
F RO M TOP : C O URT E SY OF K IN DLER ST UDIO S ; C O URT E SY O F CAPE RE S ORTS PHOTO ; KEN DRA STAN LE Y -MIL L S
by 150 wooded acres. The experience at this
exclusive wilderness B&B—which is open
on summer weekends—includes activities
like kayaking and hiking. Guests can refuel
with meals foraged and prepared by Regan:
whitefish with berries; fresh radishes with
cultured butter; fire-roasted wild apples.
Accommodation options include the three-
bedroom main cabin, an Airstream trailer, or,
for the more adventurous, a wood-floored tent.
The Blue Ridge Mountains are the backdrop
to Nicewonder Farm & Vineyards (nicewonder
farm.com; doubles from $293), a 400-acre
refuge in Bristol, Virginia. At the on-site
restaurant, Taste, chef Travis Milton celebrates
Appalachian cuisine and traditional techniques
like canning and curing. Hearty dishes include
cabbage stuffed with beef from nearby Wolf
Hills Farm and served with Milton’s version
of chowchow, the ubiquitous Southern relish.
(Pair it with a Merlot from Nicewonder’s 10
From top: The produce stand at New Jersey’s Beach
Plum Farm; chef Iliana Regan, right, and her wife,
acres of vines.) You can spend the night at one
Anna, forage in the forest around Milkweed Inn, on of nine new glamping yurts; a luxe 28-room
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. inn will open later this summer.
14 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
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REMEMBER
THE FUTURE
The corners of the world that make your heart sing
– and those you have yet to experience.
The fine flavors of the world you’ve savored
onboard and on your explorations
– and those you have yet to taste.
Face Forward
The best new beauty products
harness the power of sustainable
farming. BY SIOB HAN RE ID
F RO M TO P : ROMA IN REGL ADE /C O URT E SY O F H OTEL L A PALMA , CAPRI; HOTEL L A PAL MA , CAPRI/ C OURTE SY OF OE TKER C OLL ECT ION ; C OURTE SY OF
gently exfoliates while lavender,
alfalfa, borage, and other botanicals
from Tata Harper’s 1,200-acre farm
heal and protect. tataharper skin
care.com; $65.
Island of Dreams
In Capri, a former playground to the stars gets a modern makeover.
BY S C OT T BAY
18 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
Campagna Finanziata Ai Sensi Del Reg. UE N. 1308/2013.
Campaign Financed According To EU Reg. NO. 1308/2013. .
CLO C KW ISE F ROM TOP LEF T: C ÉD RIC V IO LLE T /C O URT E SY O F V ILEBREQ UIN ; CHAO C UI/ C OURTE SY OF V IL EBREQ UIN ;
The boldness paid off. Prysquel got the girl, a
Making a Splash
swimwear brand Vilebrequin based on the
success of that first pair of trunks. It’s a story the
company’s current CEO, Roland Herlory, relishes
For its 50th anniversary, French swimwear label telling. “Our origin is all about love,” he says.
Vilebrequin has unveiled a collection inspired by its To celebrate the brand’s 50th anniversary,
Herlory and his team created 50 collector’s-
storied heritage, and made a pledge of environmental edition trunks. Some are revivals of old prints,
sustainability for the future. BY S IOBHAN RE ID while others are modern interpretations of
archival styles. There are psychedelic flower
patterns from the 70s, graphic motifs from the
80s, and an electric-blue pair emblazoned with
sea turtles from the aughts.
It’s been half a century since automobile journalist Fred Vilebrequin has also doubled down on its
Prysquel donned a pair of provocative swim trunks in commitment to responsible fashion: by 2022,
St.-Tropez while attempting to woo the woman of his 80 percent of its garments will be made from
dreams. Back in 1971, Prysquel’s knee-grazing shorts of his recycled fishing nets, plastic water bottles, and
own design were unlike anything the Côte d’Azur had ever other discarded materials. “Because we have
seen. They combined the easy movement of California a long history, we have strong roots,” Herlory
board shorts with the bright patterns and traditional waxed says. “Those roots allow us to dream big.”
fabrics he had spotted on a trip to Senegal. vilebrequin.com.
20 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
Opposite, clockwise from top left: Marlon denim swim shorts; a
1984 beach bag and towel; modeling the 2011 collection; 1984 swim
trunks. This page, clockwise from top left: A vintage postcard; 1998
trunks; 1972 linen shorts; founder Fred Prysquel, left, with French
actor Jean-Louis Trintignant in St.-Tropez in 1976; embroidered
Mistral trunks; Plage d’Argent, in Porquerolles, France.
C LO CKW I SE FROM TOP RIGHT: C HAO CUI/ C OURT E SY O F V ILEBREQ UI N; CÉD RIC V IOL LE T/C OURTE SY OF V IL EB REQ UI N; C OURTE SY OF THE V IL EB REQ UI N ARCHI VE S/FRED PRYS Q UEL ;
C HAO C UI /C OURT E SY OF V I LEBREQ UIN ; MA S SIMO V I TAL I /C O URT E SY O F V I LEBREQ UIN; C OURT E SY O F T HE V IL EBREQ UIN ARCHI VE S/ FRED PRYS Q UEL
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 21
D I S C O V E R I E S
Global Kitchen
A new book immerses readers in the home Clockwise from left:
kitchens and neighborhood restaurants of The Greek island of
Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus to illuminate the Ikaria; author Yasmin
Khan, left, with Musa
region’s shifting culinary landscape. Dağdeviren, chef-owner
BY L IL A HARR O N BAT T I S of Çiya, in Istanbul;
a spread of imam
bayildi (stuffed roasted
eggplant), mücver
CLO C KW ISE F ROM TOP LEF T: MAT T RUS SELL/C OURTE SY O F W. W. N ORTON & C O., IN C.(2); TOM JA STR AM/SHUT TER STO CK .C OM
(zucchini-and-feta
“ I BELIEVE FOOD is like language—it’s constantly fritters), and more.
evolving and changing,” says human-rights
campaigner turned food writer Yasmin Khan.
That’s why Khan’s new cookbook, Ripe Figs
(W. W. Norton & Co., $35), delves into not only SPICE-RACK ESSENTIALS
the traditional dishes of Turkey, Greece, and “A lot of dishes in Cyprus and Turkey use dried mint—it’s
Cyprus but also those introduced more recently so different from fresh mint, kind of bright and earthy
by the Syrian and Afghan refugees who have at the same time. Sumac is astringent, and pomegranate
resettled across the eastern Mediterranean. molasses is sweet and sharp. And pul biber—known in
“My aim was to inspire a conversation about the U.S. as Aleppo pepper—is a mild pepper flake that
migration in the twenty-first century,” Khan adds a fruity flavor as opposed to a fiery heat. If you have
explains. “I think food is a great way to all those things, you’ll be set.”
understand an issue, and there’s no better
place to have that conversation than over a BOWLED OVER
dinner table.” Here, the London-based author “Greek yogurt is famous all over the world, but yogurt is
shares some tips on bringing her favorite used in savory main-course dishes in Turkey and Cyprus
Mediterranean flavors home. as well. Hot yogurt soup, yayla çorbasi, is one of my
favorite recipes in the book—such a game changer! It’s
LIQUID GOLD an incredibly easy dish that you can whip up in fifteen
“Olive oil is the unifying ingredient of the minutes, but it feels so luxurious and comforting.”
Mediterranean. I tend to have three different
bottles going: a very light oil I can use for TOAST OF THE TOWN
frying, another with a medium body to use “Whenever I do avocado toast, I always have sumac,
for cooking, and one good-quality oil to use za’atar, Aleppo pepper, and loads of good olive oil on it,
as a seasoning at the end. I see people store it as well as lime. The other day I was like, This is so good
on the counter, but you should keep it in the it needs to be in a cookbook! I can’t put an avocado toast
cupboard, away from heat and sunlight.” recipe in a cookbook, but I just think it’s so good.”
22 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
Where the West Begins
JUST NORTH OF the glistening skyscrapers of downtown Fort
Worth, Texas, you’ll find the Stockyards National Historic
District, once one of the largest livestock-trading centers in
the American West. In Cowtown, as it’s affectionately known,
FROM TOP : C RYSTAL W ISE ; JOYCE MAR SHALL /C OURTE SY OF PROVEN DER HAL L ; C OURTE SY OF MULE ALLE Y. ILLUSTR AT ION BY MAY PAR SE Y
E. Exchange Ave.
3 4
2
Mule Alley
N.E
.2
3 rd
St.
D I S C O V E R I E S
C LO CKW I SE FROM TOP RIGHT: C OURTE SY OF RAF FLE S SIN G AP ORE; C O URT E SY OF ANANTARA HOT EL S, RE S ORTS & SPA S ; C OURTE SY OF HARDIE GRAN T B O OKS ;
C OURT E SY OF T HE LUXURY C O LLECT IO N. ILLUST RAT IONS BY E V I- O.ST UDIO/ C OURTE SY OF HARDIE GRAN T B O OKS (3)
Behind the Bar chronicles beloved hotel bars around the globe, including, from
top, the Long Bar at Raffles Singapore; Bar Longhi at the Gritti Palace, in Venice;
and the Travellers Bar at the Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls Zambia Hotel.
Six years ago, when I moved to Buda- and Bar Américain at Hôtel de Paris
pest, I gravitated to Kollázs, the bar Monte-Carlo, as well as modern
inside the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham arrivals like the Spare Room at the
Palace. I enjoyed the flawless negroni, Hollywood Roosevelt. Some legendary
but it was the room’s enigmatic air I properties, like the Queen’s Park Hotel
relished most. I’ve written about in Trinidad, shuttered decades ago,
travel, drinks, and design for 19 years, but their cocktails live on. When I
and those frequent visits to Kollázs recently savored the Queen’s Park
reinforced my love for hotels and their Swizzle—a frosty, colorful mélange of
delightful drinking dens. It’s what rum, lime juice, Angostura bitters,
Shaken, Not Stirred inspired me to write Behind the Bar: simple syrup, and mint purportedly
Allow yourself to be transported on 50 Cocktail Recipes from the World’s invented there in the 1920s—I could
Most Iconic Hotels (Hardie Grant, $20). practically taste its tropical grandeur.
a world tour of hotel bars and the To capture the hotel bar’s evolution, I Ultimately, the hotel bar is a state of
cocktails they created. included golden-age venues like the mind, one that takes you places you
BY AL I A AKKAM King Cole Bar at the St. Regis New York didn’t know you needed to go.
24 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
D I S C O V E R I E S
From left: The new town houses at Rosewood,
Washington D.C.; a bedroom in the penthouse at
Rocco Forte House, on Rome’s Piazza di Spagna.
bigger has always been better—but 18th-century origins, plus elegant includes five serviced apartments
among the effects of COVID-19 on custom furnishings in dove grays and with sitting areas, full dining rooms,
the world of high-end travel is an silvery whites. A personal butler is on and private terraces or balconies
increasing demand for the comfort hand to assist with pre-arrival pantry overlooking the Champs-Élysées and
and privacy of home. To answer this stocking, reservations at the hotel’s the Arc de Triomphe. Book the over-
call, Rosewood Washington, D.C. trio of Wolfgang Puck restaurants, the-top Harcourt Suite for a private
(rosewoodhotels.com; town houses and off-property excursions. But gym and beauty salon. hotelsbarriere.
from $1,500) recently unveiled given the range of amenities on site, com; from $11,725.
six brick town houses on a quiet, we don’t see much reason to wander.
tree-lined street that backs the AERIN VILLA JASMINE
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, steps Here are three other hotels adding Designed by beauty mogul Aerin
from the main 49-key property. spacious, residential-style retreats. Lauder, this new two-bedroom villa
Each offers 1,100 square feet at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach,
of living space spread across four ROCCO FORTE HOUSE Florida, exudes oceanside elegance
floors, with residential amenities like This 18th-century Roman palazzo, with luxury place settings, custom
laundry rooms, private patios, and just around the corner from sister table games, and, of course, Aerin
eat-in kitchens. D.C. designer Thomas property Hotel de la Ville, has five beauty products. Other perks include
Pheasant (who did the interiors of two-bedroom apartments, including a secluded courtyard (with fountain),
Blair House, the president’s official a sprawling top-floor penthouse. A butler service, and a private pool.
guesthouse, during the Obama dedicated house manager is always thecolonypalmbeach.com; from
administration) added Federal-style on call—ask one to set up an aperitivo $3,500. — EL I Z A B E T H CA N T R EL L
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 25
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D I S C O V E R I E S
CLO C KW ISE F ROM TOP LEF T: ANDY C ULP/C O URT E SY O F H EL I ; C OURTE SY OF RI VERHE AD B O OKS ; C OURTE SY AL FRED A . KN OP F ; C OURTE SY OF B ALL AN T INE B O OKS ; C OURTE SY OF PARF UMS C HRIST I AN DIOR
Turning the Page
The travel-inspired novels that T+L
editors are packing in their beach
bags this season.
Choose Your Own
Heli lets you book
daring excursions
like kitesurfing at
28 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
PROMOTION
Limited Edition
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 31
The secluded A sitting room is
cove below the filled with the Leigh
house, perfect Fermors’ collection
for a midday dip. of scholarly books.
32 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
Greece
E X P E R I E N C E S
Roumpi, our concierge, said when we arrived,
pointing to a mud basket on the arched ceiling.
“We’ve decided not to remove it.” A wise choice:
Patras Athens swallows are symbols of good luck in Greece.
Even without its literary connection, this
would be an idyllic spot to vacation. In Old
Kardamyli, we wandered through a collection of
T h e 18th-century stone towers where local rulers
P e l o p o n n e s e holed up during the Maniot vendettas—episodes
Kardamyli of interclan warfare that raged for centuries—
and later plotted the Greek Revolution. In the
charming newer village along the seafront, we
IONIAN SEA ducked children running around the church
square, and I popped into a jewelry store to
stock up on evil eye bracelets, remembering
Paddy’s description, in Mani, of the “amused
tolerance coupled with veneration” locals felt
and modernist painter Nikos Ghika. Joan’s only toward the amulet. “Because, true or not, these
requirement was that she be able to watch the beliefs are old and they are heirlooms.”
sunset. Hiking the Taygetos mountains in 1962, The couple are still remembered here as
they spied Kardamyli, and decided to build a Kyrios Michalis (“Mr. Michael,” Paddy’s code
house—which Joan funded by selling jewelry name when he was embedded in Crete) and
she’d inherited from her aristocratic parents—just Kyria Ioanna (“Mrs. Joan”). Locals seem to have
outside the village. Later, in a Greek television considered them family. At dinner under the
interview, Paddy recalled “all these wild olive trees at Elies (elieshotel.gr; entrées $9–$18),
mountains, and the olives and the water and the a hotel opposite a lovely beach outside town, I
islands; here would be an ideal place to live.” discovered that Stavros Giannakeas, the owner,
Since I also dream of making Greece my was raised in the housekeeper’s cottage at the
permanent home, my husband and I were Leigh Fermor house; his mother, Lela, was Paddy
inspired to visit the house on a recent road trip and Joan’s personal cook before she opened her
through the Peloponnese. I quickly realized that popular Kardamyli taverna, Lela’s (lelastaverna.
if I had Joan-worthy jewels, I’d trade them all for com; entrées $11–$14).
this, too. The place is a writer’s dream: the The couple’s last housekeeper, Elpida
dining room is lined with bookcases, so Paddy Belogianni, now cooks for visiting guests. One
could jump up to answer questions that arose day, she mentioned that Paddy swam daily to the
during dinner. On the long staircase down to islet across the bay until he was 94—inspiring me
the sea, benches were carved out of the stone to make the half-hour swim, stopping in caves
for Paddy to stop and write. Sitting under Joan’s that seemed lonely for sea nymphs. Initially, I felt
sunset-watching pergola, I noticed a paw-print jealous that someone got to do this every day:
mosaic underfoot—a nod to her love of cats. wake up, work a little, swim, eat Elpida’s
In 1996, the Leigh Fermors made otherworldly cooking—chickpeas bright with
arrangements to bequeath the house to the citrus, cold almond soup studded with green
Benaki Museum, in Athens—stipulating that it grapes—then nap, read, work, and talk until
be used as a retreat for writers and artists nine sunset. “If I lived here,” I told my husband,
months of the year, and run as a hotel from June peevishly, “I bet I could hunt Nazis, or walk across
to August to pay for its upkeep. Joan died in Europe, or write prize-winning books, too.”
2003, and after Paddy followed her in 2011, the But after a few days of sea foam and sunlight,
Benaki approached Aria Hotels—a Greek my envy mellowed into awe. The Leigh Fermors
ILLUSTRAT ION BY MAY PAR SE Y
company known for its atmospheric, historic fulfilled a near-universal fantasy: finding a place
properties—to take on hosting duties. that speaks to your soul and creating a life there.
The house reopened last year as a They not only built their heaven on earth but
combination artists’ colony, boutique inn, and also devised a way for others to appreciate it. In
Fresh fruit is
museum. Both the Benaki and Aria have worked Mani, Paddy asks, “What wondrous life is this I
served on to ensure that it reflects the region’s beauty and lead?” Having tasted life in the place he loved
the terrace. culture. “About the swallow’s nest,” Kyriaki the most, I share his wonder.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 33
HILTON HEAD ISLAND
T h i s way t o A m e ri c a ’ s Favo ri t e I s l a n d ®
3 2 .1 3 8 6 , - 8 0 . 8 1 0 9
T
HE ERIE CANAL used to be all about speed, the waterways between Syracuse and Buffalo.
but today it’s about slowing down,” said The plan was to take one of those vessels and
Marye Lobb, a singer-songwriter I met one spend a few days exploring the canal. Niche?
evening in Spencerport, New York. Lobb Absolutely. The perfect escape from the
had been playing in the village’s canal-side strangest year of our lives? Definitely.
gazebo while my wife, Jetty-Jane, and I Soon enough, we were in a marina-side
watched from the top deck of our boat, a classroom in Macedon, getting a tutorial on
bottle of Finger Lakes Riesling between us. propane heaters, diesel engines, and marine
“There’s just something calming about being toilets—all the parts that make a liveaboard tick.
by the water,” Lobb said. In the 19th century, she After a few educational videos, we were aboard
explained, this storied waterway was an artery of the Seneca with Erie Canal Adventures owner
commerce, but these days it’s a place for wildlife Brian Keenan, who had come to give us some
36 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
boats. They were the fastest, easiest, and most
comfortable way to get anywhere, which is why
the founding fathers spent considerable time—
not to mention money—trying to gin up canal
systems in America to rival those transforming
Europe. As Peter L. Bernstein writes in Wedding
of the Waters, a history of the Erie Canal,
the waterway would “knit the sinews of the
Industrial Revolution, propel globalization...and
revolutionize the production and supply of food
for the entire world.”
Today, the canal is almost exclusively used
for recreation, but it’s no exaggeration to say
The lift bridge in Erie Canal Adventures’
downtown Fairport, boats have cozy berths
that the 363-mile-long link between the Atlantic
New York, as seen from suited for families with and the Great Lakes cemented the country’s
the Erie Canal. kids or up to four adults. economic primacy and crowned New York City
its financial capital. (That many of these gains
were extracted, directly or indirectly, from land
hands-on training. He watched as we took our stolen or swindled from Indigenous peoples,
boat—sporting the company’s signature red particularly those of the Haudenosaunee
and green color scheme—through the gates of Confederacy, often goes unmentioned.)
Lock 30, practiced our knots, fiddled with our Yet for all its economic benefit, the canal
radio, and spun around with a whoosh of our provided something far more valuable: it
bow thrusters. gave rise to a network for ideas. Among the
An hour later, Keenan stepped back onto freethinkers living and working along the canal
the dock and wished us a good trip. With just was Joseph Smith, who published the Book of
my wife and me on board—and the $100,000 Mormon in 1830 in Palmyra. In 1848, Frederick
insurance policy stashed belowdecks—I had a Douglass moved to Rochester, where he
moment of panic. We’d been socially distancing founded his abolitionist newspaper. That same
for months, but suddenly felt very alone. year, Elizabeth Cady Stanton helped organize
Before Zoom calls, before jets, even before the Women’s Rights Convention held in Seneca
Model Ts and railroads, travel was all about Falls, now home to the Women’s Rights National
Historical Park.
All of which is to say that a trip on the canal
takes you through not only western New York
but also hundreds of years of American history.
Not that you’re thinking about any of that when
you’re waking up in Pittsford in the middle
of a chilly thunderstorm. Canal trivia takes a
LAKE ONTARIO
back seat when everything’s wet, a cold wind is
blowing, and the only person around to untie
the lines is you. Whose idea was this anyway?
ERIE C
ANAL We chugged west toward Rochester, where
Rochester
we tied up at Corn Hill Landing, in the heart
Spencerport of the city. Despite the heavy rain, we made
Fairport
the short walk to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, which
Pittsford lives up to the hype with pit-smoked wings and
CANADA decadent mac and cheese. We walked through
Buffalo Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park, painted
LAKE ERIE
with messages of protest against police violence
in Rochester and across the United States. By
late afternoon, the sun had returned, and we
celebrated with pilsners and onion rings at Roc
Brewing Co. before heading back to the boat
and pressing on toward Spencerport to catch
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 37
Brisket, pulled pork, ribs, and chicken at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, in Rochester.
Lobb’s gazebo concert, one of several much at all, we relished the simple
such experiences Atlas Obscura had pleasure of walking down some new
arranged along our route. streets and seeing some new things.
After a couple of days aboard, That evening, we approached
we were getting the hang of the another red-and-green boat docked
Seneca. The hardest part was passing at a bend in the channel called
through the locks, which involved Bushnell’s Basin. We were tying
gingerly maneuvering our 30,000- our lines when a stranger bounded
pound boat into a narrow space and over and, through her mask, started
grabbing onto fixed cables or ropes telling us about the great hard cider
covered in gunk. We started to feel selection in the dockside store.
a tiny bit like boat people. Could Diane Baker and her husband,
we live on the Seneca? I wondered Mark, had, like us, been on the canal
aloud one morning. Not likely, my for a few days, she said. They, too,
wife deadpanned. figured the trip would be the perfect
On our third morning, we turned antidote to months cooped up at
back east to Fairport, a quintessential home in New York City. For them, it
canal town we’d skipped on our way was less about boating than about
out. We grabbed a sunny spot on the exploring a stretch of the state they’d
patio of Lulu Taqueria & Bar for a never considered vacation-worthy.
Pacifico and a margarita as kayakers A few days later, back on land,
paddled past. We rummaged through we bumped into Diane and Mark
gift shops like Main Street Mercantile at the Cascadilla Gorge trailhead in
and marveled at the imported Ithaca. Though we’d met only briefly,
pastas, olives, meats, and cheeses it felt like a reunion with old friends.
at Lombardi’s Gourmet Imports & Amazing what can happen when you
Specialties. After months of not doing take a moment and just slow down.
38 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
MURDER MOST NORDIC
What reader doesn’t dream of visiting the real-life setting
of a beloved novel? Captivated by Scandinavian noir,
WENDY L ES SER travels to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark
to follow in the footsteps of her favorite detectives.
S
OME PEOPLE ARE DRAWN to visit new
countries by the promise of beautiful
scenery, the delicious local cuisine,
or the rich cultural offerings. I went
to Scandinavia for the murders. Not
real murders, mind you, but those
I had been reading about for more
than three decades in Danish, Norwegian, and
Swedish crime fiction.
I had started in the early 1980s with the
Martin Beck series. Written by the Swedish
couple Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, these were
the first realistic police procedurals to surface
in Scandinavia, and they are still among the
best. A decade later I discovered the excellent
Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell.
Then, as the 21st century dawned, I came upon
Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander and Mikael
Blomkvist, followed soon after by Jo Nesbø’s
Harry Hole. From there it was only a hop, skip,
and jump to hundreds of other mysteries by
Scandinavian authors.
What I was getting from all these books
was not just the thrill of the chase but a
CLO C KW ISE F ROM TOP LEF T: GE T T Y IMAGE S (2); F LO RA W I STRÖM; GE T T Y I MAGE S (4); FLORA
tangible sense of what life in Sweden, Norway, rest of this strangely quiet capital, where I
and Denmark was actually like. Compared to rarely saw more than three people on a city
America, Scandinavia—despite its inherent block at once, unless it was happy hour on
coldness and darkness, or perhaps even because the main pedestrian drag. (Hole is notably
of that—managed to put a humane face on the a heavy drinker, and it became clear to me
interactions between murderers and police. At during this visit that he simply adheres to a
least, so it appeared from my avid reading, but national tradition.)
of course I couldn’t be sure. So a few summers When I got to Stockholm, I was struck by
ago, I decided to see how closely my fictional the city’s intense beauty, but I had no time to
Scandinavia corresponded to the real one. waste on conventional sightseeing. Instead,
I arrived in Oslo and took the airport express I paid dutiful visits to the streets inhabited
into town, following the recommendation of by Martin Beck (narrow, cobblestoned
W IST RÖM; GE T T Y IMAGE S/DIGI TAL V I SION
Harry Hole, who uses this efficient train all Köpmangatan, in the Old Town) and his
the time. Within hours of settling in, I found girlfriend, Rhea Nielsen (newer, apartment-
myself planted in front of Hole’s apartment filled Tulegatan, near Vanadislunden
building at 5 Sofies Gate. Nesbø has always park). I made a pilgrimage to Beck’s police
managed to suggest that Hole lives in a rather headquarters on Kungsholmsgatan and
run-down part of the city, but Norway is so succeeded in snapping a photo of the building,
wealthy now that the detective’s relatively but then a red-faced guard chased after me
modest street seemed quite prosperous to and demanded I delete the offending picture
me. It was also deserted. But then so was the from my iPhone. I also tracked the locations of
E X P E R I E N C E S
various Sjöwall/Wahlöö crimes, from the bank he told me that at least two or three
robbery on Hornsgatan to the shoot-out near tourists a week come up to him My favorite
Odenplan, where Beck himself was seriously on the street and ask for information Scandinavian
wounded in The Abominable Man. about Kurt Wallander’s habits detectives—and
I located the Jewish cemetery in Kronoberg and whereabouts. the cities they
Park where Joona Linna, protagonist of The The extent to which these fictional call home.
Hypnotist and other Lars Kepler novels, characters have invaded the lives and
sometimes goes to place a pebble on the minds of their real-life counterparts
tombstone of his dead partner, Samuel became a running theme during my MARTIN BECK
Mendel. I took a stroll on lovely Bellmansgatan, trip. The homicide detective I spoke This series by Maj
the location of Mikael Blomkvist’s apartment with in Oslo, referring to both his Sjöwall and Per
Wahlöö is set in the
in the Södermalm district. Ranging farther seniority and his solve rate, noted
Stockholm of the
afield, I made brief trips to the old university humorously that “if there is a Harry 1960s and 70s.
city of Uppsala, about an hour outside Hole in the Oslo police department, Read the 10 books
Stockholm, where Kjell Eriksson’s Ann Lindell it would probably be me.” On my in order, starting with
series is set, and to the town of Visby on the visit to Copenhagen, the two police Roseanna and
ending with The
Baltic island of Gotland, where the murders in detectives I met described a real-life Terrorists—together
Mari Jungstedt’s novels are solved by Anders murder—the gruesome, tragic 2017 they form a portrait
Knutas’s fine team. case of dismembered journalist Kim of a place and time.
It was in the southern coastal town of Wall—as being “much more like a
KURT WALLANDER
Ystad, home of the venerated Kurt Wallander, murder mystery” than their cases
Henning Mankell set
that I began to sense the sometimes creepy generally are. these novels in the
overlap between fiction and reality. What was In Stockholm I interviewed a Skåne section of
once a lovely seaside village has become the superintendent in the serious-crimes southern Sweden,
center of a film and tourism industry devoted division who told me he had actually and the books
describe glorious
to the Wallander novels. The film studio become a policeman after reading scenery alongside
there is the largest in Scandinavia, and the the 10-book Martin Beck series. “It grotesque crimes.
whole Wallander machine has brought tens of interested me enough that I applied
millions of dollars to the Skåne region. When I for work here,” he confessed. He and HARRY HOLE
A Norwegian, Jo
talked to a cop in the Ystad police department I passed a cheery hour discussing
Nesbø is by far the
(he was a community relations officer—the the pros and cons of the various best stylist and
town is too small to have its own murder unit), Scandinavian mystery novels. (“I
F RO M TOP : GE T T Y IMAGE S ; GE T T Y I MAGE S/50 0 PX ; G ORAN HEC KLER /AL AMY STO CK PHOTO ; GE T T Y IMAGE S
plotter in all of
really love them,” he said of Nesbø’s Scandinavian noir,
books, “but Harry Hole would have and his portrayal of
Oslo is both detailed
been kicked out a long time ago.”) and eccentric. Harry
If the police officers made is a pretty great
me feel that reality and fiction character, too.
were in danger of merging, they
KONRAD SIMONSEN
also alerted me to the extent to
This series by Lotte
which I had been led astray by and Søren Hammer
the thrillers. It turns out that Oslo features a
and Copenhagen have only about compelling police
12 murders a year each. Stockholm team and topical,
socially aware
has a somewhat greater number stories. The
of killings, maybe 30 or more in a Copenhagen it
bad year, of which many are within conveys is both
families. That means the chance grungy and beautiful.
of being murdered by a stranger,
ANDERS KNUTAS
much less a serial killer, is extremely Mari Jungstedt set
remote in Scandinavia. And women, her fiction on the
it turns out, dominate the staffs of picturesque Swedish
the serious-crimes departments island of Gotland, in
the Baltic Sea, where
and account for at least half the Knutas and his team
detectives. Yet another thing the grapple with unusual
novels never told me. murders. — W.L.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 41
E X P E R I E N C E S
CHARMED, I’M SURE I’ve never felt that a hotel had a crush on me
before, but I’m pretty sure Ocean House was
Tucked away on a discreet corner of the Rhode Island coast, two trying to tell me something. While its defining
hotels with roots in the 19th century—one opulent and grand, the features include a commanding position facing
other rustic and homey—are winning over a new generation of fans. Block Island Sound; a private beach; Coast, a luxe
BY JAMES HANNAHAM restaurant; and, from the veranda, views of three
states (not to mention Taylor Swift’s mansion
down the street), the service is supernaturally
attentive. After the evening turndown, we
discovered that, in addition to chocolate-coconut
L
The rebuilt Ocean AST MARCH, AS New York City became patties, we’d received tiny gifts: a Velcro ribbon to
House, in Watch the global epicenter of the pandemic, tie up my power cords and a cloth for Brendan to
Hill, Rhode Island,
was modeled after
my husband, Brendan, and I decided clean his computer screen. I’ve spent whole
the Victorian-era to spend the weekend away, at a relationships waiting in vain for that kind of
original. family retreat in southern Rhode thoughtfulness. A real orchid by the extra-deep
Island. Our weekend away lasted seven bathtub? Ocean House, you shouldn’t have!
months. By my birthday in August, I tend to get uncomfortable with the way
most believers in science had figured out that some Americans intertwine visions of wealth and
masks helped to prevent outbreaks and hotels nostalgia with whiteness, heterosexuality, and
weren’t hot spots. Brendan and I had grown the erasure of people of color, so I gave the side-
stir-crazy enough to risk playing tourist for a few eye to the game of croquet on the lawn, as well as
days, so we decided to celebrate by experiencing the Euro-swank drawings by Ludwig Bemelmans
a couple of well-known local resorts. (of Madeline fame) in the hallways. I had one
Our first destination was the magnificent encounter where someone seemed to question
Ocean House (oceanhouseri.com; doubles from my right to be in such a fancy hotel, but it
$860) in the village of Watch Hill, a place that had occurred in the blurry “Can I help you?” zone
always seemed to us like a hotel that broke off where what could merely be attentive customer
from Newport and floated down the coast. service can inspire Black paranoia. Some of the
Originally opened in 1868, it fell into disrepair in swag proved too extravagant to ignore—I am
the late 20th century and was demolished in American, after all. We were given free use of our
2005. An almost exact replica opened on the choice of Mercedes-Benzes, and couldn’t resist a
same site in 2010. The elegant finish of the brief spin in a convertible. I pretended I was
Napatree Point,
an 86-acre preserve
reborn version evokes the building’s Gilded Age 2 Chainz on Most Expensivest.
in the village of origins—hexagonal bathroom tiles, dark-wood Bathtub orchids and over-the-top
Watch Hill. lounges, and beadboard ceilings abound. transportation are great, but the only way to
justify such excess during a pandemic was to
remind ourselves that we were helping the
tourism industry—and, more importantly, its
people—rebound. I talked to many Ocean House
employees, workers from South Africa, Jamaica,
and Iran on H-1B visas who couldn’t go home.
Their ability to speak openly about their
employment and immigration status seemed to
prove that Ocean House management treats
them well. Two glasses of Gewürztraminer and
a Wagyu short rib later, I had to admit it—I was
starting to fall in love with the hotel right back.
We spent a few more days at the Weekapaug
Inn (weekapauginn.com; doubles from $550),
which flies low even on the local radar. Seven
miles away from Ocean House, it’s nestled on a
peninsula in a residential area exclusive enough
to seem fictitious.
The Weekapaug’s history is similar to that of
Ocean House. Built as an inn on Quonochontaug
Providence
MASSACHUSETTS
CONNECTICUT
Newport
Weekapaug
ATLANTIC OCEAN
Watch Hill
brick chimneys. You approach the entrance over in piney nature preserves, traipsing across
a moat. The rooms are intentionally somewhat empty beaches, and slurping down oysters that
small (though the bathrooms are not), to inspire we soon understood why retired Rhode
guests to spend more time outside. Islanders stay put. When we thought of going
While waiting for dinner in the open-air back home to New York City, it started to seem,
Pondhouse, a kind of lean-to that felt both as the locals say, “Too fah.”
44 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
Your island escape awaits.
Bermuda may feel like another world, but this idyllic getaway
is just a two-hour flight from the East Coast. With wide-open
spaces, pink-sand beaches and turquoise waters, Bermuda
is ready to welcome you to her shores.
E X P E R I E N C E S
NATURAL
TENDENCIES
On a three-day trip to Burlington, ALYSE WHI TNEY
rediscovers a quirky city where local businesses are
putting a fresh spin on Vermont’s elemental bounty.
F
OR MOST PEOPLE, the ideal Vermont
escape might conjure thoughts of fall
leaf-peeping hikes or winter ski trips.
But I am not an outdoorsy person, so
I’ve always preferred spending time
in Burlington—a small city by most
standards, but the state’s largest, with
a population just north of 40,000.
During my college years in Plattsburgh, New
York, just across Lake Champlain, I spent many
a weekend hopping over the state line to go to
concerts at Higher Ground (highergroundmusic.
com) or wandering up and down Church Street,
Burlington’s main drag lined with quaint shops,
galleries, and restaurants. At the time, just
over a decade ago, the area was developing a
reputation for innovative breweries and cider
mills. More recently, I’d heard about a nascent
natural-wine and craft-cocktail culture, so I
convinced my friend Joel to drive up with me
from New York City to revisit my old stomping
grounds and see what was new.
THURSDAY
I kicked off my return trip by stepping outside
my comfort zone and onto a paddleboard at
the Burlington Surf Club (burlingtonsurfclub.
com; day passes $10–$50), which occupies a
private, tree-lined stretch of Lake Champlain.
Legs wobbling, I took a deep breath and gripped
the edges of the board. Pushing up halfway, I
tried to grab my paddle, but unceremoniously
tumbled face-first into the cool, clear water.
Given the state of the world last summer— ages practiced yoga in an open-air pavilion. The
and to save myself the embarrassment of scene felt like a perfect snapshot of Burlington’s
having strangers witness my falls up close—I easygoing, community-oriented spirit.
had convinced Joel to go out on our own. But After I dried off, we grabbed lunch from
elsewhere on the lake, I saw a smattering of A Single Pebble (asinglepebble.com; entrées
students who had turned themselves over to $15–$26), the universally beloved Chinese
the surf-club pros for lessons in windsurfing, restaurant and food truck run by chef Chiuho
kitesurfing, and other aquatic pursuits. Sampson. On the patio of the Hotel Vermont
Back on land, some of the surf club’s (hotelvt.com; doubles from $299), the modern-
summer campers sprawled across lounge yet-cozy 125-room property where we were
chairs; others played beach volleyball. A few staying, I unpacked our haul: soy-glazed mock
yards away, a group that seemed to span all eel (shiitake mushrooms cut into long strands
La Crescent
and Marquette
grapevines
at Vermont’s
Shelburne
Vineyard.
The Burlington
Surf Club sits on
a private stretch
of beach on
Lake Champlain.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 47
E X P E R I E N C E S
48 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
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LIVING ON
E X P E R I E N C E S
THE EDGE
RICHARD G ODW IN heads to the rugged cliffs
of Pembrokeshire to try out the distinctly
Welsh version of a daring adventure sport.
H
OW MANY TIMES have you stood before
the sea with a sense of awe—sun,
waves, rocks, life!—only to come away
feeling more landlocked than ever?
It’s like there’s an invisible barrier
between you and the scene. How can
I get closer? you wonder. How can I
be not just in the picture but of the picture? Like a
seal, a cormorant...even a piece of kelp.
The answer, it turns out, is to go coasteering,
preferably off the coast of Pembrokeshire in
southwestern Wales. It was in this wild Atlantic
waterscape, back in 1986, that local surfer Andy
Middleton coined the term for the practice
of hurling oneself off rocks, swimming in the
intertidal waters, and clambering into caves.
The combination of the coastal setting and the
mountaineering-style approach led him to call
the activity coasteering. The sport has since
spread across the world, and it’s about as close Aside from being the place the term
as you can get to actually becoming one with coasteering was coined, this region is notable
the sea in the space of an afternoon. for containing the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, a
I discovered this in the company of Jemeima 186-mile trail that winds along the shore from
Richardson, a guide with TYF (tyf.com; half-day St. Dogmaels in the north down to Amroth in the
excursions from $100 per person), the adventure south, taking in more than 50 beaches and bays
company set up by Middleton in 1986. Its on the way. The dramatic harbor at Solva and
headquarters are located on the main drag of the shores of Whitesands are two of my favorites.
St. Davids (Tyddewi in Welsh), an everyone- The water here is crystalline, and the tide pools
knows-everyone community that’s about two are teeming with life.
hours west of Cardiff by car and holds the honor Since I was on my way to splash and spelunk
of being the smallest city in Great Britain. around St. Non’s Bay, I based myself at Twr y
Like a lot of local children, Richardson grew Felin (twryfelinhotel.com; doubles from $348),
up coasteering on these beaches and bays. “I’m in St. Davids. On the morning of my excursion,
the youngest of five, so my brothers would take Richardson and I walked out of the city along
me out when I was four years old,” she told country lanes, past the Holy Well of St. Non,
me. Is it dangerous? Well, yes. But you wear where in the sixth century, legend has it, Saint
wet suits, life jackets, and helmets; the guides David was born. As we reached the edge of the
know every crevice and swell; and the sea has grassy cliff top, we paused to look out over the
a habit of instilling a sense of caution into even sun-dappled water before carefully navigating
the most reckless of people. She assured me down the 80-foot rock face to the sea below.
ILLUSTRAT ION BY MAY PAR SE Y
that no one has ever suffered anything more Nearing the water, I began to appreciate
serious than a graze on her outings. Plus, her why coasteering took off here. About 30 feet
three brothers man the local lifeboats, and she A coasteering up, the rocks are covered in a band of black tar
group heads down
would never hear the end of it if she had to call a cliffside in
lichen (slippery when wet), but the lower rocks
on their services. “Word would get around my Pembrokeshire, are carpeted in barnacles—among the grippiest
family pretty quickly!” Wales. creatures known to man. You feel quite secure
IRISH SEA
ENGLAND
St. Davids
Cardiff
London
P e m b r o k e s h i r e
E X P E R I E N C E S
S
PACE. MILES and miles of space. Desert Whisper, drive away.) Accommodations in this corner of
SILVERLE S S/ C O URT E SY O F NAT URAL SELECT ION . I LLUSTRAT ION BY MAY PAR SE Y
a villa near
FROM LEF T: C OURTE SY OF GON DWANA C OLLECT ION NAMIBI A ; NI EL S VAN GIJN/
Locals seem to revel in the sheer the country have historically been simple, but
Namibia’s
emptiness of Namibia, and they’re Sossusvlei salt pan.
that’s changed thanks to the recent addition of
quick to drop into conversation two new lodges and a just-finished refurbishment
the fact that, on average, there of a luxury camp. In December, shortly after
are only eight people per square travel restrictions on entering Namibia were
mile there. Which is exactly why lifted, I set out to visit them.
I keep coming back, flying from my home The first property was a study in social
in Johannesburg, where we have more than distancing with panache. Desert Whisper
7,000 people per square mile. (gondwana-collection.com; villa from $1,050) is
I’ve been visiting Namibia for years, but a solitary one-bedroom villa on a cliff top above
lately—thanks in part to spending so much time the sands. A sister resort, the 65-room Namib
in lockdown in South Africa—I’ve been drawn to Desert Lodge, is a 15-minute drive away, but I felt
the stark desert landscape of the Sossusvlei. Part blissfully alone. As light filtered through windows
of the Namib-Naukluft Park, this wide swath of punched in the structure’s curved weathered-
dunes and salt flats is filled with a type of desert- steel shell, circles danced on the wooden floors.
adapted antelope called gemsbok as well as other I bounced between the outdoor pool and the
wildlife. (The famously photogenic Deadvlei, indoor reading nook, refilling my glass of South
with its denuded trees and ocher dunes, is a short African sparkling wine from the en suite bar. I
52 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
A gemsbok in the
NamibRand Nature Reserve.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 53
E X P E R I E N C E S
54 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
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T R A V E L + L E I S U R E
56 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
GE T T Y IMAGE S (4)
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 57
T R A V E L E R
But in January, Thomas e-mailed Robinson’s story illustrates the well-regarded agency just doesn’t
to say someone had died of COVID-19 latest perils facing anyone shopping exist,” she says.
in the house. He said he would need for a vacation rental. Fortunately, Boutique agents often have
an additional $14,000 for cleaning— there are ways to protect yourself. personal relationships with property
and asked Robinson to wire $8,000 owners. Consider the example of
on top of what she’d already paid. WATCH FOR RED FLAGS Homebase Abroad (homebaseabroad.
That was the moment Robinson Renters should keep an eye out for com), which specializes in luxury
I N T E L L I G E N T
knew she’d been scammed. She a few key hallmarks of fraud, says villa rentals in Italy. “With us, there’s
contacted law enforcement, who Michelle Couch-Friedman, executive no one in between,” cofounder Mara
advised her to continue director of the consumer group Elliott Solomon says. “I’ve seen the houses.
corresponding with Thomas in order Advocacy (elliott.org). I know the owners. I’ve slept in the
to gather more evidence of criminal “When the host has a sense of beds. And I can share all that directly
activity. But Thomas always found a urgency that you must decide on the with guests.”
way to hedge, and then stopped property soon, and asks you to pay Other agencies, such as TurnKey
replying entirely. via wire transfer or with a cash app Vacation Rentals (turnkeyvr.com),
Robinson eventually tracked like Zelle,” Couch-Friedman says, also independently check out every
down the actual owner of the home, “that’s a red flag.” Other danger signs one of their listings. “We physically
who had no knowledge of the scam. are new listings with no reviews verify each home and owner, and
She determined that the fraudster and grainy photos that could be visit the home regularly to make sure
had created the bogus Craigslist post screenshots lifted from other sites. it is maintained, cleaned, and guest-
by copying photos and information ready,” says John Banczak, TurnKey’s
from a property listing. But Robinson THINK SMALL cofounder and CEO.
has yet to recover any of the $20,000 Couch-Friedman suggests going
she lost. through a brick-and-mortar PLAY BY THE RULES
“The personal violation was by company. “The opportunity for Big rental platforms including
far the hardest part,” she says. “Even vacation-rental scammers to conduct Airbnb (airbnb.com) and Vrbo (vrbo.
harder than the money.” their business through a small, com) have comprehensive security
procedures in place. Vrbo provides
payment protection against listing
fraud, phishing, and significant
misrepresentations, as well as
round-the-clock customer service,
according to spokesperson Alison
Kwong. Airbnb safeguards payments
and personal information—and will
offer refunds or reaccommodation in
the event of a problem.
“It is virtually impossible to be
scammed using Vrbo or Airbnb if
you follow all the rules of the sites,”
Couch-Friedman says.
As for Robinson, despite her
experience, she says, “I will definitely
rent homes again—but I’ll insist on
talking to the owner, touring the
home, paying via credit card, and
booking through a small firm so that
I’m better protected.”
C OURT E SY O F VRB O
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I N T E L L I G E N T
T R A V E L E R
From left: The
Venice Simplon-
Orient-Express
in Switzerland;
same day,” Marini says, crediting this
a Grand suite spring’s vaccination drives for the
on the train. demand. “People are calling as soon
as they’ve had their jabs.”
Among the most popular routes
are those focused on national parks.
“The hottest trips are those that go to
The New Adventures Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand
Canyon,” Marini notes. “Glacier, Bryce
of Old Machines Canyon, and Zion are also in demand.”
Another sought-after itinerary
Shiny new trains and exciting itineraries have summer travelers is a 10-day ride aboard the Alaska
taking a second look at the rails. BY PAUL BRADY Railroad (alaskarailroad.com; trips
from $3,400). The journey from
Anchorage to Seward and Fairbanks
takes in swaths of majestic mountain
A LUXURIOUS champagne-and- London–Venice–Istanbul route scenery, including Denali and Kenai
caviar ride through Europe on the remains an option, but the trains Fjords national parks. Passengers
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express is a will also hit other cities this year, overnight in hotels along the way; the
celebratory splurge. But this year, including Amsterdam, Brussels, rides are all about the views, which are
it will be even more spectacular: Florence, Geneva, and Rome. maximized by glass-domed carriages
Belmond (belmond.com; Grand suites While few trains can compete and an outdoor platform that lets
from $15,800 per person, per night, with the glamour of the Venice riders take glare-free photos. The trip
all-inclusive), which operates the Simplon-Orient-Express, rail travel is is of particular interest this summer
trains, has just added three over-the- also on the upswing in the U.S., as because most major cruise lines have
top Grand suites that wouldn’t be some travelers remain skittish about been unable to sail the Alaska coast
out of place at one of the company’s flights and are opting for the space due to Canada’s pandemic restrictions.
grande-dame hotels, such as the and privacy of couchettes instead. Awe-inspiring scenery is also the
Cadogan or the Cipriani. Overall Amtrak ridership is down draw of the Broadmoor Manitou &
Designed by Wimberly Interiors, because of the pandemic, but certain Pikes Peak Cog Railway (cograilway.
each of the three new, Art Deco–style routes are in huge demand, says com; round trips from $58), which
compartments has a double bed, an Frank Marini, the president of Yankee chugs along a nine-mile route to
C OURTE SY OF BELMON D (2)
en suite bathroom, and heated floors. Leisure Group, which owns Amtrak the summit of the iconic Colorado
Guests can call on round-the-clock Vacations (amtrakvacations.com) and mountain. It reopens this June after
butler service for in-room dining Railbookers (railbookers.com). a two-year, $100 million refresh that
or a nightcap; they can also dine “We see not only a huge surge spruced up carriages, tracks, and
in the train’s spacious restaurant for summer bookings but also for depots, and improved access for
or pop in to the bar car. The iconic last-minute getaways—even for the those with limited mobility.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 59
IT’S FINALLY TIME
T R A V E L E R
CLO C KW ISE F ROM LEF T: C O URTE SY OF V I RGIN VOYAGE S ; C O URT E SY OF O C E AN I A CRUISE S ; C OURTE SY OF CEL EB RI T Y CRUISE S
A Sea Terrace The Oceania Celebrity Flora
stateroom on Riviera on a trip in the Galápagos
Virgin Voyages’ to St. Lucia. Islands.
Scarlet Lady.
A
LL THOSE canceled Travel Advisory Board. “The idea is, The long-awaited Caribbean debut
vacations—and the extra ‘I deserve to go on a nice vacation.’ ” of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection
money in many people’s Many of the top suites are already (ritzcarlton.com; from $4,999 per
pocketbooks—suggest spoken for this year, thanks to a person for six nights) is slated for
this summer will be combination of rebookings and new this November. The 298-passenger,
a season of pent-up inquiries, Clabbers says. Factor in the all-suite Evrima will have cool,
demand for cruises late continued uncertainty of pandemic- contemporary décor; spa facilities
this year, into 2022, and beyond. “We related border closures over the offering open-air massages; and
are finding everyone wants to coming months, and next year looks six restaurants serving a variety of
go longer, bigger, and better,” says to be the sweet spot for a sail. Still, cuisines. Weeklong trips this winter
Rob Clabbers, president of Q Cruise you’ll want to start planning right will hit islands such as St. Bart’s and
& Travel (qcruisetravel.com) in now: upscale lines such as Oceania Virgin Gorda, which are typically less
Chicago and a member of T+L’s Cruises (oceaniacruises.com), Regent visited by bigger ships.
60 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
I N T E L L I G E N T
A GO-GO PARTY SCENE Crystal Esprit. The superyacht-
Virgin Voyages (virginvoyages.com; inspired ship offers butler service
from $1,015 per person for four nights) with every suite, plus a submarine
aims to launch two adults-only ships for exploring the archipelago’s
by 2022. Scarlet Lady and Valiant vibrant coral reefs.
Lady, twin 2,770-passenger vessels,
are scheduled for wintertime jaunts A BIG SWING AROUND EUROPE
to the Bahamas and the Caribbean, A three-month, 22-country tour
stopping at Virgin’s Beach Club at from Silversea (silversea.com; from
T R A V E L E R
Bimini, in the Bahamas, for pool $42,110 per person) aboard the
parties and beach bonfires. Both ships 596-passenger Silver Moon is the
will host drag brunches, and there’s a ultimate way to make up for lost
tattoo studio aboard each, should you time. This epic trip departs Athens
need a souvenir. next March, and hits ports from
Istanbul to Reykjavík. Those more
AN INDIAN OCEAN ADVENTURE at home on the continent’s rivers
The Seychelles banned cruise ships should consider new Cruise & Rail
entirely until August as a pandemic journeys from Uniworld Boutique
safety measure. But Crystal Cruises River Cruise Collection (uniworld.
(crystalcruises.com; from $4,999 per com; from $19,199 per person for
person for seven nights) plans to be 15 nights). One intriguing itinerary
one of the first lines to return, in starts on Italy’s Po River, aboard the
December, with the 62-passenger 126-passenger La Venezia (fresh off a
2020 refit), before continuing on the
Golden Eagle Danube Express, which
rolls from Venice to Istanbul.
A RETURN TO AUSTRALIA
Windstar Cruises (windstarcruises.
com; from $3,999 per person for 11
nights) is planning a Down Under
debut in fall 2022, aboard the newly
updated, 312-passenger Star Breeze.
Regent’s Seven Seas Mariner is
scheduled to visit in February 2022,
with a two-week, Auckland-to-
Sydney itinerary that also takes in
Milford Sound and Tasmania (from
$19,399 per person for 14 nights).
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 61
T R A V E L E R
62 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1 I L LUSTRAT ION BY CO OK IE M O ON
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T R A V E L E R
I N T E L L I G E N T
A
NDRIA GUTIERREZ is a multi-state ski trip and a vacation in Italy, with acclaimed chef Massimo
marketing executive in Baja California, Mexico. “The team is Bottura of Osteria Francescana was
Lake Tahoe, California, incredibly helpful and responsive,” enough to convince her to join Prior
who loves to travel—but Gutierrez says. “They make the (prior.club; from $249 per year), a
doesn’t love the time suck planning process so efficient.” company that started out in 2019.
of researching vacations. While some established outfits “What’s so interesting is that they
“When I was younger, I like Exclusive Resorts (exclusive have this access,” Kellems Dominik
planned all my own trips,” she says. resorts.com; from $150,000 for a says. “It’s intellectual and emotional
“But now that I own a business, I just 10-year membership) and Wheels travel—the imagination is just
don’t have the spare hours anymore.” Up (wheelsup.com; from $17,500 endless—and they curated a group of
C O URT E SY O F PRIOR CLUB
That’s why she recently joined the per year) have catered to the ultra- very interesting people who were all
Club (go.allcalltravel.com; from $24 wealthy for years, a number of new like-minded around food.”
per month) from Allcall, which offers clubs are opening their doors—at just That ability to open doors is
personalized itineraries and exclusive the moment when many Americans also drawing travelers who don’t
deals to members. She’s already are taking their first big trips since normally think of themselves as
taken three Allcall trips, including a the start of the pandemic. One joiners. Around half of all millennials
64 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
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66 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
COME TO YOUR
Sunshine warms your skin. Sand between your toes. The sip of your first
cocktail. Live local music. When you’re ready, come experience the sights,
sounds and scents of the Alabama Gulf Coast. We’ve missed you.
France Absolutely Île de Ré PAGE 70 Cape Cod Small Town, Big Heart PAG E 78
Chile These Are the Days of Miracle and Wonder PAGE 86
Oregon Coast Between the Pines and the Pacific PAG E 92
The trail to
Salto El León, a
waterfall outside
Pucón, Chile.
P HOTO GRAPH S BY
MANUEL OBADI A-W ILL S
70 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E
DE
Clockwise from
above: A house
in the town of
St.-Martin-de-Ré,
France; cheeses
at an open-air
market; a room
at the Hôtel de
Toiras; a boat in
St.-Martin-de-Ré;
a sardine appetizer
at the waterside
restaurant Les
Embruns;
sunbathing at
Plage de Gros Jonc.
RE
The sun-dappled
harbor of
St.-Martin-de-Ré.
72 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
A
Paris
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 73
La Martinière,
a popular ice
cream shop in
St.-Martin-de-Ré.
A small lighthouse
watches over
the harbor of
St.-Martin-de-Ré.
74 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
Exploring Île de Ré As it happened, St.-Martin, being one of the
two most densely populated municipalities on the
Where to Stay Le Tout du Cru Île de Ré, had a mandatory outdoor mask policy
A standout raw- in effect. But the island is still very much a part of
Hôtel de Toiras seafood venue. France, and this means that sometimes one must
The opulent design of tout-du-cru.fr; choose between being safe and being chic. I found
the 19 rooms at this prix fixe from $18.
quayside refuge in
a table at Le Belem, one of the many inviting
St.-Martin-de-Ré will O Parloir terraces that line the inner harbor and serve up
make you feel like an Artfully presented towering platters of fruits de mer, and I cracked the
aristocrat. hotel-de- dishes in a vibrantly Rachel Cusk novel I’d been meaning to read. When
toiras.com; doubles decorated space.
I glanced up, a pair of elegantly dressed middle-
from $447. oparloir.com;
prix fixe from $39. aged women were standing nearby, greeting each
Where to Eat other haltingly before carefully pulling down their
Ré Ostréa face masks to double-kiss.
Chez Rémi Simple beachside Perhaps the most noticeable physical feature of
Nab an outdoor table dining with fresh
at this Ars-en-Ré oysters. degustation
the Île de Ré is the pleasantly recurring motif of sun-
institution. fb.com/ huitres-iledere.fr; bleached workers’ cottages, with Spanish tile roofs
chezremimasse; prix prix fixe from $29. and cheery, asparagus-green, silt-gray, or chalky-
fixe from $35. blue wooden shutters. These almost uniformly
Where to Shop modest structures come sheathed in hollyhocks and
La Martinière
Quite possibly the Marie et Angele exude a sense of understated luxury and effortless
best ice cream and Vintage work wear good living. Though many of the older lots were
sorbet in France. and military surplus. originally set aside for salt workers who labored on
la-martiniere.fr. 37 Rue de Havre; the island’s fortifications, they now rival in price
33-6-62-30-14-92.
Le Belem
per square foot those in the tonier neighborhoods
Perfect people- Trip Planner of Paris. After my satisfactorily gluttonous meal,
watching in the heart I wandered through the maze of residential
of St.-Martin. 29 Quai T+L A-List advisor backstreets, some of them as narrow as a sofa,
de la Poithevinière; Kathy Stewart
until I emerged at the base of the citadel.
33-5-46-09-56-56; (800-678-1147; kathy
prix fixe from $16. stewart@butterfield. There, I found myself in near-solitude as I
com) can arrange a ascended a verdant hilltop, looking out over a
Les Embruns visit that includes series of deep folds and centuries-old, grass-covered
High-concept riffs on private walking tours gashes engineered by Vauban. These were really
the island’s main- with a local historian
stays. lesembruns- and a catamaran
waterless moats—in some places the width of
iledere.com; prix fixe cruise along the Broadway or even wider—that could be flooded in
from $14. coast. — T.C.W. the crack of a cannon shot with the surrounding
ocean water, were an invading army to become
trapped in them. To anyone approaching by
sea, however, they remain below the sight line. I
marveled at Vauban’s cunning and took the scenic
Crossing the threshold from the cool route back to my hotel along that spectacular coast,
tranquility of the Toiras lobby back into the its football fields of emerald-green marshland giving
harbor’s bustle, I was immediately reminded way to sparkling blue waves.
that it was August, high season. All of my friends At lunch the next day, I ate what felt like the
who were knowledgeable about the island had platonic ideal of the island’s ubiquitous seafood
advised me that the best time to visit was after platter at a homey little restaurant called Le Tout
the rentrée, in September or October, or just du Cru (“Everything Raw”), tucked into a photogenic
before the rush, between April and June. In alleyway dominated by a shuttered old cinema.
ordinary times, I could see their logic, but this From there, I proceeded to an ice cream tasting
year, after eight weeks of mandatory quarantine, that had been arranged for my family, but there had
I found it oddly reassuring to be among these been a slight misunderstanding about the time of
meandering masses. Hell may be other people, as my wife and children’s arrival. Xavier Cathala, the
Jean-Paul Sartre so memorably put it, but there affable owner of a 50-year-old institution of artisanal
are times when other people can be heavenly. glace, La Martinière, led me away from the ceaseless
This year, at least, I didn’t want to be left alone. queues in front of his main shop—where he serves
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 75
The entrance to the One of the island’s
Hôtel de Toiras, in beloved donkeys.
St.-Martin-de-Ré.
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Oysters with
a view at the
restaurant
Ré Ostréa.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 77
78 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
Clockwise from
far left: Cycling
past the Red Inn,
a hotel in a former
seaman’s house
in Provincetown,
Massachusetts;
wild grasses at
Cape Cod National
Seashore; Sal’s
Place, a beloved
beachside Italian
restaurant;
rainbow style on
Commercial Street;
a lobster roll at
the Canteen, a
counter café.
much time
HADN’T SPENT Lora-Faye looked out the windshield, astonished.
in Provincetown, Massachusetts, before last summer, “What kind of colonial gay Disneyland is this?” she asked.
but I had been given to understand that it’s a place not The cognitive dissonance of this sight is central to
entirely like the rest of Cape Cod. If Cape Cod is beach- Provincetown’s overall ethos. Its geography and aesthetics
club conservatism and navy-blue-striped American prep, are that of an 18th-century fishing village, but over
Provincetown is glitter and magic, poets and painters and the past 50 years, it has served as a beacon for the gay
queens—or so the hearsay went. community—especially gay men. In the 1980s, this became
My partner, Lora-Faye, and I arrived by car and the rare place where people suffering from HIV/AIDS could
were greeted not by glitter, but by a warren of narrow live without discrimination and with community support,
lanes lined with tidy houses and gardens bursting with and it has retained its reputation as a haven. Provincetown
spectacular beds of flowers. Through these lanes strolled is probably the only place I’ve ever been where the roads
men, usually young but sometimes middle-aged or older, are given over to elderly lesbians out for a walk and groups
walking hand in hand, evidently on their way to the of muscled young men in vibrant swimming trunks
beach or returning to their own hydrangea-thick front pedaling toward the beach at a leisurely pace, a portable
yards. Lora-Faye and I live in New York City, where there speaker blasting Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with
is no shortage of gay couples, but there was something Somebody” in the basket of a bicycle.
remarkable about seeing only gay people on a street lined When it comes to getting around, bicycles, we
with white picket fences and American flags. quickly learned, are the done thing. Pedestrians and
80 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
Cauliflower A boardwalk
Caesar salad at Cape Cod
at Sal’s Place. National Seashore,
a reserve
surrounding
Provincetown.
cyclists—many of whom take the 90-minute ferry ride lucky. It was our loveliest evening in town. The host walked
from Boston—command the space, making driving a slow us behind the building, where the staff had jammed wooden
and sort of silly venture. This is nice, actually—the relative tables into the sand at the water’s edge, and brought us
dearth of cars and the custom of hopping on your bike successively more delicious plates of food: burrata and corn
to go wherever you want makes running around town salad, a Caesar with shaved cauliflower, a perfect bowl of
feel like a reversion to some real or imagined childhood. linguine with fresh clams.
We ditched our car as soon as we could and checked in As we ate, the sun went down and the tide rose. The
to the Red Inn. This former whaling captain’s house was diners sitting closest to the water kept moving their tables
built in 1805 near the spot where the Pilgrims first docked back or abandoning them—by the time we were done with
the Mayflower, and has operated as a hotel since 1915. our pasta, the water was lapping at our ankles and we’d
Our room, which overlooked the beach at Provincetown perched our shoes next to us on our chairs. Eventually, we
Harbor, had a deck that hung above the sand and, when too ditched our table, and the waiter invited us to bring our
the tide came in, above the water. glasses of wine back up to the deck, where we sat happily,
Lora-Faye and I arrived in the evening with no fixed barefoot, amid the bustle of the staff, who were cheerfully
plans, so we decided to walk around and find something carrying tables out of the water’s reach.
to eat. We had heard that Sal’s Place, a homey Italian Afterward we decided to continue our walk through
restaurant on the beach, was so popular that we would town, which was by then dark and quiet, and scented with
be unlikely to get a table. We stopped by anyway, and got those extravagant front-garden flowers. Because much
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 81
Picnic provisions
at Angel Foods.
82 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
From left: The
Lobster Pot,
a 43-year-old
Provincetown
favorite; a stretch
of the 21-mile
coastline that
envelops
the town.
and bars were only serving outside, and just a few of the Provincetown is also a writer’s town—it has been home
veteran performers (Miss Richfield 1981, Varla Jean Merman) to Eugene O’Neill, Norman Mailer, Mary Oliver, Mark
were still doing their acts—on outdoor stages. The streets, Doty, and many more—and we made several trips to Tim’s
normally shoulder-to-shoulder with visitors, were relatively Used Books, a dreamy little cottage on Commercial Street
subdued, and a team of “community ambassadors” wearing piled with an excellent selection of secondhand volumes
red pageant sashes reminded folks to keep their masks on. and rare editions. It is run by Tim Barry, who has been in
It was all extremely pleasant, even with the masks and Provincetown since the 1990s and who told us that it was
the odd dance of maintaining six feet from everyone. We basically unchanged except for the influx of millionaires,
wandered the shops and galleries displaying the work of the who have scooped up the historic real estate over time,
generations of painters who have come to the Provincetown charmed by the beaches and the town’s quirky serenity.
Art Colony. (The oldest in the country, it has played host to
Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, WE STARTED EACH DAY by drinking coffee on the deck
and others.) One afternoon, we dropped by the Lobster of our room at the Red Inn and marveling at the tides, which
Pot, a favorite seafood spot, for a peculiar-sounding but are unusually dramatic because the beach in Provincetown
mouthwatering buffalo-shrimp roll, and another day we ate is so shallow. At low tide, the ocean withdraws and leaves
at the Canteen, which serves fat lobster rolls at picnic tables the sand lacquered as far as the eye can see. Slowly, then,
in its pleasant backyard. the water returns, like creeping lace, until the beach
Many of the area staples were still humming: the disappears. This was the point at which we would grab our
Atlantic House, one of the oldest dives in town (and one swimsuits and bicycles and pick up breakfast from Relish,
of a few establishments open through the desolate winter a bakery on a residential corner of Commercial Street that
months), was still serving pints and peanut butter and was taking telephone orders and handing paper bags full of
jelly sandwiches on its porch, and the tiny History of Sex croissants and egg sandwiches out of its screen door.
Museum at the front of the sex shop Toys of Eros still had its Several times we wound up eating on the causeway, a
merkins and vintage vibrators on display. The Provincetown giant rock breakwater that stretches from Pilgrim’s First
Portuguese Bakery continued to crank out plain-looking but Landing Park across to Long Point. The lee side, a few locals
miraculously textured malasadas. told us, is the best spot for swimming; the sunny rocks were
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 83
The sitting room at
the Mary Heaton
Vorse house.
Seasonal cocktails at
Strangers & Saints.
a good place for picnicking and watching birds eat clams Another afternoon we took the long way to Herring
and people picking their way carefully along the stone Cove Beach, which involved walking three-quarters of
path to Long Point Beach. a mile through a wide lagoon bed and wading at points.
There is a real wildness to the landscapes around As we followed the footsteps of several young men
Provincetown, which seemed to come into sharper relief ahead of us, we didn’t realize that the tide was coming
in the absence of crowds or nightlife. One afternoon, we in. Suddenly, the ocean was flooding steadily in our
took a spectacular bike ride along the trails that trace the direction, and by the time we turned back the paths were
protected marine lands outside town. Our route took us underwater. The terrain, which we’d been mapping by
through a wilderness of dunes, ponds, tall grasses, and a dunes and footprints, was unfamiliar. Up to our shins in
hidden forest of beech trees. Out in the dunes, too far off water, we ran into a large coyote on a sand bank, who
the path for us to see, are shacks that were originally built had squared off in front of her three pups. She tracked us
for shipwrecked sailors who had washed up on shore and as we retreated carefully to the ocean and walked back to
that the artists’ colony has turned into studios. our bikes.
84 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
Boston
ATLANTIC OCEAN
Provincetown
Malasadas, a fried
dough specialty
made at the
Provincetown
Portuguese Bakery. C ap e C o d
Perfectly
Provincetown
Where to Stay
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 85
The VM Elite
campsite on the
banks of the Río
Liucura, near Pucón,
Chile. Opposite:
December’s total
solar eclipse, as seen
from the site.
P
H A
O M
T L
O A
G P
RA
P H B A L
S O
B Y C R I ST
I F I T S E E M E D C R A Z Y TO T R AV E L AC R O S S C O N T I N E N TS O N T H E O F F C H A N C E O F
G L I M P S I N G A TOTA L S O L A R E C L I P S E I N T H E L A S T W E E K S O F 2 0 2 0 , W E L L , I T H A D B E E N
A CRAZY YEAR. BUT WHEN JOHN BOWE MADE IT TO HIS TENTED CAMP HIGH IN THE
C H I L E A N L A K E D I S T R I C T, I T S E E M E D T H E S TA R S W E R E , F I N A L LY, A L I G N E D .
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M | 87 | JUNE 2021
or a perfect experience had long since
fallen off the menu.
Throughout history, eclipses have
been interpreted as cosmic, spiritual
resets. Folklore from Scandinavia and
Asia to the Americas depicts these events
as a battle between light and dark, with
the moon (or other malevolent actors
like wolves, bears, frogs, or dragons)
seeking to depose the diurnal status quo.
Though the forces of light invariably
triumph, the terror brought on by
the sudden, surreal inversion of time,
space, and temperature was typically
interpreted by soothsayers and medicine
men as a warning: Pay heed. Take
nothing for granted.
That said, my ambitions for the trip
were far from profound. At the end
of a long and brutal year, I wanted to
gauge what I’d lost in lockdown. The
pandemic had disrupted—obliterated,
even—the daily flow of stimuli by which
I apprehended the world, and by which I
understood myself in relation to it. How
bad a hit had my senses taken? Had the
experience done away with my capacity
for wonder?
On the two-hour trip from the airport
to a glampsite in southern Chile’s Lake
District set up specially for the eclipse,
my driver, peering out at dairy and
berry farms through his rain-streaked
windshield, fretted about the weather.
Temperatures had been running some
20 degrees below the seasonal average,
he said, with nighttime lows in the 40s.
We came within sight of Lake Villarrica, a
popular tourist destination. The surface
of the lake, roused to a salt-and-pepper
stipple by the rain, was devoid of sailboats
or swimmers. So much for high season.
We came to Pucón, a resort town in
T
Watching the eclipse HE FORECAST couldn’t have been the foothills of the Andes known as a hub
through solar gloomier. December 12: rain. for skiing, trekking, biking, and fishing.
observation glasses.
December 13: rain. December 14, The humdrum landscape of commercial
the day of the solar eclipse I’d traveled farms gave way to smallholdings,
5,500 miles to see: more rain. I’d flown on wood cabins, and country houses with
the 11th, mid-pandemic, sitting masked corrugated tin roofs. Two snow-topped
up on a tense flight from New York to volcanoes, Rucapillán and Lanín, towered
Santiago, then on to Temuco, in southern in the distance. Flocks of sheep, white
Chile. Of course I had registered the dour and brown, grazed with choreographed
weather predictions before boarding, but precision, each one facing the same
after nine months of house bondage, I direction, amid ridges and valleys dense
didn’t care. The idea of perfect conditions with evergreens and laced in mist.
88 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
One of 12 guest
tents at the VM
Elite campsite.
Irma Epulef,
a member of
the Mapuche
Indigenous
community.
Hiking in the El
Cañi reserve, near
Pucón, with the
Rucapillán volcano
in the distance.
Santiago
PACIFIC OCEAN
The Salto El León
waterfall, outside
Pucón, is one of the
region’s biggest.
ARGENTINA
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 91
BETWEEN THE
PINES AND
THE PACIFIC
92 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
Heading south
toward Coos Bay
on Oregon’s
Highway 101.
Opposite: Chief
Kiawanda Rock,
offshore from
Pacific City.
The terrace at Pelican
Brewing, in Pacific City.
Right: Trailside in Cape
Arago, one of several state
parks on Oregon’s coast.
T
HE NESTUCCA RIVER was quiet except for a great blue Just as the headwind was starting to wear out my arms,
heron that unfurled its massive wings and flapped the river bent under a bridge and we came out into a patch
away disgruntled every time our kayaks approached. of windless, glassy water. Wordlessly, all of us stopped
On one side of me was Mike, my best friend and paddling, put our feet up, and drifted back toward the
travel companion on my trip down the Oregon dock where we’d rented the kayaks. The birds broke the
Coast. On the other side was Ryan Fox, our eminently quiet with happy calls, and for a few minutes, I forgot that
personable guide, who, bearded and rugged, looked there was anything wrong in the world. When we reached
as you would expect an adventurer to look—except the dock, an annoyed teenager pulled our boats in and
for his toenails, which were painted orange. “My wife informed us that they had already closed for the day. His
did it once, like, three years ago as a joke,” he said. “But tone suggested: “I have been standing here for fifteen
I liked how it looked. I guess it stuck.” minutes waiting for you—and then you just stop paddling.”
As we paddled along in the cool air—despite
being early August, it was a pleasant 65 degrees—we OREGON’S 362 MILES of publicly accessible coastline offer
watched Fox chase down a renegade beer bottle someone one of the most scenic drives in America. Weaving through
had thrown in the water. We listened as he told us about one-light beach towns and mountainous conifer forests,
Bayocean, an early-20th-century “Atlantic City of the West” past sky-high dunes and rugged sea cliffs, this stretch of
that fell into the sea after developers failed to account for U.S. Highway 101 is the state’s less crowded answer to
the erosive effect their work would have on the land. California’s famous Pacific Coast Highway. Oregon is also
The breeze picked up; paddling got harder. Fox pointed more affordable than its southern neighbor, which has given
to a van parked by a modest waterfront house. “That rise to a vibe that’s at once inviting and refreshingly offbeat.
belongs to one of the foremost Bigfoot experts,” he said, Our first stop on the weeklong trip was the
before qualifying, “in Oregon.” northernmost city on the coast, Astoria. Founded as a
94 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
The historic Liberty
Theatre, in
downtown Astoria.
The Clubhouse at
Bay Point Landing,
a camping resort
in Coos Bay.
Astoria WASHINGTON
Tillamook Portland
Pacific City
PACIFIC OCEAN
U. S . 101
like grocery-store cupcakes,” Nedd explained with a smile.
We tried (but failed) to pace ourselves as Nedd, a native
Astorian, told us about starting the bakery as a pop-up in
2016. Demand grew so quickly that she quit her day job and
moved into a storefront, where she serves classics alongside Coos Bay
a rotation of originals that play on the Oregonian culinary
tradition of weird new combinations. The “gas station
French macaron” is perhaps the only gourmet pastry around
made from Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and cheddar powder filling.
LIKE NEW YORKERS with pizza and Texans with barbecue,
Oregonians can be snobs when it comes to beer. That’s
CALIFORNIA
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 97
Prosciutto-wrapped sturgeon,
compressed melon, and roasted-
pimiento purée at Restaurant
Beck, in Depoe Bay. The Best of Coastal Oregon
Where to Stay seven rooms has a beloved for its clam
balcony Jacuzzi chowder. fb.com/
Bay Point Landing overlooking the cove. monkeybusiness
A fun, modern camp- whalecoveinn.com; foodtogo; entrées
ing resort in Coos doubles from $520. $7–$18.
Bay. baypointlanding.
com; doubles from Where to Eat Naked Lemon
$224. This tiny downtown
Bridgewater Bistro bakery is an Astoria
Cannery Pier An airy riverfront favorite for treats
Hotel & Spa restaurant in Astoria such as scones,
Set on a dock, this that hits the sweet cupcakes, and mac-
Astoria hotel has spot between ele- arons. nakedlemon
stunning views of the gant and casual. astoria.com.
Columbia River. bridgewaterbistro.
cannerypierhotel. com; entrées Restaurant Beck
com; doubles from $17–$31. Whale Cove Inn’s
$299. acclaimed fine-
Epilogue Kitchen dining venue offers
Headlands Coastal En route back to breathtaking views
Lodge & Spa Portland, take the of waves crashing on
This 33-room Pacific scenic Umpqua the rocks. restaurant
City resort is one of Byway to this innova- beck.com; entrées
Oregon’s standouts. tive Appalachian- $28–$32.
headlandslodge. inspired spot in
com; doubles from Salem. epilogue Wayfarer
$500. kitchen.com; Try the hot crab
entrées $10–$20. sandwich, made with
Whale Cove Inn locally caught
At this boutique Monkey Business Dungeness, at this
property in Depoe An unassuming food woodsy bungalow
Bay, each of the shack near Coos Bay, in Cannon Beach.
Headlands
Coastal Lodge &
Spa’s front desk.
Below: De Garde
Brewing’s pint-
size tasting room.
The skeleton of the
Peter Iredale, a
1906 shipwreck, in
Fort Stevens State
Park, near Astoria.
wayfarer-restaurant.
com; entrées
$29–$42.
What to See
the aforementioned Ryan Fox, who leads adventures crowded with tourists, but the only sound that morning was
for Headlands guests. After kayaking, we hiked up the our own footsteps, and the lightly falling rain.
Great Dune at Cape Kiwanda. (“At least that’s what
people call it,” Fox said. “It doesn’t really have a name.”) OUR TRIP WAS filled with small towns like Depoe Bay, a
The sandy crests had the wind-smoothed texture of, as whale-watching destination where we spent a night nestled
Mike put it, the planet Tatooine, “where the Jawas sell between the woods and a Big Sur–like cove. But the tiniest
the droids to Luke Skywalker.” (You never know when was the village of Yachats (ya-hots), a quaint mile-long strip
a working knowledge of the topography of Star Wars bisected by Highway 101. We spent an afternoon perusing
planets will come in handy.) the shops and lunched at Yachats Brewing, where we ate
From the peak, we took in a dizzying panorama chicken-salad sandwiches and drank Thor’s Well IPA, the
of cliffs, ocean, and forest. Teenagers hurtled down Yachats take on the unofficial state beverage.
the dune while their friends took pictures. A flock of It made sense to follow the beer up with a stop at the
pelicans—“the hound dogs of the sea,” Fox called them— actual Thor’s Well, a nearby rock formation where waves
sat on the water, mirroring a pack of surfers waiting spout out like a geyser. We visited around high tide, when
20 yards away. the water puts on quite a show, yet had no trouble finding
After sleeping to the sound of the lapping sea, Mike and a good vantage point—in part because this corner of
I headed out for an early hike at Cape Lookout. A morning Oregon has no shortage of natural attractions. Our trip led
drizzle pitter-pattered against the Douglas fir and Sitka us past too many stunning overlooks and blissfully open
spruce overhead, but the canopy was so thick that we barely state parks to count, including the Devil’s Punchbowl,
felt the water. We were told that the loop was sometimes Devil’s Churn, and Devil’s Elbow, which suggest that
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 99
artists and outcasts. It has survived
more than one plague. At various
points in history there has been
concern that the town would be
overtaken by migrating dunes.
Some of these edges have been
softened: the primary industry is
now tourism instead of whaling;
the town’s gay culture feels squarely
mainstream and commercialized.
(Ryan Murphy has a house here.)
(Oregon, continued from page 99) (Provincetown, continued from page 85) Nevertheless, there remains an
oddball, edge-of-the-world charm.
Satan is a surprisingly big part of The person who finally convinced After leaving the Mary Heaton
coastal geography. me to read Land’s End was Ken Fulk, Vorse house, we stopped across the
As we approached our final stop, the celebrity interior designer who street at Angel Foods, a winsome
the landscape changed again. Miles has recently taken over the Mary little grocery that’s been there for
and miles of sandy ridges lined the Heaton Vorse house, an important decades, and bought a jar of pickles
horizon; roadside signs offered ATV specimen of local history. Vorse was for no other reason than that they
rentals to explore the Oregon Dunes a writer and labor journalist who had a picture of the maker on the
National Recreation Area. made Provincetown her home in lid, a giant kosher pickle cocked
The economy of Coos Bay, the 1907 and was at the center of the jauntily between his teeth.
most populous city on the coast, has town’s transition from a whaling After the Puritans displaced and
long revolved around logging, but port to a hub for the creative avant- decimated the Nauset people who
visitors are now arriving in increasing garde. She died in 1966, leaving the had lived on the land, Provincetown
numbers for four-wheeling, hiking, house to her family. A few years became the domain of Portuguese
and clamming, and to escape to new ago, her granddaughters sold the fishermen and whalers, who
accommodations such as Bay Point house to Fulk and his husband, Kurt enjoyed humor and dancing, and are
Landing, a modern camping resort Wootton, who set about restoring credited for the fact that the town
with Airstream suites, RV spaces, and the property and offering it to the is less conservative than the rest of
tiny-house lodgings. Our cabin was community as an artists’ residence, Cape Cod. Even last summer, during
designed in a chic Scandinavian style, exhibition space, and center for a time of uncertainty and loss,
with a private firepit from which to lectures, fundraisers, and other Provincetown retained its knack
watch the sun set over the bay. cultural events. (Their own house is for dancing in the face of hardship
Fifteen minutes south of Bay across the street.) and, like the queer community it
Point lie three of oceanside state Fulk, who is an enthusiastic champions, meeting existential
parks, crowned by the storybook champion of both Provincetown threats with a defiant insistence on
Shore Acres. Lumber tycoon Louis and Vorse, walked Lora-Faye and pleasure and joy.
J. Simpson built Shore Acres in the me around the house, extolling the On our last afternoon we
early 20th century as a private estate, virtues of a town that has survived returned our bicycles and walked
and its botanical gardens are full of on its quirkiness and scrappiness, back to our car through the quiet
flowers and trees that he collected on its embrace of outsiders and free streets. From somewhere we could
his travels around the world. As we self-expression. He read to us hear a man’s voice singing: “Ooh,
walked the well-manicured paths, the from Vorse’s memoir of her life in life is juicy, juicy, and you see I’ve
tranquil Japanese pond was a calming Provincetown, Time and the Town: gotta have my bite, sir.” It was the
contrast to the untamed forest and “It is not quaint. It is a serious Barbra Streisand classic “Don’t
cliffs that flanked the grounds. town; the way it is built has to do Rain on My Parade.” We could hear
That night, back at the cabin, we with the difficult and dangerous the man belting it out all the way
built a fire, popped open a bottle of manner in which its living has down the block, maybe singing in
De Garde, and toasted our luck at always been earned…. People here the shower, maybe rehearsing for a
getting the chance to spend so much have been nourished by beauty cabaret act that he would perform
time together. We sat watching the fire and change and danger.” Its earliest masked and at a distance. “I simply
crackle in the pit, the water flowing industries, fishing and whaling, were gotta march, my heart’s a drummer!
down the bay, and the seagulls gliding precarious, Fulk pointed out, and its Nobody, no, nobody is gonna rain
in the wind, all by ourselves. later residents were experimental on my parade.”
100 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1
as it is precocious, drew my eye to a By the time we pedaled through
gorgeously preserved vintage Land the vast rust- and pink-tinted salt
Rover Defender, roof removed, body marshes in Loix and endless vineyards,
painted the exact same hue as the through the fortifications and back
house’s sage-green shutters. to the Toiras, even with the much
We popped into Marie et Angele, appreciated aid of our electric motors,
on Rue du Havre, a lovely and we were exhausted from the relentless
inconspicuous little vintage shop sun. Before we even finished our
dealing in military surplus and sailing aperitifs at O Parloir, a comfortable
staples as well as perfectly beat-in outdoor restaurant, it was clear that
bleues de travail, or worker’s jackets, nothing short of immediate sleep for
(Île de Ré, continued from page 77) of every faded patina. My wife and Saul and room-service Bolognese for
I both picked out the same cream- Marlow would keep the peace.
impression that, from a God’s-eye- colored long undershirts for when On our last full day, our foursome
perspective, we’d resemble nothing the weather turns autumnal. split along gender lines: the women
more than one of those ant-army Back at Chez Rémi, we ordered went hunting for gifts and antiques
highways cutting through the grass. a quick lunch of chicken Caesar in the numerous well-stocked shops
Yet, far from making me resentful of salads and Aperol Spritzes—man of St.-Martin, and the men climbed
the hordes around us, this realization cannot, it turns out, live on fruits de onto the electric chariot and cycled
left me appreciative of the fact that mer alone—then cycled out to the down to the nearby Bois-Plage,
here, even in high season, so many decidedly family-friendly Plage de la where Saul and I frolicked in the
human bodies could traverse such Conche, at St.-Clément-des-Baleines, water until he was beat.
considerable distances without where the sand was baked with sun After a high-concept but hearty
relying on combustion engines, and and the clear blue water was shallow late-afternoon family lunch of
before a backdrop of unblemished and calm as a cool bath. deconstructed langoustines at Les
natural beauty. When the heat became Embruns, I glanced at my watch
unbearable, we climbed back onto and realized it was nearly time for
THE ÎLE DE RÉ is said to enjoy a our electric caravan and toured me to attend an oyster tasting. The
microclimate that leaves it with a the neighborhood of Les Portes, as delightfully hidden Ré Ostréa nestles
similar amount of sunshine to the Henri had suggested. It was quiet rows of high tables between oyster
south of France, though it typically is and residential in a comfortably beds and the lapping shores of the
blessed with fresher Atlantic air. We gentrified way, without anything Atlantic. I ordered local rosé and did
happened to visit during a heat wave, like the tourist volume of St.-Martin my best to polish off the three-point
and that cool breeze evaded us as we or even Ars. It was where we would oysters and shrimp that came with
finally parked our bikes in Ars-en-Ré, get a place, I told Valentine, if I had it—until I realized that I was due
the area in the southwestern part of an extra million or two to spare. back at the Toiras for dinner in less
the island where the former prime She shushed me (truth be told, I say than three hours.
minister of France, Lionel Jospin, has some version of this refrain to her The centerpiece of the hotel is
kept a house for years. everywhere new that we go, though a lush interior courtyard garden,
Every side street you turn in such promiscuity certainly makes it with palms and white rosebushes
to in Ars is a living Pinterest post no less true) and stopped to point set beside harlequin paving stones,
of casual French seaside chic. out the wry humor in the names where the heaping breakfast buffet
Waiting for our lunch reservation of the exquisite little cobblestoned was served daily, and where, that
at the jam-packed Chez Rémi, we streets called impasses: “Impasse evening, we ate an immaculate, farm-
took the opportunity for a stroll. du Paradis” (literally, dead-end of fresh meal. As the children played
Saul, whose love for all manner of paradise); “Bout du Monde” (end of in the garden and we were finishing
motorized vehicles is as unwavering the world); “Sortilèges” (sorcery!). our wine, Valentine glanced up to see
that the only other diners left were
a friend of a friend from Paris and
Content in this issue was produced with assistance from Atlas Obscura; Bay Point
Landing; Charentes Tourisme; Desert Whisper; Destination Ile de Ré; Erie Canal
her husband at the table behind us.
Adventures; Headlands Coastal Lodge & Spa; Hello Burlington; Hotel de Toiras; The When it comes to the artful science
Patrick & Joan Leigh Fermor House; Kwessi Dunes; Little Kulala; Ocean House; of vacation, the truth is that there is
Provincetown Tourism; The Red Inn; Rosewood Washington, D.C.; Travel Oregon; Visit more than enough terrestrial heaven
Britain; Visit Rhode Island; VM Elite; and Whale Cove Inn. to go around in France—but no such
thing as private knowledge.
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 101
for a total of two minutes and 49 between light and darkness was
seconds—an adequate amount of thought to be too violent. We talked
time, we quickly realized, to be about the meaning of the terms light
immersed in the infinite. and darkness. “Darkness is when we
On the bus ride home my friend’s can’t advance in anything,” she said.
father, Dale, a former college “Like this whole last year.”
football star, offered some advice. If 2020 had been an annus
The amateur scientists had spent horribilis for all of us, it had been
the eclipse hunched over their especially horrible in Chile. In addition
viewfinders, measuring, recording; to the pandemic, the year had seen
looking at their devices and not a continuation of 2019’s political
(Chile, continued from page 91) at the phenomenon we’d come to upheaval, with protests across the
observe. We’d stood out, in fact, for nation, both peaceful and violent, and
odds of actually seeing the eclipse. being the only spectators looking episodes of police brutality that made
A chef served up hearty plates of on with naked eyes (this was the news around the world.
lamb and beef and fresh-baked 70s, after all). “I think it’s good Epulef picked up a handmade
breads, which we ate outside on a sometimes,” Dale said, “to just take drum marked with quadrants
deck overlooking the river. I learned things in instead of trying to capture representing earth, wind, fire, and
what the eclipse meant for my fellow and preserve them.” water. When the elements fall out of
campers, and what had motivated In the intervening years, his words balance, she explained, ñuki mapo,
them to come. A 30-year-old man had come back to me again and or Mother Earth, is displeased.
from Santiago said he’d heard that again: Learn to resist the perpetual “Humans have pushed the earth too
during eclipses, flower petals close, urge to interpret and analyze, to far. We’ve betrayed the earth. We’ve
fish stop swimming, and trees manufacture opinion and create betrayed the soil.” Noting that the
make curved shadows. Another meaning. Learn to be in the moment, previous year, the quila—a type of
man explained that, as the source of course. But also, learn to observe. bamboo found in the region—hadn’t
of all life, the sun is basically God. flowered, she shrugged. “For us,
Therefore, a total eclipse is the only BUENAVENTURA HAD BEEN COMING these natural events are like news
chance we get to look directly at the to the Lake District since childhood, announcements.” As we took turns
face of God. on biking, trekking, and whitewater- fanning the fire, Epulef told us she
I had my own idea of what the rafting trips. He seemed to know and other Mapuche would be praying
event might mean. In 1979, as a every trail and river bend. The day hard in the coming days. “We hope
stoned 14-year-old, I’d seen an before the eclipse, he and his younger that humanity can learn humility,
eclipse in a shopping-mall parking brother, Nicholas, took me to visit because we need a change. Let’s
lot in Minot, North Dakota. My oldest an old friend: Irma Epulef, a machi, hope this eclipse brings us back in a
friend, David, and his father were or traditional healer, and a member positive direction.”
joining a group of amateur scientists of the Mapuche Indigenous group. Toward the end of our visit the
on a Science Museum of Minnesota “I think she’ll have an interesting sky had cleared, and as we drove
expedition, and invited me along. perspective on the eclipse,” he said. back to camp, the area’s lush beauty
We arrived at dawn after traveling We drove half an hour to a hamlet was lit up by golden sunlight. By
all night by chartered bus, and named Curarrehue, some 10 miles night, however, the rain returned,
huddled on a bleak stretch of tarmac from the border with Argentina. and fell without respite, pelting my
eating sandwiches and watching Pulling off the highway, we found canvas roof right through to the next
the scientists unpack preternatural Epulef wearing a ceremonial morning, when the eclipse was due
quantities of gear—telescopes, poncho, standing next to her to take place. I woke up to puddles
spectrometers, cameras, and more. ruka—a traditional sweat lodge outside my tent flap. At the breakfast
Sometime around mid-morning, with mud walls and a high, conical table, no one had much to say. We’d
the wind stilled. The birds fell wooden roof. She invited us inside, felt adventurous, hopeful, brave. But
silent. Darkness came over us like a and we sat down on benches lining now, in the cold and wet, we mostly
steamroller. The current of warmth the walls. A smoky woodstove stood felt foolish.
flowing from sun to skin ceased as in the center of the earthen floor.
the familiar firmaments of earth, sky, Epulef began to speak. “When I AN HOUR AND A HALF before
and sun gave way to purple-tinged was young,” she said, “children and the eclipse, Buenaventura invited
shadow bands strobing across the pregnant women were prohibited everyone at the camp to gather on
plain. We gawked, spellbound from viewing eclipses.” The conflict the deck outside the kitchen to talk
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as a group about our reasons for earth through us and upward to the hills around us. The temperature
coming. The rain beat down so hard moon, the sun, and the Milky Way dropped, and I could feel my senses
on the rubberized tarp over our beyond. Try to connect with this quicken. Everyone around me
heads, we had to raise our voices to special time,” he urged, “this cosmic seemed to shudder in unison. The
make ourselves heard. time, when everything lines up and surrounding slopes were as blanketed
As we went around the circle, the energy flows.” by clouds as they’d been one, three,
one man explained, “My life is The meditation ended, and for a 15 minutes earlier. The sun above
always planned, always organized. beat or two, I felt adrift. There was had formed a triumphant, if ethereal,
Everything is very cuadradito,” nothing to do, no reason to continue halo. It felt like the opposite of
or chopped into little squares. “I organizing the day around an eclipse terror. Here was wonder and hope.
wanted to let go of my thinking, my we weren’t going to see. The rain had We had been desperate for a jolt.
plans, and remember the rhythms stopped, but the sky was implacably If the eclipse meant the end of
of nature.” Heads around the circle overcast. As I looked around for the world as we knew it, it felt like
seemed to nod. Some of the speakers someone to commiserate with, the wonderful news.
made more sense than others. The light level began to dim, then dim When the two minutes and
word alignment came up a lot, as some more. Totally unlike the gradual nine seconds of the totality passed,
did the cosmos, and life forces. dimming of dusk, this felt far more applause broke out. We’d later learn
Eclipses, we all seemed to agree, are abrupt, as if the lights were going that virtually no one else in Chile had
a metaphor for the wonder of life, a down in a theater. (I’d realize later seen the eclipse. Potential spectators
chance to open ourselves to awe. that in one sense, I’d succeeded in based in Pucón had boarded buses
I was terrified to offer my my aim of having no expectations. I’d to rush to the coast, about 2½ hours
opinion, especially in my imperfect come a quarter of the way around the away, hoping for better weather. No
Spanish. But when my turn came, world to see an eclipse, and then was luck. A group of astronomers had
I related my previous eclipse surprised when it happened.) invited us to join them at a mountain
experience, explaining that I Then, from a nearby meadow, I pass near the Argentinean border.
wanted to gauge whether I had heard a shout. “El anillo! El anillo!” They’d seen nothing.
retained—throughout the intervening (“The ring! The ring!”). Some guests At our final meal that evening,
decades, and especially during the had set up cameras under umbrellas, I sat next to a Chilean émigré from
pandemic—the ability to adhere to on the off chance the eclipse might Germany. She wore the relieved,
my own adopted creed. Was I still still become visible. I ran over and happy expression shared by everyone
able to observe nature with my full joined their skyward gaze to where around the table as she recounted her
capacities, undistracted by adult a patch of sky, not blue so much as experience of the eclipse. “I think it
responsibilities? “I think it’s a real absent of dark gray, began to open. was even better than if we’d had good
test,” I said. Can modern people I found it hard to trust what I was weather,” she said. “Because we were
spend an entire two minutes (the seeing or feel remotely optimistic just expecting nothing. And then
length of time this eclipse was to last) as the clouds parted like fleece, one suddenly, it was like, ‘Hellooo!’ And
without taking a picture or checking minute fleeting, the next minute we didn’t even have to wear those
our phone—without needing a device darkening again. Yes, no, yes, no; silly goggles.”
to mediate the distance between light, dark, and then, suddenly, a ring.
ourselves and the world? The corona. Flickering but whole, vmelite.com; tents from $1,500 per
A self-described eclipse hunter the circle held and shone. The crowd night, all-inclusive. VM Elite’s Raul
named Sebastian Gonzales from Viña erupted in hesitant whoops. Buenaventura has spent two decades
del Mar offered to lead a meditation. “Mira mira mira mira!” (“Look setting up bespoke experiences around
After guiding us through a few look look look!”) someone cried. South America, from heli-skiing in the
breathing exercises, he asked the Cameras snapped wildly as the Andes to surfing in the Pacific. He is
group to imagine planting roots raucous call of bandurrias, or black- working on an expedition to view the
from our feet into the soil. “Feel the faced ibises, known for screeching upcoming solar eclipse in Antarctica
alignment from the center of the just before dawn, echoed from the on December 4.
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T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 103
YO UR BE ST SHOT
Darrell Sano was
an entrant in our
ongoing Photo of the
“AS I L I STEN ED TO this musician strum his guitar on the steps of Córdoba’s Mosque- Day contest. Submit
Cathedral, in the Andalusia region of Spain, I felt I was exactly where I needed to be. Weeks your best pictures at
earlier, my wife and I had made the monumental decision to sell our home of 20 years in travelandleisure.
the Bay Area and travel indefinitely around Europe. I knew we had made the right call the com/photos/photo-
of-the-day for the
day I took this photo. Time slowed down watching this man play flamenco music, and our chance to be
crazy, hectic life in California felt worlds away.” featured on this page
— R E AD ER DAR R EL L SANO O N HI S PHOTO G RAPH, S HOT W I TH A F UJI F I LM X- T 20, AUGU ST 2019 in a future issue.
104 T R AV E L + L E I S U R E | J U N E 2 0 2 1