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# Contents

Destination USA

Getting Started

Itineraries

USA Road Trips

History

The Culture

Arts

Food & Drink

Environment

USA Outdoors

New York, New Jersey & Pennsylvania

New England

Washington, DC & the Capital Region

The South

Florida

Great Lakes

Great Plains

Texas

Rocky Mountains

Southwest

California

Pacific Northwest

Alaska

Hawaii

Directory

Transportation

Health

Glossary

The Authors

Behind the Scenes

Map Legend

Return to beginning of chapter

# Destination USA **Regis St. Louis**

* * *

# FAST FACTS

Population: 306 million

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): $14.1 trillion

Barrels of oil consumed daily: 21 million

Total hybrid cars sold in 2008: 308,000

TV channels in an average US home: 118.6

States in which gay marriage is legal: 6

Biggest city by population: New York City, NY (8.3 million people; 469 sq mi)

Biggest city by area: Juneau, AK (31,000 people; 3248 sq mi)

Hottest temperature ever recorded: 134°F (in Death Valley, CA)

Coldest temperature ever recorded: -80°F (in Alaska)

* * *

The playwright Arthur Miller once said that the essence of America was its promise. For newly arrived immigrants and jet-lagged travelers alike, that promise of America can take on near mythic proportions. America is a land of dazzling cities, towering coast redwoods, alpine lakes, rolling vineyards, chiseled peaks, barren deserts and a dramatic coastline of unrivaled beauty. And that's just one state (California).

In the other 49 lie an astounding collection of natural and cultural wonders, from the wildly multihued tapestry of urban streets to the mountains, plains and forests that cover vast swaths of the continent. America is the birthplace of LA, Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami, Boston and New York City – each a brimming metropolis whose name alone conjures a million different notions of culture, cuisine and entertainment.

Look more closely, and the American quilt unfurls in all its surprising variety: the eclectic music scene of Austin, the easygoing charms of antebellum Savannah, the ecoconsciousness of free-spirited Portland, the magnificent waterfront of San Francisco, and the captivating old quarters of New Orleans, still rising up from its waterlogged ashes.

This is a country of road trips and great open skies, where four million miles of highways lead past red-rock deserts, below towering mountain peaks, and across fertile wheat fields that roll off toward the horizon. The sun-bleached hillsides of the Great Plains, the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest and the scenic country lanes of New England are a few fine starting points for the great American road trip.

The world's third-largest nation has made substantial contributions to the arts. Georgia O'Keeffe's wild landscapes, Robert Rauschenberg's surreal collages, Alexander Calder's elegant mobiles and Jackson Pollock's drip paintings have entered the vernacular of modern 20th-century art. Cities such as Chicago and New York have become veritable drawing boards for the great architects of the modern era. Musically speaking, America has few peers on the world stage. From the big-band jazz that was born in New Orleans, to the Memphis blues, Detroit's Motown sound, plus funk, hip-hop, country, and rock and roll – America has invented sounds that are integral to contemporary music.

Cuisine is another way of illuminating the American experience. On one evening in the US, thick barbecue ribs and sizzling meats arrive fresh off the grill at a Tennessee roadhouse; over 2000 miles away, talented chefs blend organic, fresh-from-the-garden produce with Asian accents at award-winning West Coast restaurants. A smattering of locals get their fix of bagels and lox at a century-old deli in Manhattan's Upper West Side, while several states away, plump pancakes and fried eggs disappear in a hurry under the clatter of cutlery at a 1950s-style diner. Steaming plates of fresh lobster served off a Maine pier, oysters and champagne in a fashion-forward wine bar in California, beer and pizza at a Midwestern pub – these are just a few ways to dine à la Americana.

But America isn't just about its geography, its cities or even its art and cuisine. It's also about people. The 'teeming nation of nations' (as Walt Whitman described it), was built on immigration and still attracts over one million new immigrants each year. Representatives from nearly every country can be found inside the boundaries of the USA, adding an astounding mix of ethnicities, religions and languages to the diverse American character. In one county alone (New York City's borough of Queens), almost half of the residents are foreign born and speak some 138 languages. Although the topic of immigration remains a heated one (historically, the subject has been a source of contention since the country's inception), few Americans contest the enormous contributions made by fresh-faced immigrants over the centuries.

In addition to the wide mix of racial and ethnic groups, America is a mishmash of factory workers and farmers, born-again Christians and Hatha yoga practitioners, literary-minded college students, tradition-conscious Native Americans, beer-swilling baseball lovers and back-to-nature commune dwellers. This is a country where regional stereotypes help Americans get a handle on their own elusive country, whether the people in question are gracious Southern belles, street-smart New Yorkers, humble Midwesterners, SoCal surfers or straight-talking Texans.

* * *

'Today's stars...help redefine in some small way what it means to be American'

* * *

The collective identity, however, goes only so far in defining Americans. This is, after all, a country that celebrates – or rather mythologizes – the feats of 'rugged individualism', a notion well supported by the enormous ranks of the great and dastardly alike that have left their mark on America. This is the land of Eleanor Roosevelt, John Muir, Diane Arbus, Jack Kerouac, Frank Lloyd Wright, Elvis Presley and Amelia Earhart. It is also the birthplace of Billy the Kid, Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde and hundreds of other real and fictional characters who contribute to that portrait of the American hero or outlaw heading off into the sunset.

Today's stars shine no less brightly and each help redefine in some small way what it means to be American. From the inspiring social activism of singer-songwriter Willie Nelson and feminist Gloria Steinem to revolutionary chef Alice Waters; Al Gore's laudatory dedication to fighting climate change and the powerful lyricism of Nobel Prize–winner Toni Morrison; or the record-breaking run by Olympic-swimmer Michael Phelps: each have followed a dream that led them to undoubtedly surprising places.

America is still a place where big dreamers can triumph over adversity. Although 40 years have passed since Martin Luther King was assassinated, his message of hope lives on. No one in recent history has demonstrated that more clearly than Barack Obama, America's first African American president.

'If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.' So began Barack Obama's election-night victory speech in November 2008, following one of the most surprising presidential victories in history.

The next day, newspapers across the country sold out quickly, despite enormously increased press runs, as Americans hurried out to snatch up a piece of history, for which they themselves were responsible. Indeed, it was a historic moment for America. This once bitterly divided nation – with a dark legacy of slavery – looked past its differences and elected an African American man to the highest office in the land. And voters did so by an overwhelming margin.

As Obama went on to say in his victory speech, 'It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.' Change – that magic word so bandied about by both parties in the run-up to the election – played a pivotal role in Obama's success. Yet, despite the unprecedented moment in US history, change is no stranger to the American scene. Even America's creation was a daring paradigm shift in a world of monarchies and autocracies. A country founded as a refuge for religious tolerance by early colonists later became the world's first – and perhaps its most brilliantly envisaged – democratic republic. Over the centuries, visionary statesman such as Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt have helped move the country in bold new directions, but it was courageous citizens, fighting (and sometimes sacrificing their lives) in the battle against injustice, who've brought about some of America's most profound changes – in abolishing slavery, earning equal rights for women, protecting the environment and enshrining fair wages and working conditions for laborers.

Citizens from all walks of life have participated in 'the great American experiment', a concept that rewards bold ideas and hard work, no matter one's place in society. The results of nurturing this entrepreneurial spirit have been far-reaching. From the historic flight by the Wright Brothers to the Apollo moon landing, Americans have achieved ambitious goals. Technological revolutions beginning with Thomas Edison's light bulb and Henry Ford's automobile continue today in the pioneering work by Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Larry Page. Microsoft, Apple and Google have changed the way people work, learn and interact across the industrialized world. American advances in science, medicine and countless other fields have brought meaningful changes to many lives.

* * *

'Citizens from all walks of life have participated in 'the great American experiment'

* * *

The spirit of innovation remains alive and well, but on other fronts, Americans seem less optimistic. As this book went to press, the US was just starting to show signs of recovery from a deep recession stemming in part from the mortgage meltdown that erupted late in the Bush presidency. In 2008, over three million Americans lost their homes to foreclosure as unemployment soared – with some 15 million out of work in late 2009 (the highest figure since WWII).

Health care is another dispiriting topic for many Americans. Despite playing a leading role in medical technology, the USA remains the world's only wealthy industrialized country that does not provide universal health care for its citizens. More than 46 million Americans currently live without health insurance, and analysts predict that the economic downturn and rising unemployment will add another two million to their ranks.

Addressing these grievous issues – plus the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan – remain the biggest challenges of the day. Americans, however, aren't a nation easily put down. As John F Kennedy once said in an inaugural address, 'The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.'

# Getting Started

* * *

WHEN TO GO

COSTS & MONEY

TRAVELING RESPONSIBLY

TRAVEL LITERATURE

INTERNET RESOURCES

* * *

Got your map? Ready to plot out your road trip? Just remember: the USA covers a continent and more. Texas alone is twice the size of Germany, so you may need to adjust your sense of scale. It's easy to get overambitious, blow your budget and spend more time getting to sights than actually seeing them. Our best advice? Plan what you want to see in the time that you think you will have, then take out half the stops.

Reservations are essential during peak travel seasons, especially during the summer months and around major holidays (Click here). But don't let a lack of advance planning stop you from traveling any time, because spontaneity and the adventure of the open road are what America is really all about.

You'll need to consider your transportation options carefully, balancing cost, time and flexibility – as well as your carbon footprint. The 'best' way to get around can vary by region and route. For more ecotravel advice, Click here.

Return to beginning of chapter

## WHEN TO GO

America's size plays to the traveler's advantage when it comes to weather: it's always perfect somewhere in the USA and just shy of hell somewhere else. In other words, either your destination or your trip's timing may need tweaking depending on the season. For specific regional info, see each chapter's Land & Climate section. For current weather forecasts, check the **Weather Channel** (www.weather.com).

* * *

See Climate Charts (Click here) for more information.

* * *

The busiest travel season is summer, which typically begins on Memorial Day (the last Monday in May) and ends on Labor Day (the first Monday in September). Americans take their vacations mainly in summer because schools are closed, not because the weather's uniformly ideal. But yes, you should hit the beaches in August, when Manhattan is a shimmering sweat bath and the deserts are frying pans.

The seasons don't arrive uniformly either. Spring (typically March to May) and fall (usually September to November) are often the best travel times, but 'spring' in parts of the Rockies and Sierras may not come till June. By then it's only a sweet memory in Austin, while in Seattle, spring often means rain, rain, rain.

And winter? It's expensive during thehigh season at ski resorts and in parts of the southern US (RV-driving retirees, aka 'snowbirds,' head down to Florida, Texas and other sunny climes by Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November). But planned well, winter can mean you have the riches of some American landscapes virtually all to yourself.

Whether you're planning to join the crowds or avoid them, holidays (Click here) and festivals (Click here) are factors to think about.

Return to beginning of chapter

## COSTS & MONEY

An economical US trip is possible, but it is easy to spend much more than you bargained for, no matter what your travel style. Mode of transportation is a big factor, as is destination: cities don't chip away at budgets, they jackhammer them into pieces.

Only the creatively thrifty backpacker or road-tripper will spend less than $100 a day. A comfortable midrange budget ranges from $150 to $250 a day; this usually gets you a car, gas, two meals, a decent hotel and a museum admission or two. Spending over $300 a day isn't hard: just splash out a few times, drive a lot, and stay, eat and whoop it up in the likes of New York, Chicago, San Francisco.

* * *

# Don't Leave Home Without...

  * Checking current US visa (Click here) and passport (Click here) requirements
  * Adequate travel and medical insurance (Click here)
  * Up-to-date medical vaccinations (Click here)
  * Hotel reservations, particularly for your first night and near national parks (Click here)
  * Your driver's license (Click here). Not driving? Take it anyway – you might change your mind once you see exactly how big the USA is
  * Nerves of steel for driving on urban freeways (Click here)
  * A handful of credit cards – they're often easier and safer than cash, and are sometimes required (eg for hotel reservations, car rentals, show tickets)
  * An open mind: you'll find foodies in the Ozarks and hicks in Manhattan, and everything in between in the USA

* * *

In this guide, we define a 'midrange' hotel, broadly, as costing from $80 to $200 per night per double occupancy. In rural areas, $100 buys a princely night's sleep, but in some cities, clean budget places _start_ at $200. The same holds true for meals.

To travel on the cheap, plan on camping (sometimes free but up to $35 per night) or hostelling ($20 to $35 a night), cooking some of your own meals, and touring by bus and train, both of which limit your flexibility and are slower than driving or flying (that's not necessarily a bad thing). Be wary of budget motel come-ons; the sign might flash $39, but that's probably for a single room and doesn't include taxes. For money-saving advice on accommodations, Click here.

* * *

# HOW MUCH?

Broadway show $100-300

Major-league baseball game $27

Internet access per hour $3-12

Gallon of milk $3.35

Local payphone call 35-50¢

* * *

Traveling by car is often a necessity. A rental is a bare minimum of $30 a day (type of car, taxes, fees and insurance can push it higher), plus gas. Planning the great American road trip? Gas could actually cost more than the car itself (say, another $20 to $40 per day, depending on how far you're driving and on what kind of roads).

Families can save money by booking accommodations that don't charge extra for children staying in the same room, by asking for kids' menus at restaurants and by taking advantage of family discounts at museums, theme parks and other sights. For more on traveling with children, Click here. For discounts that everyone can use, Click here.

Don't forget that old travel chestnut: after you halve the clothes you've packed in your suitcase, double your estimated budget, and it'll all work out fine.

Return to beginning of chapter

## TRAVELING RESPONSIBLY

Since 1973, Lonely Planet has inspired readers to tread lightly, travel responsibly and enjoy the serendipitous magic of independent travel. Globally, travel is growing at a jaw-dropping rate, and we still firmly believe in the benefits it can bring. As always, we encourage you to consider the impact your visit will have on local economies, indigenous cultures and the environment, especially native ecosystems and wildlife.

In the USA, 'going green' has become trendy, and businesses of all stripes now slap 'eco' stickers on their products and services. For the traveler, determining how ecofriendly they actually are can be difficult. Throughout this guide, our authors have carefully researched and recommended ecofriendly, sustainable tourism practices (see also the GreenDex) that support environmental and conservation efforts; help preserve local, regional and ethnic identity; and/or support indigenous arts and culture, particularly that of Native Americans.

Many other resources are springing up to certify ecofriendly businesses, hotels, services, tours and outfitters, including state and local tourism bureaus. Be sure to review the listings' criteria for reliability and independence carefully. Here are a few:

**Alaska Wilderness Recreation & Tourism Association** (www.awrta.org) Resources for Native Alaska culture and arts, special events and discounts on outdoor activities.

**Alternative Hawaii** (www.alternative-hawaii.com) Ecotourism website promoting Hawaiian culture and independent ecotravel.

**Chicago Sustainable Business Alliance** (<http://csba.foresightdesign.org>) For ecotourism news, events and a 'green' business directory.

**Green Hotel Association** (www.greenhotels.com) Self-selecting pay-to-play membership, but a useful online directory nonetheless.

**Greenopia** (www.greenopia.com/USA) City guides for ecoliving in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City and more.

**Handmade in America** (www.handmadeinamerica.org) Art roads and farm trails in North Carolina.

**Hawaii Ecotourism Association** (www.hawaiiecotourism.org) Travel tips, cultural events and 'green' business listings.

**Historic Hotels of America** (www.historichotels.org) Online directory and accommodations booking from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

**offManhattan** (www.offmanhattan.com) Green travel around New York City, always accessible by public transportation.

**Travel Green Wisconsin** (www.travelgreenwisconsin.com) Comprehensive, engaging website for trip planning, from agritourism, outdoor adventures and festivals to hotels, restaurants and shops.

**Vital Communities** (www.vitalcommunities.org) Green restaurants and local farmers markets in New England's Vermont and New Hampshire.

* * *

'Sustainable tourism is about more than making'green' choices; it's a way of interacting with people and the environment as you travel'

* * *

Choosing public transportation instead of renting a car will decrease your carbon footprint. But realistically, a car is often a necessity in the USA – so, consider renting ecofriendly cars when available from national agencies such as Avis, Budget or Hertz (Click here). Also look for independent rental agencies specializing in hybrid and electric rental cars (Click here). Zipcar (Click here) is a car-sharing service now available in cities and towns in 25 states. The automobile association Better World Club (Click here) supports environmental legislation and offers ecofriendly services for members, including roadside assistance for both cars and bicycles.

While hitchhiking (Click here) is always risky, ride-sharing using online bulletin boards like **Craigslist** (CL; www.craigslist.org) is not uncommon. CL also has listings for vacation rentals and housing sublets, short-term jobs and community activities, and free classified ads for anything you might want to buy, sell or barter during your trip, whether a surfboard, bicycle or used car.

Of course, sustainable tourism is about more than making 'green' choices; it's a way of interacting with people and the environment as you travel. It's practicing low-impact hiking and camping (Click here). It's volunteering during your vacation (Click here). It's also learning about indigenous cultures and understanding the challenges they face today. For more on US environmental issues, Click here and check out the following:

**Climatecrisis.net** (www.climatecrisis.net) Official website for the documentary _An Inconvenient Truth;_ offers carbon-offset programs, advice and information.

**National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations** (www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/sustainable) Promotes 'geotourism' with webcams, digital images, maps, blogs and online traveler resources.

**Sierra Club** (www.sierraclub.org) Environmental and conservation news, political activism, group hikes and volunteer vacations.

* * *

# SCENIC DRIVES

A road trip can't exist without roads. Here are 10 doozies. Frankly, we had to arm wrestle over our favorites, so consider this list _very_ incomplete. Turn to the USA Road Trips (Click here) and Itineraries (Click here) chapters for more. For America's 'official' scenic drives, visit www.byways.org.

  1. Pacific Coast Hwy (Hwy 1), California: officially, just 42 miles through Orange County (Click here); for the full Mexico–Canada trip, Click here
  2. Route 66: 2400 miles from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California (Click here)
  3. Blue Ridge Parkway: 469 miles from Shenandoah National Park (VA; Click here), to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (NC; (Click here)
  4. Great River Road: 2000 miles from Lake Itasca, Minnesota, to New Orleans, Louisiana (Click here)
  5. Overseas Hwy (Hwy 1), Florida: 160 miles from Miami to Key West (Click here)
  6. Hana Hwy (Hwy 360), Maui, Hawaii: 38 miles from Pauwela to Hana (Click here)
  7. Natchez Trace Parkway: 444 miles from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi (Click here)
  8. Hwy 12, Utah: 110 miles from Torrey to Bryce Canyon National Park (Click here)
  9. Columbia River Hwy (Hwy 30), Oregon: 74 miles from Troutdale to the Dalles (Click here)
  10. Turquoise Trail (Hwy 14), New Mexico: 45 miles from Tijeras to Santa Fe (Click here)

# PARTIES & PARADES

Americans will use any excuse to party. Seriously. Here are 10 festivals worth planning a trip around. For more, browse the destination chapters, Click here and Click here, and visit www.festivals.com.

  1. Mardi Gras, New Orleans, Louisiana, February/early March (Click here)
  2. Mummers Parade, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Year's Day (Click here)
  3. National Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington, DC, late March/April (Click here)
  4. Conch Republic Independence Celebration, Key West, Florida, April (Click here)
  5. Fiesta San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, mid-April (Click here)
  6. Gullah Festival, Beaufort, South Carolina, late May (Click here)
  7. Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, early June (Click here)
  8. SF Gay Pride Month, San Francisco, California, June (Click here)
  9. St Paul Winter Carnival, St Paul, Minnesota, late January (Click here)
  10. Burning Man Festival, Black Rock Desert, Nevada, late August/early September (Click here)

# BIZARRE LODGINGS

From haunted mansions to wacky themed rooms, and futuristic ecobubbles to retro concrete tipis, Americans seem to like a little variety when they hit the pillow. To break up the motel monotony, try these 10 places. For more accommodations tips, Click here.

  1. Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo, California (Click here)
  2. Earthship Rentals, Taos, New Mexico (Click here)
  3. Queen Mary Hotel, Long Beach, California (Click here)
  4. Wigwam Village Inn, Cave City, Kentucky (Click here)
  5. Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado (Click here)
  6. Pelican Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida (Click here)
  7. Arcosanti, Phoenix, Arizona (Click here)
  8. Myrtles Planatation, St Francisville, Louisiana (Click here)
  9. Belfry Inne, Sandwich, Massachusetts (Click here)
  10. Covington Inn, St Paul, Minnesota (Click here)

# OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

You can satisfy your jonesing for an adrenaline rush from coast to coast, whether on foot, bicycle or boat, while high in the sky or under the sea. For more about the USA's great outdoors, turn to Click here. For national park adventures.

  1. Trekking the epic Appalachian Trail through 14 states (Click here)
  2. Kayaking the icy waters of Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, Alaska (Click here)
  3. Climbing Mt Rainier, Washington (Click here)
  4. Scuba diving and snorkeling at Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida(Click here)
  5. Hiking the Narrows of the Virgin River in Zion National Park, Utah (Click here)
  6. Canoeing the Boundary Waters, Minnesota (Click here)
  7. Watching lava flow around Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii (Click here)
  8. White-water rafting the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho (Click here)
  9. Cycling through Northern California's wine country (Click here)
  10. Surfing the waves off Southern California's Huntington Beach (Click here)

# SMALL TOWNS

Forget NYC, DC, LA and just about anywhere else with an initialism, because it's small towns that will give you the real scoop on American life. So, go on. Get to know the locals and find out why they are proud to call these blink-and-you'll-miss-them blips on the map home.

  1. Key West, Florida (Click here)
  2. Montpelier, Vermont (Click here)
  3. Luckenbach, Texas (Click here)
  4. Seward, Alaska (Click here)
  5. Telluride, Colorado (Click here)
  6. Hilo, Hawai'i the Big Island (Click here)
  7. Bisbee, Arizona (Click here)
  8. Bozeman, Montana (Click here)
  9. Ocean Springs, Mississippi (Click here)
  10. Grand Marais, Minnesota (Click here)

# MICROBREWERIES

Here's proof that the liquid lunch exists in America, especially out West. You'll also find good suds up and down the East Coast, deep into the South, across the Midwest and the Great Plains, and even in far-flung Alaska. Once you've gulped down these 10, peruse www.beerinfo.com for more microbreweries and brewpubs in all 50 states.

  1. Ska Brewing Company, Durango, Colorado (Click here)
  2. Abita Brewery, Abita Springs, Louisiana (Click here)
  3. Lost Coast Brewery, Eureka, California (Click here)
  4. Magic Hat Brewery, Burlington, Vermont (Click here)
  5. Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery, Boulder, Colorado (Click here)
  6. Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Click here)
  7. Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland, Oregon (Click here)
  8. Haines Brewing Company, Haines, Alaska (Click here)
  9. Free State Brewing, Lawrence, Kansas (Click here)
  10. Spoetzl Brewery, Texas (Click here)

# FOODIE PILGRIMAGES

McDonald who?! In contemporary, food-obsessed America, Iron Chefs do battle on TV's Food Network and gastronomic wunderkinds attain the celebrity status of Hollywood stars. It's worth detouring to these 10 culinary temples. For tastebud-tempting regional specialties, Click here. For cooking schools, Click here.

  1. French Laundry, Yountville, California (Click here)
  2. Chez Panisse, Berkeley, California (Click here)
  3. Mat and Naddie's, New Orleans, Louisiana (Click here)
  4. Alinea, Chicago, Illinois (Click here)
  5. Daniel, New York City, New York (Click here)
  6. Alan Wong's, Honolulu, Hawaii (Click here)
  7. FIG, Charleston, South Carolina (Click here)
  8. Arthur Bryant's, Kansas City, Missouri (Click here)
  9. Azul, Miami, Florida (Click here)
  10. Hugo's, Portland, Maine (Click here)

# SPOTS FOR SOLITUDE

When the USA's more than 306 million residents and 50 million other tourists cause claustrophobia and just make you want to scream, escape to these places. For the USA's most uncrowded national parks.

  1. Death Valley National Park, California (Click here)
  2. Ka'ena Point, O'ahu, Hawaii (Click here)
  3. North Cascades National Park, Washington (Click here)
  4. Race Point Beach, Provincetown, Massachusetts (Click here)
  5. Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness, Montana (Click here)
  6. Hwy 2 through the Sandhills, Nebraska (Click here)
  7. South Manitou Island, Michigan (Click here)
  8. Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas (Click here)
  9. Little Palm Island, Florida Keys (Click here)
  10. Portsmouth Island, North Carolina (Click here)

# LANDMARK BUILDINGS

From skyscraping towers and sprawling private estates to postmodern urban icons, the building blocks of this nation are diverse. Many of these 10 are instantly recognizable worldwide, too, thanks to Hollywood. For more about the USA's groundbreaking architecture, Click here.

  1. Empire State Building, New York City, New York (Click here)
  2. White House, Washington, DC (Click here)
  3. Willis Tower, Chicago, Illinois (Click here)
  4. Monticello, Virginia (Click here)
  5. Fallingwater, Pennsylvania (Click here) – or anything else by Frank Lloyd Wright (see the boxed text, Click here)
  6. Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California (Click here)
  7. Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina (Click here)
  8. Space Needle, Seattle, Washington (Click here)
  9. 'Iolani Palace, Honolulu, Hawaii (Click here)
  10. Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada (Click here)

# MOVIE & TV LOCATIONS

Even if it's your first time traveling in the USA, you might feel some déjà vu when you see these 10 locations, made famous by Hollywood on the silver screen. For more recommended made-in-America films, Click here. For TV, Click here.

  1. Los Angeles, California (Click here) – just about everywhere in the city!
  2. O'ahu's North Shore, Hawaii (Click here) – as seen on TV's _Lost_ and _Baywatch_
  3. National Mall, Washington, DC (Click here) – as seen in thrillers, spy movies and disaster flicks
  4. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Navajo Nation (Click here) – as seen in classic Westerns such as _Stagecoach_ and _The Searchers_
  5. Alabama Hills, California (Click here) – as seen in even more Westerns such as _High Sierra_
  6. Mt Rushmore, South Dakota (Click here) – as seen in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest
  7. Missoula, Montana (Click here) – as seen in A River Runs Through It
  8. Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah (Click here) – as seen in the Mission Impossible II opening and Thelma & Louise finale
  9. Union Station, Chicago, Illinois (Click here) – as seen in The Untouchables
  10. Timberline Lodge, Mt Hood, Oregon (Click here) – as seen in Stanley Kubrick's _The Shining_

# BEACHES

So, you already know that California, Hawaii and Florida have drop-dead gorgeous beaches? Fine. But what about Texas, Alaska and Chicago? See, we knew we could still surprise you. Here are 10 gems you might not know about, and there are hundreds more waiting to be discovered: just go find 'em.

  1. DT Fleming Beach Park, Maui, Hawaii (Click here)
  2. Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts (Click here)
  3. Padre Island National Seashore, Corpus Christi, Texas (Click here)
  4. Siesta Key Beach, Sarasota, Florida (Click here)
  5. Assateague Island National Seashore, Berlin, Maryland (Click here)
  6. Point Lobos State Reserve, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California (Click here)
  7. Cumberland Island National Seashore, St Marys, Georgia (Click here)
  8. Fire Island National Seashore, Long Island, New York (Click here)
  9. North Avenue Beach, Chicago, Illinois (Click here)
  10. Golden Sands Beach, Nome, Alaska (Click here)

# HISTORICAL SITES

Tangled, embattled, bittersweet and triumphant – that's the USA's history in a nutshell (Click here). At these 10 sites you can walk in the footsteps of giants, including Native Americans, Western explorers and modern civil-rights activists. For more destination-worthy historic sites and itineraries.

  1. Historic Triangle, Virginia (Click here)
  2. Freedom Trail, Boston, Massachussetts (Click here)
  3. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Skagway, Alaska (Click here)
  4. Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (Click here)
  5. Lewis & Clark National Historical Park, Oregon (Click here)
  6. Mission San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California (Click here)
  7. The Alamo, San Antonio, Texas (Click here)
  8. Brown vs Board of Education National Historic Site, Kansas (Click here)
  9. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado (Click here)
  10. Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, Hawaii (Click here)

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## TRAVEL LITERATURE

The American travelogue is its own literary genre. One could argue that the first (and still the best) is _Democracy in America_ (1835), by Alexis de Tocqueville, who wandered around talking to folks, then in pithy fashion distilled the philosophical underpinnings of the then-new American experiment.

America is often most vividly described by non-Americans: two Russian satirists road-tripped during the Great Depression searching for the 'real America' (doesn't everyone?), and their _Ilf and Petrov's American Road Trip_ (1935) is a comic masterpiece laced with pungent critiques.

* * *

'Perhaps the most famous American travelogue is Jack Kerouac's headlong On the Road'

* * *

Those who prefer their commentary and humor, like their coffee, bitter and black should stuff _The Air-Conditioned Nightmare_ (1945) by Henry Miller in their backpack, written while the irascible and notoriously obscene writer canvassed America during WWII.

Celebrated travel writer and historian Jan Morris was clearly smitten with the country in _Coast to Coast_ (1956), originally titled _As I Saw the USA;_ it's crisp, elegant and poignant, particularly her experience in the pre-Civil Rights–era South.

Perhaps the most famous American travelogue is Jack Kerouac's headlong _On the Road_ (1957), a Beat Generation classic that's full of hot jazz, poetry and drugs in post-WWII America.

John Steinbeck's _Travels with Charley_ (1962), about the novelist's trek across America with his poodle for company, takes a critical look at how technology, tradition and prejudice have shaped the regional character of this country.

Written during a crossroads in midlife, William Least Heat-Moon's _Blue Highways_ (1982) is a moving pastiche of 'average Americans' as it follows one man's attempt to find himself by losing himself on the road.

Not strictly a travelogue, _On the Rez_ (2000), by Ian Frazier, provides a good taste of contemporary life on Native American reservations. It's a journey of history and heart that goes into America, rather than across it.

Click here for more on American literature.

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## INTERNET RESOURCES

**Away.com** (www.away.com) Boundless ideas for outdoor and urban adventure travel across the 50 states, from Hawaii's beaches to Boston's Freedom **Trail.Festivals.com** (www.festivals.com) From coast to coast, find where the best parties are – live-music shows, food fiestas and even more unlikely celebrations, such as of pirates and covered bridges.

**Lonely Planet** (www.lonelyplanet.com) Travel news and summaries, savvy hotel and hostel reviews, the Thorn Tree community forum, and links to more web resources.

**New York Times Travel** (<http://travel.nytimes.com>) Travel news, practical advice and features including 36-hour city breaks and authentic 'American Journeys.'

**Roadside America** (www.roadsideamerica.com) For all things weird and wacky: who needs the Statue of Liberty when you've got 'Muffler Men' and 'Mega-Messiahs'?!

**USA.gov** (www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Travel.shtml) The closest thing to a national tourism information resource, on the US federal government's official website.

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# Itineraries

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CLASSIC ROUTES

CITIES BY THE SEA Two to Three Weeks / Boston to Maryland

THE LEFT COAST Two to Three Weeks / Portland to San Diego

WESTERN MIGRATIONS Three to Four Weeks / Chicago to Seattle

GO EAST, YOUNG MAN One Month to Six Weeks / San Francisco to Miami

ROADS LESS TRAVELED

BLUES & BBQ Two to Three Weeks / Chicago to New Orleans

THE FOUR CORNERS Ten Days to Two Weeks / Flagstaff to Moab

SAILORS, FARMERS & DAMN YANKEES Ten Days to Two Weeks / New York City to Acadia National Park

THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE Three to Four Weeks / Albuquerque to Glacier National Park

ALASKA'S INSIDE PASSAGE One to Three Weeks / Bellingham to Skagway

TAILORED TRIPS

DUDE, THAT'S WEIRD

BOOZIN' ACROSS THE USA

ISLAND HOPPING

WE'RE HERE, WE'RE QUEER

* * *

# CLASSIC ROUTES

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## CITIES BY THE SEA Two to Three Weeks / Boston to Maryland

**Why are East Coasters so stressed out? Because eastern seaboard highways couldn't be more congested. So why on earth do this road trip? Slow down, avoid rush hour, hit the beaches often, and for 1100 detour-laden miles, it's one first-class metropolis after another.**

The nice thing about East Coast metropolises? They're near the beach! Here you can balance culture, history and cuisine with coastal idylls and long naps in the sun.

Arrive in revolutionary **Boston** (Click here), then go to sandy **Cape Cod** (Click here), and keep going till you reach **Provincetown** (Click here), where the Pilgrims landed. Pretty, ain't it? Then scoot down I-195 to Rhode Island's quaint **Newport** (Click here); time your visit for a music festival.

Now, tackle **New York City** (Click here). Once you've had your fill of the bustling Big Apple, escape to the **Hamptons** (Click here) on Long Island; what was the hurry, again?

In New Jersey, go 'down the shore' to **Long Beach Island** (Click here), and if you're a casino gambler, **Atlantic City** (Click here) and its boardwalk.

Then, make time for **Philadelphia** (Click here), **Baltimore** (Click here), and **Washington, DC** (Click here).

Finally, cross Chesapeake Bay and relax on Maryland's **Eastern Shore** (Click here).

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## THE LEFT COAST Two to Three Weeks / Portland to San Diego

**Let's see. In 1550 miles, is there eco-friendly outdoor adventure? Check. Microbrews and fine wines? Check. Heart-stopping forests and mountains? Check. Legendary coastal drives? Check. Freaks, visionaries and radicals? Check. Surf beaches, gourmet cuisine, cutting-edge art, multicultural cities? You bet! Welcome to the West Coast.**

Geographically and politically, the West Coast couldn't be further from Washington, DC. This is a trip for those who lean left, and who like their nature ancient and wild, and their horizons and beaches wide-open.

Affable **Portland** (Click here) is a pretty place to start. Then jump into nature's bounty by driving east along the **Columbia River Gorge** (Click here). At The Dalles, turn south and make for **Mt Hood** (Click here) for winter skiing and summer hiking. From **Bend** (Click here), enjoy Cascades adventures around **Sisters** (Click here) and **Crater Lake** (Click here). Catch a Shakespearian play in sunny **Ashland** (Click here), then trade the mountains for the foggy coast. Enter California via Hwy 199 and magnificent **Redwood National & State Parks** (Click here).

Hug the coast as it meanders south through funky **Arcata** andseaside **Eureka** (Click here), get lost on the **Lost Coast** (Click here), then catch Hwy 1 through quaint **Mendocino** (Click here).

Make your way inland to the **Napa & Sonoma Valleys** (Click here) for a wash-up and wine tasting, and thence to the romantically hilly, bohemian burg of **San Francisco** (Click here).

Return to scenic **Hwy 1** (Click here) through weird **Santa Cruz** (Click here), bayfront **Monterey** (Click here) and beatnik-flavored **Big Sur** (Click here), where you can get scruffy again. In no time you'll reach **Hearst Castle** (Click here) and laid-back, collegiate **San Luis Obispo** (Click here).

Roll into Mediterranean-esque **Santa Barbara** (Click here), then hop aboard a ferry in Ventura to the wildlife-rich **Channel Islands** (Click here) At last, **Los Angeles** (Click here) – aka LA, La-la Land, City of Angels. Go ahead, indulge your fantasies of **Hollywood** (Click here) and gawk at the beautiful people of the **OC** (Click here) before kicking back in **San Diego** (Click here).

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## WESTERN MIGRATIONS Three to Four Weeks / Chicago to Seattle

**From Midwest to Wild West to New West: this route is a 3400-mile meditation on America's evolving final frontier. Only by seeing the West's endless plains, towering mountains and rugged coastline for yourself can you begin to understand its inhabitants' singular multiple personalities.**

'The West' is not one thing. It's a panoply of landscapes and personalities that unfold as you journey west from the past into the future. No single route could capture it all, but this stretch of I-90 is book-ended by world-class cities and packed with heartbreakingly beautiful country.

**Chicago** (Click here) – aka Second City, the Windy City – is the Midwest's greatest city. Follow I-90 to youthful **Madison** (Click here) and quirky **US 12** (Click here) to dispel any myths about Midwestern sobriety.

Detour north to friendly, arty **Minneapolis** (Click here) for more Midwest liberalism. Return to I-90 and activate cruise control, admiring the corn (and the **Corn Palace** , Click here) and the flat, flat South Dakota plains. See why lonely Westerners go stir crazy?

Hit the brakes for the **Badlands National Park** (Click here) and plunge into the Wild West. In the **Black Hills** (Click here), contemplate competing monuments at **Mt Rushmore** (Click here) and **Crazy Horse** (Click here). Watch mythic gunfights in **Deadwood** (Click here) and visit **Pine Ridge Indian Reservation** (Click here).

Halfway across Wyoming, cruise Hwy 14 into **Cody** (Click here) to catch a summer rodeo. Save time for the wild majesty and wildlife of **Yellowstone National Park** (Click here) and **Grand Teton National Park** (Click here).

Through rural Montana, the outdoorsy towns of **Bozeman** (Click here) and **Missoula** (Click here) make fun stops. For serious adventure, detour to **Glacier National Park** (Click here) and the **Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex** (Click here).

Back on I-90 in Washington, stop in unassuming **Spokane** (Click here) and end in **Seattle** (Click here), which embodies the high-tech, ecoconscious New West. Still got time? Take in **Mt Rainier** (Click here), **Olympic National Park** (Click here), and the **San Juan Islands** (Click here). Ah, bliss.

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## GO EAST, YOUNG MAN One Month to Six Weeks / San Francisco to Miami

**Cruising from coast to coast, ocean to ocean, sunrise to sunset (or in this case, vice versa) – it's 4500 miles, give or take. Some do it in weeks, others take months. There's no right or wrong, no rules, no 'best' route, really. Just go!**

For those contemplating an epic coast-to-coast road trip, here's a suggestion: start in San Francisco and head toward the rising sun. This route snags some seriously cool cities and classic American scenery, but be warned: it'll be _hot_ come July and August.

From anything-goes **San Francisco** (Click here), head for **Yosemite National Park** (Click here) and **Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks** (Click here) in the Sierra Nevada – now that's scenery! Skirt the **Mojave National Preserve** (Click here) on I-15 and head for **Las Vegas** (Click here), baby. Stop at **Grand Canyon National Park** (Click here) for a photo-op, rattle along Route 66 through **Williams** (Click here) and **Flagstaff** (Click here), detour to red-rock **Sedona** (Click here), then roll east on I-40.

In New Mexico, unlike Bugs Bunny, take that left at **Albuquerque** (Click here) along the **Turquoise Trail** (Click here) up to artsy **Santa Fe** (Click here) and far-out **Taos** (Click here). Drop south on I-25 through scenic **Southwestern New Mexico** (Click here).

Pick up I-10 into Texas, dip through **Marfa** (Click here) and jaw-dropping **Big Bend National Park** (Click here). Saunter through Texas' bucolic **Hill Country** (Click here) to **Austin** (Click here) for live music and drinkin'. Follow the Mission Trail in **San Antonio** (Click here), hit the beach at **Galveston Island** (Click here) outside **Houston** (Click here). Giddy-up for party-central, **New Orleans** (Click here), then keep dancing and eatin' in **Cajun Country** (Click here).

Explore the **Florida Panhandle** (Click here) beaches. Inland, **Walt Disney World** (Click here) must be seen to be believed. Along the Gulf Coast, enjoy **St Petersburg** (Click here), clown around in **Sarasota** (Click here) and see seashells at **Sanibel & Captiva Islands** (Click here). Bisect the alligator-filled swamps of the **Everglades** (Click here) and arrive in **Miami** (Click here). With a beach, a mojito and some Cuban fare, party till sunrise!

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# ROADS LESS TRAVELED

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## BLUES & BBQ Two to Three Weeks / Chicago to New Orleans

**Much of the epic, legendary, even revolutionary history of homegrown American music can be experienced along this 1100-mile stretch running (mostly) alongside the Mississippi River. Throw in a 425-mile side trip to Nashville, and you've got the musical – and gastronomic – journey of a lifetime.**

The Mississippi River marks a physical and psychological divide, and along this spine runs America's greatest music: blues, jazz, and rock and roll. Hwy 61 is the heart of the route, which starts in soulful **Chicago** (Click here), legendary home of Chess Records, home of true-blue Mississippi Delta musicians who migrated northward, along with rhythm and blues (R & B) and early rock and roll. Scarf down a plate of juicy barbecued ribs before speeding downstate on I-55.

You'll meet the mighty Mississippi River in **St Louis** (Click here), which bills itself as the 'Home of the Blues,' though original rock-and-roller Chuck Berry still plays here, too. Order up pork steaks slow-cooked in St Louis' signature barbecue sauce. Motor south to **Memphis** (Click here). Pay homage to Elvis Presley at Graceland and rock and roll at Sun Studio. Smoked, dry-rubbed racks of ribs are a must. For even more of a musical pilgrimage, detour on I-40 to **Nashville** (Click here), the home of country music – and yes, lip-smackin' spicy fried chicken. South of Memphis, Hwy 61 runs through the **Mississippi Delta** (Click here), where the blues was born: **Clarksdale** (Click here) is where Robert Johnson bargained with the devil. The town's still jumpin' with blues joints and roadside shacks dishing up wood-smoked pit barbecue with vinegary slaw.

Finally, you'll arrive at **New Orleans** (Click here), birthplace of jazz. The 'Big Easy,' despite recent hard times (Click here), is a place where lazy mornings blend into late nights with a soundtrack of smokin' hot funk brass bands, and succulent Cajun and Creole food always at hand.

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## THE FOUR CORNERS Ten Days to Two Weeks / Flagstaff to Moab

**Deep canyons, deserts painted a rainbow, crumbling buttes, delicate sandstone arches, pueblo-topped mesas, ancient civilizations hidden in the cliffs – you really can't make this stuff up. To see it all requires almost 1000 brutal miles of slow, sun-baked roads, and it's worth every saddle sore.**

A stronghold of Native American lands and traditions, the center of the Southwest is actually not a circle, but a square. The Four Corners – where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meet – is a gorgeously remote, wild region that you could lose yourself in for weeks, or even months.

Kick up your heels in Old West frontier-flavored **Flagstaff** (Click here), then take Hwy 180 north to tackle the vast **Grand Canyon** (Click here), or detour west along Route 66 to visit the **Hualapai** (Click here) and **Havasupai** (Click here) tribal nations first.

Traveling east of the Grand Canyon's South Rim (Click here) on Hwy 264, you'll enter the sacred **Hopi Mesas** (Click here), bordering the vast **Navajo Nation** (Click here), which is networked by rugged roads and tribal parks protecting pockets of wilderness. Head east of **Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site** (Click here) on Hwy 264, then north on Hwy 191 to **Canyon de Chelly National Monument** (Click here).

Drive west on lonely Hwy 160, then take your natural wonder north on Hwy 163 through the classic Hollywood Western scenery of **Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park** (Click here). Rest and refuel in **Bluff** (Click here), then take Hwy 191 south and Hwy 160 east for an irresistibly kitschy photo-op – yes, you can put your hands and feet in four states at once! – at the **Four Corners Monument** (Click here).

Keep going east on Hwy 160 to hilltop **Mesa Verde National Park** (Click here), with its famous cliff dwellings, then zoom north on Hwy 491 then 191 to **Moab** (Click here), a sporty outdoor-adventure mecca and the gateway to the ancient earth of **Arches National Park** (Click here) and wilder **Canyonlands National Park** (Click here).

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## SAILORS, FARMERS & DAMN YANKEES Ten Days to Two Weeks / New York City to Acadia National Park

**Never experienced fall in New England? Tired of hearing everyone blather on about it? Time this 1000-mile trip right, and you'll join the proselytizers. Heck, it's gorgeous any season: the chowder fills your belly, the maritime air stirs your blood, and that damn Yankee ingenuity is a marvel.**

This is a good spring or summer trip, but in early fall – wow! Autumn dresses New England in auburn and scarlet, and the air is so crisp you can bite it. Stalwart, fiercely independent personalities settled this region, a mix of rugged wilderness, tidy towns and fruitful farms.

Launch in **New York City** (Click here); soak up the excitement, the cacophony, the crowds. When you're ready, rent a car and head north on I-87. Dip into the **Catskills** (Click here) along Hwy 28 for a first taste of forests, then continue north for the real deal: the **Adirondacks** (Click here). Settle in for a few days at **Lake Placid** (Click here) and explore the wilderness.

Take the ferry across Vermont's Lake Champlain to youthful, outdoorsy **Burlington** (Click here), a vibrant introduction to New England. The **Lake Champlain Islands** (Click here) are splendid. Take I-89 southeast, stopping at the four-seasons resorts of **Stowe** (Click here). From **Montpelier** (Click here), America's smallest capital city, take Hwy 302 east into New Hampshire. Hwy 302 runs into Hwy 112, the **Kancamagus Hwy** (Click here), perhaps the prettiest drive in New England, through the magnificent **White Mountains** (Click here): waterfalls, hikes and quaint villages abound. At Hwy 16, go south to historic, maritime **Portsmouth** (Click here).

Now follow I-95 into Maine. Lively **Portland** (Click here) has foodie-worthy eats. From Hwy 1, meander the **Central Maine Coast** (Click here): you're hunting clam chowder, fresh lobster and nautical ports to let loose your inner sailor. Visit **Boothbay Harbor** (Click here) for fresh-off-the-boat lobster, and **Camden** (Click here) for memorable **windjammer cruises** (Click here).

Finally, book yourself a historic inn at **Bar Harbor** (Click here) and dive into the unspoiled splendor of **Acadia National Park** (Click here).

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## THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE Three to Four Weeks / Albuquerque to Glacier National Park

**Work hard, play hard – or at least, play hard. Name it, and you can probably do it in the Rocky Mountains. This 2150-mile route is built for those who don't want to just admire nature, but roll around in it, then swap stories over beer.**

On one side rivers run east, on the other, west. You'll trace the mountains in between, finding constant excuses to ditch the car and hike, climb, raft, bike, ski and get dirty.

Start in **Albuquerque** (Click here) and take the **Turquoise Trail** (Hwy 14; Click here) to genteel **Santa Fe** (Click here). Between here and trippy **Taos** (Click here), check out Native American **pueblos** (Click here), atomic **Los Alamos** (Click here) and the spectacular scenery of **Bandelier National Monument** (Click here).

Follow Hwy 84 through **Chama** (Click here) into Colorado. Enjoy bikes and brews in **Durango** (Click here). Take the 'Million Dollar Hwy' (Hwy 550) north, stopping in **Silverton** (Click here); for hot springs in **Ouray** (Click here); and a quick detour to gorgeous **Telluride** (Click here). Then go east on Hwy 50, through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and north on Hwy 24 to ritzy **Vail** (Click here).

Relax a spell in laid-back **Boulder** (Click here) and **Rocky Mountain National Park** (Click here). For time's sake, stay north on I-25, and in Wyoming, take I-80 west to Hwy 287: follow this to **Lander** (Click here) for rock climbing. Now get thee to **Grand Teton National Park** (Click here) and **Yellowstone National Park** (Click here).

In Montana, take Hwy 89 north and I-90 west to **Bozeman** (Click here) and **Missoula** (Click here), both fun places to stock up before the final push. Serious nature awaits in the **Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex** (Click here) and **Glacier National Park** (Click here).

And really, there's no reason not to keep following the Rocky Mountains right into Canada – but that's a story for another book.

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## ALASKA'S INSIDE PASSAGE One to Three Weeks / Bellingham to Skagway

**A trip through Alaska's Inside Passage is proof that Mother Nature is one wild woman. Awesome doesn't begin to describe it. Calving glaciers, forests thick as night, pods of whales, trees full of eagles: it's one of the most memorable trips ever.**

You can take a car along, but if you are looking for an unforgettable journey that doesn't involve an automobile, cruise Alaska's Inside Passage. In summer, the Alaska Marine Highway ferries stop at towns nearly every day, and with advance notice you can get on and off at every one, just as long as you keep traveling in the same direction. Click here for ferry information.

Fly into **Seattle** (Click here), Washington, and linger awhile or take a shuttle directly to **Bellingham** (Click here), where you catch the Alaska Marine Highway ferry. The first stop is characterful **Ketchikan** (Click here), where you can zip-line down to watch wild bears feeding on salmon midstream. It might be worth renting a car once you land on **Prince of Wales Island** (Click here), the third-largest island in the USA and a haven for mountain biking, kayaking, caving and seeking out Alaska Native petroglyphs.

**Wrangell** (Click here) has an impressive collection of totems on Chief Shakes Island, while pretty **Petersburg** (Click here) has Norwegian pride and great seafood. Rich with Russian heritage and beautifully situated, **Sitka** (Click here) shouldn't be missed. Busy **Juneau** (Click here) is Alaska's capital, and from there it's easy to get close to magnificent **Mendenhall Glacier** (Click here) or take a tram from the dock to the timberline.

**Haines** (Click here) is another sizable town, full of gold mining, missionary and trading post history, with a Native arts center. Historic **Skagway** (Click here) is the end of the line: it's a well-preserved, atmospheric version of its once-lawless gold-rush self.

You can also fly into or out of Juneau, or make it a round-trip and take the ferry back to Bellingham.

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# TAILORED TRIPS

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## DUDE, THAT'S WEIRD

Combine fierce independence with a vast landscape and what you get are lotsa crazies giving free rein to their obsessions. Call it kitschy 'Americana.' You've probably heard of the biggies (ahem, Las Vegas); here are some others.

First, what's up with Stonehenge? Modern, personal iterations include Nebraska's **Carhenge** (Click here). Even Florida's megalomaniacal **Coral Castle** (Click here) has been nicknamed 'America's Stonehenge.' Or maybe you're looking for the world's largest... **ball of twine** (Click here)? Or **chair** (Click here)? Perhaps the **world's tallest filing cabinet** (Click here) or **world's biggest dinosaurs** (Click here)?

For sublime examples of 'outsider' folk art, aim for **Lucas** (Click here) in Kansas; California's **Salvation Mountain** (Click here); **Dr Evermor's Sculpture Park** (Click here) in Wisconsin; and Texas' **Beer Can House** (Click here) and **Cadillac Ranch** (Click here).

Sometimes Americans dress up madness and call it a 'museum.' What do _you_ make of the **Spam Museum** (Click here), the **Hobo Museum** (Click here), **Stark's Vacuum Museum** (Click here) or the **Trash Museum** (Click here)?

Americans celebrate strangely too. Show up for the **Interstate Mullet Toss** (Click here) and **Cow Chip Throw** (Click here), then cheer on the galumphing dromedaries at Nevada's **Virginia City International Camel Races** (Click here).

Finally, if the folks on the ground aren't alien enough for you, look for the outer-space kind along Nevada's Extraterrestrial Hwy outside **Area 51** (Click here).

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## BOOZIN' ACROSS THE USA

Americans like to drink. The US Constitution's 21st Amendment – which ended a 14-year dry spell called Prohibition – establishes the right of every adult over the age of 21 to drink legally, even emphatically. Americans are quite good at making the stuff, too.

Most states tout their 'wine countries' these days, and it ain't all bunkum. California's **Napa** and **Sonoma Valleys** (Click here) are justifiably famous, but don't neglect **Santa Barbara** (Click here) or rural **Anderson Valley** (Click here). Other regions for tippling include **Willamette Valley** (OR; Click here), **Walla Walla** (WA; Click here), **Finger Lakes** (NY; Click here), Long Island's **North Fork** (NY; Click here), **Charlottesville** (VA; Click here) and the **Hill Country** (TX; Click here). Cowboys knocking back syrah? Hell yeah.

Americans have been brewing beer since before the Revolutionary War. Despite being the home of lightweight major-label beers, **Milwaukee** (Click here) remains a beer-lover's destination, and so is **Chicago** (Click here). But the microbrewery renaissance began way out West: notable brewmeister cities include **Portland** (Click here), **Seattle** (Click here), **Boulder** (Click here), **Durango** (Click here) and **Missoula** (Click here). In California, the **North Coast** (Click here) is doused in good homemade suds. Those who prefer the hard stuff should make time for Kentucky's **Bourbon Trail** (Click here), a genteel Southern experience.

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## ISLAND HOPPING

Everybody wants to go straight across the USA, but traveling around it might make an even better trip. Start at Maine's **Acadia National Park** (Click here) for a sunrise hike. Then go to historic **Martha's Vineyard** (Click here), from where it's a quick tack to the USA's most famous island, **Manhattan** (Click here). Off the Virginia coast is **Chincoteague Island** (Click here), famous for its wild horses, and off North Carolina are the **Outer Banks** (Click here) and **Cape Hatteras National Seashore** (Click here). Farther south off the coast of Georgia lie the Golden Isles (Click here), where **Cumberland Island** (Click here) is an unspoiled paradise.

Florida boasts **Amelia Island** (Click here), the string-of-pearls **Florida Keys** (Click here), the islands of **Dry Tortugas National Park** (Click here) and lush, tropical **Sanibel and Captiva Islands** (Click here).

Along the Gulf of Mexico is the Texas resort town of **Galveston** (Click here and gorgeously wild **Padre Island National Seashore** (Click here) – not to be confused with **South Padre Island** (Click here), where 'gorgeous and wild' describes the spring-break party scene.

Sail through the Panama Canal or go overland to California, where **Catalina Island** (Click here) has Mediterranean flavor, and **Channel Islands National Park** (Click here) is 'California's Galápagos.' Keep going to Washington's **San Juan Islands** (Click here) and from there to the islands of Alaska's **Inside Passage** (Click here). Finally, don't forget **Hawaii** (Click here)!

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## WE'RE HERE, WE'RE QUEER

It's never been a better time to be gay in the USA. GLBT travelers will find lots of places where they can be themselves without thinking twice. Naturally, beaches and big cities typically are the gayest destinations.

**Manhattan** (Click here) is too crowded and cosmopolitan to worry about who's holding hands, while **Fire Island** (Click here) is the sandy gay mecca on Long Island. Other East Coast cities that flaunt it are **Boston** (Click here), **Philadelphia** (Click here), **Washington, DC** (Click here), Massachusetts' **Provincetown** (Click here) and Delaware's **Rehoboth Beach** (Click here). Why even Maine brags a gay beach destination: **Ogunquit** (Click here).

In the South, there's always steamy **'Hotlanta'** (Click here) and Texas gets darn-right gay-friendly in **Austin** (Click here) and parts of **Houston** (Click here). In Florida, **Miami** (Click here) and the 'Conch Republic' of **Key West** (Click here) support thriving gay communities, though **Fort Lauderdale** (Click here) attracts bronzed boys and girls too. Of course, everyone gets their freak on in **New Orleans** (Click here).

In the Midwest, seek out **Chicago** (Click here) and **Minneapolis** (Click here). You will have heard of **San Francisco** (Click here), the happiest gay city in America, and what can gays and lesbians do in **Los Angeles** (Click here) and **Las Vegas** (Click here)? Hmmm, just about anything. In fact, when LA or Vegas gets to be too much, flee to the desert resorts of **Palm Springs** (Click here).

Lastly, for an island idyll, **Hawaii** (Click here) is generally gay-friendly, especially in **Waikiki** (Click here

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# USA Road Trips

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ROUTE 66

PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

THE GRAND CIRCLE

GREAT RIVER ROAD

SOUTH FROM DC TO THE SUNSHINE STATE

ALSO WORTH A SPIN

* * *

Fill up the gas tank and buckle up. Everyone knows road-tripping is the ultimate way to experience America. You can drive up, down, across, around or straight through every state on the map. (OK, maybe not Hawaii, but even that remote Polynesian archipelago has some stunning drives – as does far-flung Alaska.) Revel in yesteryear Route 66 or the dramatic Pacific Coast Highway, or carve your own path through the Appalachian Mountains, cruising alongside the Mississippi River and around the Native American tribal lands of the Southwest. Those 'in-between' are places where you'll find the real America.

* * *

RoadTrip America (www.roadtripamerica.com) helps with the nitty-gritty of trip planning, from audiobook reviews and RV rental tips to fuel cost calculators, plus tons of advice from travelers.

* * *

So what are you waiting for? It's time to hit the road. For more road-tripping ideas, turn to the Itineraries chapter (Click here). For some riveting reads to toss in the back seat, Click here.

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## ROUTE 66

For a classic American road trip, nothing beats good ol' Route 66. Nicknamed the nation's 'Mother Road' by novelist John Steinbeck, this string of small-town main streets and country byways first connected big-shouldered Chicago with the waving palm trees of Los Angeles in 1926.

Route 66 didn't really hit its stride until the Great Depression, when migrant farmers followed it as they fled the Dust Bowl across the Great Plains. Later, during the post-WWII baby boom, new-found prosperity encouraged many Americans to hit the road and 'get their kicks' on Route 66, which ran through Illinois (Click here), Missouri (Click here), Kansas (Click here), Oklahoma (Click here), Texas (Click here), New Mexico (Click here), Arizona (Click here) and California (Click here).

* * *

The length of Route 66 keeps changing each year, as old sections of the highway are bypassed or resurrected. It's about 2400 miles long, and is best traveled between May and September to avoid winter snow.

* * *

Almost as soon as it came of age, however, Route 66 began to lose steam. The shiny blacktop of an ambitious new interstate system started systematically paving over Route 66, bypassing its mom-and-pop diners, drugstore soda fountains and once-stylish motor courts. Railway towns were forgotten and way stations for travelers became dusty. Even entire towns began to disappear.

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# BEFORE YOU HIT THE ROAD

A few things to remember to ensure your road trip is as happy-go-lucky as possible:

  * Join an automobile club (Click here) that provides members with 24-hour emergency roadside assistance and discounts on lodging and attractions; some international clubs have reciprocal agreements with US automobile associations, so check first and bring your member card from home.
  * Check the spare tire, tool kit (eg jack, jumper cables, ice scraper, tire pressure gauge) and emergency equipment (eg flashers) in your car; if you're renting a vehicle and these essential safety items are not provided, consider buying them.
  * Bring good maps (Click here), especially if you're touring off-road or away from highways; don't rely on a GPS unit – they can malfunction, and in remote areas such as deep canyons or thick forests they may not even work.
  * Always carry your driver's license (Click here) and proof of insurance (Click here).
  * If you're an international traveler, review the USA's road rules (Click here) and common road hazards (Click here).
  * Fill up the tank often, because gas stations can be few and far between on the USA's scenic byways.

* * *

By the time Route 66 was officially decommissioned in 1984, preservation associations of Mother Road fans had sprung up. Today you can still get your kicks on Route 66, following gravel frontage roads and blue-line highways across the belly of America. It's like a time warp – connecting places where the 1950s seem to have stopped just yesterday.

Even if you're not a fan of retro Americana, it's still a great road trip. Or maybe you're after big horizons and natural beauty? Route 66 runs by some of the USA's greatest outdoor attractions – not just the Grand Canyon, but also the Mississippi River, Arizona's Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park, and, at road's end, the Pacific beaches of sun-kissed Santa Monica.

* * *

The National Historic Route 66 Federation website (www.national66.com) has links to local preservation associations, as well as fan clubs overseas, ranging from the Czech Republic to Norway.

* * *

Culturally speaking, Route 66 can be an eye-opener. Discard your preconceptions of small-town American life and unearth the joys of what bicoastal types dismissively term 'flyover' states. Mingle with farmers in Illinois and country-and-western stars in Missouri. Hear the legends of cowboys and Indians in Oklahoma. Visit Native American tribal nations and contemporary pueblos across the Southwest, all the while discovering the traditions of the USA's indigenous peoples. Then follow the trails of miners and desperados deep into the Old West.

You need to be an amateur sleuth to follow Route 66 these days. Historical realignments of the route, dead-ends in farm fields and tumbleweed-filled desert patches, and rough, rutted driving conditions are par for the course. For free turn-by-turn directions, check out www.historic66.com, or purchase the illustrated 'Here It Is!' map series (Ghost Town Press). Remember that getting lost every now and then is inevitable. But never mind, since what the road offers is so valuable: a leap back through time to see what America once was, and still sometimes is. Nostalgia never tasted so sweet.

* * *

If you need a break from behind the wheel, why not ride the rails? Amtrak (Click here) runs _Coast Starlight_ and commuter trains along the California coast from San Diego to San Francisco.

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## PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY

Stretching almost 2000 miles from border to border – that is, from Tijuana, Mexico to British Columbia, Canada – the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) is an epic adventure for water babies, surfers, kayakers, scuba divers and every other kind of outdoor enthusiast, including landlubbers. Or if you're a more laid-back road-tripper, who just dreams of cruising alongside the ocean in a cherry-red convertible, drifting from sunrise to sunset, the insanely scenic PCH can deliver that, too.

The PCH is a road trip for lovers, nomadic ramblers, bohemians, beatniks and curiosity seekers keen to search out every nook and cranny of forgotten beachside hamlets and pastoral farm towns along the way. It connects the dots between some of the West Coast's most striking cities, starting from surf-style San Diego, glamorous Los Angeles and offbeat San Francisco in California, then moving north to equally alternative-minded and arty Seattle, Washington. When pounding the pavement starts to make you feel claustrophobic, just head out back on the open road and hit the coast again, heading north or south – the direction doesn't really matter.

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# ROADSIDE ODDITIES: ROUTE 66

Kitschy, time-warped and just plain weird roadside attractions? Route 66 has got 'em in spades. Here are a few beloved Mother Road landmarks to make your own scavenger hunt:

  * Gemini Giant (Click here) in Illinois
  * Pacific's Black Madonna Shrine and Red Oak II outside Carthage in Missouri
  * Blue Whale (Click here) in Oklahoma
  * Devil's Rope Museum (Click here), Cadillac Ranch and Bug Ranch (Click here) in Texas
  * Seligman's Snow Cap Drive-In and Holbrook's WigWam Motel and Meteor Crater (Click here) in Arizona (Click here)
  * Roy's Motel & Cafe in Amboy, in the middle of California's Mojave Desert

* * *

You could bypass metro areas and just stick to the places in between, like the almost too-perfect beaches of California's Orange County ('the OC') and Santa Barbara (the 'American Riviera'); wacky Santa Cruz, a university town and surfers' paradise; redwood forests along the Big Sur coast and north of Mendocino; the sand dunes, seaside resorts and fishing villages of coastal Oregon; and finally, the wild lands of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, with its primeval rain forest, and bucolic San Juan Islands, served by coastal ferries.

* * *

For traveling every back road in the western US, it's hard to beat the comprehensive Benchmark Maps (www.benchmarkmaps.com) series of topographical road and recreational atlases.

* * *

There's no very bad time of year to drive the PCH, although northern climes will be rainier and snowier during winter. Peak travel season is June through August, despite that being when many stretches of the coast are socked in by fog during early summer (locals call it 'June Gloom'). The shoulder seasons before Memorial Day (ie April and May) and after Labor Day (ie September and October) can be ideal, with sunny days, crisply cool nights and fewer crowds.

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## BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

What's the USA's most visited national parkland? If you said the Grand Canyon or Yosemite, you're wrong. Surprisingly, it's the Blue Ridge Parkway (Click here), which snakes for nearly 500 miles through the southern Appalachian Mountains. Finished in 1940, the parkway was officially commissioned by President Franklin D Roosevelt during the Great Depression as a public-works project. Today, this rolling, rural scenic byway still connects Virginia's Shenandoah National Park with Great Smoky Mountains National Park, straddling the North Carolina–Tennessee border.

* * *

The Blue Ridge Parkway celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2010 – get the lowdown on heritage festivities in historical communities all along the route at www.blueridgeparkway75.org.

* * *

Although it skirts dozens of small towns and a few metropolitan areas, this backwoods byway really feels decades removed from the 'New South'. Here, rustic log cabins with creaky rocking chairs on the front porch still dot the rolling hillsides. Folk-art shops and live bluegrass music joints are strung along the route. The parkway is also steeped in history, from Cherokee tribal lands to early European homesteads and later Civil War battlefields. Early-20th-century mountain and lakeside resorts still welcome families like old friends, while log-cabin diners dish up heaping piles of buckwheat pancakes with blackberry preserves and a side of country ham.

When you need to work off all that good Southern cooking, over 100 hiking trails can be accessed along the Blue Ridge Parkway, from gentle nature walks and easily summited peaks to rough-and-ready tramps along the legendary Appalachian Trail (Click here). Or clamber on a horse and ride off into the refreshingly shady forests. Then go canoeing, kayaking or inner tubing along rushing rivers, or dangle a fishing line over the side of a rowboat on petite lakes. And who says you even have to drive? The parkway makes an epic trip for long-distance cyclists, too.

* * *

# DETOURS: OFF THE PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY

Let yourself be lured inland by:

  * Mission San Juan Capistrano (Click here)
  * Northern California's wine country (Click here)
  * Portland (Click here)
  * Columbia River Gorge (Click here)
  * Mt Rainier National Park (Click here)

* * *

Keep in mind that the weather can vary greatly, depending on your elevation. While mountain peaks are snowed in during winter, the valleys can still be invitingly warm. Most visitor services along the parkway are only open from April through October. May is best for wildflowers, although most people come for leaf-peeping during fall. Spring and fall are good times for bird-watching, with nearly 160 species having been spotted in the skies over the parkway.

* * *

Discover Navajo (<http://discovernavajo.com>) offers free downloads of the Navajo Nation's official travel guide, written by tribal members. For the uninitiated, it even explains exactly what a 'Navajo taco' is.

* * *

Return to beginning of chapter

## THE GRAND CIRCLE

In the early-20th-century era of tourism, the Grand Circle was a leisure-class railway and overland journey to see all the rugged, raw natural splendors of the American Southwest. It took several months, but today you need only a few weeks to witness some of the most amazing spectacles that Mother Nature has yet devised – and to get acquainted with the Southwest's rich Native American heritage.

This road trip, which covers 1800 miles or more depending on where you choose to roam, is the antithesis of a straight line. It slowly winds around and roughly encircles the Four Corners region (Click here). Some backtracking is unavoidable. You can start in any of the main air-travel hubs – Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, Salt Lake City or Denver – and be just a half-day's drive from the heart of this remote region. Travel during spring and fall to avoid the most extreme temperatures.

* * *

The National Scenic Byways Program website (www.byways.org) has a clickable map of drives across the country, from Vermont's Mad River Byway to Alaska's Top-of-the-World Highway.

* * *

In Arizona, the Grand Canyon awaits, just north of the vintage Route 66 towns of Williams and Flagstaff. Explore the Hopi mesas, with their hilltop pueblos, and the Navajo Nation, home to the majestic buttes of Monument Valley (as seen in heaps of Hollywood Western movies), and the Ancestral Puebloan of in Canyon de Chelly.

Zuni Pueblo is just outside Gallup, a Route 66 town and the unofficial 'Capital of Indian Country.' New Mexico is also where you'll find quirky Albuquerque, followed by a scenic drive up to arty Santa Fe and Taos. To stand on the Four Corners itself, trek west of Chaco Canyon, a ceremonial center for Ancestral Puebloans. Afterward, backtrack across the Colorado border to the equally ancient cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park.

* * *

# DOWNLOADS: BLUEGRASS SOUNDS

If you can't catch a live show at Virginia's **Blue Ridge Music Center** (www.blueridgemusiccenter.org), open from May through October, then load up your player with beloved 'hillbilly' classics like:

  * 'Blue Moon of Kentucky,' Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys
  * 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown,' Earl Scruggs
  * 'Orange Blossom Special,' Rouse Brothers
  * 'Rocky Top,' Osborne Brothers
  * 'Windy Mountain,' Lonesome Pine Fiddlers
  * 'Flame of Love,' Jim and Jesse
  * 'I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow,' Stanley Brothers
  * 'Every Time You Say Goodbye,' Alison Krauss and Union Station
  * 'Like a Hurricane,' The Dillards
  * 'Angel Band,' Emmylou Harris

For a short history of bluegrass music, Click here.

* * *

Red-rock Moab is the adventure-hound capital of Utah, just outside Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Sublimely scenic Hwy 12 winds west through Utah's wild 'color country,' ending in the river oasis of Zion National Park. To bring your road trip full circle, detour to the Grand Canyon's North Rim before zipping down to the neon lights of Las Vegas.

* * *

The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center website (www.indianpueblo.org) has information about New Mexico's indigenous peoples, from Acoma to Zuni, with an online calendar of ceremonial feast days.

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Return to beginning of chapter

## GREAT RIVER ROAD

The Mississippi River splits the USA in two, not just geographically and historically but also psychologically speaking, defining every citizen as either an Easterner or a Westerner. After the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, when Napoleon Bonaparte sold off vast French colonial lands in the New World to President Thomas Jefferson, the Mississippi became the new American frontier.

Explorers Lewis and Clark soon crossed the Mississippi while making their way overland to the Pacific Coast. Earlier French voyageurs and Native American peoples used the river for trade and travel, as did African slaves seeking freedom along the Underground Railroad before the Civil War. Later novelist Mark Twain set his great American novel, _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,_ along this iconic waterway.

* * *

Can anyone capture the whole history of the blues? Martin Scorsese's concert film, _Lightning in a Bottle_ (2004), and the CD boxed set _Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey_ (2003), come mighty close.

* * *

Established in the late 1930s, the Great River Road is a 2000-mile journey from the Mississippi's headwaters in the northern lakes of Minnesota, floating downstream all the way to where the river empties into the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans, Louisiana. You'll be awed by the sweeping scenery as you meander alongside North America's second-longest river, from the rolling plains of Iowa down past the cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta. And you'll never be more than 100 miles from a riverboat casino anywhere along the route.

But seriously, this trip is worth taking for other reasons. The Great River Road diverts you off the interstate to small towns you'd otherwise miss, including Hibbing, MN, where folk rocker Bob Dylan grew up; Brainerd, MN, as seen in the Coen Brothers' indie flick _Fargo;_ Spring Green, WI, where architect Frank Lloyd Wright once worked (Click here); pastoral Hannibal, MO, boyhood home of Mark Twain; and Metropolis, IL, where you'll find Superman's quick-change phone booth.

* * *

# DOWNLOADS: ROAD-TRIPPIN' BLUES, JAZZ & ZYDECO

If you're out of range of New Orleans' community-run WWOZ radio station (90.7FM), try grooving to these rhythms out on the road:

  * Walkin' Blues,' Robert Johnson
  * Mississippi River Blues,' Ida Cox
  * I've Got My Mojo Working.' Muddy Waters
  * Johnny B Goode,' Chuck Berry
  * Zydeco La Louisianne,' Buckwheat Zydeco
  * Bourbon Street Parade,' Preservation Hall Jazz Band
  * Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans,' Louis Armstrong
  * St Louis Blues,' Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith
  * Me & My Chauffeur,' Memphis Minnie
  * Let the Good Times Roll,' BB King

For more about American blues Click here; and for more on jazz, Click here.

* * *

* * *

# DETOURS: BETWEEN DC & MIAMI

Going out of your way is always a pleasure, never an annoyance, whether you're heading toward the sea or inland to explore the South's spooky swamps.

  * Virginia's Eastern Shore (Click here)
  * North Carolina's Outer Banks (Click here) and Crystal Coast (Click here)
  * South Carolina's most genteel city, Charleston (Click here), and wild swamps (Click here)
  * Georgia's 'Golden Isles' (Click here) and Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (Click here)
  * Florida's Space Coast (Click here) and Everglades National Park (Click here)

* * *

The southern section of this route (Click here) traces American musical history, from rock and roll in St Louis to Memphis blues and N'awlins jazz. And you won't go hungry either, with retro Midwestern diners serving homemade pies, Southern barbecue joints and smokehouses, and lip-smackin' Cajun taverns and dance halls in Louisiana. By the time you reach N'awlins, you'll be ready to party.

* * *

'Ten states, one river' is the slogan for the Official Site for Mississippi River Travel (www.experiencemississippiriver.com), a comprehensive resource for history, outdoor recreation, live music and much more.

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## SOUTH FROM DC TO THE SUNSHINE STATE

You could never pin down exactly how many millions of Americans have made the trip from Washington, DC, to Florida during some family summer vacation long, long ago. But there's no denying just how popular a road trip this is – I-95 isn't nicknamed the 'Disney World Expressway' for nothing, you know.

Don't start panicking: no Mickey Mouse ears are required for our sybaritic, all-ages southern road trip. We encourage you to leave behind the interstate highway as often as you can and meander over to the coast (see the Detours boxed text, above) the instant you start missing those Atlantic sea breezes, letting you soak up as much fresh air and Dixie sunshine as possible.

Start in the nation's capital, Washington, DC, wandering the National Mall's monuments and museums. Then dive right into the South, starting with the rolling hills of Virginia, dipping into colonial-era history outside of Richmond. Back on the road in North Carolina's Piedmont region, stop over in the college towns of Chapel Hill and Raleigh-Durham. In South Carolina, don't miss a side trip to Charleston, with its gracious antebellum architecture and old-fashioned romance. Savannah is another charming southern belle, just further down the coast of Georgia.

* * *

The Roadside America website (www.roadsideamerica.com) is a handy go-to source for finding obscure, infamous and kitschy roadside attractions and oddities from coast to coast.

* * *

Expect a sea change of personality when you motor into Florida, with its bronzed bods, beaches, surfers and retro seaside resorts galore. Walt Disney World exerts an irresistible pull inland on I-95, but south of plasticky Orlando, the interstate quickly swings back to the coast. Get ready to cruise into spicy-hot Miami, beyond which lies the lotusland of the Florida Keys, an archipelago of island idylls in the Gulf of Mexico reached via the gorgeous Overseas Hwy (Hwy 1). At road's end, Key West is less than 100 nautical miles from Cuba – so go on, reward yourself with a mojito.

Return to beginning of chapter

## ALSO WORTH A SPIN

So far we've only described a half-dozen of the best road trips that the USA has to offer. But there are scores of other scenic byways, country roads and blue-line highways webbing across the nation. For more faves, see the table below. Also look for the Scenic Drive boxed texts scattered throughout the destination chapters. Lonely Planet's Trips series of guidebooks covers more micro-regional to sprawling, epic road trips throughout the US, including top picks by local experts – click to www.lonelyplanet.com/campaigns/usatrips for free itinerary downloads and more.

# History

* * *

TURTLE ISLAND

A NEW WORLD FOR EUROPEANS

CAPITALISM & COLONIALISM

REVOLUTION & THE REPUBLIC

WESTWARD, HO!

A HOUSE DIVIDED

STIRRING THE MELTING POT: SEGREGATION & IMMIGRATION

ROBBER BARONS & PROGRESSIVE REFORMERS

GREAT DEPRESSION, THE NEW DEAL & WORLD WAR II

SUBURBIA & THE SECOND AMERICAN REVOLUTION

PAX AMERICANA & THE WAR ON TERROR

TIMELINE

* * *

## TURTLE ISLAND

According to oral traditions and sacred myths, indigenous peoples have always lived on the North American continent, which some called 'Turtle Island.' At the time of first European contact, approximately two to 18 million Native American people occupied every corner of the turtle's back north of present-day Mexico and spoke over 300 languages.

The Western scientific explanation of the continent's peopling – that Asians migrated over a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska at least 20,000 years ago – likely occurred but is considered insufficient to explain all the evidence of prehistoric civilization on the North American continent. Also, because it turns Native Americans into 'immigrants,' this theory has been criticized as it provides an occasional justification for the US taking Native American lands.

The earliest identifiable Paleo-Indian cultures were the Clovis and Folsom, who lived throughout North America from about 10,000 to 8000 BC, at the end of the last ice age. From then, a vibrant mix of complex societies developed across the continent: first nomadic hunters and gatherers (often called 'Archaic' peoples) and later incorporating some settled farming communities.

Among North America's most significant prehistoric cultures were the Mound Builders, who inhabited the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys from around 3000 BC to AD 1300. In Illinois, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (Click here) was once a metropolis of 20,000 people, the largest in pre-Columbian North America. In Ohio, Hopewell Culture National Historic Park (Click here) protects a more mysterious, sacred ceremonial center nicknamed 'Mound City.'

* * *

_The People: Indians of the American Southwest_ (1993), by Stephen Trimble, is a diverse account of indigenous history and contemporary culture as related by Native Americans themselves.

* * *

In the Southwest, Ancestral Puebloans occupied the Colorado Plateau from around AD 100 to AD 1300, until warfare, drought and scarcity of resources likely drove them out. You can still see their cliff dwellings at Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park (Click here) and desert adobe pueblos at New Mexico's Chaco Culture National Historic Park (Click here). These people's descendents include the Hopi, whose 13th-century mesa-top pueblos (Click here) are among North America's oldest continuously inhabited settlements.

Meanwhile, in Hawaii Polynesian voyagers started arriving between AD 500 and AD 1000 (Click here). In the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, hallmarks of indigenous cultures also included seafaring canoes, as well as carved wooden totem poles. On Washington state's Olympic Peninsula, the Makah Nation (Click here) encompasses an excavated 15th-century Native American village that was buried by a mudslide, thus preserving its pre-Columbian artifacts, including a traditional longhouse. In Anchorage, the Alaska Native Heritage Center (Click here) is the best place to learn about indigenous peoples of the far north.

* * *

# THE LAST AMERICANS

One of America's formative paradoxes is that the continent's 'first peoples' were among the last to become citizens. When this finally happened in 1924 (in part to honor Native American service in WWI), it cemented an unresolved end to the 19th-century's brutal Indian Wars: Native American reservations would remain separate nations within the USA, with their own laws and sometimes unclear obligations on both sides.

This isn't what anyone wanted, and opinions always differed on who should get to live exactly where. Intending to end these conflicts forever almost a century earlier, President Andrew Jackson enacted the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This designated land west of the Mississippi River as 'Indian territory.' Indians were meant to remove themselves there, thus clearing the fertile valleys west of the Appalachians for US settlement and capitalism.

Many tribes resisted forced removal, including the Seminole in Florida, but the US cajoled, threatened and bribed Indians to sign treaties and cooperate; when that failed, the government used guns. Among the most infamous incidents was the 1838 Trail of Tears, a forced march that alone killed over 4000 Cherokee. By 1844, three-quarters of the 120,000 Indians who lived east of the Mississippi had been successfully 'removed.'

By 1853, after annexing Texas and winning the Mexican-American War, the US found itself holding nearly the entire continent, with Indian territory smack in the middle. Particularly after the Civil War, pioneers and miners flooded west, settling everywhere, regardless of treaty boundaries. By 1871, the US was making and breaking new treaties so fast that they simply quit writing them. Ultimately, the US broke over 470 treaties, every one understood by Native Americans to have lasted 'as long as grass grows or water runs.'

The new nation kept finding gold, or it wanted the real estate, and it tired of asking permission to take it. Disregarding fairness, the US abandoned any pretense at peaceful coexistence. In the late 19th century, buffalo were exterminated as an explicit (and successful) military strategy to starve the 'wild' nomadic Great Plains tribes who resisted forced relocation to reservations. In 1876, when the Sioux won the Battle of Little Bighorn, US restraint vanished. The military relentlessly hounded tribes until, with the end of the Apache Wars in 1886, no armed Native American resistance remained.

Sequestered on impoverished reservations, Native American tribes needed US help to survive. What they got was the 1887 Dawes Act, aimed to 'assimilate' Indians into white society by forcing them to abandon their language and cultural heritage. With insult heaped upon misery, many Native Americans staunchly refused to be assimilated. This policy extended to the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act, which some tribes welcomed but others regarded as a violation of their inherent sovereignty.

For more about contemporary Native American culture, Click here.

* * *

It was the Great Plains cultures that came to epitomize 'Indians' in the popular American imagination, in part because these tribal peoples put up the longest fight against the USA's westward expansion. Oklahoma is rich in sites that interpret Native American life before Europeans arrived, including at Anadarko (Click here) and along the Trail of Tears (Click here).

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## A NEW WORLD FOR EUROPEANS

When Europeans first sailed into the western hemisphere, they called its continents a 'New World.' The unexpected land was certainly startling, but the real new world was seafaring across oceans: as it turned out, the sea wasn't earth's edge, but instead a superhighway. This discovery radically altered the political landscape of Europe and Asia and spurred modern capitalism, affecting the way Europeans reacted to the Americas.

* * *

Authoritative and sobering, _Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee_ (1970), by Dee Brown, tells the story of the late-19th-century Indian Wars from the perspective of Native Americans.

* * *

In 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, backed by Spain, voyaged west – looking for the East Indies. He found the Bahamas. With visions of gold, more Spanish explorers quickly followed: Hernán Cortés conquered much of today's Mexico; Francisco Pizarro conquered Peru; Juan Ponce de León wandered through Florida looking for the fountain of youth. Not to be left out, the French explored Canada and the Midwest, while the Dutch and English cruised North America's eastern seaboard.

European explorers left in their wake diseases to which indigenous peoples had no immunity. More than any other factor – war, slavery or famine – disease epidemics decimated Native populations by anywhere from 50% to 90%. By the 17th century, indigenous North Americans numbered only about a million, and many of the continent's once-thriving societies were in turmoil and transition.

In addition to seeking riches, European colonizers were driven by religious fervor: it seemed to many of them that this underpopulated New World must have been reserved by divine providence for Christians. Spanish Catholic missionaries sought intensely to convert the continent's indigenous cultures, eventually establishing strings of missions across the Southwest and in Texas and California.

* * *

In 1502, Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci used the term 'Mundus Novus,' or New World, to describe his discoveries. His reward? In 1507, new maps labeled the western hemisphere 'America.'

* * *

In 1607, English noblemen established North America's first permanent European settlement in Jamestown (Click here). Earlier settlements had ended badly, and Jamestown almost did too: the English chose a swamp, planted their crops late and died from disease and starvation. Some despairing colonists ran off to live with the local tribes, who provided the settlement with enough aid to survive.

For Jamestown and America, 1619 proved a pivotal year: the colony established the House of Burgesses, a representative assembly of citizens to decide local laws, and it received its first boatload of 20 African slaves. Having finally grown a successful export crop – tobacco – colonists needed workers: they didn't have enough English servants (who disdained field labor) and Native Americans were difficult to convince or subdue. African slaves, already established on Caribbean sugar plantations, fit the bill.

The next year, 1620, was equally momentous, as a boatload of radically religious Puritans pulled ashore at what would become Plymouth, Massachusetts (Click here). The Pilgrims were escaping religious persecution under the 'corrupt' Church of England, and in the New World they saw a divine opportunity to create a new society that would be a religious and moral beacon. The Pilgrims signed a 'Mayflower Compact,' one of the seminal texts of American democracy, to govern themselves by consensus.

* * *

_The New World_ (2005), directed by Terrence Malick, is a brutal but passionate film that retells the tragic story of the Jamestown colony and the pivotal peacemaking role of Pocahontas, a Powhatan chief's daughter.

* * *

For decades, the Pilgrims and local Native American tribes lived fairly cooperatively, but deadly conflict erupted in 1675. King Philip's War lasted 14 months and killed over 5000 people (mostly Native Americans), with most remaining tribal members being put on Caribbean-bound slave ships. And so, the 'American paradox' was born: white political and religious freedom would come to be founded through the enslavement of blacks and the disappearance of Native Americans.

Return to beginning of chapter

## CAPITALISM & COLONIALISM

For the next two centuries, European powers – particularly England, France, Portugal and Spain – competed for position and territory in the New World, extending European politics into the Americas. As Britain's Royal Navy came to rule Atlantic seas, England increasingly profited from its colonies and eagerly consumed the fruits of their labors – sweet tobacco from Virginia, sugar and coffee from the Caribbean.

Anticipating the industrial revolution, these luxuries were profitable only when mass-produced as export goods using cheap labor in rigidly organized plantations. Over the 17th and 18th centuries, slavery in America was slowly legalized into a formal institution to support this plantation economy. North America received only about 5% of all slaves transported from Africa to the Americas, but slaves made up a large proportion of the American colonies' population: by 1800, one out of every five persons was a slave.

* * *

If history is a partisan affair, Howard Zinn makes his allegiance clear in _A People_ ' _s History of the United States_ (1980 & 2005), which tells the often-overlooked stories about laborers, minorities, immigrants, women and radicals.

* * *

Meanwhile, Britain mostly left the American colonists to govern themselves. Town meetings and representative assemblies, in which local citizens (that is, white men with property) debated community problems and voted on laws and taxes, became common.

However, by the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, Britain was feeling the strains of running an empire: it had been fighting France for a century and had colonies scattered all over the world. It was time to clean up bureaucracies and share financial burdens. Britain stationed a permanent army in America. It passed laws forbidding settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains and north of the Ohio River (to avoid more wars) and a series of taxes to raise funds for the Crown and its defense.

From 1763 onward, the colonies protested and boycotted English policies and engaged in a running public discussion of political theory that would culminate in the 1776 Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers. With these documents, the American colonists took many of the Enlightenment ideas then circulating worldwide – of individualism, equality and freedom; of John Locke's 'natural rights' of life, liberty and property – and fashioned a new type of government to put them into practice.

* * *

Want to read the Constitution, Emancipation Proclamation, Federalist Papers and much, much more? Peruse the National Archives at www.archives.gov or '100 Milestone Documents' at www.ourdocuments.gov.

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Frustrations came to a head with the Boston Tea Party in 1773, after which Britain clamped down hard, shutting Boston's harbor, increasing its military presence and enforcing imperial authority. In 1774 representatives from 12 colonies convened the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia's Independence Hall to air complaints and debate how to respond. Colonists, still identifying as aggrieved Englishmen, worked themselves up, and both sides readied for a fight.

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## REVOLUTION & THE REPUBLIC

In April 1775, British troops skirmished with armed colonists in Massa-chusetts, and the Revolutionary War began. Soon after shooting started, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and chose George Washington, a wealthy Virginia farmer, to lead the American army. Trouble was, Washington lacked gunpowder and money (the colonists resisted taxes even for their own military), and his troops were a motley collection of poorly armed farmers, hunters and merchants, who regularly quit and returned to their farms due to lack of pay. On the other side, the British 'Redcoats,' represented the world's most powerful military. The inexperienced General Washington had to improvise constantly, sometimes wisely retreating, sometimes engaging in 'ungentlemanly' sneak attacks. During the winter of 1777–78, the American army nearly starved at Valley Forge (Click here).

* * *

The HBO miniseries _John Adams_ (2008) is a riveting story, told from all sides, of the years when the American Revolution hung in the balance and fate could have swung either way.

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Meanwhile, the Second Continental Congress tried to articulate what exactly they were fighting for. In January 1776, Thomas Paine published the wildly popular _Common Sense,_ which passionately argued for independence from England. Soon, independence seemed not just logical, but noble and necessary, and on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was finalized and signed. Largely written by Thomas Jefferson, it elevated the 13 colonies' particular gripes against the monarchy into a universal declaration of individual rights and republican government. It was so moving it helped inspire revolutions elsewhere, and famously states:

> We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

However, to succeed on the battlefield, General Washington needed help, not just patriotic sentiment. In 1778, Benjamin Franklin persuaded France (always eager to trouble England) to ally with the revolutionaries, and they provided the troops, material and sea power that won the war. The British surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, and two years later the Treaty of Paris formally recognized the 'United States of America.'

At first, the nation's loose confederation of fractious states, squabbling and competing like hens at a grain bucket, were hardly 'united.' So the founders gathered again in Philadelphia, tinkered like mechanics, and in 1787 drafted a new-and-improved Constitution: the US government was given a stronger federal center, with checks and balances between its three major branches; and to guard against the abuse of centralized power, a citizen's Bill of Rights was approved in 1791.

* * *

According to apocryphal legend, George Washington was so honest that after chopping down his father's cherry tree when he was just a child, he admitted, 'I cannot tell a lie. I did it with my little hatchet.'

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With the Constitution, the scope of the American Revolution solidified: a radical change in government; and preservation of the economic and social status quos. Rich landholders kept their property, which included their slaves; Native Americans were excluded from the nation; and women were excluded from politics. These blatant discrepancies and injustices, which were widely noted, were the results of both pragmatic compromise (eg to get slave-dependent Southern states to agree) and also widespread beliefs in the essential rightness of things as they were.

As a result, from that moment till now, US history has pulsed with the ongoing struggle to define 'all' and 'equal' and 'liberty' – to take the universal language of America's founding and either rectify or justify the inevitable disparities that have bedeviled this democratic society.

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You can follow the Lewis and Clark expedition on its extraordinary journey west to the Pacific and back again online at www.pbs.org/lewisandclark, which features historical maps, photo albums and journal excerpts.

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## WESTWARD, HO!

As the 19th century dawned on the young nation, the 'rightness' of the American experiment appeared to have been proven, and self-satisfied optimism was the mood of the day. With the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 – followed by threshers, reapers, mowers and later combines – agriculture was industrialized, and US commerce surged. The 1803 Louisiana Purchase doubled US territory, and expansion west of the Appalachian Mountains began in earnest.

Relations between the US and Britain – despite lively trade – remained tense. The British maintained forts in the Ohio Valley, and were known to incite Native Americans to attack American settlers, while Britain's navy harassed US ships. In 1812, the US declared war on England again, but the two-year conflict ended without much gained by either side. The British abandoned their forts, and the US renewed its vow to avoid Europe's 'entangling alliances.' One result was the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, which declared the Americas closed to European colonialism.

In the 1830s and 1840s, with growing nationalist fervor and dreams of continental expansion, many Americans came to believe it was 'Manifest Destiny' that all the land should be theirs. The 1830 Indian Removal Act aimed to clear one obstacle (Click here), while the building of the railroads cleared another hurdle, linking Midwestern farmers with East Coast markets.

In 1836 a group of Texans fomented a revolution against Mexico. (Remember the Alamo? Click here.) Ten years later, the US annexed the Texas Republic, and when Mexico complained, the US simply waged war for it – and while they were at it, took California too. In 1848, Mexico was soundly defeated and ceded this territory to the US, adding more land with the 1853 Gadsden Purchase. This completed the USA's continental expansion. Except for Native American tribal lands, Americans had nabbed it all, from sea to shining sea.

* * *

By turns gritty and heroic, the Western TV series _Deadwood_ (2004–06) dramatically brings to life the chaos and twisted up-and-down fortunes of a 19th-century mining town, with characters as dramatic as any Shakespearean tragedy.

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By a remarkable coincidence, only days after the 1848 treaty with Mexico was signed, gold was discovered in California (Click here). By 1849, surging rivers of wagon trains were creaking west filled with miners, pioneers, entrepreneurs, immigrants, outlaws and prostitutes, all seeking their fortunes. This made for exciting, legendary times, but throughout loomed a troubling question: as new states joined the USA, would they be slave states or free states? The nation's future depended on the answer.

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## A HOUSE DIVIDED

The US Constitution hadn't ended slavery, but it had given Congress the power to approve (or not) slavery in new states. Public debates raged constantly over the expansion of slavery, particularly since this shaped the unfolding balance of political power between the industrial North and the agrarian South.

Since the founding, Southern politicians had dominated government and defended slavery as 'natural and normal,' which an 1856 _New York Times_ editorial called 'insanity.' The Southern proslavery lobby enraged northern abolitionists (who aided the 'Underground Railroad,' a series of safe havens for runaway slaves heading North). But even many Northern politicians feared that ending slavery with a penstroke would be ruinous. Limit slavery, they reasoned, and in the competition with industry and free labor, slavery would wither without inciting a violent slave revolt – a constantly feared possibility. Indeed, in 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown tried unsuccessfully to spark just that at Harpers Ferry (Click here).

* * *

The UN estimates there are 12 million humans in slavery worldwide today, mostly woman and children. According to the CIA, an estimated 14,500 human-trafficking victims are brought into the US each year.

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The economics of slavery were undeniable. In 1860, there were over four million slaves in the US, most held by Southern planters. Were those plantation owners going to let their labor force just walk free? Also, the South grew 75% of the world's cotton, which accounted for over half of US exports. Thus, the Southern economy supported the nation's economy, and it required slaves. The 1860 presidential election became a referendum on this issue, and the election was won by a young politician who favored limiting slavery: Abraham Lincoln.

In the South, even the threat of federal limits was too onerous to abide, and as President Lincoln took office, 11 states eventually seceded from the union and formed the Confederate States of America (called the Confederacy). Now, could Lincoln allow these states to walk free? If any unhappy state could leave the nation 'at pleasure,' wouldn't that destroy republican government itself? In 1865, in his second inaugural address, Lincoln eloquently expressed this dilemma: 'Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.'

* * *

James McPherson is a preeminent Civil War historian, and his Pulitzer Prize–winning _Battle Cry of Freedom_ (1988) somehow gets the whole heartbreaking saga between two covers.

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In April 1861, the Confederacy attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Civil War came. Over the next four years the carnage was as gruesome as any war up to that point in history. By the end, over 600,000 soldiers, nearly an entire generation of young men, were dead; Southern plantations and cities (most notably Atlanta) lay sacked and burned. The course of the war, and all the ways it could have unfolded, remain the subject of impassioned debate. Both sides had their share of ineffectual and cunning leaders and used troops recklessly; both had moments of demoralization and determination. The North's industrial might provided an advantage, but its victory was not preordained; it unfolded battle by bloody battle.

As fighting progressed, Lincoln recognized that if the war didn't end slavery outright, victory would be pointless. In 1863, his Emancipation Proclamation expanded the war's aims and freed all slaves (an act legally accomplished two years later by the Constitution's 13th Amendment). In April 1865, Confederate General Robert E Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S Grant in Appomattox, Virginia. The Union had been preserved.

* * *

_This Republic of Suffering_ (2008), by historian Drew Gilpin Faust, is a poignant look at the Civil War through the eyes of loved ones left behind by fallen soldiers on both sides of the Mason–Dixon line.

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## STIRRING THE MELTING POT: SEGREGATION & IMMIGRATION

The Civil War ended an economic system of forced labor, but the society that newly free African Americans entered remained largely, and often deeply, racist. During Reconstruction (1865–77), the civil rights of ex-slaves were protected by the federal government, which also extracted reparations from Southern states. Ill-will and bad feelings ran so deep that Civil War grudges were nursed for many decades afterward.

After Reconstruction, Southern states developed a system of 'sharecropping' that kept blacks indentured to the land for a measly share of crops, and they enacted endless laws aimed at keeping whites and blacks 'separate but equal.' Freed black men were given the vote in 1870, but the South's segregationist 'Jim Crow' laws (which remained in place until the 1960s Civil Rights movement) effectively disenfranchised and impoverished blacks in every meaningful sphere of daily life.

Meanwhile, the US turned its full attention to the West: the telegraph and the transcontinental railroad shrank time and space; the interior West was systematically explored and mapped for the first time; and the continent's overflowing natural resources (its gold and silver, its coal and forests) fueled a galloping industrialization. Despite its lingering 'Indian problem' (Click here), the West appeared like a 'land of opportunity.' Immigrants flooded in from Europe and Asia (in total, about 25 million people arrived from 1880 to 1920). Poles, Germans, Irish, Italians, Russians, Eastern Europeans, Chinese and more came to build the nation's railroads, smelt its steel, harvest its grain, mine its minerals and slaughter its cattle.

This also fed the urban migration that made the late 19th century the age of cities. In particular, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia swelled to rival London and Paris as global centers of industry and commerce. These crowded, buzzing multiethnic hives both spurred the xenophobic fears of whites and gave rise to the dream that America could become a unique 'melting pot' of the world's cultures.

* * *

_Beyond the Hundredth Meridian_ (1954), Wallace Stegner's biography of Western explorer and scientist John Wesley Powell, is a wise, sharply written account of when America's Edenic continental visions first met the West's dry reality.

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## ROBBER BARONS & PROGRESSIVE REFORMERS

For American business, laissez-faire economic policy, the industrial revolution and hordes of cheap labor equaled towering piles of cash. Industrialists such as JP Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and John D Rockefeller became politically powerful 'robber barons' controlling vast monopolies (or trusts) in oil, banking, railroads and steel. These paragons of capitalism were America's version of royalty, crowned by Wall Street.

As industrialism created wealth for the few, it consigned many to poverty and dangerous, even deadly, work in choking factories and sweatshops, as vividly depicted in _The Jungle_ (1906), Upton Sinclair's muckraking exposé of Chicago's unsavory meatpacking industry. Mechanization and piecework might be godsends to farming, textiles and automobile manufacturing, but unchecked they sowed pain and injustice.

Increasing political protests sparked new, heated arguments pitting the rights of private property against the rights of everyday people. Wasn't it the federal government's duty to intervene when an unregulated free market was, in effect, abusing, impoverishing and killing its own citizens? Whose liberty, whose welfare, deserved society's protection: business or labor?

In the 1880s, the Populist movement, which sought to help farmers, was an early effort to transform America's emerging class anger into a political force. Populism eventually petered out, replaced by the urban and more radical socialist movement, whose militant fringe was occupied by the International Workers of the World (IWW, aka Wobblies). Labor unions blossomed and strikes were frequent and often violent.

* * *

In _The Souls of Black Folk_ (1903), WEB Du Bois, who helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), eloquently describes the racial dilemmas of politics and culture facing early-20th-century America.

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In the first decades of the 20th century, socialist movements developed worldwide; in the US, most citizens rejected actual socialism, but many embraced its ideas and ways of thinking. Still, the Socialist party was a real force, so much so that socialist candidate Eugene Debs won 6% of the vote in the 1912 presidential election. In order to calm labor unrest and thwart socialism, Progressives pursued a slew of reforms: trusts were busted up, and eventually regulations were established, including a 40-hour work week, improved worker and food safety, and outlawed child labor.

Meanwhile, the US was developing a novel approach to imperialism, which President William Howard Taft dubbed 'dollar diplomacy.' To feed its overproductive economic engine, the US was desperate to gain access to new international markets. The 1898 Spanish-American War showed the way: rather than wage war for territory, the US would henceforth pursue an 'informal empire' using private commerce and banking. America would intervene militarily only as a paternalistic global 'policeman': not to impose its own colonial rule, but instead to protect regional security, financial stability, private property and open markets.

* * *

Industrialization really did speed up American life. On farms, a bushel of wheat took three hours to produce in 1830, but only 10 minutes by 1900.

* * *

President Woodrow Wilson also helped develop this approach, which still informs US foreign policy. By the start of WWI, the US had transitioned from a debtor to a creditor nation, and Wilson understood that, despite widespread parochial isolationism, the US needed to be engaged in the international community. Though Wilson's League of Nations failed, his idea of a cooperative 'concert of nations' would be realized after WWII with the founding of the UN.

As the Great War erupted in Europe in 1914, the US officially maintained neutrality, though it profitably sold armaments to the Allies. Germany responded by attacking US freighters, and in 1917 the US reluctantly entered the fight against the Central Powers. Wilson was hard pressed to sell the war at home, and suppression of antiwar dissent became standing policy. After the war, moralistic calls for social reform resumed: prohibition outlawing alcohol was inaugurated in 1920, the same year that the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote.

* * *

_Iron Jawed Angels_ (2005), starring Hillary Swank, is a moving docudrama about the struggles of early-20th-century suffragettes, including hunger strikes while being unjustly jailed for political activism in pursuit of women's equality.

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A tide of good feeling drowned out further reformist voices. America had won the war, the economy was humming, capitalism's worst abuses were softened, wages were rising, unemployment was falling, and the Jazz Age was in full swing. Middle-class Americans became modern-day consumers, oohing and aahing over their new electric appliances. For a while, despite poverty, crime and corruption, optimism ruled. Flappers danced the Charleston, radio and movies captivated millions, and stock prices kept going up, and up.

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## GREAT DEPRESSION, THE NEW DEAL & WORLD WAR II

Everything looked rosy, but the good times couldn't last. In October 1929, investors, worried over a gloomy global economy, started selling stocks, and seeing the selling, everyone panicked until they'd sold everything. The stock market crashed, and the US economy collapsed like a house of cards – revealing just how jerryrigged it actually was.

Thus began the Great Depression. Frightened banks called in their dodgy loans, people couldn't pay, and the banks folded. Millions lost their homes, farms, businesses and savings, and as much as 50% of the American workforce became unemployed. Scores hit the roads in search of work. With despairing immediacy, Americans decided they didn't just need protection from industrialism's workplace sins, but society-wide insurance from market forces beyond their control. The US belatedly moved to establish social programs that had already been created decades earlier by other industrialized nations.

In 1932, Democrat Franklin D Roosevelt was elected president on the promise of a 'New Deal' to rescue the US from its crisis, and he would become a pivotal figure in US history. He significantly expanded the role of the federal government to protect citizens, such as with Social Security (insuring retirement savings), and he instituted government-funded employment programs and enormous public-works projects (such as Hoover Dam, Click here). Roosevelt did much to ameliorate the pain of the Great Depression, and New Deal programs remain the foundation of US social policy.

* * *

John Steinbeck's _The Grapes of Wrath_ (1940) tells the saga of Depression-era farmers from the Great Plains desperately trying to escape the Dust Bowl by heading for the promised land of California.

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When war once again broke out in Europe in 1939, the isolationist mood in America was as strong as ever. However, the extremely popular President Roosevelt, elected to an unprecedented third term in 1940, understood that the US couldn't sit by and allow victory for the fascist, totalitarian regimes of Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan. Roosevelt sent aid to Britain and used his considerable persuasive powers to get a skittish Congress to go along with it.

Then, on December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on Hawaii's Pearl Harbor (Click here), killing over 2000 Americans and sinking several battleships. As US isolationism transformed overnight into outrage, Roosevelt suddenly had the support he needed. Germany also declared war on the US, and America joined the Allied fight against Hitler and the Axis powers. From that moment, the US put almost its entire will and industrial prowess into the war effort.

* * *

_The Perilous Fight: America's World War II in Color_ (2003) is a groundbreaking documentary featuring previously lost footage of US military battles abroad, focusing on the Pacific theater and war efforts on the home front.

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Initially, neither the Pacific nor European theaters went well for the US. In the Pacific, fighting didn't turn around until the US unexpectedly routed the Japanese navy at Midway Island in June 1942. Afterward, the US drove Japan back with a series of brutal battles recapturing Pacific islands.

In Europe, the US dealt the fatal blow to Germany with its massive D-Day invasion of France on June 6, 1944: unable to sustain a two-front war (the Soviet Union was savagely fighting on the eastern front), Germany surrendered in May 1945.

Nevertheless, Japan continued fighting. Newly elected President Harry Truman – ostensibly worried that a US invasion of Japan would lead to unprecedented carnage – chose to drop experimental atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Created by the government's top-secret Manhattan Project, the bombs devastated both cities, killing over 200,000 people. Japan surrendered days later. The nuclear age was born.

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## SUBURBIA & THE SECOND AMERICAN REVOLUTION

The US enjoyed unprecedented prosperity in the decades after WWII but little peace.

Formerly wartime allies, the communist Soviet Union and the capitalist USA soon engaged in a running competition to dominate the globe. The superpowers engaged in proxy wars – notably the Korean War (1950–53) and Vietnam War (1959–75) – with only the mutual threat of nuclear annihilation preventing direct war. Founded in 1945, the UN couldn't overcome this worldwide ideological split and was largely ineffectual in preventing Cold War conflicts.

* * *

_The Fifties_ (1993), by David Halberstam, explores an almost schizophrenic era: TV, civil rights, McCarthyism, Elvis Presley, suburbia and more coalesced into the decade that spawned modern America.

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Meanwhile, with its continent unscarred and its industry bulked up by WWII, the American homeland entered an era of surreal affluence. In the 1950s, a mass migration left the inner cities for the suburbs, where affordable single-family homes sprang up. Americans drove cheap cars using cheap gas over brand-new interstate highways. They relaxed with the comforts of modern technology, swooned over TV, and got busy, giving birth to a 'baby boom.'

Middle-class whites did, anyway. African Americans remained segregated, poor and unwelcome at the party. Echoing 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass, the Southern Christian Leadership Coalition (SCLC), led by African American preacher Martin Luther King Jr (Click here), aimed to end segregation and 'save America's soul': to realize color-blind justice, racial equality and fairness of economic opportunity for all.

Beginning in the 1950s, King preached and organized nonviolent resistance in the form of bus boycotts, marches and sit-ins, mainly in the South. White authorities often met these protests with water hoses and batons, and demonstrations sometimes dissolved into riots, but with the 1964 Civil Rights Act, African Americans spurred a wave of legislation that swept away racist laws in what some called America's 'second revolution.' However, African Americans and other minorities still struggle to overcome persistent inequalities in education and employment today.

Meanwhile, the 1960s saw further social upheavals: rock 'n' roll spawned a youth rebellion, and drugs sent Technicolor visions spinning in their heads. President John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, followed by the assassinations in 1968 of his brother, Senator Robert Kennedy, and of Martin Luther King. Americans' faith in their leaders and government were further shocked by the bombings and brutalities of the Vietnam War, as seen on TV, which led to widespread student protests.

Yet President Richard Nixon, elected in 1968 partly for promising an 'honorable end to the war,' instead escalated US involvement and secretly bombed Laos and Cambodia. Then, in 1972, the Watergate scandal broke: a burglary at Democratic Party offices was, through dogged journalism, tied to 'Tricky Dick,' who, in 1974, became the first US president to resign from office.

* * *

In biopic _Malcolm X_ (1992), directed by Spike Lee, Denzel Washington plays the role of one of America's most militant black liberation-movement leaders, who was assassinated in 1965.

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The tumultuous 1960s and '70s also witnessed the sexual revolution, women's liberation, struggles for gay rights, energy crises over the supply of crude oil from the Middle East, and, with the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's _Silent Spring,_ the realization that the USA's industries had created a polluted, diseased environmental mess (Click here).

Having failed to stop communism, the US finally left Vietnam in 1975, just as the economy really hit the skids. Cynical Americans, perhaps tired of fighting each other and being lied to by politicians, turned up the disco, popped birth-control pills and got their freak on right through into the narcissistic, name-brand consumerist 'Me' decade of the 1980s.

* * *

Starring Kevin Spacey, Laura Dern and Denis Leary, _Recount_ (2008) dramatizes the events of the hotly contested 2000 US presidential election, including the issues surrounding voter fraud and disenfranchisement in Florida.

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## PAX AMERICANA & THE WAR ON TERROR

In 1980, Republican California governor and former actor Ronald Reagan, correctly sensing the country's mood, campaigned for president by promising to make Americans feel good about America again. The affable Reagan won easily, and his election marked the start of a nearly three-decade conservative shift in US politics.

Reagan wanted to defeat communism, restore the economy, deregulate business and cut taxes. To tackle the first two, he launched the biggest peacetime military build-up in history, and dared the Soviets to keep up. They went broke trying, and the USSR collapsed. Thus, the Cold War ended without direct conflict between the two superpowers.

Military spending and tax cuts created enormous federal deficits, which hampered the presidency of Reagan's successor, George HW Bush. Despite winning the Gulf War – liberating Kuwait in 1991 after an Iraqi invasion – Bush was soundly defeated in the 1992 presidential election by Southern Democrat Bill Clinton. Clinton had the good fortune to catch the 1990s high-tech internet boom, which seemed to augur a 'new economy' based on white-collar telecommunications. The US economy erased its deficits and ran a surplus, and Clinton tried to pass universal health coverage, but conservatives blocked this expansion of the 'welfare state.'

* * *

Director Spike Lee's monumental documentary _When the Levees Broke_ (2006) is an intimate, moving account of Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans and a shameful indictment of the government's response.

* * *

In 2000 and 2004, George W Bush, the eldest son of George HW Bush, won the presidential elections so narrowly that the divided results seemed to epitomize an increasingly divided nation. 'Dubya' had the misfortune of being president when the high-tech stock bubble burst in 2000, but he nevertheless enacted tax cuts (mostly for the wealthy) that returned federal deficits even greater than before. He also championed the right-wing conservative 'backlash' that had been building since Reagan, which involved undoing environmental regulations, labor reforms and civil rights legislation; continuing Reagan's laissez-faire deregulation of industry; and fostering a moral, religious and cultural crusade of 'family values.'

On September 11, 2001, Islamic terrorists flew hijacked planes into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. This catastrophic attack united Americans behind their president as he vowed revenge and declared a 'war on terror.' But the Al-Qaeda terrorists belonged to no nation, and it was quickly apparent this would mean a new kind of war.

Congress quickly passed the Patriot Act, which abridged citizen's civil rights in an effort to catch potential terrorists, and President Bush revised long-standing US military policy to allow for 'preemptive attacks.' Bush soon attacked Afghanistan in an unsuccessful hunt for Al-Qaeda terrorist cells, then he attacked Iraq in 2003 and toppled its anti-US dictator, Saddam Hussein. Later one of the president's main justifications for starting the Iraq War – that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction – was proven false. Meanwhile, Iraq descended into civil war.

The USA's most expensive natural disaster to date occurred in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, including New Orleans (Click here). When federal relief efforts were slow to arrive and then proved inadequate, a sour mood settled over the nation: government was untrustworthy, the economy was debt-ridden, and the country was mired in a seemingly unwinnable war.

* * *

Suspicious of political factoids? So are we – particularly during political elections. That's why we turn to www.factcheck.org to help discern truth from 'truthiness.'

* * *

Hungry for change, Americans responded to a message of hope from political newcomer, Barack Obama. In 2008, after winning the Democratic primary (Click here) against Senator Hillary Clinton, Obama went on to defeat his Republican rival Senator John McCain. In 2009 Obama became the first African American to assume the country's highest office, a significant step forward in bridging racial divides that have plagued the nation since its founding.

During his first 100 days in office, President Obama passed a massive economic stimulus bill; shored up the failing banking, insurance and auto industries with taxpayer bailouts; set a timetable for US troop withdrawal from Iraq; overturned Bush-era restrictions on stem-cell research and nonsectarian family-planning services; moved to overhaul the broken US health-care system; and engaged in foreign diplomacy to help restore faith in America's leadership abroad, including with Islamic nations.

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## TIMELINE

**8000 BC** Widespread extinction of ice age mammals including the woolly mammoth, due partly to cooperative hunting by humans and partly to a warming climate. Indigenous peoples begin hunting smaller game and gathering native plants.

**7000 BC–AD 100** 'Archaic period' marked by nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle. By the end of this period, corn, beans and squash (the agricultural 'three sisters') and permanent settlements are well established.

**1492** Italian explorer Christopher Columbus 'discovers' America, eventually making three voyages throughout the Caribbean. He names the indigenous inhabitants 'Indians,' mistakenly thinking he had reached the Indies.

**1607** Within the first year of the Jamestown settlement, 80 out of 108 people die. The next year, called the 'starving time,' 440 of 500 settlers are buried. From 1619–22, 3000 of 3600 Jamestown settlers perish.

**1620** The _Mayflower_ lands at Plymouth with 102 English Pilgrims. Sick and starving, they are saved by gifts of food from the Wampanoag tribe. Grateful Pilgrims throw a harvest festival, which today is celebrated annually as Thanksgiving.

**1756–63** In the Seven Years' War (or the 'French and Indian War'), France loses to England and gets kicked out of Canada. Britain now controls most of the territory east of the Mississippi River.

**1773** To protest a British tax on tea, Bostonians crudely 'disguise' themselves as Mohawks, board East India Company ships and toss their tea overboard during what would be named the Boston Tea Party.

**1775** On April 18, Paul Revere rides from Boston to warn colonial 'Minutemen' that the British are coming. The next day, 'the shot heard round the world' is fired at Lexington, starting the Revolutionary War.

**1776** On July 4, American colonies sign the Declaration of Independence. Famous figures who helped create this document include John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.

**1787** Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia draws up the US Constitution; Alexander Hamilton and particularly James Madison play important roles. Federal power is balanced between the presidency, Congress and the judiciary.

**1791** Bill of Rights adopted as constitutional amendments articulating citizens' rights, including those of freedom of speech, assembly, religion and the press; the right to bear arms; and the prohibition of 'cruel and unusual punishments.'

**1803** France's Napoleon (preparing for war with England) sells the Louisiana Territory to the US for just $15 million, thereby extending the boundaries of the new nation from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.

**1803–6** President Thomas Jefferson sends Meriwether Lewis and William Clark west through the Louisiana Purchase. Guided by the Shoshone tribeswoman Sacajawea, they trailblaze from St Louis, Missouri, to the Pacific Ocean and back.

**1812** The War of 1812 begins with battles against the British and Native Americans in the Great Lakes region. Even after the 1815 Treaty of Ghent, fighting continues along the Gulf Coast, notably at New Orleans.

**1823** President Monroe articulates the Monroe Doctrine, which seeks to end European military interventions in the Americas. President Teddy Roosevelt later extends it to justify US interventions in Latin America and the western hemisphere.

**1841** First wagon trains follow the Oregon Trail, which extends the route followed by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. By 1847, over 6500 emigrants a year are heading West, to states such as Oregon, California and Mormon-dominated Utah.

**1844** First telegraph line is inaugurated in 1844 with the phrase 'What hath God wrought?'. In 1845, Congress considers building a transcontinental railroad, finally completed in 1869. Together, telegraph and train open the frontier.

**1849** After the 1848 discovery of gold near Sacramento, an epic cross-country gold rush sees 60,000 'forty-niners' flock to California's Mother Lode. The population of San Francisco explodes from 850 to 25,000 hardy souls.

**1861–65** American Civil War between the North and the South (delineated by the Mason–Dixon line). The war's end on April 9, 1865, is marred by President Lincoln's assassination five days later.

**1882** Racist, anti-Chinese sentiment, particularly in California (where over 50,000 Chinese immigrants have arrived since 1848) leads to the Chinese Exclusion Act, the only US immigration law to exclude a specific race.

**1896** In _Plessy v. Ferguson,_ the US Supreme Court rules that 'separate but equal' public facilities for blacks and whites are legal, arguing that the Constitution addresses only political, not social, equality.

**1898** US annexes Hawaii, and victory in the Spanish-American War gives US control of the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam, and indirect control of Cuba. The ensuing, bloody Philippine war for independence deters future US colonialism.

**1908** The first Model T (aka 'Tin Lizzie') car is built in Detroit, MI; assembly-line innovator Henry Ford is soon selling one million automobiles annually.

**1914** Panama Canal opens, linking Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. US won the right to build and run the canal by inciting a Panamanian revolt over independence from Colombia, and then sending forces to 'protect' Panama's freedom.

**1917** President Woodrow Wilson enters US into WWI, pledging 'the world must be made safe for democracy.' The US mobilizes over 4.7 million troops, and suffers around 110,000 of the war's more than 9 million military deaths.

**1919** The temperance movement champions the 18th amendment, which bans alcohol. Prohibition is wildly unsuccessful, leading to increased drinking, large-scale bootlegging and a heyday for organized crime. The amendment is repealed in 1933.

**1920s** Spurred by massive African American migration to northern cities, the Harlem Renaissance inspires an intellectual flowering of literature, art, music and cultural pride. Important figures include WEB Du Bois, Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston.

**1933–38** Franklin D Roosevelt's New Deal establishes federal programs and legislation including Social Security, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to provide unemployment relief.

**1941–45** US engages in WWII. America deploys over 16 million troops and suffers around 400,000 deaths. Overall, WWII civilian deaths outpace military deaths two to one, and total 50 to 70 million people from over 50 countries.

**1948–51** The US-led Marshall Plan funnels $12 billion in material and financial aid to help Europe recover from WWII, and not, coincidentally, to also help contain Soviet communist influence and reignite the US economy.

**1954** In _Brown v. Board of Education,_ the Supreme Court rules that segregation in public schools is 'inherently unequal' and orders desegregation 'with all deliberate speed.' The fight to integrate schools spurs the civil rights movement.

**1963** On November 22, President John F Kennedy is publically assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas.

**1965–75** US involvement in the Vietnam War, in which it supports South Vietnam against communist North Vietnam. The war results in 58,000 American troop fatalities, compared to four million Vietnamese and 1.5 million Laotians and Cambodians.

**1969** American astronauts land on the moon, fulfilling President Kennedy's unlikely 1961 promise to accomplish this feat within a decade and culminating the 'space race' between the US and USSR.

**1973** In _Roe v. Wade,_ the Supreme Court legalizes abortion. Still today, this decision remains controversial and socially divisive, pitting the 'right to choose' advocates against the 'right to life' anti-abortion lobby.

**1980s** Hundreds of New Deal–era financial institutions, deregulated under President Reagan, play fast and loose with their customers' savings and loans, and ultimately fail, leaving the government on the hook for a $125 billion bailout.

**1989** The 1960s-era Berlin Wall is torn down, marking the official end of the Cold War between the US and the USSR (now Russia). The USA becomes the world's last remaining superpower.

**1990s** The World Wide Web debuts in 1991. Silicon Valley, CA, leads a high-tech internet revolution, remaking communications and media, and overvalued tech stocks drive the biggest boom and bust since the Great Depression.

**2001** On September 11, Al-Qaeda terrorists hijack four commercial airplanes, flying two into NYC's World Trade Center towers, which collapse, and one into the Pentagon (the fourth plane crashes in rural Pennsylvania); nearly 3000 people are killed.

**2003** On March 20, after citing evidence that Iraq possesses 'weapons of mass destruction,' President George W Bush launches a preemptive war. Bush declares 'mission accomplished' on May 1, but guerrilla fighting and war continue.

**2005** On August 29, Hurricane Katrina hits the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts, rupturing levees and flooding below-sea-level New Orleans. Over 1800 people die, and cost estimates exceed $80 billion.

**2008–9** The US stock market crashes due to the failure of several banking and financial institutions, causing the subprime mortgage lending bubble to burst. In 2009, the US struggles with the worst economic recession since the Great Depression.

# The Culture

* * *

THE NATIONAL PSYCHE

LIFESTYLE

ECONOMY

POPULATION

MULTICULTURALISM

RELIGION

MEDIA

SPORTS

* * *

## THE NATIONAL PSYCHE

For all their differences – Americans don't all look alike or eat the same foods, they don't worship alike or have equal bank accounts – they do share a common thread. It unspools to this: the belief that America is a land of possibility, and if you apply yourself, you can achieve your dreams. Really – as cheesy as its sounds, it's the core of the national psyche.

When the founding fathers rattled on about democracy, government by and for the people, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, they laid the mold for the American character. People expect a large slate of individual rights, and for those rights to prevail if the government tries to curb them. It's also a group effort, where everyone has to trust 'the basic good sense and stability of the great American consensus,' as John F Kennedy once put it.

* * *

Americans take their liberty seriously, with 48 places nationwide named after the inalienable right. Iowa takes the prize, with three cities: New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.

* * *

It's not always easy. While the country prides itself on freedom and democracy, some citizens see these cornerstones slipping away. They are incensed about the government's expanded powers to wiretap, web-tap, and detain and seize property, all of which have been implemented in the name of fighting terrorism. Other citizens say such powers are necessary to keep the country safe, and if they have to forgo a civil liberty here or there, so be it.

One thing's for sure: freedom gets its due each Fourth of July, during the nation's whopping Independence Day celebration. Almost every city holds a fireworks-laden parade or festival to rock the nation's birthday. In Chicago, for instance, more than a million people fill downtown to watch red, white and blue pyrotechnics explode over a score of patriotic music. The scene plays out across the country, complemented by barbecues, picnics and cold beer.

* * *

NPR radio host Terry Gross interviews Americans from all walks of life, from rock stars to environmental activists to nuclear scientists. Listen online at www.npr.org/freshair.

* * *

But we don't mean to get overly sentimental here. An unpopular war, an unpopular former president (Bush had his lowest approval rating ever – about 22% – by his term's end) and a jittery economy have taken their toll on the American mindset. A 2008 Pew/Gallup poll showed that most Americans do not believe they're moving forward in life (25%) or they believe they are falling backward (31%) – the worst numbers in a half- century. But most are confident their quality of life in five years will be better than it is now. Is that optimistic or what?

Perhaps Barack Obama sums up the American spirit best. 'America is a place where all things are possible,' he said on election night in 2008, and him standing there on the great stage seemed to prove it. He was young, a relative newcomer to politics, and the first African American to become president – an American dream story, indeed.

* * *

In _Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey_ (2008), William Least Heat-Moon writes about the strange, mysterious people and places he encounters while driving through the USA's small towns and along rural backroads and byways.

* * *

Return to beginning of chapter

## LIFESTYLE

The USA has one of the world's highest standards of living. The median household income is just over $50,000, though it varies by ethnicity, with African Americans and Hispanics earning less than whites and Asians ($34,000 and $41,000 respectively, versus $54,000 and $67,000, according to census data).

Eighty percent of Americans are high-school graduates, while 24% go on to graduate from college with a four-year bachelor's degree.

More often than not there are two married parents in an American household, and both of them work. Single parents head 9% of households. Twenty-eight percent of Americans work over 40 hours per week. Divorce is common – more than 40% of first marriages go kaput – but both divorce and marriage rates have declined over the last three decades. Despite the high divorce rate, Americans spend more than $160 billion annually on weddings. The average number of children in an American family is two.

Despite the current economic crisis, two-thirds of Americans still own their house. Nearly all households (87%) have a TV, and 66% plug in three or more TVs; today, an average household has more TVs than people. Adding to the screen-time: 80% of homes have a DVD player, and 25% pay for satellite channels. Tallied up, the average American watches 140-plus hours of TV each month, according to Nielsen Media Research.

* * *

One in three American households owns a gun, according to the CDC. The National Rifle Association says it's more – that 40% to 45% pack heat.

* * *

While many Americans hit the gym or walk, bike or jog regularly, 40% don't exercise at all during their free time, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Health researchers speculate this lack of exercise and Americans' fondness for sugary and fatty foods have led to rising obesity and diabetes rates. More than two-thirds of Americans are overweight, with one-third considered obese, the CDC says.

About 26% of Americans volunteer their time to help others or help a cause. This is truer in the Midwest, followed by the West, South and Northeast, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service. Ecoconsciousness has entered the mainstream: 77% of Americans recycle at home, as per a recent Harris poll, and most big chain grocery stores – including Wal-Mart – now sell organic foods.

Americans tend to travel close to home. Just over one-third of Americans have passports so most people take vacations within the 50 states. According to the US Department of Commerce's Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, Mexico and Canada are the top countries for international getaways, followed by the UK, Italy, France, Germany and Japan. America's reputation as the 'no-vacation nation,' with many workers having only five to 10 paid annual vacation days, contributes to this stay-at-home scenario.

* * *

_Sicko_ (2007), a documentary by 'love him or hate him' filmmaker Michael Moore, examines the US health-care system and its impact on citizens.

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Finally, there's health care, which has become a unique issue for Americans. No national service exists, so citizens must pay for care on their own – and it's incredibly expensive. Health insurance is cost-prohibitive for many families, and as a result, more than 15% of Americans are uninsured. Thus, they often forgo routine care and medications until their health conditions become a problem. A study by Harvard researchers found that medical bills trigger half of all bankruptcies.

* * *

# Know Your Generations

American culture is often stratified by age groups. Here's a quick rundown to help you tell Generation X from Y, and then some.

  * **Baby Boomers** – those born from 1946 to 1964. After American soldiers came home from WWII, they got busy with the ladies, and the birthrate exploded (hence the term 'baby boom'). Youthful experimentation, self-expression and social activism was often followed by midlife affluence.
  * **Generation X** – those born between 1961 and 1981. Characterized by their rejection of Baby Boomer values, skepticism and alienation are X's pop-culture hallmarks.
  * **Generation Y** – those born from roughly the early 1980s to early 1990s (aka Millennials). Known for being brash and self-confident, they were the first to grow up with the internet.
  * **Generation Next** – overlaps with Gen Y, but basically applies to those born in the 1990s. Weaned on iPods, text messaging, instant messaging and social-networking websites, they are a work in progress. Stay tuned (and check their Facebook page for updates).

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* * *

# DOS & DON'TS

By and large, the American motto is to live and let live. But there are certain norms of behavior foreign visitors should be aware of.

  * Do return friendly greetings. 'Hi. How are you?' is expected to receive a cheerful, 'Thanks, I'm fine,' not 'My boyfriend dumped me, my irritable bowel is acting up and my car got towed.' Actual complaints are frowned upon.
  * Don't be overly physical when you greet someone. Some Americans will hug, but many more, especially men, will just shake hands. Big juicy lip kisses will likely get you slapped. Or arrested.
  * Don't take your clothes off in public. Especially on beaches, don't disrobe or, for women, go topless, unless many other people are already showing skin.
  * Some Americans you encounter may not know much about your country. Americans are usually excited to meet foreigners, but their geo-cultural knowledge is often low. Don't take it personally – only half of 18 to 24 year olds in the USA can even find New York on a map, according to a 2006 National Geographic Society survey.
  * Do be on time. Many Americans consider it rude to be kept waiting.
  * Don't smoke inside a building without asking first. Nonsmoking laws are increasingly common, and many people are strongly against second-hand smoke in their homes.
  * Do be respectful of police officers. Americans may be casual, but the police expect to be called 'Sir,' 'Ma'am' or simply 'Officer.' Slang terms such as 'Pig' are _not_ terms of endearment.

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Return to beginning of chapter

## ECONOMY

America's economy forged ahead throughout most of the last 25 years. Yes, there were ups and downs, but overall the stock market was reaching historic highs, alongside home-ownership rates and housing prices. Productivity was up, and unemployment was down.

But a problem lurked beneath the surface. The economy and productivity were growing without wage gains for the average worker. So Americans began borrowing money to make up the difference. As the economy zipped along, credit and home loans were easy to obtain. Soon the median debt-to-income ratio for middle-class adults had jumped from 0.45 in 1983 to 1.19 two decades later, according to Pew Research Center statistics. You'll often hear people say America's middle class is disappearing. Many economists agree, and peg it to this rising debt. There's certainly more to the story, but we'll get to that later...

* * *

Four million Americans tune in every week to Midwestern raconteur Garrison Keillor's old-timey radio show, _A Prairie Home Companion;_ listen to the live music, sketches and storytelling online at <http://prairiehome.publicradio.org>.

* * *

Americans' real median household income was $50,233 in 2007. It's one of the world's highest incomes (in terms of purchasing power), according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. However, it also represents the world's second-greatest income inequality – the gap between what America's richest 10% of workers earn and what the poorest 10% earn is wider than in every other developed country except Hungary. Perhaps the fact isn't a surprise, since median income combines citizens such as Bill Gates, the nation's richest person (with a net worth of $58 billion), and citizens earning minimum wage ($7.25 per hour, or $15,080 per year). Note the federal poverty level for a family of three is $18,310 per year – more than what a minimum-wage job alone provides.

* * *

The documentary _Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders_ (2006) tries to figure out why Americans keep spending money they don't have.

* * *

What drives this wild economy, the world's largest for a single country? The service sector and industries such as banking, retail and health care account for about 68% of GDP. Manufacturing (autos, aircraft and machinery) comprises 12%, construction 4%, oil drilling and mining 2%, and agriculture 1%. The government sector makes up the remaining 13%.

Industries on the rise include scientific, technical and health-care services. Those on the wane include agriculture, mining and some kinds of manufacturing, such as textiles and autos. Even for a 'waning' segment of the economy we're still talking huge numbers. Agriculture, for instance, is a $300 billion-plus industry, according to US Department of Commerce data.

* * *

The US spends 4.1% of its GDP on the military. By comparison, Canada spends 1.1%, China 4.3% and Israel 7.3% (stats from the CIA's World Factbook at www.cia.gov).

* * *

An old economists' proverb says, 'When the United States sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.' A big _achoo_ happened in mid-2008. Remember those easy-to-get home loans mentioned earlier? They set off a domino effect that plunged the economy into crisis. In short, financial institutions had been giving risky mortgages, financed through maneuverings in the booming stock market, to people with not-so-great credit. The economy tightened, and suddenly there was a record surge in mortgage defaults. Financial firms were caught holding the bag, and they began losing billions of dollars. This, in turn, set off a severe credit crisis and general all-round panic in the stock market, both here and abroad, making it difficult for businesses to pick up again. The US economy ground to a halt amid headlines of the 'Worst Economic Downturn since the Great Depression.'

The federal government took unprecedented steps to spark the economy. Usually known for letting the market work out its own kinks, the feds loaned billions of dollars to failed banks and other big companies. It cut interest rates. But the stock market kept on quivering. Over three-fourths of America believe the country is now in a recession, of which the upward-ticking unemployment rate (9.4% in July 2009, a 25-year high) is just one indicator.

Return to beginning of chapter

## POPULATION

'The times they are a-changin',' Bob Dylan once famously crooned, and it could be the theme song for America's population make-up. During the next four decades the country's population will undergo two major shifts: it will become significantly older, and it will become far more Hispanic/Latino.

* * *

Of the 12 companies that Dow Jones listed in 1896 when it created its famous stock index, only one, General Electric, remains today.

* * *

Let's start with the here and now. The total US population is around 305 million, making it the world's third–most populous country, but still well behind India and China, each of which pack in over a billion people. Broken down by ethnicity, the USA is 66% white, 15% Hispanic, 13% African American, 5% Asian and 1% Native American, according to 2007–08 census data.

Since the 2000 census, the US population has grown by roughly 8%, with Hispanics leading the charge. Their numbers ballooned by 24% in the new millennium, fueled by both immigration and the fact that Hispanic families tend to be younger and have more children than other population segments (the median age for Hispanics is 27.6 compared with 36.6 for the overall population).

* * *

A 2009 Gallup poll showed that for the first time in 25 years, a majority of Americans are willing to sacrifice environmental protections to boost economic growth.

* * *

By 2050, America is going to look a whole lot different. Census demographers project the country will be 46% white, 30% Hispanic, 15% African American and 9% Asian; Native Americans will rise to about 2% (rounding errors mean that the total does not equal 100). The upshot? Minorities will become the majority (for all the statistics wonks out there, 2042 is the momentous year when this transformation is set to occur).

The other big change will be the nation's elderly population. It will more than double in size by 2050, as baby boomers roll into their retirement years. One in five Americans will be aged over 65 by then (pay attention, prune marketers). The skew can best be seen in the 'dependency ratio,' which is the number of children and elderly compared to the number of working-age Americans. It will shoot up from 59 to 72 per 100 workers, according to the Pew Research Center, and create a new challenge: how will the country take care of all these older citizens?

* * *

# WHO'S NAUGHTY OR NICE?

Regional US stereotypes now have solid data behind them, thanks to a 2008 study titled 'The Geography of Personality.' Researchers processed more than a half-million personality assessments collected from individual US citizens, then looked at where certain traits stacked up on the map. Turns out 'Minnesota nice' is for real – the most 'agreeable' states cluster in the Midwest, Great Plains and South. These places rank highest for friendliness and cooperation. The most neurotic states? They line up in the Northeast. But New York didn't place number one, as you might expect; that honor goes to West Virginia. Many of the most 'open' states lie out West. California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington all rate high for being receptive to new ideas, although they lag behind Washington DC and New York. The most dutiful and self-disciplined states sit in the Great Plains and Southwest, led by New Mexico. Go figure.

* * *

The changes will play out across America, and in particular in states such as California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois. These are not only the five most populous states, but also the ones with major metropolitan gateways where immigrants tend to put down stakes. Florida has the highest share of elderly residents, to boot.

Most Americans are city folk, with almost 80% living in an urban environment. They favor the coasts, leaving the middle of the country sparsely populated. So there's lots of room to roam out on the range. States such as Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota each have fewer than 10 persons per sq mile (psm). Alaska is the loneliest place of all, with a mere 1.1 psm (a number that pleases the local moose population greatly). Compare that to New Jersey, the most densely populated state, where people are practically living on top of each other at 1135 psm. The USA as a whole has an average density of 80 psm – roomy, when stacked up next to Europe (134 psm) and Asia (203 psm).

Return to beginning of chapter

## MULTICULTURALISM

From the get-go, America was called a 'melting pot,' which presumed that newcomers came and blended into the existing American fabric. The country hasn't let go of that sentiment completely. On one hand, diversity is celebrated (Cinco de Mayo, Martin Luther King Day and Chinese New Year all get their due), but on the other hand, many Americans are comfortable with the status quo.

* * *

_State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America_ (2008) collects 50 essays about the 50 states, many by well-known literary personalities including Dave Eggers (Illinois), SE Hinton (Oklahoma) and Jhumpa Lahiri (Rhode Island).

* * *

Immigration is at the crux of the matter. Immigrants currently make up over 12% of the population, and their numbers are growing fast. About 1.1 million newcomers enter the US legally each year, with the majority from Mexico, followed by Asia and Europe. Another 11.5 million or so are in the country illegally. This is the issue that makes Americans edgy, especially as it gets politicized.

'Immigration reform' has become a Washington buzzword. Some people believe the nation's current system deals with illegal immigrants too leniently – that we should build more walls on the border, deport immigrants who are here unlawfully and fine employers who hire them. Other Americans think those rules are too harsh – that immigrants who have been here for years working, contributing to society and abiding by the law deserve amnesty. Perhaps they could pay a fine and fill out the paperwork to become citizens while continuing to live here with their families. It's an ongoing conflict. Despite several attempts, Congress has not been able to pass a comprehensive package addressing illegal immigration, though it has put through various measures to beef up enforcement. Stay tuned, because the issue isn't going away anytime soon.

Age has a lot to do with Americans' multicultural tolerance. When asked in a recent survey if immigration strengthens the nation, only about one-third of older Americans said yes, whereas more than half of 18 to 26 year olds said yes, according to the Pew Research Center. In a similar survey, those aged 60 and older were asked if it's acceptable for whites and African Americans to date each other: 35% said no, but that dropped to 6% when asked of Americans aged 30 and younger.

Many people point to the election of President Barack Obama as proof of America's multicultural achievements. It's not just his personal story (white mother, black father, Muslim name, has lived among the diverse cultures of Hawaii, Indonesia and the Midwest, among others). Or that he's the first African American to hold the nation's highest office (in a country where as recently as the 1960s blacks couldn't even vote in certain regions). It's that Americans of all races and creeds voted overwhelmingly to elect the self-described 'mutt' and embrace his message of diversity and change.

* * *

# NATIVE AMERICANS TODAY

Not that long ago they had the whole wide country to themselves. Today, single-race Native Americans represent only 1.5% of the USA's total population, according to 2007 census data.

About 4.5 million people of Native American descent are spread out across the country, though most live west of the Mississippi River (see the boxed text, Click here, for the historical explanation of why this is). Over half reside in 10 states: California and Oklahoma, which together contain 25% of the USA's Native American population, followed by Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, New York, Washington, North Carolina, Michigan and Alaska. One-third of all Native Americans live on reservations. Many others have packed up to look for better opportunities in urban areas. Los Angeles is the city with the largest number of Native Americans, while the nation's capital, Washington DC, has the lowest.

The Cherokee, Navajo, Chippewa, Sioux and Choctaw are the largest tribal groupings in the lower 48 (ie barring Alaska and Hawaii), with Cherokee leading the pack. The majority of groups speak English as their everyday language; the Navajo are the exception; about two-thirds of Navajo people speak their own language at home. The state with the largest percentage of indigenous people is Alaska, where over 15% of people identify as either Alaska Native or Native American. In Hawaii, almost 10% of residents are Native Hawaiian – though the federal government has yet to recognize them as an indigenous people with rights to self-determination and self-governance.

Today Native Americans face many social challenges. One in four lives in poverty, a rate that's twice that of the rest of the US population. Rates of alcoholism (550% higher), diabetes (190% higher), homicide (100% higher) and suicide (70% higher) are also disproportionate compared to other Americans, according to the Indian Health Service.

Are better times ahead? Tax-free gambling on reservations (in the form of casinos) has provided an influx of money for some tribal groups. In recent decades, a cultural renaissance has revived traditional chanting, music and dance, ritual ceremonies and native languages. Political activism has been on the rise ever since the American Indian Movement (AIM) was founded back in 1968 during the peak of civil-rights protests nationwide.

Many authors offer insight into contemporary Native American life. Sherman Alexie Jr, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, uses humor and wit to reshape Native American stereotypes. His book of short stories _The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven_ (1994) talks about life on the rez. Alexie's _The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian_ (2007), a young-adult novel about teen cartoonist Junior, who breaks away from the reservation to attend an all-white high school, won the National Book Award. Louise Erdrich is a novelist and poet who draws on her Chippewa heritage to examine relationships among full- and mixed-blood Native Americans and their questions of identity. Her novel _Love Medicine_ (1984) weaves the complex story of multigenerational families living on a North Dakota reservation; it won the National Book Critics Circle Award.

To dig deeper, the **Native American Virtual Library** (www.hanksville.org/naresources) has links to activist, media and tribal sites. The **Native Radio Network** (www.airos.org) has downloadable podcasts on Native American issues. In Washington, DC, the Smithsonian's **National Museum of the American Indian** (Click here) provides a high-level introduction to myriad Native American cultures, covering languages, literature, arts, history and even foods through its café. Powwows, ceremonies and cultural festivals take place year-round nationwide; New Mexico's **Gathering of Nations** (www.gatheringofnations.com) and Oklahoma's **Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival** (Click here) are among the country's largest annual intertribal gatherings.

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Return to beginning of chapter

## RELIGION

When the Pilgrims (early settlers to the United States who fled their European homeland to escape religious persecution) came ashore, they were adamant that their new country would be one of religious tolerance. They valued the freedom to practice religion so highly they refused to make their Protestant faith official state policy. What's more, they forbade the government from doing anything that might sanction one religion or belief over another. Separation of church and state became the law of the land.

Today, Protestants are on the verge of becoming a minority in the country they founded. According to the Pew Research Center, Protestant numbers have declined steadily to just over 50%. Meanwhile, other faiths have held their own or seen their numbers rise. Catholics represent about 25% of the country, with the denomination receiving a boost from the many Hispanics who have immigrated here. Those practicing non-Christian 'world religions' – Islam, Buddhism, Hindu, Judaism – have grown collectively to represent 5% of the country. Mormons comprise about 2%.

* * *

The US holds the world's second-largest Hispanic population, behind Mexico and just ahead of Spain.

* * *

Interestingly, one of the fastest-growing categories is 'unaffiliated.' The proportion of those who say they have 'no religion' is now around 16%. Some in this catch-all category disavow religion altogether (around 4%), but the majority sustain spiritual beliefs that simply fall outside the box.

What's more, the country is in a period of exceptional religious fluidity. Forty-four percent of American adults have left the denomination of their childhood for another denomination, another faith or no faith at all, according to Pew. A unique era of 'religion shopping' has been ushered in. As for the geographic breakdown: the USA's most Catholic region is shifting from the Northeast to the Southwest; the South is the most evangelical; and the West is the most unaffiliated.

* * *

Hindus, Mormons and Catholics are least likely to marry outside their faith, while Buddhists and mainline Protestants more often partner with a person of a different faith (from the 2008 Pew Center 'US Religious Landscape' survey).

* * *

All that said, America's biggest schism isn't between religions or even between faith and skepticism. It's between fundamentalist and progressive interpretations within each faith. Most Americans don't care much if you're Catholic, Episcopalian, Buddhist or atheist. What they do care about are your views on abortion, contraception, gay rights, stem-cell research, teaching of evolution, school prayer and government displays of religious icons. The country's Religious Right (the oft-used term for evangelical Christians) has pushed these issues onto center stage, and the group has been effective at using politics to codify its conservative beliefs into law. This effort has prompted a slew of court cases, testing the nation's principles on separation of church and state. The split remains one of America's biggest culture wars, and it almost always plays a role in politics, especially elections.

Return to beginning of chapter

## MEDIA

Once the domain of the daily newspaper and a handful of TV networks, American media has become so much more over the past 20 years. And less too – while the internet provides a dynamic free-for-all of expression, traditional media ownership continues to consolidate. Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, Walt Disney Company, General Electric, Time Warner, Viacom and Vivendi control much of the US market. Such concentration is a newish state of affairs. It harkens back to 1996, when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) started to deregulate media ownership.

The main TV networks are ABC (Disney owned), CBS (formerly Viacom-affiliated), NBC (General Electric/Vivendi owned) and Fox (Murdoch owned). Univision (independently owned) and Telemundo (General Electric owned) are the main Spanish-language networks. PBS is the nonprofit, public TV network; its radio equivalent is National Public Radio (NPR). While many Americans complain that both PBS and NPR are becoming too commercialized and beholden to corporate sponsors, both networks remain the country's main independent sources of news. Over half of Americans get their local news from TV, according to a 2008 Gallup poll. Yet younger, college-educated audiences prefer national news-satire programs such as _The Daily Show_ and _Colbert Report_ (for clips of both, visit www.comedycentral.com).

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The Independent Media Institute runs www.alternet.org, a haven for independent, progressive journalism that includes news, national columnists and individual blogs.

* * *

Newspapers have their own set of title holders. Large chains such as Gannett, Hearst and Cox own many US newspapers, and they're shrinking like mad. Average daily circulation across the country fell from 53.3 million to 34.4 million between 2006 and 2009, and over 100 papers folded during 2008. Even venerable, Pulitzer Prize–winning papers such as the _Christian Science Monitor_ can no longer make it. In 2009, the _Monitor_ became the first national daily to replace its daily print edition with a web-only version. Of those papers that remain on the newsstand, _USA Today,_ the _Wall Street Journal,_ the _New_ _York_ _Times,_ the _Washington Post_ and the _Los Angeles Times_ are the most popular.

Where are all the lost readers going? To the internet, of course. Over 80% of Americans log onto the internet regularly, according to University of Southern California Annenberg data, and on average they spend almost an hour a week reading news online. Blogs, websites and podcasts are so mainstream now that more than 44% of internet users – 100 million-plus Americans – have posted content to the web.

Blogs, in particular, have captured American eyeballs. Almost half of US internet users read blogs, and over 25% are blogging themselves, eMarketer reported in 2009. As the Blogosphere grows in size and influence, the lines between what constitutes a blog and what constitutes mainstream media are becoming blurred. For instance, 95% of the top 100 US newspapers now have reporter blogs that provide news content. If you want to see what the blogging scene is all about, check out popular US sites such as the **Huffington Post** (www.huffingtonpost.com), **Daily Kos** (www.dailykos.com) and green-oriented **TreeHugger** (www.treehugger.com).

* * *

'Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble To Invest In' is but one of _The Onion_ 's (www.theonion.com) outrageous, cheeky news story headlines.

* * *

Return to beginning of chapter

## SPORTS

You want to see American culture in all its glory? Head to the ballpark, football field or basketball court, and prepare for mania.

What really draws Americans together, sometimes slathered in blue body paint or with foam-rubber cheese wedges on their heads, is sports. It provides a social glue, so whether a person is conservative or liberal, married or single, Mormon or pagan, chances are come Monday at the office they'll be chatting about the weekend performance of their favorite team.

And Americans aren't just watching sports. They're also wagering on them. Football, in particular, brings out wallets for a friendly bet. Fantasy Leagues do, too. It's estimated that 17 million adults, age 18 to 55, play fantasy sports in the USA, which entails not only minute statistical analysis of favorite players but also shelling out the cash to back up one's picks.

The fun and games go on all year long. In spring and summer there's baseball nearly every day. In fall and winter, a weekend or Monday night doesn't feel right without a football game on, and through the long days and nights of winter there's plenty of basketball to keep the adrenaline going. Those are the big three sports. Car racing (see boxed text, Click here) has revved up interest in recent years. Major League Soccer (MLS) is attracting an ever-increasing following, especially after international superstar David Beckham's brief stint with the LA Galaxy team. And ice hockey, once favored only in northern climes (eg anywhere close to Canada like Detroit, MI), is popular nationwide, with three Stanley Cup winners since 2000 hailing from either California or the South.

### Baseball

C'mon, despite obnoxiously high salaries and its biggest stars being dogged by steroid rumors, baseball remains America's pastime. It may not command the same TV viewership (and subsequent advertising dollars) as football, but hey, baseball has 162 games over a season versus 16 for football.

* * *

The Super Bowl costs America $800 million dollars in lost workplace productivity as employees gossip about the game, make bets and shop for new TVs online.

* * *

Besides, baseball isn't about seeing it on TV – it's all about the live version. There's nothing better than being at the ballpark on a sunny day, sitting in the bleachers with a beer and hot dog, and indulging in the seventh-inning stretch, when the entire park erupts in a communal sing-along of 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame.' The play-offs, held every October, still deliver excitement and unexpected champions. The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs continue to be America's favorite teams, even when they suck (the Cubs haven't won a World Series in over 100 years).

Arguably the most hallowed grounds are Chicago's Wrigley Field and Boston's Fenway Park, both beautiful in a historic kind of way and smack-dab in the middle of urban neighborhoods with bars on every corner. Newer stadiums attract crowds with gimmicks such as an on-site swimming pool (Arizona's Chase Field), carousel and Ferris wheel rides (Detroit's Comerica Park) and sushi sold at the concession stands (LA's Dodger Stadium, San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium and San Francisco's AT&T Park).

* * *

Live out your sports-nerd fantasies at www.fantasysports.yahoo.com, Yahoo's website for football, basketball, baseball and other fantasy-league teams.

* * *

The website www.mlb.com is baseball's official home. Tickets are relatively inexpensive – seats average about $14 at most stadiums – and are easy to get for most games. Minor-league baseball games cost half as much, and can be even more fun, with lots of audience participation, stray chickens and dogs running across the field and wild throws from the pitcher's mound. For info, click to www.minorleaguebaseball.com.

### Basketball

Despite its prominence, professional basketball is starting to show signs of strain – mounting ticket prices prevent much of its traditional fan base from attending. At the same time, disadvantaged urban youth still play on street courts from coast to coast and hope that a college sports scholarship and professional basketball career will be a way out. Increasing numbers of players are being recruited from Europe, South America and even China, giving the game an unexpectedly cosmopolitan flavor.

* * *

Don't know your on-base percentage (OBP) from gross production average (GPA)? The Hardball Times (www.hardballtimes.com) can unleash your inner baseball stats-geek.

* * *

The teams bringing in the most fans these days include the Chicago Bulls (thanks to the lingering Michael Jordan effect), Detroit Pistons (a rowdy crowd where riots have broken out), Cleveland Cavaliers (home of Lebron James, aka the new Michael Jordan), the San Antonio Spurs and last but not least, the Los Angeles Lakers (led by ex-Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson), which has won four championships since 2000. Small-market teams like Sacramento and Portland have true-blue fans, and such cities can be great places to take in a game. Check the National Basketball Association website (www.nba.com) for info.

College level basketball also draws millions of fans, especially every spring when March Madness rolls around. This series of college play-off games culminates in the Final Four, when the four remaining teams compete for a spot in the championship game. The Cinderella stories and unexpected outcomes rival the pro league for excitement. The games are widely televised – and bet upon. This is when Las Vegas bookies earn their keep.

* * *

# START YOUR ENGINES

NASCAR – officially, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing – has played an unusual role in American culture. It flew under the radar for years, mostly thrilling fans in the Southeast, where it originated. Money started to flow in during the 1990s, and then it burst onto the national scene in a big way in 2002.

That's when the term 'NASCAR dad' entered the national lexicon as part of political campaigning, and came to typify white, working-class, typically conservative men who also happened to be fans of fast cars that drive around in circles. Soon NASCAR races became the second most-watched sport on TV, trailing only pro football games. And more than a hundred Fortune 500 companies became involved via sponsorship. Dollar signs flashed.

Lately though, NASCAR is having an identity crisis. Its traditional fan base is irked that the sport tried to go upscale – merlot versus moonshine, as they say – and now NASCAR must woo them back. Big names on the circuit today include Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The Nextel Cup is the top-tier tour, with the Daytona 500 (Click here) being the year's biggest race, attracting nearly 250,000 spectators – more than an NFL Superbowl, MLB World Series game and NBA finals match-up combined.

* * *

Women play too, at both college and pro levels. It's not uncommon for certain college women's teams to outdraw the men's.

### Football

Football has tackled the rest of American sports. It's big, it's physical, and it's rolling in dough. With the shortest season and least number of games of any of the major sports, every match takes on the emotion of an epic battle, where the results matter and an unfortunate injury can be devastatingly lethal to the chances of an entire team.

* * *

In _Talladega Nights_ (2006), comedian Will Ferrell spoofs NASCAR. He plays dim-witted driver Ricky Bobby, racing's top star until pride brings him down. Can he regain his integrity (and wife, kids, money and car)?

* * *

Football's also the toughest because it's played in fall and winter in all manner of rain, sleet and snow. Some of history's most memorable matches have occurred at below-freezing temperatures. Green Bay Packers fans are in a class by themselves when it comes to severe weather. Their stadium in Wisconsin, known as Lambeau Field, was the site of the infamous Ice Bowl, a 1967 championship game against the Dallas Cowboys where the temperature plummeted to 13°F below zero – mind you, that was with a wind-chill factor of -48°F.

Different teams have dominated different decades: the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s, the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s, the Cowboys in the 1990s and the New England Patriots in the 2000s. The pro league's official website, www.nfl.com, is packed with information. Tickets are expensive and hard to get (that's why many fans congregate in bars to watch instead).

Even college and high-school football games enjoy an intense amount of pomp and circumstance, with cheerleaders, marching bands, mascots, songs and mandatory pre- and postgame rituals, especially the tailgate – a full-blown beer-and-barbecue feast that takes place over portable grills in parking lots where games are played.

The rabidly popular Super Bowl is pro football's championship match, held in late January or early February. The bowl games (such as Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl) are college football's title matches, held on and around New Year's Day.

Return to beginning of chapter

# Arts

* * *

MUSIC

LITERATURE

FILM

TELEVISION

PAINTING & SCULPTURE Karen Levine

THEATER

DANCE

ARCHITECTURE

* * *

When searching for a metaphor that encapsulates America's arts, one is sorely tempted to use the web (or, to be current, Web 2.0). Many of the characteristics of the internet revolution so perfectly match and amplify America's artistic persona that, if set free in a metaverse, the web could be America's digital avatar.

Both are chaotic, democratic jumbles of high and low culture, in which the individual takes the reins of criticism and self-defined communities perform for themselves. Both are rebellious, obsessively personal, ahistorical (even antihistorical), deconstructive, collaborative and given to appropriation, if not outright theft. Both enjoy upsetting apple carts and revel in the transformative nature of technology.

Historically, America's arts have shined brightest during modernism and postmodernism – and what's more postmodern than the internet? However, what the web lacks is ethnicity and place, and no analogy for America will ever work without those. Geography and race together create the varied regionalism that is key to understanding America's arts. And despite a popular affinity for technology, nature and wilderness still inspire the nation's soul and, consequently, much of its art.

Discarding the web as analogy and simply considering the fact of it, there is no question that digital technology is currently unmaking and remaking every medium and influencing every aesthetic in the US. It's impossible to say exactly where this is going or how much, once the binary dusts settle, will be different. America is in the middle of a global revolution, in which economics, production, distribution, tools, community, performance, expression and audience experience are all changing.

Yet to understand the art of tomorrow, you've got to first look at the history of the arts in America – including music, literature, architecture, painting, photography, theater, dance, cinema and TV – today.

Return to beginning of chapter

## MUSIC

American popular music is the nation's heartbeat. It's John Lee Hooker's deep growls and John Coltrane's soulful cascades. It's Hank Williams' yodel and Elvis' pout. It's Beyoncé and Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington and Patti Smith. It's a feeling as much as a form – always a foot-stomping, defiant good time, whether folks are boot scootin' to bluegrass, sweating to zydeco or jumpin' to hip-hop.

No other American art has been as influential. Blues, jazz, country, rock and roll, hip-hop: download them to your iPod and you've got the soundtrack for the story of American music as it evolved in the 20th century. The rest of the world has long returned the love, and American music today is a joyful, freewheeling multicultural feast, in which genres and styles are mixed, matched, blended and blurred.

* * *

Reading _Hip: The History_ (2004), by John Leland, is like watching an expert mechanic disassemble the racially charged, high-octane engine of American pop culture. It's so good, it's badass.

* * *

Only the industry does not have happy feet. The digital revolution hit music first, and the 'problems' new technology poses to business hit music hardest: the obsolescence of physical media, uncontrolled public access and lack of copyright protections. CD sales (still over 80% of all music sales) have been falling for eight years; digital sales are rising fast, but not enough to stop an overall decline. Music, a $14.5 billion industry in 1999, dropped to a $10.4 billion industry in 2007, with music retailers closing faster than independent bookstores. In 2008, the US accounted for half of the global digital music market, with annual downloads surpassing the one billion mark.

Despite waves of lawsuits, the industry seems powerless to stop illegal downloading. Estimates are that a billion songs are traded illegally every month – a testament to both the power of music and the consequences of new media.

### Blues

The South is the mother of American music, most of which has roots in the frisson and interplay of black-white racial relations, whose troubled course was first set by the 'peculiar institution' of slavery. The blues developed out of the work songs, or 'shouts,' of black slaves and out of black spiritual songs and their 'call-and-response' pattern, both of which were adaptations of African music.

After the Civil War, transformed by the crucible of African American life in white US society, slave work songs became the blues. Improvisational and intensely personal, the blues remain at heart an immediate expression of individual pain, suffering, hope, desire and pride. Nearly all subsequent American music has tapped this deep well.

* * *

_Cadillac Records_ (2008) may not tell the strict historical truth about the influential Chicago-based music label, but it's still a ripping good story about legendary blues musicians including Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Etta James.

* * *

At the turn of the 20th century, traveling blues musicians, and particularly female blues singers, gained fame and employment across the South. Early pioneers included Robert Johnson, WC Handy, Ma Rainey, Huddie Ledbetter (aka Lead Belly) and Bessie Smith, who some consider the best blues singer who ever lived. At the same time, African American Christian choral music evolved into gospel, whose greatest singer, Mahalia Jackson, came to prominence in the 1920s.

After WWII, blues from Memphis and the Mississippi Delta dispersed northward, particularly to Chicago, in the hands of a new generation of musicians like Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, BB King, John Lee Hooker and Etta James. Today, the blues flame is tended, and updated, by musicians like Robert Cray, Bettye LaVette and Keb' Mo'.

* * *

An African American euphemism for sex, the term 'rock and roll' first appeared in blues singer Trixie Smith's 1922 song 'My Man Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll).'

* * *

### Jazz

Down in New Orleans, Congo Sq, where slaves gathered to sing and dance from the late 18th century onward, is considered the 'birthplace' of jazz. There ex-slaves adapted the reed, horn and string instruments used by the city's often French-speaking, multiracial Creoles – who themselves preferred formal European music – to play their own 'primitive,' African-influenced music. This fertile cross-pollination produced a steady stream of innovative sounds.

The first variation was ragtime, so-called because of its 'ragged,' syncopated African rhythms. Beginning in the 1890s, ragtime was popularized by musicians like Scott Joplin, and was made widely accessible through sheet music and player-piano rolls.

Dixieland jazz, centered on New Orleans' infamous Storyville red-light district, soon followed. Coronet player Buddy Bolden is credited with being the first true jazz musician, although pianist Jelly Roll Morton liked to boast that he was the one who created jazz. In 1917 Storyville shut down and New Orleans' jazz musicians dispersed. In 1919, bandleader King Oliver moved to Chicago, and his star trumpet player, Louis Armstrong, soon followed. Armstrong's distinctive vocals and talented improvisations led to the solo becoming an integral part of jazz throughout much of the 20th century.

* * *

Ken Burns' documentary miniseries _Jazz_ (2001) celebrates the multiracial mosaic of this American musical invention, from the early days of slavery through to the contributions of 20th-century innovators. For audio clips and more, visit www.pbs.org/jazz.

* * *

The 1920s and '30s are known as the Jazz Age, but music was just part of the greater flowering of African American culture during New York's Harlem Renaissance. Swing – an urbane, big-band jazz style – swept the country, led by innovative bandleaders Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Jazz singers Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday combined jazz with its Southern sibling, the blues.

After WWII, bebop (aka bop) arose, reacting against the smooth melodies and confining rhythms of big-band swing. Saxophonist Lester Young influenced a new crop of musicians, including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. Critics at first derided such 1950s and '60s permutations as cool jazz, hard-bop, free or avant-garde jazz, and fusion (which combined jazz and Latin or rock music) – but there was no stopping the postmodernist tide deconstructing jazz. Pioneers of this era include Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Chet Baker, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Melba Liston and Ornette Coleman.

Today, no particular jazz style predominates. Ragtime, Dixieland and swing all enjoy revivals, especially under the leadership of trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, while musicians such as pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonists Wayne Shorter and Joshua Redman, and 'vocalese' singer Kurt Elling keep expanding this ever malleable, brilliantly resilient form.

* * *

Excellent jazz magazines include _Down Beat_ (www.downbeat.com), with an online 'Jazz 101' history section, and _Jazz Times_ (www.jazztimes.com) for an online concert and events guide.

* * *

### Folk & Country

Early Scottish, Irish and English immigrants brought their own instruments and folk music to America, and what emerged over time in the secluded Appalachian Mountains was fiddle-and-banjo hillbilly, or 'country,' music. In the Southwest, 'western' music was distinguished by steel guitars and larger bands. In the 1920s, these styles merged into 'country-and-western' music and became centered on Nashville, Tennessee, especially once the _Grand Ole Opry_ began its radio broadcasts in 1925 (Click here).

Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family were some of the first country musicians to become widely popular. In Kentucky, Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys mixed country with jazz and blues to create 'bluegrass.' Other notable country musicians include Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn.

The tradition of American folk music was crystallized in Woody Guthrie, who traveled the country during the Depression singing politically conscious songs. In the 1940s, Pete Seeger emerged as a tireless preserver of America's folk heritage. Folk music experienced a revival during 1960s protest movements, but then-folkie Bob Dylan ended it almost single-handedly when he plugged in an electric guitar to shouts of 'traitor!'

Country music influenced rock and roll in the 1950s, while rock-flavored country was dubbed 'rockabilly.' In the 1980s, country and western achieved new levels of popularity with stars like Garth Brooks. Today, famous country musicians include Shania Twain, the Dixie Chicks, Dwight Yoakam and Tim McGraw. Occupying the eclectic 'alt country' category are Lucinda Williams and Lyle Lovett. For the Austin music scene, Click here.

* * *

Part of the 'outlaw country' movement of the late 1960s and '70s, Willie Nelson's pioneering brand of country music appealed to cowboys and hippies alike, as heard on the concept album _Red Headed Stranger_ (1975).

* * *

### Rock & Roll

Most say rock and roll was born in 1954 the day Elvis Presley walked into Sam Philips' Sun Studio and recorded 'That's All Right.' Initially, radio stations weren't sure why a white country boy was singing black music, or whether they should play it. Two years later Presley scored his first big breakthrough with 'Heartbreak Hotel.'

Musically, rock and roll was a hybrid of guitar-driven blues, black rhythm and blues (R & B), and white country-and-western music. R & B evolved in the 1940s out of swing and the blues and was then known as 'race music.' With rock and roll, white performers and some African American musicians transformed 'race music' into something that white youths could embrace freely – and oh, did they.

Rock and roll instantly abetted a social revolution even more significant than its musical one: openly sexual, celebrating youth and dancing freely across color lines, rock scared the nation. Authorities worked diligently to control 'juvenile delinquents' and to sanitize and suppress rock and roll, which might have withered if not for the early 1960s 'British invasion,' in which the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, emulating Buddy Holly, Little Richard and others, shocked rock and roll back to life.

The 1960s witnessed a full-blown youth rebellion, epitomized by the drug-inspired psychedelic sounds of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, and the electric wails of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and Patti Smith. Ever since, rock has been about music _and_ lifestyle, alternately torn between hedonism and seriousness, commercialism and authenticity.

Punk arrived in the late 1970s, led by the Ramones and the Dead Kennedys, as did the working-class rock of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. As the counterculture became the culture in the 1980s, critics prematurely pronounced 'rock is dead.' Rock was saved (including by the Talking Heads, REM, Nirvana and Pearl Jam) as it always has been: by splintering and evolving, whether it's called new wave, heavy metal, grunge, alt rock, world beat, skate punk, goth, electronica, and on and on.

* * *

The album is dead! Long live the album! My Chemical Romance's _The Black Parade_ (2006) is old-school, bombastic, self-conscious and rock-laden with sly winks, infectious hooks and emo-punk wails.

* * *

Even though hip-hop has become today's outlaw sound, rock remains relevant, and it's not going anywhere. Cue up the White Stripes, the Killers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kings of Leon or Beck to hear why.

### Hip-Hop TophOne

From the ocean of sounds coming out of the early 1970s – funk, soul, Latin, reggae and rock and roll – young DJs from the Bronx in New York City began to spin a groundbreaking mixture of records together in an effort to drive dance floors wild. An emcee would take over the microphone, calling out rhymes and urging the dancers, or b-boys and b-girls, into a frenzy.

And so hip-hop was born. Groups like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and Afrika Bambaataa and the SoulSonic Force were soon taking the party from the streets to the trendy clubs of Manhattan and mingling with punk and new wave bands like the Clash and Blondie. Break-out artists Futura 2000, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat moved from the subways and the streets to the galleries, and soon to the worlds of fashion and advertising. By the mid-1980s, hip-hop touched everyone, young and old, black and white, and everybody in between.

As groups like RunDMC and the Beastie Boys sold millions, the sounds and styles of the growing hip-hop culture rapidly diversified. The 'gangsta rap' sound of NWA came out of Los Angeles, as Japan's DJ Krush composed monumental soundscapes and MC Solaar rapped about Parisian housing projects. Throughout the 1990s kids from all corners of the globe were rapping, break dancing, and painting their names on urban walls in emulation of the artists they adored.

* * *

For all the alt rock and garage bands (still playing garages!) that fly below the music industry's promotional juggernaut, plug into _Magnet_ (www.magnetmagazine.com).

* * *

Come the turn of the millennium, what started as some raggedy gang kids playing their parents' funk records at illegal block parties had evolved into a multibillion-dollar business. Russell Simmons and P Diddy stood atop media empires, and stars Queen Latifah and Will Smith were Hollywood royalty. A white rapper from Detroit, Eminem, sold millions of records and hip-hop overtook country as America's second-most-popular music behind pop rock.

At the same time, the underground essence of hip-hop kept thriving. Pictures of fresh graffiti spread instantly over websites, and the development of cheaper and simpler music programs gave rise to thousands of bedroom producers. Regional styles such as the American South's 'krunk' and the Bay Area's 'hyphy movement' rose from the grassroots to gain major airplay.

* * *

# MUSIC IN THE HOT, HOT SUN

Americans love a grassy lawn and an outdoor stage, and recent decades have seen a renaissance in music festival extravaganzas. More than bandstands, these are some of the nation's top 'musical, cultural, community experiences,' to quote grandpappy Lollapalooza.

In general, single-day tickets run from $40 to $85 and multiday passes from $150 to over $300. Book early on festival websites, which often link to hotel and transportation options (and sometimes offer special package deals, too).

For more music festivals, check the listings throughout this book or browse online at www.bluesfestivalguide.com, www.jazzonjazz.com, www.dirtylinen.com and www.festivalfinder.com.

**Bill Monroe Memorial Bluegrass Festival** (Bean Blossom, IN; www.beanblossom.com) USA's oldest bluegrass festival; eight days in mid-June.

**Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival** (Manchester, TN; www.bonnaroo.com) Big-name rock, soul, country and more, plus a comedy tent; four days in mid-June.

**Bumbershoot** (Seattle, WA; www.bumbershoot.org) Not just rock but dance, theater and comedy too; three days in early September.

**Coachella** (Indio, CA; www.coachella.com) Hard rock, DJs, musical icons and alternative bands in the desert; three days in mid-April.

**Folk Festival 50** (Newport, RI; www.folkfestival50.com) Dylan went electric in Newport at the nation's preeminent folk gathering; three days in early August.

**Lollapalooza** (Chicago, IL; www.lollapalooza.com) Major-player rock and DJ lineup; three dazed days in early August.

**Monterey Jazz Festival** (Monterey, CA; www.montereyjazzfestival.org) A don't-miss jazz celebration with legendary showstoppers; three days in mid-September.

**New Orleans Jazz Fest** (New Orleans, LA; www.nojazzfest.com) Premier jazz fest, from Cajun and funk to blues and zydeco; two weekends in late April/early May. Click here.

**Sasquatch! Music Festival** (Quincy, WA; www.sasquatchfestival.com) Rock and roll in the gorgeous Columbia River Gorge; three days in late May.

**South by Southwest** (Austin, TX; <http://sxsw.com>); Gargantuan event with nearly 2000 bands, 110 films and an interactive digital expo; 10 days in mid-March. Click here.

* * *

Today, many view hip-hop as a vapid wasteland of commercial excess – glorifying consumerism, misogyny, homophobia, drug use and a host of other social ills. But just as the hedonistic days of arena rock and roll gave birth to the rebel child of punk, the evolving offspring of hip-hop and DJ culture are constantly breaking the rules to create something new and even more energizing.

Return to beginning of chapter

## LITERATURE

Not so long ago, the nation's imagination stirred when critics heralded the next Great American Novel. Not everyone cared, but for over a century the novel was still the vital engine of US culture and art. In today's glutted multimedia environment, American writers have to fight for wallets – and ever-decreasing attention spans – so much so that the Great American Novel has practically become niche publishing.

* * *

Layered with pop, rap, soul, retro and hip-hop, _St Elsewhere_ (2006), by Gnarls Barkley, is wickedly good. So is DJ Danger Mouse's _Grey Album_ (2004), a mashup of rapper Jay-Z's _The Black Album_ and the Beatles' 'White Album.'

* * *

Yet reading survives. Americans spend over $37 billion a year on books, which is more than they spend on music and movie tickets combined. Overall book sales are steady, but physical bookstores are suffering due to web-retailers and digital reading devices for ebooks like Kindle from online mega-bookseller Amazon.com.

Americans are in no danger of losing their love of a well-told tale, even though the distinction between literature and genre fiction is often playfully blurred. Each year reveals a pluralistic wealth of new and talented voices, all feverishly digesting what life in these United States is all about. In whatever form, great American writers still stir the melting pot.

### The Great American Novel

America first articulated a vision of itself through its literature. Until the American Revolution, the continent's citizens identified largely with England, but after independence, an immediate call went out to develop an American national voice. Despite much parochial hand-wringing, little progress was made until the 1820s, when writers took up the two aspects of American life that had no counterpart in Europe: the untamed wilderness and the frontier experience.

* * *

Since the 1970s, the nonprofit Gutenberg Project (www.gutenberg.org) has been expanding its free digital library of ebooks, with over 28,000 titles currently available for download.

* * *

James Fenimore Cooper is credited with creating the first truly American literature with _The Pioneers_ (1823), the first of his famous Leatherstocking adventure stories. Cooper portrayed the humble pioneer, gathering ethical and spiritual lessons through his contact with wilderness, as a more authentic, admirable figure than the refined European. In Cooper's 'everyman' humor and individualism, Americans first recognized themselves.

In his essay _Nature_ (1836), Ralph Waldo Emerson articulated similar ideas, but in more philosophical and spiritual terms. Emerson claimed that nature reflected God's instructions for humankind as plainly as the Bible did, and that individuals could understand these through rational thought and self-reliance. Emerson's writings became the core of the transcendentalist movement, which Henry David Thoreau championed in _Walden; or, Life in the Woods_ (1854).

Herman Melville's ambitious _Moby Dick_ (1851) was, in part, a cautionary tale of what happens when the individual accepts transcendentalist beliefs, and thus thinks that he can distinguish good from evil with God-like clarity. Nathaniel Hawthorne examined the dark side of conservative New England in _The Scarlet Letter_ (1850), as did recluse Emily Dickinson in her haunting, tightly structured poems, which were first published in 1890, four years after her death.

* * *

Unknown authors languishing in dusty garrets pining for publication? That's no longer necessary, now that writers are telling stories in serial podcasts at Podiobooks (<http://podiobooks.com>).

* * *

Standing somewhat outside this dialogue, Edgar Allan Poe was the first American writer to achieve international acclaim. His gruesome stories (such as 'The Tell-Tale Heart,' 1843) helped popularize the short-story form, and he is credited with inventing the mystery story, the horror story and science fiction, all extremely popular and enduring genres in America.

The celebration of common humanity and nature reached its apotheosis in Walt Whitman, whose poetry collection _Leaves of Grass_ (1855) signaled the arrival of an American literary visionary. In Whitman's informal, intimate, rebellious free verse were songs of individualism, democracy, earthy spirituality, taboo-breaking sexuality and joyous optimism that encapsulated the heart of a throbbing new nation.

But not everything was coming up roses. Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe's controversial novel _Uncle Tom's Cabin_ (1852) depicted African American life under slavery with Christian romanticism but also enough realism to inflame passions on both sides of the 'great debate' over slavery, which would shortly plunge the nation into civil war.

* * *

American poets still struggle for notice, but the US has an active scene: _Poetry_ magazine (www.poetryfoundation.org) publishes news, interviews with authors, contemporary verse and podcasts.

* * *

After the Civil War (1861–65), two enduring literary trends emerged: realism and regionalism. Stephen Crane's _The Red Badge of Courage_ (1895) depicted the horrors of war, while Upton Sinclair's _The Jungle_ (1906) was a shocking exposé of Chicago's meatpacking industry. Regionalism was especially spurred by the rapid late-19th-century settlement of the West. Novelist Jack London ( _Call of the Wild,_ 1903) serialized his adventures throughout the West, as well as in Alaska and Hawaii, for popular magazines such as the _Saturday Evening Post_.

However, it was Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) who came to define American letters. Twain wrote in the vernacular, loved 'tall tales' and reveled in satirical humor and absurdity, while his folksy, 'anti-intellectual' stance endeared him to everyday readers. In _Huckleberry Finn_ (1884), Twain made explicit the quintessential American narrative of an individual journey of self-discovery. The image of Huck and Jim – a poor white teenager and a runaway black slave – standing outside society's norms and floating together toward an uncertain future down the Mississippi River challenges American society still.

### Disillusionment & Diversity

With the dramas of world wars and a newly industrialized society for artistic fodder, American literature came into its own in the 20th century.

* * *

Orion Horncrackle, Fiesta Punch and Plato Bucklew are just a few of the Wyoming denizens populating Annie Proulx's _Bad Dirt_ (2004), a Twain-esque collection of tall tales, hard luck and barbed-wire wit.

* * *

Dubbed the 'Lost Generation,' many US writers became expatriates in Europe, most famously Ernest Hemingway. His novel _The Sun Also Rises_ (1926) exemplified the era, and his spare, stylized realism has often been imitated, never bettered. Other notable American figures at Parisian literary salons included modernist writers Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound, and iconoclast Henry Miller, whose semiautobiographical novels, including _Tropic of Cancer_ (1934), were published in Paris, only to be banned for obscenity and pornography in the USA until the 1960s.

F Scott Fitzgerald ( _The Great Gatsby,_ 1925) eviscerated East Coast society life, while John Steinbeck ( _The Grapes of Wrath,_ 1939) became the great voice of rural working poor in the West, especially during the Great Depression. William Faulkner ( _The Sound and the Fury,_ 1929) examined the South's social rifts in dense prose riddled by bullets of black humor.

* * *

Spanning more than four decades, the Rabbit series by novelist John Updike's used dark angst and humor to capture the ironic disaffections of modern life in suburban America; _Rabbit is Rich_ (1981) won the Pulitzer Prize.

* * *

In the 1930s, the classic detective story got hammered by writers like Dashiell Hammett ( _The Maltese Falcon,_ 1930) and Raymond Chandler ( _The Big Sleep,_ 1939), whose hard-boiled urban realism was so morally dark it was dubbed 'noir' fiction. This tradition is carried on today by crime writers such as James Ellroy ( _The Black Dahlia,_ 1987), Walter Mosley ( _Devil in a Blue Dress,_ 1990) and Elmore Leonard ( _Out of Sight,_ 1996).

Between the world wars, the Harlem Renaissance also flourished, as African American intellectuals and artists took pride in their culture and undermined racist stereotypes. Among the most well-known writers were poet Langston Hughes and novelist Zora Neale Hurston ( _Their Eyes Were Watching God,_ 1937).

After WWII, American writers delineated ever-sharper regional and ethnic divides, pursued stylistic experimentation and often caustically repudiated conservative middle-class American values. Writers of the 1950s Beat Generation threw themselves like Molotov cocktails onto the profusion of smug suburban lawns: Jack Kerouac ( _On the Road,_ 1957), Allen Ginsberg ( _Howl,_ 1956) and William S Burroughs ( _Naked Lunch,_ 1959) celebrated nonconformity and transgressive, stream-of-consciousness writing. Meanwhile, JD Salinger ( _The Catcher in the Rye,_ 1951), Russian immigrant Vladimir Nabokov ( _Lolita,_ 1958), Ken Kesey ( _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,_ 1962) and Sylvia Plath ( _The Bell Jar,_ 1963) darkly chronicled descents into madness by characters who struggled against stifling social norms.

* * *

And now for something really different: Kurt Vonnegut's _Cat's Cradle_ (1963) and _Slaughterhouse-Five_ (1969) are genre-bending novels that mix science fiction with postmodern Cold War–era political satire and a hefty dose of dark humor.

* * *

The South, always ripe with paradox, inspired masterful short-story writers Flannery O'Connor ( _Wise Blood,_ 1952) and Eudora Welty ( _The Optimist's Daughter,_ 1972) and novelist Dorothy Allison ( _Bastard Out of Carolina,_ 1992). The mythical romance and modern tragedies of the West have found their champions in Chicano writer Rudolfo Anaya ( _Bless Me Ultima,_ 1972), Larry McMurtry ( _Lonesome Dove,_ 1985) and Cormac McCarthy ( _All the Pretty Horses,_ 1982), whose characters poignantly tackle the rugged realities of Western life.

African American writers also rose to prominence as the 20th century progressed. Richard Wright ( _Black Boy,_ 1945) and Ralph Ellison ( _Invisible Man,_ 1952) wrote passionately about racism, while James Baldwin became both an acclaimed African American writer ( _Go Tell It on the Mountain,_ 1953) and a groundbreaking openly gay writer ( _Giovanni's Room,_ 1956). African American women writers were led by Toni Morrison ( _The Bluest Eye,_ 1970), Maya Angelou ( _I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,_ 1971) and Alice Walker ( _The Color Purple,_ 1982).

As the 20th century ended, American literature became ever more personalized, starting in the 'me' decade of the 1980s. Narcissistic, often nihilistic narratives catapulted the 'Brat Pack' into pop culture: Jay McInerney ( _Bright Lights, Big City,_ 1984), Brett Easton Ellis ( _Less Than Zero,_ 1985) and Tama Janowitz ( _Slaves of New York,_ 1986). The spare prose of short-story master Raymond Carver ( _What We Talk about When We Talk about Love,_ 1981) stood in stark contrast to these youngsters, as well as to the ever-expanding ego of sprawling novels by David Foster Wallace ( _Infinite Jest,_ 1996) and Don DeLillo ( _Underworld,_ 1997) that came later.

* * *

Pick up _The Namesake_ (2003) for Jhumpa Lahiri's exquisite prose, which describes a moving intergenerational tale of a Bengali Indian family settling and assimilating in America.

* * *

Today, an increasingly diverse, multiethnic panoply of voices reflects the kaleidoscopic society Americans live in. Ethnic identity (especially that of immigrant cultures), regionalism and narratives of self-discovery remain at the forefront of American literature, no matter how experimental. The quarterly journal _McSweeney's,_ founded by Dave Eggers ( _A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,_ 2000), publishes titans of contemporary literature such as Joyce Carol Oates ( _We Were the Mulvaneys,_ 1996) and Michael Chabon ( _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,_ 2000) alongside emerging writers.

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## FILM

No less an American icon, Hollywood is increasingly the product of an internationalized cinema and film culture. This evolution is partly pure business: Hollywood studios are the showpieces of multinational corporations, and funding flows to talent that brings the biggest grosses, regardless of nationality.

* * *

Get the insiders' low-down on the bounty of US film festivals, both large and small, from coast to coast and everywhere in between at www.filmfestivals.com.

* * *

But this shift is also creative. It's Hollywood's recognition that if the studios don't incorporate the immense filmmaking talent emerging worldwide, they will be made irrelevant by it. Cooption is an old Hollywood strategy, used most recently to subvert the challenge posed by the independent film movement of the 1990s. That said, mainstream American audiences remain steadfastly indifferent to foreign films.

Perhaps most significantly, computers are killing celluloid; movies can now be made and shown without using film. With celluloid increasingly out of the picture, production and distribution, once so prohibitively expensive and complex they were easily controlled by a few privileged gatekeepers (ie studios, have never been more accessible.

* * *

For downloading or screening independent movies at home and partaking in 'social cinema,' join up with GreenCine (www.greencine.com), Jaman (www.jaman.com) or IndieFlix (<http://indieflix.com>).

* * *

### The Magic of Moving Pictures

In the late 19th century, motion-picture cameras and projectors were developed simultaneously in France and the USA (though Thomas Edison was the first to use sprocketed celluloid film). The first movie house – called the Nickelodeon because shows cost just a nickel (5¢) – opened in Pittsburgh in 1905.

_The Great Train Robbery_ (1903) is famous because it was the first to be edited for dramatic effect: it cut to the chase. Emulating the stage, moviemakersenticed audiences by developing appealing stars and dependable genres. In the 1910s, Charlie Chaplin became the first movie star, and producer Mack Sennett's slapstick comedies – and his ever-bumbling Keystone cops – became cultural institutions.

DW Griffith was a pioneer of cinematic techniques. His landmark films _Birth of a Nation_ (1915) and _Intolerance_ (1916) introduced much of cinema's now-familiar language, such as the fade, the close-up and the flashback.

Meanwhile, competition fostered the studio system, which began in Manhattan, where Edison tried to create a monopoly with his patents. This drove many independents to move to a suburb of Los Angeles, where they could easily flee to Mexico in case of legal trouble – and ta-da, Hollywood was born.

* * *

indieWIRE (<http://indiewire.com>) is a rich source of reviews, news and box office and festival information about independent films that are actually independent of the studios.

* * *

In 1927, sound was introduced in _The Jazz Singer,_ and the 'talkies' ushered in the golden age of the movies, lasting from the 1930s to the '50s. Movie palaces and drive-in theaters sprung up across the country, and glamorous stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis and Cary Grant enthralled the nation. Hollywood studios had the perfect racket: they locked actors into exclusive contracts, ran production departments that handled every aspect of filmmaking and controlled distribution in theaters.

Then, in the 1950s, TV arrived, and Americans discovered that laughing at Ralph Kramden in their living rooms was easier than driving to the movies. Plus, the feds broke up Hollywood's monopoly. In the 1960s, struggling studios cut costs, ended actors' contracts, sold production departments and sometimes went bankrupt.

In the 1970s, desperate studios took a risk on a generation of young, anti-establishment filmmakers who, reflecting the times, were interested in social realism, not musicals, romantic comedies or Westerns. Break-out directors included Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman and Francis Ford Coppola, whose provocative films remain high-water marks of excellence.

* * *

The pinnacle of pop-culture irony, sublime vacuousness and cartoonish American optimism, _The Simpsons Movie_ (2007) may be the only cultural handbook foreign visitors will need.

* * *

The '70s also spawned the blockbuster, courtesy of two innovators now synonymous with pop culture: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Spielberg's _Jaws_ (1975) and Lucas' _Star Wars_ (1977) were such cultural phenomena, and their pleasures so visceral, that they provided a blueprint for the future: keep the action fast, characters simple, pile on special effects and open big. Lessons learned, the studios recovered and have drawn record audiences ever since.

In the 1990s, small, edgy, independently produced films (led by maverick Miramax, now owned by media conglomerate Disney) became the rage; they experimented with new tools of digital filmmaking and rode the buzz generated in a burgeoning US film-festival circuit. Today, Utah's Sundance Film Festival (Click here), chaired by Robert Redford; New York City's Tribeca Film Festival (Click here); Colorado's Telluride Film Festival (Click here); and Nevada's **CineVegas** (www.cinevegas.com) rank highly among America's almost 500 independent film festivals.

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## TELEVISION

In the 20th century, it could be argued that TV was the defining medium of the modern age. An average American still watches 35 hours of TV a week, an all-time high. Americans _love_ TV, but they are watching differently: recording or downloading online, viewing according to their schedules (not the networks') and skipping the commercials. As the internet messes with the economics of this corporate-owned, ad-driven entertainment, TV executives shudder.

* * *

Admit it: you _want_ Hollywood gossip with your film criticism. In the deliciously dishy _Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock-'N'-Roll Generation Saved Hollywood_ (1997), Peter Biskind rips the lid off the 1970s 'auteur era.'

* * *

TV was developed in the USA and Europe in the 1920s and '30s, and the first commercial TV set was introduced at the 1939 New York World's Fair. After WWII, owning a set became a status symbol for America's blossoming middle class, and radio and movies wilted under TV's cathode-tube glow. Cable arrived in the 1980s and satellite services rapidly grew in the 1990s, expanding TV's handful of channels into dozens, and then hundreds.

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# ALL-AMERICAN FLICKS

Genres have defined cinema since its birth. Here are some distinctly American ones.

## The Western

In pop cinema terms, the mythic West _is_ America: good guys versus bad guys (and girls), law versus lawlessness, and duking it out on the rugged frontier. The 1940s and '50s were the Western's heyday. For an unironic paragon of manhood, check out Gary Cooper in _High Noon_ (1952). John Ford's influential _The Searchers_ (1956) is pure Western poetry: John Wayne, Monument Valley and a deadly score to settle. Sam Peckinpah's ode to nihilistic violence, _The Wild Bunch_ (1969), dragged the Western into the antiheroic modern day, as did Clint Eastwood's _Unforgiven_ (1992) and _3:10 to Yuma_ (2007) starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.

## The Musical

The golden age of Hollywood was defined by the musical, and _42nd Street_ (1933) encapsulates the genre. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were a match made in heaven; _Top Hat_ (1935) adds a classic Irving Berlin score. The exuberant, impish Gene Kelly is showcased in _Singin' in the Rain_ (1952) and the jazz-scored _An American in Paris_ (1951). No musical-fantasy is more parodied and exalted than _The Wizard of Oz_ (1939). These days, musicals are occasionally updated for modern tastes, as with _Moulin Rouge!_ (2001), _Chicago_ (2002), and _Dreamgirls_ (2006).

## Gangsters & Crime

The outsider status of the urban gangster is an often explicit metaphor for the American immigrant experience, and the crime genre includes many of America's greatest films.

Francis Ford Coppola's _Godfather_ trilogy (1972–90), which examines immigrants and American society through the prism of organized crime, is an unrivaled cinematic achievement. Martin Scorsese is the auteur of American mobsters: don't miss _Mean Streets_ (1973), _GoodFellas_ (1990), _Casino_ (1995) and _The Departed_ (2006).

The influential subgenre 'film noir' got the star treatment in John Huston's _The Maltese Falcon_ (1941), Orson Welles' _Touch of Evil_ (1958), Roman Polanski's _Chinatown_ (1974) and the star-studded _LA Confidential_ (1997). For kinetic jolts of pop irony, see _Pulp Fiction_ (1994), by Quentin Tarantino and _Fargo_ (1996), by the Coen brothers.

## Science Fiction

Inherently cinematic and ever popular, sci-fi is often just the wild West tricked out with lasers and spaceships, but it can also be rivetingly shot through with existential dread and postmodern fears of otherness and technology, starting with the silent film _Metropolis_ (1927).

For existentialism, watch Stanley Kubrick's _2001: A Space Odyssey_ (1968). Equally jittery with techno-fears are _The Terminator_ (1984–2009) quartet and _The Matrix_ (1999–2003) trilogy. Steven Spielberg is virtually a one-man sci-fi factory, from _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_ (1977) and _E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial_ (1982) to _War of the Worlds_ (2005). Other sci-fi classics include James Cameron's _Alien_ (1979) and _Aliens_ (1986), and Ridley Scott's moody _Blade Runner_ (1982). For pure pulp, see George Lucas' _Star Wars_ (1977–2000) series and JJ Abrams' _Star Trek_ (2009). Terry Gilliam's _Brazil_ (1985) is hilarious future shock.

* * *

For many decades, critics sneered that TV was low-brow, and movie stars wouldn't be caught dead on it. But well-written, thought-provoking shows have existed almost since the beginning. In the 1950s, the original _I Love Lucy_ show was groundbreaking: shot on film before a live audience and edited before airing, it pioneered syndication. It established the sitcom ('situation comedy') formula, and showcased a dynamic female comedian, Lucille Ball, in an interethnic marriage.

The 1970s comedy _All in the Family_ aired an unflinching examination of prejudice, as embodied by bigoted patriarch Archie Bunker, played by Carol O'Connor. Similarly, the sketch-comedy show _Saturday Night Live,_ which debuted in 1975, pushed social hot buttons with its subversive, politically charged humor.

* * *

If Shakespeare lived today, he couldn't write a better drama than _The Wire,_ an epic, morally ambiguous TV show about Baltimore's drug trade. In 2008 Barack Obama said it was his favorite TV show.

* * *

In the 1980s, videotapes brought movies into American homes, blurring the distinction between big and small screens, and the stigma Hollywood attached to TV slowly faded. Another turning point in this decade was _The Cosby Show,_ starring comedian Bill Cosby. While not the first successful African American show, it became the nation's highest-rated program and spurred more multicultural TV shows.

In the 1990s, TV audiences embraced the unformulaic, no-holds-barred weird cult show _Twin Peaks,_ leading to a slew of provocative idiosyncrasies like _The X-Files._ By the 21st century, pay cable was targeting all manner of niche audiences and producing sophisticated, complex dramas that surpassed most risk-averse Hollywood fare: _The Sopranos, Deadwood, The Wire, Weeds, Dexter_ and more.

Now, YouTube, Blip.tv and its ilk are changing the rules again. The networks have responded by creating more edgy, long-narrative serial dramas, like _Lost_ and _24,_ as well as cheap-to-produce, 'unscripted' reality TV: what _Survivor_ started in 2000, the contestants of _American Idol_ and _Dancing with the Stars_ keep alive today, for better or for worse.

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## PAINTING & SCULPTURE Karen Levine

An ocean away from Europe's aristocratic patrons, religious commissions and historic art academies, colonial America was not exactly fertile ground for the visual arts. Few settlers had the time or money to devote to fine art, and the modest portraits and prints of the time reflect their makers' old-world tastes.

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Still don't believe the future of TV is on the internet? Start surfing at www.youtube.com, www.blip.tv, www.atom.com, www.joost.com or www.hulu.com.

* * *

It is telling that the best-known American-born painter of the 18th century, Benjamin West, only made his name after going to Rome. When West first visited the Vatican and saw the Apollo Belvedere, he is said to have betrayed his Yankee roots by exclaiming, 'My God! How like it is to a young Mohawk warrior!'

### Shaping a National Identity

Artists played a pivotal role in the USA's 19th-century expansion, disseminating images of far-flung territories and reinforcing the call to Manifest Destiny. Thomas Cole and his colleagues in the Hudson River School translated European romanticism to the luminous wild landscapes of upstate New York, while Frederic Remington offered idealized, often stereotypical portraits of the Western frontier. Other artists such as George Caleb Bingham focused on genre paintings or scenes of everyday life and exalted the American virtues of hard work and democracy.

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Keep up with art-world happenings and exhibitions around the country with monthly magazines _ARTnews_ (www.artnewsonline.com) _, Artforum_ (<http://artforum.com>) and _Art in America_ (www.artinamericamagazine.com).

* * *

After the Civil War and the advent of industrialization, realism increasingly became prominent. Augustus Saint-Gaudens, a student of Paris' École des Beaux-Arts, and John Quincy Adams Ward produced masterful marbles and bronzes for national monuments. Eastman Johnson painted nostalgic scenes of rural life, as did Winslow Homer, who later became renowned for watercolor seascapes. Perhaps the most daring example of realism was Thomas Eakins' _The Gross Clinic_ (1875), which scandalized Philadelphia with its graphic depiction of a surgical procedure.

* * *

# NATIVE AMERICAN ART & CRAFTS

It would take an encyclopedia to cover the myriad artistic traditions of America's tribal peoples, from pre-Columbian rock art to the contemporary multimedia scene.

What ties such diverse traditions together is that Native American art and crafts are not just functional for everyday life, but can also serve ceremonial purposes and have social and religious significance. The patterns and symbols are not merely pretty, but are woven with meanings that provide an intimate window into the heart of Native American peoples. This is as true of Zuni fetish carvings as it is of patterned Navajo rugs, Southwestern pueblo pottery, Sioux beadwork, Inuit sculptures and Cherokee and Hawaiian wood carvings, to name just a few examples.

In addition to preserving their culture, contemporary Native American artists have used sculpture, painting, textiles, film, literature, live performance and more to reflect and critique modernity since the mid-20th century, especially after the civil rights activism of the 1960s and cultural renaissance of the '70s. Contemporary Native American artists' messages are concerned with not just political, environmental and community activism, but also experimenting and engaging with artistic genres, from abstraction to documentary realism. _North American Indian Art_ (2004) by David W Penney offers an accessible introduction to the varied artistic traditions of America's diverse indigenous cultures.

By purchasing arts from Native Americans themselves, travelers can have a direct, positive impact on tribal economies, which in part depend on tourist dollars. Many tribes run craft outlets and galleries, usually in the main towns of reservations. The **Indian Arts & Crafts Board** ( 202-208-3773, 888-278-3253; www.doi.gov/iacb) publishes a directory of Native American–owned galleries and shops.

* * *

### An American Avant-Garde

Polite society's objections to Eakins' painting had nothing on the near-riots inspired by New York's Armory Show of 1913. This exhibition introduced the nation to European modernism and changed the face of American art. It showcased impressionism, fauvism and cubism, including the notorious 1912 _Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2)_ by Marcel Duchamp, a French artist who later became an American citizen. In 1917 Duchamp shocked audiences again with _Fountain._ The sculpture – an upended porcelain urinal signed 'R. Mutt' that was Duchamp's first publicly exhibited 'readymade' – was rejected by exhibition organizers on the grounds it wasn't art, but Duchamp's gesture has inspired generations of American artist-provocateurs, from Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol to Sherrie Levine and Bruce Nauman.

* * *

Many museums offer free podcasts about current artworks. The best include SFMOMA (www.sfmoma.org), MoMA (<http://moma.org>), the Walker (www.walkerart.org) and the Met (www.metmuseum.org). Before you visit, load up your iPod!

* * *

New York's 1913 Armory Show was merely the first in a series of exhibitions evangelizing the radical aesthetic shifts of European modernism, and it was inevitable that American artists would begin to grapple with what they had seen. Alexander Calder, Joseph Cornell and Isamu Noguchi produced sculptures inspired by surrealism and constructivism; the precisionist paintings of Charles Demuth, Georgia O'Keeffe and Charles Sheeler combined realism with a touch of cubist geometry.

In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) Federal Art Project, part of FDR's New Deal (Click here), commissioned murals, paintings and sculptures for public buildings nationwide. Thomas Hart Benton, Ben Shahn and Grant Wood, among other WPA artists, borrowed from Soviet social realism and Mexican muralists to forge a socially engaged figurative style with regional flavor. African American and female artists also benefited from the nondiscriminatory policies of the WPA, which employed Romare Bearden, Aaron Douglas and other figures associated with the Harlem Renaissance, as well as Lee Krasner and Alice Neel.

* * *

_A History of African-American Artists: From 1792 to the Present_ (1993) by Romare Bearden and Harry Henderson: this delightfully anecdotal survey was a labor of love for artist Bearden, a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance.

* * *

### Abstract Expressionism

In the wake of WWII, American art underwent a sea change at the hands of New York school painters such as Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Moved by surrealism's celebration of spontaneity and the unconscious, these artists explored abstraction and its psychological potency through imposing scale and the gestural handling of paint. The movement's 'action painter' camp went extreme; Pollock, for example, made his drip paintings by pouring and splattering pigments over large canvases. Barnett Newman and Rothko exercised more subdued brushwork, creating epic yet ethereal paintings dominated by carefully composed fields of color.

Abstract expressionism is widely considered to be the first truly original school of American art. Intriguingly, art historians have argued that the US used it as a tool for Cold War propaganda. Evidence suggests that the CIA funded traveling exhibitions of abstract expressionist works to promote American individualism and democracy overseas, in the hope that abstraction would serve as an instructive antidote to the realist styles favored by Soviet regimes.

* * *

_Picasso and American Art_ (2006), by Michael Fitzgerald and Julia May Boddewyn, describes how American artists reacted when Picasso's provocations landed on these shores, narrating from modernism through pop art and postmodernism.

* * *

### Art + Commodity = Pop

Once established in America, abstract expressionism reigned supreme; indeed, one of its best-known practitioners, Philip Guston, was attacked by critics when he unveiled his first figurative paintings in 1970.

However, stylistic revolts had begun much earlier, in the 1950s. Most notably, Jasper Johns came to prominence with thickly painted renditions of ubiquitous symbols, including targets and the American flag, while Robert Rauschenberg assembled artworks from comics, ads and even – à la Duchamp – found objects (a mattress, a tire, a stuffed goat). Both artists helped break down traditional boundaries between painting and sculpture, opening the field for pop art in the 1960s.

* * *

# AMERICAN Photography _Karen Levine_

Americans took up photography as soon as news of its invention crossed the Atlantic in 1839, and portrait studios – some on four wheels – began to crop up as entrepreneurs of all stripes (some former painters or miniaturists) exploited the commercial possibilities.

Translated into engravings and published in journals such as _Harper's Weekly,_ photographs brought the visages of politicians and celebrities to a fast-growing American public. More accessible than painted portraits, photography also allowed people from all walks of life, in rural settlements and big cities alike, to commission keepsake images of relatives, friends and even recently deceased loved ones.

It was not long before intrepid photographers were lugging their heavy equipment into the American wilderness. Figures such as Carleton Watkins and Timothy O'Sullivan produced awe-inspiring views of the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada that helped to encourage westward expansion, while Mathew Brady famously documented devastated Civil War battlefields.

Unlike paintings and sculptures, which could rarely be seen by large audiences, photographs were easily and inexpensively reproduced in books, magazines and as picture postcards. As it became a ubiquitous part of popular culture, photography contributed greatly to Americans' understanding of their shifting social and political landscape.

Modern American photographers have influenced historic events while advancing the medium as an art form. Lewis Hine's and Jacob Riis' early-20th-century scenes of poverty are crucial to our understanding of social injustices of the time, as are Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange's portraits of Depression-era poverty and Joe Rosenthal and Thérèse Bonney's images of WWII battles.

Other celebrated modern American photographers worth seeking out images by include Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Diane Arbus, William Eggleston and Robert Frank.

* * *

America's postwar economic boom also influenced pop. Not only did artists embrace representation, they drew inspiration from consumer images such as billboards, product packaging and media icons. Employing mundane mass-production techniques to silkscreen paintings of movie stars and Coke bottles, Andy Warhol helped topple the myth of the solitary artist laboring heroically in the studio. Roy Lichtenstein combined news print's humble Benday dots with the representational conventions of comics. Other prominent pop artists include James Rosenquist, Ed Ruscha and Wayne Thiebaud.

### Minimalism & Beyond

What became known as minimalism shared pop's interest in mass production, but all similarities ended there. Like the abstract expressionists, artists such as Donald Judd, Agnes Martin and Robert Ryman eschewed representational subject matter; their cool, reductive works of the 1960s and '70s were often arranged in gridded compositions and fabricated from industrial materials.

Meanwhile, Sol LeWitt was busy theorizing the related strand of conceptualism, arguing that the idea behind an artwork was more important than the object itself. Robert Irwin and James Turrell explored the realm of perception through spare, dematerialized installations of light, while Eva Hesse, Robert Morris, Richard Serra and Richard Tuttle lent their sculptures a sense of impermanence through malleable materials such as latex, fabric, sheet metal and wire.

* * *

Outrageous and thought-provoking, _The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art_ (1998) aims to throttle 'the white male stronghold over the art world' with 'a colorful reinterpretation of classic and modern art.'

* * *

In many ways, minimalism aimed to critique the gallery context and undermine the status of art as commodity. This was perhaps most dramatically demonstrated by land artists Walter De Maria, Betty Beaumont and Robert Smithson, who created immense environmental earthworks across America that no one could buy or sell.

### The Contemporary Scene

By the 1980s, civil rights, feminism and AIDS activism had made inroads in visual culture; artists not only voiced political dissent through their work but embraced a range of once-marginalized media, from textiles and graffiti to video, sound and performance. The decade also ushered in the so-called Culture Wars, which commenced with tumult over photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano. In 1998, the Supreme Court ruled that the National Endowment for the Arts could withhold funding from artists violating 'general standards of decency and respect for the beliefs and values of the American public.'

Throughout this firestorm and beyond, American artists have continued to innovate – and not just domestically. In 2008 the Whitney Biennial – originally conceived as a show of Americans, for Americans – advertised that it would show 'where American art stands today,' to which a _New York Times_ critic responded: '[W]e basically already know. A lot of new art stands today in the booths of international art fairs.'

* * *

Looking for a carrot museum, a gallery of monster toys or a survey of restroom hand dryers? Find these and more at the Museum of Online Museums (www.coudal.com/moom).

* * *

Many of the best American artists working today are as well known abroad as they are on home soil. Several worthy of attention: painters Jeff Koons, Barry McGee and Nancy Spero; sculptors Robert Gober and Kiki Smith; sculptor and filmmaker Matthew Barney; video and multimedia artists Doug Aitken, Barbara Kruger, Tony Oursler and Bill Viola; photographers Tina Barney and Cindy Sherman; and installation artists Ann Hamilton, Jenny Holzer, Mike Kelley and Kara Walker.

Return to beginning of chapter

## THEATER

American theater is a three-act play of sentimental entertainment, classic revivals and urgent social commentary. From the beginning, Broadway musicals (www.livebroadway.com) have aspired to be 'don't-miss-this-show!' tourist attractions. Considering that Broadway sells 12 million tickets a year, they've apparently succeeded. Independent theater arrived in the 1920s and '30s, with the Little Theatre Movement, which emulated progressive European theater and developed into today's 'off-Broadway' scene. Always struggling and scraping, and mostly surviving, the country's 1500 nonprofit regional theaters are breeding grounds for new plays and foster new playwrights. Some also develop Broadway-bound productions, while others sponsor festivals dedicated to the Bard himself, William Shakespeare (see the boxed text, Click here).

Eugene O'Neill – the first major US playwright, and still widely considered the best – put American drama on the map with his magnificent trilogy _Mourning Becomes Electra_ (1931), which sets a tragic Greek myth in post–Civil War New England. Other frequently revived works of his are _The Iceman Cometh_ (1946) and the autobiographical _Long Day's Journey into Night_ (1956).

After WWII, American playwrights joined the nationwide artistic renaissance. Two of the most famous were Arthur Miller, who wrote _Death of a Salesmen_ (1949) and _The Crucible_ (1953), and the prolific Southerner Tennessee Williams, who wrote _The Glass Menagerie_ (1945), _A Streetcar Named Desire_ (1947) and _Cat on a Hot Tin Roof_ (1955). Meanwhile, another Southerner, Lillian Hellman ( _Toys in the Attic,_ 1963), tackled the provocative social issues of feminism, class privilege, racism and homosexuality. All of these plays, and more, have been adapted into films.

* * *

Critic Tyler Green's blog Modern Art Notes (www.artsjournal.com/man) offers a smart, opinionated roundup of all the latest art-world news, from the joyful to the scandalous.

* * *

As in Europe, American theater in the 1960s was marked by absurdism and the avant-garde. Few were more scathing than Edward Albee, who started provoking bourgeois sensibilities with _Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?_ (1962). Neil Simon arrived at around the same time; his ever-popular comedies kept Broadway humming for 40 years, but it was his Jewish American drama _Lost in Yonkers_ (1991) that won the Pulitzer Prize.

Emerging in the 1970s, other prominent, active American dramatists include David Mamet ( _Glengarry Glen Ross,_ 1984), Sam Shepard ( _Buried Child,_ 1978) and innovative 'concept musical' composer Stephen Sondheim ( _Sweeney Todd,_ 1979). August Wilson ( _Fences,_ 1985) created a monumental 10-play 'Pittsburgh Cycle' dissecting 20th-century African American life. Christopher Durang ( _Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You,_ 1979) is an absurdist playwright of pop-culture parodies.

* * *

In the amusing documentary _OT: Our Town_ (2002), inner-city students in Los Angeles turn Thornton Wilder's hoary chestnut inside-out and learn that, sometimes, theater really can make a difference.

* * *

Today, American theater is evolving in its effort to remain a relevant communal experience in an age of ever-isolating media. One-person shows, such as _Bridge & Tunnel_ (2004) by Sarah Jones, are increasingly popular. Hip-hop theater is a growing, if eclectic, phenomena, merging diverse aesthetics. Meanwhile, young playwrights like Suzan-Lori Parks ( _Topdog/Underdog,_ 2001), whose _365 Plays/365 Days_ (2006) became a year-long play cycle unfolding across the country, keep experimenting.

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## DANCE

America fully embraced dance in the 20th century. New York City has always been the epicenter for dance innovation and the home of many premier dance companies, but every major city supports resident and touring troupes, both ballet and modern.

* * *

For updates on the US regional theater scene, check out _American Theatre_ (www.tcg.org) magazine; its website provides links to theater events and festivals nationwide.

* * *

### Ballet

Modern ballet is said to have begun with Russian-born choreographer George Balanchine's _Apollo_ (1928) and _Prodigal Son_ (1929). With these, Balanchine invented the 'plotless ballet' – in which he choreographed the inner structure of music, not a pantomimed story – and thereby created a new, modern vocabulary of ballet movement. In 1934, Balanchine founded the School of American Ballet; in 1948 he founded the New York City Ballet, turning it into one of the world's foremost ballet companies. Jerome Robbins took over that company in 1983, after achieving fame choreographing huge Broadway musicals, such as _West Side Story_ (1957). Broadway remains an important venue for dance today. National companies elsewhere, like San Francisco's Lines Ballet, keep evolving contemporary ballet. **Dance** (www.dancemagazine.com) is an excellent resource for contemporary ballet.

### Modern Dance

The pioneer of modern dance, Isadora Duncan, didn't find success until she began performing in Europe at the turn of the 20th century. Basing her ideas on ancient Greek myths and concepts of beauty, she challenged the strictures of classical ballet and sought to make dance an intense form of self-expression.

* * *

The film _Ballet Russes_ (2005) is a warm remembrance, told by the dancers, of this revolutionary troupe and how they changed ballet and then introduced it – and Balanchine – to America.

* * *

Founded in 1915, Los Angeles–based Denishawn was the nation's leading modern-dance school, and its most famous and influential student was Martha Graham. She founded the Martha Graham School for Contemporary Dance in 1926 after moving to New York, and many of today's major American choreographers developed under her tutelage. In her long career she choreographed more than 140 works and developed a new dance technique, now taught worldwide, aimed at expressing inner emotion and dramatic narrative. Her most famous work was _Appalachian_ _Spring_ (1944).

Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp succeeded Graham as leading exponents of modern dance; they all have companies that are active today. In the 1960s and '70s, Cunningham explored abstract expressionism in movement, collaborating famously with musician John Cage. Taylor experimented with everyday movements and expressions, while Tharp is known for incorporating pop music, jazz and ballet.

Another student of Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, was part of the post-WWII flowering of African American culture. He made his name with _Revelations_ (1960), two years after he founded the still-lauded Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City.

* * *

Carolyn Brown describes dancing with Merce Cunningham and rubbing elbows with John Cage and other artistic lions of the 1950s and '60s avant-garde in _Chance and Circumstance: Twenty Years with Cage and Cunningham_ (2007).

* * *

Other celebrated postmodern choreographers include Mark Morris and Bill T Jones. Beyond New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and Philadelphia are noteworthy for modern dance.

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## ARCHITECTURE

In the 21st century, computer technology and innovations in materials and manufacturing allow for curving, asymmetrical buildings once considered impossible, if not inconceivable. Architects are being challenged to 'go green,' and the creativity unleashed is riveting, transforming skylines and changing the way Americans think about their built environments. The public's architectural taste remains conservative, but never mind: avant-garde 'starchitects' are revising urban landscapes with radical visions that the nation will catch up with – one day.

### The Colonial Period

Perhaps the only lasting indigenous influence on American architecture has been the adobe dwellings of the Southwest. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Spanish colonists incorporated elements of what they called the Native American _pueblo_ (village). It reappeared in late-19th and early-20th-century architecture in both the Southwest's pueblo revival style and Southern California's mission revival style.

* * *

In 2007, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) asked average US citizens to name their 150 favorite buildings. To their dismay, the list (www.aia150.org) is packed with nostalgic kitsch and tourist attractions.

* * *

Elsewhere until the 20th century, immigrant Americans mainly adopted English and continental European styles and followed their trends. For most early colonists in the eastern US, architecture served necessity rather than taste, while the would-be gentry aped grander English homes, a period well preserved in Williamsburg, Virginia (Click here|

After the Revolutionary War, the nation's leaders wanted a style befitting the new republic and adopted neoclassicism. Virginia's capitol (Click here), designed by Thomas Jefferson, was modeled on an ancient Roman temple, and Jefferson's own private estate, Monticello (Click here), sports a Romanesque rotunda.

Professional architect Charles Bulfinch helped develop the more monumental federal style, which paralleled the English Georgian style. The grandest example is the US Capitol in Washington, DC (Click here), which became a model for state legislatures nationwide. As they moved into the 19th century, Americans, mirroring English fashions, gravitated toward the Greek and Gothic revival styles, still seen today in many churches and college campuses.

### Building the Nation

Meanwhile, small-scale architecture was revolutionized by 'balloon-frame' construction: a light frame of standard-milled timber joined with cheap nails. Easy and economical, balloon-frame stores and houses made possible swift settlement of the expanding West and, later, the surreal proliferation of the suburbs. Though disposable and mass-produced, balloon-frame houses brought home-ownership within reach of average middle-class families, making real the enduring American Dream.

After the Civil War, influential American architects studied at Paris' École des Beaux-Arts, and American buildings began to show increasing refinement and confidence. Major examples of the beaux-arts style include Richard Morris Hunt's Biltmore Estate in North Carolina (Click here) and New York's Public Library (Click here).

In San Francisco and other cities across America, Victorian architecture appeared as the 19th century progressed. Among well-to-do classes, larger and fancier private houses added ever more adornments: balconies, turret, towers, ornately painted trim and intricate 'gingerbread' wooden millwork.

* * *

In the 1950s, sprawling middle-class suburbs appeared almost literally overnight. One major housing developer, Levitt and Sons, produced a new four-bedroom house every 16 minutes.

* * *

In reaction against Victorian opulence, the Arts and Crafts movement arose after 1900 and remained popular until the 1930s. Its modest bungalows, such as the Gamble House in Pasadena, California (Click here), featured locally handcrafted wood- and glasswork, ceramic tiles and other artisan details.

As the nation relentlessly expanded westward during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, two prominent female architects emerged. Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter built Harvey Houses for the railroad and also designed some of the iconic tourist lodgings and landmarks at the Grand Canyon, incorporating Native American motifs. Julia Morgan, the first woman architect to receive a diploma from the École des Beaux-Arts, designed over 700 buildings in myriad styles, from California bungalows to grandiose Hearst Castle (Click here).

### Reaching for the Sky

By the 1850s, internal iron-framed buildings had appeared in Manhattan, and this freed up urban architectural designs, especially after the advent of Otis hydraulic elevators in the 1880s. The Chicago School of architecture transitioned beyond beaux-arts style to produce the skyscraper – considered the first truly 'modern' architecture, and America's most prominent architectural contribution to the world at that time.

In the 1930s, the influence of art deco – which became instantly popular in the US after the Paris Exposition of 1925 – meant that urban high-rises soared, becoming fitting symbols of America's technical achievements, grand aspirations, commerce and an affinity for modernism. Design emphasized the structural grid and surfaces of concrete, glass and steel. Remarkable examples of art deco skyscrapers include New York City's Chrysler Building (Click here) and Empire State Building (Click here). Art deco simultaneously appeared nationwide in the design of movie houses, train stations, office buildings like in downtown Tulsa, OK, and hotels such as those in Miami's South Beach neighborhood.

* * *

# MASTER OF THE PRAIRIES

Initially an apprentice to modernist architect Louis Sullivan's firm in Chicago, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) was one of the 20th century's great visionaries.

Working mainly on private houses, Wright abandoned traditional architectural elements and historical references, making each building a unique form characterized by strong horizontal lines and overhanging eaves. Wright called them 'prairie houses,' though invariably they were built in the suburbs, especially in Oak Park, IL (Click here). Wright also pioneered radiant panel heating, indirect lighting, double glazing and air-conditioning.

Wright later evolved the concept of 'organic architecture,' in which building designs harmonize with the natural environment, as at Fallingwater outside Pittsburgh, PA (Click here). Interior spaces flowed openly rather than being divided into rooms, and the inside was connected to the outside rather than being separated by solid walls. Wright was innovative in his use of steel, glass and concrete – structural materials, not applied decoration, provided texture and color.

Today, you can also visit Frank Lloyd Wright's summer home, Taleisin, in southern Wisconsin (Click here), and Wright's winter home and architectural school, Taleisin West, in southern Arizona (Click here).

* * *

### Modernism & Beyond

When the Bauhaus school fled the rise of Nazism in Germany, architects such as Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe brought their pioneering modern designs to American shores. Van der Rohe landed in Chicago, where Louis Sullivan, considered to be the inventor of the modern skyscraper, was already working on a simplified style of architecture in which 'form ever follows function.' This evolved into the International style, which favored glass 'curtain walls' over a steel frame. IM Pei, who designed Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, is considered the last living high-modernist architect in America.

In the mid-20th century, modernism transitioned into America's suburbs, especially in Southern California. Midcentury modern architecture was influenced not only by the organic nature of Frank Lloyd Wright homes (see the boxed text, above) but also the spare, geometric, clean-lined designs of Scandinavia. Post-and-beam construction allowed for walls of sheer glass that gave the illusion of merging indoor and outdoor living spaces. Today, a striking collection of midcentury modern homes and public buildings by Albert Frey, Richard Neutra and other luminaries is found in Palm Springs, CA.

* * *

The first true skyscraper is in neither Chicago nor Manhattan but Buffalo, NY: the 13-story Guaranty Building, designed by Louis Sullivan and completed in 1895.

* * *

Rejecting modernism's 'ugly boxes' later in the 20th century, postmodernism reintroduced decoration, color, historical references and whimsy. In this, architects like Michael Graves and Philip Johnson took the lead. Another expression of postmodernism is the brash, mimetic architecture of the Las Vegas Strip, which Pritzker Prize–winning architect Robert Venturi held up as the triumphant antithesis of modernism (he sardonically described the latter as 'less is a bore').

Today, aided and abetted by digital tools, architectural design favors the bold and the unique. Leading this plunge into futurama has been Frank Gehry; his Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (Click here) is but one example. Other notable contemporary architects include Richard Meier (Los Angeles' Getty Center), Thom Mayne (San Francisco's Federal Building) and Daniel Libeskind (San Francisco's Contemporary Jewish Museum and the Denver Art Museum's Hamilton Building). Newly built and expanded museums and public buildings in cities across America also bear witness to this innovative surge in architecture.

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# Food & Drink Sara Benson & John Mariani

* * *

STAPLES & SPECIALTIES

DRINKS

CELEBRATIONS

WHERE TO EAT & DRINK

VEGETARIANS & VEGANS

EATING WITH KIDS

HABITS & CUSTOMS

COOKING COURSES

EAT YOUR WORDS

* * *

Ever since Wampanoag tribespeople helped the Pilgrims stave off starvation over the winter of 1620 and brought food to the first Thanksgiving, Americans have mixed myriad food cultures to create their own, based on the rich bounty of the continent. Americans took pride in that bounty, drawing on the seafood of the North Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean; the fertility of Midwest farmlands; and vast Western ranchlands that made beef, pork and chicken everyday staples.

Massive waves of immigrants enriched American gastronomy by adapting foreign ideas to home kitchens, from Italian pizza and German hamburgers to Eastern European borscht, Mexican huevos rancheros and Japanese sushi. Later, a vast market and transportation system made fresh, canned, boxed and frozen foods available to everyone – so much so, it can be argued, that many Americans grew fat (and even obese) on the abundance of fast food and junk food. It is not by accident that phrases such as 'grab a bite,' and 'pick up some takeout' are quintessential American colloquialisms, along with 'road food' and 'the munchies.' Such ideas had the effect of American cooking not being taken seriously by the rest of the world.

Not until the 1960s did food and wine become serious topics for newspapers, magazines and TV, led by a Californian named Julia Child who taught Americans how to cook French food through black-and-white programs broadcast from Boston's public TV station. By the 1970s, everyday folks (and not just hippies) had started turning their attention to issues of organic, natural foods and sustainable agriculture. In the 1980s and '90s, the 'foodie revolution' – choosing 'arugula over iceberg' lettuce, as _Time_ magazine put it in 2007 – encouraged entrepreneurs to open restaurants featuring regional American cuisine, from the South to the Pacific Northwest, that would rank with Europe's best.

* * *

_Roadfood_ (revised 2005), by intrepid noshers Jane and Michael Stern, ferrets out top-notch local and regional eateries from Maine to Oregon. The authors also maintain a website (www.roadfood.com) with heaps of free listings.

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More recently, the 'Slow Food' movement and renewed enthusiasm for eating local, often organically grown fare is a leading trend in American restaurants. The movement, which was arguably started in 1971 by chef Alice Waters at Berkeley's Chez Panisse (Click here), continues with First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters, who have planted an organic garden on the White House lawn. Recently, farmers markets have been popping up all across the country and they're a great place to meet locals and take a big bite out of America's cornucopia of foods, from heritage fruit and vegetables to fresh, savory and sweet regional delicacies.

## STAPLES & SPECIALTIES

Americans have such easy access to regional foods that once-unique specialties are now often readily available everywhere: a Bostonian might just as easily have a taco or barbecue ribs for lunch as a Houstonian would eat Maine lobster for dinner.

Usually after a midmorning coffee break, an American worker's lunch hour affords only a sandwich, quick burger or hearty salad. The formal 'business lunch' is more common in big cities like New York, where food is not necessarily as important as the conversation. Many business dinners take place at steakhouses or other splashy restaurants. Most workers have a midafternoon snack – maybe a candy bar, bag of chips or piece of fruit.

Usually early in the evening, Americans settle in to a more substantial weeknight dinner, which, given the workload of so many two-career families, might be takeout (eg pizza or Chinese food) or prepackaged meals cooked in a microwave. Desserts tend toward ice cream, pies and cakes. Some families still cook a traditional Sunday night dinner, when relatives and friends gather for a big feast, or grill outside and go picnicking on weekends.

### New York City

Owing to its huge immigrant population and an influx of 47 million tourists annually, New York captures the title of America's greatest restaurant city, hands down. Its diverse neighborhoods serve up authentic Italian food and thin crust–style pizza, all manner of Asian food, French _haute cuisine_ and classic Jewish deli food, from bagels to piled-high pastrami on rye with crunchy pickles. More exotic cuisines are found here as well, from Ethiopian to Slavic. Breakfasts are casual and often on the go; lunch may be from a takeout deli or street vendor; and dinner is often eaten out either at little bistros or among the torrent of new, exciting restaurants that open (and close) weekly in the city. Arthur Schwartz's _New York City Food_ (2008), by famous foodie Arthur Schwartz, reveals where to find every NYC specialty, from bagels and pizza to Gray's Papaya juice and cheesecake, and includes more than 100 recipes.

* * *

In the 2008 Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, two-time champion Joey Chestnut stuffed down 64 wieners in less than 11 minutes.

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### New England

New England's claim to have the nation's best seafood is hard to beat, because the North Atlantic offers up clams, mussels, oysters and huge lobsters, along with shad, bluefish and cod. New Englanders love a good chowder (seafood stew) and a good clambake, an almost ritual meal where the shellfish are buried in a pit fire with corn, chicken, potatoes and sausages. Fried clam fritters and lobster rolls (lobster meat with mayonnaise served in a bread bun) are served throughout the region. There are excellent cheeses made in Vermont, cranberries (a Thanksgiving staple) harvested in Massachusetts and maple syrup from New England's forests. Maine's coast is lined with lobster shacks; baked beans and brown bread are Boston specialties; and Rhode Islanders pour coffee syrup into milk and embrace traditional cornmeal johnnycakes.

### Mid-Atlantic

From New York down through Maryland and Virginia, the Middle Atlantic states share a long coastline and a cornucopia of apple, pear and berry farms. New Jersey and New York's Long Island are famous for their spuds (potatoes). Chesapeake Bay's blue crabs are the finest anywhere and Virginia salt-cured 'country-style' hams are served with biscuits. In Philadelphia, you can gorge on 'Philly' cheesesteaks, made with thin, sautéed beef and onions and melted cheese on a bun. In Pennsylvania Dutch country, stop by a farm restaurant for chicken pot pie, noodles and meatloaf-like scrapple. The wines of New York's Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley and Long Island are well worth sampling.

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_Big Night_ (1996) is an amusing film about Italian brothers who struggle to run an authentic, refined restaurant on the New Jersey shore in the 1950s, but whose clients want old Italian American favorites.

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### The South

No region is prouder of its food culture than the South, which has a long history of mingling Anglo, French, African, Spanish and Native American foods in dishes such as slow-cooked barbecue, which has as many meaty and saucy variations as there are towns in the South. Southern fried chicken is crisp outside and moist inside. In Florida, dishes made with alligator, shrimp and conch incorporate hot chili peppers and tropical spices. Breakfasts are as big as can be, and treasured dessert recipes tend to produce big layer cakes or pies made with pecans, bananas and citrus. Light, fluffy hot biscuits are served well buttered, and grits (ground corn cooked to a porridge-like consistency) are a passion among Southerners, as are cool mint julep cocktails.

Louisiana's legendary cuisine is influenced by colonial French and Spanish cultures, Afro-Caribbean cooking and Choctaw Indians' traditions. Cajun food is found in the bayou country and marries native spices such as sassafras and chili peppers with provincial French cooking. Creole food is more urban, and centered in New Orleans, where dishes such as shrimp remoulade, crabmeat ravigote, crawfish étouffée and beignets are ubiquitous. Louisiana's most famous dishes include gumbo, a roux-based stew of chicken and shellfish, or sausage and often okra; jambalaya, a rice-based dish with tomatoes, sausage and shrimp; and blackened catfish. Classic po'boy sandwiches are stuffed with everything from oysters to fried shrimp. Try coffee made with chicory, or join the locals swilling famous cocktails like the Sazerac or Ramos gin fizz.

* * *

New Mexico is the only US state with an official state question: 'Red or green?' It refers to chili sauces; if you want both, ask for your enchiladas 'Christmas style.'

* * *

### Midwest

In the Midwest you eat big and with gusto. Portions are huge – this is farm country, where people need sustenance to get their work done. So you might start off the day with eggs, bacon and toast; have a double cheeseburger and potato salad for lunch; and fork into steak and baked potatoes for dinner – all washed down with a cold brew, often one of the growing numbers of microbrews. Barbecue is very popular here, especially in Kansas City, St Louis and Chicago. Chicago is also an ethnically diverse culinary center, with some of the country's top restaurants. One of the best places to sample Midwestern foods is at a county fair, which offers everything from bratwurst to fried dough to grilled corn on the cob. Elsewhere at diners and family restaurants, you'll taste the varied influences of Eastern European, Scandinavian, Latino and Asian immigrants, especially in the cities.

### Southwest

Southwestern food culture is defined by two ethnic groups: the Spanish and Mexicans, who controlled territories from Texas to California until well into the 19th century. While there is little actual Spanish food today, the Spanish brought cattle to Mexico, which the Mexicans adapted to their own corn-and-chili-based gastronomy to make tacos, tortillas, enchiladas, burritos, chimichangas and other dishes made of corn or flour pancakes filled with everything from chopped meat and poultry to beans. Steaks and barbecue are always favorites on Southwestern menus, and beer is the drink of choice for dinner and a night out. For a cosmopolitan foodie scene, visit Las Vegas, where top chefs from NYC, LA and even Paris are sprouting satellite restaurants.

* * *

_Bottle Shock_ (2008) is a nostalgic romp through the early days of winemaking in California's Sonoma and Napa Valleys, ending with the triumph of California wines over the French at the Judgment of Paris in 1976.

* * *

### California

Owing to its vastness and variety of microclimates, California is truly America's cornucopia for fruits and vegetables, and a gateway to myriad Asian markets. The state's natural resources are overwhelming, with wild salmon, Dungeness crab and oysters from the ocean; robust produce year-round; and artisanal products such as cheese, bread, olive oil, wine and chocolate. Starting in the 1970s and '80s, star chefs such as Alice Waters and Wolfgang Puck pioneered 'California cuisine' by incorporating the best local ingredients into simple yet delectable preparations. The influx of Asian immigrants, especially after the Vietnam War, enriched the state's urban food cultures with Chinatowns, Koreatowns and Japantowns, along with huge enclaves of Mexican Americans who maintain their own culinary traditions across the state. Global fusion restaurants are another hallmark of California's cuisine scene.

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# 'ORGANIC' VERSUS 'NATURAL' FOODS

The US Department of Agriculture defines 'organic' and 'natural' according to distinct standards. For crops, 'organic' means they were grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste or sewage sludge. It also specifies that the crops must have been processed without being irradiated or having food additives. For animals, they must have been reared without routine use of antibiotics or growth hormones, and have not been genetically modified. 'Natural' products are those that have been minimally processed and contain no artificial colorings or preservatives.

* * *

### Pacific Northwest

The cuisine of the Pacific Northwest region draws on the traditions of the local tribes of Native Americans, whose diets traditionally centered on game, seafood – especially salmon – and foraged mushrooms, fruits and berries. Seattle spawned the modern international coffeehouse craze with Starbucks; and the beers and wines from both Washington and Oregon have come up to international standards, especially Pinot Noirs and Rieslings.

### Hawaii

In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii is rooted in a Polynesian food culture that takes full advantage of locally caught fish such as mahimahi, 'opakapaka, 'ono and 'ahi. Traditional luau celebrations include cooking kalua pig in an underground pit layered with hot stones and ti leaves. Hawaii's contemporary cuisine incorporates fresh, island-grown produce and borrows liberally from the islands' many Asian and European immigrant groups. This also happens to be the only state to grow coffee commercially; 100% Kona beans from the Big Island have the most gourmet cachet.

## DRINKS

Americans are far from teetotalers. While alcohol sales in the USA have soared to record highs in recent years, only about 20% of Americans drink wine on a regular basis; the majority of drinkers still prefer beer. Beer is more than a thirst-quencher; it is a social beverage that's almost essential for a good picnic, a day at the beach or a 'tailgate party' held outside a sports stadium before the game.

* * *

Jack Daniels whiskey is distilled in the town of Lynchburg in Moore County, Tennessee, which has been a dry county since Prohibition days.

* * *

After all, it's understandable: 19th-century German immigrants developed ways to make beer in vast quantities and to deliver it all over America. Today 80% of domestic beer comes from the Midwest. Craft beer production is rising meteorically, accounting for 6% of the domestic market in 2008. Over 1500 craft breweries across the USA now churn out over 8.5 million barrels each year, with Vermont boasting the most microbreweries per capita: one for every 33,000 residents.

That said, Americans are still drinking more wine than ever and the nation is the world's 4th largest producer of wine, behind Italy, France and Spain. Today almost 90% of US wine comes from California; and Oregon, Washington and New York wines have achieved international status. Scores of varietal grapes are used to make wines, all based on imported root stocks.

Rye, whiskey, gin and vodka are also crafted in the USA. Bourbon, made from corn, is the only native spirit and traditionally is made in Kentucky. American cocktails created at bars in the late 19th and early 20th centuries include such long-standing classics as the martini and the Manhattan. The tequila-based margarita came from Tijuana, Mexico. The current fashion is for mojitos (rum cocktails with muddled mint leaves), born in Cuba. For a comforting nightcap, Irish coffee is a mix of hot coffee with Irish whiskey and whipped cream.

Tap water in the USA is safe to drink. Most nonalcoholic drinks are quite sugary and served over ice, from Southern-style iced 'sweet tea' and lemonade to quintessential American soft drinks (called 'soda' or 'pop') such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Dr Pepper. Retro and nouveau soft-drink labels found on restaurant menus and in grocery stores include Jones Soda, made with cane sugar instead of corn syrup, and Dr Brown's, which originated at NYC's delicatessens.

* * *

# WINE'S BRAVE NEW WORLD

From the moment Europeans arrived in the New World they made wine, first from wild native grapes with names like Scuppernong, Catawba, Concord and Niagara, then from imported European varietals. Spanish missionaries brought vines to California in the 16th century.

By the 19th century there were flourishing vineyards in California, as well as in New York, Missouri and Ohio. In fact, when the phylloxera bug devastated vineyards throughout Europe in the late 19th century, phylloxera-resistant American vines were grafted onto European stocks to replenish the wine industries in France, Spain, Italy and Germany.

The 1920s Prohibition era outlawed alcohol in the USA, effectively putting the American wine industry out of business until Prohibition was repealed in 1933. Afterward, vineyards devoted themselves to producing mediocre wine in bulk, especially 'jug wines' in big bottles that held a liter or more.

Not until the 1960s did California wineries begin to make wines that could compete with Europe's best. Based on varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling, American wines were often more intense in taste and higher in alcohol than their Old World counterparts. In 1976 at the Judgment of Paris, after blind tastings by wine critics, California vintages beat the French, much to the world's shock.

The success of California winemaking, especially in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, brought improvements in technology and viticulture that marked the production of wines elsewhere. Today wine is made in all 50 states. Of course, not all _terroir_ (soil) is created equal. The West Coast is the pinnacle of US winemaking, with wineries found throughout California, Washington and Oregon. Some surprisingly excellent wines are being made in the Great Lakes region (especially New York and Michigan) and in the Hill Country of Texas, too.

If you long to visit unpretentious, off-the-beaten-path wine countries in California, try these:

  * **Amador County** (www.amadorwine.com) – rural Sierra Foothills wineries identify with Zinfandel, but also a dizzying array of sun-loving Italian and southern French varietals
  * **Lodi** (www.lodiwine.com) – meet multigeneration family vintners specializing in old-growth Zinfandel vines
  * **Mendocino County** (www.truemendocinowine.com) – just outside Napa and Sonoma, follow back roads through the Anderson Valley to find stellar Syrah and Reisling
  * **Paso Robles** (www.pasowine.com) – California's fastest-growing wine region makes outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Zinfandel; look for Chardonnay in the nearby Edna Valley
  * **Santa Barbara County** (www.sbcountywines.com) – made famous by the movie _Sideways_ (2004), the Santa Maria and Santa Ynez Valleys produce top-rated Pinot Noir
  * **Santa Cruz Mountains** (www.scmwa.com) – some of California's oldest and most revered winemakers are open to the public only on quarterly 'passport' days

**Wine Spectator** (www.winespectator.com) offers a comprehensive online database of wine reviews for subscribers, and free blogs, archived articles, tasting reports and critics' top picks lists.

* * *

## CELEBRATIONS

The late historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr noted that after just a single generation, the children of American immigrants lost nearly all ties to their ethnicities – except with regard to food culture.

Thanksgiving may be the only holiday (held the last Thursday in November) where most Americans would agree on the menu – roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, perhaps pumpkin pie – but even then appetizers, side dishes and desserts might be Latino, African or Hawaiian.

Americans celebrate their ethnic heritage on other holidays in many ways. At Christmas, Italian Americans may, by tradition, serve fish the night before and a pasta dish on Christmas Day. At Easter many Americans will serve roast ham, while Greek Americans will serve lamb. Oddly, on St Patrick's Day Americans traditionally serve corned beef and cabbage, which is practically unknown in Ireland. Traditional good-luck New Year's Day dishes in America include lentils for Italians, cabbage for Irish, black-eyed peas and rice for Southerners, and sauerkraut for the Pennsylvania Dutch.

Other holidays may be observed only by certain groups. Jews celebrate Passover seder meals with matzoh ball soup and Hanukkah with fried foods such as potato latkes. African Americans celebrate a heritage festival in December called Kwanzaa with the foods of Africa, the Caribbean and the US South. The lunar New Year (held in late January or early February) is a gourmet feast day for Chinese Americans, while Italians hold street festivals serving fried seafood, sausage sandwiches and pastries in honor of their favorite saints.

Far less formal are national holidays such as Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day, which denote the beginning, middle and end of summer. Barbecues and beer predominate the festivities, with large gatherings of family and friends in backyards or parks for hamburgers, hot dogs, and ribs with corn on the cob, potato salad and fruit pies.

* * *

# TOP PICKS: US FOOD & DRINK FESTIVALS

Every year, you can catch Americans chowing down at hundreds of regional food (and beer and wine) festivals across the USA. Here are just a few of our faves:

  * **American Royal Barbecue** (Kansas City, MO; Click here)
  * **Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival** (Breaux Bridge, LA; Click here)
  * **Kentucky Bourbon Festival** (Bardstown, KY; Click here)
  * **Maine Lobster Festival** (Rockland, ME; Click here)
  * **National Buffalo Wing Festival** (Buffalo, NY; Click here)
  * **Newport Seafood & Wine Festival (**Newport, OR; Click here)
  * **Spam Jam** (Waikiki, HI; Click here)
  * **Taste of Chicago** (Chicago, IL; Click here)
  * **Terlingua International Chili Cook-off** (Terlingua, TX; Click here)
  * **Castroville Artichoke Festival** (Castroville, CA; Click here)

* * *

# TIPPING

Service is almost never included on restaurant bills in the USA. A standard tip on the bill (to which taxes have already been added) is 15% for good service or 20% for excellent service. A restaurant _may_ add a service charge for parties of six or more. If you do receive poor service, by all means bring it to the manager's attention and tip below 15%. But only withhold a tip for outrageously bad service.

* * *

The biggest, most expensive parties by far are wedding receptions, which in recent decades have become incredibly sumptuous, often held at a restaurant or banquet hall, with copious amounts of food and drink – and of course, the multitiered wedding cake. Traditionally, the bride and groom feed the first bite of cake to each other by hand. In Latino communities, _quinceañera_ (coming-of-age parties) in honor of girls' fifteenth birthdays can also be incredibly lavish affairs.

## WHERE TO EAT & DRINK

Much of the USA is blanketed with lookalike chain restaurants. Most Americans outside of major cities do not often eat out at expensive restaurants, and consider one of the scores of family-style chain restaurants– TGI Friday's, Denny's or Applebee's, for example – a more reasonable alternative. Such places are dependable and consistent, the prices moderate and the setting casual, but the food rarely rises above mediocre.

A much better idea: ask locals for their recommendations to find the best independent neighborhood restaurants around, maybe one that specializes in barbecue, fresh seafood or pancakes. These spots often have an authentic atmosphere, warmer hospitality and higher-quality food, which all give a truer sense of local color and American culture than chain eateries ever could. On the other hand, the few remaining cafeteria-style buffet chains like Piccadilly in the South can also provide decent regional food at a very fair price and allow you to mix with the locals.

* * *

It's easy and fast to make restaurant reservations for free online at www.opentable.com, which serves over 10,000 restaurants in all 50 states, including 18 US metro areas.

* * *

The best breakfasts in America – often amazingly good value – are found at diners, coffee shops, cafés and some family restaurants. These all tend to open early and close late, which makes them a good stop for a light meal or snack throughout the day. The most expensive breakfasts are from hotel room service, and they're rarely very tasty; avoid them.

A bar-and-grill may be little more than a tavern that serves modest food or, in an upscale version, a trendy brewpub or restaurant that serves excellent American fare and has a good beer and wine list. Very often these have bars where solo diners can eat well and feel quite comfortable doing so. For those with heartier appetites, the all-you-can-eat buffet is a cultural phenomenon: for a set price you can revisit the buffet as many times as you like – until you're either completely stuffed or just too plain embarrassed to eat any more.

* * *

Chowhound (www.chowhound.com) is 'for those who live to eat.' Come here to ask locals about VIP issues – like finding the tastiest taco trucks in San Francisco.

* * *

In bigger cities you'll find high-end restaurants with prix-fixe menus and European-style service that lets you linger romantically over your espresso and crème brûlée. But be prepared to pay for it. That said, these days the weak US dollar makes the occasional foray into a posh restaurant far less expensive than in cities like London, Paris and Tokyo. If you go for it, always call to make a reservation (or ask your hotel concierge to do so), ask if there is a dress code, and be prepared to accept a very early or quite late table at popular star-chefs' restaurants.

For typical restaurant opening hours, Click here, and for average meal costs, Click here.

### Quick Eats

Eating hot dogs or pretzels from city street carts or tacos and barbecue from roadside trucks carries a small risk that you might pick up some nasty bacteria, but generally fast food tends to be safe and vendors are usually supervised by the local health department. At festivals and county fairs, you can take your pick from cotton candy, corn dogs, candy apples, funnel cakes, chocolate-covered frozen bananas and plenty of tasty regional specialties. Farmers markets often have more wholesome, affordable prepared foods.

* * *

Approximately two-thirds of adult Americans (and 32% of children) are overweight. That's up from 47% in the late 1970s.

* * *

## VEGETARIANS & VEGANS

Vegetarianism and veganism once carried something of a cult-like onus in the USA, but those days are long gone. Indeed, some of the most highly regarded American restaurants cater exclusively to vegetarians and vegans, for example, Greens (Click here), run by the San Francisco Zen Center. In a 2006 nationwide poll, the Vegetarian Resource Group found that fewer than 3% of Americans are completely vegetarian, but almost 10% of the population never eats red meat.

Even many fast-food eateries now offer vegetarian options, perhaps a fruit-yogurt parfait or vegetable salad, and nonmeat-eaters can do very well in Asian restaurants. At upscale restaurants, daytime menus offer lighter soups, salads and pastas, and most will make a vegetarian dinner plate upon request.

If you dine at a nonvegetarian restaurant that claims to have vegetarian or vegan options, check that the food has been made without animal-based fats or broths. Do not assume that the waiter or even the cook knows all of the variations.

Vegetarian and vegan restaurants abound in major US cities, though not always in small towns and rural areas away from the coasts. Eateries that are exclusively vegetarian or vegan are noted throughout this book using the   icon. To find more vegetarian and vegan restaurants, browse the online directory at www.happycow.net.

* * *

# DOS & DON'TS

Americans are pretty casual even about fine dining, but they still have their customs and rules:

  * If invited to dinner, take flowers or a bottle of wine as a gift, though your host may not serve the wine you have brought that evening.
  * Cell phones are a big annoyance in restaurants, so excuse yourself and step outside to make or take a call.
  * Many cities and states outlaw smoking in restaurants and bars, so don't smoke inside unless there's an ashtray on your table.
  * If you have your heart set on going to a trendy restaurant, try to reserve a table for before 6pm or after 8:30pm, and you'll have a much better chance of getting in. Also, hotel concierges can work wonders in getting reservations on short notice for you.
  * Most restaurants will not hold reservations more than 15 minutes. If you're running late, call to let them know.
  * Expect restaurant wine lists to be marked up 100% to 300% above retail shop prices.
  * Always check your bill for questionable charges. Mistakes, intentional and otherwise, do occur.
  * Ask for a 'doggie bag' to take leftovers home with you, even at haute restaurants. Americans hate to waste food and portions tend to be large.

* * *

* * *

# BAGELS: THE REAL THING

Bagels are a big deal in the USA, but if you buy a stale one in a random Midwestern supermarket you may find yourself wondering what all the fuss about. It's just a bread roll with a hole in the middle, right? But if you get your hands on a genuine NYC bagel, like those made by **H & H Bagels** ( 212-595-8003; 2239 Broadway; www.hhbagels.com), you might just find bakery heaven.

A true bagel, brought to this country by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, is made of just flour, water, salt – and sometimes barley malt for a little sweetness – and often is still rolled by hand. It is boiled, then baked, making it slightly crisp on the outside and deliciously dense and chewy inside.

Traditional bagel flavors include plain, poppy seed, sesame seed, onion, pumpernickel and egg, but modern-day bakeries often add more unusual ingredients such as blueberries or sundried tomatoes. Bagels are sliced in half, sometimes toasted and then spread with cream cheese or butter, or occasionally topped with lox (brine-cured salmon).

How good are real bagels? They've even been shipped to the international space station (poppy seed was the astronauts' chosen flavor).

* * *

## EATING WITH KIDS

The US restaurant industry seems built on family-style service: children are not just accepted almost everywhere, but usually are encouraged by special children's menus with smaller portions and lower prices. In some restaurants children under a certain age even eat for free. Restaurants usually provide high chairs and booster seats. Some restaurants may also offer children crayons and puzzles, and occasionally live performances by cartoon-like characters.

Restaurants without children's menus don't necessarily discourage kids, though higher-end restaurants might; always call ahead. You can ask if the kitchen will make a smaller order of a dish (also ask how much it will cost), or if they will split a normal-size main dish among two plates for the kids. Chinese, Mexican and Italian restaurants seem to be the best bet for finicky young eaters.

For more advice on traveling with kids, Click here.

## HABITS & CUSTOMS

Americans tend to eat early at restaurants and at home, so don't be surprised to find a restaurant half full at noon or 5:30pm. In smaller towns, it may be hard to find anywhere to eat after 8:30pm or 9pm. Dinner parties for adults usually begin around 6:30pm or 7pm with cocktails followed by a buffet or sit-down meal. If invited to dinner, it's polite to be prompt: ideally, you should plan to arrive within 15 minutes of the designated time.

Americans are notoriously informal in their dining manners, although they will usually wait until everyone is served before eating. They also eat with their fork in their right hand, after picking it up with, then switching it from, their left. Many foods are eaten with the fingers, and an entire piece of bread may be buttered and eaten all at once. Beer bottles are not uncommon on a dinner table and iced tea is more typical at lunch than beer or wine.

DUI (driving under the influence) is taken very seriously in the USA (Click here). Designating a sober driver who doesn't drink has become widespread practice among groups of friends consuming alcohol at restaurants, bars, nightclubs and parties.

## COOKING COURSES

Even more Americans are realizing that they want to be able to cook better (or just plain cook). Cooking shows have become popular on TV, and cooking classes taught by culinary professionals are now offered at some high-end cookware shops such as **Williams-Sonoma** (www.williams-sonoma.com) and **Sur la Table** (www.surlatable.com).

Cooking schools that offer courses for enthusiastic amateur chefs on vacation include the following (though this list is by no means exhaustive):

**California Sushi Academy** (www.sushi-academy.com) Apprentice in the art of finessing raw fish in Los Angeles.

**Central Market Cooking School** (www.centralmarket.com) Heat things up in the kitchen in major Texas cities.

**Chopping Block Cooking School** (www.thechoppingblock.net) Master knife skills and meet the 'Wine Goddess' in Chicago.

**Cookin' Cajun Cooking School** (www.cookincajun.com) Feast on Cajun and Creole delicacies in New Orleans.

* * *

Epicurious (www.epicurious.com) and the Food Network (www.foodnetwork.com) have vast databases of recipes from popular cooking magazines, TV shows and some of the USA's star chefs.

* * *

**Cook's World** (www.cooksworld.net) Try rustic breadbaking or street-food recipes from around the world in Seattle.

**Heat and Spice Cooking School** (<http://heatandspice.com>) Vegetarian, grilling, New Orleans–style, Floribbean and world cuisine classes in Chicago.

**International Culinary Center** (www.internationalculinarycenter.com) Hosts the French Culinary Institute and Italian Culinary Academy in New York City.

**Natural Gourmet Cookery School** (www.naturalgourmetschool.com) Focuses on vegetarian and healthy 'flexitarian' cooking in NYC.

**New School of Cooking** (www.newschoolofcooking.com) Learn ethnic cooking from around the world in Los Angeles County.

**Santa Fe School of Cooking** (www.santafeschoolofcooking.com) Unlock the chili-spiced secrets of Southwestern cuisine in New Mexico.

**Tante Marie's Cooking School** (www.tantemarie.com) Sharing farmers market recipes and passing on world culinary traditions in San Francisco.

## EAT YOUR WORDS

**angel food cake** – light, tall puffy cake made with beaten egg whites

**bagel** – circular New York bread roll that is boiled, then baked

**Bananas Foster** – New Orleans dessert of sliced bananas sautéed in butter, brown sugar and rum, then set aflame and served with vanilla ice cream

**barbecue** – a technique of slow-smoking spice-rubbed and basted meat over a grill

**beignet** – New Orleans doughnut-like fritter dusted with powdered sugar

**biscuit** – flaky yeast-free roll served in the South

**blintz** – Jewish pancake stuffed with various fillings such as jam, cheese or potatoes

**Bloody Mary** – cocktail made with vodka, tomato juice, hot sauce and seasonings

**BLT** – bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich

**blue plate** – special of the day in a diner or luncheonette

**Boston baked beans** – beans cooked with molasses and bacon in a casserole

**brownie** – fudgy, cake-like bar rich in chocolate, sometimes with nuts

**Buffalo wings** – deep-fried chicken wings glazed with a buttery hot sauce and served with blue cheese dressing; originated in Buffalo, NY

**burrito** – Mexican American flour tortilla wrapped around beans, meat, salsa and rice

**Caesar salad** – romaine lettuce tossed with croutons and shaved Parmesan cheese in a dressing made from raw eggs

**California roll** – fusion sushi made with avocado, crabmeat and cucumbers wrapped in vinegared rice and _nori_ (dried seaweed)

**chicken-fried steak** – thin beef steak battered, floured and fried like chicken; aka country-fried steak

**chili** – hearty meat stew spiced with ground chilies, vegetables and beans; also called chili con carne

**chimichanga** – deep-fried wheat tortilla stuffed with minced beef, potatoes and seasonings

**chips** – thin, deep-fried potato slices; also crisp tortilla wedges

**chop suey** – Chinese American dish of noodles, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, cabbage and meat

**clam chowder** – potato-based soup full of clams, vegetables and sometimes bacon, thickened with milk

**club sandwich** – three-layered sandwich with chicken or turkey, bacon, lettuce and tomato

**Cobb salad** – a California chopped salad of avocado, lettuce, tomato, bacon, chicken, hard-boiled egg and blue cheese

**cobbler** – baked fruit dessert with a biscuit or pie-crust topping

**cold cuts** – thinly sliced deli meats and cheese served cold

**continental breakfast** – usually coffee or tea, pastry and juice or fruit

**corned beef** – salt-cured or brined beef, traditionally served with cabbage on St Patrick's Day (March 17)

**crab cake** – crabmeat bound with breadcrumbs and eggs then fried

* * *

**'Even more Americans are realizing that they want to be able to cook better (or just plain cook)'**

* * *

**cream cheese** – soft cow's milk cheese that can be spread on a bagel

**devil's food cake** – dark chocolate layer cake with chocolate icing

**eggs Benedict** – poached eggs, ham and hollandaise sauce on top of English muffins

**enchilada** – baked tortilla stuffed with shredded meats and cheese and topped with chili sauce

**English muffin** – round flat yeast muffin dusted with cornmeal

**fajita** – marinated grilled meat and vegetables served with tortillas and various toppings (eg guacamole, sour cream, shredded cheese)

**French fries** – deep-fried sliced potatoes

**French toast** – egg-dipped fried bread served with maple syrup

**fudge** – semisoft, buttery candy, usually chocolate-flavored, sometimes with walnuts

**granola** – breakfast cereal of oats, honey and nuts

**grits** – white cornmeal porridge; a Southern breakfast or side dish

**guacamole** – mashed avocado dip with lime juice, onions, chilies and cilantro, served with tortilla chips

**hash browns** – shredded pan-fried potatoes

**huevos rancheros** – Mexican breakfast of corn tortillas topped with fried eggs and salsa

**jambalaya** – Louisiana stew of rice, ham, sausage, shrimp and seasonings

**jelly** – fruit preserve; thinner than jam

**knish** – baked, grilled or fried Jewish American pastry stuffed with potato, onions, cheese or buckwheat groats

**lobster roll** – lobster meat mixed with mayonnaise and seasonings, and served in a toasted frankfurter bun.

**lox** – Jewish version of brine-cured salmon

**muffuletta** – New Orleans sandwich made with a round bread loaf, ham, salami, cheese and pickled olives

**nacho** – Mexican American fried tortilla chips often topped with cheese, ground beef, jalapeño peppers, salsa and sour cream

**pastrami** – Jewish American brined brisket beef that is smoked and steamed

**pickle** – cucumber brined in vinegar

**ranch dressing** – salad dressing of mayonnaise, onion, garlic, buttermilk and seasonings

**refried beans** – Mexican American side dish of fried, mashed pinto beans

**Reuben sandwich** – sandwich of corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut on rye bread

**sloppy Joe** – ground beef, onions, green peppers and ketchup cooked in a skillet

**smoothie** – cold, thick drink made with pureed fruit, ice and sometimes yogurt

**stone crab** – Floribbean crab whose claws are eaten with melted butter or mustard-mayonnaise sauce

**strawberry shortcake** – biscuit pastry topped with strawberries and whipped cream

**submarine sandwich** – sandwich served on a thick roll filled with cold cuts, as well as lettuce, onions, pickles and tomato; also called a hoagie, po'boy, hero or grinder

**surf 'n' turf** – combination plate of seafood (often lobster) and steak

**veal (or chicken) parmesan** – Italian American dish of pounded cutlet baked with a topping of mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce

**wrap** – tortilla or pita bread stuffed with a variety of fillings

# Environment

* * *

THE LAND

WILDLIFE

NATIONAL PARKS & FEDERAL LANDS

THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

* * *

Through luck, wars and purchase, the USA gathered to itself the entire lower half of the North American continent. Without this land, would the 'American experiment' in republican democracy have grown into the powerful nation it is today?

Decidedly not. The continent's immense riches fueled the USA's industrial might and inspired self-congratulatory dreams of Manifest Destiny, even as the continent's raw beauty wove itself into the nation's collective soul. Despite over 400 years of settlement and cities, of farming and mining, and sometimes raging conflicts over resources and environmental impacts, Americans regard the continent's unsurpassed natural wonders as a national treasure.

In the last century and a half, Americans have tried to make all that good feeling concrete by establishing an array of parks, preserves and wildlife refuges. Exploring these can be the highlight of your trip: for a taste of the USA's national parks. But also, nature writing is one of the richest genres of American nonfiction, bringing to life America's distinctive spirit and its inextricable relationship to the land.

Return to beginning of chapter

## THE LAND

The USA is big, no question. Covering some 3,537,000 sq miles, it's the world's third-largest country by size, trailing only Russia and Canada, its friendly neighbor to the north. The continental USA is made up of 48 contiguous states ('the lower 48'), while Alaska, its largest state, is northwest of Canada, and the volcanic islands of Hawaii, the 50th state, are 2600 miles southwest of the mainland in the Pacific Ocean.

* * *

_Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs_ (1993) is an essential primer in Wallace Stegner and his writing about the misunderstood and mostly abused West. These essays are classics.

* * *

It's more than just size, though. America feels big because of its incredibly diverse topography, which began to take shape around 50 to 60 million years ago.

In the contiguous USA, the east is a land of temperate, deciduous forests and contains the ancient Appalachian Mountains, a low range that parallels the coast along the Atlantic Ocean. This coast is the country's most populated, urbanized region, particularly in the corridor between Washington, DC, and Boston, MA.

To the north are the Great Lakes, which the USA shares with Canada. These five lakes, part of the Canadian Shield, are the greatest expanse of fresh water on the planet, constituting nearly 20% of the world's supply.

Going south along the East Coast, things get wetter and warmer till you reach the swamps of southern Florida and make the turn into the Gulf of Mexico, which provides the USA with a southern coastline.

West of the Appalachians are the vast interior plains, which lie flat all the way to the Rocky Mountains. The eastern plains are the nation's breadbasket, roughly divided into the northern 'corn belt' and the southern 'cotton belt.' The plains, an ancient sea bottom, are drained by the mighty Mississippi River, which together with the Missouri River forms the world's fourth-longest river system, beat out only by the Nile, Amazon and Yangtze Rivers. Going west, farmland slowly gives way to cowboys and ranches in the semiarid, big-sky Great Plains.

* * *

Geology is rarely a page-turner, but in _Annals of the Former World_ (1998) John McPhee turns the history of North American plate tectonics into a thrilling, human spectacle of discovery.

* * *

The young, jagged Rocky Mountains are a complex set of tall ranges that runs all the way from Mexico to Canada, providing excellent skiing. West of these mountains are the Southwestern deserts, an arid region of extremes that has been cut to dramatic effect by the Colorado River system. This land of eroded canyons leads to the unforgiving Great Basin as you go across Nevada. Also an ancient sea bottom, the Great Basin is where the military practices and the where the USA plans to bury its nuclear waste.

Then you reach America's third major mountain system: the southern, granite Sierra Nevada and the northern, volcanic Cascades, which both parallel the Pacific Coast. California's Central Valley is one of the most fertile places on earth, while the coastline from San Diego to Seattle is celebrated in folk songs and Native American legends – a stretch of sandy beaches and old-growth forests, including coast redwoods.

But wait, there's more. Northwest of Canada, Alaska reaches the Arctic Ocean and contains tundra, glaciers, an interior rainforest and the lion's share of federally protected wilderness. Hawaii, in the Pacific Ocean, is a string of tropical island idylls.

Return to beginning of chapter

## WILDLIFE

Standing in one of the carefully tended, surviving patches of original American wilderness, it's possible to imagine the continent as it appeared long ago: the great plains a rustling ocean of grass; the eastern seaboard a chattering blanket of forest; buffalo by the millions; howling wolves in every corner.

* * *

The Wilderness Society (www.wilderness.org) is the USA's main advocacy organization for wilderness. Aldo Leopold (1887–1948), author of _A Sand County Almanac,_ was the organization's founder.

* * *

Occupying the same vast horizon, you can see why the new nation believed its natural resources to be limitless. They weren't, though, and the USA quickly proved it during its 19th-century westward expansion. By century's end, alarmed citizens and politicians suddenly realized they could actually use everything up.

In 1903, America began preserving its wildlife when President Teddy Roosevelt set aside Florida's Pelican Island as the nation's first bird sanctuary, thereby creating a National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS). Today, managed by the **US Fish & Wildlife Service** (www.fws.gov), NWRS comprises over 150 million acres, making it the world's largest system of preserves dedicated to protecting wildlife and habitat. In 1964 Congress passed the Wilderness Act, which preserves entire, self-regulating ecosystems. The USA now has over 750 official wilderness areas totaling almost 110 million acres, over half of which are in Alaska.

The most powerful and controversial environmental tool remains the 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA). Since its inception, the ESA has been criticized for obstructing industry and commerce, but never more so than by George W Bush's administration, which threw up 'pervasive bureaucratic obstacles,' according to a 2008 _Washington Post_ article. In 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the Obama administration was overturning the Bush-era rule that had weakened the ESA by allowing federal agencies to essentially ignore the input of conservation scientists.

Given all the stresses that nature is enduring here, what is most remarkable is how wild it still seems. Hiking in a national park or wilderness area – spotting bears and wolves, elephant seals and condors, herds of bison and elk, old-growth redwoods and primordial swamps – is pure joy. Here are just some tantalizing highlights.

### Animals

#### LAND MAMMALS

Nineteenth-century Americans did not willingly suffer competing predators, and federal eradication programs nearly wiped out every single wolf and big cat and many of the bears in the continental US. Almost all share the same story of abundance, precipitous loss and, today, partial recovery.

The grizzly bear, a subspecies of brown bear, is one of North America's largest land mammals. Male grizzlies can stand 7ft tall, weigh up to 850lb and consider 500 sq miles home. At one time, perhaps 50,000 grizzlies roamed the West, but by 1975 fewer than 300 remained. Conservation efforts, particularly in the Greater Yellowstone Region, have increased the population in the lower 48 states to around 1300. By contrast, Alaska remains chock-full of grizzlies, with upwards of 30,000. Despite a decline in numbers, black bears survive nearly everywhere. Smaller than grizzlies, these opportunistic, adaptable and curious animals can survive on very small home ranges.

* * *

# USA'S ENDANGERED SPECIES: THERE'S STILL TIME

Currently, over 1300 plants and animals are listed in the USA as either endangered or threatened. Some are mighty creatures like grizzly and polar bears, but most are just not that big (eg freshwater mussels, chubs, grasses).

Although all endangered species are vital to the ecosystem, if it's brag-worthy animals that you're keen to see (and photograph), here are places to spot them before it's too late:

  * **Bighorn sheep** – Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, CA (Click here) & Zion National Park (Click here), UT
  * **California condor** – Big Sur, CA (Click here) & Grand Canyon National Park, AZ (Click here)
  * **Desert tortoise** – Mojave National Preserve, CA (Click here)
  * **Florida panther** – Everglades National Park, FL (Click here)
  * **Gray wolf** – Yellowstone National Park, WY (Click here)
  * **Hawaiian goose** – Haleakalā National Park (Click here)
  * **Hawaiian monk seal** – Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (Click here) & Waikiki Aquarium, HI (Click here)
  * **Manatee** – Everglades National Park, FL (Click here)
  * **Mexican long-nosed bat** – Big Bend National Park, TX (Click here)
  * **Whooping cranes** – Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, TX (Click here) & Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, NM (Click here)

* * *

Another extremely adaptable creature is the coyote, which looks similar to a wolf but is about half the size, ranging from 15lb to 45lb. An icon of the Southwest, coyotes are found all over, even in cities. The USA has one primary big-cat species, which goes by several names: mountain lion, cougar, puma and panther. In the east, a remnant population of panthers is defended within Everglades National Park. In the west, mountain lions are common enough that human encounters have increasingly occurred. These powerful cats are about 150lb of pure muscle, with short tawny fur, long tails and a secretive nature.

* * *

Defenders of Wildlife (www.defenders.org) is a major champion of endangered plants and animals, particularly wolves. Its website has species fact sheets and status updates.

* * *

When it comes to wildlife slaughter, nothing can match what happened to the buffalo, or bison. No accurate count can ever be made, but they may have originally numbered as many as 65 million, in herds so thick they 'darkened the whole plains,' as explorers Lewis and Clark wrote. They were killed for food, hides, sport, cash and to impoverish Native Americans, who depended on them to live. By the 20th century, a couple of hundred bison remained. From these, new herds have been built up, so that one of America's quintessential animals can again be admired in its gruff majesty – among other places, in Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Badlands National Parks.

* * *

Due to melting glaciers, the polar bear is becoming an endangered species. After years of debate, the USFWS has finally listed it as threatened due to climate change.

* * *

#### MARINE MAMMALS & FISH

Perhaps no native fish gets more attention than salmon, whose spawning runs up Pacific Coast rivers are famous spectacles. However, both Pacific and Atlantic salmon are considered endangered; hatcheries release millions of young every year, but there is debate whether this practice hurts or helps wild populations.

* * *

# RETURN OF THE WOLF

The wolf is a potent icon of America's wilderness. This smart, social predator is the largest species of canine – averaging over 100lbs and reaching nearly 3ft at the shoulder – and an estimated 400,000 once roamed the continent from coast to coast, from Alaska to Mexico.

Unlike domestic dogs, wolves were not regarded warmly by European settlers. The first wildlife legislation in the British colonies was a wolf bounty. As 19th-century Americans tamed the West, they slaughtered the once-uncountable herds of bison, elk, deer and moose, replacing them with domestic cattle and sheep, which wolves found equally tasty.

To stop their inevitable poaching of livestock, the wolf's extermination soon became official government policy. For $20 to $50 an animal, wolves were shot, poisoned, trapped and dragged from dens until in the lower 48 states only a few hundred gray wolves remained in northern Minnesota and Michigan. Lacking wolves, bounty programs ended in 1965.

In 1944, naturalist Aldo Leopold called for the return of the wolf. His argument was ecology, not nostalgia. His studies showed that wild ecosystems need their top predators to maintain a healthy biodiversity; in complex interdependence, all animals and plants suffered with the wolf gone.

When the Endangered Species Act was enacted in 1973, gray and red wolves were among the first species listed. Despite dire predictions from ranchers and hunters, gray wolves were reintroduced to the Greater Yellowstone Region in 1995–96 and red wolves were reintroduced to Arizona in 1998.

Protected and encouraged, wolf populations have recovered rapidly, with over 5500 now counted in the wild. In 2009, the western Great Lakes population of gray wolves was considered self-sustaining and 'delisted,' although the species remains protected elsewhere in the USA. Red wolves and Mexican gray wolves are still endangered nationwide.

* * *

As for marine life, gray, humpback and blue whales migrate annually along the Pacific Coast, making whale-watching very popular. Alaska and Hawaii are important breeding grounds for whales and marine mammals, and Washington's San Juan Islands are visited by orcas. The Pacific Coast is also home to ponderous elephant seals, playful sea lions and endangered sea otters.

* * *

Peak mating season for elephants seals along the Pacific coast just happens to coincide with Valentine's Day (February 14), when love is in the air – and on the beach!

* * *

In California, Channel Islands National Park and Monterey Bay preserve unique, highly diverse marine worlds. For coral reefs and tropical fish, Hawaii and the Florida Keys are the prime destinations. The coast of Florida is also home to the unusual, gentle manatee, which moves between freshwater rivers and the ocean. Around 10ft long and weighing on average 1000lb, these agile, expressive creatures number over 3800 today, and may once have been mistaken for mermaids.

The Gulf of Mexico is another vital marine habitat, perhaps most famously for endangered sea turtles, which nest on coastal beaches.

#### BIRDS

Birding is the most popular wildlife-watching activity in the US, and little wonder – all the hemisphere's migratory songbirds and shorebirds rest here at some point, and the USA consequently claims some 800 native avian species. For help finding and identifying them, Sibley Field Guides are an indispensable resource, as is the **National Audubon Society** (www.audubon.org).

* * *

At eBird (<http://ebird.org>), which offers a trove of birding knowledge, avid birders can put their efforts to good use by logging their counts and helping science.

* * *

The bald eagle was adopted as the nation's symbol in 1782. It's the only eagle unique to North America, and perhaps half a million once ruled the continent's skies. By 1963, habitat destruction and, in particular, poisoning from DDT had caused the population to plummet to 487 breeding pairs in the lower 48. However, by 2006, bald eagles had recovered so well, increasing to almost 9800 breeding pairs across the continent (plus 50,000 in Alaska), that they've been delisted as an endangered species.

Another impressive bird is the endangered California condor, a prehistoric, carrion-eating bird that weighs about 20lb and has a wingspan over 9ft. Condors were virtually extinct by the 1980s (reduced to just 22 birds), but they have been successfully bred and reintroduced in California and northern Arizona, where they can sometimes be spotted soaring above the Grand Canyon.

### Plants

The eastern United States was originally one endless, complex deciduous forest that mixed with evergreens depending on altitude and latitude. Great Smoky Mountains National Park contains all five eastern forest types – spruce fir, hemlock, pine-oak, and northern and cove hardwood – which support over 100 native species of trees. Spring wildflower and colorful autumn foliage displays are a New England specialty.

In Florida, the Everglades is the last subtropical wilderness in the US. This vital, endangered habitat is a fresh- and salt-water world of marshes, sloughs and coastal prairies that support mangroves, cypresses, sea grasses, tropical plants, pines and hardwoods.

The grasslands of the interior plains are perhaps America's most abused ecosystem. The 19th-century 'sodbusters' converted them largely to agriculture, particularly the eastern tallgrass prairies, of which less than 4% remains. The semiarid shortgrass prairies have survived somewhat better, but farmers have still cultivated them for monoculture row crops by tapping the underground aquifer. Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota is a good destination to see America's remaining grasslands.

The Southwest deserts are horizon-stretching expanses of sage, scrub and cacti that abut western mountain ranges, where abundant wildflowers in spring and yellow quaking aspens in fall inspire pilgrimages.

* * *

The fastest bird in North America is believed to be the peregrine falcon, which has been clocked diving for prey at speeds of up to 175mph.

* * *

West of the Cascades in wet, milder Washington and Oregon are the last primeval forests in America. These diverse, ancient evergreen stands, of which only 10% remain, contain hemlocks, cedars, spruces and towering Douglas firs.

California, meanwhile, is famous for its two species of sequoias, or redwoods. The coast redwood is the world's tallest tree, with the tallest specimens in Redwood National Park. Its relative, the giant sequoia, is the world's biggest tree by volume; Sequoia National Park has the granddaddy of 'em all.

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## NATIONAL PARKS & FEDERAL LANDS

Over a quarter of the USA (over 640 million acres) falls under some kind of federal protection or stewardship. That's a lot of public land, and nearly all of it can be visited. These diverse areas span the country, but are most extensive in the West and Alaska. Some have entrance fees and require permits (for instance, to camp or go backpacking). Visitor facilities range from nothing at all to full-service lodges serving meals.

These public lands have a bewildering array of designations, but they are managed mainly by four agencies: the **Bureau of Land Management** (BLM; www.blm.gov), **US Forest Service** (USFS; www.fs.fed.us), **US Fish and Wildlife Service** (USFWS; www.fws.gov) and **National Park Service** (NPS; www.nps.gov).

If you're looking for iconographic America – the Grand Canyon, perhaps? – chances are it's within the National Park Service (NPS). The NPS manages 391 units, totaling 79 million acres. The jewels of the system are its 58 national parks, which generally contain the best facilities and the most visitor services. For a complete introduction to the USA's national parks.

* * *

# ARRIVE PREPARED, LEAVE NO TRACE

Many of America's most beloved landscapes are being loved to death. As you're out having an adventure in the wilderness, remember: one thoughtless gesture – hiking off-trail through fragile soil or building an illegal fire – can take years for nature to repair. Each person makes a difference.

Most hiking and camping advice is common sense. First, know what you are getting into. Find out what weather to expect and pack accordingly, even for just a few hours. Get trail maps and take five minutes to talk to a ranger before plunging ahead. Rangers can alert you to crowds, weather reports, trail conditions and the possibilities of flash floods or wildfires.

In the wild, do everything possible to minimize your impact. As they say, take only pictures, leave only footprints. Stick to established trails and campsites. Be particularly sensitive to riparian areas: don't wash yourself or dishes in streams or rivers, and camp at least 200ft away from them. Use a stove for cooking and make fires only in established fire rings (using dead, downed wood). When you leave, take out everything you brought in (trash, recycling and toilet paper, too).

Basically, conduct yourself as if you were a guest in someone's home – which you are. Observe wildlife, but don't approach or feed it. Leave cultural or historic artifacts where you find them. And finally, be respectful of other hikers, both those around you and those to follow. Far-reaching human noise is the fastest way to spoil a whole valley's worth of solitude.

For more advice, consult **Tread Lightly** (www.treadlightly.org) or the **Leave No Trace Center** (www.lnt.org).

* * *

Most other federal lands, such as the BLM's 264 million acres and the USFS' 193 million acres, are managed under the concept of 'mixed use,' which means they must balance recreation, resource extraction, grazing and preservation. Visitor facilities tend to be minimal, when they exist at all, but the scenery is often wonderful and less crowded than at higher-profile national parks.

A great place to start is by visiting www.recreation.gov, the government's main public-lands web portal. For details of annual passes, see National Parks: A User's Guide. For camping facilities, fees and reservations, Click here.

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## THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT

The USA is well known for its political and social revolutions, but it also birthed environmentalism. The USA was the first nation to make significant efforts to preserve its wilderness, and US environmentalists often spearhead preservation efforts worldwide.

The nation did not start out this way. Indeed, America's Protestant settlers believed that civilization's Christian mandate was to bend nature to its will. Not only was wilderness deadly and difficult, but it was a potent symbol of humanity's godless impulses, and the Pilgrims set about subduing both with gusto.

* * *

_Nature Noir_ (2005), by Jordan Fisher Smith, is utterly unique and actually pulse-pounding: Smith's tales of being a state park ranger in the rural Sierra Nevada would make Raymond Chandler blanch.

* * *

Then, in the mid-19th-century, taking their cue from European Romantics, the USA's transcendentalists claimed that nature was not fallen, but holy. In _Walden; or, Life in the Woods_ (1854), iconoclast Henry David Thoreau described living for two years in the woods, blissfully free of civilization's comforts. He persuasively argued that human society was harmfully distant from nature's essential truths. While largely anthropomorphic, this view marked a profound shift to believing that nature, the soul and God were one.

The continent's natural wonders – vividly captured by America's 19th- century landscape painters – had a way of selling themselves, and rampant nationalism led to a desire to promote them. In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln set aside a part of Yosemite Valley as a state park. In 1872, President Ulysses S Grant designated over two million acres as Yellowstone National Park, the world's first such large-scale preserve, established expressly to preserve its unique features for human enjoyment.

Scottish naturalist John Muir soon emerged to champion wilderness for its own sake. Muir considered nature superior to civilization, and he spent much of his life wandering the Sierra Nevada mountain range and passionately advocating on its behalf. Muir was the driving force behind the USA's emerging conservation movement, which had its first big victory in 1890 when Yosemite National Park was established. Muir founded the Sierra Club two years later.

By the end of the 19th century, the nation was realizing the limits of its once boundless resources. In 1891 the Forest Reserve Act was passed to maintain and manage forests to ensure they'd keep fueling America's growth. This epitomized the conservation movement's central conflict: whether to preserve nature for human use or for its own sake. These mutually exclusive aims underlie many conflicts today.

* * *

To learn more about wilderness in America – its history, advocates, laws, current status and helpful trip-planning tools such as descriptions, maps and photos – visit www.wilderness.net.

* * *

In the early 20th century, industrial progress raised urgent new concerns. The 1916 National Park Service Act established a permanent federal mechanism for wilderness preservation (for more national parks history). But more importantly, the science of ecology emerged. Ecology proved yet another humbling of humankind – already knocked from the center of the universe, and swinging arm in arm with monkeys, thanks to Charles Darwin – with its assertion that people were in fact interdependent with nature, not in charge of it.

* * *

# US WORLD HERITAGE SITES

For more info on World Heritage sites, visit Unesco's website (<http://whc.unesco.org/en/list>).

  * Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (Click here)
  * Carlsbad Caverns National Park (Click here)
  * Chaco Culture National Historic Park (Click here)
  * Everglades National Park (Click here)
  * Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve (Click here)
  * Grand Canyon National Park (Click here)
  * Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Click here)
  * Hawai′i Volcanoes National Park (Click here)
  * Independence Hall (Click here)
  * Mammoth Cave National Park (Click here)
  * Mesa Verde National Park (Click here)
  * Monticello (Click here) and the University of Virginia (Click here) in Charlottesville
  * Olympic National Park (Click here)
  * Redwood National & State Parks (Click here)
  * Statue of Liberty (Click here)
  * Taos Pueblo (Click here)
  * Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (Click here)
  * Wrangell-St Elias National Park & Preserve (Click here)
  * Yellowstone National Park (Click here)
  * Yosemite National Park (Click here)

* * *

With ecology, America's 19th-century conservation movement became the modern environmental movement. Aldo Leopold was the first writer to popularize an ecological world view with his idea of a 'land ethic,' which proposed that humans must act with respectful stewardship toward all of nature, rather than celebrating the parts they like and abusing the rest. The 1962 publication of _Silent Spring,_ by Rachel Carson, provided the shocking proof: this exposé of how chemicals such as DDT were killing animals and poisoning the land horrified the nation and inspired activists.

* * *

Aldo Leopold's _A Sand County Almanac_ (1949) became a touchstone for American naturalists, and it remains a humble, unpretentious and powerfully moving testimony to the power of leaving wilderness undisturbed.

* * *

Over the next decades, the USA passed a series of landmark environmental and wildlife laws that have since resulted in significant improvements in the nation's water and air quality, and the partial recovery of many near-extinct plants and animals. The movement's focus steadily broadened – to preserving entire ecosystems, not just establishing parks – as it confronted the 'five horsemen of the environmental apocalypse': disease, pollution, overkill of species, habitat destruction through human impact, and the introduction of alien (that is, nonnative) species.

Today, environmentalism is a worldwide movement, one that understands that each nation's local problems also contribute to a global threat: climate change. In the USA, the dangers of global warming are inspiring an environmental awareness as widespread as at any time in US history. Whether or not average Americans believe God speaks through nature, they're increasingly disturbed by the messages they are hearing.

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## ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

The USA seems to have reached a tipping point: most Americans now accept the reality of global warming, regardless of their political affiliation. National discussions have steadily shifted from whether climate change exists to what the country should do about it. Even the Bush administration, which once shut its eyes tight against the possibility (and when that failed, censored climate-change scientists to discredit it, as concluded by the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in late 2007), finally conceded that, yes, perhaps the weather is changing after all.

* * *

The Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org) was the USA's first conservation group and it remains the nation's most active, with educational programs, organized trips and tons of information.

* * *

In 2009 at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that 'the science is unambiguous, and the logic that flows from it is inescapable: climate change is a clear and present danger to our world that demands immediate attention.' President Obama has promised to limit greenhouse gas emissions by 80% before 2050 using an economy-wide cap-and-trade program, and has stated his support for finding alternative 'clean energy' sources to power America. After his first 100 days in office, however, no meaningful legislation to combat climate change had been passed.

Why not? To be sure, some sectors of the government and industry are dragging their feet, hard. They argue that global warming is a natural (not human-caused) cycle; that it won't be that bad; that there's nothing we can do about it; or that, most especially, in a country already mired in a deep recession, making drastic changes to quickly combat global warming is too costly to the nation's economic health to consider.

* * *

Famously cranky environmentalist Edward Abbey turned his job as an Arches National Park seasonal ranger into _Desert Solitaire_ (1967), which swings from desert rhapsodies to prescient warnings about the onslaught of mass tourism on wild places.

* * *

Battles over the environment have been a fixture of the American political landscape for over a century, and for business, this last argument has been a winner, whether the issue is pollution, dwindling resources or endangered species. This effectiveness rests, in part, on the reluctance of some US residents to make sacrifices in their consumptive lifestyles (annually, each US citizen is responsible for emitting 20 tons of carbon dioxide; the global average is 4.5 tons per person). Over the past centuries, Americans have often altered their habits only when environmental problems become undeniable, quantifiable and urgent. With global warming, that moment seems to have arrived.

* * *

# TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS: LOVE AND HUMILITY IN THE DESERT _Jeff Campbell_

A naturalist, teacher and writer, Terry Tempest Williams forms part of the West's long, distinguished heritage of conservationists and ecologists. Her latest book is _Finding Beauty in a Broken World_. We asked her to talk about the environmental state of the nation and what she loves about her home, the canyon country of southern Utah.

'One of the beautiful aspects of American democracy,' Williams said, 'is that we have given value to national parks and refuges. We have a Wilderness Act and an Endangered Species Act. To me this is a transformative, restorative justice. It's a movement born out of love and idealism. It's an expansive movement born out of expansive country. I love that.'

When asked about today's seemingly endless list of environmental threats, Williams didn't hesitate: 'I refuse to engage in doomsday approaches. I don't think we can know what's ahead. The problem before us now is that we've failed to see the interconnectedness of things. To me the very heart of an environmental ethic is the notion of empathy based in community in the broadest sense.

'I love thinking of those two words "climate change" literally – you know, a change of attitudes. And I do see a climate change in the American Southwest. The world is so beautiful, so fragile, particularly in desert landscapes, how can we not respond? It's important to look at global warming as local warming, which brings an immediacy to our own communities that we can no longer ignore.'

She added, 'It's going to take us decades to undo what George Bush has set in motion environmentally. All one has to do is fly over southwest Colorado, the Colorado Plateau in Utah, western Wyoming, and your heart breaks. The Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, wetlands legislation – all these have been gravely undermined for short-term gain, and who's paying the price? Ecological communities from pronghorns and sage to red rock and ravens.'

Williams also noted, 'It's so important that we venture out into these vast wildlands because I think it reminds us what endures. There's something so profoundly wonderful about the humility that one faces walking in a wild place. These rocks tell time differently, and they ask us to do the same. Perhaps therein lies our humility as a species.'

'What I love is, you know, talk to me about politics and greed in the middle of a flash flood. Just the other day I was out walking and I heard this dry rattle. I stopped and thought, _Where are you?_ All of sudden just square in the wash was this rattlesnake. It's that kind of pause that makes me smile. There's no word for that kind of encounter.'

* * *

How to tell? State and local governments have started passing environmental legislation of their own, and businesses are going green by investing in alternative energy. Fourteen states have adopted stricter auto-emissions standards than the federal government's. When the **Environmental Protection Agency** (EPA; www.epa.gov) withheld permission to implement them, these states (led by California) sued, and in 2007 the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA has both the authority and a 'duty' to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Not coincidentally, in 2007 Congress introduced a bill to tighten federal auto-emissions standards for the first time in 20 years. In June 2009, the EPA began to comply with the Supreme Court ruling by granting California's petition to be allowed to regulate its own more-stringent greenhouse gas emissions.

* * *

By turns self-effacing and earnest, Bill McKibben talks with Vermont farmers and friends about how to turn an ecological mind-set into a practical everyday reality in _Wandering Home_ (2005).

* * *

### Energy

Although China doesn't lag far behind, the USA is the world's greatest consumer of energy (using more oil, electricity and natural gas per day than any other country) and hence its greatest polluter, accounting for a quarter of the world's greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gas emissions in the USA have increased 6% over the last decade alone. Coal provides just under half of the nation's electricity, natural gas and nuclear power about 20% each, and renewable sources (mainly hydroelectric) and petroleum account for the rest. Coal accounts for roughly 90% of the country's energy reserves, though it's among the dirtiest methods of generating electricity.

* * *

Credit former vice president Al Gore. His documentary _An Inconvenient Truth_ (2006) finally convinced Americans that global warming exists and that the US is throwing fuel on the fire.

* * *

Nuclear energy emits no greenhouse gases, but its waste poses other problems. In 2007 the **US Nuclear Regulatory Commission** (NRC; www.nrc.gov) approved the first new nuclear plant site in 30 years. As of 2009, the NRC was reviewing applications for opening a few dozen more light-water reactor facilities across the country. Nevada's Yucca Mountain was chosen as the nation's sole permanent nuclear-waste repository in 2001. However, the project was plagued with controversy over the potential for leaks, and President Obama has vowed to stop it. But what happens then to high-level radioactive waste being produced at 104 sites nationwide?

Meanwhile, interest in renewable-energy technologies and fuels is increasing markedly. One indication is that venture-capital investments in alternative fuels hit a record high of $2.7 billion in 2008, more than 10 times what it was less than a decade ago. The USA currently leads the world in installing wind turbines and wind-power generation capacity, though so far it only provides 2.5% of the nation's electricity. The USA has leaped ahead globally in the production of ethanol and biodiesel fuels, with the latter predicted to account for as much as 20% of the nation's total domestic fuel consumption by 2012. Even chain retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target have been putting solar panels on their buildings. Hydrogen technology may hold the most promise for zero-emission production, but developing hydrogen into an affordable energy fuel option could take decades.

* * *

The Union of Concerned Scientists (www.ucsusa.org) is a reliable source for independent updates on global warming, vehicle emissions, energy, nuclear technology and invasive species.

* * *

### Air

Concern for air pollution has lead to a society-wide discussion about greenhouse gases touching every aspect of modern life: from building design and light bulbs to auto emissions and planting trees. While states wrestle with the federal government over how much and how quickly to raise auto fuel-economy standards (currently averaging just 21mpg), some US automakers who accepted a multibillion dollar federal bailout have promised to expand their line of hybrid and electric models. Even import companies such as Toyota and Honda have dropped their hybrid car prices, making it more affordable. In 2009, the EPA gave away over $85 million dollars to help 49 states meet new 'clean' diesel emissions standards, while Congress spent 3 billion dollars on the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS). Also known as the 'cash for clunkers' program, it allowed consumers to trade in their old cars and get cash back when buying new, more fuel-efficient models. The CARS program was so successful that it ran out of funding in less than two months. Recently, the EPA has also begun developing emissions standards for coal-burning power plants, which currently account for about 30% of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions.

* * *

Why is the need to increase domestic oil production such a big issue? The US imports over 60% of its supply (a percentage that rose during George W Bush's presidency), which makes the US reliant on external resources and circumstances for its oil supply.

* * *

### Water

The EPA estimates that over 60% of US waters remain 'impaired,' despite significant improvements in water quality since the Clean Water Act was enacted in 1972. One of the most widespread pollution problems is the discovery of perchlorate, a chemical used in missile and rocket fuel, in the drinking water in 26 states. As of 2009, the EPA was working to finalize contamination standards that may require nationwide cleanup.

* * *

_When Smoke Ran Like Water_ (2002), by Devra Davis, chillingly traces how scientists painstakingly link pollution to disease and how easily politics and industry undermine their conclusions.

* * *

Water issues are particularly acute in the West: the region's underground aquifer is being drained at a phenomenal rate – not just for suburban homes with their grassy lawns, but also for golf courses and swimming pools – and increasing water salinity is playing havoc with farming. The West has also witnessed a surge in new oil and gas drilling, especially since the federal government approved industry exemptions to the Clean Water Act in 2005. An unlikely coalition of ranchers, hunters and conservationists is fighting this sacrifice of water for cheap energy.

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# USA Outdoors Amy Marr

* * *

SKIING & SNOWBOARDING

CYCLING & MOUNTAIN BIKING

HIKING & BACKPACKING

ROCK CLIMBING

CANOEING, KAYAKING, RAFTING & SAILING

SURFING, WINDSURFING & KITESURFING

SCUBA DIVING & SNORKELING

WATCHING WILDLIFE

FISHING

HORSEBACK RIDING

* * *

No matter what type of outdoor enthusiast you might be – curious first-timer, recent convert or seasoned pro – you've definitely come to the right place. And while you may be familiar with the country's more illustrious standouts – exploring magnificent national parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone, rafting in the Grand Canyon, skiing in the legendary powder snow of the Rocky Mountains – it's the lesser-known treasures, such as kayaking in Washington's San Juan Islands, canoeing in Minnesota's Boundary Waters, skiing in the maple woods of Vermont, that beg discovery, and unveil the country's true, untamed essence.

Consider the USA your enormous playpen for outdoor activities, and yours to customize as you wish. The country is so full of accessible and diverse terrain that choosing where to go and what to do is the biggest challenge. You simply need to pick your desired activity and terrain, whether it's hiking to glacial lakes, fly-fishing in streams, backpacking over mountain passes, riding horseback through Aspen thickets, walking in the desert or surfing ocean – or lake – waves.

* * *

Check out www.randmcnally.com for useful tools highlighting interesting sites and activities, as well as maps with overnight suggestions.

* * *

* * *

Website www.americaoutdoors.org is an international association representing travel outfitters, tour companies and outdoor educators; you can search by state or activity.

* * *

* * *

Thrill-seekers take note: Colorado's Steamboat Springs has five ski jumps and the largest natural ski-jump area in North America.

* * *

So after reveling in the music, museums and mayhem of urban USA, take it outside. Steer in any direction into the country's wild soul, stretching your legs and your horizons. Hike along a ridgeline, learn to surf, mountain bike past redwoods, spot an eagle, go spelunking. Just get out there and dunk yourself, or at least your toes, in the invigorating, eye-popping natural splendors on offer in every state. The outdoor pleasures will likely become a memorable highlight.

For a wealth of resources on all of the activities described in this chapter, Click here, and for more suggestions of places to go and things to do.

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## SKIING & SNOWBOARDING

You can hit the slopes in 40 states, making for tremendous variety in terrain and ski-town vibe. Vermont's top-notch Stowe (Click here) draws seasoned souls – freeze your tail off on the lifts, but thaw out nicely après ski in timbered bars with local brews. Find more snow, altitude and attitude out west at Vail, CO (Click here), Squaw Valley, CA (Click here) and high-glitz Aspen, CO (Click here). For an unfussy scene and steep vertical chutes, try Alta, UT (Click here), Telluride, CO (Click here), Jackson, WY (Click here) and Taos, NM (Click here). In Alaska, slopes slice through spectacular terrain outside Juneau, Anchorage and Fairbanks. Mt Aurora SkiLand has the most northerly chairlift in North America and, from spring to summer, the shimmering green-blue aurora borealis.

Here's a snow-stash secret: Hawai′i. Mauna Kea (Click here), the Big Island's 'white mountain' (actually a cone-shaped volcano) soars nearly 14,000ft and is often covered with snow, as is neighboring Mauna Loa. Don't expect lifts, grooming or resorts; your rented 4WD does the hard work. Granted, it takes planning, but what a day! Skiing in the morning and snorkeling in the afternoon, powered by Kona coffee.

Wherever you ski, it won't come cheap. Find the best deals by purchasing multiday tickets, heading to lesser-known 'sibling' resorts (like Alpine Meadows near Lake Tahoe) or checking out mountains that cater to locals including Vermont's Mad River Glen (Click here), Santa Fe Ski Area (Click here) and Colorado's Wolf Grade.

On powdered slopes across the USA, snowboarding has become as popular as downhill skiing – all thanks to snow-surfing pioneer Jake Burton Carpenter, who set up a workshop in his Vermont garage and began to build snowboards in the mid-1970s. Vermont is still home central for snowboarders but airdogs also flock almost everywhere out west, including Sun Valley and Tahoe. After years of holding out, Taos finally opened its coveted slopes – marked by great snow and killer chutes – to snowboarders. For a fix during the summer months, head to Oregon's Mt Hood area (Click here), where several resorts offer snowboard camps.

* * *

# THE USA'S BEST CLASSROOM: OUTDOORS

Whether you're jonesing to catch a wave or dangle from a cliff, learn some new outdoor tricks in these high-thrill programs.

**Club Ed Surf Camp** (www.club-ed.com) Learn to ride the waves from Manresa Beach to Santa Cruz, CA, with field trips to the surfing museum and surfboard companies included.

**Craftsbury Outdoor Center** (www.craftsbury.com) Come here for sculling, cross-country skiing, biking and running, Vermontstyle (crisp air and maple woods).

**Joshua Tree Rock Climbing School** (www.joshuatreerockclimbing.com) Local guides lead beginners to experts on 7000 different climbs in Joshua Tree National Park, CA.

**Nantahala Outdoor Center** (www.noc.com) Learn to paddle like a pro at this North Carolina–based school, which offers world-class instruction in canoeing and kayaking in the Great Smoky Mountains.

**Otterbar Lodge Kayak School** (www.otterbar.com) Top-notch whitewater kayaking instruction is complemented by saunas, hot tubs, salmon dinners and a woodsy lodge tucked away on California's north coast.

**Steep and Deep Ski Camp** (www.jacksonhole.com/info/ski.ac.steepski.asp) Finesse skiing extreme terrain (and snagging first tracks) then wind down over dinner parties. You can also ski with Olympian Tommy Moe.

* * *

For a mellower schuss, find superb trail networks for Nordic skiers and snowshoers in New York's Lake Placid (Click here); quaint Jackson, NH; California's Royal Gorge (North America's largest Nordic ski area); and Washington's sublime and crowd-free Methow Valley (Click here). Backcountry passionistas will be happily rewarded throughout the Sierra Nevada, with its many ski-in huts, and West Virginia's storm-pounded Dolly Sods Wilderness.

* * *

Washington's Mt Baker, aka King of Snow, has the highest average accumulation (647in) of any lift-served ski resort in the world.

* * *

Novice dogsledders may not be ready for the Iditarod – Alaska's legendary, 1049-mile race from Anchorage to Nome, first forged by gold diggers – but how about a weekend on the trails of the gorgeous White Mountains National Recreation Area, 30 miles north of Fairbanks? Or combine mushing and memorable dining with a twilight ride at Colorado's Krabloonik, North America's largest touring dogsled kennel.

For information on resources, Click here.

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## CYCLING & MOUNTAIN BIKING

Thanks to media-favorite Lance Armstrong, coupled with an ever-expanding concern for the environment, cycling's popularity grows by the day in the USA.

You can rent a road bike in any city, with bike-friendly all-stars including Madison, WI, Boulder, CO, Austin, TX, Burlington, VT, and Portland, OR. Some of the country's best cycling is around San Francisco, where a pedal over the Golden Gate Bridge lands you in the stunningly beautiful, and stunningly hilly, Marin Headlands, where you might spot comedian Robin Williams out on his bike. For a memorably tough urban biking challenge, try keeping upright when riding around the bridge's famous art-deco towers while battling gusty crosswinds off the Pacific.

The fact is, every state in the USA is proud of its cycling trails, and you'll find die-hard enthusiasts in every town. Numerous outfitters offer guided trips for all levels and durations. For the best advice on rides and rentals, stop by a local bike shop or Google the area you plan to visit.

Many states offer social multiday rides, such as Ride the Rockies in Colorado. For a modest fee, you can join the peloton on a scenic, well-supported route; your gear is ferried ahead to that night's camping spot (usually the football field in a scenic town). Other standout rides include Arizona's Mt Lemmon, a thigh-zinging 28-mile climb from the Sonoran Desert floor to the 9157ft summit; Tennessee's Cherohala Skyway, 51 glorious miles of undulating road and Great Smoky Mountain views; and Missouri's Katy Trail (Click here), a 200-mile crushed-limestone bike path through the heartland.

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Fat-tire fans will love _Klunkerz,_ a movie about the history of mountain bikes and the bunch of Californian hippies who took the sport forward from fringe to mainstream.

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The nonprofit Rails-to-Trails (www.railtrails.org) has created more than 13,900 miles of scenic trails nationwide from America's unused rail corridors.

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New Hampshire's 3165ft Mt Monadnock, America's most-climbed peak, has 40 miles of trails and a summit view of all six New England states.

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Mountain-biking enthusiasts will find trail nirvana in Boulder, CO, Moab, UT, Bend, OR, Ketchum, ID and Marin, CA, where Gary Fisher and Co. bunny-hopped the sport forward by careening down the rocky flanks of Mt Tamalpais on home-rigged bikes. Premier long-distance trails abound, from North Dakota's Maah Daah Hey Trail, a 96-mile jaunt over rolling buttes along the Little Missouri River, to the Sun Top Loop, bouncing across the western slopes of Washington's Cascade Mountains. The 206-mile, hut-to-hut ride between Telluride, CO, and Moab, UT, is a sure thing. Both towns are dazzling, and the scenery between them will make you feel like you've pedaled onto the set of a classic Western flick. For a shorter high-altitude experience, ride from Aspen to Crested Butte and back, an equally stunning ride.

In pristine Alaska, even a ride on the highway feels like a wilderness encounter. Bike outfits with tours originating in Anchorage, Homer or Fairbanks will take you on your ideal ride – from an easy day trip to a nine-day expedition along mountain ranges and salmon-filled rivers. Then of course, there's the Iditarod Trail, which, come summer, morphs into the state's best mountain-biking adventure.

For more information on cycling and mountain biking, Click here.

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## HIKING & BACKPACKING

Fitness-focused Americans take great pride in their formidable network of trails – literally tens of thousands of miles – and there's no better way (besides cycling!) to experience the countryside up close and at your own pace.

The wilderness is amazingly accessible, making for easy exploration. Within a few hours' drive from virtually any city, you'll find yourself engulfed by glorious scenery: jagged peaks, wildflower-dappled meadows, towering redwood forests, streaming waterfalls, pristine seashore. For instance, a mere 30-mile drive north of San Francisco will land you in Point Reyes National Seashore (Click here), where the eucalyptus-fringed trails reward with Pacific views and sand-soft camping spots – and, if you're lucky, a glimpse of the resident tule elk.

The real issue is deciding what kind of hike you're after. The national parks, for example, can be approached from three different perspectives. For the visitor on the go, there are short hikes – many less than a mile long – that showcase the natural highlights. In just a few hours, you can absorb the beauty of national parks like King's Canyon (Click here), Glacier (Click here) and Acadia (Click here), to name a few. If you have more time to spare, ask a ranger (stop in at the visitor centers) to recommend a longer hike, from gentle ambles to sweaty slogs (the most popular of the these may well be Yosemite's Half Dome, a 12-hour trek tackled by dozens every day). If you're hankering for nights in the wilderness in the company of Orion and Cassiopeia, plan on securing a backcountry permit in advance, especially in places like the Grand Canyon – spaces are limited, particularly during summer.

Beyond the parks, you'll find troves of trails in every state. There's no limit to the places you can explore, from the sun-blasted hoodoos and red spires in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains to the dripping trees and mossy nooks in Washington's Hoh River Rainforest (Click here); from the dogwood-choked Wild Azalea Trail in Louisiana to the tropical paradise of Kaua′i's Na Pali Coast (Click here). Almost anywhere you go, there's great hiking and backpacking within easy striking distance. All you need is a sturdy pair of shoes (sneakers or hiking boots) and a water bottle.

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# TOP TRAILS IN THE USA

Ask 10 people for their top trail recommendations and no two answers will be alike. The country is so varied and distances so enormous, there's little consensus. That said, you can't go wrong with the following all-star sampler. For more ideas, check out award-winning **Trails.com** (www.trails.com), with a database of 45,000 trails (and lots of topo maps so you won't get lost).

## Hiking

**Appalachian Trail** (www.appalachiantrail.org)Completed in 1937, the country's longest footpath is 2178 miles long, crosses six national parks, traverses eight national forests and hits 14 states. Pick a leg, any leg, and wallow in the splendor.

**Enchanted Valley, Olympic National Park, WA** (Click here) Magnificent mountain views, roaming wildlife and lush rainforests – all on a 13-mile out-and-back trail.

**Great Northern Traverse, Glacier National Park, MT** (Click here) A 58-mile haul that cuts through the heart of grizzly country and crosses the Continental Divide.

**Kalalau Trail, Na Pali Coast, Kaua′i, HI** (Click here) Wild Hawaii at its finest – 11 miles of lush waterfalls, hidden beaches, verdant valleys and crashing surf.

**Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park, ME** (Click here) A 9.5-mile hike over the 5268ft summit, with panoramic views of the park's 46 peaks.

**South Kaibab/North Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon, AZ** (Click here) A multiday cross-canyon tramp down to the Colorado River and back up to the rim.

**South Rim, Big Bend National Park, TX** (Click here) A 13-mile loop through the ruddy, 7000ft Chisos Mountains, with views into Mexico.

**Tahoe Rim Trail, Lake Tahoe, CA** (Click here) This 165-mile all-purpose trail circumnavigates the lake from high above, affording glistening Sierra views.

## Mountain Biking

**Downieville Downhill, Downieville, CA** Not for the faint of heart, this piney trail, located near its namesake Sierra foothill town in Tahoe's National Forest, skirts river-hugging cliffs, passes through old-growth forest and drops 4200ft in under 14 miles.

**Finger Lakes Trail, Letchworth State Park, NY** A little-known treasure, 35 miles south of Rochester in upstate New York, featuring over 20 miles of singletrack along the rim of the 'Grand Canyon of the East'.

**McKenzie River Trail, Wilamette National Forest, OR** (www.mckenzierivertrail.com) Twenty-two miles of blissful single-track winding through deep forests and volcanic formations. The town of McKenzie is located about 50 miles east of Eugene (Click here).

**Porcupine Rim, Moab, UT** (Click here) A 30-mile loop from town, this venerable high-desert romp features stunning views and hairy downhills.

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Check out the world's best-preserved Permian-aged fossil reef at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico.

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Commitment-phobes should steer clear of the John Muir Trail in Yosemite (Click here): 222 miles of scenic bliss, from Yosemite Valley up to Mt Whitney. The Appalachian Trail (AT) stretches north–south from Maine to Georgia, while the Colorado Trail spans almost 500 miles from Denver to Durango. The Pacific Coast Trail (PCT) follows the spines of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada, traipsing the continent's edge from Canada to Mexico: that's 2650 miles, passing through six of North America's seven ecozones. About 300 hikers go for it every year; why not be number 301?

For information on these regional trails and other hiking resources, Click here.

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## ROCK CLIMBING

Scads of climbers flock to Joshua Tree National Park, an otherworldly shrine in southern California's sun-scorched desert. There, amid craggy monoliths and the country's oldest trees, they pay pilgrimage on more than 8000 routes, tackling sheer vertical, sharp edges and bountiful cracks with aplomb. Or not. Fortunately, a top-notch climbing school offers classes for all levels (Click here).

Cool and piney by comparison, Yosemite National Park (Click here), with its signature glacially polished domes, is climbing's most hallowed shrine – this is where American climbing first took hold in the 1930s. Surely anyone with a passion for rocks has seen gravity-defying pictures of climbers bivouacking on Half Dome, or Lynn Hill's legendary free ascent of the Nose. This venerable national park, protected by president Abraham Lincoln in 1890, offers superb climbing courses for first timers as well as for those craving a night in a hammock 1000ft above terra firma. South of the park and favored by many top climbers is Bishop (Click here), a sleepy town in the Eastern Sierra, with fantastic boulders in the nearby Owens River Gorge and Buttermilk Hills.

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_A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail_ is Bill Bryson's hilarious travelogue about tackling the venerable AT with a college buddy, both of them middle-aged and out of shape.

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Fortunately, California didn't reap all the climbing spoils. Ten miles west of Las Vegas is Red Rock Canyon (Click here) and some of the world's finest sandstone climbing. In Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, ExumMountainGuides (Click here) offers programs from basic climbing courses to two-day expeditions up to the top of Grand Teton itself: a 13,770ft peak with majestic views. Idaho's City of Rocks National Reserve has more than 500 routes up wind-scoured granite and pinnacles 60 stories tall. Located 70 miles west from Austin, TX, the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, with its huge pink granite dome, has hundreds of routes and stellar views of the Texas Hill Country. And in Colorado, versatility's the word, from multipitch ascents in the Flatirons to alpine climbing in Rocky Mountain National Park, both close to Boulder.

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John Muir's spectacular _The Yosemite_ features gorgeous photographs by Galen Rowell, who died in 2002 when his plane crashed near his home in Bishop, CA.

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Vermont's 270-mile Long Trail – America's oldest long-distance hiking path – follows the spine of the Green Mountains. It spans the entire state, and inspired the Appalachian Trail.

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Near Zion National Park, UT, multiday canyoneering classes teach the fine art of going _down:_ rappelling off sheer sandstone cliffs into glorious, red-rock canyons filled with trees. Some of the sportier pitches are made in dry suits, down the flanks of roaring waterfalls into ice-cold pools.

East of the Mississippi, upstate New York's Shawangunk Ridge (Click here) is located within a two-hour drive north of New York City. The ridge stretches some 50 miles, and the 'Gunks' are where many East Coast climbers tied their first billets.

For information on climbing and canyoneering resources, Click here.

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## CANOEING, KAYAKING, RAFTING & SAILING

East of the Mississippi, West Virginia has an arsenal of legendary white water. First, there's the New River Gorge National River (Click here), which, despite its name, is one of the oldest rivers in the world. Slicing from North Carolina into West Virginia, it cuts a deep gorge, known as the 'Grand Canyon of the East,' producing frothy rapids in its wake. Then there's the Gauley, arguably among the world's finest white water. Revered for its ultrasteep and turbulent chutes, this venerable Appalachian river is a watery roller-coaster, dropping more than 668ft and churning up 100-plus rapids in a mere 28 miles. Too gnarly? Six more rivers, all in the same neighborhood, offer training grounds for less-experienced river rats.

Out west there's no shortage of scenic and spectacular rafting, from Utah's Cataract Canyon, a thrilling romp through the red rocks of Canyonlands National Park, to the Rio Grande in Texas, a lazy run through limestone canyons. The North Fork of the Owyhee – which snakes from the high plateau of southwest Oregon to the rangelands of Idaho – is rightfully popular and features towering hoodoos. In California, both the Tuolumne and American Rivers surge with moderate-to-extreme rapids while in Idaho, the Middle Fork of the Salmon River has it all: abundant wildlife, thrilling rapids, a rich homesteader history, waterfalls and hot springs. If you're organized enough to plan a few years in advance, snag a spot on the Colorado River, the quintessential river trip. And if you're not after white-knuckle rapids, fret not – many rivers have sections suitable for peaceful float trips or inner-tube drifts you can traverse with a cold beer in hand.

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# TOP SPECTATOR ACTIVITIES

Insane or inspiring? Decide for yourself. These outdoor events – some quirky, others legendary – are fun to watch and grueling to do.

**24 Hours of Moab** (www.grannygear.com) Relay teams gather in the red-rock desert to ride a gnarly 15-mile loop under sun and stars.

**American Birkebeiner Ski Race** (www.birkie.com) Come February, 8000 cross-country skiers snow-sprint 30 tree-lined miles in Wisconsin's wilderness (in summer, swap skis for a mountain bike).

**Boston Marathon** (www.bostonmarathon.org) Held annually on the third Monday of April, the world's oldest marathon follows a historic, heart-pounding route.

**Dipsea (**www.dipsea.org) For over 100 years, sure-footed souls have been tackling this hilly 7.1-mile trail to Stinson Beach, CA, in America's oldest cross-country race. For sick kicks, there's a double and a quad, too.

**Ironman** (www.ironman.com) The big daddy of triathlons, held on Hawai′i's Kona coast every October, is known for killer head winds, ocean waves and black lava–covered terrain.

**Mavericks** (www.maverickssurf.com) Violent tides, sharky waters, hidden rocks, supersonic swells and the world's top big-wave riders guarantee a dazzling show just south of San Francisco. Mavericks goes off in winter, but the exact date is determined by Mother Nature and announced only a few days before the event.

**Mt Washington Auto Rd Bicycle Hillclimb** (www.mtwashingtonbicyclehillclimb.org) A 7.6-mile uphill race along grades of between 12% and 22% to the summit of New England's highest peak. It's held in August.

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For exploring flatwater (no rapids or surf), opt for a kayak or canoe. While kayaks are seaworthy, they are not always suited for carrying bulky gear. For big lakes and the seacoast (including the San Juan Islands), use a sea kayak. For month-long wilderness trips – including the 12,000 miles of watery routes in Minnesota's Boundary Waters or Alabama's Bartram Canoe Trail, with 300,000 acres of marshy delta bayous, lakes and rivers – use a canoe.

You can kayak or canoe almost anywhere in the USA. Rentals and instruction are yours for the asking, from Wisconsin's Apostle Islands National Seashore and Utah's celebrated Green River (Click here) to Hawaii's Na Pali Coast (Click here). Hire kayaks in Maine's Penobscot Bay to poke around the briny waters and spruce-fringed islets, or join a full-moon paddle in Sausalito's Richardson Bay, CA.

If you prefer your water vessel to be wind-propelled, sign up for a sailing charter. With the snow-capped Sierra as a backdrop, Lake Tahoe is ideal for an afternoon sail; on the East Coast, Chesapeake Bay is chock-full of schooners and racing catamarans, while Cape Cod and the islands harbor quiet coves and salty New Englanders.

For information on rafting resources, Click here.

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## SURFING, WINDSURFING & KITESURFING

Some of the best surf in continental USA breaks off the beaches of funky and low-key Santa Cruz, CA (Click here). Bribe a local (a cold beer or two should do the trick) to share sweet spots, or plan to wait your turn at legendary sites such as Pleasure Point, Sharks and Steamer Lane, the fabled Westside surf break.

An hour north is Mavericks, where the 30ft waves have been commanding surfers' respect since the 1970s. Supremely harsh and unpredictable, this offshore break draws the kings of big-wave riding to an (almost) annual winter competition: when Mavericks starts to go, the world's top 24 surfers get the call and have 24 hours to get there.

There are good breaks up north in California as well, just be prepared for chillier water (and the occasional shark). In San Francisco, urban swellers get their daily fix at Ocean Beach (a tough spot to learn!) or in Bolinas, 30 miles north, where locals routinely take down the town's sign to dissuade visitors. South, you'll find strong swells and Santa Ana winds in San Diego, La Jolla, Malibu and Santa Barbara, all sporting warmer waters, fewer sharks of the great white variety, and a saucy SoCal beach scene; the best conditions are from September to November. Along the coast of Oregon and Washington, you'll find miles and miles of crowd-free beaches and pockets of surfing communities.

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Surf buffs shouldn't miss Stacy Peralta's ultra-engaging documentary, _Riding Giants,_ about the history of surfing, with its stellar clips from Hawaii and California in the 1950s and '60s.

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Other good surf spots include Seaside Beach on Oregon's Pacific Coast (about 75 miles northwest of Portland), and North Carolina's Cape Hatteras (Click here). During summer and fall, East Coasters rip it up at Ditch Plains on Long Island, New Hampshire's Hampton Beach and Cape Cod's Nauset Beach.

The true surfer adventurer might even consider Alaska, with more coastline than the rest of the states combined and loads of potential for uncharted breaks.

But for the serious surfer looking for wave action between October and March, there's only one destination worth mentioning: Hawaii, the birthplace of surfing and the winter home of big waves (they regularly tower over 20ft), where the famed annual Pipeline Masters competition draws the world's best surfers to Oahu's North Shore (Click here). Other excellent areas include Honolua Bay on the North Shore of Maui, Ehukai Beach and Waimea Beach. Beginners beware: these waves have pro written all over them.

Hawaii is also a great place for kitesurfing (also known as kiteboarding), yet another exhilarating water sport. The concept is simple: use an inflatable kite (from 15ft to nearly 50ft across) and a board like a surfboard, harness the power of the wind and ride the water surface at amazing speeds with acrobatic agility. Experienced kitesurfers take to the air, zipping off wave crests and flying above the whitecaps.

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If you think you need an ocean for stupendous sets, just watch _Unsalted_ , an engaging documentary by Grand Rapids–based Vince Deur, about surfing the Great Lakes.

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Kitesurfers can find the prerequisite warm water and consistent winds at Kanaha Beach in Maui (Click here) and scattered locations around O′ahu. Popular California haunts include Long Beach and, further north, San Francisco Bay, where the summer gusts provide thrilling rides off the Emeryville breakwater, and novices can take lessons.

As kitesurfing and its cousin, windsurfing (which uses a sailboard, and was first developed by a 20-year-old sailor named Newman Darby in 1948), rely on similar conditions, you'll find that both sports sometimes share locales: places with good wind, ready access to the waves and reasonable proximity to a watering hole serving local microwbrews. Texas' South Padre Island and Oregon's Columbia River Gorge, with wicked west gales and a frisky chop, both qualify.

For more information on surfing resources, Click here.

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## SCUBA DIVING & SNORKELING

If you're hankering for a thrilling and colorful underwater experience, it's hard to beat scuba diving. Novice and expert divers alike can take their pick of dive sites (some colder and darker than others), spanning the country.

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# TOP SURFING SPOTS FROM COAST-TO-COAST

Wherever the surf's up, you're bound to find colorful characters, a laid-back beach town and, of course, a break that warrants bragging rights. Herewith, a sampling of top-rate spots selected for both quality of waves and local/legendary lore. Don a wet suit (or not) and ingratiate yourself with the locals.

## Hawaii

Blessed is the state that started it all, where the best swells generally arrive between November and March.

**Waikiki (South Shore of Oahu)** Hawaii's ancient kings rode waves on wooden boards well before 19th-century missionaries deemed the sport a godless activity. With warm water and gentle rolling waves, Waikiki is perfect for novices, offering long and sudsy rides. Rent boards by the hour from the beachside shacks or take a lesson from one of the many local surf schools.

**Pipeline & Sunset Beach (North Shore of Oahu)** Home to the classic tubing wave, which form as deep-water swells break over reefs into shallows, these are expert-only spots but well worth an ogle; the Pipeline Masters pro contest is held here annually.

## West Coast/California

If big waves reign in Hawaii, California rules surf culture as much of the world knows it. Huntington Beach (aka Surf City, USA) is the quintessential capital, with perpetual sun and a 'perfect' break, particularly during winter when the winds are calm.

**Black's Beach, San Diego** This 2-mile sandy strip at the base of 300ft cliffs in La Jolla is known as one of the most powerful beach breaks in SoCal, thanks to an underwater canyon just offshore.

**Huntington Beach Pier, Huntington Beach, CA** Surfer central is a great place to take in the scene – and some lessons (try Corky Carroll's Surf School at www.surfschool.net/).

**Ocean Beach, San Francisco, CA** Strong currents, cold water and fierce waves add to this break's allure and popularity among serious aficionados.

**Oceanside Beach, Oceanside, CA** One of SoCal's prettiest beaches boasts one of the world's most consistent surf breaks come summer. It's a family-friendly spot.

**Rincon, Santa Barbara, CA** Arguably one of the planet's top surfing spots; nearly every major surf champion on the globe has taken Rincon for a ride.

**Steamer Lane & Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz, CA** The home of O'Neill Wetsuits is a pantheon to surfers – and rumored to be the site of California's first surfing, c 1885. There are 11 world-class breaks, including the point breaks over rock bottoms at these two sweet spots.

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Let's be frank: the most exotic underwater destination in the USA is Hawaii. There, in shimmering aquamarine waters that stay warm year-round, you'll be treated to a psychedelic display of surreal colors and shapes. Swim alongside sea turtles, octopuses and fiesta-colored parrot-fish – not to mention lava tubes and black coral. Back on shore, cap off the reverie with a Kona brew and _poke_ made from just-caught 'ahi.

Despite the crowds, Oahu's Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve (Click here) is still one of the world's great spots for snorkeling, with over 450 resident species of reef fish, some of which will swim right up to your mask. There's also fine snorkeling near Maui, with wild spinner dolphins, and on the Big Island in Kealakekua Bay (Click here), Captain Cook's old haunt. The best diving is off the coast or between the islands, so liveaboards are the way to go for scuba buffs. From the green turtles and WWII wrecks off the shores of Oahu to the undersea lava sculptures near little Lana′i, the Aloha State offers endless underwater bliss – but plan ahead, as the dive sites change with the seasons.

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**Swami's, Encinitas, CA** Located below Seacliff Roadside Park, this popular surfing beach has multiple breaks guaranteeing you some fantastic waves; the surrounding kelp beds make it a good spot for some diving action as well.

## Midwest

'Third Coast' surfers get their year-round fix on the Great Lake breakers, thanks to over 10,500 miles of shoreline.

**Lake Michigan, Michigan, IL** Bowing to the popularity of the sport on this vast lake, Chicago is poised to allow surfing at five Windy City beaches.

## East Coast

The Atlantic seaboard states harbor some terrific and unexpected surfing spots – especially if you're after more moderate swells. Still, these waters can be fickle, cold and crowded. You'll find the warmest waters off Florida's Gulf Coast, where jetties, piers, and sandbars offer many fine surfing opportunities.

**Cocoa Beach, Melbourne Beach, FL** World Champion Kelly Slater has called this beach home. Small crowds and mellow waves make it a paradise for beginners and longboarders. Just south is the Inlet, known for consistent surf and crowds to match; beginners will be happy riding 'Second Peak' and 'Third Peak' north of the jetty.

**Reef Rd, Palm Beach, FL** This stellar spot features exposed beach and reef breaks with consistent surf, especially at low tide; winter is best. Beware of sharks, rocks and crowds at all times.

**Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, NC** This very popular area has several quality spots and infinitely ridable breaks that gracefully handle swells of all sizes and winds from any direction. Scuba divers take note: if you love wrecks, check out the nearby 'Graveyard of the Atlantic.'

**Long Island, Montauk, NY** More than a dozen surfing areas dot the length of Long Island from Montack's oft-packed Ditch Plains to Nassau County's Long Beach, with its 3-mile stretch of curling waves.

**Casino Pier, Seaside Heights, NJ** Both sides of the pier offer arguably the longest tube rides in NJ – just be prepared to compete with the crowds and entitled locals.

**Point Judith, Narragansett, RI** Rhode Island has some of the most premier surfing in the Northeast, with 40 miles of coastline and more than 30 surf spots, including this rocky point break offering an array of wave types, from long rollers to hollow barrels. Not for beginners.

**Coast Guard Beach, Eastham, MA** Part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, this family-friendly beach is known for its consistent shortboard/longboard swell all summer long.

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Throughout the year, California's coastal waters host an impressive variety of life: colorful nudibranchs (fancy for sea slugs), wild dolphins, and gray whales on their annual migration between Mexico and Alaska. Diving beneath Monterey Bay (Click here), you'll feel like you've landed in a dark forest, with shafts of sunlight casting eerie shadows as sea lions dart by. In all directions, 100ft-high kelp stalks sway toward the glittering surface while jumbo starfish float along the ocean's bottom. The aptly named Jade Cove (about 10 miles south of Lucia on Hwy 1) has the world's only underwater concentration of jade, making for an unforgettable dive. In Limekiln State Park, Soberanes Point and Lopez Point, look out for orcas, dolphins and seals. The **Monterey Bay Dive Company** (www.montereyscubadiving.com) is a handy resource for sites and guides.

One of the most popular dive areas is the Point Lobos State Reserve (Click here), part of the spectacular Monterey Bay (also home of perhaps the world's finest aquarium, complete with resident great white sharks; Click here). The Channel Islands (Click here), lying between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, harbor spiny lobsters, angel sharks and numerous dive sites best accessed by liveaboard charter. In the chillier waters north of San Francisco, thick-skinned divers await April 1, the start of the season for north-coast red abalone, a local delicacy.

With more than 1000 miles of coastline boasting over 20 different areas offering undersea adventures from Pensacola (Click here) to Jacksonville (Click here), Florida offers some of the finest diving in the States, with hundreds of sites and dive shops offering equipment and guided excursions. The Florida Keys, a curving string of 31 islets, are the crown jewel; expect a brilliant mix of marine habitats, North America's only living coral garden and the occasional shipwreck. Key Largo is home to the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park with over 200 miles of underwater bliss. The Atlantic coast, where the waters are brisk, choppy and full of speedy fish, offers the state's most wild and unpredictable diving. South of West Palm Beach, you'll find clearer waters and fantastic year-round diving with ample reefs. In the Panhandle, or northern part of the state, you can scuba in the calm and balmy waters of the Gulf of Mexico; off Pensacola and Destin, there are fabulous wreck dives; and you can dive with manatees near Crystal River.

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_Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon,_ by a river-guiding biologist and a wilderness doctor (Michael Gighlieri and Thomas Myers), is a terrifying chronicle of every ill-fated excursion in the Canyon; most adventurers could have avoided their unhappy endings.

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Even inland, a vast network of springs, sinkholes, rivers and lakes offer unique opportunities for the scuba set (local dive shops provide specialized cave training). There's terrific diving and snorkeling (and much warmer water) beyond the mangrove swamps of the Florida Keys, FL, boasting the world's third-largest coral system. Look for manatees off Islamorada (Click here) or take an expedition to Dry Tortugas (Click here), where the expansive reef swarms with barracuda, sea turtles and a couple of hundred sunken ships.

Along the northern coast of North Carolina, in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, divers can explore historical wrecks from the Civil War (and encounter tiger sand sharks), and there are numerous options for dive charters within the Outer Banks and the Cape Lookout areas; the peak diving season is May to October. If you find yourself in Arkansas, hit Lake Ouachita, the state's largest lake, ringed by forested mountains and known for its pristine waters and some 30 distinct dive spots. Camp along the lakeshore and, quite literally, dive in. It's also the site of a 16-mile water-based trail, the first of its kind in the country. Get information at local marinas, which also cater to divers.

The USA's most unexpected dive spot? Michigan's Lakes Superior and Huron, with thousands of shipwrecks lying strewn on the sandy bottoms –just don't expect to see any angelfish!

For responsible snorkeling tips, Click here.

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## WATCHING WILDLIFE

If your must-see list includes a bear, a moose or even a roseate spoonbill, you've come to the right country: there are loads of accessible spots for watching wildlife in its natural habitat. Of course, sightings are never guaranteed. Pick your season and time of day (hint: dawn and dusk), get yourself into the heart of the habitat (preferably by foot, bike or boat) and chances are you'll be rewarded.

Start with the national parks, which represent a cross-section of natural habitats. (For the top national parks for wildlife). Glacier (Click here) is bear-country central, so be prepared for a personal encounter. Yellowstone (Click here) is terrific for seeing elk (more than 30,000 are in residence during the summer months), gray wolves (reintroduced not long ago), bison (North America's largest mammal) and deer, while the classic North Woods of Isle Royale (Click here) showcases wolves and moose. Big Bend (Click here) is tops for spotting birds and whitetail deer, while beavers and turtles haul out along the Rio Grande's big bend, for which the park is named. Spot cartoonish, colorful puffins and playful harbor seals in the waters surrounding Acadia (Click here). For alligators, manatees, crocodiles and sea turtles, paddle the Everglades (Click here), or hike Ding Darling National Preserve on Sanibel Island, FL, where the warm gulf waters draw frolicking dolphins. In Alaska, Denali's wide-open tundra (Click here) makes for unobstructed viewing of Dall sheep, caribou, moose, grizzlies and wolves. Rocky Mountain National Park (Click here) is home to mountain goats, elk, marmots and sure-footed bighorn sheep. And for that iconic image of buffalo roaming the Great Plains? Head to Theodore Roosevelt National Park (Click here), Lewis and Clark territory, where wild horses and bison meander freely.

* * *

# TOP WHALE-WATCHING SPOTS

For a spectacular – if not terrifying – wildlife encounter, it's hard to beat seeing orcas breaching. Ten feet in front of you. From a kayak.

  * Alaska: Glacier Bay (Click here)
  * California: Monterey Bay (Click here), SoCal's Channel Islands (Click here) and Point Reyes National Seashore (Click here).
  * Hawaii: Maui's southern and western shores (Click here).
  * Massachusetts: Cape Cod (Click here)
  * Washington: Orcas Island (Click here), Lime Kiln Point State Park on San Juan Island (Click here)

* * *

Boston's North Shore, particularly Plum Island, is one of the best places in the East to spot migrating birds (and sample outstanding lobster rolls). California's Monterey Bay teems with five species of seals and sea lions, cavorting in the kelp ribbons with otters, dolphins and porpoises. Ano Nuevo State Reserve, 55 miles south of San Francisco, hosts the world's largest mainland breeding colony for elephant seals; plan ahead to view the riveting (and loud!) spectacle of battling males and birthing females from December through March.

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## FISHING

No sport – except maybe baseball – is as central to the American mythos as fishing. From cruises in pursuit of deep-sea marlin off the Florida Keys and remote coastal fishing camps in salmon-rich Alaska, to the many fly-fishing outfits in the Rockies, the entire USA is, in the eyes of many anglers, one big, glorious fishery.

Scores of websites and books provide advice and instruction on how to indulge in this ancient (but highly evolved) enterprise. Your best clues, however, will come from plying locals for secret spots. Five species of salmon spawn in Alaska, while Georgia produces the buttery Mississippi catfish (delicious pan-fried). Big-game fish, such as tarpon and sailfish, leap above Florida's waters, and Minnesota offers the opportunity to reel in great northern pike. Deep-sea fishing is divine in Hawaii's Kona area, where you can tackle yellowfin and mahimahi for boat-side sushi. Beautiful Maine is where you'll go to tangle – from shore – with striped bass, the quintessential sporting fish. And on Cape Cod and the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, summer means surfcasting for bluefish and striped bass at sunrise – or with a cooler of beer at sunset.

For sheer fishing delight, not to mention culinary enjoyment, think trout. Most anglers agree that fly-fishing is at its Zen best in the Colorado Rockies, Idaho, Washington's Methow Valley, and especially in Montana, 'Big Sky' country. This is the state that spawned the filming of _A River Runs Through It,_ and where one river alone – the Bighorn, beginning in Wyoming – is said to host over 6000 trout per mile. A guaranteed catch spot? Missouri's Bennett Spring, where the cool, clear waters are stocked with farm-fed trout every night.

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## HORSEBACK RIDING

Chances are you've seen a classic Western and could recognize a cowboy anywhere: a burly guy in chaps who boldly expunges evil from frontier towns, thunders across the sage-studded plains on horseback and always gets the beautiful girl in the end.

Cowboy wannabes will be happy to learn that horseback riding of every style, from Western to bareback, is available across the USA. The best opportunities, through country that's still rugged and wild and, yes, resembles those old Westerns, are (of course!) in the West. We're talking everything from week-long expeditions through the canyons of southern Utah and cattle wrangling in Wyoming, to pony rides along the Oregon coast. Finding horses is easy; rental stables and riding schools are located around and in many of the national parks. Experienced equestrians can explore alone or in the company of guides familiar with local flora, fauna and history (much of which was made on horseback). Half- and full-day group trail rides, which usually include lunch in a wildflower-speckled meadow, are popular and plentiful.

* * *

To be the first in the continental USA to see the sun pop over the horizon, park yourself atop Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park.

* * *

California is terrific for riding, with fog-swept trails leading along the cliffs of Point Reyes National Seashore, longer excursions through the high-altitude lakes of the Ansel Adams Wilderness, and multiday pack trips in Yosemite. Utah's Capitol Reef (Click here) and Canyonlands (Click here) also provide spectacular four-hoofed outings, as can the mountains, arroyos and plains of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana and Texas.

Dude ranches come in all varieties, from down-duvet luxurious to barn-duty authentic on working cattle ranches. Decide what kind of experience you want and do diligent research. They're found in most of the western states, and even some eastern ones (such as Tennessee and North Carolina). Real-life cowboys are included.

# New York, New Jersey
& Pennsylvania

|
---|---

* * *

HISTORY

LAND & CLIMATE

PARKS & WILDLIFE

INFORMATION

Getting There & Around

NEW YORK CITY

HISTORY

ORIENTATION

INFORMATION

SIGHTS

ACTIVITIES

NEW YORK FOR CHILDREN

TOURS

FESTIVALS & EVENTS

SLEEPING

EATING

DRINKING

ENTERTAINMENT

SHOPPING

GETTING THERE & AWAY

GETTING AROUND

NEW YORK STATE

LONG ISLAND

HUDSON VALLEY

CATSKILLS

FINGER LAKES REGION

ALBANY

AROUND ALBANY

THE ADIRONDACKS

THOUSAND ISLANDS REGION

WESTERN NEW YORK

NEW JERSEY

NORTHERN NEW JERSEY

CENTRAL NEW JERSEY

JERSEY SHORE

SOUTH JERSEY

PENNSYLVANIA

PHILADELPHIA

AROUND PHILADELPHIA

PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH COUNTRY

SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA

PITTSBURGH

AROUND PITTSBURGH

NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

* * *

Full of places where jaded city dwellers escape to seek simple lives, where artists retreat for inspiration, and where pretty houses line main streets, this is a region of defining American locales. It's provincial in many ways, with rough-around-the edges towns in the midst of reinventing themselves as tourist destinations. Even though it's the most populated and industrialized part of the US, it's also proof that America is really a nation of small places, many here set amid stunning scenery but often overlooked in a country so large.

New York City, one of the world's great cities, looms like an alien mothership and serves as a sort of Rorschach test; even the most jaded upstater will have a say on it. Overall, there is a conflicted relationship between urban and rural ways of life. For every teenage suburbanite itching to make it to Broadway, there is a downtown family ready to leave and start a B&B in the peaceful Catskills. Miles and miles of glorious beaches are within reach, from glamorous Long Island to the Jersey Shore – the latter ranges from stately to kitschy.

River-rich Pittsburgh and bohemian Buffalo, not to mention the lively historic gem that is Philadelphia, are all worthy destinations in their own right. A trip to Amish country in southern Pennsylvania serves as a reminder that it's possible, though challenging, to resist modernity's rushing pull. The mountain wilderness of the Adirondacks reaches skyward just a day's drive north of New York City, a journey that perfectly encapsulates this region's heady character.

* * *

# HIGHLIGHTS

  * Traveling round the world without ever leaving the kaleidoscope of neighborhoods and cultures that is **New York City** (Click here)
  * Enjoying the kitsch and calm of the **Jersey Shore** (Click here)
  * Absorbing the story of the birth of the nation in Philadelphia's **Independence National Historic Park** (Click here)
  * Walking the densely forested paths of the unspoiled **Catskills** (Click here)
  * Exploring the impressive wilderness beauty of the **Adirondacks** (Click here)
  * Camping along the shores of the St Lawrence River in the **Thousand Islands** (Click here)
  * Bar-hopping on the Strip in **Pittsburgh** (Click here)
  * Wine tasting on Long Island's **North Fork** (Click here)
  * Cycling the back roads of **Pennsylvania Dutch Country** (Click here)
  * Floating past bucolic scenery in the **Delaware Water Gap** (Click here)

|
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* * *

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## HISTORY

As ironic as it is for a region that is so thickly populated today, this area was probably home to fewer than 100,000 people before Europeans arrived. The sparse Native American settlements comprised two major cultural groups: the Algonquians and the Iroquois.

But by the mid-16th century, French fur trappers and traders had found their way from Canada to the region via the St Lawrence River. In 1609 explorer Henry Hudson found, sailed and named the Hudson River, claiming the land for the Dutch, who started several settlements in 'New Netherlands,' where the Iroquois took over control of the booming fur trade.

The tiny Dutch settlement on Manhattan Island soon surrendered to a Royal Navy warship and the new colonial power created two territories, 'New York' and 'New Jersey,' which soon attracted a great number of settlers from nearby New England. New Jersey's population grew rapidly, due in no small part to the great neighboring colonies of New York and Pennsylvania − the latter of which played a leading role in the Revolutionary War (1775−83), though important battles occurred in all three states. Many Iroquois allied themselves with the British and suffered badly from military defeats, disease, European encroachment and reprisals. Farmers, meanwhile, displaced the Algonquians from coastal areas and river valleys.

As early as the 1840s the region's major cities were linked by railways; the population also grew with waves of immigration, starting with the Irish in the 1840s and 1850s. Natural resources, abundant labor and unfettered capitalism transformed the entire region into a powerhouse of industry and commerce. After the Civil War (1861−65), the West was opened by steel railroad tracks made in Pittsburgh, the engines of growth using Pennsylvania coal and oil. All the region's cities were bursting with immigrants – blacks from the South, Chinese from California, and over 12 million Europeans who arrived at New York's Ellis Island. The constant flow of new people continues in the tri-state region to this day.

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## LAND & CLIMATE

Most big cities are on one of the eastern coastal plain's main rivers − including the Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna and Ohio Rivers. Low mountain ranges extend across the region's interior and are heavily forested with pine, red spruce, maple, oak, ash and birch trees.

All three states experience the full range of the four seasons. Temperatures are always a bit cooler to the north and warmer in the south, but generally, fall temperatures hover around the 40°F to 50°F (4.4°C to 10°C) mark, while winter can range from the teens to the high 30s (-10°C to 3°C). Expect spring temperatures to be between 50°F to 70°F (10°C to 22°C) – plus some extra doses of rain – and in summer from the high 60°F mark to the mid-80s (15.5°C to 31°C).

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## PARKS & WILDLIFE

Parklands and recreation areas are in big supply here, as is wildlife, at first surprising to many who associate these states only with large urban areas. Black bears, bobcats and even elk can be found in forested parts of the states; more common are various species of deer. Falcons, eagles, hawks and migrating species of birds stop over in the region, some even within only a few miles of New York City. In New York alone, you'll find a few dozen spots managed by the **National Parks Service** (NPS; www.nps.gov), many of them more of the historic-site than pure-green-space variety, and hundreds of **state parks** ( 518-474-0456; www.nysparks.state.ny.us), ranging from waterfalls and forests to beaches.

New Jersey is home to many federally managed areas, including its southeastern **Pinelands National Reserve** (Click here) and the **Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area** (Click here). Its many **state parks** ( 609-984-0370; www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests) range from the beachy **Cape May Point State Park** (Click here) to the mountainous, forested **Kittatinny Valley State Park** (Click here) in the north.

Pennsylvania is home to dozens of NPS areas that range from historic sites to a significant portion of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, a 2175-mile footpath that snakes its way from Maine to Georgia. The **state parks** ( 888-727-2757; www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks) include a huge array of thick forests, rolling parklands and trails, as well as **Presque Isle State Park** (Click here), a beach that juts out into Lake Erie.

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## INFORMATION

For this vast and varied region, see individual states – New York Click here, New Jersey Click here and Pennsylvania Click here.

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## Getting There & Around

The big cities all have airports, but New York's John F Kennedy (JFK; Click here) is the region's major international gateway. Alternatives include Newark International Airport (EWR; Click here); La Guardia (LGA; Click here), in Queens, with mostly domestic flights; and the Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) in Islip, also offering domestic travel (Click here). Philadelphia and Pittsburgh also have small international airports.

Greyhound (Click here) buses serve main cities and towns, while **Peter Pan Bus Lines** ( 800-343-9999; www.peterpanbus.com) and **Adirondack Trailways** ( 800-776-7548; www.trailwaysny.com) are two regional bus lines. Amtrak (Click here) provides rail services throughout the New York metropolitan area, linking New York with much of New Jersey, as well as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Most popular day trips, at least when leaving from New York City, are easily accessible by one of the three commuter-rail lines (Click here). If you're driving, the main north−south highway is the I-95.

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# NEW YORK CITY

The fin de siècle Gilded Age may be over, what with Wall Street's implosion in 2008, but the city lives on. Loud and fast and pulsing with energy, New York City (population 8.3 million), is symphonic, exhausting and always evolving. Storefronts are being shuttered more than usual and if there is a malaise in the air, there's also a palpable feeling that maybe the city is shifting, reorganizing, once again in the process of reinventing itself. The darker aspects of the city perhaps aren't as immediately visible as they once were – after all, neighborhoods such as Times Square and the Meatpacking District have been scrubbed clean for years now. However, _Law & Order_–type scenarios are still splashed across the headlines daily and surely the bottom of the East River continues to harbor secrets.

Maybe only a Walt Whitman poem cataloguing typical city scenes, from the humblest hole-in-the-wall to grand buildings, could begin to do the city justice. It remains one of the world centers of fashion, theater, food, music, publishing, advertising and, of course, finance. And as Groucho Marx once said, 'When it's 9:30 in New York, it's 1937 in Los Angeles.' Coming here for the first time from anywhere else is like stepping into a movie, one you've probably been unknowingly writing, one that contains all imagined possibilities. From the middle of Times Square to the most obscure corner of the Bronx, you'll find extremes. From Brooklyn's Russian enclave in Brighton Beach to the mini South America in Queens, virtually every country in the world has a bustling proxy community in the city. You can experience a little bit of everything on a visit here, as long as you take care to travel with a loose itinerary and an open mind.

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## HISTORY

After Henry Hudson first claimed this land in 1609 for his Dutch East India Company sponsors, he reported it to be 'as beautiful a land as one can hope to tread upon.' Soon after it was named 'Manhattan,' derived from local Munsee Indian words and meaning 'Island of Hills.'

By 1625 a colony, soon called New Amsterdam, was established, and the island was bought from the Munsee Indians by Peter Minuit. George Washington was sworn in here as the republic's first president in 1789, and when the Civil War broke out, New York City, which supplied a significant contingent of volunteers to defend the Union, became an organizing center for the movement to emancipate slaves.

Throughout the 19th century successive waves of immigrants – Irish, German, English, Scandinavian, Slavic, Italian, Greek and central European Jewish – led to a swift population increase, followed by the building of empires in industry and finance, and a golden age of skyscrapers.

After WWII New York City was the premier city in the world, but it suffered from a new phenomenon: 'white flight' to the suburbs. By the 1970s the graffiti-ridden subway system had become a symbol of New York's civic and economic decline. But NYC regained much of its swagger in the 1980s, led by colorful three-term mayor Ed Koch. The city elected its first African American mayor, David Dinkins, in 1989, but ousted him after a single term in favor of Republican Rudolph Giuliani (a 2008 primary candidate for US president). It was during Giuliani's reign that catastrophe struck on September 11, 2001, when the 110-story twin towers of the World Trade Center were struck by hijacked commercial airlines, became engulfed in balls of fire and then collapsed, killing 3000 people, the result of a now-infamous terrorist attack.

In 2001 New York elected its 108th mayor, Republican Michael Bloomberg. Reelected for a second term in November 2005, Bloomberg's campaign machine was gearing up for another run in 2009 after the passage of a highly controversial amendment that would allow him to seek a third term. Bloomberg is known as an independent political pragmatist, and his administration has earned both raves and criticism for its dual pursuit of environmental and development goals (the citywide nonsmoking law has proved popular, while congestion pricing to combat gridlock failed approval).

While September 11 and its aftermath are remembered, the topic of security to most New Yorkers is more background noise than every day concern. Stratospheric Wall Street bonuses and the accompanying sky-high real-estate market – prior to the 2008 market collapse – transformed once gritty neighborhoods into models of gentrification. National retail chains replaced neighborhood shops and more young people and those earning average salaries moved to various increasingly popular outer-borough neighborhoods with cultural cachet.

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## ORIENTATION

New York City lies near the mouth of the Hudson River, which is linked to the Atlantic Ocean through the Verrazano Narrows. Its entire metropolitan area sprawls east into the neighboring state of Connecticut and is linked to urban areas of New Jersey, across the Hudson. That whole area, known as the 'tri-state area,' is home to more than 18 million people.

The City of New York proper comprises five boroughs. Manhattan is a densely packed island. It's the heart of New York City and the epicenter of its attractions. Brooklyn would be the fourth-largest city in the USA if it were independent of New York, and is a quilt of diverse neighborhoods. It's generally considered by hipsters and families alike to be more livable than Manhattan. The largest borough is Queens, which is home to a dizzying array of ethnic communities and both of the city's airports. The Bronx, which is half inner city, half suburbia, is also home to the New York Yankees. Staten Island is a suburban appendage with an inferiority complex.

For those looking to do obscure exploring, especially in the city's outer boroughs, get your hands on a five-borough street atlas, like the one from Hagstrom available in bookstores for around $19.

* * *

# NY-NJ-PA...

## In Five Days

Start off with a gentle introduction in **Philadelphia** (Click here), birthplace of American independence. After a day of touring the historic sites and a night of sampling the hoppin' nightlife, head into New Jersey for a bucolic night in **Cape May** (Click here). On day three, coast up along the **Jersey Shore** (Click here), landing in **New York City** (Click here) by nightfall. Spend the rest of your visit here, blending touristy must-dos – such as the **Top of the Rock** (Click here) and **Central Park** (Click here) – with vibrant nightlife and eclectic dining adventures, perhaps in the city's bustling **East Village** (Click here).

## In Two Weeks

Begin in **Pittsburgh** (Click here), then take a road trip across the bucolic southern portion of the state, spending a second night in **Fallingwater** (Click here), a third in the **Gettysburg** (Click here) region and a fourth on a working Amish family farm in **Lancaster County** (Click here). From here it's a short jaunt to **Philadelphia** (Click here), which deserves at least a couple of nights. Follow it up with a night of casino fun in **Atlantic City** (Click here) and then head north, stopping for a quaint B&B stay further up along the Jersey Shore, perhaps in **Spring Lake** (Click here) or **Sandy Hook** (Click here). Leave plenty of time for **New York City** (Click here), and mix up the urban excitement with a couple of nearby day trips or overnight escapes, such as to the **Hudson Valley** (Click here), the **Hamptons** (Click here), **Fire Island** (Click here) or the **Catskills** (Click here).

* * *

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## INFORMATION

### Bookstores

There is a handful of **Barnes & Noble** (www.barnesandnoble.com) and **Borders** (www.borders.com) superstores, but also some great independent shops:

**Bluestockings Bookstore** (Map;  212-777-6028; 172 Allen St;  11am-11pm) A homegrown women's bookstore-café with frequent readings and other events.

**Book Culture** (Map;  212-865-1588; 536 W 112th St;  9am-10pm Mon-Fri, to 8pm Sat, 11am-7pm Sun) Formerly Labyrinth Books, and still going strong in the Columbia University neighborhood.

**Idlewild Books** (Map;  212-414-8888; 12 W 19th St;  11:30am-8pm Mon-Fri, noon-7pm Sat & Sun) Near Union S. Fiction and nonfiction are uniquely organized by country and regions of the world.

**McNally Jackson Books** (Map;  212-274-1160; 52 Prince St;  10am-10pm Mon-Sat, to 9pm Sun) A NoLita refuge with a nice café and regular author readings.

**Shakespeare & Co Booksellers** (Map;  212-979-5711; 716 Broadway, at Washington Pl;  10am-11pm Mon-Fri, noon-9pm Sat & Sun) A general bookseller with especially good sections on NY history; more academic subjects downstairs.

**St Mark's Bookshop** (Map;  212-260-7853; 31 Third Ave;  10am-midnight Mon-Sat, from 11am Sun) Especially good for academics and those who want to read like one.

**Strand Bookstore** (Map;  212-473-1452; 828 Broadway, at E 12th St;  9:30am-10:30pm Mon-Sat, from 11am Sun) The city's preeminent bibliophile warehouse, selling new and used books.

### Internet Access

There are many wi-fi access hot spots around the city, including the Lincoln Center (Click here) uptown, Bryant Park (Click here) in midtown and Union Square (Click here) downtown. The hourly fee for surfing the web at internet cafés ranges from $3 to $12. Full-service **FedEx Office** (www.fedex.com) stores scattered around the city offer web access.

**Cybercafe Times Square** (Map; 212-333-4109; 250 W 49th St, btwn Broadway & 8th Ave; per 30min $7;  8am-11pm Mon-Fri, from 11am Sat & Sun)

**Netzone Internet Cafe** (Map; 212-239-0770; 28 W 32nd St, 5th fl; per hr $4;  9am-5am)

**New York Public Library** (Map;  212-930-0800; www.nypl.org/branch/local; E 42nd St, at Fifth Ave) Offers free half-hour internet access, though there may be a wait in the afternoons; more than 80 other local branches also have free access.

**Web2Zone** (Map; 212-614-7300; 54 Cooper Sq, btwn Astor Pl & Fourth Ave; per hr $6;  9am-11pm Mon-Fri, 10am-11pm Sat, noon-10pm Sun)

If you have a laptop, there are a few more friendly and comfortable places with wi-fi access:

**Aroma Café** (Map;  212-533-1094; 145 Greene St;  7am-11pm;  ) Trendy café in SoHo.

**Think Coffee** (Map;  212-228-6226; 248 Mercer St;  7am-11:30pm Mon-Fri, from 8am Sat & Sun;  ) Swamped with NYU students.

**Pe'Can Café** (Map;  646-613-8293; 130 Franklin St;  7:30am-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm Sat & Sun;  ) In Tribeca, across the street from the Franklin St subway stop (1 line). Also serves good sandwiches and salads.

### Media

**Daily News** (www.nydailynews.com) A daily tabloid, leans toward the sensational – archrivals of the _New York Post_.

**New York** (www.newyorkmagazine.com) Weekly featuring listings and NYC-oriented news and gossip for the hip but established urbanite.

**New York Post** (www.nypost.com)Media mogul Rupert Murdoch publishes this daily tabloid, famous for spicy headlines, celebrity scandal–laden Page Six and good sports coverage.

**New York Times** (www.nytimes.com) The 'Gray Lady' is struggling in these lean economic times but is still the newspaper of record for readers throughout the US and much of the English-speaking world.

**NY1** An excellent source of local news, this is the city's all-day news station on Time Warner cable's Channel 1.

**Onion** (www.onion.com) Weekly fake news and satire website; the print edition has real and extensive listings for goings-on about town, especially comedy.

**Village Voice** (www.villagevoice.com) The weekly tabloid's rep is on the wane as far as investigative news goes, but it's still a place to go for events, clubs and music listings.

**WNYC 820am or 93.9FM** National Public Radio's local affiliate.

**WFUV-90.7FM** The area's best alternative-music radio station is run by the Bronx's Fordham University.

### Medical Services

Big retail pharmacies are everywhere and some stay open late.

**Interchurch Center Medical Office** (Map;  212-870-3053; www.interchurch-center.org; 475 Riverside Dr) Upper West Side office open to general public. Recommended for reasonably priced travel immunizations; expert consultation as well.

**New York University Langone Medical Center** (Map;  212-263-7300; 550 First Ave;  24hr)

**St Vincent's Medical Center** (Map;  212-604-7070; 170 W 12th St, at Sixth Ave;  24hr) In the Village.

**Travel MD** ( 212-737-1212; www.travelmd.com) A 24-hour house-call service for travelers and residents.

### Money

Withdrawal fees average $2.75 at ATMs found in some of the most convenient places − nightclubs, supermarkets, delis, restaurants, you name it.

### Post

Find a local branch with regular daytime hours by checking www.usps.com. The city's main post office, the James A Farley building occupying two full city blocks (Click here), is an architectural sight worth seeing.

### Telephone

There are thousands of pay telephones lining the streets, but many are out of order. Manhattan's telephone area codes are  212,  646 and  917; in the four other boroughs they're  718 and  347. You must dial 1 + the area code, even if you're calling from a borough that uses the same one you're calling to.

The city's wonderful  311 service allows you to dial from anywhere within the city for info or help with any city agency, from the parking-ticket bureau to the noise complaint department.

### Tourist Information

**New York City & Company** (Map;  212-484-1222/1200, toll-free 800-692-8474; www.nycgo.com; 810 Seventh Ave, at 53rd St;  8:30am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat & Sun) The official information service of the Convention & Visitors Bureau, it has helpful multilingual staff. The toll-free line provides information on special events and reservations. Other branches include Chinatown (Map; cnr Canal, Walker & Baxter Sts;  10am-6pm Mon-Fri, to 7pm Sat); Harlem (Map; 144 W 125th St btwn Adam Clayton Powell & Malcolm X Blvds;  noon-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat & Sun); Lower Manhattan (Map; City Hall Park at Broadway;  9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun); Times Square (Map; 1560 Broadway, btwn 46th & 47th Sts;  8am-8pm Mon-Sun) .

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## SIGHTS

While there's something to see on every block of every neighborhood, the most popular stops on the tourist circuit are clustered in or near Midtown. Others are way downtown, such as the Statue of Liberty and the New York Stock Exchange, or way uptown, like the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

### Lower Manhattan & the Financial District

#### STATUE OF LIBERTY

In a city full of American icons, the Statue of Liberty is perhaps the most famous. Conceived as early as 1865 by French intellectual Edouard Laboulaye as a monument to the republican principals shared by France and the USA, it's still generally recognized as a symbol for at least the ideals of opportunity and freedom to many. French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi traveled to New York in 1871 to select the site, then spent more than 10 years in Paris designing and making the 151ft-tall figure _Liberty Enlightening the World_. It was then shipped to New York, erected on a small island in the harbor and unveiled in 1886. Structurally, it consists of an iron skeleton (designed by Gustave Eiffel) with a copper skin attached to it by stiff but flexible metal bars.

Beginning July 4, 2009, for the first time since it was closed for security concerns after September 11, the crown is once again open to the public – numbers are quite limited, however, so reservations are required, probably months in advance. For those without crown reservations, a visit to **Statue of Liberty National Monument** (Map;  212-363-3200; www.nps.gov/stli; New York Harbor, Liberty Island;  9:30am-5pm) means you can wander the grounds and enjoy the view from the 16-story observation deck; a specially designed glass ceiling lets you look up into the statue's striking interior. The trip to its island, via ferry, is usually visited in conjunction with nearby Ellis Island. **Ferries** (Map; 212-269-5755, 877-523-9849; www.statuecruises.com; adult/child $12/5;  every 30min 9am-5pm, extended summer hours) leave from Battery Park. South Ferry and Bowling Green are the closest subway stations. Ferry tickets (additional $3 for crown admission) include admission to both sights and reservations can be made in advance.

#### ELLIS ISLAND

The way-station from 1892 to 1954 for more than 12 million immigrants who were hoping to make new lives in the United States, Ellis Island conjures up the humble and sometimes miserable beginnings of the experience of coming to America – as well as the fulfillment of dreams. More than three thousand died in the island's hospital and more than two percent were denied admission. Ferries to the Statue of Liberty make a second stop at the **immigration station** on Ellis Island (Map). The handsome main building has been restored as the **Immigration Museum** ( 212-363-3200; www.ellisisland.org; New York Harbor; adult/child $12/5, audioguide $6;  9:30am-5pm), with fascinating exhibits and a film about immigrant experiences, the processing of immigrants and how the influx changed the USA. Special tip: to avoid the long lines to board the ferry, you might consider approaching from the New Jersey side of the harbor, from **Liberty State Park** (Click here), accessible via PATH trains (Click here) from downtown or Penn Station (NYC).

#### GOVERNOR'S ISLAND

Most New Yorkers have gazed out on this mysterious path of green in the harbor, less than half a mile from the southern tip of Manhattan, without a clue as to its purpose. Although it was once reserved only for the Army or Coast Guard personnel who were based here, these days the general public can visit. The 22-acre **Governor's Island National Monument** (Map;  212-825-3045; www.nps.gov/gois; admission free) is accessible by riding the free **ferry** ( 212-514-8285; www.nps.gov/gois;  10am-3pm Wed-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun, summer only) leaving from the **Battery Marine Terminal** (Map; cnr South & Whitehall Sts) next to the Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal in very lower Manhattan. Guided **walking tours** (www.nps.gov/gois;  10am-1pm Wed & Thu), an hour and a half long, are run by the park service; tickets are free and are available first-come, first-served an hour in advance at the Battery Marine Terminal. Highlights include two 19th-century fortifications – Fort Jay and the three-tiered, sandstone Castle Williams – plus open lawns, massive shade trees and unsurpassed city views. Proposals for the island's future have run the gamut from a big-time casino to a cultural arts center, as well as an enormous cable car to Manhattan. In the near future at least, it is likely that 150 acres will be transformed into parkland and Fort Jay and Castle Williams will be converted into an art exhibition center and interpretative center.

#### BROOKLYN BRIDGE

Marianne Moore's description of the world's first suspension bridge – which inspired poets from Walt Whitman to Jack Kerouac even before its completion – as a 'climatic ornament, a double rainbow' is perhaps most evocative. Walking across the grand **Brooklyn Bridge** (Map) is a rite of passage for New Yorkers and visitors alike. With an unprecedented span of 1596ft, it remains a compelling symbol of US achievement and a superbly graceful structure, despite the fact that its construction was plagued by budget overruns and the deaths of 20 workers. Among the casualties was designer John Roebling, who was knocked off a pier in 1869 while scouting a site for the western bridge tower and later died of tetanus poisoning. The bridge has been renovated several times, and the smooth pedestrian/bicyclist path, beginning just east of City Hall, affords wonderful views of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. Observation points under the two stone support towers have illustrations showing panoramas of the waterfront at various points in New York's history.

#### FINANCIAL DISTRICT

No longer home to Masters of the Universe, these days, in the mind of Main St, **Wall Street** is synonymous with shortsighted greed and decadent irresponsibility. Both an actual street and the metaphorical home of US commerce, named for the wooden barrier built by Dutch settlers in 1653 to protect Nieuw Amsterdam from Native Americans and the British. The area and its industry are considerably diminished following the worldwide economic crash of late 2008/early 2009. Once-venerable banks including Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns have shuttered and thousands of jobs have been lost. Of course, the future of American business and capitalism and what Wall Street will look like in a year or two is difficult to predict.

To the east is **Federal Hall** (Map;  212-825-6990; www.nps.gov/feha; 26 Wall St; admission free;  9am-5pm), New York City's 18th-century city hall, distinguished by a huge statue of George Washington on the steps. This is where the first US Congress convened and Washington was sworn in as the first president, though it is not the original building. Across the street, the **New York Stock Exchange** (Map;  212-656-3000; www.nyse.com; 20 Broad St) has a facade like a Roman temple. The visitor center, unfortunately, is closed indefinitely due to security concerns. Outside the exchange, though, you'll see brokers dressed in color-coordinated trading jackets popping out for a cigarette or lunch from a vendor cart.

#### SOUTH STREET SEAPORT

Known more for the large commercial mall jutting out over the East River on Pier 17, this 11-block enclave of cobblestoned streets and restored historic buildings has been revitalized into an area worthy of a walk. The Fulton Fish Market is long gone but a combination of residents and tourists mix in a handful of bars and restaurants housed in restored mid-19th-century buildings. The **South Street Seaport** **Museum** (Map;  212-748-8600; www.southstseaport.org; adult/child $10/5;  10am-6pm Tue-Sun Apr-Dec, 10am-5pm Fri-Sun Jan-Mar) includes three galleries, a children's center and three historic ships to visit just south of the pier. You can also sail on the wonderful 1885 wooden schooner **Pioneer** (Map;  212-748-8786; www.southstseaport.org; Pier 16; adult $25-30, child $15-20;  sail times vary;  ).

Bringing summer fun to the city is the **Water Taxi Beach** ( 877-974-6998; www.watertaxibeach.com; Fulton St, at South St;  11am-11pm), a sandbox for adults, docked on a pier in the East River (another location is in Long Island City, Queens).

When in the area it's worth considering hopping on the **Ikea water taxi** (Map;  every 40min 2pm-6:40pm Mon-Fri, 11am-7:40pm Sat & Sun) operated by the Swedish furniture store from Pier 11 (six blocks south of South Street Seaport) to its store in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Besides offering the chance to get out on the water and take in breathtaking views of the city, it's free.

#### BOWLING GREEN PARK & AROUND

At **Bowling Green Park** (Map; cnr State & Whitehall Sts), British residents relaxed with quiet games in the late 17th century. The large **bronze bull** (Map) here is a tourist photo stop. The **National Museum of the American Indian** (Map;  212-514-3700; www.nmai.si.edu; 1 Bowling Green; admission free;  10am-5pm), housed in the gorgeous and historic Alexander Hamilton US Customs House, has quite an extensive collection of Native American arts, crafts and exhibits, plus a library and a great gift shop. Just up Broadway from here is the **African Burial Ground** (Map;  212-637-2019; www.nps.gov/afbg; 290 Broadway, btwn Duane & Elk Sts;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri), where the skeletal remains of more than 400 free and enslaved African men and women were discovered during preliminary construction of a downtown office building in 1991.

#### BATTERY PARK & AROUND

'New York, New York, it's a wonderful town. The Bronx is up and the Battery's down.' That's an _On the Town_ reference, for all you nonfans of musicals, and it's talking about the southwestern tip of Manhattan Island, which has been extended with landfill over the years to form Battery Park, so-named for the gun batteries that used to be housed at the bulkheads. **Castle Clinton** (Map) a fortification built in 1811 to protect Manhattan from the British, was originally 900ft offshore but is now at the edge of Battery Park, with only its walls remaining. Come summertime, it's transformed into a gorgeous outdoor concert arena.

West of the park, the **Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust** (Map;  646-437-4200; www.mjhnyc.org; 36 Battery Pl, Battery Park City; adult/child $12/free;  10am-5:45pm Sun-Tue & Thu, to 8pm Wed, to 5pm Fri) depicts many aspects of New York Jewish history and culture, and includes a holocaust memorial. Also worth a look is the **Skyscraper Museum** (Map;  212-968-1961; www.skyscraper.org; 39 Battery Pl; adult/senior & student $5/2.50;  noon-6pm Wed-Sun), occupying the ground-floor space of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and featuring rotating exhibits plus a permanent study of high-rise history.

Finally, Battery Place is the start of the stunning **Hudson River Park** ( 212-627-2020; www.hudsonriverpark.org), which incorporates renovated piers, grassy spaces, gardens, basketball courts, a trapeze school, food concessions and, best of all, a ribbon of a bike/skate/running path that stretches 5 miles up to 59th St.

#### GROUND ZERO

Tourists snapping photos, local office workers on a lunch break, folks who miss loved ones – all mill about before this high **viewing wall** (Map; Church St, at Fulton St; admission free) that wraps around the ever-changing construction site of the former Twin Towers. Photos with accompanying text along the fencelike wall present an eerie and specific timeline of the attacks. Though the city is looking collectively into the future, redevelopment plans have been terribly delayed, fraught with politicking, cost overruns and tightened budgets; the only finished building is a mundane 52-story glass office building. The signature of the site, One World Trade Center, formerly known as the Freedom Tower, along with the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, aren't scheduled for completion until 2013.

Nearby is the **Tribute WTC Visitor Center** (Map;  866-737-1184; 120 Liberty St; admission $10;  10am-6pm Mon, Wed-Sat, noon-6pm Tue, to 5pm Sun), which provides exhibits, first-person testimony and walking tours of the site ($10 per person, several from 11am to 3pm Sunday to Friday, and to 4pm Saturday).

**City Hall** (Map; City Hall Park, Broadway), in the Civic Center precinct, has been home to New York City's government since 1812.

### Tribeca & SoHo

The 'TRIangle BElow CAnal St,' bordered roughly by Broadway to the east and Chambers St to the south, is the more downtown of these two sister 'hoods. It has old warehouses, very expensive loft apartments and chichi restaurants. On the historic side, the **Harrison Street** **town houses** (Map; Harrison St) west of Greenwich St, were built between 1804 and 1828 and are New York's largest remaining collection of Federal architecture.

* * *

# DON'T MISS

Recognizing that any New York City highlights list is inevitably abbreviated, necessary shorthand for a city with so much to do and see, the following offers a few sights not to miss on a short visit:

  * **Museums** – The massive and exceptional **Metropolitan Museum of Art** (Click here) can occupy your entire visit. Take in the iconic works at the **Museum of Modern Art** (Click here) on a weekday morning to avoid the gridlock.
  * **Views** – The open-air observation deck of the **Top of the Rock** (Click here) offers an unparalleled perspective. On a nighttime stroll, stop midway across the **Brooklyn Bridge** (Click here) for one of the more romantic sights the city has to offer.
  * **Green Space** – Whatever the season, a walk through **Central Park** (Click here) is the quintessential New York experience. To get a sense of how much of the city lives, head out to Brooklyn's **Prospect Park** (Click here) for a weekend picnic.

* * *

SoHo has nothing to do with its London counterpart, but instead, like Tribeca, takes its name from its geographical placement: SOuth of HOuston St. SoHo is filled with block upon block of cast-iron industrial buildings that date to the period just after the Civil War, when this was the city's leading commercial district. It had a bohemian/artsy heyday that had ended by the 1980s, and now this super-gentrified area is a major shopping destination, home to many chain stores and boutiques alike and to hordes of consumers, especially on weekends.

The **Museum of Comic & Cartoon Art** (Map;  212-254-3511; www.moccany.org; 594 Broadway; adult/child $5/free;  noon-5pm Tue-Sun) can help you appreciate comic strips, cartoons, anime, animation, gag cartoons, political illustrations, caricature, graphic novels and more.

SoHo's hip cup overfloweth to the northern side of Houston St and east side of Lafayette St, where two small areas, **NoHo** ('north of Houston') and **NoLita** ('north of Little Italy'), respectively, are known for excellent shopping – lots of small, independent and stylish clothing boutiques for women – and dining. Add them to SoHo and Tribeca for a great experience of strolling, window-shopping and café-hopping, and you'll have quite a lovely afternoon.

### Chinatown & Little Italy

More than 150,000 Chinese-speaking residents live in cramped tenements and crowded apartments in Chinatown, the largest Chinese community that exists outside of Asia (though there are two other major Chinatowns in the city – Sunset Park in Brooklyn and Flushing, in Queens). In the 1990s, the neighborhood also attracted a growing number of Vietnamese immigrants, who set up their own shops and opened inexpensive restaurants here; depending on what street you're on, you'll often notice more of a Vietnamese than Chinese presence.

The best reason to visit Chinatown is to experience a feast for the senses – it's the only spot in the city where you can simultaneously see whole roasted pigs hanging in butcher-shop windows, get whiffs of fresh fish and hear the twangs of Cantonese and Vietnamese rise over the calls of knock-off-Prada-bag hawkers on Canal St. Start at the official **Explore Chinatown** **information kiosk** (Map; 212-346-9288; www.explorechinatown.com; Canal St, btwn Baxter & Walker Sts;  10am-6pm Mon-Sun, 10am-7pm Sat), where helpful, multilingual folks can guide you to specific spots. The **Museum of Chinese in America** (Map;  212-619-4785; www.mocanyc.org; 215 Centre St; admission $7;  11am-5pm Mon, to 9pm Thu, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun, closed Tue & Wed) has sophisticated exhibitions and film series as well as walking tours dedicated to the lives and culture of Chinese communities in the US.

Once known as a truly authentic pocket of Italian people, culture and eateries, **Little Italy** (Map) is a barely-there remnant that's constantly shrinking (a growing Chinatown keeps moving in). Still, loyal Italian Americans, mostly from the suburbs, flock here to gather around red-and-white-checked tablecloths at one of a handful of longtime red-sauce restaurants. Join them for a stroll along **Mulberry Street** , and take a peek at the **Old St Patrick's Cathedral** (Map; 263 Mulberry St), which became the city's first Roman Catholic cathedral in 1809 and remained so until 1878, when its more famous uptown successor was completed. The former **Ravenite Social Club** (Map; 247 Mulberry St), now a fancy shoe shop, is a reminder of the not-so-long-ago days when mobsters ran the neighborhood. Originally known as the Alto Knights Social Club, where big hitters like Lucky Luciano spent time, the Ravenite was a favorite hangout of John Gotti (and the FBI) before his arrest and life sentencing in 1992.

### Lower East Side

First came the Jews, then the Latinos, and now, of course, the hipsters. Today the place is either about being cool – by cramming into low-lit lounges and live-music clubs – or about being moneyed, by snagging a table at a pricey restaurant. A bunch of luxury high-rise condominiums and hip boutique hotels coexist with large public housing projects (read Richard Price's novel _Lush Life_ for entertaining insight into this class conflict). To keep the humble past in perspective, head to the **Lower East Side Tenement Museum** (Map;  212-982-8420; www.tenement.org; 90 Orchard St, at Broome St; tours $17;  visitor center 10am-5:30pm, tours 10:15am-5pm), which puts the neighborhood's heartbreaking heritage on full display in several reconstructed tenements. Museum visits are available only as part of scheduled tours (the price of which is included in the admission), which typically operate every 40 or 50 minutes.

The landmark **Eldridge Street Synagogue** (Map;  212-219-0888; www.eldridgestreet.org; 12 Eldridge St, btwn Canal & Division Sts), built in 1887, attracted as many as 1000 worshipers on the High Holidays at the turn of the 20th century. But membership dwindled in the 1920s with restricted immigration laws, and by the 1950s the temple closed altogether. A 20-year restoration project was finally completed in 2007 and now the synagogue holds Friday-evening and Saturday-morning worship services, hosts weddings and offers **tours** (adult/child $10/6;  10am-3pm Sun-Thu, on the half-hour) of the building. Not far from here is the lively **Essex Street Market** (Map; 212-312-3603; www.essexstreetmarket.com; 120 Essex St, btwn Delancey & Rivington Sts;  8am-7pm Mon-Sat), a 65-year-old shopping destination with vendors hawking produce, seafood, Latino groceries, kosher wines and freshly baked bread.

### East Village

Bordered roughly by 14th St, Lafayette St, E Houston St and the East River, the East Village has gentrified rapidly in the last decade, much to the horror of longtime tenants and punk-kid squatters, who have been floating around for decades. These days the real-estate developers seem to have the upper hand – although the 'hood has not yet shaken its image as an edgy, radical, be-yourself kind of place, which it still is, mostly.

#### TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK & AROUND

This **park** (Map; btwn 7th & 10th Sts & Aves A & B) is an unofficial border between the East Village (to the west) and Alphabet City (to the east). It was once an Eastern European immigrant area; you'll still see old Ukrainians and Poles in the park, but they'll be alongside punks, students, panhandlers and a slew of dog-walking yuppies. The historic **Russian & Turkish Baths** (Map;  212-674-9250; www.russianturkishbaths.com; 268 E 10th St; admission $30;  noon-10pm Mon, Tue, Thu & Fri, from 9am Sat, 8am-1pm Sun) is a great place to work out your stress in one of the four hot rooms; traditional massages are also offered. It's ladies-only from 10am to 2pm Wednesday, men-only from noon to 5pm Thursday and 8am to 2pm Sunday, and coed the rest of the time. It's authentic and somewhat grungy, and you're as likely to share a sauna with a hipster couple on a date, a well-known actor looking for a time-out or an actual Russian.

Housed in an architecturally ambitious building, a folding silvery column, is the **New Museum of Contemporary Art** (Map;  212-219-1222; www.newmuseum.org; 235 Bowery, at Prince St; adult/senior $12/10, child under 18yr free;  noon-6pm Wed, Sat & Sun, to 9pm Thu & Fri).

The expanded modern version of the **Ukrainian Museum** (Map;  212-228-0110; www.ukrainianmuseum.org; 222 E 6th St, btwn Second & Third Aves; admission $8;  11:30am-5pm Wed-Sun) is testament to the fact that Ukrainians have a long history and still-strong presence here. Its collection of folk art includes ceramics and richly woven textiles.

#### ASTOR PLACE & AROUND

At the west end of St Mark's Pl, **Astor Place** (Map) was once an elite neighborhood and some of its impressive original Greek Revival residences remain. These days a large Starbucks anchors one corner and a K-Mart another, while a tall glass condominium dominates the skyline across the street. The landmark rotating sculpture – 'the Cube' – remains, as do the young skateboarders who congregate here.

The large brownstone **Cooper Union** (Map; www.cooper.edu; 51 Astor Pl) is a public college founded by glue millionaire Peter Cooper in 1859. Abraham Lincoln gave his 'Right Makes Might' speech condemning slavery before his election to the White House in the college's Great Hall.

### West (Greenwich) Village

Once a symbol for all things artistic, outlandish and bohemian, this storied and popular neighborhood – the birthplace of the gay-rights movement as well as former home of Beat poets and important artists – feels worlds away from busy Broadway, in fact almost European. Known by most visitors as 'Greenwich Village,' although that term is not used by locals, it has narrow streets lined with well-groomed and high-priced real estate, as well as cafés and restaurants, making it an ideal place to wander.

#### NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

Dominating a huge swath of property in the middle of the Village, this university, one of the largest in the country, defines the area architecturally and demographically. Founded in 1831 by Albert Gallatin, the secretary of treasury under President Thomas Jefferson, **New York University** (NYU; Map;  212-998-4550; www.nyu.edu; information center at 50 W 4th St;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat) was an intimate school open to all, regardless of race or class background. The student population has swelled to nearly 47,000, with 14 schools and colleges at six Manhattan locations.

#### WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK & AROUND

This **park** (Map) began as a 'potter's field' – a burial ground for the penniless – and its status as a cemetery protected it from development. It is now an incredibly well-used park, especially on the weekend. Children use the playground, NYU students catch some rays and friends meet 'under the arch,' the recently renovated landmark on the park's northern edge, designed in 1889 by society architect Stanford White. A controversial $16-million renovation plan that some residents feared would reduce the informality and character of the park has meant more symmetry, landscaping and higher fences. The undersized basketball court, the **Cage** (cnr Sixth Ave & W 3rd St), considered one of the more competitive playgrounds in the city, draws onlookers and top ballers – the more people-watching, the more showboating.

#### CHRISTOPHER STREET PIER (PIER 45)

Formerly the strict domain of young gay hustlers and sassy 'pier queens,' this completely renovated **concrete pier** (Map; Christopher St, at the Hudson River;  closes 1am) is now a magnet for downtowners of all stripe, with a healthy dose of local yuppies and a sprinkling of young gay holdouts, most of whom travel from other boroughs and northern New Jersey to be a part of the scene. Developers of the Hudson River Park Project paid special attention to this prime waterfront spot, adding a lawn and flower bed, wooden deck, tented shade shelters, benches and a grand stone fountain at its entrance.

#### SHERIDAN SQUARE & AROUND

The western edge of the Village is home to **Sheridan Square** (Stonewall Place; Map), a small, triangular park where life-size white statues by George Segal honor the gay community and gay pride movement that began in the nearby renovated **Stonewall Inn** sitting just across the street from the square. A block further east, an appropriately bent street is officially named Gay St (prompting titillated queer folks to periodically swipe the street sign). Although gay social scenes have in many ways moved a bit further uptown to Chelsea, **Christopher Street** is still the center of gay life in the Village.

### Meatpacking District

Nestled between the far West Village and the southern border of Chelsea is the gentrified and now inappropriately named **Meatpacking District** (Map). Less than 10 years ago, the neighborhood was home to 250 slaughterhouses – today only seven butchers remain – and was best known for its groups of tranny hookers, racy S&M sex clubs and, of course, its sides of beef. These days, only trendy wine bars, eateries, nightclubs, high-end designer clothing stores and chic hotels can afford the rents.

With the completion of the **High Line** (Map www.thehighline.org), a 30ft-high abandoned stretch of elevated railroad track transformed into a long ribbon of parkland (from Gansevoort St to W 34th St), there's finally some greenery amid the asphalt jungle; the project plans also call for a high-end hotel and outpost of the **Whitney Museum of American Art** (Map), due to be completed by 2012. Only three stories above the streetscape, this thoughtfully and carefully designed mix of contemporary, industrial and natural elements is nevertheless a refuge and escape from the ordinary.

### Chelsea

This 'hood is popular for two main attractions: one, the parade of gorgeous gay men (known affectionately as 'Chelsea boys') who roam Eighth Ave, darting from gyms to trendy happy hours; and two, it's one of the hubs of the city's art-gallery scene − it's currently home to nearly 200 modern-art art spaces, most of which are clustered west of Tenth Ave. Find specific galleries at www.westchelseaarts.com or pick up a copy of the monthly _Gallery Guide_ (www.galleryguide.org), hard copies of which are available for free at most venues.

The **Chelsea Market** (Map; www.chelseamarket.com; 75 Ninth Ave, btwn W 15th & 16th Sts;  7am-10pm Mon-Sat, 8am-8pm Sun) will thrill gourmet food fans with its 800ft-long shopping concourse, while **Chelsea Piers** (Map;  212-336-6666; www.chelseapiers.com; W 23rd St, at Hudson River;) is a waterfront sports center that caters to the athlete in everyone. It's got a four-level driving range, indoor ice rink, jazzy bowling alley, Hoop City for basketball, a sailing school for kids, batting cages, a huge gym, indoor rock-climbing walls – the works.

### Flatiron District

At the intersection of Broadway, Fifth Ave and 23rd St, the famous (and absolutely gorgeous) 1902 **Flatiron Building** (Map) has a distinctive triangular shape to match its site. It was New York's first iron-frame high-rise, and the world's tallest building until 1909. Its surrounding district is a fashionable area of boutiques and loft apartments, and home to the peaceful **Madison Square Park** (www.madisonsquarepark.org) bordered by 23rd and 26th Sts, and Fifth and Madison Aves, where you'll find an active dog run, rotating outdoor sculptures, shaded park benches and a popular burger joint (Click here). Flatiron is also where you'll find the **Museum of Sex** (Map;  212-689-6337; www.museumofsex.com; 233 Fifth Ave, at W 27th St; admission $14.50;  11am-6:30pm Sun-Fri, 11am-8pm Sat), a somewhat intellectualized homage to intercourse.

### Union Square

A true town square, albeit one with a grassy interior, **Union Square** (Map; 14th St, at Broadway) is a hive of activity with all manner of New Yorkers rubbing elbows, sharing hacky sacks and eyeing each other. A major renovation will include a year-round restaurant, more playgrounds and public toilets. The southern end is the place for antiwar and other liberal-leaning demonstrators and, on most days, its north end hosts the **Greenmarket Farmers Market** (Map;  212-788-7476; www.cenyc.org; 17th St, btwn Broadway & Park Ave S;  8am-6pm Mon, Wed, Fri & Sat), the most popular of the nearly 50 greenmarkets throughout the five boroughs, where even celebrity chefs come for just-picked rarities including fiddlehead ferns, heirloom tomatoes and fresh curry leaves.

### Gramercy Park

This area, loosely comprising the 20s east of Madison Ave, is named after one of New York's loveliest parks; it's for residents only, though, and you need a key to get in! If you're strolling by, peer through the gates and get a good look at what you're missing. Nearby is **Theodore Roosevelt's Birthplace** (Map;  212-668-2251; www.nps.gov/thrb; 28 E 20th St, btwn Park Ave & Broadway; admission $3;  9am-5pm Tue-Sat), a National Historic Site; however, this building is simply a re-creation – the actual house where the 26th president was born was demolished in his lifetime.

### Midtown

The classic NYC fantasy – shiny skyscrapers, teeming mobs of worker bees, Fifth Ave store windows, taxi traffic – and some of the city's most popular attractions can be found here. Long ago when print ruled and newspaper and magazines were the cultural currency of the day, Midtown was actually also the literary district – the prime movers and shakers used to meet at the Algonquin Hotel. Major media companies such as the NY Times and Condé Nast, among others, are still based here.

#### EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

Catapulted to Hollywood stardom both as the planned meeting spot for Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in _An Affair to Remember,_ and the vertical perch that helped to topple King Kong, the classic **Empire State Building** (Map;  212-736-3100; www.esbnyc.org; 350 Fifth Ave, at E 34th St; adult/child $18.50/13;  8am-2am) is one of New York's most famous members of the skyline. It's a limestone classic built in just 410 days, or seven million man-hours, during the depths of the Depression at a cost of $41 million. On the site of the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, the 102-story, 1472ft (to the top of the antenna) Empire State Building opened in 1931 after 10 million bricks were laid, 6400 windows installed and 328,000 sq ft of marble laid. Today you can ride the elevator to observatories on the 86th and 102nd floors (for the latter it's an additional $15 and tickets are only sold upon arrival at the building), but be prepared for crowds; try to come very early or very late (and purchase your tickets ahead of time, online) for an optimal experience.

#### MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

A veritable art universe of more than 100,000 pieces, the 75-year old **Museum of Modern Art** (MoMA; Map;  212-708-9400; www.moma.org; 11 W 53rd St, btwn Fifth & Sixth Aves; adult/child/student/senior $20/free/12/16, free 4-8pm Fri;  10:30am-5:30pm Sat-Mon, Wed-Thu, 10:30am-8pm Fri) houses one of the more significant collections of works in the world. A controversial renovation project designed by the architect Yoshio Taniguchi doubled the museum's capacity to 630,000 sq ft on six floors. Most of the big hitters – Matisse, Picasso, Cézanne, Rothko, Pollock and many others – are housed in the central five-story atrium. Be prepared for long entrance lines and crushing crowds around the artwork.

#### TIMES SQUARE & THEATER DISTRICT

There are few images more universally iconic than the glittering orb dropping from **Times Square** (Map) on New Year's Eve – the first one descended 100 years ago. Smack in the middle of Midtown Manhattan, this area around the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Ave, with its gaudy billboards and glittery marquees, has become so intertwined with New York City in the minds of non-New Yorkers that regardless of how Disneyfied it has become, it's still considered quintessential New York. Once again 'the Crossroads of the World' and unrecognizable from its '70s-era seediness of strip clubs, hookers and pickpockets, the square draws 27 million visitors annually, who spend something over $12 billion in Midtown. Massive chains including Sephora, Skechers and Cold Stone Creamery pull in folks who can find this stuff anywhere, and multiplex theaters draw crowds with large screens and stadium seating. In an effort to make the area more pedestrian-friendly and diminish the perpetual gridlock, Broadway from 47th to 42nd St was turned into a vehicle-free zone in the summer of 2009 – the experiment's fate and design is still uncertain.

Times Square also continues to serve as New York's official **Theater District** , with dozens of Broadway and off-Broadway theaters located in an area that stretches from 41st to 54th Sts, between Sixth and Ninth Aves (Click here). The Times Square branch of **New York City & Company** ( 212-763-1560; www.timessquarenyc.org; 1560 Broadway, btwn 46th & 47th Sts;  9am-7pm Mon-Fri, 8am-8pm Sun) sits smack in the middle of this famous crossroads, inside the beautifully restored landmark Embassy Theater. Broadway, the road, once ran all the way to the state capitol in Albany.

#### GRAND CENTRAL STATION

Built in 1913 as a prestigious terminal by New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, **Grand Central Station** (Map; www.grandcentralterminal.com; 42nd St, at Fifth Ave) is no longer a romantic place to begin a cross-country journey, as it's now the terminus for Metro North commuter trains to the northern suburbs and Connecticut. But even if you're not boarding a train to the 'burbs, it's worth exploring the grand, vaulted main concourse and gazing up at the restored ceiling, decorated with a star map that is actually a 'God's-eye' image of the night sky. The bottom floor houses a truly excellent array of eateries, bringing the idea of 'food court' to grand new levels, while the balcony has a cozy '20s-era salon kind of bar called the Campbell Apartment.

#### CHRYSLER BUILDING

Just east of Grand Central Station, the **Chrysler Building** (Map; 405 Lexington Ave), an art-deco masterpiece that's adorned with motorcar motifs, was designed by William Van Alen and completed in 1930 to be the headquarters for Walter P Chrysler and his automobile empire. Luckily, because visitors can't go up in the building (it's full of offices), it's most magnificent when viewed from a distance; some details are barely visible from the ground. In the lobby, you can admire the African marble, onyx lights and other decorative elements. Nestled at the top, in the building's heyday, was the famed Cloud Club, a former speakeasy. A developer's plans to reopen an eatery have come to naught.

#### NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

Flanked by two huge marble lions nicknamed 'Patience' and 'Fortitude' by former mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, the stairway leading up to the **New York Public Library** (Map;  212-340-0833; www.nypl.org; Fifth Ave, at 42nd St;  10am-6pm Tue-Sat) is a grand entrance. The massive, superb beaux-arts building stands as testament to the value of learning and culture in the city, as well as to the wealth of the philanthropists who made its founding possible. A magnificent 3rd-floor reading room has a painted ceiling and bountiful natural light – rows of long wooden tables are occupied by students, writers and the general public working away at laptops. This, the main branch of the entire city library system, has galleries of manuscripts on display, as well as fascinating temporary exhibits. Immediately behind the library is beautifully maintained **Bryant Park** (Click here), once an important reservoir in the 19th century, now a beautiful grassy expanse furnished with tables and chairs, and even a lending library and chessboards in warm weather (free wi-fi too), as well as an ice-skating rink in winter.

#### ROCKEFELLER CENTER

It was built during the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s, and construction of the 22-acre **Rockefeller Center** (Map) gave jobs to 70,000 workers over nine years and was the first project to combine retail, entertainment and office space in what is often referred to as a 'city within a city.' The 360-degree views from the tri-level **Top of the Rock** ( 212-698-2000; main entrance 50th St, btwn Fifth & Sixth Aves; adult/child $18/13;  8am-midnight) observation deck are absolutely stunning and should not be missed; on a clear day you can see quite a distance across the river into New Jersey. The 67th and 69th floors have outdoor terraces. Architecture fans should look for the tile work above the Sixth Ave entrance to the GE Building; the entrance to the East River Savings Bank building at 41 Rockefeller Plaza; the triptych above the entrance to 30 Rockefeller Plaza; and the statues of Prometheus and Atlas. In winter the place is abuzz with ice-skaters and Christmas-tree gawkers.

Within the complex is the 1932 **Radio City Music Hall** (Map;  212-247-4777; www.radiocity.com; 1260 Sixth Ave; tours adult/child $18.50/10;  tours 11am-3pm Mon-Sun), a 6000-seat former movie palace and protected landmark that's been gorgeously restored in all its art-deco grandeur. To get an inside look, join one of the frequent guided tours, which leave the lobby every half-hour.

**NBC Studios** (Map;  212-664-3700; www.nbcuniversalstore.com; 30 Rockefeller Plaza; tours adult/child $19/16;  8:30am-5:30pm Mon-Sat, 9:30am-4:30pm Sun) are here as part of the NBC TV network, which has its headquarters in the 70-story GE Building. _The Today Show_ broadcasts live 7am to 11am daily from a glass-enclosed street-level studio near the fountain (fans of Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Al Roker et al take note), and tours of the NBC studios leave from the lobby of the GE Building every 15 minutes; note that children under six are not admitted on tours.

#### FIFTH AVENUE & AROUND

Immortalized in both film and song, Fifth Ave first developed its high-class reputation in the early 20th century, when it was considered desirable for its 'country' air and open spaces. The series of mansions called **Millionaire's Row** extended right up to 130th St, though most of the heirs to the millionaire mansions on Fifth Ave above 59th St sold them for demolition or converted them to the cultural institutions that now make up Museum Mile.

The avenue's Midtown stretch still boasts upmarket shops and hotels, including Trump Tower (725 Fifth Ave, at 56th St) and the Plaza (cnr Fifth Ave and Central Park South). While a number of the more exclusive boutiques have migrated to Madison Ave – leaving outposts of Gap and H&M in their wake – several superstars still reign over Fifth Ave above 50th St, including the famous Tiffany & Co (Click here).

#### UNITED NATIONS

The **UN headquarters** (Map;  212-963-8687; www.un.org/tours; First Ave, btwn 42nd & 48th Sts; tours adult/child $12.50/6.50;  tours 9:30am-4:45pm Mon-Fri) is technically on a section of international territory overlooking the East River. Take a guided 45-minute tour of the facility and you'll get to see the General Assembly, where the annual fall convocation of member nations takes place (the Security Council Chamber has been closed to tours because of renovations, due to be completed in 2013); and also the Economic & Social Council Chamber. There is a park to the south of the complex which is home to Henry Moore's _Reclining Figure_ as well as several other sculptures with a peace theme. English-language tours of the UN complex depart frequently; limited tours in several other languages are also available.

#### HERALD SQUARE & AROUND

This crowded convergence of Broadway, Sixth Ave and 34th St is best known as the home of **Macy's** department store (Click here), where you can still ride some of the remaining original wooden elevators to floors ranging from home furnishings to lingerie. But the busy square gets its name from a long-defunct newspaper, the _Herald,_ and the small, leafy park here bustles during business hours. (The two indoor malls south of Macy's on Sixth Ave house the standard array of suburban chain stores.) In order to cut down on some of the area gridlock, Broadway, from 33rd to 35th St has been closed to traffic and turned into a pedestrian plaza.

West of Herald Sq, the **Garment District** has most of New York's fashion design offices, and while not much clothing is actually made here anymore, for anyone into pawing through dreamy selections of fabrics, buttons, sequins, lace and zippers it is the place to shop.

Nearby, tens of thousands of train commuters and travelers pass through the sterile confines of **Pennsylvania Station** (Penn Station; Map; 33rd St, btwn Seventh & Eighth Aves). **Madison Square Garden** (Map;  212-465-5800; www.thegarden.com; Seventh Ave, btwn W 31st & W 33rd Sts), built over Penn Station, is a major sporting and entertainment venue. A block west, the 1913 **New York General Post Office** (James A Farley Post Office; Map; www.ny.com/general/postoffices.html; 421 Eighth Ave, at 33rd St;  7am-10pm Mon-Fri, 9am-9pm Sat, 11am-7pm Sun) is an imposing beaux-arts building that stands behind a long row of Corinthian columns. A grand project proposed by former senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan in 1999 to move the station into a refurbished Farley post office has fallen by the wayside.

From 31st St to 36th St, between Broadway and Fifth Ave, **Koreatown** Click here is an interesting and lively neighborhood with an ever-expanding number of good restaurants and authentic karaoke spots.

#### OTHER MIDTOWN MUSEUMS

Among the impressive lineup of cultural institutions in this area is the **Paley Center for Media** (formerly Museum of TV & Radio; Map;  212-621-6800; www.paleycenter.org; 25 W 52nd St; adult/child $10/5, theater $6;  noon-6pm Fri-Wed, to 8pm Thu), where more than 100,000 US TV and radio programs and advertisements are available at the click of a mouse. Here you can search the extensive catalogue on computer, and staff will find and play your classic TV or radio selection. A comfy theater shows some great specials on broadcasting history, and there are frequent special programming events.

The stunning **International Center of Photography** (Map;  212-857-0000; www.icp.org; 1133 Sixth Ave, at 43rd St; adult/senior & student $12/8, admission by 'voluntary contribution' 5-8pm Fri;  10am-6pm Tue-Thu, Sat & Sun, 10am-8pm Fri) is the city's most important showcase for major photographers, especially photojournalists. Its past exhibitions have included work by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Matthew Brady and Robert Capa.

#### HELL'S KITCHEN (CLINTON)

For years, the far west side of Midtown was a working-class district of tenements and food warehouses known as Hell's Kitchen – supposedly its name was muttered by a cop in reaction to a riot in the neighborhood in 1881. A 1990s economic boom seriously altered the character and developers reverted to using the cleaned-up name Clinton, a moniker originating from the 1950s; locals are split on usage. New restaurants exploded along Ninth and Tenth Aves between about 37th and 55th Sts, and now it's a great place to grab a pre- or post-theater meal. Antique-lovers should note that the beloved Annex Antiques Fair & Flea Market (Chelsea Flea Market) has moved here, and that it's now the **Hell's Kitchen Flea Market** (Map;  212-243-5343; www.hellskitchenfleamarket.com; W 39th St, btwn Ninth & Tenth Aves;  7am-5pm Sat & Sun), boasting 170 vendors of vintage clothing, antique jewelry, period furniture and many more treasures.

#### COLUMBUS CIRCLE/TIME WARNER CENTER

The pair of sleek towers known as the **Time Warner Center** (Map;  212-823-6300; www.shopsatcolumbuscircle.com; 10 Columbus Circle, at 59th St;  9am-9pm), built for $1.8 billion after much angst and anticipation, created a major buzz with their grand entrance. What remains here, in the spot that for years was home to the aging New York Coliseum, is a very tall high-end mall. But the view of Central Park is quite special and there are number of excellent restaurants (Click here) on the 3rd floor. On the southern side of the circle is the **Museum of Arts and Design** (Map;  212-299-7777; www.madmuseum.org; 2 Columbus Circle; adult/child $15/12;  11am-6pm Wed-Sun, to 9pm Thu), exhibiting a diverse international collection of modern, folk, craft and fine art pieces.

### Central Park

It's hard to imagine what the city would be like without this refuge from the claustrophobia, from the teeming sidewalks and clogged roadways. This enormous wonderland of a **park** (Map;  212-310-6600; www.centralparknyc.org; btwn 57th & 110th Sts & Fifth Ave & Central Park;   ), sitting right in the middle of Manhattan, provides both metaphorical and spiritual oxygen to its residents. The park's 843 acres were set aside in 1856 on the marshy northern fringe of the city. The landscaping (the first in a US public park), by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, was innovative in its naturalistic style, with forested groves, meandering paths and informal ponds. Highlights include **Sheep Meadow** (mid-Park from 66th to 69th Sts), where tens of thousands of people lounge and play on warm weather weekends; **Strawberry Fields** at 72nd St, dedicated to John Lennon, who lived at (and was murdered in front of) the **Dakota apartment building** across the street; the sparkling **Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir** , encircled by joggers daily; **Central Park zoo** ( 212-439-6500; www.wcs.org; 64th St, at Fifth Ave; adult/child $10/5;  10am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 5:30pm Sat & Sun), which opened a naturalistic snow leopard exhibit in spring 2009; and the formal, tree-lined promenade called the **Mall** , which culminates at the elegant **Bethesda Fountain**. A favorite tourist activity is to rent a **horse-drawn carriage** (Map; 30min tour $35 plus generous tip) at 59th St (Central Park South). For more information while you're strolling, visit the **Dairy Building visitor centre** (Map;  212-794-6564; Central Park, at 65th St;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat) in the southern section of the park.

### Upper West Side

Shorthand for liberal, progressive and intellectual New York – think Woody Allen and Seinfeld – this neighborhood comprising the west side of Manhattan from Central Park to the Hudson River, and from Columbus Circle to 110th St, is no longer as colorful as it once was. Upper Broadway has been taken over by banks, pharmacies and national retail chain stores and many of the mom-and-pop shops and bookstores are long gone. You'll still find massive, ornate apartments and a diverse mix of stable, upwardly mobile folks (with many actors and classical musicians sprinkled throughout); and some lovely green spaces – **Riverside Park** stretches for 4 miles between W 72nd St and W 158th St along the Hudson River, and is a great place for strolling, running, cycling or simply gazing at the sun as it sets over the Hudson River.

#### NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The **New York Historical Society** (Map;  212-873-3400; www.nyhistory.org; 170 Central Park W, at 77th St; adult/child $10/6;  10am-6pm Tue-Sun), founded in 1804, is the city's oldest museum, featuring original watercolors from John James Audubon's _Birds of America_ and a quirky permanent collection: only here can you see 17th-century cowbells and the mounted wooden leg of Gouverneur Morris. The Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture is a 21,000-sq-ft showcase of more than 40,000 objects from the museum's permanent collection.

#### LINCOLN CENTER

As well as marking the completion of the first phase of a $1.2 billion redevelopment plan for the **Lincoln Center** (Map;  212-875-5456; www.lincolncenter.org; cnr Columbus Ave & Broadway), 2009 was the 50th anniversary the country's largest performing arts center. The dramatically redesigned Alice Tully Hall anchors one end of a courtyard with a massive fountain surrounded by other stunning venues. Plans call for the renovation of Avery Fisher Hall, home to the New York Philharmonic, and upgrading the public spaces. Fascinating one-hour **tours** ( 212-875-5350; adult/child $15/8) of the complex leave from the lobby of Avery Fisher Hall from 10:30am to 4:30pm daily. Free wi-fi is available on the property.

#### AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Founded in 1869, this **museum** (Map;  212-769-5100; www.amnh.org; Central Park West, at 79th St; suggested admission adult/child $15/8.50, extra for space shows, IMAX shows & special exhibits;  10am-5:45pm;  ) includes more than 30 million artifacts, interactive exhibits and loads of taxidermy. It's most famous for its three large dinosaur halls, an enormous (fake) blue whale that hangs from the ceiling above the Hall of Ocean Life and the elaborate **Rose Center for Earth & Space**. Just gazing at its facade – a massive glass box that contains a silver globe, home to space-show theatres and the planetarium – is mesmerizing, especially at night, when all of its otherworldly features are aglow. To get here take the subway to 81st St-Museum of Natural History.

### Morningside Heights

The Upper West Side's northern neighbor, comprising the area of Broadway and west up to about 125th St, is anchored by the Ivy League **Columbia University** (Map;  212-854-1754; www.columbia.edu; cnr 116th St & Broadway). The highly rated college, one of the centers of student activism and protest in the late 1960s, features a spacious, grassy central quadrangle that's dominated by the 1895 neoclassical Low Library.

Two churches are big draws, too: the Episcopal **Cathedral of St John the Divine** (Map;  212-316-7540; 1047 Amsterdam Ave, at 112th St;  7am-6pm, to 7pm Sun) is the largest place of worship in the USA, and features High Mass, held at 11am Sunday, often with sermons by well-known intellectuals. It's known by some as 'St John the Unfinished;' scaffolding and restoration crews have been omnipresent since the church was damaged in a large fire in 2001. West of here is the **Riverside Church** (Map;  212-870-6700; www.theriversidechurchny.org; 490 Riverside Dr, at 122nd St;  7am-10pm), a 1930 Gothic-style marvel, famous for its 74 carillon bells that are rung every Sunday at noon and 3pm, as well as for its diverse and activist congregation.

### Upper East Side

The Upper East Side (UES) is home to New York's greatest concentration of cultural centers, including the grand dame that is the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see below), and many refer to Fifth Ave above 57th St as Museum Mile. Beyond museums, you'll find intellectual draws that include the 92nd Street Y (Map;  212-415-5500; www.92y.org; 1395 Lexington Ave, at 92nd St), a cultural hub offering classes, performances, readings and talks by various folks, from writer Mario Vargas Llosa to TV business personality Jim Cramer. The real estate, at least along Fifth, Madison and Park Aves, is some of the most expensive in the world. Home to ladies who lunch as well as frat boys who drink, the neighborhood becomes decidedly less chichi the further east you go.

#### METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

With more than five million visitors a year, the **Met** (Map;  212-535-7710; www.metmuseum.org; 1000 Fifth Ave, at 82nd St; suggested donation $20;  9:30am-5:30pm Tue-Thu & Sun, to 9pm Fri & Sat) is New York's most popular single-site tourist attraction, with one of the richest coffers in the arts world. The Met is a self-contained cultural city-state, with two million individual objects in its collection and an annual budget of over $120 million; its 19th-century European paintings and sculpture galleries have been greatly expanded and refurbished in recent years.

Highlight rooms here include Egyptian Art, American Paintings and Sculpture, Arms and Armor, Modern Art, Greek and Roman Art, European Paintings and the gorgeous rooftop, which offers bar service and spectacular views throughout the summer. Note that the suggested donation (which is, truly, a _suggestion_ ) includes same-day admission to the Cloisters (see opposite).

#### OTHER MUSEUMS

One of the northernmost museum attractions, the **Museum of the City of New York** (Map;  212-534-1672; www.mcny.org; 1220 Fifth Ave, at 123rd St; suggested admission adult/child/family $9/5/20;  10am-5pm Tue-Sun) traces the city's history from beaver trading to futures trading with various cultural exhibitions. The opulent 1914 mansion housing the **Frick Collection** (Map;  212-288-0700; www.frick.org; 1 E 70th St; admission $15;  10am-6pm Tue-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun) tells a similar tale, but through its exquisite artwork by Holbein, Titian, Vermeer, Gainsborough and Constable.

A new addition to Museum Mile, the **Museum of African Art** (www.africanart.org; Fifth Ave, at 110th St) is scheduled to open its doors sometime in 2010.

The Latino cultural institution **El Museo del Barrio** ( 212-831-7272; www.elmuseo.org; 1230 Fifth Ave, at 104th St; admission $9;  11am-6pm Wed-Sun) houses a collection of Latin American and Caribbean art with a special focus on the Puerto Rican and Dominican communities. The newly renovated building includes an attractive streetside café.

One of the few museums that concentrates on American works of art is the **Whitney Museum of American Art** (Map;  212-570-3600; www.whitney.org; 945 Madison Ave, at 75th St; admission $15;  11am-6pm Wed, Thu, Sat & Sun, 1-9pm Fri with pay-what-you-wish 6-9pm), specializing in 20th-century and contemporary art, with works by Hopper, Pollock and Rothko, as well as special shows, such as the much-ballyhooed Biennial. The Whitney plans to have a downtown outpost in the Meatpacking District as part of the High Line project.

The inspired work of Frank Lloyd Wright, the **Solomon R Guggenheim Museum** (Map;  212-423-3500; www.guggenheim.org; 1071 Fifth Ave; admission $18, by donation 6-7:45pm Fri;  10am-5:45pm Sat-Wed, to 7:45pm Fri) and its sweeping spiral of a staircase is a superb sculpture, holding 20th-century paintings by Picasso, Pollock, Chagall and Kandinsky. One of the most pleasant museums in the 'hood is the focused and elegant **Neue Galerie** (Map;  212-628-6200; www.neuegalerie.org; 1048 Fifth Ave, at 86th St; adult $15, children under 12 not admitted;  11am-6pm Thu-Mon), a showcase for German and Austrian artists, with impressive works by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele.

### Harlem

The heart of African American culture has beaten in Harlem since its origins as a black enclave in the 1920s. This neighborhood north of Central Park has been the setting for extraordinary accomplishments in art, music, dance, education and letters from the likes of Frederick Douglass, Paul Robeson, Thurgood Marshall, James Baldwin, Alvin Ailey, Billie Holiday, Jessie Jackson and many other African American luminaries. Today, Harlem – with the exception of some still-abandoned, eerily empty side streets – shouldn't cause you to exercise any more caution than you would anywhere else in New York.

For a traditional view of Harlem, visit on Sunday morning, when well-dressed locals flock to neighborhood churches. Just be respectful of the fact that these people are attending a religious service (rather than being on display for tourists). Unless you're invited by a member of a small congregation, stick to the bigger churches such as the **Abyssinian Baptist Church** (Map;  212-862-7474; www.abyssinian.org; 132 W 138th St). It has a superb choir and a charismatic pastor, Calvin O Butts, who welcomes tourists and prays for them. Sunday services start at 9am and 11am – the later one is _very_ well attended.

For straight-up entertainment, head to the historic **Apollo Theater** (Map;  212-663-0499; www.apollotheater.com; 253 W 125th St), which still holds its famous (if very touristed) amateur night ($17 to $27), 'where stars are born and legends are made.'

To glimpse the work of visual artists be sure to visit the **Studio Museum in Harlem** (Map;  212-864-4500; www.studiomuseum.org; 144 W 125th St; suggested donation $7;  noon-6pm Wed-Fri & Sun, from 10am Sat), one of the premier showcases for black artists; look for excellent rotating exhibits from painters, sculptors, illustrators and other creators.

### Washington Heights

Near the northern tip of Manhattan (above 155th St), Washington Heights takes its name from the first US president, who set up a Continental Army fort here during the Revolutionary War. An isolated rural spot until the end of the 19th century, Washington Heights attracted lots of new blood as New Yorkers sniffed out its affordable rents. Still, this neighborhood manages to retain its Latino – mainly Dominican – flavor, and now what you'll find is an interesting mix of blocks that alternate between former downtowners and longtime residents who operate within a tight and warm community.

Most visitors to Washington Heights come to see the **Cloisters** (Map;  212-923-3700; www.metmuseum.org/cloisters; Fort Tryon Park, at 190th St; suggested admission adult/child $20/free;  9:30am-4:45pm Tue-Sun Nov-Feb, to 5:15pm Mar-Oct), a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Fort Tryon Park. Constructed in the 1930s using stones and fragments from several French and Spanish medieval monasteries, the romantic, castle-like creation houses medieval frescoes, tapestries, courtyards, gardens and paintings, and has commanding views of the Hudson.

### Brooklyn

Brooklyn is a world in and of itself; residents sometimes don't go into Manhattan for days or even weeks at a time. With 2.5 million people and growing, from well-to-do new parents seeking stately brownstones in Carroll Gardens to young band members wanting cheap rents near gigs in Williamsburg, this outer borough has long succeeded Manhattan in the cool and livability factors in many people's minds. From sandy beaches and breezy boardwalks at one end, foodie destinations at the other, with a massive range of ethnic enclaves, world-class entertainment, stately architecture and endless shopping strips in between, Brooklyn is a rival to Manhattan's attractions. The **Brooklyn Tourism & Visitors Center** (off Map;  718-802-3846; www.brooklyntourism.org; 209 Borough Hall, Joralemon St;  10am-6pm Mon-Fri), in Brooklyn Heights, is an informative place to begin.

#### BROOKLYN HEIGHTS & DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN

When Robert Fulton's steam ferries started regular services across the East River in the early 19th century, well-to-do Manhattanites began building stellar houses – Victorian Gothic, Romanesque, neo-Greco, Italianate and others – in Brooklyn Heights. Strolling along the tree-lined streets to gaze at them now is a lovely afternoon activity; don't miss the 1881 Queen Anne–style landmark building that houses the **Brooklyn Historical Society** (off Map;  718-222-4111; www.brooklynhistory.org; 128 Pierrepont St; admission $6;  noon-5pm Wed-Fri & Sun, 10am-5pm Sat), which houses a library (with some 33,000 grainy digitized photos from decades past), auditorium and museum devoted to the borough. The society also leads several walking tours.

Follow **Montague St** , the Heights' main commercial avenue, down to the waterfront until you hit the **Brooklyn Heights Promenade** , which juts out over the Brooklyn−Queens Expwy to offer stunning views of Lower Manhattan. An 85-acre development of green space and condos, **Brooklyn Bridge Park** is being built on piers stretching from the bridge south to Atlantic Ave.

The 1848 beaux-arts **Brooklyn Borough Hall** (209 Joralemon St) straddles both Brooklyn Heights and downtown Brooklyn, characterized by its various courts. Its busy Fulton St feeds into the **Brooklyn Bridge** (Click here). **Fulton Street Mall** is a bustling bazaar of shoe stores, cheap clothing outlets, fast-food and cell-phone shops running from Adams St to Flatbush Ave. Just south of here, the small but fascinating **New York Transit Museum** (off Map;  718-694-1600; www.mta.info/mta/museum; Boerum Pl, at Schermerhorn St; adult/child $5/3;  10am-4pm Tue-Fri, noon-5pm Sat & Sun) has an amazing collection of original subway cars and transit memorabilia dating back more than a century.

#### DUMBO

Dumbo's nickname is an acronym for its location: 'Down Under the Manhattan−Brooklyn Bridge Overpass,' and while this north Brooklyn slice of waterfront used to be strictly for industry, it's now the domain of artists and wannabes, who occupy huge loft spaces that are no longer real-estate bargains. A controversial 17-story tower is scheduled to be built next to the Brooklyn Bridge, marring the views in the opinion of those who oppose the project. **St Ann's Warehouse** (Map;  718-254-8779; www.stannswarehouse.org; 45 Main St) is a highly regarded artist-driven performance space; **Dumbo Arts Center** (Map;  718-694-0831; www.dumboartscenter.org; 30 Washington St;  noon-6pm Wed-Sun) is one of the top galleries here, and host to the annual Dumbo Art Under the Bridge Festival, held each October. Formerly located in Williamsburg, the **Galapagos Art Space** (Map;  718-222-8500; www.galapagosartspace.com; 16 Main St) has a new location in a strikingly renovated century-old horse stable. The mix of theater, cinema, readings and alternative performance is the same.

#### BOERUM HILL, COBBLE HILL & CARROLL GARDENS (& RED HOOK)

These neighborhoods, home to a mix of families, mostly Italian, who have lived here for generations, and former Manhattanites looking for a real life after the city, are full of tree-lined streets with rows of attractively restored brownstones. There's a distinctively conflicted urge to advertise the area's attractions and to guard them like a secret. **Smith Street** and **Court Street** are the two main arteries connecting to the most southerly area of the three, **Carroll Gardens**. The former is known as 'restaurant row,' while the latter has more of the old-school groceries, bakeries and red-sauce restaurants. A block west of here is **Cobble Hill Park** , a manicured patch of green with benches and picnic tables where locals hang. Even further west (and south) is **Red Hook** , a waterfront area with cobblestoned streets and hulking industrial buildings. Though it's a bit of a hike from the subway line, the formerly gritty area is now home to a handful of bars and eateries, as well as a massive waterfront branch of **Fairway** ( 718-694-6868; 480 Van Brunt St), a beloved gourmet grocery with breathtaking views of NY harbor and the Statue of Liberty. Also here is the newest outpost of the Swedish furniture megastore Ikea (Click here for information on the free water taxi to downtown Manhattan).

#### PARK SLOPE & PROSPECT HEIGHTS

The **Park Slope** neighborhood is known for its classic brownstones, tons of great eateries and boutiques (especially along Fifth Ave, which is more cutting edge than the other major strip, Seventh Ave), lesbian residents and stroller-pushing couples who resemble those on the Upper West Side (but have a backyard attached to their apartment). Beginning at its eastern border, the 585-acre **Prospect Park** ( 718-965-8591; www.prospectpark.org), created in 1866, is considered the greatest achievement of landscape designers Olmsted and Vaux, who also designed Central Park. Next door is the excellent 52-acre **Brooklyn Botanic Garden** ( 718-623-7200; www.bbg.org; 1000 Washington Ave; adult/child $8/4, free Tue;  8am-6pm Tue-Fri, from 10am Sat & Sun), which features impressive cherry-tree blossoms in spring. Beside the garden is the **Brooklyn Museum** ( 718-638-5000; www.brooklynmuseum.org; 200 Eastern Pkwy; suggested admission $8, 11am-11pm 1st Sat of each month free;  10am-5pm Wed-Fri, 11am-6pm Sat & Sun), with comprehensive collections of African, Islamic and Asian art, plus the brand-new Elizabeth A Sackler Center for Feminist Art.

#### WILLIAMSBURG & GREENPOINT

There is a definite Williamsburg look: skinny jeans, multiple tattoos, a discreet body piercing, shaggy hair for men, maybe some kind of retro head covering for a woman. Denizens of this raggedy and rowdy neighborhood across the East River on the L train seem to have time and money to slouch in cafés and party all night in bars; a fair share of older – early 30s – newcomers and Europeans are changing the makeup slightly. The main artery is **Bedford Ave** between N 10th St and Metropolitan Ave, where there are boutiques, cafés, bars and cheap eateries. But cool spots have also sprouted along N 6th St and Berry St, and even into the next neighborhood, **Greenpoint** , a traditionally Polish neighborhood that's lured those priced out of Billyburg with lower rents. Be sure to visit the excellent **Brooklyn Brewery** ( 718-486-7422; www.brooklynbrewery.com; 79 N 11th St; admission free;  6-11pm Fri, noon-5pm Sat), which hosts weekend tours (on the hour from noon to 6pm), special events and pub nights.

#### FORT GREENE

Spike Lee grew up here and Erykah Badu and Rosie Perez live here – and they are not alone. This residential neighborhood of late-19th-century brownstones and gospel churches has been on the real-estate radar for a racially diverse group of young professionals for several years now. Its gem is the **Brooklyn Academy of Music** (Map;  718-636-4100; www.bam.org; 30 Lafayette Ave), the oldest concert center in the country. A well-respected art and architecture school, the **Pratt Institute** (www.pratt.edu) calls the neighborhood home.

#### CONEY ISLAND & BRIGHTON BEACH

About 50 minutes by subway from Midtown, this popular pair of beach neighborhoods makes for a great day trip. **Coney Island** (Map) is all about nostalgic charms, with its wide sandy beach, wood-plank boardwalk and famous 1927 Cyclone roller coaster; Astroland Park used to operate arcade games and a collection of carnival rides, but it was sold to make way for developers (who plan to transform the area into a sleek-residential city complete with high-rise hotels) and closed, to considerable consternation. Still intact, though, is **Sideshows by the Seashore** ( 718-372-5159; www.coneyisland.com; adult/child $7.50/5), a burlesque-type show with bearded ladies and tattooed men. The **New York Aquarium** ( 718-741-1818; www.nyaquarium.com; Surf Ave, btwn 5th & W 8th Sts; adult/child $13/9;  10am-6pm Mon-Fri, to 7pm Sat & Sun) is a big hit with kids, and **KeySpan Park** (Map;  718-449-8497; 1904 Surf Ave) is the waterfront stadium for the minor-league Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team.

A five-minute stroll north along the boardwalk brings you to **Brighton Beach** ('Little Odessa'; Map), where old-timers play chess and locals enjoy pierogies (boiled dumplings filled with meat or vegetables) and vodka shots in the sun at several boardwalk eateries. Then head into the heart of the 'hood, busy Brighton Beach Ave, to hit the many Russian shops, bakeries and restaurants.

### The Bronx

Brooklyn's fierce northern rival is this 42-sq-mile borough, which has several claims to fame: the Yankees, fondly known as the Bronx Bombers, who can be seen in all their pinstriped glory at the new **Yankee Stadium** (Map;  718-293-6000; www.yankees.com; 161st St, at River Ave) in spring and summer; the 'real' Little Italy, or **Belmont** (Map; www.arthuravenuebronx.com), bustling stretches of Arthur and Belmont Aves that burst with Italian gourmet markets and eateries; and a super-sized attitude that's been mythologized in Hollywood movies from _The Godfather_ to _Rumble in the Bronx_.

But it's also got some cool surprises up its sleeve: a quarter of the Bronx is parkland, including the city beach of Pelham Bay Park. It's home to the 250-acre **New York Botanical Garden** (Map;  718-817-8700; www.nybg.org; Bronx River Pkwy, at Fordham Rd; adult/child $6/3, free Wed;  10am-6pm Tue-Sun;  ), with nearly 3000 roses. The nearby **Bronx Wildlife Conservation Park** (Map;  718-220-5100; www.bronxzoo.com; Bronx River Pkwy, at Fordham Rd; adult/child $15/11;  10am-5pm Apr-Oct;  ), otherwise known as the Bronx Zoo, is one of the biggest, best and most progressive zoos anywhere; and the famous, historic **Woodlawn Cemetery** (Map;  718-920-0500; www.thewoodlawncemetery.org; Webster Ave, at 233rd St) is the fascinating, 400-acre burial ground of many notable Americans, including Irving Berlin and Herman Melville. Also up in these parts is the magical City Island (see boxed text, Click here), a little slice of New England in the Bronx.

The **Bronx Tourism Council** ( 718-590-3518; www.ilovethebronx.com) has visitor information, and the **Bronx County Historical Society** ( 718-881-8900; www.bronxhistoricalsociety.org) sponsors weekend walking tours.

### Queens

There is no longer any typical Queens accent – think Archie and Edith Bunker in _All in the Family_. You're as likely to hear Bengali and Spanish − 170 languages are spoken – in this, the largest (282 sq miles) and most ethnically diverse county in the country. There are few of the tree-lined brownstone streets you find in Brooklyn, and the majority of the neighborhoods, architecturally speaking at least, are unbefitting this borough's grand name. However, because close to half its 2.3 million residents were born abroad, parts of Queens are endlessly reconstituting themselves, creating a vibrant and heady alternative universe to Manhattan. It's also home to two major airports, the Mets, a hip modern-art scene, miles of excellent beaches in the **Rockaways** and walking trails in the **Gateway National Recreation Area** (Map; www.nps.gov/gate), a wildlife refuge in Jamaica Bay only minutes from JFK airport. The **Queens Historical Society** ( 718-939-0647; www.queenshistoricalsociety.org) offers tours on many areas of the massive borough.

#### ASTORIA & LONG ISLAND CITY

Home to the largest Greek community outside of Greece, this is obviously the place to find amazing Greek bakeries, restaurants and gourmet shops, mainly along **Broadway**. But it's not as one-note as it used to be, as an influx of Eastern European and Middle Eastern (Steinway Ave is the place for falafel, kebabs and hookah pipes) folks have been pouring in too. Then there are the hipsters, who have made this area Queens' answer to Williamsburg. In the summer, cool off at the **Astoria Pool** (19th St, at 23rd Dr), the city's largest and oldest. Much of the neighborhood, as well as curious Manhattanites, can be found at the **Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden** ( 718-274-4925; www.bohemianhall.com; 2919 24th Ave, Astoria) during warm afternoons and evenings.

In recent years neighboring Long Island City has become quite the hub of art museums. **PS 1 Contemporary Art Center** ( 718-784-2084; www.ps1.org; 22-25 Jackson Ave, at 46th Ave; suggested donation $5;  noon-6pm Thu-Mon), run by MoMA, is dedicated solely to new, cutting-edge works. On Saturdays (2pm to 9pm) from early July through September, the center's outdoor courtyard is transformed into an installation art space and crammed with the highest concentration of hipsters this side of the Mississippi. Several high-rise condominiums line Long Island City's riverfront with fantastic views of Manhattan.

If the weather is pleasant, don't miss the waterside **Socrates Sculpture Park** ( 718-956-1819; www.socratessculpturepark.org; Broadway, at Vernon Blvd; admission free;  10am-dusk), an outdoor exhibit of massive, climbable sculptures by greats including Mark DiSuvero, who founded the space. Nearby is the peaceful **Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum** ( 718-204-7088; www.noguchi.org; 9-01 33rd Rd, at Vernon Blvd; adult/child $10/free;  10am-5pm Wed-Fri, 11am-6pm Sat & Sun), with the sculptures of this Japanese artist. Also in the area is a reminder that moviemaking started in Astoria in the 1920s: the **American Museum of the Moving Image** ( 718-777-6820; www.ammi.org; 35th Ave, at 36th St; admission $7;  10am-5pm Tue-Fri) exposes some of the mysteries of the craft with amazing exhibits and screenings.

* * *

# WORTH THE TRIP: CITY ISLAND

Only 15 miles from midtown but a complete world away is the surprising neighborhood of **City Island** (Map; www.cityislandchamber.org), a 1.5-mile-long fishing community that's filled with boat slips, yacht clubs, waterfront seafood eateries and windswept little spits of sand. Victorian clapboard houses look more New England than the Bronx, and you can even go on a lobster dive with **Captain Mike's Dive Shop** ( 718-885-1588; www.captainmikesdiving.com; 530 City Island Ave; dives $55-88).

* * *

#### FLUSHING & CORONA

The intersection of Main St and Roosevelt Ave, downtown Flushing, can feel like the Times Square of a city a world away from NYC. Immigrants from all over Asia, primarily Chinese and Korean, make up this neighborhood bursting at the seams with markets and restaurants filled with delicious and cheap delicacies. The Long Island Rail Road station and terminal for the 7 train see around 100,000 people pass through daily. **Flushing Meadows Corona Park** , meanwhile, is the home of **Citi Field** (Map), the **USTA National Tennis Center** and many lakes, ball fields, bike paths and grassy expanses; and was used for the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs, of which there are quite a few faded leftovers – including Queens' most famous landmark, the stainless steel Unisphere, standing 120ft high and weighing 380 tons. Kids can learn about space and astropohysics while putting through the **Rocket Park Mini Golf Course** ( 718-699-0005; $5 per round;  ). Also within this massive park is the **Queens Museum of Art** ( 718-592-9700; www.queensmuseum.org; New York City Bldg, Flushing Meadows Corona Park; suggested donation $5;  10am-5pm Wed-Fri, from noon Sat & Sun). In nearby Corona, the **Louis Armstrong House** ( 718-478-8274; www.louisarmstronghouse.org; 34-56 107th St;  10am-5pm Tue-Fri, noon-5pm Sat & Sun; admission $8) is the home where the musical great lived during the peak of his career.

#### JACKSON HEIGHTS

A fascinating mix of Indian (74th St) and South American (Roosevelt Ave) cultures, this is the place to purchase saris and 22-karat gold, dine on South Indian _masala dosas –_ huge, paper-thin rice crepes folded around flavorful mixtures of masala potatoes, peas, cilantro and other earthy treats – and continue on with a plate of Colombian arepas (corn pancakes), a bite of Argentine empanadas and a cocktail at one of several Latin gay and lesbian bars, several of which line the main drag of Broadway. It's a crazy convergence that's not to be missed.

### Staten Island

While many New Yorkers will say that Staten Island has more in common with its neighbor, New Jersey, because of its suburban house and car cultures, there are some undoubtedly compelling reasons to count this borough in your urban explorations. First and foremost is the free **Staten Island Ferry** ( 718-815-2628; www.siferry.com;  24hr), which shuttles blasé commuters to work while offering breathtaking views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. Not far from the ferry station on the Staten Island side is the **Richmond County Bank Ballpark** (Map;  718-720-9265; www.siyanks.com; Richmond Terrace), home to the minor-league Staten Island Yankees, as well as the hipper-than-ever neighborhood of St George.

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## ACTIVITIES

### Cycling & Inline Skating

Unless you're a bike messenger or otherwise-experienced urban cyclist, pedaling through the streets can be a high-risk activity in Manhattan, as bike lanes are often blocked by trucks, taxis and double-parked cars. City Hall, however, has committed to improving the situation. **Central Park** has lovely cycling paths, as does **Hudson River Park** (Click here), which has a path shared by cyclists, runners, walkers and skaters. An auto-free road runs round the perimeter of Brooklyn's **Prospect Park** (Click here), and the beautiful **Franklin D Roosevelt Boardwalk** (cnr Father Capadanno Blvd & Sand Ln) along South Beach in Staten Island, hugs 4 miles of unspoiled beaches.

For cycling tips and weekend trips, contact **Five Borough Bicycle Club** ( 212-932-2300; www.5bbc.org). **Transportation Alternatives** (Map;  212-629-8080; www.transalt.org; Suite 1002, 127 W 26th St), a nonprofit bicycle-lobbying group, is also a good source of information, as is **Bike Network Development** (www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dcp/html/bike/home.html), which offers bicycling map downloads and more information on cycling in the city. Gay cycling enthusiasts should check the website of **Fast & Fabulous** ( 212-567-7160; www.fastnfab.org), a gay cycling club that organizes long weekend rides. For bike rentals, try **Loeb Boathouse** (Map;  212-517-2233; Central Park, btwn 74th & 75th Sts; per hr from $9;  10am-6pm Apr-Nov) or **Manhattan Bicycle** (Map;  212-262-0111; 791 Ninth Ave, btwn 52nd & 53rd Sts; per hr $5;  9am-7pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat & Sun).

**In-line skating** is also popular in all of the above places, where, especially in Central Park north of Sheep Meadow, funky veterans fueled by loud disco and the music in their heads dance around a circle on summer weekends. For rentals, try **Blades Board & Skate** (Map;  212-787-3911; www.blades.com; 156 W 72nd St; per day $20;  10am-8pm Mon-Sat, to 7pm Sun), two blocks from Central Park.

### Running

The 6-mile roadway in **Central Park** (Click here) is closed to cars from 10am to 3pm weekdays and all weekend, and is perfect for running – as is its gleaming Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, encircled by a soft 1½-mile path. Another good place to sprint is the **Hudson River Park** (Click here), which runs along Manhattan's western edge from Battery Park to 59th St, and north of there through the leafy **Riverside Park** (Click here). On the east side of the island, runners compete for space along the narrow **East River Promenade** ; despite obstacles like a gap from 34th to 60th Sts where you have to detour to First or Second Ave, the views of the river and bridges are spectacular. Brooklynites run the 3.3-mile loop in **Prospect Park** (Click here), an urban oasis of 500-plus acres. The **New York Road Runners Club** ( 212-860-4455; www.nyrr.org) organizes weekend runs and races as well as the early-November **New York City Marathon** , an inspiring spectacle to behold if not to participate in.

### Water Sports

This is an island, after all, and as such there are plenty of opportunities for boating and kayaking. The **Downtown Boathouse** (Map; www.downtownboathouse.org; Pier 40, near Houston St) offers free 20-minute kayaking (including equipment) in the protected embayment of the Hudson River. You don't need a reservation; just head over on weekends between May 15 and October 15 (9am to 6pm) and occasional weekday evenings. Two other locations include **Clinton Cove** (Map; Pier 96, west of 56th St) and **Riverside Park** (Map; W 72nd St). It even gives tips to first-timers.

In Central Park, **Loeb Boathouse** (Map;  212-517-2233; Central Park, btwn 74th & 75th Sts; per hr $10;  10am-dusk Mar-Oct) rents row boats for romantic trysts, and even fills Vienna-style gondolas in summer ($30 for 30 minutes). For a sailing adventure, hop aboard the _Schooner Adirondack_ at **Chelsea Piers** (Map), or the _Pioneer_ at **South Street Seaport** (Map).

If you'd rather get all wet, check out the cool new **Floating Pool Lady** (www.floatingpool.org), a 25-meter swimming pool on top of a massive barge that moves around the Hudson and docks in various city locations. Admission is free but limited to 175 people, so expect to wait on hot days.

**Surfers** may be surprised to find a tight group of wave worshipers within city limits, at Queens' **Rockaway Beach** at 90th St, where you can hang ten after only a 45-minute ride on the A train from midtown.

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## NEW YORK FOR CHILDREN

Contrary to popular belief, New York can be a pretty child-friendly city – it just takes a bit of guidance to find all the little creature comforts that you're accustomed to having back home. Fun playscape options include **Central Park's Safari Playground** (Map), **Battery Park** (Click here) and the **Glass Garden** (Map;  212-263-6058; 400 E 34th St, at First Ave;  8am-5:30pm Mon-Fri, 1-5:30pm Sat-Sun).

The **Children's Museum of Manhattan** (Map;  212-721-1223; www.cmom.org; 212 W 83rd St, btwn Broadway & Amsterdam Ave; admission $10;  10am-5pm Tue-Sun) and the **Brooklyn Children's Museum** (off Map;  718-735-4400; www.brooklynkids.org; 145 Brooklyn Ave, Prospect Heights; admission $7.50;  11am-5pm Wed-Fri, from 10am Sat & Sun) are excellent respites, as are children's theaters, movie theaters, book and toy stores, aquariums and kid-friendly restaurants, such as **Bubby's Pie Company** (Click here). For more hints and information on traveling with children, pick up Lonely Planet's _Travel with Children_.

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## TOURS

The following is just a sampling:

**Big Onion Walking Tours** ( 212-439-1090; www.bigonion.com; tours $15) Popular and quirky guided tours specializing in ethnic and neighborhood tours.

**Circle Line** (Map;  212-563-3200; www.circleline42.com; Pier 83, W 42nd St; tickets $16-34) Ferry boat tours, from semicircle to a full island cruise with guided commentary; definitely recommended at least once.

**Famous Fat Dave's Eating Tours** (www.famousfatdave.com; tours for 2 people from $200) Customized private eating tours of the five boroughs chauffeured by the eponymous Dave in his retrofitted white checker cab.

**Gray Line Sightseeing** ( 212-445-0848; www.coachusa.com/newyorksights; 49 W 45th St; adult/child from $42/$32) Hop-on, hop-off double-decker multilingual guided bus tours of all the boroughs (except Staten Island).

**Municipal Art Society** ( 212-935-3960; www.mas.org; 457 Madison Ave; tours adult $15) Various scheduled tours focusing on architecture and history.

**New York City Audubon** ( 212-691-7483; www.nycaudubon.org; tours $8-100) Expert instructors and guides lead trips including birding in Central Park and the Bronx and ecology cruises of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

**On Location Tours** ( 212-209-3370; www.screentours.com; tours $15-45) A Gossip Girl tour is the latest addition to the list of tours available for fulfilling your Carrie Bradshaw or Tony Soprano fantasies.

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## FESTIVALS & EVENTS

Festivities never cease in New York. From cultural street fairs to foodie events and outdoor concerts, you are bound to find something that will excite you, no matter the time of year. There's almost too much to digest in summer, when outdoor celebrations proliferate.

**Restaurant Week** ( 212-484-1222; www.nycgo.com) Dine at top restaurants for $20 and $30 deals – first in February and again in July.

**Armory Show** ( 212-645-6440; www.thearmoryshow.com) New York's biggest contemporary art fair sweeps the city in March, showcasing the new work of thousands of artists from around the world.

**Tribeca Film Festival** ( 212-941-2400; www.tribecafilmfestival.com) Robert DeNiro co-organizes this local downtown film fest, held in late April and early May, that's quickly rising in prestige on the circuit.

**Fleet Week** ( 212-245-0072) Annual convocation of sailors and their naval ships and air rescue teams, who descend upon the city in their formal whites every May.

**Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Pride** ( 212-807-7433; www.nycpride.org) Pride month, in June, with a packed calendar of parties and events, culminates with a major march down Fifth Ave on the last Sunday of the month.

**Mermaid Parade** (www.coneyisland.com/mermaid) Something of Mardi Gras on the boardwalk, Surf Ave on Coney Island in Brooklyn turns into an artistic, crazy and fun free-expression zone in late June.

**New York Film Festival** (www.filmlinc.com) Catch major world premieres from prominent directors at this Lincoln Center event, held in late September.

**New Yorker Festival** (www.newyorker.com) A mid-October lineup of interviews, talks and tours from some of the most prominent literary and cultural figures in the world.

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## SLEEPING

The average room rate in early 2009 came crashing down to around $200 and the occupancy rate fell precipitously as well. Keep in mind that prices change depending on the value of the euro, yen and other worldwide currencies, as well as the general drift of the global economic climate, not to mention the day of the week and the season, with spring and fall being most expensive. Tax adds an additional 13.25% per night. For longer stays, an apartment rental or sublet can be the best option (there's no tax on rentals), secured with the help of an agency like **City Sonnet** ( 212-614-3034; www.westvillagebb.com; apt from $135 per night).

### Lower Manhattan

 **Gild Hall Wall Street** (Map;  212-232-7700; www.wallstreetdistrict.com; 15 Gold St; r from $225, ste $315;    ) Part of the Thompson line of fabulous NYC hotels, Gild Hall sports a funky English-hunting-lodge lobby. All the rooms, including the small and simple standards, have oversized leather headboards and notably comfortable beds; the suites have high ceilings and large living areas. Only a few blocks from Wall St and several subway lines, you won't feel stranded.

**Wall Street Inn** (Map;  212-747-1500; www.thewallstreetinn.com; 9 S William St; r incl breakfast from $275;   ) Lehman Brothers, the failed bank, once occupied this classic limestone building and, while the mood of the hotel is very early American banker, there's little risk in a stay here. Old-fashioned and warm rather than stuffy, the rooms, with luxurious marble bathrooms, are slightly over-furnished for their size.

**Best Western Seaport Inn** (Map;  212-766-6600, 800-468-3569; www.seaportinn.com; 33 Peck Slip, btwn Front & Water Sts; d from $215;        ) Despite its blah chain style, the Best Western offers some striking water views.

### Tribeca & SoHo

**Cosmopolitan Hotel** (Map;  212-566-1900, 888-895-9400; www.cosmohotel.com; 95 W Broadway, at Chambers St; d from $149;   ) Don't let the name fool you – rather than being urbane and sophisticated, the Cosmopolitan is more akin to the average Main St USA hotel. Clean, carpeted, though decidedly cramped, it's an affordable downtown option with loads of cheap eats a short walk away.

**Soho Grand Hotel** (Map;  212-965-3000; www.sohogrand.com; 310 W Broadway; d $195-450;    ) The original boutique hotel of the 'hood still reigns, with its striking glass-and-cast-iron lobby stairway, and 367 rooms with cool, clean lines plus Frette linens, plasma flat-screen TVs and Kiehl's grooming products. The lobby's Grand Lounge buzzes with action.

**Sixty Thompson** (Map;  212-431-0400; www.60thompson.com; 60 Thompson St, btwn Broome & Spring Sts; s/d/ste $360/425/720;    ) Another minimalist charmer. Rooms here have down duvets, flat-screen TVs and cozy tweed sofas. The rooftop Thom Bar is a stunning place to see and be seen.

### Lower East Side & East Village

**East Village Bed & Coffee** (Map;  212-533-4175; www.bedandcoffee.com; 110 Ave C, btwn 7th & 8th Sts; r with shared bath from $115;   ) This hotel, a cheap and stylish place in the heart of a very cool 'hood, is a surprising find. The 10 airy rooms sport different well-executed themes – Mexican (with a bright-yellow wall and pressed-tin doodads), Zen (with a small Buddha and icy tones) and so on – and common areas are lovely, from the high-ceilinged kitchen to the leafy back garden.

**Hotel on Rivington** (Map;  212-475-2600; www.hotelonrivington.com; 107 Rivington St, btwn Essex & Ludlow Sts; r from $160;    ) This shimmering 20-floor tower looms large over Lower East Side tenement buildings, its glass-enclosed rooms offering stunning views of the East River and downtown's spread. Rooms vary quite a bit – some have balconies, some have hanging flat-screen TVs – and the ground-floor restaurant is a hipster hot spot.

**Bowery Hotel** (Map;  212-505-9100; www.theboweryhotel.com; 335 Bowery, btwn E 2nd & 3rd Sts; r from $325;    ) Perhaps as far as you can get from the Bowery's gritty flophouse history, this stunningly stylish hotel is all 19th-century elegance. Rooms come equipped with lots of light and sleek furnishings mixed with antiques. The baroque-style lobby bar attracts the young and chic, and on-site restaurant Gemma serves upscale Italian with preferred seating saved for hotel guests.

### West (Greenwich) Village

**Larchmont Hotel** (Map;  212-989-9333; www.larchmonthotel.com; 27 W 11th St, btwn Fifth & Sixth Aves; s/d with shared bathroom & breakfast from $90/109;    ) Housed in a prewar building that blends in with the other fine brownstones on the block, a stay at the Larchmont is about location. The carpeted rooms are basic and in need of updating, as are the communal bathrooms, but it's still a good deal for the price.

**Jane Hotel** (Map;  212-924-6700; www.thejanenyc.com; 113 Jane St; r with shared bathroom from $100;   ) If history were the only standard, the Jane would be a fine hotel. Originally built for sailors (which is obvious after one look at the cabin-sized rooms), then a temporary refuge for survivors of the _Titanic,_ a YMCA and rock-and-roll venue, the single bunk rooms feature flat-screen TVs and the communal showers are more than adequate.

**Abingdon Guest House** (Map;  212-243-5384; www.abingdonguesthouse.com; 21 Eighth Ave, at Jane St; s/d from $169/179;        ) Don't look out the window and you'll swear you've landed in a New England B&B. Elegant, comfortable rooms feature four-poster beds, (nonworking) fireplaces, scads of exposed brick, and billowing curtains. Plus a lovely little garden out back.

### Meatpacking District & Chelsea

**Chelsea Star Hotel** (Map;  877-827-6969; 300 W 30th St, at Eighth Ave; dm/s/d from $30/90/110;    ) Some of the wall murals are liable to keep you up at night – 'The King & I' room especially is not for insomniacs. Whatever you think of the theme paint jobs on most of the rooms, whether whimsical or cheesy, they're certainly more welcoming than you'd expect from the hotel's exterior. The dorms are cozy brick-walled rooms with wood floors.

**Chelsea International Hostel** (Map;  212-243-3700; www.chelseahostel.com; 222 W 20th St, btwn Seventh & Eighth Aves; dm with/without bathroom $36/32, r $80;    ) For those who simply need a place to crash, this well-located hostel draws an international crowd accustomed to partying and bunking down for a few hours. The staff isn't as friendly as one would like, but no doubt you'll make friends in the communal kitchen.

**Ace Hotel New York City** (Map;  212-679-2222; www.acehotel.com/newyork; 20 W 29th St; r from $99-369;   ) This outpost of a hip Pacific northwest chain is on the northern edge of Chelsea. Some clever touches such as vintage turntables and handwritten welcome notes elevate the Ace beyond the standard. However, flannel comforters and prison-issued bunk beds in one of the room styles are missteps. Juice, coffee and croissants are available in the morning.

**Hotel Gansevoort** (Map;  212-206-6700; www.hotelgansevoort.com; 18 Ninth Ave, at 13th St; r/ste from $395/625;        ) This 187-room luxury hotel in the trendy Meatpacking District has been a hit for its 400-thread-count linens, hypoallergenic down duvets, plasma TVs, chic basement spa and rooftop bar with fabulous views. Down-to-earth types, beware: it's on the nauseatingly trendy side of things.

### Union Square, Flatiron District & Gramercy Park

**Gershwin Hotel** (Map;  212-545-8000; www.gershwinhotel.com; 7 E 27th St, at Fifth Ave; dm/d/ste from $45/109/299;    ) This popular and funky spot is half youth hostel, half hotel, and buzzes with original pop art, touring bands and a young and artsy European clientele.

**Marcel** (Map;  212-696-3800; www.nychotels.com; 201 E 24th St, at Third Ave; d from $175;    ) Minimalist with earth-tone touches, this 97-room inn is a poor-man's chic boutique and that's not a bad thing. Modernist rooms on the avenue have great views, and the sleek lounge is a great place to unwind from a day of touring. Visit its website for other classy affordable inns within the Amsterdam Hospitality group.

**W New York – Union Square** (Map;  212-253-9119, 877-946-8357; www.whotels.com; 201 Park Ave S, at 17th St; r from $400;   ) This hipster pad demands a black wardrobe and a platinum credit card. Like all the W hotels, everything is top of the line, comfortable and classy – rooms have somber tones and beds have leather-framed headboards – and its location right near always bustling Union Sq is a big perk for those who like to be near the action.

Also recommended is **Jazz on the Town** (Map;  212.228.2780; www.jazzhostels.com; 307 E 14th St, at Second Ave; dm incl breakfast $27-32, d incl breakfast $95;    ). See right for other branches in the Jazz chain.

### Midtown

**1291 B &B** (Map;  212-397-9686; www.1291.com; 337 W 55th St, btwn Eighth & Ninth Aves; dm $30, r $70-90;    ) Depending on your priorities – if you're looking for inexpensive midtown digs – the peeling paint jobs and spotty service can be overlooked. Rough around the edges, 1291's suites, good for groups and families, are more recommended than the cramped doubles. Buffet breakfast – basically coffee, tea, cereal and bread – is available 24-hours in the outdoor garden.

**Pod Hotel** (Map;  212-355-0300; www.thepodhotel.com; 230 E 51st St, btwn Second & Third Aves; r from $129;    ) A dream come true for folks who'd like to live inside their iPod – or at least curl up and sleep with it – this affordable hot spot has a range of room types, most barely big enough for the bed. 'Pods' have bright bedding, tight workspaces, flat-screen TVs, iPod docking stations and 'rain' showerheads.

**Hotel Mela** (Map;  212-730-7900; www.hotelmela.com; 120 W 44th St; r from $155;   ) Not for the big boned, everything – including the elevator – at this centrally located hotel is diminutive. But good things come in small packages and the Mela does the tried-and-true boutique-trendy style well. Street noise isn't a significant problem and there's a nice gym to work out the kinks from a day of sightseeing.

**Hudson** (Map;  212-554-6000; www.hudsonhotel.com; 356 W 58th St, btwn Eighth & Ninth Aves; s/d from $135/165;    ) This delicious marriage between designer Phillipe Starck and hotelier Ian Schrager is an absolute jewel – if you're not aching for quiet, that is. Part hotel and part nightclub, this beauty has several lounge bars that are always jammin', and the teensy rooms are highly stylized, with lots of glass, bright wood and gossamer scrims.

**Room-Mate Grace** (Map;  212-354-2323; www.room-matehotels.com; 125 W 45th St; r incl breakfast from $165;      ) Part of a Spanish chain, this ultra-hip hotel is good value when you consider you're steps from the midtown action. Like other hotels of the same genre, space is at a premium and sleekness is prized over warmth. A steam-room, sauna and lively pool-bar are reasons to choose the Mate over others.

**Jazz on Times Square** (Map;  212.974.6400; www.jazzhostels.com; 341 W 51st St, btwn Eighth & Ninth Aves; dm incl breakfast $27-32, d incl breakfast $95) is also recommended. See left and below for other branches in the Jazz chain.

### Upper West Side

**Jazz on the Park** (Map;  212-932-1600; www.jazzhostels.com; 36 W 106th St, btwn Central Park West & Manhattan Ave; dm incl breakfast $27-32, d incl breakfast $95;    ) This deservedly popular hostel has small rooms with standard wood-frame bunks, a beautiful roof deck and an exposed-brick lounge that hosts local jazz acts (not to mention the espresso and cheap lasagna). Other branches in midtown (above), Union Sq (left), Harlem and the Upper West Side also have fun atmospheres and great roof decks. All Jazz hostels share the same pricing system.

**Hostelling International-New York** (Map;  212-932-2300; www.hinewyork.org; 891 Amsterdam Ave, at 103rd St; dm $32-40, d from $135;    ) It's got clean, safe and air-conditioned dorm rooms in a gorgeous landmark building, with a sprawling and shady patio and a super-friendly vibe.

**Empire Hotel** (Map;  212-265-7400; www.empirehotelnyc.com; 44 W 63rd St; r from $225;        ) An uptown version of the W, the Empire is a chic hotel directly across the street from the Lincoln Center. The decor is all classy earth tones and of decent size – for NYC. There's a rooftop pool deck with fabulous views and, when not closed for private functions, it's a nighttime hot spot.

 **On the Ave** (Map;  212-362-1100; www.ontheave.com; 2178 Broadway, at W 77th St; r from $225;    ) A more welcoming feel and larger rooms make On the Ave a cut above the average sleek boutique hotel. And it's a good deal considering the high-concept design, stainless steel and marble baths, featherbeds, flat-screen TVs and original artwork. It's near the Lincoln Center, Central Park and a slew of good eats.

### Upper East Side

**Bentley** (Map;  888-664-6835; www.nychotels.com; 500 E 62nd St, at York Ave; r/ste from $155/265;   ) Featuring great East River views, the Bentley overlooks FDR Dr, as far east as you can go. Formerly an office building, the hotel has shed its utilitarian past in the form of chic boutique-hotel stylings, a swanky lobby and sleek rooms.

**Carlyle** (Map;  212-744-1600; www.thecarlyle.com; 35 E 76th St, btwn Madison & Park Aves; r from $450;   ) This New York classic is the epitome of old-fashioned luxury: a hushed lobby with glossy marble floors, antique boudoir chairs and framed English country scenes or Audubon prints in the rooms; some have terraces and baby grand pianos. If you can't afford to stay here, at least have a cocktail in the legendary art-deco Bemelmans Bar.

### Harlem

**Harlem Flophouse** (Map;  212-662-0678; www.harlemflophouse.com; 242 W 123rd St, btwn Adam Clayton Powell & Frederick Douglass Blvds; s/d with shared bathroom from $100/125;   ) The four gorgeous bedrooms here conjure up the jazz era with antique light fixtures, glossed-wood floors and big beds, plus classic tin ceilings and wooden shutters. There are radios tuned to local jazz stations (and two cats) on the premises.

**102 Brownstone** (Map;  212-662-4223; www.102brownstone.com; 102 W 118th St, btwn Lenox Ave & Adam Clayton Powell Blvd; r $125-275;   ) A wonderfully redone Greek Revival row house on a beautiful residential street; room styles range from Zen to classy boudoir.

### Brooklyn

Downtown Brooklyn already boasts a large and full-service Marriott; Sheraton plans to open a hotel nearby in 2010.

**Baisley House** ( 718-935-1959; 294 Hoyt St, btwn Union & Sackett Sts; s/d with shared bathroom & breakfast $125/150;   ) This three-room inn sits among 18th-century town houses and is overflowing with Victorian touches (wingback chairs, period-piece landscapes) and serves a big, always-different breakfast in the back garden when it's nice out.

**Hotel Le Bleu** ( 718-625-1500; www.hotelbleu.com; 370 4th Ave; d incl breakfast $169-349;        ) Not exactly everyone's idea of a NYC vacation – belching trucks, autobody shops and gritty streets, but more-welcoming blocks with good shops and restaurants are only a short walk away in Park Slope. Boutique styling – you know the deal: sleek, white, minimalistic – king-sized beds and balconies with good views of Manhattan make Le Bleu worth considering.

**Nu Hotel** ( 718-852-8585; www.nuhotelbrooklyn.com; 85 Smith St; d incl breakfast from $199;    ) This location, only blocks from Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, downtown Brooklyn and Carroll Gardens, is absolutely ideal – except for the fact that it's across the street from the Brooklyn House of Detention. It has a chic minimalist vibe and the clean, all-white rooms are comfortable; street noise can be a nuisance on the Atlantic Ave side.

Return to beginning of chapter

## EATING

In a city with 18,700 restaurants, and new ones opening every single day of the year, where are you supposed to begin? Go with whatever your belly desires, whether it's Italian, French, Israeli, Japanese, South Indian or good ol' American-diner burgers and fries. You'll find whatever it is you're after either a quick walk or subway ride away.

### Lower Manhattan

**Ruben's Empanadas** (Map;  212-962-5330; 64 Fulton St, at Gold St; empanadas $3.75;  8am-8pm) A tiny storefront with no decor, this takeout is Argentine heaven – with greaseless empanadas in endless varieties, from the requisite beef and chicken to broccoli with mozzarella and ricotta, Argentine sausage and gooey guava.

**Smorgas Chef Wall St** (Map;  212-422-3500; 53 Stone St; mains $9-24;  10:30am-10:30pm) Located on quaint and narrow Stone St, this fine bistro serves Scandinavian fare such as Swedish meatballs as well as lighter fare like fish and salads. During the summer months, Smorgas Chef and neighboring restaurants put tables outside, turning the street into one big block party.

**Acqua** (Map;  212-349-4433; 21 Peck Slip, at Water St; mains $14-26;  noon-11pm Mon-Thu, to 11:30pm Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun) A sleek wine bar right near South Street Seaport, this charmer offers savory portions of cured meats and cheeses; pizzas and paninis; and fresh pastas including gnocchi with pesto and gorgonzola. Pair any choice with a carafe of wine and you'll be good to stay.

### Tribeca, SoHo & NoHo

**Edward's** (Map;  212-274-8525; 136 W Broadway, btwn Thomas & Duane Sts; mains $7-14;  10am-11pm Mon-Fri, 9am-11pm Sat & Sun) Located on a busy block in Tribeca, Edward's has the feel of a casual European bistro – high ceilings, mirrored walls and dark wood booths. The menu offers everything from pasta to burgers.

**La Esquina** (Map;  646-613-7100; 114 Kenmare St, at Cleveland Pl; mains $12-20;  noon-4pm upstairs, 6pm-midnight upstairs & down) This Mexican hot spot, whose only marking is a huge neon sign that blares 'The Corner' (hence _la esquina_ ), bustles night and day for good reason. Delectable, authentic treats are served upstairs in a mellow café or downstairs in a dark, loud vault that calls for reservations made way in advance.

**Bubby's Pie Company** (Map;  212-219-0666; 120 Hudson St, at N Moore St; mains $12-20;  8am-4pm & 6-11pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri, 9am-4pm & 6pm-midnight Sat, to 10pm Sun) This kid-friendly Tribeca standby is _the_ place for simple, big, delicious food: slow-cooked BBQ, grits, matzo-ball soup, buttermilk potato salad, fried okra and big fat breakfasts, all melt-in-your-mouth good.

### Chinatown, Little Italy & NoLita

 **Peasant** (Map;  212-965-9511; 194 Elizabeth St, btwn Spring & Prince Sts; mains $15-30;  6-11pm Tue-Sat, to 10pm Sun) A warm dining area of bare oak tables is structured around a brick hearth and open kitchen, which lovingly turns out hearty, pan-Italian, mostly meat-based fare. Solid stunners include gnocchi with wild mushrooms and oven-baked rabbit. After dinner, head downstairs to the dark and cozy cellar wine bar.

**Da Nico** (Map;  212-343-1212; 164 Mulberry St; mains $18-40;  noon-11pm Sun-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat) If you're hell-bent on having a Little Italy dinner, Da Nico is a classic. It's family-run and traditional in feel and the extensive restaurant highlights both northern and southern Italian cuisine that's red-sauce predictable – shrimp, scampi, chicken cacciatore – but delicious.

### Lower East Side

**Economy Candy** (Map;  212-254-1531; 108 Rivington St; candies from $4;  9am-6pm Sun-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat) Fancy some chocolate-covered matzo? Or maybe a brick of halvah? If not, then surely you can't say no to any of the myriad crazy, nostalgic candies you consumed as a kid. Whatever it is, as long as it contains sugar, it's probably crammed or stacked in this slightly hole-in-the-wallish candy purveyor that smells as sweet as a barrel of jelly beans.

**Spitzer's Corner** (Map;  212-228-0027; 101 Rivington St; mains $9-19;  noon-4am Mon-Sat, 10am-midnight Sun) The corner location of this recent Lower East Side addition offers an open-air gastropub experience with a concise menu designed by a Michelin-starred chef, and more than 40 different beers on tap. Large communal tables and a lengthy counter facing the street encourage socializing.

**Katz's Delicatessen** (Map;  212-254-2246; 205 E Houston St; sandwiches $13;  8am-9:45pm Mon & Tue, to 10:45pm Wed, Thu & Sun, to 2:45am Fri & Sat) The neighborhood might be changing, but they are still slicing up delicious pastrami by hand at this over 100-year-old New York institution. One of the few remaining Jewish delicatessens in the city, Katz's attracts locals, tourists, and celebrities whose photos line the walls. Massive pastrami, corned beef, brisket, and tongue sandwiches are throwbacks, as is the payment system: hold on to the ticket you're handed when you walk in and pay cash only.

**WD-50** (Map;  212-477-2900; 50 Clinton St; mains $30;  6-11pm Wed-Sat, to 10pm Sun) Chef and owner Wylie Dufresne combines food, art, and innovative cooking techniques to produce a cuisine known elsewhere as molecular gastronomy. Expect completely reinvented takes on classic dishes like fried chicken and scrambled eggs. Or interesting combinations like foie gras, passionfruit and chinese celery. Desserts are equally creative.

* * *

# EATING NYC: CHINATOWN

With hundreds of restaurants, from holes-in-the-wall to banquet-sized dining rooms, Chinatown is wonderful for exploring cheap eats on an empty stomach. One of the best places to lunch for Cantonese cuisine is **Amazing 66** (Map;  212-334-0099; 66 Mott St, at Canal St; mains $5;  11am-pm). The best of the four for $1 dumpling joints is **Vanessa's Dumpling House** (Map;  212-625-8008;118 Eldridge St, at Broome St; mains $5;  7:30am-10:30pm); add a beef pancake to your dumpling order and the bill comes to a whopping $3. Head to **Big Wong King** ( 212-964-0540; 67 Mott St, at Canal; mains $5-20;  7am-10pm) for chopped meat over rice and reliable congee (sweet or savory soft rice soup). **Shanghai Cuisine** (Map;  212-732-8988; 89 Bayard St, at Mulberry St; mains $10;  11:30am-10:30pm) is tourist-friendly and does good soup dumplings. And finally, the **Egg Custard King** (Map;  212-226-8882; 271 Grand St; custards $1;  7am-9:30pm) is the place for the eponymous dessert.

* * *

### East Village

Every cuisine and style is represented in the East Village, though even the very best places are certainly more casual than stuffy. St Marks Place and around, from Third to Second Ave, has turned into a little Tokyo with loads of Japanese sushi and grill restaurants. Cookie-cutter Indian restaurants line Sixth St between First and Second Ave.

 **Momofuku Noodle Bar** (Map;  212-777-7773; 171 First Ave, at 11th St; mains $9-16;  noon-4pm & 5:30-11pm Sun-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat) Ramen and steamed buns are the name of the game at this infinitely creative Japanese eatery, part of the growing David Chang empire. Seating is on stools at a long bar or at communal tables. Recommended are the smoked chicken wings with garlic and pickled chili ($11), as well as Momofuku's famous steamed chicken and pork buns ($9 for two).

**Counter** (Map;  212-982-5870; 105 First Ave, btwn E 6th & 7th Sts; mains $15-25;  5pm-midnight Mon-Thu, to 1am Fri, 11am-1am Sat, to 4pm Sun;  ) This unique eatery manages to mix infused-vodka martinis with organic vegetarian cuisine with outlandish success. Credit the futuristic, backlit dining room, fabulous large-scale artwork and innovative dishes, like tournedos of seitan and cauliflower 'risotto.'

**Hearth** (Map;  646-602-1300; 403 E 12th St, at First Ave; mains $20-40;  6-10pm Sun-Thu, to 11pm Fri, Sat) A staple for finicky, deep-pocketed diners, Hearth boasts a warm, brick-walled interior. The seasonal menu includes specials such as roasted sturgeon with lentils and bacon, zucchini ravioli and rabbit papardelle with fava beans.

Bustling hot spots, **Veselka** (Map;  212-228-9682; 144 Second Ave, at 9th St; mains $9-14;  24hr) and **7A** (Map;  212-228-9682; 109 Ave A; mains $9-14;  24hr) are where to go if you're nursing a hangover or just getting started on one.

### West (Greenwich) Village

**Taïm** (Map;  212-691-1287; 222 Waverly Pl, btwn Perry & W 11th Sts; mains $7-9;  noon-10pm) Not all Middle Eastern fare is alike, and this tiny little falafel joint proves it with its smoothies, salads and sass – and even its falafel, which ranges from the traditional to those spiced up with roasted red pepper or hot harissa. Excellent smoothies blend exotics from dates to tamarind.

**Snack Taverna** (Map;  212-929-3499; 63 Bedford St; mains $15-25;  noon-11pm Mon-Sat, to 10pm Sun) If you can't make it out to the Greek restaurants in Astoria, Queens, try this West Village place. The menu goes beyond the standard gyro and moussaka – the small plates like the smoked trout with barley rusks, tomato, cheese and balsamic vinaigrette are excellent.

**Perilla** (Map;  212-929-6868; 9 Jones St; mains $22-27;  5:30-11pm Mon-Thu, to 11:30pm Fri & Sat, 11am-10pm Sun) The inspiration of one of the winners of popular reality-TV show _Top Chef,_ Perilla is an extremely creative yet well-grounded American bistro. The spicy duck meatballs and roasted main sardines are both good ways to start off a meal.

**Blue Hill** (Map;  212-539-1776; 75 Washington Pl, btwn Sixth Ave & MacDougal St; mains $22-50;  5:30-11pm Mon-Sat, to 10pm Sun) A place for high-rolling Slow Food junkies, Blue Hill is a low-key, high-class dining spot where you can be certain that everything on your plate is fresh and seasonal. Expect barely seasoned veggies as centerpieces for dishes like cod with cauliflower and currants. The below-street-level space is sophisticated and serene.

### Chelsea, Union Square, Flatiron District & Gramercy Park

**Shake Shack** (Map;  212-889-6600; Madison Ave, at E 23rd St; burgers from $4;  11am-11pm) Tourists line up in droves for the hamburgers at this Madison Square Park counter-window-serving institution. Savvy local lunchgoers know enough to check out their webcam to assess wait times. Grab a shake, a burger, and a seat at one of the park's many outdoor tables.

**Chennai Garden** (Map;  212-689-1999; 129 E 27th St, btwn Park & Lexington Aves; mains $9-15;  11:30am-10pm Mon-Fri, noon-10pm Sat & Sun) Come for South Indian faves such as paper-thin dosas (rice-flour pancakes) stuffed with spicy mixtures of potatoes and peas, and a range of more expected curries. The interior is bright and bustling – especially for the popular $7 lunchtime buffet.

**Chat N' Chew** (Map;  212-243-1616; 10 E 16th St; mains $12-20;  11am-midnight Mon-Fri, 10am-midnight Sat, 10am-11pm Sun) Nonstatuesque models are welcome – they probably wouldn't be happy here anyway. It's all down-home comfort food, though of a generally high quality, like macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and fried chicken; the onion ring loaf should be divided by a minimum of four people – who don't suffer from heart disease.

**Blossom** (Map;  212-627-1144; 187 Ninth Ave, btwn 21st & 22nd Sts; mains $25-35;  noon-2:45pm & 5-10:30pm Fri & Sat, noon-2:45pm & 5-10pm Sun, 5-10pm Mon-Thu;  ) A creative and elegant vegan spot, housed in a Chelsea town house, where menu items span the globe and enliven the taste buds. Try the flaky seitan empanada, mojo-marinated tempeh or portobello stuffed with cashew-tahini sauce.

### Midtown

**Café Edison** (Map;  212-840-5000; 228 W 47th St, btwn Broadway & Eighth Ave; mains from $6;  6am-9:30pm Mon-Sat, to 7:30pm Sun) Where else can you get a bologna sandwich? This landmark New York spot has been in business since the 1930s, serving up American diner classics like grilled cheese, hot corned beef, open-faced turkey sandwiches and cheese blintzes. Cash only.

**Kum Gang San** (Map;  212-967-0909; 49 W 32nd St, at Broadway; mains $12-26;  24hr) One of Koreatown's larger and more extravagant restaurants, Kum Gang San serves standout barbecue – you do it at your table. As in most Korean restaurants, the side dishes that accompany the mains are delicious meals in and of themselves. Large, loud and kind of kitschy, it's still a reliable introduction to Koreatown.

**Ellen's Stardust Diner** (Map;  212-956-5151; 1650 Broadway, at 51st St; mains $15;  7am-midnight Mon-Thu, to 1am Fri & Sat, to 11pm Sun) No New Yorker would be caught dead here, but this '50s theme diner-cum–dinner theater is a superfun place to head after a show. When the talented waitstaff belt out show tunes and pop songs while picking up your checks, you can't help but applaud.

**Pietrasanta** (Map;  212-265-9471; 683 9th Ave, at 47th St; mains $16-24;  noon-10:30pm Mon-Thu & Sun, to midnight Fri & Sat) The best of the many Italian restaurants within several blocks from here, Pietrasanta is as welcoming to neighborhood regulars as to tourists in the city for a night of theater. The pumpkin ravioli is a favorite, as are the hummus and flavored butter spreads.

**44 & X** (Map; 212-977-1170; 622 Tenth Ave, at W 44th St; mains $16-30;  5:30pm-midnight Mon-Fri, 11:30am-3pm & 5:30pm-midnight Sat, to 10:30pm Sun) Worth venturing this far west for, 44 & X is one of the pioneers of the Hell's Kitchen stylish foodie trend. This sleek and airy dining room serves a little something for everyone, from macaroni and cheese to grilled braised short ribs.

**Poseidon Bakery** (Map;  212-757-6173; 629 Ninth Ave, at W 44th St; pastries from $2;  9am-7pm Tue-Sat). The last family-owned Greek bakery in Manhattan. The handmade baklava (pastry made with walnuts and almonds) and spanakopita (feta cheese and spinach wrapped in phyllo pastry) are delicious.

**Bouchon Bakery** (Map;  212-823-9366; 3rd fl, 10 Columbus Circle in Time Warner Center; mains $12-20;  11:30am-9pm Mon-Sat, to 7pm Sun) Of the seven restaurants in the Time Warner Center, most very high-end in terms of price, this bakery from Per Se owner Thomas Keller brings new meaning to 'food court.'

### Upper West Side & Morningside Heights

**Hungarian Pastry Shop** (Map;  212-886-4230; 1030 Amsterdam Ave, btwn W 110th & 111th Sts; pastries $2-4;  7:30am-11:30pm Mon-Fri, 8:30am-11:30pm Sat, to 10:30pm Sun) Bring a dog-eared copy of Kierkegaard to blend in with the intensely serious Columbia University students working for hours in front of steaming laptops and cooling coffee. Excellent pastries and cakes are also available.

**Barney Greengrass** (Map;  212-724-4707; 541 Amsterdam Ave, at W 86th St; mains $8-17;  8:30am-4pm Tue-Fri, to 5pm Sat & Sun) Old-school Upper Westsiders and pilgrims from other neighborhoods crowd this century-old 'sturgeon king' on weekends. It serves a long list of traditional if pricey Jewish delicacies, from bagels and lox to sturgeon scrambled with eggs and onions.

**Flor de Mayo** (Map;  212-787-3388; 484 Amsterdam Ave, at 83rd St; mains $9-14;  noon-midnight) One of a handful of unpretentious NYC restaurants combining Peruvian and Chinese cuisine, Flor de Mayo is a favorite of locals from neighborhoods north and south of here. It's somewhat hectic at dinnertime, but it's the place for choosing between egg foo young and ceviche de pescado?

**Gennaro** (Map;  212-665-5348; 665 Amsterdam Ave, at 92nd St; mains $10-25;  5-10:30pm Sun-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat) Locals line up for the reasonably priced Italian fare at dinner-time – no reservations and cash only. There's a long list of specials and a number of outstanding pastas (the gnocchi is a favorite) fish, chicken and beef dishes, as well as vegetarian options; if you have room be sure to sample the tiramisu.

### Upper East Side

**Central Park Boathouse Restaurant** (Map;  212-517-2233; Central Park Lake, enter Fifth Ave, at 72nd St; mains $15-40;  noon-4:30pm Mon-Fri, 9:30am-4pm Sat & Sun year-round, 5:30-9:30pm Mon-Fri 6-9:30pm Sat & Sun Apr-Nov) The historic Loeb Boathouse, perched on the shores of the park's lake, is one of the city's more incredible settings for a serene and romantic meal. Food is top-notch, too – reserve early and aim for an outdoor table.

**Daniel** (Map;  212-288-0033; 60 E 65th St, btwn Madison & Park Aves; 3-course prix fixe dinners $96;  Mon-Sat 5:30-11pm) This chichi French palace features floral arrangements and wide-eyed foodies who gawk over plates of peekytoe crab and celery-root salad, foie gras terrine with gala apples and black truffle-crusted lobster – and that's just the first course. There's an all-veggie menu, too.

**Totonno's** (Map;  212-327-2800; 1544 Second Ave; mains $14;  noon-4pm Mon-Fri) is the Manhattan branch of a Coney Island classic New York pizza joint and **Square Meal** (Map;  212-860-9872; 30 E 92nd St; mains $13-25;  11am-10pm Tue-Fri, 9am-10pm Sat, 9am-9pm Sun) is a homey neighborhood bistro with a seasonal menu.

### Harlem

**Amy Ruth's Restaurant** (Map;  212-280-8779; 113 W 116th St, btwn Malcolm X & Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvds; mains $10-16;  11:30am-11pm Mon, from 8:30am Tue-Thu & Sun, to 5:30am Fri & Sat) Though Food Network coverage has amped up the tourist crowds, this place still does a good job with the standards – smoked ham, chicken and dumplings – but it's specialty is waffles; choose from sweet (chocolate, strawberry, blueberry, smothered in sautéed apples) or savory (paired with fried chicken, rib-eye or catfish).

**Londel's Supper Club** (Map;  212-234-6114; 2620 Frederick Douglass Blvd; mains $12-24;  11:30am-11pm Tue-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun) The wall photos of famous patrons are testament to this elegant restaurant's status and popularity. Londel's menu combines Cajun and continental flavors and live jazz Friday and Saturday nights.

For tasty Mexican in East Harlem, try **El Paso Taqueria** (Map;  212-860-9753; 237 E 116th St, btwn Second & Third Aves; mains $5-17;  9am-11pm).

### Brooklyn

Of course it's impossible to begin to do justice to Brooklyn's eating options – it's as much a foodie's paradise as Manhattan. Virtually every ethnic cuisine has a significant presence somewhere in this area. As far as neighborhoods close to Manhattan go: Williamsburg is chockablock with eateries, as are Fifth and Seventh Aves in Park Slope. Smith St is 'Restaurant Row' in the Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill neighborhoods. Atlantic Ave, near Court St, has a number of excellent Middle Eastern restaurants and groceries.

 **Frankies 457** ( 718-403-0033; 457 Court St; mains $9-18;  11am-11pm Sun-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat) A Carroll Gardens favorite packing in regulars night after night, Frankies feels both homey and romantic. Dark and candlelit at night, it has an attractive backyard garden for warm weather brunches. Small cheese plates, crostinis and veggie side dishes can be shared by the table; the arugula salad and meatballs with pine nuts and raisins make an excellent meal.

**Blue Ribbon Brasserie** ( 718-840-0404; 280 5th Ave, btwn 1st St & Garfield Pl; mains $15-27;  5pm-midnight Mon-Thu & Sun, to 2am Fri & Sat) This restaurant in the heart of Park Slope has something for everyone: an incredible raw bar, pork ribs, matzo-ball soup, paella, fried chicken and chocolate-chip bread pudding. It's open late but doesn't take reservations for parties fewer than six.

**Applewood** ( 718-788-1810; 501 11th St; brunch $12, dinner mains $23;  5-11pm Tue-Fri, from 10am Sat, 10am-3pm Sun) Cozy and sweet, like a close friend's dinner party, especially in winter when there's always a roaring fire, this country house in Park Slope is part of the locavore movement. The frequently changing menu is meat-heavy; slim pickings for vegetarians.

**Peter Luger Steakhouse** ( 718-387-7400; 178 Broadway; lunch mains $5-20, dinner mains $30-32;  11:30am-9:30pm Mon-Thu, to 10:30pm Fri & Sat, 12:30-9:30pm Sun) The aged porterhouse at this venerable 100-year-old German steakhouse at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge is often regarded as one of the best steaks in the country. Some Manhattanites even cross the East River for the hamburger, available only at lunchtime. Reservations required and cash only.

**Good Fork** ( 718-643-6636; 391 Van Brunt St; mains $18-22;  5:30pm-10:30pm Tue-Sat, to 10pm Sun) Foodies head to this small, warm restaurant in Red Hook for its eclectic and fresh fare.

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## DRINKING

Watering holes come in many forms in this city: sleek lounges, cozy pubs and booze-soaked dives – no smoke, though, thanks to city law. The majority are open to 4am, though closing (and opening) times do vary. Here's a highly selective sampling.

### Downtown

**KGB Bar** (Map;  212-505-3360; 85 E 4th St, at 2nd Ave) The East Village's own grungy Algonquin roundtable has been drawing literary types to its regular readings since the early 1990s. Even when there's no artist in residence the heavily worn wood bar is good for kicking back.

**Sake Bar Decibel** (Map;  212-979-2733; 240 E 9th St) Just nod your head and sip. Hearing is a challenge even when you're crammed in a corner touching knees. Nevertheless, this cozy and dark downstairs hideaway feels like an authentic Tokyo dive, from the sake varieties to the delicious snacks.

**Mayahuel** (Map;  212-253-5888; 304 E 6th St, at Second Ave) About as far from your typical Spring Break tequila bar as you can get – more like the cellar of a monastery. Devotees of the fermented agave can seriously indulge themselves experimenting with dozens of varieties (all cocktails $13); in between drinks, snack on tamales and tortillas.

**Cheery Tavern** (Map;  212-777-1448; 441 E 6th St, at Ave A) Not for the 40-year-old virgin – hard-drinking 20- and 30-somethings get their flirt on at this small, dimly lit dive. Arrive before 9pm and you have a shot at the bar or a seat at one of the few tables. Otherwise, clunk your quarters down for a game of pool or sidle up to the jukebox filled with indie/alt songs.

**Fat Cat** (Map;  212-675-6056; 75 Christopher St, at Seventh Ave; cover up to $3;  2pm-5am Mon-Thu, from noon Fri-Sun;  ) For every man who has ever fantasized about the perfect college basement – years and years after graduation – there is Fat Cat. The worn and ratty furniture will remind you of a typical fraternity basement, but all are welcome at this gamers paradise – Ping-Pongers, pool players, chess geeks, even shuffleboarders and cute girls, and, and! there's cheap beer and live music every night.

**Fresh Salt** (Map;  212-962-0053; 146 Beekman St) Only steps from a beautiful pier on the East River, and close to the financial district, Fresh Salt manages to avoid the boisterous feel of the after-work Wall St crowd. This small and rustic bar has board games (Boggle, chess etc) and a great hummus plate.

**Circa Tabac** (Map;  212-941-1781; 32 Watts St, btwn Sixth Ave & Thompson St) Healthy-smelthy. By all means puff away. This is one of only five places left in the city where you can and are encouraged to smoke – mainly global cigars – while you drink. The deco-style lounge, with bamboo walls and velvet lounge chairs, is as sumptuous as much of its fine-cut tobacco.

**Henrietta Hudson** (Map;  212-924-3347; 438 Hudson St, at Morton St) All sorts of cute young girls storm this long-running lesbian spot, a former pool-and-pint joint that's now a sleek lounge with varied DJs.

**Welcome to the Johnsons** (Map;  212-420-9911; 123 Rivington St) Looking like a set from _The Brady Bunch_ or _That '70s Show,_ this Lower East Side theme bar can be enjoyed with or without irony. Wash down the free Doritos with a Jack Daniel's and root beer.

The trendy **Schiller's Liquor Bar** (Map; 212-260-4555; 131 Rivington St, at Norfolk St;  11am-1am Mon-Wed, to 2am Thu, to 3am Fri, 10am-3am Sat, 10am-1am Sun) and no-signage **Freeman's** (Map;  212-420-0012; Freeman Alley, btwn Bowery & Chrystie Sts) both serve cocktails as delicious as their food (mains $12 to $25); the latter, whose bar seats only around 10 people, is a mix of taxidermy and downtown cool.

### Midtown

 **Russian Vodka Room** (Map;  212-307-5835; 265 W 52nd St, btwn 8th Ave & Broadway) This swank and welcoming bar keeps things real enough that actual Russians aren't uncommon here. The lighting is dark and the corner booths intimate, but more importantly the dozens of flavored vodkas, from cranberry to horseradish, are fun to experiment with. Eastern European dishes such as latkes, smoked fish and schnitzel can quiet a rumbling stomach.

**Rudy's Bar & Grill** (Map;  212-974-9169; 627 Ninth Ave) This semi-dive bar – neighborhood newcomers and hipsters rub beer-soaked shoulders with hard-core drinkers – doesn't take itself seriously. It's a good place for cheap beer and even greasy hot dogs, if you don't mind not being able to hear yourself think. A backyard garden with makeshift furniture and artificial turf is open in the summer months.

**Therapy** (Map;  212-397-1700; 348 W 52nd St, btwn Eighth & Ninth Aves) Multileveled, airy and sleekly contemporary, Therapy is a longstanding gay Hell's Kitchen hot spot. Theme nights abound, from stand-up comedy to musical shows.

**Morrell Wine Bar & Café** (Map;  212-262-7700; 1 Rockefeller Plaza, W 48th St, btwn Fifth & Sixth Aves;  11:30am-midnight Mon-Sat, noon-6pm Sun) The list of vinos at this pioneering New York City wine bar is over 2000 long, with a whopping 150 available by the glass. And the airy, split-level room, right across from the famous skating rink, is equally intoxicating.

**Half King** (Map;  212-462-4300; 505 W 23rd St, at Tenth Ave), a cozy pub, and **Ginger Man** (Map;  212-532-3740; 11 E 36th St, btwn Fifth & Madison Aves) are other neighborhood options for those looking for top-flight beer selections.

### Uptown

**79th Street Boat Basin** (Map;  212-496-5592; W 79th St, in Riverside Park) A covered, open-sided party spot under the ancient arches of a park overpass, this is an Upper West Side favorite once spring hits. Order a pitcher, some snacks and enjoy the sunset view over the Hudson River.

**Subway Inn** (Map;  212-223-8929; 143 E 60th St, btwn Lexington & Third Aves) An old-geezer watering hole with cheap drinks and loads of authenticity, this place should truly be landmarked, as the entire scene – from the vintage neon sign outside to the well-worn red booths and old guys huddled inside – is truly reminiscent of bygone days.

**Lenox Lounge** (Map;  212-427-0253; www.lenoxlounge.com; 288 Malcolm X Blvd, btwn 124th & 125th Sts) The classic art-deco Lounge, which once hosted the likes of Billie Holiday and Miles Davis and is an old favorite of local jazz cats, is still going strong. The luxe Zebra Room in back is a beautiful and historic setting to hear top-flight musicians.

### Brooklyn

 **Brooklyn Social** ( 718-858-7758; 335 Smith St, at Carroll St, Carroll Gardens) Real old-school social clubs with card-playing men still exist only blocks away from here, but this place is strictly for those who couldn't tell you the roster of the '57 Yankees. Typical of this genre of bar, signage is a no-no and discretion an asset. Young neighborhood types and hipsters from nearby cozy up to the bar or one of the barely lit corner lounges.

**Iona Bar** ( 718-384-5008; 180 Grand St, Williamsburg;  1pm-4am) Hipsters infiltrate this Scottish/Irish bar on weekend nights; other nights it's a less American Apparel crowd enjoying happy hour (beer $4). Meat and veggie pies play second fiddle in summer when the barbecue in the backyard garden turns out hamburgers and hot dogs. Competitive Ping-Pongers enjoy the outdoor table on warm evenings.

**Turkey's Nest** ( 718-384-9774; 94 Bedford Ave, at N 12th St;  8am-4am Mon-Sat, from noon Sun) Local dive bar, sports bar, hipster hangout... The eclectic crowd at the Nest loves the huge Styrofoam containers of cheap beer and cocktails served in plastic cups. Watch the Yankees and watch the Mets or play the hunting video game in the back. Whatever you do, wear a hazmat suit when you use the bathroom.

In Park Slope, head to the creatively idiosyncratic **Union Hall** ( 718-638-4400; 702 Union St, at Fifth Ave, Park Slope) – leather chairs à la a snooty London social club, walls lined with bookshelves and two bocce courts, plus live music downstairs and an outdoor patio. **Total Wine Bar** ( 718-783-5166; 74 Fifth Ave) is a small sophisticated place for high-quality vino.

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## ENTERTAINMENT

Those with unlimited fuel and appetites can gorge themselves on a seemingly infinite number of entertainments – from Broadway shows to performance art in someone's Brooklyn living room, and everything in between. _New York_ and the weekend editions of the _New York Times_ are great guides for what's on once you arrive.

### Nightclubs

**Santos Party House** (Map;  212-584-5492; www.santospartyhouse; 96 Lafayette St; cover $5-15;  10pm-4am) Shaggy rocker Andrew WK created this bilevel 8000-sq-ft cavernous bare-bones dance club. Devoted to good times and good vibes, this place requires that you check your attitude at the door – funk to electronica, and WK spins some nights.

**SOBs** ( 212-243-4940Click here; www.sobs.com; 204 Varick St, at W Houston) Brazilian bossa nova, samba and other Latin vibes draw a mix of those who know how to move smooth and sensually and those who like to watch.

**Sullivan Room** (Map;  212-505-1703; www.sullivanroom.com; 218 Sullivan St, btwn Bleecker & W 3rd Sts;  10pm-5am Wed-Sun) An eclectic downtown mix and top-flight DJs makes Sullivan Room one of the best places to dance the night away. There's nothing pretentious – no need for high heels or cheesy leather jackets,

**Cielo** (Map;  212-645-5700; www.cieloclub.com; 18 Little W 12th St, btwn Ninth Ave & Washington St; cover $5-20;  midnight-4am Mon, 10pm-4am Tue-Sat, to midnight Sun) Known for its intimate space and kick-ass sound system, this space age–looking Meatpacking District staple packs in a fashionable, multiculti crowd nightly for its blend of tribal, old-school house and soulful grooves.

**Pacha** (Map;  212-209-7500; www.pachanyc.com; 618 W 46th St, btwn Eleventh Ave & West Side Hwy) A massive and spectacular place, this is 30,000 sq ft and four levels of glowing, sleek spaces and cozy seating nooks that rise up to surround the main dance-floor atrium. Big-name DJs are always on tap.

**M2 Ultra Lounge** (Map;  212-629-9000; www.m2ultralounge.com; 530 W 28th St, btwn Tenth & Eleventh Aves; admission $20;  10pm-4am Thu-Sat) Formerly Crobar, then Studio Mezmor, this megaclub will blow out your ear drums and your wallet – drinks are expensive ($15). In some ways this is the classic big club – long lines, opulent booths, bottle service and sexy go-go dancers. DJs and live performances depending on the night.

### Live Music

Maybe less indie-dominated than music scenes in Austin or Seattle, and certainly diminished with the closing of several important institutions including CBGB and the Knitting Factory, NYC does of course still boast an enormous number of venues varying greatly in size, crowd and genre of music.

**Madison Square Garden** (Map;  212-465-5800; www.thegarden.com; Seventh Ave, btwn W 31st & W 33rd Sts) For the biggest shows like Green Day and Andrea Bocelli, this place draws stadium-sized crowds.

**Radio City Music Hall** (Map;  212-247-4777; www.radiocity.com; Sixth Ave, at W 50th St) In the middle of Midtown, the architecturally grand concert hall, built in 1932, hosts the likes of Tori Amos, Aretha Franklin and of course the famous Christmas spectacular; managed by the same team as Madison Square Garden.

**Beacon Theatre** (Map;  212-465-6500; www.beacontheatre.com; 2124 Broadway, btwn W 74th & 75th Sts) This Upper West Side venue has a pretty cool vibe for such a large, mainstream space. It hosts big (often old-time) acts – Tom Jones, Steely Dan – for folks who want to see shows in an environment that's more intimate than that of a big concert arena.

**Joe's Pub** (Map;  212-967-7555; www.joespub.com; Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St, btwn Astor Pl & E 4th St) Part cabaret theater, part rock and new-indie venue, this small and lovely supper club has hosted the likes of Booker T and Mandy Moore; a wonderful variety of styles, voices and talent.

**BargeMusic** (Map;  718-624-2083; www.bargemusic.org; Fulton Ferry Landing) Exceptionally talented classical musicians perform in this intimate space, a decommissioned barge docked under the Brooklyn Bridge.

**Le Poisson Rouge** (Map;  212-796-0741; 158 Bleecker St, at Sullivan St) Formerly the Village Gate, this Bleecker St basement club reopened in 2008, quickly becoming one of the premier venues for experimental contemporary, from classical to indie rock to electro-acoustic.

**Highline Ballroom** (Map;  212-414-5994; 431 W 16th St, btwn Ninth & Tenth Aves) A classy Chelsea venue with an eclectic lineup, from Mandy Moore to Moby.

**Webster Hall** (Map;  212-353-1600; www.websterhall.com; 125 E 11th St, at 3rd Ave), **Irving Plaza** (Map;  212-777-6800; www.irvingplaza.com; 17 Irving Pl) and **Terminal 5** (Map;  212-260-4700; www.terminal5nyc.com; 610 W 56th St, at 11th Ave) all book big and quality acts.

**Mercury Lounge** (Map;  212-260-4700; www.mercuryloungenyc.com; 217 E Houston St) and **Delancey Lounge** (Map;  212-254-9920; www.thedelancey.com; 168 Delancey St, at Clinton St) have great indie-band bookings. In Park Slope, Brooklyn, head to **Southpaw** ( 718-230-0236; www.spsounds.com; 125 5th Ave) for a nightly lineup.

### Theater

In general, 'Broadway' productions are staged in the lavish, early-20th-century theaters surrounding Times Square. You'll choose your theater based on its production – _Guys and Dolls, Shrek the Musical, West Side Story_ – but all are pretty over-the-top and old-fashioned. Evening performances begin at 8pm.

'Off Broadway' simply refers to shows performed in smaller spaces (200 seats or fewer), which is why you'll find many just around the corner from Broadway venues, as well as elsewhere in town. 'Off-off Broadway' events include readings, experimental and cutting-edge performances and improvisations held in spaces with fewer than 100 seats; these venues are primarily downtown. Some of the world's best theater happens in these more intimate venues before moving to Broadway. Some distinguished theaters include **Playwrights Horizon** (Map;  212-564-1235; www.playwrightshorizon.org; 416 W 42nd St, btwn Ninth & Tenth Aves), **PS 122** (Map;  212-477-5288; www.ps122.org; 150 First Ave, at E 9th St), **New York Theater Workshop** (Map;  212-780-9037; www.nytw.org; 79 E 4th St, btwn Second & Third Aves), **Public Theater** (Map;  212-539-8500; www.publictheater.org; 425 Lafayette St, btwn Astor Pl & E 4th St) and **St Ann's Warehouse** (Map;  718-254-8779; www.stannswarehouse.org; 38 Water St). Richard Foreman, a pioneer of the avant-garde, stages enigmatic and cryptic performances at the **Ontological Theater** (Map;  212-420-1916; www.ontological.com; 131 E 10th St) in the East Village.

* * *

# JAZZ

Second only to New Orleans, Harlem was an early home to a flourishing jazz scene and was one of its principal beating hearts. The neighborhood fostered greats like Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Thelonius Monk. From bebop to free improvisation, in classic art-deco clubs and intimate jam sessions, Harlem and other important venues scattered throughout the city, especially around the Village, continue to foster old-timers and talented newcomers alike. Tune in to **WKCR** (89.9 FM) for jazz and especially from 8:20am to 9:30am Monday through Friday for Phil Schaap's 27-year-old program in which he dazzles listeners with his encyclopedic knowledge and appreciation for the art form. The **National Jazz Museum in Harlem** (212-348-8300; www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org; 104 E 126th St, Suite 2D; admission free;  10am-4pm Mon-Fri) has a collection of books, CDs and photos for passionate fans.

**Smalls** (Map;  212-252-5091; www.smallsjazzclub.com; 183 W 4th St; cover $20) is a subterranean jazz dungeon that rivals the world-famous **Village Vanguard** (Map;  212-255-4037; www.villagevanguard.com; 178 Seventh Ave, at W 11th St) in terms of sheer talent. Of course, the latter has hosted every major star of the past 50 years; there's a two-drink minimum and a serious no-talking policy. **BB King Blues Club and Grill** (Map;  212-997-4144; www.bbkingblues.com; 237 W 42nd St) in the heart of Times Square offers old-school blues along with rock, folk and reggae acts.

Heading uptown, **Jazz at Lincoln Center** (Map;  212-258-9800; www.jazzatlincolncenter.org; Broadway, at W 60th St) has stunning views overlooking Central Park and nightly shows featuring top lineups in one of three venues. Further north on the Upper West Side, check out the **Smoke Jazz & Supper Club-Lounge** (Map;  212-864-6662; www.smokejazz.com; 2751 Broadway, btwn W 105th & 106th Sts), which gets crowded on weekends.

* * *

Choose from current shows by checking print publications (Click here), or at a website such as **Theater Mania** (www.theatermania.com). You can purchase tickets through **Telecharge** ( 212-239-6200; www.telecharge.com) & **Ticketmaster** ( 212-307-7171; www.ticketmaster.com) for standard ticket sales, or **TKTS ticket booths** (www.tkts.com; Downtown Map; Front St, at John St, South St Seaport;  11am-6pm; Midtown Map; 47th St, at Broadway;  10am-8pm Mon-Fri, from 11am Sun) for same-day tickets to Broadway and off-Broadway musicals at up to 50% off regular prices.

### Comedy

From lowbrow prop comics to experimental conceptual humor, there's a venue for every taste and budget. More-established ones push the alcohol with drink minimums. A good spot for alternative comedy nightly is the **Village Lantern** (Map;  212-260-7993; 167 Bleecker St), underneath a bar of the same name.

**Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre** (Map;  212-366-9176; www.ucbtheatre.com; 307 W 26th St) features well-known, emerging and probably-won't-emerge comedians as they perform wacky improv, alternative, smart and sometime edgy comedy in this small basement theater nightly. **Caroline's on Broadway** (Map;  212-956-0101; www.carolines.com; 1626 Broadway) is one of the best-known places in the city, and host to the biggest names on the circuit.

**Comix** (Map;  212-524-2500; 353 W14th St) is the new Caroline's. **Gotham Comedy Club** (Map;  212-367-9000; www.gothamcomedyclub.com; 208 W 23rd St, btwn Seventh & Eighth Aves) is a plush venue featuring mostly mainstream-style comedy and **Stand-Up New York** (Map;  212-595-0850; www.standupny.com; 236 W 78th St; tickets $5-12) gets surprise appearances from star comedians.

### Cinemas

Even though movie tickets cost at least $10, long lines on evenings and weekends are the norm. To ensure you'll get in – and not wind up watching with a stiff neck from the front row – it's pretty much imperative that you call and buy your tickets in advance (unless it's midweek, midday or for a film that's been out for months already). Most cinemas are handled either through **Movie Fone** ( 212-777-3456; www.moviefone.com) or **Fandango** (www.fandango.com). You'll have to pay an extra $1.50 fee per ticket, but it's worth it.

**AMC Empire 25** (Map; 234 W 42nd St) in the heart of Times Square, and **Regal Union Square Stadium 14** (Map; 859 Broadway, at 13th St), show a mix of mainstream and indie films in theaters with massive screens and stadium seating.

Housed in a former Yiddish theater, **Landmark Sunshine Cinema** (Map;  212-358-7709; 143 E Houston St) shows first-run indies, while film studies majors and East Village hipsters head to **Anthology Film Archives** (Map;  212-505-5181; www.anthologyfilmarchives.org; 32 Second Ave, at E 2nd St), housed in a schoolhouse-like building, for independent and avant-garde cinema.

**Brooklyn Academy of Music Rose Cinemas** (BAM; Map;  718-636-4100; www.bam.org; 30 Lafayette Ave), in Brooklyn, is comfortable as well as popular for its new-release indies and special festival screenings.

The long and narrow theaters at **Film Forum** (Map;  212-627-2035; www.filmforum.org; 209 W Houston St) can't dent cineastes' love for this institution showing revivals, classics and documentaries. **IFC Center** (Map;  212-924-7771; www.ifccenter.com; 323 Sixth Ave, at 3rd St), formerly the Waverly, is a three-screen art-house cinema showing new indies, cult classics (every Friday and Saturday at midnight) and foreign films – and the popcorn is organic.

### Performing Arts

World-class performers and venues mean the city is a year-round Mecca for arts-lovers.

Every top-end genre has a stage at the massive **Lincoln Center** (Click here) complex. Its **Avery Fisher Hall** is the showplace of the New York Philharmonic, while recently redesigned **Alice Tully Hall** houses the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the **New York State Theater** is home to both the New York City Ballet and the New York City Opera. Great drama is found at both the **Mitzi E Newhouse** and **Vivian Beaumont** theaters; and frequent concerts at the **Juilliard School**. But the biggest draw is the **Metropolitan Opera House** , home to the Metropolitan Opera and American Ballet Theater.

Since 1891, the historic **Carnegie Hall** (Map;  212-247-7800; www.carnegiehall.org; 154 W 57th St, at Seventh Ave) has hosted performances by the likes of Tchaikovsky, Mahler and Prokofiev. Today it hosts visiting philharmonics, the New York Pops orchestra, piano soloists and various world-music performers.

**Symphony Space** (Map;  212-864-5400; www.symphonyspace.org; 2537 Broadway, at W 95th St) is a multigenre space with several facilities in one. This Upper West Side gem is home to many performance series as well as theatre, cabaret, comedy, dance and world-music concerts throughout the week.

Sort of a Brooklyn version of the Lincoln Center – in its all-inclusiveness rather than its vibe, which is much edgier – the spectacular **Brooklyn Academy of Music** (BAM; off Map;  718-636-4100; www.bam.org; 30 Lafayette Ave) also hosts everything from modern dance to opera, cutting-edge theater and music concerts.

### Sports

In 2009 the city's two major-league baseball teams, the uber-successful **New York Yankees** (www.yankees.com), who play at **Yankee Stadium** (Map;  718-293-4300; cnr 161st St & River Ave, the Bronx), and the more historically beleaguered **New York Mets** (www.mets.com), who play at **Citi Field** (Map;  718-507-8499; Citi Field, 126th St, at Roosevelt Ave, Flushing, Queens), inaugurated long-anticipated brand-new stadiums. For less-grand settings but no-less-pleasant outings, check out the minor-league **Staten Island Yankees** (www.siyanks.com) at **Richmond County Bank Ballpark** (Map;  718-720-9265; 75 Richmond Tce, Staten Island) or the **Brooklyn Cyclones** (www.brooklyncyclones.com) at **KeySpan Park** (Map;  718-449-8497; cnr Surf Ave & W 17th St, Coney Island).

For basketball, you can get courtside with the NBA's **New York Knicks** (www.nba.com/knicks) at **Madison Square Garden** ( 212-465-6073; btwn Seventh Ave & 33rd St); called the 'mecca of basketball' by no less than Michael Jordan, the Knicks themselves have been rebuilding for years. The cross-river rivals, **New Jersey Nets** ( 800-765-6387; www.nba.com/nets) are scheduled to move to the Atlantic Yards, a large and controversial complex in downtown Brooklyn. Also playing at Madison Square Garden, the women's WNBA league team **New York Liberty** ( 212-564-9622; www.wnba.com/liberty) provides a more laid-back time.

New York City's NFL (pro football) teams, the **Giants** ( 201-935-8111; www.giants.com) and **Jets** ( 516-560-8200; www.newyorkjets.com), share the **Giants Stadium** in Rutherford's Meadowlands complex; the two teams will begin sharing a brand-new field in the Meadowlands in 2010.

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## SHOPPING

While the economic downturn has shuttered many shops throughout the city and chain stores have proliferated, turning once-idiosyncratic blocks into versions of generic strip malls, NYC is still the best American city for shopping. From Levis to Prada, iPhones to Buddhist mala beads, you can find it here. It's not unusual for shops – especially downtown boutiques – to stay open until 10pm or 11pm.

### Downtown

Lower Manhattan is where you'll find across-the-board bargains, as well as more of the small, stylish boutiques. Downtown's coolest offerings are in NoLita (just east of SoHo), the East Village and the Lower East Side. SoHo has more expensive though no less fashionable stores, while Broadway from Union Sq to Canal St is lined with big retailers like H&M and Urban Outfitters, as well as dozens of jeans and shoe stores – the museum-like Prada NYC flagship is also here. The streets of Chinatown are filled with knock-off designer handbags, jewelry, perfume and watches.

For only-in–New York memorabilia, head to the **Citystore** (Map;  212-669-7452; Municipal Bldg, 1 Centre St, North Plaza;  9am-4:30pm Mon-Fri). **Century 21** (Map;  212-227-9092; 22 Cortlandt St, at Church St), a four-level department store beloved by New Yorkers of every income, is shorthand for designer bargains. Every electronic need, especially computer, and camera-related, can be satisfied at **J &R Music & Computer World** (Map;  212-238-9000; 15-23 Park Row), which takes up a full city block. **Eastern Mountain Sports** (Map;  212-966-8730; 530 Broadway, at Spring St) is a high-quality outdoor emporium outfitting every imaginable adventure and the staff is extremely knowledgeable and friendly.

**Bloomingdale's SoHo** (Map;  212-729-5900; 504 Broadway), the smaller, younger outpost of the Upper East Side (right) legend, focuses on designer fashion. The trendy British superstore for women, **Topshop** (Map;  212-966-9555; 478 Broadway, at Broome St), is where to go for shiny spandex and disco tops, while Japanese retailer **Uniqlo** (Map;  917-237-8800; 546 Broadway) has moderately priced men's and women's fashions. For coveted labels like **Stella McCartney** (Map;  212-255-1566; 429 W 14th St), stroll through the Meatpacking District around 14th St and Ninth Ave.

### Midtown & Uptown

Midtown's Fifth Ave and the Upper East Side's Madison Ave have the famous high-end fashion and clothing by international designers. Times Square has many supersize stores, though they're all chains. Chelsea has more unique boutiques, though it too has been colonized by banks, drugstores and big box retailers.

**Macy's** (Map;  212-695-4400; 151 W 34th St), the grande dame of midtown department stores, sells everything from jeans to kitchen appliances. Uptown, the sprawling, overwhelming **Bloomingdale's** (Map;  212-705-2000; 1000 3rd Ave, at E 59th St) is akin to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for shoppers.

**Barney's New York** (Map;  212-826-8900; 660 Madison Ave) is a classy emporium with spot-on choice collections of the best designer duds (Marc Jacobs, Helmut Lang, Paul Smith, Miu Miu shoes), while **Barney's Co-op** (Downtown (Map; 236 W 18th St; Uptown Map; 2151 Broadway) offers hipper, less-expensive versions of high-end fashion.

In the cultural imagination, **Tiffany & Co** (Map;  212-755-8000; 727 Fifth Ave) has become synonymous with NYC luxury. This famous jeweler, with the trademark clock-hoisting Atlas over the door, carries fine diamond rings, watches, necklaces etc, as well as crystal and glassware.

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## GETTING THERE & AWAY

### Air

Three major airports serve New York City. The biggest is **John F Kennedy International** **Airport** (JFK;  718-244-4444; www.panynj.gov/aviation/jfk frame), in the borough of Queens, which is also home to **La Guardia Airport** (LGA;  718-533-3400; www.panynj.gov/aviation/lgaframe). **Newark International Airport** (EWR;  973-961-6000; www.panynj.gov/aviation/ewrframe), across the Hudson River in Newark, NJ, is another option. While using online booking websites, search 'NYC' rather than a specific airport, which will allow most sites to search all three spots at once. **Long Island MacArthur Airport** (ISP;  631-467-3210; www.macarthurairport.com), in Islip, is a money-saving (though time-consuming) alternative, but may make sense if a visit to the Hamptons or other parts of Long Island are in your plans.

### Bus

The massive and confusing **Port Authority Bus Terminal** (Map;  212-564-8484; 625 Eighth Ave, btwn 40th & 42nd St) is the gateway for buses into and out of Manhattan. **Short Line** ( 212-736-4700; www.shortlinebus.com) runs numerous buses to towns in northern New Jersey and upstate New York, while **New Jersey Transit** ( 973-275-5555; www.njtransit.state.nj.us) buses serve all of New Jersey. For other NYC bus information Click here.

A number of bus companies, including the pioneers based in Chinatown but now expanded to several midtown locations, link NYC to Philadelphia ($10, two hours), Boston ($15, four hours 15 minutes) and Washington, DC ($15, four hours 15 minutes). Cutthroat competition has led to lowered fares and increased amenities; some offer free wi-fi on board. A few of the more reliable ones to check out include **Bolt Bus** ( 877-265-8287; www.boltbus.com) and **Megabus** ( 877-462-6342; www.megabus.com). Trip durations depend on the time of day you depart, and where in each city you depart from and arrive.

### Car & Motorcycle

Click here for information about vehicle rentals. Note that renting a car in the city is expensive, starting at about $75 a day for a midsize car – before extra charges like the 13.25% tax and various insurance costs.

### Train

**Penn Station** (Map; 33rd St, btwn Seventh & Eighth Aves), not to be confused with the Penn Station in Newark, NJ, is the departure point for all **Amtrak** ( 800-872-7245; www.amtrak.com) trains, including the speedy Acela Express service to Boston (three hours 45 minutes) and Washington, DC (two hours 52 minutes). All fares and durations vary based on the day of the week and the time of day you want to travel. Also arriving into Penn Station (NYC), as well as points in Brooklyn and Queens – is the **Long Island Rail Road** (LIRR;  718-217-5477; www.mta.nyc.ny.us/lirr), which serves several hundred thousand commuters each day. **New Jersey Transit** ( 973-275-5555; www.njtransit.com) also operates trains from Penn Station (NYC), with services to the suburbs and the Jersey Shore. Another option for getting into New Jersey, but strictly to points north of the city such as Hoboken and Newark, is the **New Jersey PATH** ( 800-234-7284; www.pathrail.com), which runs trains on a separate-fare system ($1.75) along the length of Sixth Ave, with stops at 34th, 23rd, 14th, 9th and Christopher Sts, and the reopened World Trade Center station.

The only train line that still departs from Grand Central Station, Park Ave at 42nd St, is the **Metro-North Railroad** ( 212-532-4900; www.mnr.org), which serves the northern city suburbs, Connecticut (eg one way to New Haven $14 to $18.50, one hour 45 minutes) and locations throughout the Hudson Valley.

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## GETTING AROUND

### To/From the Airport

All major airports have on-site car-rental agencies. It's a hassle to drive into NYC, though, and many folks take taxis, shelling out the $45 taxi flat rate (plus toll and tip) from JFK and Newark or a metered fare of about $35 to Midtown from La Guardia.

A cheaper and pretty easy option to/from JFK is the **AirTrain** ($5 one way), which connects to subway lines into the city ($2.25; coming from the city, take the Howard Beach–bound A train) or to the LIRR (about $7 one way) at Jamaica Station in Queens (this is probably the quickest route to Penn Station in the city).

To/from Newark, the **AirTrain** links all terminals to a New Jersey Transit train station, which connects to Penn Station in NYC ($12.50 one way combined NJ Transit/Airtrain ticket).

For La Guardia, a reliable option to consider if you allow plenty of time is the M60 bus ($2.25), which heads to/from Manhattan across 125th St in Harlem and makes stops along Broadway on the Upper West Side.

All three airports are also served by express buses ($12 to $15) and shuttle vans ($20); such companies include the **New York Airport Service Express Bus** ( 718-875-8200; www.nyairportservice.com), which leaves every 15 minutes for Port Authority, Penn Station (NYC) and Grand Central Station; and **Super Shuttle Manhattan** ( 800-258-3826; www.supershuttle.com), which picks you (and others) up anywhere, on demand, with a reservation.

### Car & Motorcycle

Even for the most spiritually centered, road rage is an inevitable byproduct of driving within the city. Traffic is a perpetual problem and topic of conversation. Mayor Bloomberg, a committed proponent of congestion pricing plans, and other transportation advocates will no doubt continue to try to solve the puzzle.

If you are driving out or in, however, know that the worst part is joining the masses as they try to squeeze through tunnels and over bridges to traverse the various waterways that surround Manhattan. Be aware of local laws, such as the fact that you can't make a right on red (like you can in the rest of the state) and also the fact that every other street is one way.

### Public Transportation

The **Metropolitan Transport Authority** (MTA; (www.mta.info) runs both the subway and bus sytems. Depending on the train line (the W and G are consistently rated two of the worst), time of day and whether the door slams in your face or not, New York City's 100-year-old round-the-clock subway system (per ride $2.25) is your best friend or worst enemy. The popularized Hollywood version, given life in films like _The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3_ (both the original and the 2009 version) are obvious exaggerations, but the system can be frustrating. Mismanagement and budget shortfalls threaten its smooth running. The 656-mile system can be intimidating at first, but regardless of its faults it's an incredible resource and achievement, linking the most disparate neighborhoods in a continually pulsating network. Maps should be available for the taking at every stop. To board, you must purchase a MetroCard, available at windows and self-serve machines, which accept change, dollars or credit/debit cards; purchasing many rides at once works out cheaper per trip.

If you're not in a big hurry, consider taking the bus (per ride $2.25). You get to see the world go by, they run 24/7 and they're easy to navigate – going crosstown at all the major street byways (14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, 72nd Sts and all the others that are two-way roads) and uptown or downtown, depending which avenue they serve. You can pay with a MetroCard or exact change but not bills. Transfers from one line to another are free, as are transfers to or from the subway.

### Taxi

The classic NYC yellow cab is no longer a boxy gas-guzzling behemoth. More streamlined and outfitted with mini-TVs and credit-card machines, some hybrid models are even being rolled out. No matter the make or year of the car, however, expect a herky-jerky, somewhat out-of-control ride. Current fares are $2.50 for the initial charge (first one-fifth mile), 40¢ each additional one-fifth mile, as well as per 60 seconds of being stopped in traffic, $1 peak surcharge (weekdays 4pm to 8pm), and 50¢ night surcharge (8pm to 6am daily). Tips are expected to be 10% to 15%; minivan cabs can hold five to six passengers. You can only hail a cab that has a lit light on its roof. Also know that it can be difficult to score a taxi in the rain, at rush hour and at around 4pm, when many drivers end their shifts.

Pedicabs – human-powered taxis, basically bicycle rickshaws – roam around Central Park South and other heavily touristy areas. Rides cost around $10 to $20 but fares are negotiable.

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# NEW YORK STATE

There's upstate and downstate and never the twain shall meet. The two have about as much in common as NYC's Upper East Side and the Bronx. And yet everyone shares the same governor and dysfunctional legislature in the capital, Albany. While this incompatibility produces legislative gridlock and downright operatic drama, it's a blessing for those who cherish quiet and pastoral idylls as much as Lower East Side bars and the subway. Defined largely by its inland waterways – the Hudson River, the 524-mile Erie Canal connecting Albany to Buffalo, and the St Lawrence River – New York stretches to the Canadian border at world-famous Niagara Falls and under-the-radar Thousand Islands. Buffalo is a cheap foodies' paradise and wine aficionados can pick their favorite vintage from around the state, but especially in the Finger Lakes region close to the college town of Ithaca. From wilderness trails with backcountry camping to small-town Americana and miles and miles of sandy beaches, from the historic, grand estates and artists colonies in the Hudson Valley and Catskills to the rugged and remote Adirondacks, it's easy to understand why so many people leave the city never to return.

* * *

# NEW YORK FACTS

**Nicknames** Empire State, Excelsior State, Knickerbocker State

**Population** 19.5 million

**Area** 47,214 sq miles

**Capital city** Albany (population 96,000)

**Other cities** Buffalo (population 276,059)

**Sales tax** 4%, plus additional county and state taxes (total approximately 8%)

**Birthplace of** Poet Walt Whitman (1819−92), President Theodore Roosevelt (1858−1919), President Franklin D Roosevelt (1882−1945), first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (1884−1962), painter Edward Hopper (1882−1967), movie star Humphrey Bogart (1899−1957), comic Lucille Ball (1911−89), filmmaker Woody Allen (b 1935), actor Tom Cruise (b 1962), pro athlete Michael Jordan (b 1963), pop star Jennifer Lopez (b 1969)

**Home of** Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, first US cattle ranch (1747, in Montauk, Long Island), US women's suffrage movement (1872), Erie Canal (1825)

**Famous for** Niagara Falls (half of it), the Hamptons, Cornell University, Hudson River

**Unusual river** Genesee River is one of the few rivers in the world that flows south–north, from south central New York into Lake Ontario at Rochester

**Driving distances** NYC to Albany 160 miles, NYC to Buffalo 375 miles

* * *

### Information

**New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation** ( 518-474-0456, 800-456-2267; www.nysparks.com) Camping, lodging and general info on all state parks. Reservations can be made up to nine months in advance; tent sites cost from $17.

**New York State Tourism** ( 800-225-5697; www.iloveny.com) Info, maps, travel advice available by phone.

**New York State Travel Information** (www.travelinfony.com) Weather advisories, road information and more.

**Uncork New York** ( 585-394-3620; www.newyorkwines.org) One-stop shop for statewide wine info.

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## LONG ISLAND

Private-school blazers, nightmare commutes, strip malls colonized by national chains, cookie-cutter suburbia, moneyed resorts, windswept dunes and magnificent beaches − and those accents. Long Island, a long peninsula contiguous with the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, has all of these things, which explains its somewhat complicated reputation. The site of small European whaling and fishing ports from as early as 1640, Levittown, just 25 miles east of Manhattan in Nassau County, is where builders first perfected the art of mass-producing homes. But visions of suburban dystopia aside, Long Island has wide ocean and bay beaches, important historic sites, renowned vineyards, rural regions and of course the Hamptons, in all their luxuriously sunbaked glory.

### North Shore

In Port Washington, **Sands Point Preserve** ( 516-571-7900; www.sandspointpreserve.org; 127 Middleneck Rd; admission per car $5, free Thu;  9am-4:30pm) is a wooded bayfront park with nature trails that's also home to the 1923 **Falaise** (admission $6;  tours hourly noon-3pm Thu-Sun Jun-Oct), one of the few remaining Gold Coast mansions and now a museum. East of there is the bucolic town of Oyster Bay (hometown of Billy Joel), with an even bigger claim to fame: it's home to **Sagamore Hill** ( 516-922-4788; www.nps.gov/sahi; admission $5;  10am-4pm Wed-Sun), a National Historic Site home where Theodore Roosevelt vacationed during his presidency.

### South Shore

Despite the periodic roar of over-flying jets, **Long Beach** , the closest beach to the city and most accessible by train, has a main town strip with ice-cream shops, bars and eateries, a lively surfers' scene and pale city hipsters mixing with suntanned locals.

On summer weekends the mob scene on the 6-mile stretch of pretty **Jones Beach** is a microcosm of the city's diversity, attracting surfers, wild city folk, local teens, nudists, staid families, gay and lesbian people and plenty of old-timers. The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) service to Wantagh has a bus connection to Jones Beach.

Further east, just off the southern shore, is a separate barrier island. **Fire Island** includes **Fire Island National Seashore** ( 631-289-4810; www.nps.gov) and several summer-only villages accessible by ferry from Long Island. The Fire Island Pines and Cherry Grove (both car-free) comprise a historic, gay bacchanalia that attracts men and women in droves from New York City, while villages on the west end cater to straight singles and families. There are limited places to stay, and booking in advance is strongly advised (check www.fireisland.com for accommodations information). Beach camping is allowed in **Watch Hill** ( 631-597-3109; www.watchhillfi.com; campsites $20;  early May–late Oct), though mosquitoes can be fierce and reservations are a must. At the western end of Fire Island, **Robert Moses State Park** is the only spot accessible by car. **Fire Island Ferries** ( 631-665-3600; www.fireislandferries.com) runs services to Fire Island beaches and the national seashore; the terminals are close to LIRR stations at Bayshore, Sayville and Patchogue (round trip $17, May to November).

### The Hamptons

Even the Hamptons have been affected by the 2008 market crash – real-estate offices no longer boast two-bedroom inland cottages for $5 million. But no economic downturn can detract from the sheer beauty of the beaches and what's left of the picturesque farms and woodland. Attitudes about the Hamptons are about as varied as the number of Maseratis and Land Rovers cruising the perfectly landscaped streets. If you can bury the envy, a pleasurable day of sightseeing can be had simply driving past the homes of the once and still-by-comparison extravagantly wealthy, ranging from cutting-edge modernist to faux-castle monstrosities. However, many summertime residents are partying the weekends away in much more modest group rentals and at the revolving doors of clubs. While each Hampton is not geographically far from every other, traffic can be a nightmare.

#### SOUTHAMPTON

Though the village of Southampton appears blemish-free as if it were Botoxed, it gets a face-lift at night when raucous clubgoers let their hair down. Its beaches are sweeping and gorgeous, and the **Parrish Art Museum** ( 631-283-2118; www.parrishart.org; 25 Jobs Lane; admission $7;  11am-5pm Mon & Thu-Sat, 1-5pm Sun mid-Sep–May, daily Jun–mid-Sep) is an impressive regional institution. At the edge of the village is a small Native American reservation, home to the Shinnecock Nation, which runs a tiny **museum** ( 631-287-4923; 100 Montauk Hwy; adult/child $5/3;  11am-4pm Thu-Sat, from noon Sun). For a quick and reasonable meal try **Golden Pear** ( 631-283-8900; 99 Main St; sandwiches $9;  7:30am- 5pm Fri & Sat, 7:30am-5:30pm Sun-Thu), which serves delicious soups, salads and wraps. Well-heeled revelers can down cocktails and Dom Perignon at **La Playa** (formerly Tavern;  631-251-6292; www.laplayanightclub.com; 125 Tuckahoe Rd), one of the largest spaces around.

#### BRIDGEHAMPTON & SAG HARBOR

Moving east, Bridgehampton has a more modest-looking drag, but has its fair share of trendy boutiques and fine restaurants. The modest low-slung **Enclave Inn** ( 631-537-2900; www.enclaveinnn.com; 2668 Montauk Hwy; r from $99;      ) is just a few blocks from the heart of the village; there are other branches elsewhere in the Hamptons. For stately classic luxury try the **Bridgehampton Inn** ( 631-537-3660; www.bridgehamptoninn.com; 2266 Main St; r $340-390;   ), a B&B in a traditional country house. Old-fashioned diner **Candy Kitchen** ( 646-537-9885; Main St; mains $5-12;  7am-6pm) is as un-Hamptons as you can get; there's a luncheonette counter serving filling breakfasts, burgers and sandwiches.

Seven miles north, on Peconic Bay, is the lovely old whaling town of Sag Harbor; ferries to Shelter Island leave a few miles north of here. Check out its **Whaling & Historical Museum** ( 631-725-0770; www.sagharborwhalingmuseum.org; adult/child $5/1;  10am-5pm May-Oct), or simply stroll up and down its narrow, Cape Cod−like streets. Get gourmet sustenance without going broke at **Provisions** ( 631-725-3636; cnr Bay & Division Sts; sandwiches $9;  8:30am-8pm), a natural foods market with delicious take-out wraps, burritos and sandwiches.

#### EAST HAMPTON

Don't be fooled by the oh-so-casual-looking summer attire – the sunglasses alone are probably equal to a month's rent. Steven Spielberg, Martha Stewart and Diddy all have homes here. Long-standing restaurants (by Hamptons standards) such as **Della Femina** ( 631-329-6666; 99 N Main St; dishes $20-30;  6-11pm Fri & Sat, 6-10pm Sun-Thu) draw regulars from the celebrity crowd and those trolling for sightings. Housed in the pricey Maidstone Inn is the **Living Room** ( 631-324-5440; 207 Main St; mains $30;  8-10:30am, noon-2:30pm & 5:30-10:30pm), featuring both haute design as well as haute cuisine – basically thoughtfully conceived American with a Swedish influence, and sourced from local growers when possible. Catch readings and art exhibits at **Guild Hall** ( 631-324-0806; www.guildhall.org; 158 Main St;  11am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun Apr 13–Jan 30, 11am-5pm Thu-Sat, noon-5pm Sun Jan 31–Apr 12), or have a debauched night out at **Lily Pond** (formerly Flirt;  631-619-1217; 44 Three Mile Rd, at Oak View Hwy;  10pm-4am). Nightclubs come and go with the seasons. A word to the wise: strike the phrase 'bottle service' from your vocabulary.

#### MONTAUK & AROUND

More Jersey Shore, less polo club, Montauk is the humble stepsister of the Hamptons, though its beaches are equally beautiful. There's a slew of relatively reasonable restaurants and a louder bar scene. At the very eastern, wind-whipped tip of the South Fork is **Montauk Point State Park** , with its impressive, 1796 **Montauk Point Lighthouse** ( 631-668-2544; www.montauklighthouse.com; adult/child $8/4;  10:30am-5:30pm, hours vary), the fourth oldest still-active lighthouse in the US. You can camp about 15 minutes west of here at the dune-swept **Hither Hills State Park** ( 631-668-2554; New York residents/nonresidents Mon-Fri $28/56, higher prices Sat & Sun;  Apr-Nov), right on the beach; just reserve early. Several miles to the north is the Montauk harbor, with dockside restaurants and hundreds of boats in the marinas.

You'll find a string of very basic (but beachfront) motels near the entrance to the town beach, including the **Ocean Resort Inn** ( 631-668-2300; www.oceanresortinn.com; 96 S Emerson Ave; r $105-165, ste $175-220;   ). A few miles west, just across the street from the beach, is **Sunrise Guesthouse** ( 631-668-7286; www.sunrisebnb.com; 681 Old Montauk Hwy; r $115-145;  ), a modest and comfortable B&B. Nearby is the posh **Gurney's Inn & Spa** ( 631-668-2345; www.gurneys-inn.com; 290 Old Montauk Hwy; r $200-750;      ) with fabulous ocean views.

Two great places to wind down the day with drinks and hearty, fresh seafood are the roadside restaurants **Clam Bar** ( 631-267-6348; 2025 Montauk Hwy; mains $7-14;  noon-8pm daily, weather permitting) and **Lobster Roll** ( 631-267-3740; 1980 Montauk Hwy; mains $11-22;  11:30am-9:30pm Mon-Thu & Sun May-Oct, to 10pm Fri & Sat), now in its fifth decade, both on the highway between Amagansett and Montauk. The bar and restaurant at the new **Surf Lodge** ( 631-668-3284; 183 Edgemere St;  5pm-late Wed-Mon), set on Fort Pond a half-mile north of the beach, tries to have it both ways: Bob Marley-surfer ethos with a chic vibe.

### North Fork & Shelter Island

Mainly, the North Fork is known for its unspoiled farmland and wineries – there are close to 30 vineyards, clustered mainly in the towns of Jamesport, Cutchogue and Southold – and the **Long Island Wine Council** ( 631-369-5887; www.liwines.com) provides details of the local wine trail, which runs along Rte 25 north of Peconic Bay. Try **Palmer Vineyards** ( 631-722-9463; www.palmervineyards.com; Sound Ave, Aquebogue) and **Macari Vineyards** ( 631-298-0100; www.macariwines.com; 150 Bergen Ave, Mattituck) for a tasting.

The main North Fork town and the place for ferries to Shelter Island, **Greenport** (www.greenport.com) is a bit more down-to-earth and affordable than most South Fork villages. Hunker down for some excellent seafood at one of the marina restaurants, and take a free spin on the historic waterfront carousel, the gem of **Harbor Front Park**.

Between the North and South Forks, **Shelter Island** (www.shelter-island.org), accessible by ferry from North Haven to the south and Greenport to the north, is home to a cluster of Victorian buildings and the **Mashomack Nature Preserve**. It's a great spot for hiking or kayaking (no bicycling).

Nestled on a prime piece of property surrounded by woods and fronting a small beach and the bay, **Pridwin Beach Hotel & Cottages** ( 631-749-0476; www.pridwin.com; r & cottages from $149-259;      ) on Shelter Island has standard hotel rooms as well as private water-view cottages, some renovated in high-designer style.

### Getting There & Around

The most direct driving route is along the I-495, aka the LIE (Long Island Expwy), though be sure to avoid rush hour, when it's commuter hell. Once in the Hamptons, there is one main road to the end, Montauk Hwy. The **Long Island Rail Road** (LIRR;  718-217-5477; www.mta.nyc.ny.us/lirr) serves all regions of Long Island, including the Hamptons ($20 one way, two hours 45 minutes) and North Fork (two hours 45 minutes), from Penn Station (NYC), Brooklyn and Queens. The **Hampton Jitney** ( 631-283-4600; www.hamptonjitney.com; one way Tue-Thu/Fri-Mon $26/30) and **Hampton Luxury Liner** ( 631-567-5100; www.hamptonluxuryliner.com; one way $36) bus services connect Manhattan's Upper East Side to various Hamptons villages; the former also has services to/from various spots in Brooklyn.

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## HUDSON VALLEY

Immediately north of New York City, green becomes the dominant color and the vistas of the Hudson River and the mountains breathe life into your urban-weary body. The region was home to the Hudson River School of painting in the 19th century and its history is preserved in the many grand estates and picturesque villages. The Lower Valley and Middle Valley are more populated and suburban, while the Upper Valley has a rural feel, with hills leading into the Catskills mountain region. For region-wide information, check out the **Hudson Valley Network** (www.hvnet.com).

### Lower Hudson Valley

A pristine forested wilderness with miles of hiking trails is available just 40 miles north of New York City: **Harriman State Park** ( 845-786-2701) covers 72 sq miles and offers swimming, hiking and camping; adjacent **Bear Mountain State Park** ( 845-786-2701;  8am-dusk) offers great views from its 1306ft peak, with the Manhattan skyline looming beyond the river and surrounding greenery; there's a restaurant and lodging at the inn on Hessian Lake. In both parks there are several scenic roads snaking their way past secluded lakes with gorgeous vistas.

Several magnificent homes and gardens can be found near Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, on the east side of the Hudson. **Kykuit** , one of the properties of the Rockefeller family, has an impressive array of Asian and European artwork and immaculately kept gardens with breathtaking views. **Lyndhurst** is the estate of railroad tycoon Jay Gould and **Sunnyside** is the home of author Washington Irving. Go to the **Historic Hudson Valley** (www.hudsonvalley.org) website for info on these and other historic attractions.

West of Rte 9W and 50 miles north of New York City, the **Storm King Art Center** ( 845-534-3115; www.stormkingartcenter.org; Old Pleasant Rd, Mountainville; adult/student $10/9;  10am-5:30pm Wed-Sun Apr-Nov) is a 500-acre outdoor sculpture park with rolling hills that showcases stunning avant-garde sculpture by well-known artists; a free tram gives tours of the grounds. Nearby **West Point** ( 845-938-2638;  9am-5pm), open to visitors on guided tours ( 845-446-4724; www.westpointtours.com; tours adult/child $11/8), was a strategic fort before becoming the US Military Academy in 1802. Not far from here, the large, strip mall−filled town of Newburgh is the site of **Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site** ( 845-562-1195; Liberty St, at Washington St; donations accepted;  10am-5pm Wed-Sat, from 1pm Sun, Apr-Oct), General George's longest-lasting base during the Revolutionary War; there's a museum, galleries and maps.

Across the river, near the town of Cold Spring, the **Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival** ( 845-7588; www.hvshakespeare.org) takes place between mid-June and early September, staging impressive open-air productions on a magnificent piece of property.

At Beacon, a fairly nondescript town east of Rte 9W, fashionable regulars of the international art scene stop for **Dia Beacon** ( 845-440-0100; www.diaart.org; admission $10;  11am-6pm Thu-Mon mid-Apr–mid-Oct, 11am-4pm Fri-Mon mid-Oct–mid-Apr), which features a renowned collection from 1960 to the present, and enormous sculptures and installation pieces.

### Middle & Upper Hudson Valley

On the western side of the Hudson is **New Paltz** , home of a campus of the State University of New York, natural food stores and a liberal ecofriendly vibe. In the distance behind the town the ridge of the Shawangunk (Shon-gum or just the 'Gunks') mountains rises more than 2000 feet above sea level. **Minnewaska State Park Preserve** has 12,000 acres of wild landscape, the centerpiece of which is a usually ice-cold mountain lake.

The nearby iconic **Mohonk Mountain House** ( 845-255-1000; www.mohonk.com; 1000 Mountain Rest Rd; r $320-2500;        ) looks like it's straight out of a fairy tale: a rustic castle perched magnificently over a dark lake. It's an all-inclusive resort where guests can gorge on elaborate five-course meals, stroll through gardens, hike miles of trails, canoe, swim, etc. A luxury spa center is there to work out the kinks. Nonovernight guests can visit the grounds (adult/child per day $23/18) – well worth the price of admission.

The largest town on the Hudson's east bank, **Poughkeepsie** (puh- _kip_ -see) is famous for **Vassar** , a private liberal-arts college that until 1969 only admitted women. Cheap motel chains are clustered along Rte 9, south of the Mid-Hudson Bridge, but try the **Copper Penny Inn** ( 845-452-3045; www.copperpennyinn.com; 2406 Hackensack Rd; r incl breakfast $140-230;  ), a charming and cheerful B&B set on 12 wooded acres. The **Buttermilk Inn & Spa** ( 845-795-1310; 220 North Rd; www.buttermilkfallsinn.com; r from $225;    ) is a luxurious getaway.

**Hyde Park** is chock-full of history, as it's long been associated with the Roosevelts, a prominent family since the 19th century. The **Franklin D Roosevelt Library & Museum** ( 800-337-8474; www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu; 511 Albany Post Rd/Rte 9; admission $14;  9am-6pm May-Oct, to 5pm Nov-Apr) features exhibits on the man who created the New Deal and led the USA into WWII. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's peaceful cottage, **Val-Kill** ( 877-444-6777; www.nps.gov/elro; admission $8;  9am-5pm), was her retreat from Hyde Park, FDR's mother and FDR himself. The 54-room **Vanderbilt Mansion** ( 877-444-6777; www.nps.gov/vama; Rte 9; admission $8;  9am-5pm), a national historic site 2 miles north of Hyde Park on Rte 9, is a spectacle of lavish beaux-arts and eclectic architecture.

Hyde Park's famous **Culinary Institute of America** ( 845-471-6608; www.ciachef.edu; 1964 Campus Dr) trains future chefs and can satisfy absolutely anyone's gastronomic cravings; it's home to six student-staffed eateries.

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## CATSKILLS

The introduction of fine cuisine and cute boutiques has yet to overwhelm the pastoral atmosphere and small-town charm of the Catskills. For some out-of-staters this bucolic region of undulating, forest-covered mountains and picturesque farmland is still synonymous with Borscht-belt family resorts. However, that era is long past, and after some economically tough times the Catskills, though having a lower profile than the Hamptons, have become a popular choice for sophisticated city dwellers seeking second-home getaways.

### Woodstock & Around

Shorthand for free love, free expression and the political ferment of the 1960s, world-famous **Woodstock** today still wears its counterculture tie-dye in the form of healing centers, art galleries, cafés and an eclectic mix of aging hippies and young Phish-fan types. The famous 1969 Woodstock music festival, though, actually occurred in Bethel, a town over 40 miles southwest. Overlooking Woodstock's town square, actually in front of the bus stop, is the **Village Green B &B** ( 845-679-0313; 12 Tinker St; r incl breakfast $135;   ), a three-story Victorian with comfortable rooms. Only two miles away and relatively secluded amid tranquil meadows with mountains in the background, try the **Woodstock Country Inn** ( 845-679-9380; www.woodstockcountryinn.com; 185 Cooper Lake Rd; r incl breakfast from $150-300;      ), housed in a 19th-century farmhouse; two rooms have private entrances for those who shy away from socializing. Especially popular for its breakfast omelets and eggs, **Oriole 9** ( 845-679-5763; 17 Tinker St; sandwiches $10;  8:30am-4:30pm) also does tasty sandwiches, salads and wraps.

**Saugerties** , just 7 miles east of Woodstock, is not nearly as quaint and feels comparably like the big city, but there are two highly recommended places to sleep.

 **Saugerties Lighthouse** ( 845-247-0656; www.saugertieslighthouse.com; r incl breakfast $200;  Thu-Sun, closed Feb) offers a truly romantic and unique place to lay your head. The picturesque 1869 landmark sits on a small island in the Esopus Creek, accessible by boat or more commonly by a half-mile-long trail from the parking lot. Rooms are booked far in advance but a walk to the lighthouse is highly recommended regardless. On a verdant piece of property several miles outside town on the way to Woodstock is the five-room **Villa at Saugerties** ( 845-246-0682; www.thevillaatsaugerties.com; 159 Fawn Rd; d incl breakfast $145-235;      ), rustic and country on the outside, hip and cosmopolitan on the inside.

On the eastern side of the river is **Rhinebeck** , with a bustling main street, good antique shops, inns, farms and wineries. There's also an **Aerodrome Museum** ( 845-752-3200; www.oldrhinebeck.org) and the destination bistro, worth the trip in itself, **Terrapin** ( 845-876-3330; www.terrapinrestaurant.com; 6426 Montgomery St; lunch sandwiches $7, dinner mains from $19;  11:30am-11:30pm Mon-Thu, to 12:30am Fri & Sat, to 11pm Sun). The formal dining room has more-limited hours.

Much further to the north is **Hudson** – a beautiful town with a hip, gay-friendly community of artists, writers and performers who fled the city.

Having a car is near essential in these parts. **Adirondack Trailways** ( 800-776-7548; www.trailwaysny.com) operates daily buses from NYC to Kingston (one way $24, two hours), the Catskills' gateway town, as well as to Catskills and Woodstock (one way $26.50, two hours 30 minutes). Buses leave from NYC's Port Authority. The commuter rail line **Metro-North** ( 800-638-7646; www.mta.info/mnr) makes stops through the Lower and Middle Hudson Valleys.

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## FINGER LAKES REGION

A bird's-eye view of this region of rolling hills and 11 long narrow lakes – the eponymous fingers – reveals an outdoor paradise stretching all the way from Albany to far-western New York. Of course there's boating, fishing, bicycling, hiking and cross-country skiing, but this is also the state's premier wine-growing region, with more than 65 vineyards, enough for the most discerning oenophile.

### Ithaca & Around

An idyllic home for college students and older generations of hippies who cherish elements of the traditional collegiate lifestyle – laid-back vibe, café poetry readings, art-house cinemas, green quads, good eats – Ithaca is perched above Cayuga Lake. Besides being a destination in and of itself, it is also a convenient halfway point between New York City and Niagara Falls. For tourist information, head to the **Visit Ithaca Information Center** ( 607-272-1313; www.visitithaca.com; 904 E Shore Dr;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, from 10am Sat).

Founded in 1865, **Cornell University** boasts a lovely campus, mixing traditional and contemporary architecture, and sits high on a hill overlooking the picturesque town below. The modern **Herbert F Johnson Museum of Fine Art** ( 607-255-6464; www.museum.cornell.edu; University Ave; admission free;  10am-5pm Tue-Sun) – designed by IM Pei – has a major Asian collection, plus pre-Columbian, American and European exhibits.

* * *

# SCENIC DRIVE: ROUTE 28 & AROUND

One sign you've crossed into the Catskills is that your cell-phone signal dies – another more welcome one is that unending asphalt gives way to dense greenery crowding the snaking roadway when you exit the I-87 and turn onto Rte 28. As you drive through the heart of the region, the vistas open up and the mountains (around 35 peaks are above 3500 ft) take on stunning coloring depending on the season and time of day. Esopus Creek winds its way through the area and **Ashokan Reservoir** is a nice place for a walk or drive.

 **Emerson Spa Resort** ( 877-688-2828; www.emersonresort.com; 5340 Rte 28, Mt Tremper; r from $129-519;        ) looks like nothing more than an ordinary country inn from the outside, but is truly worthy of a weekend retreat. From luxurious Asian-inspired retreats to more-ordinary rooms in the rustic-pioneer-style lodge, Emerson aims to please; the Phoenix restaurant (mains $15 to $30) is probably the best in the region. The world's largest kaleidoscope and kaleidoscope boutique, selling sculpture quality pieces, is attached, as well as a coffee/sandwich shop. Only a minute down the road is the **Lazy Meadow Motel** ( 845-688-7200; www.lazymeadow.com; 5191 Rte 28, Mt Tremper; r from $150;   ), where you can choose from retrofitted airstream trailers or more conventional rooms, all decorated with the same '50's-era nostalgia.

Only a few miles further west is the one-lane town of **Phoenicia**. It's a pleasant place to stop for a meal and a tube – **Town Tinker Tube Rental** ( 845-688-5553; www.towntinker.com; 10 Bridge St; tubes per day $12) can hook you up for repeated forays down the Esopus rapids. The refreshing water of Pine Hill Lake at nearby **Belleayre Beach** ( 845-254-5600; www.belleayre.com;  ) is the summertime place to cool off. Continuing on Rte 28 takes you past the town of Fleischmann's, where you can stop for the night at the **River Run B &B** ( 845-254-4884; www.riverrunbedandbreakfast.com; 882 Main St; r from $85-135;    ), a professionally run Victorian inn.

In nearby Arkville, you can take a scenic ride on the historic **Delaware & Ulster Rail Line** ( 845-586-3877; www.durr.org; Hwy 28; adult/child $12/7;  11am & 2pm, Sat & Sun Jun-Nov, additional trips Thu & Fri Jul-Sep;  ). In the winter, skiers should head further north, where Rtes 23 and 23A lead you to **Hunter Mountain Ski Bowl** ( 518-263-4223; www.huntermtn.com), a year-round resort with challenging runs and a 1600ft vertical drop.

From here you can carry on to the **Roxbury** ( 607-326-7200; www.theroxburymotel.com; r $100-330;   ), in the tiny village of the same name, a wonderfully creative gem of a place with luxuriously designed rooms, each inspired by a particular '60s- or '70s-era TV show; a spa is attached.

West of Roxbury is the 26-mile-long **Catskill Scenic Trail** (a good map is available at www.durr.org), a mostly flat path built on top of a former rail bed, ideal for cycling, hiking and cross-country skiing in the winter. For rougher hikes through dense forest, the **Utsayantha Trail System** intersects at several points around the town of Stamford.

* * *

The area around Ithaca is known for its waterfalls, gorges and gorgeous parks. However, downtown has its very own – **Cascadilla Gorge** – starting several blocks from Ithaca Commons and ending, after a steep and stunning vertical climb, at the Performing Arts Center of Cornell. Eight miles north on Rte 89, the spectacular **Taughannock Falls** spills 215ft into the steep gorge below; **Taughannock Falls State Park** ( 607-387-6739; www.taughannock.com; Rte 89) has two major hiking trails, craggy gorges, tent-trailer sites and cabins. **Buttermilk Falls Park** ( 607-273-5761 summer, 607-273-3440 winter; Rte 13) has a popular swimming hole at the foot of the falls, as does **Robert Treman Park** ( 607-273-3440; 105 Enfield Falls Rd), a few miles further out of town.

Dozens of wineries line the shores of Cayuga Lake, Lake Seneca and Lake Keuka. Two recommended Cayuga Lake wineries are **Goose Watch** ( 315-549-2599; www.goosewatch.com; 5480 Rte 89), which has stunning lake views, and **Thirsty Owl** ( 607-869-5805; www.thirstyowl.com; 6799 Elm Beach Rd).

Around 44 miles to the southwest is the charming town of Corning, home to Corning Glass Works and the hugely popular **Corning Museum of Glass** ( 800-732-6845; www.cmog.org; adult/child $12.50/free;  9am-5pm, to 8pm Memorial Day–Labor Day;  ). The massive complex is home to fascinating exhibits on glassmaking arts, complete with demonstrations and interactive items for kids.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

The gracious and grand **William Henry Miller Inn** ( 607-256-4553; www.millerinn.com; 303 N Aurora St, Ithaca; r incl breakfast $115-215;   ), only a few steps from the commons, is a completely restored historic home with luxuriously designed rooms – three have Jacuzzis – and a gourmet breakfast. Nearby is the also recommended **Inn on Columbia** ( 607-272-0204; www.columbiabb.com; 228 Columbia St, Ithaca; d $150;   ) which has a more modern, contemporary feel.

Ithaca has a great variety of international, gourmet and vegetarian restaurants. According to locals in the know, **Glenwood Pines** ( 607-273-3709; burgers $5;  11am-9:30pm Sun-Thu, 11am-10:30pm Fri & Sat), a modest roadside restaurant overlooking Lake Cayuga on Rte 89 four miles north of Ithaca, serves the best burger. In downtown Ithaca Commons, **Madeline's** ( 607-277-2253; 215 East State St; mains $18;  5:30-10pm Sun-Thu, 5:30-11pm Fri & Sat, 10:30am-2:30pm Sat & Sun) does Euro-Asian seasonal dishes like grilled New Zealand rack of lamb marinated with _hoisin_ , lime and ginger ($23). Nearby **Moosewood Restaurant** ( 607-273-9610; www.moosewoodrestaurant.com; 215 N Cayuga St; mains $8-18;  11:30am-3pm Mon-Sat, 5:30-8:30pm Sun-Thu, 5:30-9pm Fri & Sat;  ) is famous for its creative and constantly changing vegetarian menu and recipe books by founder Mollie Katzen.

### Seneca Falls

After being excluded from an antislavery meeting, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her friends drafted an 1848 declaration asserting that 'all men and women are created equal,' transforming this small town into the birthplace of this country's organized women's rights movement. The inspirational **Women's Rights National Historical Park** ( 315-568-0024; www.nps.gov/wori; 136 Fall St;  9am-5pm) has a small but impressive museum, as well as a visitor center offering tours of Cady Stanton's house. The surprisingly tiny **National Women's Hall of Fame** ( 315-568-8060; www.greatwomen.org; 76 Fall St; admission $3;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun May-Sep, 11am-5pm Wed-Sat Oct-Apr) honors American women such as first lady Abigail Adams, American Red Cross founder Clara Barton and civil-rights activist Rosa Parks.

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## ALBANY

Synonymous with legislative dysfunction as much as legislative power, Albany (or 'Smallbany' to jaded locals) remains a tourism backwater. It became New York State's capital in 1797 because of its geographic centrality to local colonies and its strategic importance in the fur trade. The railroad reached town in 1851 and helped solidify the city as an important transportation crossroads and manufacturing center. Albany is an architecturally diverse city, from the ostentatiously modern to the classically Victorian, but several blocks from the city center stately government buildings give way to derelict and neglected streets and a general feeling of malaise. **Lark Street** (www.larkstreet.org), north and uphill of downtown, has several restaurants and bars popular with university students when school is in session. Get information from **Albany Heritage Area Visitor Center** ( 518-434-0405; www.albany.org; 25 Quackenbush Sq;  9am-4pm Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm Sat, 11am-3pm Sun).

### Sights & Activities

The **Empire State Plaza** comprises 98 acres of land and 10 government buildings, state agencies, a modern-art sculpture display and a performing-arts center that's dubbed 'the Egg' for its oval architecture. The plaza also has the tall Corning Tower, with an **observation deck** ( 518-474-2418; Corning Tower; admission free;  10am-4pm Mon-Sat) that overlooks the city and the Hudson River from its 42nd floor; and the **New York State Museum** ( 518-474-5877; www.nysm.nysed.gov; admission by donation;  9:30am-5pm), which documents the state's political, cultural and natural history. East of the plaza, **Albany Institute of History & Art** ( 518-463-4478; www.albanyinstitute.org; 125 Washington Ave; adult/child $10/6;  10am-5pm Wed-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) houses decorative arts and works by Hudson River School painters. **Albany City Hall** ( 518-434-5284; cnr Washington Ave & State St) is also worth a visit for its grand 19th-century architecture; call ahead for tour times.

### Sleeping & Eating

There are a handful of chain hotels downtown. For more intimate and elegant accommodations, try the **Morgan State House Inn** ( 518-427-6063; www.statehouse.com; 393 State St; r incl breakfast from $135;    ). **74 State** ( 518-434-7410; www.74state.com; 74 State St; r incl breakfast from $180;   ) is a high-end boutique hotel in the heart of downtown.

To experience Albany in all its elegant and back-room-dealing clubby glory, try **Jack's Oyster House** ( 518-465-8854; 42 State St; mains $19-25;  11:30am-10pm), an almost 100-year-old family-owned restaurant serving huge porterhouse steaks and seafood dishes with a French twist. Lunchtime burgers and crab cakes are a more affordable option. A number of restaurants are located along Pearl St and Lark St; **A Taste of Greece** ( 518-426-9000; 193 Lark St; dishes $9-15;  11am-10pm Mon-Fri, 4-10pm Sat) does Hellenic standards in a simple setting.

### Drinking & Entertainment

A strip of bars and clubs on North Pearl St downtown gets hopping when workers spill out of the nearby government buildings, including the **Bayou Cafe** ( 518-426-8550; 79 N Pearl St; mains 11-$19;  11:30-1:30am Mon-Tue, to 3:30am Thu-Sat). North of here on Lark St, one of the city's best spots for a drink is **Wine Bar & Bistro** (formerly Antica, Enoteca Old World Wine Bar;  518-463-2881; 200 Lark St;  5pm-midnight Mon-Sat), a miniature maze of cozy tables with a selection of several dozen very reasonably priced wines by the glass. **Justin's** ( 518-436-7008; www.justinsonlark.com; 301 Lark St;  11am-1am) has live jazz every night of the week, as well as serving dinner and drinks.

### Getting There & Around

From the **bus terminal** (34 Hamilton St), **Adirondacks Trailways** ( 518-436-9651; www.trailwaysny.com) and **Greyhound** ( 518-436-9651; www.greyhound.com) head to/from New York City (one way $25, three hours). Amtrak stops out of New York City ($51 one way, 2½ hours), as do several major airlines flying into **Albany International Airport** (ALB;  518-242-2200; www.albanyairport.com; 737 Albany Shaker Rd) about 10 miles north from downtown. The **ShuttleFly** service leaves the airport for downtown several times each hour (from 6am to 11pm).

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## AROUND ALBANY

### Cooperstown

For sports fans, **Cooperstown** (Chamber of Commerce;  607-547-9983; www.cooperstownchamber.org), 50 miles west of Albany, is instantly recognized as the home of the shrine for the national sport (baseball). But the small-town atmosphere and stunning views of the countryside around beautiful Ostego Lake make it worth visiting even for those who don't know the difference between ERA and RBI.

The **National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum** ( 607-547-7200; 25 Main St; www.baseballhalloffame.org; adult/child $16.50/6;  9am-5pm, to 9pm summer;  ) has exhibits, a theater, library and an interactive statistical database. The old stone **Fenimore Art Museum** ( 607-547-1400; www.fenimoreartmuseum.org; 5798 Lake Rd; adult/child $11/5;  10am-4pm Tue-Sun) has an outstanding collection of Americana.

Several affordable low-slung motels line Rte 80 alongside the lake outside of town. The **Inn at Cooperstown** ( 607-547-5756; www.innatcooperstown.com; 16 Chestnut St; r incl breakfast from $100;   ) is a beautifully restored country home located just blocks from Main St. The tiny **Cooperstown Diner** ( 607-547-9201; 136½ Main St; mains $8) does burgers and comfort food. For a culinary treat try **Alex & Ika Restaurant** ( 607-547-4070; 149 Main St; mains $30;  11am-10pm Mon-Sat, to 3pm Sun); the spicy fried shrimpcake with passionfruit mascaparone can be recommended.

### Saratoga Springs

When 'taking the waters' was equivalent to a trip to the hospital, this settlement north of Albany was world famous in its heyday in the early 1800s – Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's older brother and King of Spain, took his medicine here once. Despite the continued encroachment of large-scale retail chains, Saratoga Springs' main commercial street retains something of the artsy, laid-back feel of a college town and it's rightly famous for its performing arts, horse racing and the liberal-arts Skidmore College.

The only remaining bathhouse – the first was built in 1784 – is the **Roosevelt Baths and Spa** ( 518-226-4790; 40min spa $25;  9am-7pm) in the 2300-acre **Saratoga Spa State Park** ( 518-584-2535; www.saratogaspastatepark.org; 19 Roosevelt Dr; per car $4;  sunrise-sunset). The mineral- and gas-infused waters are pumped underground from Lincoln Springs over a mile away. These days very hot tap water is added to the mix, though purists insist on going cold. Park grounds include golf courses, an Olympic-sized pool complex, multiuse trails, ice rinks and, world-famous **Saratoga Performing Arts Center** ( 518-587-3330; www.spac.org; 108 Ave of the Pines), with orchestra, jazz, pop, rock and dance performances. From late July to September, horse-racing fans flock to **Saratoga Race Course** ( 518-584-6200; www.saratogaracetrack.com), the country's oldest thoroughbred track.

In nearby Glens Falls, the remarkable Hyde Collection, housed in the **Hyde Collection Art Museum** ( 518-792-1761; www.hydecollection.org; 161 Warren St; admission free;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, noon-5pm Sun), an impressive 1912 Florentine Renaissance−style villa, includes works by Rembrandt, Degas and Matisse.

There are more campsites around Lake George further north; however, the **Rustic Barn Campground** ( 518-654-6588; www.rusticbarncampground.com; 4748 Rte 9; campsites $26-30), on a wooded property with a pond and hiking trails about 9 miles north in Corinth, is an option. There are plenty of inns and B&Bs in town; the **Batcheller Mansion Inn** ( 518-584-7012; www.batchellermansion.com; 20 Circular St; r incl breakfast $160-420;      ) is a Victorian B&B straight out of a fairy tale. Eateries line Broadway and the intimate side streets, including **Ravenous** ( 518-581-0560; 21 Phila St; mains $10;  11:30am-8pm Tue-Thu, to 9pm Fri, 10am-9pm Sat, to 3pm Sun) which serves satisfyingly sweet and savory deluxe crepes.

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## THE ADIRONDACKS

Majestic and wild, the Adirondacks, a mountain range with 42 peaks over 4000ft high, rival any of the nation's wilderness areas for sheer awe-inspiring beauty. The 9375 sq miles of park and forest preserve that climb from central New York State to the Canadian border include towns, mountains, lakes, rivers and more than 2000 miles of hiking trails. There's good trout, salmon and pike fishing, along with excellent camping spots. The Adirondack Forest Preserve covers 40% of the park, preserving the area's pristine integrity. In colonial times settlers exploited the forests for beaver fur, timber and hemlock bark, but by the 19th century 'log cabin' wilderness retreats, both in the form of hotels and grand estates, became fashionable.

### Lake George, Lake Placid & Saranac Lake

Maybe it's a blessing that the primary gateway to the Adirondacks, the village of **Lake George** (www.lakegeorgechamber.com), is a kitsch tourist town full of cotton candy, arcades and cheap souvenirs. The real reason for coming is the 32-mile-long lake itself, with its crystalline waters and forested shoreline, and once you leave the town behind the contrast is only more striking. Check out the **visitor center** ( 518-668-2846; 1 Beach Rd;  9am-5pm Oct-May, 10am-10pm Jun-Sept) for more information.

The state maintains wonderfully remote **campgrounds** ( 800-456-2267) on Lake George's islands, and one of several places for wilderness information is the **Adirondack Mountain Club** ( 518-668-4447; www.adk.org; 814 Goggins Rd). Small motels line the main street of Lake George.

It's something of a stretch to imagine this small mountain resort was once at the center of the world's attention – well, twice. In 1932 and 1980, **Lake Placid** hosted the Winter Olympics and the facilities and infrastructure remain; elite athletes still train here. Parts of the **Olympic sports centers** ( 518-523-4436; www.orda.org) are open to visitors, including ice arenas, a ski-jumping complex and a chance to **bobsled** ($75,  Wed-Sun) with a professional driver. Hotels, restaurants, bookstores and shops line the frontier-like main street in town, which actually fronts Mirror Lake. Skiers should head to nearby **Whiteface Mountain** (www.whiteface.com), with 80 trails and a serious 3400ft vertical drop.

South of Lake Placid town, **Adirondack Loj** ( 518-523-3441; www.adk.org; dm/r incl breakfast $50/155), run by the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), is a rustic retreat surrounded by mountains on the shore of peaceful Heart Lake. Wilderness campsites, lean-tos and cabins are also available.

Further north is the **Saranac Lake** region, where you'll find even more secluded wilderness areas – small lakes and ponds, ancient forests and wetlands. The town of Saranac Lake itself, once a center for tuberculosis treatments, feels a little down on its luck. However, the nearby **Porcupine Inn** ( 518-891-5160; www.theporcupine.com; 350 Park Ave; r incl breakfast $172-400;   ), housed in a classic Adirondacks-style lodge house, is run with loving care and perfection. A hike up to nearby Moody Pond and Baker Mountain affords excellent views of the area.

### Getting There & Around

Both **Greyhound** ( 800-231-2222; www.greyhound.com) and **Adirondack Trailways** ( 800-776-7548; www.trailwaysny.com) serve various towns in the region. A car is really essential for exploring the region.

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## THOUSAND ISLANDS REGION

Virtually unknown to downstate New Yorkers, in part because of its relative inaccessibility, this region of over 1800 islands – from tiny outcroppings just large enough to lie down on to larger islands with roads and towns – is a scenic wonderland separating the US from Canada. From its source in the Atlantic Ocean far to the north, the wide and deceptively fast-moving St Lawrence River East empties into Lake Ontario at Cape Vincent. This portion of the river was once a summer playground for the very rich, who built large, stately homes here. It is still a popular vacation area known for its boating, camping and even shipwreck scuba diving.

**Sackets Harbor** was the site of a major battle during the War of 1812. While it is on Lake Ontario and not technically part of the Thousand Islands, it is a convenient starting point for touring the region. The centrally located and friendly **Ontario Place Hotel** ( 315-646-8000; www.ontarioplacehotel.com; 103 General Smith Dr; d from $90;   ) has comfortable, well-kept rooms. Several inviting restaurants line the street that runs down to the harbor front with waterside patio seating.

The relaxing, French-heritage village of **Cape Vincent** is at the western end of the river where it meets the lake. Drive out to the **Tibbetts Point Lighthouse** for stunning lake views; an attractive **hostel** ( 315-654-3450; www.hihostels.com; dm/r $18/40) shares the property. Nearby **Burnham Point State Park** ( 315-654-2522; Rte 12E; campsites $25) has wooded, lakeside campsites.

**Clayton** , 15 miles to the east along the Seaway Trail (Rte 12), has more than a dozen marinas and a few good eating choices in an area generally bereft of them. **TI Adventures** ( 315-686-2500; www.tiadventures.com; 1011 State St; half-day kayak rental $30) rents kayaks and runs white-water rafting trips down the Black River. Such activities are also organized by several companies in Watertown, a sizable city half an hour's drive to the south.

The owner/chef of friendly **Bella's** ( 315-686-2341; 602 Riverside Dr, Clayton; mains $6;  7am-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm Sun Apr-Oct), does excellent breakfast and veggie and meat sandwiches. **Lyric Coffee House** ( 315-686-4700; 246 James St, Clayton;  8am-8pm Mon & Sat, to 6pm Tue-Fri, 10am-5pm Sun;  ), surprisingly modern for this town, serves specialty coffee drinks, gelato, pastries and specials such as lasagna for lunch; there's live music some Fridays and Saturdays.

Further east, **Alexandria Bay** (Alex Bay), an early-20th-century resort town, is still the center of tourism on the American side – its sister city is Gananoque in Canada. While it is run-down and tacky, there's enough around to keep you occupied: go-karts, mini-golf and a **drive-in movie theater** (www.baydrivein.com) are only minutes away. It's also the departure point for ferries to Heart Island, where **Boldt Castle** ( 800-847-5263; www.boldtcastle.com; adult/child $6.50/4;  10am-6:30pm mid-May−mid-Oct) marks the love story of a rags-to-riches New York hotelier who built the castle for his beloved wife. Sadly, she died before its completion. The same hotelier once asked his chef to create a new salad dressing, which was popularized as 'Thousand Island' – an unfortunate blend of ketchup, mayonnaise and relish. **Uncle Sam's Boat Tours** ( 800-253-9299; www.unclesamboattour.com, 45 James St; 2-nation tour adult/child $17/8.50) has several departures daily for its recommended two-nation cruise (visiting both the US and Canadian sides of the river), which allows you to stop at Boldt Castle and ride back on one of its half-hourly ferries for free.

 **Wellesley Island State Park** ( 518-482-2722; www.nysparks.com; campsites from $15) offers camping, which is probably the best accommodations option even for the raccoon-averse. Many sites are almost directly on the riverfront and some have their own 'private' beaches. The island is only accessible by crossing a toll portion ($2.50) of the Thousand Islands Bridge. There is a small convenience store/diner on the way to the campgrounds, but your best bet is to stock up on supplies at one of the large grocery stores in Alex Bay or Clayton.

There are several supposedly upscale resorts around Alex Bay, though none is especially good value. Probably the best midrange choice is **Capt Thomson's Resort** ( 315-482-9961; www.captthomsons.com; 45 James St; d from $80;      ) on the waterfront next to the office for Uncle Sam's Boat Tours.

Ogdensburg, 37 miles north of Alex Bay, is the birthplace of Frederic Remington (1861−1909), an artist who romanticized the American West in paintings and sculpture. The **Frederic Remington Art Museum** ( 315-393-2425; www.fredericremington.org; 303 Washington St; admission $8;  11am-5pm Wed-Sat, 1pm-5pm Sun) has some of his sculptures, paintings and personal effects.

**Jet Blue** ( 800-538-2583; www.jetblue.com) has regular daily flights to Hancock International Airport (SYR) in Syracuse, an hour and a half south. Several major car-rental agencies have offices in the airport. Bicyclists will enjoy the mostly flat Scenic Byway Trail.

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## WESTERN NEW YORK

Still trying to find their feet after hemorrhaging industries and population for over a decade, most of the cities in this region live in the shadow of Niagara Falls, a natural wonder that attracts upward of 12 million visitors from around the world per year. Buffalo was once a booming industrial center and the terminus of the Erie Canal, which used to serve as the transportation lifeline connecting the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean; it now boasts an indigenous culinary scene and bohemian enclaves. Syracuse and Rochester are both home to big universities; the latter is worth a visit for the **George Eastman House and International Museum of Photography & Film** ( 585-271-3361; www.eastmanhouse.org; 900 East Ave, Rochester; adult/child/student $10/4/6;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, to 8pm Thu, 1-5pm Sun).

### Niagara Falls

It's a tale of two cities and two falls, though either side of this international border affords views of an undeniably dramatic natural wonder. There are honeymooners and heart-shaped Jacuzzis, arcades, tacky shops and kitsch boardwalk-like sights, but as long as your attention is focused nothing can detract from the majestic sight. The closer to the falls you get the more impressive they seem and the wetter you become. For good reason, the Canadian side is where almost everyone visits, though it's easy to stroll back and forth between the two (Click here).

#### ORIENTATION & INFORMATION

The falls are in two separate towns: Niagara Falls, New York (USA) and Niagara Falls, Ontario (Canada). The towns face each other across the Niagara River, spanned by the Rainbow Bridge, which is accessible for cars and pedestrians.

On the US side, the **Niagara Falls Convention & Visitors Bureau** ( 800-338-7890; www.nfcvb.com; cnr 4th & Niagara Sts;  8:30am-5pm) has all sorts of guides; its more helpful Canadian counterpart is located near the base of the **Skylon Tower** ( 905-356-6061; www.niagarafallstourism.com; 5400 Robinson St;  9am-5pm).

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

You can see side views of the **American Falls** and their western portion, the **Bridal Veil Falls** , which drops 180ft, by simply walking across the pedestrian bridge from Canada. Take the **Prospect Point Observation Tower** ( 716-278-1796; admission $1, free from 5pm;  9:30am-7pm) elevator up for a vista. Cross the bridge to **Goat Island** for other viewpoints, including Terrapin Point, which has a fine view of Horseshoe Falls and pedestrian bridges to the Three Sisters Islands in the upper rapids. From the north corner of Goat Island, an elevator descends to the **Cave of the Winds** ( 716-278-1730; adult/child $11/8), where walkways go within 25ft of the cataracts (raincoats provided). The **Maid of the Mist** ( 716-284-8897; www.maidofthemist.com; tours adult/child $13.50/8;  9am-7pm Apr-Sep, to 5pm Oct;  ) boat trip around the bottom of the falls has been a major attraction since 1846 and is highly recommended. Boats leave every 15 minutes from the base of the Prospect Park Observation Tower on the US side and from the bottom of Clifton Hill on the Canadian side.

For those seeking more of an adrenaline rush, check out **Niagara Helicopters** ( 905-357-5672; niagarahelicopters.com; 3731 Victoria Ave; 12min $105) and **Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours** ( 888-438-4444; www.whirlpooljet.com; 1 hr adult/child $50/42).

* * *

# BORDER CROSSING: CANADIAN NIAGARA FALLS

When people say they are visiting the falls they usually mean the Canadian side, which is naturally blessed with a far superior view. Canada's **Horseshoe Falls** are wider and especially photogenic from Queen Victoria Park; at night they're illuminated with a colored light show. The **Journey Behind the Falls** (adult/child US$11/6.50;  9am-8:30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-11pm Sat & Sun Jun-Sep, 9am-8pm daily Sep & Oct, 9am-7pm daily Nov & Dec, 9am-5:30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-7:30pm Sat & Sun Jan-May) gives access to a spray-soaked viewing area beneath the falls.

**Casino Niagara** ( 905-374-3598; www.casinoniagara.com; 5705 Falls Ave) pales in comparison to upscale **Fallsview Casino Resort** ( 888-325-5788; www.fallsviewcasinoresort.com; 6380 Fallsview Blvd), which has a mall of expensive shops and restaurants. Niagara on the Lake, 15km to the north, is a small town full of elegant B&Bs and a famous summertime theater festival.

Virtually every major hotel chain has at least several locations on the Canadian side of the falls. Backpackers can head to the somewhat messy **HI Niagara Falls Hostel** ( 905-357-0770; www.hostellingniagara.com; 4549 Cataract Ave; dm/r US$18/34;   ). Newly renovated **Skyline Inn** ( 800-263-7135; Falls Ave; r from US$60;      ) is a good choice if you're seeking a budget place away from the noise. River Rd is lined with B&Bs but **Chestnut Inn** ( 905-374-7623; www.chestnutinnbb.com; 4983 River Rd; r from US$90;  ), a tastefully decorated colonial home with a wrap-around porch, stands above the rest. Parents looking to keep the kids occupied should head immediately to the **Great Wolf Lodge** ( 800-605-9653; www.greatwolf.com; 3950 Victoria Ave; ste from US$229;        ), whose centerpiece is an enormous indoor water park.

Obvious tourist-trap restaurants are a dime a dozen in and around Clifton Hill. American fare and chains dominate the culinary scene. The Lundy's Lane area has tons of cheap eats.

* * *

#### SLEEPING & EATING

There's virtually no reason to spend the night on the US side of the falls. The purple glass−covered Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel towers over the surrounding derelict blocks. Some of the hotel chains are represented – Ramada Inn, Howard Johnson, Holiday Inn – but unless you're a fugitive on the run, cross the border to Canada. There are a few restaurants near the bridge area, including several Indian takeaway places. See the boxed text, above for lodging and dining information.

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

From the **NFTA Terminal** (Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority; www.nfta.com; Portage Rd, btwn Main & Pine Sts) around one mile east of the Rainbow Bridge (a dodgy area, especially at night), bus 40 goes to Buffalo ($2.65, one hour) for air and bus connections; and there is an extensive local bus service. The **Amtrak train station** ( 716-285-4224) is about 2 miles northeast of downtown. From Niagara Falls, daily trains go to Buffalo ($11, 35 minutes), Toronto, $30, three hours) and New York City ($80, nine hours). The **Greyhound & Trailways terminal** ( 905-357-2133; 4555 Erie Ave) is on the Canadian side.

Parking costs $5 to $10 a day on either side of the falls. Most of the midrange hotels offer complimentary parking to guests, while upscale hotels tend to charge $10 to $20 a day for the privilege.

Crossing the Rainbow Bridge to Canada and return costs US$3.25/1 for cars/pedestrians. There are customs and immigration stations at each end – US citizens are now required to have their passport available (Click here). Driving a rental car from the US over the border should not be a problem (Click here and Click here) but check with your rental company before you depart.

### Buffalo

This undeservedly maligned working-class city does have long, cold winters and its fair share of abandoned industrial buildings, but Buffalo (population 276,000) also has a vibrant community of college students and 30-somethings living well in cheap real estate and gorging on this city's unique and tasty cuisine. Native local hero Ani DiFranco, who has chosen her hometown as the place to base her indie music label, is at the vanguard of a continuing effort to revitalize this former booming terminus of the Erie Canal. Settled by the French in 1758 – its name is believed to derive from _beau fleuve_ (beautiful river) – and just an hour south of Niagara Falls, Buffalo is about an eight-hour trip from New York City.

The helpful **Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau** ( 716-852-2356; www.buffalocvb.org; 617 Main St;  10am-4pm Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat) has good walking-tour pamphlets and a great website.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

Architecture buffs will have a field day here, starting at the **Prudential Building** (28 Church St). It was designed by Louis Sullivan in 1895 as the Guaranty Building, and used an innovative steel-frame construction to create the first modern skyscraper. Be sure to glimpse the stunning art-deco **City Hall** (65 Niagara Sq), built in 1931, and the neo-Gothic **Old Post Office** (121 Ellicot St) from 1894. The **M &T Bank** (545 Main St) is topped with a gilded dome of 140,000 paper-thin sheets of 23.75-karat gold leaf. Six **Frank Lloyd Wright houses** are a highlight; the 1904 **Darwin Martin House** ( 716-856-3858; 125 Jewett Pkwy; tours $15-40) and neighboring **Barton House** (118 Summit Ave) are accessible by appointment. For details about local architecture check out www.walkbuffalo.com.

North of downtown, sprawling Delaware Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Its jewel is the **Albright-Knox Art Gallery** ( 716-882-8700; www.albrightknox.org; 1285 Elmwood Ave; admission $12, free 3-10pm Fri;  10am-5pm Wed-Thu, Sat & Sun, to 10pm Fri), a sizable museum including some of the best French Impressionists and American masters. Directly across the street is the newest addition to the city's art scene, the **Burchfield Penney** ( 716-878-6011; www.yournewburchfieldpenney.com; 1300 Elmwood Ave; admission $7;  10am-5pm Tue, Wed & Fri, to 9pm Thu, 1pm-5pm Sun), exhibiting works, mostly American, from the late 19th century to contemporary. Buffalo also has good science, history and children's museums and a fine zoo. The **Elmwood** neighborhood, stretching along Elmwood Ave between Allen St and Delaware Park, is dotted with hip cafés, restaurants, boutiques and bookstores. Hertle Ave in North Buffalo also has several good restaurants and cafés.

Guided tours of the **Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site** ( 716-884-0095; www.nps.gov/thri; 641 Delaware Ave; adult/child $10/5;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, noon-5pm Sat & Sun) in the Ansley-Wilcox house examine the tale of Teddy's emergency swearing-in here following the assassination of William McKinley in 1901.

This is a hard-core sports town and locals live and die with the **NFL Buffalo Bills** ( 716-648-1800; www.buffalobills.com) football team and the **Buffalo Sabres** ( 716-855-4100; www.sabres.com), the city's NHL ice-hockey team. A lower-key but no less recommended option to rub elbow's with local sports fanatics is to catch the **Buffalo Bisons** ( 716-846-2000; www.bisons.com), the AAA affiliate of the major-league baseball team, the New York Mets, in their trendy-traditional downtown ballpark.

#### SLEEPING

Standard chains line the highways around the city. Budget travelers can sleep at the **Hostelling International – Buffalo Niagara** ( 716-852-5222; www.hostelbuffalo.com; 667 Main St; dm/r $25/60;    ). The **Beau Fleuve** ( 800-278-0245; www.beaufleuve.com; 242 Linwood Ave; r $115-165;  ) is a historic B&B in the Linwood neighborhood. Downtown has the **Adam's Mark Hotel** ( 716-845-5100; www.adamsmark.com; 120 Church St; r from $100;      ), the Hyatt Regency and Holiday Inn. For truly luxurious accommodations and flawless service, head to the very special and grand **Mansion on Delaware Avenue** ( 716-886-3300; www.mansionondelaware.com; 414 Delaware Ave; r incl breakfast from $175;   ).

#### EATING

Inspired by the ambitions of a Bill Murray character in an obscure movie, every Labor Day weekend Buffalo celebrates its **National Buffalo Wing Festival** (www.buffalowing.com). Organizers brag that since 2002 nearly two tons of wings have been consumed. One of the largest outdoor markets in the region is the **Elmwood-Bidwell Farmers Market** (Bidwell Ave, at Elmwood Ave; www.elmwoodmarket.org;  8am-1pm Sat mid-May–mid-Dec), open only to local growers of the freshest produce.

Buffalo is curiously blessed with an abundance of eateries serving unique, tasty and cheap dishes. For the famous deep-fried chicken wings covered in a spicy sauce, head to the landmark **Anchor Bar** ( 716-886-8920; 1047 Main St; 10 wings $9;  10am-11pm Mon-Thu, 10am-1am Fri & Sat;  ), which claims credit for inventing the 'delicacy.' Locals in the know say **Duff's** ( 716-834-6234; 3651 Sheridan Dr, Amherst; 10 wings $8;  11am-11pm) wings are tastier. **Bob & John's** ( 716-836-5411; 1545 Hertel Ave; sandwiches $5, 10 wings $8;  11am-11pm) serves beef-on-weck (sliced roast beef on a crispy German kaiser roll sprinkled with caraway seeds), buffalo wings and, according to some, the best pizza in Buffalo. **Ted's** ( 716-834-6287; Sheridan Ave; hot dog $2;  10:30am-11pm Mon-Sun) fast-food specialty is hot dogs, foot-longs, any way you like 'em.

In business for 85 years, **Chef's** ( 716-856-9187; 291 Seneca St; mains 7-$17;  11am-9pm Mon-Sat) is a Buffalo landmark doling out classic red-sauce Italian dishes. For slightly more upscale eats try **Betty's** ( 716-362-0633; 370 Virginia St; mains $12;  8am-9pm Tue, 8am-10pm Wed-Fri, 9am-10pm Sat, 9am-3pm Sun). In the neighborhood of Allentown, Betty's does interpretations of American comfort food. **Left Bank** ( 716-882-3509; 511 Rhode Island St; mains $10-19;  5-11pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat, 11am-10pm Sun), housed in an attractive 100-year-old building, is an atmospheric restaurant serving large portions of homemade ravioli, grilled meat and good wine.

#### DRINKING & ENTERTAINMENT

Bars along Chippewa St (aka Chip Strip) are open until 4am and cater primarily to the frat-boy crowd. More eclectic neighborhoods such as Elmwood, Linwood and Allentown have more than their fair share of late-night options. From late May through July a **summer concert series** ( 716-856-3150; www.buffaloplace.com) draws an eclectic mix of new and established artists to outdoor spaces in downtown.

**Nietzches** ( 716-886-8539; 248 Allen St) is a legendary dive-bar with live music, and a few storefronts down is **Allen Street Hardware Cafe** ( 716-882-8843; 245 Allen St), where the best local musicians play to regularly packed houses. Several gay bars are clustered around the south end of Elmwood, including **Fugazi** ( 716-881-3588; 503 Franklin St;  5pm-2am Mon-Thu, 8pm-2am Fri & Sat, 8pm-midnight Sun), which specializes in flavored martinis.

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

**Buffalo Niagara International Airport** (BUF;  716-630-6000; www.buffaloairport.com), about 16 miles east of downtown, is a regional hub. Jet Blue Airways has inexpensive round-trip fares from New York City (one hour, from around $140). Buses arrive and depart from the **Greyhound terminal** ( 716-855-7533; 181 Ellicott St). **NFTA** ( 716-855-7211; www.nfta.com) local bus 40 goes to the transit center on the American side of Niagara Falls ($2.65, one hour). From the downtown **Amtrak train station** ( 716-856-2075; 75 Exchange St), you can catch trains to major cities (to NYC is $55, eight hours; to Albany $43, six hours; to Syracuse $24, 2½ hours). The Exchange Street station can feel dodgy, especially at night; locals recommend the Buffalo-Depew station (55 Dick Rd), 6 miles east.

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# NEW JERSEY

There are McMansions, à la the _Real Housewives_ of New Jersey (NJ), and guys who speak with thick Jersey accents like characters from a TV crime drama. And the areas around the turnpike and harbors near NYC are dystopic landscapes of decaying industry. However, nearby are plenty of high-tech and banking headquarters and sophisticated, progressive people living in charming towns. Unfortunately, political scandals have become at least as synonymous with the state as its beautiful shoreline. Get off the exits, flee the malls and you are privy to a beautiful side of the state: a quarter is farmland and it has 127 miles of beaches, as well, of course, as two of New York City's greatest icons: the statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

### Information

**Asbury Park Press** (www.app.com)

**Jersey Journal** (www.nj.com/jjournal)

**Newark Star-Ledger** (www.nj.com/starledger)

**NJ.com** (www.nj.com) Statewide news from all the major dailies.

**State of New Jersey Division of Travel & Tourism** ( 609-777-0885; www.visitnj.org) Statewide tips on sights, accommodations and festivals.

Though NJ is made up of folks who love their cars, there are other transportation options:

**New Jersey PATH train** (Click here) Goes to northern New Jersey.

**New Jersey Transit** (www.njtransit.com) Operates buses out of NYC's Port Authority and trains out of Penn Station, NYC.

**New York Waterway** ( 800-533-3779; www.nywaterway.com) Ferries to northern New Jersey.

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## NORTHERN NEW JERSEY

Stay east and you'll experience the Jersey urban jungle. Go west to find its opposite: the peaceful, refreshing landscape of the Delaware Water Gap and rolling Kittatinny Mountains.

### Hoboken & Jersey City

A sort of television-land version of a cityscape, Hoboken is a cute little urban pocket just across the Hudson River from New York City – and, because of cheaper rents that lured pioneers over at least a decade ago, a sort of sixth city borough, too. It's no longer a cheapo destination – a slick W Hotel opened here in 2008 – but it's still a fun place for a brief jaunt. On weekends the bars and live-music venues come alive – especially the legendary **Maxwell's** ( 201-653-1703; www.maxwellsnj.com; 1039 Washington St), which has featured up-and-coming rock bands since 1978. But the town also has some lovely residential streets and a leafy, revitalized waterfront – a far cry from when the gritty _On the Waterfront_ was filmed here. The **Hoboken Historical Museum** ( 201-656-2240; www.hobokenmuseum.org; 1301 Hudson St; admission free;  2-7pm Tue-Thu, 1-5pm Fri, noon-5pm Sat & Sun) gives a great overview.

* * *

# NEW JERSEY FACTS

**Nickname** Garden State

**Population** 8.7 million

**Area** 8722 sq miles

**Capital city** Trenton (population 83,000)

**Other cities** Newark (population 281,000)

**Sales tax** 7%

**Birthplace of** Musician Count Basie (1904−84), singer Frank Sinatra (1915−98), actor Meryl Streep (b 1949), musician Bruce Springsteen (b 1949), actor John Travolta (b 1954), musician Jon Bon Jovi (b 1962), rapper Queen Latifah (b 1970), pop band Jonas Brothers: Kevin (b 1987), Joseph (b 1989), Nicolas (b 1992)

**Home of** The first movie (1889), first professional baseball game (1896), first drive-in theater (1933), the Statue of Liberty

**Famous for** The Jersey Shore, the setting for _The Sopranos,_ Bruce Springsteen's musical beginnings

**Number of White Castle fast-food restaurants** 76

**Driving distances** Newark to NYC 11 miles, Atlantic City to NYC 135 miles

* * *

High-rise buildings housing condominiums and the offices of financial firms seeking lower rents have transformed **Jersey City** (www.destinationjerseycity.com) for better or worse from a primarily blue-collar and immigrant neighborhood into a 'restored' area for the upwardly mobile. Its biggest draw is the 1200-acre **Liberty State Park** ( 201-915-3440; www.libertystatepark.org;  6am-10pm), which hosts outdoor concerts with the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop and has a great bike trail, and also operates **ferries** ( 877-523-9849; www.statuecruises.com) to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty (Click here). Also in the park is the expansive and modern **Liberty Science Center** ( 201-200-1000; www.lsc.org; adult/child $11.50, extra for IMAX & special exhibits;  9am-5pm;  ), which is especially great for kids.

### Newark & Around

Though many NYC-bound travelers fly into Newark International Airport (Click here), few stick around to see the city they've landed in. Too bad, since **Newark** (population 281,000, www.gonewark.com) – long mired in images of the 1960s race riots that made it off-limits to many for so long – has been in the midst of a renaissance for years now, even more so since its young, high-profile and ambitious mayor, Cory Booker, took office in 2006. Only the city's third mayor since 1970 (Sharpe James, who defeated Booker in 2002 and was convicted of fraud in 2008, was in office for 20 years), Booker has struggled to reduce crime and endemic corruption, all the while dealing with dwindling finances.

Many are drawn here to experience the thriving Portuguese culture of the **Ironbound District** ; its restaurant-lined Ferry St lies right outside the city's neoclassic **Penn Station** (accessible from NYC's same-named station via NJ Transit). Also not far from here is the **Newark Museum** ( 973-596-6550; www.newarkmuseum.org; 49 Washington St; suggested donation $10;  noon-5pm Wed-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun Oct-Jun, noon-5pm Sat & Sun Jul-Sep), which has a renowned Tibetan Collection and hosts the annual Newark Black Film Festival in June. The **New Jersey Performing Arts Center** ( 973-642-8989; www.njpac.org; 1 Center St) is the city's crowning jewel, hosting national orchestras, operas, dance, jazz and other performances. The **Prudential Center** (www.prucenter.com) has become the focal point for sports, home to the New Jersey Devils hockey team, plus basketball games and concerts.

Other attractions include the grand **Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Hearts** ( 973-484-4600; www.cathedralbasilica.org; 89 Ridge St) and the 400-acre Frederick Law Olmstead–designed **Branch Brook Park** , with some 2700 cherry trees that blossom in April.

### Delaware Water Gap

The Delaware River meanders in a tight S-curve through the ridge of NJ's Kittatinny Mountains, and its beauteous image turned this region into a resort area beginning in the 19th century. The **Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area** ( 570-426-2452; www.nps|.gov/dewa), which comprises land in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, was established as a protected area in 1965, and today it's still an unspoiled place to swim, boat, fish, camp, hike and see wildlife − just 70 miles east of New York City. For more information about rafting the river and on combining a trip here with other nearby regions Click here and Click here.

The 3348-acre **Kittatinny Valley State Park** ( 973-786-6445; www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests) is home to lakes with boat launches, lime outcroppings and campsites, plus former railroads that have been converted into hiking and cycling trails. **High Point State Park** ( 973-875-4800), also great for camping and hiking, has a monument which, at 1803ft above sea level, affords wonderful views of surrounding lakes, hills and farmland.

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## CENTRAL NEW JERSEY

Otherwise known as the armpit (only for how it looks on a map, of course), this region is home to the state capital, Trenton, and a string of beautiful, wealthy communities including Princeton, at the eastern border of Pennsylvania.

### Princeton & Around

Settled by an English Quaker missionary, the tiny town of **Princeton** (www.visitprinceton.org) is filled with lovely architecture and several noteworthy sites, number one of which is its Ivy League **Princeton University** (www.princeton.edu), which was built in the mid-1700s and soon became one of the largest structures in the early colonies. The town's **Palmer Square** , built in 1936, is a lovely place to shop and stroll. The **Historical Society of Princeton** ( 609-921-6748; www.princetonhistory.org; 158 Nassau St; tours adult/child $7/4) leads historical walking tours of the town on Sundays at 2pm, and the **Orange Key Guide Service & Campus Information Office** ( 609-258-3060; www.princeton.edu/orangekey) offers free university tours.

Accommodations are expensive and hard to find during graduation time in May and June, but beyond that it should be easy to arrange for a stay at one of several atmospheric inns, including the traditionally furnished **Nassau Inn** ( 609-921-7500; www.nassauinn.com; 10 Palmer Sq; r incl breakfast from $169;    ) and the **Inn at Glencairn** ( 609-497-1737; www.innatglencairn.com; 3301 Lawrenceville Rd; r incl breakfast from $195;   ), a renovated Georgian manor with old-world style and modern amenities.

### Trenton

It may not be the most beautiful place, but New Jersey's capital, **Trenton** (www.trentonnj.com) has several historic sites worth stopping in on – especially if you can pair it up with a trip to Philly (Click here) or Atlantic City (Click here).

You can tour the grand **New Jersey Statehouse** ( 609-633-2709; 125 West State St; admission free;  10am-3pm Mon-Fri, from noon Sat) and visit the **Old Barracks Museum** ( 609-396-1776; www.barracks.org; Barrack St; adult/child $8/6;  10am-5pm), built in 1758 and now the state's last remaining barracks from the French and Indian War. The **New Jersey State Museum** ( 609-292-6464; www.state.nj.us/state/museum; 205 W State St; admission free;  9am-5pm Tue-Sat, noon-5pm Sun), with a planetarium, is home to diverse collections from fossils to fine art. The massive **Trenton Farmers Market** ( 609-695-2998; www.thetrentonfarmersmarket.com; 960 Spruce St;  9am-6pm Tue-Sat, 10am-4pm Sun May-Oct, 9am-6pm Thu-Sat Nov-Apr) has vendors hawking fresh produce, baked goods and crafts.

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## JERSEY SHORE

Perhaps the most famous and revered feature of New Jersey is its sparkling shore, stretching from Sandy Hook to Cape May and studded with resort towns from tacky to classy. Though it's mobbed during summer weekends, you could find yourself wonderfully alone on the sand come early fall.

### Sandy Hook & Red Bank

At the northernmost tip of the Jersey Shore is the **Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area** ( 732-872-5970; www.nps.gov/gate; parking per car $10 7am-4pm Memorial Day–Labor Day;  sunrise-sunset), a 6-mile-long sandy barrier beach at the entrance to New York Harbor (and you can see the city skyline from your beach blanket on clear days). The ocean side of the peninsula has wide, sandy beaches (including a nude area at Gunnison Beach) edged by an extensive system of bike trails, while the bay side is great for fishing or wading. The brick buildings of the abandoned coastguard station, **Fort Hancock** ( 1-5pm Sat & Sun) houses a small museum. The **Sandy Hook Lighthouse** , which offers guided tours, is the oldest in the country.

The town next door, the **Highlands** , has seafood restaurants on the water, offering a great end to your day before hopping on the **Seastreak** ( 800-262-8743; www.seastreak.com), a fast ferry service that runs between here and NYC (round trip $40, one hour). It's also home to the **Twin Lights Historic Site** ( 732-872-1814; www.twin-lights.org; admission free;  10am-4:30pm daily late May–early Sep, 10am-4:30pm Wed-Sun early Sep–late May) and a swank hotel, the **Blue Bay Inn** ( 732-708-7600; www.bluebayinn.com; 51 First Ave; r $159-299;    ).

About 10 miles inland is the artsy town of **Red Bank** , with a hoppin' main strip of hipster shops, galleries and cafés, plus a sizable Mexican population (and plenty of authentic Mexican-food eateries, New Jersey Transit stops here.

### Asbury Park & Ocean Grove

Asbury Park experienced passing prominence in the 1970s when Bruce Springsteen 'arrived' at the **Stone Pony** ( 732-502-0600; 913 Ocean Ave) nightclub, which is still offering live music. After that, the town went through a major decline, followed by a still-in-progress comeback – led by wealthy gay men from NYC who snapped up blocks of forgotten Victorian homes and storefronts to refurbish. Though the place still has an unfinished quality to it (and rough pockets that should be avoided), there's still plenty to enjoy (especially if you're a gay man). The sprawling **Antique Emporium of Asbury Park** ( 732-774-8230; 646 Cookman Ave;  11am-5pm Mon-Sat & noon-5pm Sun) has two levels of amazing finds, while trendy **Restaurant Plan B** ( 732-807-4710; 705 Cookman Ave; mains $10-25;  4:30-9pm Tue-Thu & Sun, to 10pm Fri, to 11pm Sat) serves excellent weekend brunch. **Moonstruck** ( 732-988-0123; 517 Lake Ave; mains $15-32;  4-9pm Wed, Thu & Sun, to 11pm Fri & Sat), housed in a striking Victorian building, does eclectic Italian fare. The boardwalk is a lovely place for an afternoon stroll.

The town immediately to the south, **Ocean Grove** , is a fascinating place to wander. Founded by Methodists in the 19th century, the place retains what's left of a post–Civil War **Tent City** revival camp – now a historic site with 114 cottage-like canvas tents clustered together that are used for summer homes. The town has well-preserved Victorian architecture and a 6500-seat wooden auditorium, and there are many beautiful, big-porched **Victorian inns** to choose from for a stay; visit www.oceangrovenj.com for guidance.

### Monmouth County Beaches

In between Sandy Hook and Asbury Park sits the town of **Long Branch**. Though its elegance is gone, a mall-like food-and-shopping complex by the ocean called **Pier Village** (www.piervillage.com) packs 'em in for everything from Greek dinners to swimwear shopping. Just a bit inland from here is the famed **Monmouth Park Race Track** ( 732-222-5100; www.monmouthpark.com; grandstand/clubhouse $3/5;  11:30am-6pm May-Aug), where you can see thoroughbred racing in a gracious, historic setting.

**Belmar** (www.belmar.com) has beautiful beaches, a spirited boardwalk with some arcade games, and beachfront food shacks that can get mobbed when the bars close at 2am. **Bradley Beach** (www.bradleybeachonline.com), next door, is Belmar's quiet, peaceful sister with row after row of adorable summer cottages and a beautiful stretch of shore. **Spring Lake** (www.springlake.org) is a classy community once known as the 'Irish Riviera,' with lush gardens, Victorian houses, gorgeous beaches and elegant accommodations, including the bright and airy **Grand Victorian at Spring Lake** ( 449-5327; www.grandvictorianspringlake.com; 1505 Ocean Ave; r from $79;   ) and the more traditionally furnished **Chateau Inn and Suites** ( 732-974-2000; www.chateauinn.com; 500 Warren Ave; r incl breakfast $119-329;    ).

### Ocean County Beaches

Kids will love nearby **Point Pleasant** (www.pointpleasantbeach.com), home to **Jenkinson's Boardwalk** ( 732-892-0600; www.jenkinsons.com) with an aquarium, rides, arcade games, funhouse, miniature golf and dining options.

Just below there, the narrow **Barnegat Peninsula** barrier island extends some 22 miles south from Point Pleasant. In its center, **Seaside Heights** (www.seasideheights.net) sucks in the raucous 20-something summer crowds with beaches, boardwalks, bars, nightclubs, arcades, two amusement piers and motel crash pads. Occupying the southern third of Barnegat Peninsula is **Island Beach State Park** ( 732-793-0506; www.islandbeachnj.org; per car weekday/weekend $6/10), a 10-mile barrier island that's pure, untouched dunes and wetlands. **Long Beach Island** (www.longbeachisland.com) is south of here, with beautiful beaches balanced by a string of summer homes, eateries and bars. The latest overnight hot spot is **Daddy O** ( 609-361-5100; www.daddyohotel.com; 4401 Long Beach Blvd; r $195-375;   ), a sleek boutique hotel and restaurant (mains $12 to $35) near the ocean.

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## SOUTH JERSEY

A mixture of kitsch and country, the state's southern region – closely identified with neighboring Philadelphia in Pennsylvania – represents the best of New Jersey's extremes.

### Pine Barrens

Locals call this region the Pinelands – and like to carry on the lore about the one million acres of pine forest being home to a mythical beast known as the 'Jersey Devil.' Containing several state parks and forests, the area is a haven for bird-watchers, hikers, campers, canoeists and all-round nature enthusiasts. A good outfitter is **Pine Barrens Canoe Rental** ( 609-726-1515; www.pinebarrenscanoe.com; 3107 Rte 563; per day kayak $37, canoe $48), which has maps and other details about all trips in the area. **Wharton State Forest** ( 609-561-0024) is one of the good places to canoe – as well as hike and picnic – and the 40,000-acre **Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge** ( 609-652-1665; www.forsythe.fws.gov.gov) is paradise for bird-watchers.

Nestled within the Pine Barrens region is the quirky **Historic Village at Allaire** ( 732-919-3500; www.allairevillage.org; adult/child $3/2;  noon-4pm Wed-Sun late May–early Sep, noon-4pm Sat & Sun Nov-May), the remains of what was a thriving 19th-century village called Howell Works. You can still visit various 'shops,' all run by folks in period costume.

### Atlantic City

If you pause and look past the blinging lights and white noise of clanking quarters you'll see busloads of retirees making a beeline for the slots. Inside the casinos that never see the light of day, it's easy to forget there's a wide white-sand beach just outside and boarded-up shop windows a few blocks in the other direction. Since 1977 when the state approved gambling casinos in the hope of revitalizing this fading resort, known throughout the late 19th and early 20th century for its grand boardwalk and oceanside amusement pier, 'AC,' as locals call, it has been on a bumpy ride. New hotel-casinos like the massive Borgata, which has brought glitz and glamour, can seem like harbingers of a real recovery. A slew of nightclubs; the **Pier at Caesars** (www.thepiershopsatcaesars.com), a spiffy shopping mall jutting out into the Atlantic; a trendy boutique hotel; and an express train service from NYC have followed. The developer and TV personality Donald Trump has put his stamp on the city in the form of some of the more ostentatiously designed buildings. If gambling isn't your thing, the boardwalk offers up an all-star roster of summer indulgence, from funnel cakes to go-karts to cheesy gift shops.

#### ORIENTATION & INFORMATION

The **Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Bureau** ( 609-348-7100; www.atlanticcitynj.com; 2314 Pacific Ave;  9am-5pm), under the giant tipi in the middle of the Atlantic City Expwy, with another location right on the boardwalk at Mississippi Ave, can provide you with maps and accommodations deals. **Atlantic City Weekly** (www.acweekly.com) has useful info on events, clubs and eateries. The small **Atlantic City Historical Museum** ( 609-347-5839; www.acmuseum.org; cnr Boardwalk & New Jersey Aves; admission free;  10am-4pm) provides a quirky look at AC's past.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

The noncasino, super-trendy **Chelsea** ( 800-548-3030; www.thechelsea-ac.com; 111 S Chelsea Ave; r from $80;    ) and the 43-story chic boutique-style **Water Club & Spa** ( 800-800-8817; www.thewaterclubhotel.com; 1Renaissance Way; r from $119;        ) are welcome additions to the uninspired standard casino accommodations. The Water Club's next-door sister or rather mother hotel, is the Las Vegas–style **Borgata** ( 866-692-6742; www.theborgata.com; r $149-400;        ), an enormous destination-worthy resort with high-style rooms, a full-service spa, major concert hall, four five-star restaurants and, of course, a grand casino, which draws a relatively classy crowd. After undergoing a thorough renovation, **Harrah's Atlantic City** ( 609-441-5000; www.harrahs.com; 777 Harrah's Blvd; r $149-349) features a spa and a massive glass-domed pool that shares space with Jacuzzis, cabanas, a pool bar and deck-lounge areas – extremely popular with off-duty casino workers late on Saturday nights. A handful of motor inns and cheap motels line Pacific Ave, a block inland from the boardwalk; however, these tend to have questionable hygiene and security standards.

* * *

# WHAT THE...?

Drive around the beach communities just south of Atlantic City and something massive, gray and kitsch will stop you in your tracks: **Lucy the Margate Elephant** ( 609-823-6473; www.lucytheelephant.org; 9200 Atlantic Ave, Margate City, NJ; adult/child $6/3;  10am-8pm Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm Sun), a 65ft-high wooden pachyderm constructed in 1881 as a developer's truly weird scheme to attract land buyers to the area. It was variously used as a hotel, beach cottage, private mansion and last, a tavern, but rowdy patrons almost destroyed her. Now recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, Lucy is open for tours during summer, starting every half-hour, weather permitting.

* * *

The best in-casino dining is to be had at the Borgata, home to Wolfgang Puck American Grille, Bobby Flay Steak, Fornelletto (Italian) and Tony Luke's in the food court for cheesesteaks and pork sandwiches. Head to **Caesars** ( 609-348-4411; www.caesarsac.com; 2100 Pacific Ave) and Harrah's for the best all-you-can-eat buffets ($19 to $24). Good (and more affordable) food can be found in the 'real' part of downtown, too. **Mexico Lindo** ( 609-345-1880; 2435 Atlantic Ave; dishes $5-12;  8am-10pm) is a no-frills favorite among Mexican locals and serves big, cheap breakfasts – as does **Hannah G's** ( 609-823-1466; 7310 Ventnor Ave; dishes $6-10;  7am-2pm Mon-Sun), a family-owned spot in nearby Ventnor.

#### DRINKING & ENTERTAINMENT

It's the **casinos** , as you may have guessed, that are the biggest draw here. As in Las Vegas, they all have themes – Far East, Ancient Rome, Wild West – but they're superficially done. Inside they're all basically the same: nonstop clanging, flashing and miles of blackjack, poker, baccarat and craps tables.

Beyond the casino walls you'll find the wide, oceanfront **boardwalk** , the first in the world. Enjoy a walk or a hand-pushed rolling-chair ride (there's a price chart posted inside each chair) and drop in on one of several casino boardwalk clubs and lounges.

Check out the calendar at the **Borgata** (opposite), which has a comedy club, an intimate concert hall and a massive music venue that hosts big acts. The venerable **House of Blues** ( 609-236-2583; www.hob.com; 801 Boardwalk, at the Showboat) is home to various bars, a restaurant and a plush music hall with well-known headliners.

#### GETTING THERE & AWAY

The small **Atlantic City International Airport** (ACY;  609-645-7895; www.acairport.com) is a 20-minute drive from the center of Atlantic City, and a great option for reaching any part of South Jersey or Philadelphia. Taxis and a shuttle van service also run from the airport to the city.

There are a busload of bus options to AC, including NJ Transit (round-trip $28.50, 2½ hours) and Greyhound (round-trip $31, 2½ hours), both leaving from New York's Port Authority, and **Capitol Trailways** ( 717-564-4900; www.thebusstop.com; round-trip $30-35), from points in Pennsylvania. A casino will often refund much of the fare (in chips, coins or coupons) if you get a bus directly to its door.

**New Jersey Transit** ( 973-762-5100; www.njtransit.com) trains only go to Atlantic City from Philadelphia (one way $13, 1½ hours). A new double-decker train service, **ACES** (Atlantic City Express Train Service;  877-326-7428; www.aces.com;  Fri-Sun), connecting AC to Penn Station, (NYC; from $29, two hours 40 minutes) was inaugurated in the summer of 2009.

### The Wildwoods & Ocean City

South of Atlantic City, the three towns of **North Wildwood** , **Wildwood** and **Wildwood Crest** are an archaeological find – whitewashed motels with flashing neon signs, turquoise curtains and pink doors, especially in Wildwood Crest, a kitsch slice of 1950s Americana. Wildwood, a party town popular with teens and young overseas visitors, is the main social focus. The **Greater Wildwood Chamber of Commerce** ( 609-729-4000; www.gwcoc.com; 3306 Pacific Ave, Wildwood;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, shorter hours in winter) hands out information on self-guided tours around the 'doo-wop' motels. The beach is free, and the 2-mile-long boardwalk has several piers that are host to roller coasters, Ferris wheels and weekly fireworks displays in summer. About 250 motels offer rooms for $50 to $250, making it a good option if Cape May (below) is booked out.

**Ocean City** (www.oceancityvacation.com), meanwhile, is a truly kitsch and old-fashioned family holiday spot, home to dune-swept beaches and a dizzying number of child-centric arcades and themed playlands. Motels are plentiful, cheap (average $70 per night) and old-fashioned, as are the myriad crab shacks and seafood joints.

### Cape May

Founded in 1620, Cape May – the only place in the state where the sun both rises and sets over the water – is on the state's southern tip and is the country's oldest seashore resort. Its sweeping beaches get crowded in summer, but the stunning Victorian architecture is attractive year-round. Contact the **Cape May County Chamber of Commerce** ( 609-465-7181; www.cmccofc.com) for details about the area.

In addition to 600 gingerbread-style houses, the city boasts antique shops and places for whale- and bird-watching, and is just outside **Cape May Point State Park** ( 609-884-2159) and its 157ft **Cape May Lighthouse** ( 609-884-5404; adult/child $7/3). The sandy **beach** is the main attraction in summer months.

Cape May's B&B options are endless, with the majority leaning toward the overstuffed and chintzy. The classic, sprawling **Congress Hall** ( 609-884-8422; www.congresshall.com; 251 Beach Ave; r $100-465;        ) has a range of beautiful quarters for various budgets, plus there's a cool on-site restaurant and bar.

The tiny, eclectic **Louisa's Café** ( 609-884-5884; 104 Jackson St; dishes $14-23;  5-9pm Tue-Sat June–early Sep) is the town's prize midrange eatery.

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# PENNSYLVANIA

In a state so large it's unsurprising that geography in part determines identity. The further west you go the closer you are to the rest of America. Philadelphia, once the heart of the British colonial empire and the intellectual and spiritual motor of its demise, is firmly ensconced culturally in the East Coast. Residents of Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania (PA), on the other hand, are proud to identify themselves as part of the city or immediate region, relishing their distinctiveness from East-Coasters and their blue-collar reputation. Moving east to west, the terrain becomes more rugged and you begin to appreciate the sheer size and diversity of this one state. Philly's Independence Park and historic district offer an ideal opportunity to come to some understanding of this nation's origins. Nearby, the battle sites of Gettysburg and Valley Forge provide another chance to travel back in time. But the city and state offer more than the clichés associated with school field trips. Stunning natural forests and mountain areas including the Poconos and Allegheny National Forest provide endless outdoor adventures. Both Philly and Pittsburgh are vibrant university cities with thriving music, performance and art scenes. Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural masterpiece, Fallingwater, and Amish country, not to mention the region's small, artsy towns, are perfect for weekend getaways.

* * *

# PENNSYLVANIA FACTS

**Nicknames** Keystone State, Quaker State

**Population** 12.4 million

**Area** 46,058 sq miles

**Capital city** Harrisburg (population 53,000)

**Other cities** Philadelphia (population 1.45 million), Pittsburgh (population 313,000), Erie (population 102,000)

**Sales tax** 6%

**Birthplace of** Writer Louisa May Alcott (1832−88), dancer Martha Graham (1878−1948), artist Andy Warhol (1928−87), movie star Grace Kelly (1929−82), comic Bill Cosby (b 1937)

**Home of** US Constitution, the Liberty Bell, first daily newspaper (1784), first auto service station (1913), first computer (1946)

**Famous for** Soft pretzels, Amish people, Philadelphia cheesesteak, Pittsburgh steel mills

**Animal celebrity** Punxsutawney Phil (of Groundhog Day)

**Driving distances** Philadelphia to NYC 100 miles, Philadelphia to Pittsburgh 306 miles

* * *

### History

William Penn, a Quaker, founded his colony in 1681, making Philadelphia its capital. His 'holy experiment' respected religious freedom (a stance that attracted other minority religious sects, including the well-known Mennonite and Amish communities), liberal government and even indigenous inhabitants. But it didn't take long for European settlers to displace those communities, thus giving rise to Pennsylvania's status as the richest and most populous British colony in North America. It had great influence on the independence movement and, much later, became an economic leader through its major supply of coal, iron and timber, followed by raw materials and labor during WWI and WWII. In the postwar period its industrial importance gradually declined. Urban-renewal programs and the growth of service, high-tech and health-care industries have boosted the economy, most notably in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

### Information

**Pennsylvania Travel and Tourism** ( 800-847-4872; www.visitpa.com) The official tourism department has a comprehensive website featuring maps, videos and suggested itineraries. It also operates 15 welcome centers scattered around the state's borders, stocked with maps, guides, regional info and well-informed staffers.

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## PHILADELPHIA

Although it may seem like a little sibling to NYC, which is less than 90 miles away, Philadelphia is more representative of what East Coast city living is like. And in the minds of many, it offers every upside of urban life – burgeoning food, music and art scenes, neighborhoods with distinct personalities, copious parkland and maybe equally importantly, relatively affordable real estate. The older, preserved buildings in historic Philadelphia provide a picture of what colonial American cities once looked like – based on a grid with wide streets and public squares.

For a time the second-largest city in the British Empire (after London), Philadelphia became a center for opposition to British colonial policy. It was the new nation's capital at the start of the Revolutionary War and again after the war until 1790, when Washington, DC, took over. By the 19th century, New York City had superseded Philadelphia as the nation's cultural, commercial and industrial center. Though urban renewal has been going on for decades, some parts of the city formerly populated by industrial workers are blighted and worlds away from the carefully manicured lawns and park-service-glutted historic district around the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

### Orientation

Philadelphia is easy to navigate. Most sights and accommodations are within walking distance of each other, or a short bus ride away. East−west streets are named; north−south streets are numbered, except for Broad and Front Sts.

Historic Philadelphia includes Independence National Historic Park and Old City, which extends east to the waterfront. West of the historic district is Center City, home to Penn Sq and City Hall. The Delaware and Schuylkill ( _skoo_ -kill) Rivers border South Philadelphia, which features the colorful Italian Market, restaurants and bars. West of the Schuylkill, University City has two important campuses as well as a major museum. Northwest Philadelphia includes the genteel suburbs of Chestnut Hill and Germantown, plus Manayunk, with plenty of bustling pubs and hip eateries. The South St area, between S 2nd, 10th, Pine and Fitzwater Sts, has bohemian boutiques, bars, eateries and music venues. Northern Liberties is an up-and-coming neighborhood with eclectic cafés and restaurants.

### Information

#### BOOKSTORES

**Giovanni's Room** ( 215-923-2960; 345 S 12th St;  11:30am-7pm Mon-Sat, from 1pm Sun) Gay and lesbian books and periodicals.

**House of Our Own** ( 215-222-1576; 3920 Spruce St;  10am-7pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) Used books, small-press publications, academic literature and frequent readings.

**Joseph Fox Bookshop** ( 215-563-4184; 1724 Sansom St;  10-6pm, to 7pm Wed) An independent in Rittenhouse Sq, with good architecture, design, children's and literature sections.

#### INTERNET ACCESS

The highly touted plan to make Philadelphia the first major American city with free wi-fi has mostly fallen by the wayside.

**Central Library** ( 215-686-5322; 1901 Vine St;  9am-5pm Mon-Wed, to 6pm Thu & Fri, to 5pm Sat, 1-5pm Sun;  ) Free internet and wi-fi access.

The following nice cafés have free wi-fi:

**Green Line** ( 215-222-0799; 4426 Locust St, at 45th St, West Philadelphia;  )

**Intermezzo Café & Lounge** ( 215-222-4300; 3131 Walnut St, West Philadelphia;  )

**Philadelphia Java Co** ( 215-928-1811; 518 S 4th St, Society Hill;  )

#### INTERNET RESOURCES & MEDIA

**City Paper** (www.citypaper.net) Free weekly available at street boxes around town.

**HX Philadelphia** (www.myspace.com/hxphilly) Free gay weekly with nightlife and culture listings, available at nightspots and Giovanni's Room (Click here).

**Philadelphia Citysearch** (www.philadelphia.citysearch.com) Restaurant, bar, club hotel and shopping listings.

**Philadelphia Daily News** (www.philly.com/dailynews) A tabloid-style daily.

**Philadelphia Inquirer** (www.philly.com/mld/inquirer) The region's top daily newspaper.

**Philadelphia Magazine** (www.phillymag.com) A monthly glossy.

**Philadelphia Weekly** (www.philadelphiaweekly.com) Free alternative available at street boxes around town.

**Philly.com** (www.philly.com) News, listings and more, courtesy of the _Philadelphia Inquirer._

**WHYY 91-FM** (www.whyy.org) Local National Public Radio affiliate.

#### MEDICAL SERVICES

**Graduate Hospital** ( 215-893-2000; 1800 Lombard St;  24hr) Close to the business district.

**Pennsylvania Hospital** ( 215-829-3000; www.pennhealth.com/hup; 800 Spruce St;  24hr)

#### MONEY

There are exchange bureaus in every terminal of the Philadelphia International Airport, though the best rates are at banks in the city. Most banks are open 10am to 5pm or 6pm Monday and to between 1pm and 3pm Saturday.

#### POST

**B Free Franklin Post Office** ( 215-597-8974; 316 Market St;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat) Postmarks stamps with Franklin's unique signature.

**Main Post Office** ( 215-895-9320; 3000 Chestnut St, at 30th St;  8am-9pm Mon-Sat, 11am-7pm Sun) Call for other branch locations.

#### TOURIST INFORMATION

**Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp** (www.gophila.com; 6th St, at Market St) The highly developed, nonprofit visitors bureau has comprehensive visitor information. Its welcome center shares space with the NPS center.

**Independence Visitor Center** ( 215-597-8787, 800-537-7676; www.independencevisitorcenter.com; 6th St, at Market St;  8:30am-5:30pm) Run by the NPS, the center distributes useful visitor guides and maps, and sells tickets for the various official tours that depart from nearby locations, including Trolley Works & 76 Carriage Company (Click here).

### Sights & Activities

#### INDEPENDENCE NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK

This L-shaped 45-acre **park** ( 215-597-8787, 800-537-7676; www.nps.gov/inde), along with Old City, has been dubbed 'America's most historic square mile.' Once the backbone of the United States government, today it is the backbone of Philadelphia's tourist trade. Stroll around and you'll see storied buildings in which the seeds for the Revolutionary War were planted and the US government came into bloom. You'll also find beautiful, shaded urban lawns dotted with large groups of schoolchildren and costumed actors. Most sites are open every day from 9am to 5pm, and some are closed Monday. Note that you must call or stop in to the **Independence Visitor Center** (see above) to make a timed reservation before visiting the high-volume Independence Hall, and beware that lines for the Liberty Bell can be extremely long.

**Liberty Bell Center** (6th & Market Sts) is Philadelphia's top tourist attraction and was commissioned to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Charter of Privileges (Pennsylvania's constitution, enacted in 1701 by William Penn). The 2080lb bronze bell was made in London's East End by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1751. The bell's inscription, from Leviticus 25:10, reads: 'Proclaim liberty through all the land, to all the inhabitants thereof.' The bell was secured in the belfry of the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) and tolled on important occasions, most notably the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in Independence Sq. The bell became badly cracked during the 19th century; despite initial repairs it became unusable in 1846 after tolling for George Washington's birthday.

**Independence Hall** (Chestnut St, btwn 5th & 6th Sts) is the 'birthplace of American government,' where delegates from the 13 colonies met to approve the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. An excellent example of Georgian architecture, it sports understated lines that reveal Philadelphia's Quaker heritage. Behind Independence Hall is the spiffy **Independence Square** , where the Declaration of Independence was first read in public.

The highly recommended **National Constitution Center** ( 215-409-6700; www.constitutioncenter.org; 525 Arch St; adult/child $12/8;  9:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat, noon-5pm Sun;  ), right next to the visitor center, makes the United States Constitution sexy and interesting for a general audience through theater-in-the-round reenactments. There are exhibits including interactive voting booths and Signer's Hall, which contains lifelike bronze statues of the signers in action.

Other attractions in this historic park include: **Carpenters' Hall** , owned by the Carpenter Company, the USA's oldest trade guild (1724), which is the site of the First Continental Congress in 1774; **Library Hall** , where you'll find a copy of the Declaration of Independence, handwritten in a letter by Thomas Jefferson, plus first editions of Darwin's _On the Origin of the Species_ and Lewis and Clark's field notes; **Congress Hall** (S 6th & Chestnut Sts), the meeting place for US Congress when Philly was the nation's capital; and **Old City Hall** , finished in 1791, which was home to the US Supreme Court until 1800. The **Franklin Court** complex, a row of restored tenements, pays tribute to Benjamin Franklin with a clever underground museum displaying his inventions, as well as details on his many other contributions (as statesman, author and journalist) to society. At the **B Free Franklin Post Office** (see opposite) mail receives a special handwritten Franklin postmark (Ben was also a postmaster) and there's a small **US Postal Service Museum**. **Christ Church** ( 215-627-2750; N 2nd St), completed in 1744, is where George Washington and Franklin worshiped.

**Philosophical Hall** ( 215-440-3400; 104 S 5th St; admission $1;  10am-4pm Thu-Sun Mar–Labor Day & Fri-Sun Labor Day–Feb), south of Old City Hall, is the headquarters of the American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin. Past members have included Thomas Jefferson, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein.

**Second Bank of the US** (Chestnut St, btwn 4th & 5th Sts), modeled after the Greek Parthenon, is an 1824 marble-faced Greek Revival masterpiece that was home to the world's most powerful financial institution until President Andrew Jackson dissolved its charter in 1836. The building then became the Philadelphia Customs House until 1935, when it became a museum. Today it's home to the **National Portrait Gallery** (Chestnut St;  11am-4pm Wed-Sun; admission free), housing many paintings by Charles Willson Peale, America's top portrait artist at the time of the American Revolution.

#### OLD CITY

Old City – the area bounded by Walnut, Vine, Front and 6th Sts – picks up where Independence National Historical Park leaves off. And, along with Society Hill, Old City was early Philadelphia. The 1970s saw revitalization, with many warehouses converted into apartments, galleries and small businesses. Today it's a quaint and fascinating place for a stroll.

The tiny, cobblestoned **Elfreth's Alley** (www.elfrethsalley.org; off 2nd St, btwn Arch & Race Sts) is believed to be the oldest continuously occupied street in the USA. Its 32 well-preserved brick row houses are still inhabited with real live Philadelphians, so be considerate as you stroll along, and be sure to stop into **Elfreth's Alley Museum** ( 215-574-0560; No 126; adult/student $5/1;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, from noon Sun) which was built in 1755 by blacksmith and alley namesake Jeremiah Elfreth; it's been restored and furnished to its 1790 appearance.

The nearby **Betsy Ross House** ( 215-686-1252; www.betsyrosshouse.org; 239 Arch St; suggested donation adult/child $3/2;  10am-5pm daily Apr-Sep, closed Mon Oct-Mar) is where it is believed that Betsy Griscom Ross (1752−1836), upholsterer and seamstress, may have sewn the first US flag.

The cool **Clay Studio** ( 215-925-3453; www.theclaystudio.org; 139 N 2nd St; admission free;  11am-7pm Tue-Sat, noon-6pm Sun) exhibits staid as well as oddball works in ceramic; it's been in Old City since 1974 and is partially responsible for the development of the area's burgeoning gallery scene. The distinctly translucent facade of the **National Museum of American Jewish History** ( 215-923-3811; www.nmajh.org; 55 N 5th St;  10am-5pm Mon-Thu, to 3pm Fri, noon-5pm Sun) houses state-of-the-art exhibits that examine the historical role of Jews in the USA. At the nearby **US Mint** ( 215-408-0110; www.usmint.gov; Arch St, btwn 4th & 5th Sts; admission free;  tours 9am-3pm Mon-Fri), you can line up for same-day, self-guided tours that last about 45 minutes. **Arch Street Meeting House** ( 215-627-2667; www.archstreetfriends.org; 320 Arch St;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm Sun) is the USA's largest Quaker meeting house.

#### SOCIETY HILL

Architecture from the 18th and 19th centuries dominates the lovely residential neighborhood of Society Hill, bound by Front and 8th Sts from east to west, and Walnut and Lombard Sts north and south. Along the cobblestoned streets you'll see mainly 18th- and 19th-century brick row houses, mixed in with the occasional modern high-rise, like the **Society Hill Towers** designed by IM Pei, but **Washington Square** was conceived as part of William Penn's original city plan, and offers a peaceful respite from sightseeing. **Physick House** ( 215-925-7866; 321 S 4th St, at Delancey St; adult/child $5/4;  noon-4pm Thu-Sat, 1-4pm Sun), the home of surgeon Philip Syng Physick, was built in 1786 by Henry Hill – a wine importer who kept City Tavern well stocked – and is the only freestanding, Federal-style mansion remaining in Society Hill. The 18th-century **Powel House** ( 215-627-0364; 244 S 3rd St; adult/child $5/4;  noon-4pm Thu-Sat, 1-4pm Sun) was home to Samuel Powel, a mayor of Philadelphia during colonial times.

#### CENTER CITY, RITTENHOUSE SQUARE & AROUND

Philadelphia's center of creativity, commerce, culture and just about everything else, this region is the engine that drives the city. It contains the city's tallest buildings, the financial district, big hotels, museums, concert halls, shops and restaurants.

The leafy **Rittenhouse Square** , with its wading pool and fine statues, is the best known of William Penn's city squares. The majestic **City Hall** ( 215-686-2840; www.phila.gov; cnr Broad & Market Sts; admission free;  9:30am-4:30pm Tue-Fri), completed in 1901, stands 548ft tall in Penn Sq. It's the world's tallest masonry construction without a steel frame, and it's topped by a 27-ton bronze statue of William Penn. Just below that is an **observation deck** , where you can get a bird's-eye view of the city.

Highly recommended for Civil War buffs is the comprehensive **Civil War Library & Museum** ( 215-735-8196; www.cwurmuseum.org; 1805 Pine St; admission $5;  11am-4:30pm Thu-Sat) boasting artifacts and exhibitions; the museum is moving to a new location and will open, at the earliest, in early 2011. **Rosenbach Museum & Library** ( 215-732-1600; www.rosenbach.org; 2010 Delancey Pl; adult/child $10/5;  10am-5pm Tue & Thu-Sun, to 8pm Wed), meanwhile, is for bibliophiles, as it features rare books and manuscripts, including James Joyce's _Ulysses,_ and special exhibits.

Skip med school and visit the seriously twisted **Mutter Museum** ( 215-563-3737; www.collphyphil.org; 19 S 22nd St; adult/child $14/10;  10am-5pm) to learn all about the history of medicine in the US.

#### BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PARKWAY & MUSEUM DISTRICT

Modeled after the Champs Elysées in Paris, the parkway is a center of museums and other landmarks. **Philadelphia Museum of Art** ( 215-763-8100; www.philamuseum.org; cnr Benjamin Franklin Pkwy & 26th St; adult/senior, student & child $14/10, Sun pay-what-you-wish;  10am-5pm Tue-Thu & Sat & Sun, to 8:45pm Fri) is the highlight. It's one of the nation's largest and most important museums, featuring some excellent collections of Asian art, Renaissance masterpieces, postimpressionist works and modern pieces by Picasso, Duchamp and Matisse. The grand stairway at its entrance was immortalized when star Sylvester Stallone ran up the steps in the 1976 flick _Rocky_.

**Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts** ( 215-972-7600; www.pafa.org; 118 N Broad St; adult/child $10/6;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun) is a prestigious academy that has a museum with works by American painters, including Charles Willson Peale and Thomas Eakins. The **Academy of Natural Sciences Museum** ( 215-299-1060; www.acnatsci.org; 1900 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy; adult/child $12/10;  10am-4:30pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun) features a terrific dinosaur exhibition where you can dig for fossils on weekends. **Franklin Institute Science Museum** ( 215-448-1200; www2.fi.edu; 222 N 20th St; admission $14.75;  9:30am-5pm) is where hands-on science displays were pioneered; a highlight is the Ben Franklin exhibit. At the **Rodin Museum** ( 215-568-6026; www.rodinmuseum.org; Benjamin Franklin Pkwy & N 22nd St; suggested donation $5;  10am-5pm Tue-Sun), you'll find Rodin's great works _The Thinker_ and _Burghers of Calais._

#### SOUTH STREET

Sort of a Greenwich Village of Philly, **South Street** is where one goes to find record shops, art-supply stores, tiny cheapskate eateries and college favorites such as head shops, T-shirt stores and the teenage goth chicks who populate them. A hidden gem worth seeking out is **Philadelphia's Magic Garden** ( 215-733-0390; www.philadelphiasmagicgardens.org; 1020 South St), a mystical, art-filled pocket of land that's the passion of mosaic muralist Isaiah Zager.

#### SOUTH PHILADELPHIA

The **Italian Market** (S 9th St, btwn Wharton & Fitzwater Sts;  9am-5pm Tue-Sat, 9am-2pm Sun) is a highlight of South Philadelphia. The country's largest outdoor market, it's where butchers and artisans hawk produce and cheese, homemade pastas, incredible pastries and freshly slaughtered fish and meats, from lamb to pheasant. A great time to experience it in all its glory is in mid-May, for the annual **Sorrento Cheese Ninth Street Italian Market Festival** (www.9thstreetitalianmarketfestival.com).

In the midst of all the foodie frenzy is the **Mummers Museum** ( 215-336-3050; www.mummersmuseum.com; 1100 S 2nd St; adult/child $3.50/2.50;  9:30am-4:30pm Wed-Sat Oct-Apr, to 9:30pm Thu May-Sep), celebrating the tradition of disguise and masquerade. It has an integral role in the famed Mummers Parade, which takes place here every New Year's Day.

#### CHINATOWN & AROUND

The fourth-largest Chinatown in the USA, Philly's version has existed since the 1860s. Chinese immigrants who built America's transcontinental railroads started out west and worked their way here. Today's Chinatown remains a center for immigrants, though now many of the neighborhood's residents come from Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam in addition to every province in China. Though it does hold a few residents, the tone of Chinatown is thoroughly commercial. The **Chinese Friendship Gate** (N 10th St, btwn Cherry & Arch Sts) is a decorative arch built in 1984 as a joint project between Philadelphia and its Chinese sister city, Tianjin. The multicolored, four-story gate is Chinatown's most conspicuous landmark.

Between here and Independence Park is the **African American Museum in Philadelphia** ( 215-574-0380; www.aampmuseum.org; 701 Arch St; adult/child $10/8;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, noon-5pm Sun). Housed in a foreboding concrete building, it contains excellent collections on African American history and culture.

#### PENN'S LANDING

Back in its heyday Penn's Landing – the waterfront area along the Delaware River between Market and Lombard Sts – was a very active port area. Eventually those transactions moved farther south down the Delaware, and today most of the excitement is about boarding boats, like the **Riverboat Queen** ( 215-923-2628; www.riverboatqueenfleet.com; tours from $15) or **Spirit of Philadelphia** ( 866-394-8439; www.spiritcruises.com; from $40), for booze cruises, or simply strolling along the water's edge. The 1.8-mile **Benjamin Franklin Bridge** , the world's largest suspension bridge when completed in 1926, spans the Delaware River and dominates the view here. Nearby is a grassy sculpture garden and the **Independence Seaport Museum** ( 215-413-8655; www.phillyseaport.com; 211 S Columbus Blvd; adult/child $12/7, 10am-noon Sun free;  10am-5pm), which highlights Philadelphia's role as an immigration hub; its shipyard closed in 1995 after 200 years.

Just across the Delaware River in otherwise missable Camden, NJ, is the excellent **Adventure Aquarium** ( 856-365-3300; www.adventureaquarium.com; 1 Riverside Dr; adult/child $20/16;  9:30am-5pm;  ), featuring an archway where you can pass under schools of fish. To get there, just hop on the **RiverLink Ferry** ( 856-365-1166; www.riverlinkferry.org; round trip $6;  10am-6pm, to 7pm Fri-Sun), which runs hourly from Penn's Landing.

#### UNIVERSITY CITY

This neighborhood, separated from downtown Philly by the Schuylkill River, feels like one big college town. That's because it's home to both Drexel University and the Ivy League **University of Pennsylvania** (commonly called 'U Penn'), founded in 1740. The leafy, bustling campus makes for a pleasant afternoon stroll, and it's got two museums definitely worth a visit: the **University Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology** ( 215-898-4000; www.upenn.edu/museum; 3260 South St; adult/child $10/6;  10am-4:30pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun) contains archaeological treasures from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, Greece, Rome and North America; and the heralded **Institute of Contemporary Art** ( 215-898-7108; www.icaphila.org; 118 S 36th St; admission free;  noon-8pm Wed-Fri, 11am-5pm Sat & Sun) is an excellent place to catch shows by folks making a big splash at the cutting edge of the art world.

Oh, and whether you're catching a train or not, be sure to pop your head into the romantic, neoclassical **30th St Station** ( 215-349-2153; 30th St, at Market St) while you're in the 'hood. Flooded with sunlight during the afternoon, it's positively ethereal.

#### FAIRMOUNT PARK

The snaking Schuylkill River bisects this 9200-acre green space − bigger than New York's Central Park and, in fact, the largest city park in the country. From the earliest days of spring every corner is thrumming with activity − ball games, runners, picnickers, you name it. The enthusiasm is catchy and you'll certainly want to join them. Runners will love the tree-lined, riverside trails, which range from 2 miles to 10 miles in length. **Philly runners** (www.phillyrunners.org) is an all-skills running club that has great maps and information.

Park trails are also great for bicycling. For rentals, **Trophy Bikes** ( 215-222-2020; www.trophybikes.com; 3131 Walnut St; bike rental per full/half-day $35/25;  10am-6pm) stocks the latest hybrids and a couple of tandems, and staff members specialize in touring. For advice and group rides, contact the **Bicycle Club of Philadelphia** ( 215-913-3246; www.phillybikeclub.org), which leads rides for all skill levels.

On the east bank, **Boathouse Row** has Victorian-era rowing-club buildings that lend a lovely old-fashioned flavor to this stretch. Across the park are a number of **early American houses** (adult/child $5/2) that are open to the public, including **Laurel Hill** ( 215-235-1776;  10am-4pm Sat & Sun) and **Woodford** ( 215-229-6115;  10am-4pm Tue-Sun). Also, check out the **Shofuso Japanese House and Garden** ( 215-878-5097; www.shofuso.com; admission $6;  10am-4pm Wed-Fri, 11am-5pm Sat & Sun May-Sep), a picturesque home and teahouse constructed in the traditional 16th-century style. Scattered all throughout the park are some notable monuments, including one, at the far east end, for **Joan of Arc**.

Also within park borders is **Philadelphia Zoo** ( 215-243-1100; www.philadelphiazoo.org; 3400 Girard Ave; adult/child $18/15 Mar-Oct, general admission $13 Nov-Feb;  9:30am-5pm Mar-Oct, 9:30am-4pm Nov-Feb), the country's oldest zoo, which has tigers, pumas, polar bears – you name it – in naturalistic habitats.

#### MANAYUNK

A compact residential neighborhood northwest of the city, with steep hills and Victorian row houses, Manayunk, from a Native American expression meaning 'where we go to drink,' is a lovely place for an afternoon and evening. Just be aware that thousands of others have the same idea on weekend nights, when this otherwise peaceful area overlooking the Schuylkill River has the feel of a raucous frat party. As well as drinking, visitors are also permitted to eat (Click here) and shop. Parking is near impossible to come by here on weekends, so cycling is a good option – there's a towpath that runs alongside the neighborhood.

#### GERMANTOWN & CHESTNUT HILL

An odd mix of blight and preserved grandeur, the Germantown historic district – a good 20-minute drive or ride north on the SEPTA (Click here) 23 from central downtown Philly – has a handful of tiny museums and notable homes worth checking out. **Cliveden of the National Trust** ( 215-848-1777; www.cliveden.org; 6401 Germantown Ave; admission $10;  noon-4pm Thu-Sun) was the summer home of wealthy Benjamin Chew. It was built in 1760 and used as a de facto stronghold in the Battle of Germantown during the Revolutionary War in 1777. You can visit it, along with the **Deshler-Morris House** ( 215-597-7130; www.nps.gov/demo; 5442 Germantown Ave), where President Washington met with his cabinet in 1793, the **Germantown Historical Society** ( 215-844-1683; www.germantownhistory.org; 5501 Germantown Ave; admission $5;  9am-1pm Tue, 1-5pm Thu & Sun), and the **Johnson House** ( 215-438-1768; www.johnsonhouse.org; 6306 Germantown Ave;  10am-4pm Thu-Fri, 1-4pm Sat, tours at 1:30pm, 2:30pm & 3:30pm), the site of a 1768 station house for the Underground Railroad.

Just north of Germantown is **Chestnut Hill** (www.chestnuthillpa.com) with its quaint, small-town-like main strip of shops and eateries, and huge and historic residential homes and mansions.

### Tours

**Ed Mauger's Philadelphia on Foot** ( 215-627-8680; www.ushistory.org/more/mauger; tours per person $20) Historian and author Ed Mauger offers walking tours with a variety of themes, including Exercise Your Rights (Conservatives Tour), Exercise Your Lefts (Liberals Tour) and Women in the Colony.

**Mural Tours** ( 215-389-8687; www.muralarts.org/tours; tours adult/child $25/15;  tours Wed, Sat & Sun Apr-Nov) Guided trolley tour of the city's diverse and colorful outdoor murals, the largest collection in the country.

**Philadelphia Trolley Works & 76 Carriage Company** ( 215-389-8687; www.phillytour.com; tours adult/child from $25/10) Tour part of the city or just about every last corner, either on a narrated trolley ride or quieter horse-drawn carriage.

### Festivals & Events

**Mummers' Parade** (www.mummers.com) A very Philly parade, this is an elaborate celebration of costumes every New Year's Day (January 1).

**Annual Jam on the River** (www.jamontheriver.com) Excellent music lineup, from folkies to jam bands. Memorial Day weekend.

**Manayunk Arts Festival** (www.manayunk.com) It's the largest outdoor arts and crafts show in the Delaware Valley, with more than 250 artists from across the country each June.

**Philadelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe** (www.livearts-fringe.org) Catch the latest in cutting-edge performance each September.

### Sleeping

Though the majority of places are found in and around Center City, there are alternatives sprinkled throughout the other neighborhoods. There's certainly no shortage of places to stay, but it's primarily national chains or B&Bs. Note that most hotels offer some kind of parking service, usually costing about $20 to $45 per day.

#### BUDGET & MIDRANGE

**Chamounix Mansion Hostel** ( 215-878-3676; www.philahostel.org; 3250 Chamounix Dr, West Fairmount Park; dm $23;    ) Looking more like a B&B than hostel, the Chamounix really should only be considered by those with use of a car. It's in a lovely wooded area in Fairmount Park north of the city on the way to Manayunk. Despite the 19th-century-style parlor and large communal rooms, the dorms themselves are basic but clean.

**Apple Hostels of Philadelphia** ( 215-922-0222; www.applehostels.com; 32 S Bank St; dm $25-40, r from $75;      ) Formerly the HI Bank Street Hostel, this upgraded jewel is sparkling clean and in a safe neighborhood, just a short walk from major sights. Everything, from the bunk beds to dishes in the spacious kitchen, looks like it's straight out of an Ikea catalogue – not a bad thing. Very friendly and helpful staff and events such as walking tours and movie nights with free beer (Tuesday).

**Thomas Bond House** ( 215-923-8523; www.thomasbondhousebandb.com; 129 S 2nd St; r incl breakfast $115-190;   ) Much like staying at your grandparents – if you were living in the 18th century – this colonial-era B&B pays attention to traditional period detail. Perfect for sightseeing in Independence Park, the restored 1769 Georgian-style house is furnished with Chippendale period furnishings and working fireplaces.

**Penn's View Hotel** ( 215-922-7600; www.pennsviewhotel.com; cnr Front & Market Sts; r from $149-329;    ) Housed in three early-19th-century buildings overlooking the Delaware waterfront, Penn's View is ideal for exploring the Old City district. Quaint and full of character but not overly nostalgic or a prisoner to history, the rooms have marble bathrooms and modern conveniences. An authentic Italian trattoria and charming wine bar are part of the hotel.

 **Morris House Hotel** ( 215-922-2446; www.morrishousehotel.com; 225 S 8th St; r incl breakfast from $179;   ) If Benjamin Franklin were a hotelier he would have designed a place like the Morris House Hotel. Upscale colonial-era boutique, this Federal-era building has the friendly charm and intimacy of an elegant B&B and the professionalism and good taste of a designer-run 21st-century establishment.

#### TOP END

**Hilton Inn at Penn** ( 215-222-0200; www.theinnatpenn.com; 3600 Sansom St; r $200-250;        ) Located away from the downtown hubbub but quickly accessible via the nearby SEPTA, this Hilton hotel sits on the U Penn campus. The modern, comfortable rooms still have a classy old-world vibe. Prices double on weekends that have any U Penn–related event.

**Rittenhouse 1715** ( 215-546-6500; www.rittenhouse1715.com; 1715 Rittenhouse Sq; r $249-305, ste $309-699;   ) Just steps from Rittenhouse Sq, this is an elegant, top-notch choice. Housed in a 1911 mansion and infused with old-world sophistication, it's brimming with modern amenities – iPod docking stations, plasma TVs and rain showerheads. The friendly and efficient staff is also worth noting.

Other recommended places with excellent locations for exploring the city by foot are the **Lowes Philadelphia** ( 215-627-1200; 1200 Market St; r from $170;        ), an art-deco building with original details and one of the first skyscrapers in Philly, and the **Sofitel Philadelphia** ( 215-569-8300; www.sofitel.com; 120 S 17th St; r $215-400;        ), which boasts spacious rooms and a cool vibe near Rittenhouse Sq.

### Eating

Philly is deservedly known for its cheesesteaks – you shouldn't leave without a sampling – the city's dining scene has grown exponentially, in part due to the contributions of the Starr and Garces groups, which have added a range of quality international eateries. Because of Pennsylvania's arcane liquor laws, many restaurants are Bring Your Own Bottle (BYOB).

#### OLD CITY

**Franklin Fountain** ( 215-627-1899; 116 Market St;  noon-11pm Sun-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat) One of the more romantic date spots in the city, especially on weekend nights, this very-old-school ice-cream parlor features locally grown fruit and top-flight sundaes.

 **Amada** ( 215-625-2450; 217 Chestnut St; tapas $6-20;  11:30am-10pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri, 5pm-midnight Sat, 4-10pm Sun) One of several Spanish tapas places to have opened in Philly in the last few years, Amada is run by renowned restaurateur Jose Garces – weekend dinner reservations are hard to come by. The long communal tables foster a bustling, happening and loud atmosphere and the combination of bold and traditional flavored dishes (try the crab-stuffed peppers) are phenomenal.

**Cuba Libre** ( 215-627-0666; www.cubalibrerestaurant.com; 10 S 2nd St; dinner $15-24;  11:30am-11pm Mon-Fri, from 10:30am Sat & Sun) Colonial America couldn't feel further away at this festive, multistoried Cuban eatery and rum bar. The creative and inspired menu includes Cuban sandwiches, guava-spiced BBQ, and savory black beans and salads tossed with smoked fish.

**La Locanda del Ghiottone** ( 215-829-1465; 130 N Third St; mains $16;  5-11pm Tue-Sun) The name means 'the Place of the Glutton,' and Chef Giussepe and Joe the head waiter encourage overeating. Small and modestly designed, unlike other nearby trendy spots, this place the gnocchi, mushroom crepes and mussels are recommended. BYOB.

#### CENTER CITY & AROUND

**Reading Terminal Market** ( 215-922-2317; www.readingterminalmarket.org; cnr 12th & Arch Sts; dishes $3-10;  8am-6pm Mon-Sat, 9am-5pm Sun) At the budget end, this huge indoor market is the best you'll find. Take your pick, from fresh Amish cheeses and Thai desserts, to falafel, cheesesteaks, salad bars, sushi, Peking duck, great Mexican and cups of fresh-roasted java.

**Mama Palmas** ( 215-735-7357; 2229 Spruce St; pizzas $10;  4-10pm Mon-Thu, 11am-11pm Fri & Sat, 2-10pm Sun) Just off Rittenhouse Sq, this small BYOB place serves up some of the best thin-slice brick-oven pizza in the city. It does have a reputation for not tolerating little tykes – if they're rowdy.

**La Viola** ( 215-735-8630; 253 S 16th St, at Spruce St; mains $13;  11am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat, 4-10pm Sun) Facing off across the street from one another are the old and new La Violas – both BYOB. The former is a cramped and unpretentious dining room, while the latter is larger and more modern; the cuisine at both, however, is fresh and reasonably priced.

**Le Bec-Fin** ( 215-567-1000; 1523 Walnut St; prix fixe dinners $90-138;  11:30am-9pm Mon-Fri, 6-9:30pm Sat) Totally over-the-top in its old-world snooty splendor, Le Bec-Fin is rated by many gourmets as the country's best restaurant for its setting, service and superb French food. Expect top-notch service, stuffy diners and rich and sophisticated meat and seafood dishes.

**Joe's** ( 215-569-0898; 122 S 16th St) has some of the best pizza by the slice in the neighborhood, while **Mama's Vegetarian** ( 215-751-0477; 18 S 20th St; sandwiches $6;  11am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 3pm Fri, noon-7pm Sun;  ), a kosher Middle Eastern eatery, serves heaping falafel. North of Center City, within walking distance of the Rodin Museum, is the always bustling **Philly Flavors** ( 215-232-7748; 2004 Fairmount Ave, at 20th St; ices $;  11am-11pm Sun-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat), which some say is the best place for Italian ices in the city; even the small kiddie size is large enough for most.

#### SOUTH STREET

**Maoz Vegetarian** ( 215-625-3500; 248 South St; dishes $5-7;  11am-1am Sun-Wed, 11am-3am Thu-Sat) This tiny storefront, actually an outpost of a chain from Amsterdam, is always packed with healthy hipsters wanting in on the cheap, fresh falafel sandwiches, which you can pile high with marinated veggies, toppings and sauces.

**Jim's Steaks** ( 877-313-5467; 400 South St, at 4th St; steak sandwiches $6-8;  10am-1am Mon-Thu, to 3am Fri & Sat, noon-10pm Sun) If you can brave the long lines – which bust out of the front door and snake around the side of the shiny art-deco building – you'll be in for a treat at this Philly institution, which serves mouthwatering cheesesteaks and hoagies (plus soups, salads and breakfasts).

**Horizons** ( 215-923-6117; 611 S 7th St; mains $15-20;  6-10pm Tue-Thu, 6-11pm Fri & Sat;  ) One of the few restaurants in Philly to satisfy the vegan gourmand, Horizons serves healthy, guilt-free dishes made of soy and veggies.

#### CHINATOWN

**Rangoon** ( 215-829-8939; 112 N 9th St; mains $6-15;  11:30am-9pm Sun-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat) Try this Burmese spot in Chinatown, offering a huge array of tantalizing specialties from spicy red-bean shrimp and curried chicken with egg noodles to coconut tofu.

**Nanzhou Handdrawn Noodle House** ( 215-923-1550; 927 Race St; mains $6;  11am-9pm) serves satisfying and inexpensive meat noodle soups, while **Banana Leaf** ( 215-592-8288; 1009 Arch St; mains $8;  11am-1am) specializes in Malaysian and Japanese cuisine. **Lee How Fook** ( 215-925-7266; 219 N 11th St; mains $9-13;  11:30am-10pm Tue-Sun) has excellent contemporary Chinese.

#### SOUTH PHILADELPHIA & ITALIAN MARKET

**Paradiso** ( 215-271-2066; 1627 E Passyunk Ave; mains $18-26;  11:30am-3pm & 5-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat, 4-9pm Sun) An elegant airy part of South Philly's Restaurant Row, Paradiso turns out upscale Italian feasts such as pistachio-crusted lamb chops, homemade gnocchi and New York strip steak glazed with anchovy butter.

Local aficionados debate the relative merits of this city's legendary cheesesteak shops like they are biblical scholars parsing the meaning of Deuteronomy. **Geno's** ( 215-389-0659; 1219 S 9th St; sandwiches $7;  24hr) and **Pat's King of Steaks** ( 215-468-1546; cnr S 9th St & Passyunk Ave; sandwiches $7;  24hr), considered classic Philly, are frequented as much by tourists and inebriated patrons, possibly unaware of the level of grease they're ingesting, as diehard locals. Some swear by **Tony Luke's Old Philly Style Sandwiches** ( 215-551-5725; www.tonylukes.com; 39 E Oregon Ave; sandwiches $7;  6am-midnight Mon-Thu, to 2am Fri & Sat), especially the roast pork or roast beef with hot peppers; it's a typical spot out by the sports stadiums with picnic tables and an ordering window.

**South Street Souvlaki** ( 215-925-3026; 507 South St; mains $13-18;  noon-9:30pm Tue-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat, to 9pm Sun) is one of the best places for Greek food in the city and **Sabrina's Cafe** ( 215-574-1599; 910 Christian St; mains $9;  8am-10pm Tue-Sat, to 4pm Sun & Mon) is an extremely popular brunch spot.

The area around the corner of Washington and 11th Sts is chockablock with tasty family-owned **Vietnamese** **restaurants**.

#### UNIVERSITY CITY

**Satellite Coffee Shop** ( 215-729-1211; 701 S 50th St; sandwiches $5;  7am-10pm) This Cedar Park vegetarian-friendly café is a hipster meeting ground. Try the bike-shop special, a bagel with cream cheese, pesto and roasted red pepper.

**White Dog Cafe** ( 215-386-9224; 3420 Sansom St; dinner mains $12-29;  11:30am-2:30pm Mon-Sat, 5-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat, 10:30am-2:30pm & 5-10pm Sun) This 24-year-old institution is the kind of funky-yet-upscale place that college students get their visiting parents to take them to for special dinners or brunch. The local, largely organic menu offers creative interpretations of meat and fish dishes.

**Pod** ( 215-387-1803; 3636 Sansom St; dinner mains $14-29;  11:30am-11pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri, 5pm-midnight Sat, to 10pm Sun) Part of the restaurateur Stephen Starr's empire, this space-age-looking theme restaurant has pan-Asian treats including dumplings and some of the best sushi in Philly, plus plenty of quirky cocktails and original desserts.

For meat and chicken sandwiches, definitely the best in area is **Lee's Hoagie House** ( 215-387-0905; 4034 Walnut St; sandwiches $7;  10am-10pm Mon-Sat, 11am-9pm Sun). **Koreana** ( 215-222-2240; 3801 Chestnut St; mains $7;  noon-10pm) satisfies students and others interested in good, inexpensive Korean fare; enter from the parking lot in the back of the shopping plaza. The vibrant pink and lime decor doesn't drown out the taste of the contemporary Mexican fare served at **Distrito** ( 215-222-1657; 3945 Chestnut St; mains $9-30;  11:30am-11pm Mon-Fri, 5-11pm Sat, to 10pm Sun).

#### MANAYUNK, ROXBOROUGH, GERMANTOWN & CHESTNUT HILL

**Trolley Car Diner** ( 215-753-1500; 7619 Germantown Ave; dinner mains $12-20;  11:30am-2:30pm Tue-Sat, 5-9pm Tue-Thu, 5-10pm Fri & Sat, 10am-2pm & 5-9pm Sun) Housed in a classic art-deco diner (moved here from its former site in Wilkes Barre, PA), this old-fashioned, family-style diner serves all the comfort food: club sandwiches, patty melts, fried shrimp, salads and a homemade, white-bean 'peanut butter' sandwich.

**Cresheim Cottage** ( 215-248-4365; 7402 Germantown Ave; dinner mains $12-20;  11:30am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat, 10am-9pm Sun) The Cottage is a local-sustainable adherent, and you can tell by the freshness of the delicious dishes, like seafood stew and the unique chicken meatloaf muffin for dinner.

**Chabaa Thai** ( 215-483-1931; 4371 Main St; mains $12-23;  5-9:30pm Mon-Thu & Sun, to 10pm Fri & Sat) is a warm BYOB place doing authentic and reasonably priced Thai. Cheeseteak snobs rave about **Dalessandro's Steaks** ( 215-482-5407; 600 Wendover St, Roxborough; sandwiches $6.50;  11am-midnight Mon-Sat) and **Chubby's** ( 215-487-2575; 5826 Henry Ave; sandwiches $6.50;  11am-1am Mon-Thu, to 2am Fri & Sat, to 11pm Sun) across the street; the latter has the better chicken sandwiches. **Kildare's Irish Pub** ( 215-482-7242; 4417 Main St; mains $9;  11am-2am Mon-Fri, from 10am Sat) is the place for chicken wings – grilled, fried and baked.

### Drinking & Entertainment

#### BARS & NIGHTCLUBS

**McGillin's Olde Ale House** ( 215-735-5562; www.mcgillins.com; 1310 Drury St;  11am-2am Mon-Sat, to midnight Sun) Philadelphia's oldest continually operated tavern (since 1860) – it remained open as a speakeasy in the prohibition years. Great buffalo wings (Tuesday is special wing night) and karaoke on Wednesdays and Fridays. St Patty's Day is absolutely crazy here.

**Standard Tap** ( 215-238-0630; cnr 2nd & Poplar Sts;  4pm-2am) One of the pioneers in the gastropub movement, this Northern Liberties bar offers a great selection of local brews on tap, as well as burgers and steaks.

**Urban Saloon** ( 215-808-0348; 2120 Fairmount Ave;  5pm-2am Mon-Fri, 11am-2am Sat, 11am-midnight Sun) The young proprietors of this Fairmount bar live right around the corner, so it has a neighborhood feel. There's room for dancing on Friday nights, and a kid-friendly brunch on Sundays (the peanut burger can be recommended).

**Shampoo** ( 215-922-7500; Willow St, btwn N 7th & 8th Sts; cover $7-12;  9pm-2am) Home to foam parties, hot tubs and velvet seating, this giant nightclub's weekly repertoire includes an immensely popular gay night on Fridays, a long-standing Wednesday Goth night, and a conventional free-for-all on Saturdays.

An area that lies between Broad and 12th Sts and Walnut and Pine Sts, unofficially called 'gayborhood,' was dubbed Midtown Village in 2007 and permanently decked out with rainbow-flag-festooned street signs during a special ceremony. Because nights and venues change frequently, check out www.phillygaycalendar.com. **Bump** ( 215-732-1800; 1234 Locust St) is a trendy, modern lounge with a cozy back patio, while **Sisters** ( 215-735-0735; 1320 Chancellor St) is a huge nightclub and restaurant for the ladies. Show tunes and other old-school fun reign in the downstairs piano bar at **Tavern on Camac** ( 215-545-0900; 243 S Camac St), one of the older gay bars in Philly, while a small upstairs dance floor gets packed with dance-happy folks.

Other places to recommend in the burgeoning brewpub scene include **Earth Bread & Brewery** ( 215-242-6666; 7136 Germantown Ave), **Dock Street Brewery & Restaurant** ( 215-726-2337; 701 S 50th St) and **Nodding Head Brewery** ( 215-569-9525; 1516 Sansom St).

**Continental Midtown** ( 215-567-1800; 1801 Chestnut St) is a swank and pricey rooftop bar and **Brasil's** ( 215-413-1700; 112 Chestnut St; cover $10) is the place to bump and grind to Latin, Brazilian and Caribbean sounds, with DJ John Rockwell.

#### LIVE MUSIC

**Chris' Jazz Club** ( 215-568-3131; www.chrisjazzcafe.com; 1421 Sansom St; cover $10-20) Showcasing local talent along with national greats, this intimate space features a four o'clock piano happy hour Tuesday through Friday and good bands Monday through Saturday nights.

**Ortlieb's Jazzhaus** ( 215-922-1035; www.ortliebsjazzhaus.com; 847 N 3rd St; cover Tue-Thu, $10 Fri, $15 Sat, $3 Sun) A respectable jazz lineup with a house band jamming every Tuesday night and Cajun cuisine on the menu (mains $20).

**Khyber** ( 215-238-5888; 56 S 2nd St; cover $5-15) Trendy Old City stops at the door to this down-and-dirty old rock bar. Nightly music except Mondays, when karaoke takes over. The Strokes made it big while they were the Khyber's resident band.

**Trocadero Theater** ( 215-922-6888; www.thetroc.com; 1003 Arch St; cover up to $12) A rock-and-roll showcase in Chinatown housed in a 19th-century Victorian theater. Monday night is movie night, followed by the Monday Night Club, with a hodgepodge of musicians, spoken-word artists and comedians.

**World Cafe Live** ( 3025 Walnut St; www.worldcafelive.com; 3025 Walnut St; cover $10-40) Located on the eastern edge of University City, World Cafe Live has upstairs and downstairs performance spaces featuring a restaurant and bar and is home to the radio station WXPN. It hosts an eclectic variety of live acts.

#### THEATER & CULTURE

**Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts** ( 215-790-5800; www.kimmelcenter.org; cnr Broad & Spruce Sts) Philadelphia's most active center for fine music, the Kimmel Center organizes a vast array of performances, including those for many of the companies listed below.

**Philadelphia Theatre Company** ( 215-985-0420; www.phillytheatreco.com; Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S Broad St, at Lombard St; tickets $35-70) This company, which produces quality contemporary plays with regional actors, has a high-end home in the heart of the arts district.

**Pennsylvania Ballet** ( 215-551-7000; www.paballet.org; 1819 John F Kennedy Blvd; tickets $25-130) An excellent dance company that performs in the beautiful Academy of Music and the next-door Merriam Theater.

**Philadelphia Dance Company** ( 215-387-8200; www.philadanco.org; 9 N Preston St; tickets $25-130) For almost 40 years this company has been providing top-shelf exhibitions of dance, blending ballet and modern as the resident company at the Kimmel Center.

**Philadelphia Orchestra** ( 215-893-1999; www.philorch.org; cnr Broad & Spruce Sts; tickets $10-130) The city's orchestra, founded in 1900, plays at the Kimmel Center, where it also resides.

#### SPORTS

Football is all about the **Philadelphia Eagles** (www.philadelphiaeagles.com), who play at state-of-the-art **Lincoln Field** ( 215-463-5500; S 11th St) from August through January, usually twice a month, on Sunday. The baseball team is the National League **Philadelphia Phillies** (www.phillies.mlb.com), who play 81 home games at **Citizen's Bank Park** ( 215-463-1000) from April to October. Finally, basketball comes courtesy of the **Philadelphia 76ers** (www.nba.com/sixers) at **Wachovia Center** ( 215-339-7600; 3601 S Broad St).

### Getting There & Away

**Philadelphia International Airport** (PHL;  215-937-6937, 800-745-4283; www.phl.org; 8000 Essington Ave), 7 miles south of Center City, is served by direct international flights; domestically, it has flights to over 100 destinations in the USA. See below for information on getting to/from the airport.

**Greyhound** ( 215-931-4075; www.greyhound.com; 1001 Filbert St) and **Peter Pan Bus Lines** ( 800-343-9999; www.peterpanbus.com; 1001 Filbert St) are the major bus carriers. Greyhound connects Philadelphia with hundreds of cities nationwide, while Peter Pan concentrates on the northeast. A round-trip fare to New York City is about $46 (2½ hours one way), to Atlantic City $20 (1½ hours) and to Washington, DC, $54 (4½ hours). **NJ Transit** ( 215-569-3752, in New Jersey 800-772-2222; www.njtransit.com) carries you from Philly to various points in New Jersey. Click here for less-expensive bus options to NYC.

Beautiful **30th St Station** (Click here; www.30thstreetstation.com) is one of the biggest train hubs in the country. **Amtrak** ( 215-349-2222, 800-872-7245; www.amtrak.com) provides service from here to Boston (regional and Acela express service one way $97 to $206, five to 5¾ hours) and Pittsburgh (regional service $45, 7¼ hours). A cheaper but longer (adult/child $19/13; 2½ hours) way to get to NYC is to take the SEPTA R7 suburban train to Trenton in New Jersey. From there you can connect with **NJ Transit** (www.njtransit.state.nj.us) to Newark's Penn Station, then continue on NJ Transit to New York City's Penn Station.

Several interstate highways lead through and around Philadelphia. From the north and south, the I-95 (Delaware Expwy) follows the eastern edge of the city beside the Delaware River, with several exits for Center City. The I-276 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) runs east across the northern part of the city and over the river to connect with the New Jersey Turnpike.

### Getting Around

The fare for a taxi to Center City from the airport is a flat fee of $28.50. The airport is also served by SEPTA's regional service using the R1 line. The R1 ($7) will drop you off in University City or in numerous stops in Center City.

Downtown distances are short enough to let you see most places on foot, and a train, bus or taxi can get you to places farther out relatively easily. Click here for car-rental advice.

**SEPTA** ( 215-580-7800; www.septa.org) operates Philadelphia's municipal buses, plus two subway lines and a trolley service. Though extensive and reliable, the web of bus lines (120 routes servicing 159 sq miles) is difficult to make sense of. The one-way fare on most routes is $2, for which you'll need exact change or a token. Many subway stations and transit stores sell discounted packages of two tokens for $2.90.

Cabs, especially around City Center, are easy to hail. The flag drop or fare upon entry is $2.70, then $2.30 per mile or portion thereof. All licensed taxis have GPS and some cabs accept credit cards.

The **Phlash** ( 215-474-5274; www.phillyphlash.com;  10am-6pm) shuttle bus looks like an old-school trolley and loops between Penn's Landing and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (one way/all day $2/5). It runs approximately every 12 minutes.

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## AROUND PHILADELPHIA

### New Hope & Lambertville

New Hope (www.newhopepa.com), about 40 miles north of Philadelphia and its sister town Lambertville (www.lambertville.org), across the Delaware River in NJ, sit equidistant from Philadelphia and New York City, and are a pair of quaint, artsy little towns. Both are edged with long and peaceful towpaths, perfect for runners, cyclists and strollers, and a bridge with a walking lane lets you crisscross between the two with ease. The towns draw a large number of gay folk; rainbow flags hanging outside various businesses demonstrate the town's gay-friendliness.

One of New Hope's unique offerings is the mule-drawn canalboat rides in the Delaware Canal, a leftover from the canal-building era of the mid-19th century. Stop by the **New Hope Canal Boat Company** ( 215-862-0758; www.onthecanal.net; 149 S Main St; adult/child $10/6;  tours noon May-Oct) for tickets. Or spend a few picturesque hours gliding downstream in a tube, raft or canoe, courtesy of **Bucks County River Country** ( 215-297-5000; www.rivercountry.net; 2 Walters Lane, Point Pleasant; tube $18-22, canoe $62;  rental 9am-2:30pm, return by 5pm), about 8 miles north of New Hope on Rte 32. The **Golden Nugget Antique Market** ( 609-397-0811; www.gnmarket.com; 1850 River Rd;  6am-4pm Wed, Sat & Sun), one mile south of Lambertville, has all sorts of finds, from furniture to clothing, from a variety of dealers.

Both towns have a plethora of cute B&Bs if you decide to make a weekend out of it. Try the **York Street House Bed & Breakfast** ( 609-397-3007; www.yorkstreethouse.com; 42 York St, Lambertville; r incl breakfast $125-260;        ), a 1909 mansion with cozy rooms and big breakfasts, or the **Mansion Inn** ( 215-862-1231; www.themansioninn.com; 9 South Main St, New Hope; r $155-275;        ) in the heart of town − an 1865 gingerbread mansion with elegant detailing.

When you get hungry, head four miles north to the town of Stockton to **Meil's Restaurant** ( 609-397-8033; cnr Main & Bridge Sts; mains $10-15;  8am-9pm Sun-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat) for large portions of satisfying comfort food. **Marsha Brown Creole Kitchen and Lounge** ( 215-862-7044; www.marshabrownrestaurant.com; 15 S Main St, New Hope; mains $15-22;  5-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri, 2-11pm Sat, to 9pm Sun) in New Hope serves catfish, steaks and lobster.

### Easton

The historic, picturesque and artsy town of Easton (www.easton-pa.com), home to Lafayette College, is in the Leheigh Valley, just over the New Jersey border and on the banks of the Delaware River, only 70 miles or so from both Philadelphia and New York City.

Strolling around the quaint main streets here is a lovely way to spend the afternoon, especially if you step into some of the many art galleries. The most popular reason to visit is the wonderful **Crayola Factory** ( 610-515-8000; www.crayola.com/factory; 30 Centre Sq; admission $9.50, includes National Canal Museum;  9:30am-3pm Tue-Fri, to 5pm Sat, noon-5pm Sun Sep-May, 9:30am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 11am Memorial Day–Labor Day;  ), home of the beloved crayons, where kids and curious adults can watch the crayons and markers get made, and get silly with hands-on exhibits. In the same complex with the same hours is the **National Canal Museum** ( 610-559-6625; www.canals.org), with exhibits explaining how canals helped create a national economy.

If you want to make an evening of it, grab a cozy room at the **Lafayette Inn** ( 610-253-4500; www.lafayetteinn.com; 525 W Monroe St; r incl breakfast $125-175, ste $225;      ), an 18-room Georgian-style mansion with antiques and big breakfasts.

### Brandywine Valley

Straddling the Pennsylvania−Delaware border southwest of Philadelphia, the Brandywine Valley is a patchwork of rolling, wooded countryside, historic villages, gardens, mansions and museums. The **Chester County's Brandywine Valley Tourist Information Center** ( 800-228-9933; www.brandywinevalley.com; 300 Greenwood Ave;  10am-6pm Apr-Sep, to 5pm Oct-Mar) sits outside the gates of the spectacular **Longwood Gardens** ( 610-388-1000; www.longwoodgardens.org; Rte 1; admission $16;  9am-6pm Mon, Tue, Wed & Sun, to 10pm Thu, Fri & Sat;  ), near Kennett Sq, which has 1050 acres, 20 indoor gardens and 11,000 kinds of plants, with something always in bloom. There's also a Children's Garden with a maze, fireworks and illuminated fountains in summer, and festive lights at Christmas. The **Brandywine Valley Wine Trail** (www.bvwinetrail.com), meanwhile, is a lovely conduit between a handful of new vineyards, all with tasting rooms.

A showcase of American artwork, the **Brandywine River Museum** ( 610-388-2700; www.brandywinemuseum.org; cnr Hwy 1 & Rte 100; adult/child $10/6;  9:30am-4:30pm), at Chadd's Ford, includes the work of the 'Brandywine School' – Howard Pyle, NC Wyeths and Maxfield Parrish. One of the valley's most famous attractions, though, is **Winterthur** ( 302-888-4600, 800-448-3883; www.winterthur.org; Rte 52, Winterthur, DE; adult/child/senior & student $18/5/16;  10am-5pm Tue-Sun), actually in Delaware, an important museum of American furniture and decorative arts that was the country estate of Henry Francis du Pont until he opened it to the public in 1951.

### Valley Forge

After being defeated at the Battle of Brandywine Creek and the British occupation of Philadelphia in 1777, General Washington and 12,000 continental troops withdrew to Valley Forge. Today, Valley Forge symbolizes Washington's endurance and leadership. The **Valley Forge National Historic Park** ( 610-783-1099; www.nps.gov/vafo; cnr N Gulph Rd & Rte 23; admission free; park grounds  6am-10pm, welcome center & Washington's Headquarters  9am-5pm) contains 5½ sq miles of scenic beauty and open space 20 miles northwest of downtown Philadelphia – a remembrance of where 2000 of George Washington's 12,000 troops perished from freezing temperatures, hunger and disease, while many others returned home. A 22-mile cycling path along the Schuylkill River connects Valley Forge to Philadelphia.

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## PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH COUNTRY

The core of Pennsylvania Dutch Country lies in the southeast region of Pennsylvania, in an area about 20 by 15 miles, east of Lancaster. The Amish ( _ah_ -mish), Mennonite and Brethren religious communities are collectively known as the 'Plain People.' All are Anabaptist sects, persecuted in their native Switzerland, who from the early 1700s settled in tolerant Pennsylvania. Speaking German dialects, they became known as 'Dutch' (from 'Deutsch'). Most Pennsylvania Dutch live on farms and their beliefs vary from sect to sect. Many do not use electricity, and most opt for horse-drawn buggies – a delightful sight, and sound, in the area. The strictest believers, the Old Order Amish, wear dark, plain clothing, and live a simple, Bible-centered life – but have, ironically, become a major tourist attraction, thus bringing busloads of gawkers and the requisite strip malls, chain restaurants and hotels that lend this entire area an oxymoronic quality, to say the least.

### Information

To escape the busloads of tourists and learn about the region, use a map to navigate the back roads, avoiding main Rtes 30 and 340 at all costs, or simply visiting in winter when tourism is down. Even better, rent a bicycle from **Rails to Trail Bicycle Shop** ( 717-367-7000; www.railstotrail.com; 1010 Hershey Rd, Elizabethtown; rental per day $25;  10am-6pm) between Hershey and Lancaster, pack some food and hit the road. Some farm homes rent rooms for $50 to $100 – they welcome kids, provide home-cooked meals and offer a unique opportunity to experience farm life. The **Dutch Country Visitors Center** ( 800-723-8824; www.padutchcountry.com;  9am-6pm Mon-Sat, to 4pm Sun), off Rte 30 in Lancaster, offers comprehensive information.

### Sights & Activities

On the western edge of Amish country, the pleasant town of **Lancaster** – a surprising mix of hip art galleries, eateries and preserved brick row houses – was briefly the US capital in September 1777, when Congress stopped here overnight. The bustling **Central Market** ( 717-291-4723; Penn Sq;  6am-3pm Tue, Fri & Sat) offers local produce, cheese, meats and Amish baked goods and crafts. Next door, the **Heritage Center Museum** ( 717-299-6440; www.lancasterheritage.com; 13 W King St; admission free;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, 10am-3pm Sun) has a collection of 18th- and 19th-century paintings and period furniture, and gives an excellent overview of Amish culture. The monthly **First Friday** (www.lancasterarts.com) celebration brings out a friendly local crowd for gallery hops along artsy Prince St.

Probably named for its crossroads location, nearby **Intercourse** has heavily touristed shops selling clothing, quilts, candles, furniture, fudge and, of course, souvenirs with off-color jokes.

**Bird-in-Hand** has craft stores, restaurants and a **farmers** **market** ( 717-393-9674; 2710 Old Philadelphia Pike). The **Bird-in-Hand Bake Shop** ( 717-656-7947; 542 Gibbons Rd;  8am-5pm Mon-Sat), north of town, has a good selection of souvenirs, crafts and homemade pies and cakes. **Abe's Buggy Rides** ( 717-392-1794; 2596 Old Philadelphia Pike;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat; adult/child $10/5;  ) does a fun but not-so-authentic 2-mile tour. In **Lititz** , visitors come for the **Sturgis Pretzel House** ( 717-626-4354; www.juliussturgis.com; Rte 772; admission $3;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat), the USA's first pretzel factory. The nearby **Ephrata Cloister** ( 717-733-6600; www.ephratacloister.org; 632 W Main St, Ephrata; adult/child $9/6;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun) gives tours of its collection of medieval-style buildings, one of the country's earliest religious communities.

### Sleeping & Eating

There's a slew of inns in Amish country, and you will find several cheap motels along the southeastern portion of Rte 462/Rte 30. **Beacon Hollow Farm** ( 717-768-8218; 130 Centreville Rd; r incl breakfast $75), a dairy farm in Gordonville, has a cozy cottage with two bedrooms, provides a country breakfast and lets you milk the cows. A slightly more upscale and modern (complete with cable TV) experience can be had at **Landis Farm** ( 717-898-7028; www.landisfarm.com; 2048 Gochlan Rd, Manheim; r incl breakfast $100), a 200-year-old stone home with pinewood floors. For a refreshingly hip and urban experience, make a beeline to the snazzy new **Lancaster Arts Hotel** ( 866-720-2787; www.lancasterartshotel.com; 300 Harrisburg Ave; r from $169;        ), housed in an old brick tobacco warehouse and featuring a groovy boutique-hotel ambience and locally grown, organic-centric restaurant **John J Jeffries** ( 717-431-3307; mains $14-25;  11:30am-2pm & 5:30-10pm Mon-Fri, noon-2pm & 5:30-10pm Sat, 5:30-9pm Sun).

To sample one of the famous family-style restaurants and hearty dishes of Amish country, including the famous, sticky-sweet dessert of shoofly pie, get prepared to rub elbows with lots of tourists. To avoid the tour-bus crush, try the **Family Cupboard Restaurant & Buffet** ( 717-768-4510; 3029 Old Philadelphia Pike; mains $11;  7am-8pm Mon-Sat) in Bird-in-Hand, for mouthwatering specials such as hamloaf (yes, that's right) and chicken in gravy over waffles.

### Getting There & Around

**RRTA** ( 717-397-4246; www.redrosetransit.com) local buses link the main towns, but a car is much more convenient for sightseeing. The **Capitol Trailways & Greyhound terminal** ( 717-397-4861; Lancaster train station) has buses to Philadelphia ($15, two hours 40 minutes) and Pittsburgh ($71, eight hours). The **Amtrak train station** (53 McGovern Ave, Lancaster) has trains to and from Philadelphia ($15 to $18, 70 minutes) and Pittsburgh ($44, six hours).

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## SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

### Hershey

Less than two hours from Philly is the fabled kids' favorite **Hershey** (www.hersheypa.com), home to a collection of attractions that detail, hype and, of course, hawk, the many trappings of Milton Hershey's chocolate empire. The pièce de résistance is **Hershey Park** ( 800-437-7439; www.hersheypark.com; 100 W Hersheypark Dr; adult/child $52/31;  10am-10pm Jun-Aug, 9am-6pm or 8pm Sep-May), an amusement park with more than 60 thrill rides (not chocolate themed), plus various performances and frequent fireworks displays. **Hershey's Chocolate World** ( 717-534-4900; www.hersheys.com/chocolateworld; 251 Park Blvd; 'Chocolate Experience' film adult/child $6/4, 'Chocolate Tasting Adventure' $10/7;  9am-10pm Jun-Aug, 9am-6pm or 8pm Sep-May;  ) is a mock factory and massive candy store with over-stimulating features like singing characters and free chocolate galore. For a more low-key informational visit, try the **Hershey Story, The Museum on Chocolate Avenue** ( 717-534-3439; www.hersheymuseum.org; 111 W Chocolate Ave; adult/child $10/7.50;  9am-8pm summer, to 5:30pm other times;  ), which explores the life and legacy of Mr Hershey through interactive history exhibits; try molding your own candy in the hands-on 'Chocolate Lab.'

### Gettysburg

This tranquil, compact and history-laden town, 145 miles west of Philadelphia, saw one of the Civil War's most decisive and bloody battles. It's also where Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address. The area is anchored by the 8-sq-mile **Gettysburg National Military Park** ( 717-334-1124; www.nps.gov/gett; 1195 Baltimore Pike (Rte 97); park admission free, museum admission adult/child $7.50/5.50;  8am-6pm Apr-Oct, 8am-5pm Nov-Mar), with a great visitor center, museum and bookstore. Here you can pick up a map that details a self-guided auto tour, with somber sights including the Wheatfield, which was strewn with more than 4000 dead and wounded after battle.

The **Gettysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau** ( 717-334-2100; www.gettysburg.com; 89 Steinwehr Ave;  8:30am-5:30pm) also distributes a comprehensive list of town attractions, which include the **Eisenhower National Historic Site** ( 717-338-9114; 250 Eisenhower Farm Lane; adult/child $6.50/4;  9am-4pm), which is Ike's former home, and the house that served as **General Lee's Headquarters** ( 717-334-3141; 401 Budford Ave; admission free;  9am-5pm mid-Mar–Nov), now a museum.

The annual **Civil War Heritage Days** (recorded information  717-334-0853), a festival taking place from the last weekend of June through the first weekend of July, features living-history encampments, battle reenactments, a lecture series and book fair that draws war reenactment aficionados from near and wide. You can find other **reenactments** (www.gettysburg.com/livinghistory) throughout the year.

For accommodations, try the stately three-story Victorian **Brickhouse Inn** ( 717-338-9337; www.brickhouseinn.com; 452 Baltimore St; r $115-165;   ), c 1898, a wonderful B&B with charming rooms and an outdoor patio. For a meal in Gettysburg's oldest home, built in 1776, head to **Dobbin House Tavern** ( 717-334-2100; 89 Steinwehr Ave; mains $8-25;  11:30am-9pm), which serves heaping sandwiches as well as more elaborate meat and fish meals; choose from one of six fairly kitschy themed dining rooms, including a bedroom.

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## NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA

Occupying the northeast corner of Pennsylvania is the famed **Poconos** ( 800-762-6667; www.800poconos.com) region, containing 2400 sq miles of mountains, streams, waterfalls, lakes and forests, making it a beautifully natural getaway at any time during the four seasons. Among the quaint (as well as tacky) towns is adorable **Milford** (www.pikechamber.com), home to the lovingly and luxuriously restored **Hotel Fauchere** ( 570-409-1212; www.hotelfauchere.com; 401 Broad St; r incl breakfast $170-350;   ).

* * *

# IF YOU HAVE A FEW MORE DAYS

Central PA can be an interesting counterpoint to the more touristy parts of the region. The town of **Bethlehem** , from its initial founding by a small religious community to heavy industry center to its current incarnation as a gambling destination, retains a charming historic quality. No doubt the Moravians, a Protestant denomination with roots in 14th-century European traditions who established the town on Christmas Eve in 1741, wouldn't recognize their tight-knit collective in the **New Sands Casino** ( 877-726-3777; www.pasands.com; 77 Sands Blvd). Built on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel factory, which produced materials for the George Washington Bridge, Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center, the building takes design cues from its utilitarian past.

A few hours further south and west from here down Hwys 222 and 30, is the architecturally interesting and historic town of **Hanover** , a peaceful alternative base for visiting Gettysburg, just 10 miles east on Rte 116. While you're there, visit the lively **Amish Market** (E Chestnut St) on Saturday or tour one of two snack-food factories – famous pretzel-maker **Snyder's of Hanover** ( 800-233-7125; www.snydersofhanover.com; 1350 York St; tours free;  10am, 11am, 1pm Tue-Thu) or **UTZ Quality Foods** ( 800-367-7629; www.utzsnacks.com; 900 High St; tours free;  8am-4pm Mon-Thu), best known for its potato chips.

* * *

For river fun, contact **Adventure Sports** ( 570-223-0505, 800-487-2628; www.adventuresport.com; Rte 209; per day canoe/kayak $40/44;  9am-6pm Mon-Fri, from 8am Sat & Sun May-Oct) in Marshalls Creek, Pennsylvania. There are several different put-in and take-out points that allow a variety of itineraries, from quick half-day trips to leisurely multiday adventures. Camping is allowed at many points along the way and is a great way to experience the beauty of the area. Also in Marshalls Creek is the **Pocono Mt Go-Karts & Play Park** ( 570-223-6299; Rte 209), which in addition to the aforementioned go-karts has paintball and archery.

A little further west in a tucked-away valley is **Jim Thorpe** (named for an athletic hero of the early 1900s who was buried here – but likely never visited – after town officials decided they needed a signature tourism sight), which offers a slew of mountain-biking trails and rafting runs (as well as the requisite outfitters); and the **Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway** ( 570-325-8485; www.lgsry.com; adult/child $12/9;  11am, 1pm & 3pm), offering peaceful one-hour rides through the Lehigh Gorge State Park. A few miles east of Jim Thorpe is the family-run **Big Creek Vineyard** ( 610-681-3959; www.bigcreekvineyard.com; Keller Rd, Kresgeville;  1-5pm Sun-Thu, to 7pm Fri & Sat), worth a tasting tour when you're in the area.

North of here, where the Delaware River swings west, marking the border between Pennsylvania and New York, not far from the Catskills, are a number of small, primarily blue-collar towns with the occasional bistro that caters to weekending downstaters. **Lander's River Trips** ( 800-252-3925; www.landersrivertrips.com; per day canoe/kayak/tube $39/45/26) in Callicoon, NY and in Narrowsburg, NY, further down the river rents canoes, kayaks and tubes.

Return to beginning of chapter

## PITTSBURGH

Famous as an industrial center during the 19th century, to many Americans Pittsburgh still conjures stark images of billowing clouds emanating from steel and coal factories. Scottish-born immigrant Andrew Carnegie made his fortune here by modernizing steel production, and his legacy is still synonymous with the city and its many cultural and educational institutions. Production dipped during the Great Depression but rose again because of mass-produced automobiles in the 1930s. Today's city, however, despite continuing economic challenges, has a well-earned reputation for being one of the more livable metropolitan areas in the country. Hilly like San Francisco and boasting more bridges than any other city in the US, in terms of geography, at least, Pittsburgh has an almost European feel. Teeming with students from the many universities in town, it's a surprisingly hip and cultured city with top-notch museums, abundant greenery and several bustling neighborhoods with lively restaurant and bar scenes. When the economy and local steel industry took another major hit in the 1970s, the city's pride was buoyed by its local NFL football team: the Steelers achieved a remarkable run of four Super Bowl championships, a feat whose importance to the continuing psyche of some Pittsburghers can't be underestimated. After the steel industry's demise, Pittsburgh's economy has refocused on health care, technology and education and the city is home to several notable Fortune 500 companies, including Alcoa and Heinz.

### Orientation

The city sits at the point where the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers join the Ohio River, spreads out over the waterways and has neighborhoods connected by picturesque bridges (all with footpaths). It's large and not easily traversed on foot unless you're exploring one neighborhood at a time. The mystical-sounding Golden Triangle, between the converging Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers, is Pittsburgh's renovated downtown. Just northeast of here, the Strip offers warehouses, ethnic food stores and nightclubs and, across the Allegheny River, the North Side has big sports stadiums plus several museums. Across the Monongahela River is the South Side, whose Slopes rise up to Mt Washington; at the Flats, E Carson St bustles with clubs and restaurants. East of downtown is Oakland, the university area, and beyond that Squirrel Hill and Shadyside, residential neighborhoods with an elegant, small-town feel.

Rand McNally makes good laminated maps of Pittsburgh, available in the city's bookstores, while **Universal Map** (www.universalmap.com) makes an excellent paper street map of Greater Pittsburgh ($13).

### Information

#### BOOKSTORES

**Caliban Book Shop** ( 412-681-9111; www.calibanbooks.com; 410 S Craig St;  11am-5:30pm Mon-Sat & 1-5:30pm Sun) Specializes in literary first editions, fine arts, poetry and travel.

**City Books** ( 412-481-7555; 1111 E Carson St;  11am-5pm Mon-Sat & 1-5pm Sun) On the South Side.

**Joseph-Beth Booksellers** ( 412-381-3600; www.josephbeth.com; 2705 E Carson St;  10am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat, 11am-7pm Sun) Part of a regional chain; massive selection.

**University of Pittsburgh Book Center** ( 412-648-1455; 4000 Fifth Ave;  8:30am-6:30pm Mon-Thu, 9am-5pm Fri & Sat) Tens of thousands of general titles, plus textbooks.

#### INTERNET ACCESS

The city offers free wi-fi access downtown (as does the Pittsburgh International Airport). In addition to cafés, several on the South Side, the **Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh** ( 412-622-3114; 4400 Forbes Ave;  ) main branch (plus others) has free public access at terminals.

#### INTERNET RESOURCES

**Citysearch** (pittsburgh.citysearch.com) Nightlife, restaurant and shopping listings.

**Hello Pittsburgh** (www.hellopittsburgh.com) Comprehensive city listings.

**Pittsburgh.net** (www.pittsburgh.net) Listings, neighborhoods and events.

**Pop City** (www.popcitymedia.com) Weekly e-magazine highlighting arts and cultural events.

#### MEDIA

**Pittsburgh City Paper** (www.pghcitypaper.com) Free alternative weekly with extensive arts listings.

**Pittsburgh's Out** (www.outonline.com) Free monthly gay newspaper.

**Pittsburgh Post-Gazette** (www.post-gazette.com) A major daily.

**Pittsburgh Tribune-Review** (www.pittsburghlive.com) Another major daily.

**WQED-FM: 90.5** Local National Public Radio affiliate.

**WYEP-FM: 91.3** Local independent station with eclectic music.

#### MEDICAL SERVICES

**Allegheny County Health Department** ( 412-687-2243; 3333 Forbes Ave) Has a walk-in medical center.

**Allegheny General Hospital** ( 866-680-0004; 320 E North Ave;  24hr) Emergency room.

**University of Pittsburgh Medical Center** ( 412-647-8762; 200 Lothrop St;  24hr) Emergency, high-ranking medical care.

#### MONEY

You will find ATMs in delicatessens and grocery stores (where you may be charged up to a $3 fee) as well as in banks.

#### POST

**Post office** ( 412-642-0769; 700 Grant St) Main branch; call for other locations.

#### TOURIST INFORMATION

**Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau** Main Branch ( 412-281-7711, 800-359-0758; www.visitpittsburgh.com; 30th fl, 425 Sixth Ave;  9am-4pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat, 10am-3pm Sun); Pittsburgh International Airport (near baggage claim;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 3pm Sat & Sun) Publishes the _Official Visitors Guide_ and provides maps and tourist advice.

### Sights & Activities

Points of interest in Pittsburgh are scattered everywhere, and the city's spread-out nature makes it a difficult place to cover thoroughly on foot. Driving can also be troublesome, due to the oddly laid-out streets, which confuse even locals. Public buses, luckily, are quite reliable (Click here for more information). University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie-Mellon University, Duquesne University and several other smaller colleges are all large presences in town, with sprawling campuses and bustling academic crowds.

For pretty much any outdoor pursuit, the best option is the elaborate, 1700-acre system of the **Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy** ( 412-682-7275; www.pittsburghparks.org), which comprises **Schenley Park** (with a public swimming pool and golf course), **Highland Park** (with swimming pool, tennis courts and bicycling track), **Riverview Park** (sporting ball fields and horseback riding trails) and **Frick Park** (with hiking trails, clay courts and a bowling green), all with beautiful running, cycling and in-line skating trails.

Active types can find guidance at places such as the **Golden Triangle Bike & Blade Shop** ( 412-600-0675; www.goldentrianglebikenblade.com; Eliza Furnace Trail, under 1st Ave Transit Station;  11am-8pm Tue-Fri, from 10am Sat & Sun; rental per hr/day $8/30), which rents bikes and leads various tours of the city; there's even a continuous trail all the way to Washington, DC. **Venture Outdoors** ( 412-255-0564; www.wpfi.org; 304 Forbes Ave) is the prime source for outdoor recreation in the region, and sponsors cycling, hiking and kayaking tours in and around the city.

#### DOWNTOWN

Referred to as the 'Golden Triangle' only in official tourist brochures, downtown is where you'll find the **Allegheny County Courthouse** ( 412-350-5313; 436 Grant St;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri), a 19th-century Romanesque stone building that fills two city blocks. At the triangle's tip is the renovated and beautified waterfront **Point State Park** , which is popular during summer with strollers, cyclists, loungers and runners; for a longer run, head to the 11-mile gravel-paved **Montour Trail** (www.montourtrail.org), accessible by crossing the 6th St Bridge and catching the paved path at the Carnegie Science Center (opposite). The park's renovated **Fort Pitt Museum** ( 412-281-9284; www.fortpittmuseum.com; 101 Commonwealth Pl; admission $7;  9am-5pm Wed-Sun) commemorates the historic heritage of the French and Indian War. The nicely remodeled brick warehouse that is the **Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center** ( 412-454-6000; www.pghhistory.org; 1212 Smallman St; adult/child $10/5, includes admission to Sports Museum;  10am-5pm) offers a good take on the region's past, with exhibits on the French and Indian War, early settlers, immigrants, steel and the glass industry; it's also home to the **Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum** ( 412-454-6000; www.pghhistory.org; 1212 Smallman Ave;  10am-5pm), focusing on champs from Pittsburgh. In September 2009 the **August Wilson Center for African American Culture** ( 412-258-2700; www.augustwilsoncenter.org; 425 Sixth Ave) christened it's strikingly contemporary new building, which houses a museum, classrooms and performance space.

#### SOUTH SIDE & MT WASHINGTON

Youthful, funky and bustling like NYC's East Village, the South Side is bursting with shops, eateries and drinking spots. In the 10 blocks between the 10th St Bridge and Birmingham Bridge there are nearly 50 bars, not including little hole-in-the-wall joints. When sober and satiated, stop in at the **Society for Contemporary Art** ( 412-261-7003; www.contemporarycraft.org; 2100 Smallman St;  1-5pm Tue-Sat) for cutting-edge crafts and other art exhibitions.

To see the south side from above, ride either the **Monongahela Incline** ( 412-442-2000; www.portauthority.org; one way adult/child $2/1;  5:30am-12:45am Mon-Sat, 8:45am-midnight Sun) or **Duquesne** **Incline** ( 412-381-1665; www.incline.pghfree.net; one way adult/child $2/1;  5:30am-12:45am Mon-Sat, from 7am Sun), the historic funicular railroads that run up and down **Mt Washington** 's steep slopes and afford great city views. At the start of the Duquesne Incline is **Station Square** ( 800-859-8959; www.stationsquare.com; Station Sq Dr, at Fort Pitt Bridge), a group of beautiful, renovated railway buildings that now comprise what is essentially a big ol' mall. Rising up from the bustling South Side valley is the neighborhood called the **South Side Slopes** , a fascinating community of houses that seem perilously perched on the edge of cliffs, accessible via steep, winding roads and hundreds of stairs.

#### NORTH SIDE

While this part of town feels most populated when its PNC Park (Click here) is filled with sports fans for a Pittsburgh Steelers game, rest assured that its many museums are hopping, too. The **Andy Warhol Museum** ( 412-237-8300; www.warhol.org; 117 Sandusky St; adult/child $15/8;  10am-5pm Tue-Thu, Sat & Sun, to 10pm Fri) celebrates Pittsburgh's coolest native son, who became famous for his pop art, avant-garde movies, celebrity connections and Velvet Underground spectaculars. Exhibits include celebrity portraits, while the museum's theater hosts frequent film screenings and quirky performers. Friday-night cocktails at the museum are popular with Pittsburgh's gay community.

Also not to be missed is the **Mattress Factory** ( 412-231-3169; www.mattress.org; 500 Sampsonia Way; adult/child $10/free;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun), hosting unique installation art and frequent performances.

**Carnegie Science Center** ( 412-237-3400; www.carnegiesciencecenter.org; 1 Allegheny Ave; adult/child $14/10, IMAX & special exhibits extra;  10am-5pm Sun-Fri, to 7pm Sat;  ), great for kids, is a cut above the average hands-on science museum, with innovative exhibits on subjects ranging from outer space to candy.

The **National Aviary** ( 412-321-4364; www.aviary.org; W Commons, Allegheny Sq; adult/child $10/8.50;  10am-5pm, from 9am late May–early Sep;  ) is another treat, with more than 600 exotic and endangered birds. Nearby in the northwest is the **Mexican War Streets** neighborhood, named after battles and soldiers of the 1846 Mexican War. The carefully restored row houses, with Greek Revival doorways and Gothic turrets lining the quiet streets, make for a peaceful, postmuseum stroll.

The **Pittsburgh Children's Museum** ( 412-322-5058; www.pittsburghkids.org; Allegheny Sq; adult/child $11/10;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun;  ) features loads of interactive exhibits, including a chance for kids to get under the hood of real cars and some child-friendly Warhol works.

#### OAKLAND & AROUND

The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University are here, and the surrounding streets are packed with cheap eateries, cafés, shops and student homes. Rising up from the center of the U Pitt campus is the soaring **Cathedral of Learning** ( 412-624-6000; 4200 Fifth Ave; admission free, tours $3;  9am-3pm Mon-Sat, from 11am Sun), a grand, 42-story Gothic tower which, at 535ft, is the second-tallest education building in the world. It houses the elegant **Nationality Classrooms** , each representing a different style and period, with gorgeous details such as the red-velvet upholstered chairs of Austria; most are accessible only with a guided tour.

Nearby are two **Carnegie Museums** ( 412-622-3131; www.carnegiemuseums.org; 4400 Forbes Ave; adult/child to both $15/11;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, from noon Sun) – the **Carnegie Museum of Art** , with terrific exhibits of architecture, impressionist, postimpressionist and modern American paintings; and the **Carnegie Museum of Natural History** , featuring a complete Tyrannosaurus skeleton and exhibits on Pennsylvania geology and Inuit prehistory. East of Oakland, in Point Breeze, is the wonderful **Frick Art & Historical Center** ( 412-371-0600; www.frickart.org; 7227 Reynolds St; museum & grounds free, Clayton tours $10;  10am-5pm Tue-Sun), which displays some of Henry Clay Frick's Flemish, French and Italian paintings in its Art Museum; assorted Frickmobiles like a 1914 Rolls Royce in the Car & Carriage Museum; more than five acres of grounds and gardens; and Clayton, the restored 1872 Frick mansion.

#### SQUIRREL HILL & SHADYSIDE

These upscale neighborhoods feature wide streets, excellent restaurants, chain stores and independent boutiques and bakeries (try the burnt-almond tortes, a classic Pittsburgh dessert). Squirrel Hill is home to Pittsburgh's large Jewish community, the city's best kosher eateries, butchers and Judaica shops; apartment buildings, duplexes and more modest housing are almost as common as the grand mansions the neighborhood is known for. **Temple Sinai** ( 412-421-9715; www.templesinaipgh.org; 5505 Forbes Ave) is a synagogue that's housed in the architecturally stunning Elizabethan-style former mansion of John Worthington. In Shadyside, Walnut St is the bustling main strip. The leafy campus of **Chatham University** , located between the two neighborhoods, is a nice place to stroll.

#### GREATER PITTSBURGH

Formerly gritty **Lawrenceville** has become the city's **Interior Design District** (www.1662designzone.com), comprising the stretch on and around Butler St from 16th to 62nd Sts. It's a long and spotty strip of shops, galleries, studios, bars and eateries that's on every hipster's radar, and runs into the gentrifying **Garfield** neighborhood, a good place for cheap ethnic eats. **Bloomfield** , a really little Little Italy, is a strip of groceries, Italian eateries and, of all things, a landmark Polish restaurant, the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern (see opposite).

Folks with kids to entertain might want to seek out the **Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium** ( 412-665-3640; www.pittsburghzoo.com; 7340 Butler St; adult/child $12/10;  9am-5pm Apr–late May & early Sep–late Dec, to 4pm Jan–Mar, to 6pm late May–early Sep;  ), or for wet fun in the summer, the **Sandcastle Waterpark** ( 412-462-6666; www.sandcastlewaterpark.com; 1000 Sandcastle Dr; admission $28;  11am-6pm Jun-Sep;  ).

### Tours

**Alan Irvine Storyteller Tours** ( 412-521-6406; www.alanirvine.com/walking_tour; tours $10-15) This historian brings the city's past to life in a journey through several neighborhoods.

**Just Ducky Tours** ( 412-402-3825; www.justduckytours.com; Station Sq; adult/child $19/15;  Apr-Oct) General city tours in a WWII amphibious vehicle.

**Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation** ( 412-471-5808; www.phlf.org; Station Sq; tours from $5) Specialized historic, architectural or cultural tours by foot or motor coach.

### Festivals & Events

**Hothouse** (www.sproutfund.org/hothouse) Annual June night of eclectic performance, art and music supports Pittsburgh's creative side.

**Three Rivers Art Festival** (www.artsfestival.net) Showcasing the city's cultural credentials, this 10-day blowout in June features free concerts and outdoor visual and performance arts in Point State Park.

**Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta** (www.threeriversregatta.com) Speedboats race on the three rivers in July or August.

**Step Trek** (www.southsideslopes.org) A community climb up the 23,982 vertical feet of steps of the South Side Slopes in early fall.

### Sleeping

Oakland has the straight-up chain hotels – Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn, Residence Inn and the like. The **Holiday Inn Express** ( 412-488-1130; www.hiexpress.com; 20 S 10th St; r from $160;      ) is only worth pointing out for its convenient location on the busy South Side. For more character, check in with the **Pittsburgh Bed & Breakfast Association** (www.pittsburghbnb.com).

**Inn on the Mexican War Streets** ( 412-231-6544; www.innonthemexicanwarstreets.com; 604 W North Ave; r incl breakfast $139-189;      ) This historic, gay-owned mansion on the North Side is near the museums and right on the bus line that takes you downtown. Expect hearty homemade breakfasts, charming hosts, stunning antique furnishings and an elegant porch, plus a martini lounge and the four-star restaurant Acanthus.

**Morning Glory Inn** ( 412-431-1707; www.gloryinn.com; 2119 Sarah St; r incl breakfast $145-190, ste $175-450;      ) An Italianate-style Victorian brick town house popular for weddings, the Morning Glory is in the heart of the busy South Side. The overall decor is slightly chintzy – think floral patterns, wicker furniture, four-poster beds – but you can relax in the charming backyard patio, and delicious breakfasts are a major plus.

**Inn on Negley** ( 412-661-0631; www.theinnsonnegley.com; 703 Negley Ave; r $180-235;        ) Formerly a pair of Shadyside inns, these two Victorian houses have been combined into one newly refurbished gem with a clean-line aesthetic that still bursts with romance. It features four-poster beds, handsome furniture and fireplaces, large windows and, in some rooms, hot tubs.

**Sunnyledge** ( 412-683-5014; www.sunnyledge.com; 5124 Fifth Ave; r/ste $189/275;  ) Though it refers to itself as a 'boutique hotel,' it would be more accurate to describe the Sunnyledge as a 'historic' one. Housed in an 1886 mansion in Shadyside, the atmosphere is one of traditional elegance, overwrought at times. The restaurant on premises gets mixed reviews.

**Omni William Penn Hotel** ( 412-281-7100; www.omnihotels.com; 530 William Penn Place; r from $200;      ) An old-school high-rise hotel in the downtown district – good for a Pirates or Steelers game but not nightlife – the Omni features a grand lobby and spacious rooms. Above-average service, a spa and several dining options as well.

### Eating

#### BUDGET

**Primanti Bros** ( 412-263-2142; www.primantibros.com; 18th St, at Smallman St; sandwiches $6;  24hr) A Pittsburgh institution on the Strip, this always-packed place specializes in greasy and delicious hot sandwiches – from knockwurst and cheese to the 'Pitts-burger cheesesteak.' Other outlets are in Oakland, downtown and South Side.

**Original Hot Dog Shop** ( 412-621-7388; 3901 Forbes Ave; meals $3-5;  10am-3:30am Mon-Thu, to 5am Fri & Sat) Affectionately nicknamed 'dirty Os' or 'the O' by locals, this is a favorite for its cheap dogs and mounds of crispy fries – especially after a night at the bars.

**Quiet Storm Coffeehouse & Restaurant** ( 412-661-9355; www.quietstormcoffee.com; 5430 Penn Ave; mains $6-11;  8am-7pm Mon-Thu, 8am-10pm Fri, 10am-10pm Sat, 10am-4pm Sun;  ) This hipster-filled, multiuse café in Garfield specializes in veggie and vegan cuisine and hosts frequent readings and musical performances.

**Kessab's** ( 412-381-1820; 1207 Carson St; mains $6;  10:30am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat), a Lebanese restaurant on the South Side, serves splendid baba ghanoush, and the tiny and popular **Pho Minh** ( 412-661-7443; 4917 Penn Ave; mains $5-7;  noon-9pm Wed, Thu & Sun, to 10pm Fri & Sat) does excellent Vietnamese noodle, soup and tofu dishes.

#### MIDRANGE & TOP END

**Kaya** ( 412-261-6565; 2000 Smallman Ave; dishes $9-25;  11:30am-10pm Mon-Wed, to 11pm Thu-Sat, noon-9pm Sun) Sleek and funky – think bongo drums for bar stools – Kaya is a popular place serving up creative Caribbean-inspired dishes. Vegetarians are well catered for here as well.

**Gypsy Café** ( 412-381-4977; 1330 Bingham St; mains $14-19;  11:30am-midnight) The purple floors and walls and brightly colored rugs make loyal patrons here as happy as the fresh, seasonal fare. Sample menu items include a smoked trout plate and a stew of shrimp, scallop and feta. Hours are changeable so call ahead

**Dish Osteria Bar** ( 412-390-2012; 128 S 17th St; mains $14-25;  5pm-2am Mon-Sat) A tucked-away, intimate locals' fave. The simple wood tables and floors belie the at-times extravagant Mediterranean creations, which range from fresh sardines with caramelized onions to fettuccine with lamb _ragù_.

**Cafe du Jour** ( 412-488-9695; 1107 E Carson St; mains $15-35;  11:30am-10pm Mon-Sat) Part of the raucous South Side 'hood, Cafe du Jour has a constantly changing menu of Mediterranean dishes. It does especially good soups and salads for lunch; try to get a seat in the small outside courtyard. It's BYOB.

Also recommended:

**City Grill** ( 412-431-1770; 2019 E Carson St; mains $10-25;  11am-11pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat, 4-10pm Sun) On the South Side; known for mouthwatering burgers, considered one of the best in the city.

**Double Wide Grill** ( 412-390-1111; 2339 E Carson St; mains $14-27;  11am-10pm Mon-Wed, to midnight Thu-Sat, 10am-10pm Sun) Does barbecue as well as interesting veggie options like pulled seitan and coconut tofu.

### Drinking & Entertainment

#### BARS & NIGHTCLUBS

Most nightlife is centered on the South Side and the Strip. Carson St is ground zero for bar-hopping: a few worth including in your itinerary are **Smokin' Joe's** ( 412-431-6757; 2001 E Carson St) for its huge beer selection; **Dee's Cafe** ( 412-431-1314; 1314 E Carson St), a notable punk bar with Pabst on tap; **Z: Lounge** ( 412-481-2234; 2108 E Carson St), a mellow and trendy pub; and the **Hofbräuhaus** ( 412-224-2328; 2705 S Water St), an imitation of the famous Munich beer hall and only a block off Carson.

**Last Chance** (2533 Penn Ave), on the Strip, is a popular neighborhood pub for guys who can hold their liquor. **Bloomfield Bridge Tavern** ( 412-682-8611; 4412 Liberty Ave), 'the only Polish restaurant in Lil' Italy,' is a gritty pub serving beers with excellent sides of pierogi and the occasional indie rock band, while the **Church Brew Works** ( 412-688-8200; 3525 Liberty Ave), serving handcrafted beers in a massive former church space, is a standout in Lawrenceville.

You'll find several big, frenzied dance clubs, known 'meatmarkets,' clustered at the edge of the Strip district, including **Matrix** ( 412-261-2220; www.matrixpgh.com; 7 E Station Sq Dr), a sort of mall of nightclubs housing Club Exit ('80s classics), Club Liquid (techno and trance), Club Velvet (salsa and merengue) and Club Goddess (Top 40 pop).

Most gay bars are in a concentrated stretch of Liberty Ave downtown. They're hoppin' and plentiful, but perhaps the hippest, most frenzied gay spot is the off-the-beaten-path nightclub **Pittsburgh Eagle** ( 412-766-7222; www.pitteagle.com; 1740 Eckert St;  9pm-2am Fri & Sat), which draws internationally known DJs and porn stars alike.

#### LIVE MUSIC

**Shadow Lounge** ( 412-363-8277; www.shadowlounge.net; 5972 Baum Blvd) is the place for catching hot hip-hop and house DJs, plus indie bands, readings and open mike nights. **Rex Theater** ( 412-381-6811; www.elkoconcerts.com; 1602 E Carson St) is a favorite South Side venue, a converted movie theater, for touring jazz, rock and indie bands; everyone from Edgar Winter to Ani DiFranco. On the South Side, **Club Café** ( 412-431-4950; www.clubcafelive.com; 56-58 S 12th St) has live music nightly, mostly of the singer-songwriter type. Live concerts/recordings of top jazz musicians are held at **Manchester Craftsman Guild** ( 412-323-4000; www.mcgjazz.org; 1815 Metropolitan St) on the north side of the city.

#### THEATER & CULTURE

**Pittsburgh Cultural Trust** ( 412-471-6070; www.pgharts.org; 803 Liberty Ave) promotes all downtown arts, from the Pittsburgh Dance Council and PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh to visual art and opera; the website has links to all main arts venues.

The restored **Harris Theater** ( 412-682-4111; 809 Liberty Ave) screens a wide variety of art-house films, often part of film festivals.

**Gist Street Readings** (www.giststreet.org; 3rd fl, 305 Gist St; readings $5) holds monthly readings from local and well-known national literary figures. Best to get there when doors open at 7:15pm, since turnout is typically large. Bring your own refreshments.

#### SPORTS

Pittsburgh is a big-time sports city. Fans will tell you they bleed black and gold, the colors of the hometown NFL franchise the **Steelers** who play at **Heinz Field** ( 412-323-1200; www.pittsburghsteelers.com). Also on the North Side, just by the Allegheny River, is **PNC Park** ( 412-323-5000; www.pirateball.com), where the Pittsburgh Pirates major-league baseball team bases itself. **Mellon Arena** ( 412-642-1800; www.penguins.nhl.com), just east of downtown, is where the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins, Stanley Cup finalists in 2008 and winners in 2009, play hockey. The University of Pittsburgh basketball team, the **Pitt Panthers** ( 412-648-7488; www.pittsburghpanthers.com), is a perennial top-ranked team with a rabid fan base.

### Getting There & Away

**Pittsburgh International Airport** (PIT;  412-472-3525; www.pitairport.com), 18 miles west from downtown, has direct connections to Europe, Canada and major US cities via a slew of airlines.

Arriving in its station near the Strip, **Greyhound** ( 412-392-6513; cnr 11th St & Liberty Ave) has frequent buses to Philadelphia ($46, seven hours), New York ($54, 11 hours) and Chicago, IL ($62, 10 to 14 hours).

Pittsburgh is easily accessible via major highways, from the north or south on the I-76 or I-79, from the west on Rte 22 and from the east on the I-70. It's about an eight-hour drive from New York City and about three hours from Buffalo.

**Amtrak** ( 800-872-7245; 1100 Liberty Ave) is behind the magnificent original train station, with trains heading to cities including Philadelphia (from $47, seven to eight hours) and New York (from $63, nine to 11 hours).

### Getting Around

The excellent **28X Airport Flyer** ( 412-442-2000; www.portauthority.org/PAAC.com; one way $2.60) public bus makes runs from the airport to Oakland and downtown every 20 minutes. Taxis are readily available and cost about $40 (not including tip) to downtown. Various shuttles also make downtown runs and cost $15 to $20 per person one way.

Driving around Pittsburgh can be extremely frustrating – roads end with no warning, one-way streets can take you in circles and there are various bridges to contend with. Get a good map or, even better, a copilot, and stop to ask locals for directions.

**Port Authority Transit** ( 412-442-2000; www.portauthority.org) operates an extensive bus system and a limited light-rail system, the 'T,' which is useful for going from downtown to the South Side. Bus and T fares range from free to $3, depending on the zone in which you're traveling.

For taxis, call **Yellow Cab Co of Pittsburgh** ( 412-321-8100), which charges by zone.

Return to beginning of chapter

## AROUND PITTSBURGH

A Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece, **Fallingwater** ( 724-329-8501; www.fallingwater.org; adult/child $18/12;  8:30am-4:30pm Thu-Tue Mar-Nov, 11:30am-3pm Fri-Sun Dec, closed Jan & Feb) is south of Pittsburgh on Rte 381. Completed in 1939 as a weekend retreat for the Kaufmanns, owners of the Pittsburgh department store, the building blends seamlessly with its natural setting. To see inside you must take one of the hourly guided tours, and reservations are recommended. A more intensive two-hour tour, with photography permitted, is offered ($55; times vary depending on day and month, reservations required). The rather attractive forested grounds open at 8:30am.

Much less visited is **Kentuck Knob** ( 724-329-1901; www.kentuckknob.com; adult/child $16/10;  10am-5pm Tue-Sun, from noon Wed), another Frank Lloyd Wright house (designed in 1953), built into the side of a rolling hill. It's noted for its natural materials, hexagonal design and honeycomb skylights. House tours last about an hour and include a jaunt through the onsite sculpture garden, with works by Andy Goldsworthy, Ray Smith and others.

To spend a night or two in the area, opt for the historic mountaintop **Summit Inn** ( 724-438-8594; www.summitinnresort.com; 101 Skyline Dr; r $120-300) or the swank **Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa** ( 724-329-8555; www.nemacolin.com; 1001 Lafayette Dr; r from $200), with a spa, golf course and dining rooms. Both are in Farmington.

Return to beginning of chapter

## NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

The smallest of the Great Lakes, at 241 miles across and only 62ft deep, **Lake Erie** warms quickly in the summer and frequently freezes in the winter, making it a magnet for all sorts of recreation, from swimming to ice fishing (a popular sport here). Several wineries in the area, cultivating largely Concord grapes, the first native American grape, are found along the southern shore.

Surrounded by rural byways and small towns, the city of **Erie** (www.visitEriePA.com), the fourth largest in the state, is for the most part a neglected industrial center combined with a touristy, revitalized shop-filled **Bayfront District**. But the **Presque Isle State Park** ( 814-838-7424; www.presqueisle.org; park office on Peninsula Dr), which shoots north and then curves back down upon itself just like Cape Cod in Massachusetts, is a stunningly beautiful place to visit, no matter the season. It's a lovely sandy peninsula with dramatic, ocean-like vistas interspersed with wooded areas and cycling trails. The **Lady Kate** ( 800-988-5780; www.piboattours.com; adult/child $16/9), a ferry that leaves from Presque Isle's south shore, gives 90-minute narrated tours of Lake Erie's shoreline.

Though there is no camping allowed on Presque Isle, the nearby **Virginia's Beach** ( 814-922-3261; www.virginiasbeach.com; campsites $28-42, cottages $69-119;  ) has tent/RV sites and cottages right on Lake Erie. Standard chain accommodations are a dime a dozen in and around Erie and near the park's entrance. **Spencer House B &B** ( 814-454-5984; www.spencerhouse.net; 519 W Sixth St; $119-200;  ), in Erie itself, is an impressively maintained classic Victorian with elegant and stately common areas.

To the east, some 80-odd miles from Erie, nature-lovers can explore the 797-sq-mile **`** ( 814-723-5150; www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/allegheny), which encompasses several state parks and sprouting acres of hemlock, maple, white ash and the valuable Allegheny black cherry. It's an excellent place for camping and hiking, canoeing and fishing.

# New England

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* * *

HISTORY

LOCAL CULTURE

LAND & CLIMATE

PARKS

INFORMATION

GETTING THERE & AROUND

MASSACHUSETTS

BOSTON

AROUND BOSTON

CAPE COD

NANTUCKET

MARTHA'S VINEYARD

CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS

THE BERKSHIRES

RHODE ISLAND

PROVIDENCE

NEWPORT

RHODE ISLAND BEACHES

CONNECTICUT

CONNECTICUT COAST

LOWER CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY

HARTFORD

LITCHFIELD HILLS

VERMONT

SOUTHERN VERMONT

CENTRAL VERMONT

NORTHERN VERMONT

BURLINGTON

NEW HAMPSHIRE

PORTSMOUTH

MANCHESTER

CONCORD

LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE

WHITE MOUNTAINS

HANOVER

MAINE

SOUTHERN MAINE COAST

PORTLAND

CENTRAL MAINE COAST

ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

BAR HARBOR

DOWNEAST MAINE

INTERIOR MAINE

* * *

New Englanders like to think this is where it all began. They did, after all, set off the American Revolution. Today Boston, the self-proclaimed 'Hub' of the region, still packs a wallop with history and culture aplenty, and is the perfect place to start your explorations. No place in New England is more than a day's drive from Boston, but the region's compactness belies its diversity. Along the coast you'll find age-old fishing villages raking in lobster, beaches begging for a dip and century-old schooners hoisting the sails. Revitalized urban gems such as Providence, Portland and Portsmouth boast uncrowded sights, palate-pleasing dining and microbreweries.

Ready to stretch your quads? Inland Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are as rugged and rural as the mountains that run up their spines. Snowboard the slopes, hike off to your own swimming hole or just get lost on a scenic back road and count the covered bridges. If you're lucky enough to be here in the fall, when the mountains are ablaze with color, you're in for the finest foliage scenery in the USA.

So give yourself time to get a real taste of the region. Crack open a lobster and let the sweet juices run down your fingers, stroll the cobbled streets of Nantucket, sink your toes into the sands of Cape Cod. Go to Harvard and Yale, if just for a day, and rub shoulders with Ivy Leaguers in hip campus cafés. Arm yourself with a good map and ramble along country roads past rolling rivers and iconic New England villages with white-steepled churches on tidy greens.

* * *

# HIGHLIGHTS

  * Following in the footsteps of Colonial rebel rousers along **Boston's Freedom Trail** (Click here).
  * Feasting on fresh boiled lobster at one of the **lobster shacks** (Click here) along New England's coast towns like Ogunquit.
  * Driving the scenic **Kancamagus Highway** (Click here) across the craggy White Mountains, stopping for waterfalls, trails and moose sightings.
  * Romping across the dunes at **Cape Cod National Seashore** (Click here).
  * Digging into **Acadia National Park** (Click here), hiking and cycling its carriage roads and relaxing over afternoon tea at Jordan Pond.
  * Ogling the palatial mansions and basking in music at folk and jazz festivals in **Newport** (Click here).
  * Working off an organic lunch at one of **Burlington's** (Click here) green cafés with a paddle around Lake Champlain.
  * Treating yourself to dazzling fall foliage in the **Green Mountains** (Click here and Click here), **Berkshires** (Click here) and **Litchfield Hills** (Click here).

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* * *

Return to beginning of chapter

## HISTORY

When the first European settlers arrived, much of New England was inhabited by native Algonquians who lived in small tribes, raising corn and beans, hunting game and harvesting the rich coastal waters.

English captain Bartholomew Gosnold landed at Cape Cod and sailed north to Maine in 1602 but it wasn't until 1614 that Captain John Smith, who charted the region's coastline for King James I, christened the land 'New England.' With the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620, European settlement began in earnest. Over the next century the colonies expanded and thrived, often at the expense of the indigenous people.

Although subjects of the British crown, New Englanders governed themselves with their own legislative councils and they came to view their affairs as separate from those of England. In the 1770s King George III instituted policies intent on reining in the colonists' free-wheeling spirits and he imposed a series of costly taxes. The colonists, unrepresented in the English Parliament, revolted under the slogan 'no taxation without representation.' Attempts to squash the revolt resulted in the battles of Lexington and Concord, setting off the American Revolution that gave birth to the USA in 1776.

Following independence, New England became an economic powerhouse, its harbors booming centers for shipbuilding, fishing and trade. New England's famed Yankee Clippers plied ports from China to South America. The USA's first water-powered cotton-spinning mill was established in Rhode Island in 1793. In the years that followed New England's swift rivers became the engines of vast mills turning out clothing, shoes and machinery.

But no boom lasts forever. By the early 20th century many of the mills had moved south. The economy sprung back to life again during WWII. Today education, finance, biotechnology and tourism are linchpins of the regional economy.

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## LOCAL CULTURE

New Englanders tend to be reserved by nature, with a Yankee thriftiness of speech, which stands in marked contrast to the casual outgoing nature of, say, Californians. This taciturn quality shouldn't be confused with unfriendliness, as it's simply a more formal regional style.

Particularly in rural areas you'll notice the pride folks take upon themselves in their ingenuity and self-sufficient character. These New Englanders remain fiercely independent, from the fishing boat crews who brave Atlantic storms to the small Vermont farmers who fight to keep operating independently within America's gobble-up agribusiness economy.

Fortunately for the farmers and fishers, buy-local and go-organic movements have grown by leaps and bounds throughout New England. From bistros in Boston to small towns in the far north the menus are greening.

One place you won't find that ol' Yankee reserve is at the ball field. New Englanders are absolutely fanatical about sports. Attending a Red Sox game is as close as you'll come to a modern-day gladiators-at-the-coliseum scene – wild cheers and nasty jeers galore.

Generally regarded as a liberal enclave, New England's in the forefront on progressive political issues from gay rights (four of the five US states that have legalized gay marriage are in New England) to health care reform. Indeed the universal health insurance program in Massachusetts is now being touted as a model for a nationalized plan.

Return to beginning of chapter

## LAND & CLIMATE

New England's landscape has ample variety, with verdant valleys, rolling hills and vast forests. A spine of craggy mountains runs roughly from northeast to southwest; the highest point, Mt Washington in the White Mountains, tops out at 6288ft.

The coast is varied as well. In the north it's largely rocky, sculpted into coves and sprinkled with the occasional sandy beach, while the southern coastline's bounded by long swaths of sand and dunes.

The weather in New England is famously changeable. Muggy 90°F (32°C) days in July may be followed by a day of cool 65°F (18°C) weather. Precipitation averages about 3in per month year-round.

The beachy summer season is roughly June to mid-September. New England's brilliant fall foliage peaks from mid-September to mid-October.

Return to beginning of chapter

## PARKS

If you're ready to explore the great outdoors, New England provides plenty of options. Acadia National Park (Click here), on the rugged, northeastern coast of Maine, is the region's only national park but numerous other large tracts of New England's forest, mountains and shoreline are set aside for preservation and recreation.

* * *

# NEW ENGLAND...

## In One Week

Start in **Boston** (opposite), cruising the **Freedom Trail** (Click here), dining at a cozy **North End bistro** (Click here) and exploring the city's highlights. Then hit the beaches on **Cape Cod** (Click here) and hop on a ferry for a day trip to **Nantucket** (Click here) or **Martha's Vineyard** (Click here). End the week with a jaunt north to New Hampshire's **White Mountains** (Click here), circling back down the **Maine coast** (Click here).

## In Two Weeks

Now you've got time for serious exploring. Tramp through the mansions in **Newport** (Click here), hit the lively burgs of **Providence** (Click here), **Portland** (Click here) and **Burlington** (Click here), get a taste of maritime history in **Mystic** (Click here) and take a leisurely drive through the **Litchfield Hills** (Click here) and the **Berkshires** (Click here). Wrap it up in Maine's vast wilderness, where you can work up a sweat on a hike up the northernmost peak of the **Appalachian Trail** (Click here) and take an adrenaline-pumping ride down the **Kennebec River** (Click here).

## On the Ocean

Water babies, listen up: an oceanful of adventures awaits. Navigate a sailboat in **Newport** (Click here). Get up close and personal with humpbacks on a whale-watching cruise from **Provincetown** (Click here). Kayak along the shores of **Acadia National Park** (Click here). Hop aboard a classic windjammer in **Camden** (Click here). Surf and swim on **Cape Cod** (Click here) and let the wind whip you across the bay on a sailboard on **Martha's Vineyard** (Click here).

* * *

The White Mountain National Forest (Click here), a vast 800,000-acre expanse of New Hampshire and Maine, offers a wonderland of scenic drives, hiking trails, campgrounds and ski slopes. Vermont's Green Mountain National Forest (Click here) covers 400,000 acres of unspoiled forest that's crossed by the Appalachian Trail. The other gem of nationally preserved lands is the Cape Cod National Seashore (Click here), a 44,600-acre stretch of rolling dunes and stunning beaches that's perfect for swimming, cycling and seaside hikes.

State parks are plentiful throughout New England, ranging from green niches in urban locations to the remote, untamed wilderness of Baxter State Park (Click here) in northern Maine.

Return to beginning of chapter

## INFORMATION

**Discover New England** (www.discovernewengland.org) has information on destinations throughout New England and links to all six state tourist offices. To explore New England in more depth, pick up copies of Lonely Planet's _New England_ , _New England Trips_ and _Boston_ guidebooks.

Return to beginning of chapter

## GETTING THERE & AROUND

Getting to New England is easy; there are buses, trains and planes to leading cities like Boston and Providence. However once you're here, if you want to explore the region thoroughly, you'll need a car. The coastal I-95 and the inland I-91, the main north–south highways, transverse New England from Connecticut to Canada. Public transportation is fine between major cities but scarce in the countryside. **Greyhound** ( 800-231-2222; www.greyhound.com), operates the most extensive bus service and also books other regional bus companies (Click here).

**Amtrak's** ( 800-872-7245; www.amtrak.com) North-east Corridor service connects Boston, Providence, Hartford and New Haven with New York City; smaller regional services operate in many other areas in New England. Click here for general Amtrak information.

Boston's **Logan International Airport** (BOS;  800-235-6426; www.massport.com) is the main hub for New England. **TF Green Airport** (PVD;  401-737-8222, 888-268-7222; www.pvdairport.com) in Providence, Rhode Island, and **Manchester Airport** (MHT;  603-624-6539; www.flymanchester.com) in New Hampshire – both about an hour's drive from Boston – are growing 'minihubs' boasting less congestion and cheaper fares.

Regional driving distances:

**Boston to North Conway** 165 miles

**Boston to Acadia National Park** 310 miles

**New Haven to Burlington** 270 miles

Return to beginning of chapter

# MASSACHUSETTS

New England's most populous state packs in appealing variety from the woodsy hills of the Berkshires to the sandy beaches of Cape Cod. Massachusetts' rich history oozes from almost every quarter: you can explore Plymouth, 'America's hometown;' walk the Freedom Trail in Boston, where the first shots of the American Revolution rang out; and hit the cobbled streets of the old whaling village of Nantucket. University-laden Boston offers all the accoutrements – from world-class museums to edgy nightlife – you'd expect of a great college town. Provincetown's a gay-extravaganza whirl like no other, Northampton's got the coolest café scene this side of New York, and Martha's Vineyard offers the perfect family vacation – just ask the Obamas and Clintons.

### History

Massachusetts has played a leading role in American politics since the arrival of the first colonists. In the 18th century, spurred by a booming maritime trade, Massachusetts colonists revolted against trade restrictions imposed by Great Britain. British attempts to put down the revolt resulted in the 1770 Boston Massacre, which became a rallying cry to action. In 1773, angered by a new British-imposed tax on tea, colonists raided three British merchant ships and dumped their cargo of tea into Boston Harbor. Known as the Boston Tea Party, this tax revolt against the crown set the stage for the battles that started the American Revolution.

* * *

# MASSACHUSETTS FACTS

**Nicknames** Bay State, Old Colony

**Population** 6.5 million

**Area** 7840 sq miles

**Capital city** Boston (population 590,800)

**Other cities** Springfield (population 151,180)

**Sales tax** 6.25%

**Birthplace of** Agriculturalist Johnny Appleseed (1774–1845), inventor Benjamin Franklin (1706–90), five presidents including John F Kennedy (1917–63), authors Jack Kerouac (1922–69) and Henry David Thoreau (1817–62)

**Home of** Harvard University, Boston Marathon, Plymouth Rock

**Famous for** Boston Tea Party, Boston Red Sox, first state to legalize gay marriage

**Most parodied accent** Bostonians' _pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd_

**Driving distances** Boston to Provincetown 145 miles, Boston to Northampton 98 miles

* * *

In the 19th century Massachusetts became the center of the world's whaling industry, bringing unprecedented wealth to the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, whose ports are still lined with grand sea captains' homes.

### Information

**Boston Globe** (www.boston.com) The region's main newspaper has a great online site.

**Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation** ( 877-422-6762; www.mass.gov/dcr/recreate/camping.htm; campsites $10-26) Offers camping in 28 state parks.

**Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism** (Map;  617-973-8500, 800-227-6277; www.massvacation.com; 10 Park Plaza, Suite 4510, Boston, MA 02116) Provides information on the entire state.

Return to beginning of chapter

## BOSTON

One of America's oldest cities is also one of its youngest. A score of colleges and universities add a fresh face to this historic capital and feed a thriving arts and entertainment scene. But don't think for a minute that Boston is all about the literati. Grab a seat in the bleachers at Fenway Park and join the fanatical fans cheering on the Red Sox. Wicked pissah (super cool), as they say here in the Hub.

### History

When the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established by England in 1630, Boston became its capital. It's a city of firsts: Boston Latin School, the first public school in the USA, was founded in 1635, followed a year later by Harvard, the nation's first university. The first newspaper in the colonies was printed here in 1704, America's first labor union organized here in 1795 and the country's first subway system opened in Boston in 1897.

Not only were the first battles of the American Revolution fought here, but Boston was also home to the first African American regiment to fight in the US Civil War. Waves of immigrants, especially Irish in the mid-18th century and Italians in the early 20th, have infused the city with European influences.

Today Boston remains at the forefront of higher learning and its universities have spawned world-renowned industries in biotechnology, medicine and finance.

### Orientation

Boston retains an intimate scale that's best experienced on foot. Begin at Boston Common, where you'll find the tourist office and the start of the Freedom Trail. Everything radiates out from the Common, with historic sites, graceful parks and promenades around every corner.

Outlying attractions and the airport are easily accessible by MBTA (the 'T') subway trains (Click here). The Park St station, a 'T' hub, is beneath the Common. Harvard Square, the epicenter of Cambridge, is about 5 miles northwest of the Common and served by the T's Red Line.

### Information

#### BOOKSTORES

**Barnes & Noble** (Map;  617-247-6959; www.barnesandnoble.com; 800 Boylston St;  9am-11pm Mon-Sat, 10am-9pm Sun) This Prudential Center branch is convenient and well stocked.

**Coop** (Map;  617-499-2000; 1400 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge;  9am-10pm Mon-Sat, 10am-9pm Sun) Regional books, music and all sorts of souvenirs emblazoned with the Harvard logo.

**Globe Corner Bookstore** (Map;  617-497-6277; www.globecorner.com; 90 Mt Auburn St, Cambridge;  9:30am-9pm Mon-Sat, 11am-7pm Sun) An indie specializing in travel books and maps.

**Out of Town News** (Map;  617-354-7777; Harvard Sq, Cambridge;  6am-9pm) This National Historic Landmark sells major US and international newspapers.

#### INTERNET ACCESS

**Boston Public Library** (Map;  617-536-5400; www.bpl.org; 700 Boylston St;  9am-9pm Mon-Thu, 9am-5pm Fri & Sat, 1-5pm Sun Oct-May) Free for 15 minutes, or get a visitor card at the circulation desk and sign up for longer terminal time.

**Tech Superpowers & Internet Café** (Map;  617-267-9716; www.techsuperpowers.com; 252 Newbury St; per 15min/1hr $3/5;  9am-8pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun) Provides online computers, but if you have your own device wi-fi access is free throughout Newbury St.

#### INTERNET RESOURCES & MEDIA

**Boston Globe** (www.boston.com) New England's major daily newspaper provides a wealth of information online.

**Boston Phoenix** (www.thephoenix.com) Free alternative weekly with solid arts and entertainment coverage.

**City of Boston** (www.cityofboston.gov) The official website for the city government has links to visitor services.

#### MEDICAL SERVICES

**CVS Pharmacy** (Map;  617-437-8414; 587 Boylston St;  24hr) Opposite the public library.

**Massachusetts General Hospital** (Map;  617-726-2000; 55 Fruit St;  24hr) At the west side of the city center.

#### MONEY

You'll find ATMs throughout the city, including at most subway stations. Foreign currency can be exchanged at **Citizens Bank** ( 800-922-9999; State St Map, 53 State St; Boylston St Map; 607 Boylston St; Harvard Sq Map).

#### POST

**Main post office** (Map;  800-275-8777; 25 Dorchester Ave;  6am-midnight) One block southeast of South Station. There are several other post offices around central Boston (Map) and near Harvard Sq (Map).

#### TOURIST INFORMATION

**Cambridge Visitor Information Booth** (Map;  617-441-2884, 800-862-5678; www.cambridge-usa.org; 4 Brattle St;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, 9am-1pm Sun) This Harvard Sq kiosk has the latest scoop on Cambridge.

**Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau** (GBCVB; Map;  617-426-3115, 888-733-2678; www.bostonusa.com) Boston Common (Map; 148 Tremont St;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat & Sun); Prudential Center (Map; 800 Boylston St;  9am-6pm) Has oodles of brochures and info.

### Sights & Activities

Slip on a good pair of walking shoes, and this city's yours. Most of Boston's main attractions are found in or near the city center, making it easy to ramble from one to the next.

#### BOSTON COMMON & PUBLIC GARDEN

The heart of Boston since 1634, the 50-acre **Boston Common** (Map), bordered by Tremont, Beacon and Charles Sts, was the nation's first public park. In years past it was a pasture for cattle grazing, a staging ground for soldiers of the American Revolution and the site of chastising pillory-and-stocks for those who dared defy Puritan mores. These days it's a gloriously carefree scene, especially at the **Frog Pond** , where waders cool off on hot summer days and ice-skaters frolic in winter.

Adjoining the Common, the 24-acre **Public Garden** (Map) provides an inviting oasis of bountiful flowers and shady trees. Its centerpiece, a tranquil lagoon with old-fashioned pedal-powered **Swan Boats** ( 617-522-1966; adult/child 2-15yr $2.75/1.50;  10am-4pm or 5pm mid-Apr–early Sep;  ), has been delighting children for generations.

The nearby Charles River is action-central for joggers, cyclists, skaters and rowers. **Community Boating** (Map;  617-523-1038; www.community-boating.org; The Esplanade; kayak/sailboat per day $35/75;  1pm-dusk Mon-Fri, 9am-dusk Sat & Sun Apr-Oct) rents boats from its boathouse at the south side of the Longfellow Bridge.

Cyclists can join up with **Boston Bike Tours** (Map;  617-308-5902; www.bostonbiketours.com; tours $35-40;  10am & 2pm Sat & Sun mid-Apr–Jun, Sep & Oct, daily Jul & Aug), departing from Boston Common, to follow Paul Revere's ride, cruise Harvard Square or take in a brewery tour.

#### BEACON HILL & DOWNTOWN

Rising above Boston Common is Beacon Hill, Boston's most historic and affluent neighborhood. To the east is the city's downtown, with a curious mix of Colonial-era sights and modern office buildings.

Crowning Beacon Hill is the golden-domed **State House** (Map;  617-727-3676; Beacon St, at Park St; admission free;  8am-6pm Mon-Fri), the seat of Massachusetts' government since 1798. Volunteers lead free 40-minute tours from 10am to 3:30pm.

The **Museum of Afro-American History** (Map;  617-720-2991; www.afroammuseum.org; 46 Joy St; admission $5;  10am-4pm Mon-Sat) illustrates the accomplishments of Boston's African American community and includes the adjacent **African Meeting House** , where former slave Frederick Douglass recruited African American soldiers to fight in the Civil War.

Tons of history lie buried at the **Granary Burying Ground** (Map; cnr Tremont & Park Sts), which dates to 1660 and holds the bones of influential Bostonians, including Revolutionary heroes Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and John Hancock.

At the **Old South Meeting House** (Map;  617-482-6439; www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.org; 310 Washington St; adult/child 6-18yr $5/1;  9:30am-5pm Apr-Oct, 10am-4pm Nov-Mar), colonists met in 1773 for a rousing debate on taxation before throwing the Boston Tea Party.

The red-brick **Faneuil Hall** (Map; Congress St), topped with its famed grasshopper weathervane, has been a market and public meeting place since 1740. Today the hall, Quincy Market and North and South Market buildings make up the Faneuil Hall Marketplace chock-full of small shops and eateries.

* * *

# BOSTON...

## In Two Days

Follow in the footsteps of America's revolutionary founders on the **Freedom Trail** (Click here), stopping to imbibe a little history at the **Bell in Hand Tavern** (Click here), the oldest tavern in the USA. Wrap up your first day with a scrumptious meal in the **North End** (Click here), Boston's 'Little Italy.'

Your mother always wanted you to go to Harvard, right? Begin day two in **Cambridge** (Click here) poking around Harvard Square and cruising the campus sights. End the day gallery browsing and schmoozing with the beautiful people on **Newbury St** (Click here).

## In Four Days

Start day three at one of the city's stellar museums – for classic American art, head to the **Museum of Fine Arts** (Click here) or for cutting edge, the **Institute of Contemporary Art** (opposite). For sumptuous city views, paddle a kayak down the **Charles River** (above) or take an elevator up 50 floors to the **Prudential Center Skywalk** (opposite).

On your final day, head west to **Lexington** and **Concord** (Click here) if you have a literary inclination, or spend the day at kid-friendly **Plimoth Plantation** (Click here). When you get back into town, catch a **play** (Click here) at one of Boston's renowned theaters or put on your dancing shoes and hit the **clubs** (Click here).

* * *

#### NORTH END & CHARLESTOWN

An old-world warren of narrow streets, the Italian North End offers visitors an irresistible mix of colorful period buildings and mouthwatering eateries. Colonial sights spill across the river into Charlestown, home to America's oldest battleship.

**Paul Revere House** (Map;  617-523-2338; www.paulreverehouse.org; 19 North Sq; adult/child 6-17yr $3.50/1;  9:30am-5:15pm mid-Apr–Oct, to 4:15pm Nov–mid-Apr) is the oldest (1680) house still standing in Boston. Even more significantly, it's the former home of Paul Revere, a leader of the colonial militia (the Minutemen) known for their ability to deploy rapidly. It was Revere who jumped on his horse and rode through the streets shouting the warning 'the British are coming.'

It was at the **Old North Church** (Map;  617-523-6676; 193 Salem St; admission free;  9am-6pm Jun-Oct, 9am-5pm Nov-May), built c 1723, that two lanterns were hung in the steeple on that pivotal night of April 18, 1775, signaling to a waiting Paul Revere that British forces were setting out by sea ('one if by land, two if by sea').

Work off that North End lunch by clambering around the decks of the **USS Constitution** (Map;  617-242-7511; admission free;  10am-6pm Tue-Sun Apr-Oct, 10am-4pm Thu-Sun Nov-Mar), centerpiece of the Charlestown Navy Yard. Built in 1797, the old warship's oak-timbered hull was so thick that cannonballs literally bounced off it, earning it the nickname 'Old Ironsides.'

The **Bunker Hill Monument** (Map; ( 617-242-5641; Monument Sq; admission free;  9am-4:30pm), a 221ft granite obelisk commemorates the American Revolution's first major battle.

#### BACK BAY

Extending west from Boston Common this well-groomed neighborhood boasts graceful brownstone residences, grand edifices and the tony shopping mecca of Newbury St.

**Copley Square** (Map) is surrounded by handsome historic buildings, including the ornate French-Romanesque **Trinity Church** ( 617-536-0944; cnr Boylston & Clarendon Sts; adult/child under 16 $6/free;  9am-5:45pm Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat, 1-5:45pm Sun), the masterwork of architect HH Richardson. Across the street, the classic **Boston Public Library** ( 617-536-5400; 700 Boylston St;  9am-9pm Mon-Thu, 9am-5pm Fri & Sat), America's first municipal library, lends credence to Boston's reputation as the 'Athens of America.'

For a stunning 360-degree bird's-eye view of the city, head to the **Prudential Center Skywalk** (Map;  617-859-0648; 800 Boylston St; adult/child 4-12yr $12/8;  10am-10pm), the tower's 50th-floor observation deck.

* * *

# BOSTON GOES GREEN

The hulking highway that once tore across the center of the city has morphed into a ribbon of green stretching from Chinatown to the North End. Known as the Rose Kennedy Greenway in honor of JFK's mother, this meandering green space reclaims land that was until a few years back the elevated section of I-93.

Completed in late 2008, the interconnecting pocket parks that comprise the greenway offer shady respites from the city bustle, replete with water fountains, artwork and sculpture gardens.

Incidentally, if you're wondering what happened to the highway, it's now buried in tunnels running beneath the city, thanks to the 'Big Dig,' the costliest highway project in US history.

* * *

If you've ever wanted to walk across the planet, the Christian Science Church's **Mapparium** (Map;  617-450-7000; 200 Massachusetts Ave; adult/child 6-17yr $6/4;  10am-4pm Tue-Sun), an enormous stained-glass globe with a bridge through its center, provides the easiest route.

#### WATERFRONT & SEAPORT DISTRICT

Boston's waterfront offers an ever-growing list of attractions, all connected by the Harborwalk, a dedicated pedestrian path.

The dazzling **Institute of Contemporary Art** (off Map;  617-478-3100; www.icaboston.org; 100 Northern Ave; adult/child under 18yr $12/free;  10am-5pm Tue, Wed, Sat & Sun, 10am-9pm Thu & Fri) snags rave exhibits by the likes of street artist Shepard Fairey. The building's striking cantilevered architecture defines modern, and its floor-to-ceiling glass walls pop with Boston's most dramatic harbor view. Admission's free after 5pm on Thursday.

The **New England Aquarium** (Map;  617-973-5200; www.neaq.org; Central Wharf; adult/child 3-11yr $20/12;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm Sat & Sun;  ) centers on a four-story tank teeming with sharks and colorful tropical fish but it's the cool penguin pool that kids go nuts over. Also popular are the aquarium's **whale-watching cruises** (adult/child under 11yr $40/32;  Apr-Oct), led by naturalists. The cruises head 30 miles out to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, a massive underwater plateau off Cape Cod's northern point, where you can see humpback whales doing their acrobatics. There are also minkes, pilots and northern rights (the rarest type of whale in the world).

#### CHINATOWN, THEATER DISTRICT & SOUTH END

Compact and easy to stroll, Chinatown offers up enticing Asian eateries cheek-by-jowl, while the adjacent Theater District is clustered with performing-arts venues. The sprawling South End boasts one of America's largest concentrations of Victorian row houses, a burgeoning art scene and terrific neighborhood cafés.

To explore the area on two wheels, rent a bicycle from **Community Bicycle Supply** (Map;  617-542-8623; 496 Tremont St; per day $20-25;  10am-7pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun).

#### FENWAY & KENMORE SQUARE

With world-class museums and America's oldest ballpark (Click here), the Fenway neighborhood is a destination in itself.

One of the country's finest, the **Museum of Fine Arts** (MFA; Map;  617-267-9300; www.mfa.org; 465 Huntington Ave; adult/child 7-17yr $17/6.50;  10am-4:45pm Thu-Tue, 10am-9:45pm Wed) showcases a superb American collection with works by artists such as Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper, as well as pieces by an amazing collection of French Impressionists. And don't miss seeing the Paul Revere silver. Admission is free for everyone after 4pm on Wednesdays and for children after 3pm weekdays, all day weekends and daily in summer.

The **Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum** (Map;  617-566-1401; www.gardnermuseum.org; 280 The Fenway; adult/child under 18yr $12/free;  11am-5pm Tue-Sun) houses priceless paintings, tapestries and furnishings. Gardner assembled her vast collection – which ranges from Rembrandts to portraits by Bostonian John Singer Sargent – a century ago and lived in the magnificent Venetian-style palazzo that houses it all. Seeing the mansion itself, with its garden courtyard, is alone worth the price of admission. And if your name's Isabella, the ticket is free!

#### CAMBRIDGE

On the north side of the Charles River lies politically progressive Cambridge, home to academic heavyweights Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Some 30,000 students make for a diverse, lively scene. Its central **Harvard Square** (Map) overflows with cafés, bookstores and street performers. Along Massachusetts Ave, opposite the Harvard T station, lies **Harvard University** (Map; www.harvard.edu), which counts dozens of Nobel laureates and eight US presidents among its graduates – for other chewy tidbits join a free student-led campus tour at the **Harvard University Information Center** (Map;  617-495-1573; 1350 Massachusetts Ave;  1hr tours 10am & 2pm Mon-Fri, 2pm Sat).

It should come as no surprise that the nation's oldest (1636) and wealthiest university has amassed incredible collections. The **Harvard Art Museum/Arthur M Sackler Museum** ( 617-495-9400; 485 Broadway; adult/child under 19yr $9/free;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm Sun) showcases the artworks, which cover a broad gamut from Picasso to Islamic art. The **Harvard Museum of Natural History** (Map;  617-495-3045; 26 Oxford St; adult/child 3-18yr $9/6;  9am-5pm) and the interconnected **Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology** present outstanding Native American exhibits and an exquisite collection of 4000 hand-blown glass flowers. The admission price gets you into both.

Nerds rule ever so proudly at the **Massachusetts Institute of Technology** (MIT; Map), America's foremost tech campus. Stop at the **MIT Information Center** (Map;  617-253-4795; www.mit.edu; 77 Massachusetts Ave; admission free;  90min tours 11am & 3pm Mon-Fri) for the scoop on where to see campus art, including Henry Moore bronzes, and cutting-edge architecture by the likes of Frank Gehry.

The **MIT Museum** (Map;  617-253-4444; 265 Massachusetts Ave, adult/child under 18yr $7.50/3;  10am-5pm) is packed with wow-'em exhibits like the world's largest holography collection, robots from MIT's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and cool kinetic sculptures. Swing by between 10am and noon on Sundays and admission is free.

#### GREATER BOSTON

At the **Museum of Science** (Map;  617-723-2500; www.mos.org; Science Park, Charles River Dam; adult/child 3-11yr $19/6;  9am-5pm Sat-Thu, 9am-9pm Fri, longer hours Jul-Aug;  ), a short hop from MIT, hundreds of interactive displays explore the latest tech trends and scientific discoveries. Clamber around a full-scale space capsule, explore nanotechnology and more. And you don't need to be a geek – kids will find plenty of hands-on fun.

In a striking IM Pei–designed building overlooking Boston Harbor, the **John F Kennedy Library & Museum** (off Map;  617-514-1600; www.jfklibrary.org; Columbia Point; adult/child under 13yr $12/free;  9am-5pm) provides an ode to all things Kennedy. Theaters and multimedia displays replay key historical events such as the Cuban missile crisis. Take the T's Red Line to JFK/UMass, then hop on a free 'JFK' shuttle bus.

The jewel of the Emerald Necklace, a 7-mile-long swath of green space cutting through several Boston neighborhoods, is **Arnold Arboretum** (off Map;  617-524-1718; 125 Arborway; admission free;  sunrise-sunset), a 265-acre botanical wonderland. Take the T's Orange Line to Forest Hills and follow the signs.

### Walking Tour

Trace America's revolutionary birth along the history-laden Freedom Trail, which covers Boston's key Colonial sites. The well-trodden route, marked by a double row of red sidewalk bricks, starts at the visitor center on the **Boston Common** ( **1** ; Click here), America's oldest public park. Follow the trail north to the gold-domed **State House** ( **2** ; Click here), designed by Charles Bulfinch, Colonial Boston's best-known architect. Rounding Park St onto Tremont St takes you past the Colonial-era **Park Street Church** **(3)** ; the **Granary Burying Ground** ( **4** ; Click here), where victims of the Boston Massacre lie buried; and **King's Chapel** **(5)** , topped with one of Paul Revere's bells. Continue down School St, past the site of **Boston's first public school** **(6)** , built in 1635, and the **Old Corner Bookstore** **(7)** , a 19th-century haunt of Boston's literary geniuses Hawthorne and Emerson.

* * *

# **WALK FACTS**

**Start** Boston Common

**Finish** Bunker Hill Monument

**Distance** 2.5 miles

**Duration** three hours

* * *

A minute's detour south from the corner of School and Washington Sts leads to the **Old South Meeting House** ( **8** ; Click here), where the nitty-gritty on the Boston Tea Party is proudly displayed. True diehards will find more Revolutionary exhibits at the **Old State House** ( **9** ;  617-720-1713; 206 Washington St; adult/child 6-18yr $7/3;  9am-5pm), Boston's oldest public building, erected in 1713. Nearby, a ring of cobblestones at the intersection of State, Devonshire and Congress Sts marks the **Boston Massacre** **site** **(10)** , where the first victims of the American Revolution died. Next up is the landmark **Faneuil Hall** ( **11** ; Click here), a public market since Colonial times.

Walk north on Union St and up Hanover St, the trattoria-rich heart of Boston's Italian enclave. Treat yourself to lunch before continuing to North Sq, where you can tour the **Paul Revere House** ( **12** ; Click here), the Revolutionary hero's former home. Follow the trail onward to the **Old North Church** ( **13** ; Click here), where a lookout in the steeple signaled to Revere that the British were coming, setting off his famous midnight gallop.

Continue northwest on Hull St, where you'll find more Colonial graves at **Copp's Hill Burying Ground (14)** before crossing the Charlestown Bridge to reach the **USS Constitution** ( **15** ; Click here), the world's oldest commissioned warship. To the north lies **Bunker Hill Monument** ( **16** ; Click here), the site of the first battle fought in the American Revolution, where your walk peaks after climbing 294 stairs (huff, huff) with a sweeping view of Boston.

### Boston for Children

Boston's small scale makes it easy for families to explore. A good place to start is the **Public Garden** (Click here), where fans of Robert McCloskey's classic Boston tale _Make Way for Ducklings_ can visit bronze **statues** (Map) of the famous mallards and paddle the lagoon in one of the Swan Boats. At the **Boston Common** (Click here), kids can cool their toes in the Frog Pond and romp on playground swings and jungle gyms.

The **Boston Children's Museum** (Map;  617-426-6500; www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org; 300 Congress St; adult/child 1-15yr $12/9;  10am-5pm Sat-Thu, 10am-9pm Fri;  ) offers oodles of fun for the younger ones, while the **Museum of Science** (opposite) thrills kids of all ages. Hits at the **New England Aquarium** (Click here) include stroking creatures in the touch pool, watching seals being fed at the Animal Rescue Center and hopping aboard a whale-watching tour.

**Boston by** **Little Feet** (Map;  617-367-2345; www.bostonbyfoot.com; 1hr tour $8;  tours 10am Mon & Sat, 2pm Sun May-Oct;  ), departing from Dock Sq at Faneuil Hall, and designed for kids aged six to 12, offers a fun slice of the Freedom Trail from a child's perspective. And those quirky, quacky **Boston Duck Tours** (below) are always a hit.

### Tours

**Boston Duck Tours** (Map;  617-723-3825; www.bostonducktours.com; adult/child 3-11yr $30/20;  every 30min 9am-dusk Apr-Nov;  ) offers ridiculously popular tours using WWII amphibious vehicles that cruise the downtown streets before splashing into the Charles River. Tours leave from the Prudential Center and the Museum of Science.

Knowledgeable guides from **Boston by Foot** ( 617-367-2345; www.bostonbyfoot.com; 90min tours $12;  May-Oct) leads all sorts of architecture-focused walking tours, including one through the Italian-centric North End and another of literary landmarks.

Guides dressed in Colonial garb – think Ben Franklin – lead **Freedom Trail w** **alking tours** (90min tours adult/child 5-12yr $12/6;  every 30min) from the visitor bureau at Boston Common (Click here). Or join one of the free, ranger-led Freedom Trail tours provided by the **Boston National Historical Park Visitors Center** (Map;  617-242-5642; www.nps.gov/bost; 15 State St;  9am-5pm).

If you're traveling with an MP3 player, you can be your own guide by downloading a free walking tour of Cambridge (Click here) at www.cambridge-usa.org and of the Harborwalk (Click here) at www.bostonharborwalk.com.

### Festivals & Events

**Boston Marathon** (www.bostonmarathon.com) One of the country's most prestigious marathons takes runners up Heartbreak Hill in a 26.2-mile race ending at Copley Sq on Patriots Day, a Massachusetts holiday on the third Monday in April.

**Bunker Hill Day** Redcoats and rebellious patriots reenact the first battle of the American Revolution at Bunker Hill Monument on June 16.

**Fourth of July** (www.bso.org) Boston hosts one of the biggest Independence Day bashes in the USA, with a free Boston Pops concert on the Esplanade and a fireworks display that's televised nationally.

**Head of the Charles Regatta** (www.hocr.org) Spectators line the banks of the Charles River on a weekend in mid-October to watch the world's largest rowing event.

* * *

# IF YOU HAVE A FEW MORE DAYS

Designated a National Recreation Area, **Boston Harbor Islands** (www.bostonislands.com; admission free) consist of 34 islands with sandy beaches and hiking trails. Since the massive cleanup of Boston Harbor in the 1990s, these once-polluted islands, just a 45-minute boat ride from downtown Boston, have been transformed into sparkling natural assets.

Georges Island is the site of Fort Warren, a 19th-century fort and Civil War prison. Other popular destinations are Bumpkin Island, known for its slate beaches and wildflower fields; Grape Island, a haven for bird-watchers; and Lovells Island, with dunes and a wide swimming beach.

**Harbor Islands Express** ( 617-223-8666; round-trip adult/child under 12yr $12/7;  May-Sep) runs ferries between Boston's Long Wharf (Map) and Georges Island. From Georges Island free shuttle boats go to other islands in the chain.

Camping is allowed at primitive **campsites** ( 877-422-6762; www.reserveamerica.com; campsites $25;  late Jun–early Sep) on Grape, Bumpkin and Lovells islands.

* * *

### Sleeping

Boston has a reputation for high hotel prices, but affordable options and online discounts can lessen the sting at even high-end places. You'll typically find the best deals on weekends. The majority of hotels are in the downtown area and the Back Bay, both convenient to public transportation and sightseeing.

For places that book solely through agencies try **Bed & Breakfast Agency of Boston** ( 617-720-3540, 800-248-9262; www.boston-bnbagency.com; r $120-200, 2br $200-350, 3br $300-400), which represents around 100 B&Bs, studios and apartments.

#### BUDGET

**HI Boston Hostel** (Map;  617-536-9455; www.bostonhostel.org; 12 Hemenway St; dm incl breakfast $31-48, r incl breakfast $79-129;      ) This terrific year-round Back Bay hostel offers dorm rooms with just four to six beds and lots of perks, from free use of linens to organized tours. It fills quickly, especially in summer, so book early.

**HI Fenway Summer Hostel** (Map;  617-267-8599; www.bostonhostel.org/fenway.shtml; 575 Commonwealth Ave; dm/r incl breakfast $39/99;  Jun-Aug;  ) A Boston University dormitory in winter, this Kenmore Sq hostel has dorms with just three beds each, as well as private rooms. Good dining and nightlife options are close at hand.

#### MIDRANGE

**Oasis Guest House** (Map;  617-267-2262, 800-230-0105; www.oasisgh.com; 22 Edgerly Rd; s/d with shared bath $99/119, r with private bath $169;        ) On a tree-lined lane just beyond bustling Mass Ave, this guesthouse offers straightforward rooms simply furnished but clean and comfortable. Free wi-fi and morning snacks add to the appeal. One caveat: there are entertainment venues nearby, so on weekends street noise can be an issue.

**Chandler Inn** (Map;  617-482-3450, 800-842-3450; www.chandlerinn.com; 26 Chandler St; r $115-185;      ) For a delectable taste of the hip South End, book a room at this European-style boutique hotel within roaming range of some of Boston's hottest nightspots. The staff is friendly, the rooms small but tidy, and the price a fraction of any faceless chain hotel. Request one of the upper-floor rooms, which are fresh off a renovation.

**Newbury Guest House** (Map;  617-670-6000, 800-437-7668; www.newburyguesthouse.com; 261 Newbury St; s/d incl breakfast from $140/165;        ) Stay on fashionable Newbury St in this pension-like B&B occupying three interconnected brownstones. Built in 1882, the buildings retain many of the original handcrafted details such as carved mantels and molded ceilings.

**Hotel Buckminster** (Map;  617-236-7050, 800-727-2825; www.bostonhotelbuckminster.com; 645 Beacon St; r $149-179;    ) Built in 1897 by renowned architect Stanford White, this Kenmore Sq hotel is a mere baseball's toss from Fenway Park. Don't expect anything fancy – it's a faded dame, but the rooms are adequate and sport money-saving conveniences such as microwaves and refrigerators.

**Constitution Inn** (Map;  617-241-8400, 800-495-9622; www.constitutioninn.org; 150 Third Ave; r $149-189;          ) Comfy digs and a classic setting in the historic Charlestown Naval Yard make this a great option if you don't mind being outside the city center. The modern rooms have all the expected amenities and the fitness center with Olympic-size pool puts facilities at the city's top-end hotels to shame.

**Charlesmark Hotel** (Map;  617-247-1212; www.thecharlesmark.com; 655 Boylston St; r incl breakfast $169-219;        ) This smart boutique hotel packs it all from an unbeatable Copley Sq location to cheery rooms graced with artwork, Italian tile and high-tech amenities. Runners, take note: the Boston Marathon finish line is just outside the front door.

**Harborside Inn** (Map;  617-723-7500; www.harborsideinnboston.com; 185 State St; r from $199;        ) This renovated 19th-century warehouse-turned-inn offers cozy rooms just steps from Faneuil Hall and Boston's waterfront. No two rooms are alike but period ambience, from the exposed brick walls to the hardwood floors, prevails throughout. Light sleepers should request an inside atrium room.

#### TOP END

 **Omni Parker House** (Map;  617-227-8600; www.omniparkerhouse.com; 60 School St; r $299-419;        ) If the walls could talk, this historic hotel overlooking the Freedom Trail would fill volumes. Employees have included Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh, the guest list Charles Dickens and JFK. Despite its well-polished elegance, dark woods and chandeliers, there's nothing stodgy about the place – you can be as comfortable here in a T-shirt as in a suit and tie. And you couldn't be more in the thick of things; it's just a stroll to many of Boston's top sights and best restaurants. Don't be dissuaded by the price; online discounts can slice rates in half.

### Eating

No matter what your taste, Boston will tantalize your buds. Head to Chinatown for affordable Asian fare, or to the South End for the café scene. And when the sun sets, there's no place like the Italian North End, whose narrow streets are thick with trattorias and ristorantes.

#### BEACON HILL & DOWNTOWN

**Quincy Market** (Map; off Congress & North Sts;  8am-9pm Mon-Sat, 8am-7pm Sun) For a quick eat along the Freedom Trail, stop at this market lined with dozens of food stalls selling everything from pizza slices (Regina's is best) to New England clam chowder in a bread bowl.

**Durgin Park** (Map;  617-227-2038; 340 Faneuil Hall Marketplace; lunch mains $9-15, dinner mains $15-30;  11:30am-10pm Mon-Sat, 11:30am-9pm Sun) Forget nouvelle, climb the stairs to this storied eatery for a taste of good ole Colonial fare. Durgin Park's been dishing out New England staples like Yankee pot roast, Indian pudding and slow-cooked Boston baked beans since 1827.

**Figs** (Map; 617-742-3447; 42 Charles St; mains $10-20;  11:30am-10pm) The brainchild of celebrity chef Todd English, Figs rakes 'em in with its innovative whisper-thin pizzas. For a real treat, order the signature fig and prosciutto pizza with gorgonzola. Equally delish are the sandwiches, salads and pastas.

**Ye Olde Union Oyster House** (Map; 617-227-2750; 41 Union St; mains $16-25;  11am-9:30pm Sun-Thu, 11am-10pm Fri & Sat) Slurp up fresh-shucked oysters and a heaping of history at Boston's oldest (1826) restaurant. It's been a haunt of many prominent Bostonians including JFK, who had his own booth in the upstairs dining room. Forgo the meat dishes – this place is all about seafood.

#### NORTH END

**Modern Pastry Shop** (Map;  617-523-3783; 257 Hanover St; snacks $2-4;  7am-10pm Sun-Fri, 7am-midnight Sat) It's not the biggest bakery on Hanover St, but it's the best. Fresh fruit tarts, chocolate-dipped biscotti and decadent cannoli filled to order in front of your eyes...oh so sweet!

**Trattoria Il Panino** (Map;  617-720-1336; 11 Parmenter St; mains $15-25;  11am-10pm) In sunny weather, the café tables in the courtyard of this traditional trattoria are the place to be. On dreary days, the cozy candlelit dining room will warm you up. Pasta and shellfish are the specialties but the menu covers a lot of ground, including sizzling steaks.

* * *

# FARMERS MARKETS

Many neighborhoods in Boston have farmers markets that truck seasonal fruits and vegetables into the city from mid-May to November. The ultimate bonanza of ripe and ready produce is the **Haymarket** (Map; Blackstone & Hanover Sts;  7am-5pm Fri & Sat), where more than 100 vendors line up along the street.

Other markets:

**City Hall Plaza** (Map; City Hall Plaza;  11am-6pm Mon & Wed)

**Copley Square** (Map; St James Ave;  11am-6pm Tue & Fri)

**South End** (Map; 540 Harrison Ave;  10am-5pm Sun)

* * *

**Daily Catch** (Map;  617-523-8567; 323 Hanover St; mains $18-26;  11:30am-9pm Sun-Thu, 11:30am-10:30pm Fri & Sat) It's an unassuming joint with the kitchen and dining tables squeezed into one small room, but you'll find superb Sicilian-style seafood as fresh as its name. The specialty is calamari in endless renditions from garlicky scampi to homemade squid-ink pastas. The only difficult catch is scoring a seat – arrive early.

**Neptune Oyster** (Map;  617-742-3474; 63 Salem St; mains $20-30;  11:30am-11pm Sun-Thu, 11:30am-midnight Fri & Sat) Barely bigger than a clam, this snappy place has the best raw bar in the North End and serves up good hot Italian-style seafood as well. You _will_ want to start with the oysters.

#### BACK BAY

**JP Licks** (Map;  617-236-1666; 352 Newbury St; cones $4;  11am-midnight) Go ahead, spoil your dinner. Cool off with a cone of Boston's favorite homemade ice cream.

**Legal Sea Foods** (Map;  617-266-6800; Prudential Center, 800 Boylston St; mains $15-30;  11am-10:30pm Mon-Sat, noon-10pm Sun) Running with the motto 'If it isn't fresh, it isn't Legal,' this Boston establishment indeed serves top-of-the-line seafood – broiled, grilled or fried – and invariably draws a satisfied crowd.

#### WATERFRONT & SEAPORT DISTRICT

**Barking Crab** (Map;  617-426-2722; 88 Sleeper St; mains $12-30;  noon-10pm) A waterfront landmark, this brightly painted and ever-bustling seafood shack serves big buckets of steaming crabs, authentic New England clambakes and good ol' beer-battered fish and chips.

* * *

# Don'T MISS

Certified green, **Flour Bakery & Cafe**(Map;  617-338-4333; 12 Farnsworth St; light eats $3-10;  7am-7pm Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm Sat, 9am-5pm Sun) is all the buzz in leading gourmet magazines, and scrumptiously affordable. The pecan sticky buns are awesome, the sandwiches innovative, and the pizzas a revelation. Their motto is 'make life sweeter...eat dessert first.' No argument here.

* * *

#### CHINATOWN, THEATER DISTRICT & SOUTH END

**Peach Farm** (Map;  617-482-1116; 4 Tyler St; mains $7-18;  11am-3am) Step into this basement restaurant with its Cantonese chatter and live fish tanks for the best seafood in Chinatown. The net's cast wide, from local flounder to abalone and eels. If you don't mind having your lunch stare back at you, try the savory fish-head soup.

 **Myers + Chang** (Map;  617-542-5200; 1145 Washington St; mains $10-15;  11:30am-11pm Mon-Sat, 11:30am-10pm Sun) A marriage of two South End top chefs, this smokin' multiethnic joint dishes up the most eclectic taste treats, blending Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese influences with an urban New England tweak. Think shiitake-basil spring rolls, wok-roasted mussels and tea-smoked spareribs. No matter what you order, the spicy, fresh herbs carry the day. The food's local whenever possible, the scene's hip and casual.

**Montien** (Map;  617-338-5600; 63 Stuart St; mains $10-16;  11:30am-10:30pm Mon-Sat, 4-10pm Sun) For a tasty meal before the opening curtain, head to this Thai restaurant in the midst of the theater district. Montien has wonderfully fragrant curries and other spicy counterparts, including scores of vegetarian options. The food's the real deal, so let the server know how much heat you can handle.

**Franklin Café** (Map;  617-350-0010; 278 Shawmut Ave; mains $15-20;  5:30pm-1:30am) Search out this tiny South End haunt for New American comfort food with a gourmet twist. Everyone orders the roasted turkey meatloaf with cinnamon fig gravy and chive mashed potatoes – arguably the most famous meal in the South End. Just a half-dozen booths and a line of bar stools, so get there early.

#### CAMBRIDGE

**Veggie Planet** (Map;  617-661-1513; Club Passim, 47 Palmer St; mains $6-12;  11:30am-10:30pm;  ) The crunchy granola crowd gravitates here for all things vegetarian. Creativity knows no bounds – vegans favor the coconut curry tofu pizza. Big organic salads and delicious homemade soups too.

**Café Pamplona** (Map;  617-492-0352; 12 Bow St; mains $8-15;  11am-1am Mon-Sat, 2pm-1am Sun) The menu of zesty options in this backstreet cellar café include a fab gazpacho, Spanish-style pressed sandwiches and heady coffee. With its low ceilings it can feel a bit claustrophobic but in warm weather you can dine on the sunny patio.

* * *

# GAY & LESBIAN BOSTON

Naturally, the hub city of the first state to legalize gay marriage embraces gay travelers. You'll find openly gay communities throughout Boston and Cambridge, but the pulse of the action beats from Boston's South End.

The stalwart of the gay and lesbian scene is **Club Café** (Map;  617-536-0966; 209 Columbus Ave;  2pm-2am), a convivial South End bar and entertainment venue. Also a gay landmark is **Fritz** ( 617-482-4428; 26 Chandler St;  noon-2am), a bustling, hustling watering hole in the South End that proudly proclaims itself 'Boston's gay sports bar.'

You'll find of slew of other LGBT gathering spots, as well as events and entertainment listings, at **Bay Windows** (www.baywindows.com), a weekly serving the gay and lesbian community, and at **Edge Boston** (www.edgeboston.com). The city's biggest gay and lesbian event, **Boston Pride** (www.bostonpride.org), includes a parade, a festival and block parties in mid-June.

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**Mr Bartley's Burger Cottage** (Map;  617-354-6559; 1246 Massachusetts Ave; burgers $9-13;  11am-9pm Mon-Sat) Join the Ivy Leaguers at this landmark joint serving juicy hamburgers with quirky names, like the Yuppie Burger topped with boursin cheese and bacon. The onion rings and sweet potato fries score an A-plus too.

### Drinking & Entertainment

Boston's entertainment scene offers something for everyone. For up-to-the-minute listings, grab a copy of the free _Boston Phoenix_.

Half-price tickets to same-day theater and concerts are sold for cash only at the **BosTix** **kiosks** (Map; www.bostix.org;  10am-6pm Tue-Sat, 11am-4pm Sun) Faneuil Hall (Congress St); Copley Sq (cnr Dartmouth & Boylston Sts).

#### BARS

**Sonsie** (Map;  617-351-2500; 327 Newbury St;  7am-1am) Overlooking the action on trendy Newbury St, Sonsie is where the beautiful people go to see and be seen. Chardonnay, anyone?

**Top of the Hub** (Map;  617-536-1775; Prudential Center, 800 Boylston St;  11:30am-1am) A head-spinning city view is on tap at this chic restaurant-lounge on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Center. Live jazz nightly too.

**Alibi** (Map;  617-244-0400; 215 Charles St;  5pm-midnight) The quirkiest place to have a drink in Boston is this bar in the former Charles Street Jail, now renovated into the upscale Liberty Hotel. The decor features slammin' remnants of its former life, such as iron cell bars.

**Cheers** (Map;  617-227-9605; 84 Beacon St;  11am-1am) Only the exterior of this landmark bar appeared in the opening scenes of the _Cheers_ sitcom and it serves so many tourists that nobody knows anybody's name, but what the heck.

**John Harvard's Brew House** (Map;  617-868-3585; 33 Dunster St, Cambridge;  11:30am-12:30am Sun-Thu, 11:30am-1:30am Fri & Sat) This subterranean Harvard Square microbrewery pours well-crafted brews in an inviting English-pub atmosphere; it has good pub grub too.

**Bell in Hand Tavern** (Map;  617-227-2098; 45 Union St;  11:30am-2am) A gaggle of bars lines historic Union St, just north of Faneuil Hall, including this one, which opened in 1795, making it the oldest tavern in the USA.

**Cask 'n' Flagon** (Map;  617-536-4840; 62 Brookline Ave;  11:30am-2am) Sports bars pepper the neighborhood around Fenway Park, including this venerable place, which is wallpapered with classic Red Sox memorabilia and frenzied fans.

#### NIGHTCLUBS & LIVE MUSIC

Hours vary with the season and the act – call for schedules.

**Paradise Rock Club** (off Map;  617-562-8800; www.thedise.com; 967 Commonwealth Ave; cover $15-35) Top bands – like U2, whose first gig in the USA was on this stage – rock at this edgy landmark club.

**Great Scott** (off Map;  617-566-9014; www.greatscottboston.com; 1222 Commonwealth Ave; cover $5-15) The newest 'it' place for rock and indie, this cavernous club rarely gets uncomfortably crowded.

**Club Passim** (Map;  617-492-7679; www.clubpassim.org; 47 Palmer St; cover $5-25) Folkies flock to this venerable Harvard Sq club, which has been a haunt of up-and-coming folk singers since the days of Dylan and Baez.

**Middle East** (Map;  617-864-3278; www.mideastclub.com; 472 Massachusetts Ave; cover $10-20) Rock and indie bands rumble at this dual-stage club near Cambridge's Central Sq.

**TT the Bear's Place** (Map;  617-492-2327; www.ttthebears.com; 10 Brookline St, Cambridge; cover $8-15) Grungy, diehard rock joint played by local bands on the rise. Well, not all are on the rise – the music's hit or miss.

**Berklee Performance Center** (Map;  617-747-2261; www.berkleebpc.com; 136 Massachusetts Ave; cover $20-50) One of America's premier music schools hosts concerts by famed alumni and other renowned artists.

#### THEATER & CULTURE

**Wang Theatre** (Map;  617-482-9393; www.citicenter.org; 270 Tremont St) One of New England's largest theaters, this lavish 1925 landmark hosts top dance and theater performances.

**Symphony Hall** (Map;  617-266-1492; www.bso.org; 301 Massachusetts Ave) The celebrated Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops perform here.

**Charles Playhouse** (Map; 617-426-6912; 74 Warrenton St) Home to the ever-popular Blue Man Group, this dual-stage backstreet theater has an engaging underground ambience.

**Opera House** (Map;  617-880-2442; 539 Washington St) Restored to its 1920s grandeur, this extravagant theater hosts Broadway productions.

**Hatch Memorial Shell** (Map; Charles River Esplanade) Free summer concerts take place at this outdoor bandstand on the banks of the Charles River, including the Boston Pops' July 4 concert, Boston's biggest annual music event.

#### SPORTS

From April to September join the frenzied fans cheering on the **Boston Red Sox** ( 888-327-0100; www.redsox.com), at **Fenway Park** (Map; tickets $20-125), major-league baseball's oldest (1912) and most storied ballpark.

At the **TD Banknorth Garden** (Map; 150 Causeway St) from October to April, the NBA **Boston Celtics** ( 617-523-3030; www.celtics.com; tickets $15-180) play basketball, and the NHL **Boston Bruins** ( 617-624-2327; www.bostonbruins.com; tickets $16-190) play ice hockey.

At the **Gillette Stadium** (off Map) in Foxboro, 25 miles south of Boston, the NFL **New England Patriots** ( 800-543-1776; www.patriots.com; tickets $50-145) play football from August to January and the MLS **New England Revolution** ( 877-438-7387; www.revolutionsoccer.net; tickets $20-40) play soccer from April to October.

### Shopping

Head to fashionable Newbury St, Boston's version of New York's Fifth Ave, for the city's most interesting shopping stroll. Starting on its highbrow east end it's all Armani, Brooks Brothers and Cartier, but by the time you reach the west end you'll find offbeat shops and funky bookstores.

Get independent music CDs at **Newbury Comics** (Map;  617-236-4930; 332 Newbury St), Harvard-logo sweatshirts at the **Coop** (Map; Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge) and Red Sox paraphernalia at **Out of Left Field** (Map;  617-722-9401; Congress St) at Faneuil Hall.

Good places to browse for arts and crafts are **Bromfield Art Gallery** (Map;  617-451-3605; 450 Harrison Ave), Boston's oldest cooperative, and **Cambridge Artists' Cooperative** (Map;  617-868-4434; 59a Church St, Cambridge) at Harvard Sq.

**Copley Place** (Map; 100 Huntington Ave) and the **Shops at Prudential Center** (Map; 800 Boylston St), both in the Back Bay, are the city's main indoor malls.

### Getting There & Away

Getting in and out of Boston is easy. The train and bus stations are conveniently side by side, and the airport is a short subway ride away.

**Logan International Airport** (BOS;  800-235-6426; www.massport.com/logan), just across Boston Harbor from the city center, is served by major US and foreign airlines and has full services including currency-exchange booths.

**South Station** (Map; 700 Atlantic Ave) is the terminal for an extensive network of long-distance buses operated by **Greyhound** ( 617-526-1808, 800-231-2222; www.greyhound.com). In addition, **Fung Wah Bus Company** ( 617-345-8000; www.fungwahbus.com) runs buses between South Station and New York City for just $15 each way.

**MBTA Commuter Rail** ( 617-222-3200; www.mbta.com) trains connect Boston's North Station (Map) with Concord and Salem and Boston's South Station (Map) with Plymouth and Providence; fares vary with the distance, maxing out at $7.75.

The **Amtrak** ( 617-345-7460, 800-872-7245; www.amtrak.com) terminal is at South Station; trains to New York cost $62 (4¼ hours) or $93 on the speedier _Acela Express_ (3½ hours).

Major car-rental companies have offices at the airport, and many have locations around the city. Bear in mind that driving in Boston is utterly confusing with lots of one-way streets and archaic traffic patterns. It's best to stick to public transportation within the city. If you're traveling onward by rental car, pick up your car at the end of your Boston visit.

### Getting Around

Logan International Airportis connected to downtown Boston by the **MBTA** ( 617-222-3200; www.mbta.com; single ride $2, day/week pass $9/15), which operates the USA's oldest subway (the 'T'), started in 1897. Five color-coded lines – Red, Blue, Green, Orange and Silver – radiate from the downtown stations of Park St, Downtown Crossing and Government Center. 'Inbound' trains are headed for one of these stations, 'outbound' trains away from them. Trains operate from around 5:30am to 12:30am.

Taxis are plentiful; expect to pay between $10 and $25 between two points within the city limits. Flag taxis on the street, find them at major hotels or call **Metro Cab** ( 617-242-8000) or **Independent** ( 617-426-8700).

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## AROUND BOSTON

The historic towns rimming Boston make for fine day-tripping. If you don't have your own transportation, you can reach these places by MBTA (above) buses and rail.

### Lexington & Concord

In 1775 the Colonial town of Lexington, 15 miles northwest of Boston, was the site of the first battle of the American Revolution. Following the battle, the British redcoats marched 10 miles west to Concord where they fought the American Minutemen at the town's North Bridge – the first American victory. You can revisit this momentous bit of history at **Minute Man National Historic Park** ( 978-369-6993; www.nps.gov/mima; 174 Liberty St, Concord; admission free;  9am-5pm Apr-Oct) and along the 5.5-mile **Battle Road Trail** , which is open to cyclists as well as hikers.

In the 19th century, Concord harbored a vibrant literary community. Next to the **Old North Bridge** is the **Old Manse** ( 978-369-3909; 269 Monument St; adult/child 6-12yr $8/5), former home of author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Within a mile of the town center are the **Ralph Waldo Emerson house** ( 978-369-2236; 28 Cambridge Turnpike; adult/child 7-17yr $8/6), Louisa May Alcott's **Orchard House** ( 978-369-4118; 399 Lexington Rd; adult/child 6-17yr $8/5) and the **Wayside** ( 978-369-6993; 455 Lexington Rd; adult/child under 16yr $5/free), where Alcott's _Little Women_ was set.

**Walden Pond** , where Henry David Thoreau lived and wrote _Walden,_ is 3 miles south of the town center; you can visit his cabin site and take an inspiring hike around the pond. All these authors are laid to rest in **Sleepy Hollow Cemetery** (Bedford St) in the town center. Admission is free to Walden Pond and the cemetery. **Concord Chamber of Commerce** ( 978-369-3120; www.concordchamberofcommerce.org; 58 Main St) has full details on sites, including opening hours for the homes, which vary with the season

### Salem

Salem, 20 miles northeast of Boston, burned itself an infamous place in history with the 1692 hysteria that put innocent people to death for witchcraft (see the boxed text, below). The tragedy has proven a boon for operators of numerous Salem witch attractions, some serious, others just milking witchy-wacky-woo for all it's worth. **Destination Salem** ( 877-725-3662; www.salem.org; 1 New Liberty St) has full information on town sights.

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# WITCH HUNTS

In early 1692 a group of Salem girls began to act strangely. The work of the devil? The girls, pressured to blame someone, accused a slave named Tituba of witchcraft. Under torture, Tituba accused others and soon accusations were flying thick and fast. By September, 55 had pleaded guilty and 19 who wouldn't 'confess' to witchcraft were hanged. The frenzy finally died down when the accusers pointed at the governor's wife.

The most poignant site in Salem is the **Witch Trials Memorial** (Charter St), a quiet park behind the Peabody Essex Museum, where simple stones are inscribed with the names and final words of the victims, decrying the injustice befallen them.

Best of Salem's other 'witchy' sites is the **Witch House** ( 978-744-8815; 310 Essex St; adult/child 6-14yr $8.25/4.25;  10am-4:45pm), the home of the magistrate who presided over the trials. To dig deeper, read Arthur Miller's _The Crucible,_ which doubles as a parable to the 1950s anticommunist 'witch hunts' in the US Senate that resulted in Miller's own blacklisting.

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The exceptional **Peabody Essex Museum** ( 978-745-9500; www.pem.org; East India Sq; adult/child under 17yr $15/free;  10am-5pm Tue-Sun) reflects Salem's rich maritime history. The museum was founded upon the art, artifacts and curios collected by Salem traders during their early expeditions to the Far East. As the exhibits attest, they had deep pockets and refined taste. In addition to world-class Chinese and Pacific Island displays, the museum boasts a fine Native American collection.

Salem was the center of a thriving clipper-ship trade with China and its preeminent trader, Elias Derby, became America's first millionaire. For a sense of those glory days, take a walk along Derby St and out to Derby Wharf, now the center of the **Salem Maritime National Historic Site**.

### Plymouth

Proclaiming itself 'America's hometown,' Plymouth celebrates its heritage as the region's first permanent European settlement. **Plymouth Rock** , a weather-worn chunk of granite on the harborfront, is said to mark the place the Pilgrims came ashore in 1620. Don't expect anything monumental; the rock upon which America was built is indeed small – so diminutive that most visitors have to take a second look.

These days, people make their pilgrimage to **Plimoth Plantation** ( 508-746-1622; www.plimoth.org; MA 3A; adult/child 6-12yr $28/18;  9am-5pm mid-Mar–Nov;  ), an authentically re-created 1627 Pilgrim village. Everything – the houses, the crops, the food cooked over wood stoves and even the vocabulary used by the costumed interpreters – is meticulously true to the period. Equally insightful are the home sites of the Wampanoag tribe, who helped the Pilgrims through their first difficult winter. If you're traveling with kids, or you're a history buff, don't miss it. The admission price includes entry to the _Mayflower II,_ a replica of the Pilgrims' ship, at Plymouth Harbor.

**Destination Plymouth** ( 508-747-7533; www.visit-plymouth.com; 170 Water St), opposite the harbor, has details on all sights. When hunger strikes, you'll find good seafood restaurants right at the harbor.

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## CAPE COD

Clambering across the National Seashore dunes, cycling the Cape Cod Rail Trail, eating oysters at Wellfleet Harbor – this sandy peninsula serves up a bounty of local flavor. Fringed with 400 miles of sparkling shoreline, 'the Cape,' as it's called by Cape Codders, rates as New England's top beach destination. But there's a lot more than just beaches here. When you've had your fill of sun and sand, get out and explore artist enclaves, take a cruise, or join the free-spirited street scene in Provincetown.

**Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce** ( 508-362-3225, 888-332-2732; www.capecodchamber.org; US 6, at MA 132, Hyannis;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri year-round, 9am-5pm Sat, 10am-2pm Sun summer) provides Cape-wide information.

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# HOT TOPIC: WINDMILLS ON THE HORIZON

Cape Wind wants to build the nation's largest offshore wind farm, consisting of 130 mega-turbines, in the waters off Cape Cod. You might think with the greening of America that everyone would be on board. But in fact, the issue has been slow to win over many local environmentalists.

The Cape Cod Commission, a regional planning board that's progressive on most issues, denied approval to the project in 2007 only to be overruled by a new state program bent on speeding along green energy projects. In May 2009, citing the state's Green Communities Act, Massachusetts approved a bundle of state and local permits. That leaves only a final go-ahead from the federal government, which seems an apparent shoe-in considering Barack Obama's support for wind energy.

Among the wind farm's supporters are national heavyweights like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club. The detractors are mostly local and heavily funded by wealthy oceanfront homeowners who don't want wind turbines to be part of their ocean vista. Situated just a few miles offshore, they will indeed be visible on the horizon, but whether it's a welcome sight or an eyesore is certainly a matter of perspective.

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### Sandwich

The Cape's oldest village wraps its historic center around a picturesque swan pond. Here you'll find the Cape's oldest house, **Hoxie House** ( 508-888-1173; 18 Water St; adult/child 5-12yr $3/2;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm Sun mid-Jun–mid-Oct) c 1640; the **Dexter Grist Mill** ( 508-888-5144; Water St; adult/child 5-12yr $3/2;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm Sun mid-Jun–Sep) c 1654, whose oak waterwheel stills grinds cornmeal; and the kiddy-geared **Thornton W Burgess Museum** ( 508-888-4668; 4 Water St; adult/child under 13yr $2/1;  10am-4pm Mon-Sat, 1-4pm Sun late May–Oct;  ), named for the Sandwich native who wrote the _Peter Cottontail_ series.

Artfully displayed in the **Sandwich Glass Museum** ( 508-888-0251; www.sandwichglassmuseum.org; 129 Main St; adult/child 6-14yr $5/1.25;  9:30am-5pm Apr-Dec, 9:30am-4pm Wed-Sun Feb-Mar) is the town's 19th-century glass-making heritage. Glass-blowing demonstrations are given on the hour.

The 76-acre **Heritage Museums & Gardens** ( 508-888-3300; www.heritagemuseumsandgardens.org; Grove St; adult/child 6-16yr $12/6;  10am-5pm Apr-Oct;  ) sports a terrific vintage automobile collection, folk-art exhibits and one of the finest rhododendron gardens in America. Kids will love riding the classic 1912 carousel.

If you're ready for salt spray, head to **Sandy Neck Beach** (Sandy Neck Rd), off MA 6A, a 6-mile dune-backed strand (parking $15) ideal for beachcombing and a bracing swim.

A 6-mile path perfect for cycling and in-line skating runs along the south side of the **Cape Cod Canal** starting at Sandwich Harbor.

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# SCENIC DRIVE: MA 6A

When exploring the Cape, eschew the speedy Mid-Cape Hwy (US 6) and follow instead the Old King's Hwy (MA 6A), which snakes along Cape Cod Bay. The longest continuous stretch of historic district in the USA, it's lined with gracious period homes, antique shops and art galleries, all of which makes for good browsing en route.

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#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Shawme-Crowell State Forest** ( 508-888-0351, 877-422-6762; www.reserveamerica.com; MA 130; campsites $14) You'll find 285 shady campsites in this 700-acre woodland, near MA 6A.

**Belfry Inne** ( 508-888-8550; www.belfryinn.com; 8 Jarves St; r incl breakfast $149-315;  ) Ever fall asleep in church? Then you'll love the rooms, some with the original stained-glass windows, in this creatively restored former church, now an upmarket B&B. If, however, having the angel Gabriel watching over you in bed seems a bit too quirky, Belfry has two adjacent inns with more conventional rooms.

**Bee-Hive Tavern** ( 508-833-1184; 406 MA 6A; mains $8-20;  11:30am-9pm Mon-Sat, 8:30am-9pm Sun) The agreeable mix of Colonial atmosphere and home-style New England cooking attracts locals and visitors alike. Lunch favorites include hearty salads and roll-up sandwiches, while at dinner the honey-sage roast chicken hits the spot.

**Seafood Sam's** ( 508-888-4629; Coast Guard Rd; mains $9-20;  11am-8:30pm;  ) This is a good family choice for fish and chips, clams and lobster. Dine at picnic tables overlooking Cape Cod Canal and watch the fishing boats sail by.

### Falmouth & Woods Hole

Crowd-pleasing beaches and the quaint seaside village of Woods Hole are the highlights of the Cape's second-largest town.

Deeply indented Falmouth has 70 miles of coastline, none finer than **Old Silver Beach** (off MA 28A, North Falmouth), a long, sandy stretch with calm waters; parking costs $20.

The **Shining Sea Bikeway** runs along the shoreline from Falmouth center to Woods Hole, rewarding cyclists with fine views of Martha's Vineyard en route. **Corner Cycle** ( 508-540-4195; 115 Palmer Ave; per day $17;  9am-6pm) rents bicycles near the bike path.

Woods Hole is the departure point for Martha's Vineyard ferries (Click here) and home of the **Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution** (WHOI; www.whoi.edu), one of the world's most prestigious marine research facilities. You'll gain insights into WHOI's work at the **Ocean Science Exhibit Center** ( 508-289-2663; 15 School St; adult/child under 10yr $2/free;  10am-4:30pm Mon-Sat May-Oct). See more than a hundred species of sea creatures, including some in a kid-friendly touch tank, at **Woods Hole Science Aquarium** ( 508-495-2001; 166 Water St; admission free;  11am-4pm Tue-Sat Jun-Aug, Mon-Fri Sep-May;  ).

Within walking distance of the beach and Vineyard ferry, all 28 rooms at **Falmouth Heights Motor Lodge** ( 508-548-3623, 800-468-3623; www.falmouthheightsmotel.com; 146 Falmouth Heights Rd; r incl breakfast from $149;    ) are a cut above the competition. Most atmospheric are those in the Anchor House, a Cape Cod–style cottage overlooking the garden.

Top-notch atmosphere, food and service are in store at **La Cucina Sul Mare** ( 508-548-5600; 237 Main St; mains lunch $6-12, dinner $15-20;  11:30am-2:30pm Tue-Sun, 4:30-9pm daily), serving innovative renditions of Northern Italian fare. Standouts include the white-wine mussels and the rigatoni a la vodka.

Everyone loves the **Fishmonger Café** ( 508-540-5376; 56 Water St, Woods Hole; mains $8-26;  7:30am-10pm) for the water views in every direction and the eclectic menu emphasizing fresh seafood and vegetarian fare.

### Hyannis

Cape Cod's commercial hub, Hyannis is best known to visitors as the summer home of the Kennedy clan and a jumping-off point for ferries to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.

The worthwhile **John F Kennedy Hyannis Museum** ( 508-790-3077; 397 Main St; adult/child 10-16yr $5/2.50;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun late May–Oct, varied hours Nov-Apr) celebrates JFK's life through photos and exhibits on the USA's 35th president.

**Hy-Line Cruises** ( 508-790-0696; www.hylinecruises.com; Ocean St Dock; adult/child 3-11yr $15/8;  mid-Apr–Oct) offers an hour-long harbor cruise aboard an old-fashioned steamer that circles past the compound of Kennedy family homes. **Kalmus Beach** (Ocean St) is popular for windsurfing, while **Craigville Beach** (Craigville Beach Rd) is the place to see and be seen for the college set; parking at either beach costs $15.

The rates are a bargain, but the little **SeaCoast Inn** ( 508-775-3828; www.seacoastcapecod.com; 33 Ocean St; r incl breakfast $108-148;        ) is no Plain Jane. Rooms are spacious with perks aplenty, from free wi-fi to kitchenettes, and the central location is just minutes from everything in town.

Bright airy rooms with harbor-view balconies separate the family-run, boutique **Anchor-in** ( 508-775-0357; www.anchorin.com; 1 South St; r incl breakfast from $139-289;        ) from all the chains back on the highway. And if you're planning a day trip to Nantucket, the ferry is just a stroll away.

Come to **La Petite France Café** ( 508-775-1067; 349 Main St; sandwiches $7;  7am-3pm Mon-Sat) for flaky croissants, superb baguette sandwiches and homemade soup. Don't let the chef's French accent fool you – he does a nice job with New England–style clam chowder too.

With its dizzying array of options, **Ardeo** ( 508-790-1115; 644 Main St; mains $7-24;  11:30am-10pm;  ) is a perfect family choice with something for every taste. The menu ranges from pizza and Black Angus burgers to traditional Greek fare and seafood.

### Brewster

Woodsy Brewster, on the Cape's bay side, makes a good base for outdoorsy types. The Cape Cod Rail Trail (see the boxed text, below) cuts clear across town and there are excellent options for camping, hiking and water activities.

The 2000-acre oasis of **Nickerson State Park** ( 508-896-3491; 3488 MA 6A; admission free;  8am-8pm) has it all: ponds with sandy beaches, boating, cycling and walking trails. You can rent canoes, kayaks and sailboats within the park at **Jack's Boat Rentals** ( 508-896-8556; Cliff Pond; rental per hr $20-30;  9am-6pm) and bicycles from **Barbara's Bike** ( 508-896-7231; half/full day $16/24;  9am-6pm) by the park entrance.

The **Cape Cod Museum of Natural History** ( 508-896-3867; www.ccmnh.org; 869 MA 6A; adult/child 3-12yr $8/3.50;  9:30am-4pm daily Jun-Sep, 11am-3pm Wed-Sun Oct-May;  ) has exhibits on the Cape's creatures and a cool boardwalk trail that tromps across a saltmarsh to a remote beach.

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# WHAT THE...?

Lobster mania takes a new twist at **Ben & Bill's Chocolate Emporium** ( 508-548-7878; 209 Main St, Falmouth; cones $4.50;  9am-11pm) where the crustacean has crawled onto the ice-cream menu. Forget plain vanilla. Step up to the counter and order a scoop of lobster ice cream. Now there's one you won't find with the old 31 flavors folks.

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#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Nickerson State Park** ( 877-422-6762; www.reserveamerica.com; campsites $17-26) Head here for Cape Cod's best camping with 418 wooded campsites; it often fills, so reserve your spot early.

**Old Sea Pines Inn** ( 508-896-6114; www.oldseapinesinn.com; 2553 MA 6A; r incl breakfast with shared bath $85, with private bath $115-195;    ) A former girls' school dating to 1840, the inn's 21 rooms retain a simple yesteryear look. It's a bit like staying at grandma's house: antique fittings, floral wallpaper, clawfoot bathtubs. No TV, but rocking chairs await on the porch.

**Cobies** ( 508-896-7021; 3256 MA 6A; meals $8-20;  10:30am-9pm) Conveniently located near Nickerson State Park, this roadside clam shack dishes out fried seafood that you can crunch and munch at outdoor picnic tables.

 **Brewster Fish House** ( 508-896-7867; 2208 MA 6A; lunch $10-16, dinner $20-30;  11:30am-3pm & 5-9:30pm) Not an eye-catcher from the outside but inside you'll find some of the best seafood on the Cape. Start with the lobster bisque, naturally sweet with chunks of fresh lobster. From there it's safe to cast your net in any direction. Just 11 tables, and no reservations, so think lunch or early dinner to avoid long waits.

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# CYCLING THE RAIL TRAIL

A poster child for the rails-to-trail movement, the **Cape Cod Rail Trail** follows a former railroad track for 22 glorious miles past cranberry bogs and along sandy ponds ideal for a dip. It's one of the finest cycling trails in all New England. There's a hefty dose of Olde Cape Cod scenery en route and you can detour into quiet villages for lunch or sightseeing. The path begins in Dennis on MA 134 and continues all the way to South Wellfleet. If you have time to do only part of the trail, begin at Nickerson State Park in Brewster and head for the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham. Bicycle rentals are available at the trailhead in Dennis, at Nickerson State Park and opposite the National Seashore's Salt Pond Visitor Center.

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### Chatham

Upscale inns and tony shops are a hallmark of the Cape's most genteel town, but some of Chatham's finest pleasures come free for the taking. Start your exploring on Main St, with its old sea captains' houses and cool art galleries. At **Chatham Fish Pier** (Shore Rd) watch fishermen unload their catch and spot seals basking on nearby shoals. A mile south on Shore Rd is **Lighthouse Beach** , an endless expanse of sea and sandbars that offers some of the finest beach strolling on Cape Cod. The 7600-acre **Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge** (www.fws.gov/northeast/monomoy) covers two uninhabited islands thick with shorebirds; to see it up close take the 1½-hour boat tour with **Outermost Harbor Marine** ( 508-945-5858; 83 Seagull Rd; adult/child $28/16).

Within walking distance of the town center and beach, the homey, **Bow Roof House** ( 508-945-1346; 59 Queen Anne Rd; r incl breakfast $95-105), built c 1780, is sweetly old-fashioned in both price and offerings. No frou-frou, mind you – except for the addition of private baths, the place looks nearly the same as it did in Colonial times. A rare budget traveler's find in upscale Chatham.

Join the townies at the ultra-casual **Larry's PX** ( 508-945-3964; 1591 Main St; mains $4-12;  5am-4pm Jun-Aug, 6am-2pm Sep-May) for omelets, burgers and service with a sassy smile. The sign on the door says 'Sorry, we're open.' Gotta love that.

The perky **Chatham Squire** ( 508-945-0945; 487 Main St; mains $7-20;  11:30am-10pm) pub is the busiest place in town. The menu's piled high with Monomoy steamers, raw oysters and other briny local delights. How fresh is the seafood? Just take one look at the fishermen hanging at the bar.

### Cape Cod National Seashore

 **Cape Cod National Seashore** (www.nps.gov/caco) extends some 40 miles around the curve of the Outer Cape and encompasses most of the shoreline from Eastham to Provincetown. It's a treasure-trove of unspoiled beaches, dunes, salt marshes and forests. Thanks to President John F Kennedy, this vast area was set aside for preservation in the 1960s, just before a building boom hit the rest of his native Cape Cod. The **Salt Pond Visitor Center** ( 508-255-3421; Nauset Rd, at US 6, Eastham; admission free;  9am-5pm) is the place to start and has a great view to boot. Here you'll find exhibits and films on the area's ecology and the scoop on the park's numerous cycling and hiking trails, some of which begin right at the center.

You brought your board, didn't you? **Coast Guard Beach** , just down the road from the visitor center, is a stunner that attracts everyone from surfers to beachcombers. And the view of untouched Nauset Marsh from the dunes above the beach is nothing short of spectacular. **Nauset Light Beach** , running north from Coast Guard Beach, takes its name from the lighthouse perched above it; three other classic lighthouses are nearby. Summertime beach parking passes cost $15/45 a day/season and are valid at all Cape Cod National Seashore beaches including Provincetown (opposite).

### Wellfleet

Art galleries, primo beaches and those famous Wellfleet oysters lure visitors to this little seaside town.

Birders flock to Massachusetts Audubon Society's **Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary** ( 508-349-2615; www.wellfleetbay.org; West Rd; adult/child $5/3;  8:30am-5pm), off MA 6A, where trails cross 1100 acres of tidal creeks, salt marshes and sandy beaches. You can walk along the trails until dusk, but get there before 5pm to see the displays in the solar-powered nature center.

**Marconi Beach** has a monument to Guglielmo Marconi, who sent the first wireless transmission across the Atlantic from this site, and a beach backed by undulating dunes. The adjacent beaches of **White Crest Beach** and **Cahoon Hollow Beach** offer high-octane surfing.

About two dozen **art galleries** host receptions on summer Saturdays. For an evening of nostalgia, park at **Wellfleet Drive-In** ( 508-349-7176; 51 US 6; adult/child 4-11yr $8/5;  May–mid-Sep), one of a dwindling number of drive-in cinemas in the USA. **Wellfleet Flea Market** ( 508-349-0541; per car $3;  8am-3pm Wed, Thu, Sat & Sun in summer, Sat & Sun in spring & fall), at the Wellfleet Drive-In, hosts scores of dealers and makes an interesting diversion for bargain-hunters. The acclaimed **Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater** ( 508-349-9428; www.what.org; 2357 US 6; tickets $10-30) produces edgy contemporary plays.

Historic without being cloying, the 1871 Victorian **Stone Lion Inn of Cape Cod** ( 508-349-9565; www.stonelioncapecod.com; 130 Commercial St; r incl breakfast $140-200;   ) is the finest place in Wellfleet to tuck in. Pine floors, antique decor and handcrafted furnishings set the tone. The location is handy for exploring town on foot.

Head to **Mac's Seafood** ( 508-349-9611; Wellfleet Town Pier; mains $7-16;  7:30am-11pm) for market-fresh seafood at bargain prices. Fried-fish standards are paired with snappy-fresh oysters harvested from nearby flats. Order at the window and chow down at picnic tables overlooking Wellfleet Harbor.

A former lifesaving station right on the beach, **Beachcomber** ( 508-349-6055; Cahoon Hollow Beach, Ocean View Dr), aka 'Da Coma,' is _the_ place to have a drink and hit the dance floor.

### Truro

Squeezed between Cape Cod Bay on the west and the open Atlantic on the east, narrow Truro abounds with water views and beaches. In North Truro, **Cape Cod Highland Light** ( 508-487-1121; Lighthouse Rd; admission $4;  10am-5:30pm mid-May–Oct) dates to 1797, casts the brightest light on the New England coastline, and offers a sweeping view. The adjacent **Highland House Museum** ( 508-487-3397; Lighthouse Rd; adult/child $4/free;  10am-4:30pm Mon-Sat & 1-4:30pm Sun Jun-Sep) is dedicated to the area's farming and fishing past.

Budget digs don't get much more atmospheric than at **HI Truro** ( 508-349-3889, 888-901-2086; www.capecodhostels.org; N Pamet Rd, North Truro; dm $32-35;  mid-Jun–early Sep;  ), a former coast guard station dramatically sited amid beach dunes. Book early to avoid disappointment.

### Provincetown

Go to the cabaret, set off on a whale watch, join the carnival street scene – there's no limit to what you can do on this outer reach of the Cape. Fringe writers and artists began making a summer haven in Provincetown a century ago. Today it's morphed into the hottest gay and lesbian destination in the Northeast. While the action throbs from the center of town, Provincetown also has quiet dunes and an untamed coastline with glorious beaches.

#### ORIENTATION & INFORMATION

The town's center runs along two parallel streets, the seaside Commercial St, with the lion's share of restaurants, galleries and shops, and Bradford St one block inland. Guesthouses line the narrow streets between Bradford and Commercial.

**Provincetown Chamber of Commerce** ( 508-487-3424; www.ptownchamber.com; 307 Commercial St;  9am-7pm Jun-Aug, 10am-3pm Mon-Sat Sep-May) At MacMillan Wharf; get tourist information here.

**Provincetown Post Office** ( 800-275-8777; 219 Commercial St)

**Provincetown Public Library** ( 508-487-7094; 356 Commercial St;  10am-5pm Mon & Fri, noon-8pm Tue & Thu, 10am-8pm Wed, 10am-2pm Sat, 1-5pm Sun) Allows 30 minutes of free internet access; see also the boxed text, Click here.

**Seamen's Bank** ( 508-487-0035; 221 Commercial St)

**Wired Puppy** ( 508-487-0017; 379 Commercial St;  6:30am-10pm;  ) Free internet for the price of a cup of coffee.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

Climb to the top of the USA's tallest all-granite structure, the 253ft-high **Pilgrim Monument** ( 508-487-1310; High Pole Rd; adult/child 4-14yr $7/3.50;  9am-5pm Apr-Nov, to 7pm Jun–mid-Sep), for a sweeping view of town and the surrounding coast. The monument commemorates the _Mayflower_ Pilgrims, who landed in Provincetown in 1620 before moving on to Plymouth.

Established in 1914 to celebrate the town's thriving art community, the superb **Provincetown Art Association & Museum** (PAAM;  508-487-1750; www.paam.org; 460 Commercial St; adult/child under 12yr $5/free;  11am-8pm Mon-Thu, 11am-10pm Fri, 11am-5pm Sat & Sun Jun-Sep, noon-5pm Thu-Sun Oct-May) displays the works of artists who have found inspiration in Provincetown over the past century.

Provincetown hosts some of the finest **art galleries** in the region. For the best browsing begin at PAAM and start walking southwest along Commercial St. Over the next few blocks every second storefront harbors a gallery worth a peek.

On the wild tip of the Cape, **Race Point Beach** is a breathtaking stretch of sand with crashing surf and undulating dunes as far as the eye can see. It's the kind of beach where you could walk for miles and see no one but the occasional angler casting for bluefish. Swimmers favor the calmer though equally brisk waters of **Herring Cove Beach** ; nude (though illegal) sunbathers head to the left, families to the right. Herring Cove faces west, the perfect place to be at sunset. Both beaches are part of Cape Cod National Seashore (opposite).

The National Seashore's **Province Lands Visitor Center** ( 508-487-1256; Race Point Rd; admission free;  9am-5pm May-Oct) has displays on dune ecology and leads dune walks. Don't miss the rooftop observation deck with its eye-popping 360-degree view of the outermost reaches of Cape Cod; the deck stays open until midnight.

* * *

# WHAT THE...?

In a town of colorful buildings the **Provincetown Public Library** (Click here) rules. Erected in 1860 as a church, it was turned into a museum a century later, complete with a replica of Provincetown's race-winning schooner _Rose Dorothea_. The museum went bust and the town converted the building to a library. One catch: the boat, which occupies the building's upper deck, was too big to remove. So it's still there, with bookshelves built around it. Pop upstairs and take a look.

* * *

An exhilarating way to explore Provincetown's amazing dunes and beaches is along the National Seashore's 8 miles of paved bike trail. Several shops rent bikes, including **Ptown Bikes** ( 508-487-8735; 42 Bradford St; per day cruiser/mountain bike $17/22;  9am-6pm). Or explore the easy way with **Art's Dune Tours** ( 508-487-1950; 4 Standish St; adult/child $23/18), which provides hour-long 4WD tours through the dunes.

Provincetown is an ideal departure point for **whale-watching tours** , which cruise Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Extending north from Provincetown, the sanctuary is the summer feeding ground for humpback whales, awesome creatures with a flair for acrobatic breaching. They come surprisingly close to the boats, offering great photo ops. Other whales also frequent these waters, including many of the 300 remaining North Atlantic right whales, the world's most endangered whale species. The environmentally oriented **Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch** ( 508-240-3636, 800-826-9300; MacMillan Wharf; 3-4hr trips adult/child 5-12yr $39/31;  Apr-Oct;  ) has several tours a day.

#### SLEEPING

Provincetown offers nearly 100 guesthouses without a single chain hotel to mar the view. In summer it's wise to book ahead, doubly so on weekends. If you arrive without a booking, the chamber of commerce (Click here) can help.

**Dunes' Edge Campground** ( 508-487-9815; www.dunes-edge.com; 386 US 6; campsites $40;  ) Camp amid the dunes and shady pines at this family-friendly campground, between the National Seashore and town.

**Christopher's by the Bay** ( 508-487-9263, 877-476-9263; www.christophersbythebay.com; 8 Johnson St; r with shared/private bath from $105/155;   ) Tucked away on a quiet side street, this welcoming inn is top value. The 2nd-floor rooms are the largest and snazziest, but the 3rd-floor rooms, which share a bathroom, get the ocean view.

**Fairbanks Inn** ( 508-487-0386, 800-324-7265; www.fairbanksinn.com; 90 Bradford St; r incl breakfast $149-265;        ) The two women who run this place know how to make you feel at home. Choose between a new wing with fireplaces and kitchens, and old-fashioned rooms in the 1776 sea captain's home where sloping pine floors and antique wallpaper set the mood.

**Race Point Lighthouse** ( 508-487-9930; www.racepointlighthouse.net; Race Point; r $155-185;  ) Want to _really_ get away? If unspoiled sand dunes and a 19th-century lighthouse sound like good company, book one of the three bedrooms in the old lightkeeper's house. Cool place – powered by solar panels and a wind turbine, and literally on the outer tip of the Cape.

**Carpe Diem** ( 508-487-4242, 800-487-0132; www.carpediemguesthouse.com; 12 Johnson St; r incl breakfast $195-309;    ) Sophisticated and relaxed, with smiling buddhas, orchid sprays and a European-style spa. Each guest room's decor is inspired by a different gay literary genius; the room themed on poet Raj Rao, for example, has sumptuous embroidered fabrics and hand-carved Indian furniture.

**Brass Key Guesthouse** ( 508-487-9005, 800-842-9858; www.brasskey.com; 67 Bradford St; r $210-400;      ) This adults-only boutique hotel sets the standard for gay travelers. The rooms fuse Victorian style with 21st-century comforts like Jacuzzi tubs, pillow-top mattresses and flat-screen TVs. Other features: an infinity pool, private sunbathing decks and wine-and-cheese evenings.

#### EATING

Hungry? Every third building on Commercial St houses some sort of eatery, so that's the place to start.

**Portuguese Bakery** ( 508-487-1803; 299 Commercial St; snacks $2-5;  7am-8pm) This Provincetown bakery has been serving up _malasadas_ (sweet fried dough), _linguica_ (Portuguese sausage) soups and sandwiches for more than a century. True local flavor.

**Purple Feather** ( 508-487-9100; 334 Commercial St; snacks $2-10;  8am-midnight) Head to this stylish café for killer panini sandwiches, blueberry gelato and decadent desserts all made from scratch. No better place in town for light eats.

**Spiritus Pizza** ( 508-487-2808; 190 Commercial St; pizza slices/pies $3/18;  11:30am-2am) The pizza's just middling, but this is nonetheless the favorite spot for a late-night bite and cruising after the clubs close.

**Fanizzi's by the Sea** ( 508-487-1964; 539 Commercial St; mains $8-22;  11:30am-10pm;  ) Consistent food, an amazing water view and reasonable prices make this restaurant at the east end of Provincetown a sure winner. The extensive menu has something for everyone, from fresh seafood to salads and fajitas – even a kids menu.

**Bubala's by the Bay** ( 508-487-0773; 183 Commercial St; mains $9-20;  11am-1am) Great people-watching and good food at this sidewalk café that bustles night and day. Fish and chips and focaccia sandwiches are the mainstays.

**Mews Restaurant & Café** ( 508-487-1500; 429 Commercial St; mains $10-16;  6-10pm) Want affordable gourmet? Skip the pricier restaurant here and go upstairs to the bar for a fab view, great martinis and scrumptious bistro fare. Perhaps the Angus gorgonzola burger?

**Lobster Pot** ( 508-487-0842; 321 Commercial St; mains $20-32;  11:30am-10pm) True to its name, this bustling fish house overlooking the ocean is _the_ place for lobster. Keep it simple: order it boiled and sit on the deck.

#### DRINKING

**PiedBar** ( 508-487-1527; 193 Commercial St;  10am-11pm) sports a fine ocean view and attracts a mixed crowd. Many dining spots also have good bars, including **Ross' Grill** ( 508-487-8878; 236 Commercial St;  11:30am-10pm), another great choice for a water-view drink.

#### ENTERTAINMENT

Opening hours vary with the season and schedule.

##### Nightclubs

Provincetown is awash with gay clubs, drag shows and cabarets. And don't be shy if you're straight – everyone's welcome.

**Crown & Anchor** ( 508-487-1430; 247 Commercial St) The queen of the scene, this multiwing complex has a nightclub, a leather bar and a steamy cabaret that takes it to the limit.

* * *

# DON'T MISS

Catch a world-class act at the **Provincetown Theater** ( 508-487-7487; www.newprovincetownplayers.org; 238 Bradford St). This stellar performing arts center hosts Province-town's leading theater troupe, the New Provincetown Players. There's always something of interest to see.

* * *

**Vixen** ( 508-487-6424; 336 Commercial St) A favorite lesbian hangout, with everything from an intimate wine bar to comedy shows and dancing.

**A-House** ( 508-487-3821; 4 Masonic Pl) A hot weekend dance spot for gay men.

##### Theater

Provincetown boasts a rich theater history. Eugene O'Neill began his writing career here and several stars including Marlon Brando and Richard Gere performed on Provincetown stages before they hit the big screen.

#### SHOPPING

Scores of shops line up cheek-by-jowl along Commercial St selling everything from kitsch and tourist T-shirts to quality crafts and edgy clothing.

None attract more attention than **Shop Therapy** ( 508-487-9387; 346 Commercial St). Downstairs it's all patchouli and tie-dye clothing, but everyone gravitates upstairs, where the sex toys are wild enough to make an Amsterdam madam blush. Parents, use discretion: your teenagers _will_ want to go inside.

#### GETTING THERE & AWAY

**Plymouth & Brockton buses** ( 508-746-0378) connect Boston and Provincetown ($30, 3½ hours). From mid-May to mid-October, **Bay State Cruise Company** (off Map;  617-748-1428; www.baystatecruises.com) runs a ferry (one way/round-trip $58/86, 1½ hours) three times a day between Boston's World Trade Center Pier and MacMillan Wharf.

Return to beginning of chapter

## NANTUCKET

Once home port to the world's largest whaling fleet, Nantucket's storied past is reflected in its period homes and cobbled streets. When whaling went bust in the mid-19th century the town plunged from riches to rags. The population dwindled, and its grand old houses sat idle until wealthy urbanites discovered Nantucket made a fine place to summer. High-end tourism has been Nantucket's mainstay ever since. **Visitor Services** ( 508-228-0925; www.nantucket-ma.gov/visitor; 25 Federal St;  9am-5pm) has tourist information and maintains a kiosk at the ferry dock.

### Sights & Activities

Step off the boat and you're in the only place in the USA where the entire town is a National Historic Landmark. It's a bit like stepping into a museum – wander around, soak up the atmosphere. A top sight is the evocative **Whaling Museum** ( 508-228-1894; www.nha.org; 13 Broad St; adult/child 6-17yr $15/8;  10am-5pm mid-May–Oct, shorter hours Nov–mid-May) in a former spermaceti (whale-oil) candle factory.

At the eastern end of the island sits Nantucket's only other village, picture-perfect **Siasconset** ('Sconset), known for its rose-covered cottages.

Then there are the gorgeous beaches. If you have young 'uns head to **Children's Beach** , right in Nantucket town, where the water's calm and there's a playground. **Surfside Beach** , 2 miles to the south, is where the college crowd heads for an active scene and bodysurfing waves. The best place to catch the sunset is **Madaket Beach** , 5.5 miles west of town.

No destination on the island is more than 8 miles from town and thanks to Nantucket's relatively flat terrain, cycling is an easy way to explore. Rent bikes at the ferry dock from **Nantucket Bike Shop** ( 508-228-1999; 4 Broad St; per day $30;  8am-6pm).

### Sleeping & Eating

**HI Nantucket** ( 508-228-0433, 888-901-2084; www.capecodhostels.org; 31 Western Ave; dm $32-38;    ) Known locally as Star of the Sea, this atmospheric hostel in an 1873 lifesaving station has a million-dollar setting at Surfside Beach. As Nantucket's sole nod to the budget traveler, it books up well in advance.

**Barnacle Inn** ( 508-228-0332; www.thebarnacleinn.com; 11 Fair St; s/d incl breakfast with shared bath $90/150, private bath $115/195;  ) This is what old Nantucket is all about – folksy owners and simple accommodations that hearken to earlier times. Rooms in this century-old inn don't have TVs or air-con, but they do have good rates, particularly if you opt for shared bath.

**Martin House Inn** ( 508-228-0678; www.martinhouseinn.net; 61 Centre St; s incl breakfast $120, d incl breakfast $210-295;  ) For a stylish sleep, this elegant inn boasts soothing rooms with four-poster beds and period decor. It's a particularly good deal if you're traveling solo.

**Even Keel Café** ( 508-228-1979; 40 Main St; breakfast & lunch $5-15, dinner $12-25;  7am-10pm) If the weather's good, walk straight through the restaurant to the shady patio out back and order up the island's best cup o' joe. Other favorites: the ginger scones, the oversized omelets and the crab cakes.

**Brotherhood of Thieves** ( 508-228-2551; 23 Broad St; mains $7-24;  11:30am-1am) Nantucketers come here for the friendly tavern atmosphere – all brick and dark woods – and the island's best burgers. Good fresh seafood too, including sweet Nantucket scallops.

**Sayle's Seafood** ( 508-228-4599; 99 Washington St Extension; mains $8-22;  10am-8pm) For the island's best fried clams, cheapest lobster dinners and other seafood treats, head to this combo fish market and clam shack on the south side of town. It's all takeout but there's outdoor seating where you can enjoy your feast.

### Getting There & Around

**Cape Air** ( 800-352-0714; www.flycapeair.com) flies from Boston, Hyannis, Martha's Vineyard and Providence to Nantucket Memorial Airport (ACK).

The **Steamship Authority** ( 508-477-8600; www.steamshipauthority.com; round-trip adult/child 5-12yr slow ferry $33/16, fast ferry $65/29) runs ferries throughout the day between Hyannis and Nantucket. The fast ferry takes an hour; the slow ferry 2¼ hours. The slow ferry takes cars, but the $380 round-trip fare aims to discourage visitors from adding to traffic congestion on Nantucket's narrow streets.

Getting around Nantucket is a snap. The **NRTA Shuttle** ( 508-228-7025; www.shuttlenantucket.com; rides $1-2, day pass $7;  late May–Sep) operates buses around town and to 'Sconset, Madaket and the beaches. Buses have bike racks, so cyclists can bus one way and pedal back.

Return to beginning of chapter

## MARTHA'S VINEYARD

New England's largest island is a world unto itself. Home to 15,500 year-round residents, its population swells to 100,000 in summer. The towns are charming, the beaches good, the restaurants chef-driven. And there's something for every mood here – fine-dine in gentrified Edgartown one day and hit the cotton candy and carousel scene in Oak Bluffs the next.

* * *

# EATING NEW ENGLAND: CHOW-DAH PLEASE

Feasting on New England's homegrown specialties can be an event in itself. Local culinary delights include the following:

  * clam chowder – or, as Bostonians say, 'chow-dah,' this New England staple combines chopped clams, potatoes and clam juice in a milk base
  * clambake – a meal of lobster, clams and corn on the cob, usually steamed
  * cranberries – tart red berries grown in Massachusetts bogs, usually sweetened and used in juice, sauces and muffins
  * frappe – whipped milk and ice cream, pronounced 'frap;' called a 'milk shake' in other regions, but known as a 'cabinet' in Rhode Island
  * Indian pudding – baked pudding made of milk, cornmeal, molasses, butter, ginger, cinnamon and raisins
  * littlenecks – small hard-shelled clams typically eaten raw on the half shell, or as clams casino with the meat dashed with hot sauce, wrapped in bacon and grilled
  * lobster dinner – summer favorite featuring a hot boiled lobster, a crock of melted butter and a bib to keep you dry
  * oysters – often served raw on the half-shell or, for the less intrepid, broiled or baked; the sweetest are Wellfleet oysters from Cape Cod
  * quahogs – large hard-shelled clams ( _ko-hogs_ ) that are cut into strips and fried, or chopped in chunks for chowder
  * raw bar – a place to eat fresh-shucked live (raw) oysters and clams
  * steamers – soft-shelled clams steamed and served in a bucket; extract the meat, swish it in broth to wash off any sand, dip it in melted butter and enjoy

* * *

**Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce** ( 508-693-0085; www.mvy.com; Beach Rd, Vineyard Haven;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat) has visitor information. There are also summertime visitor kiosks at the ferry terminals.

### Oak Bluffs

This ferry-port village is likely to be your introduction to the island, as it's where most boats arrive. Oak Bluffs is the island's fun center – a place to wander with an ice-cream cone in hand, poke into souvenir shops and revel into the night. Oak Bluffs started out in the mid-19th century as a summer retreat by a revivalist church, whose members enjoyed a day at the beach as much as a gospel service. They first camped out in tents, but soon built some 300 cottages, each adorned with whimsical gingerbread trim. These brightly painted cottages surround the open-air **Trinity Park Tabernacle** (1879), where the lucky descendants of the Methodist Campmeeting Association still gather for events.

Take a nostalgic ride on the **Flying Horses Carousel** ( 508-693-9481; Circuit Ave, at Lake Ave; tickets $1.50;  10am-10pm;  ), which has been captivating kids of all ages since 1876. It's the USA's oldest merry-go-round: the antique horses have manes of real horse hair and if you stare into their glass eyes you'll see neat little silver animals inside.

A scenic **bike trail** runs along the coast connecting Oak Bluffs, Vineyard Haven and Edgartown – it's largely flat so makes a good pedal for families. Seasoned riders might want to bike the 20 miles to Aquinnah. Rent bicycles at **Anderson's Bike Rental** ( 508-693-9346; Circuit Ave Extension; per day $18;  9am-6pm) near the ferry terminal.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Nashua House** ( 508-693-0043, 888-343-0043; www.nashuahouse.com; 30 Kennebec Ave; r with shared bath $89-149;   ) The Vineyard the way it used to be – no phones, no TV, no in-room bath. Instead you'll find suitably simple and spotlessly clean accommodations at this small inn (1873) right in the center of town.

**Narragansett House** ( 508-693-3627, 888-693-3627; www.narragansetthouse.com; 46 Narragansett Ave; r incl breakfast $130-225;   ) On a quiet residential street, this inn occupies two adjacent Victorian gingerbread-trimmed houses. It's pleasantly old-fashioned and unlike other places in this price range all the rooms have private bathrooms.

**Slice of Life** ( 508-693-3838; 50 Circuit Ave; mains $7-20;  7am-9pm) The look is casual, the fare is gourmet: portobello mushroom omelets, roasted cod with sun-dried tomatoes and luscious desserts.

**Giordano's** ( 508-693-0184; 107 Circuit Ave; mains $9-18;  11:30am-11pm;  ) Established in 1930, this family-friendly eatery is famous for its fried clams and also serves good hand-tossed pizzas.

#### DRINKING & ENTERTAINMENT

**Offshore Ale Co** ( 508-693-2626; 30 Kennebec Ave;  10:30am-11:30pm) This popular microbrewery is the place to enjoy a pint of Vineyard ale and a good spot to hear live music on the weekends.

**Lampost** ( 508-696-9352; 6 Circuit Ave) Head to this combo bar and nightclub for the hottest dance scene on the island. Hours vary.

### Vineyard Haven

A lovely harbor full of classic wooden sailboats, and streets lined with eye-catching restaurants and shops, lures visitors to this appealing town.

A vineyard on the Vineyard? But of course: about 3 miles southwest of town, **Chicama Vineyards** ( 508-693-0309; Stoney Hill Rd, West Tisbury;  11am-5pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm Sun) offers free tasting tours at noon, 2pm and 4pm.

**Wind's Up** ( 508-693-4252; 199 Beach Rd;  9am-6pm) rents kayaks and boards. Windsurfing gear costs $50 to $78 per four hour, single and tandem kayaks $45 to $55.

Reserve early for one of the 72 beds at the **HI Martha's Vineyard** ( 508-693-2665; www.capecodhostels.org; Edgartown-West Tisbury Rd, West Tisbury; dm $32-38;  mid-May–mid-Oct;  ), 8 miles from Vineyard Haven.

A mile and a half from the ferry terminal, the woodsy **Martha's Vineyard Family Campground** ( 508-693-3772; www.campmv.com; 569 Edgartown Rd; campsites $49, cabins $130-150) offers the island's only camping and has basic cabins that sleep four to six people.

Convenient to town and the ferry, the cheery **Crocker House Inn** ( 508-693-1151, 800-772-0206; www.crockerhouseinn.com; 12 Crocker Ave; r $185-415;      ) has eight well-appointed rooms, some with fireplaces and harbor views.

These days it's more famous for its T-shirts than its food, but the legendary **Black Dog Tavern** ( 508-693-9223; 20 Beach St Extension; mains $7-30;  7am-9pm), just a trot from the ferry, packs a crowd. Poke your wet nose in and see what catches your fancy, or just grab a muffin on the run from the bakery counter.

_The_ place for breakfast and lunch is **Art Cliff Diner** ( 508-693-1224; 39 Beach Rd; mains $6-15;  7am-2pm Thu-Tue). Chef-owner Gina Stanley, a grad of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, adds flair to everything she touches from the almond-encrusted pancakes to the fresh-fish tacos. Expect a line – it's worth the wait.

### Edgartown

Perched on a fine natural harbor, Edgartown has a rich maritime history and a patrician air. At the height of the whaling era it was home to more than 100 sea captains whose fortunes built the grand old homes that line the streets today.

The **Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust** ( 508-627-8619) manages a trio of vintage buildings clustered together on Main St: the **Dr Daniel Fisher House** , an 1840 mansion that once housed the island's wealthiest resident (no, he didn't make his fortune from his medical practice – he owned the whale-oil refinery); the **Old Whaling Church** , a classic Greek Revival building; and the 1672 **Vincent House** , built in traditional Cape style. Opening hours are irregular; call the trust for tour information. Entry prices depend on the tour taken, except Vincent House, where entry is $5.

For more insight into Edgartown's past, visit the **Martha's Vineyard Museum** ( 508-627-4441; 59 School St; adult/child 6-15yr $7/4;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat mid-Jun–mid-Oct, shorter hours mid-Oct–mid-Jun), where you'll find a fascinating collection of whaling paraphernalia and scrimshaw.

After exploring the town, hop on the **ferry** ( 508-627-9427; round-trip bicycle & rider $6, car & driver $12;  7am-midnight) for the five-minute jaunt to **Chappaquiddick Island** , where there are good beaches, including lovely **Cape Poge** , a wildlife refuge that runs along the entire east side of the island.

The Massachusetts Audubon Society's **Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary** ( 508-627-4850; Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Rd; adult/child 2-12yr $4/3;  sunrise-sunset) is a birder's paradise with 4 miles of trails skirting marshes and ponds. A magnificent barrier beach, **Katama Beach** (also called 'South Beach'), off Katama Rd, stretches for 3 miles; rough surf is the norm on the ocean side but there are protected salt ponds on the inland side.

* * *

# IF YOU HAVE A FEW MORE DAYS

Known as **Up-Island** , the rural western half of Martha's Vineyard is a patchwork of rolling hills, small farms and open fields frequented by wild turkeys and deer. Feast your eyes and your belly at the picturesque fishing village of **Menemsha** , where you'll find seafood shacks with food so fresh the boats unload their catch at the back door. They'll shuck you an oyster and steam you a lobster while you watch and you can eat al fresco on a harbor-side bench.

The coastal **Clay Cliffs of Aquinnah** , also known as the Gay Head Cliffs, are so special they're a National Natural Landmark. These 150ft-high cliffs glow with an amazing array of colors that can be best appreciated in the late-afternoon light. You can hang out at **Aquinnah Beach** , just below the multihued cliffs, or walk a mile north along the shore to an area that's popular with nude sunbathers. Beach parking costs $15.

**Cedar Tree Neck Sanctuary** ( 508-693-5207; Indian Hill Rd, West Tisbury; admission free;  8:30am-5:30pm), off State Rd, has an inviting 2.5-mile hike across native bogs and forest to a coastal bluff with views of Cape Cod. **Long Point Wildlife Refuge** ( 508-693-7392; adult/child under 16 $3/free;  9am-5pm), off Edgartown–West Tisbury Rd, offers good birding and a mile-long trail to a lovely remote beach; parking costs $10.

* * *

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Edgartown Inn** ( 508-627-4794; www.edgartowninn.com; 56 N Water St; r with shared bath $125, with private bath $170-275;    ) The inn's the best bargain in town with straightforward rooms spread across three adjacent buildings. The oldest dates to 1798 and claims Nathaniel Hawthorne and Daniel Webster among its early guests!

**Victorian Inn** ( 508-627-4784; www.thevic.com; 24 S Water St; r incl breakfast $245-425;      ) Four-poster beds, fresh-cut flowers and a gourmet multicourse breakfast are just part of the appeal at this upscale inn. And, yes, it is Victorian – listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

**Among the Flowers Café** ( 508-627-3233; 17 Mayhew Lane; mains $5-12;  8am-4pm) Join the townies on the garden patio for omelets, homemade soups and sandwiches. Although everything's served on paper plates, it's still kinda chichi.

**Seafood Shanty** ( 508-627-8622; 31 Dock St; mains $11-35;  11:30am-10pm) For a knockout harbor view this place reaches over the water with a wall of windows in all directions. Lunch focuses on burgers and fish sandwiches while dinner digs deeper into your pockets with the usual surf 'n' turf selections.

### Getting There & Around

Martha's Vineyard has a small airport but most everyone arrives by ferry. The biggest ferry company, the **Steamship Authority** ( 508-477-8600; www.steamshipauthority.com; round-trip adult/child 5-12yr/bike/car $15/8/6/135) operates from Woods Hole to both Vineyard Haven (nine per day in summer) and Oak Bluffs (five per day), a 45-minute voyage. If you're bringing a car, book well in advance.

From Falmouth Harbor, the passenger-only ferry **Island Queen** ( 508-548-4800; www.islandqueen.com; 75 Falmouth Heights Rd; round-trip adult/child 4-12yr/bike $18/9/6) sails to Oak Bluffs at least seven times daily in summer.

From Hyannis, **Hy-Line Cruises** ( 508-778-2600, 800-492-8082; www.hylinecruises.com; Ocean St Dock; round-trip adult/child 5-12yr/bike slow ferry $43/22/12, fast ferry $69/48/12) operates a slow ferry (1½ hours) once daily to Oak Bluffs and a high-speed ferry (55 minutes) five times daily.

**Martha's Vineyard Regional Transit Authority** ( 508-693-9440; www.vineyardtransit.com; 1-/3-day pass $6/15) operates a bus network with frequent service between towns. It's a practical way to get around and you can even reach out-of-the-way destinations like the Clay Cliffs of Aquinnah.

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## CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS

Poking around this central swath of Massachusetts, between big-city Boston and the fashionable Berkshires, provides a taste of the less-touristed stretch of the state. But it's no sleeper, thanks largely to a score of colleges that infuse a youthful spirit to the region.

The **Central Massachusetts Convention & Visitors Bureau** ( 508-753-2920; www.worcester.org) and the **Greater Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau** ( 413-787-1548; www.valleyvisitor.com) provide regional visitor information.

* * *

# WHAT THE...?

Life-size bronze sculptures of the Cat in the Hat and other wonky characters look beseechingly at passers-by. Oh me, oh my. Welcome to the world of Theodor Seuss Geisel, Springfield's favorite native son. Your kids _will_ insist on stopping at the **Dr Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden** (cnr State & Chestnuts Sts; admission free) in Springfield.

* * *

### Worcester

The state's second-largest city (population 175,450) had its glory days in the 19th century. The industries that made the town rich went bust but the old barons left a legacy in Worcester's fine museums. The first-rate **Worcester Art Museum** ( 508-799-4406; www.worcesterart.org; 55 Salisbury St; adult/child under 17yr $10/free, Sat morning free;  11am-5pm Wed-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat, 11am-5pm Sun) showcases works by luminary French Impressionists and American masters like Whistler. The amazing **Higgins Armory Museum** ( 508-853-6015; www.higgins.org; 100 Barber Ave; adult/child 6-16yr $9/7;  10am-4pm Tue-Sat, noon-4pm Sun) is a military buff's heaven. It started as the private collection of a local steel tycoon who built a fanciful art-deco armory to house thousands of military collectibles including Corinthian helmets from ancient Greece and more than 100 full suits of armor.

### Springfield

Workaday Springfield's top claim to fame is as the birthplace of the all-American game of basketball. The **Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame** ( 413-781-6500, www.hoophall.com; 1000 W Columbus Ave; adult/child 5-15yr $17/12;  10am-5pm;  ), south of I-91, celebrates the sport with exhibits and memorabilia from all the big hoop stars.

### Northampton

The region's best dining, hottest nightlife and most interesting street scenes all await in this uber-hip burg known for its liberal politics and outspoken lesbian community. Easy to explore on foot, the eclectic town center is chockablock with cafés, funky shops and art galleries. **Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce** ( 413-584-1900; www.explorenorthampton.com; 99 Pleasant St;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri) is information central.

The **Smith College** ( 413-584-2700; www.smith.edu) campus, covering 127 acres with lovely gardens, is well worth a stroll. Don't miss the **Smith College Museum of Art** ( 413-585-2760; Elm St at Bedford Tce; adult/child 6-12yr $5/2;  10am-4pm Tue-Sat, noon-4pm Sun), which boasts an impressive collection of 19th- and 20th-century European and North American paintings, including works by John Singleton Copley, Eastman Johnson and Claude Monet.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Autumn Inn** ( 413-584-7660; 259 Elm St/MA 9; r incl breakfast $99-139;        ) Despite its motel-like layout, this two-story place near Smith College sports an agreeable inn-like ambience and large, comfy rooms.

**Hotel Northampton** ( 413-584-3100; www.hotelnorthampton.com; 36 King St; r from $170;   ) Northampton's most upscale sleep since 1927, this 100-room hotel in the town center features period decor and well-appointed rooms.

**Sylvester's** ( 413-586-5343; 111 Pleasant St; mains $5-10;  7am-2pm) Follow the locals to this unassuming eatery for the best breakfast in town. Forget mixes – everything is from scratch, real maple syrup tops the pancakes, the home fries are loaded with sautéed onions and the omelets are however you like them.

**Paul & Elizabeth's** ( 413-584-4832; 150 Main St; mains $8-20;  11:30am-9:15pm) Fresh, local and organic ingredients highlight the menu at this stellar natural food café serving innovative vegetarian fare and Japanese-style fish dishes.

**Spoleto** ( 413-586-6313; 50 Main St; mains $15-25;  5-10pm Mon-Sat, 4-9pm Sun) Just-tweaked-enough Italian standards, like the cioppino swimming with New England seafood, attract the dinner crowd at this fine-dining ristorante.

#### DRINKING & ENTERTAINMENT

**Haymarket Café** ( 413-586-9969; 185 Main St;  7am-10pm;  ) Northampton's coolest hangout for bohemians and caffeine addicts.

**Northampton Brewery** ( 413-584-9903; 11 Brewster Ct;  11:30am-1am) On a sunny day you'll find half of Northampton chugging ales on the rooftop beer garden at New England's oldest microbrewery.

**Iron Horse Music Hall** ( 413-584-0610; 20 Center St; tickets $10-30) Nationally acclaimed folk and jazz artists line up to play in this intimate setting.

**Calvin Theatre** ( 413-584-0610; 19 King St; tickets $25-70) The venue for big-name performances for everything from hot rock and indie bands to comedy shows.

### Amherst

This college town, a short drive from Northampton, is built around the mega **University of Massachusetts** ( 413-545-0111; www.umass.edu) and two small colleges, the liberal **Hampshire College** ( 413-549-4600; www.hampshire.edu) and the prestigious **Amherst College** ( 413-542-2000; www.amherst.edu). Contact them for campus tours and event information; there's always something happening. If hunger strikes, you'll find the usual bevy of college-town eateries radiating out from Main St in the town center.

The lifelong home of poet Emily Dickinson (1830–86), the 'belle of Amherst,' is open to the public as the **Emily Dickinson Museum** ( 413-542-8161; www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org; 280 Main St; adult/child 6-17yr $8/3;  11am-4pm Wed-Sun Mar-May & Sep-Dec, 10am-5pm Wed-Sun Jun-Aug). Admission includes a 40-minute tour.

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## THE BERKSHIRES

Tranquil towns and a wealth of cultural attractions are nestled in these cool green hills. For more than a century the Berkshires have been a favored retreat for wealthy Bostonians and New Yorkers. And we're not just talking Rockefellers – the entire Boston symphony summers here as well. One tip: weekends are busiest. You'll find fewer crowds and better room rates on weekdays. The **Berkshire Visitors Bureau** ( 413-443-9186, 800-237-5747; www.berkshires.org; 109 South St, Pittsfield;  9am-5pm) can provide information on the entire region.

### Great Barrington

This up-and-coming town is hands-down the best place in the Berkshires to be at mealtime. Head straight to the intersection of Main (US 7) and Railroad Sts in the town center where you'll find an artful mix of galleries and eateries serving mouthwatering food – everything from bakeries to ethnic cuisines.

If you've got a hankering for breakfast at noon, go to **Martin's** ( 413-528-5455; 49 Railroad St; breakfasts $4-8;  6am-3pm). Families will love **Baba Louie's** ( 413-528-8100; 286 Main St; pizzas $9-16;  11:30am-9:30pm;  ) for its organic wood-fired pizzas and $5 kids specials. For fine dining, **Allium** ( 413-528-2118; 42 Railroad St; mains $20-30;  5-10pm) offers innovative New American cuisine in a stylish setting.

### Stockbridge

This timeless New England town, sans even a single traffic light, looks like something straight out of a Norman Rockwell drawing. Oh wait...it is! Rockwell (1894–1978), the most popular illustrator in US history, lived on Main St and used the town and its residents as subjects. At the evocative **Norman Rockwell Museum** ( 413-298-4100; www.nrm.org; 9 Glendale Rd/MA 183; adult/child under 18yr $15/free;  10am-5pm), Rockwell's slice-of-Americana paintings come to life when examined up close.

### Lenox

The cultural heart of the Berkshires, the refined village of Lenox hosts one of the country's premier music series, the open-air **Tanglewood Music Festival** ( 617-266-1492, in summer 413-637-5165; www.tanglewood.org; admission $20-100;  Jul–early Sep), featuring the Boston Symphony Orchestra and guest artists like James Taylor and Yo-Yo Ma.

**Shakespeare & Company** ( 413-637-3353; www.shakespeare.org; 70 Kemble St; admission $12-60) performs the Bard's work throughout the summer. The renowned **Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival** ( 413-243-0745; www.jacobspillow.org; 385 George Carter Rd; admission $30-60;  late Jun–Aug), 10 miles east of Lenox in Becket, stages contemporary dance performances.

The **Mount** ( 413-551-5111; 2 Plunkett St, at US 7; adult/child under 12yr $16/free;  10am-5pm May-Oct), novelist Edith Wharton's former estate, offers hour-long tours of her mansion and inspirational gardens.

Charming period inns abound in Lenox. The senior of them, **Birchwood Inn** ( 413-637-2600; www.birchwood-inn.com; 7 Hubbard St; r incl breakfast $175-335;    ), registered its first guest in 1767 and continues to offer warm hospitality today.

You'll find stylish bistros along Church St in the town center, including **Bistro Zinc** ( 413-637-8800; 56 Church St; mains $15-30;  11:30am-3pm & 5:30-10pm) with hot postmodern decor and French-inspired New American fare.

### Pittsfield

Just west of the town of Pittsfield is **Hancock Shaker Village** ( 413-443-0188; www.hancockshakervillage.org; US 20; adult/child under 13yr $16.50/free;  10am-5pm Jun–mid-Oct, 10am-4pm mid-Oct–May), a fascinating museum illustrating the lives of the Shakers, the religious sect that founded the village in 1783. The Shakers believed in communal ownership, the sanctity of work and celibacy, the latter of which proved to be their demise. Their handiwork – graceful in its simplicity – includes wooden furnishings and 20 buildings, the most famous of which is the round stone barn.

### Williamstown & North Adams

Cradled by the Berkshire's rolling hills, Williamstown is a picture-perfect New England college town revolving around the leafy campus of Williams College. Williamstown and neighboring North Adams boast three outstanding art museums, each a worthy destination in itself.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

The **Clark Art Institute** ( 413-458-2303; www.clarkart.edu; 225 South St, Williamstown; adult/child under 18yr Jun-Oct $12.50/free, Nov-May free to all;  10am-5pm, closed Mon Sep-Jun) focuses on 19th-century paintings with oodles of Renoirs and other French impressionists as well as a solid collection of American paintings by Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent and others.

The **Williams College Museum of Art** ( 413-597-2429; www.wcma.org; 15 Lawrence Hall Dr, Williamstown; admission free;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun) showcases works by American luminaries such as Mary Cassett, Edward Hopper and Andy Warhol.

**Mass MoCA** ( 413-662-2111; www.massmoca.org; 87 Marshall St, North Adams; adult/child 6-16yr $15/5;  10am-6pm Jul–mid-Sep, 11am-5pm Wed-Mon mid-Sep–Jun;  ) has put once-sleepy North Adams on the map. Just a decade old, this contemporary art museum sprawls across an amazing 222,000 sq ft, making it the USA's largest. Bring your walking shoes! In addition to description-defying installation pieces, MoCA is a venue for cutting-edge theater and dance.

The first-rate **Williamstown Theatre Festival** ( 413-597-3400; www.wtfestival.org; 1000 Main St, Williamstown; tickets $25-60) stages contemporary and classic plays in July and August, often with notable casts.

Just south of North Adams, **Mt Greylock State Reservation** ( 413-499-4262; Rockwell Rd, Lanesborough) has trails up to Massachusetts' highest peak (3491ft), where there's a panoramic view of several ranges and, on a clear day, five different states.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**River Bend Farm** ( 413-458-3121; www.riverbendfarmbb.com; 643 US 7; r incl breakfast with shared bath $120;  ) Step back to the 18th century in this Georgian Colonial B&B furnished with real-deal antiques and boasting five fireplaces.

**Williams Inn** ( 413-458-9371, 800-828-0133; www.williamsinn.com; 1090 Main St; r $180-295;        ) A favorite of visiting alumni, this oh-so-proper century-old establishment on the Williamstown green is the area's best hotel.

**Tunnel City Coffee** ( 413-458-5010; 100 Spring St; snacks $2-6;  6am-6pm;  ) Come to this student haunt near Williams College campus for potent espressos, light eats and sugar-laced desserts.

**Chopsticks** ( 413-458-5750; 412 Main St; mains $6-16;  11am-10:30pm) Can't agree on what to eat? Then head to this Asian eatery with everything from fiery Szechuan vegetarian dishes to Japanese sushi and Korean barbecue.

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# RHODE ISLAND

America's smallest state packs a lot into a compact package, more than making up for its lack of land with 400 miles of craggy coastline, deeply indented bays and lovely beaches. The state's engaging capital, Providence, is small enough to be friendly but big enough to offer top-notch dining and attractions. Newport, a summer haunt of the well-heeled, brims with opulent mansions, pretty yachts and world-class music festivals. Should you want to take it further afield, hopping on a ferry to Block Island makes a perfect day-trip.

### History

The name Roger Williams (1603–83) gave to the community he founded in 1636 – nothing less than Providence! – spoke to the optimism his followers shared. A religious outcast from Puritanical Boston, Williams established the colony on the principle that all people were entitled to freedom of conscience. He was an early advocate of separation of religion and government, a concept that later became a foundation of the US Constitution. Progressive little Rhode Island became the first American colony to abolish slavery (1774) and the first to declare independence from Britain in 1776.

* * *

# RHODE ISLAND FACTS

**Nicknames** Ocean State, Little Rhody

**Population** 1,051,000

**Area** 1045 sq miles

**Capital city** Providence (population 175,250)

**Other city** Newport (population 24,400)

**Sales tax** 7%

**Birthplace of** Broadway composer George M Cohan (1878–1942) and toy icon Mr Potato Head (b 1952)

**Home of** The first US tennis championships

**Famous for** being the smallest state

**Official state bird** A chicken? Why not. The Rhode Island Red revolutionized the poultry industry

**Driving distances** Providence to Newport 37 miles, Providence to Boston 50 miles

* * *

### Information

**Providence Journal** (www.projo.com) The state's largest daily newspaper.

**Rhode Island Parks** ( 877-742-2675; www.riparks.com; campsites $20) Offers camping in five state parks.

**Rhode Island Tourism Division** ( 401-222-2601, 800-556-2484; www.visitrhodeisland.com; 1 W Exchange Pl, Providence, RI 02903;  8:30am-4:30pm Mon-Fri) Distributes visitor information on the whole state.

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## PROVIDENCE

The revitalization of Providence has turned this once-dreary capital into one of the finest small cities in the Northeast. Not only has it been infused with an artsy edge, but it's the only city in the USA to have its entire downtown on the National Register of Historic Places. From the period buildings in the city center to the café-laden streets embracing Brown University, everything about this town invites a closer look.

### Orientation & Information

Exit 22 off I-95 deposits you downtown. The university area is a short walk to the east. The colorful Italian enclave of Federal Hill centers on Atwells Ave, a mile west of the city center.

**Brown Bookstore** ( 401-863-3168; 244 Thayer St;  9am-8pm Mon-Fri, 10am-8pm Sat, 11am-5pm Sun)

**Post office** ( 800-275-8777; 2 Exchange Tce;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri)

**Providence Visitor Information Center** ( 401-751-1177, 800-233-1636; www.goprovidence.com; Providence Convention Center, 1 Sabin St;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat)

### Sights & Activities

Providence's focal point, the **State House** ( 401-222-3983; 82 Smith St; admission free;  8:30am-4:30pm Mon-Fri, free tours 9am, 10am & 11am Mon-Fri) is crowned with one of the world's largest self-supporting marble domes. Check out their Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, then compare it to the $1 bill in your wallet.

The wonderfully eclectic **Rhode Island School of Design Museum** (RISD;  401-454-6500; www.risd.edu; 224 Benefit St; adult/child 5-18yr $10/3;  10am-5pm Tue-Sun) showcases everything from ancient Greek art to 20th-century American paintings and decorative arts. Pop in before 1pm Sunday and admission is free. On the hillside above RISD lies **Brown University** ( 401-863-2378; www.brown.edu; 71 George St), its eminently strollable campus awash in Ivy League charm.

The offbeat **Culinary Archives & Museum** ( 401-598-2805; www.culinary.org; 315 Harborside Blvd; adult/child 5-18yr $7/2;  10am-5pm Tue-Sun) contains collection of half-a-million items devoted to the history of dining – everything from ancient cookbooks to early-20th-century dining cars. It's at Johnson & Wales University; take I-95 exit 18, turn right on Allens Ave and follow the signs.

**Roger Williams Park** ( 401-785-3510; 1000 Elmwood Ave; admission free;  ) has so many Victorian-era touches, such as its classic carousel, it's been cited by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of America's top urban parks. Among its varied sights are flowery botanical gardens and a **zoo** (adult/child 3-12yr $12/6;  9am-4pm;  ) with snow leopards and elephants. From downtown, take I-95 south to exit 17.

### Sleeping

**Christopher Dodge House** ( 401-351-6111; www.providence-hotel.com; 11 W Park St; r incl breakfast $130-180;    ) Cozy quilts and gas fireplaces add a warm glow at this inviting B&B overlooking the State House. If it's full, ask about its sister inn, the Mowry-Nicholson House, just a block away.

**Edgewood Manor** ( 401-781-0099; www.providence-lodging.com; 232 Norwood Ave; r incl breakfast $139-299;    ) If you're in a pampering mood, book a room in this elegant Greek Revival B&B bordering Roger Williams Park. The lavish lobby drips with museum-quality antiques, while the rooms boast four-poster mahogany beds and marble baths.

**Providence Biltmore** ( 401-421-0700, 800-294-7709; www.providencebiltmore.com; 11 Dorrance St; r/ste $189/209;   ) Entering the chandeliered lobby of this historic downtown hotel is like stepping back into the 1920s. The classic appeal continues in the rooms fitted with damask upholstered chairs, gilt mirrors and king beds.

### Eating

Providence abounds with superb eateries. For the 'Little Italy' immersion, stroll the trattorias lining Atwells Ave on Federal Hill. For the café scene head to Thayer St, on the hill above Brown University.

**Costantino's Venda Ravioli** ( 401-421-9105; 265 Atwells Ave; meals $6-10;  8:30am-6pm Mon-Sat, 8:30am-4pm Sun) Grab one of the small tables lining this bustling deli for the most amazing dining experience on Federal Hill. Hanging salamis, crispy breads, every imaginable antipasto, real gelato – you'll think you're in Italy.

**Caserta Pizzeria** ( 401-621-3618; 121 Spruce St; pizza $7-16;  9:30am-10:30pm Tue-Thu & Sun, 9:30am-11:30pm Fri & Sat) This spartan eatery on the back side of Federal Hill serves the best Sicilian pizza in all Rhode Island. The secret: a sauce so spicy it'll make your mouth sing.

**Meeting Street Café** ( 401-273-1066; 220 Meeting St; mains $8-14;  8am-11pm) For thick sandwiches, tasty shish kabob and luscious desserts head to this perky café near Brown University. The meats are hormone-free, the veggies fresh and the servings so big that most everything feeds two.

**Hemenway's** ( 401-351-8570; 121 S Main St; meals $15-30;  11:30am-10pm Mon-Thu, 11:30am-11pm Fri & Sat, noon-9pm Sun) A standout among the city's excellent seafood restaurants, this stylish grill is within walking distance of the universities and downtown. If you're feeling romantic, start with the oyster bar.

### Drinking & Entertainment

**Trinity Brewhouse** ( 401-453-2337; 186 Fountain St;  11:30am-1am Mon-Thu, noon-2am Fri-Sat) This microbrewery in the entertainment district brews terrific British-style beers. Don't miss the stouts.

* * *

# WHAT THE...?

Move over, Christo. Providence has blazed onto the public art installation scene with **WaterFire** (www.waterfire.org), set on the river that meanders through the city center. Nearly 100 braziers poke above the water, each supporting a bonfire that roars after dark. Flames dance off the water, music plays, black-clad gondoliers glide by, and party-goers pack the riverbanks. A captivating blend of art and entertainment, WaterFire takes place about a dozen times between May and September, mostly on Saturday, from sunset to 1am.

* * *

**Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel** ( 401-331-5876; www.lupos.com; 79 Washington St; cover $10-35;  hours vary) Providence's legendary music venue features top rock bands and indie acts.

**AS220** ( 401-831-9327; www.as220.org; 115 Empire St;  5pm-1am) An alternative space abuzz with experimental bands, offbeat films, poetry slams – you never know what you'll find here.

**Providence Performing Arts Center** ( 401-421-2787; www.ppacri.org; 220 Weybosset St; tickets $33-70) Concerts, comedy and Broadway musicals take the stage at this beautifully restored 1928 art-deco theater.

### Getting There & Away

**TF Green Airport** (PVD;  401-737-8222; www.pvdairport.com; I-95, exit 13, Warwick), 20 minutes south of downtown Providence, is served by major US airlines and car-rental companies.

**Peter Pan Bus Lines** ( 888-751-8800; www.peterpanbus.com) connects Providence with Boston ($10, 1¼ hours), Cape Cod ($30, 2¼) and New York ($45, 3½ hours). **Amtrak** ( 800-872-7245) trains also link cities in the Northeast with Providence.

The **Rhode Island Public Transit Authority** (RIPTA;  800-244-0444; www.ripta.com; one way $1.75, day pass $5) runs old-fashioned, trolley-style buses throughout the city from its downtown Kennedy Plaza hub; other RIPTA buses link Providence with Newport.

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## NEWPORT

The town's very name conjures up images of Great Gatsby mansions and unbridled wealth. In the 1890s Newport became _the_ place for rich New Yorkers to summer. They built opulent seaside mansions, each successive one attempting to outdo the neighbors. These mansions – dubbed 'summer cottages' – are so dazzling that people still flock to Newport today just to ogle them. Newport, population 24,400, is also famous for its legendary music festivals and its active yachting scene.

### Orientation & Information

Newport is easy to navigate, with most of the action on or near the waterfront.

**Citizens Bank** ( 401-847-4411; 8 Washington Sq)

**Newport Gateway Transportation & Visitors Center** ( 800-976-5122; www.gonewport.com; 23 America's Cup Ave;  9am-5pm) Newport's tourist office distributes a handy guide and tracks accommodation vacancies.

**Newport Public Library** ( 401-847-8720; 300 Spring St;  12:30-9pm Mon, 9:30am-9pm Tue-Thu, 9:30am-6pm Fri & Sat;  ) Two dozen online computers with free access.

**Post office** ( 800-275-8777; 320 Thames St;  8:30am-5:30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm Sat)

### Sights & Activities

Many of Newport's grandest mansions are managed by the **Preservation Society of Newport County** ( 401-847-1000; www.newportmansions.org; 5-site combination tickets adult/child 6-17yr $31/10, Breakers $16.50/4, Breakers plus 1 other mansion $23/6). Each mansion takes about 90 minutes to tour, and has varied off-season hours – call ahead. If you have time for only one, make it the **Breakers** (44 Ochre Point Ave;  9am-5pm Apr–mid-Oct), an extravagant 70-room, 1895 Italian Renaissance mega-palace built for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, patriarch of America's richest family. **Rosecliff** (548 Bellevue Ave;  10am-5pm), a 1902 masterpiece of architect Stanford White, resembles the Grand Trianon at Versailles; its immense ballroom had a starring role in Robert Redford's _Great Gatsby_. The palace of Versailles also inspired the 1892 **Marble House** (596 Bellevue Ave;  10am-5pm), posh with Louis XIV–style furnishings. The **Elms** (367 Bellevue Ave;  10am-5pm), built c 1901, is nearly identical to the Château d'Asnières near Paris, while the Victorian **Chateau-sur-Mer** (474 Bellevue Ave;  10am-5pm), built in 1852, was the first of Newport's palatial summer mansions.

**Astors' Beechwood Mansion** ( 401-846-3772; www.astorsbeechwood.com; 580 Bellevue Ave; adult/child 6-17yr $15/6;  10am-5pm most days May-Oct, varied hours off-season) takes a spirited living-history approach with costumed actors portraying the Astor clan and servants who once lived here. Mystery murder nights too.

For a glorious hike take the 3.5-mile **Cliff Walk** , which hugs the coast along the back side of the mansions. You'll not only enjoy the same dramatic ocean views once reserved for the filthy rich, but you'll get to gawk at their mansions en route. The Cliff Walk runs from Memorial Blvd to Bailey's Beach; a scenic place to start is at Ruggles Ave near the Breakers.

As you'd expect in the hometown of the prestigious America's Cup, the sailing in breezy Newport is phenomenal. If you can handle your own sails, **Sail Newport** ( 401-849-8385; 60 Fort Adams Rd;  9am-7pm) rents sailboats ($64 to $120 three hours). Otherwise, hop aboard the graceful schooner **Adirondack II** ( 401-847-0000; 1½hr cruise $27-35;  11am-7pm), which sails from Bowen's Wharf five times a day.

The **International Tennis Hall of Fame** ( 401-849-3990; www.tennisfame.com; 194 Bellevue Ave; adult/child under 16yr $10/5;  9:30am-5pm), the world's largest tennis museum, is housed in the club where America's first tennis championships took place in 1881. For $80 you can jump into your whites and play a game on those classic grass courts.

At the **Touro Synagogue National Historic Site** ( 401-847-4794; 85 Touro St; adult/child under 12yr $5/free;  noon-2pm Sun-Fri), you can tour the oldest synagogue (c 1763) in the USA, an architectural gem that treads the line between austere and lavish.

**Fort Adams State Park** ( 401-367-0038; Harrison Ave; park admission free, fort tours adult/child 6-17yr $10/5;  park sunrise-sunset, tours hourly 10am-4pm mid-May–Oct), site of the largest coastal fortification (c 1824) in the USA, borders Newport Harbor with expansive lawns ideal for picnicking. Swimming is okay at Fort Adams, but **Easton's Beach** (Memorial Blvd), also known as 'First Beach,' and **Sachuest (Second) Beach** (Purgatory Rd) are better.

### Festivals & Events

Newport's summer music events draw large crowds, so plan ahead.

**Newport Music Festival** ( 401-849-0700; www.newportmusic.org; admission $35-40) A class act, with 17 days of chamber music held at various mansions in July.

 **Newport Folk Festival** ( 800-514-3849; www.folkfestival50.com; Fort Adams State Park; admission $69-75) Everybody who's anybody in the folk world has taken the stage at this hallmark festival, held the first weekend in August.

**Newport Jazz Festival** ( 800-514-3849; www.jazzfestival55.com; Fort Adams State Park; admission $69-75) The roster reads like a who's who of jazz, with the likes of Dave Brubeck and Etta James, on a weekend in mid-August.

### Sleeping

**Newport International Hostel** ( 401-369-0243; www.newporthostel.com; 16 Howard St; dm incl breakfast with shared bath $35-59;    ) This central hostel in a period home has just a handful of beds, so book ahead. The friendly manager has tips aplenty for having a great time in Newport without breaking the bank.

**Stella Maris Inn** ( 401-849-2862; www.stellamarisinn.com; 91 Washington St; r incl breakfast $155-225;  ) Grab a rocking chair on the porch and watch the sailboats breeze by at this comfortably old-fashioned inn occupying a former convent. High ceilings and heaps of dark wood set the mood. It's in a quiet neighborhoods but is just a stroll to the city center.

**Ivy Lodge** ( 401-849-6865, 800-834-6865; www.ivylodge.com; 12 Clay St; r incl breakfast $189-479;      ) Treat yourself to the good life at this grand Victorian inn mere steps from Newport's sumptuous mansions. All rooms have antique furnishings, most have fireplaces, and if you need more romance, some have Jacuzzis.

**Francis Malbone House** ( 401-846-0392, 800-846-0392; www.malbone.com; 392 Thames St; r incl breakfast from $265;      ) Cozy up inside this luxurious 1760 inn with its Colonial decor, crackling fireplaces and afternoon tea. Or just walk out the front door and you're smack in the heart of Newport's bustling Thames St.

### Eating & Drinking

**Panera Newport** ( 401-324-6800; 49 Long Wharf Mall; mains $4-7;  7am-7pm Sun-Thu, 7am-8pm Fri & Sat;  ) Fresh-made pastries, good salads and sandwiches, and free wi-fi rake in a crowd at this café near the tourist office.

**Gary's Handy Lunch** ( 401-847-9480; 462 Thames St; mains $4-7;  5am-3pm, to 8pm Fri) Newport's working folk kick-start their day over coffee and simple breakfast fare at this old-school diner.

**Wharf Pub** ( 401-846-9233; Bowen's Wharf; mains $9-17;  11:30am-11pm) Come here for reasonable prices, good portions and fast service. Think sandwiches, fried calamari and burgers. Wash it down with a Newport Storm ale.

**Salvation Café** ( 401-847-2620; 140 Broadway; mains $10-25;  5-11pm) A funky, eclectic decor and brilliant food are in store at this bohemian café. The multiethnic menu ranges far and wide, from pad thai to Moroccan spiced lamb, but seldom misses the mark.

 **Mooring** ( 401-846-2260; Sayer's Wharf; mains $10-35;  11:30am-10pm) A harborfront setting and a menu brimming with fresh seafood make this an unbeatable combination for seaside dining. Tip: if it's packed, bypass the crowds, take the side entrance to the bar, grab a stool and order the meaty clam chowder and a 'bag of doughnuts' (tangy lobster fritters).

### Entertainment

**Newport Blues Café** ( 401-841-5510; 286 Thames St;  6pm-midnight) Intimate atmosphere and one of the best blues and R&B scenes this side of New York City.

**One Pelham East** ( 401-847-9460; 270 Thames St;  3pm-1am) This romping bar has rock and indie bands several nights a week.

**O'Brien's Pub** ( 401-849-6623; 501 Thames St;  11:30am-12:30am) The frat-house crowd comes here for live bands like Dogie & the Cowpie Poachers.

### Getting There & Away

**Peter Pan Bus Lines** ( 888-751-8800) has several buses daily to Boston ($26, 1¾ hours). State-run **RIPTA** ( 800-244-0444; www.ripta.com) operates frequent buses (one way $1.75, day pass $5) from the visitor bureau to the mansions, beaches and Providence.

Rent bicycles at **Ten Speed Spokes** ( 401-847-5609; 18 Elm St; per hr/day $6/25;  10am-8pm) near the visitors center.

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## RHODE ISLAND BEACHES

If you're up for a day at the beach, Rhode Island's southwestern coastal towns fit the bill. It is the Ocean State, after all.

The mile-long **Narragansett Town Beach** in Narragansett is the place to go for surfing. The nearby **Scarborough State Beach** is among Rhode Island's finest, with a wide beach, a glorious pavilion and inviting boardwalks. **Watch Hill** at the state's southwestern tip is a wonderful place to turn back the clock, with its Flying Horse Carousel and Victorian setting. The **South County Tourism Council** ( 800-548-4662; www.southcountyri.com) has details on the entire area.

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# CONNECTICUT

Sandwiched between sexy New York City and northerly New England's quainter quarters, Connecticut typically gets short shrift by travelers. Sure the brawny I-95 coastal corridor is largely industrial, but take a closer look and you're in for pleasant surprises. Seaside Mystic, with its nautical attractions, and the time-honored towns bordering the Connecticut River are a whole other world, and the Litchfield Hills, in the state's northwestern corner, are as charmingly rural as any place in New England.

Incidentally, the Connecticut River, which slices clear across Connecticut, gives the state its name. The word comes from the Mohegan mouthful _quinnehtukqut,_ which means 'place of the long river.'

### History

In 1633 the Dutch built a small settlement at current-day Hartford, but it was the English, arriving en masse in the following years, that shaped Connecticut.

Thanks to the industriousness of the citizenry, the Connecticut Yankee peddler became a fixture in early American society, traveling by wagon from town to town selling clocks and other manufactured gadgets. Connecticut etched a leading role in the Industrial Revolution when Eli Whitney built a New Haven factory in 1798 to produce firearms with interchangeable parts – the beginning of modern mass production.

In 1810 America's first insurance company opened in Hartford and by the 1870s the city boasted the highest per capita income in the USA. Two of America's leading literary figures, Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–96) and Mark Twain (1835–1910), were Hartford neighbors for 17 years.

* * *

# CONNECTICUT FACTS

**Nicknames** Constitution State, Nutmeg State

**Population** 3.5 million

**Area** 4845 sq miles

**Capital city** Hartford (population 124,500)

**Sales tax** 6%

**Birthplace of** Abolitionist John Brown (1800–59), circus man PT Barnum (1810–91), actress Katharine Hepburn (1909–2003)

**Home of** The first written constitution in the US; the first lollipop, Frisbee and helicopter

**Famous for** Starting the US insurance biz and building the first nuclear submarine

**Quirkiest state song lyrics** 'Yankee Doodle,' which entwines patriotism with doodles, feathers and macaroni

**Driving distances** Hartford to New Haven 40 miles, Hartford to Providence 75 miles

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### Information

There are welcome centers at the Hartford airport and on I-95 and I-84 when entering the state by car.

**Connecticut State Parks** ( 877-668-2267; www.ct.gov/dep/cwp; campsites $13-29) Offers camping in 13 state parks.

**Connecticut Tourism Division** ( 888-288-4748; www.ctvisit.com) Distributes visitor information for the entire state.

**Hartford Courant** (www.courant.com) The state's largest newspaper has entertainment listings online.

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# WORTH THE TRIP: BLOCK ISLAND

This unspoiled island, separated from the rest of Rhode Island by 12 miles of open ocean, offers simple pleasures: rolling farms, uncrowded beaches and miles of quiet hiking and cycling trails.

Ferries dock at Old Harbor, the main town, which has changed little since its gingerbread houses were built in the late 19th century. The beaches begin right at the north side of town. If you continue north 2 miles you'll come to the **Clay Head Nature Trail** , which follows high clay bluffs above the beach offering good bird-watching along the way. **Rodman Hollow** , a 100-acre wildlife refuge at the island's south end, is also laced with interesting trails.

A mere 7 miles long, Block Island begs to be explored by bicycle; several places near the ferry dock rent them for $25 a day. The **Block Island Chamber of Commerce** ( 800-383-2474; www.blockislandchamber.com), at the ferry dock, can help with accommodations, but be aware the island's four-dozen inns typically book out in summer and many require minimum stays.

The **Block Island Ferry** ( 866-783-7996; www.blockislandferry.com; adult round-trip slow/high-speed $22/36) runs high-speed (30 minutes) and slow (55 minutes) ferries from Galilee State Pier in Point Judith, each four to eight times a day, as well as once-daily slow ferries (two hours, July and August) from Fort Adams State Park in Newport. Children pay half price; bring a bicycle along for a $6 round-trip. Schedules are convenient for day-trippers, with morning departures and late-afternoon returns.

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## CONNECTICUT COAST

The Connecticut coast is not all of a piece. The western end is largely a bedroom community connected by commuter rail to New York City. By the time you get to New Haven, Connecticut's artsier side shines through. Maritime Mystic, at the eastern end of the state, spotlights tall ships and the siren call of the sea.

### New Haven

For visitors New Haven is all about Yale. Head straight to New Haven Green, graced by old Colonial churches and Yale's hallowed ivy-covered walls. The city's top museums and best restaurants are all within a few blocks of the Green. The oldest planned city in America (1638), New Haven (population 124,000) is laid out in orderly blocks spreading out from the Green, making it a cinch to get around. The **Greater New Haven Convention & Visitors Bureau** ( 203-777-8550, 800-332-7829; www.visitnewhaven.com; 169 Orange St;  9am-4:30pm Mon-Fri) is two blocks east of the Green.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

**Yale University** is not only the prestigious alma mater of five US presidents but it's one cool campus thick with Gothic buildings. Most impressive of the spires is **Harkness Tower** , from which a carillon peals at measured moments throughout the day. For campus tours or to pick up a campus map, drop by Yale's **visitor center** ( 203-432-2300; www.yale.edu/visitor; 149 Elm St;  9am-4:30pm Mon-Fri, 11am-4pm Sat & Sun) on the north side of the Green. There are free one-hour tours at 10:30am and 2pm weekdays, and at 1:30pm on weekends.

America's oldest university art museum, the **Yale University Art Gallery** ( 203-432-0600; 1111 Chapel St; admission free;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-6pm Sun), boasts American masterworks by Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper and Jackson Pollock, as well as a superb European collection that includes Vincent van Gogh's _The Night Café_.

Wannabe paleontologists will be thrilled by the dinosaurs at the **Peabody Museum of Natural History** ( 203-432-5050; 170 Whitney Ave; adult/child 3-18yr $7/5;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun;  ).

You may also want to pop into the **Yale Center for British Art** ( 203-432-2800; 1080 Chapel St; admission free;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, noon-5pm Sun), which holds the most comprehensive British art collection outside the UK.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Touch of Ireland Guest House** ( 203-787-7997, 866-787-7990; www.touchofirelandguesthouse.com; 670 Whitney Ave; r incl breakfast $135-150;      ) Share tips with fellow travelers in the fireplaced den at this friendly B&B on the north side of the city. The four guest rooms sport an Irish theme and comfy down-home decor.

**Study at Yale** ( 203-503-3900; www.studyhotels.com; 1157 Chapel St; r from $229;   ) Ready for an Ivy League splurge? This sleek new boutique hotel right in the midst of the campus offers 124 ultra-mod rooms with featherbeds, soft leather chairs, flat-screen TVs and iPod docking stations.

**Louis' Lunch** ( 203-562-5507; 261 Crown St; hamburgers $5;  11am-4pm Tue & Wed, noon-2am Thu-Sat Sep-Jul) New Haven's classic hamburger joint invented America's iconic fast food in 1900 and it still broils burgers in the original cast-iron vertical grills. Some things have changed over the century – but you won't find them here. Don't even think of asking for ketchup.

**Claire's Corner Copia** ( 203-562-3888; 1000 Chapel St; mains $6-10;  8am-9pm Mon-Thu, 8am-10pm Fri & Sat, 9am-9pm Sun;    ) For the best vegetarian food in town, saunter over to this cheerful green restaurant opposite Yale. Claire Criscuolo cooks up her own time-honored recipes using fresh, organic ingredients – everything from thick peasant soups to luscious pastries.

**Frank Pepe's** ( 203-865-5762; 157 Wooster St; pizza $7-18;  4-10pm Mon, Wed & Thu, 11:30am-11pm Fri & Sat, 2:30-10pm Sun) New Haven's most famous eatery takes its name from the Italian immigrant who tossed America's first pizza a century ago. You'd best believe they've got the recipe down pat. For the ultimate, order Pepe's signature white pizza topped with garlicky fresh clams.

**Sally's Apizza** ( 203-624-5271; 237 Wooster St; pizza $7-16;  5-10:30pm Tue-Sun) If Pepe's is packed, as it often is, try this place nearby, a breakaway started by a relative of Pepe's in 1938. Like Pepe's, Sally's also specializes in terrific wood-fired thin-crust pizza.

#### DRINKING & ENTERTAINMENT

The free weekly **New Haven Advocate** (www.newhavenadvocate.com) lists current entertainment happenings.

**Toad's Place** ( 203-624-8623; www.toadsplace.com; 300 York St; admission $5-35) The hottest music scene this side of New York City. Everyone from Count Basie to Bob Dylan and U2 have taken the stage at this legendary venue.

New Haven has a first-rate theater scene. Catch a hit before it happens at the venerable **Shubert Theater** ( 203-562-5666, 888-736-2663; www.capa.com; 247 College St; tickets $15-70), which has been hosting Broadway musicals on their trial runs since 1914. New Haven also has two award-winning repertory theaters: **Yale Repertory Theatre** ( 203-432-1234; www.yale.edu/yalerep; 1120 Chapel St; tickets $20-65) and **Long Wharf Theatre** ( 203-787-4282, 800-782-8497; www.longwharf.org; 222 Sargent Dr; tickets $26-70).

#### GETTING THERE & AWAY

By train from New York City skip Amtrak and take **Metro North** ( 212-532-4900, 800-638-7646; one way $14-19), which has near-hourly services and the lowest fares. **Greyhound Bus Lines** ( 800-231-2222; www.greyhound.com) connects New Haven to scores of cities including Hartford ($14, one hour) and Boston ($36, four hours).

### Mystic & Around

A centuries-old seaport, Mystic boasts a top-notch nautical museum, a stellar aquarium and attractive period accommodations. Yes, it gets inundated with summer tourists, but there's a good reason why everyone stops here, so get off the highway and check it out. Swing by on a weekday to avoid the worst of the crowds. The **Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce** ( 860-572-1102; www.mysticchamber.org; 2 Roosevelt Ave;  10am-4pm), at the old train station, has visitor information.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

America's maritime history springs to life at **Mystic Seaport** ( 860-572-5315; www.mysticseaport.org; 75 Greenmanville Ave/CT 27; adult/child 6-17yr $24/15;  9am-5pm Apr-Oct, 10am-4pm Nov-Mar;  ), where costumed interpreters ply their trades in a sprawling re-created 19th-century seaport village. You can scurry aboard several historic sailing vessels, including the _Charles W Morgan_ (built in 1841), the last surviving wooden whaling ship in the world. And if you want to experience a little voyage yourself, the 1908 steamboat **Sabino** ( 860-572-5351; adult/child 6-17yr $5.50/4.50;  11:30am-3:30pm) departs hourly from 11.30am on jaunts up the Mystic River.

**Mystic Aquarium** ( 860-572-5955; www.mysticaquarium.org; 55 Coogan Blvd; adult/child 3-17yr $24/18;  9am-6pm;  ) is home to all manner of interesting sea creatures, and we're not talking just fish. The residents include penguins, sea lions and even a beluga whale! And where else can a kid pet a cownose ray?

In nearby Ledyard the extensive **Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center** ( 800-411-9671; www.pequotmuseum.org; 110 Pequot Trail, off CT 214, Mashantucket; adult/child 6-15yr $15/10;  10am-4pm Wed-Sat) features a reconstructed 16th-century Native American village. The Mashantucket Pequot tribe also owns the mega-splash **Foxwoods Resort & Casino** ( 800-369-9663; www.foxwoods.com; CT 2, Ledyard), the largest gambling venue this side of Vegas.

#### SLEEPING, EATING & DRINKING

**Whaler's Inn** ( 860-536-1506, 800-243-2588; www.whalersinnmystic.com; 20 E Main St; r $159-259;        ) By the drawbridge in the center of Mystic, this place offers a variety of comfy accommodations from traditionally decorated rooms in an 1865 Victorian house to modern rooms in motel-style buildings. It's an ideal location for walking to just about everything.

**Old Mystic Inn** ( 860-572-9422; www.oldmysticinn.com; 52 Main St, Old Mystic; r incl breakfast $165-215;    ) Canopy beds, cozy fireplaces and gourmet breakfasts set the tone at this romantic 1784 Colonial inn near the head of the Mystic River. Formerly a bookstore, its rooms are themed after American authors like Henry David Thoreau and Mark Twain.

**Jamms Restaurant** ( 860-536-2683; 8 Coogan Blvd; mains $8-23;  11:30am-midnight) Close to the aquarium, Jamms jams 'em in by offering something for everyone. The menu spans the gamut from burgers and leafy salads to pastas and steak.

**S &P Oyster Co** ( 860-536-2674; 1 Holmes St; mains $10-20;  11:30am-10pm) On a summer day, there's nothing better than dining on the waterfront. This reliable seafood eatery, famous for oysters on the half shell and hefty portions of fish and chips, is in the town center at the east side of the drawbridge.

**Harp & Hound** ( 860-572-7778; 4 Pearl St) This pub, in a historic building on the west side of the drawbridge, is the late-night place to grab a pint of Irish ale; decent pub grub and English football on the telly too.

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## LOWER CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY

Several Colonial-era towns grace the banks of the Connecticut River, offering up their rural charm at an unhurried pace. The **Central Regional Tourism District** (860-244-8181; 800-793-4480, visitctriver.com) provides information on the region.

### Essex

The genteel riverside town of Essex, established in 1635, makes a good starting point for exploring the valley. The streets are lined with handsome Federal-period houses, the legacy of rum and tobacco fortunes made in the 19th century.

The **Connecticut River Museum** ( 860-767-8269; 67 Main St; adult/child 6-12yr $8/5;  10am-5pm Tue-Sun) exhibits regional history and includes a reproduction of the world's first submarine, a hand-propelled vessel built at this site in 1776.

The best way to see the river valley is hopping aboard the **Essex Steam Train & Riverboat** ( 860-767-0103; www.essexsteamtrain.com; 1 Railroad Ave; adult/child 2-11yr $17/9, with cruise $26/17;  departs 11am, 12:30pm, 2pm & 3:30pm mid-Jun–Aug, Sat & Sun only in spring & fall;  ), an antique steam locomotive that runs 6 scenic miles to Deep River, where you can cruise on a Mississippi-style riverboat before returning by train.

The landmark **Griswold Inn** ( 860-767-1776; www.griswoldinn.com; 36 Main St; r incl breakfast $115-370;      ), in the town center, has been providing cozy Colonial comfort since 1776, making it one of the oldest inns in America. It's also a favorite place to dine on traditional New England cuisine in a historic setting.

### Old Lyme

Set near the mouth of the Connecticut River, Old Lyme was home to some 60 sea captains in the 19th century. Today its claim to fame is its art community. In the early 1900s art patron Florence Griswold opened her estate to visiting artists, many of whom offered paintings in lieu of rent. Her Georgian mansion, now the **Florence Griswold Museum** ( 860-434-5542; 96 Lyme St; adult/child under 12yr $9/free;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun), exhibits 6000 works with solid collections of American Impressionist paintings, sculpture and decorative arts.

The prettiest place to lay your head is the classy **Bee & Thistle Inn** ( 860-434-1667, 800-622-4946; www.beeandthistleinn.com; 100 Lyme St; r $150-275;    ), a 1756 Dutch Colonial farmhouse with antique-filled rooms and four-poster beds.

### East Haddam

Two intriguing attractions mark this small town on the east bank of the Connecticut River. The medieval-style **Gillette Castle** ( 860-526-2336; 67 River Rd; adult/child 6-12yr $5/2;  10am-4:30pm late May–mid-Oct) is a wildly eccentric stone-turreted mansion built in 1919 by actor William Hooker Gillette, who made his fortune playing Sherlock Holmes. The classic **Goodspeed Opera House** ( 860-873-8668; www.goodspeed.org; 6 Main St; tickets $26-66), an 1876 Victorian music hall known as 'the birthplace of the American musical,' still produces a full schedule of musicals.

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## HARTFORD

Connecticut's capital is best known as the hometown of America's insurance industry – not exactly a 'let's-rush-to-see-the-place' endorsement. But look beyond its backbone of office buildings and you'll find some worthwhile sights offering unique slices of Americana. The **Greater Hartford Welcome Center** ( 860-244-0253; www.enjoyhartford.com; 45 Pratt St;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri) distributes tourist information.

### Sights & Activities

The former home of legendary author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, aka Mark Twain, is now the **Mark Twain House** **& Museum** ( 860-247-0998; www.marktwainhouse.org; 351 Farmington Ave; adult/child 6-16yr $14/8;  9:30am-5:30pm Mon-Sat, noon-5:30pm Sun). It was here that Twain penned many of his greatest works, including _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court_. The house itself, a Victorian Gothic with fanciful turrets and gables, reflects Twain's quirky character.

Next door you'll find the **Harriet Beecher Stowe House** ( 860-522-9258; www.harrietbeecherstowe.org; 77 Forest St; adult/child 5-16yr $9/6;  9:30am-4:30pm Tue-Sat, noon-4:30pm Sun), which was home to the author of _Uncle Tom's Cabin,_ a book which so rallied Americans against slavery that Abraham Lincoln once credited Stowe with starting the US Civil War.

America's oldest art museum, **Wadsworth Atheneum** ( 860-278-2670; www.wadsworthatheneum.org; 600 Main St; adult/child under 13yr $10/free;  11am-5pm Wed-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun), showcases outstanding collections of Hudson River School paintings and sculptures by renowned Connecticut artist Alexander Calder (1898–1976).

You can tour the **State Capitol** ( 860-240-0222; cnr Capitol Ave & Trinity St; admission free;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri), built in 1879 in such a hodgepodge of styles that it's sometimes dubbed 'the most beautiful ugly building in the world.' Below the capitol grounds, the 37-acre **Bushnell Park** features a working 1914 carousel, lovely gardens and summer concerts. The real prize of Connecticut's public buildings is the **Old State House** ( 860-522-6766; 800 Main St; adult/child 6-17yr $6/3;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri), designed by famed Colonial architect Charles Bulfinch. Erected in 1796, it's one of the oldest capitol buildings in the USA.

* * *

# WHAT THE...?

Jaded museum browsers, don't turn your nose up at this one. Garbage goes green at the curious **Trash Museum** ( 860-757-7765, 211 Murphy Rd, Hartford; admission free;  noon-4pm Wed-Fri Sep-Jun, 10am-2pm Tue, 10am-4pm Wed-Fri Jul-Aug) smack in the midst of a trash facility. Run by the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (CRRA), it enlightens visitors on earth-friendly recycling techniques. A viewing platform overlooking the sorting operation takes center stage while cool sculptures made from trash and wormy composting displays plug the green side of it all. You'll also get the scoop on CRRA's trash-to-energy program that fuels a billion kilowatts of green electric power annually. To get to the museum take I-95 to exit 27, which dumps you right at the site.

* * *

### Sleeping & Eating

**Hilton Hartford** ( 860-728-5151; www.hilton.com; 315 Trumbull St; r $89-179;      ) Within walking distance of the city's central sights, this modern hotel is Hartford's most conveniently located. The rooms are well appointed, and amenities include state-of-the-art fitness facilities. On weekends, when the lowest rates are offered, it's an unbeatable deal.

**Pavilion at State House Square** (cnr Main & State Sts; mains $4-12;  10am-5pm) This handy food court opposite the Old State House draws a crowd for its variety of ethnic eateries, including several vegetarian options.

**Peppercorn's Grill** ( 860-547-1714; 357 Main St; mains $12-22;  11:30am-10pm Mon-Wed, Thu-Sat 11:30am-11pm) Dine on contemporary Italian-American fare at Hartford's favorite restaurant, where you'll find plenty of tempting options from spicy clam cakes to lobster ravioli. Save room for the tiramisu.

### Getting There & Away

The conveniently central **Union Station** ( 860-247-5329; 1 Union Pl) links Hartford by train to cities throughout the Northeast, including New Haven (one way $16, one hour) and New York City (one way $48, three hours).

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## LITCHFIELD HILLS

Laced with lakes, woodlands and vineyards, the rolling hill country of northwestern Connecticut provides rich opportunities for quiet escapes. The **Northwest Connecticut Visitors Bureau** ( 800-663-1273; www.litchfieldhills.com) has information on the entire region.

### Litchfield

Founded in 1719, Litchfield prospered from the commerce brought by stagecoaches traveling between Hartford and Albany, and its many handsome period buildings are a testimony to that era. Stroll along North and South Sts to see the finest homes, including the 1773 **Tapping Reeve House & Law School** ( 860-567-4501; www.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org; 82 South St; adult/child under 15yr $5/free;  11am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun mid-Apr–Nov), the USA's first law school, which trained 129 members of Congress. Included in the admission fee is the **Litchfield History Museum** ( 860-567-4501; 7 South St).

**Haight-Brown Vineyard** ( 860-567-4045; 29 Chestnut Hill Rd, off CT 118;  11am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) is the state's first winery, and offers tours, tastings and self-guided vineyard walks.

If you're ready for a hike, Connecticut's largest wildlife preserve, the **White Memorial Conservation Center** ( 860-567-0857; US 202; admission free;  sunrise-sunset), 2.5 miles west of town, has 35 miles of inviting trails with good bird-watching.

### Lake Waramaug

The most beautiful of the dozens of lakes and ponds in the Litchfield Hills is Lake Waramaug. As you make your way around the northern shore on North Shore Rd, stop at **Hopkins Vineyard** ( 860-868-7954; 25 Hopkins Rd;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun May-Dec) for wine tastings. It's next to the 19th-century **Hopkins Inn** ( 860-868-7295; www.thehopkinsinn.com; 22 Hopkins Rd, New Preston; r from $125;    ), which has lake-view accommodations and a well-regarded restaurant with Austrian-influenced country fare. **Lake Waramaug State Park** ( 860-868-0220; 30 Lake Waramaug Rd; campsites 1st/successive nights $22/13) has lakeside campsites, but book well in advance.

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# VERMONT

Artisanal cheeses, buckets of maple syrup, Ben & Jerry's ice cream...just try to get out of this state without gaining 10 pounds. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to work it off: hike the trails of the Green Mountains, paddle a kayak on Lake Champlain or hit Vermont's snowy slopes.

Vermont gives true meaning to the word rural. Its capital would barely rate as a small town in other states and even its largest city, Burlington, has just 39,000 content souls. The countryside is a blanket of rolling green, with 80% of the state forested and most of the rest given over to some of the prettiest farms you'll ever see. So take your time, meander down quiet side roads, stop in those picturesque villages, and sample a taste of the good life.

### History

Frenchman Samuel de Champlain explored Vermont in 1609 and in his ever-humble manner lent his name to Vermont's largest lake.

Vermont played a key role in the American Revolution in 1775 when Ethan Allen led a local militia, the Green Mountain Boys, to Fort Ticonderoga, capturing it from the British. In later years Allen took a friendlier stance toward the British, and considered petitioning the crown to make Vermont an independent British state. In 1791, two years after Allen's death, Vermont was finally admitted to the USA.

* * *

# VERMONT FACTS

**Nickname** Green Mountain State

**Population** 621,270

**Area** 9250 sq miles

**Capital city** Montpelier (population 8035)

**Other cities** Burlington (population 38,358)

**Sales tax** 6%

**Birthplace of** Mormon leader Brigham Young (1801–77), folk painter Anna Mary 'Grandma' Moses (1860–1961), President Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)

**Home of** More than 100 covered bridges

**Famous for** Ben & Jerry's ice cream

**Sudsiest state** Most microbreweries per capita in the USA

**Driving distances** Burlington to Bennington 116 miles, Burlington to Portland, Maine 194 miles

* * *

The state's independent streak is as long and deep as a vein of Vermont marble. Long a land of dairy farmers, Vermont is still largely agricultural and has the lowest population of any New England state.

### Information

**Vermont Dept of Tourism** ( 802-828-3237, 800-837-6668; www.vermontvacation.com) Provides online information on Vermont by region, season and other user-friendly categories.

**Vermont State Parks** ( 888-409-7579; www.vtstateparks.com; campsites $18-26) Operates 40 state parks with camping.

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## SOUTHERN VERMONT

The southern swath of Vermont holds its oldest towns, the cool trails of the Green Mountain National Forest and plenty of scenic back roads just aching to be explored.

### Brattleboro

Ever wonder where the 1960s counter-culture went? It's alive and well in this riverside burg overflowing with craft shops and more tie-dye per capita than any other place in New England.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

Begin at Main St, which is lined with period buildings, including the handsome art deco Latchis Building, which houses a hotel and theater. The **Brattleboro Museum & Art Center** ( 802-257-0124; www.brattleboromuseum.org; 10 Vernon St; adult/child under 6yr $6/free;  11am-5pm Thu-Mon), in the old Union Station, showcases the multimedia works of regional artists.

Windham County, surrounding Brattleboro, boasts several **covered bridges**. Pick up a driving guide to them at the **Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce** ( 802-254-4565, 877-254-4565; www.brattleborochamber.org; 180 Main St;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri).

#### SLEEPING

**Latchis Hotel** ( 802-254-6300, 800-798-6301; www.latchis.com; 50 Main St; r $80-145;    ) You couldn't be more in the thick of things than at this restored art-deco hotel with 30 simply furnished rooms.

**Forty Putney Road B &B** ( 802-254-6268, 800-941-2413; www.fortyputneyroad.com; 40 Putney Rd; r incl breakfast $149-259;      ) This estate-home-turned-B&B is one sweet spot: classy rooms, beautiful grounds, river views, hot tub, billiards and a gourmet breakfast. The 'beer geek' owners even have a pint-size pub perfect for sampling Vermont brews.

#### EATING & DRINKING

**Brattleboro Food Co-op** ( 802-257-0236; 2 Main St;  8am-9pm Mon-Sat, 9am-9pm Sun) Naturally this town has a big-league health-food store, with all the fixings for a locavore picnic.

**Riverview Café** ( 802-254-9841; 36 Bridge St; mains $6-18;  8am-8pm Sun-Thu, 8am-8pm Fri & Sat) Enjoy alfresco dining smack on the Connecticut River at this celebrated restaurant emphasizing fresh regional ingredients: wild blueberry pancakes topped with real maple syrup, homemade vegetable soups and juicy steaks.

**McNeill's Brewery** ( 802-254-2553; 90 Elliot St;  4pm-2am Mon-Thu, 2pm-2am Fri-Sun) This friendly brewpub flows with award-winning suds.

### Wilmington & Mt Snow

Wilmington, midway between Brattleboro and Bennington, is the gateway to **Mt Snow** ( 802-464-3333, 800-245-7669; www.mountsnow.com; VT 100), a family-oriented skiing resort. When the snow melts, its lifts and trail system draw hikers and mountain bikers, including National Off-Road Bicycle Association championship events. The **Mt Snow Valley Chamber of Commerce** ( 802-464-8092, 877-887-6884; www.visitvermont.com; 21 W Main St;  10am-5pm) has information on accommodations and activities.

In Wilmington the **Nutmeg Country Inn** ( 802-464-7400, 800-277-5402; www.nutmeginn.com; 153 VT 9; r incl breakfast $109-215;      ), an 18th-century farmhouse, offers local hospitality including a full country breakfast. Just passing by? It also has a small bakery.

### Bennington

A measure of how rural southern Vermont really is, cozy Bennington, with just 15,000 inhabitants, ranks as the region's largest town. You'll find an interesting mix of cafés and shops downtown along Main St, while the hillside area known as Old Bennington boasts age-old Colonial homes and a trio of covered bridges (see the boxed text, Click here). A hilltop granite obelisk commemorating the 1777 Battle of Bennington towers above it all, making Bennington visible from miles around.

The **Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce** ( 802-447-3311, 800-229-0252; www.bennington.com; US 7;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat & Sun), a mile north of downtown, provides visitor information.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

Gracing the center of Old Bennington, the **Old First Church** (cnr Monument Ave & VT 9) is famous for its churchyard, which holds the bones of five Vermont governors and poet Robert Frost, who is buried beneath the inscription 'I Had a Lover's Quarrel with the World.'

Vermont's loftiest structure, the **Bennington Battle Monument** ( 802-447-0550; Monument Ave; adult/child $2/1;  9am-5pm Apr-Oct), offers an unbeatable 360-degree view of the countryside with peeks at covered bridges and across to New York. And you won't have to strain hamstrings climbing this 306ft obelisk – an elevator whisks you painlessly to the top.

The **Bennington Museum** ( 802-447-1571; www.benningtonmuseum.com; 75 Main St/VT 9; adult/child under 18yr $9/free;  10am-5pm Thu-Tue) showcases an array of early Americana crafts, but is most notable for having the world's largest collection of works by famed folk artist Anna Mary 'Grandma' Moses (1860–1961), who painted Vermont farm scenes until the age of 100.

You can tour the potters workshop at **Bennington Potters** ( 802-447-7531; 324 County St; admission free;  9:30am-6pm Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm Sun), where distinctive mottled-design stoneware has been made for more than a half-century. Should anything catch your fancy there's an on-site shop.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Paradise Inn** ( 802-442-8351, 800-575-5784; www.theparadisemotorinn.com; 141 W Main St; r $80-145;        ) Attractive rooms, a quiet yet central setting and a heated outdoor pool add up to good bang for the buck. Spend the extra for a premier room and enjoy your own little sauna and a Jacuzzi.

**Henry House** ( 802-442-7045, 888-442-7045; www.henryhouseinn.com; 1338 Murphy Rd; r incl breakfast $90-145;  ) Sit on the rocking chair and watch the traffic trickle across a covered bridge at this Colonial home built in 1769 by American Revolution hero William Henry. This is the real deal on 25 peaceful acres and dripping with so much original character you might expect long-gone Lieutenant Henry to walk down the hall.

**Blue Benn Diner** ( 802-442-5140; 314 North St; mains $5-12;  6am-5pm Mon-Fri, 7am-4pm Sat & Sun) It may be a classic 1950s-era diner, but it's no greasy spoon. The extensive menu includes breakfast all day and a healthy mix of American, Asian and Mexican fare – even vegetarian.

**Izabella's** ( 802-447-4949; 351 Main St; mains $6-9;  8:30am-3pm Tue-Fri, 8:30am-4pm Sat) This hip café in the center of town adds an innovative twist to American standards. For breakfast, take on the organic bacon and boursin cheese omelet. For lunch, the smoked turkey and cranberry chutney panini is a wower.

**Madison Brewing Co** ( 802-442-7397; 428 Main St; mains $8-20;  11:30am-9:30pm;  ) A family-style microbrewery? Yep, this perky pub-restaurant brews homemade root beer as well as heady malt ales. The food ranges from veggie burgers to juicy steaks and there's even a kids menu.

* * *

# SCENIC DRIVE: COVERED BRIDGES

A 30-minute detour from Bennington takes you across three picture-perfect covered bridges spanning the Wallomsac River at the rural north side of town. To get started turn west onto VT 67A just north of the tourist office and continue 3.5 miles, turning left on Murphy Rd at the **Burt Henry Covered Bridge**. Exhale, slow down: you're back in horse and buggy days. As you pop out the back side of this 117ft-long bridge dating to 1840, curve to the left. Murphy Rd soon loops through the **Paper Mill Bridge** , which takes its name from the 1790 mill that once sat beneath the bridge (look along the river for the old gear works). Next turn right onto VT 67A, go half a mile and turn right onto Silk Rd where you'll soon cross the **Silk Road Bridge** (c 1840). If you continue along Silk Rd for 2 miles, bearing to the left at each turn, you'll reach the **Bennington Battle Monument** (Click here).

* * *

### Manchester

Sitting in the shadow of Mt Equinox, Manchester's been a fashionable summer retreat since the 19th century. The mountain scenery, the agreeable climate and the Batten Kill River – Vermont's best trout stream – continue to draw vacationers today.

The town has two faces, both likable. Manchester Center, at the north end, sports cafés and upscale outlet stores. To the south lies dignified Manchester Village, lined with marble sidewalks, stately homes and the posh Equinox hotel.

The **Manchester & the Mountains Regional Chamber of Commerce** ( 802-362-2100, 800-362-4144; www.manchestervermont.net; 5046 Main St, Manchester Center;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri) provides visitor information.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

Anglers make pilgrimages to Manchester to visit the **American Museum of Fly Fishing** ( 802-362-3300; 4104 VT 7A; adult/child 5-14yr $5/3;  10am-4pm Tue-Sun), where rods used by Ernest Hemingway and other famed fishers are displayed; to shop at the adjacent **Orvis** ( 802-361-3750; VT 7A) flagship store, which is dedicated to outfitting fisher-folk; and to fly-fish for trout in the **Batten Kill River**.

**BattenKill Canoe** ( 802-362-2800; www.battenkill.com; 6328 VT 7A, Arlington; canoes $55-65, kayaks $35-40;  9:30am-5:30pm mid-April–Oct), 5 miles south of Manchester, rents canoes and kayaks for paddling the Batten Kill River. Rent a road or mountain bike from **Batten Kill Sports Bicycle Shop** ( 802-362-2734; US 7 & VT 11/30; per day $25;  9:30am-5:30pm).

The **Appalachian Trail** , which overlaps the **Long Trail** (Click here) in Vermont, passes just east of Manchester. For trail maps as well as details on shorter day hikes, stop by the **Green Mountain National Forest office** ( 802-362-2307; 2538 Depot St, Manchester Center;  8am-4:30pm Mon-Fri).

Just south of Manchester, **Hildene** ( 802-362-1788; www.hildene.org; 1005 Hildene Rd/VT 7A; adult/child 6-14yr $12.50/5;  9:30am-4:30pm), a 24-room Georgian Revival mansion, was the country estate of Robert Todd Lincoln, son of President Abraham Lincoln. You can tour the mansion decorated with original Lincoln family furnishings and stroll its lovely gardens, though don't expect much to be in bloom before June.

For a view from the top, drive to the summit of **Mt Equinox** (3836ft). Take VT 7A south of Manchester to **Skyline Drive** ( 802-362-1114; car & driver $12, additional passenger $2;  9am-sunset May-Oct), a private 5-mile toll road.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Aspen Motel** ( 802-362-2450; www.theaspenatmanchester.com, 5669 Main St/VT 7A; r $80-140;        ) An affordable standout, this family-run hotel set back serenely from the road has 25 comfortable rooms and a convenient location within walking distance of Manchester Center.

**Equinox** ( 802-362-4700, 800-362-4747; www.equinoxresort.com; 3567 Main St; r $260-600;    ) Manchester's grande dame since 1769 boasts 195 rooms, its own 18-hole golf course, two pools, restaurants and a luxury spa. Despite modern upgrades its handsome period character prevails.

**Spiral Press Café** ( 802-362-9944; cnr VT 11 & 7A; mains $5-9;  7am-6pm Mon-Sat, 8am-6pm Sun;  ) Stop at this Manchester Center café attached to Northshire Bookstore for flaky croissants and delicious panini sandwiches. Good lattes too.

**Little Rooster Café** ( 802-362-3496; VT 7A; mains $5-10;  7am-2:30pm Thu-Tue) This popular little café, near the outlet stores in Manchester Center, serves home-style fare that really hits the spot. The eclectic menu ranges from leafy salads and thickly stacked sandwiches to grilled portobello focaccia.

**Up for Breakfast** ( 802-362-4204; 4935 Main St; mains $6-12;  7am-12:30pm Mon-Fri, 7am-1:30pm Sat & Sun) Search out this hole-in-the-wall 2nd-floor restaurant in Manchester Center for the best breakfast in town, anything from good ol' blueberry pancakes to smoked-salmon-and-caper omelets.

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## CENTRAL VERMONT

Nestled in the Green Mountains, central Vermont is classic small-town, big-countryside New England. Its time-honored villages and ski resorts have been luring travelers for generations.

### Woodstock & Quechee

The archetypal Vermont town, Woodstock has streets lined with graceful Federal- and Georgian-style houses, and a river spanned by a covered bridge meanders right through the heart of town. Quechee ( _kwee_ -chee), its smaller cousin 7 miles to the northeast, abounds in rural scenery. The whole area invites you to slow down. The **Woodstock Area Chamber of Commerce** ( 802-457-3555, 888-496-6378; www.woodstockvt.com; 61 Central St;  8:30am-4:30pm Mon-Fri) provides visitor information.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

**Quechee Gorge** , an impressive 170ft-deep gash cut by the Ottauquechee River, can be viewed from above or along walking trails that skirt the 3000ft-long chasm. Begin at the **Quechee Gorge Visitor Center** ( 802-295-6852; US 4, Quechee;  9am-5pm Jun-Oct, 10am-4pm Nov-May), at the east side of the gorge, where you can pick up a trail map.

**VINS Nature Center** ( 802-359-5000; www.vinsweb.org/nature-center; US 4, Quechee; adult/child 3-18yr $9/7;  10am-5pm May-Oct, 10am-4pm Wed-Sun Nov-Apr;  ), a mile west of the gorge, rehabilitates injured bald eagles and other raptors. Get a close-up look at these magnificent birds, then enjoy a nature walk on the center's 47 acres.

See what 19th-century farm life was all about at **Billings Farm & Museum** ( 802-457-2355; www.billingsfarm.org; VT 12, at River Rd; adult/child 5-15yr $11/6;  10am-5pm May-Oct;  ), a living-history museum and functioning dairy farm. The adjacent **Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park** ( 802-457-3368; www.nps.gov/mabi; admission free), occupying a former Rockefeller family estate, is the only national park to tell the story of America's conservation history and land stewardship. The 550-acre park is crisscrossed with shady trails that beg a stroll and it's just a mile north of Woodstock center.

* * *

# WORTH THE TRIP: SUGARBUSH FARM

To get the scoop on traditional maple sugaring and cheese-making, and sample both, head to the family-run **Sugarbush Farm** ( 802-457-1757; www.sugarbushfarm.com; 591 Sugarbush Farm Rd; admission free;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat & Sun). The sugaring season is from March to April, but you can tour the sugarhouse year-round. To get there take US 4 to Taftsville, 3.5 miles east of Woodstock, cross the Taftsville covered bridge and follow the signs.

* * *

#### SLEEPING

**Quechee State Park** ( 888-409-7579; www.vtstateparks.com; 5800 US 4, Quechee; campsites/lean-tos $18/25) Campers will find 45 pine-shaded campsites and seven lean-tos in this 600-acre park bordering Quechee Gorge.

**Quechee Inn at Marshfield Farm** ( 802-295-3133, 800-235-3133; www.quecheeinn.com; 1119 Main St, Quechee; r incl breakfast $90-250;    ) Dating to 1793, this classic country inn on the National Register of Historic Places offers cozy rooms with wide pine floors, four-poster beds and plenty of rural tranquility.

**Ardmore Inn** ( 802-457-3887; www.ardmoreinn.com; 23 Pleasant St, Woodstock; r incl breakfast $135-205;  ) This congenial inn, just a five-minute walk from Woodstock town center, occupies a stately 1867 Greek Revival building and features five antique-laden rooms with marble baths.

#### EATING

**Alléchante** ( 802-457-3300; 61 Central St, Woodstock; mains $6-12;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri, 7:30am-5:30pm Sat & Sun) A gourmet bakery-café, Alléchante makes everything from scratch, including organic artisanal breads, delectable pastries and a free-range chicken pot pie to die for. The best place in Woodstock for breakfast, bar none.

**Farmers Diner** ( 802-295-4600; 5573 Woodstock Rd/US 4, Quechee; mains $8-15;  7am-8pm) Grab a booth in this old-fashioned diner and feast on fresh Vermont-grown delights like maple syrup–laden pancakes, creamy organic milk shakes and juicy burgers. This cornerstone of the buy-local, eat-local movement is well worth seeking out.

 **Simon Pearce** ( 802-295-1470; 1760 Main St, Quechee; lunch mains $12-17, dinner mains $22-30;  11:30am-2:45pm & 6-9pm) Not only is Simon Pearce an unbeatable choice for an upscale meal but lunch is surprisingly affordable. Start by watching the artisans hand-blowing glass and throwing pottery in the basement workshops, then go upstairs and enjoy creative New American fare served on their handiwork. Very cool place – they even generate their own electricity from the waterfall the restaurant overlooks.

### Killington

An hour's drive west of Woodstock, **Killington Resort** ( 802-422-3333, 800-621-6867; www.killington.com) is New England's answer to Vail, boasting 200 runs on seven mountains, a vertical drop of 3150ft and more than 30 lifts. And thanks to the world's most extensive snowmaking system, Killington has one of the longest seasons in the east. Come summer when the snow melts, mountain bikers and hikers claim the slopes.

There are more than a hundred places to stay in the Killington area, from cozy ski lodges to chain hotels. Most are along Killington Rd, the 6-mile road that heads up the mountain from US 4. The **Killington Chamber of Commerce** ( 802-773-4181, 800-337-1928; www.killingtonchamber.com; US 4;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri) has all the nitty-gritty.

### Middlebury

This former factory town has converted its old water-driven mills into enticing riverside restaurants and galleries. Add the verdant campus of Middlebury College and you've got yourself a fine place to while away an afternoon. The small but diverse **Middlebury College Museum of Art** ( 802-443-5007; S Main St; admission free;  10am-5pm Tue-Fri, noon-5pm Sat & Sun) takes you on a world twirl beginning with an Egyptian sarcophagus and ending with Andy Warhol. The **Addison County Chamber of Commerce** ( 802-388-7951; www.addisoncounty.com; 2 Court St;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri) has area information.

On the National Register of Historic Places, the gracious, 1803 Federal-style **Inn on the Green** ( 802-388-7512, 888-244-7512; www.innonthegreen.com; 71 S Pleasant St; r incl breakfast $149-279;      ) has 11 attractive rooms that overlook the town green. Talk about pampering – they'll even serve you breakfast in bed.

For a slice of retro Americana, stop at the **A &W Drive-In** ( 802-388-2876; 1557 US 7; mains $3-5;  11am-8pm) where carhops – some on roller skates – deliver root beer floats, cheeseburgers, onion rings and other artery-clogging goodness directly to your car window.

Set directly above the river, smart **Tully & Marie's** ( 802-388-4182; 5 Bakery Lane; mains $10-22;  11:30am-9pm) serves New American fare with Asian influences, covering the gamut from vegetarian Thai noodles to Vermont-raised steaks. Brilliant food, service and atmosphere.

### Warren & Waitsfield

The towns of Warren and Waitsfield boast two significant ski areas: **Sugarbush** and **Mad River Glen** , in the mountains west of VT 100. Opportunities abound for cycling, canoeing, horseback riding, kayaking, gliding and other activities. Stop at the **Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce** ( 802-496-3409, 800-828-4748; www.madrivervalley.com; VT 100, Waitsfield;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-noon Sat) for a mountain of details; brochures and restrooms are available 24/7 in the chamber's lobby.

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## NORTHERN VERMONT

The lushly green northern region of Ver-mont cradles the fetching state capital of Montpelier, the ski mecca of Stowe, the vibrant college town of Burlington and the state's highest mountains. It has some of the prettiest landscapes in the Northeast.

### Montpelier

America's smallest capital, Montpelier is a thoroughly likable town full of period buildings and backed by verdant hills. It speaks to its village nature that you can walk in the front door of the gold-domed **State House** ( 802-828-2228; 115 State St; admission free;  tours 10am-3:30pm Mon-Fri, 11am-2:30pm Sat Jul–mid-Oct), built c 1836, and exit out the back onto a forested trail. Tours run on the half hour. The **Vermont Chamber of Commerce** ( 802-223-3443; www.centralvt.com) has tourist information on Montpelier.

If you come through at mealtime, head for the intersection of State and Main Sts, where you'll find several restaurants. Don't even think junk food – Montpelier prides itself on being the only state capital in the USA without a McDonald's! The bakery-café **La Brioche** ( 802-229-0443; 89 Main St; snacks $2-6;  6:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 7am-5pm Sat), run by students from Montpelier's New England Culinary Institute, gets an A-plus for its quiches, sandwiches and pastries. Or make your way over to **Hunger Mountain Co-op** ( 802-223-8000; 623 Stone Cutters Way; buffet $7.50;  8am-8pm), a terrific health-food store and deli with café tables perched above a river.

* * *

# SCENIC DRIVE: VT 100

Running up the rugged backbone of Vermont, VT 100 meanders through the rural heart of the state. This quintessential country road rambles past rolling pastures speckled with cows, through tiny villages with white-steepled churches and along green mountains crossed with hiking trails and ski slopes. It's the perfect side trip for those who want to slow down, inhale pine-scented air and soak up the bucolic country life that forms the very soul of Vermont. Think farm stands, century-old farmhouses converted to small inns, pottery shops, country stores and home-style cafés. The road runs north to south all the way from Massachusetts to Canada. It has some tranquil moments but never a dull one – jump on for a taste of it at any point.

* * *

### Stowe & Around

With Vermont's highest peak, Mt Mansfield (4393ft), as its backdrop, Stowe ranks as Vermont's classiest ski destination. It packs all the Alpine thrills you could ask for – both cross-country and downhill skiing, with gentle runs for novices and challenging drops for pros. Cycling, hiking and kayaking take center stage in the summer. Lodgings and eateries are thick along VT 108 (Mountain Rd), which continues northwest from Stowe center to the ski resorts. The **Stowe Area Association** ( 802-253-7321, 877-317-8693; www.gostowe.com; 51 Main St;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, longer hours midsummer) provides information.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

Wintertime's action-central, the twin-peak **Stowe Mountain Resort** ( 802-253-3000, 800-253-4754; www.stowe.com; 5781 Mountain Rd) has a variety of terrains with ski runs suitable for all levels. Cross-country skiing is available at several places, including the **Trapp Family Lodge** ( 802-253-8511, 800-826-7000; www.trappfamily.com; 700 Trapp Hill Rd), run by the family whose life inspired _The Sound of Music_.

The 5.5-mile **Stowe Recreation Path** , a greenway running along the West Branch River northwest from the village center, is a great place for walking, jogging, cycling and skating. **AJ's Ski & Sports** ( 802-253-4593; 350 Mountain Rd;  10am-6pm), next to the path, rents bikes for $8 per hour or $27 per day.

**Umiak Outdoor Outfitters** ( 802-253-2317; 849 S Main St;  9am-6pm) rents canoes ($50 per day) and kayaks ($40) and also offers two-hour guided river trips ($39).

Get the inside scoop at **Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory** ( 802-882-1240; www.benjerrys.com; VT 100, Waterbury; adult/child under 12yr $3/free;  9am-9pm Jul–mid-Aug, 9am-7pm mid-Aug–Oct, 10am-6pm Nov-Jun;  ), where tours and a moo-vie about the hippie founders are topped off with a taste tease of the latest flavor.

Vermont's **Long Trail** , which passes through Stowe, follows the crest of the Green Mountains and runs the entire length of Vermont with rustic cabins, lean-tos and campsites along the way. Its caretaker, the **Green Mountain Club** ( 802-244-7037; www.greenmountainclub.org; 4711 Waterbury-Stowe Rd, VT 100), has full details on the Long Trail and shorter day hikes around Stowe.

If the snow has cleared, be sure to take a drive through dramatic **Smugglers Notch** , northwest of Stowe on VT 108 (the road's closed in winter). This narrow pass slices through mountains with 1000ft cliffs on either side, and there are plenty of places where you can stop along the way to ooh and aah or take a short walk.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Smugglers Notch State Park** ( 802-253-4014; 6443 Mountain Rd; campsites/lean-tos $18/25;  mid-May–mid-Oct) Camp at the base of Mt Mansfield, 9 miles northwest of downtown Stowe on VT 108.

**Best Western Waterbury-Stowe** ( 802-244-7822, 800-621-7822; www.bestwesternwaterburystowe.com; VT 100, I-89 exit 10; r incl breakfast $99-129;          ) Family-friendly and good value, this convenient hotel has a playground, a sunny atrium pool and fitness facilities a notch above the usual standards. And it's just a short drive from Ben & Jerry's.

**Ye Olde England Inne** ( 802-253-7558, 800-477-3771; www.englandinn.com; 433 Mountain Rd; r incl breakfast $109-189;    ) The English innkeepers here add Britannia accents like complimentary afternoon tea and an on-site pub serving UK ales. Rooms have canopied beds and some have Jacuzzis. Skip the food here, though – there are better options nearby.

**Harvest Market** ( 802-253-3800; 1031 Mountain Rd;  7am-5:30pm) Stop at this gourmet market for morning coffee and delicious pastries, Vermont cheeses and sandwiches before you head for the hills.

**Pie-casso** ( 802-253-4411; 1899 Mountain Rd; mains $8-20;  11am-9pm) This pizzeria goes far beyond the simple pie: organic arugula chicken salad, portobello paninis and hand-tossed pesto pizzas are just part of the menu. There's a bar and live music too.

**Hen of the Wood** ( 802-244-7300; 92 Stowe St, Woodbury; mains $20-30;  5-10pm Mon-Sat) Arguably the finest dining in northern Vermont, this chef-driven restaurant is just three years old but has already earned rave reviews from _Gourmet_ and _Food & Wine_ magazines for its innovative farm-to-table cuisine. Set in a historic grist mill, the ambience is as fine as the food, which features densely flavored dishes like smoked duck breast and sheep's milk gnocchi.

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## BURLINGTON

This hip college town on the shores of scenic Lake Champlain is one of those places that makes you think, wouldn't it be great to live here? The café and club scene is on par with a much bigger city, while the slow, friendly pace is pure small town. And where else can you walk to the end of Main St and paddle off in a kayak?

### Orientation & Information

Vermont's largest city (population 38,358) is a manageable place with most of its cafés and pubs on or near Church St Marketplace, a brick-lined pedestrian mall, where half of Burlington hangs on a sunny day. The mall sits midway between the University of Vermont and Lake Champlain.

**Crow Bookshop** ( 802-862-0848; 14 Church St;  10am-9pm Mon-Wed, 10am-10pm Thu-Sat, noon-6pm Sun) Excellent selection of used and rare books.

**Fletcher Allen Health Care** ( 802-847-0000; 111 Colchester Ave;  24hr) Vermont's largest hospital.

**Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce** ( 802-863-3489, 877-686-5253; 60 Main St; www.vermont.org;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri) Also maintains a 24-hour visitor kiosk on Church St Marketplace.

**Post office** ( 800-275-8777; 11 Elmwood Ave;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm Sat)

**Seven Days** (www.7dvt.com) Free weekly with event and entertainment listings.

### Sights & Activities

Ready for outdoor adventures? Head to the waterfront, where options include boating on **Lake Champlain** and cycling, in-line skating and walking on the 9-mile, shorefront **Burlington Bike Path**. Jump-off points and equipment rentals for all these activities are within a block of each other near the waterfront end of Main St. Rent bikes at **Local Motion** ( 802-652-2453; 1 Steele St; bikes per half-/full day $23/28;  10am-6pm). **Waterfront Boat Rentals** ( 802-864-4858; Perkins Pier; rentals per hr $10-16;  10am-5pm) rents canoes, kayaks and rowboats. For an inexpensive cruise of the lake, hop aboard the 115ft _Northern Lights_ operated by **Lake Champlain Cruises** ( 802-864-7669; 1 King St; 1½hr trip adult/child 3-11yr $13/6). If you prefer a more intimate sail, opt for the 17-passenger _Friend Ship_ ( 802-598-6504; 1 College St; 2hr trip adult/child $35/20), a classic schooner.

Crowning the highest hill in town is the handsome **University of Vermont** (UVM;  802-656-3131; www.uvm.edu; Main St/Rte 2), home to the **Fleming Museum** ( 802-656-2090; 61 Colchester Ave; adult/child 6-17yr $5/3;  9am-4pm Tue-Fri, 1-5pm Sat & Sun Sep-Apr, noon-4pm Tue-Fri, 1-5pm Sat & Sun May-Aug). This beautiful beaux arts–style building houses a 2000-item Native American gallery and works by American artists ranging from John James Audubon to Andy Warhol.

The **ECHO Lake Aquarium & Science Center** ( 802-864-1848; www.echovermont.org; 1 College St; adult/child 3-17yr $9.50/7;  10am-5pm;  ), on the waterfront, will delight youngsters with its aquatic habitats wriggling with creatures and hands-on interactive exhibits illuminating Lake Champlain's ecological wonders.

* * *

# WHAT THE...?

Packrats, take note. The **world's tallest filing cabinet** – a 50ft-high shrine to dead letters – sits in a roadside field midway between downtown and Magic Hat Brewery. Turn west onto Flynn Ave off US 7/Shelburne Rd and go 700 yards+; it's on the right, adjacent to 208 Flynn Ave.

* * *

* * *

# SCENIC DRIVE: LAKE CHAMPLAIN ISLANDS

If you have time to take your travels beyond Burlington, head north on US 2 to explore the unspoiled Lake Champlain Islands. Connected to the mainland by a causeway, these four islands (and a peninsula jutting down from Canada) are home to just 6500 year-round residents. Extending 30 miles from south to north they make a perfect day trip with fine rural scenery, lakeside beaches and small farms selling roadside produce. Should you want to stay overnight, information on campgrounds and B&Bs is available from **Lake Champlain Islands Chamber of Commerce** ( 802-372-8400, 800-262-5226; www.champlainislands.com; 3501 US 2, North Hero;  9am-4pm Mon-Fri year-round, plus 10am-2pm Sat & Sun Jun-Aug).

* * *

If you're up for a swim, head to **Oakledge Park** (Flynn Ave), near the south end of the Burlington Bike Path. In addition to the beach, the park has an awesome **tree house** at its south end and the **Burlington Earth Clock** , a cool Stonehenge-wannabe sun clock, at its north end.

The insanely popular **Magic Hat Brewery** ( 802-658-2739; www.magichat.net; 5 Bartlett Bay Rd, South Burlington;  10am-6pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun), off US 7, offers free tours of its brew operation – and of course they'll tip the tap to let you sample the art. Perhaps the coolest brewery you'll ever see.

On a 45-acre estate, 7 miles south of Burlington in Shelburne, the **Shelburne Museum** ( 802-985-3346; www.shelburnemuseum.org; US 7, Shelburne; adult/child 4-18yr $20/10;  10am-5pm May-Oct) boasts a stellar collection of American folk art, New England architecture and, well, just about everything. The wildly eclectic collection ranges from an early American sawmill to the Lake Champlain side-wheeler steamship _Ticonderoga_. How's that for lawn decor?

You can get a taste of Vermont farm life at **Shelburne Farms** ( 802-985-8686; www.shelburnefarms.org; 1611 Harbor Rd, Shelburne; adult/child 3-17yr $8/5;  9am-5:30pm mid-May–mid-Oct;  ), a classic 1400-acre farm laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted, America's premier 19th-century landscape architect. Try your hand at milking a cow, feed the chickens, or hike the extensive nature trails through pastures and along Lake Champlain.

### Sleeping

**North Beach Campground** ( 802-862-0942, 800-571-1198; www.enjoyburlington.com; 60 Institute Rd; campsites $25;  ) This choice lakeside campground skirts the Burlington Bike Path and has a sandy beach with kayak and canoe rentals.

**Lang House** ( 802-652-2500, 877-919-9799; www.langhouse.com; 360 Main St; r incl breakfast $145-245;      ) Little extras like cozy bathrobes and a home-cooked breakfast add to the appeal of this friendly Victorian inn. Situated between downtown and the university, it makes an ideal base for exploring Burlington.

**Willard Street Inn** ( 802-651-8710, 800-577-8712; www.willardstreetinn.com; 349 S Willard St; r incl breakfast $150-230;      ) With marble floors and a solarium dining room, this gracious inn, a short walk from UVM, is a class act. The 14 rooms are comfy, some with lake views and gas fireplaces, and the gourmet breakfast will start your day in style.

**Inn at Shelburne Farms** ( 802-985-8498; www.shelburnefarms.org; 1611 Harbor Rd, Shelburne; r with shared bath $150-215, private bath $255-450;  ) Vacation like a millionaire at this lakefront manor-house-turned-inn at Shelburne Farms (left). On the National Register of Historic Places, this former summer residence of the Vanderbilts has 24 antique-filled bedrooms and the air of a bygone era.

### Eating

**Muddy Waters** ( 802-658-0466; 184 Main St; snacks $3-6;  7am-6pm Mon, 7am-11pm Tue-Sun;  ) As much a chill-out spot as an eatery, this arty student haunt offers chili and hummus plates and a full array of drinks from espresso and smoothies to Vermont-brewed beers.

**Stone Soup** ( 802-862-7616; 211 College St; mains $5-10;  7am-7pm Mon, 7am-9pm Tue-Fri, 9am-7pm Sat) Don't let the bargain prices fool you. The food at this laid-back café is hearty and healthy, most of it vegetarian, much of it organic. Sandwiches, soups and a buffet bar of fresh salads and hot dishes shore up the menu.

**Penny Cluse Café** ( 802-651-8834; 169 Cherry St; mains $6-10;  6:45am-3pm Mon-Fri, 8am-3pm Sat & Sun) One block east of Church St Marketplace, Penny Cluse packs a perky college crowd with its southwestern accented dishes like ranchero-style omelets, fish tacos and freshly squeezed juices.

**Magnolia Bistro** ( 802-846-7446; 1 Lawson Lane; mains $7-10;  7am-3pm Mon-Fri, 8am-3pm Sat & Sun;  ) The hottest café in a hot-café town, Magnolia utilizes sustainable local ingredients from range-fed beef to leafy green salads, and is certified by the Green Restaurant Association. Specialties include the house-cured organic salmon and the Vermont maple sausage omelet.

**L'Amante** ( 802-863-5200; 126 College St; mains $20-28;  5:30-10pm Mon-Sat) Sleek yet engagingly informal, L'Amante serves upscale northern Italian cuisine such as squash-blossom fritters with truffle oil, and swordfish with saffron-encrusted risotto. Perfect for a memorable night out.

### Drinking & Entertainment

**Uncommon Grounds** ( 802-865-6227; 42 Church St; items $2-5;  7am-8pm Mon-Thu, 8am-9pm Fri & Sat, 9am-6pm Sun;  ) With sidewalk tables right on the pedestrian mall, this café has people-watching that is as good as the organic fair-trade coffee and crispy croissants.

**Vermont Pub & Brewery** ( 802-865-0500; 144 College St;  11:30am-1am Sun-Wed, 11:30am-2am Thu-Sat) Vermont's oldest microbrewery attracts a crowd with its bustling outdoor beer garden and burly ales. Try the Dogbite Bitter and howl at the moon.

**Radio Bean** ( 802-660-9346; 8 N Winooski Ave;  8am-3am;  ) A social hub for the music scene, this bohemian coffeehouse serves fair-trade coffee by day and transforms after dark into an intimate venue for jazz and indie bands.

**Nectar's** ( 802-658-4771; 188 Main St) This is the place where the jam band Phish got its start; aspiring bands still take the stage at Nectar's hoping to be the next big thing. Maybe you'll catch a rising star.

**Red Square** ( 802-859-8909; 136 Church St) With a stylish Soho-like ambience, this is where the club crowd hangs to listen to Burlington's best roadhouse music, which spills onto the outdoor patio on warm nights.

### Getting There & Away

**Lake Champlain Ferries** ( 802-864-9804; www.ferries.com; King St Dock; adult/child/car $4.95/2.20/12.55) runs ferries several times a day from mid-June to mid-October across the lake to Port Kent, NY (one hour).

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# NEW HAMPSHIRE

You're gonna like the scale of things in the Granite State: the towns are small and personable, the mountains majestic and rugged. The heart of New Hampshire is unquestionably the granite peaks of the White Mountain National Forest. Outdoor enthusiasts of all stripes flock to New England's highest range (6288ft at Mt Washington) for cold-weather skiing, summer hiking and brilliant fall foliage scenery. Oh, and don't be fooled by that politically conservative label that people stick on the state. The state mantra, 'Live Free or Die,' indeed rings from every automobile license plate, but truth be told residents here pride themselves on their independent spirit more than right-wing politics.

### History

Named in 1629 after the English county of Hampshire, New Hampshire was one of the first American colonies to declare its independence from England in 1776. During the 19th-century industrialization boom, the state's leading city, Manchester, became such a powerhouse that its textile mills were the world's largest.

New Hampshire played a high-profile role in 1944 when president Franklin D Roosevelt gathered leaders from 44 Allied nations to remote Bretton Woods for a conference to rebuild global capitalism. It was at the Bretton Woods Conference that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund emerged.

In 1963 New Hampshire, long famed for its antitax sentiments, found another way to raise revenue – by becoming the first state in the USA to have a legal lottery.

### Information

Welcome centers are situated at major state border crossings, including ones open 24/7 at the north and south ends of I-93.

**New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation** ( 877-647-2757; www.nhparks.state.nh.us; campsites $23-25) offers camping in 19 state parks.

**New Hampshire Division of Travel & Tourism Development** ( 603-271-2665, 800-386-4664; www.visitnh.gov) Distributes visitor information on the state, as do the welcome centers.

**Union Leader** (www.unionleader.com) The state's largest newspaper.

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## PORTSMOUTH

America's third-oldest city (1623), Portsmouth wears its history on its sleeve. Its roots are in shipbuilding, but New Hampshire's sole coastal city also has a hip, youthful energy. The old maritime warehouses along the harbor now house cafés and boutiques. Elegant period homes built by shipbuilding tycoons have been converted into B&Bs. The **Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce** ( 603-436-3988; www.portsmouthchamber.org; 500 Market St;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, lobby 24hr) provides visitor information.

### Sights & Activities

For the largest collection of historic sites, go straight to **Strawbery Banke Museum** ( 603-433-1100; www.strawberybanke.org; cnr Hancock & Marcy Sts; adult/child 5-17yr $15/10;  10am-5pm May-Oct), where an entire neighborhood of 40 period buildings comprise a living-history museum depicting the town's multilayered past. Visit the old general store, watch the potter throw his clay then treat yourself to a scoop of homemade ice cream.

Like a fish out of water, the 205ft-long **USS Albacore** ( 603-436-3680; 600 Market St; adult/child 7-17yr $5/3;  9:30am-5:30pm Jun–mid-Oct, 9:30am-4pm Thu-Mon mid-Oct–May) is now a beached museum on a grassy lawn. The decommissioned submarine, once the world's fastest, was launched from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in 1953.

**Portsmouth Harbor Cruises** ( 603-436-8084, 800-776-0915; www.portsmouthharbor.com; 64 Ceres St Dock; adult $12-20, child $8-13) runs several trips around the historic harbor as well as inland river cruises that are particularly scenic during fall foliage season. **Isles of Shoals Steamship Company** ( 603-431-5500, 800-441-4620; www.islesofshoals.com; 315 Market St; adult/child 5-12yr $26/16;  ) provides cruises aboard a replica 1900s ferry that harkens back to more leisurely times. Its Shoals and Harbor Cruise takes in three lighthouses, nine islands and countless harbor sights. On Fridays, the cruise includes a lobster clambake (adult/child $66/36).

### Sleeping

**Inn at Strawbery Banke** ( 603-436-7242, 800-428-3933; www.innatstrawberybanke.com; 314 Court St; r incl breakfast $160-170;  ) Friendly innkeepers, cozy rooms and a delicious homemade breakfast are the hallmarks of this Colonial-era B&B convenient to both the Strawbery Banke Museum and the city center.

* * *

# NEW HAMPSHIRE FACTS

**Nicknames** Granite State, White Mountain State

**Population** 1.3 million

**Area** 8968 sq miles

**Capital city** Concord (42,378)

**Other cities** Manchester (population 109,497)

**Sales tax** None

**Birthplace of** America's first astronaut Alan Shepard (1923–98), _The Da Vinci Code_ author Dan Brown (b 1964), Tupperware inventor Earl Tupper (1907–83)

**Home of** the highest mountains in northeastern USA

**Famous For** Being the first to vote in US presidential primaries, which gives the state enormous political influence for its size

**Most extreme state motto** 'Live Free or Die'

**Driving distances** Boston to Portsmouth 60 miles, Concord to Hanover 66 miles

* * *

**Sise Inn** ( 603-433-1200, 877-747-3466; www.siseinn.com; 40 Court St; r/ste incl breakfast $199/239;        ) Step back a century at this graceful 1881 Queen Anne–style inn that flawlessly fuses classic period decor with 21st-century amenities. Rooms are generously proportioned with the suites sleeping up to four guests.

### Eating & Drinking

Head to the intersection of Market and Congress Sts, where restaurants and cafés are thick on the ground.

**Breaking New Grounds** ( 603-436-9555; 14 Market St; snacks $2-5;  6:30am-10pm;  ) Get your caffeine fix at this café smack in the heart of town. Plump muffins, crispy croissants and outdoor tables perfect for people-watching.

**Blue Mermaid** ( 603-427-2583; 409 The Hill; mains $8-20;  11:30am-9pm Sun-Thu, 11:30am-10pm Fri & Sat) If you need a break from New England seafood head here for a delectable mix of Caribbean-inspired fare. It's also a hopping place at night for its potent mojitos.

**Jumpin' Jay's Fish Café** ( 603-766-3474; 150 Congress St; mains $18-24;  5:30-10pm) Fish-fanciers book tables at this sleek contemporary seafooder, which features a wide range of fresh pan-seared fish spiced with delicious sauces.

**Portsmouth Brewery** ( 603-431-1115; 56 Market St;  ) This lively microbrewery serves specialty beers like Smuttynose Portsmouth Lager along with light eats, including the best fish sandwich in town.

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## MANCHESTER

A couple of colleges and an art school give this old mill town fresh vitality. New Hampshire's largest city, Manchester (population 109,497) became a manufacturing powerhouse in the 19th century by harnessing the ripping Merrimack River. The brick **Amoskeag Mills** (1838), which stretch along the Commercial St riverbanks for more than a mile, now house software companies and other 21st-century backbones of the city's economy.

Head to Elm St near the town green where you'll find the tourist office and the lion's share of eateries and pubs. The **Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce** ( 603-666-6600; www.manchester-chamber.org; 889 Elm St;  8am-5pm Mon-Thu, 8:30am-4:30pm Fri) has visitor information.

The city's highlight, the **Currier Museum of Art** ( 603-669-6144; www.currier.org; 201 Myrtle Way; adult/child under 18yr $10/free, Sat morning free;  11am-5pm Sun, Mon, Wed & Fri, 10am-5pm Sat), showcases works by American artists Georgia O'Keeffe and Andrew Wyeth. It also operates the 1950 **Zimmerman House** (tours $15), the only home in New England designed by famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) open to the public.

I-93, US 3 and NH 101 all pass through Manchester. The **Manchester Airport** (MHT;  603-624-6539; www.flymanchester.com) is served by major US airlines, including discounter Southwest Airlines. **Greyhound** ( 800-231-2222; www.greyhound.com) provides bus services between Manchester and other New England cities.

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## CONCORD

History-laden Concord makes a refreshing break. Don't let the fact that it's a state capital throw you – think of it as a laid-back little town that just happens to have a capitol building gracing Main St, the way other communities this size would have a town hall. Everything radiates out from the State House – you'll find several delis and restaurants nearby.

The gold-domed, eagle-topped **State House** ( 603-271-2154; 107 N Main St; admission free;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri), built in 1819 of New Hampshire granite, houses the oldest legislative chamber in the US. Forget heavy-handed security, this is a remarkably relaxed affair – you can walk right in, check out the intriguing lobby display of battle-tattered Civil War flags, then head up to the 2nd floor to visit the chamber. The **Museum of New Hampshire History** ( 603-228-6688; www.nhhistory.org; 6 Eagle Sq; adult/child 6-18yr $5.50/3;  9:30am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun, closed Mon Jan-Jun & Nov), opposite the State House, chronicles the history of the Granite State in more depth. **Pierce Manse** ( 603-225-4555; 14 Horseshoe Pond Lane; adult/child 6-18yr $5/2;  11am-3pm Tue-Fri mid-Jun–Aug), the home of Franklin Pierce (1804–69), the only US president to hail from New Hampshire, can be toured in summer. The **Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce** ( 603-224-2508; www.concordnhchamber.com; 40 Commercial St;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-3pm Sat) maintains a tourist information kiosk on the sidewalk in front of the State House.

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## LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE

A popular summer retreat for families looking for a break from the city, New Hampshire's largest lake stretches 28 miles in length, contains 274 islands and offers abundant opportunities for swimming, boating and fishing.

### Weirs Beach

This lakeside town dishes up a curious slice of honky-tonk Americana with its celebrated video arcades, mini-golf courses and go-cart tracks. The **Greater Laconia/Weirs Beach Chamber of Commerce** ( 603-524-5531; www.laconia-weirs.org; 383 S Main St, Laconia) supplies information on the area.

**Mount Washington Cruises** ( 603-366-5531; www.cruisenh.com; cruises $25-40) operates scenic lake cruises, the pricier ones with champagne brunch, from Weirs Beach aboard the old-fashioned MS _Mount Washington_. For a unique experience hop aboard the MV _Sophie C,_ the oldest floating post office in the USA, on its two-hour **cruise** (adult/child 4-12yr $22/12) to deliver mail to the lake islands.

**Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad** ( 603-279-5253; www.hoborr.com; adult/child 3-11yr $14/11) offers train rides along the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee.

### Wolfeboro

On the opposite side of Lake Winnipesaukee, and a world away from the ticky-tacky commercialism of Weirs Beach, sits genteel Wolfeboro. Anointing itself 'the oldest summer resort in America,' the town's awash with graceful period buildings, including several that are open to the public. The friendly folks at the **Wolfeboro Chamber of Commerce** ( 603-569-2200, 800-516-5324; www.wolfeborochamber.com; 32 Central Ave;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 10am-3pm Sun), in the old train station, have the scoop on everything from boat rentals to lakeside beaches.

* * *

# WORTH THE TRIP: CANTERBURY SHAKER VILLAGE

A traditional Shaker community from 1792, **Canterbury Shaker Village** ( 603-783-9511; www.shakers.org; 288 Shaker Rd, Canterbury; adult/child 6-17yr $17/8;  10am-5pm mid-May–Oct) maintains the Shaker heritage as a living-history museum. Interpreters demonstrate the Shakers' daily lives, artisans create Shaker crafts, and walking trails invite pond-side strolls. The greening of America has deep roots here – for more than two centuries the Shakers' abundant gardens have been turning out vegetables, medicinal herbs and bountiful flowers the organic way. If you're ready for a soulful diversion you could easily spend half a day here on the farm, which covers nearly 700 acres. Take a little wholesomeness home with you – there's a store selling Shaker handicrafts, a farm stand and a superb restaurant serving the kind of food grandma used to make using heirloom veggies fresh picked from the garden. The village is 15 miles north of Concord; take I-93 to exit 18 and follow the signs.

* * *

Wolfeboro is home to the **Great Waters Music Festival** ( 603-569-7710; www.greatwaters.org; Brewster Academy, NH 28;  Jul & Aug), where big-name folk, jazz and blues artists perform on the banks of Lake Winnipesaukee.

Off NH 28, about 4 miles north of town, is lakeside **Wolfeboro Campground** ( 603-569-9881; 61 Haines Hill Rd; campsites $27-30) with 50 wooded campsites.

The classic stay is the **Wolfeboro Inn** ( 603-569-3016, 800-451-2389; www.wolfeboroinn.com; 90 N Main St; r incl breakfast from $200), the town's principal lodging since 1812. Some of the rooms have balconies overlooking the lake.

The **Yum Yum Shop** ( 603-569-1919; 16 N Main St; snacks $1-7;  6am-7pm), a Wolfeboro institution, is a family-run bakery selling flaky pastries, old-fashioned cream doughnuts and fresh-made sandwiches. **51 Mill** ( 603-569-3303, 51 Mill St; mains $8-22;  11:30am-9pm) offers a varied menu, large portions and a fine lakeside setting; the crab cakes and grilled swordfish go nicely with the wine selections.

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## WHITE MOUNTAINS

What the Rockies are to Colorado the White Mountains are to New Hampshire. New England's loftiest mountain range is a magnet for adventurers, with boundless opportunities for everything from hiking and kayaking to skiing. Those who prefer to take it in from the comfort of a car seat won't be disappointed either, as scenic drives wind over rugged mountains ripping with waterfalls, sheer rock faces and sharply cut gorges.

You'll find information on the White Mountains at ranger stations throughout the **White Mountain National Forest** (www.fs.fed.us/r9/white) and chambers of commerce in the towns along the way.

### Waterville Valley

In the shadow of Mt Tecumseh, Waterville Valley was developed as a resort community during the latter half of the 20th century, when hotels, condos, golf courses and ski trails were all laid out. It's very much a planned community and arguably a bit too groomed but there's plenty to do, including tennis, indoor ice skating, cycling and other family fun. The **Waterville Valley Region Chamber of Commerce** ( 603-726-3804, 800-237-2307; www.watervillevalleyregion.com; NH 49, Campton;  9am-5pm Wed-Mon), off I-93 exit 28, has all the details.

Like many New England ski mountains, the **Waterville Valley ski area** ( 603-236-8311, 800-468-2553; www.waterville.com) is open in the summer for mountain biking and hiking.

### Mt Washington Valley

Stretching north from the eastern terminus of the Kancamagus Hwy (see the boxed text, Click here), Mt Washington Valley includes the towns of Conway, North Conway, Intervale, Glen, Jackson and Bartlett. Every conceivable outdoor activity is available. The area's hub and biggest town, North Conway, is also a center for outlet shopping, including some earthy stores like LL Bean. For information on the entire area contact the **Mt Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce** ( 603-356-5701, 877-948-6867; www.mtwashingtonvalley.org; 2617 White Mountain Hwy, North Conway;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri).

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

Nostalgia at its finest, the **Conway Scenic Railroad** ( 603-356-5251, 800-232-5251; www.conwayscenic.com; NH 16, North Conway; adult $14-65, child 4-12yr $10-40;  daily mid-May–Oct, Sat & Sun Apr–mid-May & Nov-Dec;  ) runs an antique steam train on a variety of excursions from North Conway through Mt Washington Valley and dramatic Crawford Notch. It's a real stunner, especially during the fall foliage season.

Two miles west of North Conway off US 302, placid **Echo Lake State Park** rests at the foot of a sheer rock wall called White Horse Ledge. The park offers lakeside hiking, swimming and a scenic road up 700ft-high Cathedral Ledge.

Skiing areas include **Attitash** ( 603-374-2368, 877-677-7669; www.attitash.com; US 302, Bartlett), 5 miles west of Glen, which also operates America's longest Alpine slide in summer, and **Black Mountain Ski Area** ( 603-383-4490; www.blackmt.com; NH 16B, Jackson), a cross-country skiing mecca that offers summertime horseback riding.

If you're up for a water adventure, **Saco Bound** ( 603-447-2177; www.sacobound.com; 2561 E Main/US 302, Conway; rental per day from $25) rents canoes and kayaks and also offers guided tours ranging from placid lake paddles to day-long white-water outings.

#### SLEEPING

North Conway in particular is thick with sleeping options from resort hotels to cozy inns.

**HI Albert B Lester Memorial Hostel** ( 603-447-1001; www.conwayhostel.com; 36 Washington St, Conway; dm/r $23/58;    ) Perched on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest, off NH 16, this 45-bed hostel in a converted farmhouse is well situated for outdoor adventurers.

**Cranmore Inn** ( 603-356-5502, 800-526-5502; www.cranmoreinn.com; 80 Kearsarge St, North Conway; r incl breakfast $89-135;        ) With a convenient in-town location, this North Conway landmark has been operating as a country inn since 1863 and good-value, home-style comfort has been its key to success.

**North Conway Grand Hotel** ( 603-356-9300, 800-522-1793; www.northconwaygrand.com; NH 16, Settlers' Green, North Conway; r $99-219;      ) If you're looking for all the trappings of a resort hotel, this family-friendly place has commodious rooms with full amenities and extras like a free DVD library, tennis courts and children's programs.

**Wyatt House Country Inn** ( 603-356-7977, 800-527-7978; www.wyatthouseinn.com; NH 16, North Conway; r incl breakfast $120-179;  ) You'll be pampered with a candlelit gourmet breakfast, afternoon tea and evening sherry. Feeling really romantic? Request the Angel Wing, light the fireplace, slip into the two-person Jacuzzi and uncork the champagne.

The best camping options are **Cove Camping Area** ( 603-447-6734; www.covecamping.com; Cove Rd, Conway; campsites $25-50), off Stark Rd on Conway Lake; and **Saco River Camping Area** ( 603-356-3360; www.sacorivercampingarea.com; North Conway; campsites $25-35;  ) off NH 16 on the Saco River; both places have canoe rentals and beaches.

#### EATING

**Peach's** ( 603-356-5860; South Main St, North Conway; mains $6-10;  7am-2:30pm) This peachy place, a half-mile south of the chamber of commerce, really captures a small-town feel. Who can resist fruit-smothered waffles, hearty omelets and homemade soups served in somebody's cozy living room?

**Café Noche** ( 603-447-5050; 147 Main St, Conway; mains $10-15;  11:30am-9pm) For good Tex-Mex fare topped with real-deal salsas head to this festive central Conway spot. The margaritas, in a head-spinning variety of flavors, will rev up the appetite.

**Flatbread Company** ( 603-356-4470; 2760 White Mountain Hwy, North Conway; pizzas $10-18;  11:30am-9pm) A socially conscious pizzeria, Flatbread uses organic veggies and nitrate-free meats, and dishes up a portion of its profits to local environmental causes. The deliciously crispy pizzas are cooked in front of your eyes in a wood-fired clay oven built into the dining room.

### North Woodstock & Lincoln

You'll pass right through the twin towns of Lincoln and North Woodstock on your way between the Kancamagus Hwy (see the boxed text, opposite) and Franconia Notch State Park, so it's a handy place to break for a bite or a bed. The towns straddle the Pemigewasset River at the intersection of NH 112 and US 3. If you're ready for some action, **Loon Mountain** ( 603-745-8111; www.loonmtn.com; Kancamagus Hwy, Lincoln) offers winter skiing and snowboarding, and in summer has mountain-bike trails, climbing walls and New Hampshire's longest gondola ride. Or ratchet the adrenaline up a notch by zipping 2000ft down a hillside while strapped to just a cable with **Alpine Adventures** ( 603-745-9911; 41 Main St, Lincoln; zips $85;  9am-4pm) treetop zip line. For more on the area, contact the **Lincoln-Woodstock Chamber of Commerce** ( 603-745-6621; www.lincolnwoodstock.com; Main St/NH 112, Lincoln;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri).

* * *

# SCENIC DRIVE: KANCAMAGUS HIGHWAY

One of New England's finest, the 35-mile Kancamagus Hwy (NH 112) is a beauty of a road cutting through the **White Mountain National Forest** between Conway and Lincoln. Laced with excellent hiking trails, scenic lookouts and swimmable streams, this is as natural as it gets. There's absolutely no development along the entire highway, which reaches its highest point at **Kancamagus Pass** (2868ft).

You can pick up brochures and hiking maps at the **Saco Ranger District Office** ( 603-447-5448; 33 Kancamagus Hwy;  8am-4:30pm) at the eastern end of the highway near Conway and at the **Lincoln Woods Ranger Office** ( 603-630-5190; Kancamagus Hwy;  8am-5pm) at the western end near the Mile 29 marker.

Coming from Conway, 6.5 miles west of the Saco ranger station, you'll see **Lower Falls** on the north side of the road – stop here for the view and a swim. No trip along this highway is complete without taking the 20-minute hike to the breathtaking cascade of **Sabbaday Falls** ; the trail begins at Mile 15 on the south side of the road. The best place to spot moose is along the shores of **Lily Pond** ; stop at the roadside overview at Mile 18. At the Lincoln Woods ranger station, cross the suspension footbridge over the river and hike 3 miles to **Franconia Falls** , the finest swimming hole in the entire national forest, complete with a natural rock slide. Parking anywhere along the highway costs $3 per day (honor system) or $5 per week; just fill out an envelope at any of the parking areas.

The White Mountain National Forest is ideal for campers, and you'll find several campgrounds run by the forest service accessible from the Kancamagus Hwy. Most are on a first-come, first-served basis; pick up a list of them from one of the ranger stations that bookend the highway.

* * *

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Woodstock Inn** ( 603-745-3951, 800-321-3985; www.woodstockinnnh.com; US 3, North Woodstock; r incl breakfast with shared bath $78-105, with private bath $95-200;   ) Spread across five historic houses in the heart of North Woodstock, this inn offers a variety of comfortable rooms, many furnished with antiques, some with fireplaces and Jacuzzi baths.

**Wilderness Inn** ( 603-745-3890, 800-777-7813; www.thewildernessinn.com; cnr US 3 & NH 112; r incl breakfast $95-175;      ) Gather round the fireplace with other guests at this century-old B&B with hardwood floors and country-style decor. Or if you want your own private space, swing for the cottage ($175) with a gas fireplace and oversized Jacuzzi tub. The multicourse breakfasts are marvelous.

**Cascade Coffee House** ( 603-745-2001; 115 Main St, North Woodstock; mains $4-8;  7am-3pm Mon-Fri, 7am-5pm Sat & Sun) This creative place in the center of town serves up luscious pastries, fresh smoothies and micro-roaster coffees. At lunch, you'll also find crispy panini sandwiches and innovative salads.

**Woodstock Inn Station & Brewery** ( 603-745-3951; US 3, North Woodstock; mains $8-22;  11:30am-10pm) If your family can't settle on what to eat, this brewpub satisfies an amazing range of food cravings with pub grub, steaks, pizza and Mexican fare. There's live entertainment on weekends in summer and frothy microbrewed ales year-round.

### Franconia Notch State Park

Franconia Notch is the most celebrated mountain pass in New England, a narrow gorge shaped over the eons by a rushing stream slicing through the craggy granite. I-93, in places feeling more like a country road than a highway, runs straight through **Franconia Notch State Park** (admission free). The park **visitor center** ( 603-745-8391; www.franconianotchstatepark.com; I-93, exit 34A) is 4 miles north of North Woodstock at the side of the **Flume Gorge** (adult/child 6-12yr $12/8;  9am-5pm May-Oct), an awesome cleft in the granite bedrock. A 2-mile self-guided nature walk takes you right through the deep opening, which narrows to a mere 12ft, as water rushes at your feet.

The visitor center can give you details on other hikes in the park, ranging from short nature walks to day-long treks. For an enjoyable 20-minute stroll, stop at the **Basin** pull-off, between exits 34A and 34B, where a half-mile trail runs along a stream to a glacier-carved granite pool. The Basin is lovely. However, as swimming is not allowed here, to take a dip head to **Echo Lake Beach** ( 603-823-8800; adult/child $4/2;  10am-5:30pm), exit 34C, where you can also rent kayaks, rowboats and canoes.

The **Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway** ( 603-823-8800; I-93, exit 34B; round-trip adult/child 6-12yr $12/9;  9am-5pm late May–mid-Oct;  ) whisks you to the 4180ft summit for breathtaking views of Franconia Notch and the White Mountains.

Franconia Notch State Park's **Lafayette Place Campground** ( 603-823-9513, reservations 603-271-3628; campsites $25;  late May–mid-Oct), a hub for hikers, has 97 wooded campsites, but they fill up early in summer, so it's best to reserve in advance.

A few miles north of Franconia Notch lies the **Frost Place** ( 603-823-5510; www.frostplace.org; Ridge Rd, Franconia; adult/child 6-18yr $5/3;  1-5pm Sat & Sun late May–Jun, 1-5pm Wed-Mon Jul–mid-Oct), the farm where poet Robert Frost (1874–1963) wrote his most famous poems, 'The Road Not Taken' and 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.' It retains the simplicity and inspiration of Frost's day, free of flashy displays.

### Bretton Woods & Crawford Notch

Before 1944, Bretton Woods was known primarily as a low-key retreat for wealthy visitors who patronized the majestic Mt Washington Hotel. After President Roosevelt chose the hotel for the historic conference that established a new post-WWII economic order, the town's name took on worldwide recognition. The countryside, with Mt Washington looming above it, is as magnificent today as it was back then. The **Twin Mountain-Bretton Woods Chamber of Commerce** ( 800-245-8946; www.twinmountain.org; cnr US 302 & US 3, Twin Mountain) has details on the area.

The region's largest ski area, **Bretton Woods ski station** ( 603-278-3320; www.brettonwoods.com; US 302) offers both downhill and cross-country winter skiing.

US 302 heads south from Bretton Woods to Crawford Notch (1773ft) through stunning mountain scenery ripe with towering cascades. **Crawford Notch State Park** ( 603-374-2272; adult/child 6-11yr $4/2;  mid-May–mid-Oct) maintains an extensive system of hiking trails, including short hikes around a pond and to a waterfall, and a longer trek up Mt Washington.

Inside Crawford Notch State Park, the **Dry River Campground** ( 603-271-3628; US 302; campsites $23;  mid-May–mid-Dec) has 36 quiet sites and good facilities.

If walls could talk, the historic **Mt Washington Hotel** ( 603-278-1000, 800-314-1752; www.mountwashingtonresort.com; US 302; r $219-600;      ) could spin quite a tale. Opened in 1902, this grande dame of New England mountain resorts boasts 2600 acres of grounds, 27 holes of golf, 12 clay tennis courts, a pair of heated pools and an equestrian center.

* * *

# THE TENACIOUS OLD MAN

The Old Man of the Mountain is everywhere except on the mountain. This 40ft-tall natural rock profile that graced Franconia Notch for eons was the iconic image of the White Mountains for generations of visitors. And even though the old rock face collapsed and crumbled down the mountainside in 2003, this craggy symbol of the Granite State keeps appearing on brochures as if nothing ever happened. His stony face graces the commemorative New Hampshire quarter. He's plastered on state highway signs. And the old geezer's proud gaze still stares out from the 'Live Free or Die' license plates. Long live the Old Man.

* * *

### Mt Washington

From Pinkham Notch (2032ft), on NH 16 about 11 miles north of North Conway, a system of hiking trails provides access to the natural beauties of the Presidential Range, including lofty **Mt Washington** (6288ft), the highest mountain east of the Mississippi and north of the Smoky Mountains. Hikers need to be prepared: Mt Washington's weather is notoriously severe and can turn on a dime. Dress warmly – not only does the mountain register New England's coldest temperatures (in summer, the average at the summit is 45°F) but unrelenting winds make it feel colder than the thermometer reading.

One of the most popular trails up Mt Washington begins at the AMC's Pinkham Notch Visitor Center and runs 4.2 strenuous miles to the summit, taking four to five hours to reach the top and a bit less on the way down. If your quads aren't up for a workout, the **Mt Washington Auto Road** ( 603-466-3988; www.mountwashingtonautoroad.com; car & driver $23, extra adult/child 5-12yr $8/6;  mid-May–mid-Oct) offers easier summit access, weather permitting.

While purists walk, and the out-of-shape drive, the quaintest way to reach the summit is to take the **Mt Washington Cog Railway`** ( 603-278-5404, 800-922-8825; www.thecog.com; adult/child 4-12yr $59/39,  May-Oct). Since 1869, coal-fired steam-powered locomotives have followed a 3.5-mile track up a steep mountainside trestle for a jaw-dropping excursion.

The **Pinkham Notch Visitor Center** ( 603-466-2727; www.outdoors.org; NH 16;  6:30am-10pm), run by the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), is the area's informational nexus for like-minded adventurers and a good place to buy hiking necessities, including topographic trail maps and the handy _AMC White Mountain Guide_.

The AMC runs the adjacent **Joe Dodge Lodge** ( 603-466-2727; dm incl breakfast & dinner $67). **Dolly Copp Campground** ( 603-466-2713, 877-444-6777; NH 16; campsites $20), a USFS campground 6 miles north of the AMC's Pinkham Notch facilities, has 176 simple campsites.

Return to beginning of chapter

## HANOVER

The archetypal New England college town, Hanover has a town green that is bordered on all four sides by the handsome brick edifices of Dartmouth College. Virtually the whole town is given over to this Ivy League school; chartered in 1769, Dartmouth is the nation's ninth-oldest college.

Main St, rolling down from the green, is bordered by perky pubs and cafés catering to the collegian crowd. **Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce** ( 603-643-3115; www.hanoverchamber.org; 53 S Main St;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri) is a good place to start your visit. Parking is restricted on campus, but there's on-street parking along Main St.

### Sights & Activities

Hanover is all about Dartmouth College, so hit the campus. If you'd like to join a free student-guided **campus walking tour** ( 603-646-2875; www.dartmouth.edu), see the calendar online for tour times. Or just pick up a map at the admissions office and head off on your own. Don't miss the **Baker-Berry Library** ( 603-646-2560;  8am-10pm), splashed with the grand _Epic of American Civilization,_ painted by the outspoken Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco (1883–1949), who taught at Dartmouth in the 1930s.

The collections at Dartmouth's **Hood Museum of Art** ( 603-646-2808; Wheelock St; admission free;  10am-5pm Tue & Thu-Sat, 10am-9pm Wed, noon-5pm Sun) cover a wide swath from Assyrian stone reliefs dating to 883 BC to contemporary American art by heavyweights Jackson Pollock and Edward Hopper.

### Sleeping & Eating

**Chieftain Motor Inn** ( 603-643-2550; www.chieftaininn.com; 84 Lyme Rd/NH 10; r $99-140;      ) In a riverfront setting on the north side of town, this rustic inn offers complimentary use of canoes, making it a good spot to combine an outing with a night's sleep.

**Lou's** ( 603-643-3321; 30 S Main St; mains $4-8;  6am-3pm Mon-Fri, 7am-3pm Sat & Sun) A student haunt since 1947, Lou's has good sandwiches and pastries, but everybody comes to this simple diner for the hearty breakfasts served until closing.

**Canoe Club Bistro** ( 603-643-9660; 27 S Main St; mains $10-20;  11:30am-11:30pm) This smart café does a fine job with grilled food – not just burgers and steaks, but also tasty treats like open-faced lamb pita. There's also live entertainment nightly – anything from acoustic to jazz.

### Drinking & Entertainment

**Murphy's on the Green** ( 603-643-4075; 11 S Main St;  11am-1am) At this classic Irish pub, students and faculty discuss weighty matters over pints of Irish ale.

**Hopkins Center for the Arts** ( 603-646-2422; www.hop.dartmouth.edu; Lebanon St) The 'Hop' is Dartmouth's refined venue for string quartets, modern dance and plays.

Return to beginning of chapter

# MAINE

Maine is New England's frontier – a land so vast it could swallow the region's five other states with scarcely a gulp. Its coast, with sandy beaches in the south and craggy mountains in the north, extends some 3500 miles, if you were to travel along its deeply indented shoreline. While time-honored fishing villages and seaside lobster joints are the fame of Maine, inland travel also offers ample reward. Maine's rugged interior is given over to rushing rivers, dense forests and lofty mountains just aching to be explored.

As a traveler in Maine, your choices are as spectacularly varied as the landscape. You can opt to sail serenely along the coast on a graceful schooner or rip through white-water rapids on a river raft, spend the night in an old sea captain's home-turned-B&B, or camp among the moose on a backwoods lake.

* * *

# MAINE FACTS

**Nickname** Pine Tree State

**Population** 1.3 million

**Area** 35,387 sq miles

**Capital city** Augusta (population 18,560)

**Other cities** Portland (population 63, 011)

**Sales tax** 5%

**Birthplace of** Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82)

**Home of** Horror novelist Stephen King

**Famous for** Lobster, moose, blueberries, LL Bean

**State drink** Maine gave the world Moxie, America's first (1884) and spunkiest soft drink

**Driving distances** Portland to Acadia National Park 160 miles, Portland to Boston 150 miles

* * *

### History

It's estimated that 20,000 Native Americans from several tribes known collectively as Wabanaki ('People of the Dawn') inhabited Maine before the arrival of Europeans. The French and English vied to establish colonies in Maine during the 1600s, but, deterred by the harsh winters, these settlements failed.

In 1652 Massachusetts annexed the territory of Maine to provide a front line of defense against potential attacks during the French and Indian Wars. And indeed Maine at times did become a battlefield between English colonists in New England and French forces in Canada. In the early 19th century, in an attempt to settle sparsely populated Maine, 100-acre homesteads were offered free to settlers willing to farm the land. In 1820 Maine broke from Massachusetts and entered the Union as a state.

In 1851 Maine became the first state to ban the sale of alcoholic beverages, the start of a temperance movement that eventually took hold throughout the United States. It wasn't until 1934 that Prohibition was finally lifted.

### Information

If you're entering the state on the I-95 heading north, stop at the well-stocked visitor information center on the highway.

**Maine Bureau of Parks and Land** ( 800-332-1501; www.maine.gov/doc/parks; campsites $10-27) Offers camping in 12 state parks.

**Maine Office of Tourism** ( 888-624-6345; www.visitmaine.com) Will send out a handy 288-page magazine on Maine destinations.

**Maine Tourism Association** ( 207-623-0363; www.mainetourism.com) Links regional tourist offices throughout Maine.

Return to beginning of chapter

## SOUTHERN MAINE COAST

Maine's most touristed quarter, this seaside region lures visitors with its sandy beaches, resort towns and outlet shopping. The best place to stop for the latter is the southernmost town of Kittery, which is chockablock with outlet stores.

### Ogunquit

Aptly named, Ogunquit means 'Beautiful Place by the Sea' in the native Abenaki tongue, and its 3-mile beach has long been a magnet for summer visitors. Ogunquit Beach, a sandy barrier beach, separates the Ogunquit River from the Atlantic Ocean, offering beachgoers the appealing option to swim in cool ocean surf or in the warmer, calmer cove.

As a New England beach destination, Ogunquit is second only to Provincetown for the number of gay travelers who vacation here. Most of the town lies along Main St (US 1), lined with restaurants, shops and motels. For waterfront dining and boating activities head to Perkins Cove at the south end of town.

The **Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce** ( 207-646-2939; www.ogunquit.org; 36 Main St;  9am-5pm) has visitor information.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

A highlight is walking the scenic 1.5-mile **Marginal Way** , the coastal footpath that skirts the 'margin' of the sea from Shore Rd, near the center of town, to Perkins Cove. A sublime stretch of family-friendly coastline, **Ogunquit Beach** , also called Main Beach by locals, begins right in the town center at the end of Beach St.

**Ogunquit Playhouse** ( 207-646-5511; www.ogunquitplayhouse.org; 10 Main St;  ), which first opened in 1933, presents both showy Broadway musicals and children's theater each summer.

**Finestkind Scenic Cruises** ( 207-646-5227; www.finestkindcruises.com; Perkins Cove; adult/child from $15/8;  ) offers several boat cruises, including cool 50-minute voyages to pull up lobster traps.

#### SLEEPING

**Pinederosa Camping** ( 207-646-2492; 128 North Village Rd, Wells; campsites $28;  ) The nearest camping is off US 1, a mile north of Ogunquit's center.

**Ogunquit Beach Inn** ( 207-646-1112; www.ogunquitbeachinn.com; 67 School St; r incl breakfast $119-179;   ) A favorite among Ogunquit's gay visitors, this pleasant B&B in the town center is close to both Main St and the beach. The accommodating hosts supply little extras like complimentary use of beach chairs and a movie library.

**Puffin Inn** ( 207-646-5496; www.puffininn.com; 433 Main St; r incl breakfast $119-219;      ) This three-story Victorian has 11 rooms, each with its own character and some with private decks. Start your morning with a full home-cooked breakfast served on the porch.

#### EATING

You'll find Ogunquit's restaurants on the south side of town at Perkins Cove and in the town center along Main St.

**Bread & Roses** ( 207-646-4227; 246 Main St; snacks $3-8;  7am-11pm) The kind of bakery that most small towns only dream about – the raspberry croissants are heavenly, the salads healthy, the panini sandwiches grilled to perfection. It's takeout, but there are café tables outside.

**Lobster Shack** ( 207-646-2941; Perkins Cove Rd; mains $8-25;  11am-8pm) If you want good seafood and aren't particular about the view, this reliable joint serves lobster in all its various incarnations from lobster stew to lobster in the shell.

**Barnacle Billy's** ( 207-646-5575; 183 Shore Rd; mains $10-35;  11am-9pm) For lobsters with a view, this landmark restaurant overlooking Perkins Cove is the one. The lobster prices depend on the weight you choose but expect to pay around $30 on average.

* * *

# GET CRACKIN'

Eating a boiled lobster is a messy pleasure and no trip to New England is complete without experiencing this culinary delight. Lobster eateries will give you a plastic bib, a metal cracker, melted butter for dipping the meat, a dish for the shells and a pile of napkins. Tear in with your hands and fingers. Suck the sweet meat out of the legs, crack the claws to reach the treat inside, then finally twist off the tail by bending it back to remove the prized tail meat in one succulent piece.

* * *

**MC Perkins Cove** ( 207-646-6263; Perkins Cove Rd; bar menu $12-20;  11am-10pm) Beautiful food and beautiful people come together at this award-winning seaside restaurant. For the best deal, go straight to the bar menu: don't overlook the fish tacos or the Kobe beef burger with sweet potato fries.

### Kennebunkport

On the Kennebunk River, Kennebunkport fills with tourists in summer who come to stroll the streets, admire the century-old mansions and get their fill of sea views. Be sure to take a drive along Ocean Ave, which runs along the east side of the Kennebunk River and then follows a scenic stretch of the Atlantic that holds some of Kennebunkport's finest estates, including the summer home of former president George Bush Snr.

Three public beaches extend along the west side of the Kennebunk River and are known collectively as Kennebunk Beach. The center of town spreads out from Dock Sq, which is along ME 9 (Western Ave) at the east side of the Kennebunk River bridge. The **Kennebunk/Kennebunkport Chamber of Commerce** ( 207-967-0857; www.visitthekennebunks.com; 17 Western Ave;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri year-round, 8:30am-3pm Sat Jul & Aug) has tourist information.

#### SLEEPING

**Franciscan Guest House** ( 207-967-4865; www.franciscanguesthouse.com; 26 Beach Ave; r incl breakfast $89-154;          ) Serenity awaits at this suitably simple, but perfectly comfortable, 50-room guesthouse on the grounds of St Anthony's Monastery. Enjoy the outdoor saltwater pool and 60 acres of wooded walking trails.

**Green Heron Inn** ( 207-967-3315; www.greenheroninn.com; 126 Ocean Ave; r incl breakfast $180-215;        ) In a fine neighborhood, overlooking a picturesque cove, this engaging inn has 10 cozy rooms and is within walking distance of a sandy beach and several restaurants. Breakfast is a gourmet, multicourse event.

**Cabot Cove Cottages** ( 207-967-5424; www.cabotcovecottages.com; 7 S Maine St; r $185-345;  ) On the Kennebunk River, these idyllic cottages offer a splendid alternative to a hotel. Each has a full kitchen and loads of amenities. Complimentary kayaks and canoes are available for paddling along the serene tidal cove.

#### EATING

**Clam Shack** ( 207-967-2560; 2 Western Ave; mains $7-20;  11am-9:30pm) By the bridge at the west side of the Kennebunk River, this simple joint is justifiably famous for its fried clams, but the lobster roll overflowing with succulent chunks of lobster is the ultimate prize here.

**Hurricane** ( 207-967-9111; 29 Dock Sq; lunch mains $10-20, dinner $20-40;  11:30am-9:30pm) Right on the water with great food and a wonderful sense of place. If you're not whizzing through and have time for a leisurely lunch, order the handpicked Maine crabmeat sandwich on sourdough, a glass of wine and enjoy the view.

**Bandaloop** ( 207-967-4994; 2 Dock Sq; mains $17-23;  5-10pm) Local, organic and deliciously innovative, running the gamut from pork chops with Yukon gold potatoes to baked tofu with hemp-seed crust and seaweed salad. Whew!

Return to beginning of chapter

## PORTLAND

The 18th-century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow referred to his childhood city as the 'jewel by the sea,' and thanks to a hefty revitalization effort, Portland once again sparkles. Its lively waterfront, burgeoning gallery scene and manageable size (population 63,000) add up to great exploring. Foodies, rev up your taste buds: cutting-edge cafés and chef-driven restaurants have turned Portland into the hottest dining scene north of Boston.

### Orientation & Information

Portland sits on a hilly peninsula surrounded on three sides by water: Back Cove, Casco Bay and the Fore River. It's easy to find your way around. Commercial St (US 1A) runs along the waterfront through the Old Port, while the parallel Congress St is the main thoroughfare through downtown, passing the art museum, city hall and banks.

**Greater Portland Convention & Visitors Bureau** ( 207-772-5800; www.visitportland.com; 14 Ocean Gateway Pier;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm Sat year-round, 10am-3pm Sun Jul-Aug) Pick up a free Portland guide here.

**JavaNet Cafe** ( 207-773-2469; 37 Exchange St; per 15min $2;  7am-9pm Mon-Fri, 8am-9pm Sat, 8am-5pm Sun;  ) Internet café with good java.

**Maine Medical Center** ( 207-662-0111; 22 Bramhall St;  24hr)

**Portland Phoenix** (www.thephoenix.com/portland) Free alternative weekly newspaper, covering events and entertainment.

* * *

# DON'T MISS

  * The Winslow Homer collection at the Portland Museum of Art (below)
  * Blueberry cream scones at Standard Baking Co (Click here)
  * A pint of Black Fly stout at Gritty McDuff's (Click here)

* * *

**Portland Public Library** ( 207-871-1700; 5 Monument Sq;  10am-7pm Tue-Thu, 10am-6pm Fri, 10am-5pm Sat;  ) Fifteen-minute free internet access.

**Post office** ( 800-275-8777; 400 Congress St;  8am-7pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm Sat)

### Sights & Activities

#### OLD PORT

Portland's heart thumps from the **Old Port** , where salt-scented breezes, brick sidewalks and lamp-lit streets just beg for poking about. This restored waterfront district centers on the handsome 19th-century buildings lining Commercial St and the narrow side streets extending a few blocks inland. Once home to the brawny warehouses and merchant quarters of a bustling port, the focus has shifted from shipping to shopping. This gentrified neighborhood now houses many of Portland's finest restaurants, pubs, boutiques and galleries.

Head to waterfront Commercial St for an eclectic food and drink scene, to Exchange and Fore Sts for gallery row. Seek out **Maine Potters Market** ( 207-774-1633; 376 Fore St), a collective of 15 of Maine's best potters; **Abacus** ( 207-772-4880; 44 Exchange St) for jewelry, glass and lots of colorful gift items; and **Edgecomb Potters** ( 207-780-6727; 49 Exchange St), where contemporary pottery, glass and sculpture rules.

#### MUSEUMS & HISTORIC BUILDINGS

Works of Maine painters Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth are showcased at the **Portland Museum of Art** ( 207-775-6148; www.portlandmuseum.org; 7 Congress Sq; adult/child 6-17yr $10/4, 5-9pm Fri free;  10am-5pm Sat-Thu, 10am-9pm Fri, closed Mon mid-Oct–May). Maine's finest art museum also boasts solid contemporary collections; post-Impressionist works by Picasso, Monet and Renoir; and a brilliant collection of Portland art glass. If you enjoy period homes, be sure to stroll through the restored 1801 **McLellan House** , entered through the museum and included in the ticket price.

Folks with kids in tow should head for the **Children's Museum of Maine** ( 207-828-1234; www.childrensmuseumofme.org; 142 Free St; admission $8;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun, closed Mon Sep-May;  ). This house of fun is conveniently next to the Portland Museum of Art.

The **Longfellow House** ( 207-879-0427; 489 Congress St; adult/child 5-17yr $8/3;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun May-Oct), the childhood home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82), retains its original character, complete with the poet's family furnishings. Admission includes entry to the adjacent **Maine Historical Society Museum** , which has exhibits on the state's history.

History buffs won't want to miss the hilltop **Portland Observatory Museum** ( 207-774-5561; 138 Congress St; adult/child 6-16yr $7/4;  10am-5pm late May–early Oct), built in 1807 as a maritime signal station to direct ships entering the bustling harbor. Its function was roughly on par with that of an airport traffic control tower today. From the top of this observatory, the last of its kind remaining in the USA, you'll be rewarded with a sweeping view of Casco Bay.

#### AROUND PORTLAND

Up for a picnic in an unbeatable setting? Head 4 miles south of central Portland to Cape Elizabeth and the 90-acre **Fort Williams Park** (admission free;  sunrise-sunset) where you'll find **Portland Head Light** ( 207-799-2661; 1000 Shore Rd, Cape Elizabeth; lighthouse museum adult/child 6-18yr $2/1;  10am-4pm Jun-Oct), New England's most photographed lighthouse and the oldest (1791) of Maine's more than 60 lighthouses.

For a whole different angle on Portland and Casco Bay, hop one of the boats offering narrated scenic cruises out of Portland Harbor. **Casco Bay Lines** ( 207-774-7871; www.cascobaylines.com; 56 Commercial St; adult $13-24, child 5-9yr $6-11) tours the Portland coast and Casco Bay islands on a variety of cruises that last from 1¾ to six hours. You can also have Casco Bay Lines drop you off at Peaks Island and then hook up with **Maine Island Kayak Company** ( 207-766-2373; www.maineislandkayak.com; 70 Luther St, Peaks Island, Portland; tour $65;  May-Nov) for a half-day kayak tour of the bay. For a classy sail, the **Portland Schooner Company** ( 207-776-2500; www.portlandschooner.com; 56 Commercial St, Portland; adult/child 2-12yr $35/15;  May-Oct) offers two-hour trips aboard a pair of elegant Maine-built, century-old wooden schooners.

Landlubbers can ride the rails on the antique steam trains of the **Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co & Museum** ( 207-828-0814; www.mngrr.org; 58 Fore St; adult/child 3-12yr $10/6;  11am-4pm mid-May–Oct, shorter hours low season;  ) for a journey departing on the hour along Casco Bay.

### Sleeping

In addition to in-town choices, there are several chain hotels south of the city near the airport.

**Inn at St John** ( 207-773-6481, 800-636-9127; www.innatstjohn.com; 939 Congress St; r incl breakfast $69-129;        ) Built in 1897 to accommodate train passengers arriving at the old Union Station, this Victorian hotel retains its period character with style. One caveat: the location opposite the bus station and hospital can be noisy. Light sleepers should request room 102 – no windows and whisper quiet.

**La Quinta Inn** ( 207-871-0611; www.laquinta.com; 340 Park St; r incl breakfast $69-129;          ) The best value among the chain operations, La Quinta has well-maintained rooms and a good in-town location opposite the ballpark of the Portland Sea Dogs, a Boston Red Sox–affiliate team.

**Inn at Park Spring** ( 207-774-1059, 800-437-8511; www.innatparkspring.com; 135 Spring St; r incl breakfast $139-185;    ) Friendly innkeepers, comfortable rooms and a convenient location within easy walking distance of the port add to the appeal of this period B&B.

### Eating

**Standard Baking Co** ( 207-773-2112; 75 Commercial St; snacks $2-4;  7am-6pm Mon-Fri, 7am-5pm Sat & Sun) For a sweet breakfast treat, head to this Old Port bakery and order a blueberry cream scone and chocolate croissant. Portland's best organic rustic breads are made here too.

**Duckfat** ( 207-774-8080; 43 Middle St; mains $6-10;  11am-9pm Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm Sun) If you have gourmet taste on a fast-food budget, this one-of-a-kind eatery won't disappoint. Try the innovative panini sandwiches, the duck confit salad, and, if you have a tolerance for grease, the signature fries crisped in duck fat with truffle-ketchup dip.

 **Green Elephant** ( 207-347-3111; 608 Congress St; mains $9-13;  11:30am-2:30pm & 5-9:30pm Tue-Sat;  ) Even carnivores shouldn't miss the brilliant vegetarian fare at this Zen-chic, Thai-inspired café. Start with the crispy spinach wontons, then move on to one of the exotic soy creations like gingered 'duck' with shiitake mushrooms. Do save room for the incredible chocolate orange mousse pie.

**Portland Lobster Co** ( 207-775-2112; 180 Commercial St; mains $10-22;  11am-9pm) Lobster stew, lobster rolls and lobster dinners shore up the menu at this harborfront shack. Take your meal to the deck and watch the boats pull up as you get crackin'.

**Hugo's** ( 207-774-8538; 88 Middle St; mains $25-32;  5:30-9pm Tue-Thu, to 9:30pm Fri & Sat) If you have just one night to splurge let it be here. Owner-chef Rob Evans won the coveted James Beard Award in 2009 as the top chef in the Northeast. Trained at Napa Valley's elite restaurant French Laundry, Evans masterfully fuses California influences with fresh New England ingredients. Pistachio-encrusted lobster anyone?

### Drinking & Entertainment

**Gritty McDuff's** ( 207-772-2739; 396 Fore St;  11am-1am) This Old Port brewpub has it all: harbor views, high energy, good pub grub and award-winning ales. Order up a robust pint of Black Fly stout and join the crowd.

**North Star Music Café** ( 207-699-2994; 225 Congress St) There's always something going on at this little café. The packed calendar features acoustic music, jazz nights, local singer-songwriters and open mike. Hours vary.

**Styxx** ( 207-828-0822; 3 Spring St;  4pm-1am) Drag shows, hot DJs and a huge dance floor make Styxx the top draw for the gay and lesbian community.

### Getting There & Around

**Portland International Jetport** (PWM;  207-774-7301; www.portlandjetport.org) is served by domestic airlines, with nonstop flights to cities in the eastern US.

**Greyhound** ( 800-231-2222; www.greyhound.com) buses and **Amtrak** ( 800-872-7245; www.amtrak.com) trains connect Portland and Boston; both take about 2½ hours and charge $24 one way.

The local bus **Metro** ( 207-774-0351; www.gpmetrobus.com; fares $1.25), which runs throughout the city, has its main terminus at Monument Sq, the intersection of Elm and Congress Sts.

Return to beginning of chapter

## CENTRAL MAINE COAST

Midcoast Maine is where the mountains meet the sea. You'll find craggy peninsulas jutting deep into the Atlantic, alluring seaside villages and endless opportunities for hiking, sailing and kayaking.

### Freeport

The fame and fortune of Freeport, 16 miles northeast of Portland, began a century ago when Leon Leonwood Bean opened a shop to sell equipment to hunters and fishers heading north into the Maine wilderness. Bean's good value earned him loyal customers, and over the years the **LL Bean** **store** ( 800-341-4341; www.llbean.com; Main St;  24hr) has expanded to add sportswear to its outdoor gear. Although a hundred other stores have joined the pack, the wildly popular LL Bean is still the epicenter of town.

Ironically, this former stopover for hardy outdoor types is now devoted entirely to city-style shopping, consisting of a mile-long Main St (US 1) lined with outlet stores that sell everything from dinnerware to shoes. **Freeport Merchants Association** ( 207-865-1212, 800-865-1994; www.freeportusa.com; 23 Depot St;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri) provides information.

Although 'shop till you drop' may be the town's motto, there's no need to stay on your feet all night – this town has some two dozen inns.

The innkeepers make you feel right at home at the beautifully restored **Kendall Tavern B &B** ( 207-865-1338, 800-341-9572; www.kendalltavern.com; 213 Main St; r incl breakfast $140-175;    ), a farmhouse at the quieter north side of the town center. Blueberry pancakes or similar treats greet guests at breakfast.

A favorite with shoppers, **Lobster Cooker** ( 207-865-4349; 39 Main St; mains $8-22;  11am-7pm Sun-Fri, 11am-8pm Sat), just south of LL Bean, has generous fish sandwiches, homemade chowders and steamed lobsters.

For the best atmosphere, head to the casual, harbor-side **Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster Co** ( 207-865-4888; 36 Main St, South Freeport; mains $9-25;  11am-7:30pm, to 8:45pm Jul & Aug), 3 miles south of Freeport center, for its popular lobster dinners, steamers and fried seafood. Feast at picnic tables within spitting distance of the bay.

### Bath

Bath has been renowned for shipbuilding since Colonial times and that remains the raison d'être for the town today. **Bath Iron Works** , one of the largest shipyards in the USA, builds steel frigates and other ships for the US Navy. The substantial **Maine Maritime Museum** ( 207-443-1316; 243 Washington St; adult/child 4-17yr $12/9;  9:30am-5pm), south of the ironworks on the Kennebec River, showcases the town's centuries-old maritime history, which included construction of the six-mast schooner _Wyoming,_ the largest wooden vessel ever built in the USA.

### Boothbay Harbor

On a fjord-like harbor, this achingly picturesque fishing village with narrow, winding streets is thick with tourists in the summer. Other than eating lobster, the main activity here is hopping on boats. **Balmy Days Cruises** ( 207-633-2284, 800-298-2284; www.balmydayscruises.com; Pier 8) runs one-hour harbor tours (adult/child aged three to 12 years $14/7) and day trips to Monhegan Island (adult/child $38/25). **Cap'n Fish's Boat Trips** ( 207-633-3244, 800-636-3244; www.mainewhales.com; Pier 1;  ) offers four-hour whale-watching trips (adult/child aged six to 10 years $38/25). **Tidal Transit** ( 207-633-7140; 18 Granary Way) leads three-hour kayak tours ($35 to $40) up coastal waters where wildlife abounds. The **Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce** ( 207-633-2353; www.boothbayharbor.com; 192 Townsend Ave;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat) provides visitor information.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Gray Homestead** ( 207-633-4612; www.graysoceancamping.com; 21 Homestead Rd, Southport; campsites $35) Fall asleep to the lull of the surf at this ocean-side campground 4 miles south of Boothbay Harbor via ME 27 and 238.

**Tugboat Inn** ( 207-633-4434, 800-248-2628; www.tugboatinn.com; 80 Commercial St; r incl breakfast $99-169;        ) Wings of this hotel, literally hanging over the water, are on piers, offering the most amazing water views you'll ever experience without being on a boat. You could cast a fishing pole from your front door. The rooms themselves are straightforward, nothing fancy – this is all about the setting.

**Topside Inn** ( 207-633-5404, 877-486-7466; www.topsideinn.com; 60 McKown St; r incl breakfast $125-225;  ) Perched on a hilltop, this 19th-century sea captain's house turned B&B has 21 comfortable rooms, hospitable owners and a quiet location. Request an upper-floor room in the main house for a stunning panorama.

**Blue Moon Cafe** ( 207-633-2220; 54 Commercial St; mains $4-7;  7:30am-2:30pm) Get a $5 breakfast with a million-dollar view on the waterfront deck of this family-run café serving omelets, blueberry pancakes and sandwiches.

**Lobster Dock** ( 207-633-7120; 49 Atlantic Ave; mains $10-20;  11:30am-8:30pm) Boothbay Harbor crawls with lobster eateries. This is one of the best and cheapest. From chunky lobster stew to boiled lobster in the shell, this seaside place perfects everything that can be done with Maine's signature shellfish.

### Monhegan Island

This small granite island with high cliffs and crashing surf, 9 miles off the Maine coast, attracts summer day-trippers, artists and nature-lovers who find inspiration in the dramatic views and agreeable isolation. Tidy and manageable, Monhegan is just 1.5 miles long and a half-mile wide. The website **Monhegan Commons** (www.monhegan.com) has island information and accommodation links. Rooms typically book out in summer, so plan ahead if you're not just visiting on a day trip.

In addition to its 17 miles of walking trails, there's an 1824 **lighthouse** with a small museum in the former keeper's house and several artists' studios that you can poke your head into.

The 28 rooms in the 1870 **Monhegan House** ( 207-594-7983; www.monheganhouse.com; s/d incl breakfast $85/150;    ) have shared baths but offer cheery ocean and lighthouse views. The café at the Monhegan House sells pizza, sandwiches and ice cream.

Departing from Port Clyde, the **Monhegan Boat Line** ( 207-372-8848; www.monheganboat.com; round-trip adult/child 2-12yr $32/18) runs three trips daily to Monhegan from late May to mid-October, once a day for the rest of the year. The **MV Hardy III** ( 800-278-3346; www.hardyboat.com; round-trip adult/child under 12yr $32/18;  mid-Jun–Sep) departs for Monhegan twice daily from New Harbor, on the east side of the Pemaquid Peninsula. Both boats take approximately one hour and both have early morning departures and late-afternoon returns, perfect for day-tripping.

### Camden

With rolling hills as a backdrop and a harbor full of sailboats, Camden is a gem. Home to Maine's justly famed fleet of windjammers (see the boxed text, Click here), it attracts nautical-minded souls.

You can get a superb view of pretty Camden and its surroundings by taking the 45-minute climb up Mt Battie in **Camden Hills State Park** ( 207-236-3109; 280 Belfast Rd/US 1; adult/child 5-11yr $4.50/1;  7am-sunset) at the north side of Camden.

* * *

# WORTH THE TRIP: PEMAQUID PENINSULA

Adorning the southernmost tip of the Pemaquid Peninsula, **Pemaquid Point** is one of the most wildly beautiful places in Maine, with its tortured igneous rock formations pounded by treacherous seas. Perched atop the rocks in the 7-acre **Lighthouse Park** ( 207-677-2494; Pemaquid Point; adult/child under 12yr $2/free;  sunrise-sunset) is the 11,000 candle power Pemaquid Light, built in 1827. A climb to the top will reward you with a fine coastal view. A star of the 61 surviving lighthouses along the Maine coast, you may well be carrying an image of Pemaquid Light in your pocket without knowing it – it's the beauty featured on the back of the Maine state quarter. The keeper's house now serves as the **Fishermen's Museum** ( 9am-5:30pm mid-May–mid-Oct) displaying period photos, old fishing gear and lighthouse paraphernalia. Admission is included in the park fee.

Off the main highway, Pemaquid Point is bypassed by the masses today, but artists are still drawn here in great numbers and in summertime a small art museum opens on the grounds of Lighthouse Park. Pemaquid Peninsula is 15 miles south of US 1 via ME 130.

* * *

Lobster fanatics (and who isn't!) won't want to miss the **Maine Lobster Festival** (www.mainelobsterfestival.com), New England's ultimate homage to the crusty crustacean, held near the beginning of August in nearby Rockland.

The **Camden-Rockport-Lincolnville Chamber of Commerce** ( 207-236-4404, 800-223-5459; www.camdenme.org; 2 Public Landing;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, 10am-4pm Sun), near the harbor, provides visitor information on the region.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Camden Hills State Park** ( 207-236-3109; 280 Belfast Rd/US 1; campsites $27;  mid-May–mid-Oct) This popular park has 107 forested campsites and 30 miles of scenic hiking trails; reservations are advised in midsummer.

**Camden Maine Stay Inn** ( 207-236-9636; www.camdenmainestay.com; 22 High St; r incl breakfast $130-290) This stately 1802 home has lovely gardens, an agreeable period ambience and a fine location, just a couple blocks from restaurants and the waterfront. The friendly owners offer eight nicely appointed rooms and can share a wealth of insights on the area.

**Captain Swift Inn** ( 207-236-8113, 800-251-0865; www.swiftinn.com; 72 Elm St; r incl breakfast $139-245;      ) Crème brûlée French toast? That gives you just a taste of what you're in for at this pampering B&B. Occupying an 1810 Federal-style home, the eight comfy rooms vary, but think hardwood floors, four-poster beds and a warm fireplace.

**Camden Deli** ( 207-236-8343; 37 Main St; mains $5-9;  7am-10pm) Family-run Camden Deli has a rooftop deck overlooking Camden Harbor and everything from Maine blueberry pancakes to Italian sub sandwiches piled high with salami and hot peppers. Come between 4pm and 7pm for free appetizers and $3 draft beers.

**Cappy's** ( 207-236-2254; 1 Main St; mains $6-15;  11am-11pm;  ) The star of Cappy's is the award-winning clam chowder, sold by the cup, bowl or pint. You can also order burgers, fresh fish sandwiches and lobster rolls but definitely start off with the rich, creamy chowder. It's a good spot to pick up bakery items too.

**Waterfront** ( 207-236-3747; 40 Bayview St; mains $15-25;  11am-11pm) You're smack on the water at this harborfront eatery specializing in perfectly prepared seafood with just the right twist. Local rock crab and artichoke fondue, Cajun-blackened haddock, Maine lobster crêpes – yowza!

### Blue Hill

Graced with period houses, Blue Hill is a charming coastal town that's home to artists and craftspeople. Start your exploration at Main St and the adjoining Union St, where you'll find several quality galleries selling Blue Hill pottery, sculptures and paintings.

Since 1902 the **Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival** ( 207-374-2203; www.kneisel.org; Pleasant St/ME 15; tickets $20-30;  Fri-Sun late Jun–late Aug) has attracted visitors from far and wide to its summer concert series. The **Blue Hill Peninsula Chamber of Commerce** ( 207-374-3242; www.bluehillpeninsula.org; 107 Main St;  9am-4pm Tue & Thu) has visitor information.

Evening hors d'oeuvres by the fireplace and a gourmet breakfast are just two of the perks at **Blue Hill Inn** ( 207-374-2844, 800-826-7415; www.bluehillinn.com; 40 Union St; r incl breakfast $155-205;    ), the town's landmark B&B since 1840.

* * *

# HOIST THE SAILS

Feel the wind in your hair and history at your side aboard the gracious, multimasted sailing ships known as windjammers. The sailing ships, both historic and replicas, gather in the harbors at Camden and neighboring Rockland to take passengers out on day trips and overnight sails.

Day sails cruise for two hours in Penobscot Bay from June to October for around $30 and you can usually book your place on the day. On the Camden waterfront, look for the 86ft wooden tall-ship **Appledore** ( 207-236-8353; www.appledore2.com) and the two-masted schooner **Olad** ( 207-236-2323; www.maineschooners.com).

Other schooners make two- to six-day cruises, offer memorable wildlife viewing (seals, whales and puffins) and typically include stops at Acadia National Park, small coastal towns and offshore islands for a lobster picnic.

You can get full details on several glorious options in one fell swoop through the **Maine Windjammer Association** ( 800-807-9463; www.sailmainecoast.com), which represents 12 traditional tall ships, several of which have been designated National Historic Landmarks. Among them is the granddaddy of the schooner trade, the _Lewis R French,_ America's oldest (1871) windjammer. Rates range from $400 for a two-day cruise to $1000 for a six-day voyage and are a bargain when you consider they include meals and accommodation. Reservations for the overnight sails are a must. Prices are highest in midsummer. June offers long days, uncrowded harbors and lower rates, though the weather can be cool. Late September, when the foliage takes on autumn colors, captures the scenery at its finest.

* * *

Every artists' enclave needs a top-notch natural food store, and in these hills it's the **Blue Hill Co-op** ( 207-374-2165; 4 Ellsworth Rd; mains $5-8;  8am-7pm Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm Sat, 9am-5pm Sun), which also serves good café fare including burritos, falafels and organic coffee.

Return to beginning of chapter

## ACADIA NATIONAL PARK

The only national park in New England, Acadia encompasses an unspoiled wilderness of undulating coastal mountains, towering sea cliffs, surf-pounded beaches and quiet ponds. The dramatic landscape offers a plethora of activities for both leisurely hikers and adrenaline junkies.

The park was established in 1919 on land that John D Rockefeller donated to the national parks system to save from encroaching lumber interests. Today you can hike and bike along the same carriage roads that Rockefeller once rode his horse and buggy on. The park covers over 62 sq miles, including most of mountainous Mt Desert Island and tracts of land on the Schoodic Peninsula and Isle au Haut, and holds a wide diversity of wildlife including moose, puffins and bald eagles.

### Orientation & Information

Granite mountains and coastal vistas greet you upon entering **Acadia National Park** (www.nps.gov/acad). The park is open year-round, though Park Loop Rd and most facilities are closed in winter. An admission fee is charged from May 1 to October 31. The fee, which is valid for seven consecutive days, is $20 per vehicle between mid-June and early October, $10 at other times, and $5 on bike or foot.

Start your exploration at **Hulls Cove Visitor Center** ( 207-288-3338; ME 3;  8am-4:30pm mid-Apr–Jun & Oct, 8am-6pm Jul & Aug, 8am-5pm Sep), from where the 20-mile **Park Loop Road** circumnavigates the eastern portion of the park.

### Sights & Activities

#### PARK LOOP ROAD

Park Loop Rd, the main sightseeing jaunt through the park, takes you to several of Acadia's highlights. If you're up for a bracing swim or just want to stroll Acadia's longest beach, stop at **Sand Beach**. About a mile beyond Sand Beach you'll come to **Thunder Hole** , where wild Atlantic waves crash into a deep narrow chasm with such force that it creates a thundering boom, loudest during incoming tides. Look to the south to see dramatic **Otter Cliffs** , a favorite rock-climbing spot that rises vertically from the sea. At **Jordan Pond** choose from a 1-mile nature trail loop around the south side of the pond or a 3.5-mile trail that skirts the entire pond perimeter. After you've worked up an appetite, reward yourself with a relaxing afternoon tea on the lawn of Jordan Pond House(opposite). Near the end of Park Loop Rd a side road leads up to Cadillac Mountain.

#### CADILLAC MOUNTAIN

The majestic centerpiece of Acadia National Park is Cadillac Mountain (1530ft), the highest coastal peak in the eastern US, reached by a 3.5-mile spur road off Park Loop Rd. Four **trails** lead to the summit from four directions should you prefer hiking boots to rubber tires. The panoramic 360-degree view of ocean, islands and mountains is a winner any time of the day, but it's truly magical at dawn when hardy souls flock to the top to watch the sun rise over Frenchman Bay.

#### OTHER ACTIVITIES

Some 125 miles of **hiking trails** crisscross Acadia National Park, from easy half-mile nature walks and level rambles to mountain treks up steep and rocky terrain. A standout is the 3-mile round-trip **Ocean Trail** , which runs between Sand Beach and Otter Cliffs and takes in the most interesting coastal scenery in the park. Pick up a guide describing all the trails at the visitor center.

The park's 45 miles of carriage roads are the prime attraction for **cycling**. You can rent quality mountain bikes, replaced new at the start of each season, at **Acadia Bike** ( 207-288-9605; 48 Cottage St, Bar Harbor; per day $22;  8am-8pm).

**Rock climbing** on the park's sea cliffs and mountains is breathtaking. Gear up with **Acadia Mountain Guides** ( 207-288-8186; www.acadiamountainguides.com; 198 Main St, Bar Harbor; half-day with instructor & equipment $80-125;  9am-8pm), a highly regarded and fully accredited climbing school.

Scores of **ranger-led programs** , including nature walks, birding talks and kids' field trips, are available in the park. The visitor center provides the daily schedule. For information on kayaking and other activities see Bar Harbor (right).

### Sleeping & Eating

The park has two campgrounds, both wooded and with running water, showers and barbecue pits. The 214-site **Seawall Campground** (ME 102A; campsites $14-20;  late May–Sep), 4 miles south of Southwest Harbor, operates on a first-come, first-served basis. The 306-site **Blackwoods Campground** ( 877-444-6777; ME 3; campsites $20;  year-round), 5 miles south of Bar Harbor, accepts advance reservations. If these are full several commercial campgrounds can be found just outside Acadia National Park.

For a memorable afternoon break, head to **Jordan Pond House** ( 207-276-3316; afternoon tea $9, mains $10-25;  11:30am-8pm mid-May–Oct), sit on the lawn overlooking the pond and order the afternoon tea served with warm popovers and homemade strawberry jam. The park's sole restaurant also has lobster rolls at lunchtime and prime rib dinners.

There are scores of restaurants, inns and hotels in Bar Harbor (Click here), just a mile beyond the park.

### Getting There & Around

The convenient **Island Explorer** ( 207-667-5796; www.exploreacadia.com; rides free;  late Jun–early Oct) runs eight shuttle bus routes throughout Acadia National Park and to adjacent Bar Harbor, linking trailheads, campgrounds and accommodations.

Return to beginning of chapter

## BAR HARBOR

Set on the doorstep of Acadia National Park, this alluring coastal town once rivaled Newport, RI, as a trendy summer destination for wealthy Americans. Today many of the old mansions have been turned into inviting inns and the town has become a magnet for outdoor enthusiasts. The **Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce** ( 207-288-5103, 800-345-4617; www.barharbormaine.com; 1201 Bar Harbor Rd/ME 3, Trenton;  8am-6pm late May–mid-Oct, 8am-5pm Mon-Fri mid-Oct–late May) has a convenient welcome center just before the bridge onto Mt Desert Island.

### Sights & Activities

**Abbe Museum** ( 207-288-3519; 26 Mt Desert St; adult/child 6-16yr $6/2;  10am-6pm) has fascinating presentations on the four Native American tribes that hail from this region. The thousands of artifacts range from pottery and fishing implements dating back more than a millennium to contemporary woodcarvings and birch-bark containers.

**Bar Harbor Whale Watch** ( 207-288-2386; www.barharborwhales.com; 1 West St; adult $26-58, child 6-14yr $16-28;  mid-May–Oct;  ), next to the town pier, offers a wide variety of sightseeing cruises, including whale-watching and puffin trips. It also offers a ranger-led tour to Baker Island, a 130-acre island that's part of Acadia National Park but reachable only by boat.

For a cruise in style, hop aboard the four-mast schooner _Margaret Todd_ operated by **Downeast Windjammer Cruises** ( 207-288-4585; www.downeastwindjammer.com; 27 Main St; adult/child 6-12yr $35/25), which sets sail three times a day.

Kayaking tours generally go to the islands in Frenchman Bay or the west side of Mt Desert Island, depending on which way the wind's blowing. **Coastal Kayaking Tours** ( 207-288-9605; www.acadiafun.com; 48 Cottage St; 2½/4hr tours $38/48;  8am-8pm) offers personalized tours, taking out a maximum of six kayaks at a time.

### Sleeping

There's no shortage of sleeping options in Bar Harbor, ranging from period B&Bs to the usual chain hotels.

**Bar Harbor Hostel** ( 207-288-5587; www.barharborhostel.com; 321 Main St; dm/r $25/80;    ) This tidy hostel a mile from Acadia National Park has both men's and women's dorms each with 10 beds, as well as a private room that can sleep up to four people. Reservations are advised.

**Holland Inn** ( 207-288-4804; www.hollandinn.com; 35 Holland Ave; r incl breakfast $85-175;      ) Nine cheery rooms with frill-free decor, a hearty breakfast and innkeepers who make you feel at home are in store at this inn just a short stroll from the town center and waterfront.

**Quimby House Inn** ( 207-288-5811, 800-344-5811; www.quimbyhouse.com; 109 Cottage St; r $90-195;      ) Top value among Bar Harbor's small hotels, with comfortable rooms, helpful staff and a convenient downtown location. And if you're a stickler for clean, you'll love the way they keep this place spic and span.

**Aysgarth Station Inn** ( 207-288-9655; 20 Roberts Ave; www.aysgarth.com; r incl breakfast $110-145;    ) On a quiet side street near the town center, this 1895 B&B has six cozy rooms with homey touches. Request the Tan Hill room, which is on the 3rd floor, for a view of Cadillac Mountain.

### Eating & Drinking

**Cafe This Way** ( 207-288-4483; 14½ Mt Desert St; mains breakfast $5-9, dinner $14-22;  7-11am Mon-Sat, 8am-1pm Sun, 5:30-9pm nightly) At _the_ place in Bar Harbor for breakfast, the feather-light blueberry pancakes topped with real maple syrup melt in your mouth. Vegans will love the scrambled tofu chock-full of veggies, old-schoolers the eggs Benedict with smoked salmon. Solid seafood menu at dinner.

**Rupununi** ( 207-288-2886; 119 Main St; mains $7-25;  11am-1am) Enjoy an all-American menu of burgers, steaks and barbecued chicken. Rupununi also pours an amazing variety of Maine beers and has live music in the summer.

 **Trenton Bridge Lobster** **Pound** ( 207-667-2977; ME 3, Ellsworth; lobsters $10-15;  10:30am-8pm Mon-Sat) Sit at a picnic table and crack open a boiled lobster at this traditional lobster pound bordering the causeway that connects Mt Desert Island to mainland Maine. Run by the very folks who pull up the lobster traps, – this is as fresh as it gets.

**McKays** ( 207-288-2002; 231 Main St; mains $10-20;  4:30-9:30pm) One of Maine's buy-local and organic-when-possible restaurants, this pub-style eatery is a perfect choice for Maine crab cakes, farm-raised chicken and good ol' beer-battered fish and chips.

**Havana** ( 207-288-2822; 318 Main St; mains $18-35;  5-10pm) Maine goes Latin at this elegant dinner restaurant featuring the likes of lobster paella, coconut curried scallops and mojito cheesecake. The wine list is one of the finest in the state, the service superb.

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## DOWNEAST MAINE

The 900-plus miles of coastline running northeast from Bar Harbor are sparsely populated, slower-paced and foggier than southern and western Maine. Highlights include the **Schoodic Peninsula** , whose tip is a noncontiguous part of Acadia National Park; the lobster fishing villages of **Jonesport** and **Beals** ; and **Great Wass Island** , a nature preserve with walking paths and good bird-watching, including the chance to see puffins.

**Machias** , with a branch of the University of Maine, is the center of commerce along this stretch of coast. **Lubec** is about as far east as you can go and still be in the USA; folks like to watch the sun rise at nearby **Quoddy Head State Park** so they can say they were the first in the country to catch the sun's rays.

**Calais** ( _ka_ -lus), at the northern end of US 1, is a twin town to St Stephen in New Brunswick, Canada. Southwest of Calais is the **Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge** ( 207-454-7161; US 1, Baring; admission free;  sunrise-sunset), which has hiking trails and offers opportunities to spot bald eagles, America's national bird.

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## INTERIOR MAINE

Sparsely populated northern and western Maine is rugged outdoor country. River rafting, hiking trails up Maine's highest mountain and the ski town of Bethel make the region a magnet for adventurers.

### Augusta

In 1827 Augusta became Maine's capital, but it's small and, truth be told, not terribly interesting. The **Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce** ( 207-623-4559; www.augustamaine.com; 21 University Dr;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri) provides information on Augusta. If you're passing through, take a gander at the granite **State House** (1829), then stop at the adjacent **Maine State Museum** ( 207-287-2301; State House Complex, State St; adult/child 6-18yr $2/1;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat), which traces the state's natural and cultural history.

### Bangor

A boomtown during Maine's 19th-century lumbering prosperity, Bangor was destroyed by a sweeping fire in 1911. Today it's a modern, workaday town, perhaps most famous as the hometown of horror novelist Stephen King (look for his mansion – complete with bat-and-spider-web gate – among the grand houses along Broadway). The **Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce** ( 207-947-0307; www.bangorregion.com; 519 Main St;  9am-4pm Mon-Fri) has visitor information.

### Sabbathday Lake

The nation's only active Shaker community is at Sabbathday Lake, 25 miles north of Portland. Founded in the early 18th century, a handful of devotees keep the Shaker tradition of simple living, hard work and fine artistry alive. You can tour several of their buildings on a visit to the **Shaker Museum** ( 207-926-4597; adult/child 6-12yr $6.50/2;  10am-4:30pm Mon-Sat late May–mid-Oct). To get there, take exit 63 off the Maine Turnpike and continue north for 8 miles on ME 26.

### Bethel

The rural community of Bethel, nestled in the rolling Maine woods 12 miles east of New Hampshire on ME 26, offers an engaging combination of mountain scenery, outdoor escapades and good-value accommodations. **Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce** ( 207-824-2282, 800-442-5826; www.bethelmaine.com; 8 Station Pl;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri) provides information for visitors.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

**Bethel Outdoor Adventure** ( 207-824-4224, 800-533-3607; www.betheloutdooradventure.com; 121 Mayville Rd/US 2; per day kayak/canoe $40/60;  8am-6pm), right on the banks of the Androscoggin River, rents canoes and kayaks; rates include a free shuttle upriver allowing you to paddle back at your own pace. They also rent bicycles, can set you up for fly-fishing and offer on-site camping.

If you're ready for a hike, head to **Grafton Notch State Park** ( 207-824-2912; ME 26), north of Bethel, which has pretty mountain scenery, waterfalls and lots of trails of varying lengths.

**Sunday River Ski Resort** ( 800-543-2754; www.sundayriver.com; ME 26;  ), 6 miles north of Bethel, is one of the best family-oriented ski centers in the region, with eight interconnected mountain peaks and 120 trails.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**White Mountain National Forest** ( 877-444-6777; www.recreation.gov; campsites $18) The Maine portion of this national forest has several basic campgrounds near Bethel.

**Chapman Inn** ( 207-824-2657, 877-359-1498; www.chapmaninn.com; 2 Church St; incl breakfast dm $33, r $89-129;    ) A great place to share notes with fellow travelers, this friendly, central 1865 B&B has 10 country-style rooms as well as hostel-style dorm beds. A gourmet breakfast, billiards, darts and two saunas add to the fun.

**Sudbury Inn & Suds Pub** ( 207-824-2174, 800-395-7837; www.sudburyinn.com; 151 Main St; r incl breakfast $99-159;  ) The choice place to stay in downtown Bethel, this historic inn has 17 rooms, a pub with 29 beers on tap, pizza and live weekend entertainment. It also has an excellent dinner restaurant serving Maine-centric fare (mains $8 to $25).

### Caratunk & The Forks

For white-water rafting at its best, head to the **Kennebec River** , below the Harris Dam, where the water shoots through a dramatic 12-mile gorge. With rapid names like Whitewasher and Magic Falls, you know you're in for an adrenaline rush.

The adjoining villages of Caratunk and The Forks, on US 201 south of Jackman, are at the center of the Kennebec River rafting operations. The options range from rolling rapids and heart-stopping drops to calmer waters where children as young as seven can join in. Rates vary with demand and which tour you choose, but range from $75 to $125 per person for a day-long outing. Multiday packages, with camping or cabin accommodations, can also be arranged.

* * *

# A MAINE WOODS NATIONAL PARK?

The concept is as grand as Maine's vast north woods. Taking inspiration from John D Rockefeller, who donated land for Acadia National Park, Roxanne Quimby, founder of the organic personal-care company Burt's Bees, bought 77,000 acres of Maine woods bordering Baxter State Park, hoping to make it the cornerstone of a new national park. The goal is to grow it into a 3.2-million-acre park that would restore native ecosystems and cover a greater land area than Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks combined. Actor Robert Redford and other Hollywood celebs jumped on board to support the idea but a counter movement has thus far managed to put the proposed park on hold.

Concerned with the loss of timber jobs, as well as the possibility of losing access to hunting and snowmobiling in a new park, many folks in the surrounding towns became vocal opponents. Probably even more telling, some conservation groups came out against the park, worried that the backlash would hamper their efforts in other areas where public support is essential. Still, the vision is there and supporters are optimistic that its time will come. Check out their website at www.restore.org.

* * *

Reliable operators include the following:

**Crab Apple Whitewater** ( 800-553-7238; www.crabapplewhitewater.com)

**Magic Falls Rafting** ( 800-207-7238; www.magicfalls.com)

**Northern Outdoors** ( 800-765-7238; www.northernoutdoors.com)

### Baxter State Park

Set in the remote forests of northern Maine, **Baxter State Park** ( 207-723-5140; www.baxterstateparkauthority.com; per car $13) centers on Mt Katahdin (5267ft), Maine's tallest mountain and the northern terminus of the 2175-mile **Appalachian Trail** (www.nps.gov/appa). This vast 204,733-acre park is maintained in a wilderness state – no electricity and no running water (bring your own or plan on purifying stream water) – and there's a good chance you'll see moose, deer and black bear. Baxter has extensive hiking trails, several leading to the top of Mt Katahdin, which can be hiked round-trip in a day as long as you're in good shape and get an early start.

Baxter's 10 campgrounds contain 1200 campsites ($10 per person per day) but they do fill up, so it's best to book in advance, which can be done online or by phone with a credit card.

At Millinocket, south of Baxter State Park, there are motels, campgrounds, restaurants and outfitters that specialize in white-water rafting and kayaking on the Penobscot River. Get information from the **Katahdin Area Chamber of Commerce** ( 207-723-4443; www.katahdinmaine.com; 1029 Central St, Millinocket).

# Washington, DC & the Capital Region

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* * *

HISTORY

LOCAL CULTURE

LAND & CLIMATE

PARKS & WILDLIFE

INFORMATION

GETTING THERE & AROUND

WASHINGTON, DC

HISTORY

ORIENTATION

INFORMATION

SIGHTS

ACTIVITIES

WASHINGTON, DC, FOR CHILDREN

TOURS

FESTIVALS & EVENTS

SLEEPING

EATING

DRINKING & ENTERTAINMENT

GETTING THERE & AWAY

GETTING AROUND

MARYLAND

BALTIMORE

ANNAPOLIS

EASTERN SHORE

OCEAN CITY

WESTERN MARYLAND

DELAWARE

DELAWARE BEACHES

NORTHERN & CENTRAL DELAWARE

VIRGINIA

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

FREDERICKSBURG

RICHMOND

PETERSBURG

HISTORIC TRIANGLE

HAMPTON ROADS

VIRGINIA BEACH

THE PIEDMONT

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

BLUE RIDGE HIGHLANDS & SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

WEST VIRGINIA

EASTERN PANHANDLE

MONONGAHELA NATIONAL FOREST

MORGANTOWN

SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA

* * *

Washington, DC: its very name invokes power, politics and prose. It is arguably the most influential city in the world. The policy decisions made within the marbled halls of the nation's capital resonate around the world.

About 15 million visitors come to Washington, DC, every year to soak up the history, the world-class Smithsonian museums, the columned monuments and imposing government buildings. With some justification, DC has a reputation for being a stuffy city filled with political wonks, lobbyists and lawyers. But she is so much more – a multilayered, multifaceted city filled with great culture, restaurants, shopping, neighborhoods, nightlife and outdoor adventures.

Beyond the Beltway, the surrounding states of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Delaware are a microcosm of the US. It's a culturally, ethnically and historically diverse region that is literally the birthplace of America, the grounds caked in blood from America's conception (Jamestown), birth (Williamsburg and Yorktown) and coming of age (Antietam and Appomattox).

The Mid-Atlantic region is also a place of unheralded natural beauty, from the rolling peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the marshlands of Chesapeake Bay and the sandy beaches of the Eastern Shore. Outdoor adventures include hiking, biking, skiing and white-water rafting. Get lost exploring the cobblestoned streets of colonial villages such as Williamsburg and Annapolis. Or drink your way through the vineyards of Virginia – America's fifth-largest wine producer.

* * *

# HIGHLIGHTS

  * Visit Washington, DC's, world-famous (and free!) **Smithsonian Institution museums** (Click here), then watch the sunset from the steps of the **Lincoln Memorial** (Click here).
  * Trace America's roots at the living-history museum of **Colonial Williamsburg** (Click here).
  * Explore the region's nautical past with a pub crawl through the cobblestoned port-town neighborhood of **Fells Point, Baltimore** (Click here).
  * Take a Sunday drive and hike along **Skyline Drive** (Click here), then camp under the stars in **Shenandoah National Park** (Click here).
  * Marvel at Thomas Jefferson's architectural masterpieces of **Monticello** (Click here) and the **University of Virginia** (Click here) in historic **Charlottesville** (Click here).
  * Stroll down the boardwalk and stop for a milk shake at **Royal Treat** (Click here) in the family- and gay-friendly seaside resort of **Rehoboth Beach** (Click here).
  * Tackle the white-water rapids of **New River Gorge National River** (Click here) in Fayetteville.

## HISTORY

Native Americans populated this region long before European settlers arrived. Many of the area's most well-known geographic landmarks are still known by their Indian names, such as Chesapeake, Shenandoah, Appalachian and Potomac. In 1607 a group of 108 English colonists established the first permanent European settlement in the New World: Jamestown. During the early years, colonists battled harsh winters, starvation, disease and occasionally hostile Native Americans.

Jamestown survived, and the Royal Colony of Virginia came into being in 1624. Ten years later, fleeing the English Civil War, Lord Baltimore established the Catholic colony of Maryland at St Mary's City, where a Spanish-Jewish doctor treated a town council that included a black Portuguese sailor and Margaret Brent, the first woman to vote in North American politics. Delaware was settled as a Dutch whaling colony in 1631, practically wiped out by Native Americans, and later resettled by the British. Celts displaced from Britain filtered into the Appalachians, where they created a fiercely independent culture that persists today. Border disputes between Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania led to the creation of the Mason–Dixon line, which eventually separated the industrial North from the agrarian, slave-holding South.

The fighting part of the Revolutionary War finished here with the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781. Then, to diffuse regional tension, central, swampy Washington, District of Columbia (DC), was made the new nation's capital. But divisions of class, race and economy were strong, and this area in particular split along its seams during the Civil War: Virginia seceded from the Union while its impoverished western farmers, long resentful of genteel plantation owners, seceded from Virginia. Maryland stayed in the Union but her white slave-owners rioted against Northern troops, while thousands of black Marylanders joined the Union Army.

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## LOCAL CULTURE

The North–South tension long defined this area, but the region has also jerked between the aristocratic pretensions of upper-class Virginia, miners and watermen, immigrant boroughs and the ever-changing rulers of Washington, DC. Since the Civil War, local economies have made the shift from agriculture and manufacturing to high technology and servicing and staffing the federal government.

* * *

# THE CAPITAL REGION...

## In One Week

Follow a version of the two-day DC itinerary (Click here) and spend a day and a hard-partying night in **Baltimore** (Click here) before exploring Maryland's gorgeous **Eastern Shore** (Click here) and the **Delaware beaches** (Click here). Head south and cross over the Chesapeake Bay bridge-tunnel and time-warp through Virginia's history, from her settlement and independence struggle in the **Historic Triangle** (Click here) to her reconciliation with America at **Appomattox Court House** (Click here). Swing north through **Richmond** (Click here), where students, Dixie aristocracy and African Americans combine to form a fascinating whole, before rolling back (exhausted) into DC.

## In Two Weeks

Follow the above itinerary (give DC and Baltimore a few more days while you're at it). Afterwards, experience Virginia's aristocratic soul in **Charlottesville** (Click here) before driving down her mountainous backbone through **Staunton** (Click here), **Lexington** (Click here), **Roanoke** (Click here) and the **Crooked Road** (Click here). Truck through West Virginia, stopping to hike, mountain bike or ski in the **Monongahela National Forest** (Click here) and rafting in New River Gorge before returning to Washington via the serene battlefields of **Antietam** (Click here).

## American Experience Tour

Here's a one-week blitz of sites that make America...well, simply America. Follow the two-day DC itinerary (Click here), making sure to see the **Supreme Court** (Click here), **White House** (Click here), **National Archives** (Click here) and **US Capitol** (Click here). Take a scenic drive through Virginia's many Civil War battlefields including **Manassas** (Click here), **Fredericksburg** (Click here), **Petersburg** (Click here) and **Appomattox Court House** (Click here). Spend a few days hiking and camping along the Appalachian Trail in **Shenandoah National Park** (Click here).

* * *

Many blacks settled this border region either as slaves or escapees running for Northern freedom. Today African Americans still form the visible underclass of major cities, but in the rough arena of the disadvantaged they compete with Latino immigrants, mainly from Central America. At the other end of the spectrum, ivory towers – in the form of world-class universities and research centers such as the National Institute of Health – attract intelligentsia from around the world. The local high schools are often packed with the children of scientists and consultants staffing some of the world's most prestigious think tanks.

All of this has spawned a culture that is, in turns, as sophisticated as a journalists' book club, as linked to the land as bluegrass festivals in Virginia and as hooked into the main vein of urban America as Tupac Shakur, go-go, Baltimore Club and DC Hardcore. And of course, there's always politics, a subject continually simmering under the surface here.

Return to beginning of chapter

## LAND & CLIMATE

Maryland describes herself as 'America in Miniature,' but the label could apply to the entire region.

Starting from the east of the region are the windy beaches of the Atlantic Shore and just a bit inland is Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary. Bay towns breathe the slow tidal respiration of a land married to water, and if you unfurled the clotted mass of rivers and streams here you'd get a coastline bigger than California's.

Further west the Atlantic coastal plain is studded with farms and suburbs, climbing through rolling hills to the increasingly developed Piedmont Plateau and finally, the hard, beautiful mountains of the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah.

Spring and fall are gorgeous and mild, while summer and winter suffer through thermometer extremes. The humidity of the summer in particular makes DC feel like Hanoi, Vietnam.

Return to beginning of chapter

## PARKS & WILDLIFE

Scenic grandeur here means the Appalachians, best explored from the Shenandoah Valley and West Virginia. The New River Gorge National River (Click here) is utterly Eden-like and home to white-tailed deer and black bears. If you're fit enough, try hiking a bit of the Appalachian Trail, which runs through Shenandoah National Park(Click here) and George Washington and Jefferson National Forests (Click here).

Chesapeake Bay has a user-friendly, gentle charm: Assateague Island National Seashore (Click here) and Chincoteague (Click here) are awash with great blue herons, ospreys, blue crabs and wild horses.

Despite there being more than 30 parks in Virginia alone, a lot of protected land here is preserved for historical, rather than environmental properties. That doesn't mean all those old battlefields and houses aren't beautiful though; one of the weird paradoxes of old war sites is how peaceful they are today. Antietam (Click here) and Manassas (Click here) are particularly good examples of this phenomenon.

Return to beginning of chapter

## INFORMATION

A lot of conventions and conferences are held in this region and they can double or triple lodging prices: it's always best to call ahead. Smoking is banned in restaurants, bars and clubs in Maryland, Delaware and Washington, DC. Some local municipalities in Virginia and West Virginia, and an increasing number of private businesses, are also going smoke-free. Businesses that are smoke-free in these states are usually clearly marked.

Return to beginning of chapter

## GETTING THERE & AROUND

The region is served by three major airports: **Washington Dulles International Airport** (IAD;   703-572-2700), **Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport** (DCA;   703-417-8000) and **Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport** (BWI;   410-859-7111, 800-435-9294). **Richmond International Airport** (RIC;   804-226-3000) is less frequently used. Bus (Click here) and Amtrak (Click here) information is listed for specific cities in this chapter. Major roads include the I-81 through Western Virginia, the I-495 (DC Beltway), the I-695 (Baltimore Beltway), the East Coast–connecting the I-95 and the I-66 (DC to Northern Virginia).

Return to beginning of chapter

# WASHINGTON, DC

The capital of the most powerful country in the world is, in many ways, a surprisingly neighborly, small town. We know that's not the DC of popular imagination, city of a thousand gleaming white marble buildings and guys in suits and smoky rooms and really important-sounding music playing as really important-looking people go through really big wooden doors. That DC does exist. But beyond the federal capital and all the iconography that makes America, well, America, is a city of neighborhoods and low-slung buildings: folks who've passed homes through the family over generations, and new immigrants from El Salvador; a crop of artists and creative types attracted by Washington's undeniable intellectual energy and more over-achieving, incredibly talented types than any city of this size deserves.

Yes, Washington is regal. But past the columns and the Capitol, she's small enough to share a beer and a shot with you, and smart enough to do so while parsing the Constitution.

Return to beginning of chapter

## HISTORY

Like a lot of American history, the District of Columbia (DC) story is one of compromise. In this case, the balance was struck between Northern and Southern politicians who wanted to plant a federal city between their power bases. As potential capitals such as Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore were rejected as too urban-industrial by Southern plantation owners, it was decided a new city would be carved at the 13 colonies' midway point, along the banks of the Potomac River. Maryland and Virginia donated the land (which Virginia took back in the 19th century).

DC was originally run by Congress, was torched by the British during the War of 1812, and lost the south-bank slave port of Alexandria to Virginia in 1846 (when abolition talk was buzzing in the capital). Over the years DC evolved along diverging tracks; as a marbled temple to federal government and residential city for federal employees on the one hand, and an urban ghetto for northbound African Americans and overseas immigrants on the other.

The capitol finally got its own mayor in 1973 (Walter Washington, among the first African American mayors of a major American city). Ever under-funded, today DC residents are taxed like other American citizens, yet lack a voting seat in Congress. The educated upper class is leagues away from the neglected destitute; almost half the population has a university degree, yet a third are functionally illiterate.

With the election of Barack Obama in 2008, Washington, DC, has gained a bit of cool cachet – New Yorkers are coming here now, instead of the other way around! President Obama's habit of playing pickup basketball and patronizing local restaurants has folks wondering if he's set to become that rarest of breeds: a president who doesn't just live in Washington, but is also a Washingtonian.

* * *

# WASHINGTON, DC, FACTS

**Nicknames** DC, Chocolate City

**Population** 591,833

**Area** 68.3 sq miles

**Capital city** Exactly!

**Sales tax** 5.75%

**Birthplace of** Duke Ellington(1899–1974), Marvin Gaye (1939–1984), Dave Chappelle (b 1973), Al Gore (b 1948) and democracy, baby!

**Home of** The Redskins, cherry blossoms, all three branches of American government

**Famous for** National symbols, crime, partying interns, struggle for Congressional recognition

**Unofficial motto and license plate slogan** Taxation Without Representation

**Driving distances** Washington, DC, to Baltimore 40 miles, Washington, DC, to Virginia Beach210 miles

* * *

Return to beginning of chapter

## ORIENTATION

The capital was designed by two planners to be perfectly navigable. Unfortunately, their urban visions have mashed up against each other. Pierre L'Enfant's diagonal state-named streets share space with Andrew Ellicott's grid (remember: letters go east–west, numbers north–south). On top of that the city is divided into four quadrants with identical addresses in different divisions – F and 14th NW puts you near the White House, while F and 14th NE puts you near Rosedale Playground.

The lion's share of sites are in the Northwest (NW) quadrant, while the most run-down neighborhoods tend to be in the Southeast (SE). Keep your urban wits about you at night, and be prepared for crowds (and crowds and _crowds_ ) during events such as the Cherry Blossom Festival. The Potomac River is to your south and west; Maryland lies to the north and east; and the Beltway, the capital ring road, encircles the entire package.

Return to beginning of chapter

## INFORMATION

### Bookstores

**Kramerbooks** (  202-387-1400; 1517 Connecticut Ave NW, Dupont Circle;   7:30am-1am Sun-Thu, 24hr Fri & Sat) The mother lode for the city's hip literati.

**Lambda Rising** (  202-462-6969; www.lambdarising.com; 1625 Connecticut Ave NW;   10am-10pm, to midnight Fri & Sat) A landmark gay and lesbian bookstore.

### Emergency & Medical Services

DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services can also be reached at   202-673-3331.

**CVS Pharmacy** (  202-785-1466; cnr Massachusetts Ave & 20th St NW;   24hr)

**George Washington University Hospital** (  202-715-4000; 900 23rd St NW)

### Internet Access

**CyberStop Café** (  202-234-2470; 1513 17th St NW, Dupont Circle; per hr $8;   7:30am-midnight Sun-Thu, to 2am Fri & Sat)

**Kramerbooks** (  202-387-1400; 1517 Connecticut Ave NW, Dupont Circle;   7:30am-1am Sun-Thu, 24hr Fri & Sat)

* * *

# WASHINGTON, DC...

## In Two Days

Head for the **Capitol** (Click here), feel the grandeur, then pop into the **Library of Congress** (Click here). Now go Smithsonianing: try the **Air & Space Museum** (Click here), **National Museum of Natural History** (Click here) and the **National Museum of the American Indian** (Click here). Wander down the **National Mall** (below); at the 'bottom,' soak up pride, love and loss at the **Lincoln Memorial** (Click here) and **Vietnam Veterans Memorial** (Click here). Hungry? **Dupont Circle** (Click here) and **U Street** (Click here) are both good for international eats.

Next day, head back to the Mall for the **US Holocaust Memorial Museum** (Click here) and the **Arthur M Sackler Gallery** (Click here) and the **Freer Gallery of Art** (Click here), then see the **National Archives** (Click here) and **Reynolds Center for American Art** (Click here). Catch the illuminated **White House** (Click here) and **FDR Memorial** (Click here) at night.

## In Four Days

Time to see the other side of DC: ride out to **Anacostia** (Click here) and the **Anacostia Community Museum** (Click here). Grab dinner in **Dupont Circle** (Click here). On day four pick a site you haven't seen and live la dolce vita in **Georgetown** (Click here) and/or **U Street** (Click here).

* * *

### Internet Resources & Media

**88.5 WAMU** National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate.

**89.3 WPFW** Local news and views.

**93.9 FM WKYS** Hip-hop.

**101.1 FM WWDC** Rawk.

**103.1 WRNR** Better rawk, but spotty signal.

**1500AM** Federal News Radio, for news and policy wonks.

**Online visitor information** (www.washington.org, www.thedistrict.com)

**Washington City Paper** (www.washingtoncitypaper.com) Free edgy weekly with entertainment and dining listings.

**Washington Post** (www.washingtonpost.com) Respected daily city (and national) paper. Its tabloid-format daily _Express_ is free. Also check www.washingtonpost.com/gog for events listings.

### Money

Currency exchange is available at the major airports and during weekday business hours at most banks, as well as **Travelex** (  202-371-9220; Union Station, 50 Massachusetts Ave NE, Gate G booth;   9am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-6pm Sun). Also has a location **downtown** (  202-872-1428; 1880 K St NW;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri).

### Post

**Post office** (2 Massachusetts Ave NE;   7am-midnight Mon-Fri, to 8pm Sat & Sun)

### Tourist Information

**DC Chamber of Commerce Information Center** (  866-324-7386; <http://washington.org/>; Ronald Reagan Bldg, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW;   9am-4:30pm Mon-Fri Sep–mid-Mar, 8:30am-5:30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat mid-Mar–Aug) Hotel reservation line and a film that gives an excellent overview of DC.

**International Visitors Information Desk** (  703-572-2536;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri) Run by the Meridian International Center; staff at this desk (at the Arrivals Terminal at Washington-Dulles Airport) can answer questions in more than 40 languages.

**Washington Convention & Visitors Association** (  202-789-7000; www.washington.org; 901 7th St NW, 4th fl, Washington, DC, 20005;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri)

For travelers with disabilities:

**General information** (  202-789-7000) On hotels, restaurants and attractions.

**Metrorail** (  202-637-7000; www.wmata.com)

**Smithsonian access** (  202-633-2921, TTY 202-633-4353)

Return to beginning of chapter

## SIGHTS

### National Mall

When someone says 'Washington, DC,' and you think of everything that symbolizes America – white buildings, big flags, Abe Lincoln and a reflecting pool – you're thinking of the National Mall. This is America's great public space, where citizens come to protest their government, chill in the sun, visit museums and soak up collective national symbolism. The 1.9-mile-long lawn is anchored at one end by the Lincoln Memorial, at the other by Capitol Hill, intersected by the reflecting pool and WWII memorial, and centered by the Washington Monument.

Perhaps no other symbol has housed the national ideal of massed voice affecting radical change so much – from Martin Luther King's 1963 'I Have a Dream' speech to antiglobalization protests in the 1990s. But hundreds of other rallies occur here every year; the Mall, framed by great monuments and museums and shot through with tourists, dog-walkers and idealists, acts as loudspeaker for any cause.

#### SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION MUSEUMS

If America was a quirky grandfather, these museums – as stimulating as a (free!) good book or lecture – would be his attic. An attic that happens to house a globally prestigious research unit, yes, but an attic nonetheless, where a rotating 1% of a staggering collection – the lunar lander, dinosaurs, great art and relics that weren't looted during the days of Empire (ahem, Europe) – is on display at any given time.

Englishman James Smithson (who never came to the USA) willed $4.1 million to the country to found an 'establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge' in 1826. Unfortunately, his intellectual baby badly needs (and is receiving) some expensive upkeep. It has been suggested the museums start charging for admission, but the powers that be won't hear of it, arguing that fees would fly in the face of the Smithsonian's mission. The museums will stay free if it kills them. And it just might. Currently, the **Arts & Industries Museum** (www.si.ed/ai; 900 Jefferson Dr, SW) is closed indefinitely.

The red-turreted **Smithsonian Castle** (Smithsonian Institution Bldg;   202-633-1000; www.si.edu/visit/infocenter/sicastle.htm; 1000 Jefferson Dr SW;   8:30am-5pm) is the visitor center for all museums, but is not that interesting in and of itself. Be prepared for lines and bag-checks. The following museums are free and open every day except Christmas Day from 10am to 5:30pm unless otherwise noted. Some have extended hours in summer. Note that not all Smithsonian museums are included here.

A favorite of the kids, the **National Museum of Natural History** (cnr 10th St & Constitution Ave SW) bounces between some sweet dinosaur skeletons, a fantastic archaeology/anthropology collection, the 45-carat Hope diamond and pretty damn near everything else under the sun.

The **National Air & Space Museum** (cnr 6th St & Independence Ave SW) is the most popular Smithsonian museum; everyone flocks to see the Wright brothers' flyer, Chuck Yeager's _Bell X-1,_ Charles Lindbergh's _Spirit of St Louis_ and the _Apollo 11_ command module. An IMAX theater, planetarium and a ride simulator are all here (adult/child $8.50/7 each). Even more avionic goodness is in Virginia at the Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center (Click here), an annex to hold this museum's leftovers.

The **National Gallery of Art** (  202-737-4215; www.nga.gov; Constitution Ave, btwn 3rd & 4th Sts NW; admission free;   10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 11am-6pm Sun) is about as cultured as you'll get outside of NYC's Met (with a _très_ IM Pei facade). An underground passage connects the double wings: the original, neoclassical west wing is primarily stuffed with European art from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, with works by all the greats (including the continent's only Da Vinci); the east wing is a little more abstract, a lot more conceptual.

The **National Museum of American History** (<http://americanhistory.si.edu>; cnr Constitution Ave & 14th St NW) is accented with the daily bric-a-brac of the American experience – synagogue shawls, protest signs and cotton gins – plus an enormous display of the original Star-Spangled Banner and icons such as Dorothy's slippers and Kermit the Frog.

At times a grim summation of human nature, at others a fierce confirmation of basic goodness, the **US Holocaust Memorial Museum** (  202-488-0400; www.ushmm.org; 100 Raoul Wallenberg Pl;   10am-5:20pm) is a must-see. The main exhibit (not recommended for under-11s, who can go to a separate, also-free on-site exhibit) gives visitors the identity card of a single Holocaust victim, narrowing the scope of suffering to the individual level while paying thorough, overarching tribute to its powerful subject. Only a limited number of visitors are admitted each day, so come early.

The doughnut-shaped **Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden** (cnr 7th St & Independence Ave SW;   garden 7:30am-dusk, museum 10am-5:30pm) houses a huge collection of modern sculpture, rotated regularly, including works by Rodin, Henry Moore and Ron Mueck, as well as paintings by O'Keeffe, Warhol, Man Ray and de Kooning.

The **National Museum of African Art** (950 Independence Ave SW) showcases masks, textiles and ceramics from the sub-Sahara, as well as ancient and contemporary art from all over the continent.

Poring over ancient manuscripts and Japanese silk screens is about as perfect a way to spend an afternoon as any at both the quiet **Arthur M Sackler Gallery** (1050 Independence Ave SW) and the **Freer Gallery of Art** (cnr Jefferson Dr & 12th St SW), which together comprise the National Museum of Asian Art. Slightly incongruously, they are also home to more than 1300 works by the American painter James Whistler.

The **National Museum of the American Indian** (cnr 4th St & Independence Ave SW) takes on a little too much and can feel scattered, but it is still worth visiting if you want to learn about America's indigenous people. One absolute success here is the regionally specialized menu of the Native Foods café on the ground floor.

#### MALL MONUMENTS & ATTRACTIONS

Oldest joke in DC: 'So, what part of Washington is his monument modeled on?' Yeah, that's right, America has a bigger...obelisk than you. Just peaking at 555ft (and 5in), the **Washington Monument** (  202-426-6841;   9am-4:45pm) is the tallest building in the district. It took two phases of construction to complete; note the different hues of the stone. Tickets are free but must be reserved; or you can order in advance from <http://reservations.nps.gov> for $1.50. They're available from the **kiosk** (15th St, btwn Madison St & Jefferson Dr SW;   8am-4:30pm).

The following all have free admission unless otherwise noted.

The **Bureau of Engraving & Printing** (  202-874-4114; cnr 14th & C Sts SW;   9am-2pm Mon-Fri), aka the most glorified print shop in the world, is where all the US paper currency is designed. Some $32 million of it rolls off the presses daily. Get in line early at the ticket kiosk on Raoul Wallenberg Pl.

'Poppa Abraham' looks out on the reflecting pool from the **Lincoln Memorial** (  202-426-6895;   24hr), where the inscribed Gettysburg Address speaks to all the potential hopes of a nation that weathered the Civil War.

The **Vietnam Veterans Memorial** (  202-462-6841; southeast of Lincoln Memorial, Constitution Gardens;   24hr) is the opposite of DC's usual white, gleaming marble. Instead it's a black, low-lying 'V,' a physical expression of the psychic scar wrought by the Vietnam War. The 58,000 names of dead soldiers chiseled into the dark, reflective wall, scattered with heartfelt mementos left by visitors, form the most powerful monument in DC (if not the nation).

The elaborate **Korean War Veterans Memorial** (southwest of Lincoln Memorial, Constitution Gardens;   8am-11:45pm) is centered around a patrol of ghostly steel soldiers marching by a wall of etched faces from that conflict; seen from a distance, the images on the wall form the outline of the Korean mountains.

Occupying one end of the reflecting pool (and controversially, the center of the Mall, the only war memorial to have that distinction) the **National WWII Memorial** (17th St, btwn Constitution & Independence Aves;   24hr) wants to be (and pretty much is) as stirring as one of the great quotes from that war. Consequently, those quotes are inscribed all over the memorial, which manages to avoid being over the top – just.

DC's oldest art museum, the **Corcoran Gallery** (  202-639-1700; cnr 17th St & New York Ave NW; adult/child under 13 $10/8;   10am-5pm Wed-Sun, to 9pm Thu), has had a tough time standing up to the free, federal competition around the block, but this hasn't stopped it from maintaining one of the most eclectic exhibitions in the country.

Touted as 'the most interactive museum in the world,' the **Newseum** (  888-639-7386; www.newseum.org; 555 Pennsylvania Ave; admission adult/child $20/10) gives too much of the worst cable news has to offer: lots of flash, little substance. It's also a bit of sloppy self-love on the part of journalists. Still, it's great for the kids, and the memorial to journos killed in pursuit of the truth and the exhibits on press freedoms and ethics are worth the price of admission.

Groundbreaking occurred on the **Martin Luther King Jr National Memorial** in November, 2006, in West Potomac Park, but at the time of research, the memorial's project foundation was seeking funds to secure construction permits.

### Capitol Hill

The Capitol, appropriately, sits atop Capitol Hill (what L'Enfant called 'a pedestal waiting for a monument') across a plaza from the almost-as-regal Supreme Court and Library of Congress. Congressional office buildings surround the plaza. A pleasant residential district stretches from E Capitol St to Lincoln Park. Union Station, Capitol South and Eastern Market metro stations serve this area.

#### CAPITOL

Since 1800, this is where the legislative branch of American government – ie Congress – has met to write the country's laws. The lower House of Representatives (438 members) and upper Senate (100) meet respectively in the south and north wings of the building.

In 2008 work was finally completed on a **visitor center** (  202-225-6827; www.aoc.gov; 1st St NE), which showcases the exhaustive background of a building that fairly sweats history. The center also provides free tours of the building – be on the lookout for statues of two famous residents per state, plus some of the most stunning, baroque/neoclassical architecture in the nation. The interior of the building is as daunting as the exterior, if a little cluttered with the busts, statues and personal mementos of generations of Congress members.

To watch Congress in action, call   202-225-6827 for session dates. US citizens can request visitor passes from their representatives or senators (  202-224-3121); foreign visitors show passports at the House gallery. Congressional committee hearings are actually more interesting (and substantive) if you care about what's being debated; check for a schedule, locations and to see if they're open to the public (they often are) at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.

#### LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

To prove to Europeans that America was cultured, John Adams plunked the world's largest **library** (LOC;   exhibitions 202-707-5000; www.loc.gov; 101 Independence Ave SE; admission free;   10am-5:30pm Mon-Sat) on Capitol Hill. The LOC's motivation is simple: 'universality,' the idea that all knowledge is useful. Stunning in scope and design, the building's baroque interior and neoclassical flourishes are set off by a Main Reading Room that looks like an ant colony constantly harvesting 29 million books. The visitor center and tours of the reading rooms are both located in the Jefferson Building, just behind the Capitol building.

#### SUPREME COURT

Even non–law students are impressed by the **highest court in America** (  202-479-3030; 1 1st St NE; admission free;   9am-4:30pm Mon-Fri). Arrive early to watch arguments (Monday to Wednesday October to April) or bench sittings (Monday mid-May to June). You can visit the permanent exhibits and the building's seven-spiral staircase year-round.

#### UNION STATION & AROUND

**Union Station** (  202-289-1908; www.unionstationdc.com; 50 Massachusetts Ave) greets train visitors to the capital with a gorgeous 1908 beaux-arts building. Its great hall was modeled on the Roman baths of Diocletian.

Also recommended in this area:

**Folger Shakespeare Library** (  202-544-4600; 201 E Capitol St; admission free;   10am-4pm Mon-Sat) Houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare materials.

**National Postal Museum** (  202-633-8181; 2 Massachusetts Ave NE; admission free;   10am-5:30pm) Has the planet's largest stamp collection, antique mail plane and touching war letters.

**US Botanic Garden** (  202-225-8333; 245 1st St SW; admission free;   10am-5pm) Hot, sticky, green and enormous: more than 26,000 different species of plants flower here.

### Tidal Basin

It's magnificent to stroll around this man-made inlet and watch the monument lights wink across the Potomac, especially during the Cherry Blossom Festival (Click here), the city's annual spring rejuvenation, when the basin bursts into a pink and white floral collage (thanks for the trees, Japanese ambassador from 1912). **Paddleboat rentals** (1501 Maine Ave, SW; 2-person boat per hr $7) are available at the boathouse.

The be-domed **Jefferson Memorial** (  202-426-6822; 900 Ohio Drive, SW, south side of Tidal Basin; admission free;   8am-11:45pm), etched with the founding father's most famous writings, might win the 'best quotes on the inside of a DC memorial' award.

The **FDR Memorial** (Memorial Park; admission free;   24hr) is a 7.5-acre tribute to the longest-serving president in US history and the era he governed. In a thoughtful, well-laid-out path, visitors are taken through the Depression, the New Deal–era and WWII. It's best visited at night, when the interplay of rock, fountains and the lights of the Mall are enchanting.

### Downtown

Downtown Washington began in what is now called Federal Triangle, but has since spread north and east, encompassing the area east of the White House to Judiciary Sq at 4th St, and from the Mall north to roughly M St. Hours of operation for the attractions listed here are 10am to 5:30pm daily, unless otherwise noted.

It's hard not to feel a little in awe of the big three documents in the **National Archives** (  866-272-6272; www.archives.gov; 700 Constitution Ave; admission free;   10am-9pm summer, to 5:30pm rest of year). The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, plus one of four copies of the Magna Carta: taken together, it becomes clear just how radical the American experiment was for its time. The Public Vaults, a bare scratching of archival bric-a-brac, are a flashy rejoinder to the main exhibit – and speaking of which, do _not_ use the flash on your camera here.

Don't miss the **Reynolds Center for American Art** (  202-275-1500; cnr F St & 8th St NW; <http://reynoldscenter.org>; admission free), which combines the **National Portrait Gallery** with the **American Art Museum**. From haunting depictions of the inner city and rural heartland to the self-taught visions of itinerant wanderers, the center has dedicated itself to capturing the relentless optimism and critical self-appraisal of American art, and succeeds in a big way.

You like those bits in the Bond movies with Q? Then you'll like the immensely popular **International Spy Museum** (  202-393-7798; www.spymuseum.org; 800 F St NW; adult/child 6-11 $18/15;   10am-6pm, slightly longer hours summer & weekends); all the undercover tools-of-the-trade on display make this place great for (secret) history buffs. Get there early. Hours change seasonally, so it's best to check online or call first.

Devoted to the architectural arts, the under-appreciated **National Building Museum** (  202-272-2448; www.nbm.org; 401 F St NW; donations accepted;   10am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 11am Sun) is appropriately housed in an architectural jewel: the 1887 Old Pension Building. Four stories of ornamented balconies flank the dramatic 316ft-wide atrium, and the gold-colored Corinthian columns rise 75ft high. The various permanent and rotating exhibits on different aspects of architecture are sequestered in rooms off the atrium.

The **Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences** (  202-334-1201; cnr 6th & E Sts; adult/child 5-18yr $5/3) is a big, kid-friendly complex of hands-on, educational fun.

The red-carpeted entrance and dignified Grand Salon of **Renwick Gallery** (  202-633-7970; cnr 17th St & Pennsylvania Ave NW; admission free) is crammed with 19th-century paintings – a startling contrast to the wild, whimsical craftwork in the adjoining rooms. It's worth a visit just for Wendell Castle's _Ghost Clock_.

Grub out at the sweet international food court in the **Old Post Office Pavilion** (  202-298-4224; www.oldpostofficedc.com; 1100 Pennsylvania Ave NW; admission free;   10am-8pm Mon-Sat, noon-7pm Sun Mar-Aug, 10am-7pm Mon-Sat, noon-6pm Sun Sep-Feb), which also happens to be an elegant 1899 Romanesque revival landmark. The 400ft observation tower gives great downtown panoramas.

On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln in his box seat at **Ford's Theatre** (  202-347-4833; 511 10th St). The theater still operates today, with its threadbare, basement **Lincoln Museum** (admission free;   9am-5pm) devoted to the assassination. Across the street, **Peterson House** (516 10th St NW; admission free;   9am-5pm) is where Lincoln gave up the ghost the next morning.

### White House & Foggy Bottom

An expansive park called the Ellipse borders the Mall; on the east side is the power-broker block of Pennsylvania Ave. Foggy Bottom was named for the mists that belched out of a local gasworks; now, as the home of the State Department and George Washington University, it's an upscale (if not terribly lively) 'hood crawling with students and professionals.

#### WHITE HOUSE

You can practically hear the theme to _The_ _West Wing_ as you walk by 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, and at night the grounds are so stately you'll want to snap off a salute. The White House has survived both fire (the Brits) and expansions in its day. Jacqueline Kennedy redecorated with her stylish touch, Franklin Roosevelt added a pool, Clinton a jogging track and George W Bush a T-ball field. Cars can no longer pass the White House on Pennsylvania Ave, clearing the area for posing school groups and round-the-clock peace activists.

A self-guided **tour** (  202-456-7041;   7:30am-noon Tue-Sat) will lead you through the ground and 1st floors, but the 2nd and 3rd floors are off-limits. Unfortunately these tours are only available to groups of 10 or more and need to be arranged months in advance. Americans must apply via one of their state's members of Congress, and non-Americans must apply through either the US consulate in their home country or their country's consulate in DC. If that sounds like too much work, pop into the **White House visitor center** (  202-456-7041; www.whitehouse.gov; Chamber of Commerce Bldg, cnr 15th & E Sts NW;   7:30am-4pm); it's not the real deal, but hey, there's executive paraphernalia scattered about.

The riverfront **Watergate complex** (2650 Virginia Ave NW) encompasses apartments, boutiques, and the office towers that made 'Watergate' a byword for political scandal after it broke that President Nixon's 'plumbers' had bugged the headquarters of the 1972 Democratic National Committee.

### Adams Morgan, Shaw & U Street

If it's not party time in Adams Morgan, it's time to get a hangover-cure lunch from an Ethiopian or Central American diner. This multiethnic neighborhood (especially 18th St) becomes sin central on weekend nights. The area isn't easily metro-accessible; try to catch bus 98, which runs between Adams Morgan and U Street Metro stations.

To the east, Shaw stretches from around Thomas Circle to Meridian Hill Park and from N Capitol St to 15th St NW. Best known for its African American heritage, back in the 1930s the **Lincoln Theatre** (  202-328-6000; 1215 U St NW) was a high point on the 'chitlin' circuit' of African American entertainment, hosting celebrities such as DC native Duke Ellington. Following the 1968 assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, riots devastated the commercial district. This area has since undergone a renaissance; there are lots of excellent restaurants and bars around.

### Dupont Circle

A well-heeled splice of gay community and DC diplomatic scene, this is city life at its best. Great restaurants, bars, bookstores, cafés, captivating architecture and the electric energy of a lived-in, happening neighborhood make Dupont worth a linger. The local historic mansions have largely been converted into embassies, and Embassy Row (on Massachusetts Ave), runs through DC's thumping gay heart.

The **Phillips Collection** (  202-387-2152; www.phillipscollection.org; 1600 21st St NW; admission free Tue-Fri, special exhibitions vary;   10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 10am-8:30pm Thu summer, 11am-6pm Sun) was the first modern-art museum in the country; its main draw is whatever the special exhibition happens to be at the moment. Always first-rate.

Rotating exhibits on worldwide expeditions are found at the **National Geographic Society's Explorer Hall** (  202-857-7588; 1145 17 St NW; admission free;   9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 10am Sun).

Know your warp from your woof? Set in a quiet neighborhood, the oft-overlooked **Textile Museum** (  202-667-0441; www.texttilemuseum.org; 2320 S St NW; requested donation $5;   10am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 1pm Sun) is the country's only museum devoted to the textile arts.

### Georgetown

Georgetown is so damn regal it doesn't need public transportation. No, seriously, the Metro doesn't stop here, but thousands of the bright and beautiful, from Georgetown students to ivory-tower academics and diplomats call this leafy, aristocratic neighborhood home. At night, shop-a-block M St becomes congested with traffic, turning into a weird mix of high-school cruising night and high-street boutique.

Get a historical overview from the **visitor center** (  202-653-5190; 1057 Thomas Jefferson St NW;   10am-4pm). Costumed guides lead visitors on a history-intensive, hour-long, mule-driven barge trip along the **C &O Canal towpath** (adult/child $8/5).

A museum featuring exquisite Byzantine and pre-Columbian art is housed within the historic mansion at **Dumbarton Oaks** (  202-339-6401; cnr R & 31st Sts NW); the 10 acres of outstanding formal **gardens** (adult/child $8/5 Apr-Oct, free Nov-Mar;   2-6pm Tue-Sun) are a treat as well.

Bill Clinton went to school at **Georgetown University** (  202-687-0100; 37th & O Sts), which should give you an idea of the student body: smart, hard-working party people.

The **Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail** connects Chesapeake Bay to the Allegheny Highlands in a 700-mile corridor. It includes the C&O Canal towpath, the 17-mile Mt Vernon Trail (Virginia), and the 75-mile Laurel Highlands Trail (Pennsylvania). Click here for bike-rental information.

### Anacostia

The drive from Georgetown to Anacostia takes about 30 minutes and the patience to endure a world of income disparity. The neighborhood's smack-, crack- and brick row houses sitting mere miles from the Mall form one of DC's great contradictory panoramas, yet strong communities persist. More tourists started arriving on the first day of the baseball season in 2008, when Nationals Stadium opened, bringing with it double-edged gentrification. The impact of renovation dollars can already be seen at some spruced-up intersections.

Freedom fighter and man of letters Frederick Douglass' home is now the **Frederick Douglass National Historic Site** (  202-426-5960; 1411 W St SE; admission free;   9am-4pm). Despite an awfully cheesy intro movie, the on-site rangers are fantastically helpful, and the house, with its commanding view over crumbling Anacostia, speaks to the heights that black America has reached and the wide gaps it has left to bridge.

* * *

# OFFBEAT WASHINGTON, DC

Father Karras tumbled to his cinematic death down the staircase nowadays referred to as the **Exorcist Steps** (3600 Prospect St, Georgetown).

Those of timid stock better stick to the amputation kits and the bullet that killed Lincoln on display at the **National Museum of Health & Medicine** (  202-782-2200; 6900 Georgia Ave, at Elder St NW; admission free;   10am-5:30pm), which remains open while its exhibits are moved to Bethesda, MD. The rest of us will be staring in horrified fascination at jars of elephantitis-stricken legs, conjoined twins and megacolons.

**The Awakening** is a spectacular statue of a man climbing out of the ground. His giant head, arm, knee and foot have delighted visitors for years. In 2007 the trapped giant finally freed himself when he was moved to National Harbor, a waterfront development project in Maryland 8 miles south of the city. From his new harbor home, developers say the giant will be clawing his way out of the banks of the Potomac.

In Anacostia, the **world's largest chair** towers over Martin Luther King Ave and V St.

The **Albert Einstein monument** (cnr Constitution Ave & 21st St NW) on the lawn of the National Academy of Sciences is a little-known statue of the frumpy physicist. His lap just begs to be climbed onto.

You may need binoculars to spot it, but that is indeed **Darth Vader's Head** on the west tower of the National Cathedral(below). Luke's dad shares space with a pig-tailed girl, a raccoon and an umbrella-toting man, all designs sent in by children for a cathedral-sponsored contest in the 1980s.

* * *

The Smithsonian's **Anacostia Community Museum** (  202-287-3306; 1901 Fort Pl SE;   10am-5pm) is surrounded by the community that is the subject of its educational mission, and houses good rotating exhibits on the African American experience in the USA. Call ahead, as the museum closes for about a month between installations.

### Around Washington, DC

While plenty of DC buildings take a leaf from the 'inspire reverent awe' school of design, they're rarely religious in nature (unless you consider patriotism a religion). The Gothic **Washington National Cathedral** (  202-537-6200; www.cathedral.org; cnr Massachusetts & Wisconsin Aves; admission free;   10am-5:30pm Mon-Sat, 8am-6:30pm Sun), as hushed and overwhelming as its European counterparts, breaks this rule. It's officially Episcopal, but serves as the 'national house of prayer for all people,' and is a common venue for First Family weddings and the like. The Bishop's Garden and the gargoyle tour are recommended. Fees vary.

Return to beginning of chapter

## ACTIVITIES

Under the auspices of the National Park Service (NPS), the 1775 acres of **Rock Creek Park** follow Rock Creek as it winds through the northwest of the city. There's miles of bicycling, hiking and horseback-riding trails, and even a few coyotes. The C&O Canal offers bicycling and hiking trails in canalside parks, and the lovely 11-mile **Capital Crescent Trail** (www.cctrail.org) connects Georgetown north to Silver Spring, MD, via some splendid Potomac River views. Fifteen miles north of DC, **Great Falls National Park** (www.nps.gov/grfa) is a fairly outstanding slice of wilderness, great for rafting or rock climbing some of the beautiful cliffs that hang over the Potomac.

**Thompson Boat Center** (  202-333-9543; cnr Virginia Ave & Rock Creek Pkwy NW) at the Potomac River end of Rock Creek Park rents canoes (per hour $8), tandem kayaks (per hour $10) and bikes (per day $25). **Big Wheel Bikes** (  202-337-0254; 1034 33rd St; per hr/day $7/25;   11am-7pm Tue-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat & Sun) is also a good bike-rental outfitter.

Return to beginning of chapter

## WASHINGTON, DC, FOR CHILDREN

Museums around the city will entertain and educate children of all ages. But if you – or they – tire of indoor attractions, there are plenty of parks and playgrounds, such as the **Guy Mason Playground** (3600 Calvert St NW) off Wisconsin Ave.

Many hotels offer babysitting services, but here are a few independent agencies:

**Bring Along the Children** (  202-484-0889) Offers day and evening babysitting services and kid-oriented tours.

**Mothers' Aides** (  703-250-0700, 800-526-2669; www.mothersaides.com)

* * *

### The Mall

The wide-open spaces of the Mall are perfect for outdoor family fun, whether you want to throw a Frisbee, have a picnic, ride the world's oldest **carousel** (tickets $2) or stroll through museums.

Kids like things that go squish and/or make other things go squish; they can find both in the dinosaurs and insects of the National Museum of Natural History (Click here). The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Click here) puts on entertaining shows for tots, and the National Air & Space Museum (Click here), has moon rocks, IMAX films and a wild simulation ride.

The **Discovery Theater** (  202-633-9700; www.discoverytheater.org; 1010 Jefferson Dr; tickets adult/child $6/5;   performances 10am & 11:30am Jan-Jul), in the basement of the Ripley Center, stages magical theatrical performances.

The **National Theatre** (Click here) offers free Saturday-morning performances from puppet shows to tap dancers (reservations required).

The **National Children's Museum** (  202-675-4120; www.ncm.museum) will reopen its expanded doors in 2013 in the National Harbor Complex south of the city.

### Off the Mall

The **National Zoological Park** (  202-633-4800; 3000 Connecticut Ave NW; admission free;   10am-6pm Apr-Oct, to 5pm Nov-Mar) is home to some 2000 species in natural habitats. The 'Asia Trail' is an excellent open-air stroll by some of the most fascinating ecosystems (and their inhabitants) of the world's largest continent.

Located about 15 miles east of downtown in Largo, MD, **Six Flags America** (  301-249-1500; adult/child over 3 $50/25;   May-Oct) offers a full array of roller coasters and tamer kiddie rides.

Return to beginning of chapter

## TOURS

**Bike the Sites** (  202-966-8662; www.bikethesites.com; adult/child under 13 $40/30;   Mar-Nov) The three-hour 'Capital sites' tour is a favorite with families.

**Scandal Tours** (  202-783-7212; www.gnpcomedy.com/ScandalTours.html; adult/student $30/20;   tours 1pm Sat Apr-Sep) Run by comedy troupe Gross National Product, it dishes all the gossip about DC's infamous spots, covering George Washington to George Dubya.

**City Segway Tours** (  202-626-0017; <http://citysegwaytours.com/washington-dc>) Extremely popular and relaxing way of seeing the major sites along the Mall and in Penn Quarter ($70).

**Tourmobile Sightseeing** (  202-554-5100, 888-868-7707; www.tourmobile.com) An open-air trolley runs daily between the major sights. Tons of theme tours are offered, including the spectacular Washington-by-night 'Twilight Tour' (adult/child $27/13).

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## FESTIVALS & EVENTS

**National Cherry Blossom Festival** (  877-442-5666; www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org) Held late March to early April. DC at her prettiest.

**Smithsonian's Folklife Festival** (  202-633-6440; www.festival.si.edu) This fun family event, held over two weekends in June and July, features distinctive regional folk art, crafts, food and music.

**Independence Day** Not surprisingly, a big deal here, celebrated on July 4 with the best freakin' fireworks ever.

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## SLEEPING

**Washington DC Accommodations** (  202-289-2220, 800-503-3330; www.wdcahotels.com) provides assistance with lodging. For B&Bs citywide, contact **Bed & Breakfast Accommodations** (  877-893-3233; www.bedandbreakfastdc.com). Parking costs constantly shift at the following properties; expect to pay $20 to $40 for in-and-out privileges.

### Budget

**Washington International Student Center** (  202-667-7681; www.washingtondchostel.com; 2451 18th St NW; dm $25;   check-in 8am-11pm;      ) Located well in the heart of Adams Morgan; you can basically stumble out of the club directly into your bed here. Decent dorms and free parking for your first night.

**HI-Washington, DC** (  202-737-2333; www.hiwashingtondc.org; 1009 11th St NW, at K St; dm incl breakfast from $25;    ) If you're looking for an enormous (ie 270-room), friendly hostel full of fun, young international types, look no further than this budget institution. Non–HI members incur a $3 fee.

**Lofty Inn** (  202-506-7106; www.dclofty.com; 1333 11th St NW; dm from $33;    ) Located in a crisp, clean house near the Convention Center, Lofty, with its brick walls and smooth wood floors, vaguely delivers on the implied hipness and semiluxury its name suggests. That said, the dorms are just dorms – nothing to go wild over.

### Midrange

**Dupont Collection** (  202-467-6777; <http://thedupontcollection.com>; r $95-230;    ); Dupont North (1620 T St NW) Dupont South (1312 19th St NW) If you're craving a good range of B&B coziness in the heart of the capital, check out the four excellent heritage properties run by the Dupont Collection. Perhaps most convenient for the visitor are the inns at Dupont North and South; the former feels like the modernly appointed home of a wealthy friend, while the latter evokes much more of a chintz-and-lacy-linen sensibility. Other properties: Brookland Inn and the Jackson Guest House, both in the far northeast.

**Adam's Inn** (  202-745-3600; www.adamsinn.com; 1746 Lanier Pl NW; r $109-159;      ) It can be a struggle to get eye contact, let alone one-on-one service in DC, but this town-house B&B provides all of the above, plus fluffy linens and a central location.

**Tabard Inn** (  202-785-1277; 1739 N St NW; r from $158;      ) The Tabard is an elegant piece of work, but elegant in a slightly subdued way. From the pretty, antique-ed out guest rooms you could easily feel as if it were time to go fox hunting. Or wining and dining in the nearby urban jungle of Dupont Circle.

**Hotel Helix** (  202-296-7700; www.hotelhelix.com; 1430 Rhode Island Ave NW; r from $180;        ) Modish and highlighter bright, the Helix is playfully cool – the perfect hotel for the bouncy international set that makes up the surrounding neighborhood of Dupont Circle. Little touches suggest a youthful energy (Pop Rocks in the minibar) balanced with worldly cool, like the pop-punk decor – just camp enough to be endearing. Parking is $27.

**Dupont Hotel** (  202-483-6000; www.doylecollection.com; 1500 New Hampshire Ave NW; r from $189;        ) Part of the Doyle group, this spot is chic and glamorous, in a more contemporary and sleek fashion than the embassy row it sits near. The general vibe is somewhere between nightclub, art gallery and big box hotel.

### Top End

**Morrison-Clark Inn** (  202-898-1200; www.morrisonclark.com; 1015 L St NW; r from $200;      ) The only hotel in town on the Register of Historic Places, this elegant inn has spacious rooms ranging from Victorian to neoclassical. Some come decked out with private balconies and marble fireplaces.

**Hotel Monaco** (  202-628-7177, 800-649-1202; www.monaco-dc.com; 700 F St NW; r from $239;      ) The neoclassical facade has aged with considerable grace at this marble temple to stylish glamour. Free goldfish on request and a geometric, deco-inspired interior helps polish the 1930s, cool-daddy-o vibe.

**St Regis** (  202-638-2626; www.starwoodhotels.com; 923 16th & K St NW; r from $277;        ) The St Regis is a tony downtown option that quite convincingly evokes all the pomp, circumstance, crystal chandeliers, tapestries and paintings in gilded frames you may associate with Washington, DC, lodging. The Regis is aristocratic and it knows it, and you'll feel the same after a night here.

**Hay-Adams** (  202-638-6600; www.hayadams-dc.com; 800 16th St NW; r from $279;        ) When you're right across the road from the White House, chances are you'll be swank and in style, as is the case with the Hay-Adams, one of the city's great heritage hotels. All the mod cons you could want are complimented by service and setting that is, cliché as it may be, fit for a head of state.

 **Mansion on O Street** (  202-496-2020; www.omansion.com; 2020 O St NW; ste $550-4000;      ) Enter this mansion and you've gone through the looking glass of the American hotel industry. Over 20 highly individualized suites pepper this property, ranging from the 'Graceland,' filled with Elvis and Marilyn Monroe kitsch, and the 'James Bond,' literally hidden behind a secret door. Each suite is gorgeously appointed and service is swift and discreet. The pinnacle of DC's sleeping stakes.

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## EATING

As you might expect of one of the world's most international cities, DC has an eclectic palette. No single culture defines its menu, although Southern Americans, Ethiopians, Asians and Latinos all try.

### Capitol Hill

**Eastern Market** (225 7th St SE;   10am-6pm Tue-Fri, 8am-6pm Sat, 8am-4pm Sun) This covered arcade is more than a market – it's the focal point of residential Capitol Hill, the soul of the neighborhood without which this area might just be houses and roads. The oyster sandwich at the Market Lunch stall is divine.

**Jimmy T's** (  202-546-3646; 501 E Capitol St; mains $6-10;   7am-3pm Tue-Sun) Jimmy's is a neighborhood joint of the old school, where folks cram in to read the _Post,_ have a burger or an omelet or some coffee and basically be themselves. If you're hungover on Sunday and in Cap Hill, this is the place to cure yourself.

**Sonoma** (  202-544-8088; 223 Pennsylvania Ave SE; mains $20-31;   11:30am-2:30pm Mon-Fri, 5:30-10pm Mon-Thu, 5:30-11pm Fri & Sat, 5:30-9pm Sun) Washington is a city that has embraced the wine bar genre with a vintner's passion, but there's a lot of mediocre executions of the genre about. Not Sonoma; there's great meat, great grape and great pairings thanks to friendly, knowledgeable staff.

### Downtown & White House Area

**Zaytinya** (  202-638-0800; 701 9th St NW; mezes $4-10;   11:30am-11:30pm Tue-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun & Mon) Good-looking waitstaff serve good-looking clientele Greek, Lebanese and Turkish meze against a sleek, spacious white, brown and Hellenic-blue backdrop.

**Burma Restaurant** (  202-638-1280; 740 6th St NW; mains from $10;   11am-3pm Mon-Fri, 6-10pm daily) Actually, the cuisine is more Shan, but since no one knows the difference and the food is still great, who cares? The mango pork is reason alone to revel in this mortal coil.

**Matchbox Pizza** (  202-289-4441; 713 H St NW; pizzas $13-20;   11am-10:30pm, to 1am Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun) The pizza here rocketed into the DC gastronomic universe with a vengeance, and you can't come here now without finding the restaurant packed with the curious and the satisfied. What's so good about it? Fresh ingredients, a crust baked by angels, and more fresh ingredients.

**Jaleo** (  202-628-7949; 480 7th St NW; tapas $6-10, dinner mains $16;   11:30am-11:30pm Tue-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun & Mon) The whole tapas thing has been done to death, but Jaleo helped start the trend in DC and still serves some of the best Spanish cuisine in town. The interior is an Iberian pastiche of explosive color and vintage mural-dom, which all underlines, rather than overpowers, the quality of the excellent food.

**Georgia Brown's** (  202-393-4499; 950 15th St NW; mains $16-32;   11:30am-10pm Mon-Fri, 5-10pm Sat, 10am-2:15pm & 5-9:30pm Sun) Georgia Brown's treats the humble ingredients of the American South (shrimp, okra, red rice, grits and sausage) with the respect great French chefs give their provincial dishes. The result is consistently excellent regional American cuisine: high-class Southern food from the Carolina Lowcountry served in a warm, autumnal interior.

 **Minibar at Café Atlantico** (  202-393-0812; tasting menu $120; 405 8th St NW;   6pm & 8:30pm, Tue-Sat) Atlantico's minibar is foodie nirvana, where the curious get wowed by animal bits spun into cotton candy and cocktails frothed into clouds, and all the conceptualization of food that says we, as a society, have a lot of time on our hands. The tasting menu, entirely determined by the chef, is often delicious, and at least original.

### Adams Morgan, Shaw & U Street

**Julia's Empanadas** (  202-328-6232; 2452 18th St NW; empanadas $3;   10:30am-10:30pm Mon-Thu, to 4am Fri & Sat, to 8pm Sun) In Europe, you soak up your beer with a kabob. Here, you go to Julia's, where the Salvadoran owner/namesake still rolls out meat-and-cheese pocket pastries that go down great even when you're stone-cold sober.

**Florida Avenue Grill** (  202-265-1586; 1100 Florida Ave NW; mains $4-7;   8am-9pm Tue-Sat, to 4:30pm Sun) Your stomach will thank you, even if your heart decides to pack it in after feasting on the Grill's Southern standards of fried catfish and collard greens. This joint's been raking 'em in since 1944 and has the celebrity photos and neighborhood loyalty to prove it.

**Ben's Chili Bowl** (  202-667-0909; 1213 U St NW; mains $4-8;   11am-2am Mon-Thu, to 4am Fri & Sat, noon-8pm Sun) Every night the lines stretch around the block from this institution, known as much for its welcoming atmosphere as its excellent food. Go for a half-smoked, DC's (better) version of your hot dog slathered in cheese and (what else?) chili.

**Mixtec** (  202-797-1819; 1792 Columbia Rd NW; mains $5-10;   9am-10pm Sun-Thu, 10am-11pm Fri & Sat) Budget Mexican that eschews the taco/burrito/enchilada drabness of the genre, Mixtec is justifiably popular with Anglos and Latinos. The moles are freshly prepared, the meat authentically spiced (rumors say they use more than 200 seasonings) and the huevos rancheros are a great hangover cure.

**Cork** (  202-265-2675; www.corkdc.com; 1720 14th St NW; small plates $5-14;   5pm-1am) This dark 'n' cozy wine bar manages to come off as foodie magnet and friendly neighborhood hangout all at once, which is a feat. Smart wine choices plus small plates equals culinary bliss – with this innovative menu (and excellent cheese selection) you generally can't go wrong, although those little dishes do add up on the wallet.

**Busboys & Poets** (  387-7638; 2021 14th St NW; mains $6-15;   8am-midnight Mon-Fri, 9am-midnight Sat & Sun) In just a few years, Busboys (named for a Langston Hughes poem) has become a US stalwart, an African American–owned business where everyone seems to gather for coffee, wi-fi, café fare and a progressive vibe (and attached bookstore) that makes San Francisco feel conservative.

**Vegetate** (  232-4585; 1414 9th St NW; mains $6-15;   6–10pm, to 11pm Fri, noon-11pm Sat;  ) As you read, probably the best vegetarian food in town is being served here: blue cheese skillet bread and Bambi-friendly risottos, all prepped with ingredients culled from local farms. You enter, you eat, you leave, feeling good about your meal, your karma, your place in the circle of delicious life.

**Pasta Mia** (  202-328-9114; 1790 Columbia Rd NW; mains $10-15;   6:30-10pm Mon-Sat) Even cold weather doesn't deter the faithful from lining up for their turn at affordable, monstrously portioned Italian on checkered tablecloths. No reservations or line-jumping bribes accepted.

**Meskerem** (  202-462-4100; 2434 18th St NW; mains $10-20;   noon-midnight Sun-Thu, to 3am Fri & Sat) A standby of the local Ethiopian scene, Meskerem is three floors of communal eating goodness smack in the African heart of Adams Morgan.

### Dupont Circle

**Malaysia Kopitiam** (  202-833-6232; 1827 M St NW; mains $5-12;   11:30am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat, noon-10pm Sun) If you're familiar with Malaysian food, this is as close as you get to a Penang street stall in Washington. If you're not, may we introduce you to: laksa, bowls of noodle soup cut with coconut milk and pillowy chunks of chicken, and spiced dried fish, plus anything cooked in a banana leaf. It's next door to Camelot, DC's most (in)famous stripper bar.

 **Bistro Du Coin** (  202-234-6969; 1738 Connecticut Ave NW; mains $8-24;   11:30am-11pm Tue, Wed & Sun, 11:30am-1am Thu-Sat) Mon Dieu! Bistro has a reputation for serving roll-up-your-sleeves, American-sized portions of rustic French favorites such as _steak-frites_ (grilled steak and French fries), cassoulet, rabbit stew, and tureens of its famous _moules_ (mussels). This place is always packed, usually with happy European diplomats and other Old World expats.

**Afterwords** (  202-387-1400; 1517 Connecticut Ave NW; mains $12-16;   7:30am-1am Sun-Thu, 24hr Fri & Sat) Not your average bookstore café, this spot attached to Kramerbooks will stimulate your palate as much as the novel you just bought stimulates your mind.

### Georgetown

**Baked & Wired** (  202-333-2500; 1052 Thomas Jefferson St NW; mains $3;   6am-7pm Mon-Fri, 9am-7pm Sat, 11am-5pm Sun) With one of the US's great universities only a latte away, you'd think Georgetown would have more hip coffee shops, but alas, there's a lack. B&W makes up for this with a studio-chic interior and, more importantly, great coffee and some of the best cupcakes in DC.

**Martin's Tavern** (  202-333-7370; 1264 Wisconsin Ave NW; lunch mains $8-15, dinner mains $12-27;   from 11:30am) Martin's is a favorite with Georgetown students and US presidents, who all enjoy the old-school darkened dining room and quite possibly the best cheeseburger in town.

**Hook** (  202-625-4488; www.hookdc.com; 3241 M St NW; mains $26-30;   11:30am-2:30pm Tue-Fri, 5-10pm Sun-Tue, to 11pm Wed-Sat, 11am-2:30pm Sat & Sun) Simple and sexy, with a frosty white Zen interior, Hook is the fish bar of the future: locally sourced seafood prepped artful and uncomplicated, so the flesh of your flounder or rockfish is allowed to play, with just the right nudge in the direction of deliciousness.

**Citronelle** (  202-625-2150; tasting menu from $105; 3000 M St NW;   6-9:30pm) Big name Michel Richard started this show, a split-level study in the most creative twists tweakable on the American palate. Shrimp wrapped in phyllo dough spun from a cloud is a good example of the above, but order anything, and if in doubt, give the tasting menu some love.

### Columbia Heights & Around

More and more restaurants and bars are opening in Columbia Heights and Petworth, north on the Green Line. Palena is in Cleveland Park, northwest on the Red Line.

**Dos Gringos** (  202-462-1159; www.dosgringoscafe.com; 3116 Mt Pleasant St NW; mains $3-7.25;   7:30am-8pm Tue-Thu, to 9pm Fri, 9am-9pm Sat, 9am-4pm Sun) Latinos and Anglos alike line up to order off a bilingual menu that includes fresh veg burritos, cheap cups of coffee, curry chicken salads and portobello sandwiches.

 **Hitching Post** (  202-726-1511; 200 Upshur St NW; mains $12-18;   10:30am-10pm Tue-Sat) 'This is East Coast jazz,' says the owner behind the counter of this Petworth diner. 'No one listens to this anymore.' Another song comes up; the Drifters. Really? The Drifters and jazz in a diner so neighborly it should put on a cardigan and loafers when it comes inside? Let's try the fried chicken...which, oh-mygod, is seriously like a whole, freaking fried chicken. Served with two sides. And another man comes in and the owner calls him by name and the customer asks, 'This the Chi-lites?', and we know we're in love.

* * *

# GAY & LESBIAN BARS & CLUBS

There is a gay bar scene concentrated around Dupont Circle. The funny thing about **Halo** (  202-797-9730; 1435 P St NW) is it looks like it should be a total den of douchebaggery, what with its super-sleek spaceship style furniture and Euro-I'm-too-cool-for-school vibe, but then you go inside and it's a totally friendly, even laid-back gay bar. The crowd is older and accommodating, and generally a joy to be around.

**JR's** (  202-328-0090; 1519 17th St NW), a popular gay hangout, is frequented by the 20- and 30-something, work-hard and play-hard set. Some DC residents claim that the crowd at JR's epitomizes the conservative nature of the capital's gay scene; but even if you love to hate it, as many do, JR's is the happy-hour spot in town and is packed more often than not.

**Cobalt** (  202-232-4416; 1639 R St NW; admission Sun-Thu free, Fri & Sat $5) pretty much rules the roost of the DC club scene. The music is great, the bartenders are ripped and sufficiently shirtless and the scene is equal parts all about the hookup and getting down to some good (if pounding) dance music.

* * *

**W Domku** (  202-722-7475; 821 Upshur St NW; mains $12-18;   5-11pm Tue & Wed, 10am-11pm Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun) As unexpected as...well, a hip, artsy coffee shop in the middle of a very local Petworth strip of churches, funeral homes and Caribbean takeouts, Domku is a gem. The interior is like Ikea on good drugs, the food an intriguing execution of Polish, Norwegian and Russian fare.

**Palena** (  537-9250; 3529 Connecticut Ave NW; fixed menu from $58;   5:30-10pm Tue-Sat) Roll up to Cleveland Park and get ready for a culinary ride into innovative gastro-orgasm land. Palena's menu defies our conventions, deliciously; Swiss chard served in ink ravioli, sturgeon wrapped in pancetta, and pheasant consommé. The interior is warm but oddly modern in its crafted rusticity, but to see or eat any of the above, book early.

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## DRINKING & ENTERTAINMENT

See the _Washington City Paper_ or _Washington Post_ weekend section (Click here) for comprehensive listings. Conveniently located at the Old Post Office Pavilion, **Ticketplace** (  202-842-5387; www.ticketplace.org; 1100 Pennsylvania Ave, NW;   11am-6pm Tue-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat) sells same-day concert and show tickets at half-price. Closing time is generally 2am weekdays, 3am weekends.

### Bars & Nightclubs

#### CAPITOL HILL & DOWNTOWN

**Hawk & Dove** (  202-543-3300; 329 Pennsylvania Ave SE;   from 10am) The quintessential Capitol Hill bar is a hot spot for political junkies, with intimate corner booths perfect for sipping pints and creating the next District scandal.

**Palace of Wonders** (  202-398-7469; 1210 H St NE;   6pm-2am) Damn but DC needed this place: a permanent freak show. Seriously; the Palace puts on fire-eating, sword-swallowing and flea circuses every week, performed by a cast of regulars and appreciated by a tattooed (or not) audience that sinks plenty of beers during intermission (and during shows too, come to think of it).

#### ADAMS MORGAN, SHAW & U STREET

**Tryst** (  202-232-5500; 2459 18th St;   from 6:30am Mon-Sat, 8am-12:30am Sun;  ) The hodgepodge of tables and cozy sofas at this Greenwich Village–style coffeehouse/lizard lounge harbors patrons so faithful they should probably pay rent. There's wi-fi, but surfing's a no-no on weekend nights – you should be striking up a conversation with that cute stranger next to you anyway.

**Chi-Cha Lounge** (  202-234-8400; 1624 U St NW;   from 5:30pm) Slip through the double-sided mirror door, settle into a low settee and order up a hookah of fruit-flavored tobacco. In the midst of this Middle Eastern atmosphere, the trendy clientele is nibbling Ecuadorian tapas and sipping Peruvian drinks.

**Dan's Café** (  202-265-9241; 2315 18th St NW;   from 7:30pm Sun-Thu) Dan's dive is all the more grotty for its location: smack in the middle of the 18th St skimpy skirt parade. Inside this barely signed bar is dim lighting, old locals, J Crew–looking types slumming it and flasks of whiskey, coke and a bucket of ice for under $12 (!).

**Marvin's** (  202-797-7171; www.marvindc.com; 2007 14th St NW;   5:30pm-2am) One of our favorite watering holes is always good for playing hottie spotty, but it's hardly intimidating. The roof deck is great for rubbing shoulders and sparking conversation on summer nights or in the midst of winter, when folks huddle under roaring heat lamps and enjoy imported Belgian beer.

**Stetson's** (  202-667-6295; 1610 U St NW;   5pm-2am) Stetson's is a political spot and not. There's a good chance you'll be hanging with Senate staffers, but folks don't flash congressional ID badges here: they come for beer, peanuts and fun times. The beer garden is a bonus.

**Saloon** (  462-2640; 1207 U St NW;   11am-2am, 2pm-2am Sat) The Saloon takes a firm stand against packing patrons in like sardines, with posted rules against standing between tables. That's great, because the added elbow room better allows you to enjoy brew ordered off one of the most extensive beer menus in town.

**Madam's Organ** (  202-667-5370; 2461 18th St NW; cover weekday/weekend $3/5;   5pm-2am Sun-Thu, to 3am Fri & Sat) The Organ is a well-loved standby ( _Playboy_ named it one of the best bars in the country) and still one of the rowdiest, sweatiest, All-American-iest joints to catch some power blues, power rock and power shots.

#### DUPONT CIRCLE

 **Brickskeller** (  202-293-1885; 1523 22nd St NW;   from 11:30am Mon-Fri, from 6pm Sat & Sun) Let's make this simple: _The Guinness Book of World Records_ says the 'Skeller has the biggest variety of beer available. _In the world_. See you there.

**Science Club** (  202-775-0747; 1136 19th St NW;   from 5pm) Everyone, from the geeky types implied by the name to the DC power set, comes here to shake a tailfeather to the blend of hip-hop, funk and house that thumps across the dimly lit floors of this excellent club.

**Eighteenth Street Lounge** (  202-466-3922; 1212 18th St NW;   from 9:30pm Tue, Wed & Sat, from 5:30pm Thu & Fri) You know what cool is? Listening to the best DJs in the city spin while sipping a strong drink and chatting up the gorgeous clientele in this beautiful club. That's cool.

#### GEORGETOWN

**Tombs** (  202-337-6668; 1226 36 St, at P St NW;   from 11:30am Mon-Sat, from 9:30am Sun) If it looks familiar, think back to the '80s; this was the setting for _St Elmo's Fire_. Today this cozy, windowless bar is a favorite with Georgetown students and profs boozing under crew regalia.

**Mie N Yu Lounge** (  202-333-6122; 3125 M St NW;   from 4pm) Mie N Yu (pronounced 'Me an you' – ugh) lays snob appeal and the Asian-fusion lounge thing on pretty thick, and the bar prices are frankly outrageous. But it's popular with the gorgeous Georgetown set, who love to look as good as the dark bamboo-and-silk interior.

#### COLUMBIA HEIGHTS & AROUND

**Raven** (  202-387-9274; 3125 Mt Pleasant Ave NW;   from noon) A dive! Huzzah! A dirty, skuzzy, cheapo DC dive! The Raven, with a jukebox full of oldies and more attitude than a pissed-off Ramone, can kick your ass. Give it some respect and you'll agree this is the best bar for warm-up drinking (and postclub beers) in the capital.

**Looking Glass Lounge** (  202-722-7669; 3634 Georgia Ave NW;   5pm-1:30am Mon-Thu, to 2:30am Fri & Sat) Here's who you expect to find when you look through the Looking Glass: an old guy, one who's owned his chair at the bar for decades, in a broad-brimmed cap clutching a highball of Jameson as if to prove it. But drinking next to him is a crowd of 20- and 30-somethings who respect his presence, even as they crank the music under dark chandelier-ish lighting and commiserate in the beer garden out back.

**Red Derby** (  202-291-5000; www.redderby.com; 3718 14th St NW;   5pm-2am Mon-Thu, to 3am Fri, 11am-3am Sat & Sun) There's no sign – always a good sign – just the symbol of a red hat. Underneath that cap, a hipster-punk lounge where the bartenders know the names, the sweet-potato fries soak up the beer ordered off an impressively long menu and – why yes, that is _The Princess Bride_ – movies play on a projector screen. The lighting is bloodred and sexy, natch; you can't help but look good under it.

 **Wonderland** (  202-232-5263; 1101 Kenyon St NW;   from 5pm) We've got a lot of time for Wonderland, which manages to combine punk sensibility and affordable drinks with a welcoming beer garden where you can chat up strangers on some outsize wooden benches. That done, take your new friend to the upstairs dancefloor, where local DJs spin and just-met couples get close.

### Live Music

Spacious dive **9:30 Club** (  202-393-0930; 815 V St NW;   hours vary with gigs) features two floors and a midsize stage, and is the best place in town to see bands such as Wilco, the Pixies or Jack Johnson. **Blues Alley** (  202-333-4141; 1073 Wisconsin Ave NW;   from 8pm), a classy Georgetown jazz supper club, attracts some big-name artists. Entrance is through the alley just south of the intersection of Wisconsin and M.

**Verizon Center** (  202-628-3200; 601 F St NW) is DC's great big sports arena–cum-big-name-band venue.

### Performing Arts

**John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts** (  202-467-4600; www.kennedy-center.org; 2700 F St NW) One of the best places to catch a performance. It occupies a gorgeous, grandiloquent space on the Potomac. The National Symphony, Washington Chamber Symphony and Washington Opera perform here, while the center's Millennium Stage puts on free performances at 6pm daily.

**Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts** (  703-255-1900; www.wolftrap.org; 1645 Trap Rd, Vienna, Virginia) This outdoor park some 40 minutes from downtown DC hosts summer performances by the National Symphony and other highly regarded musical and theatrical troupes.

The **National Theatre** (  202-628-6161; www.nationaltheatre.org; 1321 Pennsylvania Ave NW; tickets $40-90) is Washington's oldest continuously operating theater, though the **Shakespeare Theatre** (  202-547-1122; www.shakespearedc.org; 450 7th St NW; tickets $23-70) has a more evocative venue. In summer outdoor performances are held at **Carter Barron Amphitheatre** (cnr 16th St & Colorado Ave NW).

### Sports

The city's football team, the **Washington Redskins** (  301-276-6050; www.redskins.com), plays at **FedEx Field** (  301-276-6000; 1600 Fedex Way, Landover, MD; tickets $40-500), east of DC in Maryland. The **Washington Nationals** (  202-397-7328; <http://washington.nationals.mlb.com>), DC's baseball team, plays at **Nationals Stadium** (  888-632-6287; 1500 S Capitol St SE), along the Anacostia riverfront in southeast DC. Soccer teams **DC United** (  202-587-5000) and the women's **Washington Freedom** (  202-547-3137) play at **Robert F Kennedy (RFK) Memorial Stadium** (  800-664-5056; 2400 East Capitol St). Washington stole Baltimore's lacrosse team in 2007; now the **Washington Bayhawks** (  866-994-2957; www.washingtonbayhawks.com), who used to play at Harbin field at Georgetown University, have moved to **Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium** (550 Talour Ave, Annapolis, MD) in Annapolis.

The **Verizon Center** (  202-628-3200, 202-432-7328; 601 F St NW) hosts the NHL Washington Capitals ice-hockey team and NBA Washington Wizards, WNBA Washington Mystics and Georgetown University Hoyas basketball games.

Return to beginning of chapter

## GETTING THERE & AWAY

### Air

**Washington Dulles International Airport** (IAD;   703-572-2700), 25 miles west of the city center, and **Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport** (DCA;   703-417-8000), 22 miles south, are the main airports serving DC, although **Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport** (BWI;   410-859-7111, 800-435-9294), 30 miles to the northeast, is also an option. All three airports, particularly Dulles and National, are major hubs for flights from around the world.

### Bus & Train

The main bus company is **Greyhound** (  202-289-5141; www.greyhound.com; 1005 1st St NE), which provides nationwide service. **Peter Pan Bus Lines** (  800-343-9999; www.peterpanbus.com), which travels to northeastern US, uses a terminal just opposite Greyhound's. This neighborhood is deserted after dark, and the nearest Metro station is several blocks south (via 1st St NE) at Union Station. Cabs are usually available at the bus station, and you should use one; don't walk across town from the bus station at night.

**MARC train** (Maryland Rail Commuter;   800-325-7245; www.mtamaryland.com), the regional rail service for the Washington DC–Baltimore metro area, runs trains frequently to Baltimore ($7) and other Maryland towns ($4 to $9). Amtrak trains also run from here to destinations around the country, including New York City ($49), Chicago ($82) and Richmond ($22).

There are numerous cheap bus services to New York, Philadelphia and Richmond. Most charge around $20 for a one-way trip (it takes four to five hours). Pick-up locations are scattered around town, but are always Metro-accessible. Tickets usually need to be bought online, but can also be purchased at the bus itself if there is room. Try **New Century** (  202-789-8222; www.2000coach.com; 513 H Street NW), **DC2NY** (  202-332-2691; www.dc2ny.com; 20th St & Massachusetts Ave NW) or **WashNY** (  866-287-6932; www.washny.com; 1333 19th St NW).

Return to beginning of chapter

## GETTING AROUND

### To/From the Airport

Door-to-door airport shuttles from downtown DC (www.washingtondcairportshuttles.com) cost $14 one way from National and $29 one way from Dulles. National airport has its own Metro rail station, which is by far the cheapest option into the city (around $2) and pretty quick too. For door-to-door van service between all three airports and downtown DC, the 5A **Metrobus** (  202-637-7000; www.wmata.com; tickets $3) runs from the Dulles car-rental area to Rosslyn Metro station and central DC (L'Enfant Plaza; $3) once an hour, or try the more cushy and timely **Washington Flyer** (  888-927-4359; www.washfly.com), which runs to West Falls Church Metro ($10), or **SuperShuttle** (  800-258-3826; www.supershuttle.com; $27). Not much room for baggage.

### Car

Car rentals include the following:

**Budget** (  Dulles airport 703-437-9559, Reagan airport 703-872-0320; www.budget.com)

**Dollar** (  Dulles airport 866-434-2226, 703-661-6630; www.dollar.com)

**Thrifty** (  877-283-0898; www.thrifty.com)

### Public Transportation

**Metrobus** (  202-637-7000; www.wmata.com) operates buses throughout the city and suburbs (tickets from $1.20). **Metrorail** (  202-637-7000; www.wmata.com) runs to most sights, hotel and business districts, and to the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. Trains operate from 5:30am to midnight weekdays and from 8am to 1am weekends. Machines inside stations sell computerized fare cards; fares cost from $1.20. All-day excursion passes cost $5.

### Taxi

Try **Capitol Cab** (  202-636-1600), **Diamond** (  202-387-6200) or **Yellow Cab** (  202-544-1212).

Return to beginning of chapter

# MARYLAND

Maryland is often described as 'America in Miniature,' and for good reason. This small state has the best bits of the country, from the Appalachian Mountains in the west to sandy white beaches in the east. A blend of Northern streetwise and Southern down-home gives this most osmotic of border states an appealing identity crisis. Her main city, Baltimore, is a sharp, demanding port town; the Eastern Shore jumbles artsy yuppies and working fishermen; while the DC suburbs are packed with government and office workers seeking green space, and the poor seeking lower rents. Yet it all works. Who cares about identity when you can kick back with a bushel of blue crabs, a case of Natty Boh beer and experience the beauty of Chesapeake country?

### History

George Calvert set Maryland up as a refuge for persecuted English Catholics in 1634 when he purchased St Mary's City from the local Piscataway, whom he initially tried to coexist with. Puritan refugees drove both Piscataway and Catholics from control and shifted power to Annapolis; their harassment of Catholics produced the Tolerance Act, a flawed but progressive law that allowed freedom of any (Christian) worship in Maryland – a North American first.

That commitment to diversity has always characterized this state, despite a mixed record on slavery. Although her loyalties were split during the Civil War, a Confederate invasion was halted here in 1862 at Antietam. Following the war, Maryland harnessed its black, white and immigrant work force, splitting the economy between Baltimore's industry and shipping, and later Washington, DC's need for services. Today the answer to 'What makes a Marylander?' is 'all of the above': the state mixes rich, poor, the foreign-born, urban sophisticates and rural villages like few others.

* * *

# MARYLAND FACTS

**Nickname** The Old Line State, The Free State

**Population** 5.63 million

**Area** 12,407 sq miles

**Capital city** Annapolis (population 36,603)

**Sales tax** 6%

**Birthplace of** Abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1818–95), baseball great Babe Ruth (1895–1948), actor David Hasselhoff (b 1952), filmmakers John Waters (b 1946) and Barry Levinson (b 1942), author Tom Clancy (b 1947), swimmer Michael Phelps (b 1985)

**Home of** 'The Star-Spangled Banner', Baltimore Orioles, TV crime shows _The Wire_ and _Homicide: Life on the Street_

**Famous for** Blue crabs, lacrosse, Chesapeake Bay

**State sport** Jousting

**Driving distances** Baltimore to Annapolis 29 miles, Baltimore to Ocean City 147 miles

* * *

### Information

**Department of Natural Resources** (www.dnr.maryland.gov) Administers Maryland's 55 state parks. Many offer camping or cabin accommodations for $30 per night; reservations can be booked online at <http://reservations.dnr.state.md.us> or by calling   888-432-2267.

**Maryland Office of Tourism** (  866-639-3526; www.visitmaryland.org; 217 E Redwood St, Baltimore, MD 21202) Other welcome centers with maps and region-specific guides are scattered throughout Maryland.

Return to beginning of chapter

## BALTIMORE

Once one of the most important port towns in America, Baltimore – or 'Bawlmer' to locals – is a city of contradictions. On one hand, she retains something of the ugly duckling – a defiant, working-class, somewhat gritty city still tied to her nautical past. But in recent years, Baltimore (population 631,366) has grown into a beautiful swan, filled with world-class museums, trendy shops, ethnic restaurants, boutique hotels, culture and sports. She does this all with a twinkle in the eye and a wisecrack on the lips. After all, this is a quirky city that spawned Billie Holiday and John Waters. Yet she remains intrinsically tied to the water, from the Disney-fied Inner Harbor and cobblestoned streets of portside Fells Point to the shores of Fort McHenry, birthplace of America's National Anthem, 'The Star-Spangled Banner.' Baltimore lives up to her nickname, 'Charm City.'

### History

Although Baltimore briefly served as national capital after the Revolution, her port defines this town. Besieged during the War of 1812 and riot-torn during the Civil War, Baltimore weathered both, dispatching Baltimore Clippers (the fastest sailing ships in the world) across the globe in her heyday.

* * *

# DON'T MISS

  * **National Aquarium of Baltimore** Recently renovated, the country's top aquarium is better than ever (Click here).
  * **Fort McHenry** Inspiration for America's national anthem, 'The Star-Spangled Banner' (Click here).
  * **Fell's Point/Canton** Join the happy crowds bar-hopping through old Baltimore (Click here).

* * *

The slow erosion of shipping, the Great Depression and the loss of the steel industry in the 1970s all gutted Baltimore. The boom-and-bust cycle has carved this city's character, attracting and dispersing immigrants into Baltimore's ethnic enclave neighborhoods. The city is 70% African American, mixing persistent black poverty with an African American middle class that is one of the nation's oldest and most culturally significant.

During the 1980s the Inner Harbor was spruced up into the city's centerpiece. Gentrification projects remain a double-edged sword, carving out urban rot in some places while simultaneously pricing out the urban poor.

### Orientation

From the Inner Harbor walk east (or go by water taxi) to the huddled intimacy of Little Italy and the party districts of Canton and Fell's Point (Salvadoran central these days). Baltimore St divides city streets into north and south; Charles St divides them east and west. Up north are kitschy Hampden, swish Mt Vernon, and Johns Hopkins University (surrounded by dodgy neighborhoods). The docks are to the southeast. Don't go too far west of Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, especially at night.

### Information

#### BOOKSTORES

**Atomic Books** (  410-662-4444; 3620 Falls Rd;   11am-7pm Mon-Sat, to 6pm Sun) Let's just say that John Waters loves this indie in Hampden. In fact, any John Waters fan mail should be sent care of them.

**Barnes & Noble** (  401-385-1709; 601 E Pratt St, Power Plant, Inner Harbor;   9am-10pm Mon-Sat, 10am-9pm Sun) Will carry everything that Atomic doesn't and likely nothing Atomic does.

#### INTERNET ACCESS

**Enoch Pratt Free Library** (  410-396-5430; 400 Cathedral St;   10am-8pm Mon-Wed, to 5:30pm Thu, to 5pm Fri & Sat, 1-5pm Sun & daily Jun-Sep)

#### MEDIA

**89.7 FM WTMD** Local Towson University station; alternative music.

**97.9 FM WIYY** Rock.

**Baltimore Sun** (www.baltimoresun.com) Daily city newspaper.

**City Paper** (www.citypaper.com) Free alt-weekly.

#### MEDICAL SERVICES

**Rite-Aid** (  410-467-3343; the Rotunda, 711 W 40th St;   8am-10pm)

**University of Maryland Medical Center** (  410-328-8667; 22 S Greene St) Has a 24-hour emergency room.

#### MONEY

**American Express Travel Services** (  410-837-3100; 100 E Pratt St;   9am-5:30pm Mon-Fri)

**Bank of America** (  410-385-8310; 201 N Charles St;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri)

#### POST

**Post office** (  410-347-4425; 900 E Fayette St;   8:30am-7pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat)

#### TOURIST INFORMATION

**Baltimore Area Visitor Center** (  410-837-4636, 877-225-8466; <http://baltimore.org>; 401 Light St;   9am-6pm Mon-Fri) Located on the Inner Harbor. Consider a Harbor Pass (adult/child $57/38), which gives admission to five major area attractions; get a 25% discount with advance purchase by calling   1-877-225-8466.

### Sights & Activities

Baltimore is a city of neighborhoods, and getting from one set of sites to the other requires a taxi, car, Baltimore light-rail or metro. With that said, the Federal Hill–Inner Harbor–Little Italy-Fell's Point stretch is pretty walkable.

#### HARBORPLACE & INNER HARBOR

This is where most tourists start and, unfortunately, end their Baltimore sightseeing. The Inner Harbor is a big, gleaming waterfront renewal project of shiny glass, air-conditioned malls and flashy bars that manages to capture the maritime heart of this city, albeit in a safe-for-the-family kinda way. But it's also just the tip of Baltimore's iceberg.

For a bird's-eye view of Baltimore, head to the **Top of the World observation deck** (  410-837-8439; 401 E Pratt St; adult/child 3-12yr $5/4;   10am-6pm Wed-Sun Sep-May, to 6pm Sun-Fri, to 8pm Sat Jun-Aug) at the World Trade Center.

Ship-lovers should consider a visit to the **Baltimore Maritime Museum** (  410-369-3453; www.baltomaritimemuseum.org; Piers 3 & 5, off E Pratt St;   10am-5:30pm Mar-Oct, to 4:30pm Nov-Feb), which offers ship tours aboard a Coast Guard Cutter, lightship and submarine. The highlight of the Inner Harbor is the separately operated **USS Constellation** (  410-539-1797; Pier 1, 301 E Pratt St; joint ticket adult/child 6-14yr $16/7;   10am-5pm Mar-Oct, to 4:30pm Nov-Feb), one of the last sail-powered warships built by the US Navy. A joint ticket gets you on board all four ships and the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse on Pier 5.

##### National Aquarium of Baltimore

 **National Aquarium of Baltimore** (  410-576-3800; www.aqua.org; 501 E Pratt St; adult/child 3-11yr/child under 3yr $25/15/free;   9am-6pm Sun-Thu, to 8pm Fri & Sat Jul & Aug, 9am-5pm daily, to 8pm Fri Mar-Jun & Sep-Oct, 10am-5pm daily, to 8pm Fri Nov-Feb) is the city's pride and joy. The huge main building, seven stories high and capped by a glass pyramid, is Maryland's top tourist attraction and widely considered to be the best aquarium in America. It houses 16,500 specimens of 660 species, a rooftop rainforest, a central ray pool and multiple-story shark tank. A recently completed, $75-million expansion includes a 35ft waterfall and painstaking reconstruction of the Umbrawarra Gorge in Australia. Kids will love the dolphin show and new 4D Immersion Theater (an additional $5).

#### DOWNTOWN & LITTLE ITALY

You can easily walk from downtown to Little Italy, but follow the delineated path as there's a rough housing project along the way.

The **Star-Spangled Banner Flag House & 1812 Museum** (  410-837-1793; www.flaghouse.org; 844 E Pratt St; adult/student $7/5;   10am-4pm Tue-Sat) is where Mary Young Pickersgill sewed the gigantic flag that inspired America's national anthem. Today, it's haunted by creepy wax soldiers from the War of 1812.

Few states have been as defined by their African American population as Maryland, and the **Reginald F Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture** (  410-333-1130; www.africanamericanculture.org; 830 E Pratt St; adult/students & seniors $8/6;   10am-5pm Wed-Sat, from noon Sun), across the street from a pre–Civil War slave market, effectively tells their complex tale. In East Baltimore, the **National Great Blacks in Wax Museum** (  410-563-3404; www.ngbiwm.com; 1601 E North Ave; adult/student/child 3-11yr $12/11/10;   9am-5pm Tue-Sat, to 6pm Mar-Aug) surreally mixes religious leaders, activists, the Atlantic slave trade and the African American struggle for social justice with...Madame Tussaud's.

Maryland has also traditionally had one of the largest, most active Jewish communities in the country; their story is told at the **Jewish Museum of Maryland** (  410-727-1539; www.jewishmuseummd.org; 15 Lloyd St; adult/student/child under 12 $8/4/3;   noon-4pm Sun & Tue-Thu), worth a visit for two of the best-preserved historical synagogues in America.

The **Babe Ruth Birthplace & Museum** (  410-727-1539; www.baberuthmuseum.com; 216 Emory St; adult/child $6/3;   10am-5pm, to 7pm during Orioles home games) celebrates the Baltimore native son who happens to be the greatest baseball player in history. Four blocks east, **Sports Legends at Camden Yards** (Camden Station, cnr Camden & Sharp Sts; adult/child $8/4) honors more Maryland athletes. The museums share hours and tickets for $12/5.

The Baltimore & Ohio railway was (arguably) the first passenger train in America, and the **B &O Railroad Museum** (  410-752-2490; www.borail.org; 901 W Pratt St; adult/senior/child 2-12yr $14/12/8) is a loving testament to both that line and American railroading in general. Train spotters will be in heaven among more than 150 different locomotives, the most comprehensive collection in the country.

The first blood of the Civil War was shed on April 19, 1861, when Southern sympathizers rioted against Union soldiers at the President Street Railroad Station. The station housed the **Baltimore Civil War Museum** (  410-385-5188; 601 S President St). Unfortunately the museum is now closed and its future is uncertain, but the building is still worth a look.

The **Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum** (  410-396-7932; 203 N Amity St; adult/child under 13 $3/1;   noon-3:30pm Wed-Sat Apr-Nov) was home to Baltimore's most famous adopted son from 1832 to 1835. It was here that the macabre poet and writer first found fame after winning a $50 short-story contest. After moving around, Poe later returned to Baltimore in 1849, where he died in mysterious circumstances. His **grave** can be found in nearby **Westminster Cemetery** (cnr Fayette & Greene Sts; admission free). Take caution, the Poe House is located in a dodgy neighborhood.

The **National Museum of Dentistry** (  410-706-0600; www.dentalmuseum.org; 31 S Greene St; adult/student & child over 6yr $6/4;   10am-4pm Wed-Sat, 1-4pm Sun) is one of America's most unusual museums, an interactive museum tracing the history of dental care from ancient Egypt to today. See George Washington's dentures (ivory, not wood) and Queen Victoria's toothbrush!

**Light Street Cycles** (  410-685-2234; 1124 Light St; rental per day $25-45;   10am-8pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat, 11am-3pm Sun) rents out everything from street to mountain bikes.

#### MT VERNON

Don't pass up the **Walters Art Gallery** (  410-547-9000; www.thewalters.org; 600 N Charles St; admission free;   10am-5pm Wed-Sun), which spans over 55 centuries, from ancient to contemporary, with excellent displays of Asian treasures, rare and ornate manuscripts and books, and a comprehensive French paintings collection.

So modern it's probably 'post,' the **Contemporary Museum** (  410-783-5720; www.contemporary.org; 100 W Centre St; admission free;   noon-5pm Wed-Sun, to 7pm Thu) loves to ride the cutting edge of art. Auxiliary to the on-site exhibits is the museum's mission of bringing art to unexpected spots around the city. Call or check the website for the latest guerrilla art attack.

With more than 5.4 million artifacts, the **Maryland Historical Society** (  410-685-3750; www.mdhs.org; 201 W Monument St; adult/student & child over 12 $4/3;   10am-5pm Wed-Sun) houses one of the largest collections of Americana in the world, including Francis Scott Key's original manuscript of the 'Star-Spangled Banner.' A new permanent exhibit traces Maryland's maritime history.

For the best views of Baltimore, climb the 228 steps of the **Washington Monument** (  410-396-0929; 699 Washington Pl; suggested donation $1;   10am-5pm Wed-Sun), a 178ft-tall Doric column dedicated to America's founding father, George Washington. It was designed by Robert Mills, who also created DC's Washington Monument. The ground floor contains a museum about Washington's life.

#### FEDERAL HILL & AROUND

On a bluff overlooking the harbor, **Federal Hill Park** lends its name to the comfortable neighborhood that's set around Cross St Market and comes alive after sundown.

 **Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine** (  410-962-4290; www.nps.gov/fomc; 2400 E Fort Ave; adult/child under 17 $7/free;   8am-7:45pm summer, to 4:45pm rest of year) is the birthplace of America's national anthem. On September 13 and 14, 1814, the star-shaped fort successfully repelled a British navy attack during the Battle of Baltimore. After a long night of bombs bursting in air, prisoner Francis Scott Key saw, 'by dawn's early light,' the tattered flag still waving, inspiring him to pen 'The Star-Spangled Banner' (set to the tune of a popular drinking song).

The **American Visionary Art Museum** (  410-244-1900; www.avam.org; 800 Key Hwy; adult/student & senior $12/8;   10am-6pm Tue-Sun) is a showcase for self-taught (or 'outsider' art), a celebration of unbridled creativity utterly free of arts-scene pretension. Some of the work comes from asylums, others are created by self-inspired visionaries, but it's all totally captivating and well worth a long afternoon.

#### FELL'S POINT & CANTON

Once the center of Baltimore's shipbuilding industry, the historic cobblestoned neighborhood is now a gentrified mix of 18th-century homes and restaurants, bars and shops. The neighborhood has been the setting for several films and TV series, most notably _Homicide: Life on the Street_. Further east, the slightly more sophisticated streets of Canton fan out, with its grassy square surrounded by great restaurants and bars. On weekends, both neighborhoods can get quite crowded with bar-hoppers.

#### NORTH BALTIMORE

The 'Hon' expression of affection, an oft-imitated but never quite duplicated 'Bawl-merese' peculiarity, was born from **Hampden** , an urban neighborhood at the pinnacle of hipness. Spend a lazy afternoon browsing kitsch, antiques and eclectic clothing along the **Avenue** (aka W 36th St). To get to Hampden, take the I-83 N, merge onto Falls Road (northbound) and take a right onto the Avenue.

Close by, you'll find **Johns Hopkins University** (  410-516-8171, main bldgs 3400 N Charles St), famed for its medical school. The **Baltimore Museum of Art** (  410-573-1700; 10 Art Museum Dr, at 31st & N Charles Sts; admission free except for special exhibits;   11am-5pm Wed-Fri, to 6pm Sat & Sun), with its massive collection (the early American, Asian and African galleries are particularly impressive) and a lovely sculpture garden, easily competes with its Smithsonian cousins to the south.

### Baltimore for Children

This city loves kids and proves it with amazing museums, stroll-worthy waterfront promenades and family-friendly restaurants. Most attractions are centered on the Inner Harbor, including the National Aquarium of Baltimore (Click here), perfect for pint-sized visitors. Kids can run wild o'er the ramparts of historic Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine (Click here) too.

Swinging into a three-level jungle tree house, producing a TV show and solving riddles in the Mystery House are a sample of the interactive adventures at **Port Discovery Children's Museum** (  410-727-8120; www.portdiscovery.org; Power Plant Live complex, 35 Market Pl; admission $11.75;   10am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun summer, 9:30am-4:30pm Tue-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat, noon-5pm Sun Oct-May), a cool kids' museum where even the adults have fun.

Lily-pad hopping, adventures with Billy the Bog Turtle and grooming live animals are all in a day's play at the **Maryland Zoo in Baltimore** (  410-366-5466; www.marylandzoo.org; Druid Hill Park; adult/child/senior $15/10/12;   10am-4pm). Get discounted tickets on the zoo's website.

The awesome **Maryland Science Center** (  410-685-5225; www.mdsci.org; 601 Light St; adult/child 3-12yr $14/9.50;   10am-6pm Sun-Thu, to 8pm Fri & Sat summer, 10am-5pm Tue-Thu, to 8pm Fri, to 6pm Sat, 11am-5pm Sun, closed Mon fall-spring) features a three-story atrium, tons of interactive exhibits on dinosaurs, asteroids and the human body, and the requisite IMAX theater. Hours change seasonally and it's best to check online or call ahead first.

### Tours

**Baltimore Ducks** (  877-887-8225; www.baltimoreducks.com; cnr Conway & Light Sts, Inner Harbor; adult/child 3-12yr $25/15) The quintessential tourist activity, a ride on an amphibious former-WWII military 'Duck' shows visitors the city via land and water.

**Baltimore Ghost Tours** (  410-522-7400; www.baltimoreghosttours.com; departs from Max's on Broadway, 731 S Broadway, Fells Point; adult/child under 13 $13/8;   tours 7pm Fri or Sat Mar-Nov) Delve into the spooky and bizarre side of a bawdy maritime area. Also offers a Fell's Point haunted pub tour for $20 (21 and older only).

### Festivals & Events

**Preakness** (  410-542-9400; www.preakness.com) Held on the third Sunday of every May, the 'Freakness' is the second leg of the Tripe Crown horse race.

**Honfest** (www.honfest.net) Put on your best 'Bawlmerese' accent and head to Hampden for this June celebration of kitsch, beehive hairdos, rhinestone glasses and other Baltimore eccentricities.

**Artscape** (  410-752-8632; www.artscape.org) America's largest free arts festival takes place in mid-July and features art displays, live music, theater and dance performances, international food vendors and more.

### Sleeping

Stylish and affordable B&Bs are mostly found in the downtown burbs of Canton, Fell's Point and Federal Hill.

 **HI-Baltimore Hostel** (  410-576-8880; www.baltimorehostel.org; 17 W Mulberry St; HI members/nonmembers dm $25/28, r $60/63, all incl breakfast;        ) Located in a beautifully restored 1857 mansion, the HI-Baltimore has 49 beds, including a private double room. Helpful management, nice location and filigreed classical chic make this one of the best hostels we've seen in the region.

**Best Inn** (  410-485-7900; www.bestinnhotel.com; 6510 Frankford Ave; r $67-78;      ) The Best doesn't excel in any areas, including price, although this is the main reason to stay at this otherwise nondescript hotel.

**Inn at 2920** (  410-342-4450; www.theinnat2920.com; 2920 Elliott St; r incl breakfast $155-225;   ) Housed in a former bordello, this boutique B&B has five individual rooms, high-thread-count sheets, sleek, avant-garde decor, beta fish roommates and the bohemian/boozapalooza neighborhood of Canton right outside your door. The Jacuzzis and the green sensibility of the owners are a nice touch.

**Peabody Court** (  410-727-7101; www.peabodycourthotel.com; 612 Cathedral St; r from $159;      ) This European-style boutique hotel is smack in the middle of Mt Vernon. The friendly staff and all-marble bathrooms at the Peabody want to give you a big, luxurious hug. Valet parking is $29.

**Inn at Henderson's Wharf** (  410-522-7777; www.hendersonswharf.com; 1000 Fell St; r $179-259;      ) A complimentary bottle of wine upon arrival sets the tone at this marvelously situated Fell's Point hotel, which began life as an 18th-century tobacco warehouse. Consistently one of the city's best lodges.

**Baltimore Marriott Waterfront** (  410-385-3000; www.baltimoremarriottwaterfront.com; 700 Aliceanna St; r from $299;          ). From the moment you step into the luxurious lobby, you'll know you're in for a treat. The 31-story Marriott in the heart of the Inner Harbor has all the amenities you'd expect from a four-star hotel, including luxurious bedding, contemporary furnishings and fixtures, first-class service and great views of the city and harbor.

### Eating

Look, this is an ethnically rich town that sits on top of the greatest seafood repository in the world, not to mention the fault line between the down-home South and cutting-edge innovation of the Northeast. Baltimore, in other words, knows how to eat. A great place to sample food is the city's famous markets – here are two favorites:

**Cross Street Market** (1065 Cross St, btwn Light & Charles Sts;   7am-7pm Mon-Sat)

 **Lexington Market** (  410-685-6169; www.lexingtonmarket.com; 400 W Lexington St;   8:30am-6pm Mon-Sat) A Baltimore tradition since 1782. Don't miss the Faidley's Seafood stall for the absolute best crab cakes in town!

#### DOWNTOWN & LITTLE ITALY

**Vaccaro's Pastry** (  410-685-4905; 222 Albemarle St; items $3-10;   9am-10pm Mon, to 11pm Tue-Thu & Sun, to 1am Fri & Sat) After a lovely Italian dinner, head to Vacarro's for the best desserts and coffee in town. The cannoli are to die for, and the gelato and tiramisu are divine.

**Isabella's** (  410-962-8888; 221 S High St; sandwiches $7-9, pizzas $11-15;   11am-9pm Mon-Sat, to 4pm Sun)This new neighborhood pizza place is always crowded and for good reason. The brick-oven pizzas are probably the most authentically Italian pies in town.

**Amicci's** (  410-528-1096; www.amiccis.com; 231 S High St; lunch mains $7-10, dinner mains $12-20;   11:30am-midnight Mon-Fri) This local icon serves up traditional Italian comfort food at reasonable prices. Seafood-lovers and vegetarians will be especially pleased.

#### MT VERNON

**Kumari** (  410-547-1600; 911 N Charles St; mains $10-16;   11:30am-2:30pm & 5-10pm Sun-Thu, to 10:30pm Fri & Sat) If you haven't had Nepalese food, think heavier and creamier (and at this place, tastier) than your average curry. Kumari's $8.95 lunch buffet is great value. Tibetan and Indian dishes are also on offer.

**Dukem** (  410-385-0318; 1100 Maryland Ave; mains $10-20;   11am-11pm, to later Fri & Sat) A satellite branch of DC's famous Ethiopian restaurant, Dukem serves up the same delicious menu, including spicy chicken, lamb and vegetarian dishes, all sopped up with spongy flatbread. Live music most evenings.

#### FEDERAL HILL & AROUND

**Blue Agave** (  410-576-3938; 1032 Light St; mains $13-28;   from 5pm) Agave's does hip, upscale Mexican food, but it's not pretentious; a Midwestern family would feel as welcome here as a clique of New York socialites. The pork _carnitas_ platter is heavenly and the margaritas could knock out a horse.

**Bicycle** (  410-234-1900; 1444 Light St; mains $15-28;   5:30-10pm Mon-Thu, to later Fri & Sat) Striking colored walls, a spacious interior and a hip art-gallery feel accent the French, South American and Asian fusion cuisine.

#### FELL'S POINT

**Bertha's** (  410-327-5795; www.berthas.com; 734 S Broadway St; mains $10-22;   11:30am-11pm Sun-Thu, to later Fri & Sat) Green bumper stickers across the state command you to 'Eat Bertha's Mussels.' You'll understand why after your first bivalve bite swimming in garlic butter. Seafood and pub grub make up the rest of the menu. Live music most evenings.

**Obrycki's** (  410-732-6399; www.obryckis.com; 1727 E Pratt St; mains $15-29;   11:30am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri, to 9pm Sun March-Nov) Despite its somewhat touristy reputation, Obrycki's remains one of the city's best seafood restaurants. The menu is heavy on Maryland's most famous critter: blue crabs (see boxed text, Click here), including crab soup, crab balls, crab cakes, steamed crabs and soft-shelled crabs, meaning that Obrycki's is only open during crab season, ie March to November.

#### CANTON

**Coburn's Tavern & Grill** (410-342-0999; 2921 O'Donnell St; mains $7-23;   11am-2am Mon-Fri, from 8am Sat & Sun) At first glance, Coburn's looks like any other British/Irish pub in Canton: hardwood floors, exposed brick, sports on TV. But that's where the similarities end. The food is delish, from the burgers to the fish and steak dishes. Our favorite was the Captain's Toast appetizer: shrimp and crab sautéed with tomatoes, cream and Old Bay seasoning.

#### HAMPDEN & NORTH BALITMORE

**Cafe Hon** (  410-243-1230; <http://cafehon.com>; 1002 W 36th St; mains $6-16;   7am-9pm Mon-Fri, from 9am Sat & Sun) You don't have to be sporting rhinestone-studded glasses and a bouffant hairdo to eat here, but you'll earn serious brownie points. The American comfort food at this veggie-friendly diner is as hearty as the café's attitude. After dinner slide over to adjacent Bar Hon.

 **PaperMoon Diner** (  410-889-4444; 227 W 29th St; mains $7-14;   7am-midnight Sun-Thu, to 2am Fri & Sat) Like a kaleidoscope dream, this brightly colored, quintessential Baltimore diner is decorated with thousands of old toys, creepy mannequins and other quirky knickknacks. The real draw here is breakfast – perfect eggs Benedict, fluffy pancakes and strong coffee.

### Drinking & Entertainment

On weekends, Fell's Point and Canton turn into temples to alcoholic excess that would make a Roman emperor blush. Mt Vernon and North Baltimore are a little more civilized, but any one of Baltimore's neighborhoods houses a cozy local pub. The Power Plant Live complex is filled with chain-brand clubs. Unless otherwise noted, closing time is 2am.

#### BARS & NIGHTCLUBS

##### Downtown & Little Italy

**Mick O'Shea's** (  410-539-7504; 328 N Charles St;   from 11:30am) Your standard paraphernalia-festooned Irish pub, with live Irish music Wednesday through Saturday. Maryland Governor (and former Baltimore mayor) Martin O'Malley used to play here.

**Howl at the Moon** (  410-783-5111; 22 Market Pl, Power Plant Live complex; cover Thu $5, Fri & Sat $7;   from 7pm Wed-Thu, from 5pm Fri, from 5:30pm Sat) Howl stands out from the cookie-cutter clubs of Power Plant Live with its innovative theme: a call-in piano bar where the audience forces an ivory-masher/crooner to improvise the entertainment all night long.

##### Mt Vernon

**Brewer's Art** (  410-547-9310; 1106 N Charles St;   from 4pm Mon-Sat, from 5pm Sun) This subterranean cave mesmerizes the senses with an overwhelming selection of beers. Its upstairs embodiment serves respectable dinners in its classy dining room.

 **Club Charles** (  410-727-8815; 1724 N Charles St;   from 6pm) Filled with hipsters displaying the breed's usual skinny jeans/vintage T-shirt plumage, normals also flock to this 1940s art-deco cocktail lounge to enjoy good tunes and cheap drinks.

**13th Floor** (  410-347-0888; 1 E Chase St;   from 5pm Wed-Fri, from 6pm Sat) This is one of the smoothest spots in the city to get your club on: atop the Gothic Belvedere Hotel, with fresh tracks, unbeatable views and a classy elevator ride waiting when you're ready to go home. Also in the Belvedere, the Owl Bar is a nostalgic throwback to '50s Baltimore, with a long wooden bar that attracts a martini-sipping crowd.

##### Federal Hill

**Pub Dog** (  410-727-6077; pubdog.net; 20 E Cross St;   5pm-2am) Marylanders really love drinking with their dogs. After you've made the rounds petting the canine clientele, grab a delicious brew (or two for $4) and try to snag the cozy fireside nook in the back. Excellent pizza, too.

**Mother's** (  410-244-8686; 1113 S Charles St;   from 11am Mon-Fri, from 8am Sat & Sun) Here's a classic Baltimore neighborhood bar and grill where the drinks flow freely; you'll be called 'Hon' more than once and the Purple Patio is the meeting spot for wing specials and pre- and post-Ravens game discussions.

**Little Havana** (  410-837-9903; 1325 Key Hwy;   4:30pm-midnight Mon-Thu, from 11am Fri-Sun) A good after-work spot and a great place to sip mojitos on the waterfront deck, Little Havana attracts the sort of young professional who just _knows_ there's a salsa goddess deep in their soul.

**8×10** (  410-625-2000; www.the8×10.com; 10 E Cross St; cover $10-20;   from 7pm) After a brief, ill-advised name change, Baltimore's premiere live music venue since 1983 has returned to its roots. It mixes big-name acts with strong local talent in a funky concert hall that feels intimate and expansive all at once.

##### Fell's Point & Canton

 **Good Love Bar** (  410-534-4588; 2322 Boston St;   8pm-2am Wed-Sat & Mon, to midnight Sun) Think dark, sexy lighting; think three floors of cushy, lounge-and-flirt furniture; think music that manages to mingle black and white clubbers like few other places in Baltimore, and you've thought up Good Love.

**One-Eyed Mike's** (  410-327-9823; 708 S Bond St;   11am-1am Mon-Sat) Yar! There be pirates at this seedy, drunk-as-a-sailor-on-shore-leave pub, and if ye want, they be stowing away a bottle of Grand Marnier for ye in a glass display case, which ye can drink from whenever ye return. Now walk the plank, or something.

**Max's on Broadway** (  410-675-6297; 737 S Broadway;   from 11am;  ) For beer-lovers, this Baltimore institution has one of the most extensive menus around, with 71 beers on tap and another 300 in bottles. The staff is friendly, the beer is cold, and there's pool and darts to pass the time. What more do you need?

**Claddagh Pub** (  410-522-4220; 2918 O'Donnell St;   from 11am Mon-Fri, from 9am Sat & Sun) The crowds at Claddagh work hard to confirm ugly stereotypes about the Irish by trying to consume their volume in alcohol at this Disney-fied Dublin pub.

**Fletcher's** (  410-558-1889; 701 S Bond St; cover $5;   from 4pm Mon-Thu, from 11am Fri-Sun) Inhale the dried-beer scent on the walls with the pretty youngsters and rough, amiable oldsters who come here, one of the best rock stages in town.

#### GAY & LESBIAN VENUES

Baltimore has one of the largest gay African American scenes in America, many on the 'down low.' In fact, Baltimore has a remarkably vibrant, multiracial gay scene. **Out in Baltimore** (www.outinbaltimore.com) has comprehensive listings. Plenty of straight folks go out in gay Baltimore to soak up the friendly, often outrageous vibe.

**Hippo** (  410-547-0069; 1 W Eager St;   from 4pm) This is the city's largest gay club, with ladies' and men's tea, cabaret and crazy themed dance nights.

**Grand Central** (  410-752-7133; 1001 N Charles St;   4pm-2am Mon-Sat, to midnight Sun, from 3pm Sun) More of a complex than a club, whatever your taste, one of Central's areas (dancefloor, pub, video bar, and leather-and-Levi's club) is sure to suit your fancy.

#### PERFORMING ARTS & THEATER

The **Baltimore Symphony Orchestra** (  410-783-8000) performs at the **Meyerhoff Symphony Hall** (1212 Cathedral St). The Baltimore Opera performs at the **Lyric Opera House** (  410-685-5086; www.lyricoperahouse.com; 140 W Mt Royal Ave). Theater options include **Center Stage** (  410-332-0033; 700 N Calvert St), which stages Shakespeare, Wilde, Miller and contemporary works, and **Charles Theatre** (  410-727-3456; www.thecharles.com; 1711 N Charles St), screening the best art-house films in the city.

#### SPORTS

Whether it's touchdowns, home runs, goals or monster-truck shows, Baltimoreans love their sports. The town plays hard and parties even harder, with tailgating parties in parking lots and games on numerous televisions.

The **Baltimore Orioles** (www.orioles.com) play at **Oriole Park at Camden Yards** (  410-547-6277; 333 W Camden St;   Apr-Oct), arguably the best ballpark in America. Daily tours ($7 to $9) of the stadium are offered during regular season. The **Baltimore Ravens** (www.baltimoreravens.com) play at **M &T Bank Stadium** (  410-261-7283; 1101 Russell St;   Sep-Jan).

Maryland is lacrosse heartland, and its residents arguably the sport's most fanatic followers. With the loss of the Bayhawks, the best place to watch 'lax' is **Johns Hopkins University** (  410-516-7490; hopkinssports.cstv.com; stadium at cnr University Pkwy & N Charles St). The National Indoor Soccer League team **Baltimore Blast** (  410-732-5278; www.baltimoreblast.com;   Oct-Apr) plays at the **1st Mariner Arena** (  410-321-1908; 201 W Baltimore St).

Horse racing is huge here, especially at **Pimlico** (www.pimlico.com), which hosts the Preakness (Click here).

### Getting There & Away

The **Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport** (BWI;   410-859-7111, 800-435-9294) is located 10 miles south of downtown via I-295.

The **Greyhound Bus Station** and **Peter Pan Bus Lines** (  410-752-7682; 800-343-9999; 2110 Haines St) has buses from Washington, DC (14 per day, roughly every 45 minutes, one hour, $11); from New York they cost $27 to $37 (11 per day, 4½ hours). The cheaper **BoltBus** (1610 St Paul St; www.boltbus.com) offers dirt-cheap rates to and from DC (1 hour)and New York (3½ hours). There are seven buses a day on the DC–Baltimore–NYC route. Tickets start at $1 if you book at least two weeks in advance.

**Penn Station** (  410-291-4165; 1515 N Charles St) is in north Baltimore. MARC operates weekday commuter trains to/from Washington, DC (one way/round-trip $7/14). **Amtrak** (  800-872-7245; www.amtrak.com) trains serve the entire East Coast and beyond.

### Getting Around

**Light Rail** (  410-539-5000; tickets $1.60;   6am-11pm Mon-Sat, 11am-7pm Sun & holidays) runs from BWI airport to Lexington Market and Penn Station. Train frequency is every five to 10 minutes. **MARC trains** (  800-325-7245) run hourly between Penn Station and BWI airport on weekdays for $4. **SuperShuttle** (  800-258-3826; www.supershuttle.com) provides a BWI-van service to the Inner Harbor for $21.

Check **Maryland Transit Administration** (MTA; www.mtamaryland.com) for all schedules and fares. **Baltimore Water Taxi** (  410-563-3901; Inner Harbor; daily pass adult/child under 11 $9/4) docks at all harborside attractions and neighborhoods.

Return to beginning of chapter

## ANNAPOLIS

Annapolis is as charming as state capitals get. The Colonial architecture, cobblestones, flickering lamps and brick row houses are worthy of Dickens, but the effect isn't artificial; this city has preserved, rather than created, its heritage.

Perched on Chesapeake Bay, life in Annapolis (motto: 'Come Sail Away') revolves around her rich maritime traditions. It's home to the US Naval Academy, whose 'middies' (midshipmen students) stroll through town in their starched white uniforms. Sailing is not just a hobby, it's a way of life. The city docks are crammed with vessels of all shapes and sizes. For landlubbers, the food is great, and a beer on the pier cooled by a salty headwind is even better.

There's a **visitor center** (  410-280-0445; www.visitannapolis.org; 26 West St;   9am-5pm) and a seasonal information booth at City Dock. A **Maryland Welcome Center** (  410-974-3400; 350 Rowe Blvd;   9am-5pm) is inside the State House, and runs tours of the building twice daily.

### Sights & Activities

Think of the State House as a wheel hub from which most attractions fan out, leading down to the City Dock and historic waterfront.

#### US NAVAL ACADEMY

The undergraduate college of the US Navy is one of the most selective universities in America. The **Armel-Leftwich visitor center** (  410-293-8125; Gate 1 at the City Dock entrance; tours adult/senior/student $8.50/7.50/6.50;   9am-5pm, to 4pm Jan & Feb) is the place to book tours and immerse yourself in all things Academy. Come for the formation weekdays at 12:05pm sharp, when the 4000 midshipmen and midshipwomen conduct a 20-minute military marching display in the Yard. Photo ID is required upon entry. If you've got a thing for American naval history, go on and revel in the **Naval Academy Museum** (  410-293-2108; 118 Maryland Ave; admission free;   9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 11am Sun).

#### MARYLAND STATE HOUSE

The country's oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use, the stately 1772 **State House** (  410-974-3400; 25 State Circle; admission free;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat & Sun) also served as national capital from 1733 to 1734. The Maryland Senate is in action here from January to April. The upside-down giant acorn atop the dome stands for wisdom. Photo ID is required upon entry.

#### DOWNTOWN ANNAPOLIS

Annapolis has more 18th-century buildings than any other city in America, including the homes of all four Marylanders who signed the Declaration of Independence. The highlights include the 18th-century **William Paca House & Garden** (  410-267-7619; annapolis.org; adult/child 6-17yr $8/5;   10am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun) and the **Chase-Lloyd House** (  410-263-2723; 22 Maryland Ave; admission $2;   2pm-4pm Mon-Sat), the latter still partially used as a home for elderly women.

Of the many historical homes in town, the nicest is the **Hammond-Harwood House** (  410-263-4683; 19 Maryland Ave; www.hammondharwoodhouse.org; adult/child/student $6/3/5.50;   noon-5pm Tue-Sun Apr-Oct). Completed in 1774 by architect William Buckland, it is considered one of the finest existing British colonial homes in America.

Take a self-guided tour through the grounds of **St John's College** (  410-263-2371; www.stjohnscollege.edu; cnr College Ave & King George St). Originally founded in 1696 as the King William's preparatory school, it's one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the country.

At the City Dock, the **Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial** marks the spot where Kunta Kinte – ancestor of _Roots_ author Alex Haley – was brought in chains from Africa. Haley received a 1977 special Pulitzer Prize Letters award for his epic.

### Tours

A costumed docent will lead you on a **Three Centuries Walking Tour** (  410-268-7601; adult/child under 12 $16/4), a great introduction to all things Annapolis. The 10:30am tour leaves from the visitor center and the 1:30pm tour leaves from the information booth at the City Dock; there's a slight variation in sights visited by each, but both cover the country's largest concentration of 18th-century buildings, influential African Americans and colonial spirits who don't want to leave. The associated **Pirates of the Chesapeake Cruise** (adult/child 3-11yr $16/13;   late May–Sep) is good 'yar'-worthy fun, especially for the kids.

The best way to explore the city's maritime heritage is on the water. **Watermark Cruises** (  410-268-701; City Dock; adult/child 3-11yr $20/10), which operates the Three Centuries Walking Tour, offers a variety of cruise options.

The beautiful 74ft schooner **Woodwind** (  410-263-7837; 80 Compromise St; sunset cruise adult/senior/child under 12 $37/35/22;   May-Oct) offers two-hour day and sunset cruises. Or splurge for the Woodwind 'boat & breakfast' package (rooms $289, including breakfast), one of the more unique lodging options in town.

### Sleeping

Call   800-848-4748 for free accommodation reservations.

**ScotLaur Inn** (  410-268-5665; www.scotlaurinn.com; 165 Main St; r $95-125;      ) The folks from Chick & Ruth's Delly (below) offer 10 simple pink-and-blue rooms with private bath at their B&B (bed and bagel) above the deli.

**Country Inn & Suites** (  800-456-4000, 410-571-6700; www.countryinns.com; 2600 Housley Rd, at Hwy 450; r from $119;      ) As charming as chains get, plus it has free shuttles to the historic district.

**O'Callaghan Hotel** (  410-263-7700; www.ocallaghanhotels.com; 174 West St; r $130-300;        ) This Irish chain is a cushy if corporate-feeling big box that offers good luxury outside the B&B circuit.

**1908 William Page Inn** (  410-263-6631; www.1908-williampageinn.com; 8 Martin St; r incl breakfast $205-295;      ) For a romantic getaway, nothing beats this Victorian B&B. Beautifully decorated, comfortable rooms are capped with wonderful hospitality and delicious breakfast.

### Eating & Drinking

As you might guess, the seafood here is superb. Annapolis also does excellent power grub (steaks, pizza etc), which makes sense, given all the politicians running around.

**City Dock Café** (  410-269-0969; 18 Market Space; items $2-5;   6:30am-10pm)We will swear by the café mocha here, which must be the tastiest rocket fuel we've ever imbibed.

**Chick & Ruth's Delly** (  410-269-6737; 165 Main St; mains $6-10;   6:30am-10pm Sun-Thu, to 11:30pm Fri & Sat) A cornerstone of Annapolis, the 'delly' is bursting with affable quirkiness and a stressfully large menu. Sandwiches are named after famous local folks – Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski is the open-faced tuna.

**Middleton Tavern** (  410-263-3333; www.middletontavern.com; 2 Market Space; mains $7-25;   11:30am-1:30am Mon-Fri, from 10am Sat & Sun) One of the oldest continuously operating pubs in the country. As you'd expect from a waterside pub, the menu features some of the freshest seafood around. Live music most nights.

**Rams Head Tavern** (  410-268-4545; www.ramsheadtavern.com; 33 West St; mains $7-28;   from 11am) The best bar in town serves good eats and tasty microbrews in an attractive oak-paneled setting, while hot live (tickets $11 to $60) acts burn up the stage.

 **Galway Bay** (  410-263-8333; 63 Maryland Ave; mains $8-15;   11am-midnight Mon-Sat, from 10:30am Sun) The epitome of a power-broker bar, the Irish-owned and -operated restaurant-pub is the dark sort of hideaway where political deals go down over Jameson, stouts and mouth-watering seafood specialties.

**Buddy's Crabs & Ribs** (  410-626-1100; 100 Main St; mains $14-28;   11:30am-9:30pm Mon-Thu, from 11am Fri & Sat, from 8:30am Sun;  ) The $12.95 all-you-can-eat weekday lunch buffet is the best value in town. Kids under five eat free, and kids aged six to 10 for half-price.

### Getting There & Around

The C-60 bus route (service from 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday, $4) connects Annapolis with BWI airport. Greyhound runs buses to Washington, DC (once daily, from $6.50). **Annapolis Transit** (  410-263-7964) provides local transport. **Dillon's Bus** (www.dillonbus.com; tickets $4.50) has 26 weekday-only commuter buses between Annapolis and Washington's Union Station.

Return to beginning of chapter

## EASTERN SHORE

Just across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, a short drive from the urban sprawl of the Baltimore–Washington corridor, Maryland's landscape makes a dramatic about-face. Nondescript suburbs and jammed highways give way to unbroken miles of bird-dotted wetlands, serene waterscapes, endless cornfields, sandy beaches and friendly little villages. The coastal flat plains are ideal for bicycling. For the most part, the Eastern Shore retains its charm despite the growing influx of city-dwelling yuppies and day-trippers. This area revolves around the water. Working waterfront communities still survive off Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Boating, fishing, crabbing, kayaking are a part of local life. This is America at its most genuine.

### St Michaels & Tilghman Island

**St Michaels** , the prettiest little village on the Eastern Shore, lives up to its motto as 'The Heart & Soul of Chesapeake Bay.' It's a mix of old Victorian homes, quaint B&Bs, boutique shops and working docks, where escape artists from Washington mix with salty-dog crabbers. On weekends, the village can get crowded with out-of-town boaters. During the War of 1812, inhabitants rigged up lanterns in a nearby forest and blacked out the town. British naval gunners shelled the trees, allowing St Michaels to escape destruction. The building now known as the **Cannonball House** (Mulberry St) was the only structure to have been hit.

At the lighthouse, the **Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum** (  410-745-2916; www.cbmm.org; Navy Point; adult/child 6-17yr $13/6;   10am-6pm summer, to 5pm spring & fall, to 4pm winter) delves into the deep ties between Shore folk and America's largest estuary. Narrated historic cruises aboard the **Patriot** (  410-745-3100; Navy Point; adult/child under 13 $24.50/12.50) leave from the Crab Claw dock four times a day.

Laura Ashley's most lurid fantasies probably resemble the rooms in the red-brick **Parsonage Inn** (  410-745-5519; www.parsonage-inn.com; 210 N Talbot St; r incl breakfast $100-195;    ), which is run by a pair of lovely, awfully hospitable innkeepers.

From the oysters in champagne sauce to the pan-roasted rockfish, everything at **208 Talbot** (  410-745-3838; 208 N Talbot St; mains $26-33;   5-9pm Sun-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat) is delicately prepared and delicious. The perfect date restaurant.

At the end of the road over the Hwy 33 drawbridge, tiny **Tilghman Island** still runs a working waterfront where local captains take visitors out on graceful oyster skipjacks; the historic **Rebecca T Ruark** (  410-886-2176; www.skipjack.org; 2hr cruises adult/child under 12 $30/15), built in 1886, is the oldest certified vessel of its kind. Head to legendary **Harrison's Chesapeake House** (  410-886-2121; 21551 Chesapeake House Dr; mains $8-22;   6am-9pm Mon-Fri, to 11pm Sat & Sun) for a massive, 'no apologies, lots of butter' Eastern Shore seafood feast.

### Berlin & Snow Hill

Imagine 'small-town, main street Americana,' cute that vision up by a few points, and you've come close to these Eastern Shore villages. Most of the buildings here are preserved or renovated to look preserved. If you love antique shops, die before you leave, because you will never find a greater concentration of porcelain knickknacks.

* * *

# EATING MARYLAND: BLUE CRABS

Eating at a crab shack, where the dress code stops at shorts and flip-flops, is the quintessential Chesapeake Bay foodie experience. Folks in these parts take their crabs seriously and can spend hours debating the intricacies of how to crack a crab, the proper way to prepare them and where to find the best crabs. There is one thing Marylanders can agree on: they must be blue crabs (scientific name: _Callinectes sapidus_ ), a critter indigenous to these parts and one of the Bay's most important economic products.

Steamed crabs are prepared very simply, using beer and Old Bay seasoning. One of the best crab shacks in the state is **Jimmy Cantler's Riverside Inn** (  410-757-1311; 458 Forest Beach Rd, Annapolis;   11am-11pm Sun-Thu, to midnight Sun), where eating a steamed crab has been elevated to an art form – a hands-on, messy endeavor, normally accompanied by corn on the cob and ice-cold beer. The other great Maryland recipe is the crab cake. The best have the right amount of 'filler' to balance out lumpy crabmeat. Again, this is yet another source of debate but our favorites are at **Faidley's** (Click here).

Sadly, the blue crab is slowly disappearing from Chesapeake Bay, due to overfishing and water pollution. Stocks are down 70% since 1991 and many restaurants now import inferior crabs from the Gulf of Mexico and Thailand. As a result, real Maryland crabs ain't cheap. Prices fluctuate wildly, but expect to pay about $35 per dozen; a bushel of about seven dozen will set you back $200.

* * *

 **Globe Theater** (  410-641-0784; 12 Broad St; lunch mains $6-12, dinner mains $10-28;   11am-11pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat, 10am-11pm Sun) in Berlin is a lovingly restored main stage that serves as a restaurant, bar, art gallery and theater for nightly live music; the kitchen is known for its Asian-meets-American menu. Don't miss the spicy cream-of-crab soup. The nearby, still-functioning **Hair Shop** (17 N Main St) was used as a location in the 1999 film _Runaway Bride_.

There are B&Bs galore overflowing with charm and doilies, but if you need an alternative try the **Atlantic Hotel** (  410-641-3589; www.atlantichotel.com; 2 N Main St; r $85-155, d $105-245;    ). This handsome, Gilded-era lodger gives guests the time-warp experience with all the modern amenities, and the attached **Drummer's Cafe** (lunch mains $8-13, dinner mains $15-33;   11am-3pm & 5-10pm Mon-Sat, 10am-3pm Sun) serves up local favorites.

A few miles from Berlin, Snow Hill is even tinier and cozier. Nearby **Furnace Town** (  410-632-2032; Old Furnace Rd; adult/child $5/3;   10am-5pm Apr-Oct), off Rte 12, is a living-history museum that marks the old location of a 19th-century iron-smelting town. In Snow Hill itself, while away an odd, rewarding half-hour in the **Julia A Purnell Museum** (  410-632-0515; 208 W Market St; adult/child under 12 $2/50¢;   10am-4pm Tue-Sat, from 1pm Sun Apr-Oct), a tiny structure that feels like an attic for the entire Eastern Shore. Staying in town? Check out the **River House Inn** (  410-632-2722; 201 E Market St; www.riverhouseinn.com; r $190-250;    ), which overlooks a breathtakingly pretty bend of the Pocomoke River.

Return to beginning of chapter

## OCEAN CITY

For better or worse, 'The OC' is where you'll experience the American seaside resort at its tackiest. The center of action is the 2.5-mile-long boardwalk, which stretches from the inlet to 27th St. Go for a spin on nausea-inducing thrill rides, buy a T-shirt with unprintably obscene slogans, drink to excess at cheesy theme bars, many run by European students on gap year. The beaches are beautiful, but it's nearly impossible to relax on the downtown beaches with the packs of roaming wild teenagers and noisy crowds; the beaches north of the boardwalk are much quieter.

The **visitor center** (  410-723-8600; www.ococean.com;   9am-5pm) and **Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association** (  410-289-6733; www.ocvisitor.com), in the convention center on Coastal Hwy at 40th St, can help you find lodging. In summer, the town's tiny year-round population of 7100 swells to over 150,000; traffic is jammed and parking scarce. When you tire of the crowds, Assateague Island (Click here) and the Delaware Beaches (Click here) are just a short drive away.

* * *

# SCENIC DRIVE: MARITIME MARYLAND

Maryland and Chesapeake Bay have always been inextricable, but few parts of the state actually live off the water today. Here's a chance to see some towns that stubbornly cling to the ebb-and-rip clock of the tides.

About 150 miles south of Baltimore, at the edge of the Eastern Shore, is **Crisfield** , the top working water town in Maryland. Get visiting details at the **visitor center** (  410-968-2501; 3 9th St;   10am-4pm Mon-Sat). Any seafood you eat here will be goooood, but for a true Shore experience, try some of the strip-the-paint strong coffee at **Gordon's** (  410-968-0566; 831 W Main St;   from 4am), where watermen flock in the early morning hours before heading out on their boats.

From here you can leave your car overnight (or take a day trip) and board the pedestrian **ferry** (  410-425-5931/4471; $25 round-trip;   departs noon & 5pm daily, evening service varies in winter) to **Smith Island** , the only offshore settlement in the state. Settled by fisherfolk from the English West Country some 400 years ago, the island's tiny population still speak with what linguists reckon is the closest thing to a 17th-century Cornish accent. The online visitors page (www.visitsmithisland.com) has information on island B&Bs, restaurants and activities. Ferries will take you back to the mainland and the present day at 3:30pm.

* * *

### Sleeping

There are some 10,000 identical guest rooms (double beds, cable TV, kitchenette) in town. Prices listed here are for the high-season (summer), from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Many places have a two-night minimum. Many establishments are only open during temperate months; prices plummet out of season.

#### MIDRANGE

**King Charles Hotel** (  410-289-6141; www.kingcharleshotel.com; 1209 Baltimore Ave, at 12th St; r $105-169;    ) This place could be a quiet summer cottage, except it happens to be within spitting distance of the best boardwalk action.

**Spinnaker Motel** (  410-289-5444; www.purnellproperties.com/spinnaker; cnr 18th St & Baltimore Ave; r from $166;      ) Basically a bunch of boxes on the beach, but the boxes are comfy and cheaper than most waterfront hotels.

**Hilton Suites Oceanfront** (  410-289-6444; www.oceancityhilton.com; 3200 North Baltimore Ave; r $189-235;        ) Located just north of the boardwalk at 33rd St and the beach, this luxurious all-suites hotel is surprisingly affordable when you consider its amenities and location. The beachfront water park will keep kids busy.

#### TOP END

**Lighthouse Club Hotel** (  410-524-5400, 888-371-5400; www.fagers.com/hotel; 201 60th St on the Bay; r incl breakfast $225-340;      ) You might never make it to the beach when your buff-toned suite is equipped with a double Jacuzzi and romantic views of the bay.

**Inn on the Ocean** (  410-289-8894; www.innontheocean.com; 1001 Atlantic Ave, at the Boardwalk; r $275-265 incl breakfast;      ) This six-roomed B&B is an elegant escape from the usual OC lodging.

### Eating & Drinking

Surf 'n' turf and all-you-can-eat deals are the order of the day. Dance clubs cluster around the boardwalk's southern tip.

**Soriano's** (  410-289-6656; 310 S Baltimore Ave; breakfast $4-7, lunch $6-7;   8am-3pm) This local diner is a great place to start the day. Breakfast specialties include French toast and cream chipped beef.

 **Liquid Assets** (  410-524-7037; www.la94.com; 9301 Coastal Hwy; mains $10-23;   11:30am-11pm Sun-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat) Like a diamond in the rough, this bistro gem and wine shop complex is hidden in a strip mall in north OC. The menu is a refreshing mix of modern American cuisine with seasonal specialties.

**Fager's Island** (  410-524-5500; 60th St; mains $19-36;   from 11am) The food is hit-and-miss, but it's a great place for a drink – Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture is cued up exactly 15 minutes and 34 seconds before sunset, to time the cannons with the sun hitting the horizon over the Isle of Wight Bay.

**Seacrets** (  410-524-4900; cnr W 49th St & the Bay;   from 11am) A water-laced, Jamaican-themed, rum-soaked bar straight out of MTV's _Spring Break._ You can drift around in an inner tube while sipping a drink and flirting with the hotties at OC's most famous meet-market.

### Getting There & Around

**Greyhound** (  410-289-9307; 12848 Ocean Gateway) buses run twice daily to and from Washington ($38) and once to Baltimore ($40).

**Ocean City Coastal Highway Bus** (  410-723-1607; day pass $2) runs the length of the beach, 24 hours a day.

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## WESTERN MARYLAND

The western spine of Maryland is mountain country. The Appalachian peaks soar to 3000ft above sea level and the surrounding valleys are packed with rugged scenery and Civil War battlefields. This is Maryland's outdoor playground, where hiking, skiing, rock climbing and white-water rafting are just a short drive from Baltimore.

### Frederick

Halfway between the battlefields of Gettysburg, PA, and Antietam, Frederick is a popular stop along the Civil War trail. Its 50-square-block historic district is filled with 18th- and 19th-century buildings in various states of renovation. The **visitor center** (  301-663-8687; 19 E Church St, at Market St) conducts weekend walking tours in summer ($4.50); it validates parking from the garage next door.

The **National Museum of Civil War Medicine** (  301-695-1864; www.civilwarmed.org; 48 E Patrick St; adult/student/child 10-16yr $6.50/5.50/4.50;   10am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 11am Sun) gives a fascinating, sometimes gruesome look at the health conditions soldiers and doctors faced during the war, as well as important medical advances that resulted from the conflict.

**Hollerstown Hill B &B** (  301-228-3630; www.hollerstownhill.com; 4 Clarke Pl; r $125-135;      ) has four pattern-heavy rooms, two resident terriers and an elegant billiards room.

The **Mudd Puddle** (  301-620-4324; 124 S Carroll St; panini $5;   7am-5pm Mon, to 8pm Tue-Wed, to 9pm Thu & Fri, 8am-10pm Sat) is a warm, comfortable coffee and panini place that hosts live entertainment most weekends.

Frederick is accessible via **Greyhound** (  301-663-3311; 100 S East St) and **MARC trains** (  301-228-2888, 800-325-7245; 141 B&O Ave, at East Ave;   Mon-Fri).

### Antietam National Battlefield

The site of the bloodiest day in American history is, ironically, supremely peaceful, quiet and haunting, uncluttered save for plaques and statues. On September 17, 1862, General Robert E Lee's first invasion of the North was stalled here in a tactical stalemate that left 23,000 dead, wounded or missing – more casualties than America had suffered in all her previous wars combined. Poignantly, many of the battlefield graves are inscribed with German and Irish names, a roll call of immigrants who died fighting for their new homeland.

The **visitor center** (  301-432-5124; State Rd 65; 3-day individual/family pass $4/6;   8:30am-6pm, to 5pm low season) offers self-guided driving tour pamphlets and audiotapes ($6).

Ten miles after the I-68 turns into I-70, the highway literally passes through **Sideling Hill** , an impressive rock exposure nearly 850ft high. Pull over to check out the **exhibit center** (  301-842-2155; admission free;   9am-5pm) and the striated evidence of some 340 million years of geological history. Ten miles away off I-67 in **Burkittsville** is **Gathland State Park** (  301-791-4767; admission free;   8am-sunset), site of the world's only **War Correspondents Memorial**. Burkittsville is also famous as the setting of _The Blair Witch Project_.

* * *

# WORTH THE TRIP: ASSATEAGUE ISLAND

Just 8 miles south but a world away from Ocean City is Assateague Island seashore, a perfectly barren landscape of sand dunes and beautiful, secluded beaches. This undeveloped barrier island is populated by the only herd of wild horses on the East Coast, made famous in the book _Misty of Chincoteague_.

The island is divided into three sections. **Assateague State Park** (  410-641-2120; Rte 611; admission $4; campsites $30;   campground open late Apr-late Oct).

**Assateague Island National Seashore** (  410-641-1441; Rte 611; www.nps.gov/asis/; admission $3, vehicle $15; campsites $20; visitors center   9am-5pm) is federally administered.

The former two are both in Maryland, while **Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge** (Click here) is in Virginia.

As well as swimming and sunbathing, recreational activities include birding, kayaking, canoeing, crabbing and fishing. There are no services on the Maryland side of the island, so you must bring all your own food and drink. Don't forget insect repellent; the mosquitoes and biting horseflies are pure evil!

* * *

### Cumberland

At the Potomac River, the frontier outpost of Fort Cumberland (not to be confused with the Cumberland Gap between Virginia and Kentucky) was the pioneer gateway across the Alleghenies to Pittsburgh and the Ohio River. Today Cumberland has expanded into the outdoor recreation trade to guide visitors to the region's rivers, forests and mountains.

#### C&O CANAL NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK

A marvel of engineering, the C&O Canal was designed to stretch alongside the Potomac River from Chesapeake Bay to the Ohio River – linking commercial centers in the east with frontier resources out west. Construction on the canal began in 1828 but was halted here in 1850 by the Appalachian Mountains. By then the first railroad had made its way to Cumberland, rendering the canal obsolete.

The **C &O Canal National Historic Park visitor center** (  301-739-4200; 15 Canal Pl;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri) chronicles the importance of river trade in eastern seaboard history. The park's protected 185-mile corridor includes a 12ft-wide towpath/hiking and bicycling trail and maintains six visitor centers, the first in Georgetown and the last one here.

Outside the **Allegheny County visitor center** (  301-777-5132) passengers can catch steam-locomotive rides aboard the **Western Maryland Scenic Railroad** (  800-872-4650; www.wmsr.com; adult/child $29/15), traversing forests and steep ravines to Frostburg, a three-hour round-trip.

There are plenty of reputable outfitters in the area. **Allegany Expeditions** (  800-819-5170; www.alleganyexpeditions.com; 10310 Columbus Ave/Rte 2) leads tours to suit whatever adventure itch you've got, from spelunking to fly-fishing.

Deep in your heart, you know you should have been in _Grease_. The next best thing is chilling by the iconoclastic soda fountain and jukebox in the famous **Queen City Creamery & Deli** (  301-777-0011; N Harrison St; mains $4-8;   7am-10pm, reduced hours winter).

### Deep Creek Lake

In the extreme west of the panhandle, Maryland's largest freshwater lake is an all-seasons playground. The crimson and copper glow of the Alleghenies attracts thousands during the annual **Autumn Glory Festival** in October, rivaling New England's leaf-turning backdrops. The **Garrett County visitor center** (  301-387-4386; www.garrettchamber.com), off US 219 on the north end, has information on all outdoor activities, including the state's only ski resort, **Wisp** (  301-387-4911).

Return to beginning of chapter

# DELAWARE

Diminutive, delectable Delaware, the nation's second-smallest state (96 miles long and less than 35 miles across at its widest point) is overshadowed by her neighbors and overlooked by visitors to the Capital Region. And that's too bad, because Delaware has a lot more on offer than just tax-free shopping and chicken farms.

You may be pleasantly surprised to learn that Delaware is home to long, white sandy beaches, cute colonial villages, a cozy countryside and small-town charm. There's a whole state just waiting to be explored. Delaware still rides on her reputation as being the first state to ratify the US Constitution, hence her new slogan: 'It's Good Being First.'

### History

In colonial days Delaware was the subject of an aggressive land feud between Dutch, Swedish and British settlers. The former imported classically northern European middle-class concepts, the latter a plantation-based aristocracy, which is partly why Delaware remains a typically mid-Atlantic cultural hybrid today.

* * *

# DEFINING DELMARVA

The large peninsula east of Chesapeake Bay is known collectively as 'Delmarva,' an acronym for the three states that occupy it: the entire state of Delaware, Maryland's Eastern Shore and a tiny sliver of Virginia. Together, the Delmarva peninsula measures 180 miles by 60 miles, bordered by Chesapeake Bay, Delaware River, Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

* * *

The little state's big moment came on December 7, 1787, when Delaware became the first state to ratify the US Constitution and thus the first state in the Union. It remained in that union throughout the Civil War, despite supporting slavery. During this period, as throughout much of the state's history, the economy drew on its chemical industry. DuPont, the world's second-largest chemical company, was founded here in 1802 as a gunpowder factory by French Immigrant Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. Low taxes drew other firms (particularly credit-card companies) in the 20th century, boosting the state's prosperity.

### Information

**Delaware Tourism Office** (  302-739-4271, 866-284-7489; www.visitdelaware.com; 99 King's Hwy, Dover, DE 19903)

**Visitor center** (  302-737-4059; I-95, btwn exits 1 & 3)

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## DELAWARE BEACHES

Delaware's 28 miles of sandy Atlantic beaches are the best reason to linger. All businesses and services listed here are open year-round unless otherwise noted, and all prices are for the high season (June to August). Low-season bargains abound.

### Lewes

In 1631 the Dutch gave this whaling settlement the pretty name of Zwaanendael, or valley of the swans, before promptly getting massacred by local Nanticokes. The name was changed to Lewes (pronounced LOO-iss) when William Penn gained control of the area. Today it's a cute seaside gem with a mix of English and Dutch architecture.

The **visitor center** (  302-645-8073; www.leweschamber.com; 120 Kings Hwy;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri) directs you to sights such as the **Zwaanendael Museum** (  302-645-1148; 102 Kings Hwy; admission free;   10am-4:30pm Tue-Sat, 1:30-4:30pm Sun), where the friendly staff explains the Dutch roots of this first state settlement.

You'll find many restaurant and hotel options in the small historic downtown including **Beacon Motel** (  302-645-4888; 514 Savannah Rd; r $90-175;      ), with large, quiet rooms and easy access to Rehoboth Beach and **Hotel Rodney** (  302-645-6466; www.hotelrodneydelaware.com; 142 2nd St; r $190-250, ste $225-325;        ), a charming boutique hotel with exquisite bedding and antique furniture.

* * *

# DELAWARE FACTS

**Nickname** The First State

**Population** 873,092

**Area** 1982 sq miles

**Capital city** Dover (population 35,811)

**Sales tax** None

**Birthplace of** Rock musician George Thorogood (b 1952), actress Valerie Bertinelli (b 1960), actor Ryan Phillippe (b 1974)

**Home of** Vice President Joe Biden, the Du Pont family, DuPont chemicals, credit-card companies, lots of chickens

**Famous for** Tax-free shopping, beautiful beaches

**State bird** Blue Hen Chicken

**Driving distances** Wilmington to Dover 52 miles, Dover to Rehoboth Beach 43 miles

* * *

Get acquainted with the Reubens and friendly waitstaff at the **Blue Plate Diner** (  302-644-8400; 329 Savannah Rd; dishes $5;   8am-9pm, reduced hours winter). Located on the canal, the clapboard **Striper Bites Bistro** (  302-645-4657; 107 Savannah Rd, mains $18-27;   11:30am-late Mon-Sat) specializes in local seafood dishes like rockfish and scallops.

The **Cape May–Lewes Ferry** (  reservations 800-643-3779, schedule 302-644-6030; www.capemaylewesferry.com; per vehicle $29.50 plus per adult/child passenger $7.50/3.75 Nov-Mar, per vehicle $36 plus per passenger $10/5 Apr-Oct) runs daily 80-minute ferries across Delaware Bay to New Jersey at the terminal 1 mile from downtown Lewes. For foot passengers, a seasonal shuttle bus operates between the ferry terminal and Lewes and Rehoboth Beach.

### Cape Henlopen State Park

One mile east of Lewes, more than 4000 acres of dune bluffs, pine forests and wetlands are preserved at this lovely **state park** (  302-645-8983) that's popular with bird-watchers and beachgoers ($6 per out-of-state car). You can see clear to Cape May from the observation tower. **North Shores beach** draws many gay and lesbian couples. **Camping** (  877-987-2757; campsites $32;   Mar-Nov) includes oceanfront or wooded sites.

### Rehoboth Beach & Dewey Beach

As the closest beach to Washington, DC, (121 miles), Rehoboth is often dubbed 'The Nation's Summer Capital.' Founded in 1873 as a Christian seaside resort camp, Rehoboth is today a shining example of tolerance. It is both a family-friendly destination and one of the most gay-friendly cities on the East Coast. It has a particularly large lesbian community. There's even a gay beach – aka Poodle Beach – located, appropriately, at the end of Queen St.

Downtown Rehoboth is a mix of grand Victorian and gingerbread houses, tree-lined streets, boutique B&Bs and shops, posh restaurants, kiddie amusements and wide beaches fronted by a 1-mile-long boardwalk. Rehoboth Ave, the main drag, is lined with restaurants and the usual tacky souvenir shops; it stretches from the **visitor center** (  302-227-2233; www.beach-fun.com; 501 Rehoboth Ave;   9am-5pm) at the traffic circle to the boardwalk. Outside of town, Rte 1 is a busy highway crammed with chain restaurants, hotels and outlet malls, where shoppers take advantage of Delaware's tax-free status.

Less than 2 miles south on Hwy 1 is the tiny hamlet of Dewey Beach. Unapologetically known as 'Do Me' beach for its wild singles (straight) scene and hedonistic nightlife, Dewey is the Mid-Atlantic region's biggest party beach.

#### SLEEPING

Prices listed below are for high season (June to August), when many hotels have a two- or three-night minimum. Prices skyrocket on weekends and July 4. Reservations are a must during summer, when the town's tiny population swells to 50,000. Cheaper lodging options are located on Rte 1.

**Crosswinds Motel** (  302-227-7997; www.crosswindsmotel.com; 312 Rehoboth Ave; r $105-255;    ) Located in the heart of Rehoboth Ave, this simple motel offers great value for your dollar, with such amenities as minifridge and flat-screen TV. Walk to the beach in 12 minutes.

 **Bellmoor** (  302-227-5800; www.thebellmoor.com; 6 Christian St; incl breakfast r $155-395; ste $225-495;          ) If money were no object, we'd splurge for a room at Rehoboth's most luxurious inn. With its English country decor, fireplaces, quiet garden and secluded setting, this is not your usual seaside resort. A full-service day spa caps the amenities.

**Hotel Rehoboth** (  302-227-4300; www.hotelrehoboth.com; 247 Rehoboth Ave; incl breakfast r $179-329; ste $199-429;          ) Opened in 2008, Rehoboth's newest boutique hotel has quickly gained a reputation for great service and luxurious amenities, including a free shuttle to the beach.

#### EATING & DRINKING

Cheap eats are available right on the boardwalk; you haven't been to Rehoboth until you've had Thrasher's fries, Grotto's pizza and Dolle's saltwater taffy. When you're ready for something with a little more substance, check out these favorites:

 **Royal Treat** (  302-227-6277; 4 Wilmington Ave; items $2-9;   8-11:30am & 1-11:30pm May-Sep) There's a reason why there's always a line outside this landmark ice-cream parlor. Royal Treat serves up the best and thickest chocolate milk shakes we've ever tasted. The breakfast menu is only so-so.

**Starboard** (  302-227-4600; 2009 Hwy 1, Dewey Beach; mains $5-15;   9am-late, Apr-Oct) A Dewey Beach tradition since 1960, the Starboard is the region's best bet for brunch. Order the Eggs Delmarva – eggs Benedict topped with crab-meat. At night, Starboard transforms into the area's biggest beach party with wall-to-wall drunks and live entertainment.

**Dogfish Head** (  302-226-2739; 320 Rehoboth Ave; mains $9-23;   noon-late) When a place mixes its own brewery with some of the best live music on the Eastern Shore, you know you've got a winning combination.

**Cultured Pearl** (  302-227-8493; 301 Rehoboth Ave; sushi $3-9, mains $13-32;   4:30pm-late) A locals' favorite, this wonderful Asian restaurant with traditional Japanese decor and rooftop deck has the area's best sushi.

 **La La Land** (  302-227-3887; 22 Wilmington Ave; mains $26-33;   from 6pm) Rehoboth's perfect date restaurant is a whimsical pink and purple dreamland featuring an acclaimed Asian-fusion menu, beautiful outdoor patio dining area and cloudlike back bar. Don't miss the lobster tail topped with crabmeat gratin.

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

The **Jolly Trolley** (  302-227-1197; one way $2, after midnight $3;   8am-2am summer) connects Rehoboth and Dewey and makes frequent stops along the way. Unfortunately, long-distance buses no longer serve Rehoboth. Your best bet is to take a **Greyhound bus** (www.greyhound.com) to Ocean City, MD (one or two per day, $19, 5½ hours), take the Coastal Highway Bus (every 10 to 15 minutes, $2, 30 minutes; runs 24 hours) to 144th St, then switch to DART bus route 208 (www.dartfirststate.com; $1.15; eight per day; 30 minutes).

### Bethany Beach & Fenwick Island

Want to get away from it all? The seaside towns of Bethany and Fenwick, about halfway between Rehoboth and Ocean City, are known as 'The Quiet Resorts.' They share a tranquil, almost boring, family-friendly scene.

There are only a few restaurants and even fewer hotels here; most visitors stay in rented apartments and beach houses. For a nice change of pace from the usual seafood fare, **Bethany Blues BBQ** (  302-537-1500; www.bethanyblues.com; mains $8-25;   4:30pm-late) has falling-off-the-bone ribs and pulled-pork sandwiches.

Return to beginning of chapter

## NORTHERN & CENTRAL DELAWARE

The grit of Wilmington is balanced by the rolling hills and palatial residences of the Brandywine Valley, particularly the soaring estate of Winterthur. Dover is cute, friendly, and gets a little lively after hours.

### Wilmington

A unique cultural milieu (African Americans, Jews, Caribbeans etc) and an energetic arts scene make this a town (population 72,868) worth a visit. The central commercial district is along Market St, while Riverfront turns old warehouses and other industrial sites into shops, restaurants and museums. The **visitor center** (  302-295-2210; www.visitwilmingtonde.com; 100 W 10th St;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri) is downtown.

The **Delaware Art Museum** (  302-571-9590; www.delart.org; 800 S Madison St; adult/child $12/6, free Sun;   10am-4pm Wed-Sat, from noon Sun) exhibits work of the local Brandywine School, including Edward Hopper, John Sloan and three generations of Wyeths. The **Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts** (  302-656-6466; www.thedcca.org; 200 S Madison St; adult/student/child under 12 $5/3/free, free Sat morning & Wed;   10am-5pm Tue, Thu-Sat, from noon Wed & Sun) is bringing some mind-expanding culture to the burgeoning Riverfront district. Located in, of all things, an art-deco Woolworth's building, the **Delaware History Museum** (  302-656-0637; www.hsd.org; 200 S Madison St; adult/student/child under 12 $4/3/free;   11am-4pm Wed-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat) proves the First State has done loads more than earn its nickname.

The premier hotel in the state, the **Hotel du Pont** (  302-594-3100; www.hoteldupont.com; cnr Market & 11th Sts, r $130-430, ste $560-750;      ) is luxurious and classy enough to satisfy its namesake (ie one of America's most successful industrialist families). **Leo & Jimmy's Deli** (  302-656-7151; 728 Market St; mains $4-10;   5:30am-4pm Mon-Fri) is a Wilmington standby, well loved for its excellent sandwiches and service. For dessert, try the famously decadent chocolate at old-school **Govatos** (  302-652-4082; 800 Market St; mains $4-9;   8am-5pm Mon-Fri year-round, to 3pm Sat Oct-Apr).

Wilmington is accessible by **Greyhound** or **Peter Pan Bus Lines** buses. A Greyhound bus to DC costs $15.50 (seven per day, 2¾ hours), and to New York $17 (five per day, 2¼ hours). Both bus lines serve the **Wilmington Transportation Center** (  302-655-6111; 101 N French St). **Amtrak trains** (  302-429-6527; 100 S French St) also run to Wilmington: to DC costs $32 (10 per day, 1½ hours), to Baltimore $26 (10 per day, 45 minutes), and to New York $39 (10 per day, 1¾ hours).

### Brandywine Valley

After making their fortune the French-descended Du Ponts turned the Brandywine Valley into a sort of American Loire Valley, and it remains a nesting ground for the wealthy and ostentatious to this day. The **Brandywine Valley Tourist Information Center** (  610-719-1730), outside Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA, distributes information on the region's triple crown of **chateaux** and gardens: Winterthur, Longwood Gardens and Nemours (recently renovated – it reopened in May 2008).

**Winterthur** (  302-888-4600; www.winterthur.org; Hwy 52; adult/student/child $20/18/10;   10am-5pm Tue-Sun), 6 miles northwest of Wilmington, is the 175-room country estate of industrialist Henry Francis du Pont and his collection of antiques and American arts, one of the world's largest.

**Hagley Museum** (  302-658-2400; www.hagley.org; Hwy 141; adult/student/child $11/9/4;   9:30am-4:30pm Apr-Dec, Sat & Sun Jan-Mar) is another fascinating shrine to the Du Pont legacy. The sprawling outdoor museum includes the ruins of the original DuPont company mills, craftsmith demonstrations and exhibits on some of the DuPont company inventions such as nylon.

### New Castle

New Castle is a web of cobblestoned streets and 18th-century buildings that's as colonially cute as a kitten in a powdered wig. The **visitor center** (42 The Strand;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri) arranges walking tours, or you can wander the compact old town on your own. Sights include the **Old Court House** (  closed Mon), the **arsenal on the Green** , **churches** and **cemeteries** dating back to the 17th century, and **historic houses**.

The owner of the five-room **Terry House B &B** (  302-322-2505; www.terryhouse.com; 130 Delaware St; r $90-110;      ) will play the piano for you while you enjoy a full breakfast.

There are big, mouthwatering colonial dishes like roast duck and honey-drop biscuits, all heavy on butter, cream and the other things that make life worth living, at **Jessop's Tavern** (  302-322-6111; 114 Delaware St; mains $12-22;   11am-3pm & 5-10pm Mon-Sat) and its classier sister, the **Arsenal at Old New Castle** (  302-328-1290; 30 Market St; mains around $30;   11:30am-9pm Tue-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat).

### Dover

You wouldn't think so, given how stately central Dover is, with her classic brick buildings and shady, tree-lined boulevards, but this little town is good fun. The 1792 Old State House, 1874 Court House, belly-stretching cheap eateries and cheerful bars dot the area around the central Green, and throb with happy crowds at night.

Walk beside the State House to find the state **visitor center** (  302-739-4266; 406 Federal St;   8:30am-4:30pm Mon-Sat, from 1:30pm Sun) and history exhibits at the foot of a long plaza from the capitol.

NASCAR fans worldwide know Dover as the home of **Dover International Speedway** (  302-883-6500; doverspeedway.com; 1131 N Dupont Hwy), considered one of the best tracks in the country. See its website for current race schedules and ticket information. At the same location is Dover's other major attraction, **Dover Downs Casino** (  302-674-4600; doverdowns.com;   8am-4am Mon-Sat, from noon Sun), an 80,000-sq-ft entertainment complex with 3200 slot machines, horse racing, hotel, spa and concert venue.

The **Johnson Victrola Museum** (  302-739-4266; cnr Bank & New Sts; admission free;   10am-3:30pm Tue-Fri, 9am-4:30pm Sat) honors 'talking machine' pioneer Eldridge Johnson, including an exhibit on the RCA Records trademark dog, Nipper. The **Delaware Agriculture Museum and Village** (  302-734-1618; 866 N Dupont Hwy; adult/student $5/3;   10am-3pm Tue-Sat) is a living-history museum featuring a re-creation of an 1890s farming community.

Southeast of town, Dover Air Force Base is the country's largest air base and the first stop for America's returning war dead. There are no public ceremonies to mark their homecoming, but you can visit the **Air Mobility Command Museum** (  302-677-5938; www.amcmuseum.org; cnr Hwys 9 & 1; admission free;   9am-4pm Tue-Sun), filled with vintage planes and other aviation artifacts.

**WT Smithers** (  302-674-8875; 140 S State St;   from 11am Mon-Sat) is a great neighborhood bar that's a mix of students and State House staff sharing buffalo wings and excellent beer on tap.

Return to beginning of chapter

# VIRGINIA

Beautiful, passionate, lovely Virginia is a state steeped in history. It's the birthplace of America, where English settlers established the first permanent colony in the New World in 1607. From there, the Commonwealth of Virginia has played a lead role in nearly every major American drama, from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars to the Civil Rights movement and September 11, 2001.

Virginia's natural beauty is as diverse as her history and people. Chesapeake Bay and the wide sandy beaches kiss the Atlantic Ocean. Pine forests, marshes and rolling green hills form the soft curves of the central Piedmont region. The rugged Appalachian Mountains and stunning Shenandoah Valley line her back.

The nation's invisible line between North and South is drawn here, somewhere around Richmond; you'll know it as soon as you hear the sweet southern drawl offering plates of biscuits and Virginia ham. With something for everyone, it's easy to appreciate the state's motto: 'Virginia is for Lovers.'

### History

Humans have occupied Virginia for at least 5000 years. Several thousand Native Americans were already here in May 1607 when Captain James Smith and his crew sailed up Chesapeake Bay and founded Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in the New World. Named for the 'Virgin Queen' Elizabeth I, the territory originally occupied most of America's Eastern seaboard. By 1610 most of the colonists had died from starvation in their quest for gold, until colonist John Rolfe (husband of Pocahontas) discovered Virginia's real riches: tobacco.

A feudal aristocracy grew out of tobacco farming, and many gentry scions became Founding Fathers, including native son George Washington. In the 19th century the slave-based plantation system grew in size and incompatibility with the industrializing North; Virginia seceded in 1861 and became the epicenter of the Civil War. Following its defeat the state walked a tense cultural tightrope, accruing a layered identity that included older aristocrats, a rural and urban working class, waves of immigrants and today, the burgeoning tech-heavy suburbs of DC. The state revels in its history, yet still wants to pioneer the American experiment; thus, while Virginia only reluctantly desegregated in the 1960s, it today houses one of the most ethnically diverse populations of the New South.

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# VIRGINIA FACTS

**Nickname** Old Dominion

**Population** 7.77 million

**Area** 42,774 sq miles

**Capital city** Richmond (population 200,123)

**Sales tax** 4.5%

**Birthplace of** Eight US presidents including George Washington (1732–99), Confederate General Robert E Lee (1807–70), tennis ace Arthur Ashe (1943–93), author Tom Wolfe (b 1931), actor-siblings Warren Beatty (b 1937) and Shirley MacLaine (b 1934), actress Sandra Bullock (b 1964)

**Home of** The Pentagon, the CIA, more technology workers than any other state

**Famous for** American history, tobacco, apples, Shenandoah National Park

**State beverage** Milk

**Driving distances** Arlington to Shenandoah 113 miles, Richmond to Virginia Beach 108 miles

* * *

### Information

Virginia's **Division of Tourism** (  800-321-3244; www.virginia.org; 901 E Byrd St, Richmond, VA 23219) produces a comprehensive state guide. There are 10 welcome centers throughout the state.

Return to beginning of chapter

## NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Hidden within its suburban sprawl exterior, 'NOVA' mixes small-town charm with metropolitan chic. Colonial villages and battlefields bump up against skyscrapers, shopping malls and world-class arts venues.

You'll discover unexpected green spaces like **Great Falls National Park** (  703-285-2965; www.nps.gov/grfa;   7am-sunset), a wilderness space that somehow survives despite being mere minutes from a major urban nexus. The park is a gorgeous, well-maintained forest cut through by the Potomac River, which surges over a series of white-water rapids. Kayaking (experienced paddlers only), rock climbing, hiking and fishing are all popular activities.

### Arlington

Just across the Potomac River from DC, Arlington County was once part of Washington until it was returned to Virginia in 1847. In recent years, the gentrified neighborhoods of Arlington have spawned some of the hottest dining and nightlife scenes in the capital area.

The county's most well-known attraction is **Arlington National Cemetery** (  703-692-0931; www.arlingtoncemetery.org; admission free;   8am-7pm Apr 1–Sep 30, to 5pm rest of year), the somber final resting place for more than 300,000 military personnel and their dependents, with veterans of every US war from the Revolution to Iraq. The cemetery is spread over 612 hilly acres. Departing from the Visitor Center, **Tourmobiles** (  202-554-5100; adult/child $7.50/3.75) are a handy way to visit the cemetery's memorials.

Much of the cemetery was built on the grounds of **Arlington House** , the former home of Robert E Lee and his wife Mary Anna Custis Lee, a descendant of Martha Washington. When Lee left to lead Virginia's army in the Civil War, Union troops confiscated the property to bury their dead. The **Tomb of the Unknowns** contains the remains of unidentified American servicemen from both World Wars and the Korean War; military guards retain a round-the-clock vigil and the changing of the guard (every half-hour, March to September, every hour October to February) is one of Arlington's most moving sights. An eternal flame marks the **grave of John F Kennedy** , next to those of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and two of her infant children. The **Women in Military Service for America Memorial** (  800-222-2294; womensmemorial.org) is a museum honoring the two million women who have served in America's armed forces. Other points of interest include the **Pan Am Flight 103 cairn** and the **Space Shuttle Challenger memorial**.

Near Rosslyn Metro station, the **Marine Corps Memorial** depicts six soldiers raising the American flag on Iwo Jima. The Felix de Weldon-designed sculpture is based on an iconic photo by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal.

South of Arlington Cemetery is the **Pentagon** , the largest office building in the world. It's not open to the public, but outside you may visit the **Pentagon Memorial** (www.whs.mil/memorial; admission free;   24hr); 184 illuminated benches honor each man, woman and child killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon. Nearby, the **Air Force Memorial's** (  703-247-5805; www.airforcememorial.org) three soaring arcs invoke the contrails of jets.

Dozens of chic restaurants, bars and hotels are located along Clarendon and Wilson Blvds between Rosslyn and Clarendon Metro stations.

 **Whitlow's on Wilson** (  703-276-9693; 2854 Clarendon Blvd; mains $5-20;   11am-2am Mon-Fri, 9am-2am Sat & Sun) has the neighborhood's best Sunday-brunch menu, plus weekday happy hour specials.

**Ray's Hell-Burger** (  703-841-0001; 1713 Wilson Blvd; mains $8-20;   noon-10pm Tue-Sun, from 5pm Mon) lives up to the hype and has attracted a legion of fans including President Barack Obama. **Iota** (  703-522-8340; iotaclubanDCafe.com; 2832 Clarendon Blvd; cover free-$15;   5pm-2am) is Arlington's top spot to catch live local and national musicians nightly; Norah Jones and John Mayer have performed here.

### Alexandria

The charming colonial village of Alexandria is just 5 miles and 250 years away from Washington. Once a salty port town, Alexandria – known as 'Old Town' to locals – is today a posh collection of red-bricked colonial homes, cobblestoned streets and flickering gas lamps, waterfront promenade, boutiques, outdoor cafés and neighborhood bars and restaurants. The **visitor center** (  703-838-5005; www.visitalexandriava.com; 221 King St;   9am-5pm) issues parking permits and discount tickets to historic sights.

The 333ft-tall **George Washington Masonic National Memorial** (  703-683-2007; www.gwmemorial.org; cnr King & Callahan Sts; admission free;   9am-5pm) is an imposing tower modeled after Egypt's Lighthouse of Alexandria and dedicated to America's first president, who was a member of the shadowy Freemasons. **Gadsby's Tavern Museum** (  703-838-4242; 134 N Royal St; adult/child 11-17yr $4/2;   10am-5pm Tue-Sat, from 1pm Sun) has exhibits on colonial life and is still a working pub and restaurant; past guests included George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Once a munitions factory, the **Torpedo Factory Art Center** (  703-838-4565; www.torpedofactory.org; 105 N Union St; admission free;   10am-5pm) now houses arts space with some 150 galleries and studios.

It's a bit touristy and pricey, but you haven't been to Old Town until you've downed a giant schooner of beer and sampled the seafood at the **Fish Market** (  703-836-5676; www.fishmarketva.com; 105 King St; mains $6-28;   11:15am-midnight).

 **Momo Sushi & Cafe** (  703 299 9092; www.mymomosushi.com; 212 Queen St; sushi $4-6, mains $7-23;   11:30am-2:30pm & 4-10pm Mon-Fri, noon-10pm Sat, 4pm-10pm Sun) is tiny and has just 13 seats, but it serves some of the best sushi we've ever tasted. The Green Tea Roll is a MUST!

Roll up your sleeves for some good pub grub and free, live bluegrass music at **Tiffany Tavern** (  703-836-8844; 1116 King St; lunch mains $6-13, dinner mains $9-18;   5pm-midnight, to 2am Fri & Sat, 11:30am-2:30pm Wed-Fri).

Just north of Old Town by the Braddock Rd Metro station is one of America's premier music halls, the **Birchmere** (  703-549-7500; www.birchmere.com; 3701 Mt Vernon Ave; tickets $15-60). The legendary venue stages an eclectic range of acts, from Dave Matthews and kd lang to Linda Ronstadt and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

To get to Alexandria from downtown DC get off at the King St Metro station. Local buses cover the mile to the visitor center. On weekends the free DASH shuttle bus connects the station with the waterfront and points in between.

### Mount Vernon

One of the most visited historic shrines in the nation, **Mount Vernon** (  703-780-2000; www.mountvernon.org; adult/child 6-11yr $15/7;   9am-5pm, to 4pm Nov-Feb), was the beloved home of George and Martha Washington, who lived here from their marriage in 1759 until his death in 1799. Now owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, the estate offers glimpses of 18th-century farm life and the first president's life as a country planter. Mount Vernon does not gloss over the Founding Father's slave ownership; visitors can tour slave quarters and the burial ground.

Mount Vernon is 16 miles south of DC off the Mount Vernon Memorial Hwy. By public transportation, take Metro to Huntington, then switch to Fairfax Connector bus 101. **Tourmobile** (  202-554-5100; www.tourmobile.com; incl Mount Vernon adult/child $30/15) offers three trips a day to Mount Vernon from Arlington National Cemetery or the Washington Monument. Several companies offer seasonal boat trips from DC and Alexandria; the cheapest is **Potomac Riverboat Company** (  703-548-9000; www.potomacriverboatco.com; incl Mount Vernon adult/child $38/20). A free and fit alternative is to take a gorgeous bike ride along the Potomac River from DC.

### Manassas

On July 21, 1861, Union and Confederate soldiers clashed in the first major land battle of the Civil War. Expecting a quick victory, Union fans flocked here to picnic and watch the First Battle of Bull Run (known in the South as First Manassas). The surprise Southern victory erased any hopes of a quick end to the war. Union and Confederate soldiers again met on the same ground for the larger Second Battle of Manassas in August 1862; again the South was victorious. Today, **Manassas National Battlefield Park** is a curving green hillscape, sectioned into fuzzy fields of tall grass and wildflowers by split-rail wood fences. Start your tour at the **Henry Hill Visitor Center** (  703-361-1339; www.nps.gov/mana; admission $3;   8:30am-5pm) to watch the orientation film and pick up park and trail maps.

**Virginia Railway Express** (VRE;   800-742-3873; www.vre.org; 9451 West St; per person $8.45;   5am-7pm Mon-Fri) trains roll between DC's Union Station and the historic Old Town Manassas Railroad Station; from there it's a 6-mile taxi ride to the park. There are several nice restaurants and bars around the Manassas train station, but the rest of the city is an ugly mess of strip malls and suburban sprawl.

* * *

# WORTH THE TRIP: STEVEN F UDVAR-HAZY CENTER

The Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum's **Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center** (  202-357-2700;   10am-5:30pm), located in Chantilly near Dulles airport, is a huge hangar filled with surplus planes and spacecraft that wouldn't fit at the museum's DC location. Highlights include the space shuttle _Enterprise,_ the B-29 _Enola Gay,_ SR-71 Blackbird and a Concorde supersonic airliner. While the museum is free, parking costs a ridiculous $15.

* * *

Return to beginning of chapter

## FREDERICKSBURG

Fredericksburg is a pretty town with a historical district that is almost a cliché of small-town Americana. George Washington grew up here, and the Civil War exploded in the streets and surrounding fields. Today, main street is a pleasant amble of bookstores, gastropubs and cafés.

### Sights

More than 13,000 Americans were killed during the Civil War in four battles fought in a 17-mile radius covered by **Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park**, maintained by the NPS. Don't miss the burial ground of Stonewall Jackson's amputated arm near the **Fredericksburg Battlefield visitor center** (  540-373-6122; 1013 Lafayette Blvd; admission free, film $2;   9am-5pm).

The **visitor center** (  540-373-1776; www.fredericksburgva.com; 706 Caroline St;   9am-5pm) offers a pass to historic Fredericksburg for nine local sights (adult/child six to 18 $32/10) including the ones described below. Unless otherwise noted, the following colonial attractions are open 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and 11am to 5pm Sunday March to November, and from 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday and noon to 4pm Sunday in winter.

**James Monroe Museum & Memorial Library** (  540-654-1043; 908 Charles St; adult/child 6-18yr $5/1;   10am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 1pm Sun, reduced hours winter) The museum's namesake was the nation's fifth president.

**Mary Washington House** (  540-373-1569; 1200 Charles St; adult/child 6-18yr $5/2) Home of George Washington's mother.

**Rising Sun Tavern** (  540-371-1494; 1304 Caroline St; adult/child 6-18yr $5/2) A museum with tavern wenches.

### Sleeping & Eating

**Richard Johnston Inn** (  540-899-7606; www.therichardjohnstoninn.com; 711 Caroline St; r $105-210;    ) Scores points for location, comfort and friendliness (especially from the two resident Scottie dogs). Most rooms have private bathrooms, and guests get full breakfast on weekends.

As well as serving a classy caffeine jolt, the **Griffin Bookshop & Coffee Bar** (  540-899-8041; 106 Hanover St;   9am-5pm Mon-Wed, to 9pm Thu-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) may be the best bookstore between DC and Richmond.

You'll find dozens of restaurants and cafés along historic Caroline and William Sts. One of our favorites is **Caroline Street Cafe** (  540-654-9180; 1002 Caroline St; mains $6.50-7.25;   11am-4pm Mon, Wed & Thu, 9am-5pm Fri & Sun, to 7pm Sat), with homemade soups, salads and sandwiches.

* * *

# SCENIC DRIVE: VIRGINIA'S HORSE COUNTRY

About 40 miles west of Washington, DC, suburban sprawl gives way to endless green farms, vineyards, quaint villages and palatial estates and ponies. This is 'Horse Country,' where wealthy Washingtonians pursue their equestrian pastimes. The following route is the most scenic drive to Shenandoah National Park. From DC, take Rte 50 West to **Middleburg** , a too-cute-for-words town of B&Bs, taverns, wine shops and boutiques. The **National Sporting Library** (  540-687-6542; 102 The Plains Rd;   10am-4pm Tue-Fri, from 1pm Sat) is a museum and research center devoted to horse and field sports like foxhunting, dressage, steeplechase and polo.

 **Griffin Tavern** (  540-675-3227; 659 Zachary Taylor Hwy; mains $6-19;   11:30am-11pm Sun-Thu, to 1am Fri & Sat) is a quintessential British pub with English and Irish food and beer; head southwest on Rtes 522 and 211 to Flint Hill.

Six miles down Rte 211 is **Little Washington** , another cute town that's home to one of the finest B&B restaurants in America, **The Inn at Little Washington** (  540-675-3800; cnr Middle & Main Sts; r from $400). Further down the road at the foothills of Blue Ridge Mountains is **Sperryville** and its many galleries and shops, a must-stop for antique-lovers. Continue 9 miles west to reach the Thornton Gap entrance of **Skyline Drive** in **Shenandoah National Park** (Click here).

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### Getting There & Away

**VRE** ($10.30, 12 per day, 1½ hours) and **Amtrak** ($17, five per day, 1¼ hours) trains depart from the new Fredericksburg train station (200 Lafayette Blvd) with service to DC. Buses come into the **Greyhound/Trailways depot** (  540-373-2103; 2217 Princess Ann St). **Greyhound** has five buses per day to/from DC (from $8.75, 1½ hours). There are two buses per day to Richmond ($8.75, one hour). (Trips beyond DC such as to Baltimore and NYC require a transfer in DC).

Return to beginning of chapter

## RICHMOND

Richmond has been the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia since 1780. It was here during the American Revolution that patriot Patrick Henry gave his famous 'Give me Liberty, or give me Death!' speech. But Richmond is most notable for serving as the capital of the secessionist Confederate States of America during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. Ironically, Richmond is now an ethnically diverse city, with one of the most vibrant African American communities in the country. Of course, the attractive veneer of diversity cracks soon enough into ugly income disparities; most African American neighborhoods seem depressed compared with upmarket areas on the East and West ends of the center. This town also grapples with memorializing its controversial history. But in the end Richmond is a welcoming, warm traditional Southern city that is slowly being absorbed into the international milieu of the Northeast Corridor.

### Orientation & Information

The James River bisects Richmond, with most attractions to its north. Uptown residential neighborhoods include the Fan district, south of Monument Ave, and Carytown, in the west end. Downtown, Court End holds the capitol and several museums. On E Cary St between 12th and 15th Sts, converted warehouses in Shockoe Slip house shops and restaurants. Once you pass under the trestle-like freeway overpass, you're in Shockoe Bottom. Just north of Court End is the historic African American neighborhood of Jackson Ward. Keep in mind that Cary St is more than 5 miles long; E Cary St is downtown, while W Cary St is in Carytown.

#### BOOKSTORES

**Carytown Books** (  804-359-4831; 2930 W Cary St;   10am-7pm Mon-Sat, to 5pm Sun)

**Fountain Bookstore** (  804-788-1594; 1312 E Cary St;   10am-8pm Mon-Thu, to 9pm Fri & Sat, noon-5pm Sun)

#### MEDIA

**90.1 FM WDCE** University of Richmond station.

**93.5 FM WBBC** Country.

**Richmond-Times Dispatch** (www.timesdispatch.com) Daily newspaper.

#### MEDICAL SERVICES

**Johnston-Willis Hospital** (  804-330-2000; 1401 Johnston-Willis Dr)

**Richmond Community Hospital** (  804-225-1700; 1500 N 28th St)

#### POST

**Post office** (700 E Main St;   7:30am-5pm Mon-Fri)

#### TOURIST INFORMATION

**Richmond visitor center** (  804-783-7450; www.richmondva.org; 405 N 3rd St;   9am-5pm, to 6pm Jun-Aug)

**Virginia State visitor center** (  804-786-4485; 101 N 9th St;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri) This statewide center is located in the Bell Tower on the grounds of the State Capitol.

### Sights

 **Museum & White House of the Confederacy** (  804-649-1861; www.moc.org; cnr 12th & Clay Sts; adult/senior/student/child under 7 $11/10/6/free;   10am-5pm Tue-Sat, from noon Sun) traces the history of the Confederate States of America with the country's largest collection of Confederate civilian and military artifacts. It's a must-see for any history and Civil War buff. The adjacent 1818 White House mansion was the home of CSA President Jefferson Davis.

**American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar** (  804-780-1865; www.tredegar.org; 490 Tredegar St; adult/concession/child 7-12yr/child under 7yr $8/6/2/free;   9am-5pm), located in an 1861 gun foundry, accurately and fairly explores the causes and course of the Civil War from the perspectives of Union, Confederate and African American experiences. The center is one of 13 protected area sites that make up **Richmond National Battlefield Park** (www.nps.gov/rich).

The **Virginia State Capitol** (  804-698-1788; cnr 9th & Grace Sts, Capitol Sq; admission & tours free;   9am-5pm Mon-Sat, 1-4pm Sun), designed by Thomas Jefferson, was completed in 1788 and houses the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, the Virginia General Assembly, established in 1619.

Changing and permanent exhibits at the **Virginia Historical Society** (  804-358-4901; 428 N Blvd; adult/concession/child under 18yr $5/3/free;   10am-5pm Tue-Sat, from 1pm Sat) traces the history of the Commonwealth from prehistoric to present times.

**Monument Avenue** , a tree-lined boulevard in northeast Richmond, holds **statues** of such revered Southern heroes as JEB Stuart, Robert E Lee, Matthew Fontaine Maury, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson and, controversially, African American tennis champion Arthur Ashe.

It was at **St John's Episcopal Church** (  804-648-5015; 2401 E Broad St; tours adult/child $6/4;   10am-4pm, from 1pm Sun) that firebrand Patrick Henry uttered his famous battle cry, 'Give me Liberty, or give me Death!' during the rebellious 1775 Second Virginia Convention. His speech is reenacted at 2pm on Sunday in summer.

The **Virginia Holocaust Museum** (  804-257-5400; www.va-holocaust.com; 2000 E Cary St; admission free;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri, from 11am Sat & Sun) is structured like an attic/diorama of the Holocaust survivors who settled here after WWII. It's occasionally kitschy but still powerful, due to the personalized nature of the exhibits.

**Jackson Ward** , an African American neighborhood that was known as Little Africa in the late 19th century, is now a national historic landmark district. It comes off as a tough neighborhood (which it is), but there's a deep cultural legacy here as well. The **Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia** (  804-780-9093; 3 E Clay St; adult/student/child under 13 $5/4/3;   10am-5pm Tue-Sat, from 11am Sun) highlights the achievements of African American Virginians and displays collections of African arts, textiles and artifacts.

The **Virginia Museum of Fine Arts** (  804-340-1400; www.vmfa.state.va.us; 2800 Grove Ave; requested donation $5;   11am-5pm Wed-Sun) has a remarkable collection of European works, sacred Himalayan art and one of the largest Fabergé egg collections on display outside Russia.

The **Science Museum of Virginia** (  804-367-0000; 2500 W Broad St; adult/child 4-12yr $10/9, incl IMAX adult/child $15/14;   9:30am-5pm Mon-Sat, 11:30am-5pm Sun) is an interactive, educational, entertaining way to distract the kids.

The **Poe Museum** (  804-648-5523; www.poemuseum.org; 1914-16 E Main St; adult/student $6/5;   10am-5pm Tue-Sat, from 11am Sun) contains the world's largest collection of manuscripts and memorabilia of macabre poet Edgar Allan Poe, who lived and worked in Richmond.

Tranquil **Hollywood Cemetery** (  804-648-8501; entrance cnr Albemarle & S Cherry Sts; free admission, tours $7;   8am-5pm, to 6pm summer), perched above the James River rapids, contains the gravesites of two US presidents (James Monroe and John Tyler), the only Confederate president (Jefferson Davis) and 18,000 Confederate soldiers.

The 1.25-mile waterfront **Canal Walk** between the James River and the Kanawha (ka-naw) and Haxall Canals is a lovely way of seeing a dozen highlights of Richmond history.

* * *

# PASSING RICHMOND

The Richmond Civil War Pass ($15) offers admission to all three sites – the Museum & White House of the Confederacy, the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar and Richmond National Battlefield Park. These excellent-value passes can be purchased at each location.

* * *

### Sleeping

**Massad House Hotel** (  804-648-2893; www.massadhousehotel.com; 11 N 4th St; r $75-110;      ) This is the cheapest in-city option and its location for exploring can't be beat. That said, you get what you pay for. The rooms are tiny but clean but the hotel is in serious need of renovation.

**West-Bocock House** (  804-358-6174; 1107 Grove Ave; r $85;      ) The gracious hostess of this B&B is the epitome of Southern class and hospitality, and the three gorgeous rooms she rents are a lovely example of Southern baroque style.

**Linden Row Inn** (  804-783-7000; www.lindenrowinn.com; 100 E Franklin St; r incl breakfast $99-149, ste $239-269;    ) This intimate little lodge is an antebellum gem, a historic piece where the Southern charm doesn't feel put on.

**Omni Hotel** (  804-344-7000; www.omnihotel.com; 100 S 12th St; r $160-200;        ) What this place lacks in architectural character is made up for by its gracious staff and terrific location in the heart of Shockoe Slip.

**Berkeley Hotel** (  804-780-1300; www.berkeleyhotel.com; 1200 E Cary St; r $205-225;      ) Located in Shockoe Slip, this European-style, four-star hotel has spacious rooms with cherry furnishings and gracious staff.

 **Jefferson Hotel** (  804-788-8000; www.jeffersonhotel.com; 101 W Franklin St; r $260-360;        ) The Jefferson is Richmond's grandest hotel and one of the finest in America. The beaux-arts-style hotel was completed in 1895, the vision of tobacco tycoon and Confederate Major Lewis Ginter. Today it is the epitome of luxury and service. The magnificent lobby's grand staircase is rumored to be the model for the famed staircase in _Gone With the Wind_.

### Eating

For cheap eats and fresh produce, check out the bustling **17th Street Farmers Market** (cnr 17th & E Main Sts;   9am-4pm Thu-Sun, hours may vary), which runs from early May through October. You'll find dozens of restaurants along the cobbled streets of Shockoe Slip and Shockoe Bottom.

 **Millie's Diner** (  804-643-5512; 2603 E Main St; breakfast & lunch $6-10, dinner $19-28;   11am-2:30pm & 5:30-10:30pm Tue-Fri, 10am-3pm & 5:30-10:30pm Sat, 9am-3pm & 5:30-9:30pm Sun) Breakfast, lunch or dinner, Millie's does it all, and does it well. But where this Richmond icon really shines is Sunday brunch – our favorite dish was the Devil's Mess, an open-faced omelet with spicy sausage, curry, veg, cheese and avocado. Heaven help us.

**Croaker's Spot** (  804-421-0560; 119 E Leigh St; mains $8-17;   11am-9pm Mon-Wed, to 10pm Thu, to 11pm Fri, noon-11pm Sat, 1-7pm Sun) Everyone in Jackson Ward knows this soul and seafood joint. The decor is proudly African American and the food...angels sing on high of the 'fish boat': fried catfish drowning in spicy sauce with hunks of cornbread and creamy grits on the side.

**Ipanema Café** (  804-213-0170; 917 W Grace St; mains $12-19;   11:30am-1pm Mon-Fri & 5:30-11pm Mon-Sat) Vegetarians and vegans will be in heaven at this hip hole-in-the-wall. There are a few fish and poultry dishes, but the wonderful Mediterranean- and Asian-influenced veg dishes will satisfy even the most hard-core carnivore.

**Edo's Squid** (  804-864-5488; 411 N Harrison St; mains $12-30) Easily the best Italian restaurant in Richmond, Edo's serves up mouthwatering, authentic cuisine such as eggplant Parmesan, spicy shrimp diavolo pasta, daily specials and, of course, squid. This place can get very crowded and noisy.

**Julep's** (  804-377-3968; 1719 E Franklin St; mains $17-27;   5:30-11pm Mon-Sat) Richmond's latest, and some say greatest, shrine to refined New Southern cuisine, Julep's is where you go to impress someone and have a swank, lovely meal in the process. The earth-toned, 1940s-style interior only makes that yellowfin with the wild mushroom orzo that much classier.

### Drinking & Entertainment

**Lift** (  804-344-5438; 218 W Broad St; coffees $1.50-4.50, sandwiches $3.75-7.50;   7am-7pm Mon-Fri, 9am-3pm Sat;  ) Part coffeehouse, part art gallery, Lift certainly will lift your spirits with stiff lattes and tasty breakfast sandwiches. A cuter café we dare you to find.

**Tobacco Company Restaurant** (  804-782-9555; 1201 E Cary St;   from 11:30am) An embodiment of the era when tobacco was king, the atmosphere of this three-story, brothel-like restaurant-bar is more of a draw than the food. Have a drink instead.

**Capital Ale House** (  804-780-2537; 623 E Main St;   11am-1:30am Mon-Sat, from 10am Sun) Popular with political wonks from the nearby state capitol, this downtown pub has an awesome selection of beer (46 on tap and 250 bottled) and decent pub grub. The frozen trough on the bar keeps your drink ice-cold.

**Byrd Theater** (  804-353-9911; www.byrdtheatre.com; 2908 W Cary St; tickets $1.99) You can't beat the price at this classic 1928 cinema, which shows second-run films. Wurlitzer-organ concerts precede the Saturday-night shows.

**Virginia Performing Arts Center** (  804-343-0144; www.vapaf.com; cnr Grace & 6th Sts) In 2009, Richmond raised the curtain on the area's premiere venue for concerts, dance and theater, including touring Broadway productions.

### Getting There & Around

The cab fare from **Richmond International Airport** (RIC;   804-226-3000), about 10 miles east of town, is about $25.

**Amtrak** (  800-872-7245) Trains stop at the main station at 7519 Staples Mill Rd, 7 miles north of town. More convenient but less frequent trains stop downtown at the Main Street Station (1500 E Main St).

**Greater Richmond Transit Company** (GRTC;   804-358-4782; www.ridegrtc.com) Runs local buses (base fare $1.50, exact change only). Bus 27 runs to/from the downtown area.

**Greyhound/Trailways bus station** (  804-254-5910; www.greyhound.com; 2910 N Blvd).

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## PETERSBURG

About 25 miles south of Richmond, the little town of Petersburg played a big role in the Civil War. It was a major railway junction, providing Confederate troops and supplies. Union troops laid a 10-month siege of Petersburg in 1864–65, the longest on American soil. The **Siege Museum** (  804-733-2404; 15 W Bank St; adult/child $5/4, combo ticket with Blandford Church $11/9;   10am-5pm) relates the plight of civilians during the siege. Several miles east of town, **Petersburg National Battlefield** (US 36; vehicle/pedestrian $5/3;   9am-5pm) is where Union soldiers planted explosives underneath a Confederate breastwork, leading to the Battle of the Crater (novelized and cinematized in _Cold Mountain_ ) _._ West of downtown in Pamplin Historical Park, the excellent **National Museum of the Civil War Soldier** (  804-861-2408; adult/child 6-12yr $10/5;   9am-5pm) illustrates the hardships faced by soldiers on both sides of the conflict. South of town, **Old Blandford Church** (  804-733-2396; 319 S Crater St; adult/child $5/4;   10am-5pm) has the largest collection of Tiffany glass windows in one place. Each exquisite pane is dedicated to one Confederate state and its war dead. More than 30,000 Confederate soldiers are buried on the church grounds.

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## HISTORIC TRIANGLE

This is America's birthplace. Nowhere else in the country has such a small area played such a pivotal role in the course of the nation's history. The nation's roots were planted in Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World. The flames of the American Revolution were fanned at the colonial capital of Williamsburg. America finally won her independence from Britain at Yorktown.

You'll need at least two days to give the Triangle any justice. A daily free shuttle travels between the Williamsburg visitor center, Yorktown and Jamestown. A variety of tickets and pass combinations can be purchased at the Williamsburg visitor center (Click here) or online at www.historyisfun.org. The best deal is the America's Historic Triangle pass (adult/child six to 17 $80.25/33.25), allowing seven days of unlimited admission to Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown Battlefield and the Yorktown Victory Center).

### Williamsburg

If you visit only one historical town in Virginia, make it Williamsburg, home to Colonial Williamsburg, one of the most astounding and authentic living-history museums in the world. If any place is going to get kids into history, this is it, but it's plenty of fun for adults too.

The actual town of Williamsburg, Virginia's capital from 1699 to 1780, is a stately place. The prestigious campus of the College of William & Mary adds a decent dash of youth culture, with coffee shops, cheap pubs and fashion boutiques.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

 **Colonial Williamsburg** (  757-229-1000, 800-447-8679; www.colonialwilliamsburg.org;   9am-5pm), the restored capital of England's largest colony in the New World, is a must-see attraction for visitors of all ages. This is not some cheesy, fenced-in theme park; Colonial Williamsburg is a living, breathing, working history museum that transports visitors back to the 1700s. The 301-acre historic area contains 88 original 18th-century buildings and several hundred faithful reproductions, including homes, taverns, shops and public buildings. The British Union Jack flutters everywhere. Costumed townsfolk and 'interpreters' in period dress go about their colonial jobs as blacksmiths, apothecaries, printers, barmaids, soldiers and patriots, breaking character only long enough to pose for a snapshot. Costumed patriots like Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson stand on their soapbox outside taverns, delivering impassioned speeches for freedom and democracy. Children will love the interactive, hands-on exhibits and activities, and hilarious skits such as witch trials and tar and featherings.

Highlight buildings of Colonial Williamsburg include the reconstructed **Capitol Building** and **Governor's Palace** , the **Bruton Parish Church** and **Raleigh Tavern**. Walking around the historic district and patronizing the shops and taverns is free, but entry to building tours and most exhibits is restricted to ticket holders. Expect crowds, lines and petulant children, especially in summer.

To park and to purchase tickets, follow signs to the **visitor center** (  757-229-1000;   8:30am-6pm), north of the historic district between Hwy 132 and Colonial Pkwy, where kids can get outfitted in period costumes for $20 (tri-cornered hat sold separately). Parking is free; shuttle buses run frequently to and from the historic district, or walk along the tree-lined footpath. Exhibitions are open 9am to 5pm.

One-day passes include:

**Capital City Pass** (adult/child 6-17yr $35/18) Covers orientation tour and entrance to all exhibition buildings and museums, minus the palace.

**Governor's Key to the City** (adult/child $45/23) Includes all exhibition buildings and museums plus the Governor's Palace.

You can also buy tickets at the **Merchants Square information booth** (  9am-5pm) at the west end of Duke of Gloucester St, and the **Secretary's Office** (  9am-5pm), near the capitol, at the east end.

Chartered in 1693, the **College of William & Mary**(  757-221-1540; www.wm.edu) is the second-oldest college in the country and retains the oldest academic building in continued use in the USA, the Sir Christopher Wren Building. The school's alumni include Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and comedian Jon Stewart.

**Williamsburg Winery** (  757-229-0999; www.williamsburgwinery.com; 5800 Wessex Hundred; admission free; tasting tours $8, lunch $9-11;   10am-6pm Mon-Sat, from 11am Sun Apr-Oct, closes at 5pm Nov-Mar), four miles southwest of downtown, is the largest winery in Virginia, cranking out 60,000 cases a year and 25 varieties of the sweet nectar of the gods. Stay for lunch at the on-site Gabriel Archer Tavern, serving up tasty sandwich and wrap plates.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

You'll find many restaurants, cafés and pubs in **Merchants Square** (merchantssquare.org), adjacent to Colonial Williamsburg. The **Williamsburg Hotel & Motel Association** (  800-446-9244; www.gowilliamsburg.com) at the visitor center will help find and book accommodations at no cost.

**Williamsburg & Colonial KOA Resorts** (  800-562-1733; www.williamsburgkoa.com; 5210 & 4000 Newman Rd respectively, I-64 exit 234; campsites $20-35, cabins $50-65;    ) With two campgrounds rolled into one, you'll find superb amenities such as games rooms, movies, a pool and laundry facilities.

**Governor's Inn** (  757-229-1000; www.colonialwilliamsburgresorts.com; 506 N Henry St; r $70-110;      ) Williamsburg's official 'economy' choice is a big box by any other name, but there's nothing to complain about, and hey, it's central.

**Williamsburg White House** (  757-229-8580, 866-229-8580; www.awilliamsburgwhitehouse.com; 718 Jamestown Rd; r $155-220;      ) This romantic, beautifully furnished B&B decorated with red, white and blue bunting is located across the campus of William & Mary and just a few blocks walk to Colonial Williamsburg.

**Williamsburg Inn** (  757-229-1000, ext 3089; 136 E Francis St; r from $330;        ) Queen Elizabeth II has stayed here twice, so you know this place is palatial. Williamsburg's premier property is noted by its not-so-colonial price tag, but the pampering is nonstop at this classic resort.

**Cheese Shop** (  757-220-0298; 410 Duke of Gloucester St, Merchants Sq; mains $5-6;   10am-8pm Mon-Sat, 11am-6pm Sun) Locals swear by this deli, with its wide assortment of sandwiches and a Paris-worthy cheese selection.

**Trellis Cafe** (  757-229-8610; www.thetrellis.com; Merchants Sq; lunch mains $8-14, dinner mains $17-32;   11am-3pm & 5-9:30pm) A Virginia culinary landmark, the Trellis caters to burger-seeking tourists for lunch and nirvana-seeking foodies for dinner. Regional specialties, such as salmon fillet with country ham, shine.

**King's Arms Tavern** (  757-229-2141; Duke of Gloucester St; lunch mains $12-14, dinner mains $27-35;   11am-3pm) Of the four restaurants located within Colonial Williamsburg, this is the most elegant, serving early American cuisine like game pie – venison, rabbit and duck braised in port.

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

**Williamsburg Transportation Center** (  757-229-8750, cnr Boundary & Lafayette Sts) Amtrak trains run from here twice a day to Washington, DC ($28, 3¾ hours), Richmond ($14, 50 minutes) and New York ($58, eight hours). Greyhound runs buses to Richmond ($7.50, one hour) five times daily. Buses to other destinations require a transfer in Richmond.

**Bikes Unlimited** (  757-229-4620; 759 Scotland St; bike rental per hr from $14;   9:30am-6:30pm Tue-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat, noon-4pm Sun)

### Triangle Theme Parks

Three miles east of Williamsburg on Hwy 60, **Busch Gardens** (  800-343-7946; www.buschgardens.com; adult/child 3-9yr $60/50;   Apr-Oct;  ) is a European-themed park with some of the best roller coasters on the East Coast. Just down the road off Hwy 199 east of Williamsburg, **Water Country USA** (  800-343-7946; www.watercountryusa.com; adult/child 3-9yr $39/32;   May-Sep;  ) is a kids' paradise, with twisty slides, raging rapids and wave pools. A three-day, combo ticket for both parks is $70. Parking is $12 at both places.

### Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America almost wasn't. On May 14, 1607, a group of 104 English men and boys settled on this swampy island with a charter from the Virginia Company of London to search for gold and other riches. Instead, they found starvation and disease. By January of 1608, only about 40 colonists were still alive. The colony survived the 'Starving Time' with the leadership of Captain James Smith and help from local Powhatans. In 1619, the elected House of Burgesses convened, forming the first democratic government in the Americas.

**Historic Jamestowne** (  757-253-4838; adult/child under 17 $10/free, 5-day ticket incl Yorktown Battlefield;   9am-5pm), run by the NPS, is the original Jamestown site. Start your visit at the on-site museum and check out the statues of John Smith and Pocahontas. The original Jamestown ruins were rediscovered in 1994; visitors can watch the ongoing archaeological work at the site.

More child-friendly and cheesy, the state-run **Jamestown Settlement** (  757-253-4838; adult/child 6-12yr $14/6.50;   9am-5pm) reconstructs the 1607 James Fort, a Native American village and full-scale replicas of the first ships that brought the settlers to Jamestown, along with living-history fun. A **combo ticket** (adult/child 6-12yr $19.25/9.25) that includes the Yorktown Victory Center is available.

### Yorktown

On October 19, 1781, British General Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington here, effectively ending the American Revolution. The event was more of a whimper than a bang; the British were cut off from the sea by the French and confronted with massive American guns on land. Cornwallis' position was hopeless, his superiors indifferent and surrender inevitable.

**Yorktown Battlefield** (  757-898-3400; incl Historic Jamestowne adult/child under 17 $10/free;   9am-5pm), run by the NPS, is the site of the last major battle of the American Revolution. Start your tour at the visitor center and check out the orientation film and the display of Washington's original tent. The 7-mile Battlefield Rd Tour takes you past the major highlights. Don't miss a walk through the last British defensive sites, Redoubts 9 and 10.

The state-run **Yorktown Victory Center** (  757-253-4838; adult/child 6-12yr $8.75/4.50;   9am-5pm) is an interactive, living-history museum that focuses on reconstruction, reenactment, and the Revolution's impact on the people who lived through it.

The actual town of Yorktown is a pleasant waterfront village overlooking the York River with a nice range of shops, restaurants and pubs.

**Carrot Tree** (  757-988-1999; 411 Main St; mains $8-13;   lunch 11am-3:30pm daily, dinner 5-8:30pm Thu-Sat) is a good, affordable spot for lunch with silly-named sandwiches like the Lord Nelson BBQ. Afterwards, grab a beer at the **Yorktown Pub** (  757-886-9964; 112 Water St; mains $6-22;   11am-late). For a more upscale option, **Nick's Riverwalk Restaurant** (  757-875-1522; www.riverwalkrestaurant.net; 323 Water St; lunch mains $9-15, dinner mains $17-30   11:30am-2:30pm & 5-9pm) offers waterfront dining and modern American cuisine.

### James River Plantations

The grand homes of Virginia's slaveholding aristocracy were a clear sign of the era's class divisions. A string of them line scenic Hwy 5 on the north side of the river, though only a few are open to the public. The ones listed here run from east to west.

**Sherwood Forest** (  804-829-5377; sherwoodforest.org), the longest frame house in the country, was the home of 10th US president John Tyler. Tours are available by appointment for $35 per person. The grounds (and a touching pet cemetery) are open to **self-guided tours** (adult/child $5/3;   9am-5pm).

**Berkeley** (  804-829-6018; www.berkeleyplantation.com; adult/child 13-16yr/child 6-12yr $11/7.50/6;   9am-4:30pm) was the site of the first official Thanksgiving in 1619. It was the birthplace and home of Benjamin Harrison V, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and his son William Henry Harrison, 9th US president.

**Shirley** (  800-232-1613; www.shirleyplantation.com; adult/child 6-18 $11/7.50;   9am-5pm), situated picturesquely on the river, is Virginia's oldest plantation (1613) and is perhaps the best example of how a British-model plantation actually appeared, with its tidy row of brick service and trade houses – tool barn, ice house, laundry etc – leading up to the big house.

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## HAMPTON ROADS

The Hampton Roads (named not for asphalt, but the confluence of the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth Rivers and Chesapeake Bay) have always been prime real estate. The Powhatan Confederacy fished these waters and hunted the fingerlike protrusions of the Virginia coast for thousands of years before John Smith arrived in 1607. The pirate Blackbeard was killed here and had his head popped onto a pike, while navies from two continents littered the area with wreckage during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Today Hampton Roads is known for its horribly congested roads, as well as its cultural mishmash of history, the military and the arts.

### Norfolk

Norfolk is home to the world's largest naval base. Not surprisingly, it had a reputation as a rowdy port town filled with drunken sailors. In recent years, Norfolk has worked had to clean up its image through development, gentrification and focusing on its burgeoning arts scene. It's now the state's second-largest city, with a diverse population of 234,000. But at the end of the day, the city still revolves around the US Navy, as evident by the frequent sights of mammoth warships offshore and sounds of screaming fighter jets above.

There are two visitor centers: **Interstate** (  757-441-1852; I-64 exit 273;   9am-5pm) and **Downtown** (  757-664-6620; 232 E Main St;   9am-5pm). The historic Ghent district, west of the city center, is where this town's refugee population of artsy types, foodies and cappuccino-lovers flocks.

#### SIGHTS

 **Naval Station Norfolk** (  757-444-7955; www.cnic.navy.mil/norfolksta; 9079 Hampton Blvd; adults/child 3-11yr $10/5;   tour times vary), the world's largest navy base and one of the busiest airfields in the country, is a must-see. Depending on what ships are in port, you might see aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates, amphibious assault ships and submarines. The 45-minute bus tours are conducted by naval personnel and must be booked in advance. Photo ID is required for adults. Alternatively, view the docks from a narrated, two-hour cruise aboard the **Victory Rover** (  757-627-7406; www.navalbasecruises.com; adult/child 12yr & under $16.50/10;   Mar-Dec).

**Nauticus** (  757-664-1000; adult/child 4-12yr $11/8.50;   10am-5pm May-Sep, 10am-5pm Tue-Sat, from noon Sun Oct-Apr;  ) is an interactive maritime-themed museum. Use the Center entrance to access the more adult-oriented **Hampton Naval Museum** (  757-322-2987; admission free), where you can explore the deck of the **USS Wisconsin** _._ Built in 1943, it was the largest (887ft long) and last battleship built by the US Navy.

The **Chrysler Museum of Art** (  757-664-6200; 245 W Olney Rd; adult/child & student with university ID $7/free, free Wed;   10am-5pm Thu-Sat, to 9pm Wed, 1-5pm Sun) is a glorious setting for a spectacular and eclectic collection of artifacts from ancient Egypt to present day, including works by Monet, Matisse, Renoir, Warhol and a world-class collection of Tiffany blown glass.

The **MacArthur Memorial** (  757-441-2965; MacArthur Sq; admission free;   10am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 11am Sun) houses the final resting place of WWII hero General Douglas MacArthur and his wife, Jean. The complex includes a museum, theater and exhibits of the general's military and personal artifacts.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

For waterfront digs, there are tons of budget to midrange options lining Ocean View Ave (which actually borders the bay). Two of the best dining strips are downtown's Granby St and Ghent's Colley Ave.

**Best Western** (  757-583-2621; 1330 E Ocean Ave; r from $100;      ) Overlooking Chesapeake Bay, this place is a reliable and comfortable option.

**Tazewell Hotel** (  757-623-6200; www.thetazewell.com; 245 Granby St; r $110-200;   ) Attractive hotel in the heart of the Granby St pub and restaurant district, Tazewell is a friendly hotel with tiny but clean rooms.

**Page House Inn** (  757-625-5033; www.pagehouseinn.com; 323 Fairfax Ave; r $150-230;        ) Opposite the Chrysler Museum of Art, this luxurious B&B is a cornerstone of Norfolk elegance.

**Doumar's** (  757-627-4163; 919 Monticello Ave, at E 20th St, Ghent; mains $1.50-4;   8am-late Mon-Sat) Since 1904, this slice of Americana has been the drive-up home of the world's original ice-cream-cone machine, plus great BBQ. Counter service available too. Cash only.

**Todd Jurich's Bistro** (  757-622-3210; 150 W Main St; lunch mains $21-30, dinner mains $25-35;   11:30am-2pm Mon-Fri, 5:30-10pm Mon-Sat) Jurich's is arguably the best upscale restaurant in Hampton Roads. This swish addition to the Norfolk dining scene gets solid reviews for mixing up Tidewater, Southern and global cuisines, like the scrumptious jumbo lump crab cakes with smoked gouda grits.

#### DRINKING & ENTERTAINMENT

**Elliot's Fair Grounds** (  757-640-2899; 806 Baldwin Ave, Ghent; items $3-10   7am-late;    ) This tiny, funky coffeehouse attracts everyone from students to sailors. The menu also includes vegan and kosher items such as Boca Burgers.

**Taphouse Grill at Ghent** (  757-627-9172; 931 W 21st St, Ghent) Good microbrews are served and good local bands jam at this warm little pub.

**Scotty Quixx** (  757-625-0008; 436 Granby St;   4pm-2am Mon-Sat) What do you do with a drunken sailor? Send him to Scotty's, which is packed with shore-leave Navy guys looking for a good time.

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

**Greyhound** (  757-625-7500; www.greyhound.com; 701 Monticello Ave) runs buses five times a day to Richmond ($18 to $23), Virginia Beach ($10 to $16) and Washington, DC ($30 to $44).

By plane, the region is served by **Norfolk International Airport** (NIA;   757-857-3351), located 7 miles northeast of downtown Norfolk.

**Hampton Roads Transit** (  757-222-6100; www.hrtransit.org) serves the entire Hampton Roads region. Buses ($1.50) run from downtown throughout the city and to Newport News and Virginia Beach.

**Norfolk Electronic Transit (NET)** (  6:30am-11pm Mon-Fri, noon-midnight Sat, noon-8pm Sun) is a free bus service that connects Norfolk's major downtown sites, including Nauticus and the Chrysler Museum.

### Newport News & Hampton

The city of Newport News comes off as a giant example of suburban sprawl, but it's unclear what it's sprawling from. There are several attractions here, most notably the amazing Mariner's Museum. But apart from that, the city is an ugly mess of strip malls and chain hotels and restaurants. For more charming lodgings and lively dining options, head south to Norfolk or north to Williamsburg. The **visitor center** (  888-493-7386; 13560 Jefferson Ave, Newport News Park;   9am-5pm) is at the north end off I-64 exit 250-B.

 **Mariners' Museum** (  757-596-2222; www.mariner.org; 100 Museum Dr; adult/child 6-12 $14/12;   10am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun) is one of the biggest, most comprehensive maritime museums in the world. The on-site **USS Monitor Center** (www.monitorcenter.org) houses the dredged carcass of the _Monitor,_ one of the world's first ironclad warships, as well as a life-size replica of the real deal (which can be seen undergoing a long chemical bath, a single step in a lengthy preservation process). The **Virginia Living Museum** (  757-247-8523; thevlm.org; 9285 Warwick Blvd, Huntington Park; adult/child 3-12yr $15/12;   9am-5pm, reduced hours winter) is an educational extravaganza that comprises a petting zoo, planetarium and other interactive science-y stuff.

In nearby Hampton, the **Virginia Air & Space Center** (  757-727-0900; 600 Settlers Landing Rd; adult/child 3-18yr $9.50/7.50;   10am-5pm Mon-Wed, to 7pm Thu-Sun) will fascinate astronomy nuts with exhibits like the _Apollo 11_ command module and a DC-9 passenger plane. IMAX films are an additional cost.

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## VIRGINIA BEACH

With 35 miles of sandy beaches, 3-mile concrete oceanfront boardwalk and a plethora of outdoor activities, it's no surprise that Virginia Beach is the largest city in the state (population 304,000) and a prime tourist destination. In recent years, the city has worked hard to shed its unfortunate reputation as a rowdy 'Redneck Riviera.' A recent $300-million investment project has given the city a much-needed facelift. The beach is wider, cleaner and better than ever, with dolphins frolicking off the shore. New hotels, restaurants and entertainment options are popping up on every corner. A giant statue of Neptune, more police and ever-present 'no profanity' signs keep watch over the new reborn resort.

The I-264 runs straight into the **visitor center** (  800-822-3224; www.vbfun.com; 2100 Parks Ave;   9am-5pm) and the beach. Surfing is permitted at the beach's southern end near Rudee Inlet and alongside the 14th St pier.

### Sights

If you want to see an aquarium done right, come to the **Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center** (  757-385-3474; www.virginiaaquarium.com; 717 General Booth Blvd; adult/child 3-11 $12/8;   9am-5pm, to 6pm May-Sep), one of the country's best. Get up close and personal with marine life on one of the aquarium's dolphin- ($19, April to October) or whale-watching ($28, January to March) boat trips.

**Mt Trashmore** (  757-473-5237; 310 Edwin Dr; admission free;   7:30am-dusk) is off I-64 exit 17B. Virginia Beach's only verticality was the creative solution to a landfill problem, and now serves as a prime picnicking and kite-flying venue. Tony Hawk has grinded in the renovated skate park.

**Fort Story** (cnr 89th St & Pacific Ave), an active army base at Cape Henry, is home to several attractions including the **First Landing Site** (admission free), where 1607 colonists first touched land after their voyage from London, and the 1791 **Old Cape Henry Lighthouse** (adult/child 3-12 $4/2), offering spectacular views of the surrounding area from its observation deck. All adults must have a photo ID to enter the base.

**Edgar Cayce Association for Research & Enlightenment**(  800-333-4499; www.edgarcayce.org; admission free; 215 67th St;   9am-8pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun), founded by the self-proclaimed psychic of the early 20th century, has an extensive library and bookstore (with shelving categories like 'Life after Life' and 'Intuitive Arts'), a full schedule of drop-in lectures and therapies such as massages, acupuncture, meditation and colonics.

The **Contemporary Arts Center of Virginia** (  757-425-0000; 2200 Parks Ave; adult/child $7/5;   9am-5pm daily, to 9pm Mon) has excellent rotating exhibitions housed in a fresh, ultramodern building that lovingly focuses natural light onto an outstanding collection of local and international artwork.

#### WILDLIFE REFUGES

**Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge** (  757-721-2412; www.fws.gov/backbay; per vehicle/pedestrian $5/2 Apr-Oct, free Nov-Mar) is an 8000-acre wildlife and migratory bird marshland habitat, most stunning during the December migration season. Some 30 miles southwest of Virginia Beach, the 109,000-acre **Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge** (  757-986-3705; admission free;   sunrise-sunset), which straddles the North Carolina border, is rich in flora and fauna, including black bears, bobcats and more than 200 bird species.

### Sleeping

All prices are for high season (Memorial Day to Labor Day); rates may drop significantly the rest of the year.

**Angie's Guest Cottage & Hostel** (  757-491-1830; www.angiescottage.com; 302 24th St; dm $20-23, s/d $52-32, cottages from $600 per wk;      ) Located just one block from the beach, Angie's HI-USA-affiliated hostel offers five dormitories, two private rooms and a communal kitchen.

**First Landing State Park** (  757-412-2300; dcr.virginia.gov; Cape Henry; campsites $24-30, cabins $75-149) You couldn't ask for a prettier campground than the one at this bayfront state park, though cabins have no water view. The 2888-acre park offers a plethora of outdoor activity options including camping, hiking, biking, fishing, kayaking and swimming.

**Cutty Sark Motel** (  757-428-2116; 3614 Atlantic Ave; r $165-240;    ) Rooms at Cutty Sark have private balconies and kitchenettes, but check that the view you're promised doesn't look out onto a parking lot.

 **Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront** (  800-445-8667; www.hiltonvb.com; 3001 Atlantic Ave; r $240-405;      ) The premiere place to stay on the beach, the 21-story, 290-room hotel is super-luxurious. The oceanfront rooms are spacious, comfortable and packed with amenities like huge flat-screen TVs, dreamy bedding and large balconies that open out to the beach and Neptune Park below.

* * *

# SCENIC DRIVE: VIRGINIA'S EASTERN SHORE

Across the 17-mile Chesapeake Bay bridge-tunnel (fee $12), Virginia's isolated Eastern Shore, dotted with fishing villages and serene, low-lying natural refuges, has the feel of a remote, maritime escape. A drive up or down the peninsula takes a little over an hour. Tucked behind windswept Assateague Island (Click here), the town of **Chincoteague** (shink-o-teeg), on the island of the same name, is Virginia's principal Eastern Shore destination. Chincoteague is famous for its oysters and late-July **wild pony swim** ,when the small horses that inhabit Assateague are led across the channel for annual herd-thinning foal auctions. The **chamber of commerce** (  757-336-6161; 6733 Maddox Blvd;   9am-4:30pm) has maps of hiking and bicycling trails up to and into the incredibly relaxing **Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge** (  757-336-6122; per vehicle $5;   6am-8pm), a lovely wetland repose for migratory waterfowl. Five miles west of Chincoteague, stop by **NASA Wallops Flight Facility** (  757-824-2298; admission free;   10am-4pm Thu-Mon), where you can watch occasional rocket launches and enjoy exhibits of the facility's work.

* * *

### Eating & Drinking

There is no shortage of restaurants along the boardwalk and Atlantic Ave, most geared towards local seafood. A bevy of interchangeable clubs and bars sit between 17th and 23rd Sts around Pacific and Atlantic Aves.

 **Mary's Restaurant** (  757-428-1355; 616 Virginia Beach Blvd; mains $4-8;   6am-3pm) A local institution for more than 40 years, Mary's is a great place to start the day with a tasty, filling, cheap breakfast. We're huge fans of the fluffy, gooey, chocolate chip waffles.

**Jewish Mother** (  757-422-5430; cnr 31st St & Pacific Ave; mains $5-14;   8am-2am) Get your nosh on here with packed deli sandwiches, 'penicillin soup' (chicken and matzo ball) and monster-sized pie. Excellent live music staged nightly.

**Mahi Mah's** (  757-437-8030; www.mahimahs; 615 Atlantic Ave; sushi $1-3, mains $5-15;   5pm-late Mon-Fri, from 7am Sat & Sun) Located in the Ramada Inn, this oceanfront local has some fantastic sushi, which makes up for the snail-paced service. After dark, this is one of the most popular nightspots on the beach.

**Catch 31** (  757-213-3472; 3001 Atlantic Ave; mains $20-30;   7am-11pm, to 10pm low season, bar 11am-2am) Yes it's overpriced and a bit pretentious, but you're paying for the spectacular view from this oceanfront seafood restaurant. The outdoor patio is a great people-watching spot, with rocking chairs and roaring pit fires that help take the chill off the ocean breeze. Find it in the Hilton.

### Getting There & Around

**Greyhound** (  757-422-2998; www.greyhound.com; 1017 Laskin Rd) has several buses a day to Richmond ($15.50, five per day, 3½ hours), which also stop in Norfolk and Newport News; transfer in Richmond for services to Washington, DC, Wilmington, NYC and beyond. **Hampton Roads Transit** (  757-222-6100; www.hrtransit.com) runs the Virginia Beach Wave trolley (tickets $1), which plies Atlantic Ave in summer.

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## THE PIEDMONT

Central Virginia's rolling green landscape separates the coastal lowlands from the mountainous frontier. The fertile valley gives way to dozens of wineries, country villages and grand colonial estates.

### Charlottesville

Set in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Charlottesville is regularly ranked as one of the country's best places to live. This culturally rich town of 41,000 is home to the University of Virginia, which attracts Southern aristocracy and artsy lefties in equal proportion. With the UVA grounds and pedestrian downtown area overflowing with attractive students, couples, professors and the occasional celebrity under a blanket of blue skies, 'C-ville' is practically perfect.

Two **Charlottesville/Albemarle Visitor Centers** (  877-386-1103; www.charlottesvilletourism.org), on Hwy 20 south near I-64 exit 121a and at 610 E Main St, sell various block passes for area attractions.

#### MONTICELLO & AROUND

 **Monticello** (  434-984-9822; adult/child 6-11 $20/8;   8am-5pm Mar-Oct, 9am-4:30pm Nov-Feb) is an architectural masterpiece designed and inhabited by Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father and third US President. 'I am as happy nowhere else and in no other society, and all my wishes end, where I hope my days will end, at Monticello,' wrote Jefferson, who spent 40 years building his dream home, finally completed in 1809. Today it is the only home in America designated a UN World Heritage site. Built in Roman neoclassical style, the house was the centerpiece of a 5000-acre plantation tended by 150 slaves. Monticello today does not gloss over Jefferson's role as a slave owner nor the likelihood that he fathered children with slave Sally Hemings, a complicated past of the man who declared that 'all men are created equal' in the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson and his family are buried in a small wooded plot near the home.

Visits to the house are conducted by guided tours only; you can take self-guided tours of the plantation grounds, gardens and cemetery. A wonderful new visitor center that opened in 2009 delves deeper into the lives of Jefferson and the free and enslaved people who lived and worked at Monticello. Frequent shuttles run from the visitor center to the hilltop house, or you can take the wooded footpath.

Tours are also offered of the nearby 1784 **Michie Tavern** (  434-977-1234) and James Monroe's estate, **Ash Lawn-Highland** (  434-293-9539), 2.5 miles east of Monticello. A combo ticket for all three is $34. Visit Michie Tavern during lunchtime, when its dining room, the **Ordinary** (meals $15;   11:15am-3:30pm), serves lunch buffets of Southern delights like fried chicken with biscuits.

#### UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

One of the most beautiful college campuses in America, Thomas Jefferson's **University of Virginia** is another must-see. The classically designed buildings and grounds embody the spirit of communal living and learning that Jefferson envisioned. The centerpiece is the Jefferson-designed **Rotunda** (  434-924-7969), a scale replica of Rome's Pantheon. Free, student-led tours of the Rotunda meet inside the main entrance daily at 10am, 11am, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm. The UVA **Art Museum** (  804-924-3492; 155 Rugby Rd; admission free;   1-5pm Tue-Sun) has an eclectic and interesting collection of American, European and Asian arts.

#### SLEEPING

There's a good selection of budget and midrange chain motels lining Emmet St/US 29 north of town. If you're after a reservation service, try **Guesthouses** (  434-979-7264; www.va-guesthouses.com; r from $155;   9am-2pm Mon-Fri;    ), which provides cottages and B&B rooms in private homes.

**English Inn** (  434-971-9900; www.englishinncharlottesville.com; 2000 Morton Dr; r incl breakfast $100-150;      ) British hospitality and furnishings and a Tudor facade accent this unique hotel.

**Inn at Monticello** (  434-979-3593; www.innatmonticello.com; 1188 Scottsville Rd; r $160-245;      ) Located across from Monticello, this Victorian B&B is set off against the Piedmont's rolling hillscape. Every one of the lodge's five rooms are cozy little testaments to colonial grandeur.

**South Street Inn** (  434-979-0200; www.southstreetinn.com; 200 South St; r incl breakfast $170-255, ste $210-295;    ) Located in the heart of downtown, this aged brick hotel was once a girl's finishing school and, later, a brothel.

**White Pig B &B** (  434-831-1416; www.thewhitepig.com; 5120 Irish Rd, Schuyler; r $155-185;      ) Vegans and vegetarians should make a pilgrimage to the White Pig, about 22 miles southwest of Monticello. Located on the 170-acre Briar Creek Farm, this B&B/animal sanctuary has one of the most innovative vegan menus in the state.

#### EATING & DRINKING

The Downtown Mall, a pedestrian zone of 120 shops and 30 restaurants, is great for people-watching and outdoor dining when the weather is nice. At night, the bars along University Ave are the place to see and be seen.

**Mudhouse** (  434-984-6833; mudhouse.com; 213 W Main St;   6:30am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat, 7am-7pm Sun;  ) Do as the cool kids do and come here for bracing espresso, wi-fi and daily artsy happenings.

 **Splendora's Gelato Cafe** (  434-296-8555; www.splendoras.com; 317 E Main St,   7:30am-10pm;  ) The most authentic gelato this side of the Atlantic, Splendora's extensive menu includes exotic but wonderful flavors like Chinese Five Spice, Gianduia, Dulce de Leche and Thai Iced Tea. The morning crowd will find coffee, pastries and other Italian treats.

* * *

# VINTAGE VIRGINIA

Now the fifth-biggest wine producer in the USA, Virginia has 140 vineyards around the state, many located in the pretty hills around Charlottesville. Three good options are listed below. For more information on Virginia wine, visit www.virginiawine.org.

  * **Jefferson Vineyards** (  800-272-3042; www.jeffersonvineyards.com) Known for consistent quality vintage, this winery harvests from its namesake's original 1774 vineyard site.
  * **Keswick Vineyards** (  434-244-3341; www.keswickvineyards.com) Keswick won a wave of awards for its first vintage and has since been distilling a big range of grapes off Rte 231.
  * **Kluge Estate** (  434-977-3895; www.klugeestateonline.com) Oenophiles regularly rate Kluge wine as the best in the state.

* * *

**White Spot** (  434-295-9899; 147 University Ave; mains around $5;   8am-11pm, to 2:30am Fri & Sat) While in the commercial district, try a genuine C-ville concoction, the fried-egg-topped Gus Burger.

**Christian's Pizza** (118 W Main St; slices $2-4, pies $10; 434-977-9688;   11am-10pm) A C-ville institution in the Downtown Mall, Christian's serves up great pizza with perfect thin, crispy crust.

**Rapture** (  434-293-9526; 303 E Main St; mains $6-10;   11:30am-2:30am) When the weather is perfect, this is one of the better outdoor dining spots in the Downtown Mall. The spicy grilled chicken sandwiches are amazing. At night, this place transforms into a hit-and-miss nightclub.

**Zocalo** (  434-977-4944; 201 E Main St; mains $18-26;   5:30pm-2:30am Tue-Sun) Zocalo is cooler than you and kinda lets you know it. This sharp, metallic restaurant-bar serves the world's latest fusion cuisine, Pan-Piedmont Latin, and pulls the effort off nicely. The pretty people propping up the bar with their cocktails certainly make the food more enjoyable.

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

A free trolley runs through the historic district.

**Amtrak** (  434-296-4559; www.amtrak.com; 810 W Main St) Train services to Washington ($22, 2½ to three hours, two per day) and Lynchburg ($15, one hour, two per day).

**Greyhound/Trailways terminal** (  434-295-5131; 310 W Main St) Runs buses several times a day to Richmond ($12, 1¼ hours, three per day) and Washington ($15, three hours, three per day).

**Charlottesville Albemarle Airport** (CHO;   434-973-8342; www.gocho.com) Ten miles north of downtown; offers regional flights.

### Appomattox Court House & Around

At the McLean House in the town of Appomattox Court House, General Robert E Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S Grant, in effect ending the Civil War. Instead of coming straight here, follow **Lee's retreat** (  800-673-8732; www.varetreat.com) on a winding 25-stop tour that starts in Petersburg at Southside Railroad Station (River St and Cockade Alley) and cuts through some of the most attractive countryside in Virginia. Best take a detailed road map, as the trail is not always clearly marked. You'll finish at the 1300-acre **Appomattox Court House National Historic Park** (  434-352-8987; www.nps.gov/apco; $4 summer, $3 Sep-May;   8:30am-5pm). Most of the 27 restored buildings are open to visitors.

Return to beginning of chapter

## SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Local lore says Shenandoah was named for a Native American word meaning 'Daughter of the Stars.' True or not, there's no question – this is God's country, one of the most beautiful places in America. The 200-mile-long valley and its flanking Blue Ridge Mountains hold amazing wonders at every turn, from small towns and wineries to battlefields and caverns. This was once the western border of colonial America, settled by Scots-Irish frontiersmen who were Highland Clearance refugees. The area offers an endless array of outdoor activities including hiking, camping, fishing, horseback riding and canoeing.

### Shenandoah National Park

 **Shenandoah** (  540-999-3500; www.nps.gov/shen/; week passes Mar-Nov $15 per car, $8 per pedestrian or bicyclist, cheaper winter), one of the most spectacular national parks in the country, is like a new smile from nature: in spring and summer the wildflowers explode, in fall the leaves burn bright red and orange and in winter a cold, starkly beautiful hibernation period sets in. White-tailed deer are a common sight and, if you're lucky, you might spot a black bear, bobcat or wild turkey. The park lies just 75 miles west of Washington, DC. Whatever your agenda, don't miss a visit to this amazing wonderland.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

**Skyline Drive** , a 105-mile-long road running down the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains, redefines the definition of 'Scenic Route.' You're constantly treated to an impressive view, but keep in mind the road is bendy, slow-going (35mph limit) and (in peak season) congested. On a good day it takes three hours to traverse the entire stretch.

There are two visitor centers in the park. **Dickey Ridge** (  540-635-3566; Mile 4.6;   8:30am-5pm Apr 6–Oct 27) in the north and **Harry F Byrd** (  540-999-3500; Mile 51;   8:30am-5pm Mar 31–Oct 27) in the south have maps, backcountry permits and information on horseback riding, hang gliding, bicycling (only on public roads) and other wholesome goodness.

Shenandoah has more than 500 miles of hiking trails, including 101 miles of the Appalachian Trail. These are just a few of the great hikes that await, listed from north to south:

**Old Rag Mountain** This is a tough, 8.8-mile trail that culminates in a rocky scramble only suitable for the physically fit. Your reward is the summit of Old Rag Mountain and, along the way, some of the best views in Virginia.

**Skyland** Four easy trails here, none exceeding 1.6 miles, with a few steep sections throughout. Stony Man Trail gives great views for not-too-strenuous trekking.

**Big Meadows** Very popular area, with four easy-to-midlevel difficulty hikes. The Lewis Falls and Rose River Trails run by the park's most spectacular waterfalls, and the former accesses the Appalachian Trail.

**Bearfence Mountain** A short trail leads to a spectacular 360-degree viewpoint. The circuit hike is only 1.2 miles, but it involves a strenuous scramble over rocks.

**Riprap** Three trails of varying difficulty. Blackrock Trail is an easy 1-mile loop that yields fantastic views. You can either hike the moderate 3.4-mile Riprap Trail to Chimney Rock, or detour and make a fairly strenuous 9.8-mile circuit that connects with the Appalachian Trail.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

Camping is available at five **NPS campgrounds** (  877-444-6777; www.recreation.gov). The following prices are per day: **Mathews Arm** (Mile 22.1; campsites $15), **Big Meadows** (Mile 51.3; campsites $20), **Lewis Mountain** (Mile 57.5; campsites $15, no reservations), **Loft Mountain** (Mile 79.5; campsites $15) and **Dundo Group** (Mile 83.7; campsites $35, min 7 people, reservations required). Most are open mid-May to October. Camping elsewhere requires a free backcountry permit, available from any visitor center.

For not-so-rough lodging, stay at **Skyland Lodge** (Mile 41.7; r $87-200), **Big Meadows** (Mile 51.2; r $99-159) or **Lewis Mountain** (Mile 57.5; cabins from $76;  ), all open from early March to mid-November. Reservations can be made by calling   800-999-4714 or booking online at www.visitshenandoah.com.

Skyland and Big Meadows both have restaurants and taverns with nightly live music. Big Meadows is the prettiest and largest resort in the park and offers the most services, including gas, laundry and camp store. It's best to bring your own food into the park if you're going camping or on extended hikes.

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

Amtrak trains run to Staunton, in the Shenandoah Valley, once a day from Washington, DC ($34), and twice a day from Richmond ($17). But you'll really need your own wheels to explore the length and breadth of the park, which can be easily accessed from several exits off I-81.

### Front Royal & Around

The northernmost tip of Skyline Dr initially comes off as a drab strip of gas stations, but there's a friendly enough main street and some cool caverns nearby. Stop in at the **visitor center** (  540-332-3971; 414 E Main St;   9am-5pm) and the **Shenandoah Valley Travel Association** (  800-847-4878; www.visitshenandoah.org; US 211 W, I-81 exit 264;   9am-5pm) before heading 'up' (a reference to altitude, not direction) the valley.

Front Royal's claim to fame is **Skyline Caverns** (  540-635-4545; www.skylinecaverns.com; US 340; adult/child 7-13yr $16/8;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat, Sun & summer), which boasts rare, white-spiked anthodites – mineral formations that look like sea urchins.

**Woodward House on Manor Grade** (  540-635-7010; www.acountryhome.com; 413 S Royal Ave/US 320; r $99-135, cottages $220;    ) is a cluttered B&B with eight cheerful rooms. Sip your coffee from the deck and don't let the busy street below distract from the Blue Ridge Mountain vista.

**County Seat** (  540-636-8884; 104 S Royal Ave; mains $6-8;   7am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat) is a cuddly, colonial-style pub with Virginia ham sandwiches in the deli and Belgian beer on tap.

**Jalisco's** (  540-635-7348; 1303 N Royal Ave; mains $8-15;   11am-10pm) has surprisingly good Mexican; the chili relleños go down a treat.

**Soul Mountain Cafe** (  540-636-0070; 1303 117 E Main St; mains $12-24;   noon-9pm Mon-Sat, to 4pm Sun), with its Bob Marley posters and African sculptures, is kinda incongruous, but when you're serving _andouille_ (a spiced pork sausage) over penne and crabmeat-stuffed salmon, that's fine by us.

Some 25 miles north, in the town of Winchester, is the **Museum of the Shenandoah Valley** (  888-556-5799; 901 Amherst St; adult/student $12/10;   10am-4pm Tue-Sun), which does a good job of introducing you to Appalachian culture and history.

If you can only fit one cavern into your itinerary, head 25 miles south from Front Royal to the world-class **Luray Caverns** (  540-743-6551; www.luraycaverns.com; I-81 exit 264; adult/child 7-13yr $21/10;   9am-6pm, to 7pm summer, to 4pm Nov 1–Mar 31) and hear the 'Stalacpipe Organ,' hyped as the largest musical instrument on Earth.

### George Washington & Jefferson National Forests

Stretching along the entire western edge of Virginia, these two mammoth **forests** (www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj; campsites $5-16, primitive camping free) comprise more than 1562 sq miles of mountainous terrain bordering the Shenandoah Valley, and contain challenging to easy trail networks, which include 330 miles of the **Appalachian Trail** (www.appalachiantrail.org) and mountain-biking routes. Hundreds of developed campgrounds are scattered throughout. **USDA Forest Service headquarters** (  540-265-5100; 5162 Valleypointe Pkwy), off the Blue Ridge Pkwy in Roanoke, oversees a dozen ranger stations along the ranges. You can also pick up information at the **Natural Bridge visitor center** (  540-291-2121) across from the Natural Bridge entrance.

### Staunton & Around

This pretty little town jumps out of the mountains with its cozy college (Mary Baldwin), old time-y avenues, and oddly enough, one of America's premier Shakespeare companies.

The **Frontier Culture Museum** (  540-332-7850; overlooking I-81 exit 222; adult/child/student $10/6/9;   9am-5pm mid-Mar–Nov, 10am-4pm Dec–mid-Mar) has authentic historic farm buildings from Germany, Ireland and England, which have been plunked here to provide a comparison to an on-site American frontier farm. Good if you're into history or farming or both. The town's **visitor center** (  9am-5pm) shares space with the museum.

**Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library** (  540-885-0897; www.woodrowwilson.org; 18-24 N Coalter St; adult/student/child 6-12 $12/5/3;   9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun, to 4pm Nov-Feb) is a scholarly peek into the life of the 28th president and founder of the League of Nations, as well as the pre- and post-WWI era he emerged from. Don't leave without catching a show at the **Blackfriars Playhouse** (  540-851-1733; 10 S Market St; tickets $20-30), where the American Shakespeare Center company performs in the world's only re-creation of Shakespeare's original indoor theater.

Right downtown, the thoroughly mauve and immensely welcoming **Frederick House** (  540-885-4220, 800-334-5575; www.frederickhouse.com; 28 N New St; r incl breakfast $103-273;      ) consists of five historical residences with a combination of rooms and suites, all with private bathrooms and some with fireplaces and decks.

A valley tradition since 1947, **Mrs Rowe's** (  540-886-1833; I-81 exit 222; mains $5-15;   7am-8pm Mon-Sat, to 7pm Sun), offers Southern hospitality and home-cooked fare like fried chicken and hash browns topped with melted cheese.

### Lexington & Around

This is the place to see Southern gentry at their stately best, as cadets from the Virginia Military Institute jog past the prestigious academics of Washington & Lee University. The **visitor center** (  540-463-3777; 106 E Washington St;   9am-5pm) has free parking.

You'll either be impressed or put off by the extreme discipline of the cadets at **Virginia Military Institute** (VMI;   540-464-7230; Letcher Ave;   9am-5pm when campus & museums open), the only university to have sent its entire graduating class into combat (plaques to student war dead are touching and ubiquitous). A full-dress parade takes place most Fridays at 4:30pm during the school year. The school's **George C Marshall Museum** (  540-463-7103; adult/child $5/free) honors the creator of the Marshall Plan for post-WWII European reconstruction. The **VMI Cadet Museum** (  540-464-7334; admission free) houses the stuffed carcass of Stonewall Jackson's horse, a homemade American flag made by an alumnus prisoner of war in Vietnam, and a tribute to VMI students killed in the War on Terror.

Founded in 1749, colonnaded Washington & Lee University is one of the top small colleges in America. The **Lee Chapel & Museum** (  540-458-8768;   9am-4pm, from 1pm Sun) inters Robert E Lee, while his horse Traveller is buried outside. One of the four Confederate banners surrounding Lee's tomb is set in an original flagpole, a branch a rebel soldier turned into a makeshift standard.

**Historic Country Inns** (  540-463-2044; 11 N Main St; r $70-150, ste $130-180;    ) operates two inns downtown and one outside town. All of the buildings have some historical significance to Lexington, and most of the rooms are individually decorated with period antiques. The charming, ecominded **Applewood Inn & Llama Trekking** (  540-463-1962, 1-800-463-1902; r $115-150;      ) offers a slew of outdoorsy activities on a farm a 10-minute drive away.

The **Southern Inn** (  540-463-9498; 37 S Main St; lunch mains $7-12, dinner mains $15-30;   5-10pm Mon & Tue, 11:30am-10pm Wed-Sat, to 9pm Sun) has a no-nonsense, classy menu (think roast duck and stuffed trout) and the perfect ambience for a date between a VMI cadet and Washington & Lee sorority sister.

### Natural Bridge

Yes, it's a kitschy tourist trap, and yes, vocal creationists who insist it was made by the hand of God are dominating the site, but the 215ft-high **Natural Bridge** (  540-291-2121; www.naturalbridgeva.com; adult/child 6-15 $18/10;   8am-dusk), 15 miles from Lexington, is still pretty cool. It was surveyed by 16-year-old George Washington, who supposedly carved his initials into the wall, and was once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

Return to beginning of chapter

## BLUE RIDGE HIGHLANDS & SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

The southwestern tip of Virginia is the most rugged part of the state. Turn onto the Blue Ridge Pkwy or any side road and you'll immediately plunge into dark strands of dogwood and fir, fast streams and white waterfalls. You're bound to see Confederate flags in the small towns, but there's a proud hospitality behind the fierce veneer of independence.

### Blue Ridge Parkway

Where Skyline Dr ends, the **Blue Ridge Parkway** (www.nps.gov/blri/) picks up. The road is just as pretty and runs from the southern Appalachian ridge in Shenandoah National Park at Mile 0 to North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains National Park at Mile 469. Wildflowers bloom in spring, and fall colors are spectacular, but watch out for foggy days; no guardrails can make for hairy driving. There are a dozen visitor centers scattered over the Pkwy, and any of them make a good kick-off point to start your trip. For more details, Click here.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVTIES

There are all kinds of sights running along the Pkwy; these are a handful, listed from north to south:

**Sherando Lake** (  540-291-2188, Mile 16) In George Washington National Forest (Click here), this is a pretty blue dollop of pastel scenery and a nice place for a swim.

**James River & Kanawha Canal** (  800-933-9535; Mile 63) A footpath here leads to the canal locks and, if you have time, a pleasant amble over local river bluffs.

**Peaks of Otter** (  540-586-4357; Mile 86) You close a nice Capital Region circle by coming here; stones from the tops of these mountains (Sharp Top, Flat Top and Harkening Hill) are inside the Washington Monument. Shuttles run to the top of Sharp Top or you can try a fairly challenging hike to the summit.

**Mabry Mill** (  276-952-2947; Mile 176) One of the most photographed buildings in the state, the Mill nests in such a fuzzy green vale you'll think you've entered the opening chapter of a Tolkien novel.

#### SLEEPING

Get in touch with the NPS beforehand if you're planning on sleeping along the Pkwy. There are nine local **campgrounds** (  977-444-6777), four in Virginia; all campsites are $16 (cabins extra). Every year the staggered opening date of facilities changes, but sites are generally accessible from April to November. Two NPS-approved indoor facilities are on the Pkwy in Virginia: **Peaks of Otter** (  540-586-1081; Mile 86, 85554 Blue Ridge Pkwy; r $100;    ), a pretty, split-rail-surrounded lodge nestled between two of its namesake mountains, and **Rocky Knob Cabins** (  540-593-5303; Mile 174, 256 Mabry Mill Rd; cabin with shared bath $59;  ), set off in a secluded stretch of forest. Bring food, as eating options are limited along the Pkwy.

### Roanoke & Around

Illuminated by the giant star atop Mill Mountain, Roanoke is the largest city in the valley and is the self-proclaimed 'Capital of the Blue Ridge.' It has a compact set of attractions based around the bustling indoor-outdoor **Historic City Market** (213 Market St;   7:30am-4:30pm Mon-Sat), a sumptuous farmers market loaded with temptations even for those with no access to a kitchen. For local information, check out the **Roanoke Valley Visitor Information Center** (  540-342-6025, 800-635-5535; www.visitroanokeva.com; 101 Shenandoah Ave NE;   9am-5pm) in the old Norfolk & Western train station.

The **Taubman Museum of Art** (  540-342-5760; www.taubmanmuseum.org; adult/student with ID/child 4-12yr $10.50/8.50/5.50;   10am-5pm Tue-Wed & Fri & Sat, to 7pm Thu, noon-5pm Sun), opened in 2008, is set in a futuristic glass-and-steel structure that was supposedly inspired by the valley's natural beauty. We don't get it, but inside you'll find a wonderful collection of classic and modern art.

Nearby, **Center in the Square** (  540-342-5700; www.centerinthesquare.org; 1 Market Sq;   10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun) is the city's cultural heartbeat, with a science museum and planetarium (adult/child $8/6), local history museum (adult/child $3/2) and theater. The site of the **Harrison Museum of African American Culture** (  540-345-4818; www.harrisonmuseum.com; 523 Harrison Ave; admission free;   10am-5pm Tue-Wed & Fri, to 7pm Thu, 1pm-5pm Sat), was the first public high school for African Americans in America, and has displays on local African American culture and traditional and contemporary African art.

About 30 miles east of Roanoke, the tiny town of Bedford suffered the most casualties per capita during WWII, and hence was chosen to host the moving **National D-Day Memorial** (  540-586-3329; US 460 & Hwy 122; adult/child $5/3;   10am-5pm). Among its towering arch and flower garden is a cast of bronze figures re-enacting the storming of the beach, complete with bursts of water symbolizing the hail of bullets the soldiers faced.

### Mt Rogers National Recreation Area

This seriously beautiful district is well worth a visit from outdoor enthusiasts. Hike, fish or cross-country ski among ancient hardwood trees and the state's tallest peak. The **park headquarters** (  276-783-5196), on Hwy 16 in Marion, offers maps and recreation directories. The NPS operates five campgrounds in the area; contact park headquarters for details.

### Abingdon

One of the most photogenic towns in Virginia, Abingdon retains fine Federal and Victorian architecture in its historic district, and hosts the bluegrass **Virginia Highlands Festival** over the first half of August. The **visitor center** (  800-435-3440; 335 Cummings St;   9am-5pm) has exhibits on local history.

**Fields-Penn 1860 House Museum** (  276-676-0216; 208 W Main St; adult/child 6-12 $3/2;   11am-4pm Wed & Sat, 1-4pm Thu & Fri) has exhibits on 19th-century life in southwest Virginia. Founded during the Depression, **Barter Theatre** (  540-628-3991; www.bartertheatre.com; 133 W Main St; performances from $20) earned its name from audiences trading food for performances. Actors Gregory Peck and Ernest Borgnine cut their teeth on Barter's stage.

The **Virginia Creeper Trail** (www.vacreepertrail.org), named for the railroad that once ran this route, travels 33 miles between Whitetop Station near the North Carolina border and downtown Abingdon. Several outfitters rent bikes, organize outings and run shuttles, including **Virginia Creeper Trail Bike Shop** (  276-676-2552; 201 Pecan St; per 2hr $10;   9am-6pm) near the trailhead.

**Martha Washington Inn** (  540-628-3161; 150 W Main St; r from $225;    ), opposite the Barter, is the region's premier historic hotel, a Victorian sprawl of historical classiness and wrought-iron style.

**Zazzy'z** (  276-698-3333; 380 E Main St; sandwiches $4.25;   7am-7pm Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm Sat, to 5pm Sun) serves cheap, filling sandwiches and strong coffee in a lovely old bookstore.

### The Crooked Road

When Scots-Irish fiddle-and-reel married African American banjo-and-percussion, American mountain or 'old-time' music was born, with such genres as country and bluegrass. The latter genre still dominates the Blue Ridge, and the **Crooked Road** (www.thecrookedroad.org) takes you through nine sites associated with that history, and some eye-stretching mountain scenery. The trail is sad and beautiful; the traditions it tries to preserve always seem threatened by gentrification, but during a live show you'll witness the double joy of elders connecting to deep cultural roots and a new generation of musicians keeping that heritage alive and evolving. The following are only two stops on the Crooked Road.

#### FLOYD

Tiny, cute-as-a-postcard Floyd is nothing more than an intersection between Hwys 8 and 221, but life explodes on Friday nights at the **Floyd Country Store** (  540-745-4563; www.floydcountrystore.com; 206 S Locust St; jamboree admission $4;   10am-10:30pm Fri, to 5:30pm Sat). Every Friday starting at 6:30pm, $4 gets you four bluegrass bands in four hours and the chance to watch happy crowds nod along to regional heritage. No smokin', no drinkin', but plenty of dancin' (of the jig-and-tap style) is the order of the day. Nearby **County Sales** (  540-745-2001; Talley's Alley;   9am-4:30pm Mon-Fri) claims to be the world's first, and still largest, purveyor of bluegrass music.

Built in 2007 with ecofriendly materials and furnishings, **Hotel Floyd** (  540-745-6080; www.hotelfloyd.com; 120 Wilson St; r $75-135;      ) is one of the most 'green' hotels in Virginia and is a model of sustainability. Each of the 14 unique rooms were decorated by local artisans.

When you're all jigged out head for **Oddfella's** (  540-745-3463; lunch mains $7-14, dinner mains $8-21;   11am-2:30pm & 5-9pm Wed-Sat, 10am-3pm Sun), which has a woodsy, organic menu.

 **Pine Tavern** (  540-745-4482; 611 Floyd Hwy; mains $8-10;   4:30-9pm Thu-Sat, 11am-8pm Sun) Serving Blue Ridge Mountain cuisine since 1927, this tavern is the place to head for a real local vibe. With the family-style dinner, $12 gets you meat, veg, side dish, dessert and drink. Or go for the house specialties like the divine spicy grilled catfish with peppery mashed potatoes. Wash it down with a Rebel Ale from the local **Shooting Creek Farm Brewery** (www.shootingcreekbrewery.com). It was opened in 2004 by two friends, and their beer is based on recipes and methods brought to America by European settlers.

#### GALAX

Galax claims to be the world capital of mountain music, although it feels like anywhere-else-ville outside of the immediate downtown area (on the National Register of Historic Places). The main attraction is the **Rex Theater** (  276-236-5309; www.rextheatergalax.com; 113 E Grayson St), a musty, red-curtained belle of yore. Frequent bluegrass acts cross its stage, but the easiest one to catch is the free Friday-night live WBRF 98.1 show, which pulls in crowds from across the mountains.

Tom Barr of **Barr's Fiddle Shop** (  276-236-2411; 105 S Main St) is the Stradivarius of the mountains, a master craftsman sought out by fiddle and mandolin aficionados from across the world. The **Old Fiddler's Convention** (www.oldfiddlersconvention.com) is held every year in Galax; it's one of the premier mountain music festivals in the world.

The **Doctor's Inn** (  276-238-9998; thedoctorsinnvirginia.com; 406 W Stuart Dr; r $109-129;        ) nicely fills the local 'let's stuff a historic building full of grandma's antiques and spoil our guests rotten' B&B niche.

The **Galax Smokehouse** (  276-236-1000; 101 N Main St; mains $5-13;   11am-9pm Mon-Sat, to 3pm Sun) serves groaning platters of sweetly sauced Memphis-style BBQ.

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# WEST VIRGINIA

Wild and wonderful West Virginia is often overlooked by American and foreign travelers. It doesn't help that the state can't seem to shake its negative stereotypes. That's too bad, because West Virginia is one of the prettiest states in the Union. With its line of unbroken green mountains, raging white water rivers and snowcapped ski resorts, this is an outdoor-lovers' paradise.

Created by secessionists from secession, the people here still think of themselves as hardscrabble sons of miners, and that perception isn't entirely off. But the Mountain State is also gentrifying and, occasionally, that's a good thing: the arts are flourishing in the valleys, where some towns offer a welcome break from the state's constantly evolving outdoor activities.

### History

Virginia was once the biggest state in America, divided between the plantation aristocracy of the Tidewater and the mountains of what is now West Virginia. The latter were settled by tough farmers who staked out independent freeholds across the Appalachians. Always resentful of their Eastern brethren and their reliance on cheap (ie slave) labor, the mountaineers of West Virginia declared their independence from Virginia when the latter tried to break off from America during the Civil War.

Yet the scrappy, independent-at-all-costs stereotype was challenged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when miners here formed into cooperative unions and battled employers in some of the bloodiest battles in American labor history. That odd mix of chip-on-the-shoulder resentment towards authority and look-out-for-your-neighbor community values continues to characterize West Virginia today, although the creeping blandness of suburbia threatens this unique regional culture.

### Information

**West Virginia Division of Tourism** (  304-558-2200, 800-225-5982; www.wvtourism.com.com) operates welcome centers at interstate borders and in **Harpers Ferry** (  304-535-2482). Check www.adventuresinwv.com for info on the state's myriad adventure tourism opportunities.

Many hotels and motels tack on a $1 'safe' fee, refundable upon request at checkout. So if you didn't use that room safe, get your dollar back.

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## EASTERN PANHANDLE

The most accessible part of the state has always been and continues to be a mountain getaway for DC types.

### Harpers Ferry

The center of this town is a maddeningly cute conglomeration of steep cobblestoned streets framed by the Shenandoah Mountains and River. Exhibits narrate the town's role at the forefront of westward expansion, American industry and, most famously, the slavery debate. In 1859 old John Brown tried to spark a slave uprising here and was hung for his efforts; the incident rubbed friction between North and South into the fires of Civil War. Historic buildings and museums are accessible to those with passes, which can be found, along with parking and shuttles, north of town at the **Harpers Ferry National Historic Park Visitor Center** (  304-535-2482; www.nps.gov/hafe; 171 Shoreline Drive; vehicle/pedestrian $6/4;   8am-5pm) off Hwy 340. Parking is incredibly limited in Harpers Ferry proper.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

Among the free sites in the historic district, the 1858 **Master Armorer's House** explains how rifle technology developed here revolutionized the firearms industry; the **Storer College building** , long ago a teachers' college for freed slaves, now traces the town's African American history. The laughably tacky **John Brown Museum** (168 High St; adult/child 6-12 $7/5;   9am-5pm) tells the story of Brown's life and raid in wax.

The 2160-mile Appalachian Trail is headquartered at the **Appalachian Trail Conference** (  304-535-6331; www.atconf.org; cnr Washington & Jackson Sts;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri Apr-Oct), a tremendous resource for hikers. Day-hikers also scale the Maryland Heights Trail past Civil War fortifications or the Loudoun Heights Trail for river views.

* * *

# WEST VIRGINIA FACTS

**Nickname** Mountain State

**Population** 1.81 million

**Area** 24,230 sq miles

**Capital city** Charleston (population 50,478)

**Sales tax** 6%

**Birthplace of** Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton (b 1968), writer Pearl S Buck (1892–1973), pioneer aviator Chuck Yeager (b 1923), actor Don Knotts (1924–200)

**Home of** The National Radio Astronomy Observatory, much of the American coal industry

**Famous for** Mountains, John Denver's 'Take Me Home, Country Roads,' the Hatfield-McCoy feud

**State slogan** 'Wild and Wonderful'

**Driving distances** Harpers Ferry to Fayetteville 280 miles, Fayetteville to Morgantown 148 miles

* * *

Check with the visitor center about renting bikes to explore the **C &O Canal towpath**. To arrange rafting, kayaking, canoeing and tubing excursions, contact **River Riders** (  800-326-7238; www.riverriders.com; 408 Alstadts Hill Rd).

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**HI-Harpers Ferry Hostel** (  301-8347652; www.hihostels.com; 19123 Sandy Hook Rd, Knoxville, MD; dm $20;        ) Located 2 miles from downtown on the Maryland side of the Potomac River, this friendly hostel has plenty of amenities including a kitchen, laundry and lounge area with games and books.

**Town Inn** (  304-702-1872, 877-489-2447; www.thetownsinn.com; 179 High St; r $70-140;  ) Smack in the middle of the historic district, this B&B feels like it's been built into the mountain, an illusion accented by the pretty slate bathroom in the largest room.

**Anvil** (  304-535-2582; 1270 Washington St; lunch mains $6-10, dinner mains $13-22;   11am-9pm Wed-Sun) Local trout melting in honey-pecan butter and an elegant Federal dining room equals excellence at this restaurant, in next-door Bolivar.

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

**Amtrak** (  800-872-7245) and **MARC** (  800-325-7245) trains run to Washington's Union Station (one daily, $11; five daily, $9).

### Berkeley Springs

America's first spa town (George Washington relaxed here) is an odd jumble of spiritualism, artistic expression and pampering spa centers. Farmers in pickups sporting Confederate flags and acupuncturists in tie-dye smocks regard each other with bemusement on the roads of Bath (still the official name).

Don't let the locker-room appearance deter you from the Berkeley Springs State Park's **Roman Baths** (  304-258-2711; bath $40;   10am-6pm); it's the cheapest spa deal in town. (Fill your water bottle with some of the magic stuff at the fountain outside the door.) For a more indulgent experience, try a mix-and-match of treatments across the green at the **Bath House** (  800-431-4698; www.bathhouse.com; 21 Fairfax St;   10am-5pm) such as a bath and hour's massage ($140) or chocolate-strawberry body wrap ($90).

**Inn & Spa at Berkeley Springs** (  304-258-2210, 800-822-6630; www.theinnandspa.com; r $69-250;    ), right next to the park, offers luxurious treatment plus lodging package deals at breathtaking prices. The holistic **Coolfont Resort** (  304-258-4500; 3621 Cold Run Valley Rd; campsites $20-35, r per person $69-99, chalets per person $139-179;    ) is like a wellness summer camp for adults (but popular with families, too).

Grab a yummy sandwich or daily blue plate specials at **Tari's** (  304-258-1196; 123 N Washington St; lunch $5-8, dinner $15-25), or go gourmet at **Lot 12 Public House** (  304-258-6264; 302 Warren St; mains $18-30;   from 5pm Wed-Sun), halfway up the hill.

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## MONONGAHELA NATIONAL FOREST

Almost the entire eastern half of West Virginia is marked green parkland on the map, and all that goodness falls under the auspices of this stunning national forest. Within its 1400 sq miles are wild rivers, caves and the highest peak in the state (Spruce Knob). More than 850 miles of trails include the 124-mile **Allegheny Trail** , for hiking and backpacking, and the 75-mile rails-to-trails **Greenbrier River Trail** , popular with bicyclists.

**Elkins** , at the forest's western boundary, is a good base of operations. The **National Forest Service Headquarters** (  304-636-1800; 200 Sycamore St; campsites $5, RV sites $10-30, primitive camping free) distributes recreation directories for hiking, bicycling and camping.

**Fat Tire Cycle** (  304-636-0969; 101 Randolph Ave;   9am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 3pm Sat) rents gear and sponsors excursions. Stock up on trail mix, energy bars and hippie auras at **Good Energy Foods** (  304-636-8808; 214 3rd St;   9am-5:30pm Mon-Sat).

In the southern end of the forest, **Cranberry Mountain Nature Center** (  304-653-4826; cnr Hwys 150 & 39/55;   9am-4:30pm May-Oct) has scientific information on the forest.

The surreal landscapes at **Seneca Rocks** , 35 miles southeast of Elkins, attract rock climbers up its 900ft-tall sandstone strata. **Seneca Shadows Campground** (  877-444-6777; campsites $11-30;   Apr-Oct) is 1 mile east.

An 8-mile portion of the Allegheny Trail links two full-service state parks 30 miles northeast of Elkins: **Canaan Valley Resort** (  304-866-4121), a downhill ski resort, and **Blackwater Falls State Park** (  304-259-5216), with backcountry ski touring. Further south, **Snowshoe Mountain** (  877-441-4386; www.snowshoemtn.com; lift tickets adult/student with ID/child 6-12 $75/72/62) is the state's largest downhill ski and snowboard resort with a beautiful alpine-inspired, pedestrian village. Snowshoe is a popular mountain-biking center from spring to fall.

Nearby, the **Cass Scenic Railroad State Park** (  304-456-4300; www.cassrailroad.com; excursions from $17) runs steam trains, from an old logging town to mountaintop overlooks, daily in summer and for peak fall foliage. Accommodations include **cottages** ($71-111) and **cabooses** ($83-209).

The **National Radio Astronomy Observatory** (  304-456-2150; www.gb.nrao.edu; Green Bank; admission & tour free;   8:30am-6pm summer, 10am-5pm Wed-Sun rest of year) is home to the 328ft Green Bank Telescope, the largest movable radio dish in the world. The center lies within the country's only federal radio-free zone, which is why your car won't pick up any stations within 25 miles of the center.

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## MORGANTOWN

Morgantown's been dubbed one of the best cities of its size in the country, and it's not hard to see why: it's nestled within a dramatic valley, has a thriving arts scene fed from local West Virginia University, drips with bars, cafés and restaurants, and houses a population that runs from South Asian immigrants to Appalachian mountain folk.

The students of enormous **West Virginia University** (WVU;   304-293-0111; www.wvu.edu) fuel much of the city's energy. **Mountaineer Field** (  304-293-2294; 1 Rogers St) is (in)famous for housing some of the rowdiest fans in American collegiate sport. WVU is regularly ranked as the nation's top party school.

As always in this state, there are outdoor activities a stone's throw away; **Cheat Lake** (www.cheatlake.com) is an 8-mile-long reservoir east of town overflowing with hiker-bicyclist trails, ski routes and scenic overlooks. **Monongalia Arts Center** (  304-282-3325; 107 High St; admission free; 10am-6pm Mon-Fri, to 4pm Sat) is one of the largest and best museum and gallery spaces in the mountains. Catch a show in the lovely old 1924 **Metropolitan Theatre** (  304-291-4884; 369 High St), an elegant main-street anchor, and see the fascinating, if exhaustive glass collection of Mr Kurt Ly, a Vietnamese West Virginian, at the **Morgantown Glass Museum** (  304-291-2957; 1628 Mileground Rd;   2-5pm Wed-Sat).

The **Hotel Morgan** (  304-291-2517; 127 High St; r $80-150;      ) is a gorgeously appointed historical building. The student-favorite **Blue Moose Café** (  304-292-8999; 248 Walnut St;   7am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri; 8am-11pm Sat, to 10pm Sun) is a popular coffeehouse with occasional live music. **Maxwells** (  304-292-0982; 1 Wall St; lunch mains $6-11, dinner mains $9-11;   11am-8:45pm Mon-Thu, to 9:45pm Fri & Sat, to 1:45pm Sun) is a dark, underground den of burgers and dinner and a popular Sunday brunch. For something more upscale, **Dragonfly** (  304-241-4305; www.dragonflywv.com; 341 Chestnut St; sushi $2-6, mains $8-28;   4pm-late) is a posh Asian and sushi restaurant with fabulous contemporary decor and chill-out lounge music.

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## SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA

This part of the state has carved out a viable stake as adventure-sports capital of the Eastern seaboard.

### New River Gorge National River

The New River is actually one of the oldest in the world, and the primeval forest gorge it runs through is one of the most breathtaking in the Appalachians. The NPS protects a stretch of the New River that falls 750ft over 50 miles, with a compact set of rapids up to Class V concentrated at the northernmost end.

**Canyon Rim visitor center** (  304-574-2115;   9am-5pm), just north of the impressive gorge bridge, is the only one of five NPS visitor centers along the river that's open year-round, with information on river outfitters, gorge climbing, hiking and mountain biking, as well as white-water rafting to the north on the Gauley River. Rim and gorge trails offer beautiful views. There are four free basic camping areas.

Nearby **Hawks Nest State Park** offers views from its rim-top **lodge** (  304-658-5212; r $53-78); in summer it operates an aerial tram (closed Monday) to the river, where you can catch a cruising boat ride.

* * *

# WHAT THE...?

Oh my God, everything inside this madhouse _tilts at an angle!_ See gravity and the known limits of tackiness defied at the **Mystery Hole** (  304-658-9101; US 60, Mile 44; adult/child under 11 $5/4;   10:30am-6pm, call ahead for open days), one of the great attractions of roadside America.

* * *

**Babcock State Park** (  304-438-3003; www.babcocksp.com) has hiking, canoeing, horseback riding, camping and cabin accommodations. The park's highlight is its photogenic Glade Creek Grist Mill.

### Fayetteville & Around

Dubbed one of the coolest small towns in America, pint-sized Fayetteville acts as the jumping-off point for New River thrill-seekers. On the third Saturday in October, hundreds of base jumpers parachute from the 876ft-high New River Gorge Bridge for the **Bridge Day Festival**.

Among the many state-licensed rafting outfitters in the area, **Cantrell Ultimate Rafting** (  800-470-7238; www.ultimaterafting.com; packages from $50) stands out for its white-water rafting trips. For rock climbers, **Hard Rock** (  304-574-0735; www.hardrockclimbing.com; 131 South Court St; packages from $75) offers trips and training courses.

The **Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine** (  304-256-1747; beckleymine.com; adult/child 4-12yr $20/12;   10am-6pm Apr-Nov) in nearby Beckley is a museum to the region's coal heritage. Visitors can descend 1500ft to a former coal mine. Bring a jacket, as it's cold underground!

**River Rock Retreat Hostel** (  304-574-0394; www.riverrockretreatandhostel.com; Lansing-Edmond Rd; dm $22.50;    ), located less than 1 mile north of the New River Gorge Bridge, has basic, clean rooms and plenty of common space. Owner Joy Marr is a wealth of local information. Two miles south of the bridge, **Rifrafters Campground** (  304-574-1065; Laurel Creek Rd; campsites $11, cabins d/q $36/72) has primitive campsites, comfy cabins and hot-shower and bathroom facilities.

Start the day with breakfast and coffee under stained-glass windows at **Cathedral Café & Bookstore** (  304-574-0202; 134 S Court St; mains $5-8;   8am-4pm;    ).

 **Pies & Pints** (  304-574-2200; 219 W Maple Ave; pies $11-23;   11am-10pm) has 18 kinds of pizza and a huge beer selection. Order the Thai shrimp pizza. You'll thank us later!

### Greenbrier Valley

Tucked between the Allegheny Mountains, the eclectic Greenbrier Valley is home to breathtaking natural beauty and hot-spring spa towns, all anchored by the sophisticated artsy town of Lewisburg. The valley's star attraction is **Greenbrier** (  800-624-6070; www.thegreenbrier.com; 300 W Main St, White Sulphur Springs;r from $275;            ), an unparalleled, luxurious hotel and spa resort. Dubbed the Queen of the Southern Spas, it was originally built in 1778 to pamper wealthy Southerners. In the 20th century, the Greenbrier housed a more covert amenity: a **nuclear bunker**. In the 1950s during the height of the Cold War, the government built this massive bunker under Greenbrier to house Congress in the event of a nuclear holocaust. It remained a secret until 1992, when _The Washington Post_ spilled the beans; the bunker shut down three years later. Today, visitors can take a guided **bunker tour** (adult/child 10-18yr $30/15, closed Jan-Mar) of this unique and fascinating bit of American lore.

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# The South

|
---|---

* * *

HISTORY

LOCAL CULTURE

LAND & CLIMATE

PARKS & WILDLIFE

INFORMATION

GETTING THERE & AROUND

NORTH CAROLINA

NORTH CAROLINA COAST

THE TRIANGLE

CHARLOTTE

NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS

SOUTH CAROLINA

CHARLESTON

AROUND CHARLESTON

SEA ISLANDS

NORTH COAST

COLUMBIA

TENNESSEE

MEMPHIS

SHILOH NATIONAL MILITARY PARK

NASHVILLE

EASTERN TENNESSEE

KENTUCKY

LOUISVILLE

BLUEGRASS COUNTRY

CENTRAL KENTUCKY

GEORGIA

ATLANTA

NORTH GEORGIA

CENTRAL GEORGIA

SAVANNAH

BRUNSWICK & THE GOLDEN ISLES

ALABAMA

BIRMINGHAM

AROUND BIRMINGHAM

MONTGOMERY

SELMA

MOBILE

DAUPHIN ISLAND

MISSISSIPPI

TUPELO

OXFORD

MISSISSIPPI DELTA

JACKSON

NATCHEZ

GULF COAST

LOUISIANA

NEW ORLEANS

AROUND NEW ORLEANS

CAJUN COUNTRY

CANE RIVER COUNTRY

NORTHERN LOUISIANA

ARKANSAS

LITTLE ROCK

HOT SPRINGS

AROUND HOT SPRINGS

ARKANSAS RIVER VALLEY

OZARK MOUNTAINS

ARKANSAS DELTA

* * *

More than any other part of the country, the South has an identity all its own – a musical way of speaking, a complicated political history and a pride in a shared culture that cuts across state lines. As a result, visiting the South feels more 'different' than visiting other parts of the country (and not just because you can't understand the accents!). While powerhouse cities such as Atlanta and Charlotte are in perpetual states of reinvention, some of the more historic cities – places like New Orleans and Savannah – are virtual shrines to their 19th-century former selves.

Nurtured by deep roots yet shaped by hardship, Southerners are often creative types – from William Faulkner all the way to Uncle Jimmy who likes to tell big-fish stories outside the Texaco station. The history of American music is the history of Southern music: jazz, the blues, bluegrass, country and rock and roll were all born in the South. Cooking is a creative art here as well: smoky barbecue, plump Gulf oysters, fluffy buttermilk biscuits, fried green tomatoes. Get ready to eat, eat, eat. Then loosen your belt and eat some more.

The South is truly a wonderful place to travel. It's the kind of place where you're likely to discover new things, merely because the people are so friendly. It's no wonder that Coca-Cola, bourbon and sweet tea – all things you can offer a guest while 'visiting' (chatting) on the porch – were invented in the South. People 'round here like an excuse to talk. Stay long enough and you'll no doubt be invited for dinner.

* * *

# HIGHLIGHTS

  * Donning a mask and joining the chaos of Mardi Gras in **New Orleans** (Click here)
  * Grasping the soul, rhythm, history and perseverance of the **Delta blues** (Click here) in the museums and juke joints of Clarksdale, MS
  * Exploring the caverns, mountains, rivers and forests of Arkansas' **Ozark Mountains** (Click here), where folk music reigns
  * Stompin' your boots at **Tootsie's Orchid Lounge** (Click here) on Nashville's honky-tonk-lined Lower Broadway
  * Hiking, camping and jaw-dropping in the magnificent **Great Smoky Mountains National Park** (Click here)
  * Driving windswept Hwy 12 down the length of North Carolina's **Outer Banks** (Click here) and taking the ferry to funky little Ocracoke Island
  * Touring the grand antebellum homes and cotton plantations of **Charleston** (Click here)

* * *

## HISTORY

The past is not dead in the South, where a tumultuous and often bloody history still informs every aspect of modern culture.

Native Americans have been in the South for millennia. Starting around 800 BC, the Mississippian people built mound villages and cultivated corn across the region, later splitting up into a number of separate tribes. The Cherokee hunted in the misty Blue Ridge Mountains, the Chickasaw and Choctaw settled the humid Mississippi River Valley, the Creek built villages from Tennessee to Georgia and the Seminole plied the lush swamplands of Florida. But white settlers had their eyes on the native people's lands, prompting President Andrew Jackson to sign the Indian Removal Act in 1830. The notorious Act forced some 90,000 Native Americans to leave their homes and march west to Oklahoma in what became known as the 'Trail of Tears' (Click here).

Europeans (mostly British, but some French and Spanish) began arriving in earnest in the 1600s, founding coastal cities like Charleston and turning large swaths of interior into farmland. As cultivation of labor-intensive crops like cotton and tobacco spread, so did slavery, even as it was abolished in the North. There were some four million slaves in the South by 1860, owned by a small minority of rich plantation masters. When abolitionist Abraham Lincoln became president that year, all of the South's nine states (except Kentucky) seceded, sparking the Civil War. Most were devastated when Union soldiers blazed through and crushed Confederate dreams.

For years the South was bitterly defined by the 'War of Northern Aggression' and its aftermath. The reconciliation and rebuilding process – formally known as Reconstruction – was slow indeed. Whites refused to integrate public spaces until the civil rights era, which was led by Atlanta-born preacher Martin Luther King Jr (Click here), and which ran through the 1960s. Both black and white activists joined King in the difficult and dangerous struggle, chipping away at institutionalized prejudice until African Americans gained equal treatment under the law.

The mid-20th century saw the rise of the 'New South' – metropolitan areas like Atlanta, Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham with economies based on technology and finance rather than agriculture. These cities became some of the fastest growing in America, bringing increasing liberalism and diversity to the region. While the South – like most places in America – still has work to do in promoting tolerance, it has made strides in embracing its mixture of African American, white and Latino cultures, along with an increasing number of overseas immigrants.

Everyone rallied around Mississippi and Louisiana in August 2005, when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, leaving much of New Orleans under water. Rebuilding efforts were still under way at press time, and could seemingly go on forever.

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## LOCAL CULTURE

Southerners have long been the butt of their fellow countrymen's jokes. They're slow-moving, hard-drinking, funny-talking and spend all their time fixing their pickup trucks and marrying their cousins. Or so the line goes. Well, while Southerners do tend to be relatively friendly and laid-back, the drawling country bumpkin is more the exception than the norm. Today's Southerner is just as likely to be a Mumbai-born motel owner in rural Arkansas, a fast-talking Atlanta investment banker with a glitzy high-rise condo, or a 20-something gay hipster in trendy Midtown Memphis.

Southerners do love sports, especially football, college basketball, and NASCAR, while fine arts thrive in historic cities like Charleston and Savannah, and college towns like Chapel Hill, Knoxville and Athens are famed for their indie-music scenes.

Religion is hugely important here – the so-called Bible Belt runs smack through the South, with about half of all Southerners identifying as Evangelical Christians. But even the most religious Southerners tend to be curious about, and tolerant of, other traditions.

So if you want to hang with Southerners – and they'd love to meet you – lose any hee-haw stereotypes you might be harboring and you'll have a great time.

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## LAND & CLIMATE

A humid summer day in the South can feel like sunbathing in Satan's sweaty armpit. This is especially true in the low-lying subtropical coastal regions and inland areas of South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana, where a summer breeze is sometimes as good as a cold beer, and much harder to come by.

In the northern part of the region, mountains cool and dry out the air and the mountain rivers trickle into the fertile lands, especially in Arkansas' Ozark and Ouachita Mountains, in Tennessee's Blue Ridge Mountains, and in North Carolina where the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains thrust northward.

Tourism in the region peaks from June to September. Mild weather and blossoming flowers make spring (May to June) a good time to visit, and fall colors decorate the landscape in September and October, especially in the mountain regions.

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## PARKS & WILDLIFE

Parks in the South run the gamut, from the black-water swamps of South Carolina's Congaree National Park (Click here), to the heathery peaks of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Click here) to the, well, mammoth, caverns of Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park (Click here). Some parks honor people (Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site in Georgia, Click here, the Wright Brothers National Memorial in North Carolina, Click here), others preserve historic and scenic passages (Natchez Trace Parkway from Mississippi to Tennessee, Click here, the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, Click here), mark significant Civil War battles (the National Military Park in Vicksburg, MS, Click here, Shiloh National Military Park, TN, Click here), or promote good old-fashioned relaxation (Arkansas' Hot Springs National Park, Click here).

Learn more at the **National Park Service** (NPS; www.nps.gov) website or contact the states' park systems directly (see each state's Information section).

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## INFORMATION

No central tourism agency covers the entire South, but each state runs helpful visitor centers located at state borders along major highways. These places are stocked with highway maps, brochures and coupon books. (They also have cleaner restrooms than you're likely to find in off-ramp gas stations.) Visit the individual states online for specific information to help plan your trip ahead of time (see each state's Information section for details).

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## GETTING THERE & AROUND

With the world's busiest airport, Atlanta, Georgia is the main air gateway to the region. Memphis, TN, New Orleans, LA, and Charlotte and Raleigh, NC, have large regional airports. **Greyhound** ( 800-231-2222; www.greyhound.com) buses are frequent (if sometimes slow) and can be a dependable way to get from city to city (Click here). A number of **Amtrak** ( 800-872-7245; www.amtrak.com) train routes traverse the South (Click here). Beyond the cities – and often within them – you really need a car to get around.

Fortunately, this region has some good drives. These include the Blue Ridge Pkwy, the Natchez Trace Pkwy and Hwy 12 along North Carolina's Outer Banks. I-10 runs along the Gulf Coast from Florida to New Orleans; I-20 links South Carolina with Louisiana via Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi; and I-40 goes from North Carolina to Arkansas via Tennessee. The chief north–south routes include I-95, I-75, I-65 and I-55.

# NORTH CAROLINA

It's trailer parks next to McMansions in North Carolina, where the Old South stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the New South. From the ancient mountains in the west to the sandy barrier islands of the Atlantic you'll find a variety of cultures and communities not easy to stereotype.

The fast-growing state is a patchwork of the progressive and the Stone Age: Asheville was named the 'New Freak Capital of the US' by _Rolling Stone,_ while cohabitation of unmarried couples was technically illegal until 2006. The Raleigh area has the highest concentration of PhDs in the country, yet North Carolina routinely ranks 48th in education. Important industries range from tobacco and hogs to finance and nanotechnology.

Though the bulk of North Carolinians live in the business-oriented urban centers of the central Piedmont region, most travelers tend to stick to the scenic routes along the coast and through the Appalachian Mountains.

So come on down, ya'll, grab a plate of 'cue and watch the Duke Blue Devils and the Carolina Tar Heels battle it out on the basketball court – college hoops rival Jesus for Carolinians' souls.

### History

Native Americans have inhabited North Caro-lina for more than 10,000 years. Major tribes included the Cherokee, in the mountains, the Catawba in the Piedmont and the Waccamaw in the Coastal Plain.

North Carolina was the second territory to be colonized by the British, named in memory of King Charles I (Carolus in Latin), but the first colony to vote for independence from the crown. Several important Revolutionary War battles were fought here.

The state was a sleepy agricultural backwater through the 1800s, earning it the nickname the 'Rip Van Winkle State.' Divided on slavery (most residents were too poor to own slaves), North Carolina was the last state to secede during the Civil War, but went on to provide more Confederate soldiers than any other state.

North Carolina was a civil rights hotbed in the mid-20th century, with highly publicized lunch counter sit-ins in Greensboro and the formation of the influential Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Raleigh. The later part of the century brought finance to Charlotte, and technology and medicine to the Raleigh-Durham area, driving a huge population boom and widening cultural diversity.

### Information

**North Carolina Division of Tourism** ( 919-733-8372, 800-847-4862; www.visitnc.com; 301N N Wilmington St, Raleigh) Sends out good maps and information, including its annual _Official Travel Guide_.

**North Carolina State Parks** ( 919-733-4181; www.ncparks.gov) Offers info on North Carolina's 40 state parks, some of which have camping (prices range from free to more than $20 a night).

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## NORTH CAROLINA COAST

Which one of the following does not belong? A) windswept barrier islands; B) dignified Colonial villages once frequented by pirates; C) laid-back beach towns full of locally owned ice-cream shops and mom 'n' pop motels; D) flashy resort areas with megamalls and beach-themed chain restaurants. If you answered 'D,' buy yourself a celebratory shrimp sandwich. The North Carolina coast is relatively undeveloped, so even the most touristy beaches still have a small-town vibe. If it's solitude you seek, head to the isolated Outer Banks (OBX), where fishermen still make their living hauling in shrimp and the older locals speak in an archaic British-tinged brogue. Further south, Wilmington is known as a center of film and TV production and its surrounding beaches are popular with local spring breakers and tourists.

* * *

# THE SOUTH...

## In One Week

Fly into the Big Easy and stretch your legs with a **walking tour** (Click here) of the legendary French Quarter before devoting your remaining time to celebrating jazz history and partying the night away on **Bourbon Street** (Click here). Then wind your way upward through the languid Delta, stopping in Clarksdale for a sultry evening of blues at the **juke joints** (Click here) before alighting in **Memphis** (Click here) to walk in the footsteps of the King at **Graceland** (Click here). From here, head on down the Music Hwy to **Nashville** to see Elvis's gold Cadillac at the **Country Music Hall of Fame** (Click here) and practice your line dancing at the honky-tonks of (country-music club) the **District** (Click here).

## In Two to Three Weeks

Head east to hike amid the craggy peaks and waterfalls of **Great Smoky Mountains National Park** (Click here) before a revitalizing overnight in the arty mountain town of **Asheville** (Click here) and a tour of the scandalously opulent **Biltmore Estate** (Click here), America's largest private home. Plow straight through to the coast to loll on the sandy barrier islands of the isolated **Outer Banks** (opposite), then head down the coast to finish up in **Charleston** (Click here), with decadent food and postcard-pretty architecture.

## For Foodies

Southern food is a journey unto itself. New Orleans is foodie central, thanks to oyster-stuffed po'boys (sandwiches) at **Domilise's Po-Boys** (Click here) and _muffuletta_ sandwiches at **Central Grocery** (Click here). Memphis' legendary chopped-pork sandwich reaches its zenith at **Payne's Bar-B-Q** (Click here), but Nashville counters with the flamingly hot fried chicken at **Prince's Hot Chicken** (Click here), where the lines stretch out into the parking lot of a shabby strip mall. Devouring huge steaks in tumbledown (but James Beard Award–winning) **Doe's Eat Place** (Click here) in Greenville is an unbeatable Delta experience, though the pork-stuffed tamales at **Abe's** (Click here) over in Clarksdale come close. Head to the South Carolina coast to stuff yourself with ridiculously perfect fried shrimp in an old bait warehouse at the **Wreck of the Richard & Charlene** (Click here) or head into Charleston for haute pig's feet at **FIG** (Click here), the centerpiece of the city's hot nouvelle Southern dining scene.

* * *

* * *

# NORTH CAROLINA FACTS

**Nickname** Tar Heel State

**Population** 9.2 million

**Area** 48,711 sq miles

**Capital** **city** Raleigh (population 375,806)

**Other cities** Charlotte (population 630,478)

**Sales tax** 7%, plus an additional hotel-occupancy tax of up to 6%

**Birthplace** **of** President James K Polk (1795–1849), jazzman John Coltrane (1926–67), NASCAR driver Richard Petty (b 1937), singer-songwriter Tori Amos (b 1963)

**Home** **of** America's first state university, the Biltmore House, Krispy Kreme doughnuts

**Famous for** _The Andy Griffith Show,_ first airplane flight, college basketball

**Pet name** Natives are called 'tar heels,' a nickname of uncertain origin but said to be related to their pine tar production _and_ their legendary stubbornness

**Driving distances** Asheville to Raleigh 247 miles, Raleigh to Wilmington 131 miles

* * *

### Outer Banks

These fragile ribbons of sand trace the coastline for 100 miles, cut off from the mainland by various sounds and waterways. From north to south, the barrier islands of Bodie (pronounced 'Body'), Roanoke, Hatteras and Ocracoke, essentially large sandbars, are linked by bridges and ferries. The far-northern communities of **Corolla** (pronounced kur- _all_ -ah, not like the car), **Duck** and **Southern** **Shores** are former duck-hunting grounds for the northeastern rich, and are quiet and upscale. The nearly contiguous Bodie Island towns of **Kitty Hawk** , **Kill Devil Hills** and **Nags Head** are heavily developed and more populist in nature, with fried-fish joints, outdoor bars, motels and dozens of sandals 'n' sunblock shops. **Roanoke Island** , west of Bodie Island, is home to tons of Colonial history and the quaint waterfront town of **Manteo**. Further south, **Hatteras Island** is a protected national seashore with a few teeny villages and a wild, windswept beauty. At the tail end of the banks, wild ponies run free and salty old Bankers shuck oysters and weave hammocks on **Ocracoke Island** , accessible only by ferry.

A meandering drive down Hwy 12, which connects much of the Outer Banks, is one of the truly great American road trips, whether you come during the stunningly desolate winter months, or the sunny summer.

#### ORIENTATION

Hwy 12, also called Virginia Dare Trail, or 'the coast road,' runs close to the Atlantic for the length of the Outer Banks. US 158, usually called 'the Bypass,' begins just north of Kitty Hawk and merges with US 64 as it crosses onto Roanoke Island. Most of the tourist attractions and facilities are along the 16-mile strip of Bodie Island that includes Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head. Locations are usually given in terms of 'Mileposts' (Mile or MP), beginning with Mile 0 at the foot of the Wright Memorial Bridge at Kitty Hawk, where US 158 crosses to the mainland. Just past Mile 16, US 64/264 crosses the Nags Head–Manteo Causeway ('the Causeway') to Roanoke Island and from there goes to the mainland. Hwy 12 continues south to Hatteras Island and, by ferry, to Ocracoke Island. While desolate in winter, Hwy 12 can become a parking lot in summer.

#### INFORMATION

The best sources of information are at the main **visitor centers** ( 9am-5pm; Hatteras  252-441-5711;  Apr-Oct; Kitty Hawk ( 252-261-4644; Manteo  252-473-2138, 877-629-4386; Ocracoke  252-928-4531. Many smaller centers are open seasonally. Also useful is www.outerbanks.org. Corolla's **public library** (1123 Ocean Trail/Hwy 12) has free internet access and the entire Manteo waterfront has free wi-fi.

#### SIGHTS

The following sights are listed in order north to south.

##### Currituck Heritage Park

The sunflower-yellow, art nouveau–style **Whalehead Club** ( 252-453-9040; www.whaleheadclub.org; Corolla; tours $7;  sunrise-sunset), built in the 1920s as a hunting 'cottage' for a Philadelphia industrialist, is the centerpiece of this manicured park in the village of Corolla. You can also climb the **Currituck Beach Lighthouse** (adult/child $7/free) and visit the Victorian lighthouse keeper's home, or check out the modern **Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education** ( 252-453-0221; admission free;  9am-5pm) for an interesting film on area history, info on local hiking trails, and duck-decoy carving classes.

##### Wright Brothers National Memorial

This **historic site** ( 252-473-2111; www.nps.gov/wrbr; Kitty Hawk; admission $4;  9am-5pm, to 6pm summer) is located among the same windswept Kitty Hawk dunes where self-taught engineers Wilbur and Orville Wright launched the world's first successful airplane flight on December 17, 1903 (it lasted 12 seconds). A boulder now marks the take-off spot. Climb a nearby hill where the brothers conducted earlier glider experiments for fantastic views of sea and sound. The on-site **Wright Brothers Visitor Center** has a reproduction of the 1903 flyer and offers exhibits and lectures on aviation history.

##### Fort Raleigh National Historic Site

In the late 1580s, three decades before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, a group of 116 British colonists disappeared without a trace from their Roanoke Island settlement. Were they killed off by drought? Did they run away with a Native American tribe? Did they try to sail home and capsize? The fate of the 'Lost Colony' remains one of America's greatest mysteries, and the **visitor center** ( 252-473-5772; www.nps.gov/fora; 1401 National Park Dr, Manteo;  9am-5pm, to 6pm summer) has exhibits, artifacts, maps and a free film to fuel the imagination. Look for the prints based on 1585 illustrations by colony leader John White, now some of the best-known depictions of pre-European North America. A small mound nearby is meant to re-create the earthworks of the original fort.

Attractions at the site include the **Lost Colony Outdoor Drama** ( 252-473-3414, 866-468-7630; www.thelostcolony.org; adult/child $18/10;  8pm Mon-Sat Jun-Aug). This beloved long-running musical from Pulitzer Prize–winning North Carolina playwright Paul Green dramatizes the fate of the colonists. It plays at the Waterside Theater throughout summer.

The 16th-century-style **Elizabethan Gardens** ( 252-473-3234; www.elizabethangardens.org; adult/child $8/5;  9am-8pm daily summer, shorter hours off-season) include a Shakespearian herb garden and rows of beautifully manicured flower beds.

Just south of Fort Raleigh, head to the **North Carolina Aquarium** ( 252-473-3494, 866-332-3475; www.ncaquariums.com/roanoke-island; 374 Airport Rd, Roanoke Island; adult/child $8/6;  9am-5pm;  ) to watch tiger sharks glide through the gloomy depths, chill by the gator pond or stroke the slimy bellies of (de-barbed) stingrays in the touch tank. Great for kids.

##### Cape Hatteras National Seashore

Extending some 70 miles from south of Nags Head to the south end of Okracoke Island, this fragile necklace of islands remains blissfully free of overdevelopment. Natural attractions include local and migratory water birds, marshes, woodlands, dunes and miles of empty beaches. Don't miss the 156ft striped **Bodie Island Lighthouse** , south of Nags Head. You can't climb it, but it's darn photogenic. Other attractions (from north to south) follow.

At the northern end of Hatteras Island, the 5834-acre **Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge** ( 252-987-2394; www.fws.gov/peaisland; admission free;  9am-4pm, to 5pm summer) is a bird-watcher's heaven, with nature trails and 13 miles of unspoiled beach.

Built in 1874, the **Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station** ( 252-987-1552; www.chicamacomico.net; Rodanthe village; adult/child $5/4;  noon-5pm Mon-Fri Apr-Oct) was the first lifesaving station in the state, now a museum filled with pre–Coast Guard artifacts.

At 208ft, the black-and-white-striped **Cape Hatteras Lighthouse** ( 252-995-4474; www.nps.gov/caha; climbing tours adult/child $7/3.50;  9am-4:30pm, to 5:30pm summer) is the tallest brick lighthouse in the US and is one of North Carolina's most iconic images. Climb the 248 steps and check out the visitor center (open year-round).

**Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum** ( 252-986-2995; www.graveyardoftheatlantic.com; Hatteras; admission by donation;  10am-4pm) is all about preserving the Outer Banks' maritime history, with exhibits about shipwrecks, piracy and salvaged cargo.

##### Ocracoke Island

Accessed via the free Hatteras–Ocracoke ferry, **Ocracoke Village** ( 252-928-6711; www.ocracokevillage.com) sits at the south end of 14-mile-long Ocracoke Island. It's a funky little village that's crowded in summer and desolate in winter, where the older residents still speak in the 17th-century British dialect known as 'Hoi Toide' (their pronunciation of 'high tide') and refer to non-islanders as 'dingbatters.' Edward Teach, AKA Blackbeard the pirate, used to hide out in the area and was killed here in 1718. You can camp by the beach where the wild ponies run, have a fish sandwich in a local pub, ride a rented scooter around the village's narrow streets or visit the 1823 **Ocracoke Lighthouse** , the oldest one still operating in North Carolina.

#### ACTIVITIES

The same strong wind that helped the Wright brothers launch their biplane today propels windsurfers, sailors and hang gliders. Other popular activities include kayaking, fishing, cycling, horse tours and scuba diving – all well catered for in the northern resort areas. The usually calm coastal waters kick up between August and October, creating perfect conditions for bodysurfing.

**Back Country Outfitters** ( 252-453-0877; www.outerbankstours.com; 107c Corolla Light Town Center; 2hr tour adult/child $46/23) offers guided 4WD tours over the dunes and through the maritime forest to see the unique wild mustang ponies that roam the Outer Banks.

**Kitty Hawk Kites** ( 252-441-4124, 877-359-2447; www.kittyhawkkites.com; 3933 Croatan Hwy, Nags Head; bike/kayak rental per day $25/39) has locations all over the Banks offering beginners' kiteboarding lessons (three hours $200) and hang-gliding lessons at Jockey's Ridge State Park (from $89). It also rents kayaks, sailboats, bikes and in-line skates and has a variety of tours and courses.

**Nags Head Diving** ( 252-473-1356; www.nagsheaddiving.com; 406 Uppowoc St, Manteo; scuba class $295, open-water dives $225, beach dives $30) has NAUI-certified instructors who run everything from basic classes to guided dives of the shipwrecks of the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

#### SLEEPING

Crowds swarm the Outer Banks in summer, so reserve in advance. The area has few massive chain hotels, but hundreds of small motels, efficiencies and B&Bs; the visitor centers offer referrals. Also check www.outer-banks.com. The following are open year-round; rates are for high season.

**Campgrounds** ( 800-365-2267; www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm; campsites $20;  ) The National Park Service runs four summer-only campgrounds on the islands, which feature cold-water showers and flush toilets. They are located at Oregon Inlet, near Bodie Island Lighthouse, Cape Point and Frisco near Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and **Ocracoke** ( 800-365-2267; www.recreation.gov) on Ocracoke Island. Only sites at Ocracoke can be reserved; the others are first-come, first-served.

**Adventure Bound Campground** ( 252-255-1130, 877-453-2545; 1004 W Kitty Hawk Rd, Kitty Hawk; campsites for 2 adults $20, additional adult/child $5/2.50;  ) In a pleasant but out-of-the-way interior island location, this welcoming campsite has a newly renovated bathhouse with hot water and flush toilets, badminton, volleyball and shuffleboard courts, free use of fishing equipment, and tent rental.

 **Island Inn** ( 252-928-4351, 877-456-3466; www.ocracokeislandinn.com; 25 Lighthouse Rd, Ocracoke; r $59-139, villas per week $1200-1500;          ) In Ocracoke Village, this grand old turn-of-the-century clapboard inn is built entirely from shipwrecked wood, with shabby-chic rooms with mismatched bedspreads, spooky oil portraits and pedestal sinks. Two-story modern 'villas' across the street are bright and beachy.

**Buccaneer Motel** ( 252-261-2030, 800-442-4412; www.buccaneermotelouterbanks.com; Mile 5 Kitty Hawk; r from $99;      ) One of many deliciously retro motor motels lining the Coast Rd, the Buccaneer has clean, tile-floor rooms with wooden pirate swords on the doors, at bargain-basement rates.

**Sanderling Resort & Spa** ( 252-261-4111, 877-650-4812; www.thesanderling.com; 1461 Duck Rd, Duck; r $349-459;        ) The poshest digs in the Outer Banks has impeccably tasteful neutral-toned rooms with decks and flat-screen TVs, several restaurants and bars, and a spa offering luxe oceanside massage.

#### EATING & DRINKING

The main tourist strip on Bodie Island has the most restaurants and nightlife, but only in season. The following are all non-chain places open year-round.

**Howard's Pub** ( 252-928-4441; Hwy 12, Ocracoke Village; mains $6-16;  11am-10pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat) has been around in one incarnation or another since the 1850s. Listen to live music on the big wooden porch while snacking on a crab cake sandwich and sipping a mug of one of the 200 beers of tap.

**Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar** ( 252-441-5955; Mile 6; mains $11-18;  11am-10:30pm) Oysters go down easy at this friendly restaurant and raw bar (emphasis on the 'bar'), as do the excellent soft-shell crab sandwiches and sky-high, homemade key lime pie. Don't be shy about ordering a beer before noon; the locals aren't.

**Jolly Roger** ( 252-441-6530; Mile 6.5, Kill Devil Hills; mains $11-24;  6am-late) The atmosphere in this OBX institution could be described as 'pirate bordello,' with Christmas lights, mermaid murals and evening karaoke contests. Come for huuuuge Southern breakfasts, groaning platters of shrimp fettuccine, or late-night burgers at the bar.

**Blue Point** ( 252-261-8090; 1240 Duck Rd, Duck; mains $20-32;  11:30am-2pm & 5-9:30pm Tue-Sun, 5-9:30pm Mon) Overlooking Currituck Sound in the upscale town of Duck, this contemporary bistro serves refined Southern coastal cuisine – think seared sea scallops over arugula – and is considered by many to be the best fine dining on the Banks. At lunchtime, paninis and fancy salads are delicious and reasonably priced.

#### GETTING THERE & AWAY

If you're driving, access Hwy 12 (the main road along the cape) from Hwy 158 at Kitty Hawk or from Hwy 64/264, which leads over Roanoke Island to the park's northern entrance.

No public transportation exists to or on the Outer Banks. However, the **North Carolina Ferry System** ( 800-293-3779; www.outer-banks.com/ferry) operates several routes, including the free 40-minute Hatteras–Ocracoke car ferry, which runs at least hourly from 5am to 10pm; reservations aren't necessary. North Carolina ferries alsorun between Ocracoke and Cedar Island (one way $15, 2¼ hours) and Ocracoke and Swan Quarter on the mainland ($15, 2½ hours) every two hours or so; reservations are recommended in summer.

### Crystal Coast

The southern Outer Banks are collectively called the 'Crystal Coast,' at least for tourist offices' promotional purposes. Less rugged than the northern beaches, they include several historic coastal towns, a number of sparsely populated islands, and some vacation-friendly beaches.

A rather unappealing industrial and commercial stretch of US 70 goes through **Morehead City** , with plenty of chain hotels and restaurants. Get information from the well-stocked **Crystal Coast Visitors Bureau** ( 252-726-8148; www.crystalcoastnc.org; 3407 Arendell St/Hwy 70;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, from 10am Sat & Sun).

Postcard-pretty **Beaufort** ( _bow_ -fort), the third-oldest town in the state, has a charming boardwalk and mountains of B&Bs. The pirate Blackbeard was a frequent visitor to the area in the early 1700s – in 1996 the wreckage of his flagship, the _Queen Anne's Revenge,_ was discovered at the bottom of Beaufort Inlet. See artifacts from the ship and meet modern shipbuilders at the **North Carolina Maritime Museum** ( 252-728-7317; www.ncmaritimemuseum.org; 315 Front St; admission free;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 1pm Sun). Blackbeard himself is said to have lived in the Hammock House off Front St. You can't go inside, but some claim you can still hear the screams of the pirate's murdered wife at night.

Small ferries leave regularly from the Beaufort boardwalk for the isolated islands of the **Cape Lookout National Seashore** (www.nps.gov/calo; ferries $14-25). Highlights include **Shackleford Banks** , an uninhabited sandbar with spectacular seashells and herds of wild ponies, and the diamond-patterned **Cape Lookout Lighthouse**. Primitive camping is allowed in some areas – the coolest place to sleep is on **Portsmouth Island** , where you can wander an abandoned 18th-century settlement and sleep on the beach. Hire a private ferry from Beaufort or Ocracoke and bring plenty of bug spray – the mosquitoes are absolutely notorious. There are also rustic multiroom **cabins** ( South Core 252-241-6783, North Core 252-732-4424; www.nps.gov/calo; from $73) popular with fishermen.

The **Bogue Banks** , across the Sound from Morehead City via the Atlantic Beach Causeway, have several well-trafficked beach communities – try Atlantic Beach if you like the smell of coconut suntan oil and doughnuts. Pine Knoll Shores is home to the **North Carolina Aquarium** ( 252-247-4003; www.ncaquariums.com; 1 Roosevelt Blvd; adult/child $8/5;  9am-5pm;  ), with an ultracool exhibit re-creating local shipwrecks. In Atlantic Beach, **Fort Macon State Park** ( 252-726-3775; www.ncparks.gov; admission free;  8am-9pm in summer, shorter hours in winter) draws crowds to its reconstructed Civil War fort.

### Wilmington

Wilmington may not have the name recognition of other antebellum tourist destinations like Charleston and Savannah, but eastern North Carolina's largest city has historic neighborhoods, azalea-choked gardens and cute cafés aplenty. All that plus reasonable hotel prices and a lack of crowds make Wilmington a hidden gem, in our book. At night the historic riverfront downtown becomes the playground for local college students, tourists and the occasional Hollywood type – there are so many movie studios here the town has earned the nickname 'Wilmywood'.

Wilmington sits at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, about 8 miles from the beach. The **visitor center** ( 910-341-4030, 800-222-4757; 24 N 3rd St;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat, from 1pm Sun), in the 1892 courthouse building, has a walking-tour map. A **free trolley** ( 7:20am-9:20pm Mon-Fri, 11am-9:20pm Sat, 11am-6pm Sun) runs through the historic district.

#### SIGHTS

Wander beneath the wisteria at **Airlie Gardens** ( 910-798-7700; www.airliegardens.org; 300 Airlie Rd; adult/child $5/3;  9am-5pm, closed Sun winter), 67 acres of bewitching formal flower beds, lakes and trails.

Take a river taxi ($5 round-trip) or cross the Cape Fear Bridge to reach the **Battleship North Carolina** ( 910-251-5797; www.battleshipnc.com; adult/child $12/6;  8am-5pm, to 8pm summer). Self-guided tours take you through the decks of this 45,000-ton megaship, which earned 15 battle stars in the Pacific theater in WWII before being decommissioned in 1947.

**Screen Gems Studios** ( 910-343-3433; www.screengemsstudios.com; 1223 N 23rd St; adult/child $12/5;  noon & 2pm Sat & Sun summer) offers a fun, one-hour, behind-the-scenes tour of the working studio where shows such as _Dawson's Creek_ and _One Tree Hill_ were filmed.

 **Cape Fear Serpentarium** ( 910-762-1669; www.capefearserpentarium.com; 20 Orange St; admission $8;  11am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat & Sun) is the place to go if you don't mind keeping reptilian company. You can gawk at yellow eyelash vipers, read about how it feels to die from the bite of the deadly bushmaster, and, at 3pm on Saturday and Sunday, watch gonzo herpetologist/ringmaster Dean Ripa hand-feed mice to his 100-plus species of beasties.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

There are numerous budget hotels and a Kampgrounds of America campground on Market St, just north of downtown. Restaurants directly on the waterfront can be crowded and mediocre; head a block or two inland for the best eats and nightlife.

**Wilmingtonian** ( 910-343-1800; www.thewilmingtonian.com; 101 S Second St; d from $140;          ) Right downtown, cheery, tile-floored suites cluster around a humble courtyard. Rooms in the 1841 de Rosset House wing, across the street, are much more elegant.

**Graystone Inn** ( 910-763-2000; www.graystoneinn.com; 100 S 3rd St; r incl breakfast $169-379;          ) Built as the home of a turn-of-the-century railroad magnate, this imposing Renaissance-style mansion has nine splendiferous guest rooms with period furnishings like claw-foot tubs, all walking distance from the downtown action.

**Front Street Brewery** ( 910-251-1935; 9 N Front St; mains $6-14;  11:30am-10pm Sun-Wed, to 2am Thu-Sat) This two-story downtown pub is madly popular for simple grub like drippy burgers and crab cakes, and for its microbrews. There are free beer tastings and brewery tours every Wednesday from 6pm to 8pm.

**Deluxe** (  910-251-0333; 114 Market St; mains $23-32;  5:30-10pm daily, brunch 10:30am-2pm Sun) This arty little bistro, all exposed brick and antique wood, works magic with seafood. Think tempura lobster tail with wasabi cream, and curried mussels with sesame crostini.

Return to beginning of chapter

## THE TRIANGLE

In the central North Carolina region known as the Piedmont, the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill form a rough triangle. Three top research universities – Duke, University of North Carolina, and North Carolina State – are located here, as is the 7000-acre computer and biotech-office campus known as Research Triangle Park. Swarming with egghead computer programmers, bearded peace activists and hip young families, each town has its own unique personality, despite being only a few miles apart. Come here in March to see everyone – we mean _everyone_ – go crazy for college basketball.

* * *

# WILMINGTON-AREA BEACHES

While riverfront Wilmington doesn't have its own beach, there are plenty of sandy stretches just a few minutes away.

From north to south:

**Surf City** A low-key beach town with good waves.

**Topsail Beach** Clean, white-sand beach, home to sea turtle rehab center.

**Wrightsville Beach** The closest beach to Wilmington, with plenty of fried-fish joints, sunglass shops and summer crowds.

**Carolina Beach** Warm water and boardwalk equal row upon row of beach umbrellas.

**Kure Beach** Popular fishing beach and home to the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher.

**Southport** Not a swimming beach, but a quaint town with tons of antique stores.

**Bald Head Island** Accessible by ferry from Southport, this secluded sea turtle sanctuary forbids cars, making travel difficult for those for who don't rent a golf cart.

**Caswell Beach** A quiet beach with nearby golf course.

**Oak Island** The largest beach community in North Carolina, with three piers.

* * *

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

**Raleigh-Durham International Airport** (RDU;  919-840-2123; www.rdu.com), a significant hub, is a 25-minute drive northwest of downtown Raleigh. **Carolina Trailways/Greyhound** (Raleigh 919-834-8275; 314 W Jones St; Durham  919-687-4800; 820 W Morgan St) serve Raleigh and Durham. The **Triangle Transit Authority** ( 919-549-9999; www.triangletransit.org; adult $2) operates buses linking Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, and all three to the airport.

### Raleigh

Founded in 1792 specifically to serve as the state capital, Raleigh remains a rather staid government town with some major sprawl issues. Still, the handsome downtown has some neat (and free!) museums and galleries, and the food and music scene is on the upswing. The older, more interesting parts of town are referred to as 'Inside the Beltway.'

The **Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau** ( 866-724-8687; www.visitraleigh.com; 220 Fayetteville St;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat) hands out maps and other info.

#### SIGHTS

**North Carolina Museum of Art** ( 919-839-6262; www.ncartmuseum.org; 2110 Blue Ridge Rd; admission free;  9am-5pm Tue-Thu & Sat, 9am-9pm Fri, 10am-5pm Sun) is located on the western fringe of town and has a fine collection including works by masters from Raphael to Monet to Georgia O'Keeffe. Summer movies and concerts on the rolling lawn are delightful.

**North Carolina Museum of History** ( 919-807-7900; www.ncmuseumofhistory.org; 5 E Edenton St; admission free;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun) has all kinds of artifacts, such as Civil War photos, Cherokee crafts, 19th-century costumes and a special exhibit on stockcar racing.

See Willo, the world's only dinosaur with a heart (it's fossilized), at the modern, airy **North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences** ( 919-733-7450; www.naturalsciences.org; 11 W Jones St; admission free;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun). There's also a unique and scary Acrocanthosaurus skeleton, five habitat dioramas and lots of well-done taxidermy.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

Downtown is pretty quiet on nights and weekends, except for the City Market area at E Martin and S Person Sts. Just to the northwest, the Glenwood South neighborhood hops with cafés, bars and clubs. You'll find plenty of moderately priced chain hotels around Exit 10 off I-440 and off I-40 near the airport.

**William B Umstead State Park** ( 919-571-4170; www.ncparks.gov; 8801 Glenwood Ave; campsites $18) Pitch your tent under the oaks at this 5439-acre suburban park, convenient to Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.

**Umstead Hotel & Spa** ( 919-447-4000; www.theumstead.com; 100 Woodland Pond, Cary; r from $279;            ) Computer chips embedded in the silver room-service trays alert bellboys to whisk away leftovers post haste at this lavish new boutique hotel. How's that for taking care of details? In a wooded suburban office park, the Umstead caters to visiting biotech CEOs with simple, sumptuous rooms and a Zen-like spa.

**Poole's Downtown Diner** ( 919-832-4477; 426 S McDowell St; mains $9-15;  6pm-midnight Wed-Sat, brunch 10:30am-3pm Sat) Chef Ashley Christensen sautés burgers in duck fat and bakes the world's most exquisitely creamy mac 'n' cheese at this new Southern diner–meets–Parisian bistro, the toast of the local food scene. Don't miss the haute takes on classic American pies like banana cream.

### Durham

Home to world-class Duke University and Duke Hospital, Durham currently bills itself as the 'City of Medicine.' But 100 years ago it could just as easily have called itself 'City of Cigarettes.' Built on the fortunes of the Bull Durham and American Tobacco companies, its main industry collapsed when smoking began to go out of style in the 1960s, leaving behind acres of brick tobacco warehouses, now art galleries, cafés and condos. Though still fundamentally a working-class Southern city, Durham's making its name as a hot spot for foodies, gays and lesbians, lefty rabble-rousers and the rest of the 'creative class' set.

Hubs of activity include Brightleaf Sq and the American Tobacco Campus, downtown tobacco warehouses turned upscale pedestrian shopping and dining areas, and boutique-lined, New Agey Ninth St, near Duke campus.

The **visitor center** ( 919-687-0288, 800-446-8604; www.durham-nc.com; 101 E Morgan St;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat) has information and maps.

#### SIGHTS

Endowed by the Duke family's cigarette fortune, **Duke University** ( 919-684-2572; www.duke.edu) has a Georgian-style East Campus and a neo-Gothic West Campus notable for its towering 1930s chapel. Heavenly **Sarah P Duke Gardens** ( 919-684-3698; www.hr.duke.edu/dukegardens; 426 Anderson St; admission free;  8am-dusk) include 55 acres of koi ponds, terraced rose gardens and magnolia groves, where students and visitors play Frisbee on warm afternoons. The university's **Nasher Museum of Art** ( 919-684-5135; www.nasher.duke.edu; 2001 Campus Dr; adult/child $5/free;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, to 9pm Thu, from noon Sun) houses an impressive collection of international contemporary works in an even more impressive futuristic cube of a building.

 **Duke Lemur Center** ( 919-489-3364; www.lemur.duke.edu;  ) is the coolest of all, with the largest collection of endangered prosimian primates outside their native Madagascar. Only a robot could fail to melt at the sight of these big-eyed fuzzy-wuzzies. Call well in advance for tours, held Monday to Saturday by appointment only.

In 1865, Confederate general Joseph E Johnston surrendered 90,000 troops to Union general William T Sherman at the humble **Bennett Place** ( 919-383-4345; 4409 Bennett Memorial Rd;  9am-5pm Tue-Sat) farmstead, effectively ending the Civil War. Free guided tours start every half-hour.

Have a quintessentially American afternoon of beer and baseball watching the minor-league Durham Bulls (of 1988 Kevin Costner film _Bull Durham_ fame), who play from April to September at the **Durham Bulls Athletic Park** ( 919-956-2855; www.dbulls.com; 409 Blackwell St; tickets $7-9;  ).

#### SLEEPING & EATING

There are plenty of cheap chain motels off I-85 in north Durham. Downtown's Brightleaf Square area, on W Morgan St, has several good coffee shops, restaurants and bars.

**Duke Tower** ( 919-687-4444, 866-385-3869; www.duketower.com; 807 W Trinity Ave; ste $85;        ) For less than most local hotel rooms you can have a contemporary condo with hardwood floors, full kitchen and flat-screen TV, in Durham's historic downtown tobacco-mill district.

**Guglhupf Bakery** ( 919-401-2600; 2706 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd; mains $5-10;  7am-6pm Tue-Sat, 9am-3pm Sun) Mornings, a tart cherry Danish and a cappuccino are the way to go at this superior German-style bakery and café. In the afternoon, try a Westphalian ham sandwich and a pilsner on the sunny patio.

 **Watts Grocery** ( 919-416-5040; 1116 Broad St; mains $14-18;  11am-2:30pm & 5:30-10pm Tue-Thu & Sun, 11am-2:30pm & 5:30pm-midnight Fri & Sat) Durham's hippest 'farm-to-table' joint serves upscale takes on local bounty (think bourbon-glazed pork belly, hand-cut buttermilk onion rings) in an airy renovated storefront. Sausage- and avocado-laden bowls of grits might be the best weekend brunch in town. The late-night menu features homemade ice-cream sandwiches. Magic.

### Chapel Hill & Carrboro

The ultraconservative North Carolina senator Jesse Helms once famously said, 'Why build a zoo when we can just put a fence around Chapel Hill?' This funky, forward-thinking little college town took that as a compliment. The University of North Carolina (UNC) was founded here in 1789 as the first state university in the nation and has set the tone every since. Music, especially indie rock and alternative country, is huge, as is basketball – Michael Jordan leaped to fame during his tenure at UNC.

* * *

# IF YOU HAVE A FEW MORE DAYS

Ten miles north of Chapel Hill, the 18th-century village of **Hillsborough** (www.historichillsborough.org) is as scenic as they come, with several historic homes and schools open for tours.

An hour-and-a-half west of Durham in the city of Winston-Salem is **Old Salem** ( 336-721-7300; www.oldsalem.org; 924 S Main St; adult/child $17/10;  9:30am-4:30pm Tue-Sat, from 1pm Sun), a village settled in the late 1700s by Moravians, a Protestant sect originally from Central Europe. Today costumed interpreters make shoes, spin cotton and bake in the restored original buildings. The sugar bread and thin spice cookies baked in the real stone ovens at the Winkler Bakery are particularly popular.

An hour-and-a-half southwest of Chapel Hill is the town of **Seagrove** (www.discoverseagrove.com), a community of potters that dates back to the 1700s. Today you can wander studios looking at everything from heavy folk-art jugs to delicate hand-painted ceramic platters.

* * *

Chapel Hill's main drag is Franklin St, with shops, bars and restaurants on its north side and the UNC campus to the south; the same street enters the hip former mill town of **Carrboro** to the west. Here, the big lawn at **Weaver Street Market** (www.weaverstreetmarket.com) grocery co-op serves as an informal town square, with live music and free wi-fi.

Pick up good area information from the **Chapel Hill-Orange County Visitors Bureau** ( 919-968-2060, 888-968-2060; www.chocvb.org; 501 W Franklin St;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat). Downtown Chapel Hill and Carrboro have free wi-fi.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

You'll find most restaurants and nightspots along Franklin St. Just to the west, Carrboro attracts post-college hippies and hipsters.

**Inn at Celebrity Dairy** ( 919-742-5176; www.celebritydairy.com; 144 Celebrity Dairy Way; r incl breakfast $90-150;      ) Thirty miles west of town in rural Chatham County, this working goat dairy offers B&B accommodations in a Greek Revival farmhouse. Enjoy goat's-cheese omelets for breakfast then head out to the barn to pet the goat who provided the milk. You can also come for the Sunday lunch, served on the third Sunday of each month.

**Allen & Son's Barbecue** ( 919-942-7576; 6203 Millhouse Rd; mains $7-10;  10am-5pm Tue-Wed, to 8pm Thu-Sat) Owner Keith Allen splits his own hickory wood behind this cinder-block cabin to smoke what many consider the best pork BBQ in the state. Try it topped with slaw on a soft bun with a side of hush puppies (balls of fried cornmeal) and a slice of frozen peanut butter pie.

**Crook's Corner** ( 919-929-7643; 610 W Franklin St; mains $7-25;  5:30-10pm Tue-Sun, brunch 10:30am-2pm Sun) Topped by a folk-art sculpture of a pig, Crook's is a longtime institution for Southern food that ranges from the down-home (pit BBQ sandwiches) to the haute (T-bone with horseradish butter), and is always good for an elegant cocktail in the bamboo-shaded patio.

#### DRINKING & ENTERTAINMENT

For entertainment listings, pick up the free weekly **Independent** (www.indyweek.com).

**Top of the Hill** ( 919-929-8276; 100 E Franklin St) The second-story patio of this downtown restaurant and microbrewery is _the_ place for the preppy set to see and be seen after football games.

**Cat's Cradle** ( 919-968-4345; www.catscradle.com; 300 E Main St, Carrboro) This place has been hosting the cream of the indie-music world for 32 years. The 600-capacity venue is smoke-free and most shows are all-ages.

Return to beginning of chapter

## CHARLOTTE

The largest city in North Carolina and the biggest US banking center after New York, Charlotte has the sprawling, sometimes faceless look of many New South suburban megalopolises. But although Queen City, as it's known, is primarily a business town, it's got a few good museums, stately old neighborhoods and lots of fine food.

Busy Tryon St cuts through skyscraper-filled 'uptown' Charlotte, home to banks, hotels, museums and restaurants. The renovated textile mills of the NoDa neighborhood (named for its location on N Davidson St) and the funky mix of boutiques and restaurants in the Plaza-Midwood area, just northeast of uptown, have a hipper vibe.

The downtown **visitor center** ( 704-331-2700, 800-231-4636; www.charlottesgotalot.com; 330 S Tryon St;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-3pm Sat) publishes maps and a visitor's guide. The **public library** ( 704-336-2725; 301 N College St;  9am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 6pm Fri & Sat, from 1pm Sun) has 90 terminals with free internet. Check out the alt-weekly **Creative Loafing** (<http://charlotte.creativeloafting.com>) for entertainment listings.

### Sights & Activities

The slick **Levine Museum of the New South** ( 704-333-1887; www.museumofthenewsouth.org; 200 E 7th St; adult/child $6/5;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun) has an informative permanent exhibit on post–Civil War Southern history and culture, from sharecropping to sit-ins.

The **Mint Museum of Art** ( 704-337-2000; www.mintmuseum.org; 2730 Randolph Rd; adult/child $10/5;  10am-9pm Tue, 10am-5pm Wed-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) is housed in the imposing 19th-century US mint building. The hushed halls display historic maps, American paintings and an impressive number of gruesome Spanish Colonial bleeding saint statues. Your ticket also gets you into the **Mint Museum of Craft & Design** (200 N Tryon St), which chronicles the history of glass, wood, metal, and jewelry crafts.

Wander through a rainforest, peer inside a huge eyeball or sample liquid-nitrogen ice cream in the chemistry lab at the hands-on **Discovery Place** ( 704-372-6261; www.discoveryplace.org; 301 N Tryon St; adult/child $10/8;  9am-4pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat, from noon Sun;  ) science museum, complete with an **Omnimax cinema** (adult/child $11/9).

NASCAR races, a homegrown Southeastern obsession, are held at the visible-from-outer-space **Lowe's Motor Speedway** ( 704-455-3200; www.lowesmotorspeedway.com; tours $5;  tours 9:30am-3:30pm Mon-Sat, from 1:30pm Sun), 12 miles northeast of town. For the ultimate thrill/near-death experience, ride shotgun at up to 165 miles per hour in a real stockcar with the **Richard Petty Driving Experience** ( 800-237-3889; www.1800bepetty.com; rides from $149).

### Sleeping

Because so many uptown hotels cater to the business traveler, rates are often lower on weekends. Cheaper chains cluster off I-85 and I-77.

**Blake Hotel** ( 704-372-4100; www.theblakehotel.net; 555 South McDowell St; r from $129;        ) All black leather, chrome and tiger print, this 308-room uptown hotel practically screams 'hey baby, what's your sign?'. Yes, that's a real lava lamp in the cocktail lounge.

**Duke Mansion** ( 704-714-4400; www.dukemansion.com; 400 Hermitage Rd; r from $169;          ) Tucked away in an oak-shaded residential neighborhood, this stately, white-columned inn was the residence of 19th-century tobacco millionaire James B Duke and still retains the quiet, discreet feel of a posh private home. Most rooms have high ceilings and their own screened-in sleeping porches.

### Eating & Drinking

Uptown eating and drinking options cater to the preppy young banker set; you'll see more tattoos at the laid-back pubs and bistros of NoDa.

**Bar-B-Q King** ( 704-399-8344; 2900 Wilkinson Blvd; mains $4-9;  10:30am-10:30pm Tue-Thu, 10am-11:30pm Fri & Sat) Wilkinson Blvd, the first four-lane highway in North Carolina, has several retro drive-ins, including this venerable place where carhops deliver minced-pork platters and perfectly-fried trout sandwiches to your driver's side window.

**Price's Chicken Coop** ( 704-333-9866; 1614 Camden Rd; mains $5-10;  10am-6pm Tue-Sat) A Charlotte institution, scruffy Price's regularly makes 'Best Fried Chicken in America' lists. Line up to order your 'dark quarter' or 'white half' from the army of white-jacketed cooks, then take your bounty outside – there's no seating.

**Rí Rá** ( 704-333-5554; 208 N Tryon St) A friendly mixed-age crowd downs Guinness and nibbles fish-and-chips at this cozy uptown pub, meticulously outfitted with worn brass and burnished wood to transport you to Victorian Ireland.

### Getting There & Around

**Charlotte Douglas International Airport** (CLT;  704-359-4027; www.charmeck.org/departments/airport; 5501 Josh Birmingham Pkwy) is a US Airways hub with direct flights from Europe and the UK. Both the **Greyhound station** ( 704-375-3332; 601 W Trade St) and **Amtrak** ( 704-376-4416; 1914 N Tryon St) are handy to Uptown. **Charlotte Area Transit** ( 704-336-3366; www.charmeck.org) runs local bus and light-rail services; its main station is at 310 E Trade St.

Return to beginning of chapter

## NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS

Seekers of all sorts have been drawn to these ancient mountains for hundreds of years. The Cherokee came to hunt, Scots-Irish immigrants came in the 1700s looking for a better life, fugitives hid from the law in the deep forests, the ill came to take in the fresh air, and naturalists came to hike the craggy trails.

The Appalachians in the western part of the state include the Great Smoky, Blue Ridge, Pisgah and Black Mountain subranges. Carpeted in blue-green hemlock, pine and oak trees, these cool hills are home to cougars, deer, black bears, wild turkeys and great horned owls. Hiking, camping, climbing and rafting adventures abound, and there's another jaw-dropping photo opportunity around every bend.

### High Country

The northwestern corner of the state is known as 'High Country.' Its main towns are Boone, Blowing Rock and Banner Elk, all short drives from the Blue Ridge Pkwy. **Boone** is a lively college town, home to Appalachian State University (ASU). **Blowing Rock** and **Banner Elk** are quaint tourist centers near the winter ski areas.

The High Country **visitor center** ( 828-264-1299, 800-438-7500; www.highcountryhost.com; 1700 Blowing Rock Rd, Boone;  9am-5pm) has info on accommodations and outdoors outfitters.

Hwy 321 from Blowing Rock to Boone is studded with gem-panning mines and other tourist traps. **Tweetsie Railroad** ( 828-264-9061; www.tweetsie.com; adult/child $30/22;  ), is a much-loved Wild West–themed amusement park – opening hours vary by season.

**Grandfather Mountain** ( 800-468-7325; www.grandfather.com; Blue Ridge Pkwy Mile 305; adult/child $15/7;  8am-6pm) rakes in car tourists who tiptoe across its vertigo-inducing mile-high suspension bridge. Lose the crowds on one of 11 hiking trails, the most difficult of which include steep hands-and-knees scrambles.

**River and Earth Adventures** ( 828-963-5491; www.raftcavehike.com; 1655 Hwy 105, Boone; half-/full-day rafting from $65/85) offers everything from family-friendly caving trips to rafting Class V rapids at Watauga Gorge. Ecoconscious guides even pack organic lunches. Bike and kayak rentals available.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

Chain motels abound in Boone. You'll find private campgrounds and B&Bs scattered throughout the hills.

**Grandfather Mountain Campground** ( 828-738-1111, 800-788-2582; www.grandfatherrv.com; Hwy 105N; campsites from $20, cabins from $50;  ) Though popular with RVers, this roadside campground, just outside Banner Elk, is pleasant enough for tent campers and has clean bathhouses and good-value camping cabins.

**Mast Farm Inn** ( 828-963-5857, 888-963-5857; www.mastfarminn.com; 2543 Broadstone Rd, Blowing Rock; r/cottages from $149/200;        ) In the achingly beautiful hamlet of Valle Crucis, this restored farmhouse defines rustic chic with worn hardwood floors, claw-foot tubs, and handmade toffees on your bedside table. The upscale mountain cuisine at the inn's restaurant, Simplicity, is worth a trip in itself.

**Knights on Main** ( 828-295-3869; 870 Main St, Blowing Rock; mains $7-17;  7am-8:30pm, to 2:30pm Sun) This wood-paneled family diner is _the_ place to try livermush, a mountain specialty consisting of...well, you can guess.

### Asheville

This Jazz Age gem of a city appears like a mirage out of the mists of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Long a vacation destination for moneyed East Coasters (F Scott Fitzgerald was a fan), the city now has a huge artist population and a highly visible contingent of hard-core hippies. The art-deco buildings of downtown remain much the same as they were in 1930, though the area is now hopping with decidedly modern boutiques, restaurants, vintage stores and record shops. Visit Asheville once, and you'll likely find yourself perusing local real-estate listings on the sly once you've returned home.

Downtown is compact and easy to negotiate on foot. West Ashville is an up-and-coming area, still gritty but very cool. The shiny new **visitor center** ( 828-258-6129; www.exploreasheville.com; 36 Montford Ave;  9am-5pm) is at I-240 exit 4C.

**Malaprop's Bookstore & Cafe** ( 828-254-6734; www.malaprops.com; 55 Haywood St;  8am-9pm Mon-Sat, to 7pm Sun) is beloved for its used books, cappuccino, and free wi-fi.

* * *

# SCENIC DRIVE: THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

Commissioned by president Franklin D Roosevelt as a Depression-era public-works project, the glorious Blue Ridge Pkwy traverses the southern Appalachians from Virginia's Shenandoah National Park (Click here and Click here) at Mile 0 to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Click here) at Mile 469. North Carolina's piece of the parkway twists and turns for 262 miles of killer alpine vistas. The National Park Service **campgrounds and** **visitor centers** ( 877-444-6777; www.blueridgeparkway.org; tent sites $16) are open May to October. Parkway entrance is free; be aware that restrooms and gas stations are few and far between.

Parkway highlights and campgrounds include the following:

**Cumberland Knob** Mile 217.5 – NPS visitor center, easy walk to the knob.

**Doughton Park** Mile 241.1 – Gas, food, trails and camping.

**Blowing Rock** Mile 291.8 – Small tourist town, named for a craggy, commercialized cliff that offers great views, occasional updrafts and a Native American love story.

**Moses H Cone Memorial Park** Mile 294.1 – A lovely old estate with pleasant walks and a craft shop.

**Julian Price Memorial Park** Mile 296.9 – Camping.

**Grandfather Mountain** Mile 305.1 – Hugely popular for its mile-high pedestrian 'swinging bridge.'

**Linville Falls** Mile 316.4 – Short hiking trails to the falls, campsites.

**Linville Caverns** Mile 317 – Limestone cave with neat formations and underground streams; tours $7.

**Little Switzerland** Mile 334 – Old-style mountain resort.

**Crabtree Meadows** Mile 339.5 – Camping.

**Mt Mitchell State Park** Mile 355.5 – Highest peak east of the Mississippi (6684ft); hiking and camping.

**Craggy Gardens** Mile 364 – Hiking trails explode with rhododendron blossoms in summer.

**Folk Art Center** Mile 382 – Local crafts for sale.

**Mount Pisgah** Mile 408.8 – Hiking and camping.

* * *

The **public library** ( 828-250-4711; 67 Haywood Ave;  10am-8pm Mon-Thu, to 6pm Fri, 2-5pm Sat) has computers with free internet.

#### SIGHTS

With 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces and a private bowling alley, the Gilded Age **Biltmore Estate** ( 828-225-1333, 800-624-1575; www.biltmore.com; adult/child under 17 $50/free;  9am-4:30pm), is a veritable American Versailles. The country's largest private home and Asheville's number-one tourist attraction, it was built in 1895 for shipping and railroad heir George Washington Vanderbilt II, who modeled it after the grand chateaux he'd seen on his various European jaunts. Viewing the estate and its 250 acres of gorgeously manicured grounds and gardens takes several hours. There are numerous cafés, a gift shop the size of a small supermarket, a hoity-toity hotel, and an award-winning winery offering free tastings.

Downtown, _Look Homeward Angel_ author Thomas Wolfe's childhood home is now the **Thomas Wolfe Memorial** ( 828-253-8304; www.wolfememorial.com; 52 N Market St; admission $1;  9am-5pm Tue-Sat, 10am-4pm winter, 1-5pm Sun), displaying artifacts from his brief life.

At **Chimney Rock Park** ( 828-625-9611; www.chimneyrockpark.com; adult/child $14/6;  8:30am-4:30pm), a 20-mile drive southeast of Asheville, the American flag flaps in the breeze atop this popular park's namesake 315ft granite monolith. An elevator takes visitors up to the chimney, but the real draw is the exciting hike around the cliffs to a 404ft waterfall.

#### SLEEPING

The **Asheville Bed & Breakfast Association** ( 877-262-6867; www.ashevillebba.com) handles bookings for numerous area B&Bs, from gingerbread cottages to alpine cabins.

**Bon Paul & Sharky's Hostel** ( 828-350-9929; www.bonpaulandsharkys.com; 816 Haywood Rd; campsites per person $13, dm/d $22/55;          ) In the hip West Asheville residential neighborhood, this cottage has a friendly college-dorm vibe and sweet amenities like foosball, communal bikes, and backyard tent space.

 **Campfire Lodgings** ( 828-658-8012; www.campfirelodgings.com; 116 Appalachian Village Rd; tent sites $30, yurts from $105;        ) All yurts should have flat-screen TVs, don't you think? Sleep like the world's most stylish Mongolian nomad in one of these furnished multiroom tents, on the side of a hill with stunning valley views. Cabins and tent sites are also available.

**ArtHaus Hostel** ( 828-225-3278; www.aahostel.com; 16 Ravenscroft Dr; s $40;          ) Right downtown, this inconspicuous green bungalow has spartan private rooms, shared bathrooms and free waffles, but not much communal space.

**Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa** ( 828-252-2711, 800-438-5800; www.groveparkinn.com; 290 Macon Ave; r $155;          ) Built in 1913, this titanic arts-and-crafts–style stone lodge clings to the side of the mountain like the castle of a goblin king. Inside is a mini-village of 510 richly appointed rooms, four restaurants, numerous shops and an underground grotto of a spa, complete with stone pools and an indoor waterfall.

#### EATING

Downtown has more than its fair share of great restaurants. Try the massive Gothic-style **Grove Arcade** (Page Ave) building for fancy groceries and produce.

**Rosetta's Kitchen** ( 828-232-0738; 116 N Lexington Ave; mains $7-9  11am-11pm Mon-Thu, to 3am Fri & Sat, to 9pm Sun;  ) An institution among Asheville's dreadlocked set, where you can belly up to the counter for a bowl of peanut butter tofu (looks awful, tastes heavenly) at 2am.

**Early Girl Eatery** ( 828-259-9292; 8 Wall St; mains $7-11;  7:30am-3pm & 5-9pm Mon-Fri, brunch 9am-3pm Sat & Sun) Order a tofu scramble or a plate of free-range roast chicken in this neighborhood café's sunny, crowded dining room, overlooking a small city park.

 **Salsa's** ( 828-252-9805; 6 Patton Ave; mains $13-17;  11:30am-2:30pm & 5:30-9pm) Uh oh, Mexico and Jamaica just crashed into a farmer's market cart and landed on your plate! This tiny, brightly painted joint serves amazing, mutant Latin fusion cuisine – think lamb empanadas with goat's cheese and banana salsa or crab-jalapeño-saffron-fennel egg rolls. Beware huge crowds, unreasonably spicy appetizers and unannounced substitutions, and _always_ order off the specials menu.

#### DRINKING & ENTERTAINMENT

Downtown Asheville has all types of bars and cafés, from frat-boy beer halls to hookah-n-sprout hippie holes-in-the-wall. West Asheville has a more laid-back townie vibe.

**Westville Pub** ( 828-225-9782; 777 Haywood Rd) This is a good place to bond with local 20- and 30-somethings over a bottle of organic ale.

**Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company** ( 828-254-1281; 675 Merrimon Ave; movies $3;  movies 1pm, 4pm, 7pm & 10pm) Catch a flick at the small theater inside this one-of-a-kind spot.

For live music, try the warehouse-sized **Orange Peel** ( 828-225-5851; www.theorangepeel.net; 101 Biltmore Ave; tickets $10-25) for big-name indie and punk, or the **Grey Eagle** ( 828-232-5800; www.thegreyeagle.com; 185 Clingman Ave; tickets $8-15) for bluegrass and jazz.

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

**Asheville Transit** ( 828-253-5691; www.ashevilletransit.com; tickets $1) has 24 local bus routes running from 6am to 11:30pm Monday to Saturday. Twenty minutes south of town, **Asheville Regional Airport** (AVL;  828-684-2226; www.flyavl.com) has a handful of direct flights, including to/from Atlanta, Charlotte and New York. **Greyhound** ( 828-253-8451; www.greyhound.com; 2 Tunnel Rd) is just northeast of downtown.

### Great Smoky Mountains National Park

More than 10 million visitors a year come through this majestic park, one of the world's most biodiverse areas. Landscapes range from deep, dim spruce forest to sunny meadows carpeted with daisies and Queen Anne's lace to wide, coffee-brown rivers. There's ample hiking and camping, and opportunities for horseback riding, bike rental and fly-fishing. The North Carolina side has less traffic than the Tennessee side, so even at the height of summer tourist season you'll still have room to roam. For more information about the Tennessee section of this park, Click here.

**Newfound Gap Road/Highway 441** is the only thoroughfare that crosses Great Smoky Mountains National Park, winding through the mountains from Gatlinburg, TN, to the town of Cherokee and the busy **Oconaluftee Visitor Center** ( 865-436-1200; Hwy 441), in the southeast. Pick up your backcountry camping permits here. The Oconaluftee River Trail, one of only two in the park that allows leashed pets, leaves from the visitor center and follows the river for 1.5 miles.

Nearby attractions include the 1886 **Mingus Mill** (self-guided tours free;  9am-5pm 15 Mar–1 Dec), 2 miles west of Cherokee, a turbine-powered mill that still grinds wheat and corn much as it always has. The on-site **Mountain Farm Museum** is a restored 19th-century farmstead, complete with barn, blacksmith shop and smokehouse (with real pig heads!), assembled from original buildings from different parts of the park. A few miles away, the **Smokemont Campground** (www.nps.gov/grsm; campsites $17) is the only North Carolina campground open year-round.

* * *

# SMOKY MOUNTAIN DAY HIKES

These are a few of our favorite short hikes in the North Carolina side of the park:

**Big Creek Trail** Hike an easy 2 miles to Mouse Creek Falls or go another 3 miles to backcountry campground; the trailhead's near I-40 on the park's northeastern edge.

**Boogerman Trail** Moderate 7-mile loop passing old farmsteads; access via Cove Creek Rd.

**Chasteen Creek Falls** From Smokemont campground, this 4-mile round-trip passes a small waterfall.

**Shustack Tower** Starting at massive Fontana Dam, climb 3.5 miles for killer views from an old fire tower.

* * *

To the east, remote **Cataloochee Valley** has several historic buildings to wander through and is a prime location for elk and black bears.

### Southwestern North Carolina

The state's westernmost tip is blanketed in parkland and sprinkled with tiny mountain towns. The area has a rich but sad Native American history – many of the original Cherokee inhabitants were forced off their lands during the 1830s and marched to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears. Descendants of those who escaped are known as the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, about 12,000 of whom now occupy the 56,000-acre Qualla Boundary territory at the edge of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The unlovely town of **Cherokee** anchors the Qualla Boundary with ersatz Native American souvenir shops, fast-food joints and **Harrah's Cherokee Casino** ( 828-497-7777; www.harrahs.com). The best sight is the modern **Museum of the Cherokee Indian** ( 828-497-3481; www.cherokeemuseum.org; cnr Hwy 441 & Drama Rd; adult/child $9/6;  9am-5pm), with an informative exhibit on the Trail of Tears and eerily realistic dioramas. In the hills behind the museum, Cherokees demonstrate traditional crafts in the 18th-century replica **Oconaluftee Indian Village** ( 866-554-4557; adult/child $15/6;  9am-5pm).

South of Cherokee, the contiguous **Pisgah** and **Nantahala National Forests** have more than a million acres of dense hardwood trees, windswept balds, and some of the country's best white water. Both contain portions of the Appalachian Trail. Pisgah highlights include the bubbling baths in the village of **Hot Springs** (www.hotspringsnc.org), the natural waterslide at Sliding Rock, and the 30-mile Art Loeb Trail, which skirts Cold Mountain of book and movie fame. Nantahala has several recreational lakes and dozens of roaring waterfalls, several of which can be easily accessed via the Mountain Waters Scenic Byway.

For plush accommodations try **Brevard** , a cute mountain town with tons of B&Bs on the east edge of Pisgah. Or head just north of Nantahala to quaint **Bryson City** , an ideal jumping-off point for outdoor adventures. It's home to the huge and highly recommended **Nantahala Outdoor Center** ( 828-488-2176, 828-586-8811; www.noc.com; 13077 Hwy 19/74; guided rafting trips $45-177), which specializes in wet and wild rafting trips down the Nantahala, French Broad, Pigeon and Ocoee Rivers, and rents out bikes, kayaks and more. It even has its own lodge and restaurant. From the Bryson City depot, the **Great Smoky Mountain Railroad** ( 800-872-4681; www.gsmr.com; Nantahala Gorge trip adult/child $34/19) runs scenic train excursions through the dramatic river valley.

Return to beginning of chapter

# SOUTH CAROLINA

Cross the border of South Carolina and plunge back in time. For a traveler heading down the eastern seaboard, venturing into South Carolina marks the beginning of the Deep South, where the air is hotter, the accents are thicker and traditions are clung to with even more fervor.

Starting at the silvery sands of the Atlantic Coast, the state climbs westward from the Coastal Plain and up through the Piedmont and into the Blue Ridge Mountains. Most travelers stick to the coast, with its splendid antebellum cities and palm tree–studded beaches. But the interior has a wealth of sleepy old towns, wild and undeveloped state parks and spooky black-water swamps just waiting to be explored by canoe. Along the sea islands you hear the sweet songs of the Gullah, a culture and language created by former slaves who held onto many West African traditions through the ravages of time.

* * *

# SOUTH CAROLINA FACTS

**Nickname** Palmetto State

**Population** 4.5 million

**Area** 30,109 sq miles

**Capital** **city** Columbia (population 124,818)

**Other cities** Charleston (107,845)

**Sales tax** 5%, plus up to 10% extra tax on accommodations

**Birthplace** **of** Jazzman Dizzy Gillespie (1917–93), political activist Jesse Jackson (b 1941), boxer Joe Frazier (b 1944), _Wheel of Fortune_ hostess Vanna White (b 1957)

**Home of** First US public library (1698), museum (1773) and steam railroad (1833)

**Famous for** Firing the first shot of the Civil War, from Charleston's Fort Sumter

**Smelliest festival** Chitlin' Strut festival in Salley, a celebration of the odiferous stuffed pig's intestine dish chitterlings, or chitlins, a dubious Southern delicacy

**Driving distances** Columbia to Charleston 115 miles, Charleston to Myrtle Beach 97 miles

* * *

Whether you're looking for a romantic weekend in genteel, gardenia-scented Charleston or a week of riotous fun at bright, tacky Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is a lovely, affordable destination.

### History

More than 28 separate tribes of Native Americans have lived in what is now South Carolina, many of them Cherokee who were later forcibly removed during the Trail of Tears era.

The English founded the Carolina colony in 1670, with settlers pouring in from the royal outpost of Barbados, giving the port city known as Charles Towne a Caribbean flavor.

West African slaves were brought over to turn the thick coastal swamps into rice paddies and by the mid-1700s the area was deeply divided between the slave-owning aristocrats of the Lowcountry and the poor Scots-Irish and German farmers of the rural backcountry.

South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union, and the first battle of the Civil War occurred at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. The end of the war left much of the state in ruins.

South Carolina traded in cotton and textiles for most of the 20th century. It remains a relatively poor agricultural state, though with a thriving coastal tourism business.

### Information

**South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism** ( 803-734-1700 www.discoversouthcarolina.com; 1205 Pendleton St, Room 505, Columbia) Sends out _South Carolina Smiles,_ the state's official vacation guide.

**South Carolina State Parks** ( 888-887-2757; www.southcarolinaparks.com) This helpful website lists activities, hiking trails and allows online reservations for campsites (prices vary).

Return to beginning of chapter

## CHARLESTON

Put on your twinset and pearls or your seersucker suit, have a fortifying sip of sherry, and prepare to be thoroughly drenched in Southern charm. Charleston is a city for strolling, for admiring antebellum architecture, for long dinners on the verandah, for stopping to smell the blooming jasmine. Tooth-achingly romantic, everywhere you turn is another blushing bride standing on the steps of yet another charming church.

Named the 'Best-Mannered City in America' 11 years in a row, Charleston is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Southeast. In the high season the scent of gardenia and honeysuckle mixes with the tang of horse from the innumerable carriage tours that clip-clop down the cobblestones day and night. In winter the weather is milder and the crowds thinner, making Charleston a great bet for off-season travel.

### History

Well before the Revolutionary War, Charles Towne (named for Charles II) was one of the busiest ports on the eastern seaboard, the center of a prosperous rice-growing and trading colony. With influences from the West Indies and Africa, France and other European countries, it became a cosmopolitan city often compared to New Orleans.

The first shots of the Civil War rang out at Fort Sumter, in Charleston's harbor. After the war, as the labor-intensive rice plantations became uneconomical without slave labor, the city's importance declined. Natural disasters wrought more damage, with a major earthquake in 1886, several fires and storms, and devastating Hurricane Hugo in 1989. But much of the town's historic fabric remains, to the delight of four million tourists every year.

### Orientation

The Charleston metropolitan area sprawls over a broad stretch of coastal plains and islands, but the historic heart is very compact, about 4 sq miles at the southern tip of a peninsula between the Cooper and Ashley Rivers. I-26 goes to North Charleston and the airport. Hwy 17, the main coastal road, cuts across the Charleston peninsula as the Crosstown Expwy. Soaring bridges connect west to James Island and West Ashley, and east to Mount Pleasant.

The most important north–south streets of the downtown peninsula are King, Meeting and E Bay. Market and Broad Sts cut east–west, with lots of shops and restaurants.

### Information

#### BOOKSTORES

**Blue Bicycle Books** ( 843-722-2666; www.bluebicyclebooks.com; 420 King St;  10am-6pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm Sun) This teeny indie favorite holds used and new titles on everything from antebellum Charleston to pop art.

#### EMERGENCY

**Main police station** ( 843-577-7434; 180 Lockwood Blvd)

#### INTERNET ACCESS

The City of Charleston maintains free public internet (wi-fi) access throughout the downtown area.

**Public library** ( 843-805-6801; www.ccpl.org; 68 Calhoun St;  9am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 6pm Fri & Sat, 2-5pm Sun) Free internet access.

#### MEDIA

**Charleston City Paper** (www.charlestoncitypaper.com) Published each Wednesday, this alt-weekly has good entertainment and restaurant listings.

**Post & Courier** (www.charleston.net) Charleston's daily newspaper _._

#### MEDICAL SERVICES

**University Hospital** (MUSC;  843-792-2300; 171 Ashley Ave;  24hr) Emergency room.

#### POST

**Post office** ( 843-577-0688; 83 Broad St;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri)

#### TOURIST INFORMATION

**Visitor center** ( 843-853-8000; www.charlestoncvb.com; 375 Meeting St;  8:30am-5pm) Find help with accommodations and tours or watch a half-hour video on Charleston history in this spacious renovated warehouse.

### Sights & Activities

The city itself is the main attraction, especially the part of the peninsula south of Hwy 17, with its magnolia-shaded avenues and winsome cobblestoned alleys.

#### HISTORIC DISTRICT

The quarter south of Beaufain and Hasell Sts has the bulk of the antebellum mansions, shops, bars and cafés. The historic **City Market** (Market St) is the crowded center of it all, with vendors hawking junky souvenirs from open-air stalls.

At the southernmost tip of the peninsula are the antebellum mansions of the Battery – take a seat in shady **White Point Park** and ponder whether 'filthy-rich merchant seaman' is still a viable career. Around the corner, a stretch of lower E Bay St known as **Rainbow Row** is one of the most photographed areas of town for its candy-colored houses.

Kids love the **Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon** ( 843-727-2165; www.oldexchange.com; 122 E Bay St; adult/child $7/3.50;  9am-5pm;  ), built in 1771 as a customs house and later used as a dungeon prison for pirates. Costumed guides lead tours.

African men, women and children were once auctioned off at the **Old Slave Mart Museum** ( 843-958-6467; www.nps.gov/nr/travel/charleston/osm.htm; 6 Chalmers St; adult/child $7/5;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat), now a museum of South Carolina's shameful past. Text-heavy exhibits illuminate the slave experience; the few artifacts, like leg shackles, are especially chilling.

**Gibbes Museum of Art** ( 843-722-2706; www.gibbesmuseum.org; 135 Meeting St; adult/child $9/5;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun) houses a decent collection of American and Southern works; the most interesting way to visit is in conjunction with a two-hour **walking tour** (www.oldcharlestontours.com; tours $20) that combines the museum with various artistically significant city sites.

* * *

# DON'T MISS

  * Eating fried shrimp in an old bait warehouse at the **Wreck of the Richard & Charlene** (Click here)
  * Ogling the oh-so-photogenic painted town houses of **Rainbow Row** (Click here)
  * Strolling past ancient churchyards abloom with flowers on the **Gateway Walk** (below)
  * Peeking into the lives of the 19th-century Southern aristocracy at **Middleton Place** (Click here)
  * Watching the sun set in a blaze of orange over the river at the **Rooftop at Vendue Inn** (Click here)

* * *

About half a dozen majestic historic homes are open to visitors. Discounted combination tickets may tempt you to see more, but one or two will be enough for most people. Most houses are open from 10am to 5pm Monday to Saturday, 1pm to 5pm Sunday and run guided tours every half-hour. Admission is $10. Of the most interesting, **Aiken-Rhett House** ( 843-723-1159; www.historiccharleston.org; 48 Elizabeth St) is the only surviving urban plantation; it gives a fascinating look into antebellum life, including the role of slaves.

**Heyward-Washington House** ( 843-722-0354; www.charlestonmuseum.org; 87 Church St), built in 1772, belonged to Thomas Heyward Jr, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and contains some lovely examples of Charleston-made mahogany furniture and the city's only preserved historic kitchen.

Built by a Rhode Islander, known in Charleston as 'the king of the Yankees,' the 1808 Federal-style **Nathaniel Russell House** ( 843-724-8481; www.historiccharleston.org; 51 Meeting St) is noted especially for its spectacular, self-supporting spiral staircase and lush English garden.

Long a culturally diverse city, Charleston gave refuge to persecuted French Protestants, Baptists, and Jews over the years, and earned the nickname the 'Holy City' for its abundance of houses of worship. The **Gateway Walk** , a little-known garden path between Archdale St and Philadelphia Alley, connects four of the city's most beautiful historic churches: the white-columned **St John's Lutheran Church** ; the Gothic Revival **Unitarian Church** ; the striking Romanesque **Circular Congregational Church** , originally founded in 1681; and **St Philip's Church** , with its picturesque steeple and 17th-century graveyard, parts of which were once reserved for 'strangers and transient white persons.'

**Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim** ( 843-723-1090; Hasell St) is the oldest continuously used synagogue in the country. There are free tours by appointment.

#### MARION SQUARE

Formerly home to the state weapons arsenal, this 10-acre park is Charleston's living room, with various monuments and an excellent Saturday farmers market.

Founded in 1773, the **Charleston Museum** ( 843-722-2996; www.charlestonmuseum.org; 360 Meeting St; adult/child $10/5;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 1pm Sun) claims to be the country's oldest, with exhibits from various periods of Charleston's long and storied history, from prehistoric whale skeletons to slave tags and Civil War weapons.

The **Children's Museum of the Lowcountry** ( 843-853-8962; www.explorecml.org; 25 Ann St; admission $7;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, from 1pm Sun;  ) has eight interactive exhibit areas, including a 30ft replica shrimp boat where kids can play captain.

The three-story **Joseph Manigault House** ( 843-722-2996; www.charlestonmuseum.org; 350 Meeting St) was once the showpiece of a French Huguenot rice planter. Don't miss the tiny neoclassical temple in the garden.

#### AQUARIUM WHARF

Aquarium Wharf surrounds pretty Liberty Sq and is a great place to stroll around and watch the tugboats guiding ships into the seventh-largest container port in the US. The wharf is the embarkation point for tours to Fort Sumter. Also here is the IMAX theater.

The massive, excellent **South Carolina Aquarium** ( 843-720-1990; www.scaquarium.org; 100 Aquarium Wharf; adult/child $17/10;  9am-5pm, from noon Sun;  ) showcases the state's diverse aquatic life, from the otters of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the loggerhead turtles of the Atlantic. The highlight is the 42ft Great Ocean Tank, which teems with sharks and alien-looking puffer fish.

The first shots of the Civil War rang out at **Fort Sumter** , on a pentagon-shaped island in the harbor. A Confederate stronghold, the fort was shelled to bits by Union forces from 1863 to 1865. A few original guns and fortifications give a feel for the momentous history. The only way to get here is by boat tour ( 843-883-3123; www.nps.gov/fosu; adult/child $16/10;  tours 9:30am, noon & 2:30pm summer, fewer in winter), which also depart from Patriot's Point in Mt Pleasant, across the river (Click here).

Stretching across the Cooper River like some massive stringed instrument, the three-mile-long **Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge** is a triumph of contemporary engineering. Biking or jogging across the protected no-car lane is one of active Charlestonians' go-to weekend activities. Rent a cruiser at **Charleston Bicycle Company** ( 843-407-0482; www.charlestonbicyclecompany.com; 334 M E Bay St; bikes per day $27;  10am-6pm, from noon Sun).

### Tours

Listing all of Charleston's walking, horse-carriage, bus and boat tours could take up this entire book. Ask at the visitor center for the gamut.

**Culinary Tours of Charleston** ( 800-918-0701; www.culinarytoursofcharleston.com; 2½hr tour $36) Sample grits, pralines, BBQ and more on this walking tour of Charleston's restaurants and markets.

**Charleston Harbor Tours** ( 800-344-4483; www.charlestonharbortours.com; 90min tours adult/child $16.25/11.50) Historical tours of town aboard the 80ft _Carolina Belle_ depart from the Charleston Maritime Center.

**Gullah Tours** ( 843-763-7551; www.gullahtours.com; 43 John St; 2hr tour adult/child $18/12) A native Gullah speaker directs a bus exploration of the history of African American Charleston.

**Olde Towne Carriage Company** ( 843-722-1315; www.oldetownecarriage.com; 20 Anson St; 45min tour adult/child $20/12) Guides on this popular horse-drawn-carriage tour offer colorful commentary as you clip-clop around town.

### Sleeping

Staying in the historic downtown is the most attractive option, but it's the most expensive, especially on weekends, in high season, and during special events. The rates below are for high season (spring and early summer). The chain hotels on the highways offer significantly lower rates.

One of the best ways to get to know Charleston is to stay at a small home where the owners serve up authentic Southern breakfasts and dole out great local information. They fill up fast, so try using an agency such as **Historic Charleston B &B** ( 843-722-6606; www.historiccharlestonbedandbreakfast.com; 57 Broad St).

#### BUDGET

**NotSo Hostel** ( 843-722-8383; www.notsohostel.com; 156 Spring St; dm/r $21/60;          ) On the north edge of downtown, three tottering old houses have been carved into dorms and private rooms, the verandahs decked with hammocks. Get local tips from friendly staff members during the shared morning breakfast.

**James Island County Park** ( 843-795-7275; www.ccprc.com; 871 Riverland Dr; tent/RV sites $23/41, 8-person cottages $159) Southwest of town, this park offers shuttle services downtown. Reservations are highly recommended.

#### MIDRANGE

**1837 Bed & Breakfast** ( 843-723-7166, 877-723-1837; www.1837bb.com; 126 Wentworth St; r incl breakfast $99-209;      ) Like staying at the home of your eccentric, antique-loving aunt, 1837 has nine charmingly over-decorated rooms, including three in the old brick carriage house. In the morning, the friendly proprietress serves up hearty egg and meat dishes in the yellow dining room.

**Meeting Street Inn** ( 843-723-1882, 800-842-8022; www.meetingstreetinn.com; 173 Meeting St; r incl breakfast from $129;      ) Dark, antique-furnished rooms with four-poster beds contrast with the sunny, pink-stucco courtyard of this 56-room hotel, in the thick of the historic district. Parking costs $12.

**Palmer Pinckney Inn** ( 843-722-1733; www.pinckneyinn.com; 19 Pinckney St; r $150-300;        ) This bubble-gum-pink 'single house' (a narrow building style characteristic of Charleston) has five twee guest rooms tucked away on a Historic District side street.

**Andrew Pinckney Inn** ( 843-937-8800, 800-505-8983; www.andrewpinckneyinn.com; 40 Pinckney St; r $159-229;        ) A pre-Colonial sugar baron would have been right at home breakfasting in the rooftop garden of this 32-room hotel. Sand-colored walls and botanical prints lend an upscale Caribbean vibe. The location, on a quiet bit of street right near the market, is excellent. Parking costs $14.

 **Ansonborough Inn** ( 800-522-2073; www.ansonboroughinn.com; 1 Maiden Ln; r $180-290;      ) A central atrium done up with burnished pine, exposed beams and nautical-themed oil paintings makes this intimate Historic District hotel feel like being inside an antique sailing ship. Droll neo-Victorian touches like the Persian-carpeted glass elevator and the closet-sized British pub add a sense of fun. Huge guest rooms mix old and new, with worn leather couches, high ceilings, and flat-screen TVs. Parking is $12.

**Battery Carriage House Inn** ( 843-727-3100; www.batterycarriagehouse.com; 20 S Battery; r $189-300;        ) Step through the iron gates and into this secluded 11-room treasure, where an interior garden filled with roses and whimsically trimmed topiary hedges begs you to sit down for a cup of tea. A 'gentleman ghost' is said to wander the Victorian-style rooms at night.

#### TOP END

**Mills House Hotel** ( 843-577-2400, 800-874-9600; www.millshouse.com; 115 Meeting St; r $205-300;        ) This grand old dame (150 years young, _merci_ ) has gotten an $11-million facelift, and is now one of the most opulent choices in the area. Gilded elevators lead from an enormous marble lobby to 214 lushly upholstered rooms. The sun has still not set on the British Empire inside the clubby, wood-paneled Barbadoes Room restaurant. Parking costs $20.

**Vendue Inn** ( 843-577-7970; www.vendueinn.com; 19 Vendue Range; r incl breakfast $205-325;      ) This teeny boutique hotel, in the part of downtown known as the French Quarter, is decked out in a trendy mix of exposed brick and eccentric antiques. Rooms have cool amenities like deep soaking tubs and gas fireplaces. Even cooler is the rooftop bar (Click here). Parking costs $16.

### Eating

From hearty, lard-heavy Lowcountry cuisine to nouvelle-French bistros, there are enough good restaurants in Charleston for a town three times its size. On Saturday, stop by the **farmers market** (Marion Sq;  8am-1pm Sat Apr-Oct).

#### BUDGET & MIDRANGE

**Gullah Cuisine** ( 843-881-9076; 1717 Hwy 17 N, Mt Pleasant; mains $7-11;  9am-3pm & 5-9:30pm) It's not much to look at, but this dowdy suburban café is the best place to taste South Carolina's West African–influenced Gullah cooking. We recommend the lunch buffet, groaning with red rice, okra gumbo (roux-based stew), oxtail stew and fried fish.

**Hominy Grill** ( 843-937-0930; 207 Rutledge Ave; mains $7-18;  7:30am-9pm Mon-Fri, 9am-3pm Sat & Sun) Slightly off the beaten path, this neighborhood café serves modern, vegetarian-friendly Lowcountry cuisine in an old barbershop. Spoon up a bowl of shrimp and grits (ground corn), a classic Charleston fisherman's breakfast, on the shady patio.

**Gaulart & Maliclet** ( 843-577-9797; 98 Broad St; mains $8-15;  8am-4pm Mon, 8am-10pm Tue-Thu, to 10:30pm Fri-Sun) Locals crowd around the shared tables at this tiny bistro, known as 'Fast & French,' to nibble on Gallic cheeses and sausages or nightly specials ($15) that include bread, soup, a main dish and wine.

**Hyman's** ( 843-723-6000; 215 Meeting St; mains $8-24;  11am-11pm) Yeah, it's a tourist trap, but the famous she-crab soup, po'boy sandwiches and crispy flounder at this massive downtown institution are worth the wait, especially at lunch when the lines are not quite so long.

 **Wreck of the Richard & Charlene** ( 843-884-0052; 106 Haddrell St; mains $12-22;  5:30-8:30pm Sun-Thu, to 9:30pm Fri & Sat) It's practically impossible to find, but don't give up! This unmarked warehouse, down a dirt road overlooking Shem Creek in suburban Mt Pleasant, has what many consider the best fried seafood in the state. Kick back in a plastic chair with a free bowl of boiled peanuts while you wait; finish with the key lime bread pudding. No credit cards.

**Poogan's Porch** ( 843-577-2337; 72 Queen St; mains $15-25;  9am-3pm & 5-9:30pm) Dine on sherried crab soup and toast points in the dim, floral-patterned environs of this supposedly haunted Victorian mansion, tucked away on a downtown side street.

#### TOP END

**S.N.O.B.** ( 843-723-3424; 192 E Bay St; mains $18-34;  lunch Mon-Fri, dinner nightly) The cheeky name (it stands for 'slightly north of Broad,' as in Broad St) reflects the anything-goes spirit of this newcomer, which draws raves for its eclectic menu, filled with treats such as house-smoked salmon or sautéed squab breast over cheese grits. Exposed brick walls and an open kitchen lend a casual ambience.

**Anson** ( 843-577-0551; 12 Anson St; mains $23-31;  5-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat) The most upscale Lowcountry place around, in a dreamy pink-and-green carriage house straight out of central casting. Filet mignon and grouper in champagne cream are complemented by a well-edited wine list.

**FIG** ( 843-805-5900; 232 Meeting St; mains $25-31;  5:30-10:30pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri-Sun) Foodies swoon over inspired nouvelle-Southern fare like crispy pig's trotters (that means 'feet' – local and hormone-free, of course) with celery-root remoulade in this rustic-chic dining room.

### Drinking

Balmy Charleston evenings are perfect for lifting a cool cocktail or dancing to live blues. Check out the weekly _Charleston City Paper_ and the 'Preview' section of Friday's _Post & Courier_. When things are busy, bars stay open until around 2am.

**Chai's** ( 843-722-7313; 462 King St) On rapidly gentrifying Upper King St, this slick tapas bar draws an attractive crowd.

**Henry's** ( 843-723-4363; 54 N Market St) The bar of choice for single, young (and not-so-young) professionals, with a large wood bar and sports on TV.

**Pavilion Bar** ( 843-723-0500; 225 E Bay St) The swimming pool at this sexy rooftop bar is for hotel guests only, but the luscious views of the Cooper River and downtown Charleston are free.

**Rooftop at Vendue Inn** ( 843-723-0486; 23 Vendue Range) This two-level rooftop bar has the best views of downtown, and the crowds to prove it. Enjoy afternoon nachos or late-night live blues.

**Vickery's** ( 843-577-5300; 15 Beaufain St) Locals flock to Vick's to heft ice-cold beers on the tiki-torchlit patio or chow down on Cuban sandwiches in the diner-style booths.

### Entertainment

**Dock Street Theater** ( 843-965-4032; www.charlestonstage.com; 135 Church St) Reconstructed in 1936 from original 1736 blueprints, Dock Street is America's oldest live-performance theater. The busy venue hosts an array of community and professional music and theater groups.

**Charleston Ballet Theater** ( 843-723-7334; www.charlestonballet.com; 477 King St) The ballet puts on an eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary shows.

**Charleston Symphony Orchestra** ( 843-723-7528; www.charlestonsymphony.com) Since 1936, the symphony, now led by David Stahl, has performed in the **Gaillard Auditorium** (77 Calhoun St).

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# CHARLESTON FESTIVALS

**Lowcountry Oyster Festival** In January, oyster-lovers in Mt Pleasant feast on 65,000 pounds worth of the salty bivalves.

**Charleston Food & Wine Festival** This newish March event draws celebrity chefs and well-heeled foodies.

**Spoleto USA** This 17-day performing arts festival in May is Charleston's biggest event, with operas, dramas and musicals staged across the city, and artisans and food vendors lining the streets.

**Charleston Harbor Fest** In June, antique tall ships sail into town; visitors can take tours and sailing lessons.

**MOJA Arts Festival** Spirited poetry jams and gospel concerts mark this two-week September celebration of African-American culture.

* * *

### Shopping

The historic district is clogged with overpriced souvenir shops and junk markets. The further north on King St you go, the hipper the shopping.

**Carolina Antique Maps & Prints** ( 843-722-4773; 91 Church St;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat) Buy a vintage map of Charleston or a magnolia-blossom botanical print at this crowded little shop, tucked away on a residential street.

**Charleston Crafts Cooperative** ( 843-723-2938; 87 Hasell St;  10am-5:30pm) A pricey, well-edited selection of contemporary South Carolina–made crafts like sweetgrass baskets, hand-dyed silks and wood carvings.

**Historic Charleston Reproductions** ( 843-723-8292; 105 Broad St;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat) This place showcases jewelry, home furnishings and furniture inspired by the city's historic homes, like earrings based on the cast-iron railings at the Aiken-Rhett House (Click here).

### Getting There & Around

**Charleston International Airport** (CHS;  843-767-7009; www.chs-airport.com; 5500 International Blvd) is 12 miles outside of town in North Charleston, with 124 daily flights to 17 destinations.

The **Greyhound station** ( 843-744-4247; www.greyhound.com; 3610 Dorchester Rd) and the **Amtrak train station** ( 843-744-8264; 4565 Gaynor Ave) are both in North Charleston.

**CARTA** ( 843-724-7420; www.ridecarta.com; single/day pass $1.50/5) runs citywide buses; the DASH streetcars do four loop routes from the visitor center.

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## AROUND CHARLESTON

### North Charleston

 **HL Hunley** ( 843-743-4865; www.hunley.org; 1250 Supply St; admission $12;  10am-5pm Sat, from noon Sun) submarine, in a faceless warehouse at a working dockyard north of downtown, rests in a 90,000-gallon tank of water like some strange top-secret science experiment. In 1864 the Confederate _Hunley_ completed the world's first submarine mission by sinking the Union's USS _Housatonic_ , only to vanish immediately afterwards. In 1995 it was discovered off Sullivan's Island and carefully brought to shore. On weekends you can visit the _Hunley_ and see creepy facial reconstructions of her eight crew members.

### Mt Pleasant

Across the Cooper River is the residential and vacation community of Mt Pleasant, originally a summer retreat for early Charlestonians, along with the slim barrier resort islands of **Isle of Palms** and **Sullivan's Island**. Though increasingly glutted with traffic and strip malls, the area still has some charm, especially in the historic downtown, called the **Old Village**. Some good seafood restaurants sit overlooking the water at **Shem Creek** , where it's fun to dine creekside at sunset and watch the incoming fishing-boat crews unload their catch. This is also a good place to rent kayaks to tour the estuary. Stop by the **Isle of Palms Visitors Center** ( 843-849-9172; 311 Johnnie Dodds Blvd/Hwy 17;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri) for information and maps.

**Patriot's Point Naval & Maritime Museum** ( 843-884-2727; www.patriotspoint.org; 40 Patriots Point Rd; adult/child $16/8;  9am-6:30pm) is home to the USS _Yorktown,_ a giant aircraft carrier used extensively in WWII. You can tour the ship's flight deck, bridge and ready rooms and get a glimpse of what life was like for its sailors. There is also a small museum, submarine, naval destroyer, Coast Guard cutter and a re-created 'fire base' from Vietnam. You can also catch the Fort Sumter boat tour from here (Click here).

Just 7 miles from Charleston on Hwy 17 N, **Boone Hall Plantation** ( 843-884-4371; www.boonehallplantation.com; 1235 Long Point Rd; adult/child $17.50/7.50;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, 1-4pm Sun) claims to be America's most photographed plantation. It's famous for its magical Avenue of Oaks, planted by Thomas Boone in 1743. Boone Hall is still a working plantation, though strawberries, tomatoes and Christmas trees long ago replaced cotton as the primary crop.

Near Boone Hall, the **Charles Pinckney National Historic Site** ( 843-881-5516; 1254 Long Point Rd; admission free;  9am-5pm) sits on the remaining 28 acres of Snee Farm, once the expansive plantation of statesman Charles Pinckney. There are archaeological and historical exhibits in the 1820s cottage turned museum, and several walking trails meandering through the magnolias.

About 8 miles south of Charleston, **Folly Beach** is good for a day of sun and sand. **Folly Beach County Park** ( 843-588-2426; cars/pedestrians $5/free;  10am-6pm), on the west side, has public changing areas and beach-chair rentals. The other end of the island is popular with surfers.

### Ashley River Plantations

Only 20 minutes' drive from Charleston, three spectacular plantations are worthy of a detour. You'll be hard-pressed for time to visit all three in one outing, but you could squeeze in two (allow at least a couple of hours for each). If you've only got time to visit one, choose Magnolia Plantation (a better bet with kids) or Middleton Place (a delight for the sheer mastery of its gardens). Ashley River Rd is also known as SC 61, which can be reached from downtown Charleston via Hwy 17.

The 1738 Palladian brick mansion of **Drayton Hall** ( 843-769-2600; www.draytonhall.org; 3380 Ashley River Rd; adult/child $14/8;  9am-4:30pm, shorter hours in winter) was the only structure on the Ashley River to survive the Revolutionary and Civil Wars and the great earthquake of 1886. Guided tours through the empty house will appeal to history and architecture buffs.

**Magnolia Plantation** ( 843-571-1266; www.magnoliaplantation.com; 3550 Ashley River Rd; adult/child $15/10, plus per additional sight $7;  8am-5:30pm), which sits on 500 acres owned by the Drayton family since 1676, will be enjoyed even by those who disdain 'boring historical stuff.' It's a veritable plantation theme park, with a nature train, boat tours, a swamp walk, a petting zoo, and an outdoor café full of wandering peacocks, in addition to the guided house tour. Don't miss the reconstructed cabins of the slaves who once tended the indigo, cotton, corn and sugarcane.

Designed in 1741, the vast gardens of **Middleton Place** ( 843-556-6020; www.middletonplace.org; 4300 Ashley River Rd; adult/child $25/5;  9am-5pm) are the oldest in the US. One hundred slaves spent a decade terracing the land and digging the precise geometric canals for the owner, wealthy South Carolina politician Henry Middleton. The grounds, now maintained by a nonprofit organization, are truly bewitching, a mix of classic formal French gardens and romantic woodland settings. Popular horse-drawn carriage tours ($15) take visitors to see real flooded rice paddies. Horse tours are $10. In contrast to the antebellum plantation house, the on-site **inn** (r incl plantation admission from $184) is a series of modernist glass boxes overlooking the Ashley River.

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## SEA ISLANDS

From just north of Charleston, the southern half of the South Carolina coast is a tangle of islands cut off from the mainland by inlets and tidal marshes. Here, descendants of West African slaves known as the Gullah maintain small communities in the face of resort and golf-course development. The landscape ranges from tidy stretches of shimmery, oyster-gray sand, to wild, moss-shrouded maritime forests. The following islands can all be reached by road.

Upscale rental homes and golf courses abound on **Kiawah Island** , just southeast of Charleston, while nearby **Edisto Island** ( _ed_ -is-tow) is a homespun family vacation spot without a single traffic light. At its southern tip, **Edisto Beach State Park** ( 843-869-2156; admission $4; campsites from $17, furnished cabins from $72) has a gorgeous, uncrowded beach and oak-shaded hiking trails and campgrounds.

Between Kiawah and Edisto, agricultural **Wadmalaw Island** is home to **Charleston Tea Plantation** ( 843-559-0383; www.bigelowtea.com/act; 6617 Maybank Hwy; trolley tours $10, factory tours free;  10am-4pm, from noon Sun), America's only working tea farm. Ride a trolley through the fields, or buy prettily packaged Plantation Peach and Island Green teas in the gift shop.

On Port Royal Island, the darling colonial town of **Beaufort** (byoo-furt) is often used as a set for Hollywood films about the South. The streets of the historic district are lined with antebellum homes and magnolias dripping with Spanish moss, and the riverfront downtown has gobs of linger-worthy cafés and galleries. The **visitor center** ( 843-986-5400, 800-638-3525; www.beaufortsc.org; 1106 Carteret St;  9am-5:30pm) has maps and info on boat, carriage and walking tours.

South of Beaufort, some 20,000 young men and women go through boot camp each year at the **Marine Corps Recruit Depot** on Parris Island, made notorious by Stanley Kubrick's _Full Metal Jacket._ The fascinating base **museum** (www.pimuseum.com; admission free;  10am-4:30pm) has antique uniforms and weaponry. Come for Friday graduations to see newly minted marines parade proudly in front of weeping family and friends.

East of Beaufort, the Sea Island Pkwy/Hwy 21 connects a series of marshy, rural islands, including **St Helena Island** , considered the heart of Gullah country. Once one of the nation's first schools for freed slaves, the **Penn Center** ( 843-838-2432; www.penncenter.org; adult/child $4/2;  11am-4pm Mon-Sat) has a small museum of Gullah culture and is a good place to get info for further exploration. Further down the road, **Hunting Island State Park** ( 843-838-2011; www.huntingisland.com; adult/child $4/2; campsites from $17, cabins from $89) has acres of spooky maritime forest, tidal lagoons, and empty, bone-white beach. The Vietnam War scenes from _Forrest Gump_ were filmed in the marsh, a nature-lover's dream. Campgrounds fill up quickly in summer.

Across Port Royal Sound, tony **Hilton Head Island** is South Carolina's largest barrier island and one of America's top golf spots. There are literally dozens of courses, many enclosed in posh private residential communities called 'plantations.' Though summer traffic and miles of stoplights make it hard to see the forest (or a tree) along Hwy 278, there are some lush nature preserves and wide white beaches hard enough to ride a bike on. At the entrance to the island is the **visitor center** ( 800-523-3373;  9:30am-5pm), with a small museum and info on accommodations and, well, golf.

* * *

# WHAT THE...?

Yes, that's a giant sombrero rising above I-95 on the North Carolina–South Carolina state line. _Bienvenidos_ to **South of the Border** , a Mexican-flavored monument to American kitsch. Begun in 1950s as a fireworks stand – pyrotechnics are illegal in North Carolina –it's since morphed into a combo rest stop, souvenir mall, motel and (mostly defunct) amusement park, promoted on hundreds of billboards by a wildly stereotypical Mexican cartoon character named Pedro. Stop for a photo, some taffy, and a key chain that pees when you squeeze it.

* * *

* * *

# GULLAH CULTURE

Many parts of the US resemble the European cities from which the founding settlers emigrated, but only on remote islands along the Georgia and South Carolina coast can the same claim be given to Africa. From the region known as the Rice Coast (Sierra Leone, Senegal, The Gambia and Angola), African slaves were transported across the Atlantic to a landscape that was shockingly similar – swampy coastlines, tropical vegetation and hot, humid summers.

These new African Americans were able to retain many of their homeland traditions, even after the fall of slavery and well into the 20th century. The resulting Gullah (also known as Geechee) culture has its own language, an English-based Creole with many African words and sentence structures, and many traditions, including fantastic storytelling, art, music and crafts. The Gullah culture is celebrated annually with the energetic **Gullah Festival** ( 843-525-0628; www.gullahfestival.org) in Beaufort. As many as 70,000 people gather on the last weekend in May to enjoy music, dance and crafts, including the famous Gullah sweetgrass baskets, and to eat traditional foods such as fried whiting, candied yams and okra gumbo.

* * *

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## NORTH COAST

The coastline from the North Carolina border to the city of Georgetown is known as the Grand Strand, with some 60 miles of fast-food joints, beach resorts and three-story souvenir shops. What was once a laid-back summer destination for working-class people from across the Southeast has become some of the most overdeveloped real estate in the country. Whether you're ensconced in a behemoth resort or sleeping in a tent at a state park, all you need to enjoy your stay is a pair of flip-flops, a margarita and some quarters for the pinball machine.

### Myrtle Beach

Love it or hate it, Myrtle Beach means summer vacation, American-style.

Bikers take advantage of the lack of helmet laws to let their graying ponytails fly in the wind, bikini-clad teenagers play Pac-Man and eat hot dogs in smoky arcades, and whole families roast like chickens on the white sand.

North Myrtle Beach, actually a separate town, is slightly lower-key, with a thriving culture based on the 'shag' (no, not that kind of shag) – a jitterbug-like dance invented here in the 1940s.

It ain't for nature-lovers, but with enormous outlet malls and innumerable mini-golf courses, water parks, daiquiri bars and T-shirt shops, it's a rowdy good time.

There's internet access at **Chapin Memorial Library** ( 843-918-1275; 400 14th Ave N;  9am-6pm Mon-Thu, to 5pm Fri & Sat) and loads of maps and brochures at the **visitor center** ( 843-626-7444, 800-496-8250; www.myrtlebeachinfo.com; 1200 N Oak St;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat).

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

The beach itself is pleasant enough – wide, hot and crowded with umbrellas. Beachfront Ocean Blvd has the bulk of the hamburger stands and seedy gift shops. Hwy 17 is utterly choked with mini-golf courses, boasting everything from animatronic dinosaurs to faux volcanoes spewing lurid-pink water.

Several amusement park/shopping mall hybrids teem with people at all hours. **Broadway at the Beach** ( 843-444-3200; www.broadwayatthebeach.com; 1325 Celebrity Circle), with shops, restaurants, nightclubs, rides and an IMAX theater, is the largest.

**Family Kingdom** ( 843-626-3447; www.family-kingdom.com; combo pass $33) is an old-fashioned amusement-and-water-park combo overlooking the ocean. Hours vary by season; it's closed in winter.

Go parasailing or rent jet skis or speed boats at **Myrtle Beach Water Sports** ( 843-497-8848; www.myrtlebeachwatersports.com; 17th Ave S, North Myrtle Beach; jet ski rental per hr/half-day $60/95).

Sixteen miles south of town on Hwy 17 S, magical **Brookgreen Gardens** ( 843-235-6000; www.brookgreen.org; adult/child $12/5;  9:30am-5pm) are home to the largest collection of American sculpture in the country, set amid 9000 acres of rice plantation turned subtropical garden paradise.

#### SLEEPING

Hundreds of hotels, ranging from retro family-run motor inns to vast resort complexes, have prices that vary widely by season; a room might cost $30 in January and more than $150 in July. The following lists summer high-season rates.

**Myrtle Beach State Park** ( 843-238-5325; www.southcarolinaparks.com; campsites $23-25, cabins & apts $54-124;          ) Most campgrounds are veritable parking lots catering to families with RVs, but the best camping is found in the shady sites of this state park, 3 miles south of central Myrtle Beach.

**Landmark Resort** ( 843-448-9441; www.landmarkresort.com; 1501 S Ocean Blvd; d $95-165;          ) Didn't get to go to summer camp as a kid? This family-oriented behemoth will make up for it, with a full menu of activities from beach kickball to tie-dying, the 'South's largest indoor pool complex,' and bright, modern rooms.

**Breakers** ( 800-952-4507; www.breakers.com; 2006 N Ocean Blvd; d $129-289;          ) This longstanding megaresort has three towers of crisp, summery-yellow suites, with only-in-Myrtle-Beach amenities like a pirate-ship swimming pool and a pirate-themed bar.

#### EATING

The thousands of restaurants are mostly high-volume and middlebrow – think buffets longer than bowling alleys, and 24-hour doughnut shops. Ironically, good seafood is hard to come by; locals go to the nearby fishing village of Murrells Inlet. North Myrtle Beach has some cute retro-style ice-cream and hamburger stands.

**Prosser's BBQ** ( 843-357-6146; 3750 Business Hwy 17; buffets $6;  ) Your best bet on Murrells Inlet's 'restaurant row,' homey Prosser's has a gut-busting buffet of fried fish and chicken, sweet potatoes, mac 'n' cheese, and vinegary pulled pork. Hours vary by season. Worth the drive.

**Duffy Street Seafood Shack** ( 843-281-9840; 202 Main St, North Myrtle Beach; mains $7-15;  4pm-late) This place has a divey, peanut-shells-on-the-floor ambience and a raw bar 'happy hour' with 30¢ shrimp.

#### DRINKING & ENTERTAINMENT

 **Fat Harold's Beach Club** ( 843-249-5779; 212 Main St, North Myrtle Beach) It's a gas to watch the graying beach bums groove to doo-wop and old-time rock 'n' roll at this North Myrtle institution, which calls itself 'Home of the Shag.' The dance, that is. Free shag lessons are offered at 7pm every Tuesday.

The **Carolina Opry** ( 843-913-1400; www.thecarolinaopry.com; 8901a Business 17 N; tickets from $35;  8pm Mon-Sat) has glittery musicals and variety shows, but **Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede** ( 800-433-4401; www.dixiestampede.com; 8901 Hwy 17 N; admission incl dinner $42) out-glitters them all with a nightly dinner theater extravaganza involving herds of buffalo and flag-waving stunt riders.

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

The traffic coming and going on Hwy 17 Business/Kings Hwy can be infuriating. To avoid 'the Strand' altogether, stay on the Hwy 17 bypass, or take Hwy 31/Carolina Bays Pkwy, which parallels Hwy 17 between Hwy 501 and Hwy 9.

**Myrtle Beach International Airport** (MYR;  843-448-1589; 1100 Jetport Rd) is located within the city limits, as is the **Greyhound** ( 843-448-2472; 511 7th Ave N) station.

### Around Myrtle Beach

Fifteen minutes down I-17 is **Pawleys Island** , a narrow strip of pastel sea cottages that's worlds away from the neon of Myrtle Beach. There's not much to do here but kayak and fish, but that's just fine. Another 15 minutes will bring you to mellow **Georgetown** , South Carolina's third-oldest city. Have lunch on Front St, with photogenic 19th-century storefronts overlooking the water, or use it as a quiet jumping-off point for exploring the Francis Marion National Forest (see the boxed text, opposite).

Return to beginning of chapter

## COLUMBIA

South Carolina's state capital is a quiet place, with wide, shady streets and the kind of old-fashioned downtown where pillbox hats are still on display in the windows of family-run department stores. The University of South Carolina adds a youthful vibe, and college students whoop it up over basketball wins in campus-side bars. Though Columbia is a pleasant stop, most visitors, like General Sherman's troops, charge on through to the coast.

The **visitor center** ( 803-545-0002; www.columbiacvb.com; 1101 Lincoln St;  8am-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-4pm Sat, 1pm-6pm Sun) has information about four historic houses open for tours, including Woodrow Wilson's boyhood home (closed for renovations at the time of research).

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# EXPLORING SOUTH CAROLINA SWAMPS

Inky-black water, dyed with tannic acid leached from decaying plant matter. Bone-white cypress stumps like the femurs of long-dead giants. Spanish moss as dry and gray as witches' hair. There's nothing like hiking or canoeing through one of South Carolina's unearthly swamps to make you feel like a character in a Southern Gothic novel.

About 45 minutes from Charleston, **Beidler Forest** ( 843-462-2150; www.beidlerforest.com; 336 Sanctuary Rd, Harleyville;  9am-5pm Tue-Sun; adult/child $7/3.50) is a spooky 1800 acres of cypress swamp managed by the Audubon Society, who lead springtime weekend canoe trips (adult/child $30/15).

Near Columbia, the 22,000-acre **Congaree National Park** ( 803-776-4396; www.nps.gov/cosw; 100 National Park Rd, Hopkins;  8:30am-5pm), America's largest contiguous, old-growth floodplain forest, has camping and free ranger-led canoe trips (reserve in advance). Casual day-trippers can wander the 2.4-mile elevated boardwalk.

Between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, **Francis Marion National Forest** ( 843-928-3368; 5821 Hwy 17 N, Awendaw) has 259,000 acres of black-water creeks, camping, and hiking trails, including the 42-mile Palmetto Trail, which runs along old logging routes. Charleston-based **Nature Adventures Outfitters** ( 843-568-3222; www.natureadventuresoutfitters.com; adult/child half-day $55/39) leads kayak and canoe trips.

* * *

The grand, Corinthian-columned **State House** ( 803-734-2430; www.scstatehouse.gov; 1100 Gervais St; admission free;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, from 10am Sat) has bronze stars on its west side to mark the impacts from Northern troops' cannonballs.

The **South Carolina State Museum** ( 803-898-4921; www.museum.state.sc.us; 301 Gervais St; adult/child $7/3;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, from 1pm Sun) is housed in an 1894 textile factory building, one of the world's first electrically powered mills. Exhibits on science, technology and the state's cultural and natural history make a nice activity for a rainy day.

For eating and entertainment, head down Gervais St to the Vista, a hip renovated warehouse district popular with young professionals. For coffee and cheap ethnic food, mingle with USC students in Five Points, where Harden, Greene and Devine Sts meet Saluda Ave. There are plenty of chain hotels off I-26. In Five Points, the 28-room **Inn at Claussen's** ( 803-765-0440; www.theinnatclaussens.com; 2003 Greene St; r $125-145) gamely attempts a boutique art deco look, with modest success.

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# TENNESSEE

Most states have one official state song. Tennessee has seven. And that's not just a random fact – Tennessee has music deep within its soul. Here, the folk music of the Scots-Irish in the eastern mountains combined with the bluesy rhythms of the African Americans in the western Delta to give birth to the modern country music that makes Nashville famous.

These three geographic regions, represented by the three stars on the Tennessee flag, have their own unique beauty: the heather-colored peaks of the Great Smoky Mountains descend into lush green valleys in the central plateau around Nashville and then onto the hot, sultry lowlands near Memphis.

In Tennessee, you can hike shady mountain trails in the morning, and by evening whoop it up in a Nashville honky-tonk or walk the streets of Memphis with Elvis' ghost.

From country churches where snake handlers still speak in tongues to modern cities where record execs wear their sunglasses even at night, Tennesseans are a zesty lot.

### History

Spanish settlers first explored Tennessee in 1539 and French traders were plying the rivers by the 17th century. Virginian pioneers soon established their own settlement and fought the British in the American Revolution. Tennessee joined the United States as the 16th state in 1796, taking its named from the Cherokee town of Tanasi.

The Cherokee themselves were brutally booted from their homes, along with many other Tennessee tribes, in the mid-1800s and marched west along the Trail of Tears.

Tennessee was the second-to-last Southern state to secede during the Civil War, and many important battles were fought here. Immediately following the war, six Confederate veterans from the town of Pulaski formed the infamous Ku Klux Klan to disenfranchise and terrorize the newly free blacks.

Major industries today are textiles, tobacco, cattle and chemicals, with tourism, especially in Nashville and Memphis, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

### Information

**Department of Environment & Conservation** ( 888-867-2757; www.state.tn.us/environment/parks) Check out this well-organized website for camping (prices range from free to $27 or more), hiking and fishing info for Tennessee's more than 50 state parks.

**Department of Tourist Development** ( 615-741-2159, 800-462-8366; www.tnvacation.com; 312 8th Ave N, Nashville) Has welcome centers at the state borders.

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## MEMPHIS

Memphis doesn't just attract tourists. It draws pilgrims. Music-lovers come to lose themselves amid the throb of blues guitar on Beale St. Barbecue connoisseurs come to stuff themselves sick on smoky pulled pork and dry-rubbed ribs. Elvis fanatics fly in from London and Reykjavik and Osaka to worship at the altar of the King at Graceland. You could spend days hopping from one museum or historic site to another, stopping only for a spot o' barbecue, and leave happy.

But once you get away from the lights and the tourist buses, Memphis is a different place entirely. Named after the capital of ancient Egypt, it has a certain baroquely ruined quality that's both sad and beguiling. Poverty is rampant – Victorian mansions sit next to tumbledown shotgun shacks (small houses found throughout Southern cities), college campuses lie in the shadow of eerie abandoned factories, and whole neighborhoods seem to have been nearly reclaimed by kudzu and honeysuckle vines.

But Memphis' wild river-town spirit reveals itself to visitors willing to look. Keep your eyes open and you'll find some of the country's strangest museums, most deliciously oddball restaurants (barbecued spaghetti, anyone?), spookiest cemeteries and craziest dive bars.

### History

Originally home to members of the native Mississippian culture, the area that would become Memphis was occupied by the French in the 18th century. It became part of the new state of Tennessee in 1796 and quickly prospered on the expanding cotton trade of the Mississippi Delta.

Union troops occupied the city during the Civil War, but the postwar collapse of the cotton trade was far more devastating. After a yellow fever outbreak caused most whites to flee the city, Memphis was forced to declare bankruptcy. The African American community revived the town, led by Robert Church, a former slave. By the early 1900s Beale St was the hub of black social and civic activity, becoming an early center for what became known as blues music. In the '50s and '60s, local recording companies cut tracks for blues, soul, R & B and rockabilly artists like Al Green, Johnny Cash and Elvis, cementing Memphis' place in the American music firmament.

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# TENNESSEE FACTS

**Nickname** Volunteer State

**Population** 6.2 million

**Area** 41,217 sq miles

**Capital** **city** Nashville (population 590,807)

**Major city** Memphis (population 670,902)

**Sales tax** 7%, plus local taxes of up to about 15%

**Birthplace of** Frontiersman Davy Crockett (1786–1836), soul diva Aretha Franklin (b 1942), singer Dolly Parton (b 1946), former vice president Al Gore (b 1948)

**Home of** Graceland, _Grand Ole Opry_ , Jack Daniel's distillery

**Famous** **for** 'Tennessee Waltz,' country music, Tennessee walking horses

**Odd law** In Tennessee, it's illegal to fire a gun at any wild game, other than whales, from a moving vehicle

**Driving distances** Memphis to Nashville 213 miles, Nashville to Great Smoky Mountains National Park 223 miles

* * *

### Orientation

Downtown Memphis lies along the east bank of the Mississippi. The principal tourist district is a bit inland, roughly bounded by Union Ave and Beale St, and Main and 4th Sts. A bit south, the S Main Arts District has some funky bars and restaurants. Further east, Midtown Memphis has several hip neighborhoods with shopping and dining, especially around Overton Sq (off N Cooper St) and Cooper-Young (the intersection of Cooper St and Young Ave). Graceland is 3 miles south of town on US 51, also called 'Elvis Presley Blvd.'

### Information

#### EMERGENCY & MEDICAL SERVICES

**Police station** ( 901-543-2677; 545 S Main St)

**Regional Medical Center** ( 901-545-7100; 877 Jefferson Ave) Has the only level-one trauma center in the region.

#### INTERNET ACCESS

**Public library** ( 901-526-1712; 33 S Front St;  10am-5pm Mon-Fri) Computers with free internet access.

**Quetzal Cafe** ( 901-521-8388; 668 Union Ave;  7:30am-10pm Mon-Wed, to 3am Fri & Sat, to 3pm Sun) Has both wi-fi and public terminals in a trendy brick storefront.

#### MEDIA

**Commercial Appeal** (www.commercialappeal.com) Daily newspaper.

**Memphis Flyer** (www.memphisflyer.com) Free weekly distributed on Thursday; has entertainment listings.

**Triangle Journal News** (www.tjmemphis.com) Free monthly for the gay community.

#### POST

**Main post office** ( 901-521-2559; 555 S 3rd St;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri)

#### TOURIST INFORMATION

**Tennessee State** **Visitor Center** ( 901-543-5333, 888-633-9099; www.memphistravel.com; 119 N Riverside Dr;  9am-5pm Nov-Mar, to 6pm Apr-Oct) Stocked with brochures for the whole state.

### Sights & Activities

#### GRACELAND

Though born in Mississippi, Elvis Presley was a true son of Memphis, raised in the Lauderdale Courts public housing projects, inspired by the blues in the Beale St clubs, and discovered at Sun Studio (Click here) on Union Ave. In the spring of 1957, the already-famous 22-year-old spent $100,000 on a Colonial-style mansion called **Graceland** ( 901-332-3322, 800-238-2000; www.elvis.com; Elvis Presley Blvd/US 51; house-only tour adult/child $28/12, full tour $33/15;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, to 4pm Sun, shorter hours & closed Tue winter). Priscilla Presley (who divorced Elvis in 1973) opened Graceland to tours in 1982, and now millions come here to pay homage to the King and gawk at the infamous decor. The King himself had the place redecorated in 1974; with a 15ft couch, fake waterfall, yellow vinyl walls and green shag-carpet ceiling – it's a virtual textbook of ostentatious '70s style. Elvis died here in 1977, killed by heart failure in the upstairs bathroom. Throngs of fans still weep at his grave, next to the swimming pool out back.

You begin your tour at the high-tech visitor plaza on the other side of seedy Elvis Presley Blvd. Book ahead in the busy season to ensure a prompt tour time. The basic self-guided mansion tour comes with a headset audio narration with the voices of Elvis, Priscilla and Lisa Marie. Buy a package to see the entire estate, or pay extra for additional attractions: the 'Elvis in Hollywood' memorabilia collection, the car museum, and two custom airplanes. Parking costs $6. Nondrivers can take bus 43 from downtown, or hop on the free Sun Studio shuttle (Click here).

#### NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

Housed in the Lorraine Motel, where the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr was fatally shot on April 4, 1968, is the gut-wrenching **National Civil Rights Museum** ( 901-521-9699; www.civilrightsmuseum.org; 450 Mulberry St; adult/child $12/8.50;  9am-5pm Mon & Wed-Sat, 1pm-5pm Sun Sep-May, to 6pm Jun-Aug). Five blocks south of Beale St, this museum's extensive exhibits, detailed timeline and accompanying audio-guide chronicle the ongoing struggles for African American freedom and equality in the US. Both Dr King's cultural contribution and his assassination serve as prisms for looking at the Civil Rights movement, its precursors and its indelible and continuing impact on American life. The turquoise exterior of the 1950s motel and two preserved interior rooms remain much as they were at the time of King's death, and serve as pilgrimage points in their own right.

#### MUSIC SIGHTS

 **Sun Studio** ( 901-521-0664, 800-441-6249; www.sunstudio.com; 706 Union Ave; adult/child $12/free;  10am-6pm) doesn't look like much from outside, but this dusty storefront is ground zero for American rock and roll music. Starting in the early 1950s, Sun's Sam Phillips recorded blues artists such as Howlin' Wolf, BB King and Ike Turner, followed by the rockabilly dynasty of Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and, of course, the King himself (who started here in 1953). Today packed 40-minute guided tours through the tiny studio offer a chance to hear original tapes of historic recording sessions. Guides are witty and full of anecdotes; many are musicians themselves. Pose for photos in the old recording studio on the 'X' where Elvis once stood, or buy a CD of the 'Million Dollar Quartet,' Sun's spontaneous 1956 jam session between Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis.

From here, you can hop on the studio's free shuttle (hourly, starting at 11:15am), which does a loop between Sun Studio, Beale St and Graceland.

Wanna get funky? Head directly to Soulsville USA, where the 17,000-sq-ft **Stax Museum of American Soul Music** ( 901-946-2535; www.staxmuseum.com; 926 E McLemore Ave; adult/child $10/7;  9am-4pm Mon-Sat, 1-4pm Sun Mar-Oct, 10am-4pm Mon-Sat, 1-4pm Sun Nov-Feb) sits on the site of the old Stax recording studio. This venerable spot was soul music's epicenter in the 1960s, when Otis Redding, Booker T and the MGs and Wilson Pickett recorded here. Dive into soul-music history with photos, displays of '60s and '70s peacock clothing and, above all, Isaac Hayes' 1972 Superfly Cadillac outfitted with shag-fur carpeting and 24-karat-gold exterior trim.

If you're in town on a Sunday, put on your least-wrinkled pants and head to services at South Memphis' **Full Gospel Tabernacle Church** ( 901-396-9192; www.algreenmusic.com; 787 Hale Rd;  services 11:30am & 4pm Sun), where soul music legend turned reverend Al Green presides over a powerful choir. Visitors are welcome, and usually take up about half the pews. Join in the whooping 'hallelujahs,' but don't forget to tithe (about $1 is fine).

#### BEALE STREET

The pedestrian-only stretch of Beale St is a 24-hour carnival zone, where you'll find deep-fried funnel cakes, to-go beer counters, and music, music, music. Although locals don't hang out here much, visitors tend to get a kick out of the ribald, party-happy atmosphere.

Originally built for vaudeville, the **Orpheum Theatre** ( 901-525-7800; www.orpheum-memphis.com; 203 S Main St) has been restored to its glittering 1928 glory. Today you can catch big comedy and Broadway shows, but beware; the ghost of a pigtailed little girl named Mary is said to giggle eerily between acts.

The original **A Schwab's** ( 901-523-9782; 163 Beale St;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat) dry-goods store has three floors of voodoo powders, $1 neckties and Elvis shot glasses.

On the corner of 4th St, the **WC Handy House Museum** ( 901-522-1556; 352 Beale St; adult/child $3/2;  11am-4pm Tue-Sat, later in summer) is a shotgun shack once belonging to the composer called the 'father of the blues.'

The Smithsonian's **Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum** ( 901-205-2533; www.memphisrocknsoul.org; cnr Lt George W Lee Ave & 3rd St; adult/child $9/6;  10am-7pm), next to FedEx Forum, examines how African American and white music mingled in the Mississippi Delta to create modern sound. The audio tour has more than 100 songs.

Take the fascinating 45-minute tour of the enormous **Gibson Beale Street Showcase** ( 901-544-7998; www.gibson.com; 145 Lt George W Lee Ave; admission $10, no children under 5;  tours 11am-4pm Mon-Sat, noon-4pm Sun) to see master craftspeople transform solid blocks of wood into legendary Gibson guitars. Tours leave on the hour.

#### MISSISSIPPI RIVER & MUD ISLAND

A monorail ($4, or free with museum admission) and elevated walkway cross the Wolf River Lagoon to **Mud Island River Park** ( 901-576-7241; www.mudisland.com; 125 N Front St;  10am-5pm Tue-Sun, later in summer;  ). Jog, rent bikes, or wade in the park's awesome scale model of the Mississippi, which empties into a 1.3-million-gallon 'Gulf of Mexico' where visitors tool around in pedal boats. The **Mississippi River Museum** ( 901-576-7241; www.mudisland.com; adult/child $8/5;  10am-5pm Apr-May & Sep-Oct, to 6pm Jun-Aug, closed Mon) has a cool full-size replica of a packet boat and other historical displays.

#### MUSEUMS & HISTORIC HOMES

The 'Victorian Village' district on Adams Ave, east of downtown, has several stunning historic homes, though some are in rather Gothic states of decay. Not so the grand 1870 **Woodruff-Fontaine House** ( 901-526-1469; www.woodruff-fontaine.com; 680 Adams Ave; adult/child $10/free;  noon-4pm Wed-Sun), which carefully preserves Victorian clothing and furnishings. Docents tell ghost stories.

**Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum/Burkle Estate** ( 901-527-3427; 826 N 2nd St; adult/child $6/4;  10am-1pm Mon-Sat), in an unimposing clapboard house, is thought to have been a way station for runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad, complete with trapdoors and tunnels.

The **Center for Southern Folklore** ( 901-525-3655; www.southernfolklore.com; 119 S Main St; admission free;  11am-6pm Mon-Sat, to 5pm in winter), is a well-tended community space with a café, craft gallery and frequent (free!) local music performances and film screenings.

**Children's Museum of Memphis** ( 901-458-2678; www.cmom.com; 2525 Central Ave; admission $9;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun;  ) gives the kids a chance to let loose and play in, on and with exhibits such as an airplane cockpit, weaving loom and waterwheel.

The 1923 **Pink Palace Museum & Planetarium** ( 901-320-6320; www.memphismuseums.org; 3050 Central Ave; adult/child $8.75/6.25, free Tue afternoon;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun) was built as a residence for Piggly Wiggly founder Clarence Saunders and opened in 1996 as a natural- and cultural-history museum. It mixes fossils, Civil War exhibits and an exact replica of the original 1916 Piggly Wiggly, the world's first self-service grocery store. It also has an IMAX theater.

#### OVERTON PARK

Stately homes surround the rolling acres of **Overton Park** (Poplar Ave), where the **Levitt Shell** ( 901-272-5159; www.levittshell.org) was the site of Elvis' first concert, in 1954. Today the newly reopened band shell hosts free concerts all summer.

Also within the park, the world-class **Memphis Zoo** ( 901-276-9453; www.memphiszoo.org; 2000 Prentiss Pl; adult/child $13/8;  9am-4pm Mar-Oct, to 4pm Nov-Feb;  ) hosts two giant panda stars, Ya Ya and Le Le, in a $16-million exhibit on native Chinese wildlife and habitat. The Northwest Passage section is home to polar bears, sea lions and eagles. Other residents include the full gamut of monkeys, penguins, African wildlife, etc. Imagine an animal, the zoo probably has it.

At the park's edge is the **Brooks Museum of Art** ( 901-544-6200; www.brooksmuseum.org; 1934 Poplar Ave; adult/child $7/3;  10am-4pm Wed-Sat, to 8pm Thu, 11:30am-5pm Sun), with an excellent permanent collection encompassing everything from Renaissance sculpture to Impressionists like Renoir to abstract expressionists like Robert Motherwell.

### Tours

**Blues City Tours** ( 901-522-9229; www.bluescitytours.com; adult/child from $24/16) A variety of bus tours, including an Elvis tour.

* * *

# HOT TOPIC: ABANDONED MEMPHIS

Memphis has struggled with money since the Civil War, leaving it with more than its share of abandoned buildings. What to do with these 'big empties' remains a matter of intense debate among citizens. Here are some of the most bizarre, fascinating and photogenic ruins you'll encounter:

**Hotel Chisca** (1913 S Main St) Legendary DJ Dewey Phillips first put Elvis on the airwaves from the WHBQ studio in the mezzanine of this hotel, vacant since the 1990s.

**Sears Crosstown** (N Watkins St) Blotting out the Midtown sun like something from a Tim Burton film, this 1.4-million-sq-ft department store headquarters is too expensive to redevelop or to tear down. Built in 1927, it's been abandoned since 1993.

**Sterick Building** (8 N 3rd St) Towering over AutoZone Park, this Gothic 1929 office building was once called the 'Queen of Memphis.' It's been empty since the 1980s.

**Tennessee Brewery** (Tennessee St) This castlelike Victorian complex, built in 1890 overlooking the river, was one of the South's most venerable breweries until it closed its doors a half-century ago. Renovation talks are ongoing.

**The Pyramid** The 321ft-high Pyramid was meant to be the city's version of the Eiffel Tower, dominating the downtown riverfront since 1991. But the money never came through and, after years as a sports and concert arena, it has sat empty since 2007.

* * *

**Carriage Tours of Memphis** ( 901-527-7542; www.carriagetoursofmemphis.com; per 30min $45) Horse carriages depart from Beale St or the Peabody Hotel.

**Memphis Riverboats** ( 901-527-5694, 800-221-6197; www.memphisriverboats.net; adult/child from $20/17) Sightseeing and dinner cruises on the Mississippi.

**Memphis Rock Tours** ( 901-359-3102; www.shangrilaprojects.com; 2-person tour $75) Quirky custom tours of music sites and local restaurants.

### Festivals & Events

**International Blues Challenge** (www.blues.org)Sponsored by the Blues Foundation, each January/February blues acts do battle in front of a panel of judges.

**Memphis in May** (www.memphisinmay.org) Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in May, something's cookin', whether it's the Beale St Music Festival, the barbecue contest or the grand finale sunset symphony.

**Mid-South Fair** (www.midsouthfair.org) Since 1856, folks come out each September to this combo amusement park and agricultural fair.

### Sleeping

Cheap and ultracheap chain motels lie off I-40, exit 279, across the river in West Memphis, AR.

**Pilgrim House Hostel** ( 901-273-8341; 1000 S Cooper St; dm/r $15/25;        ) Yes, it's in a church. No, no one will try to convert you. But the chatty young live-in staff may well invite you for a beer down the street, in Midtown's trendy Cooper-Young neighborhood. An international crowd plays cards and chats (no alcohol) in a sunny, open common area resembling an IKEA catalog. Dorms and private rooms are clean and spare. All guests must do a brief daily chore, like taking out the trash.

**Memphis Graceland RV Park & Campground** ( 901-396-7125; www.elvis.com; 3691 Elvis Presley Blvd; campsites/cabins from $23/42;     ) Next to Graceland and owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises, keep Lisa Marie in business when you camp out or sleep in the no-frills log cabins (with shared bathrooms).

**Days Inn Graceland** ( 901-346-5500; www.daysinn.com; 3839, Elvis Presley Blvd; r from $85;      ) With a guitar-shaped pool, 24-hour Elvis channel, and neon Cadillacs on the roof, the Days Inn manages to out-Elvis the neighboring Heartbreak Hotel. Guest rooms themselves are clean but nothing special.

**Sleep Inn at Court Square** ( 901-522-9700; www.sleepinn.com; 400 N Front St; r from $94;   ) One of the cheapest downtown options, this stubby stucco box has pleasant modern rooms, with sage-green walls, sparkling shower-only baths, and flat-screen TVs. Parking is $12.

**Heartbreak Hotel** ( 901-332-1000, 877-777-0606; www.elvis.com/epheartbreakhotel/; 3677 Elvis Presley Blvd; d from $112;            ) At the end of Lonely St (seriously) across from Graceland, this basic hotel is tarted up with all things Elvis. Ramp up the kitsch with one of the themed suites, like the red-velvet monstrosity that is the Burnin' Love room.

**Inn at Hunt Phelan** ( 901-525-8225; www.huntphelan.com; 533 Beale St; ste from $129;        ) Outside the gates are dystopian warehouses and vacant lots. But inside the gates, it's still 1828, the year this aristocratic mansion was built. Sip complimentary evening cocktails by the courtyard fountain and wander the 4.5-acre gardens before retiring to your four-poster bed (or heading to the Beale St bars, just down the road).

 **Talbot Heirs** ( 901-527-9772, 800-955-3956; www.talbothouse.com; 99 S 2nd St; ste from $130;   ) More like studio apartments than hotel rooms, each suite has individually chosen furniture and each kitchen is stocked with snacks. Kilim rugs, local artwork, and warm sunlight and staff make this cheerful brownstone smack in the middle of downtown both convenient and comfy. Parking costs $10.

**Peabody Hotel** ( 901-529-4000, 800-732-2639; www.peabodymemphis.com; 149 Union Ave; r from $199;      ) This grande dame has been Memphis' premier hotel since the 1930s. It's a social center, with a spa, superb restaurants and a classy lobby bar. It also boasts its own quirky tradition: every day for 85 years, at 11am sharp, the hotel's 10 ducks file from the elevator across the red-carpeted lobby, accompanied by their red-coated Duckmaster. The birds cavort in the fountain until 5pm, when they retire to their penthouse. Parking is $21.

### Eating

Locals come to blows over which of the city's chopped-pork sandwiches or dry-rubbed ribs are the best. Barbecue joints are scattered across the city; the ugliest exteriors often yield the tastiest goods. Hip young locals head to the S Main Arts District, or Cooper-Young for dinner and drinks.

#### BUDGET

**Payne's Bar-B-Q** ( 901-942-7433; 1393 Elvis Presley Blvd; mains $4-6;  11am-6:30pm Tue-Sat) We'd say this smudgy South Memphis storefront has the best chopped-pork sandwich in town, but we don't want to have to fight anyone. Decide for yourself.

**Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken** ( 901-527-4877; 310 S Front St; mains $5-9;  11am-9pm Sun-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat) Fried chicken connoisseurs across the globe twitch in their sleep at night, dreaming about the gossamer-light fried chicken at this downtown concrete bunker.

**Leonard's** ( 901-528-0875; 103 N Main St; mains $5-12;  11am-2pm Mon & Tue, 11am-2pm & 5-8pm Wed-Fri) The lunch buffet here is popular with downtown office workers, though lord knows how they get any work done afterwards. Pile on the turnip greens, corn pudding, hot-buttered peaches and – oh! – the most succulent, aggressively spiced ribs.

 **Cozy Corner** ( 901-527-9158; 745 N Pkwy; mains $5-16;  10:30am-5pm Tue-Sat, later in summer) Slouch in a torn vinyl booth and devour an entire barbecued Cornish game hen, the house specialty at this pug-ugly cult favorite.

**Neely's Interstate Bar-B-Q** ( 901-775-1045; 2265 S 3rd St; mains $5-16;  11am-11pm Sun-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat) Two words: barbecued spaghetti. It's just as weird as it sounds, but not half bad. Jim Neely's ribs and chopped-shoulder sandwiches are superb, and the atmosphere is homey and family-friendly.

**Arcade** ( 901-526-5757; 540 S Main St; mains $6-8;  7am-3pm, plus dinner Fri) Elvis used to eat at this ultraretro diner, Memphis' oldest. Crowds still pack in for sweet potato pancakes and cheeseburgers.

#### MIDRANGE & TOP END

**Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous** ( 901-523-2746; www.hogsfly.com; 52 S 2nd St; mains $7-18;  4:30-10:30pm Tue-Thu, 11am-11pm Fri & Sat) Tucked in an alleyway off Union Ave, this subterranean institution sells an astonishing 5 tons of its exquisite dry-rubbed ribs weekly. Friendly service and walls plastered with historic memorabilia make eating here an event.

**Automatic Slim's Tonga Club** ( 901-525-7948; 83 S 2nd St; mains $17-26;  11am-late) This sleek, artsy bistro has fusion fare like jerk duck and coconut shrimp, and huge, crayon-colored cocktails.

**Restaurant Iris** ( 901-590-2828; 4146 Monroe Ave; mains $22-34;  5-10pm Tue-Sat, 11am-3pm Sun) Chef Kelly English richly deserved his _Food & Wine Magazine_ 2009 Best New Chef award. Since opening Iris in 2008, his avant-garde Creole menu has been sending foodies into paroxysms of delight with playful entries like a 'ham and cheese' of fried Camembert and _tête de cochon_ (roast pig head). The setting, in a green cottage on a residential Midtown block, is so low-profile it feels like a speakeasy.

### Drinking & Entertainment

Many Memphis restaurants and bars mix food, drinks and music, so it's easy to turn a meal into a party. Beale St is the obvious spot for live blues, country, rock and jazz. Cover for most clubs is free or only a few bucks. Beale St warms up early, and its bars are open all day, while neighborhood clubs tend to start filling up around 10pm. Last call for alcohol is 3am, but bars sometimes close earlier on quiet nights. Hip locals head to the Cooper-Young neighborhood for everything from margarita bars to Irish pubs. To find out what live acts are playing, check www.livefrommemphis.com.

#### BARS

 **Earnestine & Hazel's** ( 901-523-9754; 531 S Main St) One of the world's greatest dive bars has a second floor full of rusty bedsprings and claw-foot tubs, remnants of its brothel past.

**Silky O'Sullivan's** ( 901-522-9596; 183 Beale St) Party-happy youth swill 'divers' out of yellow plastic buckets while goats graze in the courtyard of this massive bizarro tavern.

**Silly Goose** ( 901-435-6917; 100 Peabody Pl) Beautiful people sip fancy house cocktails (think handmade syrups, rosemary garnishes) at this swank new downtown lounge.

**Young Avenue Deli** ( 901-278-0034; 2119 Young Ave) This Midtown hipster favorite has food, occasional live music, and a laid-back vibe.

#### LIVE MUSIC

**BB King's** ( 901-524-5464; 143 Beale St) A full restaurant serving ribs and Southern favorites, BB's is better known for its friendly fun-seeking crowd and great live music.

**Hi-Tone Cafe** ( 901-278-8663; www.hitonememphis.com; 1913 Poplar Ave) Near Overton Park, this funky little dive balances pool-shooting with live music.

**Kudzu's** ( 901-525-4924; 603 Monroe Ave) Near downtown, this well-loved pub gets jumping with live bands (Friday and Saturday) and Thursday-night guitar-pickin' jam sessions.

**Rum Boogie** ( 901-528-0150; www.rumboogie.com; 182 Beale St) Huge, popular and noisy, this Cajun-themed Beale club hops every night to the tunes of the house blues band.

#### THEATER & CULTURE

**Orpheum Theatre** ( 901-525-7800; www.orpheum-memphis.com; 203 S Main St) On Beale, this theater has Broadway shows and big concerts.

**New Daisy Theater** ( 901-525-8971; www.newdaisy.com; 330 Beale St) This groovy place hosts everything from kickboxing to Prince tribute bands.

**Cannon Center for Performing Arts** ( 901-576-1269, 800-726-0915; www.thecannoncenter.com; 255 N Main St) This 2100-seat centre hosts the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and ballet, opera and jazz concerts.

**Hattiloo Theatre** ( 901-525-0009; www.hattilootheatre.org; 656 Marshall Ave) Memphis' African American repertory theatre stages musicals, Shakespeare and modern drama.

#### SPORTS

**Memphis Redbirds** ( 901-721-6000; www.memphisredbirds.com; tickets $5-18) This American Automobile Association (AAA) minor-league affiliate of the St Louis Cardinals baseball team plays at AutoZone Park April to August.

**Memphis Grizzlies** ( 901-888-4667, 866-648-4667; www.grizzlies.com) The NBA's Grizzlies bring on the basketball action at FedEx Forum from October to April.

### Getting There & Around

**Memphis International Airport** (MEM;  901-922-8000; www.memphisairport.org; 2491 Winchester Rd) is 12 miles southeast of downtown via I-55; taxis to downtown cost $27. **Memphis Area Transit Authority** (MATA;  901-274-6282; www.matatransit.com; 444 N Main St; fares $1.50) operates local buses; 2A and 32A go to the airport. MATA's vintage trolleys($1, every 12 minutes) ply Main St and Front St downtown. **Greyhound** ( 901-523-1184; 203 Union Ave) is right downtown, as is **Central Station** ( 901-526-0052; 545 S Main St), the Amtrak terminal.

Return to beginning of chapter

## SHILOH NATIONAL MILITARY PARK

'No soldier who took part in the two days' engagement at Shiloh ever spoiled for a fight again,' said one veteran of the bloody 1862 battle, which took place among these lovely fields and forests. During the fight 3400 soldiers died, and the Confederate forces were eventually repelled by the Union.

The **Shiloh National Military Park** ( 731-689-5696; www.nps.gov/shil; park entry $3;  8am-5pm) is located just north of the Mississippi border near the town of Crump, TN. The visitor center gives out maps and shows a video about the battle, and sells an audio tour.

The vast park can only be seen by car. Sights along the route include the Shiloh National Cemetery, an overlook of the Cumberland River where Union reinforcement troops arrived by ship, and various markers and monuments.

Return to beginning of chapter

## NASHVILLE

Imagine you're an aspiring country singer, arriving in downtown Nashville after days of hitchhiking, with nothing but your battered guitar on your back. Gaze up at the neon lights of Lower Broadway, take a deep breath of smoky, beer-perfumed air, feel the boot-stompin' rumble from deep inside the crowded honky-tonks, and say to yourself 'I've made it.'

For country-music fans and wannabe songwriters all over the world, a trip to Nashville is the ultimate pilgrimage. Think of any song involving a pickup truck, a bottle of booze, a no-good woman, or a late, lamented hound dog, and chances are it came from Nashville. Since the 1920s the city has been attracting musicians who have taken the country genre from the 'hillbilly music' of the early 20th century to the slick 'Nashville sound' of the 1960s to the punk-tinged alt-country of the 1990s.

Nashville has many attractions to keep you busy, from the Country Music Hall of Fame and the revered Grand Ole Opry House to rough blues bars, historic buildings and big-name sports. It also has friendly people, a lively university community, excellent fried chicken and an unrivaled assortment of tacky souvenirs.

### History

Originally inhabited by the Shawnee, the city was settled by Europeans in 1779 and named Fort Nashborough after Revolutionary War hero Francis Nash.

By the beginning of the Civil War, Nashville was prospering as a river port and railway center, only to be hammered down by Union troops. The Tennessee Centennial Exposition in 1897 and its concurrent building boom signaled the city's recovery – the lovely Victorian-style brick buildings of downtown are a legacy of this period.

From 1925, Nashville became known for its live-music radio program _Barn Dance,_ later nicknamed the _Grand Ole Opry_. Its popularity soared, the city proclaimed itself the 'country-music capital of the world' and recording studios sprang up in Music Row.

Today Nashville is the second most populous city in Tennessee, with more than a dozen colleges and universities and an economy based on music, tourism, health care and publishing.

### Orientation

Nashville sits on a rise beside the Cumberland River, with the state capitol situated at the highest point. The compact downtown area slopes south to Broadway, the city's central artery. Briley Pkwy forms a ring around the city and connects to I-40 to take you out of town.

Downtown, the entertainment area called 'the District' runs along Broadway from 2nd Ave to 5th Ave, with divey honky-tonks rubbing up against tourist-grabbers like the Hard Rock Cafe. Across the Cumberland River is the up-and-coming East End, where gritty commercial stretches alternate with historical residential neighborhoods. The West End is a lively area around Vanderbilt University, with funky shops and restaurants along Broadway, West End Ave, and Elliston Pl. Ten minutes northeast of downtown off Briley Pkwy, Music Valley is a tourist zone full of budget motels, franchise restaurants and outlet stores built around the Grand Ole Opry.

### Information

#### BOOKSTORES

**Elder's Bookstore** ( 615-327-1867; www.eldersbookstore.com; 2115 Elliston Pl;  10am-4:30pm Mon-Fri, to 4pm Sat) This excellent used-book shop has been around since the 1930s.

#### EMERGENCY & MEDICAL SERVICES

**Baptist Hospital** ( 615-284-5555; 2000 Church St)

**Main police station** ( 615-862-8600; 310 1st Ave S)

**Vanderbilt University Medical Center** ( 615-322-5000; 1211 22nd Ave S)

#### INTERNET ACCESS

**Centennial Park** (2600 W End Ave;  ) Has free wi-fi, as do all locations of Tennessee's homegrown fast-food chain, Krystal Burger.

**Public library** ( 615-862-5800; www.library.nashville.org; 615 Church St;  9am-8pm Mon-Thu, 9am-6pm Fri, 9am-5pm Sat, 2-5pm Sun) Free internet access.

#### INTERNET RESOURCES & MEDIA

**InsideOut** (www.insideoutnashville.com) A weekly covering the local gay and lesbian scene.

**Metromix** (www.nashville.metromix.com) A useful entertainment and music listings website.

**Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau** (www.nashvillecvb.com) Has a great online visitors' guide and hotel booking portal.

**Nashville Scene** (www.nashvillescene.com) Free alternative weekly with entertainment listings.

**Tennessean** (www.tennessean.com) Nashville's daily newspaper.

#### POST

**Post office** ( 800-275-8777; 1718 Church St;  8am-5:30pm Mon-Fri)

#### TOURIST INFORMATION

**Nashville Visitors Information Center** ( 615-259-4747; www.visitmusiccity.com; 501 Broadway, Sommet Center;  8:30am-5:30pm) Pick up free city maps here at the glass tower.

### Sights & Activities

#### DOWNTOWN

The historic 2nd Ave N business area was the center of the cotton trade in the 1870s and 1880s, when most of the Victorian warehouses were built; note the cast-iron and masonry facades. Today it's the heart of the **District** , with shops, restaurants, underground saloons and nightclubs. Two blocks west, **Printers Alley** is a narrow cobblestoned lane known for its nightlife since the 1940s. Along the Cumberland River, Riverfront Park is a landscaped promenade featuring **Fort Nashborough** , a 1930s replica of the city's original outpost.

'Honor Thy Music' is the catchphrase of the monumental **Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum** ( 615-416-2001; www.countrymusichalloffame.com; 222 5th Ave S; adult/child $22/15;  9am-5pm), reflecting the near-biblical importance of country music to Nashville's soul. See case upon case of artifacts including Patsy Cline's cocktail gown, Johnny Cash's guitar, Elvis' gold Cadillac and Conway Twitty's yearbook picture (back when he was Harold Jenkins). There are written exhibits tracing country's roots, computer touch screens to allow access to recordings and photos from the Country Music Foundation's enormous archives and walk-in listening booths. The fact- and music-filled audio tour ($5 extra) is narrated by contemporary country musicians. From here you can also take the Studio B Tour (adult/child $13/11, one hour), which shuttles you to Radio Corporation of America's (RCA's) famed Music Row studio, where Elvis recorded 'Are You Lonesome Tonight?' and Dolly Parton cut 'I Will Always Love You.'

* * *

# DON'T MISS

  * Watching the singin', stompin', fiddlin' extravaganza at the venerable **Grand Ole Opry** (opposite)
  * Feasting on diabolically spicy fried chicken at 3am at **Prince's Hot Chicken** (Click here)
  * Whooping it up at **Tootsie's Orchid Lounge** (Click here), the grandmama of all honky-tonks
  * Shopping for vintage cowboy boots at **Katy K's Ranch Dressing** (Click here)
  * Admiring Elvis' gold Caddy and other treasures at the vast **Country Music Hall of Fame** (above)

* * *

The so-called 'Mother Church of Country Music,' the **Ryman Auditorium** ( 615-889-3060; www.ryman.com; 116 5th Ave N; daytime tour adult/child $12.50/6.25, incl backstage $16.25/10;  9am-4pm) has hosted a laundry list of 20th-century performers, from Martha Graham to Elvis to Katherine Hepburn to Bob Dylan. The soaring brick tabernacle was built in 1890 by wealthy riverboat captain Thomas Ryman to house religious revivals, and watching a show from one of its 2000 seats can still be described as a spiritual experience. The _Grand Ole Opry_ took place here for 31 years, until it moved out to the Opryland (opposite) complex in 1974. Today, the _Opry_ returns to the Ryman during winter.

At the northeast edge of downtown, the 1845 Greek Revival **state capitol** ( 615-741-2692; Charlotte Ave; tours free;  tours 9am-4pm Mon-Fri), between 6th and 7th Sts, was built from local limestone and marble by slaves and prison inmates working alongside European artisans. Around back, steep stairs lead down to the **Tennessee Bicentennial Mall** , whose outdoor walls are covered with historical facts about Tennessee's history, and the wonderful Farmers Market (Click here).

Just south of the capitol, government buildings surround Legislative Plaza. The Performing Arts Center covers an adjacent block and houses the **Tennessee State Museum** ( 615-741-2692; www.tnmuseum.org; 5th Ave, btwn Union & Deaderick Sts; admission free;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, from 1pm Sun), a large and genuinely engaging look at the state's history, with Native American handicrafts, a life-size log cabin, 18th-century printing press, and a walk-through 'hellfire and brimstone' revival diorama, complete with sound effects.

The **Frist Center for the Visual Arts** ( 615-244-3340; www.fristcenter.org; 919 Broadway; adult/child $8.50/free;  10am-5:30pm Mon-Wed & Sat, 10am-9pm Thu & Fri, 1-5:30pm Sun) hosts traveling exhibitions of everything from American folk art to Picasso in the grand, refurbished post office building.

#### WEST END

In Nashville's West End, **Music Row** is home of the production companies, agents, managers and promoters who run Nashville's country-music industry. There's not much to see, but you can pay to cut your own record at some of the smaller studios (about $25 to $100 an hour). 'World's Greatest Love Songs on the Kazoo,' anyone?

* * *

# NASHVILLE...

## In Two Days

Grab a meat-and-three (we like the roast beef) at **Arnold's** (Click here) and go ogle Elvis' gold Cadillac at the **Country Music Hall of Fame** (opposite). See who's stompin' the stage at **Tootsie's Wild Orchid Lounge** (Click here) and wander the smoky honky-tonks of the **District** (opposite) until dawn.

The next day, explore the tacky wonderland of **Music Valley** (below) and take in a show at the venerable **Grand Ole Opry House** (Click here). Swing up to north Nashville for some late-night eats at deadly delicious **Prince's Hot Chicken** (Click here).

## In Four Days

In addition to the two-day itinerary: suck down an old-fashioned milk shake at **Elliston Place Soda Shop** (Click here) and go check out the vintage cowboy boots at **Katy K's Ranch Dressing** (Click here) in the funky 12th Ave S neighborhood. Book a table at **Bluebird Cafe** (Click here) to see some of the best singer-songwriters play at a strip mall hole-in-the-wall.

The next morning, hang out with Vandy students in Centennial Park and visit the hilarious reproduction **Parthenon** (below) before strolling over to punky **Elliston Place** (below) for a brunch of pie at all-night **Cafe Coco** (Click here). Then experience 19th-century plantation life first-hand at the **Hermitage** (below), the home of seventh US president Andrew Jackson.

* * *
**Elliston Place** is an enclave of bohemia anchored by the ancient Elliston Place Soda Shop (Click here) and Elder's Bookstore (Click here).

Almost 12,000 students attend the prestigious **Vanderbilt University** , founded in 1883 by railway magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who wanted to give the South a world-class university. The 330-acre campus buzzes with students, who eat, shop and drink along 21st Ave N, Broadway and West End Ave.

Yes, that is indeed a reproduction Athenian **Parthenon** ( 615-862-8431; www.parthenon.org; 2600 West End Ave; adult/child $6/3.50;  9am-4:30pm Tue-Sat, plus Sun in summer) sitting in **Centennial Park**. Originally built in 1897 for Tennessee's Centennial Exposition and rebuilt in 1930 due to popular demand, the full-scale plaster copy of the 438-BC original now houses an art museum with a collection of American paintings and a 42ft statue of the Greek goddess Athena.

#### MUSIC VALLEY

This suburban tourist zone is about 10 miles northeast of downtown at Hwy 155/Briley Pkwy exits 11 and 12B, and also reachable by bus.

The **Grand Ole Opry House** ( 615-871-6779; www.opry.com; 2802 Opryland Dr; tours $10) seats 4400 fans in a squarish modern building for the _Grand Ole Opry_ on Friday and Saturday from March to November (Click here). Guided backstage tours are offered daily by reservation. The **Grand Ole Opry Museum** ( 615-889-3060; 2802 Opryland Dr; admission free;  10:30am-6pm Mar-Dec) across the plaza tells the story of the _Opry_ with wax characters, colorful costumes and dioramas. Check out the model of Marty Robbins' 1970s Nashville office, all orange shag carpet and cowboy prints. Next door, the **Opry Mills Mall** ( 615-514-1100;  10am-9:30pm Mon-Sat, to 7pm Sun) houses an IMAX theater, theme restaurants and the **Gibson Bluegrass Showcase** ( 615-514-2200, ext 2231; www.gibson.com; 161 Opry Mills Dr;  10am-9:30pm Mon-Sat, to 7pm Sun), where you can see banjos, mandolins and resonator guitars being made through the glass.

#### PLANTATIONS

The former home of seventh president Andrew Jackson, the **Hermitage** ( 615-889-2941; www.thehermitage.com; 4580 Rachel's Lane; adult/child $17/7;  8:30am-5pm Apr-Oct, 9am-4:30pm Oct-Mar) lies 15 miles east of downtown. The 1000-acre plantation is a peek into what life was like for a Mid-South gentleman farmer in the 19th century. Tour the Federal-style brick mansion, now a furnished house museum with costumed interpreters, and see Jackson's original 1804 log cabin and the old slave quarters (Jackson was a lifelong supporter of slavery, at times owning up to 150 slaves; a special exhibit tells their stories). The arcadian gardens and grounds are lovely to wander, though somewhat marred by the highway passing nearby.

* * *

# VIVA NASHVEGAS!

Brash, glittery Nashville is proud to have earned the nickname NashVegas. So put on your rhinestone cowboy boots and explore the city's weird and wild side of town.

'Outlaw Country' star Willie Nelson sold all his worldly goods to pay off $16.7 million in unpaid taxes in the early 1990s. You can see them at the **Willie Nelson Museum** (McGavock Pike, Music Valley), which might as well be called the Everything-But-Willie-Nelson's-Used-Toothbrush Museum. Up the street is the **Music City Wax Museum** (2515 McGavock Pik), with eerie, corpse-like statues of country stars dead and alive.

The Tuesday-night **Doyle and Debbie** show at the Station Inn (Click here) is a cult-hit parody of a washed-up country-music duo.

Printer's Alley, once the epicenter of NashVegas vice, has cleaned up but still has at least one bar advertising **nude karaoke**. That's all we have to say about that.

Also downtown, the **Charlie Daniels Museum** (110 2nd Ave N) is less museum and more gift shop, hawking everything from bacon-scented air fresheners to T-shirts bearing the likeness of 'Devil Went Down to Georgia' singer Daniels, who looks like a chicken-fried Santa Claus.

In the quirky 12th Ave S neighborhood, a former stylist to New York City's drag queens stocks bouffant wigs, vintage cowboy boots, and handmade bolo ties at **Katy K's Ranch Dressing** (2407 12th Ave S).

* * *

Six miles west of Nashville is **Belle Meade Plantation** ( 615-356-0501; www.bellemeadeplantation.com; 5025 Harding Pike; adult/child $15/7;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 11am Sun), where the Harding-Jackson family began raising thoroughbreds in the early 1800s. Every horse entered in the Kentucky Derby in the past five years is a descendant of Belle Meade's studly sire, Bonnie Scotland, who died in 1880. The 1853 mansion is open to visitors, as are various interesting outbuildings, including a model slave cabin.

### Tours

Ask at the visitor center for a list of the many theme tours available in Nashville.

**General Jackson Showboat** ( 615-458-3900; www.generaljackson.com; tours from $14) Sightseeing cruises of varying length on the Cumberland River, some with music and food.

**Gray Line** ( 615-883-5555, 800-251-1864; www.graylinenashville.com; tours from $40) Offers a variety of bus tours, including a Homes of the Stars tour.

 **NashTrash** ( 800-342-2132, 615-226-7300; www.nashtrash.com; 900 8th Ave N) The big-haired 'Jugg Sisters' offer a campy frolic ($32, 1½ hours) through the risqué side of Nashville history while guests sip BYO booze.

### Festivals & Events

**CMA Music Festival** ( 800-262-3378; www.cmafest.com) Draws tens of thousands of country-music fans to town each June.

**Tennessee State Fair** ( 615-862-8980; www.tennesseestatefair.org) Nine days of racing pigs, mule-pulls and cake bake-offs every September.

### Sleeping

Bargain-bin chain motels cluster on all sides of downtown, along I-40 and I-65. Rooms are usually cheaper midweek, and pricier in summer. Be aware: hotel tax in Nashville adds 14.25%.

#### DOWNTOWN

**Best Western Downtown** ( 615-242-4311, 800-627-3297; www.bestwesterntennessee.com; 711 Union St; r from $125;        ) This beige box has 101 clean, basic motel-style rooms. The cheapest rates in downtown Nashville plus free parking make up for the total lack of charm.

 **Union Station Hotel** ( 615-726-1001; www.unionstationhotelnashville.com; 1001 Broadway; r from $188;    ) This soaring Romanesque stone castle was once a train station and is now the city's grandest hotel. The vaulted lobby is dressed in peach and gold with inlaid marble floors and a stained-glass ceiling. Rooms are tastefully modern, with flat-screen TVs and deep soaking tubs. Parking costs $18.

**Hermitage Hotel** ( 615-244-3121, 888-888-9414; www.thehermitagehotel.com; 231 6th Ave N; r from $339;    ) Nashville's first million-dollar hotel was a hit with the socialites when it opened in 1910. The lobby feels like a Czar's palace, every surface covered in rich tapestries and ornate carvings. Rooms are generic upscale, with plush beds and mahogany furniture. Parking costs $18.

#### WEST END

**Music City Hostel** ( 615-692-1277; www.musiccityhostel.com; 1809 Patterson St; dm/r $25/70;        ) These squat brick bungalows are less than scenic, but Nashville's only hostel is lively and welcoming, with bike rental, common kitchen, a computer and free wi-fi. The crowd is young, international and fun – you can almost guarantee an evening jam session in the courtyard. Many fun West End bars are within walking distance.

**1501 Linden Manor** ( 615-298-2701; www.nashville-bed-breakfast.com; 1501 Linden Ave; r from $125;        ) The husband-and-wife owners have filled this yellow Victorian cottage with antiques collected through their world travels – Persian rugs, Asian carvings, old Victrolas. Have homemade egg soufflés for breakfast in the sunny dining room, or dip your hand into the 'bottomless cookie jar' anytime.

**Hutton Hotel** ( 615-340-9333; www.huttonhotel.com; 1808 West End Ave; r from $189;        ) Nashville's newest hotel is also its slickest, riffing on mid-Century Modern design with bamboo-paneled walls and grown-up beanbags in the lobby. Rust- and chocolate-colored rooms have miniature cactus gardens and a number of ecofriendly touches.

#### MUSIC VALLEY

**Nashville KOA Kampground** ( 615-889-0282, 800-562-7789; www.koa.com; 2626 Music Valley Dr; campsites $39, cabins from $60, lodges $129;      ) Popular with RVers, this well-manicured, wholesome campground also has tent sites, cabins, and lodges with kitchenettes, all set back from the road. Amenities include a pool, game room, and snack bar.

**Gaylord Opryland Hotel** ( 615-889-1000, 866-972-6779; www.gaylordhotels.com; 2800 Opryland Dr; r from $189;            ) This whopping 2881-room hotel is a universe unto itself. Why set foot outdoors when you could ride a paddleboat along an artificial river, eat sushi beneath a faux waterfall in an indoor garden, shop for bolo ties in a model 19th-century town, or sip Scotch in an antebellum-style mansion, all  _inside_ the hotel's three massive glass atriums.

### Eating

The classic Nashville meal is the 'meat-and-three' – a heaping portion of fried chicken, meatloaf, etc with your choice of three home-style sides. But there are plenty of options, from steakhouses popular with Music Row powerbrokers to quirky West End bistros. Many of the restaurants in the District are high-volume tourist traps and should be avoided.

#### BUDGET

**Farmers Market** ( 615-880-2001; 900 8th Ave N, at Jackson St;  9am-6pm) This daily market has fresh produce and a covered food court serving tacos, gyros, jerk chicken, po'boys and more.

**Elliston Place Soda Shop** ( 615-327-1090; 2111 Elliston Pl; mains $3-6;  7am-7pm Mon-Sat) This eatery has served fountain Cokes and meat-and-threes to Vandy students since the 1930s, and the decor hasn't changed much since.

**Prince's Hot Chicken** ( 615-226-9442; 123 Ewing Dr; mains $4-8;  noon-10pm Tue-Thu, noon-4am Fri & Sat) Cayenne-rubbed 'hot chicken,' fried to succulent perfection and served on a piece of white bread with a side of pickles, is Nashville's unique contribution to the culinary universe. Tiny, faded Prince's, in a northside strip mall, is a local legend. In mild, medium, hot and death-defying extra hot, its chicken will burn a hole in your stomach and you'll come back begging for more.

**Arnold's** (  615-256-4455; 605 8th Ave S; mains $5-8;  6am-2:30pm Mon-Fri) Grab a tray and line up with college students, garbagemen, and country-music stars at Arnold's, king of the meat-and-three. Slabs of drippy roast beef are the house specialty, along with fried green tomatoes, cornbread two ways, and big gooey wedges of chocolate cream pie.

**Family Wash** ( 615-226-6070; 2038 Greenwood Ave; mains $9-15;  6pm-midnight Tue-Sat) This East Nashville neighborhood gastropub is the kind of place where you can eat a sublime roast-garlic shepherd's pie and nurse a microbrew while watching the bartender shoot the breeze with the regulars and kids play with toy cars on the floor. Live music gets rolling on the small stage around 9pm most nights.

#### MIDRANGE & TOP END

**Tin Angel** ( 615-298-3444; 3201 West End Ave; mains $10-19;  11am-10pm Mon-Fri, 5-10pm Sat, 11am-3pm Sun) This West Nashville bistro serves Tennessee-meets-Paris fare (think steak frites, pecan torte) in a cute corner space with exposed-brick walls and pressed-tin ceilings.

**Monell's** ( 615-248-4747; 1235 6th Ave N; all-you-can-eat $15;  10:30am-2pm Mon, 10:30am-2pm & 5-8:30pm Tue-Fri, 8:30am-1pm & 5-8:30pm Sat, 8:30am-4pm Sun) In an old brick house just north of the District, Monell's is beloved for down-home Southern food served communally, meaning you sit with strangers and pass the food around the table yourselves. This being Nashville, you'll all be friends before you're done with your fried catfish.

**Marché Artisan Foods** ( 615-262-1111; 1000 Main St; mains $12-16;  8am-9pm Tue-Fri, brunch 9am-4pm Sat & Sun) In rapidly gentrifying East Nashville, this airy new bistro has a veggie-friendly menu of light French- and Italian-inflected fare, made with seasonal local ingredients. Drop in for a cinnamon brioche at breakfast, or a plate of homemade gnocchi with sweet corn for dinner.

**Merchant's** ( 615-254-1892; 401 Broadway; mains $20-39;  11am-11pm Mon-Thu, 11am-midnight Fri & Sat, 4-9pm Sun) In a renovated 19th-century hotel in the heart of the District, this clubby bistro has gleaming parquet floors, white tablecloths and a mahogany bar overlooking Broadway. Splurge on ritzy, old-school fare such as _steak au poivre_ (pepper steak) and chicken Louis. The downstairs Grille has cheaper, more casual eats.

### Drinking & Entertainment

Nashville has the nightlife of a city three times its size, and you'll be hard-pressed to find a place that _doesn't_ have live music. College students, bachelor party–goers, Danish backpackers and conventioneers all rock out downtown, where neon-lit Broadway looks like a country-fried Las Vegas. Bars and venues west and south of downtown tend to attract more locals, with many places clustered near Vanderbilt University. Last call is at 3am, so many bars stay open until then when it's busy.

#### BARS & NIGHTCLUBS

**Cafe Coco** ( 615-321-2626; 210 Louise Ave;  24hr) In a ramshackle old cottage just off Elliston Pl, Cafe Coco is like an especially groovy frat house, with a 24-hour whirl of action. People snack on sandwiches and cake in the front parlor, smoke on the large patio, drink at the bar, and tap away on laptops in the old bedrooms (there's free wi-fi).

**Tribe** ( 615-329-2912; 1517 Church St) Ultra-friendly Tribe caters to a largely gay and lesbian crowd, though everyone is welcome to sip martinis, watch music videos and dance the night away at this slick, modern club.

**Rumours Wine and Art Bar** ( 615-292-9400; 2404 12th Ave S;  5pm-midnight Mon-Sat) If you need a rest from neon NashVegas, head to the hip but low-key 12th Ave S neighborhood for a glass of Malbec at this arty hangout.

#### LIVE MUSIC

Nashville's opportunities for hearing live music are unparalleled. As well as the big venues, many talented country, folk, bluegrass, Southern-rock and blues performers play smoky honky-tonks, college bars, coffee shops and organic cafés for tips. Many places are free Monday to Friday or if you arrive early enough.

**Bluebird Cafe** ( 615-383-1461; www.bluebirdcafe.com; 4104 Hillsboro Rd; cover free-$15;  shows 6pm & 9:30pm) It's in a strip mall in suburban South Nashville, but don't let that fool you: some of the best original singer-songwriters in country music have graced this tiny stage. Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, and the Cowboy Junkies have all played the Bluebird, which was the setting for the 1993 Sandra Bullock and River Phoenix movie _The Thing Called Love_. Try your luck at Monday open mike nights.

**BB King's Blues Club** ( 615-256-2727; www.bbkingbluesclub.com; 152 2nd Ave N) Watch live jazz and blues in this downtown cathedral of sound, complete with stained-glass windows and folk-art portraits of the 'saints': Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, Elvis. The kitchen serves soul food like ribs, fried chicken and catfish.

**Robert's Western World** ( 615-244-9552; www.robertswesternworld.com; 416 Broadway) Buy a pair of boots, a beer or a burger at Robert's, a longtime favorite on the strip. Music starts at 11am and goes all night; Brazilbilly, the house band, rocks it after 10pm on weekends.

**Ryman Auditorium** ( tickets 615-458-8700, info 615-889-3060; www.ryman.com; 116 5th Ave) The Ryman's excellent acoustics, historic charm and large seating capacity have kept it the premier venue in town (Click here). The _Opry_ returns for winter runs (opposite).

**Station Inn** ( 615-255-3307; www.stationinn.com; 402 12th Ave S) South of downtown, this unassuming stone building is the best place in town for serious bluegrass.

 **Tootsie's Orchid Lounge** ( 615-726-7937; www.tootsies.net; 422 Broadway) The most venerated of the downtown honky-tonks, Tootsie's vibrates with boot-stompin' every night of the week. In the 1960s, club owner and den mother 'Tootsie' Bess nurtured the likes of Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings. Now, up-and-coming country musicians play the two tiny stages and it's not unusual for big stars to stop by for an impromptu jam session.

Tired of country? On Elliston Pl, **Exit/In** ( 615-321-3340; www.exitin.com; 2208 Elliston Pl), opened in 1971, does indie rock, hip-hop, and more. Beneath Grimey's Records, the **Basement** ( 615-254-8006; www.thebasementnashville.com; 1604 8th Ave S) has intimate alt-rock and folk shows. Up the street is **Mercy Lounge** ( 615-251-3020, www.mercylounge.com; 1 Cannery Row) with arty rock and roll shows in an old brick cannery.

#### THEATER

**Grand Ole Opry** ( 615-871-6779; www.opry.com; 2802 Opryland Dr, Music Valley; adult $36-53, child $26-53) Though you'll find a variety of country shows throughout the week, the performance to see is the _Grand Ole Opry,_ a lavish tribute to classic Nashville country music, every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday night. Shows return to the Ryman from November to February.

**Nashville Symphony** ( 615-687-6500; 1 Symphony Pl; www.nashvillesymphony.org) Hosts maestros and pop stars in the shiny new Schemerhorn Symphony Hall.

**Tennessee Performing Arts Center** ( 615-782-4000; www.tpac.org; 505 Deaderick St) With three great stages, this center is home to the Nashville Ballet, the Nashville Opera, and the Tennessee Repertory Company.

#### SPORTS

**Tennessee Titans** ( 615-565-4200; www.titansonline.com) The NFL Tennessee Titans play at LP Field, across the river from downtown, from August to December.

**Nashville Sounds** ( 615-242-4371; www.nashvillesounds.com) A minor-league AAA baseball affiliate for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Sounds play at Greer Stadium, south of town.

**Nashville Predators** ( 615-770-2300; www.nashvillepredators.com) For NHL hockey, catch the Nashville Predators at the Sommet Center from September through April.

* * *

# IF YOU HAVE A FEW MORE DAYS

About 20 miles south of Nashville off I-65, the historic town of **Franklin** (www.historicfranklin.com) has a charming downtown and beautiful B&Bs. Stop off at **Puckett's Grocery** ( 615-794-5527; 120 4th Ave S; mains $10-20;  6am-6pm Sun-Thu, to late Fri & Sat) for a fried-catfish sandwich and some bluegrass. About an hour further south via the scenic US-41, **Shelbyville** (www.shelbyvilletn.com) is the epicenter of the high-stepping, head-bobbing Tennessee walking horse.

* * *

### Shopping

**Ernest Tubb** ( 615-255-7503; 417 Broadway) Marked by a giant neon guitar sign, this is the best place to shop for country and bluegrass records. Open late.

**Gruhn Guitars** ( 615-256-2033; 400 Broadway) This renowned vintage instrument store has expert staff.

**Hatch Show Print** ( 615-256-2805; 316 Broadway) One of the oldest letter-print shops in the US. Using old-school cut-blocks, Hatch began making posters to promote early vaudeville and circus shows. The company has produced graphic ads and posters for almost every country star since.

### Getting There & Around

**Nashville International Airport** (BNS;  615-275-1675; www.nashintl.com), 8 miles east of town, is not a major air hub. MTA bus 18 links the airport and downtown; the **Gray Line Airport Express** ( 615-275-1180; www.graylinenashville.com; one way/return $12/20;  5am-11pm) serves major downtown and West End hotels. Taxis charge a flat rate of $25 to downtown or Opryland.

**Greyhound** ( 615-255-3556; 200 8th Ave S) is less than a mile from downtown.

The **Metropolitan Transit Authority** (MTA;  615-862-5950; www.nashvillemta.org; fares $1.60) operates city bus services based downtown at **Transit Mall** (cnr Deaderick St & 4th Ave N). Express buses go to Music Valley.

Return to beginning of chapter

## EASTERN TENNESSEE

Dolly Parton, Eastern Tennessee's most famous native, loves her home region so much she has made a successful career out of singing about girls who leave the honeysuckle-scented embrace of the Smoky Mountains for the false glitter of the city. They're always sorry.

* * *

# SCENIC DRIVE: NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY

About 25 miles southwest of Nashville off Hwy 100, drivers pick up the **Natchez Trace Pkwy** ( 800-305-7417), which leads 444 miles southwest to Natchez, Mississippi (Click here). This northern section is one of the most attractive stretches of the entire route, with broad-leafed trees leaning together to form an arch over the winding road. There are three primitive campsites along the way, free and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Near the parkway entrance, stop at the landmark **Loveless Cafe** , a 1950s roadhouse famous for its biscuits with homemade preserves, country ham, and ample portions of Southern fried chicken.

* * *

Largely a rural region of small towns, rolling hills and river valleys, the eastern third of the state has friendly folks, hearty country food and pastoral charm to make most anyone feel at home.

The lush, heather-tinted Great Smoky Mountains are great for hiking, camping and rafting, while the region's two main urban areas, Knoxville and Chattanooga, are easygoing riverside cities with lively college populations and kicking music scenes.

### Chattanooga

Named 'the dirtiest city in America' in the 1960s, Chattanooga was shamed into cleaning up rampant industrial pollution and focusing on downtown revitalization. Today the city is recognized as being one of the country's greenest, with miles of well-used waterfront trails, free electric buses, and pedestrian bridges crossing the Tennessee River. With world-class rock climbing, hiking, biking and water-sports opportunities, it's one of the South's best cities for outdoorsy types.

The city was once a major railway hub throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, hence the _Chattanooga Choo-Choo,_ which was originally a reference to the Cincinnati Southern Railroad's passenger service from Cincinnati to Chattanooga and later the title of a 1941 Glen Miller song.

Downtown is on the south side of the river, with the bulk of the museums. Directly across the water, the North Shore is rapidly becoming the city's go-to spot for bars and restaurants.

The **visitor center** ( 423-756-8687, 800-322-3344; www.chattanoogafun.com; 2 Broad St;  8:30am-5:30pm) is huge and modern, with friendly staff. The Bluff View Art District at High and E 2nd Sts has upscale shops and restaurants overlooking the river.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

On the North Shore, **Coolidge Park** is a good place to start a riverfront stroll. There's a carousel, well-used playing fields, and a 50ft climbing wall attached to one of the columns supporting the **Walnut Street Bridge**. Hop on the pedestrian-only bridge to cross into downtown. Below you you'll notice the grass-covered 'living roof' of **Outdoor Chattanooga** ( 423-643-6888; www.outdoorchattanooga.com), a city-run agency promoting active recreation. It leads hiking, kayaking and biking trips – call or check the website for schedules. It's also a good resource for outdoor info and trail suggestions.

That glass pyramid looming over the riverside bluffs is the wonderful **Tennessee Aquarium** ( 800-262-0695; www.tnaqua.org; 1 Broad St; adult/child $22/15;  10am-6pm;  ), the world's largest freshwater aquarium. Climb aboard the aquarium's high-speed catamaran for two-hour excursions through the Tennessee River Gorge (adult/child $29/22). While here, check out a show at the attached **IMAX theater** (adult/child $8.50/6).

East of the aquarium is the equally striking glass lobby of the **Hunter Museum of American Art** ( 423-267-0968; www.huntermuseum.org; 10 Bluff View; adult/child $10/5;  10am-5pm Mon, Tue & Thu-Sat, noon-5pm Wed & Sun), which has a fantastic 19th- and 20th-century collection.

**Chattanooga African-American Museum** ( 423-266-8658; www.caamhistory.com; 200 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd; adult/child $5/2;  10am-5pm Mon-Fri, noon-4pm Sat) has a special exhibit on 'Empress of the Blues' singer Bessie Smith, a Chattanooga native.

Some of Chattanooga's oldest and best-known attractions are 6 miles outside the city at **Lookout Mountain** ( 423-821-4224; www.lookoutmtnattractions.com; 827 East Brow Rd; adult/child $44/23;  ). Admission price includes the Incline Railway, which chugs up a steep incline to the top of the mountain; the world's longest underground waterfall, Ruby Falls; and Rock City, a garden with a dramatic clifftop overlook; opening hours vary by season. The mountain is also a popular hang-gliding location. The folks at **Lookout Mountain Flight Park** ( 800-688-5637; www.hanglide.com; 7201 Scenic Hwy, Rising Fawn, GA; intro tandem flight $199) give lessons.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

You can find many budget motels around I-24 and I-75.

**Harrison Bay State Park** ( 423-344-7966; 8411 Harrison Bay Rd; campsites $25) On the banks of Chickamauga Lake, about 40 minutes northeast of downtown, this park has a campground popular with boaters and fishermen.

**Bluff View Inn** ( 423-265-5033; www.bluffviewartdistrict.com; 411 E 2nd St; r from $105;        ) Overlooking the river, this hotel has three separate houses – an English Tudor, a Colonial Revival and a Victorian, each with its own unique character and cozy, antique-furnished rooms.

**Chattanooga Choo-Choo Holiday Inn** ( 423-266-5000, 800-872-2529; www.choochoo.com; 1400 Market St; r from $126, railcars $184;          ) The city's grand old railway terminal has been transformed into a bustling hotel. There's a train-car restaurant, a retro '40s-style bar, numerous shops and a small railroad museum. You'll sleep like a turn-of-the-century aristocrat in one of the Choo-Choo's 48 authentic Victorian railcars, outfitted for the modern age with double beds and TVs. Standard rooms and suites, in separate buildings, are clean but ordinary.

**Aretha Frankenstein's** ( 423-265-7685; 518 Tremont St; mains $5-9;  7am-midnight) This turquoise cottage, tucked away on a residential street in the hip North Shore area, is tops for all-day pancakes and omelets, burritos and BLTs, or enjoying a beer on the sprawling patio.

**Big River Grille & Brewing Works** ( 423-267-2739; 222 Broad St; mains $9-20;  11am-midnight Sun-Thu, to 2am Fri & Sat) A lively crowd drinks beer and chows down on crowd-pleasing upmarket pub grub – burgers, calamari, barbecue chicken pizza – in a warehouse-y downtown space with a big front patio. There's live music and pool at night.

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

Chattanooga's modest **airport** (CHA;  423-855-2202; www.chattairport.com; 1001 Airport Rd) is just east of the city. The **Greyhound station** ( 423-892-1277; 960 Airport Rd) is just down the road.

For access to most downtown sites, ride the free electric shuttle buses that ply the center. The visitor center has a route map.

With an utter lack of nostalgia, Amtrak does not serve Chattanooga.

### Knoxville

Once known as the 'underwear capital of the world' for its numerous textile mills, Knoxville is now home to the University of Tennessee and a number of high-tech industries. Downtown is full of ornate, slightly crumbling 19th-century buildings and lovely outdoor cafés shaded by pear trees.

The **visitor center** ( 865-523-7263, 800-727-8045; www.knoxville.org; 301 S Gay St;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 1pm Sun) has locations downtown and near the riverfront. Most restaurants and nightlife are in the arty, renovated warehouses of Old City, near the train station, and Market Square, in central downtown. Concerts and University of Tennessee sports teams play at **Neyland Stadium** ( 865-974-0953; 1600 Stadium Dr).

The city's visual centerpiece is the **Sunsphere** , a gold orb atop a tower that's the main remnant of the 1982 World Fair. You can take the elevator up to the (usually deserted) viewing deck to see the skyline and a dated exhibit on Knoxville's civic virtues.

You can't miss the massive orange basketball that marks the **Women's Basketball Hall of Fame** ( 865-633-9000; www.wbhof.com; 700 Hall of Fame Dr; adult/child $8/6;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat summer, from 11am Tue-Sat winter), a nifty look at the sport from the time when women were forced to play in full-length dresses.

* * *

# WORTH THE TRIP: JACK DANIEL'S DISTILLERY

The irony of the **Jack Daniel's Distillery** ( 931-759-6180; www.jackdaniels.com; Rte 1, Lynchburg; tours free;  9am-4:30pm) being in a 'dry county' is lost on no one – local liquor laws dictate that no hard stuff can be sold within county lines, thus the distillery cannot give out samples of its famous whiskey. But it can give hour-long free tours, where visitors are encouraged to take long sniffs of the golden brew. It's the oldest registered distillery in the US: the folks at Jack Daniels have been dripping whiskey through layers of charcoal then aging it in oak barrels since 1866. The distillery is located off Hwy 55 in the diminutive town of Lynchburg, which freely admits that all visitors are either here to see the distillery or they are lost.

* * *

If you're spending the night, try **Hotel St Oliver** ( 865-521-0050; 407 Union Ave; r from $75;    ). This 28-room downtown gem has an eccentric rococo ambience, like staying at the home of your very rich but slightly dotty great aunt. Rooms have antique four-poster beds and wet bars; the downstairs library has Victorian fainting couches and sinister-looking oil paintings.

### Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Cherokee called this territory Shaconage (shah- _cone_ -ah-jey), meaning roughly 'land of the blue smoke,' for the heather-colored mist that hangs over the ancient peaks. The Southern Appalachians are the world's oldest mountain range, with mile upon mile of cool, humid deciduous forest.

The 815-sq-mile park is the country's most visited, and while the main arteries and attractions can get crowded, studies have shown that 95% of visitors never venture further than 100yd from their cars, so it's easy to leave the teeming masses behind.

Unlike most other national parks, Great Smoky charges no admission fee, nor will it ever; this proviso was written into the park's original charter as a stipulation for a $5-million Rockefeller family grant. Stop by a visitor center to pick up a park map and the free park newspaper, _Smokies Guide_. For more information about the North Carolina section of this park, Click here.

#### ORIENTATION & INFORMATION

Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles the North Carolina–Tennessee border, which zigzags diagonally through the heart of the park. The north–south **Newfound Gap Road/Highway 441** spans the park, connecting the gateway towns of Gatlinburg, TN, on the north-central border and Cherokee, NC, on the south-central border.

The park's three interior visitor centers are **Sugarlands Visitor Center** ( 865-436-1291;  8am-4:30pm, to later spring & summer), at the park's northern entrance near Gatlinburg; **Cades Cove Visitor Center** ( 877-444-6777;  9am-4:30pm, to later spring & summer), halfway up Cades Cove Loop Rd, off Hwy 441 near the Gatlinburg entrance; and Oconaluftee Visitor Center (Click here), at the park's southern entrance near Cherokee, NC.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

The remains of the 19th-century settlement at **Cades Cove** are some of the park's most popular sights, as evidenced by the teeth-grinding summer traffic jams on the loop road. **Mt LeConte** has some of the park's best hikes, as well as the only non-camping accommodation, **LeConte Lodge** ( 865-429-5704; www.leconte-lodge.com; cabins $70 per person, dinner & breakfast $35). Though the only way to get to the lodge's rustic, electricity-free cabins is via an 8-mile uphill hike, it's so popular you need to reserve up to a year in advance. You can drive right up to the dizzying heights of **Clingmans Dome** , the third-highest mountain east of the Mississippi, with afuturistic observation tower.

#### CAMPING

With 10 developed campgrounds offering about 1000 campsites, you'd think finding a place to pitch would be easy. Not so in the busy summer season: your best bet is to plan ahead. You can make **reservations** ( 800-365-2267; www.nps.gov/grsm) for some sites; others are first-come, first-served. Camping fees are $14 to $23 per night. Of the park's 10 campgrounds, only Cades Cove and Smokemont are open year-round; others are open March to October.

Backcountry camping is an excellent option. A (free) permit is required; you can make **reservations** ( 865-436-1231) and get permits at the ranger stations or visitor centers.

### Gatlinburg

Wildly kitschy Gatlinburg sits at the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, waiting to stun hikers with the scent of fudge and cotton candy. Tourists flock here to ride the ski lifts, shop for Confederate-flag undershorts, get married at the many wedding chapels, and play hillbilly-themed mini-golf. The city has three **visitor centers** ( 865-436-0519, 800-343-1475; www.gatlinburg.com;  8am-6pm, to 8pm Fri & Sat, to 10pm summer), at the third and fifth stoplights and 2 miles north of town on US 441.

* * *

# WHAT THE...?

**Dollywood** ( 865-428-9488, 800-365-5996; www.dollywood.com; 1020 Dollywood Lane; adult/child $53/42;  Apr-Dec) is a self-created ode to the patron saint of East Tennessee, the big-haired, bigger-bosomed country singer Dolly Parton. The park features Appalachian-themed rides and attractions, from the Mystery Mine roller coaster to the bald eagle sanctuary to the faux one-room chapel named after the doctor who delivered Dolly.

* * *

Ten miles north of Gatlinburg, **Pigeon Forge** (www.mypigeonforge.com) is a tacky complex of motels, outlet malls and country-music theaters and restaurants, all of which have grown up in the shadow of **Dollywood** (see the boxed text, opposite).

Return to beginning of chapter

# KENTUCKY

With an economy based on bourbon, horse racing and tobacco, you might think Kentucky would rival Las Vegas as Sin Central. Well, yes and no. For every whiskey-soaked Louisville bar there's a dry county where you can't get anything stronger than ginger ale. For every racetrack there's a Catholic monastery or a Southern Baptist church.

Kentucky's full of strange juxtapositions like that. A geographic and cultural crossroads, the state combines the friendliness of the South, the rural frontier history of the West, the industry of the North, and the aristocratic charm of the East.

Every corner of the state is easy on the eye. In spring, the pastures of central Kentucky bloom with tiny azure buds, earning it the moniker 'Bluegrass State.' There are few sights more heartbreakingly beautiful than the rolling limestone hills of horse country, where thoroughbred breeding is a multimillion-dollar industry. Even the mountains, often maligned as 'hillbilly country,' blaze with color and culture.

### History

British and French forces battled for control of Kentucky in the mid-1700s, recognizing the value of the fertile land that was once used by Native Americans as a hunting ground.

Legendary frontiersman Daniel Boone blazed a trail through the Cumberland Gap and the British began pouring over the Appalachians in 1775. The state became a battleground during the Revolutionary War, with local Shawnee allying with the crown.

* * *

# KENTUCKY FACTS

**Nickname:** Bluegrass State

**Population** 4.3 million

**Area** 39,728 sq miles

**Capital** **city** Frankfort (pop 27,098)

**Other cities** Louisville (pop 554,496), Lexington (pop 270,789)

**Sales tax** 6%

**Birthplace of** 16th US president Abraham Lincoln (1809–65), 'gonzo' journalist Hunter S Thompson (1937–2005), boxer Muhammad Ali (b 1942), actress Ashley Judd (b 1968)

**Home of** Kentucky Derby, Louisville Slugger, bourbon

**Famous** **for** Horses, bluegrass music, fried chicken, caves

**Interesting place names** Monkeys Eyebrow, Chicken Bristle, Shoulderblade, Hippo, Petroleum

**Driving distances** Louisville to Lexington 77 miles, Lexington to Mammoth Cave National Park 135 miles

* * *

Though a slave state, Kentucky was bitterly divided during the Civil War, with 30,000 fighting for the Confederacy and 64,000 for the Union. Both the Union president Abraham Lincoln and Confederacy president Jefferson Davis were Kentucky-born.

After the war, Kentucky built up its economy on railways, tobacco and coal-mining. Today its motto, 'Unbridled Spirit,' reflects the dominance of scenic horse country.

### Information

The boundary between Eastern and Central time goes through the middle of Kentucky.

**Kentucky State Parks** ( 800-255-7275; www.parks.ky.gov) Offers info on hiking, caving, fishing, camping and more in Kentucky's 52 state parks. So-called 'Resort Parks' have more upscale options, like lodges, while 'Recreation Parks' are all about roughin' it.

**Kentucky Travel** ( 502-564-4930, 800-225-8747; www.kentuckytourism.com) Sends out a detailed booklet on the state's attractions.

Return to beginning of chapter

## LOUISVILLE

Best known as the home of the Kentucky Derby, Louisville (or Louahvul, as the locals say) is a handsome, underrated city. A major Ohio River shipping center during the days of westward expansion, Kentucky's largest city now has a lively, working-class vibe, with corner pool halls, punk-rock bars, and drive-through chili restaurants. It's a fun place to spend a day or two, checking out the museums, wandering the old neighborhoods, drinking a little bourbon.

The downtown area lies along the banks of the Ohio River, opposite Indiana. Just south of downtown is Old Louisville, with the largest collection of Victorian homes in the country. The Highlands area, centered on Bardstown and Baxter Rds, is where locals come to play, with cafés and bars galore. A series of pretty parks laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1890s encircle the city, along with an inner (I-264) and outer (I-265) ring road.

The **visitor center** ( 502-582-3732, 888-568-4784; www.gotolouisville.com; 301 S 4th St;  10am-6pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) has a free exhibit about that great Kentucky icon, KFC founder Colonel Sanders. Surf the web free at the **public library** ( 502-574-1611; 301 York St;  9am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 5pm Fri & Sat) downtown.

### Sights

Look for the 120ft baseball bat leaning against the **Louisville Slugger Museum** ( 877-775-8443; www.sluggermuseum.org; 800 W Main St; adult/child $10/5;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun;  ) – ya can't miss it. Hillerich & Bradsby Co have been making the famous Louisville Slugger baseball bat here since 1884. The admission fee includes a plant tour, a hall of baseball memorabilia such as Babe Ruth's bat, a batting cage and a free mini slugger. Customized bats are sold in the lobby. Note: bat production halts on Sunday, as well as on Saturday in the winter.

Across the street, the state-of-the-art **Frazier International History Museum** ( 502-412-2280; www.fraziermuseum.org; 829 W Main St; adult/child $12/9;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun) covers 1000 years of history with grisly battle dioramas and costumed interpreters demonstrating swordplay and staging mock debates.

 **Muhammad Ali Center** ( 502-584-9254; www.alicenter.org; 144 N 6th St; adult/child $9/4;  9:30am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun) is a love offering to the city from its most famous native. Self-guided tours include a stirring film on Ali's life and video projections of his most famous fights, as well as exhibits about the racial segregation and humanitarian issues that so vexed the outspoken man once known as the 'Louisville Lip.'

**Speed Art Museum** ( 502-634-2700; www.speedmuseum.org; 2035 S 3rd St; admission free;  10:30am-4pm Tue, Wed & Fri, to 8pm Thu, to 5pm Sat, noon-5pm Sun) is a handsome Greek Revival–style building with more than 12,000 pieces of art, from classical sculptures to Kentucky mint julep cups.

A shallow part of the river exposes fossils from an ancient sea at the **Falls of the Ohio State Park** ( 812-280-9970; www.fallsoftheohio.org; W Riverside Dr, Clarksville, IN; adult/child $4/1;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 1pm Sun;  ). Kids will love the big aquariums in the visitors center.

The Victorian-era **Old Louisville** neighborhood, just south of downtown, is well worth a drive or stroll. There are several wonderful **historic homes** ( 502-899-5079; www.historichomes.org) open for tours, including Thomas Edison's old shotgun cottage.

#### CHURCHILL DOWNS

On the first Saturday in May, a who's who of upper-crust America puts on their pinstripe suits and most flamboyant hats and descends upon **Churchill Downs** ( 502-636-4400, 800-283-3729; www.churchilldowns.com; 700 Central Ave) for the 'greatest two minutes in sports,' the Kentucky Derby. After the race, the crowd sings 'My Old Kentucky Home' and watches as the winning horse is covered in a blanket of roses. Then they party.

To be honest, they've been partying for a while. The **Kentucky Derby Festival** ( 502-584-6383; www.kdf.org), which includes a balloon race and the largest fireworks display in North America, starts two weeks before the big event.

Most seats at the derby are by invitation only or they've been reserved years in advance. On Derby Day, $40 gets you into the paddock party scene (no seat) if you arrive early, but it's so crowded you won't see much of the race. Don't fret, though. From April through to November, you can get a $3 seat at the Downs for many exciting races, often warm-ups for the big events.

On the grounds, the **Kentucky Derby Museum** ( 502-637-7097; www.derbymuseum.org; Gate 1, Central Ave; adult/child $12/5;  8am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 11am Sun) has exhibits on derby history, including a peek into the life of jockeys and a roundup of the most illustrious horses. There is a 360-degree audiovisual about the race, and a behind-the-scenes track tour ($10) that leads you through the jockey's quarters and posh VIP seating areas.

* * *

# WORTH THE DRIVE: INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS MUSIC MUSEUM

Kentuckian Bill Monroe is considered the founding father of bluegrass music; his band, the Blue Grass Boys, gave the genre its name. Bluegrass has its roots in the old-time mountain music, mixed with the fast tempo of African songs and spiced with lashings of jazz. Any banjo picker or fiddle fan will appreciate the historic exhibits at the **International Bluegrass Music Museum** ( 270-926-7891; www.bluegrass-museum.org; 207 E 2nd St; admission $5;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-4pm Sun) in Owensboro. The pretty Ohio River town, about 100 miles west of Louisville, also hosts the **ROMP Bluegrass Festival** (www.bluegrass-museum.org/riverofmusic) in June.

* * *

### Sleeping & Eating

Chain hotels cluster near the airport off I-264. The Highlands area is the spot for locally owned cafés and bars. Downtown's 'Fourth Street Live' is a rather contrived 'entertainment district' of casual shopping and dining; there are better pickings in the area, so don't be afraid to wander.

**Rocking Horse B &B** ( 502-583-0408, 888-467-7322; www.rockinghorse-bb.com; 1022 S 3rd St; r incl breakfast $105-195;        ) On a stretch of 3rd St once known as Millionaire's Row, this 1888 Romanesque mansion has six guest rooms decorated with Victorian antiques and splendid stained glass. Guests can eat their two-course breakfast in the English country garden or sip complimentary port in the parlor.

**Brown Hotel** ( 502-583-1234; www.brownhotel.com; 335 West Broadway; r from $139;      ) Opera stars, queens and prime ministers have trod the marble floors of this storied downtown hotel, now restored to all its 1920s gilded glamour with 293 comfy rooms and a swank bar. Parking is $18.

 **21c** ( 502-217-6300; www.21chotel.com; 700 W Main St; r from $159;      ) This contemporary art museum/hotel would be edgy anywhere; in laid-back Louisville, it's practically in a different dimension. Video screens project your distorted image on the wall as you wait for the elevator. Chandeliers made from scissors dangle weirdly in the hallways. Sexually suggestive sculptures in the lobby make even normally unflappable guidebook authors blush. Urban loft–like rooms have iPod docks and mint julep kits in the mini-fridge. Parking is $18.

**Lynn's Paradise Cafe** ( 502-583-3447; 984 Barret Ave; mains $7-15;  7am-10pm Mon-Fri, from 8am Sat & Sun;  ) It's breakfast anytime at this psychedelic diner, marked by the 10ft-tall teapot outside. Don't miss the homemade biscuits with sorghum butter, or the Hot Brown sandwich, a Louisville classic invented in the 1920s at the Brown Hotel.

**Lilly's Bistro** ( 502-451-0447; 1147 Bardstown Rd; mains $19-26;  11am-3pm Tue-Sat, 5:30-10pm Tue-Thu, 5:30-11pm Fri & Sat) Chef Kathy Cary creates 'Kentucky tapas' (think catfish spring rolls, chorizo spoonbread) at this eclectic upscale eatery, a longtime Bardstown Rd favorite. The three-course lunch menu ($15) is a steal.

### Drinking & Entertainment

The free weekly **Leo** (www.leoweekly.com) lists gigs and entertainment. You'll have no problem finding a watering hole in the Highlands area. Try **Cahoots** ( 502-454-6687; 1047 Bardstown Rd), one of Bardstown's classic rock and roll dives, or **Molly Malone's** ( 502-473-1222; 933 Baxter Ave), a lively Irish pub with a big patio.

**Rudyard Kipling** ( 502-636-1311; 422 W Oak St) In Old Louisville, this place is loved by arty locals for its intimate indie-bluegrass shows and Kentucky bar food (try the 'snappy cheese').

**Actors Theatre of Louisville** ( 502-584-1205; www.actorstheatre.org; 504 W Main St) This highly regarded theater performs everything from Shakespeare to contemporary musicals and has premiered several Pulitzer Prize–winning plays.

### Getting There & Around

**Louisville's International Airport** (SDF;  502-367-4636; www.flylouisville.com) is 5 miles south of town on I-65. Get there by cab (around $18) or local bus 2. The **Greyhound station** ( 502-585-3331; 720 W Muhammad Ali Blvd) is just west of downtown. **TARC** ( 502-585-1234; 1000 W Broadway) runs local buses from the Union Station depot.

Return to beginning of chapter

## BLUEGRASS COUNTRY

Drive through northeast Kentucky's Bluegrass Country on a sunny day, and you'll get an idea of what the ancient Greeks were imagining when they wrote about the elysian fields of paradise. Horses graze in the brilliant-green hills dotted with ponds, poplar trees and handsome estate houses. These once-wild woodlands and meadows have been a center of horse breeding for almost 250 years – the region's natural limestone deposits are said to produce especially nutritious grass. The area's principal city, Lexington, is known as 'Horse Capital of the World.'

### Lexington

Even the prison looks like a country club in Lexington, home of million-dollar houses and multimillion-dollar horses. Once the wealthiest and most cultured city west of the Allegheny Mountains, it was called 'the Athens of the West,' and today is home to the University of Kentucky and the heart of the thoroughbred-racehorse industry. The small downtown has some pretty Victorian neighborhoods, but most of the attractions are in the countryside outside the metro area.

Pick up maps and area information from the **visitor center** ( 859-233-7299, 800-845-3959; www.visitlex.com; 301 E Vine St;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat). The **public library** (140 E Main St;  10am-5pm Tue-Fri, from noon Sat & Sun;  ) has free internet access and free wi-fi for those with laptops.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

Downtown Lexington has several **historic homes** (www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/lexington) open for tours. The following are $7 each, or $15 for all four with a combination ticket – available at the visitor center or at Ashland.

Just 1.5 miles east of downtown, **Ashland** ( 859-266-8581; www.henryclay.org; 120 Sycamore Rd;  10am-4pm Tue-Sat, 1-4pm Sun) was the Italianate estate of statesman Henry Clay (1777–1852). **Hunt-Morgan House** ( 859-253-0362; www.bluegrasstrust.org; 201 N Mill St;  1-4pm Wed-Fri & Sun, 10am-3pm Sat) is a fine Federal-style mansion (c 1814) with a small Civil War museum. The 1806 **Mary Todd-Lincoln House** ( 859-233-9999; www.mtlhouse.org; 578 W Main St;  10am-4pm Mon-Sat) has articles from the first lady's childhood and her years as Abe's wife. **Waveland** ( 859-272-3611; <http://parks.ky.gov/findparks/histparks/wl>; 225 Waveland Museum Lane;  9am-4pm) is a 19th-century plantation.

 **Headley-Whitney Museum** ( 859-255-6653; www.headley-whitney.org; 4435 Old Frankfort Pike; adult/child $7/5;  10am-5pm Tue-Fri, from noon Sat & Sun), marvellously old, holds the private collection of the late George Headley, a jewelry designer whose gemstone trinkets and handmade dollhouses are on display, along with a truly bizarre garage turned 'seashell grotto.'

An educational theme park and equestrian sports center, the **Kentucky Horse Park** ( 859-233-4303, 800-678-8813; www.kyhorsepark.com; 4089 Iron Works Pkwy; adult/child $15/8;  9am-5pm daily mid-Mar–Oct, Wed-Sun Nov–mid-Mar;  ) sits on 1200 acres just north of Lexington. Horses representing 50 different breeds live in the park and participate in special live shows. Also included, the international **Museum of the Horse** has neat dioramas of the horse through history, from the tiny prehistoric 'eohippus' to the pony express mail carriers. Seasonal horseback riding costs $15 with park ticket, $22 without. The adjacent **American Saddlebred Museum** focuses on America's first registered horse breed – for hard-core enthusiasts only.

Most farms are closed to the public, but you can see working racehorses up close at the **Thoroughbred Center** ( 859-293-1853; www.thethoroughbredcenter.com; 3380 Paris Pike; adult/child $10/5;  tours 9am Mon-Sat Apr-Oct, Mon-Fri Nov-Mar), with tours of the stables, practice tracks and paddocks.

Watch 'em run at the **Keeneland Race Course** ( 859-254-3412, 800-456-3412; www.keeneland.com; 4201 Versailles Rd; tickets $5), which has races in April and October and horse sales throughout the year. From March to November, you can watch the champions train from sunrise to 10am. Or head to the **Red Mile** ( 859-255-0752; www.theredmile.com; 1200 Red Mile Rd) to see harness racing, where jockeys are pulled behind horses in special two-wheeled carts. Live races are in the fall, but you can watch and wager on simulcasts of races from around the world year-round.

Several working ranches around Lexington offer **horseback riding** to both newbies and experienced riders. Call to arrange guided trail rides at **Whispering Woods** ( 502-570-9663; www.whisperingwoodstrails.com; 265 Wright Lane; trail rides per hr $25;  Mar-Nov), in bucolic Georgetown.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

There are several downtown cafés and bars with outdoor seating around Main and Limestone Sts. S Limestone, across from the UK campus, has student-friendly nightlife.

**Kentucky Horse Park** ( 859-259-4257, 800-370-6416; www.kyhorsepark.com; 4089 Iron Works Pkwy; paved/unpaved campsites from $22/15;  ) has 260 paved sites open year-round. There are showers, laundry, a grocery, playgrounds and more. Primitive camping is also available.

* * *

# WHAT THE...?

Fact: nearly half of Americans don't believe in evolution. Hence the popularity of Petersburg, Kentucky's new multimillion-dollar **Creation Museum** ( 888-582-4253; www.creationmuseum.org; 2800 Bullittsburg Church Rd; adult/child $22/12;  10am-6pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun), an interactive tour through a biblical interpretation of history. The scientific-minded will fume at what may be seen as an anti-rational message. But that doesn't mean they won't enjoy the walk-through Noah's Ark, animatronic dinosaurs (creationists believe they coexisted with humans), and the zonkeys (zebra-donkey hybrids) in the petting zoo.

* * *

**Gratz Park Inn** ( 859-231-1777, 800-752-4166; www.gratzparkinn.com; 120 W 2nd St; r from $169;        ) On a quiet downtown street, this 40-room hotel feels like a genteel hunt club, with mahogany furnishings and Old World oil paintings in heavy frames. The attached restaurant, Jonathan's, serves fine regional cuisine.

**Billy's Hickory Pit Bar-B-Q** ( 859-269-9593; 101 Cochran Rd; mains $6-15;  11am-10pm Mon-Sat, 11:30am-9pm Sun) Even the green beans have meat in them at homey Billy's, an institution known for its Kentucky-style smoked pork, beef and mutton and its burgoo, a regional chili-like stew.

**Holly Hill Inn** ( 859-846-4732; www.hollyhillinn.com; 426 N Winter St, Midway; mains $15-35;  5:30-10pm Thu & Fri, 11am-2pm & 5:30-10pm Sat, 11am-2pm Sun, plus lunch May-Jul) Guests dine in the converted bedrooms and parlors of an elegant old farmhouse, just west of Lexington in the town of Midway. The husband-and-wife owners serve local bounty with a deft touch – lamb with scallion ravioli, farmstead egg custard with fiddlehead ferns.

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

**Blue Grass Airport** (LEX;  859-425-3114; www.bluegrassairport.com; 4000 Terminal Dr) is west of town, with about a dozen domestic nonstops. **Greyhound** ( 859-299-8804; 477 W New Circle Rd) is 2 miles from downtown. **Lex-Tran** ( 859-253-4636; www.lextranonthemove.org) runs local buses (bus 6 goes to the Greyhound station).

### Frankfort

A pretty little postcard of a town, all red brick and gingerbread trim, Kentucky's diminutive capital lies 26 miles west of Lexington on the banks of the Kentucky River. There are some notable historic buildings, including the **old state capitol** ( 502-564-1792; admission free;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat), which functioned from 1827 to 1910. Nearby is the handsome **Kentucky History Center** ( 502-564-1792; www.history.ky.gov; 100 W Broadway St; admission free;  8am-4pm Tue-Sat), for those truly interested in state history. Daniel Boone is buried in the **Frankfort Cemetery** (E Main St).

Return to beginning of chapter

## CENTRAL KENTUCKY

The Bluegrass Pkwy runs from I-65 in the west to Rte 60 in the east, passing through some of the most luscious pasturelands in Kentucky.

About 40 miles south of Louisville is **Bardstown** , the 'Bourbon Capital of the World' (see the boxed text, Click here). The historic downtown comes alive in September for the **Kentucky Bourbon Festival** ( 800-638-4877; www.kybourbonfestival.com). Have a meal, some bourbon, and a good night's sleep in the dim limestone environs of **Old Talbott Tavern** ( 502-348-3494; www.talbotts.com; 107 W Stephen Foster Ave; r from $59;    ), welcoming guests like Abraham Lincoln and Daniel Boone since the late 1700s.

Follow Hwy 31 southwest and turn left at Monks Rd to visit the ascetically beautiful **Abbey of Gethsemani** , a Trappist monastery once home to famed Catholic thinker Thomas Merton. You can buy monk-made fudge at the **gift shop** ( 9am-5pm Mon-Fri). Continue on Hwy 31 to **Hodgenville** and the **Abraham Lincoln Birthplace** ( 270-358-3137; www.nps.gov/abli; admission free;  8am-4:45pm, to 6:45pm summer), a faux Greek temple constructed around an old log cabin. Ten minutes away is Honest Abe's boyhood home at Knob Creek, with hiking trails.

Thirty minutes southwest of Lexington is **Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill** ( 800-734-5611; www.shakervillageky.org; 3501 Lexington Rd, Harrodsburg; adult/child $15/5;  10am-5pm), home to a community of the Shaker religious sect until the early 1900s. Tour 14 impeccably restored buildings, set amid buttercup meadows and winding stone paths. There's an inn and restaurant, and a gift shop selling the Shakers' famous handicrafts.

Forty miles south of Lexington is **Berea** , famed for its folk art. The **Kentucky Artisan Center** ( 859-985-5448; www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov; Exit 77, off Hwy 75;  8am-8pm) has a large variety of handcrafts and food.

* * *

# THE BOURBON TRAIL

Silky, caramel-colored bourbon whiskey was likely first distilled in Bourbon County, north of Lexington, around 1789. Today 90% of all bourbon is produced here in Kentucky (no other state is allowed to put its own name on the bottle). Good bourbon must contain at least 51% corn, and must also be stored in charred oak barrels for a minimum of two years. While most connoisseurs drink it straight or with water, you must try a mint julep, the archetypal Southern drink made with bourbon, sugar syrup and crushed mint.

The **Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History** ( 502-348-2999; www.whiskeymuseum.com; 114 N 5th St; donations appreciated;  10am-4pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun), in Bardstown, tells the bourbon story with old moonshine stills and other artifacts.

Most of Kentucky's distilleries, which are centered on Bardstown and Frankfort, offer free tours. Call for times.

## Distilleries

Near Bardstown:

**Heaven Hill** ( 502-348-3921; www.bourbonheritagecenter.com; 1311 Gilkey Run Rd, Bardstown) Not a distillery tour, but an interactive Bourbon Heritage Center, with a tasting room inside a giant barrel.

**Jim Beam** ( 502-543-9877; www.jimbean.com; 149 Happy Hollow Rd, Clermont) Watch a film about the Beam family and sample small-batch bourbons at the country's largest bourbon distillery.

**Maker's Mark** ( 270-865-2099; www.makersmark.com; 3350 Burks Spring Rd, Loretto) This restored Victorian distillery is like a bourbon theme park, with an old gristmill and a gift shop where you can seal your own bottle in red wax.

**Tom Moore** ( 502-348-3774; www.1792bourbon.com; 300 Barton Rd, Bardstown) Connoisseur-quality 1792 Ridgemont Reserve is produced at this small distillery, the only one within Bardstown city limits.

Near Frankfort/Lawrenceburg:

**Buffalo Trace** ( 502-696-5926; www.buffalotrace.com; 1001 Wilkinson Blvd, Frankfort) The nation's oldest continuously operating distillery has highly regarded tours and free tastings.

**Four Roses** ( 502-839-3436; www.fourroses.us; 1224 Bonds Mills Rd, Lawrenceburg) One of the most scenic distilleries, in a riverside Spanish Mission–style building. Free tastings.

**Wild Turkey** ( 502-839-4544; www.wildturkey.com; Hwy 62 E, Lawrenceburg) Master distiller Jimmy Russell has been making this extra-dark bourbon since 1954. The factory is more industrial than scenic.

**Woodford Reserve** (  859-879-1812; www.woodfordreserve.com; 7855 McCracken Pike, Versailles) The historic site along a creek is restored to its 1800s glory; the distillery still uses old-fashioned copper pots.

* * *

### Daniel Boone National Forest

These 707,000 acres of rugged ravines and gravity-defying sandstone arches cover much of the Appalachian foothills of eastern Kentucky. The forest has numerous state- and federal-run areas; the main **ranger station** ( 859-745-3100; www.fs.fed.us/r8/boone) is in Winchester.

An hour southeast of Lexington is the **Red River Gorge** area, whose cliffs and natural arches make for some of the best rock climbing in the country. **True North Outfitters** ( 606-668-3745; www.truenorthoutfitters.com; 20 Sky Bridge Rd, Pine Ridge; full-day guided climb $200) sells gear and offers guided climbing and hiking trips, plus hostel beds ($18). Climbers can also pay $2 to camp out behind **Miguel's Pizza** ( 606-663-1975; 1890 Natural Bridge Rd, Slade; mains $10-14;  7am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat) in the hamlet of Slade. Bordering Red River Gorge is the **Natural Bridge State Resort Park** ( 606-663-2214; www.parks.ky.gov; 2135 Natural Bridge Rd, Slade), notable for its gravity-defying 78ft-high sandstone arch. It's a family-friendly park, with camping, a variety of short hiking trails, and a lake with an island known as 'hoedown island' for its occasional clogging performances.

Further south, the **Cumberland Falls State Resort Park** ( 606-528-4121; admission free; campsites $19) is one of the few places in the world to see a moonbow, a rainbow that sometimes forms in the fall's mist at night. The park has a rustic lodge (from $99) and campgrounds. While you're there, head over to the adjacent **Natural Arch Scenic Area** to see the 90ft sandstone arch and hike the half-dozen trails. The nearby town of **Corbin** has the original Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, with a rather disturbing life-size statue of the Colonel.

### Mammoth Cave National Park

With the longest cave system on earth, **Mammoth Cave National Park** ( 270-758-2328; www.nps.gov/maca; Exit 53, off I-65;  8:45am-5:15pm) has some 300 miles of surveyed passageways. Mammoth is at least three times bigger than any other known cave, with vast interior cathedrals, bottomless pits, and strange, undulating rock formations. The caves have been used for prehistoric mineral gathering, as a source of saltpeter for gunpowder and as a tuberculosis hospital. Tourists started visiting around 1810 and guided tours have been offered since the 1830s. The area became a national park in 1926 and now brings nearly two million visitors each year.

The only way to see the caves is on the excellent **ranger-guided tours** ( 800-967-2283; adult $12-48), and it's wise to book ahead, especially in summer. Tours range from subterranean strolls to strenuous, day-long spelunking adventures. The history tour is especially interesting.

In addition to the caves, the park contains 70 miles of trails for hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking. There are also three campsites with restrooms, but no electricity or water hookups ($12 to $30), 12 free backcountry campsites, and the **Mammoth Cave Hotel** ( 270-758-2225; www.mammothcavehotel.com; r $89, cottages from $59;    ), next to the visitors center, which has standard hotel rooms and, in spring and summer, rustic cottages. There is a gas station and convenience store near the visitor center. But to be honest, we prefer to drive down to shabby Cave City to sleep in the giant concrete tipis at the **Wigwam Village Inn** ( 270-773-3381; www.wigwamvillage.com; 601 N Dixie Hwy, Cave City; wigwams $35-70;    ), a 1937 chunk of pure American kitsch.

Return to beginning of chapter

# GEORGIA

Vastly different at each of its edges, Georgia – the largest state east of the Mississippi River – is in many ways the perfect distillation of everything the South has to offer. It's a state of wild geographic and cultural extremes: right-leaning Republican politics rub against liberal idealism, small towns merge with gaping cities, northern mountains rise to the clouds and produce roaring rivers, while coastal marshlands teem with fiddler crabs and swaying cordgrass.

Atlanta is the state capital and the region's transportation hub, a sprawling metropolis with friendly neighborhoods alongside multinational corporations such as UPS and Coca-Cola. So start your trip in the city known as 'the ATL,' then road-trip across the state to fall under the spell of Savannah's live oaks, seafood, antebellum homes and humid nights. From here you're close to the coastal barrier islands – bring your tuxedo to Jekyll Island and your hiking boots to Cumberland Island.

### History

Permanent English settlement dates from 1733, when James Edward Oglethorpe founded Savannah. By the time of the Revolutionary War, almost half the population was made up of slaves. Georgia held two crucial battlefronts in the latter part of the Civil War: Chickamauga, where Union troops were defeated, and Atlanta, which they conquered and burned. Atlanta, the South's major transportation hub, was rebuilt with startling speed.

* * *

# WORTH THE DRIVE: OTHER CAVE COUNTRY CAVES

By the early 20th century, Mammoth Cave had become such a popular attraction that owners of smaller local caves began diverting travelers heading to Mammoth by claiming it was flooded or quarantined. The inevitable conflicts became known as the 'Cave Wars.' Today, you'll still see plenty of billboards beseeching you to visit other caves around Mammoth. Here are a few that are actually worth the drive:

**Cub Run Cave** One of the 'newest' caves, discovered in 1950, with tons of colorful formations.

**Diamond Caverns** Has guided one-hour tours (adult/child $16/8) of its vast cathedrals dripping stalactites and draped in pearly flowstone.

**Hidden River Cave** A cave museum and a one-hour tour that takes you by the ruins of a turn-of-the-century hydroelectric system. Special off-trail adventure tours can be arranged in advance during summer.

**Lost River Cave** Offers a family-friendly 25-minute boat ride through an underground river. There are 2 miles of hiking trails on-site.

* * *

In the 20th century the state vaulted to national prominence on the back of an eclectic group of events and images: the wildly popular novel and film _Gone With the Wind;_ Reverend Martin Luther King Jr and civil rights protests; 39th US President Jimmy Carter; and Atlanta's rise as a global media and business center, culminating in the 1996 Summer Olympics. Since then, Georgia's capital has become known as the 'Motown of the South' thanks to its sizzling hip-hop and R & B scene.

### Information

For statewide tourism information, contact the **Georgia Department of Economic Development** ( 800-847-4842; www.exploregeorgia.org). For information on state parks, contact the **Georgia Department of Natural Resources** ( 800-864-7275; www.gastateparks.org), where you can find information on camping and activities in parks statewide. Forty-one parks offer tent-only and RV-site camping for around $23 per night. Most parks have laundry facilities.

Cars are the most convenient way to move around Georgia. (Atlanta has a citywide train system called Marta, but service is limited. Some cyclists brave the city streets.) I-75 bisects the state running north–south; I-20 runs east–west.

You can expect to pay an additional 6% tax on hotel accommodations in Georgia.

Return to beginning of chapter

## ATLANTA

With five million residents in the metro and outlying areas, the so-called capital of the South continues to experience explosive growth thanks to southbound Yankees and international immigrants alike. It's also booming as a tourist destination thanks to two glitzy 21st-century attractions – the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola – plus giant panda exhibits at Zoo Atlanta. Beyond the attractions you'll find a constellation of superlative restaurants, two luxury megamalls, ample Civil War lore, miles of walking trails and a plethora of African American history.

Without natural boundaries to control development, Atlanta keeps growing – sometimes up, but mostly out. Suburban sprawl has turned Atlanta into an almost endless city. Increased car dependence creates horrendous traffic and pollution.

* * *

# GEORGIA FACTS

**Nickname** Peach State

**Population** 9.7 million

**Area** 57,906 sq miles

**Capital city** Atlanta (population metro area5 million)

**Other cities** Savannah (population 127,889)

**Sales tax** 7%

**Birthplace of** Baseball legend Ty Cobb (1886–1961), president Jimmy Carter (b 1924), civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr (1929–68), singer Ray Charles (1930–2004)

**Home of** Coca-Cola, the world's busiest airport, the world's biggest aquarium

**Famous for** Peaches

**Driving distances** Atlanta to St Marys 343 miles, Atlanta to Dahlonega 75 miles

* * *

For all this suburbanization, Atlanta is a pretty city covered with trees and elegant homes. Distinct neighborhoods are like friendly small towns. Racial tensions are minimal in 'the city too busy to hate,' which prides itself as hometown to the civil rights titan Martin Luther King Jr.

### History

Born as a railroad junction in 1837, Atlanta became a major Confederate transportation and munitions center for General William T Sherman, whose Union forces blazed through Georgia in 1864. When they left they burned everything, leaving more than 90% of Atlanta's buildings in ruins.

After the war, Atlanta became the epitome of the 'New South,' a concept that entailed reconciliation with the North, the promotion of industrialized agriculture, and a progressive business outlook. Segregation ended relatively painlessly here, compared with other Southern cities, and President John F Kennedy lauded this transition as a model for other communities facing integration.

Atlanta earned a moment in the international spotlight when it hosted the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. The city put on her prettiest debutante gown, and CNN beamed her picture worldwide. People took notice, the moving trucks came rolling down the freeways and, like summer weeds, condos sprouted everywhere. Since then, the city has focused its development energy on the downtown and midtown neighborhoods, both of which have flourished in recent years.

### Orientation

The Atlanta metropolitan area sits inside a highway loop called I-285 or, locally, 'the Perimeter.' I-20 travels east–west, while I-75 and I-85 run north–south. Atlanta's rapid transit system is known as **Marta** (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority; www.itsmarta.com), and it's extremely handy for getting to and from the airport. Unfortunately, its destinations around the city aren't as plentiful as urban explorers might hope.

In the city, Ponce de Leon Ave (known in town as 'Ponce') is a key east–west surface road. Peachtree St and Piedmont Ave are the main north–south arteries, but be forewarned: you'll find lots of other streets, roads and avenues also called Peachtree. Many streets also change names suddenly. W Peachtree St divides east from west and Martin Luther King Jr Dr/Edgewood Ave divides north from south.

Business-oriented downtown Atlanta has a few worthwhile attractions, but you'll have to venture out to see everything. East of downtown, Sweet Auburn attractions pay homage to Martin Luther King Jr. Little Five Points (L5P) and East Atlanta cater to Atlanta's alternative set. Yuppie central Virginia-Highland boasts restaurants, boutique shopping and taverns. Decatur – a quaint independent city just east of Atlanta – offers several good restaurants and nightspots. Turner Field and Grant Park are south of downtown. North of downtown, midtown is a bustling entertainment and nightlife area.

### Information

#### BOOKSTORES

**A Cappella Books** ( 404-681-5128, 866-681-5128; www.acappellabooks.com; 484c Moreland Ave NE;  11am-8pm Mon-Thu, to 9pm Fri & Sat, noon-8pm Sun) A bit of an anarchist spirit pervades in this L5P haunt, which hosts many readings and musical performances. The store has a particularly well-stocked music section.

#### EMERGENCY & MEDICAL SERVICES

**Atlanta Medical Center** ( 404-265-4000; 303 Pkwy Dr NE)

**Emory University Hospital** ( 404-778-7777; 1364 Clifton Rd NE)

**Main police station** ( 404-546-2374; 675 Ponce de Leon Ave) At City Hall East.

**Piedmont Hospital** ( 404-605-5000; 1968 Peachtree Rd NW)

#### INTERNET ACCESS

**Central Library** ( 404-730-1700; 1 Margaret Mitchell Sq;  9am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 6pm Fri & Sat, 2-6pm Sun) Many branches of the public library offer free internet, including this main branch.

**Maasty Computers Internet Cafe** ( 404-294-8095; 736 Ponce de Leon Ave; per 15min $2.50;  8am-11pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun) Near City Hall East, Maasty supplements its computer café with repair services and electronics sales. It's a dark little place with a vaguely industrial vibe and a menu that uses computer slang to indicate sizes.

#### INTERNET RESOURCES

**Access Atlanta** (www.accessatlanta.com) A great place to find out about Atlanta news and upcoming events.

**Atlanta Travel Guide** (www.atlanta.net) Official site of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau with excellent links to shops, restaurants, hotels and upcoming events.

#### MEDIA

**Atlanta** (www.atlantamagazine.com) A monthly general-interest magazine covering local issues, arts and dining.

**Atlanta Daily World** (www.atlantadailyworld.com) The nation's oldest continuously running African American newspaper (since 1928).

**Atlanta Journal-Constitution** (www.ajc.com) Atlanta's major daily newspaper, with a good travel section on Sunday.

**Creative Loafing** (www.atlanta.creativeloafing.com) For hip tips on music, arts and theater, this free alternative weekly comes out every Wednesday.

#### POST

For general postal information call  800-275-8777.

**Post office** Downtown (41 Marietta St); Federal Center ( 404-521-9843; 41 Marietta St NW); Little Five Points (455 Moreland Ave NE); North Highland (1190 N Highland Ave NE)

#### TOURIST INFORMATION

**Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau** (  404-521-6600; www.atlanta.net; 233 Peachtree St;  8:30am-5:30pm Mon-Fri) Has an online neighborhood guide, a restaurant guide and a link to info for gay and lesbian travelers. Its website also lets you buy a CityPass, a tremendous money saver that bundles admission to five attractions for the discounted price of $89.

### Sights & Activities

#### DOWNTOWN

On weekdays, downtown Atlanta bustles with conventioneers and businessfolk, but by nightfall and weekends the bustle turns to a shuffle. In recent years, developers and politicians have been focusing on making the urban core more vibrant and livable. Big attractions in the city have contributed to the success.

The showstopper of the bunch is the **Georgia Aquarium** ( 404-581-4000; www.georgiaaquarium.com; 225 Baker St; adult/child $24/18;  10am-5pm Mon-Thu, 9am-6pm Fri-Sun;  ), a colossal facility billing itself as the world's largest aquarium. It's been massively successful among tourists, but animal rights activists have criticized the aquarium for displaying exotic whale sharks, two of which died not long after the attraction opened. Nevertheless, the Georgia Aquarium has other whale sharks still swimming, and it also boasts a tank of gorgeous beluga whales, among other marine creatures. Next door to the Georgia Aquarium is the **World of Coca-Cola** ( 404-676-5151; www.woccatlanta.com; 121 Baker St; adult/child $15/10;  10am-6:30pm Sun-Thu, 9am-6:30pm Fri & Sat), a self-congratulatory museum that might prove entertaining to fans of the fizzy beverage and rash commercialization. The climactic moment comes when guests sample Coke products from around the world. But there are also Andy Warhol pieces to view, a 4-D film to catch, company history to learn, and what seems like 20 billion promotional materials to behold.

Nearby is **Underground Atlanta** ( 404-523-2311; www.underground-atlanta.com; cnr Peachtree & Alabama Sts;  10am-9pm Mon-Sat, 11am-6pm Sun), which is an enclosed, air-conditioned multilevel maze of shops, bars and restaurants. This is where you go to catch the shuttle to Braves games.

**CNN Center** ( 404-827-2300; www.cnn.com/tour/atlanta; 1 CNN Center; 50min tour adult/child $13/10;  9am-5pm) is the headquarters of the cable-TV news service. You might be tempted to take the CNN tour, a behind-the-scenes glance at the 24-hour news organization, but don't be heartbroken if you miss it. Visitors don't get close enough to the action to feel connected. They do, however, get to ride on an enormous escalator that climbs above a food court and into the CNN facility.

Just north of CNN, **Centennial Olympic Park** ( 404-223-4412; www.centennialpark.com) is a 21-acre legacy of the 1996 Olympic Games. Concerts and special events are held throughout the year. The fountain is a popular summertime spot for kids in bathing suits. This isn't the world's grandest or grassiest park, but there's plenty of room to toss a ball or have a picnic.

The gold-domed **Georgia State Capitol** ( 404-463-4536; www.sos.ga.gov/archives/state_capitol; 214 State Capitol;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri, tours 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm & 3pm) is Atlanta's political hub. The free tours include a film about the legislative process and a glance at the government's communications facility.

#### MIDTOWN

Midtown is like a hipper, second downtown, with plenty of great bars, restaurants and cultural venues.

Through 2010, the expanded **High Museum of Art** ( 404-733-4444; www.high.org; 1280 Peachtree St NE; adult/child $18/11;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) will display sketches and studies by Leonardo da Vinci, as well as the works of his students and teachers. But don't overlook the High's permanent collection of American art, which includes fascinating works from the turn of the 20th century, plus contemporary pieces and Georgian folk art.

**Margaret Mitchell House & Museum** ( 404-249-7015; www.gwtw.org; 990 Peachtree St, at 10th St; adult/child $12/9;  10am-5:30pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun) is a shrine to the author of _Gone With the Wind_. Mitchell wrote her epic in a small apartment in the basement of this historic house. A separate, adjacent museum includes memorabilia from the blockbuster film version of the title.

In the middle of midtown, **Piedmont Park** (www.piedmontpark.org) is a glorious, rambling urban park and the setting of many cultural and music festivals. The park has fantastic bike paths, a Saturday Green Market, a well-loved dog area and pleasant green spaces. Neighboring **Skate Escape** ( 404-892-1292; www.skateescape.com; 1086 Piedmont Ave NE) rents out bicycles (from $6 per hour) and in-line skates ($6 per hour). It also has tandems ($12 per hour) and mountain bikes ($25 for three hours).

In the northwest corner of Piedmont Park, the stunning 30-acre **Atlanta Botanical Garden** ( 404-876-5859; www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org; 1345 Piedmont Ave NE; adult/child $15/12;  9am-6pm Tue-Sun, to 7pm summer) has a Japanese garden, winding paths and the amazing Fuqua Orchid Center. On Thursdays the garden is open till 10pm for **Cocktails in the Garden** (admission $15;  Thu May-Sep) that pairs a drink with a particular flower and area of the garden. There is a DJ and snacks.

* * *

# THE SHORT LIFE OF A CIVIL RIGHTS GIANT

Martin Luther King Jr, the quintessential figure of the American Civil Rights movement, was born in 1929, the son of an Atlanta preacher. His lineage was significant, not only because he followed his father to the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, but because his political speeches rang out with a preacher's inflections.

In 1955 King led the 'bus boycott' in Montgomery, AL. After a year of boycotting, the US Supreme Court removed laws that enforced segregated buses. From this successful beginning, King emerged as an inspiring moral voice in civil rights.

His nonviolent approach to racial equality and peace makes the irony of his death all the more cruel: he was assassinated on a Memphis hotel balcony in 1968, four years after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize and five years after giving his legendary 'I Have a Dream' speech in Washington, DC.

King remains one of the most recognized and respected figures of the 20th century. In a span of 10 years, he led a movement that essentially ended a system of statutory discrimination in existence since the country's founding. The Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site (below) and the King Center for Non-Violent Social Change (below) in Atlanta are testaments to his moral vision, his ability to inspire others and his lasting impact on the fundamental fabric of American society.

* * *

#### SWEET AUBURN

Auburn Ave was the thumping commercial and cultural heart of African American culture in the 1900s. Today, a collection of sights is associated with Sweet Auburn's most famous son, Martin Luther King Jr, who was born on Auburn and preached on Auburn and whose grave now looks onto the street. Although the neighborhood seems dilapidated, new development suggests an imminent Sweet Auburn revival.

The historic **Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site** commemorates the life, work and legacy of the civil rights lodestar. The center takes up several blocks. A stop by the excellent bustling **visitor center** ( 404-331-5190; www.nps.gov/malu; 450 Auburn Ave NE; admission free;  9am-5pm, to 6pm in summer) will help you get oriented with a map and brochure of area sites and exhibits. From here, free guided tours leave for the **Martin Luther King Jr Birthplace** (501 Auburn Ave). If you miss the tour, a film in the visitor center tells about King's life in the house.

Across from the visitor center, the **King Center for Non-Violent Social Change** ( 404-526-8900; www.thekingcenter.org; 449 Auburn Ave NE;  9am-5pm, to 6pm summer) has more information on King's life and work, and a few of his personal effects, including his Nobel Peace Prize. His **gravesite** , between the church and center, is surrounded by a long, reflecting pool and can be viewed anytime.

**Ebenezer Baptist Church** ( 404-688-7263; www.historicebenezer.org; 407 Auburn Ave NE; admission free;  tours 9am-6pm Mon-Sat, from 1:30pm Sun) was the preaching ground for King Jr, his father and grandfather, who were all pastors here. This is also where King Jr's mother was murdered in 1974. You can take a free tour of the original church, but Sunday services are now held at a new Ebenezer across the street.

All of the King sites are a few blocks' walk from Marta's King Memorial station.

#### GRANT PARK

A large oasis of green situated on the edge of the city center, **Grant Park** (www.grantpark.org) is home to **Zoo Atlanta** ( 404-624-5600; www.zooatlanta.org; adult/child $19/14;  9:30am-5:30pm Mon-Fri, to 6:30pm Sat & Sun;  ), which features flamingos, elephants, kangaroos and the odd tiger. But the zoo's pride and joy are the giant pandas. They tend to have cubs that slaughter you with cuteness. Be prepared to wait to see the cubs.

For history buffs, on the south side of Grant Park is the **Cyclorama** building that houses the gigantic mural _Battle of Atlanta,_ which visually recounts the history of the fight.

#### LITTLE FIVE POINTS & EAST ATLANTA

These two bohemian neighborhoods are close to one another, but miles away from mainstream Atlanta's genteel sensibilities. They're young, hipster neighborhoods with a definite alternative edge. Both are dominated by a main drag – **Euclid Ave** in L5P and **Flat Shoals Ave** in East Atlanta – and both are anchored by popular music venues, Variety Playhouse and the EARL, respectively (Click here). These neighborhoods offer Atlanta's most dense concentration of funky local boutiques; the stretch of Moreland Ave separating the two 'hoods is equally dense with big chain stores. Both neighborhoods are well explored on foot, and both are jammed with restaurants.

* * *

# GAY & LESBIAN ATLANTA

Atlanta – or 'Hotlanta' as some might call it – is one of the few places in Georgia, perhaps in the South, with a noticeable and active gay and lesbian population. Midtown is the center of gay life; the epicenter is around Piedmont Park and the intersection of 10th St and Piedmont Ave. The town of Decatur, east of downtown Atlanta, has a significant lesbian community. For news and information, grab a copy of the _Southern Voice_ newspaper; also check out www.gayatlanta.com.

**Atlanta Pride Festival** ( 404-929-0071; www.atlantapride.org) is a massive annual celebration of the city's gay and lesbian community. Held at the end of June in and around Piedmont Park, it attracts people from all over the country.

* * *

#### VIRGINIA-HIGHLAND

Atlanta's preppiest neighborhood is populated by adorable homes (with big price tags) and beautiful boutiques (with big price tags). Highland Ave runs through the heart of the neighborhood, and makes for a pleasant stroll.

#### POINTS EAST & DECATUR

Located on a hilltop overlooking downtown, the **Carter Presidential Library & Museum** ( 404-865-7100; www.jimmycarterlibrary.org; 441 Freedom Pkwy; adult/child $8/free;  9am-4:45pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun) features exhibits highlighting Jimmy Carter's 1977–81 presidency, including a replica of the Oval Office. Carter's Nobel Prize is also on display. Don't miss the tranquil Japanese garden out back. The museum underwent a recent redesign, which was completed in October 2009.

**Fernbank Museum of Natural History** ( 404-929-6300; www.fernbankmuseum.org; 767 Clifton Rd NE; adult/child $15/13;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun;  ) makes other museums seem hopelessly dull. It covers the natural world from seashells to giant lizards, and it has an **IMAX theater** (adult/child $11/9). A righteous night out is had on Martinis & IMAX Friday (5:30pm to 10pm January to November), when the lobby turns into a cocktail lounge and live jazz echoes through the bones of a 123ft dinosaur.

### Atlanta for Children

Atlanta has plenty of activities to keep children entertained, delighted and – perhaps against their will – educated.

**Center for Puppetry Arts** ( 404-873-3391; www.puppet.org; 1404 Spring St NW; museum $8;  9am-3pm Tue-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat, 11am-5pm Sun;  ) is a wonderland for visitors of all ages, and hands-down one of Atlanta's most unique attractions. The museum houses a treasury of puppets, some of which you get to operate yourself. Separate tickets are required for the performances.

**Imagine It! Children's Museum of Atlanta** ( 404-659-5437; www.childrensmuseumatlanta.org; 275 Olympic Centennial Park Dr NW; admission $12.50;  10am-4pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat & Sun;  ) is a hands-on museum geared toward kids aged eight and under. Adults aren't allowed in without a youngster in tow.

### Festivals & Events

**Atlanta Jazz Festival** (www.atlantafestivals.com) A city-sponsored month-long event culminating in live concerts in Piedmont Park on Memorial Day weekend in late May.

**Atlanta Pride Festival** (www.atlantapride.org) End of June (see the boxed text above).

**National Black Arts Festival** ( 404-730-7315; www.nbaf.org) Artists from across the country converge on Atlanta for this festival celebrating African American music, theater, literature and film. Held in July at various locations.

### Sleeping

Rates at downtown hotels tend to fluctuate wildly depending on whether there is a large convention in town. Weekends are often cheaper in hotels away from downtown, but in the city, rates are higher on weekends.

#### BUDGET

A cheap option is to stay somewhere along the Marta line outside downtown, and take the train into the city for sightseeing. There are plenty of chain hotels.

**Atlanta Youth Hostel** ( 800-473-9449; www.hostel-atlanta.com; 223 Ponce de Leon Ave, at Myrtle St; dm/r $25/59;          ) In a white-brick Midtown mansion, this lively hostel has private beds and dorm rooms. On one hand, it wins accolades both for its cleanliness and for its sweet location. On the other, readers have given it some mixed reviews. If you don't mind sharing a room, ask for room 36, which has a massive balcony.

#### MIDRANGE & TOP END

**Highland Inn** ( 404-874-5756; www.thehighlandinn.com; 644 N Highland Ave; r & ste incl breakfast $87-106;        ) This European-style inn has a great location in the middle of Virginia-Highland. Appealing to touring musicians over the years and with its own casual music venue, the Ballroom Lounge, on the bottom floor, this ragged but clean hotel has lyrical personality.

**Gaslight Inn** ( 404-875-1001; www.gaslightinn.com; 1001 St Charles Ave NE; r incl breakfast $125-215;        ) If you're looking for a homey B&B saddled up next to the shops and restaurants of Highland Ave this is your place. Some rooms feature a Jacuzzi or steam room.

**Hotel Indigo** ( 404-874-9200; www.hotelindigo.com; 683 Peachtree St; r $129-179;        ) A boutique-style hotel that's actually part of a chain, the Indigo has a boisterous blue color scheme and a sunny personality. More important is the outstanding midtown location, across the street from restaurants and entertainment and within walking distance of a Marta stop. Parking costs $18.

**Glenn Hotel** ( 404-521-2250; www.glennhotel.com; 110 Marietta St NW; r from $140;      ) Painstakingly hip, the Glenn feels more like a discreet nightclub than a slick hotel, but (with a swanky rooftop bar for guests and locals alike) it's actually a bit of both. Boutique hotels are surprisingly rare in Atlanta, and this place seems to relish its exclusivity. Parking will be around $21 per day.

 **Stonehurst Place** ( 404-881-0722; www.stonehurstplace.com; 923 Piedmont Ave NE; r $139-400;          ) Built in 1896 by the Hinman family, this elegant, almost Parisian, B&B has all the modern amenities one could ask for and is fully updated with ecofriendly water treatment and heating systems. Plus, Trenell, the innkeeper, makes you feel right at home. Smack in the middle of midtown, this is truly an exceptional place to stay in Atlanta.

### Eating

Food culture in Atlanta is nothing short of obsessive. Hot new restaurants are instantly mobbed and lines at local favorites stretch out the door. The options range from haute cuisine to humble Southern staples, and the quality can be absolutely magnificent at both ends of the spectrum.

#### DOWNTOWN & MIDTOWN

**Varsity** ( 404-881-1706; 61 North Ave, at Spring St; dogs from $1.35;  10am-11:30pm Mon-Thu, to 12:30am Fri & Sat) The world's largest drive-in restaurant and an Atlanta institution since 1928, the Varsity is a glorified fast-food joint, but it's always packed with folks ordering walk-a-dogs (hot dogs), gussied-up steaks (hamburgers) and bags of rags (fries).

**Fat Matt's Rib Shack** ( 404-607-1622; 1811 Piedmont Ave NE; sandwiches from $3.95;  11:30am-11:30pm Mon-Fri, to 12:30am Sat, 1-11:30pm Sun) Less than a mile north of Piedmont Park, a much more down-home choice is divey Fat Matt's, a shrine to two great Southern traditions: barbecue and the blues. Take special note of the Brunswick stew, a delicious side dish best described as barbecue soup.

**MF Sushi Bar** ( 404-815-8844; 265 Ponce de Leon Ave; special rolls $7-17.50;  lunch 11:30am-2:30pm Mon-Fri, dinner 5:30-10:30pm Mon-Thu, to 11:30pm Fri, 6-10pm Sun) A fresh rose on your table and a hot towel for your face are your preambles to sushi glory. The ultimate treat is to order _omakase,_ an off-the-menu move that allows the chef total control over your meal. Yet, the standard rolls and fish pieces are above par as well. The MF, by the way, stands for Magic Fingers.

 **ENO** ( 404-685-3191; 800 Peachtree St NE; mains from $18;  11:30am-2:30pm & 5-11pm Tue-Thu, 11:30am-2:30pm & 5pm-midnight Fri, 5pm-midnight Sat) This Mediterranean-style wine bar has delectable, fine dishes, each paired with a suggested glass of wine. Better yet, proprietor Doug Strickland prioritizes local, sustainable and organic fare and libations. The interior boasts contemporary art exhibits and the exterior has a lovely sidewalk patio.

#### SWEET AUBURN

**Sweet Auburn Curb Market** ( 404-659-1665; www.sweetauburncurbmarket.com; 209 Edgewood Ave SE;  8am-6pm Mon-Sat) Like the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia or the Ferry Building in San Francisco (but, frankly, not as nice as either), the Curb Market allows foodies to browse countless stalls for cooking ingredients or hot meals served on the premises.

#### LITTLE FIVE POINTS

**Vortex Bar & Grill** ( 404-688-1828; 438 Moreland Ave; burgers from $6.45;  11am-midnight Sun-Thu, to 3am Fri & Sat) Walk through the gaping jaws of a giant skull and enter the Vortex, a scrappy joint with a snarky menu boasting '140 styles of gourmet burgers,' an ideal meal before hitting the L5P bar scene. Ages 18 and up only. There's also a branch in midtown (878 Peachtree St).

#### VIRGINIA-HIGHLAND

**Alon's Bakery** ( 404-872-6000; 1394 N Highland Ave; sandwiches from $6.30;  7am-8pm Mon-Fri, 8am-8pm Sat, 9am-4pm Sun) At this revered bakery you'll find stellar components for a sumptuous European picnic – include gourmet cheeses, wine, pâté, roasted vegetables, and all manner of brioche.

 **Sotto Sotto** ( 404-523-6678; 313 N Highland Ave NE; dishes $16-32;  5:30-11:30pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat, to 10pm Sun) Known for its authenticity, this lively, trendy restaurant has crisp service and risotto that is heaven on earth. Reservations suggested.

#### DECATUR

**Watershed** ( 404-378-4900; www.watershedrestaurant.com; mains $12-34;  11am-10pm Mon-Sat, 10am-3pm Sun) Simply outstanding (and outstandingly simple), this is the place for traditional Southern food done up with just a touch of class. Tuesday night is fried-chicken night; get there early or the birds will be gone. Any other night, order the veggie plate – you've never had a better one. The James Beard Award–winning chef Scott Peacock is nothing less than a local hero.

### Drinking

Atlanta likes to drink. The following spots, a few of many, include a local institution, a swanky hotel bar and a great dive.

**Manuel's Tavern** ( 404-525-3447; 602 N Highland Ave;  11am-2am Mon-Sat, to midnight Sun) A longtime political hangout that draws a good, conversational beer-drinking crowd.

**Euclid Avenue Yacht Club** ( 404-688-2582; 1136 Euclid Ave;  3pm-2am Mon-Thu, noon-3am Fri & Sat, noon-midnight Sun) A divey bar ideal for grabbing a drink before a show at the nearby Variety Playhouse. Smokers and nonsmokers get separate rooms.

**Glenn Hotel rooftop bar** ( 404-521-2250; 110 Marietta St NW;  5:30pm-12am Mon-Thu, to 2am Fri & Sat, to 11pm Sun) If you're facing the reception desk, head through the unmarked door to the right and take the elevator to the roof. Then, feast your eyes on the skyline.

**Blake's** ( 404-892-5786; www.blakesontheparkatlanta.com; 227 10th St NE;  11am-3am Mon-Sat, 12.30pm-midnight Sun) Right on Piedmont Park, Blake's bills itself as 'Atlanta's favorite gay bar since 1987.'

### Entertainment

Atlanta has big-city nightlife, with lots of live music and cultural events. Check out the free _Creative Loafing_ for weekly listings. Also check out **Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts** (www.atlantaperforms.com), which has info and links about the city's music, film, dance and theater scene. The **Atlanta Music Guide** (www.atlantamusicguide.com) maintains a live-music schedule, plus a directory of local venues and links to online ticketing.

#### THEATER

**Fox Theatre** ( 404-881-2100; www.foxtheatre.org; 660 Peachtree St NE) A spectacular 1929 movie palace with fanciful Moorish and Egyptian designs. It hosts Broadway shows, and concerts in an auditorium holding more than 4500 people.

**Woodruff Arts Center** ( 404-733-4200; www.woodruffcenter.org; 1280 Peachtree St NE, at 15th St) An arts campus hosting the High Museum, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Alliance Theatre.

#### LIVE MUSIC & NIGHTCLUBS

Cover charges at the following vary nightly. Check their respective websites for music calendars and ticket prices.

**EARL** ( 404-522-3950; www.badearl.com; 488 Flat Shoals Ave) The indie rocker's pub of choice – a smoky restaurant with surprisingly good food; it's also a bar and a busy live-music venue.

**Eddie's Attic** ( 404-377-4976; www.eddiesattic.com; 515b N McDonough St, Decatur;  ) One of the city's best venues to hear live folk and acoustic music, in a nonsmoking atmosphere seven nights a week.

**Halo** ( 404-962-7333; www.halolounge.com; 817 W Peachtree St) If you can find this sexy industrial lounge, which is tucked into the north side of the Biltmore building, you're cool enough to chill on the space-age furniture, and to drink at a glowing marble bar that resembles hot lava.

* * *

# IF YOU HAVE A FEW MORE DAYS

About 20 miles east of Atlanta, a giant mount of granite, **Stone Mountain** , juts into the Georgia sky. You'll visit the mountain through **Stone Mountain Park** ( 770-498-5690; www.stonemountainpark.com; Hwy 78 E, exit 8; per car $8;  park 6am-midnight, attractions from 10am), which combines natural splendor with a creepy Confederate nostalgia – Confederate laser light show anyone? (The rebel flag, for instance, still flies at the mountain's base, and the trio of Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis are carved into the mountain's side.) If you're up for a climb, skip the Crossroads area (a tourist-trap cluster of old-timey shops) and hike to the summit for a lovely city view. Camping and basic hotel accommodations are available in the park.

* * *

**Variety Playhouse** ( 404-524-7354; www.variety-playhouse.com; 1099 Euclid Ave NE) A smartly booked and well-run concert venue for a variety of touring artists.

#### SPORTS

Order tickets to sporting events through **Ticketmaster** ( 404-249-6400; www.ticketmaster.com).

The Major League Baseball (MLB) team **Atlanta Braves** ( 404-522-7630; www.atlantabraves.com; tickets $1-60) plays at Turner Field.

### Shopping

Atlantans love to shop. There are gigantic malls in Buckhead, and Virginia-Highland has a unique selection of boutique shops. Find vintage and secondhand threads in Little Five Points or at the smartly stocked **Lucky Exchange** ( 404-817-7715; 212 Ponce de Leon Ave;  11:30am-6pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun). The teeny East Atlanta boutique **Rare Footage** ( 404-215-2188; 493 Flat Shoals Ave;  noon-8pm Mon-Sat, to 6pm Sun) sells limited-edition sneakers.

### Getting There & Away

Atlanta's huge **Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport** (ATL;  800-897-1910; www.atlanta-airport.com), 12 miles south of downtown, is a major regional hub and an international gateway. It's the busiest airport in the world in overall passenger traffic.

The **Greyhound** **terminal** ( 404-584-1728; 232 Forsyth St) is next to the Marta Garnett station. Some destinations include Nashville, TN (five hours), New Orleans, LA (10½ hours), New York (20 hours), Miami, FL (16 hours) and Savannah, GA (4¾ hours).

The **Amtrak** **station** ( 404-881-3062; 1688 Peachtree St NW, at Deering Rd) is just north of downtown.

### Getting Around

The **Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority** (Marta;  404-848-4711; www.itsmarta.com; fares $2.25) rail line travels to/from the airport to downtown, along with a few less-useful routes used mostly by commuters.

The **Atlanta Airport Shuttle** ( 404-524-3400; one-way tickets $16.50-20.50) also transports passengers to hotels all over the city (from 6am to midnight). The shuttle and car-rental agencies have desks in the airport situated at the baggage-claim level.

Driving in Atlanta can be infuriating. You'll often find yourself sitting in traffic jams, and it's easy to get disoriented – a road map is invaluable.

Return to beginning of chapter

## NORTH GEORGIA

The southern end of the great Appalachian Range extends some 40 miles into Georgia's far north, providing some superb mountain scenery and wild white-water rivers. The landscape is unlike anywhere else in Georgia. The fall colors emerge late here, peaking in October.

A few days are warranted to see sites like the 1200ft-deep **Tallulah Gorge** ( 706-754-7970), the mountain scenery and hiking trails at **Vogel State Park** ( 706-745-2628) and **Unicoi State Park** ( 706-878-2201), and the interesting collection of Appalachian folk arts at the **Foxfire Museum** ( 706-746-5828; www.foxfire.org; adult/child $5/free;  9am-4pm Mon-Fri) in Mountain City.

One traveler described the town of **Helen** as 'NASCAR meet Disneyland.' This faux Swiss-German, head shop–studded, mountain village is definitely hokey. It's the result of business leaders attempting to transform the dreary lumber town into a tourist attraction.

The **visitor center** ( 800-858-8027; www.helenga.org; 726 Brukenstrasse;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, 10am-4pm Sun) is on the southern side of town. **Oktoberfest** , from mid-September to early November, is a popular event but only serves cheap American beer. In summer, you'll see hundreds of folks **Shooting the Hooch** – going down the slow-moving Chattahoochee River on inner tubes.

### Dahlonega

In 1828 Dahlonega was the site of the first gold rush in the USA. The boom these days, though, is in tourism. It's an easy excursion from Atlanta and is a fantastic destination if you want to get away to the mountains.

Walking around the historic main square is an event in itself. Many offbeat shops compete for tourist dollars. The **visitor center** ( 706-864-3711; www.dahlonega.org; 13 S Park St;  9am-5:30pm) has plenty of information on area sites and activities (including hiking, canoeing, kayaking, rafting and mountain biking).

**Amicalola Falls State Park** ( 706-265-4703; www.amicalolafalls.com), 18 miles west of Dahlonega on Hwy 52, features the 729ft **Amicalola Falls** , the highest waterfall in Georgia. The park offers spectacular scenery, a lodge, and excellent hiking and mountain biking trails.

The **cycling** (www.cyclenorthgeorgia.com) was fantastic enough for Lance Armstrong to train here. **Dalhonega Wheelworks** ( 706-867-0228; www.wheelworksga.com; 24 Alicia Lane;  11am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat) is a nice bike shop in town with mountain and road bike rentals, bike guides, and daily rides offered at the shop. The 35-mile **Three Gap** cycling loop is spectacular, but bring your climbing legs.

There are a number of wineries near Dahlonega that actually produce some tasty products, but it's especially worth going to hang out at the gorgeous vineyards. **Frogtown Cellars** ( 706-865-0687; www.frogtownwine.com; 700 Ridge Point Dr;  noon-5pm Fri, to 6pm Sat, 12:30-5pm Sun) is a beautiful winery and has a killer deck on which to sip libations and nibble cheese.

 **Hiker Hostel** ( 770-312-7342; hikerhostel@yahoo.com; 7693 Hwy 19N; dm $16, private r $38;          ), on Hwy 19N near the Three Gap Loop, is owned by an avid couple of cycling and outdoors enthusiasts, so there's always a place to hang an adventurous head here. Plus, the hostel is newish, wonderfully kept, provides hearty breakfasts, and has its own chickens. All in all, an awesome deal.

**Cedar House Inn and Yurts** ( 770-867-9446; www.georgiamountaininn.com; 6463 Highway 19N; r from $85, yurts from $95;          ) offers eco-friendly accommodations and organic fare. The composting toilets don't lend to the yurt's atmosphere; staying in a room is suggested. Stay midweek, as the weekend prices are a bit much.

Return to beginning of chapter

## CENTRAL GEORGIA

Central Georgia is a kind of catch-all for everything that's not metro Atlanta, mountainous north Georgia or swampy Savannah-centric south Georgia. The remaining area feels rustic and Southern. You're likely to see open fields and red-clay earth.

### Athens

A beery, artsy and laid-back college town roughly 70 miles east of Atlanta, Athens has an extremely popular football team (the University of Georgia Bulldogs), a world-famous music scene (which has launched artists including the B-52's, REM and Widespread Panic) and a burgeoning restaurant culture. The university drives the culture of Athens and ensures an ever-replenishing supply of young bar-hoppers and concertgoers. The pleasant, walkable downtown offers a plethora of funky choices for eating, drinking and shopping. At least three routes run from Atlanta to Athens (Hwy 316, Hwy 129 and Hwy 78), each with relative pluses and minuses.

The **Athens Welcome Center** ( 706-353-1820; www.athenswelcomecenter.com; 280 E Dougherty St;  10am-6pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun), in a historic antebellum house at the corner of Thomas St, provides maps and information on local tours – these include a Civil War tour and the 'Walking Tour of Athens \Music History.'

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

Truly gorgeous, with winding outdoor paths and a sociohistorical edge to boot, Athens' **State Botanical Garden of Georgia** ( 706-542-1244; www.uga.edu/~botgarden; 2450 S Milledge Ave; suggested donation $2;  8am-6pm, to 8pm summer) rivals Atlanta's. Signs provide smart context for its amazing collection of plants, which runs the gamut from rare and threatened species to a tantalizing watermelon patch.

**Oconee Forest Park** (<http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/ofp/facilities.htm>; cnr College Station Rd & Alumni Dr), located at the back of the university's expansive Recreational Sports Complex, has wooded hiking trails and an enormous off-leash dog area.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

Athens does not have an awesome variety of places to stay. There are a number of standard chains just out of town on W Broad St.

**Travelodge** ( 706-549-5400; www.travelodge.com; 898 W Broad Street; r from $55;        ) The price and the amiable staff is what this place have going for it. The rooms are feeling their years.

**Foundry Park Inn & Spa** ( 706-549-7020; www.foundryparkinn.com; 295 E Dougherty St; r $99-145;            ) An upscale, non-corporate choice right in the middle of the city, this place will pamper you. In addition to its on-site spa, the hotel campus includes a restaurant and the Melting Point, a cozy music venue.

**Jittery Joe's** ( 706-227-4291; www.jitteryjoes.com; 780 E Broad Street;  7am-6pm Mon-Fri, from 8am Sat & Sun;  ) This Georgia coffee chain serves a good cup. As photos in the café indicate, it sponsors a professional cycling team, and also provides a tranquil space to get online or hang out with a book.

**Grit** ( 706-543-6592; www.thegrit.com; 199 Prince Ave; mains $6-8;  11am-10pm Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm & 5-10pm Sat & Sun;  ) This popular vegetarian joint riffs on traditional Southern fare, plus serves hot noodle bowls and falafel.

 **Farm 255** ( 706-549-4659; www.farm255.com; 255 W Washington St;  5:30-10pm Tue-Thu, to 10:30pm Fri & Sat, 11am-2pm & 5:30-9:30pm Sun) Like a hippy dressed up in his Sunday's best, this stylish, light-filled bistro gets much of its meat and vegetables from its own 5-acre, organic/biodynamic Blue Moon Farms outside of Athens. The chefs prepare the scrumptious fare in the open-air kitchen. The operative word here is _fresh_.

**Five & Ten** ( 706-546-7300; www.fiveandten.com; 1653 S Lumpkin St; mains $16-31;  5:30-10pm Sun-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat, 10:30am-2:30pm Sun) Driven by superior ingredients (as opposed to showy technique), Five & Ten ranks among the South's best restaurants. Its menu is earthy and slightly gamey: sweatbreads, hand-cut pasta, North Carolina trout and frogmore stew (stewed corn, sausage and potato). Brunch is sensational. If you want a table for dinner, you'd best call ahead.

#### DRINKING & ENTERTAINMENT

**40 Watt Club** ( 706-549-7871; www.40watt.com; 285 W Washington St) It has lounges, a tiki bar, $2 PBR beers, and indie rock on stage. It's where the big hitters in town play. No wonder it's legendary.

**Trappeze Pub** ( 706-543-8997; www.trappezepub.com; 269 W Washington St; drafts $4-8;  11:30am-2am Mon-Fri, from noon Sat, to midnight Sun) Those 'beer weirdos,' as one local put it, flock here to enjoy a choice of 38 beers on tap and 215 by the bottle. It has an above-average pub menu.

**283** (283 E Broad St;  to 2am Mon-Sat) Locals hang out next to students who hang out next to you, in any given order. The scene in this little bar is jovial and laid-back.

**Ciné** ( 706-353-7377; www.athenscine.com; 234 W Hancock Ave) A smart two-screen art-house movie theater with a little bar in the lobby.

### Macon

Macon is a pleasant little city with a few interesting sights. The town was established in 1823 and prospered as a cotton port on the Ocmulgee River. Many antebellum houses remain today. In fact, it has more structures on the National Register of Historic Places (5500) than any other Georgian city.

The **convention & visitors bureau** ( 478-743-1074; www.maconga.org; 450 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd) has a website with a downloadable visitors guide.

**Georgia Music Hall of Fame** ( 888-427-6257; www.georgiamusic.org; 200 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd; adult/child $8/3.50;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 1pm Sun) showcases the multitude of musical talent that has bloomed in Georgia, including REM, James Brown, Little Richard, Ray Charles and the Allman Brothers.

Held in the third week of March, Macon's **Cherry Blossom Festival** ( 478-751-7429; www.cherryblossom.com) celebrates the blossoming of 250,000 flowering Japanese Yoshino cherry trees.

**Ocmulgee National Monument** ( 478-752-8257; www.nps.gov/ocmu; 1207 Emery Hwy; admission free;  9am-5pm), just east of town, is an archaeological site with Native American burial mounds, artifacts and an ancient earth lodge.

Return to beginning of chapter

## SAVANNAH

Like a Southern belle who wears hot pants under her skirt, this grand historic town revolves around formal antebellum architecture and the revelry of local students from Savannah College of Art & Design. It sits alongside the Savannah River, about 18 miles from the coast, amid Lowcountry swamps and mammoth live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. With its gorgeous mansions, cotton warehouses, wonderfully beautiful squares, and Colonial public buildings, Savannah preserves its past with pride, and grace. However, unlike its sister city of Charleston, SC, which retains its reputation as a dignified and refined cultural center, Savannah isn't clean-cut – the town has been described as 'a beautiful lady with a dirty face.'

The city's massive St Patrick's Day celebration is a legendary rite of spring and there is an entire cottage industry catering to those tourists who have heard that Savannah is haunted – curious ghost-hunters can arrange to take tours of the city in a chauffeured hearse.

### Orientation

Savannah's Historic District is a rectangle bounded by the Savannah River, Forsyth Park, E Broad St and Martin Luther King Jr Blvd (MLK). Almost everything of interest to visitors lies either within or just outside this area. In converted cotton warehouses situated along the Savannah River, you will find a touristy commercial district of bars, restaurants and shops. City Market is an equally touristy district of shops and restaurants near Franklin Sq, and W Broughton St is a cosmopolitan shopping drag with cafés and restaurants. There are hip enclaves around town: on busy MLK by the college and E Park Ave by Forsyth Park.

Each of the 21 remaining of Savannah's original 24 squares marks a truly exquisite place to relax among flower gardens, shade trees and – usually – a monument to some notable person who is buried in the square.

### Information

#### BOOKSTORES

**E Shaver, Bookseller** ( 912-234-7257; 326 Bull St;  9am-6pm Mon-Sat) Shelves are stocked with tomes on local and regional history and the collected works of Paula Deen.

#### EMERGENCY

**Main police station** ( 912-232-4141)

#### INTERNET ACCESS

**Main Library** ( 912-652-3600; 2002 Bull St, btwn 36th & 37th Sts;  9am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 6pm Fri & Sat, 2-6pm Sun;  ) Offers free internet and wi-fi access.

#### MEDICAL SERVICES

**Candler Hospital** ( 912-819-6000; 5353 Reynolds St)

**CVS Pharmacy** ( 912-238-1494; cnr Bull & W Broughton Sts)

#### MONEY

There are plenty of ATMs throughout the city. For full service, head to Johnson Sq, where there are several major banks.

#### POST

**Post office** ( 912-235-4653) Historic District (111 E Liberty St;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri); Main (1 E Bay St;  8am-5:30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm Sat)

#### TOURIST INFORMATION

**Visitor center** ( 912-944-0455; www.savannahvisit.com; 301 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, from 9am Sat & Sun) Excellent resources and services are available in this center, based in a restored 1860s train station. Many privately operated city tours start here and there's tons of information about various city tours, from carriage to bus.

### Sights & Activities

A great way to enjoy Savannah is to lollygag in one of the verdant squares and watch the world go by. Another, more robust way to see the city is by bike. Rentals are available at **Bicycle Link** ( 912-233-9401; www.bicyclelinksav.com; 408 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd; half-/full day $15/20;  10am-6pm Mon-Sat).

#### MUSEUMS & PARKS

The Central Park of Savannah is a sprawling rectangular green space called **Forsyth Park** , which has lots of room for jogging, tossing Frisbees and walking dogs. The park's beautiful fountain is a quintessential photo op.

Along with silver from the 1800s and a colossal oil painting depicting a scene from the Hundred Years War, Sylvia Shaw's famous 1936 _Bird Girl_ sculpture – the one on the cover of _Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil_ – stands inside the **Telfair Museum of Art** ( 912-232-1177; www.telfair.org; 121 Barnard St; multi-venue ticket adult/child $15/5;  noon-5pm Mon, 10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun). The $15 multi-venue ticket allows discounted admission to two affiliated museums, the Jepson and the Owens-Thomas House.

The **Jepson Center for the Arts** (JCA;  912-790-8800; www.telfair.org; 207 W York St; multi-venue ticket adult/child $15/5;  10am-5pm Mon & Wed-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) is fresh off a 2006 opening and is looking pretty darn space-age by Savannah's standards. The JCA focuses on 20th- and 21st-century art. Its contents are modest in size, but intriguing. There's also a neat interactive area for kids.

On the outskirts of the historic district is the **Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum** ( 912-231-8900; 460 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat). Leaving the larger history of the movement to the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, Savannah's museum focuses on the local history of segregated schools, hotels, hospitals, jobs and lunch counters. It's definitely a must-see if you want a full understanding of the city.

#### Historic Homes

Completed in 1819 by British architect William Jay, the **Owens-Thomas House** ( 912-233-9743; 124 Abercorn St; adult/child $10/4;  noon-5pm Mon, 10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun) exemplifies Regency architecture, which is known for its symmetry. The guided tour is fussy, but it delivers interesting trivia about the number of coats of paint on the walls (22) and the number of years by which this mansion preceded the White House in getting running water (about 20).

Consider seeing the **Mercer-Williams House** ( 912-236-6352; www.mercerhouse.com; 429 Bull St; adult/child $12.50/8). Although Jim Williams, the Savannah art dealer portrayed by Kevin Spacey in the film version of _Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,_ died back in 1990, his infamous mansion didn't become a museum until 2004. You're not allowed to see the upstairs, where Williams' family still lives, but the downstairs is an interior decorator's fantasy.

### Sleeping

Luckily for travelers, it's become stylish for Savannah hotels and B&Bs to serve hors d'oeuvres and wine to guests in the evening. Accommodations by the river have lots of hype and make your wallet quiver.

**Thunderbird Inn** ( 912-232-2661; www.thethunderbirdinn.com; 611 W Oglethorpe Ave; r incl breakfast from $99;        ) 'We have the cool guests' says the sign of this comfortable vintage-chic, renovated motel that wins its own popularity contest. But in a land of stuffy B&Bs, this place is an oasis. The hotel is just outside the tourist area, across from the Greyhound station.

**Bed & Breakfast Inn** ( 912-238-0518; www.savannahbnb.com; 117 W Gordon St; r from $149;        ) Spittin' distance from the Mercer-Williams House, this is a well-loved, well-worn establishment, but the rooms are crisp, unique and tidy. Easy to walk right by, this inn seems to attract laid-back folks who don't mind hanging out. Chocolate-chip cookies before bed.

**Green Palm Inn** ( 912-447-8901; www.greenpalminn.com; 548 E President St; r from $159;        ) With the capacity to host up to nine people, this cute B&B off Green Sq provides an intimate B&B experience. The rooms are meticulously cared for and staff is helpful and friendly.

**Mansion on Forsyth Park** ( 912-238-5158; www.mansiononforsythpark.com; 700 Drayton St; weekday/weekend r from $190/270;          ) The location is choice. The design motif is bohemian chic. The rooms are absurdly expensive. But if you want luxe accommodations, the 18,000-sq-ft Mansion delivers. The sexy bathrooms alone are practically worth the money. The best part of the hotel-spa is the amazing local and international art that crowds its walls and hallways. Parking costs $19 per day.

**Azalea Inn** ( 912-236-2707; www.azaleainn.com; 217 E Huntingdon St; r from $200;          ) Located on a quiet street, the Azalea has lovely rooms and a little pool in the back. The mural, created by art students, in the dining room is a highlight.

### Eating

#### BUDGET

**Mabel Francis Potter's Cupcake Emporium** ( 912-341-8014; 6 E State St; cupcakes $1.50;  10:30am-6pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) How can one be sad with the aroma of fresh-baked cupcakes wafting about? This adorable cupcake boutique boasts dozens of flavors, including the local favorite: butter cream cupcake.

**Mellow Mushroom** ( 912-495-0705; www.mellowmushroom.com; 11 W Liberty St; slices $3;  11am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 10:30pm Fri & Sat) The liberal youth of Savannah come to this pizzeria in the historic district in droves, but older crowds also come. Good beer is on tap. Vegetarian friendly with tons of variety, this groovy chain found a good home in Savannah.

**B Matthews Eatery** ( 912-233-1319; www.bmatthewseatery.com; 325 E Bay St; breakfast $5-10;  8am-10pm Mon-Sat, 11:30am-3pm Sun) Located on a quieter corner of bustling Bay St, B Matthews serves locally roasted coffee, fried green tomatoes, black-eyed-pea cakes, sandwiches, and a Savannah staple: shrimp and grits.

**Walls Bar-B-Que** ( 912-232-9754; 515 E York Lane; plates from $6.40;  11am-9pm Thu-Sat) Adventurous barbecue-lovers, keep looking until you find this glorious 'cue hut' on a tiny alley between E York St and Oglethorpe off Price St. Once you arrive, order a baseball-size mound of deviled crab – watch out for shell bits – and the juicy smoked pork of your hog-heaven dreams.

#### MIDRANGE

 **Cha Bella** ( 912-790-7888; 102 E Broad St; brunch $15.95;  5:30-10pm daily, brunch 11am-3pm Sun) With a commitment to organic, local and well-presented vittles, this welcoming restaurant leaves pretention behind: swings hang on the lovely patio. The wild porcini mushroom pappardelle or fish market special will not leave you unpleased.

**Lady & Sons** ( 912-233-2600; www.ladyandsons.com; 102 W Congress St; buffets $18;  11am-3pm Mon-Sat, from 5pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun) Savannah's irrepressible culinary doyenne Paula Deen has created a monster. Her country cookin' is indeed delicious – the fried chicken will have you begging for mercy – but you've gotta know what you're doing to get a table. Show up at 9:30am for lunch or 3:30pm for dinner to put your name on the list. 'Sho-nuff Vegetable Sandwich' meets vegetarian needs.

#### TOP END

**Local 11 ten** ( 912-790-9000; www.local11ten.com; 1110 Bull St; mains $25;  5-10pm Mon-Sat) Upscale, sustainable, local, fresh: a combination of elements that creates a monumental experience in an elegant, well-run restaurant. If Carolina yellowfin tuna Oscar or five-spice lacquered duck breast sound tempting, go here. The truffle parmesan fries will make you a fiend.

### Drinking

 **Lulu's Chocolate Bar** ( 866-461-8681; www.luluschocolatebar.net; 42 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd; martinis from $10;  5pm-midnight Mon-Wed, 5pm-1am Thu-Sat, 11:30am-11pm Sun) The heavenly signature Lulutini here is pure chocolate decadence – we weren't afraid to lick the glass. This adorable yet chic neighborhood martini and dessert bar is comfortable and has outdoor seating. Sometimes there's live music. On Sundays it serves brunch with shrimp and grits and has a Bloody Mary bar.

**Sentient Bean** ( 912-232-4447; www.sentientbean.com; 13 E Park Ave; baked goods $1.50;  7am-10pm;    ) Come one and all to nurture your inner hipster. The vibe is friendly: this place cares about coffee and community. Plus, it has vegan treats, organic café fare, and live music or performance art on its stage.

**Guitar Bar** ( 912-236-5190; 348 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd) Dubbed as 'a musician's lounge,' this appears to be a chilled-out neighborhood bar where you can grab cheap beer next to cool-looking people. There may be music or karaoke, depending on the night.

**WG's** ( 912-236-7696; 17 Lincoln St) Feeling more like a hobbit house than a bar, this rustic-chic dive bar will put you in the company of thirsty locals, not rowdy tourists. Order an unusual beer (Celebrator, anyone?) and head out to the cozy verandah. Or shoot pool.

### Entertainment

**Wormhole** (www.wormholebar.com; 2307 Bull St;  from 6pm Mon-Thu, 8pm-3am Fri & Sat;  ) Embracing a broad scope of the alternative-music scene, this new dive bar and venue is in the seedier part of town but will let you experience how alternative Savannah kicks it.

**Lucas Theatre for the Arts** ( 912-525-5040; www.scad.edu/venues/lucas; 32 Abercorn St) Hosting concerts (guitarist Jonny Lang), plays _(Guys and Dolls)_ and films _(The Day the Earth Stood Still)_ in a historic building dating from 1921.

### Shopping

**Savannah Art Works** ( 912-443-9331; www.savannahartworks.com; 240 Bull St;  11am-6pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm Sun) Come here for vivacious folk art with a positive vibe, like a big ol' heart made from empty Coke and Pabst Blue Ribbon cans.

**Universe Trading Company** ( 912-233-1585; 27 Montgomery St) 'Bric-a-brac' doesn't begin to cover the contents of this cluttered salvage and antiques emporium. Walking through this place is like taking the world's deepest dumpster dive. The wares include lawn ornaments, used shoes, vinyl records, cigar-store Indians, life-size Blues Brothers statues and a fake shark head with '$185 firm' on the price tag.

### Getting There & Around

The visitor center runs shuttles from the airport to Historic District hotels for $25 round-trip. You won't need a car. It's best to park it and walk or take tours. Another Earth-friendly and entertaining way to get around is by bike taxi with **Savannah Pedicab** ( 912-232-7900; www.savannahpedicab.com; 30-/60min $25/45, full day $150). More traditionally, **Chatham Area Transit** (CAT;  912-233-5767) operates local buses, including a free shuttle that makes its way around the Historic District and stops within a couple of blocks of nearly every major site.

The **Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport** (SAV;  912-964-0514; www.savannahairport.com) is about 5 miles west of downtown off I-16.

**Greyhound** ( 912-232-2135; 610 W Oglethorpe Ave) has connections to Atlanta (about five hours), Charleston, SC (about two hours), and Jacksonville, FL (2½ hours).

The **Amtrak station** ( 800-872-7245; 2611 Seaboard Coastline Dr) is just a few miles west of the Historic District.

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## BRUNSWICK & THE GOLDEN ISLES

Georgia is blessed with a string of islands running down the coast. The islands have very different characters, and provide experiences ranging from the rustic to the spoiled rotten.

With its large shrimp-boat fleet and downtown historic district shaded beneath lush live oaks, **Brunswick** dates from 1733 and has charms you might miss when sailing by on I-95 or the Golden Isle Pkwy (US Hwy 17). During WWII, Brunswick shipyards constructed 99 Liberty transport ships for the navy. Today, a new 23ft scale model at **Mary Ross Waterfront Park** (Bay St) stands as a memorial to those ships and their builders. Also, check out the International Youth Hostel **Forest Hostel** ( 912-264-9738; www.foresthostel.com; Hwy 82; per person $25;  ) if you're up for staying in little nature-loving tree houses (sans air or heat) on an ecofriendly, sustainable campus. It's 10 miles outside Brunswick; phone reservations only.

* * *

# IF YOU HAVE A FEW MORE DAYS

About 18 miles east of Savannah at the end of US Hwy 80, **Tybee Island** ( visitor center 912-786-5444; www.tybeevisit.com; 1st St/US Hwy 80;  9:30am-5pm) is a sleepy beach community with 3 miles of wide, sandy beach, good for swimming and castle building. The 154ft-tall **Tybee Island Lighthouse** ( 912-786-5801; www.tybeelighthouse.org; adult/child $7/5;  9am-5:30pm Wed-Mon) is the oldest in Georgia. The strenuous 178 steps to the top reward you with magnificent views. The admission also gets you into neighboring **Tybee Island Museum**.

* * *

**Brunswick-Golden Isles Visitors Bureau** ( 912-265-0620; www.bgivb.com; Hwy 17, St Simons Causeway;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri) has loads of practical information about all the Golden Isles.

### St Simons Island

Famous for its golf courses, resorts and majestic live oaks, St Simons Island is the largest and most developed of the Golden Isles. It lies 75 miles south of Savannah and just 5 miles from Brunswick. While the southern half of the island is a thickly settled residential and resort area, the northern half and adjacent **Sea Island** (www.explorestsimonsisland.com) and **Little** **St Simons** offer tracts of coastal wilderness amid a tidewater estuary.

### Jekyll Island

An exclusive refuge for millionaires in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jekyll Island is a 4000-year-old barrier island with 10 miles of beaches. Today it's an unusual clash of wilderness, historically preserved buildings, modern hotels and a massive campground (complete with wi-fi). It's an easily navigable place – you can get around by car, horse or bicycle, but there's a $3 parking fee per day. The posh **Jekyll Island Club** **Hotel** ( 800-535-9547; www.jekyllclub.com; 371 Riverview Dr; d/ste $189/399;            ) looms large on this island. It's a great place for a drink after a sunset seafood dinner at nearby waterfront restaurant **Latitude 31** ( 912-635-3800; www.crossoverjekyll.com;  from 11am Tue-Sat, from 1pm Sun), located right on the wharf. An endearing attraction is the **Georgia Sea Turtle Center** ( 912-635-4444; www.georgiaseaturtlecenter.org; Hopkins Rd; adult/child $6/4;  9am-5pm Sun-Tue, 10am-2pm Mon;  ), a conservation center and turtle hospital where the patients are on view for the public.

### Cumberland Island & St Marys

An unspoiled paradise, a backpacker's fantasy, a site for day trips or extended stays – it's clear why the Carnegie family used Cumberland as a retreat long ago. Most of this southernmost barrier island is now occupied by the **Cumberland Island National Seashore** ( 912-882-4336; www.nps.gov/cuis; admission $4). Almost half of its 36,415 acres consists of marsh, mudflats and tidal creeks. On the ocean side are 16 miles of wide, sandy beach that you might have all to yourself. The island's interior is characterized by a maritime forest. Ruins from the Carnegie estate **Dungeness** are astounding, as are the wild turkeys, tiny fiddler crabs and beautiful butterflies. Feral horses roam the island and are a common sight.

The only public access to the island is via boat to/from the quirky, lazy town of **St Marys** (www.stmaryswelcome.com). A convenient and pleasant **ferry** ( 912-882-4335; adult/child $17/12;  departures 9am & 11:45am) leaves from the mainland at the St Marys dock. Reservations are staunchly recommended well before you arrive, and if you show up without them, be at the dock an hour before the boat leaves. December through February, the ferry does not operate on Tuesday or Wednesday.

St Marys caters to tourists visiting Cumberland. This tiny, lush one-horse town has a number of comfortable B&Bs that conveniently usher people in and out of the area. One lovely one is **Emma's Bed and Breakfast** ( 912-822-4199; www.emmasbedandbreakfast.com; 300 W Conyers St; r from $119;        ), which is right off the main street on a quiet road. The decorations are thankfully not of the common Southern frilly variety and the staff is helpful. Ask for a midweek special. For something cheap and in the 'action' by the dock, the tattered **Riverview Hotel** ( 912-882-3242; www.riverviewhotelstmarys.com; 105 Osborne St; r from $53;      ) might be worth braving to save a dime. Its attached bar **Seagles Saloon** ( 912-882-1807) is a most interesting local dive bar that's worth a visit just to say hello to Cindy, the bartender. Make sure you're up to date on expletives.

On Cumberland Island, the only private accommodations are at the **Greyfield Inn** ( 904-261-6408; www.greyfieldinn.com; d & ste incl meals $475-595), a mansion built in 1900 with a two-night minimum stay. Camping is available at **Sea Camp Beach** ( 912-882-4335; per person $4), a campground set among magnificent live oaks.

Note: there are no stores or wastebins on the island. Eat before arriving or bring lunch, and keep your trash with you.

### Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Established in 1937, the **Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge** ( 912-496-7366; www.fws.gov/okefenokee) is a national gem, encompassing 396,000 acres of bog in a giant saucer-shaped depression that was once part of the ocean floor. The swamp is home to an estimated 9000 to 15,000 alligators, 234 bird species, 49 types of mammal and 60 amphibian species. The **Okefenokee Swamp Park** ( 912-283-0583; www.okeswamp.com; US 1 South, Waycross; admission $12;  9am-5:30pm) maintains around 3000 acres of the refuge and captive bears and gators on-site, or you can explore the swamp in a canoe or on a boat tour. The ultimate experience is a multiday canoe trip on the swamp's 120 miles of waterways. Call the US Fish & Wildlife Service's **Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness Canoe Guide** ( 912-496-7836; www.fws.gov/okefenokee) if you're considering a trip. Guided boat trips are also available if the water levels are high enough.

Return to beginning of chapter

# ALABAMA

Obsessed with football and race – two things Southerners never stop discussing – Alabama has been home to one of gridiron's most legendary coaches (Paul 'Bear' Bryant), and Jefferson Davis, the first president of the Confederacy in 1861, the year the Civil War began. Nearly 100 years later, an African American woman named Rosa Parks galvanized the Civil Rights movement when she refused to budge on a bus.

* * *

# ALABAMA FACTS

**Nickname** The Heart of Dixie

**Population** 4.7 million

**Area** 50,744 sq miles

**Capital city** Montgomery (population 220,000)

**Other cities** Birmingham (population 229,424)

**Sales tax** 4%, but up to 11% with local taxes

**Birthplace of** Author Helen Keller (1880–1968), civil rights activist Rosa Parks (1913–2005), musician Hank Williams (1923–53)

**Home of** US Space & Rocket Center

**Famous for** Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights movement

**Bitterest rivalry** University of Alabama vs Auburn University

**Driving distances** Montgomery to Birmingham 91 miles, Mobile to Dauphin Island 38 miles

* * *

In the 1950s and '60s, Alabama led the way for civil rights triumphs throughout the country and continues to deal with its reputation and legacy of rebels, segregation, discrimination and wayward politicians – in the face of both progress and setbacks. Exploring Alabama provides a powerful insight into the racial dynamic and history in the USA.

Geographically, Alabama has a surprising diversity of landscapes, from foothills in the north and a gritty city in the middle to the subtropical Gulf Coast down south. Visitors come to see the heritage of antebellum architecture, to celebrate the country's oldest Mardi Gras, in Mobile, and to learn about the civil rights struggle. Every fall, the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn University Tigers continue one of college football's greatest rivalries.

### History

Alabama was among the first states to secede in the Civil War. Montgomery was the first Confederate capital. Alabama lost around 25,000 soldiers in the war, and reconstruction came slowly and painfully.

Racial segregation and Jim Crow laws survived into the mid-20th century, when the Civil Rights movement campaigned for desegregation of everything from public buses to private universities, a notion that Governor George Wallace viciously opposed. In perhaps the most famous moment in civil rights history, an African American woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger and was thus arrested; the ensuing uproar sparked a bus boycott and began to turn the tide in favor of racial equality. Alabama saw brutal repression and hostility, but federal civil rights and voting laws eventually prevailed. At a political level, reform has seen the election of dozens of African American mayors and representatives.

### Information

**Alabama Bureau of Tourism & Travel** ( 334-242-4169, 800-252-2262; www.800alabama.com) Sends out a vacation guide and has a website with extensive tourism options.

**Alabama State Parks** ( 888-252-7272; www.alapark.com) Alabama has 23 parks statewide with camping facilities ranging from primitive ($14) to RV hookups ($23). Making advanced reservations for weekends and holidays is suggested.

Return to beginning of chapter

## BIRMINGHAM

No one can ignore Birmingham's checkered past – civil rights violence earned it the nickname 'Bombingham.' Even though that was decades ago, invisible racial boundaries are still evident and smack of the city's history. Yet, this midsize, blue-collar city has made progress, can show you a good time, has a surprising amount of culture to offer, and has integrated its civil rights struggle into the tourist experience.

Birmingham's urban core is mostly a business district, and only a few attractions sit beneath the skyscrapers. There are four highlight neighborhoods: lively Five Points, near the University of Alabama Birmingham; funky Lakeview; charming Homewood, an upscale shopping strip with a pedestrian-friendly layout; and the must-see Civil Rights District, an unforgettable cluster of attractions at the edge of downtown.

### Orientation & Information

The streets in downtown Birmingham run north–south, and the avenues run east–west. The primary attractions and cool neighborhoods are all relatively close, but seeing the city with a car or bike is convenient. The hip Lakeview and Five Points neighborhoods are on the city's south side, and the civil rights attractions and main art museum are north.

You can find tourist information at the **Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau** ( 205-458-8000, 800-458-8085; www.sweetbirmingham.com; 2200 9th Ave N;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri).

### Sights & Activities

**Birmingham Civil Rights Institute** ( 205-328-9696, 866-328-9696; www.bcri.org; 520 16th St N; adult/child $11/3, free Sun;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun) is the most worthwhile sight in town. Its moving audio, video and photography exhibits tell the story of racial segregation in the USA, from WWI and the Civil Rights movement to racial and human-rights issues around the world today, and it reveals the complicated and shocking layers of Birmingham's history. The media lab is a fantastic resource for further inquiry.

Across the street in **Kelly Ingram Park** , 1960s civil rights protesters are depicted in sculptures that are both proud and harrowing.

The **16th Street Baptist Church** ( 205-251-9402; cnr 16th St & 6th Ave N;  ministry tours 10am-4pm Tue-Fri) became a gathering place for meetings and protests in the 1950s and '60s. When Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members bombed the church in 1963, killing four girls, the city was flung into a whirlwind of social change. Today, the rebuilt church is a memorial and a house of worship (services 11am Sunday).

**Birmingham Museum of Art** ( 205-254-2565; www.artsbma.org; 2000 Rev Abraham Woods Jr Blvd; admission free;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) collects work from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Don't miss Rodin's striking work in the outdoor sculpture garden.

Art-deco buildings in trendy **Five Points South** house shops, restaurants and nightspots. Equally noteworthy is the **Homewood** community's quaint commercial drag on 18th St S.

You gotta love hippies who have it together. Cross on over the invisible racial lines to **Nomad Supply** ( 205-252-9359; www.nomadsupply.com; 916 23rd St;  7am-10pm;    ) where you can buy vegan cookies, use the internet for free, and buy peace-loving, ecofriendly wares.

Visible from all over the city thanks to the country's second-largest statue, the nearby **Vulcan Park** ( 205-933-1409; www.visitvulcan.com; 1701 Valley View Dr;  7am-10pm) offers fantastic views for free, and an **observation tower** (adult/child $6/4).

The Carver Performing Arts Center houses the **Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame** ( 205-254-2731; www.jazzhall.com; 1631 4th Ave N; self-guided/guided tours $2/3;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat), which celebrates jazz musicians such as Dinah Washington, Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington.

If you want to amp up your Alabama experience, go rock climbing with seasoned guide **David Hemphill** ( 205-253-0691; dvhemp@yahoo.com; climbs per person $70-200), who will rent equipment and take you to some little-known, yet stellar, climbing sites nearby.

Twelve miles south of town, off I-65 exit 246, **Oak Mountain State Park** ( 205-620-2524; admission $3;  sunrise-sunset) is Alabama's largest state park, where you can hike, camp, boat or chill out on the lakeside beach.

### Sleeping

**Cobb Lane Bed and Breakfast** ( 205-918-9090; www.cobblanebandb.com; 1309 19th St S; r from $89;        ) It's the weird Southern aunt of B&Bs. It aims for the traditional frilliness of Southern B&Bs, but ends up with a giant stuffed peacock in the fireplace and life-size carousel horse in the main window. A lodging choice with personality.

**Hotel Highland** ( 205-271-5800; www.thehotelhighland.com; 1023 20th St S; r from $106;          ) Birmingham does swanky, and it succeeds. Nuzzled right up next to the lively Five Points district, this colorful, slightly trippy, modern hotel manages to be very comfortable and a good deal.

**Redmont Hotel** ( 205-324-2101; www.theredmont.com; 2101 5th Ave N; r from $119;        ) Born in the roaring '20s, the hotel's piano and chandelier in the lobby lend a certain historical, old-world feel throughout. The Redmont was undergoing a renovation at the time of research. Parking is available ($15).

### Eating & Drinking

For such a small Southern city, student-tilted Birmingham has a wide variety of eateries and cafés, from ethnic to local, for all budgets. If you want live music, most likely you'll find it at one of the numerous venues in town.

**Pete's Famous Hot Dogs** ( 205-252-2905; 1925 2nd Ave N; hot dogs $1.80;  to 6pm) This closet-size downtown joint has been serving since 1915 and makes a good choice for inexpensive but tasty fare. Wolf down your dogs on a nearby park bench.

**Sakura** ( 205-933-1025; 1025 20th St S; rolls $6-9;  11:30am-2pm Mon-Fri, plus 5-9:30pm Mon-Wed, to midnight Thu, to 2am Fri & Sat) Crawfish avocado rolls: man, you have to love sushi in the South. But, for real, this sushi is pretty good.

**Sol Y Luna** ( 205-322-1186; 2811 7th Ave S; tapas $9-12;  5-10pm Mon-Wed, to midnight Thu-Sat) Thirsty patrons can order tequila flights (and then a taxi) at this inviting Mexican restaurant-cantina, which specializes in small plates and has a fabulous patio.

**Moe's Original BBQ and Blues Revue** ( 205-252-5888; www.moesoriginalbbq.com; 731 29th St S; platters $10;  from 11am Mon-Sat, to late Thu-Sat) One of nine in the chain, Moe's prides itself on serving the freshest food possible – dinner is served till it runs out – and has live blues music Thursday and Friday. The patio is a total plus.

**J Clyde** ( 205-939-1312; www.jclyde.com; 1312 Cobb Lon S;  3pm-midnight Sun-Mon, to 2am Tue-Thu & Sat, to 4am Fri) Some preppie types come, some not-so-preppie types come, but they are in their 20s and 30s. Since the Gourmet Beer Bill just passed, it will have over 70 beers on draft. There's outdoor seating and live music sometimes.

### Getting There & Around

The **Birmingham International Airport** (BHM;  205-595-0533; www.flybirmingham.com) is located about 5 miles northeast of downtown. **Greyhound** ( 205-253-7190; www.greyhound.com; 618 19th St N), north of downtown, serves cities including Huntsville, Montgomery, Atlanta, GA, Jackson, MS, and New Orleans, LA (10 hours). **Amtrak** ( 205-324-3033; www.amtrak.com; 1819 Morris Ave), downtown, has trains daily to New York and New Orleans.

**Birmingham Transit Authority** ( 205-521-0101; www.bjcta.org; adult $1.25) runs local buses.

Return to beginning of chapter

## AROUND BIRMINGHAM

North of Birmingham, the aerospace community of **Huntsville** hosts the US space program that took off and attracted international aerospace-related companies. The **US Space & Rocket Center** ( 1-800-637-7223; www.spacecamp.com/museum; I-565, exit 15; adult/child museum $20/15, with IMAX $25/20;  9am-5pm;  ) is a combination science museum and theme park. It's a great place to take a kid, or to become one again. The center has IMAX films, exhibits, rides and video presentations.

East of Huntsville in **Scottsboro** , you'll find the infamous **Unclaimed Baggage Center** ( 256-259-1525; www.unclaimedbaggage.com; 509 W Willow St;  9am-6pm Mon-Fri, from 8am Sat) that draws pilgrims from far and wide who peruse the now-for-sale belongings of unfortunate air travelers who have lost their baggage irrevocably down the dark annals of fate. Sucks for them, fabulous deals for you.

Four cities on the Tennessee River make up the area known as 'the Shoals': **Florence** , **Sheffield** , **Tuscumbia** and **Muscle Shoals**. You'll find yourself up to your elbows in rural Alabama here. To find your way around, grab one of the free and extremely useful maps located at the **Colbert County** **visitor center** ( 256-383-0783; www.colbertcountytourism.org; 719 Hwy 72W, Tuscumbia;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri year-round, 9am-4pm Sat summer).

The area has some acclaim for music history, and the cheesy-cool **Alabama Music Hall of Fame** ( 1-800-239-2643; www.alamhof.org; 617 Hwy 72 W, Tuscumbia; adult/child $8/5;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 1pm Sun summer) immortalizes both Hank Williams and Lionel Richie. An original spectacle indeed, the **Key Underwood Coon Dog Cemetery** ( 256-383-7481; off Hwy 247;  sunrise-sunset), near Cherokee, pays homage to over 185 trusty beasts who have so loyally guided their masters. **Tennessee River Guide Service** ( 256-383-7481; 1114 N Main St, Tuscumbia; full day from $200) will take you to the lakes of Tennessee River to catch some smallmouth and crappie.

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## MONTGOMERY

The explosion of the Civil Rights movement happened here in 1955, when a black seamstress named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus, launching a bus boycott and galvanizing the Civil Rights movement nationwide. Montgomery has commemorated that incident with a museum, which (along with an excellent Shakespeare program) is the main reason to visit.

Although it's Alabama's capital city, Montgomery feels more like a sleepy little city with a dead downtown. To its credit, Montgomery covers both fine and folk arts well, with a terrific Shakespeare festival and a museum devoted to country-music legend Hank Williams.

### Sights & Activities

The **Montgomery Chamber of Commerce** ( 334-261-1100; www.visitingmontgomery.com; 300 Water St;  8am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-4pm Sun) has tourist information and a helpful website.

A tribute to Mrs Parks (who died in October 2005), the **Rosa Parks Museum** ( 334-241-8661; <http://montgomery.troy.edu/rosaparks/museum>; 251 Montgomery St; adult/child $5.50/3.50;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-3pm Sat;  ) features a sophisticated and wacky (but cool) video re-creation of Montgomery's history of racial conflict and also the bus-seat protest. There's a separate children's area that covers African American history pre-1955. A must-see.

The **Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald Museum** ( 334-264-4222; 919 Felder Ave; donation requested;  10am-2pm Wed-Fri, 1-5pm Sat & Sun), the writers' home from 1931 to '32, now houses first editions, translations, and original artwork including a mysterious self-portrait of Zelda in pencil.

The superb **Alabama Shakespeare Festival** ( 334-271-5353, 800-841-4273; www.asf.net; tickets $26-42) delivers live summertime performances at a lovely facility in Blount Cultural Park. Get thyself there if you have the opportunity.

The **Hank Williams Museum** ( 334-262-3600; www.thehankwilliamsmuseum.com; 118 Commerce St; adult/child $8/3;  10am-4:30pm Mon-Sat, 1-4pm Sun) pays homage to the country-music giant and Alabama native, a pioneer who effortlessly fused hillbilly music with African American blues.

### Sleeping & Eating

OK, so Montgomery may not be known for its restaurants and accommodations, but there are a couple of finds.

**Lattice Inn** ( 334-262-3388; www.thelatticeinn.com; 1414 S Hull St; r from $85;            ) Most definitely this cute little B&B in the Garden District is a lovely alternative to chain hotels in Montgomery's downtown and outskirts. It's not fancy-pants, but well executed and homey. There's a pool to boot and a hot tub on the way.

**Chris' Hot Dog** ( 334-265-6850; www.chrishotdogs.com; 138 Dexter Ave; hot dogs $2;  10am-7pm Mon-Sat, to 8pm Fri) Served on pillow-soft buns, the dogs have made this funky joint a Montgomery institution since 1917. Order your dog 'all the way' and see if you can guess what's in the special house sauce.

**Montgomery Brewing Co** ( 334-834-2739; www.montgomerybrewpub.com; 12 W Jefferson St; dinner $10-16;  11am-2pm Mon-Fri, plus 5:30-9pm Mon-Thu, 5:30-10pm Fri & Sat) A lively hub of activity, the MBC is located in a neat little warehouse district by the ballpark. Try the house-made Montgomery Blonde brew with a burger or alligator tail.

### Getting There & Around

**Montgomery Regional Airport** (MGM;  334-281-5040; www.montgomeryairport.org; 4445 Selma Hwy) is about 15 miles from downtown and is served by daily flights from Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Houston and Memphis. **Greyhound** ( 334-286-0658; 950 W South Blvd) also serves the city. The **Montgomery Area Transit System** ( 334-241-2200; www.montgomerytransit.com; tickets $1) operates the city buses.

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## SELMA

On Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, the media captured state troopers and deputies beating and gassing African Americans and white sympathizers near the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Led by Martin Luther King Jr, the crowd was marching to the state capital (Montgomery) to demonstrate for voting rights. This was the culmination of two years of violence, which ended when President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Today Selma is a quiet town, and though its attractions are few, they do provide an excellent insight into the voting rights protests that were at the crux of the Civil Rights movement.

Selma's key attraction, the **National Voting Rights Museum** ( 334-418-0800; www.nvrm.org; 1012 Water Ave; adult/senior & student $6/4;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm Sat), near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, is an important stop as it honors the movement's 'foot soldiers' – the unsung heroes who marched for freedom.

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## MOBILE

Wedged between Mississippi and Florida, the only real Alabama coastal town is Mobile (mo- _beel_ ), a seaport with green spaces, shady boulevards and four historic districts. It's ablaze with azaleas in early spring, and festivities are held throughout February for **Mardi Gras** (www.mobilemardigras.com), which has been celebrated here for nearly 200 years. It culminates on Fat Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday). Mobile can be fun like New Orleans, only the volume and brightness are turned way down. The Dauphin St historic district is where you'll find many bars and restaurants, and it's where much of the Mardi Gras action takes place. Unlike the Mississippi Gulf Coast, which is still devastated by Hurricane Katrina, downtown Mobile looks as though the storm never happened.

**Government St** , near downtown, makes for a lovely drive thanks to its mansions and tree canopy. The **Leinkauf Historic District** has more great homes.

**USS Alabama** ( 251-433-2703, 800-426-4929; www.ussalabama.com; 2703 Battleship Pkwy; adult/child $12/6;  8am-6pm Apr-Sep, 8am-4pm Oct-Mar) is a 690ft behemoth famous for escaping nine major WWII battles unscathed. It's a worthwhile self-guided tour for its awesome size and might. While there, you can also tour a submarine and get up close and personal with military aircraft. Parking's $2.

During the Civil War, the 40-room **Malaga Inn** ( 251-438-4701, 800-235-1586; www.malagainn.com; 359 Church St; r from $94;          ) used to be two town houses owned by brothers. Nicely placed near the historic district, the well-done rooms open onto balconies overlooking the courtyard or street.

For dinner, slurp up some slimy suckers at the oyster bar at **Wintzell's** ( 251-432-4605; www.wintzellsoysterhouse.com; 605 Dauphin St;  11am-10pm Sun-Thu, 11am-11pm Fri & Sat), an iconic and historic restaurant serving fresh bivalves 'fried, stewed, or nude.'

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## DAUPHIN ISLAND

Alabama has an island? Yes, but many write it off because oil rigs grace its horizon, and it's still recovering from Katrina. However unsung it may be, it's a worthwhile destination. The whole 14-mile-long, 1¾-mile-wide island is a designated bird sanctuary, with 6 miles for public use and 8 miles of private property. Though it has its fair share of traditional beach-vacation kitsch and the water is not sparkly turquoise, it's still pretty nice. Plus, the white-blonde beaches are stellar and prices reasonable. The island is accessed from the north by Hwy 193 and from the east by **ferry** ( 251-861-3000; www.mobilebayferry.com) shuttling from Fort Morgan.

For helpful maps and information, contact the **Dauphin Island Chamber of Commerce** ( 251-861-5524; www.dauphinislandcoc.com).

The biggest highlight is the **Dauphin Island Bird Sanctuary** ( 251-861-2120; www.coastalbirding.org), where you'll find what many people consider to be some of the best birding in the southeast. In addition, you'll encounter uncrowded beaches accessed only by hiking paths, placards explaining the flora and fauna, and several miles of winding trails.

Seafood shacks and a couple of eateries line the street as you enter from the highway, but BYO if you want to eat really well.

Though many people rent condos, check out **Gulf Breeze Motel** ( 1-800-286-0296, 251-861-7344; gulfinfo.com/gulfbreezemotel; 1512 Cadillac Ave; high/low season r from $89/59;        ). Right across from the public beach, clean rooms and wallet-friendly prices make this family-owned-and-operated motel a beautiful option for a budget beach getaway.

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# MISSISSIPPI

One of the USA's most misunderstood (and yet most mythologized) states, Mississippi is home to gorgeous country roads, shabby juke joints, crispy catfish, hallowed authors and acres of cotton. Most people feel content to malign Mississippi, long scorned for its lamentable civil rights history and its low ranking on the list of nearly every national marker of economy and education, without ever experiencing it firsthand. But unpack your bags for a moment and you'll glimpse the real South. It lies somewhere amid the Confederate defeat at Vicksburg, the literary legacy of William Faulkner in bookish Oxford, the birthplace of the blues in the Mississippi Delta and the humble origins of Elvis Presley in Tupelo.

The state seems proud of its rural nature and small pleasures, with no lament for the lack of urban glitz. Being a spread-out place, there's opportunity for drives through awe-inspiring cotton country and the winding, wooded Natchez Trace Pkwy.

### History

Stay in Mississippi long enough, and you'll hear folks refer to a time 'when cotton was king.' That time dates back at least to 1860, when Mississippi was the country's leading cotton producer and one of the 10 wealthiest states. The Civil War wrecked Mississippi's economy, and reconstruction was traumatic. And the state's racist history – from slavery through the civil rights era – has left deep scars. (One of the most famous incidents came in 1962, when violence erupted as student James Meredith became the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi.)

* * *

# MISSISSIPPI FACTS

**Nickname** The Magnolia State

**Population** 2.9 million

**Area** 46,906 sq miles

**Capital city** Jackson (population 176,600)

**Sales tax** 7%

**Birthplace of** Author Eudora Welty (1909–2001), musicians Robert Johnson (1911–38) and Elvis Presley (1935–77), puppeteer Jim Henson (1936–90)

**Home of** The blues

**Famous for** Cotton fields

**Kitschiest souvenir** Elvis lunchbox in Tupelo

**Driving distances** Jackson to Clarksdale 187 miles, Jackson to Ocean Springs 176 miles

* * *

Today, though Mississippi is still a poor state, people have come to realize that the blues of the Delta – one of America's richest and most distinctive art forms – are worth celebrating. And that Mississippi has been disproportionately blessed with literary luminaries. Therefore, the state has developed a tourist industry revolving around its proud cultural history, as well as its waterfront casinos.

### Information

The legendary north–south Hwy 61 runs the length of the Delta. I-55 is the main north–south highway down the heart of the state, and I-20 bisects Mississippi going east–west. A small portion of the state's southern tip – the Gulf Coast – touches the Gulf of Mexico.

**Mississippi Division of Tourism Development** ( 601-359-3297; www.visitmississippi.org) Has a directory of visitor bureaus.

**Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, & Parks** ( 1-800-467-2757; www.mississippistateparks.reserveamerica.com) Camping costs $11 to $22, depending on the facilities, and some parks have cabins for rent.

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## TUPELO

Unless you have an unhealthy Elvis obsession or want to pick up the Natchez Trace Pkwy, you probably shouldn't plan to spend a long time in Tupelo. But an afternoon pop-in is rewarding indeed if you are a fan of the King.

**Elvis Presley's Birthplace** ( 662-841-1245; www.elvispresleybirthplace.com; 306 Elvis Presley Blvd; adult/child $7/3.50;  9am-5:30pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm Sun) is east of downtown off Hwy 78. The 15-acre park complex contains the two-room shack Elvis lived in as a boy, a museum displaying personal items, a modest chapel and a massive gift shop.

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## OXFORD

A refreshingly sophisticated little town that's bustling and prosperous, Oxford was named after the English city by colonists who hoped it would open a school as revered as its namesake. The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) opened in 1848, and provides Oxford's heartbeat. (You know a town has an intellectual bent when its favorite native son is a literary lion like William Faulkner. But former Ole Miss quarterback Archie Manning runs a close second; the speed limit here on campus is 18mph, in deference to his old uniform number.)

Social life in Oxford revolves around 'the Square,' a series of downtown blocks dotted with shops and eateries.

### Sights & Activities

**Square Books** ( 662-236-2262; www.squarebooks.com; 160 Courthouse Sq;  9am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat, 9am-6pm Sun), one of America's great independent bookstores, is the epicenter of Oxford's lively literary scene and a frequent stop for traveling authors. There's a café and balcony upstairs, along with an immense section devoted to Faulkner.

**University of Mississippi Museum** ( 662-915-7073; University Ave, at 5th St; www.olemiss.edu/depts/u_museum; admission free;  9:30am-4:30pm Tue-Sat, 1-4:30pm Sun) houses fine arts, folk arts, a Confederate uniform and a plethora of science-related marvels, including a microscope and electromagnet from the 19th century.

Literary pilgrims head directly to **Rowan Oak** ( 662-234-3284; off Old Taylor Rd; adult/child & student $5/free;  10am-4pm Tue-Sat, 1-4pm Sun), the graceful 1840s home of William Faulkner, who authored so many brilliant and dense novels set in Mississippi, and whose work is celebrated in Oxford with an annual conference in July. Tours of Rowan Oak – where Faulkner lived from 1930 until he died in 1962 – are self-guided. The staff can also provide directions to **Faulkner's grave** , which is located in St Peter's Cemetery, northeast of the Square.

For a serene stretch of the legs, head to **Lamar Park** (cnr Old Sardis & Country Club Rds) just outside of town where you can get in a good jog or casual stroll by the manicured artificial lake.

### Sleeping & Eating

The cheapest accommodations are on the outskirts of town at chain hotels. But there are some other choices with more personality. A number of high-quality restaurants dot Oxford Sq.

**Inn at Ravine** ( 662-234-4555; www.oxfordravine.com; 53 County Rd 321; r from $99;        ) The lovely restaurant Ravine (see right) offers two B&B-style guest rooms above the restaurant and a cabin for those wanting a peaceful stay on Oxford's green fringes.

**(5) Twelve** ( 662-234-8043; 512 Van Buren Ave; r from $105;        ) Formerly the Oliver Britt House (now under new management), this six-room B&B has an antebellum-style exterior, modern interior, and Southern breakfasts to order. It's an easy walk from shops and restaurants at Oxford Sq.

**Bottletree Bakery** ( 662-236-5000; 923 Van Buren; cinnamon rolls $3.25;  7am-4pm Tue-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat, 9am-2pm Sun;  ) Saucer-sized, sweet, sticky cinnamon rolls are the source of this bakery's acclaim. But it also has sandwiches, espresso drinks, and 'humble pie.'

**Taylor Grocery** ( 662-236-1716; www.taylorgrocery.com; 4 County Rd 338 A, Taylor; dishes $8-14;  11am-2pm Mon-Fri, 6-10pm Thu-Sat, to 9pm Sun) Be prepared to wait – and to tailgate in the parking lot – at this splendidly rusticated catfish haunt. You'll be glad you did. Get your cat fried or grilled, and bring a marker to sign your name on the wall. The joint is about 15 minutes' drive from downtown Oxford, south on Old Taylor Rd.

 **Ravine** ( 662-234-4555; www.oxfordravine.com; 53 County Rd 321;  ) About 3 miles outside the city, this unpretentious, cozily elegant restaurant nuzzles up to the forest. Chef Joel Miller picks and pulls much of the produce and herbs from his garden outside and buys locally and organically when he can. The result is simply wonderful food and a delicious experience. A BYOB rule was in place at the time of research, folks, but Ravine is negotiating its dry county's red tape.

### Entertainment

**Proud Larry's** ( 662-236-0050; www.proudlarrys.com; 211 S Lamar Blvd) On Oxford Sq, this iconic music venue hosts some of the bigger names passing through town.

**Rooster's Blues House** ( 662- 236-7970; 114 Courthouse Sq) Also on the square, this is where you'll find that soulful crooning on the weekends.

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## MISSISSIPPI DELTA

One of the most mythical places in the USA, the Delta is a panoramic agricultural expanse that thrums with historic significance. Its vernacular food culture ranks as one of America's great folk arts, but even the grub is trumped by the Delta's other great cultural export: blues music. David L Cohn, Greenville native and author of _God Shakes Creation_ , devised a geo-cultural definition of the region. He wrote that 'the Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and ends on Catfish Row in Vicksburg.'

* * *

# VISITING JUKE JOINTS

It's believed that 'juke' is a West African word that survived in the Gullah language, the Creole-English hybrid spoken by isolated African Americans in the US. The Gullah 'juke' means 'wicked and disorderly.' Little wonder, then, that the term was applied to the roadside sweatboxes of the Mississippi Delta, where secular music, suggestive dancing, drinking and, in some cases, prostitution were the norm. The term 'jukebox' came into vogue when recorded music, spun on automated record-changing machines, began to supplant live musicians in such places, as well as in cafés and bars.

Most bona-fide juke joints are African American neighborhood clubs, and outside visitors can be a rarity. Many are mostly male hangouts. There are very few places that local women, even in groups, would turn up without a male chaperone. Otherwise, women can expect a lot of persistent, suggestive attention.

For a taste of the juke joint scene, we recommend **Ground Zero** ( 662-621-9009; www.groundzerobluesclub.com; 0 Blues Alley, Clarksdale;  11am-2pm Mon-Tue, to 11pm Wed & Thu, to 1am Fri & Sat), a huge and friendly hall with a dancefloor surrounded by tables. By contrast, **Red's** ( 662-627-3166; 395 Sunflower Ave, Clarksdale), which is usually open on Friday and Saturday nights, looks a little scary to first-timers, but it is one of Clarksdale's best jukes. If the pit's smoking, order whatever's cooking.

* * *

### Clarksdale

If you come here for anything, come for the love of music. Clarksdale is the real deal. It hosts a healthy blues-lovin' tourist industry and also caters to moneyed patrons, but what keeps Clarksdale genuine is its residents: they adore music. It's no surprise that big-name blues bands still honor Clarksdale on the weekends and that music museums sprinkle the area. Over the twists and turns of its intriguing past, this little juke-jointed Delta town continues to navigate contradictions: wealth, poverty, white culture, black culture and blues culture.

* * *

# LEGEND OF THE BOTTLE TREES

If you choose to explore the fascinating landscapes of Mississippi, you're bound to run across an odd-looking tree with old, different-colored bottles stuck on the branches. It's not just creative recycling, it's a bottle tree. Originally, the supplanted slaves from the Congo in Africa began this tradition because they believed the bottle trees protected their homes from evil spirits. Supposedly the indignant spirits from their ancestral homes were trapped inside the bottles. Eventually, bottle trees became a general talisman of good luck and protection. Though less common these days, the tradition is still upheld in certain places around rural Mississippi.

* * *

**Juke Joint Festival** (www.jukejointfestival.com) and **Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival** (www.sunflowerfest.org) are two bluesy throw-downs, the former in April and the latter in August. The juke fest is more about the venues than the headliners; Sunflower draws bigger names.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

Friendly St Louis carpetbagger Roger Stolle runs **Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art** ( 662-624-5992; 252 Delta Ave;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat), a colorful, all-purpose, blues emporium. The shelves are jammed with books, face jugs, local art and blues records. Stolle seems to know everyone in the Delta; skip the Chamber of Commerce and stop here for the lowdown.

A small but excited and well-done collection of memorabilia is on display at the **Delta Blues Museum** ( 662-627-6820; www.deltabluesmuseum.org; 1 Blues Alley; adult/child $7/5;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat), including Charlie Musselwhite's harmonica and BB King's guitar, Lucille. There's also a shrine to Delta legend Muddy Waters, local art exhibits, and a gift shop.

**Theo's Rock and Roll Museum** ( 901-605-8662; www.rockmuseum.biz; 113 E Second St; admission $5;  10am-5pm Thu-Sun) is a recent addition to Clarksdale's lineup of tributes to music and the blues. Theo, a jovial Swiss supplant and blues fanatic, has on display an impressive personal collection of records, memorabilia, and artifacts from local artists to the Beatles. He'll open outside hours by appointment.

**Quapaw Canoe Company** ( 662-627-4070; www.island63.com; 291 Sunflower Ave) is an outfitter in town who can take you down the Mississippi River in a canoe or kayak (day or multiday trips available). Trips cost between $55 and $150 per day, depending on the number of participants, and include a shuttle, gear and meals.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

 **Shack Up Inn** ( 662-624-8329; www.shackupinn.com; r $50-75;        ) This is a self-titled 'beer and breakfast.' At the cheeky Hopson Plantation, 2 miles south on the west side of Hwy 49, guests stay in refurbished sharecropper cabins or the creatively renovated cotton gin. The cabins have covered porches and are filled with old furniture and musical instruments. The old commissary, the Juke Joint Chapel (equipped with pews), is an atmospheric venue for live-music performances, and the owners Guy and Bill are jovial and helpful.

**Riverside Hotel** ( 662-624-9163; www.cathead.biz/riverside; 615 Sunflower Ave; r $65;    ) In business since 1944, this worn hotel is soaked in blues history and has hosted many an artist in its day. The friendly proprietor Rat continues to charm folks from all over with his hospitality and prices.

**Abe's** ( 662-624-9947; 616 State St; mains $4-12;  9:30am-9pm Mon-Sat, 10:30am-2pm Sun) At the Crossroads – the famous intersection of Hwys 61 and 49, where bluesman Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil – look for the tall sign with the happy pig in a bow tie. Abe's has served zesty pork sandwiches, vinegary slaw, and slow-burning tamales since 1924.

**Hicks** ( 622-624-9887; 305 S State St;  11am-7pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat) This is a small, modest drive-through that's been here forever on the outskirts of town. It arguably has the best Delta hot tamales in town (half a dozen for $5), a special genre of hot tamale that is HOT.

**Madidi** ( 662-627-7770; www.madidires.com; 164 Delta Ave; mains $27-35;  6-9pm Tue-Sat) Handsome and refined, just like cofounder Morgan Freeman, this upscale eatery has a menu including cornmeal oysters, rib-eye steak and wild-mushroom risotto. Reservations requested.

### Around Clarksdale

For such a poor, flat part of the country, the Delta has a surprisingly deep list of funky little towns with food, gambling and history to offer.

#### GREENVILLE

The Delta's largest city, Greenville is roughly midway between Clarksdale and Vicksburg. It was here that the levee broke during the catastrophic Great Flood of 1927. Today it has some riverboat gambling and not much else. But in September, Greenville hosts the **Mississippi Delta Blues & Heritage Festival** ( 662-335-3523; www.deltablues.org) near the intersection of Hwys 454 and 1. Also, the James Beard Award–winning dive **Doe's Eat Place** ( 662-334-3315; www.doeseatplace.com; 502 Nelson St;  5-9pm Mon-Sat) serves world-class steaks in the middle of a poor neighborhood. It used to be you paid a kid a dollar 'to watch your car,' ie not break into it. Now there's a security guard outside. Souped-up SUVs and polo shirts mill around a block of run-down houses. Come early or make a reservation.

#### LELAND

East of Greenville, Hwy 82 heads out of the Delta. The **Highway 61 Blues Museum** ( 662-686-7646; www.highway61blues.com; 400 N Broad St;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat), in the Old Temple Theater, hosts four modest, but interesting, rooms that venerate local bluesmen. Local music is sold here. **Leland** (www.lelandms.org) hosts the **Highway 61 Blues Festival** in June as well as the **Crawfish Festival** at the beginning of May. The **Jim Henson Exhibit** ( 662-686-7383; donations encouraged;  10am-4pm Mon-Sat), on the bank of Deer Creek, 1.5 miles west of the intersection of Hwys 82 and 61, is a small building that honors Muppet-man Jim Henson, who was born in Leland. It proudly displays a range of memorabilia, including the original Kermit from _The Muppet Movie_.

#### INDIANOLA

Stopping in this tiny Delta town is well worth it to visit the incredible, modern **BB King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center** ( 662-887-9539; www.bbkingmuseum.org; 400 Second St; adult/student/child $10/5/free;  10am-6pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun). Situated in between Greenville and Greenwood on Hwy 82, this center, filled with interactive displays, video exhibits, and an amazing array of blues and BB King artifacts, effectively communicates the history and legacy of the blues while shedding light on the soul of the Delta.

#### GREENWOOD

Greenwood is a poor Delta town furnished with one block of opulence due to Viking Range Corporation's investment (its headquarters is here). Visitors are usually wealthy patrons or splurging travelers who want to take advantage of the Alluvian hotel, its restaurant, and cooking school, all owned by Viking.

The tourist beacon of Greenwood, the **Alluvian** ( 662-453-2114; www.thealluvian.com; 318 Howard St; r from $185;          ) is a luxurious boutique hotel equipped with a high-class spa, gourmet restaurant, Giardina's (locally pronounced 'Gardinia's'), and an unbelievably outfitted cooking school. If you feel like splurging, this might be the place, though some find the oasis of wealth a disturbing contrast to the poverty of the surrounding town.

As an alternative to the Alluvian, 3 miles north of Greenwood, **Tallahatchie Flats** ( 662-453-1854; www.tallahatchieflats.com; 58458 County Rd 518; shacks $65-85;      ) is a compound of shacks simulating rural homes that once dotted the area. They're now outfitted for guests.

### Vicksburg

Vicksburg is famous for its strategic location in the Civil War, thanks to its position on a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, and history buffs dig it. General Ulysses S Grant besieged the city for 47 days, until its surrender on July 4, 1863, at which point the North gained dominance over North America's greatest river.

The major sights are readily accessible from I-20 exit 4B (Clay St). The **visitor center** ( 601-636-9421; www.visitvicksburg.com; 3300 Clay St;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri) hands out indispensable free maps that mark color-coded scenic driving paths into and out of the city.

The old, slow downtown stretches along several cobblestoned blocks of Washington St, and **historic-house museums** cluster in the Garden District. Vicksburg's stretch of the **Mississippi River** has casinos. Down by the water is a block of murals depicting the history of the area, and a Children's Art Park.

**National Military Park** ( 601-636-0583; www.nps.gov/vick; Clay St; per car $8;  8am-7pm), north of I-20 is a massive battlefield, Vicksburg's main attraction for Civil War buffs. A 16-mile driving tour passes historic markers explaining battle scenarios and key events. You can buy an audiotape tour on cassette or CD in the visitor center gift shop, or drive through on your own using the free map distributed on-site (but plan for at least 90 minutes). If you have your bike, cycling is a fantastic way to tour the place. Locals use the scenic park for walking and running, too. The cemetery contains some 17,000 Union graves, and a museum houses the ironclad gunboat USS _Cairo_. **Civil War reenactments** are held in May and July.

For non–history buffs, there are a couple of hidden jewels that might entice you to visit Vicksburg. Cloistered on top of the Highway 61 Coffeehouse (below) is the **Attic Gallery** ( 601-638-9221; www.atticgallery.net; 1101 Washington St;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat), which is a must-see if you want to appreciate some impressive and quirky work by local artists. Make sure to look at Kennith Humphrey's crazy-awesome paintings. Head north out of town on 61 a number of miles past the Port of Vicksburg and you'll hit a bona-fide, fire-and-brimstone, see-it-to-understand-it, gigantic piece of **living folk art**. Clue: the painted bus is the church.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Battlefield Inn** ( 601-638-5811; www.battlefieldinn.org; 4137 N I-20 Frontage Rd; r incl breakfast from $65;          ) Robert E Lee meets David Lynch in this hotel, which is surreal in the extreme. The Battlefield Inn has a talking parrot in the entryway, a karaoke bar inside the hotel, a wet bar by the swimming pool and cannons on the property.

**Corners Mansion** ( 601-636-7421; www.thecorners.com; 601 Klein St; r from $125;        ) The best part of this Old South B&B could be looking over the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers from your rocking-chair vantage point. The gardens and Southern breakfast don't hurt either.

 **Walnut Hills** ( 601-638-4910; 1214 Adams St;  11am-9pm Mon-Sat, 11am-2pm Sun) For a dining experience that brings you back in time, head to this eatery where you can enjoy the utterly delectable, down-home Southern food elbow-to-elbow, family-style at a round table from 11am to 2pm. Try the blue-plate special ($9).

**Highway 61 Coffeehouse** ( 601-638-9221; www.61coffee.com; 1101 Washington St;  7am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat;  ) This surprisingly excellent coffee shop has live music on Thursdays and is a minuscule epicenter of artsy-ness.

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## JACKSON

Mississippi's capital and largest city is victim to the common car-culture phenomenon of a dead downtown surrounded by plush suburbs. However, interesting areas like the funky Fondren District, along with a cluster of well-done museums and historic sites, give insight into the culture of Mississippi and make Jackson a worthwhile stopover.

The **convention & visitors bureau** ( 601-960-1891; www.visitjackson.com; 111 E Capitol St, Suite 102;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri) has free information.

The one fantastic attraction is the **Mississippi Museum of Art** ( 601-960-1515; www.msmuseumart.org; 380 South Lamar St; admission free;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, from noon Sun), which got new digs in June 2007. The museum's collection of Mississippi art – a permanent exhibit dubbed 'The Mississippi Story' – is nothing less than superb.

Also worth a stop, though completely different in its feel and scope, is the **Agriculture & Forestry Museum** ( 601-713-3365; 1150 Lakeland Dr; adult/child $4/2;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat;  ). This rustic attraction is actually spread among several buildings designed to resemble a small Mississippi town, complete with a blacksmith's shop and general store. In the main exhibit hall, you can learn about catfish farming 'from the egg to the plate.'

Southern-literature buffs should make a reservation to tour the **Eudora Welty House** ( 601-353-7762; www.mdah.state.ms.us/welty; 1119 Pinehurst St;  tours 9am, 11am, 1pm & 3pm Wed-Fri). Welty, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author, lived in this Tudor Revival house for more than 75 years, and it's preserved to look as it did in the 1980s. The garden out back is lovely, too.

Tucked way back in Lefleur's Bluff State Park is the **Museum of Natural Science** ( 601-354-7303; www.msnaturalscience.org; 2148 Riverside Dr; adult/child $5/3;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri, from 9am Sat, from 1pm Sun;  ). It houses exhibits on the natural beasts of Mississippi and has aquariums inside and a nice walking trail outside.

The **Smith Robertson Museum** ( 601-960-1457; 528 Bloom St; adult/child $4.50/1.50;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-1pm Sat, 2-5pm Sun), housed in Mississippi's first public school for African American kids, is the alma mater of author Richard Wright. It offers insight and explanation into the pain and perseverance of the African American legacy in Mississippi.

The **Old Capitol Museum** ( 601-576-6920; <http://mdah.state.ms.us/museum>; 100 State St; admission free;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9:30am-4:30pm Sat, 12:30-4:30pm Sun), which was the state's capital from 1839 to 1903, is newly opened after major renovations and houses a museum that covers Mississippi's history from prehistoric to modern times.

### Sleeping & Eating

 **Old Capitol Inn** ( 601-359-9000; www.oldcapitolinn.com; 226 N State St; r from $99;            ) A heck of a deal, this 24-room boutique hotel, near museums and restaurants, has up-to-date rooms that are comfortably and uniquely furnished. The rooftop deck, complete with hot tub, overlooks a courtyard and pool. It serves a full Southern breakfast, and the thoughtful service is exemplified by details such as handwritten weather reports brought to your room.

**Fairview Inn** ( 601-948-3429; www.fairviewinn.com; 734 Fairview St; r/ste from $139/199;          ) For a colonial estate experience, the Fairview Inn will not let you down when it comes to Southern formality and traditions, including a grits-and-bacon kind of breakfast. It also has a full spa.

**Walker's Drive-In** ( 601-982-2633; www.walkersdrivein.com; 3016 N State St; mains $24-32;  11am-2pm Mon-Fri, plus from 5:30pm Tue-Sat) This truly outstanding restaurant calls itself a drive-in, but it's really a gussied-up diner that serves lusciously tweaked Southern staples. And it serves things like heavenly barbecued oysters dolloped with brie, and incredible fish dishes. The wine menu is good, service impeccable, and creativity turned-up.

**Mayflower** ( 601-355-4122; 123 W Capitol St;  11am-2:30pm & 4:30-9:15pm Mon-Fri, 4:30-9:30pm Sat) This is a Jackson tradition. The Southern fare is incredible. Try the red fish topped with broiled oysters. It's also famous for its come-back dressing, which is guaranteed to make you come back. Sources citywide say use the bathroom before you come.

Fondren District is the budding artsy, boho area of town, ie fun restaurants, art galleries and cafés dot a strip of traffic-heavy road. Keifers, a Greek café with awesome outdoor seating and cheap beer, and the Pizza Shack attract young and old. High Noon Cafe is situated in the Rainbow Co-op, where you can order a mushroom burger and stock up on healthy groceries.

### Entertainment

**Hal & Mal's** ( 601-948-0888; www.halandmals.com; 200 S Commerce St;  11am-2am Mon-Sat) This Jackson nightlife staple has Mississippi-made beer on tap and, oftentimes, live music in the air.

**9:30 Blues Cafe** ( 601-948-0888; www.jesdablues.com; 200 S Commerce St;  11am-2am Mon-Sat) Run by a Delta born-and-raised man, this club carries on the Delta blues tradition in its juke-joint atmosphere replete with artifacts from the owner's family farm and local art. There's blues every night starting at 9:30pm, barring Sunday. The upstairs patio is quite nice.

### Getting There & Away

At the junction of I-20 and I-55, it's easy to get in and out of Jackson. Its international **airport** (JAN;  601-939-5631; www.jmaa.com) is 10 miles east of downtown. **Greyhound** ( 601-353-6342; 300 W Capitol St) buses serve Birmingham, AL, Memphis, TN, and New Orleans, LA. Amtrak's _City of New Orleans_ stops at the station.

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## NATCHEZ

A tiny dollop of cosmopolitan in MS, quirky Natchez stews together a wide variety of folks, from gay log-cabin republicans, to intellectual liberals, to down-home folks. Perched on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi, it's the oldest town on the river and attracts tourists in search of antebellum history and architecture. It's also the end (or the beginning!) of the scenic 444-mile Natchez Trace Pkwy (Click here), the state's cycling and recreational jewel.

The **visitor and welcome center** ( 601-446-6345; www.natchezms.com; 640 S Canal St;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Sat, 9am-4pm Sun) is a large, well-done tourist resource with little exhibits of area history and a ton of information on local sites. Tours of the historic downtown and antebellum mansions leave here. During the 'pilgrimage' seasons in spring and fall, local mansions are opened to visitors. For a well-rounded experience of the area's history, stop at the **African American Museum** or **Forks of the Road** , the site of the second-largest slave market in the South.

Along with opulent, old buildings, wonderful B&Bs sprinkle the tiny town. There is a helpful list on the visitor center's website, or just drop by.

Staying at classic Natchez B&B **Historic Oak Hill Inn** ( 601-446-2500; www.historicoakhill.com; 640 409 S Rankin St; r from $110;        ) you'll get a taste of antebellum aristocratic living, from period furniture to china. A high-strung staff makes for an immaculate experience. But a real treat, with more modern fixings, is the **Sunset View Guest Cottages** ( 601-870-2662; www.asunsetview.com; 26 Cemetery Rd; cottages $135-185;        ). The warmly decorated cottages, adorned with flowers 'only to be described as pornographic,' have private, stunning views of the Mississippi River. Tom, the owner, is a historian of Southern lore who can tell you anything you'd like to know about the area or point you to a book in the cottages' extensive libraries.

Economy options are limited here, but there is camping at **Natchez State Park** ( 601-442-2658; www.mississippistateparks.reserveamerica.com; 230 Wickcliff Rd B; camping $11-16, cabins $67-87). It's 1 mile east of the parkway on Hwy 61, 10 miles north of Natchez. Within the park is Emerald Mound, the second-largest Native American ceremonial mound of its type in the United States.

To get your fill of Southern eats, head to the **Pig Out Inn** ( 601-422-8050; 116 S Canal St; pulled pork sandwich $4.75;  11am-9pm Mon-Sat, to 3pm Sun), where some people say you'll find the best ribs in town. Alternatively, you can pick up something healthier or more high-falutin' at the **Uptown Market** ( 601-445-9111; 531 S Canal St;  11am-7pm Mon-Fri, to 3pm Sun), where you can buy a salad, sparkling water, prosciutto, or build-your-own sandwich.

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## GULF COAST

In the backyard of New Orleans, the Gulf Coast's economy, traditionally based on the seafood industry, got a shot of adrenaline in the 1990s when big Vegas-style casinos muscled in alongside the sleepy fishing villages. So it's an interesting mix down here: you've got Southern-speaking Vietnamese and Irish fishermen playing blackjack alongside bigwigs who have jetted in from big cities. The casinos in Biloxi have been rebuilt since Hurricane Katrina swept through. The nearby town of Gulfport, however, has still not fully recovered.

Keep track of what's open for business through the **Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau** ( 228-896-6699; www.gulfcoast.org; 11975 Seaway Rd, Gulfport), which has a website that lists openings and reopenings.

**Ocean Springs** is one of the coolest, non-destroyed places on the Mississippi coast. Its **visitor center** ( 228-875-4424; www.oceanspringscham|ber.com; 1000 Washington St;  9am-4pm Mon-Fri) is at the head of Washington St, where you'll find a slew of cute shops, restaurants and coffee houses.

 **Walter Anderson Museum** ( 228-872-3164; www.walterandersonmuseum.org; 510 Washington St;  9:30am-4:30pm Mon-Sat, from 12:30pm Sun) is a highlight of the city (and probably the state). A consummate artist and lover of Gulf Coast nature, Anderson had his fair share of turmoil and love that spurred his talent to great heights. After he died, the beachside shack where he lived was found to be completely covered in mind-blowing murals, which are now transplanted to the museum. Walter, his father, and his two brothers ran **Shearwater Pottery** ( 228-875-7320; www.dreaminginclay.com; 102 Shearwater Dr;  9am-5:30pm Mon-Sat, from 1pm Sun). The pottery shop is still run today by the family, even after it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

If you have your bicycle or just want to tootle, the **Live Oaks Bike Path** is a lovely way to check out the area. It's a 15.5-mile loop starting at the train depot downtown, to the Davis Bayou Area of Gulf Islands National Seashore, and back. Maps are at the visitor center.

Hotels line the highway, or stay at **Oak Shade B &B** ( 888-875-4711; oakshade@cableone.net; 1017 La Fontaine Ave; r from $95-140;        ). A visit here is very similar to just being a guest in a friend's home: comfy and relaxed. There's a lovely courtyard to boot. Marion, the owner, is laid-back and loves to help you do whatever you want to do in the area. Nice camping (and a visitor center) can be found at **Gulf Islands National Seashore Park** ( 228-875-3962; www.nps.gov/guis), which is a little bit out of town.

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# LOUISIANA

In the words of William Faulkner: 'The past is never dead. It's not even past.' Nowhere is that as true in the US as it is in Louisiana. Nostalgia for times long gone and recognition of hardships endured are found at every turn. This leads to a dynamic sense of place – natives are rooted here, and embrace what makes them unique. This is a state where black cowboys strap washboards to their chests and strum the distinctive clicking sound of zydeco, and where gators lurk in swamps and are hunted by French-speaking Cajuns. Different cultures coexist – after all, don't we all just want to eat well and dance?

In the rolling hills and pine forests of northern Louisiana, the mostly Protestant population shares similar traits with other Southern states. But the world becomes a different place amid the swamps of southern Louisiana and the debauched streets of New Orleans – where jazz and Afro-Caribbean sounds are thick in the sultry air and make you unable to resist the urge to let loose.

### History

The lower Mississippi River area was dominated by the Mississippian mound-building culture until around 1592 when Europeans arrived and decimated the Native Americans with the usual combination of disease, unfavorable treaties and outright hostility.

The land was then passed back and forth between France, Spain and England. After the American Revolution, the whole area passed to the USA in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, and Louisiana became a state in 1812.

Steamboats opened a vital trade network across the continent. New Orleans became a major port, and Louisiana's slave-based plantation economy kept up a flowing export of rice, tobacco, indigo, sugarcane and especially cotton. After the Civil War, Louisiana was readmitted to the Union in 1868, and the next 30 years saw political wrangling, economic stagnation and renewed discrimination against African Americans.

In the 1920s, industry and tourism developed, but the tradition of unorthodox and sometimes ruthless politics continues today. Race and economics are ongoing sources of struggle: witness the post-Katrina rebuilding process (Click here). The 2005 hurricane and the flooding in its aftermath have reshaped southern Louisiana. Locals have negotiated the tricky path through redevelopment, the return of displaced peoples, wetland restoration and outsider involvement. Though revitalization has been more successful in some areas, progress has been painfully slow in others, especially the poorer areas.

* * *

# LOUISIANA FACTS

**Nicknames** Bayou State, Pelican State, Sportsman's Paradise

**Population** 4.4 million

**Area** 43,561 sq miles

**Capital city** Baton Rouge (population 229,500)

**Major city** New Orleans (population 223,388)

**Sales tax** 4%, plus local city and county taxes

**Birthplace of** Jazz, naturalist John James Audubon (1785–1851), trumpeter Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong (1901–71), author Truman Capote (1924–84), musician Antoine 'Fats' Domino (b 1928), pop star Britney Spears (b 1981)

**Home of** Tabasco sauce, chef Emeril Lagasse

**Official state reptile** Alligator

**Driving distances** New Orleans to Lafayette 137 miles, New Orleans to St Francisville 112 miles

* * *

### Information

Thirteen welcome centers dot freeways throughout the state, or contact the **Louisiana Office of Tourism** ( 225-342-8119, 800-633-6970; www.louisianatravel.com).

**Louisiana State Parks** ( 888-677-1400; www.lastateparks.com) Louisiana has 20 state parks that offer camping ($1 primitive and backpack camping, $18 for premium campsites). Some parks offer lodge accommodations and cabins. Reservations can be made on the internet, phone, or on a drop-in basis if there's availability.

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## NEW ORLEANS

New Orleans gets called 'The Big Easy' in all its promotional material, and this city does take it easy, to some degree. It's rare in America to see folks hold up traffic for the sake of pulling over and calling out, 'Yo Dante, wassup,' and rarer still for the people behind them to accept the above nonchalantly and find another way around.

But when it comes to having a good time, New Orleanians are kind of like Manhattanites on a deadline. Just one more beer? Nah son, have a shot with that. You want a burger? How's about we put peanut butter and bacon on top? And throw in a huge baked potato with sour cream on the side. And hell, some crawfish.

At the mouth of the Mississippi, remember the three 'I's. The first two, indulgence and immersion, are easy to pick up on. Its brown sugar on bacon instead of oatmeal for breakfast; a double served neat instead of light beer; sex in the morning instead of being early for work ('My streetcar was down'). But the biggest 'I' here is _intermixing_. Tolerating everything and learning from it is the soul of this city. Social tensions and divisions of race and income keep New Orleans jittery, but when its citizens aspire to that great Creole ideal – a mix of all influences into something better – we get: jazz; Nouveau Louisiana cuisine; storytellers from African _griots_ to Seventh Ward rappers to Tennessee Williams; French town houses a few blocks from Foghorn Leghorn mansions groaning under sweet myrtle and bougainvillea; Mardi Gras celebrations that mix pagan mysticism with Catholic pageantry. Just don't forget the indulgence and immersion, because that Creole-ization gets watered down when folks don't live life to its intellectual and epicurean hilt.

New Orleans may take it easy, but it takes it. The whole hog. Stuffed with rice and crawfish. Ya hear?

### History

The town of Nouvelle Orléans was founded as a French outpost in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. Early settlers arrived from France, Canada and Germany, and the French imported thousands of African slaves. The city became a central port in the slave trade; due to local laws some slaves were allowed to earn their freedom and assume an established place in the Creole community as _les gens de couleur libres_ (free people of color).

The Spanish were largely responsible for building the French Quarter as it still looks today because fires in 1788 and 1794 decimated the earlier French architecture. The influx of Anglo-Americans after the Louisiana Purchase led to an expansion of the city into the Central Business District (CBD), Garden District and Uptown. By 1840 New Orleans was the nation's fourth-largest city, with more than 100,000 people.

New Orleans survived the Civil War intact after an early surrender to Union forces, but the economy languished with the end of the slavery-based plantations. In the early 1900s, New Orleans was the birthplace of jazz music (Click here). Many of the speakeasies and homes of the jazz originators have been destroyed through neglect, but the cultural claim was canonized in 1994 when the NPS established the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park (opposite) to celebrate the origins and evolution of America's most widely recognized indigenous musical art form. Oil and petrochemical industries developed in the 1950s, and today, tourism is the other lifeblood of the local economy.

In 2005, a man-made disaster occurred when Katrina, a relatively weak Category 3 hurricane, overwhelmed New Orleans' federal flood protection system in over 50 places. Some 80% of the city was flooded, over 1800 people lost their lives, and the entire city was evacuated. Today, the population level stands at only two-thirds of pre-Katrina levels. Although much of the city has rebuilt and tourists are back with a bead-throwing vengeance, the city has irrevocably changed, in ways good and bad; see boxed text, Click here.

### Orientation

New Orleans is wedged between the Mississippi River to the south and Lake Pontchartrain to the north. The historic French Quarter (Vieux Carré), encircling Jackson Sq, runs from Esplanade Ave to Canal St. Canal St separates the Quarter from the CBD and Warehouse District, which extends to the freeway.

Continuing upriver along St Charles Ave are the Lower Garden District, a ramshackle neighborhood with a bohemian enclave, and the lovely Garden District, well known for its historic mansions. St Charles Ave follows the hooked course of the river into Uptown and the Riverbend area, anchored by Tulane and Loyola universities.

The Tremé, across N Rampart St from the French Quarter, is a historically rich, predominantly African American residential neighborhood. Downriver from the French Quarter, the streets of Faubourg Marigny, a diverse and especially gay-friendly community, form a triangle bisected by lively Frenchmen St. The artsy Bywater neighborhood lies downriver.

Though the quaint Algiers District sits across the river, it is also part of New Orleans. Neighborhoods closer to the sites of the levee breaches, such as Lakeview, Gentilly and the Lower 9th Ward, were hard-hit by post-hurricane flooding, and are best explored only by car.

Maps are available at the New Orleans Welcome Center in Jackson Sq (right).

### Information

#### BOOKSTORES

**Faulkner House Books** ( 504-524-2940; www.faulknerhousebooks.net; 624 Pirate's Alley;  10am-5:30pm) The erudite owner of this former residence of author William Faulkner sells rare first editions and new titles.

**Maple Street Book Shop** ( 504-866-4916; www.maplestreetbookshop.com; 7523 Maple St;  9am-7pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun) A mainstay independent bookstore in Uptown, with a children's bookstore (Click here) next door.

#### EMERGENCY & MEDICAL SERVICES

**Medical Center of Louisiana** ( 800-256-2311; www.mclno.org; 2021 Perdido St;  24hr) Has an emergency room.

#### INTERNET ACCESS

There's pretty good wi-fi coverage in the CBD, French Quarter, Garden and Lower Garden Districts and Uptown. Almost every coffee shop in the city has wi-fi coverage. Libraries have free internet access for cardholders.

**Zotz** ( 504-861-2224; 8210 Oak St; per 30min $3;  9am-2am) Appropriately funky coffee shop in Riverbend neighborhood, popular with Tulane types.

#### INTERNET RESOURCES & MEDIA

**Gambit Weekly** (www.bestofneworleans.com) Free weekly hot sheet of music, culture, politics and classifieds.

**NOLA Fun Guide** (www.nolafunguide.com) Great website for up-to-date info on gigs, gallery openings and the like.

**Offbeat Magazine** (www.offbeat.com) Free monthly specializing in music.

**Times-Picayune** (www.nola.com) New Orleans' daily newspaper has an entertainment calendar, and 'Lagniappe,' a more extensive guide, is included every Friday.

**WWOZ 90.7 FM** (www.wwoz.org) Tune in here for Louisiana music and more.

#### POST

**Post office** CBD (610 S Maestri Pl;  8:30am-4:30pm Mon-Fri); Main branch ( 504-599-9983; 701 Loyola Ave;  7am-7pm Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm Sat) Mail sent General Delivery, New Orleans, LA 70112, goes to the main branch. Postboxes in outlying areas are not necessarily reliable since Katrina. A private business, the post office (207 N Peters St, Suite 200;  8:30am-4:30pm Mon-Fri) in the French Quarter offers shipping and caters to post-related needs, as well as selling stationery.

#### TOURIST INFORMATION

The city's official visitor website is www.neworleansonline.com.

**Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve Visitor Center** ( 504-589-2636, 504-589-3883; www.nps.gov/jela; 419 Decatur St;  9am-5pm) Operated by the NPS, with exhibits on local history, guided walks and daily live music. There's not much in the park office itself, but educational musical programs are held on most days of the week. Many of the park rangers are musicians and knowledgeable lecturers, and their presentations discuss musical developments, cultural changes, regional styles, myths, legends and musical techniques in relation to the broad subject of jazz. At some point, the center is supposed to relocate to a permanent headquarters in Louis Armstrong Park.

**New Orleans Welcome Center (French Quarter)** ( 504-589-2636; www.neworleanscvb.com; 419 Decatur St;  9am-5pm) Provides lots of free information and maps.

### Dangers & Annoyances

New Orleans has a high violent-crime rate, and neighborhoods go from good to ghetto very quickly. Be careful walking too far north of Faubourg Marigny and the Bywater (St Claude Ave is a good place to stop), south of Magazine St (things get dodgier past Laurel St) and too far west (Rampart St) of the French Quarter. Stick to places that are well peopled, particularly at night, and spring for a cab to avoid dark walks. In the Quarter, street hustlers frequently approach tourists – just walk away. With all that said, don't be paranoid. Crime here, as in most of America, tends to be between people who already know each other.

### Sights & Activities

#### FRENCH QUARTER

Elegant, Caribbean-colonial architecture, lush gardens and wrought-iron accents are the visual norm in the French Quarter. But this is also the heart of New Orleans' tourism scene, and Bourbon St, a sort of caricature of a 'Girls Gone Wild' video, generates a loutish membrane that sometimes makes the rest of the Quarter difficult to appreciate.

Look past said silliness. The 'Vieux Carré' (Old Quarter, first laid out in 1722) is the focal point of much of this city's culture. In New Orleans' early days this _was_ the city (really; nothing else was built) and in the quieter back lanes and alleyways a sense of faded time shaken and stirred with joie de vivre – the quintessential romance this town imparts – is so rich your head goes fuzzy.

**Jackson Square** is the heart of the Quarter. Sprinkled with lazing loungers, surrounded by fortune-tellers, sketch artists and traveling showmen and overlooked by cathedrals, offices and shops plucked from a Parisian fantasy, this is one of America's great green spaces. It manages to both anchor the French Quarter and beat out the heart-rhythm of this corner of town. What happens in the Quarter usually begins here. The identical, block-long Pontalba Buildings overlook the square, and the nearly identical Cabildo and Presbytère structures flank **St Louis Cathedral** , the square's masterpiece. Designed by Gilberto Guillemard, this is one of the finest examples of French ecumenical (church) architecture in America. Nearby, the river levee's **Moonwalk** (named for local politician Moon Landry, not the Michael Jackson dance) makes a great spot to sit and dip beignets in _café au lait_ while watching the riverboats meander by.

* * *

# THE NEW NEW ORLEANS

The 'Katrina Tattoo,' the line on thousands of buildings that marked the top elevation of 2005's Hurricane Katrina floodwaters, has faded, but that doesn't mean 'the Storm,' as everyone calls it, is spent. Oh, you'd think so if you stayed within the 'White Teapot,' shaped like its kitchenware name and extending from the blocks of Riverbend down in a curve along Uptown and Magazine St, up into the CBD, French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny. Few people lost homes here, most are Caucasian and most visitors concentrate in these streets. Here, life is not only normal, but thriving.

Other swaths of the city – the Lower 9th Ward, Gentilly and Gentilly Terrace – are still Dead Zones. The welcome mat remains an emergency-crew 'X.' Insurance claims are still disputed. Road signs have yet to reappear. There's no cute '504ever' bumper stickers in the weeds growing through Milneburg's cracked lots.

New Orleans endures, irreversibly changed, and a new city is being carved from the mud by thousands of new arrivals, affectionately nicknamed YURPs – Young, Urban Rebuilding Professionals (they've even got a website: www.nolayurp.com). It's like Freedom Summer all over again, except the idealistic 20- and 30-something types are from all over: the Northeast, West Coast, Midwest and, yes, the South.

New Orleans has always been a beacon for the misfits of America. Now she's becoming a litmus test for new frontiers of urban planning as well. The frontiers of green architecture and public charter schools, to name a few policy sectors, are pushed by innovators – transplants and natives – determined to defend this bastion of freaks, geeks, madmen, musicians, misfits, foodies and poets. They know they can't find drag queen/bunny suit Easter pub crawls followed by a Second Line in Birmingham and Jackson, or even San Francisco and New York. That's what makes this home, and today, being New Orleanian means defending said home like a pissed-off badger, while helping rebuild – and redefine it – a little every day.

* * *

The **Louisiana State Museum** ( 504-568-6968; <http://lsm.crt.state.la.us>; adult/child per bldg $6/free;  10am-4:30pm Tue-Sun) operates several institutions across the state. The standouts here include the 1911 **Cabildo** (701 Chartres St), on the left of the cathedral, a Louisiana history museum located in the old city hall where Plessy vs Ferguson (which legalized segregation) was argued. The huge amount of exhibits inside can easily eat up half a day, the remainder of which can be spent in the Cabildo's sister building, on the right of the church, the 1813 **Presbytère** (751 Chartres St;  ). Inside is an excellent Mardi Gras museum, with displays of costumes, parade floats and royal jewelry that explain the deep historical, even mystical, roots Mardi Gras has in New Orleans.

Ensconced in several exquisitely restored buildings, the **Historic New Orleans Collection** ( 504-523-4662; www.hnoc.org; 533 Royal St; admission free, home tour $5;  9:30am-4:30pm Tue-Sat, from 10:30am Sun) displays thoughtfully curated exhibits with an emphasis on archival materials, such as the original transfer documents of the Louisiana Purchase. It's one of the best quick introductions to the city's history on offer.

In 1728, 12 Ursuline nuns arrived in New Orleans to care for the French garrison's 'miserable little hospital' and to educate the young girls of the colony. Between 1745 and 1752, the French colonial army built the **Old Ursuline Convent** ( 504-529-3040; 1112 Chartres St; adult/senior/child $5/4/2, child under 8 free;  tours 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm & 3pm Tue-Fri, 11:15am, 1pm & 2pm Sat & Sun), now the oldest structure in the Mississippi River Valley and the only remaining French building in the Quarter. Originally a Native American trading post, the **French Market** ( 504-522-2621; www.frenchmarket.org; N Peters St, btwn St Ann & Barracks Sts;  9am-5pm;  ) is the US' oldest public market.

#### THE TREMé

The oldest African American neighborhood in the city is obviously steeped in a lot of history.

**Louis Armstrong Park** encompasses **Congo Square** , an American cultural landmark. Now a brick open space, it was the one place where enslaved people were allowed to congregate and play the music they had carried over the seas – a practice outlawed in most other slave-holding societies. The preservation of this musical heritage helped lay the groundwork for rhythms that would eventually become jazz.

The 1824 **St Augustine's Church** ( 504-525-5934; www.staugustinecatholicchurch-neworleans.org; 1210 Governor Nicholls St) is the second-oldest African American Catholic church in the US; many jazz funeral processions originate here. Call ahead to try to arrange a visit, as the church is still in a rebuilding process post-Katrina. Across the street is the **Backstreet Cultural Museum** ( 504-303-9058; www.backstreetmuseum.org; 1116 St Claude Ave; suggested donation $5;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat). This is the place to see one facet of this town's distinctive customs – its African American side – and how they're expressed in daily life. The term 'backstreet' refers to New Orleans' 'back o' town,' or the poor black neighborhoods. If you have any interest in Mardi Gras Indian suits (African Americans who dress up in Carnival-esque Native American costume), second lines and the activities of social aid and pleasure clubs (the local black community version of civic associations), you need to stop by.

The **New Orleans African American Museum of Art, Culture & History** ( 504-566-1136; 1418 Governor Nicholls St; adult/child $5/3;  11am-4pm Wed-Sat) exhibits local artists and hit-and-miss rotating displays in a tidy Creole cottage with terraced grounds.

**St Louis Cemetery No 1** (Basin St;  8am-3pm;  ) received the remains of most early Creoles. The shallow water table necessitated aboveground burials, with bodies placed in the family tombs you see to this day. The supposed grave of voodoo queen Marie Laveau is here, scratched with 'XXX's from spellbound devotees – this is graffiti you shouldn't add to, per the request of the family that owns the tomb.

#### FAUBOURG MARIGNY & THE BYWATER

North of the French Quarter are the Creole suburbs ('faubourgs,' which more accurately means 'neighborhoods') of the Marigny and the Bywater. The Marigny is the heart of the local gay scene; **Frenchman St** , which runs through the center of the 'hood, is a fantastic strip of live-music goodness. The Bywater is an edgier area, where a good mix of white, black, working class and artists are straddling the edge of urban cool. A lot of new New Orleanians have moved into this area, bringing a bit of gentrification along with some decent funkiness to the pretty rows of shotgun shacks.

There's some good examples of post-Katrina rebuilding work north of this area, but you'll want to drive or taxi to the following two sites. **KKProjects** ( 504-218-8701; www.kkprojects.org; 2448 N Villere St;  10am-4pm Sat & Sun) has taken, as of this writing, six abandoned homes and, with the input of the local community, turned them into studios/galleries/structures/works of art in their own right. Examples include a house floored and roofed with sod and turf that looks like a hobbit hole in the middle of the ghetto, community gardens and greenhouses. Open outside hours by appointment.

**Musicians' Village** (www.nolamusiciansvillage.com; btwn North Roman, Alvar & North Johnson Sts) encompasses an 8-acre tract of some 81 houses, built primarily for musicians, a vital component of the city's cultural and economic landscape. While mainly intended for musicians, it is not exclusively inhabited by them – non-musicians live here as well. If you visit, please bear in mind this is a living neighborhood; folks can get understandably tetchy if you take pictures of them or their property without asking permission or even getting out of your car. The brightly painted houses lighten up the surrounding neighborhood like a spilled pack of Skittles.

#### CBD & WAREHOUSE DISTRICT

The CBD and Warehouse District comprise the commercial section established after the Louisiana Purchase. Today, several outstanding museums anchor the Warehouse District, and local art galleries cluster along Julia St, holding openings on the first Saturday evening of each month.

**Aquarium of the Americas** ( 504-581-4629; www.auduboninstitute.org; 1 Canal St; adult/child $18/11;  9:30am-5pm Tue-Sun;  ) simulates an eclectic selection of watery habitats – look for the rare white alligator. You can buy combination tickets to the IMAX theater next door, the Audubon Zoo in Uptown (opposite) and the **Insectarium** ( 504-410-2847; www.auduboninstitute.org; 423 Canal St; adult/child/senior $14/9/11;  10am-5pm Tue-Sun;  ), a supremely kid-friendly learning center that's a joy for budding entomologists, or anyone with a bit of interest in biology. The Japanese garden dotted with whispering butterflies is particularly beautiful.

The **Canal Street Ferry** (pedestrian & cyclist/car free/$1;  6am-8:45pm), departing from the foot of Canal St, is a fast and fabulous ride across the Mississippi to Algiers, an attractive historic neighborhood just across the river, and back.

One of our favorite museums in the city, the **Ogden Museum of Southern Art** ( 504-539-9600; www.ogdenmuseum.org; 925 Camp St; adult/child $10/6;  11am-4pm Thu-Sun) manages to be beautiful, educating and unpretentious all at once. New Orleans entrepreneur Roger Houston Ogden has assembled one of the finest collections of Southern art anywhere – far too large to keep to himself – which includes huge galleries ranging from Impressionist landscapes to outsider folk-art quirkiness to contemporary installation work. There's free live music from 6pm to 8pm Thursday.

Across the street, the **Contemporary Arts Center** ( 504-528-3805; www.cacno.org; 900 Camp St; admission varies;  11am-4pm Thu-Sun) maintains airy galleries filled with rotating avant-garde shows.

The extensive, heart-wrenching **National World War II Museum** ( 504-527-6012; www.nationalww2museum.org; 945 Magazine St; adult/child $14/6;  9am-5pm Tue-Sun) should satisfy the historical curiosity of anyone who possesses even a passing interest in WWII. The museum presents an admirably nuanced and always thorough analysis of the biggest war of the 20th century. Of particular note is the D-Day exhibition, arguably the most in-depth of its type in the country. The oral history sections are fascinating and a gaggle of expansions that includes pavilions dedicated to every major campaign America participated in during the war are upcoming; some of this work is being directed by actor Tom Hanks.

The garish and good-fun **Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World** ( 504-361-7821; www.mardigrasworld.com; 1380 Port of New Orleans Pl; adult/child $18/11;  tours 9:30am-5:30pm;  ) houses (and constructs) many of the greatest floats used in Mardi Gras parades. You can see them being built or on display any time of the year by popping by the facilities, located just behind the southern end of the Convention Center. After a short film on Mardi Gras history, the tour takes you through the giant workshops where artists create elaborate floats for New Orleans krewes (marching clubs), Universal Studios and Disney World.

#### GARDEN DISTRICT & UPTOWN

The main architectural division in New Orleans is between the elegant town houses of the Creole and French northeast and the magnificent mansions of the American district, settled after the Louisiana Purchase. These huge structures, plantationesque in their appearance, are most commonly found in the Garden District and Uptown. Magnificent oak trees arch over St Charles Ave, which cuts through the heart of this sector and where the **St Charles Avenue streetcar** (per ride $1.25;  ) runs. The boutiques and galleries of **Magazine Street** form the best shopping strip in the city.

Further west, Tulane and Loyola universities occupy adjacent campuses alongside expansive **Audubon Park**. Tulane was founded in 1834 as a medical college in an attempt to control repeated cholera and yellow fever epidemics. Today the verdant campuses offer a welcome respite from city streets, while the universities host plenty of concerts and lectures.

Among the country's best zoos, the **Audubon Zoological Gardens** ( 504-861-2537; www.auduboninstitute.org; 6500 Magazine St; adult/child $13/8;  9am-5pm Tue-Sun) contains the ultracool Louisiana Swamp exhibit, full of alligators, bobcats, foxes, bears and snapping turtles.

#### CITY PARK & MID-CITY

The **Canal streetcar** makes the run from the CBD to City Park. Three miles long, 1 mile wide, stroked by weeping willows and Spanish moss and dotted with museums, gardens, waterways, bridges, birds and the occasional alligator, **City Park** ( 504-482-4888; www.neworleanscitypark.com) is the nation's fifth-largest urban park (bigger than Central Park in NYC) and New Orleans' prettiest green lung. It's ridiculously picturesque and a perfect expression of a local 'park,' in the sense that it is an only slightly tamed expression of the Louisiana wetlands and forest that are the natural backdrop of the city.

Inside the park, the elegant **New Orleans Museum of Art** ( 504-658-4100; www.noma.org; 1 Collins Diboll Circle; adult/child $8/4;  noon-8pm Wed, 10am-5pm Thu-Sun) was founded in 1910 and is well worth a visit both for its local exhibitions and top-floor galleries of African, Asian, Native American and Oceanic art. Its **sculpture garden** (admission free;  10am-4:30pm Wed-Sun) contains a cutting-edge collection in lush, meticulously planned grounds.

Besides hosting the regular horse-racing season, the **Fair Grounds** (1751 Gentilly Blvd, btwn Gentilly Blvd & Fortin St) are also home to the huge springtime New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (Click here).

### Walking Tour

The Quarter's elegant 18th-century Spanish Colonial architecture lines narrow streets, seducing with bright colors and minimalist beauty. A leisurely stroll, peeking inside iron gates and browsing the shops and galleries, is the best way to soak up the vibe.

Begin your walk at the **Presbytère** ( **1** ; Click here) on Jackson Sq and head down Chartres St to the corner of Ursulines Ave and the **Old Ursuline Convent** ( **2** ; Click here).

Directly across Chartres St, at No 1113, the 1826 **Beauregard-Keyes House** **(3)** combines Creole and American-style design. Civil War General PGT Beauregard rented rooms here, and author Frances Parkinson Keyes lived here from 1942 to 1970.

Walk along Ursulines Ave to Royal St, perhaps stopping for a quick _café au lait_ and delectable pastry at **Croissant D'Or Patisserie** ( **4** ; Click here). The soda fountainat the **Royal Pharmacy (5)** is a preserved relic from halcyon malt-shop days; the owners of the pharmacy feel it's too classic to pull out.

Continue up Ursulines Ave and then turn left onto Bourbon St. The ramshackle one-story structure on the corner of St Philip St is a salty little tavern and National Historic Landmark called **Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop (6)**. Head down St Philip back to Royal St and take a right.

When it comes to quintessential New Orleans postcard images, Royal St takes the prize. Cast-iron galleries grace the buildings and a profusion of flowers garland the facades. Take it slowly and appreciate the details.

At No 915 the **Cornstalk Hotel** ( **7** ; Click here) stands behind one of the most frequently photographed fences anywhere. At Orleans Ave, stately magnolia trees and lush tropical plants fill **St Anthony's Garden (8)** , behind **St Louis Cathedral** ( **9** ; Click here).

Alongside the garden, Pirate's Alley is an inviting, shaded walkway that calls for a little detour. The first buildings to the right, Nos 622 to 624 Pirate's Alley, are just two of the **Labranche Buildings (10)**. Note the original wrought-iron balconies, some of the finest in town, which date from the 1840s. At 624 Pirate's Alley, charming **Faulkner House Books** ( **11** ; Click here), is named for its most famous resident, William Faulkner.

Turn right down Cabildo Alley and then right up St Peter St, toward Royal St. Tennessee Williams shacked up at No 632 St Peter, the **Avart-Peretti House (12)** ,in 1946–47 while he wrote _A Streetcar Named Desire._

* * *

# WALK FACTS

**Start** Presbytère

**Finish** Cabildo

**Distance** 1 miles

**Duration** About 90 minutes

* * *

At the corner of Royal, the **LeMonnier Mansion (13)** , at No 640, is commonly known to be New Orleans' first 'skyscraper.' If you kept going up St Peter, you'd reach **Pat O'Brien's** , where the famous 'Hurricane' cocktail is served, and the rustic facade of **Preservation Hall** (Click here).

Turn left on Royal St. At the corner of Royal and Toulouse Sts stands a pair of houses built by Jean François Merieult in the 1790s. The **Court of Two Lions (14)** , at 541 Royal St, opens onto Toulouse St and next door is the **Historic New Orleans Collection** ( **15** ; Click here). Across the street, at No 520, a carriageway leads to the picturesque **Brulatour Courtyard (16)**.

On the next block, the massive 1909 **State Supreme Court Building (17)** was the setting for many scenes in director Oliver Stone's movie _JFK_. The white-marble and terracotta facade stands in attractive contrast with the rest of the Quarter.

Head down St Louis St to Chartres St and turn left. As Jackson Sq comes into view, you'll reach the Presbytère's near-identical twin, the **Cabildo** ( **18** ; Click here). Kick back on the benches in front with the buskers or whip your palm out for a future foretold.

### Courses

**New Orleans GlassWorks & Printmaking Studio** ( 504-529-7277; www.neworleansglassworks.com; 727 Magazine St; from $135) Try your hand at glassblowing (really!) or printmaking during weekend or six-week courses (September to May).

**New Orleans School of Cooking** ( 504-525-2665; www.neworleansschoolofcooking.com; 524 St Louis St; classes from $27) Menus rotate daily, but rest assured you'll be snacking on creations such as gumbo, jambalaya and pralines at the end of class.

**Savvy Gourmet** ( 504-895-2665; www.savvygourmet.com; 4519 Magazine St; classes $15-75) Whether you're looking to learn wine history, knife skills or hands-on seafood prep, Savvy's got it. Check the website for the schedule.

**Wine Institute of New Orleans (W.I.N.O.)** ( 324-8000; www.winoschool.com; 610 Tchoupitoulas St; from classes $35) The 'institute' runs classes on wine tasting, food pairing and the like, aimed at both amateur enthusiasts and folks looking to get professionally employed in the wine and spirit industry.

### New Orleans for Children

Many of New Orleans' daytime attractions are well suited for kids: the Audubon Zoological Gardens (Click here), Aquarium of the Americas(Click here) and Mardi Gras World (Click here), for example. Also check out the 'kid stuff' listings in the _Times-Picayune_ 'Living' section on Monday.

**Carousel Gardens** ( 504-483-9382; www.neworleanscitypark.com; admission $3;  10am-3pm Tue-Fri, 11am-6pm Sat & Sun;  ) The 1906 carousel is a gem of vintage carny-ride happiness.

**Children's Book Shop** ( 504-861-2105; www.maplestreetbookshop.com; 7529 Maple St;  10am-6pm Mon-Sat;  ) Cozy storytelling next door to the Maple Street Book Shop (Click here).

**Louisiana Children's Museum** ( 504-523-1357; www.lcm.org; 420 Julia St; admission $7.50;  9:30am-4:30pm Tue-Sat, from noon Sun;  ) Great hands-on exploratory exhibits and toddler area. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

### Tours

Tours, tours everywhere! Check the _New Orleans Official Visitors Guide_ for a full selection of the myriad offerings. Some companies now give post-Katrina devastation tours. The Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve Visitor Center (Click here) leads free walking tours of the French Quarter at 9:30am (get tickets at 9am).

**Carriage ride** (Jackson Sq; www.neworleanscarriages.com; 4 people per 30min from $60;  to midnight) A mule-drawn ride through the Quarter gives a relaxing glimpse of the narrow streets at a gentle pace while the driver spins fanciful yarns.

**Friends of the Cabildo** ( 504-523-3939; 1850 House Museum Store, 523 St Ann St; adult/child/student $15/free/10;  tours 10am & 1:30pm Tue-Sun) Volunteers lead the best available walking tours of the Quarter.

**Historic New Orleans Tours** ( 504-947-2120; www.tourneworleans.com; adult/child/student & senior from $20/7/15) Runs a wide variety of tours, from haunted house crawls to rebuilding house trips to areas hurt by the Storm.

### Festivals & Events

New Orleans never needs an excuse to party – whether in commemoration of shrimp and petroleum or the mighty mirliton (a kind of squash), there's almost always some celebration in town. Just the wee-est of listings follow; check www.neworleanscvb.com for more.

**Mardi Gras** In February or early March, Fat Tuesday marks the orgasmic finale of the Carnival season.

**St Patrick's Day** March 17 and its closest weekend see parades of cabbage-wielding Irishfolk.

**St Joseph's Day – Super Sunday** March 19 and its nearest Sunday bring 'gangs' of Mardi Gras Indians out into the streets in all their feathered, drumming glory. The Super Sunday parade usually begins around noon at Bayou St John and Orleans Ave, but follows no fixed route.

**Tennessee Williams Literary Festival** (www.tennesseewilliams.net) In March, five days of literary panels, plays and parties celebrate the author's work.

**French Quarter Festival** (www.fqfi.org) The second weekend of April; free music on multiple stages.

**Jazz Fest** The last weekend of April and the first weekend of May; a world-renowned extravaganza of music, food, crafts and good living.

**Essence Music Festival** (www.essence.com) Independence Day weekend in early July sees star-studded performances at the Superdome.

**Southern Decadence** (www.southerndecadence.net) A huge gay, lesbian and transgender festival, including a leather block party, on Labor Day weekend (first weekend in September).

### Sleeping

Rates peak during Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, and fall in the hot summer months. Book early and call or check the internet for special deals. Hotel sales tax is 13%, plus $1 to $3 per person per night. Parking in the Quarter costs $15 to $25 per day.

#### BUDGET

**India House Hostel** ( 504-821-1904; www.indiahousehostel.com; 124 S Lopez St; dm/d $20/45;    ) In Mid-City, this place has a free-spirited party atmosphere. A large aboveground swimming pool and cabana-like patio add ambience to the three well-used old houses that serve as dorms. Ask about the private Cajun shacks out back, which come with pet alligators. Guests can use the washer and dryer, and log onto the internet. Children are not permitted.

**Marquette House International Hostel** ( 504-523-3014; www.neworleansinternationalhostel.com; 2249 Carondelet St; dm $25, s/d from $44/53;  office 7am-noon & 5-10pm;      ) A sprawling compound of both dorms and private rooms (with refrigerators and microwaves) near the Garden District. Serviceable, but certainly not luxurious, the rooms are upstaged by the lush garden area, perfect for hanging out and meeting fellow travelers.

#### MIDRANGE

**Prytania Park Hotel** ( 504-524-0427, 888-498-7591; www.prytaniaparkhotel.com; 1525 Prytania St; r from $90;        ) Really a complex of three separate hotels, the Prytania Park's small honey-colored rooms are a bit dingy. The Prytania Oaks is sleeker (rooms from $119) and the Queen Anne is an exquisite boutique hotel, newly renovated and bedecked with antiques (rooms from $130). Perfect spot for bouncing between the Quarter and the Garden District or Uptown, and parking is free.

**Lamothe House** ( 504-947-1161, 800-367-5858; www.lamothehouse.com; 621 Esplanade Ave; r & ste incl breakfast from $99;        ) Grand mansion rooms fuse royal with bordello: gilt accents and rococo carvings compete with delicate oil paintings. Starker rooms in the outbuildings adjoin easily for families, and the spacious courtyard lets you all spread out.

**Le Pavillon** ( 504-581-3111, 800-535-9095; 833 Poydras Ave; r/ste from $100/340;        ) Built in 1907, this elegant European-style hotel's opulent marble lobby, plush, modern rooms and rooftop pool are a steal. Decadent suites might prevent you from ever leaving the building. If booking a queen room, request a bay window. Parking costs $25.

* * *

# ART FOR EVERY WEEKEND

You can discover local art and meet local artists every weekend in New Orleans.

**New Orleans Arts District Art Walk** (www.neworleansartsdistrict.com; Julia St) The first Saturday of each month beginning at 6pm until close (whenever, really) the fine art galleries in New Orleans Art District celebrate the opening night of month-long feature artist exhibitions.

**Freret Street Market** (www.freretmarket.org; cnr Freret St & Napoleon Ave) A combination farmers, flea and art show, this market offers a great mix of local culture. Held the first Saturday of the month (except for July and August) from noon to 5pm.

**Saint Claude Arts District Gallery Openings** (www.scadnola.com) New Orleans' newest arts district, this growing collective of art exhibition spaces span Faubourg Marigny and the Bywater, home to some of New Orleans' more eclectic artists. Ask locals for weekend recommendations and you may be rewarded with a fire-eating display or impromptu collective installations at a secret, hidden art space.

**Bywater Art Market** (www.art-restoration.com/bam; cnr Royal & Piety Sts) Known as New Orleans' original art market, this market takes pride in a strict jurying process and features original artists' work. Held on the third Saturday of the month from 9am to 4pm.

**Art Market of New Orleans** (www.artscouncilofneworleans.org; Palmer Park, cnr Carrolton & Claiborne Aves) Last Saturday of every month. Featuring hundreds of the area's most creative local artists, this monthly market is juried for quality and always features local food, music and kids' activities. Perfect on warm-weather days.

* * *

**Cornstalk Hotel** ( 504-523-1515, 800-759-6112; www.cornstalkhotel.com; 915 Royal St; r incl breakfast $135-200;      ) Pass through the famous cast-iron fence and into a plush, antiqued B&B where the serenity sweeps away the whirl of the busy streets outside. Gemlike rooms are all unique and luxurious. Parking's available for $15.

 **House on Bayou Road** ( 504-945-0992, 800-882-2968; www.houseonbayouroad.com; 2275 Bayou Rd; r incl breakfast from $135;    ) The gem of Esplanade Ridge is this 1798 plantation house, which oozes sultry atmosphere, with wide galleries and French doors that open onto thick tropical gardens. Screened porches make it possible to enjoy the chirp of crickets at night without being slaughtered by mosquitoes, and a large swimming pool will keep you cool. Antiques in the three main houses are splashed with natural light from tall windows.

**Melrose Mansion** ( 504-524-3900, 800-776-3901; www.melrosemansion.com; 937 Esplanade Ave; r from $140;      ) If you were a millionaire with a New Orleans pied-à-terre, this could be it. It's austerely elegant with hand-selected antiques sitting alongside the freshest modern art, and during high season you'll be regaled with a home-baked breakfast and evening wine and cheese in the chic parlor. Before the Storm, prices were twice the current rates.

**Degas House** ( 504-821-5009; www.degashouse.com; 2306 Esplanade Ave; r incl breakfast from $149;  ) Edgar Degas, the famed French Impressionist, lived in this 1852 Italianate house when visiting his mother's family in the early 1870s. Arty rooms recall the painter's stay with reproductions of his work and period furnishings. The suites have balconies and fireplaces, while the less-expensive garret rooms are the cramped top-floor quarters that once housed the Degas family's servants.

**Loft 523** ( 504-200-6523; www.loft523.com; 523 Gravier St; r from $179;      ) Top design magazines have recognized the hip industrial-minimalist style of Loft 523's 16 lodgings. Whirligig-shaped fans circle over low-lying Mondo beds and polished concrete floors. The best use of your freestanding half-egg-shaped tub is ordering a milk bath in-room spa service and listening to a mixed jazz CD in surround sound (or switching on the plasma screen).

#### TOP END

**Hotel Maison de Ville** ( 561-5858; www.hotelmaisondeville.com; 727 Toulouse St; ste from $230;      ) The one- and two-bedroom Audubon Cottage suites (where artist John J Audubon stayed and painted while in town) overflow with elegant touches: goose-down featherbeds, Gilchrist & Soames bath products and Egyptian-cotton robes are just a few. These suites surround a lushly landscaped courtyard; the pool is rumored to be the oldest in the Quarter (from the late 1700s). At the time of writing, the sumptuous 19th-century main town house hotel itself is still being renovated. But if genteel Southern comfort and polished charm are what you're after, it's worth looking into when it does.

* * *

# DON'T MISS

  * **Boucherie** (Click here)
  * **Mat and Naddie's** (Click here)
  * **Bacchanal** (Click here)
  * **Fiorella's** (right)
  * **Domilise's Po-Boys** (Click here)

* * *

### Eating

Louisiana may have the greatest native culinary tradition in the USA – not necessarily by dint of the quality of food (although quality is very high) but the long history that lies behind dishes that are older than most American states. Also: people here just _love to eat_. It's beautifully democratic how everyone in this city, from Garden District mansion dwellers to St Roch tenement residents, goes crazy when fecal-eating, sewage-dwelling mudbugs (crawfish, y'all) come into season.

#### FRENCH QUARTER

**Café du Monde** ( 800-772-2972; 800 Decatur St; beignets $2;  24hr;  ) Du Monde is overrated, but you're probably gonna go there, so here goes: the coffee is decent and the beignets (square, sugar-coated fritters) are inconsistent. The atmosphere is off-putting: you're a number forced through the wringer, trying to shout over Bob and Fran while they mispronounce 'jambalaya' and a street musician badly mangles John Lennon's 'Imagine.' At least it's open 24 hours – you might be able to capture some measure of noir-ish cool as the drunks stumble past in the Edward Hopper–esque wee hours.

**Croissant D'Or Patisserie** ( 504-524-4663; 617 Ursulines Ave; meals $3-5;  7am-2pm Wed-Mon) This ancient and spotlessly clean pastry shop is where many Quarter locals start their day. Bring a paper, order coffee and a croissant and bliss out. On your way in, check out the tiled sign on the threshold that says 'ladies entrance' – a holdover from pre-feminist days that is no longer enforced.

**Clover Grill** ( 504-598-1010; 900 Bourbon St; dishes $5-8;  24hr) Gay greasy spoon? Yup. It's all slightly surreal, given this place otherwise totally resembles a '50s diner, but nothing adds to the Americana like a prima-donna-ish argument between an out-of-makeup drag queen and a drunk club kid, all likely set to blaring disco music. The food is dependable diner fare and good for a hangover, or for those who can see the hangover approaching.

**Central Grocery** ( 504-523-1620; 923 Decatur St; half/full muffuletta $7/13;  9am-5pm Tue-Sat) A Sicilian immigrant invented the world-famous _muffuletta_ sandwich – a round, seeded loaf of bread stuffed with ham, salami, provolone and marinated olive salad that's roughly the size of a manhole cover – here in 1906. Today, this is still the best place in town to get one.

**Yo Mama's** ( 522-1125; www.yomamasbarandgrill.com; 727 St Peters St; burgers $7-14;  11am-3am) Let us lay it on the line: peanut butter and bacon burger. Sorry; scrape the brains back into your ear, because we just _blew your mind_. That's right: looks like a cheeseburger, but that ain't melted cheddar on top. Honestly, it's great: somehow the stickiness of the peanut butter compliments the char-grilled edge of the meat and, if you've got the backbone, a heaping mound of sour cream, butter and bacon bits on the accompanying baked potato. There's lots of other awesome burgers on the menu, but it is incumbent on you, dear traveler, to eat the native cuisine of a city. In Hanoi, that's pho, in Marrakech, tagine, and in New Orleans: peanut butter and bacon burger.

**Fiorella's** ( 523-2155; 1136 Decatur St; mains $7-15;  11am-midnight Sun-Thu, 11am-2am Fri & Sat) If you need to eat right in the Quarter for under $20 a head, Fiorella's and nearby **Coop's** ( 525-9053; 1109 Decatur St; mains $8-17.50;  11am-3am) are as good as it gets. Coop's is a Cajun country shack, hipstered up – try the rabbit and sausage jambalaya for a taste of Cajun heaven. Fiorella's is a Sicilian café, all red-checkered cloth, but run through a similar punk-rock wringer. The food is quintessential Italian New Orleans: pastas, pizzas, veal cutlets and, arguably, the best fried chicken in town. Some find the latter too salty; we say it's just right, especially with a bit of hot sauce.

**GW Fins** ( 504-581-3467; www.gwfins.com; 808 Bienville St; mains $22-35;  5-10pm Sun-Thu, to 10:30pm Fri & Sat) Fins focuses, almost entirely, on fish: fresh caught and prepped so the flavor of the sea is always accented and never overwhelmed. For New Orleans this is light, almost delicate dining – you'll still find the crabmeat stuffing and tasso (Cajun smoked pork) toppings, but Fins also knows how to serve a rare yellowtail with a bit of air-fine sticky rice. It's a refreshing breath of salty air if you're getting jambalaya-ed out.

**Bayona** ( 504-525-4455; 430 Dauphine St; mains $24-30;  11:30am-2pm Mon-Fri, 6-10pm Mon-Thu, 6-11pm Fri & Sat) Bayona is, for our money, the best splurge in the Quarter. It's rich but not overwhelming, classy but unpretentious, innovative without being precocious and all-round excellent. Thank chef Susan Spicer and her army of line cooks – they all seem to have a genuine love of what they do and commitment to their craft. The menu changes regularly, but expect fish, fowl and game done up in what we'd describe as 'surprisingly pleasant' style – the tastes make you raise an eyebrow, than smile like you've discovered comfort food gone classy.

#### THE TREMé

**Willie Mae's Scotch House** ( 504-822-9503; 2401 St Ann St; mains $6-13;  11am-3pm Mon-Fri) The fried chicken at Willie Mae's is good. Very good. But it's not the best in the world, despite being named an 'American Classic' by the James Beard foundation in 2005 (eight weeks before Katrina and a subsequent huge community effort at reopening the restaurant, which makes the place even more irresistible). In a little white house in a low-income neighborhood you'll see cars from California, Canada and New York seeking the best, but honestly and objectively, we'd score the fried chicken here 7 out of 10.

**Dooky Chase** ( 504-821-0600; 2301 Orleans Ave; mains $6-15;  11am-2:30pm Tue-Fri) Ray Charles wrote 'Early in the Morning,' about Dooky's, local civil rights leaders used the spot as an informal headquarters in the 1960s and Barack Obama ate here when he visited New Orleans after his inauguration. This soul-food spot is a neighborhood backbone and serves perhaps the best meal for any vegetarian visiting New Orleans: gumbo z'herbes. Served on Thursdays during Lent, its green and gorgeous with mustards, beet tops, spinach, kale, collards and Lord knows what else.

#### FAUBOURG MARIGNY & THE BYWATER

**Bacchanal** ( 504-948-9111; <http://bacchanalwine.com>; 600 Poland Ave; sandwiches $11, cheese per piece from $5;  11am-9pm) One of the best wine and cheese selections in New Orleans sits just across the water from the Lower 9th Ward. Let the folks behind the counter prep your _fromage_ into a work of art, which is devoured in a backyard of overgrown garden green scattered with rusted-out lawn chairs and tatty foldouts. On chef Sundays, cooks from around the city are invited to guest-star in Bacchanal's kitchen and let loose with whatever their talented hearts desire.

**Elizabeth's** (  504-944-9272; www.elizabeths-restaurant.com; 601 Gallier St; mains $11-27;  11am-2:30pm Tue-Fri, 6-10pm Tue-Sat, 8am-2:30pm Sun;  ) Elizabeth's is deceptively divey. It looks like – hell it is – a neighborhood joint. But it tastes as good as the best haute New Orleans chefs can offer. Be sure to order some praline bacon: fried up in brown sugar and, as far as we can tell, God's own cooking oil. It's probably an utter sin to consume, but y'know what? Consider us happily banished from the garden.

#### CBD & WAREHOUSE DISTRICT

**Cochon** ( 504-588-2123; www.cochonrestaurant.com; 930 Tchoupitoulas St; mains $14-24;  11am-10pm Mon-Fri, from 5:30pm Sat)James Beard Award–winning chef Donald Link's fabulous brasserie serves up gourmet Southern comfort food such as rabbit and dumplings and wood-fired roast oysters. House-made _boucherie_ and a fearless willingness to pair the simply succulent with the exceptionally extravagant catapult this laid-back spot into the echelons of truly unique cuisine.

**Emeril's** ( 504-528-9393; www.emerils.com; 800 Tchoupitoulas St; dinner mains $27-39;  11:30am-2pm Fri, 6-10pm nightly) Chef Emeril Lagasse's flagship restaurant lives up to all the hype. His protégés rustle up consistently scrumptious bam!-worthy fare under the modern glass arch looking out on the main dining room, and an attentive staff sees to your every need.

#### GARDEN DISTRICT & UPTOWN

**Boucherie** ( 504-862-5514; www.boucherie-nola.com; 8115 Jeannette St; small plates $6-12, mains $11-15;  11am-3pm & 5:30-9pm Tue-Sat) Can you improve upon a Krispy Kreme doughnut? We didn't think so, but along comes Boucherie's Krispy Kreme bread pudding. That heavy bread pudding becomes airy yet drool-tastically fattening when married to a honey glazed, drowning in syrup...oh man. For dinner, barbecued shrimp-and-grits cakes are darkly sweet and savory, garlic parmesan fries are gloriously stinky and gooey and duck confit with a truffled baby salad is just magic.

**Domilise's Po-Boys** ( 504-899-9126; 5240 Annunciation St; po'boys $8-13;  11am-7pm Mon-Sat) Domilise's is everything that makes New Orleans great: a dilapidated white shack by the river serving Dixie beer, staffed by folks who've worked here for decades, and prepping, if not the best po'boys in the city, at least the best seafood sandwich around. Cash only.

 **Mat and Naddie's** ( 504-861-9600; www.matandnaddies.com; 937 Leonidas St; mains $17-29;  11am-2pm Mon-Fri, 5:30-9:30pm Thu-Sat & Mon;  ) Set in a beautiful riverfront shotgun house with a Christmas lights–bedecked patio in the back, M&N's is rich, innovative, even amusing: try food like duck-fat-fried chicken with waffles and pecan sweet potato pie (all crazy delicious). It's kind of weird, it's high quality topped with quirkiness, and honestly, it's one of our favorite splurges in the city.

**Commander's Palace** ( 504-899-8221; www.commanderspalace.com; 1403 Washington Ave; mains lunch $29-42;  11:30am-2pm Mon-Fri, to 1pm Sat, 10:30am-1:30pm Sun, 6-10pm Mon-Sat) One of New Orleans' grandes dames _,_ Commander's is a formal but friendly mainstay of impeccable Creole cooking and knowledgeable, friendly service, in the heart of the gorgeous Garden District. Pop in for the lunchtime 25¢ martinis and a cup of the signature turtle soup ($6.50), or a _prix fixe_ extravaganza. No shorts allowed.

### Drinking

New Orleans is a drinking town. Heads up: Bourbon St sucks. Get into the neighborhoods and experience some of the best bars in America. The kinder, gentler strip runs along Frenchmen St in Faubourg Marigny.

Most bars open every day, often by noon, get hopping around 10pm, and can stay open all night. There's no cover charge unless there's live music. It's illegal to have open glass liquor containers in the street, so all bars dispense plastic 'go cups' when you're ready to wander.

**d.b.a.** ( 504-942-3731; 618 Frenchmen St) Mellow until it fills up for live music and late-night partying; the extensive drinks menu and window seats will keep you busy while you wait.

**St Joe's** ( 504-899-3744; 5535 Magazine St) Awesome neighborhood bar with great mojitos, a cool back courtyard and friendly ambience.

**Tonique** ( 504-324-6045; 820 Rampart St) Excellent cocktails poured by expert bartenders in a classic French Quarter pad with a god garden in the back.

**Molly's at the Market** ( 504-525-5169; 1107 Decatur St) A young, bohemian hipster crowd swills the Guinness and mingles out onto the sidewalk.

**R Bar** ( 504-948-7499; 1431 Royal St) Somewhere between a dive and a neighborhood joint; a beer and a shot runs you $5. 'Nuff said.

**Mimi's in the Marigny** ( 504-872-986; 2601 Royal St) Neighborhood joint with pool and tapas.

### Entertainment

What's New Orleans without live local music? Almost any weekend night you can find something for every taste: jazz, blues, brass band, country, Dixieland, zydeco, rock or Cajun. Free shows in the daytime abound. Check _Gambit,_ _Offbeat_ (Click here) or www.nolafunguide.com for schedules.

**Snug Harbor** ( 504-949-0696; 626 Frenchmen St; cover $5-25) In the Marigny, the city's best contemporary jazz venue is all about world-class music and a good variety of acts.

**Donna's Bar & Grill** ( 504-596-6914; 800 N Rampart St) Shoulder up to the bar, grab a plate of red beans and rice and groove to jazz, blues or brass bands in this homey room on the edge of the Quarter.

**Preservation Hall** ( 504-522-2841; 726 St Peter St; cover $5-8) A veritable museum of traditional and Dixieland jazz, Preservation Hall is a pilgrimage. But like many religious obligations, it ain't necessarily easy, with no air-conditioning, limited seating and no refreshments (you can bring your own water, that's it).

**Tipitina's** ( 504-895-8477; 501 Napoleon Ave; cover $10-30) Always drawing a lively crowd, this legendary Uptown club rocks out like the musical mecca it is: local jazz, blues, soul and funk stop in, as well as national touring bands.

**Circle Bar** ( 504-588-2616; 1032 St Charles Ave) A bar that looks like a New Orleanian vampire's mansion run through a drug den, with casual folk and indie shows most nights.

**Maple Leaf Bar** ( 504-866-9359; 8316 Oak St; cover $5-10) Riverbend's pride and joy – its pressed-tin ceiling and close atmosphere get especially heated late. Rebirth Brass Band plays Tuesday.

**Vaughan's** ( 504-947-5562; 800 Lesseps St; cover $7-10) A great Bywater neighborhood bar that hosts local favorite and awesome trumpeter Kermit Ruffins on Thursday nights.

### Getting There & Away

**Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport** (MSY;  504-464-0831; www.flymsy.com; 900 Airline Hwy), 11 miles west of the city, handles primarily domestic flights.

The **Union Passenger Terminal** ( 504-299-1880; 1001 Loyola Ave) is home to **Greyhound** ( 504-525-6075, 800-231-2222;  5:15am-1pm & 2:30-6pm) which has regular buses to Baton Rouge ($8to $20.25, two hours), Memphis, TN ($40 to $90, 11 hours) and Atlanta, GA ($83, 12 hours). **Amtrak** ( 504-528-1610, 800-872-7245;  ticketing 5:45am-10pm) trains also operate from the Union Passenger Terminal, running to Jackson, MS; Memphis, TN; Chicago, IL. Birmingham, AL; Atlanta, GA; Washington, DC; New York City; Los Angeles, CA; and Miami, FL.

### Getting Around

#### TO/FROM THE AIRPORT

There's an information booth at the airport's A&B concourse. The **Airport Shuttle** ( 504-522-3500; one way per person $15) runs to downtown hotels. The **Jefferson Transit** ( 504-818-1077; adult $1.60) airport route E2 picks up outside entrance 7 on the airport's upper level; it stops along Airline Hwy (Hwy 61) on its way into town (final stop Tulane and Loyola Aves). After 7pm it only goes to Tulane and Carrollton Aves in Mid-City; a solid 5 miles through a dreary neighborhood to get to the CBD, from here you must transfer to a Regional Transit Authority (RTA) bus – a haphazard transfer at best, especially with luggage.

Taxis downtown cost $28 for one or two people, $12 more for each additional passenger.

#### CAR & MOTORCYCLE

Bringing a car is a useful way of exploring beyond the Quarter; just be aware that parking in the Quarter is a hassle. Garages charge about $5 for the first hour and $20 for 24 hours.

#### PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

The **Regional Transit Authority** (RTA;  504-248-3900; www.norta.com) runs the local bus service. Bus and streetcar fares are $1.25, plus 25¢ for transfers; express buses cost $1.50. Exact change is required. RTA Visitor Passes for one/three days cost $5/12.

The RTA also operates three streetcar lines. The historic St Charles streetcar is running only a short loop in the CBD due to hurricane damage to the Uptown tracks. The Canal streetcar makes a long journey up Canal St to City Park, with a spur on Carrollton Ave. The Riverfront line runs 2 miles along the levee from the Old US Mint, past Canal St, to the upriver convention center and back.

For a taxi, call **United Cabs** ( 504-522-9771) or **White Fleet Cabs** ( 504-822-3800).

Rent bicycles at **Bicycle Michael's** ( 504-945-9505; www.bicyclemichaels.com; 622 Frenchmen St; rentals per day $25;  10am-7pm Mon, Tue & Thu-Sat, to 5pm Sun), in Faubourg Marigny.

Return to beginning of chapter

## AROUND NEW ORLEANS

Leaving gritty, colorful New Orleans quickly catapults you into a world of swamps, bayous, antebellum plantation homes and laid-back small communities. A foray into these lesser-known environs makes for an off-the-beaten-path adventure.

### The North Shore

Bedroom communities sprawl along **Lake Ponchartrain's** north shore, but head north of Mandeville, and you'll reach the bucolic village of **Abita Springs** , which was popular in the late 1800s for its curative waters. Today, the springwater still flows from a fountain in the center of the village, but the primary liquid attraction here is the **Abita Brew Pub** ( 985-892-5837; www.abitabrewpub.com; 7201 Holly St; tours free;  11am-9pm Tue-Fri, to 10pm Sat), where you can choose from nine Abita beers on tap that are made a mile west of town at **Abita Brewery** ( 985-893-3143; www.abita.com; 21084 Hwy 36; tours free;  tours 2pm Wed-Fri, 11am, noon & 1pm Sat).

Other local libations can be found on Hwy 1082, where you'll encounter Louisiana's finest wines at **Ponchartrain Vineyards** ( 985-892-9742; www.pontchartrainvineyards.com; 81250 Old Military Rd;  tasting room noon-4pm Wed-Sun). It's a pleasant surprise that tends to diverge from the syrupy sweet wines usually produced down South. To the south, **Covington** has a worthwhile downtown with funky antique shops.

The 31-mile **Tammany Trace trail** (www.tammanytrace.org) connects north shore towns, beginning in Covington, passing through Abita Springs and **Fontainebleau State Park** ( 504-624-4443), on the lakeshore near Mandeville, and terminating in Slidell. This converted railroad makes for a lovely bike ride that drops you into each town's center. In Mandeville, you can rent bikes at the **Kick Stand Café and Bike Rental** ( 985-626-9300; www.kickstand.bz; 690 Lafitte St;  8am-3pm Mon & Wed-Sat).

* * *

# SWAMP TOURS

You haven't experienced Louisiana unless you've been out on its waterways, and the easiest way to do it is to join a swamp tour. Arrange them from New Orleans or go on your own and contract directly with a bayou-side company.

**Annie Miller's Son's Swamp & Marsh Tours** ( 985-868-4758; www.annie-miller.com; 3718 Southdown Mandalay Rd, Houma; adult/child $15/10;  ) The son of legendary swamp guide Annie Miller has taken up his mom's tracks.

**Westwego Swamp Adventures** ( 504-581-4501; www.westwegoswampadventures.com; 501 Laroussini St, Westwego; adult/child with transport $48/24;  ) One of the closest to New Orleans, it can pick you up in the Quarter.

* * *

### Barataria Preserve

This section of the **Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve**, south of New Orleans near the town of Marrero, provides the easiest access to the dense swamplands that ring New Orleans. The 8 miles of platform trails are a stunning way to tread lightly through the fecund, thriving swamp where you can check out gators and other fascinating plant life and creatures. The preserve is home to alligators, nutrias, tree frogs and hundreds of species of birds. It is well worth taking a ranger-led walk to learn about the many ecosystems that make up what are often lumped together as 'wetlands.'

Start at the **NPS Visitors Center** ( 504-589-2330; Hwy 3134; admission free;  9am-5pm;  ), 1 mile west of Hwy 45 off the Barataria Blvd exit, where you can pick up a map or join a guided walk or canoe trip (most Saturday mornings and monthly on full-moon nights; call to reserve a spot). The center has informational exhibits and a 25-minute documentary on swampland habitats. To rent canoes or kayaks for a tour or an independent paddle, go to **Bayou Barn** ( 504-689-2663; www.bayoubarn.net; canoes per person $20, 1-person kayak per day $25;  10am-6pm Thu, Fri & Sun, from 8:45am Sat) on the Bayou de Familles just outside the park entrance. This pleasantly funky restaurant compound of tin-topped buildings hosts occasional Sunday Cajun or zydeco dances (admission $5).

### River Road

Elaborate plantation homes dot the east and west banks of the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. First indigo, then cotton and sugarcane, brought great wealth to these plantations, many of which are open to the public. Most tours focus on the lives of the plantation owners, the restored architecture and the ornate gardens of antebellum Louisiana, and they skip over the story of plantation slaves who made up the majority of the plantations' population. It's easy to explore the area by car or organized tour. For a funky, truly entertaining tour, hook up with Mark Armstrong of **Tiger Taxi and Tours** ( 225-921-9199). He's 'always on the prowl.'

**Destrehan** ( 985-764-8785; www.destrehanplantation.org) and **San Francisco** ( 985-535-2341; www.sanfranciscoplantation.org) plantations on the east bank are closest to New Orleans, but far and away the most dynamic and informative tour is at **Laura Plantation** ( 225-265-7690; www.lauraplantation.com; 2247 Hwy 18; adult/child $15/5;  10am-4pm) in Vacherie on the west bank. This ever-evolving and popular tour teases out the distinctions between Creole, Anglo and African American antebellum life via meticulous research and the written records of the Creole women who ran the place for generations.

Also in Vacherie, the most impressive aspect of **Oak Alley Plantation** ( 225-265-2151; www.oakalleyplantation.com; 3645 Hwy 18; adult/child $10/5;  9am-4:40pm) is its canopy of 28 majestic live oaks lining the entry to the grandiose Greek Revival–style house. The tour is relatively staid, but there are guest cottages and a restaurant on-site.

Be sure to flesh out any plantation tour with a visit to the **River Road African American Museum** ( 225-474-5553; www.africanamericanmuseum.org; 406 Charles St; museum $4;  10am-5pm Wed-Sat, from 1pm Sun), 25 miles further along in Donaldsonville. This excellent museum preserves the important history of African Americans in the rural communities along the Mississippi. Exhibits chronicle plantation slavery; the journey to freedom via the Underground Railroad, and the lives of free African American people. **Donaldsonville** itself was a prosperous city for African Americans after the Civil War and the site of the original African American Mardi Gras.

Closer to Baton Rouge, in White Castle, the striking **Nottoway Plantation** ( 225-545-2730; www.nottoway.com; 30970 Hwy 405; adult/child $10/5;  9am-5pm) is the largest plantation house in the South. The high ceilings, entirely white ballroom, and lavish furnishing time-warp you straight back to opulent antebellum days. Staying overnight, you essentially get the run of this intriguing place after the last tour. Rooms in the mansion proper are grandest (doubles in mansion from $195, singles/doubles in outbuildings from $155/180); rates include a gigantic breakfast and a tour.

### Baton Rouge

In 1699, French explorers named this area _baton rouge_ (red stick) when they came upon a reddened cypress pole that Bayagoulas and Houma Native Americans had staked in the ground to mark the boundaries of their respective hunting territories. An industrial town with a bustling port and the state capital, formerly lethargic Baton Rouge has swollen in size as relocated New Orleanians settle post-Katrina. Visitors are mostly drawn to Baton Rouge for Louisiana State University (LSU) and Southern University (the largest historically African American university in the country).

Most attractions are downtown, off I-110 which intersects I-10 near the river. The downtown **visitor center** ( 800-527-6843; www.visitbatonrouge.com; 358 3rd St;  8am-5pm) has maps, brochures of local attractions, and festival schedules.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

The art-deco skyscraper looming over town is the **Louisiana State Capitol** ( 225-342-7317; tours free;  8am-4:30pm) on aptly named State Capitol Dr. Built at the height of the Great Depression to the tune of $5 million, it's populist governor 'Kingfish' Huey Long's most visible legacy. The 27th-floor **observation deck** has a great view. The neo-Gothic, pink fairy-tale-castle-like **Old State Capitol** ( 225-342-0500; 100 North Blvd; admission free;  9am-4:30pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun) makes you think Governor Bobby Jindal is going to 'throw down his long hair' to Louisianans. It houses exhibits about the state's colorful political history. Across the street, the **LSU Museum of Art** ( 225-389-7200; www.lsumoa.com; 100 Lafayette St; adult/child $8/4;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, to 8pm Thu, 1-5pm Sun) holds a small exhibit, the highlight being about Louisiana 'Old and New.'

The **Louisiana Arts & Science Museum** ( 225-344-5272; www.lasm.org; 100 S River Rd; adult/child $6/5, with planetarium show $8/7;  10am-4pm Tue-Fri, to 8pm Sat, 1-5pm Sun;  ) houses interesting arts and natural-history installations and offers planetarium shows. If you just want a good stretch of the legs, there's a pleasant **pedestrian/bike path** along the Mississippi River, stretching 2.5 miles from the downtown promenade to LSU.

Just east of town at I-10 and Highland Rd, kids will love the respective amusement and water park, **Dixie Landin** and **Blue Bayou** ( 225-753-3333; www.bluebayou.com; adult/child $35/28;  ); check the online calendar for opening hours.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

**Stockade Bed & Breakfast** ( 225-769-7358; www.thestockade.com; 8860 Highland Rd; r incl breakfast from $150;        ) Chain hotels line the sides of I-10, but for a more intimate stay, try this homey place, which manages to be comfortable and elegant at the same time. Book ahead on weekends, especially during football season.

**Main Street Market** (501 Main St; mains $6;  7am-4pm Mon-Fri, to 2pm Sat) Head here for an array of fresh, organic sandwiches, salads, sushi and pastries. Good range for vegetarians. A few local artisans sell their work here as well.

**Schlittz & Giggles** ( 225-218-4271; www.schlittz.com; 301 3rd St; pizzas $17;  11am-2am Mon-Sat, to midnight Sun) The name has so many layers of wrongness, but people crowd this downtown, late-night joint for well-touted pizza and cheap beer.

**Buzz Café** ( 225-706-1236; www.thebuzzcafe.org; 340 Florida St;  7:30am-3pm Mon-Fri;  ) For an awesome cup of joe at a funky coffee shop in a historic building, try the Buzz.

#### ENTERTAINMENT

**Varsity Theatre** ( 225-383-7018; www.varsitytheatre.com; 3353 Highland Rd;  8pm-2am) At the gates of LSU, you'll find live music here, often on weeknights. The attached restaurant boasts an extensive beer selection and a raucous college crowd.

**Boudreaux and Thiboudeux** ( 225-636-2442; www.myspace.com/boudreauxdowntown; 214 3rd St) Try this place downtown for live music and a great upstairs patio.

#### GETTING THERE & AROUND

Baton Rouge lies 80 miles west of New Orleans on I-10. **Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport** (BTR;  225-355-0333; www.flybtr.com) is north of town off I-110. **Greyhound** ( 225-383-3811; 1253 Florida Blvd, at N 12th St) has regular buses to New Orleans, Lafayette and Atlanta, GA. **Capitol Area Transit System** (CATS;  225-389-8282; www.brcats.com) operates buses around town.

### St Francisville

North of Baton Rouge, the lush town of St Francisville and its neighboring plantations have historically been, and continue to be, a lovely respite from the heat of the Delta. During the antebellum decade, it was home to plantation millionaires, and much of their architecture is still intact. Its lazy tree-lined streets are worthy of a stroll.

**Tourist Information** ( 225-635-4224; www.stfrancisville.us; 11757 Ferdinand St) provides helpful information about the numerous plantations open for view in the area, many of which offer B&B services.

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

**Myrtles Plantation** ( 225-635-6277, 800-809-0565; www.myrtlesplantation.com; 7747 US Hwy 61 N;  9am-4:30pm, tours 6pm, 7pm & 8pm Fri & Sat) is an especially notable B&B because supposedly it's haunted, and it has night mystery tours on the weekend. We heard secondhand corroboration of the supernatural presence, so it might be fun to stay overnight (rooms from $115) to commune with the other world. In town, stroll down historic **Royal St** to catch a glimpse of antebellum homes and buildings turned homes. The visitor center has pamphlets that lead you on self-guided tours.

**Tunica Falls** ( 225.635.4221; tourism@stfrancisville.us), which is technically called Clark Creek Nature Area, is about half an hour away from St Francisville. The pleasant, hilly trails wind you past lovely waterfalls. Crude maps can be found at the visitor center and also at the general store in Pond, MS (at Hwys 24 and 969), the town in which you park, where the trailhead is located.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

 **Tourist Court** ( 225-721-7003; 5689 Commerce St; 1-/2-bed cabins $75/150;        ) One of the oldest motor inns in the United States (started in the 1930s and on the National Register of Historic Places), these five units bring you back to simpler times. Rooms have period decorations and fixtures, but are comfy and almost adorable. Plus, the price is fantastic for St Francisville, and the location, next to the Magnolia Café, can't be beat.

**Shadetree Inn Bed and Breakfast** ( 225-635-6116; www.shadetreeinn.com; 5695 Commerce St; r from $145;        ) Sidled up against the historic district and a bird sanctuary, this well-reputed B&B has a gorgeous flower-strewn, hammock-hung courtyard for its guests. Appetizers, cocktails and a deluxe continental breakfast can all be served in your room.

**Magnolia Café** ( 225-635-6502; www.themagnoliacafe.com; 5687 Commerce St;  11am-4pm Sun-Wed, to 9pm Thu-Sat) The nucleus of what's happening in St Francisville, the Magnolia Café used to be a health-food store/VW bus repair shop. Now it's where people go to eat, socialize and dance to live music on Friday night.

**Birdman Coffee and Books** ( 225-635-3665; 5695 Commerce St;  7-11am Mon-Fri, from 8am Sat & Sun, coffeehouse to 6pm daily) Right in front of the Magnolia Café lies the Birdman, which is known for its breakfasts (old-fashioned yellow grits, homemade pastries, etc) and nice folks.

Return to beginning of chapter

## CAJUN COUNTRY

One of the truly unique parts of the US, Acadiana is named for French settlers exiled from L'Acadie (now Nova Scotia, Canada) by the British in 1755. As they lived alongside Native Americans and Creoles, 'Acadian' eventually morphed into 'Cajun.' The harrowing journey to Louisiana and the fight for survival in its swamplands are points of cultural pride for modern-day Cajuns, and do a lot to explain their combination of toughness and absolute ease.

Cajuns are the largest French-speaking minority in the US – prepare to hear it on radios and in the sing-song lilt of their English. While Lafayette is the nexus of Acadiana, getting out and around the waterways, villages and ramshackle roadside taverns really drops you straight into Cajun living. It's hard to find a bad meal here; jambalaya (rice-based dish with tomatoes, sausage and shrimp) and crawfish étouffée (a thick Cajun stew) are prepared slowly with pride (and cayenne!), and if folks aren't fishing, then they are probably dancing. Don't expect to sit on the sidelines... _allons danson_ (let's dance).

### Lafayette

Lafayette is an unsung jewel, especially if you like to shake your moneymaker. Surprisingly, its incredibly vibrant music scene remains relatively under the radar. Around town, bands are rocking most any night, and you'll drink a beer next to genuine, life-lovin', laid-back folks looking for a dance or to kick back and appreciate the show. Although Lafayette has been blighted by sprawl and its accompanying traffic, the historic downtown and surrounding small-town Acadiana also add to Lafayette's appeal.

At the free and fabulous **Festival International de Louisiane** (www.festivalinternational.com), hundreds of local and international artists rock out for five days in April.

From I-10, exit 103A, the Evangeline Thruway (Hwy 167) goes to the center of town via the **visitor center** ( 337-232-3737, 800-346-1958; www.lafayettetravel.com; 1400 NW Evangeline Thruway;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, from 9am Sat & Sun).

#### SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

In the heart of downtown, the **Acadiana Center for the Arts** ( 337-233-7060; www.acadianacenterforthearts.org; 101 W Vermilion St; adult/child/student $5/2/3;  10am-5pm Tue-Fri, to 6pm Sat) maintains three chic galleries and hosts dynamic theater, lectures and special events.

The best NPS museum in Cajun Country is the **Acadian Cultural Center** ( 337-232-0789; 501 Fisher Rd; admission free;  8am-5pm), near the airport. Next door, tranquil **Vermilionville** ( 337-233-4077; www.vermilionville.org; 300 Fisher Rd; adult/student $8/5;  10am-4pm Tue-Sun;  ), a restored/re-created 19th-century Cajun village, wends along the bayou. Friendly, costumed docents explain Cajun, Creole and Native American history; local bands perform most Sundays. They also offer very affordable Cajun **cooking classes** , and rangers guide **boat tours** ( 337-233-4077; adult/child $11/8;  10:30am & noon Tue-Sat Mar-May & Sep-Nov) of Bayou Vermilion.

Just south of Girard Park, the sleek **University Art Museum** ( 337-482-1369; museum.louisiana.edu; 710 E St Mary Blvd; adult/youth $5/3;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat) hosts beautifully curated exhibits, often with an educational bent.

#### SLEEPING & EATING

Chains clump near exits 101 and 103, off I-10 (doubles from $65). Head to Jefferson Street in downtown to take your choice of bars and restaurants, from sushi to Mexican.

**Blue Moon Guest House** ( 337-234-2422, 877-766-2583; www.bluemoonguesthouse.com; 215 E Convent St; dm $18, r $70-90;          ) Not for the faint of heart, a bed in this tidy old home, which is walking distance from downtown, includes admission to Lafayette's popular down-home music venue, located in the backyard. The friendly owners, full kitchen, and camaraderie among guests create a casual hangout environment. Prices skyrocket during festival time.

**Juliet** ( 337-261-2225; www.juliethotel.com; 800 Girard Jefferson; r from $125;          ) Right in the heart of Lafayette's downtown resides this new boutique hotel that has simple, elegant rooms that focus on comfort, not show. Great deal.

**Pamplona Tapas Bar** ( 337-232-0070; www.pamplonatapas.com; 631 Jefferson St; tapas from $3;  8am-10pm Mon-Fri, 9am-7pm Sat) A bit more upscale, this place has an amazing Spanish wine selection and delicious plates, like flatbread topped with roasted pig, figs, shallots and blue cheese.

**Artmosphere** ( 337-233-3331; www.myspace.com/artmosphere; 902 Johnston St; mains $5-8;  5pm-2am Mon-Sat, to midnight Sun;  ) Your place if you're jonesing for vegan/vegetarian food, or even just a hookah. There is a variety of live music every night.

**Old Tyme Grocery** ( 337-235-8165; 218 W St Mary St; po'boys $7;  8am-10pm Mon-Fri, 9am-7pm Sat) Has famous shrimp or roast beef po'boys (sandwiches).

#### ENTERTAINMENT

To find out what's playing around town, pick up the free weekly **Times** (www.thetimesofacadiana.com) or **Independent** (www.theind.com).

 **Blue Moon Saloon** ( 337-234-2422, 877-766-2583; www.bluemoonpresents.com; 215 E Convent St; cover $5-8) The employees are happy, the patrons are happy, the musicians are happy, the dancers are happy. What don't you love about this small, welcoming spot?

Lafayette specializes in big ol' dance halls that offer one-stop entertainment, dancing and local cuisine. Standout Cajun music and dance joints include **Mulate's** ( 337-332-4648; 325 Mills Ave, Breaux Bridge) on the way to Breaux Bridge, **Randol's** ( 337-981-7080; www.randols.com; 2320 Kaliste Saloom Rd, Lafayette;  5-10pm Sun-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat), south of town, and **Prejean's** ( 337-896-3247; www.prejeans.com; 3480 NE Evangeline Thruway/I-49, North Lafayette), 2 miles north of town.

#### GETTING THERE & AWAY

**Greyhound** ( 337-235-1541; 315 Lee Ave) operates from a hub beside the central commercial district, making 12 runs daily to New Orleans (3½ hours) and Baton Rouge (one hour). **Amtrak's** (133 E Grant St) _Sunset Limited_ goes to New Orleans three times a week.

### Cajun Wetlands

In 1755, _le Grande Dérangement,_ the British expulsion of the rural French settlers from Acadiana, created a homeless population of Acadians who searched for decades for a place to settle. In 1785, seven boatloads of exiles arrived in New Orleans. By the early 19th century, 3000 to 4000 Acadians occupied the swamplands southwest of New Orleans. Native American tribes such as the Attakapas helped them learn to eke out a living based upon fishing and trapping, and the aquatic way of life is still the backdrop to modern living.

East and south of Lafayette, the **Atchafalaya Basin** is the preternatural heart of the Cajun wetlands. Stop in to the **Atchafalaya Welcome Center** ( 337-228-1094; Butte La Rose;  8:30am-5pm), at Exit 121 from I-10, to learn how to penetrate the dense jungle protecting these swamps, lakes and bayous from the casual visitor. They'll fill you in on camping in **Indian Bayou** and exploring the **Sherburne Wildlife Management Area** , as well as the exquisitely situated **Lake Fausse Pointe State Park**.

Eleven miles east of Lafayette in the sleepy town of **Breaux Bridge** , you'll find **Café des Amis** ( 337-332-5273; 140 E Bridge St; lunch $12-15, dinner $14-22;  11am-2pm Tue, to 9pm Wed & Thu, 7:30am-9:30pm Fri & Sat, 8am-2:30pm Sun), where you can relax amid funky local art, as waiters trot out sumptuous breakfasts. If you just want good coffee, friendly folks, and wi-fi, the **Coffee Break** ( 337-342-3334; 109 N Main St;  7am-7pm;  ) is your place.

Check out the friendly **Tourist Center** ( 337-332-8500; www.breauxbridgelive.com; 318 E Bridge St;  8am-4pm Mon-Fri, to noon Sat), who can hook you up with one of numerous B&Bs in town, like tidy **Maison des Amis** ( 337-507-3399; www.maisondesamis.com; 111 Washington St; r $100-125;        ) right along Bayou Teche. If you're in town the first week of May, don't miss the gluttony of music, dancing, and Cajun food at the **Crawfish Festival** (www.bbcrawfest.com).

Tiny **St Martinville** (www.stmartinville.org), 15 miles southeast of Lafayette, packs a mighty punch. Within one block of the bayou in the town center, visit the **African American Museum & Acadian Memorial** ( 337-394-2258; www.acadianmemorial.org; adult/child $3/free;  10am-4pm) to learn about the diasporas of both Cajuns and African Americans.

One mile north of the town center, **Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site** ( 337-394-3754; 1200 N Main St; adult/child $2/free;  9am-5pm) explains the nuances of Creole and Acadian history, and gives tours of its restored Creole cottage and farmstead.

Drive southwest of New Iberia along Hwy 329 through cane fields to lush and lovely **Avery Island** , home of **McIlhenny Tabasco** ( 337-365-8173; tours free;  9am-5pm) and its excellent **wildlife sanctuary** (adult/child $6.25/4.50). The beautiful, manicured paths around the island actually cover a salt dome that extends 8 miles below the surface. Even though the air smells lightly of Tabasco, alligators and egrets bask in the protected sunshine – bring a lunch and mosquito repellant.

Historic **Abbeville** , 21 miles southwest of Lafayette, carries the mantle of best oysters in Louisiana. If you are a devotee of the fat, salty bivalve, make the pilgrimage to **Dupuy's Oyster Shop** ( 337-893-2339; www.dupuysoystershop.com; 108 S Main St;  11am-2pm & 5-9pm Tue-Thu, 11am-2pm & 5-10pm Fri, 5-10pm Sat) or one of its worthy rivals.

If you happen to be on Hwy 90, **Thibodaux** (pronounced ti-ba-doh) has another NPS museum, the **Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center** ( 985-448-1375; 314 St Mary St; admission free;  9am-7pm Mon-Tue, to 6pm Wed-Thu, to 5pm Fri & Sat). Exhibits cover virtually every aspect of wetlands life, from music to the environmental impacts of oil exploration. Musicians jam here Monday evenings (5:30pm) and rangers guide seasonal boat tours.

### Cajun Prairie

Think: dancing cowboys! Cajun and African American settlers to the higher, drier terrain north of Lafayette developed a culture based around animal husbandry and farming, and the ten-gallon hat still rules. It's also the hotbed of Cajun and zydeco music (and thus accordions), and crawfish farming.

**Opelousas** squats sleepily alongside Hwy 49, and its historic downtown is home to the esoteric **Museum & Interpretive Center** ( 337-948-2589; 315 N Main St; admission free;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat); check out the doll collection.

_The_ top zydeco joints in Acadiana, **Slim's Y-Ki-Ki** ( 337-942-6242; www.slimsykiki.com; Hwy 182 N), a few miles north on Main St, across from the Piggly Wiggly, and **Richard's** ( 337-543-8233; 11178 Hwy 190), 8 miles west in Lawtell, strike it up most weekends. Wear your dancing shoes and don't be afraid to sweat!

**Plaisance** , northwest of Opelousas, hosts the grassroots, fun-for-the-family **Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival** ( 337-232-7672; www.zydeco.org) in August.

In **Eunice** (www.eunice-la.com) there's the Saturday-night 'Rendez-Vous des Cajuns' at the **Liberty Theater** ( 337-546-0007; 200 Park Ave; adult/child $5/3), which is broadcast on local radio. In fact, visitors are welcome all day at **KBON** ( 337-546-0007; www.kbon.com; 109 S 2nd St), 101.1FM. Browse the capacious Wall of Fame, signed by visiting musicians. Two blocks away, the **Cajun Music Hall of Fame & Museum** ( 337-367-1526; www.cajunfrenchmusic.org) caters to the die-hard music buff, and the NPS runs the **Prairie Acadian Cultural Center** ( 337-457-8490; cnr 3rd St & Park Ave; admission free;  8am-5pm Tue-Fri, to 6pm Sat) with interesting exhibits on swamp life and Cajun culture, and showing a variety of documentaries explaining the history of the area.

If all this leaves you in need of a respite, try centrally located **Potier's Cajun Inn** ( 337-457-0440; 110 W Park Ave; r $65, incl breakfast $75;      ) for a simple, down-home-Cajun-style cozy room with a kitchenette, or **Ruby's Café** ( 337-550-7665; 221 W Walnut Ave; meals $4-7;  6am-2pm Mon-Fri, from 7am Sun) for popular plate lunches in a '50s diner setting.

Though **Mamou** has a great name, the main thing the town's got going for it is **Fred's Lounge** ( 337-468-5411; 420 6th St), with its Saturday-morning live Cajun band and charming country waltzes.

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## CANE RIVER COUNTRY

The central part of the state is a crossroads of Louisiana's distinct cultures, politics and religions, with bilingual French Catholic and Franco African people along the Cane River, and monolingual, chiefly Protestant residents to the north. Hwy 119 meanders alongside the Cane River. You'll pass locals dipping fishing poles into the lazy water or whiling away the day on front-porch rockers.

**Melrose Plantation** ( 318-379-0055; I-49, exit 119; adult/child $7/3;  noon-4pm Tue-Sun) is a complex of interesting buildings built by a family of free people of color headed by Marie Therese Coincoin. The early-20th-century owner, Cammie Henry, housed artists and writers such as William Faulkner and Sherwood Anderson in the 1796 Yucca House. Congo-style Africa House contains a vivid 50ft mural depicting plantation life by Clementine Hunter, the renowned folk artist. Hunter had been a field hand and cook at Melrose before picking up a paintbrush at age 50. The nearby **Kate Chopin House** ( 318-379-2233; 243 Hwy 495, Cloutierville) was the author's residence while she wrote _The Awakening._

### Natchitoches

A bit further north you'll find French architecture in historic Natchitoches (mysteriously pronounced _nak_ -id-esh), which is split scenically by the Cane River and is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase. It gained significant notoriety after Hollywood filmmakers arrived in 1988 to film the blockbuster movie _Steel Magnolias_. Head to the **Visitor Bureau** ( 800-259-1714; www.natchitoches.net; 781 Front St; adult/child $7/3;  noon-4pm Tue-Sun) for information about the tours of Creole plantation estates and the numerous B&Bs in town.

Not to be missed is the Natchitoches meat pie famously served by **Lasyone's** ( 318-352-3353; www.lasyones.com; 622 Second St; meat pies $3.50;  7am-3pm Mon-Sat). The meat pie's heritage dates back to the 1800s when African American youngsters sold them from street corners. Today this crispy fried savory remains ever-popular, with Lasyone's at the epicenter. Don't overlook the crawfish pies or other delectable Southern dishes on the menu.

If you don't want to stay in one of the many B&Bs in town, the 20-room **Church Street Inn** ( 318-238-8890; www.churchstinn.com; 120 Church St; r incl breakfast from $99;        ) is a solid option. From here, you can stroll to downtown eateries and shops then cozy up in your room or do yoga on the communal balcony.

Right in the thick of this densely forested and sparsely populated part of Louisiana, just a short drive from Natchitoches, is the gorgeous **Kisatchie National Forest** ( 318-352-2568), 937 sq miles of hilly Southern yellow pine and hardwood. Trails aren't incredibly well maintained, as they are mostly used by hunters in the hunting season, but there are opportunities to mountain bike, hike, swim, and go on scenic drives. It's especially splendid during the shoulder seasons. Bring repellent in summer.

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## NORTHERN LOUISIANA

Make no mistake: the rural, oil-industry towns along the Baptist Bible Belt make northern Louisiana as far removed from New Orleans as Paris, TX, is from Paris, France. Even in the commercial center of Shreveport, in the far northwest corner of Louisiana, this is a region battling to find self-definition after decades of decline.

Captain Henry Shreve cleared a 165-mile logjam on the Red River and founded the river-port town of **Shreveport** , in 1839. The city boomed with oil discoveries in the early 1900s, but declined after WWII. Some revitalization came in the form of huge Vegas-sized casinos and a riverfront entertainment complex. The **visitor center** ( 318-222-9391, 800-458-4748; www.shreveport-bossier.org; 629 Spring St;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat) is downtown. If you're a rose-lover, it would be a shame to miss the **Gardens of the American Rose Center** ( 318-938-5402; www.ars.org; 8877 Sefferson Paige Rd; adult/child $4/$1.50;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat), which contains more than 65 individual gardens designed to show how roses can be grown in a home garden – take Exit 5 off the I-20. **Columbia Cafe** ( 318-425-3862; www.columbiacafe.com; 3030 Creswell St;  7am-10pm Mon-Fri, from 10am Sat, 10am-2pm Sun) might entice you to stop and grab a bite. Eat outside on the patio or inside among local art. The Southern-influenced food is uncomplicated, nicely presented, and yummy.

About 50 miles northeast of Monroe on Hwy 557 near the town of Epps, the **Poverty Point State Historic Site** ( 318-926-5492, 888-926-5492; www.crt.state.la.us; 6859 Hwy 577, Pioneer; adult/child $2/free;  9am-5pm) has a remarkable series of earthwork and mounds along what was once the Mississippi River. A two-story observation tower gives a view of the site's six concentric ridges. Around 1000 BC this was the hub of a civilization comprising hundreds of communities, with trading links as far north as the Great Lakes.

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# ARKANSAS

Tucked smack in the center of the US, hiding out between the Midwest and the Deep South, Arkansas is America's overlooked treasure. The natural areas are off the hook: the worn slopes of the Ozarks and the Ouachita (wash- _ee_ -tah) mountains; clean, gushing rivers; and lakes bridged by crenellated granite and limestone outcroppings. The entire state is dotted with exceptionally well-done state parks and tiny, empty roads crisscrossing dense forests that let out onto surprising, sweeping vistas and gentle pastures dotted with grazing horses. Plus, the rural towns of Mountain View and Eureka Springs hold quirky charm. Don't be fooled by talk of Wal-Mart or backwoods culture. Though they all have a place here, it would be a shame to pass up an opportunity to visit this state.

### History

Caddo, Osage and Quapaw Native Americans had permanent settlements here when Spaniard Hernando de Soto visited in the mid-1500s. Frenchman Henri de Tonti founded the first white settlement in 1686. After the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, Arkansas became a US territory, and slave-holding planters moved into the Delta to grow cotton. Poorer immigrants from Appalachia settled in the Ozark and Ouachita plateaus.

On the edge of the frontier, lawlessness persisted until the Civil War. Reconstruction was difficult, and development only came after 1870 with the expansion of railroads. Racial tension peaked in 1957, when the governor and irate whites tried to prevent nine African American students from attending Central High School in Little Rock. The federal government finally intervened, sending in the army.

The state has one of the lowest per-capita incomes in the US, with many poor African Americans in the Delta and poor whites in the Ozarks.

### Information

**Arkansas State Parks** ( 888-287-2757; www.arkansasstateparks.com) Arkansas' well-reputed park system has 52 state parks, 28 offering camping ($10 to $27 depending on the amenities of the facility). A number of the parks offer lodge and cabin accommodations. Due to popularity, at many times reservations on weekends and holidays require multiday stay commitments.

**Department of Parks & Tourism** ( 501-682-7777, 800-628-8725; www.arkansas.com; 1 Capitol Mall, Little Rock) Sends out a vacation planning kit; ask for the excellent annual _State Parks Guide_ and _Adventure Guide_.

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## LITTLE ROCK

Downtown Little Rock, strangled in the last several decades by parking lots and bad city planning, is now perking up a bit with the burgeoning River Market district. Across the river, North Little Rock, with a growing enclave of shops and restaurants, stretches alongside the extensive riverfront park. This conservative city definitely has some worthwhile things going on, but you just have to know where to look or it all might blur in strip-mall whiplash.

The town's **visitor center** ( 501-371-0075, 877-220-2568; www.littlerock.com; 615 E Capitol Ave;  7:30am-6:30pm) is housed in 1842 Curran Hall.

### Sights

The best stroll is in the **River Market district** ( 501-375-2553; www.rivermarket.info), an area of shops, galleries, restaurants and pubs on W Markham St and President Clinton Ave along the riverbank. **Ottenheimer** **Market Hall** (btwn S Commerce & S Rock Sts;  7am-6pm Mon-Sat) houses an eclectic collection of food stalls and shops.

Just northwest of downtown, **Riverfront Park** rolls pleasantly along the Arkansas River and both pedestrians and cyclists take advantage of this fantastic city park daily. You can't miss the **Big Dam Bridge** (www.bigdambridge.com;  ), which is the largest bridge built specifically for pedestrians and cyclists in the United States; it connects 15 miles of multi-use trails in Little Rock and North Little Rock. For a proper perusal of Riverfront Park rent a bike (or tandem) from **River Trail Rentals** ( 501-374-5505; www.rivertrailrentals.com; 200 S Olive St; per hr/day from $6.50/30;  8-11am Mon-Fri, 1-8pm Tue, Thu, Fri & Sun) – outside opening hours you can call for a reservation. Otherwise **Chainwheel** ( 501-224-7651; www.chainwheel.com; 10300 Rodney Parham Rd;  10am-7pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat) is the best bike shop in town and can rent higher-end road or mountain bikes, depending on availability.

The **Hillcrest Neighborhood** toward west Little Rock is a tiny epicenter of cafés and funky shops and is a communing ground for minority strains of counterculture in the city.

* * *

# ARKANSAS FACTS

**Nickname** Natural State

**Population** 2.9 million

**Area** 52,068 sq miles

**Capital** **city** Little Rock (population 184,450)

**Other cities** Fayetteville (population 58,000)

**Sales tax** 6%, plus 2% visitors tax and local taxes

**Birthplace of** General Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964), musician Johnny Cash (1932–2003), former President Bill Clinton (b 1946), author John Grisham (b 1955), actor Billy Bob Thornton (b 1955)

**Home of** Wal-Mart

**Famous for** Football fans 'calling the Hogs'

**Official state instrument** Fiddle

**Driving distance** Little Rock to Eureka Springs 182 miles, Eureka Springs to Mountain View 123 miles

* * *

The **William J Clinton Presidential Center** ( 501-374-4242; www.clintonpresidentialcenter.com; 1200 President Clinton Ave; adult/child $7/3;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 1pm Sun) houses the largest archival collection in presidential history, including 80 million pages of documents and two million photographs. Peruse the full-scale replica of the Oval Office, the exhibits on all stages of Clinton's life or the gifts from visiting dignitaries (such as Lance Armstrong's yellow jersey). The entire complex is built to environmentally friendly 'green' standards.

The **Old State House Museum** ( 501-324-9685; www.oldstatehouse.com; 300 W Markham St; admission free;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 1pm Sun), the state capitol from 1836 to 1911, now holds impressively restored legislative chambers and displays on Arkansas history and culture.

### Sleeping & Eating

Because of government and convention-center traffic, it's difficult to find inexpensive hotels in downtown, and rates fluctuate wildly. Budget motels lie off the interstates.

**Rosemont** ( 501-374-7456; www.rosemontoflittlerock.com; 515 W 15th St; s/d incl breakfast from $89-225;        ) In an 1880s restored farmhouse near the Governor's mansion, this place drips with cozy character.

**Peabody Little Rock** ( 501-906-4000, 800-723-2639; www.peabodylittlerock.com; 3 Statehouse Plaza; r from $149;          ) Sister to the famous Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN, this one boasts a sleek marble lobby and luxed-out rooms overlooking the river. The hotel also re-creates the Memphis Peabody's tradition of the Duck March (Click here).

**Ottenheimer Market Hall** ( 501-375-2553; www.rivermarket.info; btwn S Commerce & S Rock Sts;  7am-6pm Mon-Sat) Trawl the stalls for some good-value breakfast or lunch – you'll find everything from fresh fruits and pastries, to sushi, burgers and BBQ.

**Homer's** ( 501-374-1400; www.homersrestaurant.com; 2001 East Roosevelt) Businessmen smoking stogies rub elbows with hunters in overalls and Air Force officers on break in this country-cooking venue famous for the under-the-table deals hatched under its roof. The chicken and dumplings and veggie plate are to die for.

**Madea's Home Cooking** ( 501-664-2230; 2801 W 7th St;  7am-6pm Mon-Sat;  11am-2pm Mon-Fri) It's the real deal. This tiny, bare-bones luncheonette serves delectable home-cooked chitterlings, purple-hull peas, and fried chicken, among other regional favorites.

**Acadia** ( 501-603.9630; www.acadiahillcrest.com; 3000 Kavanaugh Blvd; mains from $18;  5:30-10pm Mon-Sat) Situated in the Hillcrest neighborhood, Acadia's multilevel, twinkle-lighted patio is a fabulous place to enjoy fancy-shmancy Southern dishes like smoked Gouda mac 'n' cheese.

### Getting There & Around

**Little Rock National Airport** (LIT;  501-372-3439; www.lrn-airport.com) lies just east of downtown. The **Greyhound station** ( 501-372-3007; 118 E Washington St), in North Little Rock, serves Hot Springs (one to two hours), Memphis, TN (2½ hours), and New Orleans, LA (18 hours). Amtrak occupies **Union Station** ( 501-372-6841; 1400 W Markham St). **Central Arkansas Transit** (CAT;  501-375-6717; www.cat.org) runs local buses; a trolley makes a loop on W Markham St and President Clinton Ave (adult/child 50/25¢).

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## HOT SPRINGS

It's a wonder that the little city of Hot Springs, with its strip malls, mini-golf suburbs and gasping downtown, hosted the vacationing elite of New York City's organized crime. At full throttle in the 1930s, the city was a hotbed of gambling, bootlegging, prostitution, opulence, and dangerous thugs. Yet it was also a spot of truce between warring gangs, a place where it was decreed that all criminals could be gluttonous hedons in peace. When gambling was squelched, so was the city's economy.

Though it still hasn't recovered from that blow, the healing waters have always drawn people, everyone from the Native American populations to present-day pilgrims. Elaborate restored bathhouses, where you can still get old-school spa treatments, line Bathhouse Row behind shady magnolias on the east side of Central Ave. Opposite, galleries, shops and restaurants pack 19th-century commercial buildings.

The other big draws are the horse races at **Oaklawn** (www.oaklawn.com;  Jan-Apr), close-by hiking opportunities, and water sports on nearby Lake Hamilton. For city information or to pick up a map of Clinton-related sites, go to the city's **visitor center** ( 501-321-2277, 800-772-2489; www.hotsprings.org; 629 Central Ave;  9am-6pm).

### Sights & Activities

See the intriguing underbelly of Hot Springs' history at the **Gangster Museum** ( 501-318-1717; www.tgmoa.com; 113 Central Ave; admission $8;  10am-5pm Sun-Thu, to 8pm Fri & Sat), which explains the sin-filled glory days of Hot Springs when this small town in the middle of nowhere turned into a pinpoint of lavish wealth.

* * *

# LITTLE ROCK'S PUNK SCENE (YES, PUNK SCENE)

Starting in the '80s and cresting in the mid-'90s, Little Rock – much to the surprise and incredulity of everyone – nurtured a thriving, inclusive punk scene unlike any in the nation. Little Rock gave kids who didn't fit into the status quo ample boundaries and restrictions to rebel against, and they subsequently chose a screamingly creative outlet to express themselves. Though the movement has changed, the legacy and passion of musical ingenuity is still present today in this small community.

Check out music at **Max Recordings** ( 501-580-4341; www.maxrecordings.com; 1109 North Tyler), a record label started by then-16-year-old Burt Taggart, one of the originals of the movement. Its intention was to give voice to the bands and songwriters of Little Rock. Go to his website for info on music and shows in town, many of whom are at the **White Water Tavern** ( 501-375-8400; 2500 W 7th St; admission free;  to late Mon-Sat). Or check out the documentary **Towncraft** (www.towncraftmovie.com), which follows the Little Rock punk scene from its emergence to the present.

* * *

On Bathhouse Row in the 1915 Fordyce bathhouse, the **NPS visitor center** ( 501-624-2701; 369 Central Ave;  9am-6pm) and **museum** (admission free) have exhibits about the park's history first as a Native American free-trade zone, and later as a turn-of-the-19th-century European spa.

A promenade runs through the park around the hillside behind Bathhouse Row, where some springs survive intact, and a network of trails covers Hot Springs' mountains. On the top of Hot Springs Mountain, the 216ft **Hot Springs Mountain Tower** ( 501-623-6035; adult/child $6/3;  9am-9pm Apr-Oct, 9am-5pm Nov-Mar) has spectacular views of the surrounding mountains covered with dogwood, hickory, oak and pine – lovely in the spring and fall.

To test the curative waters, visit one of the resort hotels' spas, or **Buckstaff Bathhouse** ( 501-623-2308; www.buckstaffbaths.com; 509 Central Ave; thermal bath $24, with 20min massage $55;  7-11:30am & 1:15-2:45pm Mon-Sat, 8-11:30am Sun), just south of the Fordyce. Note that spa service Hot Springs style is not usually a 'foofy' experience. No-nonsense Southern men and women whip you through the baths, treatments, and massages, just as in the 1930s.

**National Park Duck Tours** ( 501-321-2911; www.rideaduck.com; 418 Central Ave; adult/child $15/10;  ) offers 75-minute amphibious-boat tours.

### Sleeping & Eating

Chain motels line highways around town; the visitor center has a list of lakeside rental properties and area B&Bs. Some restaurants congregate along the Central Ave tourist strip and offer ho-hum food.

**Gulpha Gorge Campground** ( 501-620-6715; campsites $10) Two miles northeast of downtown off Hwy 70B, this campground offers attractive NPS campsites (no showers, hookups or reservations).

**Alpine Inn** ( 501-624-9164; www.alpine-inn-hot-springs.com; 741 Park Ave/Hwy 7 N; s/d from $50/60;          ) The friendly owner of this inn, less than a mile from Bathhouse Row, tidily maintains a row of themed rooms like the golf room or the country-western room. Some have kitchenettes.

**Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa** ( 501-623-7771, 800-643-1502; www.arlingtonhotel.com; 239 Central Ave; r/ste from $80/$175;          ) This imposing historic hotel tops Bathhouse Row and constantly references its glory days. The grand lobby tries to set the tone for the antique in-house spa and aging rooms. Catch a foxtrot on the weekend when there might be a live band.

**McClard's** ( 501-623-9665; www.mcclards.com; 505 Albert Pike; mains $6-14;  11am-8pm Tue-Sat) Southwest of the center, Bill Clinton's favorite boyhood BBQ joint dishes up succulent ribs, slow-cooked beans and creamy slaw. This could be some of the South's best BBQ.

**Cajun Boilers** ( 501-767-5695; 2806 Albert Pike Rd; mains $8-20;  11am-10pm Mon-Sat, to 9pm Sun) Right on Lake Hamilton, you can boat in or drive up. The outdoor patio is a fabulous setting to tear into the famous crawfish boil or a plate of frog's legs.

### Getting There & Away

**Greyhound** ( 501-623-5574; 1001 Central Ave) has buses heading to Little Rock (1½ hours, twice daily).

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## AROUND HOT SPRINGS

The wild, pretty **Ouachita National Forest** ( 501-321-5202; welcome center 100 Reserve St, Hot Springs;  8am-4:30pm) is studded with lakes and draws hunters, fisherfolk, mountain bikers and boaters. The small roads through the mountains unfailingly bring hidden nooks and wonderful views. The Ouachita boasts two designated National Forest Scenic Byways: Arkansas Scenic Highway 7 and Talimena Scenic Byway navigating mountain ranges from Arkansas into Oklahoma.

Nearby **Hot Springs National Park** (www.nps.gov/hosp; admission free), a tiny preserve, has thermal waters in and around that spout a million gallons of 143°F (62°C) water daily from 47 natural springs, and attract modern-day pilgrims that bathe in or sip its waters.

Clinton buffs might stop at **Hope** , where the ex-Pres spent his first seven years, but there's not much to see other than the spiffy **Hope Visitor Center & Museum** ( 870-722-2580, 800-233-4673; www.hopearkansas.net; 100 E Division St;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, from 9am Sat, 1-3pm Sun), in the old depot, and his boyhood home.

If you're wanting to test your luck and diamond-spotting skills, head to **Crater of Diamonds State Park** ( 870-285-3113; www.craterofdiamondsstatepark.com; 209 State Park Rd;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, from 9am Sat, 1-3pm Sun), where you can scour the diamond field in which three- to 40-carat diamonds have been found, and where valuable diamonds continue to be found today.

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## ARKANSAS RIVER VALLEY

The Arkansas River cuts a swath across the state from Oklahoma to Mississippi. Folks come to fish, canoe and camp along its banks and tributaries.

The excellently maintained trails of **Petit Jean State Park** ( 501-727-5441; www.petitjeanstatepark.com;  ), west of Morrilton, wind past a lush 95ft waterfall, romantic grottoes, expansive vistas, and dense forests. There's a rustic stone lodge, reasonable cabins (per night $75), and campgrounds. Another stellar state park is **Mount Magazine** ( 479-963-8502; www.mountmagazinestatepark.com; 16878 Hwy 309 S, Paris), which maintains 14 miles of trails around Arkansas' highest point. Outdoor enthusiasts enjoy stellar hang gliding and rock climbing here as well as hiking.

Arkansas has both a pickle capital (not surprising – **Atkins** ), and a wine capital (surprising – **Altus** ), which is at the center of Arkansas' Germanic wine-growing region. In Altus, you'll find a smattering of wineries that let you taste their sticky-sweet concoctions, like muscadine wine, that were heaven-sent during Prohibition. Two of the most notable for tastings are **Post Familie Vineyard** ( 479-468-2741; 1700 St Mary's Mountain Rd;  9:30am-6pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) and **Wiederkehr Wine Cellars** ( 479-468-9463; 3324 Swiss Family Dr;  8:30am-9pm Mon-Sat, noon-6pm Sun), which has an attached restaurant where the servers were described by one tourist as 'depressed grandmothers stuffed into lederhosen.'

While you're in town, **Kelt's** ( 479-468-2413; 115 W Main St; mains $15-24;  11am-10pm Mon-Sat, 11am-3:30pm Sun) might be the better bet, with its full line of rich beers, and spoken menu of, among other things, home-cooked rib-eye steaks. It's a self-declared 'guilt-free zone.'

The spectacular **Highway 23/Pig Trail Byway** ,lined with wild echinacea and lilies, climbs up through **Ozark National Forest** ( 479-968-2354) and into the mountains; an excellent way to reach Eureka Springs (Click here).

The **Arkansas and Missouri Railway** ( 479-751-8600, 800-687-8600; www.arkansasmissouri-rr.com; adult/child from $31/16;  Fri & Sat Apr-Sep, Sat Oct-Nov) offers a 70-mile trip through the Boston Mountain Range from **Van Buren** to **Winslow** and back.

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## OZARK MOUNTAINS

Stretching from northwest and central Arkansas into Missouri, the **Ozark Mountains** ( 870-404-2741, 800-544-6867; www.ozarkmountainregion.com) are an ancient range, once surrounded by sea and now well worn by time. Verdant rolling mountains give way to misty fields, and dramatic karst formations line sparkling lakes, meandering rivers and scenic back roads. Though some of the towns bank on kitschy hillbilly culture, scratch below the surface to find the unique cultural traditions, such as acoustic folk music and home-cooked hush puppies and catfish.

### Mountain View

Detour east of US 65 or along Hwy 5 to this wacky Ozark town, known for its tradition of informal music-making at Courtsquare. Creeping commercialism is taking its toll, as the **Chamber of Commerce** ( 870-269-8068; www.yourplaceinthemountains.com; 107 N Peabody Ave;  9am-4:30pm Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat) promotes the place as the 'Folk Music Capital of the World,' but loads of live folk-music and bizarre festivals keep it real, including the **Championship Outhouse Races** , where crowds cheer on their favorite 'people-powered potty' racing to the finish line – it usually takes place around the last week in October.

**Ozark Folk Center State Park** ( 870-269-3851; auditorium adult/child $10/6;  10am-5pm Wed-Sat, to 5:30pm Sat & Sun), just north of town, hosts ongoing craft demonstrations, a traditional herb garden, as well as nightly live music that brings in an avid, older crowd. Mountain View is known for its impromptu hill music, gospel, and bluegrass jam sessions in the **Courtsquare** by the Stone County Courthouse, especially on Saturday night.

The spectacular **Blanchard Springs Caverns** ( 888-757-2246; off Hwy 14; adult/child $10/5, wild cave tour $75;  9am-6pm Apr-Sep;  ), located 15 miles northwest of Mountain View, were carved by an underground river and rival those at Carlsbad (Click here). It's another little-known, mind-blowing spot in Arkansas. Three Forest Service guided tours range from disabled-accessible to adventurous three- to four-hour spelunking sessions. **Wildflower B &B** ( 870-269-4383; www.arkansas-inn.com; 100 Washington; r from $85;        ) is right on the Courtsquare with a rocking chair–equipped wraparound porch, cozy down-home trappings and a $20 midweek discount. **Tommy's Famous Pizza and BBQ** ( 870-269-3278; cnr Carpenter & W Main Sts; mains $7-15;  from 3pm) is run by the friendliest bunch of backwoods hippies you could ask for. The BBQ pizza marries Tommy's specialties indulgently.

* * *

# ARKANSAS IS A FAT-TIRE DESTINATION

If you are partial at all to mountain biking, make sure you have your ride when you arrive in Arkansas. Though there's very little pretension around it, world-class trails, both flowy and technical, marble this hillbilly country. Your recovery meal might be BBQ, but that's not so bad is it? The **Mountain Bike Arkansas** (www.mtbark.com) and **Bike Arkansas Directory** (www.bikearkansas.com) websites provide trail, shop and logistical info.

Some of the epic Arkansas trails:

**Lake Leatherwood** Eureka Springs – 18 miles of looped single track for all levels with great views and fun descents.

**The Syllamo** Near Mountain View – 50 miles of looped single track. It's hard. Really.

**The Womble** Mt Ida, near Mena – The prize trail of the Ouachita Mountains that's 35 miles one way, accessed by numerous trailheads.

* * *

### Eureka Springs

Near the northwestern corner of the state, artsy Eureka Springs perches in a steep valley and is one of the coolest towns in the state. Victorian buildings line crooked streets and a crunchy local population welcomes all – it's one of the most explicitly gay-friendly towns in the Ozarks. On the surface, art galleries and shops compete with commercialized country music and the 70ft **Christ of the Ozarks** statue for your attention. But bend a local's ear and find out who's playing at the nearest pub or the location of their favorite swimming hole and this idiosyncratic village will take on new dimensions. Furthermore, hiking, biking, and horseback-riding opportunities abound.

The **visitor center** (  479-253-8737, 800-638-7352; www.eurekaspringschamber.com; 516 Village Circle, Hwy 62 E) has information about lodging, activities, tours and local attractions, such as the rockin' **Blues Festival** (www.eurekaspringsblues.com) at the end of May. The old **ES & NA Railway** ( 479-253-9623; www.esnarailway.com; 299 N Main St; adult/child $12/6;  Tue-Sat) puffs through the Ozark hills on an hour-long tour four times a day.

 **Thorncrown Chapel** ( 479-253-7401; www.thorncrown.com; 12968 Hwy 62 West; donation suggested;  9am-5pm Apr-Nov, 11am-4pm Mar & Dec) is a magnificent sanctuary made of glass, with its 48ft-tall wooden skeleton holding 425 windows. There's not much between your prayers and God's green earth here. It's just outside of town in the woods.

If your budget can stand it, bypass the cheap motels on the rim of the canyon and splurge on lodging in the town center. Right in the historic downtown is the super-comfortable and historic **New Orleans Hotel and Suchness Spa** ( 479-253-8667; www.neworleanshotelandspa.com; 63 Spring St; r $84-199;        ), which sends you reeling back in time, except that it houses a spa with a menu fully loaded for your body and chakra needs. **Treehouse Cottages** ( 479-253-8630; www.treehousecottages.com; 165 W Van Buren St; from $145;        ) offers gorgeous sunlit, Jacuzzi-armed tree houses (that are more like cottages on stilts) in the woods.

Right across the street is **Bubba's BBQ** ( 479-253-7706; www.bubbasbarbecueeurekasprings.com; 166 W Van Buren St; half rack $13;  11am-9pm Mon-Sat), which is a genuine Southern meat joint in a town that has its fair share of tourist contrivance. At **Mud Street Cafe** ( 479-253-6732; www.mudstreetcafe.com; 22 G South Main St;  8am-3pm Thu-Tue) in downtown you can find some healthier options, like hummus salad. The coffee drinks and breakfasts are renowned.

### Buffalo National River

Yet another under-acknowledged Arkansas gem, this 135-mile river flows beneath dramatic bluffs through unspoiled Ozark forest. The upriver section tends to have most of the white water, while the lower reaches ease lazily along – perfect for a float. The **Buffalo National River** ( 870-741-5443; www.nps.gov/buff) has 13 campgrounds and three designated wilderness areas; the most accessible is through the **Tyler Bend visitor center** ( 870-439-2502;  8am-5pm May-Sep, 8:30am-4:30pm Oct-Apr), 11 miles north of Marshall on Hwy 65.

Evidence of human occupation here dates back some 10,000 years, but this wild and naturally bountiful area kept even modern Ozark settlers isolated and self-sufficient. They developed a distinct dialect, along with unique craftsmanship and musical traits. Thanks to its National River designation in 1972, the Buffalo is one of the few remaining unpolluted, free-flowing rivers in the country.

The best way to tour the park and see the gargantuan limestone bluffs is by canoe or raft. Outfitters such as **Wild Bill's** ( 800-554-8657; www.ozark-float.com; 23 Hwy 268 E;  ) in Yellville and **Buffalo Outdoor Center** ( 800-221-5514; www.buffaloriver.com; cnr Hwys 43 & 74;  ) in Ponca arrange canoes or rafting trips (from $40 per person), tubes ($5), hiking tours, fishing trips and horseback rides. For weekend trips, reserve in advance.

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## ARKANSAS DELTA

Roughly 120 miles east of Little Rock, the Great River Rd follows the west bank of the Mississippi River through the Arkansas Delta. Blues town of yesteryear, **Helena** is now a depressed little Arkansas town. However, it explodes for its annual **Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival**(www.bluesandheritage.com; admission free), formerly the King Biscuit Blues Festival, when blues musicians and 100,000 fans take over downtown for three days in early October. Food stalls sell home-cooked soul food and BBQ.

Year-round, blues fans and history buffs should visit the **Delta Cultural Center** ( 870-338-4350; www.deltaculturalcenter.com; 141 Cherry St; admission free;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat), which is in two buildings: the Train Depot and the Visitor Center. The museum displays all manner of blues memorabilia such as Albert King's and Sister Rosetta Tharpe's guitars, and John Lee Hooker's signed handkerchief.

The world's longest-running blues radio program, _King Biscuit Time,_ is broadcast here (12:15pm Monday to Friday), and _Delta Sounds_ (1pm Monday to Friday) often has live musicians. Other than that, music in Helena is not to be found.

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# Florida

* * *

HISTORY

LOCAL CULTURE

LAND & CLIMATE

Parks & Wildlife

Information

Getting There & Around

SOUTH FLORIDA

Miami

Fort Lauderdale

Palm Beach & Around

The Everglades

Around The Everglades

Florida Keys

ATLANTIC COAST

Space Coast

Daytona Beach

St Augustine

Jacksonville

Amelia Island

WEST COAST

Tampa

St Petersburg

Sarasota

Fort Myers

Fort Myers Beach

Sanibel & Captiva Islands

CENTRAL FLORIDA

Orlando

Walt Disney World

Around Central Florida

FLORIDA PANHANDLE

Tallahassee

Panama City Beach

Pensacola

* * *

One thing you'll never catch Florida doing is taking itself too seriously: it's too busy basking in its nearly year-round sunshine. It's weird, delightful, wacky, wonderful. And it just wants you to have fun. A crazy protuberance of land, Florida puts as much space between itself and the other states as it can, like a runaway teenager, or a retiree heading to the Keys to spend the kids' inheritance. It doesn't have to try to be different. And that's why we love it. We count on it for glitzy theme parks and campy roadside attractions. For alligator farms and mermaid shows. For being an endless parade of the unusual, the garish and the superlative.

But beyond the giddy delights of manmade attractions are the natural wonders scattered about the state. Not just a few here and there, but a near-constant barrage of beaches, springs and forests. Florida boasts a ridiculous amount of shoreline, and you're never more than 60 miles from the beach. The Keys have crystal-clear water, and the only living coral reef in the continental US teems with brightly colored fish. The Everglades is the largest subtropical wilderness in the US, boasting amazing biodiversity. You might find yourself turning into a bird-watcher, as herons, osprey, pelicans and ibis put on an air show. Nature preserves, springs bubbling from underground caverns and wild beaches are liberally applied throughout the state.

So whether you're looking for natural attractions or entirely unnatural ones, the ridiculously beautiful or the beautifully ridiculous, Florida is the place to find it.

* * *

# HIGHLIGHTS

  * Marveling at the sheer number of deco gems in Miami Beach's **Art Deco Historic District** (Click here)
  * Cooling off with a key lime milk shake while feeding baby goats at **Robert is Here** (Click here)
  * Paddling quietly past manatees and alligators in the Everglades' **10,000 Islands** (Click here)
  * Hearing legends of ghosts, pirates and six-toed cats in **Key West** (Click here)
  * Feeling the earth rumble beneath your feet during a rocket launch at the **Kennedy Space Center** (Click here)
  * Exploring the Lightner Museum and the world's most opulent girls' dorm in **St Augustine** (Click here)
  * Seeing circus memorabilia – or confronting your fear of clowns – at the Sarasota **Ringling Museum Complex** (Click here)
  * Pondering the symbolism of ants at the **Salvador Dalí** **Museum** (Click here), St Petersburg
  * Discovering the mysteries of the world's deepest freshwater spring at **Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park** (Click here)

* * *

* * *

# Florida Facts

**Nickname** Sunshine State

**Population** 18.3 million

**Area** 53,927 sq miles

**Capital city** Tallahassee (population 168,979)

**Other cities** Miami city (population 404,048), Tampa (population 332,888), Orlando (population 220,186)

**Sales tax** 6% (some towns and cities add another 9.5% to 11.5% to accommodations and meals)

**Birthplace of** AuthorZora Neale Hurston (1891–1960), musician Jim Morrison (1943–71), actor William H Macy (b 1950), author Carl Hiaasen (b 1953), actor Eva Mendes (b 1974)

**Home of** Cuban Americans, manatees, Mickey Mouse, retirees, key lime pie

**Famous for** Theme parks, beaches, alligators, art deco

**Notable local invention** Suntan lotion (1944)

**Driving distances** Miami to Key West 160 miles, Tallahassee to Orlando 258 miles

* * *

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## HISTORY

There were, of course, already Native Americans living in Florida when it was 'discovered,' and they'd already been there for thousands of years. Imagine their surprise in 1513, those Apalachee, Timucuan and Calusa Indians, when Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León hopped off his boat and onto the shores of what would become St Augustine, gestured grandly to the land he saw before him, and then, rather than asking what they called this place, declared it _Pascua Florida_ for the Easter Feast of Flowers.

Other explorers soon followed. Pensacola was settled by Tristán de Luna y Arellano in 1559, making it the first European settlement in the US, but it was quickly abandoned with the help of a hurricane. The first European settlement to stick was St Augustine, settled in 1565 by Ponce de León's compatriot Pedro Menéndez de Avilés – making it the oldest continuously occupied city in the US.

Florida was admitted to the Union on March 3, 1845. Sixteen years later, at the onset of the Civil War, it seceded. It was readmitted in 1868, but still had a definite separateness from the states due to geography. But one Mr Henry Flagler solved that problem in the late 1800s when he constructed a railroad linking the east coast of Florida to the rest of the country, bringing train-carloads of people and unlocking Florida's tourism potential.

Because of its strategic location, new naval stations brought an influx of residents during the Spanish-American War and WWI, and post-WWII Florida thrived with the first wave of retirement communities and a fledgling aerospace industry. After the 1959 Cuban Revolution, many Cuban citizens settled in Miami, and thousands more would follow here as refugees, particularly as a result of the Mariel Boatlift (a mass exodus of Cubans from Mariel Harbor in Cuba) in the early 1980s.

No history of Florida would be complete without mentioning the opening of Walt Disney World here in 1971, which spawned hundreds of thousands of tourism-related jobs. Although the state was savaged in 2004 by four major hurricanes in six weeks, and was heavily impacted by the nation's economic meltdown in late 2008, Florida's appeal as a tourist destination remains unstoppable.

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## LOCAL CULTURE

There is no such thing as a typical Floridian. What unites them all is their lack of unity: everyone just goes on their merry way. Diversity thrives here, whether it is bikers, Cubans, retirees, gays, fishermen, environmentalists, Christian fundamentalists or circus performers. People are more likely to put on hip boots or a Goofy costume than they are to don a suit and tie. And Florida has a tourism-based economy, expect everyone to be welcoming of both you and your money.

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## LAND&CLIMATE

It doesn't get much flatter than Florida. Coastal lowlands, wetlands and reclaimed swampland typify most of the state, and in the center and north of the state you'll find gently inclining hills. The coasts are protected by barrier islands and, in the south, coral reefs. Between the barrier islands and mainland is the stretch of water known as the Intracoastal Waterway. In Miami and south Florida, December through February is the high season, with warm, dry weather, big crowds and high prices. From June to October, temperatures and rainfall rise and prices drop. Summertime is hot and muggy in Orlando, but it's the main tourist season in Jacksonville, St Augustine and the Panhandle, which can be chilly in winter.

* * *

# Florida...

## IN ONE WEEK

Start in **Miami Beach** (Click here) and plan on spending at least two full days there exploring the beaches and art-deco buildings. Take an easy day trip to Shark Valley in the **Everglades** (Click here). Head down to the Keys and stop to snorkel at **John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park** (Click here), then spend the night in **Key West** (Click here). Finish your trip with a visit to a theme park or two in **Orlando** (Click here).

## FOR WATER LOVERS

Most of Florida is surrounded by water, so it's no surprise that there are ample aquatic opportunities for water lovers. Get splashed by Shamu at Orlando's **SeaWorld** (Click here), or spend an afternoon at **Weeki Wachee** (Click here), where you can see mermaids perform in an underwater amphitheatre. In Coral Gables, take a dip in the gorgeous **Venetian Pool** (Click here). Then head to the **Everglades** (Click here) for a 'slough slog' where you wade through the brackish water in search of wildlife. No water-lover's trip is complete without snorkeling, and **Key Largo** (Click here) has some of the best.

* * *

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## PARKS&WILDLIFE

Florida has three national parks: the mostly underwater Biscayne National Park (Click here), the remote islands of Dry Tortugas National Park (Click here) and the fascinating ecosystems of Everglades National Park (Click here). Other Florida parklands are managed by the **Division of Recreation &Parks** ( 850-245-2157; www.dep.state.fl.us/parks). You can find comprehensive information on the many state parks in the **Florida Online Park Guide** (www.floridastateparks.org). Individual parks don't accept camping reservations; you'll need to call **Reserve America** ( 800-326-3521; www.reserveamerica.com). Prices range from $12 to $28 per site, and popular park campgrounds can be booked up months in advance.

As for wildlife, there is an amazing abundance and variety. The southern part of the state has lots of alligators, especially in the Everglades, and you'll see large birds – herons, osprey, pelicans and anhinga – all around the state. Then there's the sea life: manatees, dolphins and all the fish you could hope to see snorkeling.

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## INFORMATION

The state's tourism agency, **Visit Florida** ( 850-488-5607, 866-972-5280; www.visitflorida.com), operates welcome centers on I-95, I-75 and I-10 at exits just inside the state line, and an information center in Tallahassee's New Capitol Building (Click here). Pick up Lonely Planet's _Florida_ guide for more information on the state.

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## GETTING THERE&AROUND

**Miami International Airport** (MIA;  305-876-7000) is an international gateway, and Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale have significant numbers of both domestic and international flights. The Fort Lauderdale and Miami airports are about 30 minutes apart; it's almost always cheaper to fly into Fort Lauderdale. Miami is also home to the world's busiest cruise port.

Greyhound (Click here) has widespread service throughout the state. Amtrak's _Silver Meteor_ and _Silver Star_ run daily between New York and Miami, and the _Sunset Limited_ crosses the south between Los Angeles and Orlando three times weekly; Click here for more information.

Car-rental rates in Florida tend to fluctuate, but expect to pay at least $200 a week for a typical economy car. Around the Christmas-holiday period, you could pay upwards of $900 a week for the same vehicle.

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# SOUTH FLORIDA

As varied as the state of Florida is, you'd think you'd at least be able to generalize about the regions within it. But South Florida is made up of three wildly diverse areas that bear little resemblance to each other: Miami and Fort Lauderdale represent the sophisticated cities by the sea; the Everglades is a subtropical wilderness full of wildlife; and the Keys are a chain of islands with a laid-back vibe. The fact that they're just an hour or two apart gives you a great opportunity for a multidimensional vacation.

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## MIAMI

How does one city get so lucky? Most cities content themselves with one or two admirable attributes, but Miami seems to have it all. Let's just start with the fact that it's a world-class city, but also manages to have a perfectly gorgeous beach. It's got the sun, sand and surf you'd expect from a tropical island, but with the art, food and nightlife that only urban cities enjoy. On top of all that, Miami has arguably the best-looking people in the US. You know the glamorous model types you always see on TV but don't really exist in real life? Oh, they exist. They're all in Miami Beach, in-line skating down Ocean Ave in thongs. (Seriously, that's not just a stereotype.)

Tourism spearheaded Miami's stratospheric rise when the first passenger-train service reached there in 1896, and Miami's Cuban population swelled following the 1959 Castro coup. Today, crowned by the cruise-ship industry, a glittering entertainment scene and international business connections (not all of them wholly legitimate), Miami thrives almost as a nation unto itself, with 5.4 million residents in the metro area. More than 60% of the population speaks predominantly Spanish, and in many spots you're unlikely to hear English spoken at all. Well over half the population is Latino – the vast majority Cuban – which influences everything from politics to cocktails and infuses the city with a sexiness and style unlike any other.

### Orientation

Greater Miami is a sprawling metropolis that includes suburbs such as Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, and neighborhoods such as Little Havana and Little Haiti. Miami is on the mainland, while Miami Beach lies 4 miles east across Biscayne Bay.

Downtown Miami operates on a fairly normal grid system. Streets run east–west, and avenues and courts run north–south. Flagler St divides NE and NW streets from SE and SW streets – with street numbers counting up as you move away from it in either direction – and Miami Ave divides NE and SE streets from NW and SW streets. (In other words, be sure to double-check whether that innocent-looking address on 1st is on NE 1st Ave, NW 1st Ave, SE 1st St or SW 1st St.)

In Miami Beach, streets also run east–west and avenues north–south. South Beach (SoBe) is the heart of the action and runs from 5th St up to 21st St.

If you're planning to spend some time checking out south Florida, pick up a copy of Lonely Planet's guide to _Miami &the Keys_.

### Information

#### BOOKSTORES

**Books &Books** Coral Gables (Map;  305-442-4408; 265 Aragon Ave);Miami Beach (Map;  305-532-3222; 927 Lincoln Rd)

**Downtown Book Center** (Map;  305-377-9939; 247 SE 1st St)

**Lambda Passages Bookstore** (Map;  305-754-6900; 7545 Biscayne Blvd) Gay and lesbian bookstore.

#### EMERGENCY

**Beach Patrol** ( 305-673-7714;  24hr)

#### INTERNET ACCESS

Click here for websites that list wi-fi hot spots.

**Miami-Dade Public Library** Downtown (Map;  305-375-2665; www.mdpls.org; 101 W Flagler St;  ); Miami Beach (Map;  305-535-4219; 227 22nd St;  ) Free access as available.

#### MEDIA

**El Nuevo Herald** (www.elnuevoherald.com, in Spanish) Spanish daily published by the _Miami Herald_.

**Miami Herald** (www.miamiherald.com) The city's major English-language daily. Entertainment section on Friday.

**New Times** (www.miaminewtimes.com) Edgy, alternative weekly with good listings of restaurants, clubs, bars and theater.

#### MEDICAL SERVICES

**Mount Sinai Medical Center** (Map;  305-674-2121; 4300 Alton Rd) The area's best emergency room. Also has a 24-hour visitor's medical line ( 305-674-2222).

#### MONEY

**Abbot Foreign Exchange** (Map;  305-374-2336; 230 NE 1st St, Downtown Miami)

**Citibank** (Map;  305-604-0220, 800-627-3999; 1685 Washington Ave, Miami Beach;  9am-4pm Mon—Thu, 9am-6pm Fri, 9am-1pm Sat) There's also a branch in downtown Miami (2001 Biscayne Blvd).

#### POST

**Post Office** Main Branch (Map; 500 NW 2nd Ave); Miami Beach (Map; 1300 Washington Ave)

#### TOURIST INFORMATION

**Greater Miami &the Beaches Convention&Visitors Bureau** (Map;  305-539-3000, 800-933-8448; www.miamiandbeaches.com; 701 Brickell Ave, 27th fl;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri)

**Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce** (Map;  305-673-7400; www.miamibeachguestservices.com; 1920 Meridian Ave;  9am-6pm Mon-Fri)

### Dangers&Annoyances

Like all big cities, Miami has a few areas that locals consider dangerous: Liberty City, in northwest Miami, Little Haiti and stretches of the Miami riverfront and Biscayne Blvd (after dark). Deserted areas below 5th St in South Beach are riskier at night. In downtown, use caution near the Greyhound station and the shantytowns around causeways, bridges and overpasses.

### Sights

#### MIAMI BEACH

Miami Beach has some of the best beaches in the country, with white sand and warm, blue-green water that rivals the Bahamas. But there's so much happening on shore, it's easy to think of the beaches more as a backdrop than as the main attraction. South Beach (or 'SoBe' if you're in a rush) is world-famous, but more for its people-watching than for its waves and sunshine.

Then there's the art-deco architecture. If you've never been to Miami Beach, you might think the **Art Deco Historic District** is just a cluster of pretty buildings, but it's actually the largest concentration of deco anywhere in the world, with approximately 1200 buildings lining the streets around Ocean Dr and Collins Ave. Learn more at the **Art Deco Welcome Center** (Map;  305-672-2014, 305-531-3484; 1001 Ocean Dr;  10am-7:30pm Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm Sun).

In the evening, stroll down **Española Way** , a _trés_ European strip lined with restaurants and cafés representing most of the romance-language-speaking countries. Just a few blocks north, a section of **Lincoln Road** is blocked off to make a pedestrian mall, which draws people day and night with its stores, restaurants and bars.

You might be unfazed by the bare flesh on the beach, but there is likely to be something that will get your attention at the **World Erotic Art Museum** (Map;  305-532-9336; 1205 Washington Ave; www.weam.com; adults over 18 $15;  11am-midnight), with an amazingly extensive collection of naughty and erotic art, decorative items and even furniture depicting all sorts of parts and acts.

* * *

# Miami...

## IN TWO DAYS

Start your first day with a walking tour through the **Art Deco Historic District** (above), then head to the beach for swimming, sunning and people-watching. If they're in season, join the crush lining up for stone crabs at **Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant** (Click here). While away the evening with swanky cocktails at **Skybar** (Click here), or, for a low-key brew, head to the **Room** (Click here). Stop by the **World Erotic Art Museum** (Click here), which is open till midnight. The next morning, head into the city and shop for Cuban music and clothes along Little Havana's **Calle Ocho** (Click here), followed up by classic Cuban cuisine at **Versailles** (Click here). Afterwards, go for a stroll at **Vizcaya Museum &Gardens** (Click here) then cool off with a dip at the **Venetian Pool** (Click here). End with dinner and cocktails at **Novecento** (Click here).

## IN FOUR DAYS

Follow the two-day itinerary, then head to the **Everglades** (Click here) on day three, which will take up most of your day. For your last day, immerse yourself in art and design in the **Design District** (Click here) followed by a visit to the **Miami Art Museum** (Click here) or the **Museum of Contemporary Art** (Click here),or enjoy your proximity to the ocean with **kayaking** or **windsurfing** (Click here) off Key Biscayne. In the evening, check out live blues and rock and roll at Miami's oldest bar, **Tobacco Road** (Click here).

* * *

Just down the street, the **Wolfsonian** (Map;  305-531-1001; www.wolfsonian.org; 1001 Washington Ave; adult/child $7.50/5.35;  noon-6pm Sat-Tue, to 9pm Thu&Fri) has a fascinating collection that spans transportation, urbanism, industrial design, advertising and political propaganda from the late 19th to mid-20th century.

#### DOWNTOWN MIAMI

Unless you're there on business, you probably won't spend a lot of time downtown among the skyscrapers, but the **Metro-Dade Cultural Center Plaza** (Map; 101 W Flagler St) is home to two worthwhile museums, and $6 gets you a combo ticket that's good for both. The **Historical Museum of Southern Florida** (Map;  305-375-1492; www.hmsf.org; adult/child $5/2, Sat&3rd Thu after 5pm free;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun, noon-9pm 3rd Thu) has exhibits spanning Native American culture to the 1930s tourism boom. And **Miami Art Museum** (MAM; Map;  305-375-3000; www.miamiartmuseum.org; 101 W Flagler St; adult/child under 12 $8/free, 2nd Sat free;  10am-5pm Tue-Fri, noon-5pm Sat&Sun) is home to permanent and rotating exhibits, as well as the JAM@MAM happy hour on the third Thursday of each month from 5pm to 9pm. The MAM won't be there indefinitely; it's planning a move to Bicentennial Park, scheduled at the time of research for late 2012.

Near the marina, **Bayside Marketplace** (Map;  305-577-3344; www.baysidemarketplace.com; 401 Biscayne Blvd;  10am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat, 11am-9pm Sun) is a buzzy if touristy shopping and entertainment hub.

#### LITTLE HAVANA

As SW 8th St heads away from downtown, it becomes **Calle Ocho** (pronounced _kah_ -yeh _oh_ -cho, Spanish for 'Eighth Street'). That's when you know you've arrived in Little Havana, the most prominent community of Cuban Americans in the US. But this is no Cuban theme park; it's a real neighborhood where real live people live and work. One of the best times to experience it is the last Friday of the month during **Viernes Culturales** (www.viernesculturales.com;  6-11pm), or 'Cultural Fridays,' a street fair showcasing Latino artists and musicians.

Pick up some Cuban-style cigars after watching _tabaqueros_ hand-roll them at **El Crédito Cigars** (Map;  305-858-4162; 1106 SW 8th St/Calle Ocho;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat). And get a taste of old Cuba at **Máximo Gómez Park** (cnr Calle Ocho&SW 15th Ave). It's also known as 'Domino Park,' and you'll understand why when you see the old-timers throwing bones. History buffs can stop by the **Bay of Pigs Museum &Library** (Map;  305-649-4719; www.bayofpigsmuseum.org; 1821 SW 9th St; admission free;  9am-4pm Mon-Sat) to learn more about the ill-fated Cuban invasion and pay tribute to the 2506 Brigade.

* * *

# GUIDE TO MIAMI BEACHES

The beaches around Miami are some of the best in the country. The water is clear and warm and the imported white sand is relatively white. The beaches are also informally zoned into areas with their own unique crowds by tacit understanding so that everyone can enjoy them at their own speed.

**Scantily-Clad Beaches** In South Beach (Map) between 5th St and 21st St, modesty is in short supply.

**Nude Beaches** Nude bathing is legal at Haulover Beach Park (Map) in Sunny Isles. North of the lifeguard tower is predominantly gay; south is straight.

**Gay Beaches** All of South Beach (Map) is gay-friendly, but a special concentration seems to hover around 12th St.

**Family-Fun Beaches** North of 21st St is where you'll find the more family-friendly beaches, and the beach at 53rd St (Map) has a playground and public toilets.

**Latino Beaches** Latino families, predominantly Cuban, congregate between 5th St and South Pointe (Map).

**Windsurfing Beaches** Hobie Beach (Map), along the Rickenbacker Causeway on the way to Key Biscayne, is actually known as 'Windsurfing Beach.'

**Surfing** In Miami Beach, South Pointe Park (Map) is your best bet, but better yet is heading up to Haulover Beach or anywhere north of 70th St.

* * *

#### DESIGN DISTRICT, WYNWOOD&LITTLE HAITI

Proving that SoBe doesn't hold the lease on hip, these two trendy areas north of downtown – all but deserted 25 years ago – aren't just rebounding; they're ensconcing themselves as bastions of art and design. The **Design District** (Map; www.miamidesigndistrict.net) is mecca for interior designers, home to dozens of galleries and contemporary furniture, fixture and design showrooms. Just south of the Design District, **Wynwood** (Map) is making a name for itself as an arts district, with myriad galleries and art studios housed in abandoned factories and warehouses.

The second Saturday of the month is the absolute best time to visit, when both neighborhoods hold evening gallery walks with art, music, food and wine.

In the absence of a gallery walk, stop by the Design District's experimental gallery **Moore Space** (Map;  786-543-7707; www.themoorespace.org; 4040 NE 2nd Ave;  10am-5pm Wed-Sat) to catch the zeitgeist. Then explore the 18-block area that goes from NE 36th St to 41st St, between NE 2nd Ave and N Miami Ave, or head down below 36th St to check out Wynwood.

The home of Miami's Haitian refugees, **Little Haiti** is defined by brightly painted homes, markets and botanicas (voodoo shops), and it's also home to the **Haitian Heritage Museum** (Map;  305-371-5988; 4141 NE 2nd Ave; www.haitianheritagemuseum.org; 10am-5pm Tue-Fri). which showcases Haitian art and history.

#### CORAL GABLES&COCONUT GROVE

For a slower pace and a more European feel, head inland. Designed as a 'model suburb' by George Merrick in the early 1920s, Coral Gables is a Mediterranean-style village that's centered around the shops and restaurants of the **Miracle Mile** (Map), a four-block section of Coral Way between Douglas and LeJeune Rds.

'Swimming pool' doesn't even begin to describe the spring-fed **Venetian Pool** (Map;  305-460-5306; www.coralgablesvenetianpool.com; 2701 DeSoto Blvd; adult/child $10/6.75;  11am-7:30pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4:30pm Sat&Sun), made by filling in the limestone quarry used to build Coral Gables. With waterfalls, grottos and an Italianate feel, it looks like where rich mermaids would go on vacation. You can peek, but most of it's hidden behind stucco walls, wrought iron fences and bougainvillea – best to dive right in.

* * *

# WHAT THE...?

Out in the middle of Biscayne Bay, seven houses hover on pilings over the shallow waters, the remnants of the historic community of **Stiltsville**. It started in the early 1930s, when 'Crawfish' Eddie Walker built an off-shore shack where he could entertain his fishing buddies. At Stiltsville's peak there were 27 structures but, as hurricanes came and went, many of the buildings went with them. Slated to be torn down in 1999, the buildings were saved by a petition with 75,000 signatures. And while the Stiltsville Trust is now making plans for the buildings' future, a hurricane may get the final vote.

* * *

Architecturally speaking, the crown jewel of Coral Gables is the **Biltmore Hotel** (Map;  305-445-1926; www.biltmorehotel.com; 1200 Anastasia Ave;  tours Sun at 1:30pm, 2:30pm&3:30pm), a magnificent edifice that once housed a speakeasy run by Al Capone. Even if you don't stay there, drop by for afternoon tea, a free Sunday tour or a gawk at the pool.

In nearby Coconut Grove, immerse yourself in the loveliness of **Vizcaya Museum &Gardens** (Map;  305-250-9133; www.vizcayamuseum.org; 3251 S Miami Ave; adult/child $15/6;  museum 9:30am-5pm, gardens to 5:30pm). The Italian Renaissance–style villa has 70 rooms full of centuries-old furnishings and art. The formal gardens, fountains and grottos make a gorgeous backdrop – expect to see at least one bride with a photographer in tow.

The **Miami Museum of Science &Planetarium** (Map;  305-646-4200; www.miamisci.org; 3280 S Miami Ave; adult/child $18/13;  10am-6pm;  ) is a Smithsonian affiliate with a planetarium and wildlife center. Most of the museum is usually taken up with one major exhibit; call to see what's current.

#### GREATER MIAMI

North of downtown, the **Museum of Contemporary Art** (Map;  305-893-6211; www.mocanomi.org; 770 NE 125th St; adult/student $5/3;  11am-5pm Tue&Thu-Sat, 1-9pm Wed, noon-5pm Sun) has frequently changing exhibitions focusing on international, national and emerging artists.

In contrast, the peaceful **Ancient Spanish Monastery** ( 305-945-1461; www.spanishmonastery.com; 16711 W Dixie Hwy; adult/child $5/2;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, 2-5pm Sun) is firmly rooted in the past. Said to be the oldest building in the Western Hemisphere, it was built in Segovia, Spain, in 1411 and shipped here (much later) by William Randolph Hearst. Score one for crazy tycoons everywhere.

Thirty miles south of downtown, **Fruit &Spice Park** (off Map;  305-247-5727; www.fruitandspicepark.org; 24801 SW 187 Ave; adult/child $5/1.50;  9am-5pm) shows what you can do with trees when you have a tropical climate at your disposal, which is to grow more than 500 varieties of fruit, spice, vegetable and nut. (Bet you never knew there were 125 kinds of mango.)

#### KEY BISCAYNE

Serene beaches and stunning sunsets are just across the Rickenbacker Causeway (toll $1) at Key Biscayne, where you'll find the boardwalks and bike trails of the beachfront **Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Recreation Park** (Map;  305-361-5811; 1200 S Crandon Blvd; pedestrians&cyclists $1, vehicles 1-/2+ occupants $3/5;  8am-dusk). From the southern shore of the park you can catch a glimpse of **Stiltsville** (see boxed text, Click here).

### Activities

#### BICYCLING&IN-LINE SKATING

Skating or bicycling the strip along Ocean Dr in South Beach is pure Miami.

**Fritz's Skate Shop** (Map;  305-532-1954; 1620 Washington Ave;  10am-10pm) Rent bikes, skates and more by the hour, day or week.

**Miami Beach Bike Center** (Map;  305-531-4161; 601 5th St; per hr/day $8/24;  10am-7pm Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm Sun) Convenient bike rentals in the heart of SoBe.

#### WATER SPORTS

**Boucher Brothers Watersports** (Map;  305-535-8177; www.boucherbrothers.com; 161 Ocean Dr;  10:30am-4:30pm) Rentals and lessons for all sorts of water-related activities: kayaking, water-skiing, windsurfing, parasailing, waverunners&boats.

**Sailboards Miami** (Map;  305-361-7245; www.sailboardsmiami.com; 1 Rickenbacker Causeway; kayaks single/double per hr $15/20, windsurfing per hr $30) The waters off Key Biscayne are perfect for windsurfing, kayaking&kiteboarding; get your gear and lessons here.

### Walking Tour

There are excellent walking tours available for the Art Deco Historic District – both guided and self-guided – but if you just want to hit the highlights, you can follow this quick and easy path. Start at the **Art Deco Welcome Center** ( **1** ; Click here) at the corner of Ocean Dr and 10th St and step inside for a taste of deco style in its gift shop. Next, head north on Ocean. Between 12th and 14th Sts, you'll see three classic examples of deco hotels: the **Leslie (2)** , with classic 'eyebrows' and a typically boxy shape; the **Carlyle** **(3)** , which was featured in the film _The Birdcage;_ and the graceful **Cardozo Hotel (4)** , featuring sleek, rounded edges. At 14th St, peek inside the **Winter Haven Hotel (5)** to see its fabulous terrazzo floors. Turn left and head along 14th St to Washington Ave, and turn left again to find the **US Post Office (6)** at 13th St. Step inside to admire the domed ceiling and marble stamp tables, and try whispering into the domed ceiling. Two blocks down on your left is the **11th St Diner** ( **7** ; Click here), a gleaming aluminum deco-style Pullman car where you can also stop for lunch if you're hungry. At 10th St, you'll find the **Wolfsonian** ( **8** ; Click here), an excellent museum with many deco-era treasures, and across the street is the beautifully restored **Hotel Astor (9)**. Turn left on 8th St and head one block east to Collins Ave. On the corner, you'll see **The Hotel** **(10)** – originally Tiffany Hotel and still topped by a deco-style neon spire bearing that name. Continue to Ocean Dr and turn right to see the **Colony Hotel (11)** and its famous neon sign, then double back to find the 1935 **Edison Hotel (12)** , another creation of deco legend Henry Hohauser, half a block past 9th St.

* * *

# WALK FACTS

**Start** Art Deco Welcome Center

**Finish** Edison Hotel

**Distance** 1.2 miles

**Duration** 30 minutes

* * *

### Miami for Children

The best beaches for kids are north of 21st St, especially at 53rd St, which has a playground and public toilets, and the dune-packed beach around 73rd St. Also head south to Matheson Hammock Park (Map), which has calm artificial lagoons.

Watson Island, between downtown Miami and Miami Beach, is home to two major children's attractions. The **Miami Children's Museum** (Map;  305-373-5437; www.miamichildrensmuseum.org; 980 MacArthur Causeway, Watson Island; admission $15;  10am-6pm;  ) is a hands-on museum with fun music and art studios, as well as some branded 'work' experiences that make it feel a tad corporate. On the other side of MacArthur Causeway is **Jungle Island** (Map;  305-400-7000; www.jungleisland.com; 1111 Parrot Jungle Trail, Watson Island; adult/child 3-10yr $30/24;  10am-6pm;  ), which used to be Parrot Jungle, but they added so many animal attractions a name change seemed in order.

Two more children's attractions are located in far South Miami: **Miami Metrozoo** (Map;  305-251-0400; www.miamimetrozoo.com; 12400 SW 152nd St; adult/child 3-12yr $16/12;  9:30am-5:30pm, last admission 4pm;  ) has exotic elephants, tigers and Komodo dragons. The Amazon-like **Monkey Jungle** (off Map;  305-235-1611; www.monkeyjungle.com; 14805 SW 216th St; adult/child 3-9yr $30/24;  9:30am-5pm, last admission 4pm;  ) is like an inside-out zoo, with you enclosed in screened-in trails and the simian species running free.

### Tours

Learn about art deco and its icons on a 90-minute walking tour with the Miami Design Preservation League. Tours leave from the **Art Deco Welcome Center** (Map;  305-531-3484; 1001 Ocean Dr; guided tours adult/students $20/15) at 10:30am Friday through Wednesday and 6:30pm Thursday. DIY travelers can dial up an audio tour from their cell phone anytime ( 786-312-1229; $10).

Historian extraordinaire **Dr Paul George** ( 305-375-1621; www.hmsf.org/programs-adult.htm; tours $25-44) leads fascinating bike, boat, coach and walking tours, and offers a close-up peek at Stiltsville. Look online for a full menu of options.

Tour South Beach on two wheels with **South Beach Bike Tours** ( 305-673-2002; www.southbeachbiketours.com; half-day tour per person $59), a three-hour exploration that covers a lot of ground.

### Festivals&Events

**Calle Ocho Festival** (www.carnavalmiami.com)This massive street party in March is the culmination of Carnaval Miami, a 10-day celebration of Latin culture.

**Winter Music Conference** (www.wmcon.com) The SXSW of dance music and electronica takes place every March.

**Miami Gay &Lesbian Film Festival** (www.mglff.com) This April event screens amateur and professional films at different venues around town.

**Art Basel** (www.artbaselmiamibeach.com) An art show held each December that includes parties and crossover events – a sister event to Art Basel Switzerland.

### Sleeping

So little time, so many great places to stay. Miami Beach is home to dozens of small boutique hotels in renovated art-deco buildings. To find them and other stylish options, check out www.miamiboutiquehotels.com. Oceanfront rooms are usually the most expensive and often the noisiest. Rates vary widely by season – all bets are off during spring break, when a $79 room can go for $500 – and the low end of the range usually applies to the slower summer months. Hotels with free parking are rare; expect to pay $20 to $35 a night.

#### BUDGET

**Clay Hotel &International Hostel** (Map;  305-534-2988, 800-379-2529; www.clayhotel.com; 1438 Washington Ave; dm $24-29, r $58-190;   ) Nestled right off Española Way and just blocks from the beach, this century-old Spanish-style building has an illustrious history and clean, affordable rooms.

**Tropics Hotel &Hostel** (Map;  305-531-0361; www.tropicshotel.com; 1550 Collins Ave; dm $27-34, r $90-150;        ) This friendly, sunny hostel provides a taste of that Miami vibe you came here to be part of in a centrally located deco building surrounding an Olympic-size pool. Bring your passport; it's required.

#### MIDRANGE

**Whitelaw Hotel** (Map;  305-398-7000, 877-762-3477; www.whitelawhotel.com; 808 Collins Ave; r $99-249;   ) With a decor that can only be classified as 'brothel nouveau,' this deco hotel is all done up in bright red and white, from the lobby to the rooms.

**Hotel Eva** (Map;  305-673-1199; www.hotelevamiamibeach.com; 1506 Collins Ave; r $99-299;        ) Eva's suites are kind of like staying at a friend's apartment: maybe not as stylish, but roomy and a bargain.

**Beachcomber Hotel** (Map;  305-531-3755, 888-305-4683; www.beachcombermiami.com; 1340 Collins Ave; r $99-149;      ) Inside the green-banana-colored exterior, the Beachcomber has 29 cozy rooms.

**Cadet Hotel** (Map;  305-672-6688, 800-432-2338; www.cadethotel.com; 1701 James Ave; r $125-300;        ) This unassuming little boutique with clean, crisp rooms is close to everything but manages to remain an oasis of calm.

**Hotel St Michel** (Map;  305-444-1666, 800-848-4683; www.hotelstmichel.com; 162 Alcazar Ave; r $135-229;      ) You could conceivably think you're in Europe in this vaulted place at Coral Gables, with inlaid floors, old-world charm and just 28 rooms.

**Biltmore Hotel** (Map;  305-445-1926, 800-915-1926; www.biltmorehotel.com; 1200 Anastasia Ave; r $159-349;          ) This 1926 hotel is a National Historic Landmark. Swimmers take note: it has a fabulous pool – the largest hotel pool in the country – and is just half a mile from the Venetian Pool (Click here).

 **Pelican Hotel** (Map;  305-673-3373, 800-773-5422; www.pelicanhotel.com; 826 Ocean Dr; r $160-475;      ) The name and deco facade don't hint at anything unusual, but the decorators went wild inside with great themes such as 'Best Whorehouse,' 'Executive Zebra,' and 'Big Bamboo.'

#### TOP END

**Delano Hotel** (Map;  305-672-2000, 800-697-1791; www.delano-hotel.com; 1685 Collins Ave; r Jan-Apr $345-575;        ) The rooms at this grand boutique are minimalist-chic, and the indoor/outdoor lobby is all billowing curtains and pillars with occasional _Alice in Wonderland_ touches.

**Fontainebleau Resort Hotel** (off Map;  305-538-2000; www.fontainebleau.com; 4441 Collins Ave; r from $279;          ) After a spectacular $1 billion renovation, this enormous landmark hotel, which has lured the rich and famous since the 1950s, is as resplendent as ever.

### Eating

As Florida's most international city, Miami has the most international food choices, with Cuban, 'Floribbean' and seafood always in abundance.

#### BUDGET

**Pizza Rustica** (Map;  305-674-8244; 863 Washington Ave; slices $3-5;  11am-6pm) Big square slices that are a meal in themselves – when you're wandering around hungry, there's nothing better. Also at 1447 Washington Ave and 667 Lincoln Rd.

**La Sandwicherie** (Map;  305-532-8934; 229 14th St; mains $6-8;  10am-5am) Counter service at this casual walk-up just blocks from the beach includes salads, smoothies, shakes – and, of course, sandwiches.

**Lime Fresh Mexican** (Map;  305-532-5463; 1439 Alton Rd; mains $6-10;  11am-10pm) Pig out on Mexican food Miami Beach–style: with the low-fat 'skinny burrito' or low-carb 'South Beach burrito.' (Regular fattening food is also available if you don't have a thong to worry about.)

#### MIDRANGE

**Puerto Sagua** (Map;  305-673-1115; 700 Collins Ave; mains $6-25;  7am-2am) Pull up to the counter for authentic, tasty and inexpensive _ropa vieja_ (shredded beef), black beans and _arroz con pollo_ (rice with chicken) – plus some of the best Cuban coffee in town – at this beloved Cuban diner.

 **Versailles** (Map;  305-444-0240; 3555 SW 8th St; mains $8-20;  8am-2am Mon-Thu, 8am-3:30am Fri, 8am-4:30am Sat, 9am-2am Sun) _The_ Cuban restaurant in town is not to be missed. It finds room for everybody in the large, cafeteria-style dining rooms.

* * *

# EATING FLORIDA: cuban food

You're bound to run across some Cuban food in south Florida, but what to order? If you don't know your plantains from your _ropa vieja_ , here's a good place to start:

The Cuban sandwich layers sliced pickles, roast Cuban pork, ham and Swiss cheese between two slices of buttered Cuban white bread, then the whole thing is pressed till melty. If you're in the mood for a main course, try the _ropa vieja_. It literally translates to 'old clothes' in Spanish, but it's much more delicious, made from shredded flank steak cooked in tomatoes and peppers.

As for side dishes, you've got your plantains, a cousin to the banana that's often served fried or baked in butter and cinnamon. And most mains are served with Cuban black beans and yellow rice, or a _mixto_ , which combines the two.

* * *

**Front Porch Cafe** (Map;  305-531-8300; 1418 Ocean Drive; mains $10-18;  8am-10:30pm) Pull up a chair on the front porch of the Penguin Hotel for great breakfasts, huge portions and reasonable prices, all overlooking the ocean.

**11th St Diner** (Map;  305-534-6373; 1065 Washington Ave; mains $8-16;  24hr) This deco diner housed inside a gleaming Pullman train car sees round-the-clock activity and is especially popular with people staggering home from clubs.

**Jerry's Famous Deli** (Map;  305-532-8030; www.jerrysfamousdeli.com; 1450 Collins Ave; mains $10-18;  24hr) Jerry's does it all – from pastrami melts to Chinese chicken salad to fettuccine Alfredo – and does it all day long. It also does it big, with huge portions served in a large, open, deco space.

**Novecento** (Map;  305-403-0900; 1414 Brickell Ave; mains $10-25;  11am-midnight Mon-Thu, 11am-1am Fri, 10am-1am Sat, 10am-midnight Sun) Dark wood lends an authentic ambience to this dimly-lit Argentine restaurant. It's noisy, thanks to the bar, and you'll probably be there a while – no one's in any hurry – but it's a cool downtown scene nonetheless.

#### TOP END

**Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant** (Map;  305-673-0365; 11 Washington Ave; mains $20-60;  11:30am-2pm Tue-Sat, dinner 5-10pm Sun-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat mid-Oct–mid-May, call for summer schedule) The wait is long, the prices high. But if those aren't deal-breakers, queue up to don a bib in Miami's most famous restaurant and enjoy deliciously fresh stone crab claws.

**Azul** (Map;  305-913-8288; 500 Brickell Key Dr; mains $33-65;  7am-4pm&7pm-midnight) Be pampered, coddled even, at this terrific restaurant on Brickell Key with a stellar Asian fusion menu created by Chef Clay Conley. In addition to a massive wine list and waterfront views of downtown, you'll get to experience some of the best service in all of Miami.

### Drinking&Entertainment

You'd have to try hard to be bored in Miami. The party goes on till the wee hours, with most bars staying open till 5am. There's also a cornucopia of theater and cultural performances as well as sporting events for every season. Check out www.miamiandbeaches.com for a calendar of events or www.cooljunkie.com for info on clubs, bars, galleries and more.

#### BARS&NIGHTCLUBS

To increase your chances of getting into the major nightclubs, call ahead to get on the guest list. Having gorgeous, well-dressed females in your group doesn't hurt either (unless you're going to a gay bar). There are tons of bars along Ocean Dr; wander around during happy hour for repeated offers of half price drinks.

**Skybar** (Map;  305-695-3900; Shore Club, 1901 Collins Ave) Sip chic cocktails on the alfresco terrace – they're too expensive to guzzle. Or, if you're 'somebody,' head for the exclusive indoor red room. Both have a luxurious Moroccan theme and beautiful people-watching.

**Mansion** (Map;  305-532-1525; 1235 Washington Ave; cover from $20;  Thu-Sun) This massive, 40,000-sq-ft nightclub complex has multiple dance floors, clubs, music styles and events. Be prepared for some quality time with the velvet rope and wear your nicest shoes.

**Twist** (Map;  305-538-9478; 1057 Washington Ave; admission free) This gay hangout has serious staying power and a little bit of something for everyone (except the religious right), including dancing, drag shows and go-go dancers.

**Nikki Beach Club** (Map;  305-538-1111; 1 Ocean Dr; cover from $25) Lounge on beds or inside your own tipi in this beach-chic outdoor space that's right on the sand.

**Spire Bar** (Map;  305-531-7700; 801 Collins Ave) The neon 'Tiffany' sign stands watch over this Todd Oldham–designed rooftop bar where you can keep an eye on most of Miami Beach.

**Mac's Club Deuce Bar** (Map;  305-531-6200; 222 14th St) Cough, cough. Is that your lung on the floor? No matter; quaff a cheap beer and revel in the gloriously seedy vibe in this, the beach's oldest bar, which has been pouring drinks since 1926.

**Automatic Slim's** (Map;  305-695-0795; 1216 Washington Ave) Rockers and rocker wannabes – tattoos are optional – come together at this rockabilly-light bar for theme nights and general rowdiness.

**Room** (Map;  305-531-6061, 100 Collins Ave) It's dark, atmospheric and low-key. It's also small – thus the name – which is a nice contrast to some of Miami's more grandiose offerings.

**Zeke's Roadhouse** (Map;  305-672-3118; 625 Lincoln Rd;  Wed-Sun) Cheap beer and lots of it is the big draw; the outdoor seating on Lincoln Rd doesn't hurt either.

**Playwright** (Map;  305-534-0667; 1265 Washington Ave) An affable Irish pub with a vast selection of imported beers, where you can actually hold a conversation.

**District** (Map;  305-576-7242; 35 NE 40th St) One of those 'is it a restaurant, is it a nightspot?' places in the Design District, with loungey live jazz and cocktails.

**Opium Garden &Privé** (Map;  305-531-5535; 136 Collins Ave; cover from $25) An open-sky bar with a lantern-strewn Asian decor and more action upstairs. House and dance reign supreme.

#### LIVE MUSIC

**Tobacco Road** (Map;  305-374-1198; www.tobacco-road.com; 626 S Miami Ave; tickets from $10) With a roadhouse feel and the oldest liquor license in Miami-Dade County, this rockin' joint has been around since 1912 and is often the scene of impromptu jams by well-known rockers.

Other recommendations:

**Hoy Como Ayer** (Map;  305-541-2631; www.hoycomoayer.us; 2212 SW 8th St; cover $8-25; from 9pm Wed-Sat) Authentic Cuban music.

**Jazid** (Map;  305-673-9372; www.jazid.net; 1342 Washington Ave; cover $10 Fri&Sat) Quality jazz in a candlelit lounge.

**Churchill's Pub** (Map;  305-757-1807; www.churchillspub.com; 5501 NE 2nd Ave; cover $10-15) The best of indie music – as well as UK football broadcasts.

#### THEATER&CULTURE

**Colony Theater** (Map;  305-674-1040; 1040 Lincoln Rd) Everything – from off-Broadway productions to ballet and movies – plays in this renovated 1934 art-deco showpiece.

**Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater** (Map;  305-673-7300; 1700 Washington Ave) Miami Beach's premier showcase for Broadway shows, headliners and the Miami City Ballet.

**Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts** (off Map;  305-949-6722; www.arshtcenter.org; 1300 Biscayne Blvd) Showcases jazz from around the world, as well as theater, dance, music, comedy and more.

**Miami Beach Cinematheque** (Map;  305-673-4567; www.mbcinema.com; 512 Española Way) Screens documentaries, international films and kitschy classics.

#### SPORTS

**Dolphin Stadium** (Map; 2269 NW 199th St, North Dade) is home to the NFL football team **Miami Dolphins** ( 305-620-2578; www.miamidolphins.com; tickets from $29;  season Aug-Dec) and the Major League baseball team **Florida Marlins** ( 305-626-7400; www.marlins.mlb.com; tickets from $9;  season May-Sep).

**Miami Heat** ( 786-777-4667; www.nba.com/heat; tickets from $10;  season Nov-Apr) plays NBA basketball at **American Airlines Arena** (Map; 601 Biscayne Blvd).

**Florida Panthers** ( 954-835-7000; <http://panthers.nhl.com>; tickets from $15;  season mid-Oct–mid-Apr) plays NHL hockey at the **Bank Atlantic Center** (off Map; 1 Panther Pkwy, Sunrise).

### Shopping

Browse for one-of-a-kind and designer items at the South Beach boutiques around Collins Ave between 6th and 9th Sts and along Lincoln Rd mall. For unique items, try Little Havana (Click here) and the Design District (Click here). **Little Havana to Go** (Map;  305-857-9720; 1442 SW 8th St/Calle Ocho) stocks authentic Cuban goods and clothing.

Scads of malls include Miami's most elegant, **Bal Harbour Shops** (Map;  305-866-0311; www.balharbourshops.com; 9700 Collins Ave).

### Getting There&Away

**Miami International Airport** (MIA; Map;  305-876-7000; www.miami-airport.com) is about 6 miles west of downtown and is accessible by **SuperShuttle** ( 305-871-2000; www.supershuttle.com), which costs about $15 to downtown or $20 to South Beach.

Greyhound destinations within Florida include Fort Lauderdale ($7.75, 45 minutes), Key West ($37, four hours) and Orlando ($45, five to six hours). Main terminals are the **Airport terminal** (Map;  305-871-1810; 4111 NW 27th St) and **Miami Downtown terminal** (Map;  305-374-6160; 1012 NW 1st Ave).

**Amtrak** (Map;  305-835-1222; 8303 NW 37th Ave) has a main Miami terminal. The **Tri-Rail** ( 800-874-7245; www.tri-rail.com) commuter system serves Miami (with a free transfer to Miami's transit system) and MIA, Fort Lauderdale and its airport ($8.45 round-trip), plus West Palm Beach and its airport ($11.55 round-trip).

### Getting Around

**Metro-Dade Transit** ( 305-770-3131; www.miamidade.gov/transit) runs the local Metrobus and Metrorail ($2), as well as the free **Metromover** monorail serving downtown.

Return to beginning of chapter

## FORT LAUDERDALE

Fort Lauderdale was once known as spring break party central. But, like the drunken teens who once littered the beach, the town has graduated and moved on: It's now a stylish, sophisticated city known more for museums and open-air cafes than wet tee-shirt contests and beer bongs. It's also popular among the yacht crowd for its lovely, Venice-style waterways that many people don't even realize exist. Of course, there's still a great beach; it's just settled down since its party days.

Like the rest of south Florida, Fort Lauderdale is a major gay and lesbian destination, bringing a welcome new meaning to _Where the Boys Are_. Head to the **visitor bureau** ( 954-765-4466, 800-227-8669; www.sunny.org; 100 E Broward Blvd, Suite 200;  8:30am-5pm Mon-Fri), which also has information for gay and lesbian travelers (www.sunny.org/rainbow).

The **Museum of Art** ( 954-525-5500; www.moafl.org; 1 E Las Olas Blvd; admission adult/under 5/child $10/free/7;  11am-5pm Tue-Sat, to 8pm Thu, noon-5pm Sun) is leading the revitalization of downtown, and is known for its William Glackens collection (among Glackens fans) and its exciting exhibitions (among everyone else).

A 52ft kinetic-energy sculpture greets you at the **Museum of Discovery &Science** ( 954-467-6637; www.mods.org; 401 SW 2nd St; adult/child/senior $15/12/14;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-6pm Sun;  ). Fun exhibits include Gizmo City and Runways to Rockets – where it actually _is_ rocket science. Admission to the IMAX theater is included.

Nostalgic car-lovers motor over to the **Fort Lauderdale Antique Car Museum** ( 954-779-7300; www.antiquecarmuseum.org; 1527 SW 1st Ave; adult/child under 12 $8/free;  10am-4pm Mon-Sat), features 22 vintage Packards and lots of auto memorabilia.

Add some green to your travel diet with the **Bonnet House Museum &Gardens** ( 954-563-5393; www.bonnethouse.org; 900 N Birch Rd; adult/under 6/child $20/free/16;  10am-4pm Tue-Sat, noon-4pm Sun, last house tour 2:30pm). Wandering the 35 acres of lush, subtropical gardens, you might just spot the resident Brazilian squirrel monkeys.

Explore the 'Venice of America' with a romantic **gondola ride** ( 877-926-2467; www.gondolaman.com; ride $125;  by appointment) that takes you up and down the canals of the rich and famous. Or, for the best unofficial tour of the city, hop on the **Water Bus** ( 954-467-6677; www.watertaxi.com; day pass adult/child under 12 $13/10, general admission $7 after 7pm;  10:30am-midnight), whose drivers offer a lively narration of the passing scenery. Get off and on at different stops around town; call or check online for locations.

### Sleeping

The area from Rio Mar St at the south to Vistamar St at the north, and from Hwy A1A at the east to Bayshore Dr at the west, offers the highest concentration of accommodations in all price ranges. Check out Superior Small Lodgings at www.sunny.org/ssl.

**Deauville Hostel &Crewhouse** ( 954-568-5000; www.deauvillehostel.com; 2916 N Ocean Blvd; dm $25, s/d $59/89;     ) This spiffy hostel just a few blocks from the ocean is cute, clean, friendly and professional – not to mention a steal.

**A Little Inn by the Sea** ( 954-772-2450; www.alittleinn.com; 4546 El Mar Dr; incl breakfast r $109-159, ste $189-239;     ) The bright, breezy rooms here have standard Florida beach decor – tiled floors, wicker and tropical prints – but you also get breakfast, bikes and the beach, plus a quieter, out-of-the-way location in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

**Riverside Hotel** ( 954-467-0671, 800-325-3280; www.riversidehotel.com; 620 E Las Olas Blvd; r $139-239;          ) This Fort Lauderdale landmark – fabulously located downtown on Las Olas – has three room types: more modern rooms in the newer tower, restored rooms in the original property and the more old-fashioned 'classic' rooms.

**Pelican Grand** ( 954-568-9431, 800-525-6232; www.pelicangrandresort.com; 2000 N Ocean Blvd; r $209-379;          ) Like staying in a comfy but upscale beach house – that just happens to be 11 stories tall. This oceanfront resort is right on the beach and includes a lazy river ride for freshwater fun.

Gay and lesbian travelers have a plethora of gay-friendly properties to choose from; browse your option at www.sunny.org/rainbow or www.gayfortlauderdale.com. Among the choices is the all-male **Schubert Resort** ( 954-763-7434; www.schubertresort.com; 855 NE 20th Ave; ste $99-309;       ). The exterior is motel-chic, the suites are spacious and lovely, and their clothing-optional policy means no one need ever feel encumbered by clothing.

### Eating

**Floridian** ( 954-463-4041; 1410 E Las Olas Blvd; mains $5-12;  5:30-10pm Tue-Sun;  ) 'The Flo' satisfies with good diner food including outstanding breakfasts served round the clock. A 1930s classic diner, it keeps up with the times by offering free wi-fi.

**Shuck N Dive** ( 954-462-0088; 650 N Federal Hwy; mains $7-20;  11am-11pm) A cluttered shrine to Louisiana State University and the New Orleans Saints, this unassuming strip-mall restaurant serves up a mean Cajun menu.

**Le Tub** ( 954-921-9425; 1100 N Ocean Dr, Hollywood; mains $9-27;  noon-4am) Head to Hollywood (about 10 miles south) for Le Tub's funky ambience and juicy burgers, which have garnered nationwide buzz.

**Casablanca Cafe** ( 954-764-3500; 3049 Alhambra St; mains $10-38;  11:30am-1am Sun-Tue, to 2am Wed-Sat) Try to score a seat on the upstairs balcony of this Moroccan-style home where they serve Mediterranean-inspired food and Florida-style ocean views. For just a taste of the ambience, drop by for happy hour.

**Sublime Restaurant &Bar** ( 954-539-9000; 1431 N Federal Hwy; mains $15-19;  5:30-10pm Tue-Sun;  ) Shrugging off the alfalfa-sprout image, this chic restaurant serves such inventive and delicious dishes that even carnivores won't miss the meat.

**Chima** ( 954-712-0580; 2400 E Las Olas Blvd; all-you-can-eat dinner $49.50;  5:30-9:30pm Mon-Thu, to 10pm Fri, to 10:30pm Sat, 4pm-9pm Sun) Gaucho-costumed servers herd a never-ending cavalcade of meats from table to table in this Brazilian _churrasco_ -style steakhouse. And while that may sound campy, it's not: Chima's upscale locale is one of the nicest on Las Olas.

### Drinking&Entertainment

Bars generally stay open until 4am on weekends and 2am during the week; check out **Metromix** (southflorida.metromix.com) for listings. Meander the **Riverwalk Arts &Entertainment District** (www.riverwalk-ae.com) along the New River, where you'll find the **Las Olas Riverfront** ( 954-522-6556; SW 1st Ave at Las Olas Blvd), with stores, restaurants, a movie theater and entertainment. During the winter season, 2nd St is periodically closed off for a giant street party.

There's live music nightly at **O'Hara's Pub &Jazz Cafe** ( 954-524-1764; 722 E Las Olas Blvd) and the **Poor House** ( 954-522-5145; 110 SW 3rd Ave). Featured in the movie _Where the Boys Are,_ **Elbo Room** ( 954-463-4615; 241 S Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd) hangs onto its somewhat seedy reputation as one of the oldest and diviest bars around.

Laid-back **Lulu's Bait Shack** ( 954-463-7425; 17 S Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd) lures 'em in with buckets of beer, bowls of mussels and fishbowl drinks for all, right on the edge of the ocean.

### Getting There&Around

The **Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport** (FLL;  954-359-1200; www.fll.net) is served by more than 35 airlines, some with nonstop flights from Europe. A taxi from the airport to downtown costs around $20.

The **Greyhound station** ( 954-764-6551; 515 NE 3rd St at Federal Hwy) is five blocks from Broward Central Terminal, with multiple daily services. The **train station** ( 954-587-6692; 200 SW 21st Tce) serves **Amtrak** ( 800-872-7245; www.amtrak.com), and the **Tri-Rail** ( 800-874-7245; www.tri-rail.com) has services to Miami and Palm Beach.

Hail a **Sun Trolley** ( 954-761-3543; www.suntrolley.com; per ride 50¢;  Thu-Sun) for rides between downtown, the beach, Las Olas and the Riverfront, Thursday through Sunday.

Return to beginning of chapter

## PALM BEACH&AROUND

Palm Beach isn't all yachts and mansions – but just about. This area, 45 miles north of Fort Lauderdale, is where railroad baron Henry Flagler built his winter retreat, and it's also home to Donald Trump's **Mar-a-Lago** (cnr Southern&S Ocean Blvds). In other words, if you're looking for a beach town or Florida kitsch, keep driving. Contact the Palm Beach County **Convention &Visitor Bureau** ( 561-233-3000, 800-833-5733; www.palmbeachfl.com; 1555 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd;  8:30am-5:30pm Mon-Fri) in West Palm Beach for area information and maps.

### Boca Raton

Halfway between Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach is this largely residential stretch of picturesque coast that's been preserved from major development. The main reason to stop is the outstanding **Boca Raton Museum of Art** ( 561-392-2500; www.bocamuseum.org; 501 Plaza Real, Mizner Park; adult/child under 12 $8/free;  10am-5pm Tue, Thu&Fri, to 9pm Wed, noon-5pm Sat&Sun), which has a permanent collection of works by Picasso, Matisse and Warhol, and more than 1200 photographic images. Special exhibitions have a higher admission cost. The museum is in **Mizner Park** (www.miznerpark.org; cnr US 1&Mizner Blvd), which isn't really a park so much as a ritzy outdoor mall with stores, restaurants and regular free concerts. While there, stop by the **Dubliner** ( 561-620-2540; mains $12-23;  4pm-2am), where you can have your beer and eat it too, thanks to the Guinness fondue appetizer.

### Palm Beach

About 30 miles north of Boca Raton are Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. The two towns have flip-flopped the traditional beachland hierarchy: Palm Beach, the beach town, is more upscale, while West Palm Beach on the mainland is younger and livelier. Because Palm Beach is an enclave of the ultrawealthy, especially during its winter 'social season,' most travelers just window-shop the oceanfront mansions and boutiques lining the aptly named **Worth Avenue**.

But it's worth a drive across the causeway to visit the resplendent **Henry Morrison Flagler Museum** ( 561-655-2833; www.flaglermuseum.com; 1 Whitehall Way; adult/child/youth $15/3/8;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) housed in the railroad magnate's winter estate, Whitehall Mansion. Admission includes the house, special exhibits, Flagler's personal train car and an excellent acoustic guide. Call about afternoon tea ($18), served during winter in the lovely glassed-in pavilion.

Modeled after Rome's Villa Medici, Flagler's opulent oceanfront 1861 hotel, **Breakers** ( 561-655-6611, 888-273-2537; www.thebreakers.com; 1 S County Rd; r from $195;          ) is a super-luxurious world unto itself, encompassing two golf courses, 10 tennis courts, a three-pool Mediterranean beach club and a trove of restaurants.

Watch the well-heeled try to navigate their messy condiments (and be sure to grab something for yourself) at the anachronistically casual **Hamburger Heaven** ( 561-655-5277; 314 S County Rd; mains $6-11;  7:30am-3pm Mon-Sat, 7:30am-8pm winter). Or, kick it Formica-style with an egg cream and a low-cal platter at **Green's Luncheonette** ( 561-832-4443; 151 N County Rd; mains $3-11;  7am-3pm Mon-Sat, to 2pm Sun) inside Green's Pharmacy.

### West Palm Beach

Inland from Palm Beach is West Palm Beach, with a more relaxed vibe that's not so painstakingly tasteful. Start your visit at the well-regarded **Norton Museum of Art** ( 561-832-5196; www.norton.org; 1451 S Olive Ave; admission adult/child 12yr&under/student $8/free/3;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm Sun Oct-May, closed Mon May-Oct), housing American and European modern masters and impressionists, along with a large Buddha head presiding over an impressive Asian art collection.

If the kids are bored by all the opulence, treat them to the planetarium, aquarium and interactive exhibits at the **South Florida Science Museum** ( 561-832-1988; www.sfsm.org; 4801 Dreher Trail N; adult/child museum $9/6, planetarium extra $4/2;  10am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat, noon-6pm Sun;  ).

The coolest lodging in town is **Hotel Biba** ( 561-832-0094; www.hotelbiba.com; 320 Belvedere Rd; r $99-215;     ). The retro-funky exterior looks like a cute, 1950s motel in honeydew-melon green, but the rooms have a modern boutique style that would be right at home in Miami's SoBe.

Much of the action centers around **CityPlace** (www.cityplace.com; 700 S Rosemary Ave), a European village-style alfresco mall with splashing fountains and a slew of dining and entertainment options. **Clematis Street** also has several worthy bars and restaurants to recommend it. Try **Rocco's Tacos &Tequila Bar** ( 561-650-1001; 24 Clematis St; mains $9-19;  11:30am-11pm Sun&Mon, to midnight Tue-Wed, to 1am Thu-Sat) for, well, tacos and tequila. Make that 175 different kinds of tequila – no wonder it's so loud in here!

Admirably servicing its migration of snowbirds, **Palm Beach International Airport** (PBI;  561-471-7420; www.pbia.org), 2.5 miles west of downtown West Palm Beach, can be a good alternative gateway to the south Florida region. The downtown **Tri-Rail station** ( 800-874-7245; 201 S Tamarind Ave) also serves as the **Amtrak station** ( 561-832-6169).

Return to beginning of chapter

## THE EVERGLADES

To the uninitiated, the Everglades might appear to be nothing more than a big swamp full of alligators and the place where they occasionally find dead bodies on _CSI: Miami_. First of all, it's not a swamp; it's a wet prairie. This may be splitting hairs, but swamps have trees, whereas the Everglades only have tree islands. It's also not stagnant, as some people believe, but creeps slowly – verrry slowly – towards the ocean. You _will_ see alligators, although they won't be wearing chef hats or driving airboats as the campy roadside signs will have you believe.

The Everglades is an incredible, unique ecosystem, a subtropical wilderness that supports creatures such as endangered American crocodiles, bottlenose dolphins, manatees, snowy egrets, bald eagles and ospreys. And amid the mangroves, cypress, hardwood hammocks and miles of sawgrass, there are endless opportunities for hiking, bicycling, canoeing, kayaking, boating, camping and fishing.

The Everglades has two seasons: the wet season and the dry season. And it makes a big difference which it is when you visit. The winter dry season – from December to April – is the prime time to visit: the weather is mild and pleasant and the wildlife is out in abundance. In the summer wet season – May through November – it's hot and humid and there are frequently afternoon thunderstorms. The animals disperse, but the bugs don't, and they'll be looking for you. The one upside to visiting in the wet season is that you won't be sharing your experience with as many tourists.

### Everglades National Park

While the Everglades have a history dating back to prehistoric times, the park wasn't founded until 1947. It's the only national park preserved not for its stunning beauty, but because someone had the foresight to recognize its ecological importance. It's considered the most endangered national park in the USA, but the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (see the boxed text, opposite) has been enacted to undo some of the damage done by draining and development.

#### ORIENTATION&INFORMATION

The only road taking you south into the heart of the park is Rte 9336. Rte 997 takes you north–south along the park's eastern edge. Running east–west, the Tamiami Trail (a contraction of Tampa–Miami) is a breathtaking drive between the coasts. It runs parallel to the northern (and far less scenic) Alligator Alley, or I-75.

* * *

# HOT TOPIC: SAVING THE EVERGLADES

A hundred years ago, politicians occupied themselves with how to drain the Everglades. Now, environmentalists and even politicians are working hard to bring the water back.

The Everglades was once a vibrant 100-mile-long river that flowed from Lake Okeechobee to the southern tip of Florida. In order to control flooding and reclaim the land, dikes were built and canals were dug. In 1906, the thirsty, non-native melaleuca tree was even introduced to help suck up all the water.

It all worked too well. The Everglades shrank to a fraction of their original size. The delicate ecosystem – which provides fresh water to the region and supports several endangered species – was on the verge of collapse. Today, water levels are a constant concern, as is water quality.

Now, the Corps of Engineers along with federal, state, local and tribal governments are coming together to carry out the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, approved as part of the Water Resources Development Act in 2000. It will take 30 years and billions of dollars, but the plan involves filling in canals, taking out levees and restoring the water flow.

For a thorough and fascinating look at how this story has unfolded over time, visit the excellent website, www.theevergladesstory.org.

* * *

The main park entry points have visitor centers where you can get maps, camping permits and ranger information. You only need to pay the entrance fee (per car/pedestrian $10/5 for seven days) once to access all points.

Even in winter it's almost impossible to avoid mosquitoes, but they're ferocious in summer: bring _strong_ repellent. Alligators are also prevalent. As obvious as it sounds, don't provoke them or even feed them: it's important that they don't learn to associate humans with food, and anyway, they can't tell where the food ends and the human begins. Although you're not likely to see them, poisonous snakes here include the diamondback and pigmy rattlesnakes, cottonmouth or water moccasin (which swims along the surface of water), and coral snakes; wear long, thick socks and lace-up boots.

#### SIGHTS&ACTIVITIES

If you're just driving out from Miami to take a quick peek, the best use of your time is to head straight to **Shark Valley Visitor Center** ( 305-221-8776; Tamiami Trail;  8:30am-6pm), where you can take an excellent two-hour **tram tour** ( 305-221-8455; adult/child 3-12yr $16.25/10) along a 15-mile asphalt trail where you'll see copious numbers of alligators in the winter months. Not only do you get to experience it from the shady comfort of a breezy tram, but it's narrated by knowledgeable park rangers who give a fascinating overview of the Everglades and its inhabitants. Halfway along the trail you'll come to a 50ft-high observation tower, an out-of-place concrete structure that offers a dramatic panorama of the park. You can also walk in or **bicycle** (bike rental per hr $7); guided full-moon bike tours are offered from January to April; call the main number for more info.

For people who have more than a couple of hours to spare, head south to the **Ernest Coe Visitor Center** ( 305-242-7700; www.nps.gov/ever; Hwy 9336;  8am-5pm, from 9am in summer), which is packed with information about trails and other activities and has excellent, museum-like exhibits. Call for a schedule of fun ranger-led programs, including the 'slough slog,' a two-hour wet walk through the slow-moving grassy river. Most programs start at the nearby **Royal Palm Visitor Center** ( 305-242-7700; Hwy 9336;  8am-4:15pm), where you can also catch two short trails. The Anhinga Trail is great for wildlife spotting, especially alligators and especially in winter, and the Gumbo-Limbo showcases plants and trees.

From here, you can drive 38 miles to the coast and the **Flamingo Visitor Center** ( 239-695-3094;  7:30am-5pm Dec-Apr, hrs vary May-Nov), which has maps of canoeing and hiking trails. If you've been to the area before, you might notice the conspicuous absence of the Flamingo Lodge and restaurant – the only lodging and eating options in the park – which were wiped out by hurricanes in 2005. However, the **Flamingo Marina** ( 239-695-3101;  7am-7pm Mon-Fri, 6am-7Pm Sat&Sun) still offers boat rentals and tours, plus a store where you can buy food and supplies.

For a completely different perspective, visit the park from the opposite side. At the northwestern edge of the Everglades is the **Gulf Coast Visitor Center** ( 239-695-3311; 815 Oyster Bar Lane off Hwy 29, Everglades City;  9am-4:30pm). From here, the **10,000 Islands** mangroves and waterways offer incredible canoeing and kayaking opportunities – including short trips to sandy beaches and shallow, brackish lagoons – and the 99-mile **Wilderness Waterway** , which runs along the park's southern edge from here to Flamingo. Rangers lead canoe trips and walks, and a **concessionaire** ( 239-695-2591; boat tours adult/child 5-12yr $26.50/13.25, canoe rental per day $25) offers 90-minute boat tours plus canoe rentals.

Think of the Everglades and you might think of airboats (those flat-bottom crafts with a giant fan on the back), but actually they're forbidden in the park proper. The best place to take a 30- to 45-minute ride is at the family-owned **Everglades Alligator Farm** ( 305-247-2628; www.everglades.com; 40351 SW 192 Ave, Homestead; adult/child $23/15.50;  9am-6pm), where you can also hold baby alligators.

#### SLEEPING

Sleep tight, and don't let the alligators bite. The Everglades has developed **campsites** ( 239-695-0124, 800-365-2267; www.recreation.gov; campsites $14;  Sep-May) inside the park and at Long Pine Key, 7 miles from the main entrance. They're free during the brutally hot months (lucky you) but the rest of the year there's a fee and you'll need reservations.

Camping elsewhere in the park includes beach sites, ground sites and chickees (covered wooden platforms above the water) in the backcountry along the Wilderness Waterway. **Backcountry camping** (tent sites $10) is permitted throughout the park but a permit from the visitor center is required.

Return to beginning of chapter

## AROUND THE EVERGLADES

Coming from Miami, the gateway towns of Homestead and Florida City on the east side of the park make an ideal base, especially if you're headed for the Keys. Comprehensive information about the region is available at www.evergladesonline.com.

### Biscayne National Park

Just south of Miami (and east of Homestead and Florida City) is this national park that's 95% water. But the 5% of land is some of the most serene and secluded waterfront you'll find. Here you can see manatees and sea turtles in four diverse ecosystems (keys, coral reef, mangrove forest and bay). Get general park information from **Dante Fascell Visitor Center** ( 305-230-7275; 9700 SW 328th St, Homestead;  9am-5pm). A park **concessionaire** ( 305-230-1100; www.biscayneunderwater.com) runs three-hour glass-bottom boat tours, snorkel trips, and dive trips, all of which require reservations, and also rents canoes and kayaks.

* * *

# WHERE's ROBERT?

Hot? Hungry? Heading towards the Everglades? You must – must! – stop at **Robert is Here** ( 305-246-1592; 19200 SW 344th St, Homestead;  8am-7pm Nov-Aug;  ) for a key lime milk shake (unless it's September or October, in which case you'll just have to stare longingly at the sign). This roadside fruit stand has local produce and a bevy of milk shake flavors. But it's one of the few places in the world where you'll find a key-lime–flavored milk shake, which has the perfect sweet-to-tart ratio and will have you perky and refreshed in no time.

* * *

### Florida City&Homestead

A favored kitschy tourist stop in Homestead is **Coral Castle** ( 305-248-6345; www.coralcastle.com; 28655 S Dixie Hwy, Homestead; adult/child $9.75/5;  8am-6pm Sun-Thu, 8am-9pm Fri&Sat), which isn't a castle at all but a delightfully weird sculpture garden and monument to lost love.

The Homestead-Florida City area has no shortage of chain motels and fast-food restaurants, but there are some gems worth searching out, including the **Everglades International Hostel &Tours** ( 800-372-3874, 305-248-1122; www.evergladeshostel.com; 20 SW 2nd Ave, Florida City; dm/r $28/75;       ). Even if you're not staying here, one of the best ways to see the park is with the hostel's **canoe &slough slog tour** (all day incl meals $60-100), led by wilderness guides from November to March. You can also rent canoes ($30) and bikes ($15) to explore on your own. North of town, **Grove Inn** ( 305-247-6572; www.groveinn.com; 22540 SW Krome Ave, Miami; r $99-109     ) lets you escape the fast-paced Homestead lifestyle for more rural delights. Enjoy a tropical garden, homey rooms, and a full country breakfast.

Not just a restaurant but a bit of a social center, as well, the always-lively **White Lion Cafe** ( 305-248-1076; 146 NW 7th St, Homestead; mains $7-22;  11am-3pm Mon-Sat, 5pm 'till the fat lady sings' Tue-Sat) has BBQs, patio parties and karaoke, and the inside is still cute enough to bring your grandmother for lunch. The diverse menu includes a $200 peanut-butter-jelly sandwich served with a complimentary bottle of Dom Perignon. For middle-of-the-night cravings, the dependable **Mario's Latin Cafe** ( 305-247-2470; 1090 N Homestead Blvd, Homestead; mains $5-14;  24hr) is open all night and even delivers from 10am to 10pm.

### Tamiami Trail

On the north edge of Everglades National Park – just across the Tamiami Trail – is the 1139-sq-mile **Big Cypress National Preserve** (www.nps.gov/bicy). Residents include alligators, snakes, Florida panthers (rarely seen), wild turkeys and many impressively large birds. Great bald cypress trees are nearly gone from the area, but dwarf pond cypress thrive. Thirty-one miles of the **Florida National Scenic Trail** ( 352-378-8823; www.florida-trail.org) cut through Big Cypress. Get information from the **Oasis Visitor Center** ( 239-695-1201;  9am-4:30pm), about 20 miles west of Shark Valley. The preserve's four no-fee primitive **campgrounds** ( 239-695-1201) are along the Tamiami Trail and Loop Rd; **Monument Lake Campground** (campsites $16) has more developed facilities.

Half a mile east of the visitor center, drop into the **Big Cypress Gallery** ( 239-695-2428; www.clydebutcher.com; 52388 Tamiami Trail, Ochopee;  10am-5pm Wed-Mon Dec-Apr, Fri-Mon May-Nov), displaying Clyde Butcher's work; his large-scale B&W landscape photographs spotlight the region's unusual beauty.

North of Alligator Alley (Hwy 75) **Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum** ( 863-902-1113; www.ahtahthiki.com; Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation, Hwy 8333; adult/child $9/6;  9am-5pm Tue-Sun) has a 1.5-mile, wheelchair-accessible nature trail that takes you through a 60-acre cypress dome to a re-created Seminole village.

A good pit stop as you're heading to or from Miami is the **Pit Bar BQ** ( 305-226-2272; 16400 SW 8th St, Miami; mains $7-12;  11am-10pm, closing hr vary), a screened-in roadside place with checkered table clothes and homemade BBQ sauce.

### Everglades City

This small town at the edge of the park warrants a mention mostly as a good base for exploring 10,000 Islands or the Wilderness Waterway. You don't have to be a big-time hunter-gatherer to bunk at the **Rod &Gun Lodge** ( 239-695-2101; www.evergladesrodandgun.com; 200 Riverside Dr; r $95-140;    ). Even though it was built as a hunting lodge, it still has wraparound porches, cozy rooms and a tranquil riverside setting. The **Ivey House Bed &Breakfast** ( 239-695-3299; www.iveyhouse.com; 107 Camellia St; r $60-145;     ) lets you choose between basic accommodations in the lodge (a former boarding house) or somewhat sprucer rooms in the inn.

A bright spot in the local dining scene, **JT's Island Grill &Gallery** ( 239-695-3633; 238 Mamie St, Chokoloskee; mains $4-12;  11am-3pm late Oct-May) sits on the edge of town, serving up lunch in a restored 1890 general store with kitsch and charm to spare.

For dinner, try the **Everglades Seafood Depot** ( 239-695-0075; 102 Collier Ave; mains $12-28), a seafood joint serving everything that swims in an atmosphere best described as 1970s nautical.

East of Everglades City – and just east of Ochopee – is the quintessential 1950s-style swamp shack, **Joanie's Blue Crab Cafe** ( 239-695-2682; 39395 Tamiami Trail; mains $9-15;  10am-5pm Wed-Mon), with open rafters, colorful, shellacked picnic tables and a swamp dinner of gator nuggets and fritters.

Return to beginning of chapter

## FLORIDA KEYS

Before Henry Flagler completed his railroad in 1912, which connected the Keys to the mainland, this 126-mile string of islands was just a series of untethered bumps of land accessible only by boat. (Little surprise, then, that their early economies were built on piracy, smuggling, ship salvaging and fishing). Flagler's railroad was destroyed by a hurricane in 1935, but what remained of its bridges allowed the Overseas Hwy to be completed in 1938. Now, streams of travelers swarm down from the mainland to indulge in the alluring jade-green waters, laid-back island lifestyle, great fishing and idyllic snorkeling and diving.

The Upper Keys – from Key Largo to Islamorada – are cluttered with touristy shops and motels, and from the highway you can't even see the water. But as you go farther south into the Middle Keys, the land starts to open up, offering the startling realization that you're actually driving from island to island. Trailing off like ellipses, the islands get smaller as you reach the Lower Keys, which is everything from Little Duck Key on. But far from petering out, the keys reach their grand finale at the end of the highway in Key West – the favorite key of all for many visitors.

Many addresses in the Keys are noted by their proximity to mile markers (indicated as MM), which start at MM126 in Florida City and count down to MM0 in Key West. They also might indicate whether they're 'oceanside,' which is the south side of the highway, or 'bayside,' which is north.

The **Florida Keys &Key West Visitors Bureau** ( 800-352-5397; www.fla-keys.com) has information on the entire area.

### Key Largo

There are high expectations as you come over the Overseas Hwy onto Key Largo. You've heard of it your whole life. Made famous in film by Bogie and Bacall, it's been immortalized in song by musicians from the Beach Boys to Sade to Bertie Higgins. It sounds so romantic. And then you get there.

OK, it may be time to re-adjust. It's just a sleepy island and the views from the highway aren't even all that good. But there are water sports galore and some of the best snorkeling and diving around, thanks to the only living coral reef in the continental US. For maps and brochures, visit the **chamber of commerce** ( 305-451-4747, 800-822-1088; www.keylargo.org; MM 106 bayside;  9am-6pm).

Diving is best at **John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park** ( 305-451-1202; www.pennekamppark.com; MM 102.5 oceanside; vehicle $3.50, with 2 passengers $6, each additional passenger 50c, pedestrian $1.50), the first underwater park in the US. In addition to a live coral reef, you can see the underwater **Christ of the Deep** , a 9ft algae-covered bronze statue that's a replica of Italy's Christ of the Abyss.

If you want to stay dry, you can view the dazzling fish and coral during a 2½-hour **glass-bottom boat tour** (adult/child $24/17;  9:15am, 12:15pm&3pm). Or you can dive right in with a **snorkeling trip** (adult/child $30/25 plus gear rental;  9am, noon&3pm), or a two-location, two-tank **diving trip** ($60 plus gear rental;  departs 9:30am&1:30pm). You can also rent **canoes or kayaks** (per hr single/double $12/17) to journey through a 3-mile network of canoe trails. Call  305-451-6300 for all excursions.

Dozens of private outfitters take snorkelers and scuba divers out to the reef; half-day trips leave twice daily, usually around 9am and 1pm. **Horizon Divers** ( 305-453-3535, 800-984-3483; www.horizondivers.com; 100 Ocean Key, off MM 100 oceanside; trips snorkel $50, scuba $80) has a friendly crew and offers rentals, dive trips and even scuba instruction.

For off-park paddling, **Florida Bay Outfitters** ( 305-451-3018; www.kayakfloridakeys.com; MM 104 bayside; kayak rental per half-day $40) has kayak and canoe rentals, as well as kayak tours – including a full-moon paddle – starting at $60. You can also rent camping equipment here.

#### SLEEPING&EATING

In addition to luxe resorts, Key Largo has loads of bright, cheery motels and camping.

**John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park** ( 800-326-3521; www.pennekamppark.com; campsites $26) Sleep with the fishes – or at least near them – at one of the 47 coral-reef-adjacent sites here. Camping's poplar; reserve well in advance by phone or at www.reserveamerica.com.

 **Largo Lodge** ( 305-451-0424; www.largolodge.com; MM 101.7 bayside; cottages $95-195;  ) These charming, sunny cottages with their own private beach – family owned since the '50s – are surrounded by palm trees, tropical flowers and lots of roaming birds, for a taste of Florida in the good old days. (Over 16s only, please.)

**Sunset Cove Beach Resort** ( 877-451-0705; www.sunsetcovebeachresort.com; MM 99.5 bayside; r&cottages incl breakfast $120-180;  ) Huge fiberglass sculptures of dinosaurs, zebras and swans play host at this funky place where, along with your room, you get continental breakfast and free use of canoes, kayaks and chickee huts.

**Mrs Mac's Kitchen** ( 305-451-3722; MM 99.4 bayside; mains $5-17;  7am-9:30pm Mon-Sat) This cute roadside diner bedecked with rusty license plates serves classic highway food such as burgers and fish baskets.

**Alabama Jacks** ( 305-248-8741; 58000 Card Sound Rd; mains $5-25;  11am-7pm) On the back road between Key Largo and Florida City, this funky open-air joint draws an eclectic crowd hungry for fish dishes washed down with local beer. Try the conch fritters; they're rave-worthy.

**Hideout Restaurant** ( 305-451-0128; MM 103.5 oceanside, end of Transylvania Ave; mains $6-9;  7am-2pm daily, 5-9pm Fri) Try to blend in; this place has cheap food and a suspicious attitude toward strangers. During Friday-night fish fries, eat as much as you like for $10.95.

**Key Largo Conch House** ( 305-453-4844; MM 100.2 oceanside; mains $7-25;  7am-10pm) Now _this_ feels like the islands: conch architecture, tropical foliage, a parrot, and crab and conch dishes help ease you off the mainland.

* * *

# RESPONSIBLE SNORKELING

Coral reefs are fragile ecosystems, and the more we appreciate them, the more we're in danger of losing them. Just being aware of the risks can go a long way when you're snorkeling or diving:

  * Look at but don't touch the reef or its inhabitants.
  * Don't take anything from the reef (like shells) or leave anything behind (like trash).
  * 'Leave only footprints' is a good motto on land, but in the water you shouldn't even do that: take care not to stand on or accidentally kick the reef, and be aware of tides that could push you into it.
  * Choose biodegradable sunblock that's less harmful to marine life, and go light on personal care products that will wash off in the water. (The fish don't care how you look.)
  * Move slowly so you don't stress the fish, who might see you as a large predator, and don't chase them. In other words, try to blend in.

* * *

**Fish House** ( 305-451-4665; MM 102.4 oceanside; lunch mains $8-16, dinner mains $12-27;  11:30am-10pm) Fish nets (not the sexy kind), sea shells and a ship-like interior form the backdrop for you to enjoy fish, fish and more fish. (Try the fish.)

### Islamorada

It sounds like an island, but Islamorada is actually a string of several islands, the epicenter of which is Upper Matecumbe Key. Several little nooks of beach are easily accessible here, providing scenic rest stops. Housed in an old red caboose, the **chamber of commerce** ( 305-664-4503, 800-322-5397; www.islamoradachamber.com; MM 83.2 bayside;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat, 9am-3pm Sun) has information about the area.

Billed as 'The Sportfishing Capital of the World,' Islamorada is a good place to catch fish, look at fish, feed the fish and eat fish – it's almost Gumplike in its variety. Catering the buffet of options is **Robbie's Marina** ( 305-664-9814, 877-664-8498; www.robbies.com; MM 77.5 bayside), which offers fishing charters, jet skiing, and ecotours, and rents kayaks, boats and even houseboats. Even if you don't need watercraft, do stop to feed the tarpon. These huge fish swarm impatiently under the dock waiting for you to hand feed them from a $3 bucket of baitfish.

You'll need a boat to visit Islamorada's two greatest treasures – neither one is accessible by car. On the ocean side a few hundred yards offshore, **Indian Key Historic State Park** ( 305-664-2540; www.floridastateparks.org;  8am-sunset) is a peaceful little island with the crumbling foundations of a 19th-century settlement that was wiped out by Native Americans (who, to be fair, were there first). On the bay side, the isolated **Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park** ( 305-664-2540; www.floridastateparks.org;  8am-dusk) has virgin tropical forests and Matheson House, which was built in 1919. Robbie's Marina helps get you there with shuttles and boat rentals; call for schedules and prices.

Dolphins and sea lions perform in an intimate, close-up setting at **Theater of the Sea** ( 305-664-2431; www.theaterofthesea.com; MM 84.5 oceanside; adult/child 3-10yr $26/19;  9:30am-5pm), and for an extra fee you can meet or swim with them.

Check out layer after layer of geological history in the quarry at **Windley Reef State Geologic Site** ( 305-664-2540; www.floridastateparks.org; MM 85.5 oceanside; call for schedule), with 8ft walls of fossilized coral. For public beach access and shaded picnic tables, try **Anne's Beach** (MM 73.5 oceanside; admission free) on the oceanside boardwalk (the beach disappears at high tide). Area dive shops include **Holiday Isle Dive Shop** ( 305-664-3483, 800-327-7070; www.diveholidayisle.com; MM 84.5 oceanside; half-day snorkeling/diving $30/50, plus equipment rental $9/40), with half-day trips departing at 9am and 1pm.

#### SLEEPING&EATING

**Long Key State Recreation Area** ( 305-664-4815; www.floridastateparks.org; MM 67.5; campsites $31.49) Book as far ahead as possible for 60 coveted oceanfront campsites in a shady, 965-acre park.

**Ragged Edge Resort** ( 305-852-5389; www.ragged-edge.com; 243 Treasure Harbor Rd; r $62-169, ste $160-249;    ) Swim off the docks at this happily unpretentious oceanfront complex off MM 86.5, with spotless motel rooms, efficiencies and two-bedroom family suites.

**Lime Tree Bay Resort Motel** ( 305-664-4740, 800-723-4519; www.limetreebayresort.com; MM 68.5 bayside; r $89-117, ste $125-295;          ) A plethora of hammocks and lawn chairs provide front-row seats for the spectacular sunsets at this 2.5-acre waterfront hideaway.

**Casa Morada** ( 305-664-0044, 888-881-3030; www.casamorada.com; 136 Madeira Rd; ste incl breakfast summer $239-499, winter $329-659;     ) Twelve Miami-stylish suites make the most of their oceanside location with a sandy beach and secluded pool; yoga and breakfast are included.

**Island Grill** ( 305-664-8400; MM 85.5 oceanside; mains $8-28;  11am-10pm Sun-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat) Just under Snake Creek Bridge, this hidden spot has a lovely wooden deck made from a sunken houseboat that was raised and restored. The menu is eclectic, but mostly involves fish.

**Hog Heaven** ( 305-664-9669; MM 83 oceanside; mains $10-18;  11am-3:30am) From bar food to sandwiches and salads to T-bone steaks, their diverse menu rocks. Come during happy hour (4pm to 8pm) and bring a designated driver; the drinks are practically free.

 **Morada Bay** ( 305-664-0604; MM 81.6 bayside; lunch mains $11-15, dinner mains $24-33;  11:30am-10pm) Grab a table under a palm tree on the white-sand beach and sip a rum drink with your fresh seafood, or dance under the stars at their monthly full-moon party.

**Pierre's** ( 305-664-3225; MM 81.6 bayside; mains $34-40;  5:30-10pm Sun-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat) Pierre's occupies a two-story waterfront colonial house next door to Morada Bay and pays attention to detail, right down to the hand-cut, hand-placed wooden bar, gourmet seafood and fine wine list.

### Marathon

As you drive towards Marathon, you'll start seeing some spectacular ocean views. Halfway between Key Largo and Key West, Marathon has sizable marinas and is a hub for commercial fishing and lobster boats. Get local information at the **visitor center** ( 305-743-5417, 800-262-7284; www.floridakeysmarathon.com; MM 53.5 bayside;  9am-5pm).

#### SIGHTS&ACTIVITIES

At the southwest city limit, the **Seven Mile Bridge** is the longest of the 40-plus bridges that link the island chain. Running parallel on the north side are remnants of the original Seven Mile Bridge, built as part of the railroad to Key West. **Pigeon Key National Historic District** ( 305-743-5999; www.pigeonkey.net; adult/child $11/8.50;  9:30am-4pm, last admission 2:30pm) on the Marathon side of the bridge served as a camp for the workers who toiled 14 hours a day – thus the name 'Marathon' – to build the Overseas Hwy after the hurricane took down the railroad in the early 1900s. You can reach it by ferry (departs 10am to 2:30pm, call for schedule), which is included in your admission, or walk the 2.5 miles over the expanse of original bridge. Once there, you have access to the century-old buildings and a museum chronicling the lives of the men who lived and worked there.

If all those ocean views make you want to pull over and feel the sand between your toes, make your way to **Sombrero Beach** (Sombrero Beach Rd, off MM 50 oceanside; admission free) to sample the surf.

Escape all the development at the 63-acre **Crane Point Museums &Nature Center** ( 305-743-9100; www.cranepoint.net; MM 50.5 bayside; admission adult/child 6-12yr $11/7;  9am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun), where you'll find a vast system of nature trails and mangroves, a raised boardwalk, a rare early-20th-century Bahamian-style house, exhibits on pirates and wrecking, and a walk-through coral reef tunnel.

**Marathon Kayak** ( 305-743-0561; www.marathonkayak.com; 6363 Overseas Hwy/MM 50 oceanside; single/double half-day rental $35/50, full day $50/65) provides kayak instruction, plus three-hour guided mangrove ecotours and three-hour sunset tours (each tour per person $45).

#### SLEEPING&EATING

**Conch Key Cottages** ( 305-289-1377, 800-330-1577; www.conchkeycottages.com; MM 62.3 oceanside, Conch Key; efficiency $115-199, cottages $199-449;     ) This collection of cheery cottages and studios hidden away off the road features charmingly cozy decor, kayaks and grills, and a mess of bougainvillea.

**Rainbow Bend Fishing Resort** ( 305-289-1505, 800-929-1505; www.rainbowbend.com; MM58 oceanside; r $150-180, ste $165-280;    ) A stay here includes the half-day use of a motorboat, sailboat, paddleboat, canoe or kayak, and breakfast to fuel your adventures.

**7 Mile Grill** ( 305-743-4481; MM 47.5 bayside; mains $5-11;  7am-9pm) The stopping point along the Overseas Hwy when there was nothing else here, this local favorite has served up reliable cheap eats since 1954.

**Keys Fisheries Restaurant** ( 305-743-4353; at the end of 35th St, off MM 49 bayside; mains $6-19;  11:30am-9pm) Shoo the seagulls from your picnic table on the deck and dig in to fresh seafood in a down-and-dirty dockside atmosphere.

**Island Fish Co** ( 305-743-4191; MM 54 bayside; mains $16-24;  11:30am-11pm) Grab a spicy bowl of conch chowder and a seat overlooking the water at this huge, open-air tiki hut that has a raw bar and copious fish specialties.

### Lower Keys

Key West notwithstanding, the Lower Keys (MM 46 to MM 0) are the least developed of the island chain. The **chamber of commerce** ( 305-872-2411, 800-872-3722; www.lowerkeyschamber.com; MM 31;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-3pm Sat) is on Big Pine Key.

The Keys' most acclaimed beach – known for its shallow, warm and eminently wade-able water – is at **Bahia Honda State Park** ( 305-872-3210; www.bahiahondapark.com; MM 37 oceanside; admission per 1-/2-/additional person $3.50/6/50¢), a 524-acre park with nature trails, ranger-led programs and water-sports rentals.

Drive slowly: along the highway in Big Pine Key is the 84,000-acre **National Key Deer Refuge**. Stop by or contact the **visitors center** ( 305-872-0774; nationalkeydeer.fws.gov; MM30.5 bayside;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri) at Big Pine Shopping Center to learn more about these endangered, dog-size deer and the trails where you can view them; they're easiest to spot at dusk and dawn.

**Looe Key** teems with colorful tropical fish and coral; try **Looe Key Dive Center** ( 305-872-2215, 800-942-5397; www.diveflakeys.com; MM 27.5 oceanside) on Ramrod Key for day trips departing at 10am and returning at 3pm. This three-tank/three-location dive is $80 plus gear for scuba divers, $40 plus gear for snorkelers, and $25 for 'bubblewatchers' who want to come along for the ride.

There are two good reasons we can think of to spend the night in the lower keys instead of heading on in to Key West: a splendid beach and a private island. Camping at **Bahia Honda State Park** ( 800-326-3521; campsites $31.50, cabins $136) is sublime, but highly sought after so book ahead; there are also six waterfront cabins. If luxury and seclusion is more your idea of paradise, try **Little Palm Island** ( 305-872-2524; www.littlepalmisland.com; Little Torch Key; r $690-1290;        ), where there are 30 thatched cottages on a private island that can be reached only by boat.

It's hard to miss the jumbo shrimp statue that marks your arrival at the **Good Food Conspiracy** ( 305-872-3945; MM 30 oceanside; mains $7-10;  9:30am-70m Mon-Sat, to 5pm Sun), where you'll find healthy hippie food along with your photo op.

The proprietors at the **No Name Pub** ( 305-872-9115; N Watson Blvd off MM 30.5 bayside; mains $8-20;  11am-11pm), 1.5 miles north of US 1 on Big Pine Key, know where their retirement is coming from: the approximately $60,000 in $1 bills stapled to the walls by customers; stop by for pizza and beer.

### Key West

Anyone will tell you Key West is a little kooky – and darn proud of it. In the words of one local: 'It's like they shook the United States and all the nuts fell to the bottom.'

The town's funky, laid-back vibe has long attracted artists, renegades and free spirits. Part of that independent streak is rooted in its physical geography: barely connected to the USA, Key West is closer to Cuba than to the rest of the States. There's only one road in, and it's not on the way to anywhere. In other words, it's an easy place to do your own thing.

Because of its handy proximity to absolutely nothing, it's been immune to corporate interference. Chickens and six-toed cats have their run of the island. Bicycles are the favored means of transportation. And few people work nine to five.

Originally called 'Cayo Hueso' – Spanish for 'Bone Island' – Key West was named for all the skeletons that early explorers found littering the beach. Since then, the island has enjoyed a long and colorful history that includes pirates, sunken treasures, literary legends and lots of ghosts.

These days, people flock to Key West to soak up the sun, the mellow atmosphere and more than a little booze. They listen to tales of the past. They snorkel the crystal-clear water. And they find their internal clocks set to 'island time.'

But the town's popularity is like catnip to frisky developers, and they've started snapping up real estate – of which, on an island this small, there's not much. The town still clings to its funky charm, but the whole place is in danger of becoming a giant condo complex with a faint memory of mystique. In other words, go now so that in 10 years you can shake your head and say, 'You shoulda seen it 10 years ago.'

#### ORIENTATION&INFORMATION

When most people think of Key West, they think of Old Town, the western end of the island and the heart of the action, with inns, eateries and boisterous bars. The main drags are Duval St, which at the north end has a bit of a giant souvenir shop feel, and Truman Ave (US 1). New Town – known by most as the part of town you drive through to get to Old Town – is primarily residential.

A great trip-planning resource is www.fla-keys.com/keywest. Once in town, you'll find maps and brochures at the **Key West Chamber of Commerce** ( 305-294-2587, 800-527-8539; www.keywestchamber.org; 402 Wall St, Mallory Sq;  8am-6:30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm Sat&Sun).

Gay and lesbian visitors can get information (and free internet is available for anyone) at the **Gay &Lesbian Community Center** ( 305-292-3223; www.glcckeywest.org; 513 Truman Ave).

The best internet café (and best coffee) in town is **Coffee Plantation** ( 305-295-9808; 713 Caroline St; per min 20¢;  7am-6pm;  ), which has free wi-fi.

#### SIGHTS&ACTIVITIES

On an island this small, you have to work pretty hard to avoid the over-the-top tourist action at **Mallory Square** at the northwestern end of Duval St. Near where the cruise ships vomit out their daily load, it's hardly the real Key West, but the nightly sunset celebration is a fun ritual to indulge in, however briefly, with jugglers, fire-eaters and street performers of every stripe.

Pirates and Hemingway make up much of the island's lore and legend, so it's no surprise there are museums dedicated to both. The **Ernest Hemingway Home &Museum** ( 305-294-1136; www.hemingwayhome.com; 907 Whitehead St; adult/child $12/6;  9am-5pm) offers tours every half-hour, during which bearded docents spin yarns of Papa. You'll see his studio, hear about his unusual pool, and witness scores of descendents of his six-toed cats languishing in the sun, on furniture, and pretty much wherever they feel like.

Dedicated to all things swashbuckling, **Pirate Soul** ( 305-292-1113; www.piratesoul.com; 524 Front St; adult/child 4-10yr $14/8;  9am-7pm;  ) has an impressive collection of pirate paraphernalia, glammed up with special effects that make it either exciting or a little cheesy, depending on your perspective.

Hear an impressive tale of tenacity and treasure hunting at the **Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum** ( 305-294-2633; www.melfisher.org; 200 Greene St; adult/child $12/6;  9:30am-5pm) and gawk at the treasures salvaged from the _Atocha,_ a Spanish galleon that sank nearby almost 400 years ago.

Offering a more low-key, less swashbuckling version of Key West history, the **Museum of Art &History at the Custom House** ( 305-295-6616; www.kwahs.com/customhouse.htm; 281 Front St; adult/child $10/5;  9:30am-4:30pm) is an interesting collection of folklore, artwork and historical exhibits housed in the impressive former Customs House.

Even if you have only the faintest interest in butterflies, you'll find yourself entranced by the sheer quantity flittering all around you at the **Key West Butterfly &Nature Conservatory** ( 305-296-2988; www.keywestbutterfly.com; 1316 Duval St; adult/child $12/8.50;  9am-5pm;  ). Further your nature kick at the **Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center** ( 305-809-4750; 35 East Quay Rd; admission free;  9am-4pm Tue-Sat), which will help you appreciate the plants, animals and habitats that make up the Keys' unique ecosystem.

Don't come to Key West for its beaches; they range from rocky to algae-covered to funny-smelling. You'll find better just about everywhere else in Florida. That said, **Fort Zachary Taylor** ( 305-292-6713; www.fortzacharytaylor.com; vehicle $3.50, with 2 passengers $6, each additional passenger 50¢, pedestrian $1.50;  8am-sunset) is good for sunsets and picnics, and **Smathers Beach** on S Roosevelt Blvd provides sandy shores and sunrises.

Because pollution and boating activity have damaged the inner reefs, **snorkeling** is best a little farther out. Dive companies are easy to find, and **Sunny Days** **Catamaran** ( 305-296-5556, 800-236-7937; 201 Elizabeth St; www.sunnydayskeywest.com; adult/child $35/22) runs a top-notch trip.

Now divers have a whole new reason to visit the Keys: the artificial reef created from the **USS Vandenberg**. Sunk in 2009, the massive WWII ship is nearly two football fields in length; check with **Dive Key West** ( 305-296-3823; www.divekeywest.com) or **Subtropic Dive Center** ( 305-296-9914; www.subtropic.com) to plan your visit.

#### TOURS

You might just find out your guesthouse is haunted during the **Original Ghost Tours** ( 305-294-9255; www.hauntedtours.com; La Concha Hotel, 430 Duval St; adult/child $15/10  8pm&9pm), and you'll hear all about the creepy antics that got Robert the haunted doll confined to East Martello.

Both the **Conch Tour Train** ( 305-294-5161; adult/child $29/14;  tours depart 9am-4:30pm) and **Old Town Trolley** ( 305-296-6688; adult/child $29/14;  tours depart 9am-4:30pm) offer tours leaving from Mallory Sq. The train offers a 90-minute narrated tour in a breezy, open car, while the trolley allows you to get on and off at twelve stops around town.

**Lazy Dog Island Outfitters** ( 305-295-9898; www.mosquitocoast.net; 5114 Overseas Hwy; tour 2/4 hr $35/60) runs the Mosquito Coast Kayak Tour, which lets you explore the Keys' backcountry and mangrove islands.

#### QUIRKY KEY WEST

The much-ballyhooed **Southernmost Point Marker** (cnr Whitehead St&South St) is a large concrete buoy marking what is the southernmost point in the USA. Except that it's not. Just look at the map and you'll see points further south right there on the island.

The **East Martello Tower** ( 305-296-3913; www.kwahs.com/martello.htm; 3501 S Roosevelt Blvd; adult/child $6/3;  9:30am-4:30pm) is home to Robert the haunted doll, the inspiration for all those Chucky movies. (He's in a glass case to keep him from making mischief in the rest of the museum.)

Residents get the last word at the **Key West Cemetery** (cnr Margaret&Angela Sts), with eccentric epitaphs such as, 'At least I know where he's sleeping tonight,' or the famous 'I told you I was sick.'

#### FESTIVALS&EVENTS

Key West loves a party, and in addition to the one held every night at sunset, it hosts some unique annual celebrations, too.

**Conch Republic Independence Celebration** (www.conchrepublic.com) A 10-day tribute to Conch Independence, held every April where you can vie for (made-up) public offices or watch drag queens in a footrace.

**Hemingway Days Festival** (www.hemingwaydays.net) Includes a bull run, marlin tournament and look-alike contest, as well as literary events, in late July.

**Fantasy Fest** (www.fantasyfest.net) Room rates get hiked to the hilt for this raucous, 10-day Halloween-meets-Carnivale event held in late October.

#### SLEEPING

Key West lodging is generally pretty expensive – especially in the wintertime and even _more_ especially during special events, when room rates can triple. Book ahead, or you may well end up joining the long traffic jam headed back to the mainland.

You can find chain motels in New Town, but you've got to stay in Old Town to truly experience Key West. Visit the **Key West Innkeepers Association** (www.keywestinns.com) to find the best guesthouses, pretty much all of which are gay-friendly.

##### Budget&Midrange

**Angelina Guest House** ( 305-294-4480; www.angelinaguesthouse.com; 302 Angela St; r winter $99-179, summer $69-119;          ) Close – but not too close – to Duval St, this is great value for the money. You'd never know from its yellow-and-blue country-chic decor that it was once a bordello. There are no phones or TVs; children must be over 12.

* * *

# THE CONCH REPUBLIC

Key West is known for its independent spirit, and back in 1982 it proved just how independent it could be. The US Border Patrol, eager to staunch the flow of drugs and immigrants into the US, set up a roadblock in Florida City that backed up traffic for miles both into and out of the Keys. This had an immediate and devastating impact on Key West's economy, which was dependent on the carloads of tourists driving down from the mainland. So the island did what anyone would do: they seceded.

On April 23, Key West declared its independence from the USA in a highly publicized act of guerrilla theater. Mayor Dennis Ludlow, acting as the Prime Minister of the newly formed Conch Republic, declared war on the USA, breaking a loaf of stale Cuban bread over the head of a man dressed in a US Navy uniform. Moments later, knowing that Cuban bread would be no match for the massive military might of the US, he surrendered on behalf of the Republic. Then they demanded a billion dollars in foreign aid. The event did the trick. As a result of all the ridiculous publicity, the roadblocks were removed and everything reverted back to a seminormal state.

But the Conchs still celebrate that glorious moment and consider themselves dual citizens of the US and the Conch Republic. Every April, they reenact the secession during a week-long party that also involves bed races, parades and auctioning off made-up public titles such as Undersecretary to the King or Ambassador of Indulgence, with the proceeds going to charity.

* * *

* * *

# WORTH THE TRIP: DRY TORTUGAS

Seventy miles west of the Keys but feeling like the middle of nowhere, **Dry Tortugas National Park** ( 305-242-7700; www.nps.gov/drto) is America's most inaccessible national park. Reachable only by boat, it rewards you for your effort in getting there with amazing snorkeling, diving, bird-watching and star-gazing.

Ponce de León – a big fan of discovering and naming places – christened the area Tortugas (tor- _too_ -guzz) after the sea turtles he found here, and the 'Dry' part was added later to warn about the absence of fresh water on the island. But this is more than just a pretty cluster of islands with no drinking water. The never-completed Civil War–era **Fort Jefferson** provides a striking hexagonal centerpiece of red brick rising up from the emerald waters on **Garden Key** – meaning along with your bottled water and seasickness pills, you should definitely bring your camera.

So how do you get there? **Sunny Days Catamaran** ( 305-296-5556, 800-236-7937; www.sunnydayskeywest.com; adult/children 3-16 $145/$100) leaves Key West at 8am, arrives around 10am, and gives you 4½ hours to enjoy the island before returning. Round-trip fares include continental breakfast, lunch, snorkeling gear and a 40-minute tour of the fort (but not the $5 park admission fee).

If you really want to enjoy the isolation, stay overnight at one of Garden Key's 13 **campsites** (per person $3, plus extra $30 boat fare). Reserve early and bring everything you need, because once that boat leaves, you're on your own.

* * *

 **Key West Bed &Breakfast** ( 305-296-7274, 800-438-6155; www.keywestbandb.com; 415 William St; r winter $99-285, summer $79-175;   ) Sunny, airy and full of artistic touches: hand-painted pottery here, a working loom there – is that a ship's masthead in the corner? There are also a range of rooms to fit every budget.

**Caribbean House** ( 305-296-0999; www.geocities.com/caribbeanhousekw; 226 Petronia St; r summer/winter $85/125;  ) Rooms are tiny, but they're clean, cozy and cheery. That and the welcoming hosts add up to something that's a rare find in Key West: a bargain.

**Big Ruby's Guesthouse** ( 305-296-2323, 800-477-7829; www.bigrubys.com; 409 Appelrouth La; r winter $191-312, summer $112-182;   ) Catering to a gay clientele, this guesthouse is straight-friendly (not to mention clothing-optional) with a beach-fabulous decor and lavish breakfast.

**Wyndham Casa Marina Resort &Beach Club** ( 305-296-3535, 888-303-5717; www.casamarinaresort.com; 1500 Reynolds St; r $149-289;          ) This opulent 311-room hotel was built in the 1920s by railroad magnate Henry Flagler. The lobby still retains its old-world splendor, but the recently renovated rooms are thoroughly modern.

**Azul Key West** ( 305-296-5152; www.azulkeywest.com; 907 Truman Ave; r winter $219-259, summer $159-199;          ) Overloading on rattan furniture and Tommy Bahama prints? This boutique has a serene, spa-like atmosphere that's as cool and smooth as the sea glass they leave for each guest.

##### Top End

**Southernmost House Historic Inn** ( 305-296-3141, 866-764-6633; www.southernmosthouse.com; 1400 Duval St; r winter $240-380, summer $210-350;          ) What's that big peach and green thing? Why, that's your hotel, with a grandly garish facade but dignified, antique-laden rooms. It also has one of the nicest pools in town.

**Mermaid &The Alligator** ( 305-294-1894, 800-773-1894; www.kwmermaid.com; 729 Truman Ave; r winter $218-318, summer $148-198;       ) Book way ahead: with only nine rooms, this place's charm exceeds its capacity. It's chock-a-block with treasures collected from the owners' travels, giving it a worldly flair that's simultaneously European and Zen.

#### EATING

You aren't technically allowed to leave the island without sampling the conch fritters – like hushpuppies, but made with conch – or the key lime pie, made with key limes, sweetened condensed milk, eggs and sugar on a Graham-cracker crust.

**Blond Giraffe** ( 305-296-9174; www.blondgiraffe.com; 107 Simonton St; slice of key lime pie $4.95;  9am-8pm) Stacks of awards proclaim this shop to have the best key lime pie in town; visit one of their five locations to sample for yourself.

**El Siboney** ( 305-296-4184; 900 Catherine St; mains $5-15;  11am-9:30pm) Key West is only 90 miles from Cuba, so this awesome corner establishment is quite literally the closest you can get to real Cuban food in the US. Cash only.

**BO's Fish Wagon** ( 305-294-9272; 801 Caroline St; mains $7-14;  11am-8pm Mon-Sat, 11pm-5pm Sun) This looks like the backyard shed of a crazy old fisherman (but in a good way). Fried fish, conch fritters and cold beer – not to mention great prices – will win over any scaredy-cats in your group.

**Sarabeth's** ( 305-293-8181; 530 Simonton St; mains $7-25;  8am-3pm&6pm-close, Wed-Sun) On nice days, the patio of this historic building is the place to be, with good food and a laid-back atmosphere that invites you to linger.

 **Blue Heaven** ( 305-296-8666; 305 Petronia St; mains $10.50-30;  8am-3pm&5-10pm) The outdoor dining can be a bit like eating in a barnyard, but a funky, eclectic barnyard, with creative, well-executed dishes. Waiting in line to enjoy a nice meal with chickens scratching under your table? Welcome to Key West.

**Camille's** ( 305-296-4811; 1202 Simonton St; mains $14-25;  8am-3pm&4-10:30pm) Ditch Duval St and dine with the locals at Camille's; its inventive menu ranges from French toast with Godiva liqueur to tasty chicken salad.

#### DRINKING

The 'Duval Crawl' – hopping (or staggering) from one bar to the next – is a favorite pastime here in the Conch Republic, and there are plenty of options for your drinking pleasure.

 **Green Parrot** ( 305-294-6133; 601 Whitehead St) With tenure as the island's oldest bar (since 1890) this fabulous dive draws a lively mix of locals and out-of-towners; if you don't meet someone interesting, move over a seat.

**Captain Tony's Saloon** ( 305-294-1838; 428 Greene St) This former icehouse, morgue and Hemingway haunt is built around the town's old hanging tree. The eclectic decor includes emancipated bras and signed dollar bills.

**Garden of Eden** ( 305-296-4565; upstairs at 224 Duval St) Make like Adam and Eve at this clothing-optional rooftop bar where even the fig leaf is optional.

**Kelly's Caribbean Bar** ( 305-293-8484; 301 Whitehead St) A good place to sip a cool drink in a laid-back, patio atmosphere.

**Schooner Wharf** ( 305-292-3302; 202 William St) Happiness abounds with three happy hours a day (8am to noon, 5pm to 7pm and 2am to 4am).

**La Te Da** ( 305-296-6706; 1125 Duval St) Look for drag queens to mark your arrival at this complex that has three bars and a cabaret space famous for its drag shows.

### Getting There&Around

The easiest way to travel the Keys is by car, though traffic along the one major route, US 1, can be maddening during the winter high season. **Greyhound** (Map;  800-229-9424; 1012 NW 1st Ave, Miami) serves the Keys along US Hwy 1, departing from downtown Miami. If you fly into Fort Lauderdale or Miami, the **Keys Shuttle** ( 888-765-9997) provides door-to-door service to most of the Keys from around $90 one way. Reserve at least 24 hours in advance.

You can fly into Key West International Airport (EYW;  305-296-5439; www.keywestinternationalairport.com) with frequent flights from major cities, most going through Miami; or **Marathon Airport** (MTH;  305-743-2155), which has less frequent, more expensive flights. Or, take a fast catamaran from Fort Myers or Miami; call the **Key West Express** **Ferry** ( 888-539-2628; www.keywestshuttle.com) for schedules and fares.

If you need to ditch your car, finding street parking can be a challenge. Give up? Head to the 24-hour **Park 'n' Ride** garage ( 305-293-6426; 300 Grinnell St), where you can park for $2 per hour or $13 all day.

Return to beginning of chapter

# ATLANTIC COAST

Part of the allure of Florida's East Coast is that things go fast: from the rockets blasting out of Cape Canaveral to the high-energy surfing all along the coast to the NASCAR International Speedway. By contrast, St Augustine and Amelia Island have been around for centuries, so they're in no hurry at all, and there are miles of undeveloped beaches and wetlands for a steady, back-to-nature pace.

Return to beginning of chapter

## SPACE COAST

They call the Titusville–Cocoa Beach–Melbourne area the Space Coast because it's home to NASA, but it could just as easily be referring to the miles of undeveloped beaches and protected national parkland, where space is one thing you can find plenty of. Once the fictional home of NASA astronaut Major Nelson in the iconic 1960s TV series _I Dream of Jeannie,_ the Space Coast is the real-life home to the Kennedy Space Center, with its massive visitor complex and gut-rumbling shuttle launches. It's also a magnet for surfers, with Florida's best waves. Visitor information is available through **Florida's Space Coast Office of Tourism** ( 321-433-4470; www.space-coast.com; 430 Brevard Ave, Suite 150, Cocoa Village).

* * *

# IF YOU HAVE A FEW MORE DAYS

Head south towards Vero Beach to see the nation's very first wildlife refuge, **Pelican Island** ( 772-562-3909; www.fws.gov/pelicanisland), designated by Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. Nesting season is from late November to late July. Although the island is closed off to us featherless types, you can get close enough to witness the avian action from the observation tower or on a kayak tour (around $50 per paddler).

* * *

### Sights&Activities

Houston, we have an attraction. It was perhaps inevitable that, considering its proximity to Orlando, the **Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex** ( 321-449-4444; www.kennedyspacecenter.com; adult/child 3-11yr $38/28;  9am-5:30pm, closing times vary;  ) would have to come up with a ride, and thus **Shuttle Launch Experience** officially achieved lift-off. Reaching a top 'speed' of 17,500mph – vertically – this spookily realistic simulator ride was designed by an astronaut to feel just like taking off in a space shuttle but without all the teary goodbyes.

Your ticket to the complex – good for two days – includes a two-hour tour, a 45-minute IMAX film, live-action stage shows, exhibits on subjects such as early space exploration and encounters with astronauts. It also includes (or you can visit separately for $17/13) the **Astronaut Hall of Fame** , where you'll experience the G-Force Trainer and other simulator rides.

Add-on options abound, depending how serious you are about your astronaut experience (they're popular – book in advance). **NASA Up Close** (extra $21/15) is an in-depth tour led by an expert, and **Cape Canaveral: Then &Now** ( 321-449-4400; extra $21/15) is a guided tour focusing on the early days of space travel. Hungry space enthusiasts can have **Lunch with an Astronaut** (extra $23/16), and the one- or two-day **Astronaut Training Experience** (price depending on program) prepares you for spaceflight, should the opportunity ever arise.

To view a **rocket or space shuttle launch** up close, you have to pay an extra $15 to get bussed to a prime viewing area. Tickets go on sale a month prior to launch and sell out fast; check the website for schedules. Viewing's also good from the Visitor Complex, or head to the popular **Jetty Park Campgrounds** ( 321-783-7111; www.jettypark.org; 400 Jetty Park Dr, Cape Canaveral; per car $7), or Cherie Down Park, Rotary Riverfront Park or Brewer Pkwy bridge in Titusville. Be prepared for inevitable launch delays – and heavy traffic after it's over.

You'll have a better chance of seeing something in the sky at the 140,000-acre **Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge** ( 321-861-0667; www.fws.gov/merrittisland; SR 402, Titusville; admission free;  visitor center 8am-4:30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat&Sun, closed Sun Apr-Oct), one of the country's best birding spots, especially from October to May (early morning and after 4pm). More endangered and threatened species of wildlife inhabit the swamps, marshes and hardwood hammocks here than at any other site in the continental US. The best viewing is on **Black Point Wildlife Drive** , and **Village Outfitters** ( 321-633-7245; www.villageoutfitters.com; 113 Brevard Ave, Cocoa; half-day trip per person $30) offers kayak tours for groups of four or more. Be aware that the refuge closes in the days preceding a launch.

The 25 miles of pristine, windswept beaches at **Canaveral National Seashore** ( 321-267-1110; www.nps.gov/cana; adult/child under 16 $3/free;  6am-6pm Nov-Mar, to 8pm Apr-Oct) comprise the longest stretch of undeveloped beach on Florida's east coast. They include family-friendly **Apollo Beach** on the north end with its gentle surf, pristine **Klondike Beach** in the middle – a favorite of campers and nature lovers – and **Playalinda Beach** at the south end, which is surfer central.

### Sleeping&Eating

Rates skyrocket (hee hee) during space launches. Titusville is convenient to the Kennedy Space Center, but Cocoa has more charm and better dining options.

**Canaveral National Seashore** ( 386-428-3384; www.nps.gov/cana; 7611 S Atlantic Ave, New Smyrna Beach; 1-5/6 or more people $10/20;  9am-5pm) Backcountry beach and island camping's available at designated sites. Reservations are essential; bring everything you need including drinking water.

**Fawlty Towers Motel** ( 321-784-3870; www.fawltytowersresort.com; 100 E Cocoa Beach Causeway, Cocoa Beach; r $79-149;          ) Beneath the gloriously garish and extremely pink exterior – highlighted with bright teal, no less – lie fairly straightforward rooms with an unbeatable beachside location.

**Inn at Cocoa Bach** ( 321-799-3460; www.theinnatcocoabeach.com; 4300 Ocean Beach Blvd, Cocoa Beach; r $135-295;       ) Not ones to rest on their oceanfront laurels, this inn also offers beautifully decorated rooms (usually hard to find with sand so close by), plus free breakfast and wine-and-cheese socials every evening.

**Ron Jon Resort Cape Caribe** ( 321-799-4900; www.ronjonresort.com; 1000 Shorewood Dr, Cape Canaveral; r $130-500;       ) Activities such as mini-golf, movies, a lazy river and a 248ft waterslide make this more than just a place to lay your head for the night. Their 'villas' – fancy-talk for 'condos' – sleep four to 12 people.

**Ossorio** ( 321-639-2423; 316 Brevard Ave, Cocoa; mains $7-9,  8am-8:30pm Mon-Sat, 9am-6pm Sun) Fuel up pre- or post-beach at this sunny café in Cocoa Village, serving sandwiches, flatbread pizza, ice cream and coffee drinks.

**Coconuts on the Beach** ( 321-784-1422; 2 Minutemen Causeway, Cocoa Beach; mains $8-18;  11am-10pm, bar open to 2am) Coconuts isn't just a name; it's a favored ingredient. The oceanfront 'party deck' hosts regular live music, so head indoors if you're seeking a family atmosphere.

**Café Margaux** ( 321-639-8343; 220 Brevard Ave, Cocoa; mains $9-35;  11am-3pm&5-9:30pm Mon-Sat) Ditch the flip-flops and enjoy French-inspired cuisine and an extensive wine list in a sophisticated atmosphere that's perhaps just ever so slightly stuffy.

**Dixie Crossroads** ( 321-268-5000; 1475 Garden St, Titusville; mains $9-45;  11am-9pm Sun-Thu, to 10pm Fri&Sat) Smiling shrimp statues welcome you to a riot of murals, sculptures, fishponds and fountains – all paying homage to the fresh, local seafood. Want a lot? All-you-can-eat rock shrimp is $45 a person.

### Getting There&Away

From Orlando take Hwy 528 east, which connects with Hwy A1A. Greyhound (Click here) has services from West Palm Beach and Orlando to Titusville.

Return to beginning of chapter

## DAYTONA BEACH

With big signs and glossy pamphlets, they bill Daytona Beach as 'The World's Most Famous Beach.' But if that sets up some sort of expectation in your head, remember that the title caught on in the 1920s and its accuracy is a matter of (not much) debate.

It certainly hasn't been the same since _Girls Gone Wild_ left. Most people welcome the change, though some locals lament the decline in spring-break party action. (Can't a girl find a wet T-shirt contest _anywhere_?) In fact, because of a crackdown in partying, along with efforts to position Daytona as a family destination, the college kids don't flock in for body shots, all-night dancing and doing tangible harm to their futures the way they used to. Of course, whether families will step in remains to be seen, but the bikers already have, roaring into town every March for **Bike Week**.

One thing that's not going anywhere (except around in circles) is NASCAR, which was born here in 1947. As early as 1902, pioneers in the auto industry would drag race down the beach's hard-packed sands to test their inventions. That gave way to stock-car racing, which paved the way for Bill France, Sr, who ran the Daytona Beach Race Course, to formalize the event and move it to the Daytona International Speedway.

The **Daytona Beach Convention &Visitors Bureau** ( 386-255-0415, 800-544-0415; www.daytonabeach.com; 126 E Orange Ave;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri) has a **visitor center** ( 386-253-8669; 1801 W International Speedway Blvd;  8.30am-7pm) in the lobby of Daytona 500 Experience (below). Information for gay and lesbian travelers is available at www.gaydaytona.com.

* * *

# SURF'S UP IN THE SUNSHINE STATE

Despite all the sunshine and shoreline, Florida is no _Endless Summer_. The water around Miami tends to stay flat, and much of the Gulf Coast is too protected to get much of a swell. You'll find surfable waves along the mid- to north Atlantic coast. For webcams, forecasts and info on the best spots in the state (and the country), check out www.surfline.com.

The best surf school in Cocoa Beach for all ages and levels is the state's largest, **Ron Jon Surf School** ( 321-868-1980; www.ronjonsurfschool.com; 150 W Columbia Lane; semiprivate/private lessons per hr $50/65) run by ex-pro surfer and Kelly Slater coach, Craig Carroll.

* * *

### Sights&Activities

During daylight hours – tide permitting – you can still drive sections of the former race track on **Daytona Beach** ( 386-239-7873) at a top speed of 10mph. Car access to the beach costs $5 ($3 after 3pm) and is free during December and January.

The Holy Grail of raceways is the **Daytona International Speedway** ( box office 800-748-7467; www.daytonaintlspeedway.com; 1801 W International Speedway Blvd; tickets from $20). Ticket prices accelerate rapidly for the big races headlined by the **Daytona 500** in February, but you can wander the massive stands for free on nonrace days. Adjoining the speedway, **Daytona 500 Experience** ( 386-681-6800; www.daytona500experience.com; adult/child 6-12yr $24/19;  10am-6pm) is a superbly flashy shrine to the sport, including 3-D IMAX films, motion simulators and a 30-minute tram tour of the racetrack and pits. Real fanatics might want to indulge in the **Richard Petty Driving Experience** , where you can either ride shotgun ($135) or take the wheel ($525 to $2199) for laps around the track.

The **Museum of Arts &Sciences** ( 386-255-0285; www.moas.org; 352 S Nova Rd; adult/student $13/7;  9am-5pm Tue-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun) has a wonderful mishmash of everything from Cuban art to Coca-Cola relics to a 13ft giant sloth skeleton. About 6 miles south of Daytona Beach, you can walk the 203 steps up to the top of **Ponce Inlet Lighthouse** ( 386-761-1821; www.ponceinlet.org; 4931 S Peninsula Dr; adult/child $5/1.50;  10am-6pm winter, to 9pm summer) and congratulate yourself: it's Florida's tallest. In this auto-obsessed town where cars are a religion, you can pull right up for church at the **Daytona Beach Drive-In Church** ( 386-767-8761; www.driveinchurch.net; 3140 S Atlantic Ave;  8:30am&10am Sun), a former drive-in movie theater where you attach a speaker to your car to hear the sermon.

### Sleeping

The 2004 triple-hurricane action blew the roof off properties and left the beach a general shambles. Some hotels completely renovated and others shut down, with lots of condos springing up in their place. Prices soar during events; book well ahead.

 **Tropical Manor** ( 386-252-4920; www.tropicalmanor.com; 2237 S Atlantic Ave; r $65-80, ste from $120;     ) With the same owner for more than 50 years, this is one of those wonderful little gems that's disappearing way too fast. The property includes motel rooms, efficiencies and cottages, all blanketed in a frenzy of murals and bright pastels.

**Sun Viking Lodge** ( 386-252-6252; www.sunviking.com; 2411 S Atlantic Ave; r $77-285;      ) Just plain fun for families, with two pools, beach access, a 60ft waterslide and, of course, a Viking theme. Most rooms have kitchenettes, so just hanging at the hotel is easy to do.

**August 7 Inn** ( 386-248-8420; www.A7Inn.com; 1209 S Peninsula Dr; r $125-185;     ) The innkeepers of this gorgeous B&B have a thorough appreciation for small details and have created the perfect haven from NASCAR, Bike Week and spring break madness.

**Shores** ( 386-767-7350; www.shoresresort.com; 2637 N Atlantic Ave; r $159-369;          ) Suffering from beach-decor overkill? Check in to this chic, beachfront boutique with hand-striped walls, a full-service spa and a sophisticated color palette.

### Eating&Drinking

**Pasha Middle East Cafe** ( 386-257-7753; 919 W International Speedway Blvd; mains $5-14;  10am-7pm Mon-Sat, noon-6pm Sun) Chow on falafel, kabob, hummus, tabbouleh – and of course baklava – in a casual, family-run café and deli.

**Zen Bistro** ( 386-248-0453; 112 Bay St; mains $6-11;  11am-3pm&4:30-9pm Mon-Fri, 5-9pm Sat) You'd think a place this tiny would be easy to dress up a bit, but the no-frills atmosphere is a small price to pay for the yummy Thai curries and noodles.

**Aunt Catfish's on the River** ( 386-767-4768; 4009 Halifax Dr; mains $8-25;  11:30am-9pm) Oh, seafood, how do I eat thee? Let me count the ways...

**Billy's Tap Room &Grill** ( 386-672-1910; 58 E Granada Blvd, Ormond Beach; lunch $7-12, mains $12-25;  11:30am-10pm Mon-Fri, 5-10pm Sat) Dating back to 1926, this tavern-style restaurant in Ormond Beach has a solid maple bar, historic photographs and grouper served 24 different ways.

### Entertainment

**Razzles** ( 386-257-6236; 611 Seabreeze Blvd;  8pm-3am) is the reigning high-octane dance club, with rope lines, cover charges and a permanent thumping sound emanating from within. **Rumors Nite Club &Bar** ( 386-252-3776; 1376 N Nova Rd;  2pm-2am) hosts drag shows, karaoke and pool for gay and gay-friendly revelers. And at **Froggy's Saloon** ( 386-254-8808; 800 Main St;  7am-3am) it's bike week all year long; plus, they're open 20 hours a day so you can keep the liver damage rolling. Just want a low-key spot to enjoy a beer? Chill over drafts and darts at **McK's Tavern** ( 386-238-3321; 218 S Beach St;  11am-2am).

### Getting There&Around

**Daytona Beach International Airport** (DAB;  386-248-8069; www.flydaytonafirst.com) is just east of the Speedway, and the **Greyhound bus station** ( 386-255-7076; 138 S Ridgewood Ave) is the starting point for services around Florida.

Daytona is close to the intersection of two of Florida's major interstates: I-95 is the quickest way to Jacksonville (about 70 miles) and Miami (200 miles), and I-4 will get you to Orlando in about an hour.

**Votran** ( 386-761-7700; www.votran.com; adult/child 6-17yr $1.25/60¢) runs buses and trolleys throughout the city.

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## ST AUGUSTINE

The first this, the oldest that... St Augustine was founded by the Spanish in 1565, which means it's chock-full of age-related superlatives. Tourists flock here to stroll the ancient streets, and horse-drawn carriages clip-clop past townsfolk dressed in period costume around the National Historic Landmark District.

At times it screams, 'Hey, everyone, look how quaint we are!' but it stops just short of being cloying, because, well, what more would you really expect from the oldest permanent settlement in the US? The historical significance of the town occasionally comes into sharp focus while you're walking on the cobblestoned streets or standing on the (approximate) spot where Juan Ponce de León landed in 1513. The main **visitor center** ( 904-825-1000, 800-653-2489; www.visitoldcity.com; 10 Castillo Dr;  8:30am-5:30pm) screens a 45-minute film on the town's history told through archival footage.

### Sights&Activities

The town's two Henry Flagler buildings shouldn't be missed. His former Hotel Alcazar (1888) is now home to the wonderful **Lightner Museum** ( 904-824-2874; www.lightnermuseum.org; 75 King St; adult/child under 12/child 12-18yr $10/free/5;  9am-5pm), with a little bit of everything from ornate Gilded Age furnishings to collections of marbles and cigar-box labels. Across the street is the gorgeous former **Hotel Ponce de León** ( 904-823-3378; 74 King St; tours adult/child 12yr&under $7/1;  10am&2pm, additional tours summer), which was built in the 1880s and is now the world's most gorgeous dormitory, belonging to Flagler College. Take a guided tour – or at least step inside to gawk at the lobby for free.

History buffs will enjoy the oldest house in the US, the **Gonzalez-Alvarez House** ( 904-824-2872; www.oldesthouse.com; 14 St Francis St; adult/student $8/4;  9am-5pm), which claims continuous occupancy from the early 17th century, as well as the **Oldest Wooden School House** ( 904-824-0192; 14 St George St; adult/child 6-12yr $3.50/2.50;  9am-5pm Sun-Thu, 9am-6pm Fri&Sat), peopled by animatronic teachers and students. See how they did things back in the 18th century at the **Colonial Spanish Quarter Living History Village** ( 904-825-6830; 53 St George St; adult/child 6-17yr $7/4.25;  9am-5:30pm), a re-creation of Spanish-colonial St Augustine complete with craftspeople demonstrating blacksmithing, leather working and other trades.

Almost 500 years old (but not looking a day over 450) the **Fountain of Youth** ( 904-829-3168, 800-356-8222; 11 Magnolia Ave; adult/child $8/5;  9am-5pm) was the original tourist attraction, drawing Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León for a visit in 1513. It still serves the nasty sulfur water in tiny paper cups – and that's absolutely as much as you'll want – but this is more than a five-minute pit stop. Educational exhibits, gorgeous grounds and the approximate spot where the explorer came ashore make it more than just a tourist trap – OK, well a _little_ more, anyway.

Another monument to longevity is the country's oldest masonry fort, **Castillo de San Marcos National Monument** ( 904-829-6506; btwn San Marcos Ave&Matanzas River; adult/child under 15 $6/free;  8:45am-4:45pm) built by the Spanish between 1672 and 1695. Park rangers lead programs hourly and volunteers shoot off cannons most weekends.

Locals escape the tourist hordes at the nearby **Anastasia State Recreation Area** ( 904-461-2033; 1340 Hwy A1A; car/pedestrian $5/1, campsites $25) which has a terrific beach, a campground and rentals for all kinds of water sports.

### Tours

Two companies provide convenient jump-on, jump-off tours with 20 stops on open-air trams: **Old Town Trolley Tours** ( 904-829-3800, 800-213-2474; www.trolleytours.com; 167 San Marco Ave; 3-day ticket adult/child 6-12yr $23/10) and **St Augustine Sightseeing Trains** ( 800-226-6545; www.redtrains.com; 19 San Marco Ave; adult/child 6-12yr $17/8).

Discover the town's spirited past with **Ghost Tours of St Augustine** ( 904-461-1009; www.ghosttoursofstaugustine.com; walking tours $12;  tours 8pm daily, 9:30pm Fri&Sat winter, daily summer).

### Sleeping

More than two dozen atmospheric B&Bs can be found at www.staugustineinns.com. St Augustine is a popular weekend escape; expect room rates to rise about 30% on Friday and Saturday. Inexpensive motels and chain hotels line San Marco Ave, near where it meets US Hwy 1.

**Pirate Haus** ( 904-808-1999; www.piratehaus.com; 32 Treasury St; dm $18, r $50-85;     ) Yar, if ye don't be needing anything fancy, this family-friendly European-style guesthouse-hostel has an unbeatable location and includes a pirate pancake breakfast.

**Inn at Camachee Bay** ( 904-825-0003; www.camacheeinn.com; 201 Yacht Club Dr; r $119-179, ste $159-199;          ) Historic inns are easy enough to find, but a pet-friendly suite with marina views and a pool? That's a real find.

**Cedar House Inn** ( 904-829-0079, 800-845-0012; www.cedarhouseinn.com; 79 Cedar St; r $129-229, ste $169-299;     ) Victorian flourishes abound, but the beds are pure modern comfort.

**Casa Monica** ( 904-827-1888, 800-648-1888; www.casamonica.com; 95 Cordova St; r $179-369;        ) Built in 1888, this is _the_ luxe hotel in town, with turrets and fountains adding to the Spanish Moorish castle feel. Parking is available for $21.

### Eating&Drinking

Eateries in St Augustine are surprisingly inexpensive, and cheap eateries abound on St George St. Note that restaurants often close a bit earlier or later than the hours listed.

**Spanish Bakery** ( 904-471-3046; 42½ St George St; dishes $1-3;  9:30am-3pm) Behind Whetstone Chocolates in a picnic-table-strewn courtyard, this historic stone kitchen bakes up empanadas and smoked-sausage rolls. Five dollars gets you one of the above plus a drink, roll and cookie.

**Scarlett O'Hara's** ( 904-824-6535; 70 Hypolita St; mains $5-14;  11am-1am). Leave your hoop skirt at home. This rowdy place is not so much 'fiddle dee dee' as 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn,' but it's a fine spot for beer and pub grub.

**Gypsy Cab Co** ( 904-824-8244; 828 Anastasia Blvd; mains $15-21, lunch $7-12;  11am-3pm Mon-Sat, brunch 10:30am-3pm Sun, 4:30-10pm Sun-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat) A local favorite, its excellent menu is all over the place, with influences from German to 'Floribbean'.

**Harry's Seafood, Bar &Grill** ( 904-824-7765; 46 Avenida Menendez; mains $8-23;  11am-10pm Sun-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat) It may pride itself on its Cajun food, but the hopping patio and Mardi Gras atmosphere is the real draw.

**Taberna del Gallo** ( 904-825-6830; 53 St George St;  noon-5pm Wed-Thu, noon-9pm Fri&Sat, 1pm-5pm Sun) Flickering candles provide the only light at this 1736 stone tavern.

**AIA Ale Works** ( 904-829-6824; 1 King St; mains $10-25). If you love beer, then you owe it to beer to show it your appreciation. As a bonus you get decent bar food and a great view of the Bridge of Lions.

### Getting There&Around

The **Greyhound bus station** ( 904-829-6401; 1711 Dobbs Rd) is a few miles from the heart of things, but once you're in Old Town, you can get almost everywhere on foot.

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## JACKSONVILLE

Are we there yet? Have we left yet? It's hard to tell, because Jacksonville sprawls out over a whopping 840 sq miles, making it the largest city by area in the continental US (eclipsed only by Anchorage, AK). Jacksonville Beach, known locally as 'Jax Beach', is about 17 miles east of the city center and is where you'll find white sand and most of the action. Information is available from the **convention &visitors bureau** ( 800-733-2668; www.visitjacksonville.com).

### Sights&Activities

Enjoy a free tour (and free beer if you're over 21) at **Anheuser-Busch Brewery** ( 904-696-8373; www.budweisertours.com; 111 Busch Dr; admission free;  10am-4pm Mon-Sat). Packing kids? Maybe the **Museum of Science &History** ( 904-396-6674; www.themosh.org; 1025 Museum Circle; adult/child $9/7;  10am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat, 1-6pm Sun;  ) is more your speed, with dinosaur fun and educational exhibits on Jacksonville's pre-Columbian history (but no beer). Small, but one of the best cultural offerings in town, the **Museum of Contemporary Art** ( 904-366-6911; www.mocajacksonville.org; 333 N Laura St; adult/child $8/5;  10am-4pm Tue-Sat, to 8pm on Thu, noon-4pm Sun) focuses on 1960 to the present.

### Sleeping&Eating

The cheapest rooms are along I-95 and I-10, where the lower-priced chains congregate. Beach lodging rates often rise in summer.

**Omni Jacksonville Hotel** ( 904-355-6664, 800-843-6664; 245 Water St; r $89-199;          ) Sure, it's a chain, but the plush, amenity-laden rooms are anything but generic, making it a great place to stay if you're downtown.

**Inn at Oak Street** ( 904-379-5525; www.innatoakstreet.com; 2114 Oak St; r $135-225;     ) This place combines luscious decor, high-tech amenities and gourmet breakfast, all near downtown.

**Casa Marina** ( 904-270-0025; www.casamarinahotel.com; 691 N 1st St, Jacksonville Beach; r $139-159, ste $189-279;     ) Not your typical beach digs, this charming historical hotel from the 1920s has retained its romantic, old-world flair.

**Riverdale Inn** ( 904-354-5080, 866-808-3400; www.riverdaleinn.com; 1521 Riverside Ave; r $149-189;     ) In the early 1900s, this was one of 50 or so mansions lining Riverside. Now there are only two left, and you're invited to enjoy its lovely rooms with full breakfast.

**Ellen's Kitchen** ( 904-246-1572; 1824 3rd St, Jacksonville Beach; mains $4-9  7am-2pm) A Jax Beach staple for over 40 years, Ellen's keeps the locals happy with dependable breakfasts and lunches, both of which are served till 2pm.

 **European Street Cafe** ( 904-398-9500; 1704 San Marco Blvd; mains $5-12;  10am-10pm) Decisions, decisions. If you just don't know what you want, this place has a lengthy menu, enormous bakery case and over 150 kinds of beer. Other locations include 2753 Park St, 5500 Beach Blvd and 992 Beach Blvd in Jax Beach.

**River City Brewing Company** ( 904-398-2299; 835 Museum Circle; lunch $9-10, dinner $17-33;  11am-3pm&5-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat, 10:30am-2:30pm Sun) The perfect place to quaff a microbrew and enjoy some coconut shrimp overlooking the water.

**Bistro Aix** ( 904-398-1949; 1440 San Marco Blvd; mains $10-25;  11am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri, 5-11pm Sat, 5-9pm Sun) Foodies find few havens in Jacksonville, but this chic San Marcos eatery will make them feel right at home.

### Drinking&Entertainment

Downtown's **Jacksonville Landing** ( 904-353-1188; www.jacksonvillelanding.com; 2 Independent Dr) has restaurants, shops and bars, and free outdoor entertainment. At the beach, the **Freebird Live Cafe** ( 904-246-2473; www.freebirdlive.com; 200 N 1st St;  8pm-2am) is a rocking music venue and home of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

### Getting There&Around

North of the city, **Jacksonville International Airport** (JAX;  904-741-4902; www.jia.aero) has rental cars. **Greyhound** ( 904-356-9976; 10 N Pearl St) serves numerous cities, and **Amtrak** ( 904-766-5110; 3570 Clifford Lane) has trains from the north and south. The **Jacksonville Transportation Authority** ( 904-630-3100; www.ridejta.net) runs the **Skyway** **monorail** (per ride 50¢) and **city buses** (per local ride $1, to Jax Beach $1.50).

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## AMELIA ISLAND

Residents are quick to tell you: Amelia Island is just as old as that braggart St Augustine – they just can't prove it. Unfortunately, no Ponce de León, no plaque, so they have to content themselves with being a pretty little island and home to **Fernandina Beach** , a shrimping village with 40 blocks of historic buildings and romantic B&Bs. Pick up walking-tour maps and information at the **visitor center** ( 904-277-0717; 102 Centre St;  9:30am-4pm Mon-Sat, noon-4pm Sun).

To learn about Amelia Island's intricate history, which has seen it ruled under eight different flags starting with the French in 1562, check out the **Amelia Island Museum of History** ( 904-261-7378; www.ameliamuseum.org; 233 S 3rd St; adult/student $7/4;  10am-4pm Mon-Sat, 1-4pm Sun). Admission includes tours at 11am and 2pm. The museum also offers a Friday **ghost tour** (801 Atlantic Ave; adult/student $10/5;  6pm Fri), leaving from the parking lot of St Peters Episcopal church.

Take a half-hour horse-drawn carriage tour with the **Old Towne Carriage Co** ( 904-277-1555; www.ameliacarriagetours.com; adult/child 3-13yr $15/7.50) or **Amelia Island Carriages** ( 904-556-2662; adults/child 5-14yr $15/7). Or, if you'd rather a carriage didn't come between you and your horse, **Kelly's Seahorse Ranch** ( 904-491-5166; www.kellyranchinc.com; ride per hr $60) offers beachfront trail rides for riders aged 13 and over.

Capping the north end of the island, the Spanish moss-draped **Fort Clinch State Park** ( 904-277-7274; pedestrian/car $1/5;  8am-dusk) has beaches, camping, bike trails and a commanding Civil War-era **fort** (admission $2;  9am-5pm), with reenactments taking place the first full weekend of every month. Amelia Island is part of the **Talbot Islands State Parks** ( 904-251-2320; pedestrian/car $1/4;  8am-dusk), which includes the pristine shoreline at **Little Talbot Island** and the 'boneyard beach' at **Big Talbot Island State Park** , where silvered tree skeletons create a dramatic landscape. Both are south of Amelia Island down the First Coast Hwy.

Fernandina does beat out St Augustine with two key 'oldests': Florida's oldest bar, the **Palace Saloon** ( 904-261-6320; 113 Centre St), and Florida's oldest hotel, **Florida House Inn** ( 904-261-3300, 800-258-3301; www.floridahouseinn.com; 20&22 S 3rd St; r $119-299;     ), which stays modern with beautifully restored rooms, wi-fi and free use of zippy, red scooters.

Just around the corner, **Hoyt House** ( 904-277-4300, 800-432-2085; www.hoythouse.com; 804 Atlantic Ave; r $145-230;          ) is another lovely inn with lavish breakfasts and a pool (a rarity among Amelia B&Bs). And out at the beach, **Elizabeth Pointe Lodge** ( 904-277-4851; www.elizabethpointelodge.com; 98 S Fletcher Ave; r $205-330;       ) looks like an old Nantucket-style sea captain's house with wraparound porches, gracious service and beautifully-appointed rooms.

Start your day with **Bright Mornings** ( 904-491-1771; 105 S 3rd St; mains $5-10;  7:30am-2pm Mon-Tue&Thu-Fri, 8am-2pm Sat&Sun), a supremely pleasant café serving heaping portions of breakfast and lunch. Small plates and mains live happily side by side at the tiny, stylish bistro **29 South** ( 904-277-7919; 29 S 3rd St; small plates $5-12, mains $18-30;  11am-2pm&5:30-9pm Tue-Sat, 10am-2pm Sun). And rounding out your dining options is **Beech Street Grill** ( 904-277-3662; 801 Beech St; mains $17-30, brunch $7-10;  6pm-close daily, 11:30am-2pm Sun), with whatever kind of seafood your heart desires at dinner, not to mention a killer brunch.

Hwy A1A links the island to the mainland, but there's no public transportation. Rent bikes at **Pipeline Surfshop** ( 904-277-3717; 2022 1st Ave; per hr/business day $5/12;  10am-6pm).

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# WEST COAST

If Henry Flagler's railroad made the east coast of Florida what it is today, his nonattention to the rest of the state similarly affected the west coast. Things are calmer here, with fewer tourist hordes and more room for nature to amuse us with shelling beaches, swamp lands and nature preserves. The west coast has front-row seats to flame-red sunsets emblazoned over the Gulf of Mexico, as well as adrenaline-pumping roller coasters, hand-rolled cigars and lip-synching mermaids.

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## TAMPA

Florida's third-largest city is all business. Well, mostly business. Chains and oversized office parks line the highways and it's not immediately apparent what there is to do here, other than get a nine-to-five job. But Tampa's revitalized historic district Ybor City and a few downtown museums absolutely reward a stop. Information is available from the **convention &visitors bureau** ( 813-223-2752, 800-448-2672; www.visittampabay.com; 615 Channelside Dr; 9:30am-5:30pm Mon-Sat, 11:30am-5pm Sun).

### Sight&Activities

#### DOWNTOWN TAMPA

Check out the **Henry B Plant Museum** ( 813-254-1891; www.plantmuseum.com; 401 W Kennedy Blvd; adult/child $5/2;  10am-4pm Tue-Sat, noon-4pm Sun) if for no other reason than to wander around the landmark Victorian building it's housed in. Formerly a luxury hotel, it's easily the most beautiful building in town.

At the time of research, the **Tampa Museum of Art** ( 813-274-8130; www.tampamuseum.org; 120 Gasparilla Plaza; adult/child $7/3;  10am-5pm) was putting the finishing touches on a brand new, 66,000-sq-ft building – which should be open by the time you read this – to house their paintings, sculptures, and Greek and roman antiquities.

Kids can challenge the laws of physics as well as their fear of heights at the **Museum of Science &Industry** ( 813-987-6100; www.mosi.org; 4801 E Fowler Ave; adult/child $20/16;  9am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat&Sun;  ), where you can ride a bike across a highwire 30ft in the air and learn about dinosaurs, hurricanes and the human body.

At **Florida Aquarium** ( 813-273-4000; www.flaquarium.org; 701 Channelside Dr; adult/child $20/15;  9:30am-5pm;  ) you can get your hands wet with touch tanks or dive into the shark tank (scuba divers $150).

#### YBOR CITY

This cobblestoned 19th-century historic district preserves a strong Cuban-Spanish heritage while embracing a hip, happening nightlife scene. About two miles from downtown, Ybor (rhymes with Eeyore) City was established by the owner of a cigar factory who drew hundreds of Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrant workers to the area, and that diversity has bestowed more charm on this area than the whole rest of Tampa put together. The **visitor center** ( 813-241-8838; www.ybor.org; 1600 E 8th Ave;  10am-6pm Mon-Sat, noon-6pm Sun) provides an excellent introduction with walking-tour maps and info. Centered around a seven-block stretch of 7th and 8th Aves, everything is within walking distance.

* * *

# MARCY TERRY

For more than 10 years Marcy Terry has delighted audiences with underwater mermaid performances at Weeki Wachee Springs. Marcy now holds the dual title of Underwater Theatre Manager and Head Mermaid.

**What's your favorite thing about being a mermaid?** I just love the environment. My office is a beautiful underwater spring; I get to swim and get paid; I interact with children who believe in mermaids and they're just so happy to be here.

**How long does it take to become a mermaid?** First we have to get scuba-certified, then we learn to breathe through air hoses, which is different from regular scuba diving. Then we start learning how to swim in a tail and learning the choreography, so it takes three to six months.

**Other than Weeki Wachee, what's your favorite Florida tourist attraction?** I would have to say Disney. I just love the magic there, and I have a two-year-old and she loves going there. I love seeing her little eyes light up. Everybody's happy and all the little kids believe all that stuff so you can't help but feel that way also.

**If you had visitors from out of state, where would you take them?** First I would bring them here. Then, the beaches are beautiful; we'd probably go to a beach. Of course we'd hit Disney. And, I don't know, I think the small roadside attractions need all the tourists they can get, so I'd probably do those.

* * *

You can still pick up a close-to-Cuban cigar and watch master cigar rollers at work at several different shops, including **La Herencia de Cuba** ( 813-248-9620, 800-324-9803; www.ramirezcigars.com; 1817 E 7th Ave) and **Gonzalez y Martinez** ( 813-248-8210; www.gonzalezymartinez.com; 2103 E 7th Ave) in the Columbia Restaurant building.

The **Ybor City Museum State Park** ( 813-247-6323; www.ybormuseum.org; 1818 E 9th Ave; admission $3;  9am-5pm) chronicles the history of cigar-making in interesting if text-heavy exhibits, and historic **walking tours** (incl museum admission $6) depart from the museum at 10:30am each Saturday.

#### BUSCH GARDENS&ADVENTURE ISLAND

Is it a theme park with animals or a zoo with rides? **Busch Gardens Africa** ( 813-987-5000; www.buschgardens.com; 10000 McKinley Dr; adult/child $70/60;  9am-6pm with seasonal variations;   ) is both – and way more exciting than Disney's Animal Kingdom (Click here), thanks to all the rides. Cool off at **Adventure Island** ( 813-987-5660, 888-800-5447; www.adventureisland.com; 10001 McKinley Dr; adult/child $40/36;  10am-5pm with seasonal variations;  ), a water park with slides and rides galore. Discounts and combination tickets are available online; parking costs $12 at Busch Gardens and $10 at Adventure Island.

#### WEEKI WACHEE SPRINGS

Since 1947 tourists have been lured up the coast by the siren song of **Weeki Wachee Springs** ( 352-596-2062; www.weekiwachee.com; 6131 Commercial Way, Weeki Wachee; adult/child $25/17;  10am-4pm, with seasonal variations;  ), one of Florida's original roadside attractions. Elvis Presley and Esther Williams were among the guests who flocked here to watch glamorous long-haired mermaids perform in an underwater grotto. The mermaids are the main attraction, but there's also a river cruise, plus swimming and water  slides at the adjoining Buccaneer Bay water park. (Hint: admissions are reduced in the off-season when the water park is closed.)

### Sleeping

Chains abound near Busch Gardens, along Fowler Ave/Morris Bridge Rd (Hwy 582) and Busch Blvd (Hwy 580).

**Gram's Place Hostel** (  813-221-0596; www.grams-inn-tampa.com; 3109 N Ola Ave; campsites $15, dm $23, r 25-70;          ) Rooms at this rockin' hostel are themed by music genre, and the jukebox spins more than 400 CDs.

**Tahitian Inn** ( 800-876-1397; www.tahitianinn.com; 601 S Dale Mabry Hwy; r $69-149;          ) Once a classic roadside motel, this family-owned and -operated place built in 1954 got a major facelift that's kept it looking smart.

 **Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn** ( 813-241-4545, 866-206-4545; www.donvicenteinn.com; 1915 Republica de Cuba; r $119-249;   ) Built in 1895 by Ybor City's founder, this atmospheric B&B exudes history right down to its original marble staircase.

**Casitas de la Verdad** ( 813-654-6087; www.yborcityguesthouse.com, 1609 6th Ave; house $180-250;   ) Right on the fringe of Ybor City you can rent an entire two-bedroom 1908 cigar-maker's cottage that's been artfully restored with a colorful whimsy.

### Eating

Downtown is a desert for dining, but Ybor City is an oasis. Keep an eye out for places popping up in Tampa's SoHo area (South of Houston Ave).

**Nicko's Fine Foods** ( 813-234-9301; 4603 N Florida Ave, Tampa; mains $4-10;  6am-9pm Mon-Fri, 7am-9pm Sat, 7am-2pm Sun) The lure of cheap eats in a classic diner atmosphere has kept people coming here for decades, including Elvis back in 1956.

**La Teresita** ( 813-879-4909; 3246 W Columbus Dr, Ybor City; mains $5-7;  5am-midnight Mon-Thu, 24hr Fri&Sat, 5am-10pm Sun) Skip the restaurant and head for the cafeteria counters to eat your fill of plantains, yellow rice, black beans, Cuban bread and coffee.

**Columbia Restaurant** ( 813-248-4961; 2117 E 7th Ave, Ybor City; lunch mains $9-18, dinner $17-29;  11am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat, noon-9pm Sun) See that enormous building covered in hand-painted tiles? That's the famous Columbia, serving Spanish and Cuban specialties since 1920. Reservations and $6 gets you seating for flamenco performances.

**Bella's Italian Cafe** ( 813-254-3355; 1413 S Howard Ave, Tampa; mains $9-27;  11:30am-11:30pm Mon-Wed, to 12:30am Thu, to 1:30am Fri&Sat, 4-11:30pm Sun) Go simple or go fancy; this cute Italian place has enough options to fulfill all your carb cravings.

**Bern's Steakhouse** ( 813-251-2421; 1208 S Howard Ave, Tampa; mains $21-70;  5-10pm Sun-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat) Start with one of 20 kinds of caviar then move on to steak prepared to the most exacting tastes and specifications at this over-the-top homage to indulgence.

### Drinking&Entertainment

Find out what's happening from the _Weekly Planet,_ and _Tampa Tribune_ 's 'Friday Extra.' When it comes to nightlife, just head for Ybor City's 7th Ave. Start at the pirate ship-like bar **Gaspar's Grotto** ( 813-248-5900; 1805 7th Ave;  11:30am-3am) then wander till you find the right scene.

Experience art in action at the **Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center** ( 813-229-7827, 800-955-1045; www.tbpac.org; 1010 MacInnes Pl), a sprawling, multivenue complex where you can see touring Broadway shows, concerts, opera and more. For independent and classic films, try the elaborate 1926 **Tampa Theatre** ( 813-274-8981; www.tampatheatre.org; 711 N Franklin St; tickets $9).

Sports are big in Tampa. Catch Major League Baseball at **Tropicana Field** ( 888-326-7297; www.tampabayrays.com; 1 Tropicana Dr, St Petersburg; tickets from $8) with the **Tampa Bay Rays** , watch the **Buccaneers** play NFL football at **Raymond James Stadium** ( 800-795-2827; www.buccaneers.com; 4201 Dale Mabry Hwy; tickets from $30), or enjoy professional hockey at **St Pete Times Forum** ( 813-301-6600; <http://lightning.nhl.com>; 401 Channelside Dr; tickets from $8) with **Tampa Bay Lightning**.

Spring training for numerous Major League teams is a great way to see baseball stars up close in a spontaneous atmosphere. Tickets are around $30. Try **George M Steinbrenner Field** ( 813-879-2244; www.steinbrennerfield.com; 3802 W Dr ML King Jr Blvd) to watch the New York Yankees practice.

### Getting There&Around

**Tampa International Airport** (TPA;  813-870-8700; www.tampaairport.com) has car-rental agencies inside. **Greyhound** ( 813-229-2174; 610 E Polk St) has numerous services. Trains run south to Miami and north through Jacksonville at the **Amtrak station** ( 813-221-7601; 601 Nebraska Ave). **HARTline** ( 813-254-4278; www.hartline.org; single/day pass $1.75/3.75) runs the old-style streetcars.

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## ST PETERSBURG

You know how in some families there's a sophisticated older sibling who wears suits and has an Important Job, and then there's the younger sibling who's kind of artsy and easier to hang out with? In this particular metaphor, Tampa is the former, and St Pete is the latter. Perched on a peninsula along the west side of Tampa Bay, St Pete is a cultured and tourist-friendly town that is in easy proximity to the beaches. For the scoop on local sights, stop by the **information booth** ( 727-821-6164) at the over-hyped **St Petersburg Pier** ( 727-821-6443; www.stpetepier.com; 800 2nd Ave N;  10am-8pm Mon-Thu, to 9pm Fri&Sat, 11am-7pm Sun), which also houses tchotchke shops, restaurants and an observation deck. Advance planners can check out www.floridasbeach.com for information.

* * *

# WHAT THE...?

Of course St Petersburg was the logical place to put a museum dedicated to Salvador Dalí, the eccentric Spanish artist who painted melting clocks, grew an exaggerated handlebar mustache to look like King Philip, and once filled a Rolls Royce with cauliflower. Right? In fact, the **Salvador Dalí Museum** ( 727-823-3767; www.salvadordalimuseum.org; 1000 3rd St S; adult/child 5-9yr $17/4;  10am-5:30pm Mon-Sat, to 8pm Thu, noon-5:30pm Sun) is the largest Dalí collection outside of Spain. So how did that happen exactly?

In 1942, A Reynolds Morse and his wife Eleanor bought their first Dalí painting – the start of what would become the largest private Dalí collection in the world. When it came time to find a permanent home for the collection, they had one stipulation: that the collection had to stay together. Only three cities could agree to the terms, and St Petersburg won out for its waterfront location. The museum doesn't have _the_ melting clocks, but it does have _some_ melting clocks, as well as paintings with titles such as _The Ghost of Vermeer of Delft Which Can Be Used as a Table_.

* * *

The recently expanded and twice-as-big **Museum of Fine Arts** ( 727-896-2667; www.fine-arts.org; 255 Beach Dr NE; adult/child 7-18 $12/6;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun) spans pre-Columbian to impressionism to modern. **St Petersburg Museum of History** ( 727-894-1052; www.spmoh.org; 335 2nd Ave NE; adult/child 7-17 $9/5;  10am-5pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun, summer hr vary) has interesting mementos of early Florida, plus a funky 3000-year-old mummy.

Hikers, cyclists and skaters can head north on the paved, 34-mile-long **Pinellas Trail** ( 727-464-8200;  sunrise-sunset), starting at 34th St and Fairfield Ave and ending in Tarpon Springs. A free booklet with mile-by-mile information is available at visitor centers.

One of the finest beaches in Florida – partly because of excellent amenities such as lots of shady picnic tables – is at **Fort DeSoto Park** ( 727-582-2267; www.pinellascounty.org/park; 3500 Pinellas Bayway S; admission free;  sunrsie-sunset), with a fishing pier, historic trail, water sports, camping and a fort built in 1898.

### Sleeping&Eating

**Fort DeSoto Park Campground** ( 727-582-2267; www.pinellascounty.org/park; 3500 Pinellas Bayway S; campsites $30-35;  ) Book way ahead for sites at the waterfront campground; the beaches here make it all worthwhile.

**Dickens House** ( 727-822-8622; www.dickenshouse.com; 335 8th Ave NE; r $109-235;     ) This gorgeous craftsman home, convenient to downtown, offers Jacuzzis and gourmet breakfasts.

**Renaissance Vinoy Resort** ( 727-894-1000; www.marriott.com; 501 5th Ave NE; r from $139;      ) This historic behemoth has been providing superposh pink lodging in downtown St Pete since the 1920s.

**Loew's Don CeSar Beach Resort** ( 727-360-1881; www.doncesar.com; 3400 Gulf Blvd, St Pete Beach; r from $194;          ) Like the Vinoy, it's historical, posh and pink, but this one's located out at the beach.

 **Ceviche Tapas Bar** ( 727-209-2302; 10 Beach Dr SE; small plates $7-15;  5-10pm Sun&Mon, to midnight Tue-Thu, to 1am Fri&Sat) The flavors are amazing and, with over 100 different options, your foraging experience is limited only by your time and budget. Tuesday happy hour is a bargain.

**Moon Under Water** ( 727-896-6160; 332 Beach Dr NE; mains $7-20;  11am-11pm Sun-Thu, to 1am Fri&Sat) Get your fill of fish-and-chips, _tikka masala_ and cold pints at this British-style pub with a lovely front patio.

**Cafe Alma** ( 727-502-5002; 260 1st Ave S; mains $7-24;  11am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat, to 8pm Sun) This cute subterranean café is a little hidden away but worth finding, serving sophisticated salads and sandwiches at lunch and small plates and mains at dinner.

**Gratzzi Ristorante** ( 727-822-7769; 199 2nd Ave N in Baywalk Mall; lunch $8-12, dinner $13-27;  11:30am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat, noon-10pm Sun) Don't be fooled by its mall location; the food is amazing, with presentation that will leave you agog.

### Getting There&Around

**St Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport** (PIE;  727-453-7800; www.fly2pie.com) has several major carriers serving the US and Canada. It also has car rentals. **Greyhound** ( 727-898-1496; 180 9th St N) services include to Tampa ($7, 35 minutes). Amtrak trains don't go to St Petersburg, but there is a bus link from Tampa.

**Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority** (PSTA;  727-540-1900; www.psta.net; day pass/concession $4/1.75) operates PSTA buses citywide and the Suncoast Beach Trolley that links the beaches from Clearwater to Pass-a-Grille. The **Looper trolley** (per ride 25¢;  10am-5pm Sun-Thu, to midnight Fri&Sat) links the museums and St Petersburg Pier on a 30-minute narrated loop.

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## SARASOTA

Artists, writers, musicians, entertainers – artsy types have flocked to Sarasota since the 1920s, with John Ringling leading the way (see the boxed text, below). Today you can find cultural performances and arts venues – not to mention bookstores – all over town. The **visitor bureau** ( 941-957-1877, 800-522-9799; www.sarasotafl.org; 701 N Tamiami Trail;  10am-4pm Mon-Sat) has local information.

That big, fantastical purple building – some might say 'obnoxious' – is the **Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall** ( 941-953-3368, 800-826-9303; www.vanwezel.org; 777 N Tamiami Trail), purveyor of symphony, dance and theater. The **Sarasota County Arts Council** ( 941-365-5118; www.sarasota-arts.org; 1226 N Tamiami Trail, Suite 300) has information about a variety of upcoming local performances.

Wander about a cluster of colorful galleries and studios at **Towles Court Art District** (www.towlescourt.com; 1938 Adams Lane;  noon-4pm Tue-Sat). Independent films screen at the **Burns Court Cinema** ( 941-955-3456; 506 Burns Ct); call or visit www.filmsociety.org for schedules.

Right over the Ringling Causeway (which circus elephants helped build) on Lido Key is **St Armands Circle** , a roundabout that also serves as a social hub, with a proliferation of stylish shops and restaurants. **Mote Aquarium** ( 941-388-4441; www.mote.org; 1600 Ken Thompson Pkwy; adult/child 4-12yr $17/12;  10am-5pm;  ), a research center and rehabilitation facility, has touch pools, a manatee habitat, the fun Shark Attack Theater and, of course, fish.

Many of the beautiful beaches are private. The best public-access beach is **Siesta Key Beach** , about 5 miles south of downtown on Siesta Key, with wide, white strips of sugary quartz sand for your sunning pleasure.

### Sleeping&Eating

**Aloha Kai** ( 941-349-5410; www.alohakai.net; 6020 Midnight Pass Rd; r $135-150;     ) The glorious Siesta Key sand is right at the end of the parking lot from your motel room, studio or retro apartment.

**Cypress** ( 941-955-4683; www.cypressbb.com; 621 Gulfstream Ave; r $150-279, ste 180-289;     ) Beneath palm and mango trees sits this romantic – if occasionally frilly – B&B on the mainland.

**Yoders** ( 941-955-7771; 3434 Bahia Vista St; mains $5-12;  6am-8pm Mon-Sat) Not just home-cooking, but Amish home-cooking, and what could be homier than that? Finish off with a slice of their famous pie.

**Broken Egg** ( 941-346-2750; 140 Avenida Messina, Siesta Key; mains $6-12;  7:30am-2:30pm) This breakfast institution on Siesta Key, known for its pancakes and hash browns, has a new location and scored a great patio in the move.

**Bijou Café** ( 941-366-8111; 1287 1st St; lunch $9-19, dinner $17-29;   11:30am-2pm Mon-Fri, 5pm-close Mon-Sat & Sun in high season) Indulge in the excellent French-inspired cuisine at this intimate downtown café.

* * *

# CLOWNING AROUND AT THE RINGLING COMPLEX

Who doesn't love the circus? Well...people who are afraid of clowns. But a little coulrophobia isn't necessarily a deal-breaker at the **Ringling Museum Complex** ( 941-359-5700; www.ringling.org; 5401 Bayshore Rd; adult/child 6-17yr $20/7;  10am-5:30pm). On the grounds of the 66-acre complex are three separate museums, all included in your admission and each one a worthy attraction on its own. Railroad, real-estate and circus baron John Ringling and his wife Mabel put down roots here, building a Venetian Gothic waterfront mansion called **Ca d'Zan**. You can wander the ground floor at your own pace, or take a guided tour – totally worth it – which grants you access to the upstairs bedrooms. Also on the grounds, the **John &Mabel Museum of Art** is an excellent art museum with impressive high ceilings, intimidatingly large paintings and a recreated room from the Astor mansion. But the real standout here – the one you might want to avoid if you saw Stephen King's _It_ – is the one-of-a-kind **Museum of the Circus** , which lets you relive the excitement of the big-top era with costumes, props, posters, antique circus wagons and an extensive miniature model.

* * *

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## FORT MYERS

Just a sleepy resort town in 1885, Fort Myers was pretty enough to entice Thomas Edison to build his winter home here. Among his many visions was palm-lined avenues, which he kicked off with a gift of more than 800 trees. His arboreal legacy lives on, and today 14 miles of McGregor Blvd are lined with more than 2000 palms. It's a nice introduction to what's still a fairly sleepy town; would that the rest of it were as impressive. The **visitor &convention bureau** ( 239-338-3500; www.fortmyers-sanibel.com) has visitor information; call or check online.

See how the early innovators lived at the **Edison &Ford Winter Estates** ( 239-334-7419; www.efwefla.org; 2350 McGregor Blvd; adult/child 6-12yr $20/11;  9am-5:30pm). In addition to Edison's winter home, you'll see his laboratory, gardens and a museum dedicated to his work, as well as the estate Henry Ford bought next door and the largest banyan tree in the continental US. Forty-minute guided tours leave every half-hour until 4pm.

Just north of Fort Myers, take a 90-minute swamp-buggy wildlife excursion through pinewoods, freshwater marsh and cypress swamp, led by **Babcock Wilderness Adventure** ( 800-500-5583; www.babcockwilderness.com; 8000 SR 31, Punta Gorda; adult/child 3-12yr $20/13;  tours vary, call for times).

For American bistro food try the cute **McGregor Cafe** ( 239-936-1771; 4305 McGregor Blvd; lunch $8-12, dinner $15-25;  lunch 11am-3pm Mon-Sun, dinner 5-9pm Tue-Sat), in a converted home with a shady patio under a huge live oak. Impress your date (or Mom, or client) with the regional specialties at the lovely **Veranda** ( 239-332-2065; 2122 Second St, Fort Myers; mains lunch $8-14, dinner $28-39;  11am-2pm Mon-Fri, 5:30-10pm Mon-Sat) located in a turn-of-the-century residence in downtown Fort Myers.

### Getting There&Around

Regional, national and international flights service **Southwest Florida International Airport** (RSW;  239-590-4800; <http://flylcpa.com>). **Greyhound** ( 239-334-1011; 2250 Peck St) has regular services.

**LeeTran** ( 239-533-8726; www.rideleetran.com; single/all day $1.50/2.50) gets you from downtown to Summerlin Square, from where you can catch a beach-bound trolley. Check online for maps and schedules.

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## FORT MYERS BEACH

Fifteen miles south of Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach is a cute if touristy party town on Estero Island. Look for blue, white and yellow flags marking beach access between houses. It's a good base for exploring nearby **Lovers Key State Recreation Area** ( 239-463-4588; pedestrian&cyclist $1, car $3-5;  8am-dusk), a bird and wildlife haven with gorgeous beaches where you can rent bikes, canoes and kayaks. You can also catch a ferry for a day trip to **Key West** (Click here) via the **Key West Express** ( 888-539-2628; www.keywestshuttle.com; 2200 Main St; round trip adult/child $145/75).

**Silver Sands Villas** ( 239-463-6554; www.silversands-villas.com; 1207 Estero Blvd, Fort Myers Beach; r $89-199;    ) is a sunny cluster of beach cottages painted with fresh, bright, tropical colors. Sunsets and sandy beaches are right downstairs from your room at the **Outrigger Beach Resort** ( 239-463-3131, 800-655-8997; www.outriggerfmb.com; 6200 Estero Blvd; r $105-225, ste $115-330;     ). Snag some terrific fresh seafood and waterfront views at **Snug Harbor** ( 239-463-4343; San Carlos Blvd, Fort Myers Beach; mains $8-24;  4-9pm Tue-Fri, 11:30am-9pm Sat&Sun).

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## SANIBEL&CAPTIVA ISLANDS

Shaped like a fish hook trying to lure Fort Myers, these two slivers of barrier island lie just across a 2-mile causeway (toll $6). Remarkably undeveloped and free from condo-fever, they're as lush and green as Hawaii. Even the houses are hidden by foliage, giving the islands a wild, tropical feel.

The islands are famed for shell-collecting. Stop just over the causeway at the extremely helpful **chamber of commerce visitor center** ( 239-472-1080; www.sanibel-captiva.org; 1159 Causeway Rd) for information about the islands – including where and at what time the shells will show themselves that day (an hour before or after low tide). The **Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum** ( 239-395-2233; www.shellmuseum.org; 3075 Sanibel-Captiva Rd; adult/child 5-16yr $7/4;  10am-5pm) helps you identify your shell finds, and is a nice place to wait out an afternoon shower.

Bike trails run all over the island, and you can rent bikes (4 hours $9) and more at **Finnimore's Bike &Beach Rentals** ( 239-472-5577; www.finnimores.com; behind 2353 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel;  9am-4pm). This is an especially good way to experience the marvelous, 5-mile **wildlife drive** (pedestrian/cyclist $1, car $5;  7:30am-sunset Sat-Thu) at the bird-filled 6300-acre **JN 'Ding' Darling National Wildlife Refuge** ( 239-472-1100; www.fws.gov/dingdarling; 1 Wildlife Dr, Sanibel;  9am-4pm, to 5pm Jan-Apr). You can also experience the refuge with a guided tram, kayak or canoe tour through **Tarpon Bay Explorers** ( 239-472-8900; www.tarponbayexplorers.com; 900 Tarpon Bay Rd, Sanibel); call ahead for schedules.

Lodging on the islands is more expensive than on the mainland, but **Kona Kai Motel &Cottages** ( 239-472-1001, 800-820-2385; 1539 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel; r $100-160, ste $130-200;          ) is great value, with lush gardens and clean, cute rooms. The lovely beachfront **Casa Ybel** ( 239-472-3145; www.casaybelresort.com; 2255 West Gulf Dr, Sanibel; r from $279;          ) has casually elegant suites and its own bird sanctuary. You can find more lodging options at www.sanibelsmallinns.com.

Start your day at **Amy's Over Easy** ( 239-472-2625; 630 Tarpon Rd, Sanibel; mains $5-10;  7am-2:30pm), where you can still have breakfast even if it's lunchtime. Take a break at **Island Cow** ( 239-472-0606; 2163 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel; mains $8-20;  7am-9pm), a colorful island café, with tons of options from paella to po'boys to steaks. Or fancy it up at **Dolce Vita** ( 239-472-5555; 1244 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel; mains $17-36;  5:30-10:30pm), with an eclectic menu including wild boar saddle and Bahamian lobster tail.

On Captiva, the historic **'Tween Waters Inn Beach Resort** ( 239-472-5161; www.tween-waters.com; 15951 Captiva Dr, Captiva; r $180-290, ste $230-710;          ) has a vast selection of rooms and cottages, plus tennis courts, spa, full-service marina and three restaurants. Don't miss the spectacularly kitschy **Bubble Room** ( 239-472-5558; 15001 Captiva Dr, Captiva; lunch $9-14, dinner $19-28;  11:30am-3pm&4:30-9pm), with Christmas collectibles and memorabilia from the 1930s and '40s crammed into every corner.

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# CENTRAL FLORIDA

With such beautiful sand and water, it's no surprise that people gravitate to the coasts, leaving much of the middle part of the state a hollow, under-populated core. The exception is Orlando, the beating heart of tourism and the largest inland city. Tourists from around the world make the pilgrimage here, drawn to the oodles of family-lovin' theme parks. Central Florida also has a slew of gorgeous natural springs bubbling up from deep beneath the earth, offering yet another reason to leave behind the beaches for a couple of days inland.

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## ORLANDO

One of the top family destinations in the world, Orlando seems destined to always be mentioned in the same breath as theme parks. In fact, the parks seem to have permeated every corner, reaching their glossy, over-produced tentacles to restaurants and hotels across the city. Where are the dive bars? The hole-in-the-wall restaurants? Why are the waiters costumed and why does there always have to be something fiberglass hanging overhead? It's all Walt Disney's fault. The Magic Kingdom was so successful that it spawned a whole empire and attracted a slew of like-minded attractions; nowadays you can go to a different theme park every day of the week.

Of course, there are other things to do in Orlando. Many people are surprised to find that there's a stylish downtown district, a thriving nightlife scene, and even some residents who don't dress up like pirates during the day.

### Orientation&Information

So many attractions compete for tourist dollars that it's easy to get overwhelmed. Good multilingual guides and maps are available from the **visitor bureau** ( 407-363-5872, 800-972-3304; www.orlandoinfo.com; 8723 International Dr;  8:30am-6:30pm); also check **Visit Orlando** (www.visitorlandoonline.com).

I-4 is the main north–south connector, though it's confusingly labeled east–west. To go north, take I-4 east (toward Daytona); to go south, get on I-4 west (toward Tampa). The main east–west roads are Hwy 50 and Hwy 528 (the Bee Line Expwy, a toll road), which connect Orlando to the Space Coast. The Bee Line Expwy accesses Orlando International Airport.

### Sights&Activities

#### DOWNTOWN&LOCH HAVEN PARK

A good place to get 'It's a Small World' out of your head is in and around downtown's **Loch Haven Park** , a cluster of culture with nary a theme in sight.

Start with the **Orlando Museum of Art** ( 407-896-4231; www.omart.org; 2416 N Mills Ave; adult/child 4-17yr $8/5;  10am-4pm Tue-Fri, from noon Sat&Sun), spotlighting American and African art as well as unique traveling exhibits. The **Mennello Museum of American Art** ( 407-246-4278; www.mennellomuseum.org; 900 E Princeton St; adult/child under 12 $4/free;  10:30am-4:30pm Tue-Sat, from noon Sun) features fascinating traveling exhibitions. Right across the street is the family-friendly **Orlando Science Center &John Young Planetarium** ( 407-514-2000; www.osc.org; 777 E Princeton St; adult/child 3-11yr $17/12;  10am-5pm Sun-Fri, to 10pm Sat). One mile east of Loch Haven Park is the 50-acre **Harry P Leu Gardens** ( 407-246-2620; www.leugardens.org; 1920 N Forest Ave; adult/child 6-18yr $5/1;  9am-5pm), a tranquil escape from all the gloss.

Pre-mouse Orlando is featured at the **Orange County Regional History Center** ( 407-836-8500; www.thehistorycenter.org; 65 E Central Blvd; adult/child 5-12yr $9/6;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun) in a series of permanent and traveling exhibits showcasing the region.

#### INTERNATIONAL DRIVE

There are so many themed attractions, themed restaurants and themed hotels surrounding **International Drive** (I-Dr) that it's a quasi-theme park itself (with a theme of, well, themes). Two attractions attempt to add some gravitas to I-Dr's giddiness: **Titanic: Ship of Dreams** ( 407-248-1166; www.titanicshipofdreams.com; 8445 International Dr, at the Mercado; adult/child 6-11yr $17/12;  10am-8pm) immerses you in replicas and relics from the doomed ship. And just north of I-Dr, **Holy Land Experience** ( 407-872-2272; www.holylandexperience.com; 4655 Vineland Rd; adult/child 6-12yr $35/20;  10am-6pm Mon-Sat) is like a fun day in ancient Jerusalem, complete with lots of lessons from the bible.

#### UNIVERSAL ORLANDO

Universal is giving Disney a run for its money with this mega-complex that features two theme parks, a water park, three hotels and an entertainment district. But where Disney is all happy and magical, Universal's shtick is 'action, thrills and excitement.'

**Universal Studios Florida** ( 407-363-8000; www.universalorlando.com; 1000 Universal Studios Plaza; adult/child 3-9yr $75/65;  from 9am, closing times vary;  ) has a Hollywood backlot feel with celluloid-inspired rides. Don't miss the _Back to the Future_ time-travel simulator, or the fun 4-D _Shrek_ show. Universal's **Islands of Adventure** (single day adult/child 3-9yr $67/56;  ) is a favorite with coaster-lovers, and is divided into five 'islands': Marvel Super Hero Island, featuring The Amazing Adventures of Spider Man; the dino-happy Jurassic Park; the ersatz-mystical Lost Continent; and the kid-friendly Toon Lagoon and Seuss Landing.

Look online for ticket deals, such as multiday park-hopper passes. Parking at Universal costs $12.

#### SEAWORLD&DISCOVERY COVE

A not-altogether-logical blend of marine animals and thrill rides, **SeaWorld** ( 888-800-5447; www.seaworld.com; 7007 SeaWorld Dr; adult/child 3-9yr $75/65  from 9am, closing times vary;   ) is home to both Shamu the killer whale and Kraken the floorless roller coaster. Journey to Atlantis tries to bring both concepts together: it's an oceanic water-coaster with a 60ft vertical drop. Feedings and shows take place at scheduled times, so plan your day to make sure you don't miss out. Parking costs $12.

Sister park **Discovery Cove** ( 407-370-1280, 877-557-7404; 6000 Discovery Cove Way; per person with/without dolphin swim $289/189;  9am-5:30pm, check-in from 8am;   ) is like an exclusive tropical resort, complete with beaches, a fish-filled reef and an aviary. The price is steep, but everything is included: lunch, towels, parking, even a day pass to SeaWorld. Plus, they only admit 1000 guests per day – and that's worth a lot.

### Sleeping

In addition to the Walt Disney World resorts (Click here), Orlando has countless lodging options. Most are clustered around I-Dr, US 192 in Kissimmee and I-4. The **Central Reservation Service** ( 800-548-3311) operates a free service in conjunction with the visitor bureau to assist in making hotel reservations. **Universal Studios** ( 888-273-1311; r $199-439) has three hotels, and guests zoom straight to the front of the line for rides.

**Magic Castle Inn &Suites** ( 407-396-2212, 800-446-5669; www.magicorlando.com; 5055 W Hwy 192, Kissimmee; r $35-45;     ) Garish exterior and serviceable rooms, but what the heck: it's super cheap, and just 3.5 miles from Walt Disney World.

**Sheraton Safari Hotel** ( 407-239-0444, 888-354-1356; www.sheratonsafari.com; 12205 Apopka Vineland Rd; r $99-159;      ) Families can find a happy compromise at this well-located, safari-themed hotel that's fun for kids but not annoying for adults. The lavish pool area includes a 79ft python waterslide.

**Veranda Bed &Breakfast** ( 407-849-0321; www.theverandabandb.com; 115 N Summerlin Ave; r $99-209;          ) Ideal for wandering Thornton Park and Lake Eola, this European style B&B has big antique beds and is a lovely retreat from all the bustle.

 **Courtyard at Lake Lucerne** ( 407-648-5188, 800-444-5289; www.orlandohistoricinn.com; 211 N Lucerne Circle E; r $99-225;     ) This complex of four inns in a secluded enclave near downtown is a real find. Choices include art-deco suites in a refurbished apartment building and grand Victorian rooms in the Dr Phillips House, including cocktails and breakfast.

**EO Inn &Spa** ( 407-481-8485; www.eoinn.com; 227 N Eola Dr; r $119-189;    ) Sleek and understated, this downtown boutique inn overlooks Lake Eola, with neutral-toned rooms that are elegant in their simplicity. It's mostly child-free.

**Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport Hotel** ( 407-825-1234; 9300 Airport Blvd; r from $159;     ) Right inside the main terminal, this hotel has quite nice (and soundproof) rooms with balconies looking down on the hubbub below, plus easy access to airport shopping, dining and people-watching.

**Grand Bohemian** ( 407-313-9000; 325 S Orange Ave; r $169-459          ) No theme here, just lots of style, comfort, luxury and attentive service (if you like that sort of thing). Check out their art gallery; it's no sub for a museum, but it's a nice touch.

### Eating

On and around I-Dr you'll find an explosion of chains; Sand Lake Rd has upscale dining.

**Sea Thai** ( 407-895-0985; 3812 E Colonial Dr; mains $6.50-16;  11am-2:30pm, 5pm-9:30pm, to 10pm Fri&Sat) Hidden in a strip mall is this surprisingly chic restaurant serving what could well be the best Thai in Orlando.

**Dexter's** ( 407-648-2777; 808 E Washington St; mains $8-25;  11am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat, 10am-10pm Sun) If you're craving low-key, head for this neighborhood café in fashionable Thornton Park on the edge of downtown.

**Hot Olives** ( 407-629-1030; 463 W New England Ave, Winter Park; lunch $9-14, dinner $18-37;  11am-10pm, closed Sun&Mon during summer) Sandwiches and big salads at lunch, tropical seafood at dinner, all enjoyed on a breezy lanai.

**Seasons 52** ( 407-354-5212; 7700 Sand Lake Rd; mains $11-27;  11:30am-2:30pm&5-10pm Mon-Fri, 11:30am-11pm Sat, 11:30am-10pm Sun) For a little _under_ -indulgence, try this fresh-food grill that eschews butter, espouses low-cal and still pulls off a tasty meal.

**Le Coq au Vin** ( 407-851-6980; 4800 S Orange Ave; mains $12-29;  5:30-10pm Tue-Sat, 5-9pm Sun) Known for its namesake, this immensely popular restaurant serves superb but hard-to-pronounce French specialties.

Combine dinner with a show and you usually end up with some lesser version of both; however, a lot of people find the combination fun enough that they don't mind. (Hint: you probably already have a pretty good idea if you're a dinner show type of person or not.) Good choices include the rollicking **Pirate's Dinner Adventure** ( 407-248-0590, 800-866-2469; www.piratesdinneradventure.com; 6400 Carrier Dr; adult/child $56/36) and the equestrian delight **Arabian Nights** ( 407-239-9223, 800-553-6116; www.arabian-nights.com; 6225 W Hwy 192; adult/child $53/29).

### Drinking&Entertainment

**Orlando Weekly** (www.orlandoweekly.com) is the best source for entertainment listings, but there's plenty to do downtown, where there's a happening bar district around Orange Ave between Church St and Jefferson St. Find cheap drinks and a rockin' jukebox at the delightfully divey **Bar BQ Bar** ( 407-648-5441; 64 N Orange Ave). Check out great live music at the **Social** ( 407-246-1419; 54 N Orange Ave; cover varies). Or unwind upstairs at **Latitudes** ( 407-649-4270; 33 W Church St) in a pleasant, open-air setting. Whatever else you're looking for could be found at one of the eight bars constituting **Wall St Plaza** ( 407-849-0471; www.wallstplaza.net; 18 Wall St Plaza) or the six gay bars that make up **Parliament House** ( 407-425-7571; www.parliamenthouse.com; 410 N Orange Blossom Trail; cover varies).

Universal Studio's **CityWalk** ( 407-363-8000; www.citywalkorlando.com;  11am-2am) has a concentration of movies, restaurants and clubs, and a $12 CityWalk Party Pass gives you access to most clubs. Venues include **CityJazz** ( 407-224-2189; cover $7) and **Hard Rock Live Orlando** ( 407-351-5483; www.hardrocklive.com; tickets from $20;  box office 10am-9pm).

### Getting There&Around

**Orlando International Airport** (MCO;  407-825-2001; www.orlandoairports.net) has buses and taxis to major tourist areas for around $40 to $60. And **Meares Transportation** ( 407-423-5566; www.mearstransportation.com) provides shuttles for around $20 per person. **Greyhound** ( 407-292-3424; 555 N John Young Pkwy) serves numerous cities. **Amtrak** ( 407-843-7611; 1400 Sligh Blvd) offers daily trains south to Miami ($36) and north to New York City ($154).

Orlando's bus network is operated by **Lynx** ( 407-841-5969; www.golynx.com; single ride/day pass $1.50/3.50). **I-Ride Trolley** (www.iridetrolley.com; adult/child under 12/senior $1.25/free/25¢, exact change required;  8am-10:30pm) buses run along I-Dr.

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## WALT DISNEY WORLD

At over 20,000 acres, Walt Disney World (WDW) is the largest theme park resort in the world. It includes four parks, two water parks, six golf courses, a couple dozen hotels, numerous restaurants and a mega-Disney entertainment district – proving that it's not such a small world, after all. At times it feels ridiculously crowded and corporate, but if you have kids in tow, you won't be able to inoculate yourself against their highly infectious enthusiasm. Even without kids, anyone who isn't scared off by the thought of life-sized costumed characters can easily end up drunk on Disney and clapping their hands because they do believe in fairies – they _do_! – and wandering home with bags full of souvenirs wondering what overtook them.

### Orientation&Information

**Walt Disney World** ( 407-934-7639; www.waltdisneyworld.com; single-park admission adult/child 3-9yr $75/63, multiday discounts available;  ) is 20 miles southwest of downtown Orlando and 4 miles northwest of Kissimmee.

To avoid lines for park admission, buy your tickets in advance online, by phone or from a Disney store. For an extra $50 a day, upgrade to a Park Hopper pass, which allows you to hop between all four WDW parks in the same day.

Crowds can sap the magic right out of the Magic Kingdom. Holidays aside (Click here), WDW is least crowded in January, February, mid-September through October and early December. During the summer, weekends are the least crowded days; the rest of the year it's the other way round. Late fall tends to have the best weather, since frequent downpours dampen the hot, humid months of June, July and August.

### Sights&Activities

#### MAGIC KINGDOM

It's the centerpiece of WDW and home of **Cinderella's Castle**. **Pirates of the Caribbean** has gotten some snazzed-up special effects with a dash of Johnny Depp, and **Haunted Mansion** and **Space Mountain** are still going strong. **Mickey's Toontown Fair** and **Fantasyland** are a hit with smaller kids, but anyone over 12 will want to keep walking. Fireworks displays light up the sky nightly and many nights end with a parade.

#### DISNEY HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

Formerly Disney-MGM Studios, this park caters to the post-fairytale crowd and is also a working studio. Hands-down the most exciting rides are the spooky and unpredictable elevator in the **Twilight Zone Tower of Terror** , and the **Rock 'n' Roller Coaster** , where your stretch limo races through the streets of LA after dark. Wannabes can audition for the **American Idol Experience** , where casting agents determine which park guests will go on to perform onstage.

#### EPCOT

An acronym for 'Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow,' Epcot was Disney's vision of a high-tech city when it opened in 1982. It's divided into two halves: **Future World** , with corporate-sponsored journeys through not-very-cutting-edge technology, and **World Showcase** , which gives you an interesting toe-dip into the cultures of 11 different countries. (They were originally intended to be two separate parks, which explains a lot.) Epcot isn't the kids' paradise that the Magic Kingdom is, but the new **Soarin'** ride is a winner, and **Mission: SPACE** is good for getting the adrenaline pumping after one too many educational exhibits.

#### ANIMAL KINGDOM

Light on attractions, bigger on animals, this park lets you see wild things in re-created 'natural' environments through assorted experiences, including the 110-acre **Kilimanjaro Safari** (best early in the day). The iconic **Tree of Life** houses the fun **It's Tough to Be a Bug!** show, and **Expedition Everest** plummets you through an old mountain railway.

### Sleeping

There are more than two dozen exceedingly family-friendly places to stay on Disney property, all offering free transportation to the parks and extended park hours. A **central reservation line** ( 407-934-7639) handles bookings and information.

Four properties make up Disney's 'value' segment, offering thousands of basic rooms. Beyond the themes, they're interchangeable, with over-the-top exteriors and wall-to-wall children common to all. Three **All-Star Resorts** (r $82-141;      ) let you take your pick between movie, music and sports themes; and **Pop Century Resort** (r $82-141;      ) tackles pop culture by the decade, with bowling pins and Mr Potato Head living side-by-side.

In the 'moderate' segment, **Port Orleans Resort** (r $149-199;     ) is divided into the Southern-style Riverside Resort and the French Quarter Resort, which pulls off a pretty good facsimile of New Orleans architecture. And **Coronado Springs Resort** (r $149-199;     ) has a Southwestern vibe that's low-key if not entirely authentic.

One of our favorite 'deluxe' resorts is the Yosemite-style **Wilderness Lodge** (r $240-420;      ); the 'rustic opulence' theme includes erupting geysers, a lakelike swimming area and bunk beds for the kids.

### Eating

Dining with Mickey and friends is insanely popular (and only available to park guests). If you have your heart set on a particular restaurant, make reservations two to six months out with **central reservations** ( 407-939-3463). The hottest character dinner in all four parks is the usually-frenzied **Cinderella's Royal Table** (adult/child $32-40/$22-25;  ), where guests dine with Disney princesses in Cinderella's Castle.

Also in the Magic Kingdom, the old-timey **Plaza Restaurant** (Main St; sandwiches $10-13;  ) is a great option for sandwiches and banana splits. **Crystal Palace** (Main St; adult/child 3-9yr buffet $19-29/$11-14;  ) serves a lavish buffet with Pooh and friends at breakfast, lunch and dinner – tops in both quality and quantity.

At Disney Hollywood Studios, nostalgia rules at the **Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater** (by Star Tours; mains $12-22, kids meals $7.50;  ), where you dine in a Cadillac while watching B-movies (and traffic is bumper to bumper).

Each pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase has a sit-down restaurant that will set you back $14 to $30 per main, but it's more fun to snack your way around the world with the considerably cheaper counter-service options.

You can feast on Disney outside the parks, as well. Make a reservation at one of the resort restaurants, such as **California Grill** ( 407-939-3463; Disney's Contemporary Resort, 4600 North World Drive, Lake Buena Vista, mains $19-44) which pairs upscale eats with great views of the fireworks. Or wander **Downtown Disney's** many restaurants till you find what you're looking for. On Sundays, feed your soul at gospel brunch at Downtown Disney's **House of Blues** ( 407-934-2583; adult/child 3-9yr $33.50/17.25), serving an all-you-can-eat buffet that's fun and filling.

### Drinking&Entertainment

Disney wouldn't dream of leaving you with non-Disney downtime, so it built Downtown Disney as a slightly overwhelming evening entertainment complex full of restaurants, shops and entertainment. The best live show in all of Disney World is **Cirque du Soleil** ( 407-939-7600; www.cirquedusoleil.com; adult $53-117, child 3-9yr $43-94;  6pm&9pm Tue-Sat), featuring exquisitely theatrical acrobatics, and **House of Blues** ( 407-934-2583; www.hob.com; cover varies) hosts live music acts. Catch a movie at the 24-screen **AMC Pleasure Island** ( 888-262-4386), or enjoy five floors of virtual reality and arcade games at **DisneyQuest** (adult/child 3-9yr $40/34;  11:30am-10pm Sun-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat).

### Getting There&Around

Most hotels in Kissimmee and Orlando – and all Disney properties – offer free transportation to WDW. Disney-owned resorts also offer free transportation from the airport. Drivers can reach all four parks via I-4 and park for $12. The Magic Kingdom lot is huge; you might need to catch a tram just to get to the entrance.

Within WDW, a complex network of monorails, boats and buses can get you anywhere you want to go, including resorts and Downtown Disney. Pick up a map at your resort or at Guest Relations (just inside the ticket turnstiles) to better understand your options.

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## AROUND CENTRAL FLORIDA

Hundreds of natural springs gush billions of gallons of crystal-clear water every day throughout the state, offering a plethora of outdoor pursuits. The water at **Salt Springs Recreation Area** ( 352-685-2048; 14152 SR 19N, Salt Springs; admission $4.25, camp-/RV sites $17/20;  8am-dusk) in the Ocala National Forest is rumored to have curative powers; either way, the swimming is sublime and there are fantastic opportunities for hiking, biking, canoeing, kayaking and camping.

At **Ichetucknee Springs State Park** ( 386-497-4690; 12087 SW US Hwy 27, Fort White; car $5, tubing $5;  8am-dusk), you can lie back on an inner tube or raft and gently float downstream on the crystal-clear waters through unspoiled wilderness as otters swim right up beside you.

In Volusia County, **De Leon Springs State Recreation Area** ( 386-985-4212; 601 Ponce DeLeon Blvd, De Leon Springs; pedestrian&cyclist $1, car $5;  8am-dusk) has a huge swimming area, and you can also explore the springs by canoe or kayak (per hour/day $10/$28). The springs flow into the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, with 18,000 acres of lakes, creeks and marshes.

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# FLORIDA PANHANDLE

The beaches up here are lovely, with translucent aquamarine seas lapping against white sugar-sand formed by quartz crystal from the Appalachians. Known as the Emerald Coast, the area from Pensacola to Panama City has also earned the nickname 'Redneck Riviera' for its proximity to the southern states whose residents flock here. There is indeed a Southern feel to the area that doesn't quite trickle down to the rest of Florida. Hwy 10 – the clothesline from which the whole state is hung – is lined with wooded forest for a scenic welcome to the Sunshine State.

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## TALLAHASSEE

Given how little resemblance it bears to the rest of the state, Tallahassee seems like an unlikely spot for the state capital. More Southern than Floridian, more forest than beach, it's a montage in the style of Margaret Mitchell's _Gone With the Wind_ , with moss-draped oaks, rolling hills and sprawling plantations.

It was chosen as the capital in 1824, not so much for its representative qualities, but because they just couldn't pick between St Augustine and Pensacola, the two largest cities at the time. In a King Solomon–like move, they cut the baby in half, as it were, and put the capital approximately midway between the two. Still, it's a lovely place to visit and plays the gracious Southern host to anyone who drops by for a visit. Information and walking-tour maps are available from the **visitor center** ( 850-413-9200, 800-628-2866; www.seetallahassee.com; 106 E Jefferson St;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm Sat).

### Sights&Activities

To learn about the people and events that shaped Florida, head to the museum in the **Florida Historic Capitol** ( 850-487-1902; www.flhistoriccapitol.gov; 400 S Monroe St; admission free;  9am-4:30pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4:30pm Sat, noon-4:30pm Sun&holidays), a grand, columned building with an art-glass dome and candy-striped awnings. Hovering behind it, with considerably less architectural charm, is the current **Florida State Capitol** ( 850-488-6167; cnr Pensacola&Duval Sts), a 22-story concrete slab where the state legislature meets for 60 days a year. The top floor has an observation deck and art gallery, and the ground floor has visitor information for the whole state.

The site of a 17th-century Spanish and Apalachee Indian mission, **Mission San Luis** ( 850-487-3711; www.missionsanluis.org; 2020 W Mission Rd; admission free;  10am-4pm Tue-Sun) has several convincingly re-created buildings, including the impressive Council House, for a fascinating look at what the area was like 300 years ago.

If the above elicited moans of boredom and shuffling of feet among the younger travelers in your party, make it up to them at the kid-friendly **Mary Brogan Museum of Art &Science** ( 850-513-0700; www.thebrogan.org; 350 S Duval St; adult/child 3-17yr $6/3.50;  10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm Sun;  ), which has diverse collections ranging from folk art to hands-on science exhibits.

A treat for runners, skaters and cyclists, **Tallahassee–St Marks Historic Railroad State Trail** ( 877-822-5208; admission free;  8am-dusk) starts 100 yards south of the intersection of Capital Circle (Hwy 319) and Woodville Hwy (Hwy 363), and heads south for 16 flat, paved miles to the town of St Marks.

### Sleeping&Eating

Accommodation rates can spike during football-game weekends and legislative sessions. Chains are clumped at exits along I-10 and along Monroe St between I-10 and downtown.

**Doubletree Hotel** ( 850-224-5000; 101 S Adams St; r $79-259;          ) This downtown hotel has homogenously nice rooms and is wired for business, making it a good base for the business traveler.

**Inn at Park Avenue** ( 850-544-2192; www.innatparkave.com; 323 E Park Ave; r $139-199;    ) Stay in grand Tallahassee style at this historic downtown inn, a stately home that's been in the same family for over 160 years.

**Governors Inn** ( 850-681-6855; www.thegovinn.com; 209 S Adams St; r $139-219, ste $179-299;    ) In a stellar downtown location, this warm, inviting inn has everything from single rooms to two-level loft suites, plus a daily cocktail hour.

**Hopkins Eatery** ( 850-386-4258; 1700 N Monroe; mains $7-10;  11am-9pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat) These people will put anything between bread – and we mean that in a good way. Their creative combinations elevate the sandwich to new heights.

**Po' Boys Creole Café** ( 850-224-5400; 224 E College Ave; mains $7-15;  11am-9pm Sun&Mon, to 10pm Tue, Wed&Sat, to 11pm Thu&Fri, to 10pm Sat) Crawfish, jambalaya, red beans and blackened fish – not to mention an outdoor bar with a great happy hour – make this place a favorite among students and legislators alike.

**Andrew's Capital Grill &Bar** ( 850-222-3444; 228 S Adams St; mains $8-15;  11:30am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri&Sat, 11am-2pm Sun) Politicians spill onto sidewalk tables for salads and burgers named after themselves, and you can fuel up at the lunch buffet for only $10.

**Urbane** ( 850-422-2221; 115 E Park Ave; mains $16-32;  5:30-10pm Tue-Sat) The vibe is chic, and the menu is creative. (Antelope? Really?) Make this your big night out, or stop by for small plates during happy hour.

### Entertainment

**Bradfordville Blues Club** ( 850-906-0766; www.bradfordvilleblues.com; 7152 Moses Lane off Bradfordville Rd; tickets from $10;  call for schedule) Down the end of a dirt road lit by tiki torches, you'll find a bonfire raging under the live oaks at this hidden-away juke joint that hosts excellent national blues acts.

### Getting There&Around

The **Tallahassee Regional Airport** (TLH;  850-891-7800) is about 5 miles southwest of downtown, off Hwy 263, and the **Greyhound station** ( 850-222-4249; 112 W Tennessee St;  24hr) is right downtown. **Star Metro** ( 850-891-5200; <http://talgov.com/starmetro>; adult/child $1.25/60¢) provides a local bus service. Rent bikes at **Great Bicycle Shop** ( 850-224-7461; 1909 Thomasville Rd; bikes per 24hr $30;  10am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat, noon-4pm Sun).

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## PANAMA CITY BEACH

There's no mistaking Panama City Beach for anything other than what it is: a beach town. Spring breakers and summer vacationers flock here for the beautiful white-sand beaches, and mile after mile of high-rise condos insist on disrupting the view. Stop by the **visitor bureau** ( 850-233-5070, 800-722-3224; www.thebeachloversbeach.com; 17001 Panama City Beach Pkwy;  8am-5pm) for more information.

A renowned wreck-diving site, the area around Panama City Beach has dozens of natural, historic and artificial reefs. **Dive Locker** ( 850-230-8006, 888-612-7968; 106 Thomas Dr;  8am-6pm Mon-Sat) has dives from $79 plus gear rental. Get inspiration at the **Man in the Sea Museum** ( 850-235-4101; www.maininthesea.org; 17314 Panama City Beach Pkwy; adult/child under 7 $5/free;  10am-4pm Tue-Sun), showcasing the history of diving.

**St Andrews State Recreation Area** ( 850-233-5140; 4607 State Park Lane; pedestrian&cyclist/vehicle $1/5) is graced with nature trails and swimming beaches (one of the best places to swim with children is the 4ft-deep water near the jetties). Just offshore, **Shell Island** has fantastic snorkeling, and **shuttles** ( 850-233-0197, trip plus gear for adult/child $22/17) depart every 30 minutes in summer.

Mini-golf is _big_ in Panama City Beach. Nostalgic favorite **Goofy Golf** ( 850-234-6403; 12206 Front Beach Rd; per round $7;  9am-10pm or later Mar-Sep;  ) was built in 1959 – look for the supersize sphinx.

### Sleeping&Eating

Summer is the high season for Panhandle beaches.

**Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort** ( 800-488-8828; www.sandpiperbeacon.com; 17403 Front Beach Rd; beachfront r $49-229, ste $209-269;      ) With a tiki bar, lazy river, waterslides, mini-golf and even a grocery store, there's just not much need to leave the premises of this beachfront extravaganza.

**Flamingo** ( 850-234-2232; www.flamingomotel.com; 15525 Front Beach Rd; r $49-174, ste $54-219;     ) Most of the immaculate rooms at this family-run, kid-friendly place on the beach have ocean views and kitchens.

**Wisteria Inn** ( 850-234-0557; wisteria-inn.com; 20404 Front Beach Rd; r $69-149;          ) More sophisticated than your average beach digs, the larger rooms are lightly themed and there are economical doubles in the back.

**Mike's Diner** ( 850-234-1942; 17554 Front Beach Rd; mains $4-11;  8am-3pm) Cheap beach fuel can be found at this friendly, unassuming place with a little bit of everything.

* * *

# DON'T MISS

Just 15 miles south of Tallahassee is the world's deepest freshwater spring at **Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park** ( 850-224-5950; 550 Wakulla Park Drive; cyclist/car $1/4, boat tours per adult/child $6/4;  8am-dusk;  ). The springs flow from massive underwater caves that are an archeologist's dream, with fossilized bones including a mastodon that was discovered around 1850. These days you can swim in the icy springs or enjoy them from a glass-bottom boat. You can also take a boat tour of the wildlife-filled Wakulla River, which was used as a movie set for several _Tarzan_ movies, as well as _Creature from the Black Lagoon_. Overnighters can stay in the park at the **Wakulla Springs Lodge** ( 850-224-5950; r $85-105;    ), a grand Spanish-style lodge built in 1937, where an 11ft stuffed alligator named 'Old Joe' keeps an eye on things.

* * *

* * *

# SCENIC DRIVE: HIGHWAY 30A

Along the Panhandle coast between Panama City Beach and Destin, skip the main highway (Hwy 98) in favor of one of the most enchanting drives in Florida: Scenic Hwy 30A. This 18-mile stretch of road hugs what's referred to as the Emerald Coast for its almost fluorescent, gem-colored waters lapping brilliant white beaches of ground-quartz crystal.

Leading off Scenic Hwy 30A are pristine, wild parklands like **Grayton Beach State Recreation Area** ( 850-231-4210; 357 Main Park Rd, Santa Rosa Beach; pedestrian/vehicle $2/5). You also get to escape the high rises that obstruct the views in the more populated areas. But the best reason to make the detour is to visit the little village of **Seaside** (www.seasidefl.com).

If you saw the movie _The Truman Show_ , you'll remember the town it was set in, with unnervingly friendly neighbors and candy-colored cottages clustered around a model town square. Turns out that that was no Hollywood backlot. It was Seaside. Stop for lunch in the slightly surreal planned community and wander the shops and galleries.

Good online resources are www.30-a.com, which has updated listings of all public beach access, and the website for the **South Walton Chamber of Commerce** (www.waltoncountychamber.com).

* * *

**Firefly** ( 850-249-3359; 535 Beckrich Rd; mains $12-35;  5-9:30pm) The food is fabulous, but it's the ambience that won us over, with drinks in the Library Lounge and dinner under a twinkle-lit oak tree.

**Pineapple Willy's** ( 850-235-0928; 9875 S Thomas Dr; mains $15-22;  11am-late) Ask for a table on the restaurant pier for breezy beachside dining. Famed for its signature drinks and its house special: Jack Daniels BBQ ribs.

### Drinking&Entertainment

Billing itself as the 'last local beach club,' **Schooners** ( 850-235-3555; www.schooners.com; 5121 Gulf Dr;  11am-late) is good for a low-key beer on the beach. The two mega nightclubs are **Spinnaker** ( 850-234-7892; www.spinnakerbeachclub.com; 8795 Thomas Dr;  10am-4am) and the enormous, multiroom **Club La Vela** ( 850-234-3866; www.lavela.com; 8813 Thomas Dr;  10am-4am), which boasts activities such as Bon Jovi tribute nights and bikini beach parties. Covers apply – and vary – at both.

### Getting There&Around

The **Panama City International Airport** (PFN;  850-763-6751; www.pcairport.com) is served by a handful of major and minor airlines.

The **Greyhound Station** ( 850-785-6111; 917 Harrison Ave) is in Panama City, and the limited **Bay Town Trolley** ( 850-769-0557; $1.25/60¢) will get you around town weekdays from 6am to 6pm.

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## PENSACOLA

Right next door to Alabama, Pensacola welcomes visitors driving in from the west. People are drawn not just by Pensacola's relative proximity, but by its white-sand beaches. In 2004 Hurricane Ivan smashed through the city; clean-up and regeneration is a lengthy process, but things are relatively back to normal and the local highway system got a major overhaul as an added bonus. The **visitor bureau** ( 850-434-1234, 800-874-1234; www.visitpensacola.com; 1401 E Gregory St;  8am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat, 11am-4pm Sun) has maps and free internet access.

The Spanish tried to colonize this stretch of the Panhandle in 1559, but the hurricane-plagued settlement was abandoned after two years, leaving St Augustine to claim the title of longest continuous European settlement in the country. Pensacola's harbor and geographical position have been key in its development as a military city.

### Sights&Activities

Pensacola says 'take that!' to St Augustine with the **Historic Pensacola Village** ( 850-595-5985; www.historicpensacola.org; Zaragoza St, btwn Tarragona St&Adams St; adult/child 4-16yr $6/3;  10am-4pm Tue-Sat, tours at 11am, 1pm&2:30pm), a self-contained enclave of historic homes and museums. Admission is good for one week and includes a guided tour and entrance to each building. The nearby **TT Wentworth Museum** ( 850-595-5990; 330 S Jefferson St; admission free;  10am-4pm Tue-Sat) has two floors of Florida history and one floor of Wentworth's collection of oddities, including his famous (and disgusting) petrified cat.

The Pensacola Naval Air Station (NAS) is home to both the **National Museum of Naval Aviation** ( 850-452-3604; www.naval-air.org; 1750 Radford Blvd; admission free;  9am-5pm) and the elite **Blue Angels** squadron. You can watch the Blue Angels practice their death-defying air show at 8:30am most Tuesdays and Wednesdays through the summer and fall (check website).

* * *

# WHAT THE...?

Every April, locals gather around the Florida–Alabama state line on Perdido Key for the **Interstate Mullet Toss**. This probably bears some explaining. 'Interstate' refers not to an interstate highway, but the fact that it involves two different states. 'Mullet' refers not to a redneck hairdo, but to a type of fish. And 'Toss,' well, that's pretty self-explanatory. Put them all together, and you've got contestants vying to see who can throw their dead fish furthest into Alabama. Organized by the **Flora-Bama Lounge &Package Store** (www.florabama.com), the mullet-toss has become a time-honored tradition, as well as a great excuse for a party.

* * *

To enjoy the area's lovely white sands, head to the easy-access Pensacola Beach or the neighboring **Gulf Islands National Seashore** ( 850-934-2600; www.nps.gov/guis; pedestrian or cyclist per 7 days $3, vehicle $8;  sunrise-sunset), part of a 150-mile stretch of undeveloped beach. After five years of closure due to Hurricane Ivan, the seashore's road to **Fort Pickens** has finally reopened, so you can once again picnic under the shadow of the imposing Civil War-era brick fort that once held Geronimo as a prisoner.

In 2006, a 910ft-long aircraft carrier was intentionally sunk off the coast of Pensacola to make the world's largest artificial reef. Now dubbed 'The Great Carrier Reef,' the **USS Oriskany** sits in the sand 210ft below the surface, with its flight deck at 137ft. **Viking Diving** ( 850-916-3483, 888-848-3483; 4612a Bellview Ave) and **Scuba Shack** ( 850-433-4319, 888-659-3483; 711 S Palafox St) can take you there.

### Sleeping&Eating

**Paradise Inn** ( 850-932-2319, 800-301-5925; www.paradiseinn-pb.com; 21 Via de Luna; r $69-180;    ) Bringing a boutique feel to a motel format – we'll call it 'motel nouveau' – this Pensacola Beach inn is walking distance to the beach.

**New World Inn** ( 850-432-4111; www.newworldlanding.com; 600 S Palafox St; r $99-129;     ) Peek under the lid of this former box factory and you'll find surprisingly lovely rooms with luxe bedding and real carpeting (a beach-town luxury).

 **Noble Manor** ( 850-434-9544, 877-598-4634; www.noblemanor.com; 110 W Strong St; r $125, ste $165;     ) This B&B has the prettiest rooms in town; 'Bacall' would be opulent enough for its namesake.

**Jerry's Drive-In** ( 850-433-9910; 2815 E Cervantes St; mains $6-13;  10am-10pm Mon-Fri, 7am-10pm Sat;  ) No longer a drive-in or owned by Jerry, but this greasy spoon is always packed – possibly because you can hardly eat for less. Cash only.

**Peg Leg Pete's Oyster Bar** ( 850-932-4139; 1010 Fort. Pickens Rd; mains $8-20;  11am-10pm) Raw? Rockefeller? Casino? Get your oysters the way you like 'em at this popular beach hangout that also serves lunch, dinner and plenty of cold beer.

**Dharma Blue** ( 850-433-1275; 300 S Alcaniz St; lunch mains $9-12, dinner $11-28;  lunch 11am-4pm Mon-Sat, dinner from 5pm nightly) Where else can you get both fried green tomatoes and sushi rolls? The menu may be a mishmash, but everyone leaves happy.

**Jackson's Restaurant** ( 850-469-9898; 400 S Palafox St; lunch mains $12-17, dinner $26-35;  lunch 11am-2pm Tue-Fri, dinner 5:30-10pm Tue-Sat, to 10:30pm Fri&Sat) Not your typical white-tablecloth restaurant; this one adds rustic touches and a stellar menu for dignified dining.

### Drinking&Entertainment

Check out the _Pensacola News Journal's_ Friday 'Weekender' section for entertainment listings. If you're not sure what you're after, head to **Seville Quarter** ( 850-434-6211), an entertainment complex with lots of options. Other good choices are **McGuire's Irish Pub** ( 850-433-6789; 600 E Gregory St) and gay dance club **Emerald City** ( 850-433-9491; 406 E Wright St).

### Getting There&Around

Five miles northeast of downtown, **Pensacola Regional Airport** (PNS;  850-436-5000; www.flypensacola.com) is served by major airlines. The **Greyhound station** ( 850-476-4800; 505 W Burgess Rd) is nine miles north of downtown.

# Great Lakes

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* * *

HISTORY

LOCAL CULTURE

LAND & CLIMATE

PARKS & WILDLIFE

INFORMATION

GETTING THERE & AROUND

ILLINOIS

CHICAGO

AROUND CHICAGO

NORTHERN ILLINOIS

CENTRAL ILLINOIS

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

INDIANA

INDIANAPOLIS

AROUND INDIANAPOLIS

SOUTHERN INDIANA

NORTHERN INDIANA

OHIO

CLEVELAND

AROUND CLEVELAND

ERIE LAKESHORE & ISLANDS

AMISH COUNTRY

COLUMBUS

SOUTHEASTERN OHIO

DAYTON & YELLOW SPRINGS

CINCINNATI

MICHIGAN

DETROIT

AROUND DETROIT

CENTRAL MICHIGAN

LAKE MICHIGAN SHORE

STRAITS OF MACKINAC

UPPER PENINSULA

WISCONSIN

MILWAUKEE

MADISON

SOUTHERN WISCONSIN

ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER

EASTERN WISCONSIN

NORTHERN WISCONSIN

MINNESOTA

MINNEAPOLIS

ST PAUL

AROUND MINNEAPOLIS–ST PAUL

SOUTHERN MINNESOTA

NORTHERN MINNESOTA

* * *

Here's how it's going to go down. You're planning your USA trip; you unfurl the map and gravitate immediately to the coasts. Mountains! Oceans! Metropolises! Movie stars! But the middle of the country – what's the middle ever good for? Middle management, middle child, middle of nowhere. It's nothing to strive for.

Fine. Be that way. You'll miss out on surfing beaches and Tibetan temples, car-free islands and the green-draped night-lights of the aurora borealis. You'll forgo the only region in which you can sip a fresh-from-the-dairy-farm milk shake for lunch, and then take part in a five-way in the city for dinner. Are you sure you want to pass it up?

Roll call for the Midwest's cities starts with soaring Chicago, which shoots up the country's mightiest skyline. Milwaukee keeps the beer-and-Harley flame burning, while Minneapolis shines a hipster beacon out over the cornfields. Detroit rocks, plain and simple.

The Great Lakes themselves are huge, like inland seas, offering beaches, islands, dunes, resort towns and lots of lighthouse-dotted scenery. Dairy farms and fruit orchards blanket the region, meaning fresh pie and ice cream await hungry road-trippers. Thirsty travelers can indulge in the Midwest's beers – the cities
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