that favors sailing and boating (hence its integral
importance to all things yachting American); a spectacular shoreline with low cliffs along the southern edge; and God’s blessing of sun, water and sparkle that are truly dazzling. And, for the summer months,
it’s a beautifully cool respite from the cities of
New York and Boston with the ocean’s breezes.
It’s also beautiful in the spring season, which is when we visited for the first time in some 50 years. Much has happened in Newport since then. The Newport Preservation Society has been vigorous and extraordinarily effective. There are now a plethora of the
most outstanding mansions that are maintained
by the Newport Preservation Society and open to the public. All are open in the summer, and approximately a half dozen in the spring and fall.
When you visit these late 19th C. and early 20th C. Newport mansions, it’s an incredible--and at points quixotic--integration of experience. The sumptuousness of the palatial homes, their furnishings and their detailing
is at times overwhelming or simply excessive to the New England palate, but then you come across some gorgeous element that is particularly to your liking. Take the recreation of the Louis XIV and Louis XV style in the
Marble House, for example, but then you enter into the
beautiful human scale and flood of light in the conservatory that opens out onto the beautiful lawns to the rear of the mansion.
And throughout your visits, you are regaled with the personal anecdotes that make these 19th C. American industrialist poseurs less foreign to you. Standing in the conservatory of the Marble House, for example, you hear
the story of how the very wealthy Aunt Julia who inherited the house would let the children from Newport play on those gorgeous back lawns each afternoon, interrupting them only briefly from time to time to send out
cookies and lemonade with her butler.
The beauty of the architecture is in fact remarkable,
and that makes the experience worth every moment
of your time. The Vanderbilts’ excess in the Breakers,
for example, is nonetheless grounded in a
classical symmetry. The Baroque-like integration
of experiences for the senses, from the interior marble fountain by the stairs to the beautiful fresh air loggias overlooking the sloping lawns to the sea, makes it clear what can be done when money is no object. Or
rather, when money is the object; that is, illustration
of exactly what exorbitant sums were expended to create these splendid homes.
You may have thought you hadn’t heard of anything like the McMansion craze sweeping through communities in the US these days, where valuable property in wealthy towns is purchased only to have the houses torn completely down and something gigantic take its place. Well, this is how Newport started over 100 years ago. The Breakers was rebuilt on the spot of the Vanderbilt home that burned down, but the later homes were built where perfectly beautiful summer homes had been razed first.
There is another jewel in Newport: The Museum of American Illustration, founded and directed by Lawrence and Judith Cutler. It’s a separate non-profit museum with a pricey admission (don’t forget to get the guide, which with admission costs only a few dollars more and is excellent). It’s well worth it. The museum has an incredible collection of our own Maxfield Parrish's paintings, including the gorgeous Florentine Fete panels from the women’s dining rooms at Curtis Publishing
Company in Philadelphia. They’re mounted in a conservatory that enhances the experience of this splendid Parrish series. The museum has many other works by Parrish (including his mail box, which is a little creative delight in its own right), as well as wonderful
works by Norman Rockwell. Rockwell’s Fourth of July 1943 and his April Fool’s painting are particularly
fun.
These are two names you know, but the museum has a bounty of painters and artists that are likely
new to you, and recently rediscovered (like Parrish) from relegation to American “Illustrators” as a pejorative
to a new appreciation for the quality of their work.
You’ll be glad you spent time in this new museum.
The history of the town is fascinating, and this is what we find sustains our interest. There’s a new guide just published that has extensive notes on each piece of real estate over the centuries of the town, and that
would be intriguing to spend a week studying in situ. However, the historical elements and details of the late 19th and early 20th are everywhere present in Newport. For example, the remaining signs of the abhorrent 18th
and 19th C. Triangle Trade hovers nearby in Bristol, and you can feel its innuendoes in Newport. You can take your interest in the historical at Newport as lightly or as seriously as you choose.
The Cliff Walk (beyond the edge of the Breaker’s lawn in the photo below) is a must experience while you’re there. Bring good hiking shoes, as you’ll get to climb over sea walls and rocks, experiencing that gorgeous Eastern side on the Atlantic to its fullest.
Climbing along the walk with the mansions cresting the long, rising slopes of lawn alongside you and the brace of salt air and beautiful sunshine infusing your senses is pretty exhilarating, certainly.
There are group tickets to the Preservation Society sites, which you can purchase at the Visitors’ Center, and we’d strongly suggest this. Skip paying for the topiary gardens; our favorites were the Breakers, Rosecliff and Chateau-sur-Mer (where you’ll find the Arts & Crafts’ style and Eastlake in more beautiful splendor than we’ve seen elsewhere). We’d also suggest you avoid being sucked into the historical “re-enactments,”
such as the Astors’, or the just plain excess of Doris Duke’s recently-opened estate.
We would suggest you plan some time for the beaches in Middletown, up along the eastern shore as you enter or leave Newport proper; they are public
beaches and they are lovely.
Where to stay in Newport?
That’s a bit trickier. There are any number of
places that are just a bit too mildewy for the average
New Englander’s taste, as Newport can rent out anything during the sailing season. However, we’d suggest trying the Wyndam Resorts. They’re a new operation that’s recently bought up the most coveted time share places on the harbor, and they’re renting these units as hotel space when they’ve got openings. You’ll get a
luxurious apartment for your moderatehotel-like price in spring or fall, replete with full kitchen, master bedroom, sleep sofa,plenty of space and a balcony.
There are any number of restaurants in Newport to entice you, but our friends, who live locally, suggested The Red Parrot, which is on Thames St. (warning: locals pronounce it unlike the London river and in a literal
phonetic way, including a long a), is quite good. We were enamored of the Marriott’s Wednesday and Thursday night specials, where you can get two entrées at the price of one from a select list that includes lobster,
salmon and filet. Marriott also always has a breakfast buffet in their resort locations that is an incredible
spread at an incredible price.
Our absolute favorite restaurant was Sardelli’s, on Memorial Blvd, just west of the intersection with Bellevue Avenue. The food was among the best we’ve ever had. The chef’s pesto gnocchi special was melt-in-the mouth
good, and the chocolate dessert (with a warm liquid center and light, mouth-watering somewhat cake-like exterior) was worth returning for. Oh--and the salmon was quite good and a good deal healthier.
The trip to Newport, RI, takes only about 3 hours from the Upper Valley, traveling down through Boston on Rte. 93, and staying away from Providence (come into
Newport from the east), and is therefore easily
accessible for a weekend stay. You’ll find that you want more time, however. Four days in Newport passes very quickly, and that would give you a chance to see only
about five of the mansions and a brief Cliff Walk amongst your other wanderings. You’ll find all sorts of other enticements to part you from your money, but don’t tarry. You don’t want to waste time thinking a National Tennis Hall of Fame is intriguing; it’s the mansions
on Bellevue Avenue that are worth all the fuss.
--Jo Evarts
Traveler's Notes
19th & 20th C. Art in the Striking Architecture
of Phillip Johnson at the
Kreeger Museum in Washington, DC
On a recent trip to Washington, DC, we discovered a remarkable place: The Kreeger Museum. It is located on Foxhall Rd. (adjacent to Georgetown), near the Field School and within a generally residential area.
The art collection, assembled by Mr. and Mrs. David Kreeger, is a splendid collection of Impressionist and Modern paintings and sculpture. In addition to the art, the building is a stunning example of 20th Century architecture.
The Museum is the former home of David and
Carmen Kreeger; David Kreeger founded Geico insurance. Mr. and Mrs. Kreeger traveled in the circles of the powerful—both politically (of Washington) and financially (of New York and larger international cities). David Kreeger was raised in a family that loved music, and he himself once trained to be a professional violinist. During the time that he instead became very successful in business, he never lost his interest in and support for the arts.
When he built his house on Fox Hall Rd, he hired the architect Phillip Johnson to design it and oversee its construction.
Carmen Kreeger was also an amateur musician
and a great supporter of the arts in all media. Beginning in 1959, David and Carmen Kreeger assembled the art that is the permanent collection in this museum. The pieces are exquisite, and cover the range of Renoir to Calder, Pissarro to Picasso. In 1963, they commissioned Phillip
Johnson to design their house; it was completed in
1967.
During the time that David Kreeger.became
very successful in business, he never lost his interest in and support for the arts. So, first, the Kreeger Museum is a gorgeous building. This is not the van der Rohe influenced minimalist style of Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan, CT
(which, by the way, has just been opened as a museum to the public). Rather, this building follows the developments of post-modernism, incorporating elements of prior architectural style into the 20th C. developments, rather than a strict adherence to “less is more.”
The style of the Kreeger’s house is a blend of the
materials of beautiful light-colored marble, large glass panels, and metal screens and struts. The design Johnson creates with these materials echoes his interest in aqueducts.
The floor plan and façade are asymmetrical, without losing either visual coherence or the building’s unity. The soft striations of the marble dominate the building both within and without. Large glass panels create the entrance, and are framed by two-storey marble walls topped by large shallow arches. The arches reflect the shallow groined arches within. The building suggests a very modern descendant of the Romanesque while also
creating a loft-like feeling in the ceilings, caused by the height and the light colors and natural light within the building itself. It’s a wonderful complementary blend.
.. This building follows the developments of postmodernism,incorporating elements of prior architectural style into the 20th C. developments,
rather than a a strict adherence to “less is more.”
There is also a suggestion, in the careful creation of
nearly dome-like spaces, of Hagia Sophia and the Byzantine. Again, however, the light marble, the marble pilasters within the building, the large marble piazza in the back of the building that overlooks a lovely pool and its surrounding terrace, keep the entire building “light.”
Playful elements, such as a raised arched wall with a thin garden along its length that frames the pool space and again refers to aqueducts, complement the house’s breathtaking beauty. Sitting in one of the rooms, it is easy to understand how compelling the architecture of great architects is and how difficult it is to “copy” or reproduce
by lesser talents. The simplicity, scale, and relationship of spaces within the Kreeger house are brilliant.
As you move through the museum, seeing the incredible works of art the Kreegers collected displayed as they had them, you never lose sight of what a gorgeous and warm house this was. Through the entrance hall, there is a triple length space with polished, inlaid wood floors, three squares of arched/groined arch spaces that rise two stories, in what was the large living room. It was used by Kreeger for the music chorales and ensembles he
entertained with (and often joined) throughout his life.
To the right, off the middle square, is a long, one-story space; this was the dining room. On its walls are the Kreegers’ Monets, and they are sumptuous. Several are from the three series of the rivers at dawn and dusk that Monet did in Giverny; set against the light marble, they are enchanting. In other rooms, there are a very early Mondrian of a tall sunflower that is stunning, two Sisleys
(one of which has the most astonishing blues) and a beautiful Pissarro. But it is the Monets in the dining room that complement Johnson’s architecture to a most dazzling effect. Even the beautiful small head of Balzac by Rodin is seen within this context.
In the space created by the dining room and the
third “cube” of the living room, the beautiful covered
marble piazza extends out the length of the dining room. It is accessed through the large, gorgeous glass walls and doors, where the hardware disappears and is unnoticeable, much like the trees, river banks and water dissolve in one of the Monet paintings. Six wonderful modern
sculptures are displayed on pedestals on the piazza; the Moore is particularly exciting. At the edge of the piazza, you find you are in fact on a balcony, as the earth has been cut away to create a lower level with the pool. At your height, the tall arches of the aqueduct boundary of the pool space extend the length of the pool.
The main floor includes two other gorgeous extensions of space on the other side of the living room. These spaces are joined to the stairwell by a lovely interior courtyard which is, in fact, a greenhouse. You see this only by peering up the two stories of its space to a greenhouse ceiling done in the groined, arched vault. The glass
walls of the atrium push back into the walls adjoining, so it’s either open space or glass space, without losing the openness of the design.
Beyond the stairwell, there is an intimate, onestory room that is the library. Here hang four Picassos from his later periods. The surrealist cubist portrait, a portrait of Dora Mar, and, especially, the most modern portrait from the musketeer series entitled Man with
Golden Helmet (from 1969) are wonderful in this library space. The Kreegers were ahead of their time in collecting Picassos from these periods, which have only recently been understood as among his great works.
The Kreeger House opened as a museum with
their collection on June 1, 1994. The building has a
basement level for special exhibitions; we saw an excellent Gene Davis retrospective. The grounds are also beautiful, with modern sculpture, trees and shrubs, and lawns integrated in very peaceful ways.
On weekdays, you need a reservation to go to the
museum, which you can make by phone. On weekends, no reservations are necessary. Parking is both adjacent (through the Service Entrance) and in the interior courtyard by the main entrance. This is a museum experience you will savor long after you have been there.
(The Kreeger Museum is on Foxhall Rd. in NW Washington,DC. )
Travel note:
On this trip to Washington to see the Kreeger Museum, we used Hotwire for the first time. It’s an
outstanding travel option. If you, for example, choose your destination city and enter the area you want to stay in (ours was “Dupont Circle”) and the type of hotel you would like (by stars, ours was “4 star”), with the dates and the type of rooms you want (double with double bed, twins or so forth), Hotwire then surveys its options and makes you an offer. It won’t tell you which hotel you’re booking, but you’ll know it’s in the area you requested,
get the types of rooms you requested, for the dates you’ve requested, and you will know the price when you commit.
Once you’ve paid online, Hotwire comes back with the exact hotel name and address in your reservation. Our rooms were $99 each, two
double beds in each room (and one had a third bed as well), at the Westin off Thomas Circle, which has been recently renovated and is lovely. The rooms ordinarily book at $425 per night. You can’t get your money back if you change your plans, but nonetheless, this is a hotel booking system worth knowing about and using.
---Jo Evarts
Traveler's Notes
Return to the City of Love
Ah, California. If it’s been a long time since you were last there (say, 1967, and the “Summer of Love”), it’s time to go back. Your own changes in perspective will align surprisingly well with the
changes California’s gone through in four decades.
We’re not great fans of the Los Angeles
area. The congestion, the bizarre, Piranesilike
phantasm of highways and the smog are worse than ever. If you lived there and made a lucrative living by being there, it might be a different story. But Rodeo Drive is really not as big a deal as the
stores on Fifth Avenue in New York City, and the hotels, even the one used as a backdrop for Beverly Hills Cop, are nothing more than the Helmsley Palace.
Los Angeles does have one place that has changed dramatically in the recent past, and that’s
the beautiful gem of Venice Beach. The Beach itself is still very lovely, and Venice, California, was Disneyland before Disneyland. A developer back in the 1920’s and 1930’s bought up area that was marshland and created a series of canals, bridges and bungalows on land (hence, the Venice of
California) that were picture-perfect. Time and the 1960’s were not so kind to Venice, as it became the hangout of those that were pretty much only hanging out, and Venice was battered and
unpleasant. But the last two decades have reminded Los Angeles how valuable real estate and
“location, location, location” are.
Although nearly all the original canals were land-filled and made small roads a while back, several of the main canals still exist and have been cleaned up and prettified to a delightful degree.
But it’s San Francisco that is the most enticing in California. Recent developments there have changed things dramatically. The Embarcadero area and the wharves are a superb, long area that has been restored beautifully. From the BART
(Bay Area Rapid Transit) terminal that runs out to Oakland in record time and convenience (to think it was once opposed by some in the 1960’s when proposed!) along the wharf past the now-famous two
wharves taken over by the seals (yes, it’s true) and on along to Ghirardelli Square, it’s an approximately two-mile walk through shops and food marts. This whole area has been redeveloped and is most engaging.
You can still take those trolleys (too emblematic to give up, of course), and we found drivers and riders courteous and friendly in ways that we just don’t find on the East Coast. At the end of the Embarcadero trolley line, Ghirardelli Square is another area that has been completely redeveloped and is now exquisite—still the delicious chocolate factory with its wonderful chocolate, but
also a full development of art galleries and small shops that are enticing for those who visit and those who live in the Bay area.
Those streets with their cable cars are still
amazingly picturesque, especially to northern New Englanders. And at the bottom of one hill, just adjacent to Ghirardelli Square, you see right out to Alcatraz, home of the famous prison. Nowadays you can visit it on one of the regular tours, if you
don’t find it too grim.
San Francisco is far more than the city itself. Muir Woods is incredible. It’s named for conservationist John Muir, and it is the site of a marvelous grove of “first growth” redwood trees, some of which are over 1,000 years old. The redwoods were very important to the history of California: two very tall redwood trees above the bay
on the top of the hills above Alameda that were the navigational points for the first sailors seeking safe harbor in the Bay.
[These redwoods were taken down after the great San Francisco fire as development created a whole new picture in the bay area.]
Muir woods is a real treat. It’s a grove of beauty, with wonderful paths, streams, bridges, and the incredibly impressive, tall redwoods. In a way it also
reminds you that we are one country, thinking of those tall, white pines for His Majesty’s navy that were found along the Connecticut River in the Upper Valley.
Sausalito, not far from Muir Woods, has
become a beautiful little village on the harbor that also features art galleries, restaurants, great fresh seafood, and friendly folks.
The San Francisco area has cleaned up so much in the recent past, that everything— from the convenience of the bay ferries through the charm of artwork for sale—sparkles in that perfect weather that is characteristic of the Bay area.
Airfares from here are also remarkably
reasonable. If you’re willing to travel either at night or in the very early morning, you can get a round-trip ticket for $300 (with taxes included) from Manchester to Oakland Airport, or to Oakland via Los Angeles. Delta goes through its hub of Atlanta,
but one stop from Manchester is still good traveling. And the beautiful San Francisco and its Bay area are well worth the trip.
--Jo Evarts
Traveler's Notes
A Trip to the Beach
The three miles of sand, dunes, and beauty of the beach at Ogunquit, Maine, make it a star among beaches on the East Coast and the US. Ogunquit itself is very intriguing and almost surreptitious, however: you can go to Ogunquit, follow the signs to the beach from the downtown area, and end up on the most crowded area of sand on the East Coast--your experience will be framed by the noises and smells of typical beach businesses behind you as well.
However, if you know where you’re going, you won’t go out from the center of town to the beach, following the signs. You’ll travel about a mile further north out of town and, sandwiched between a new sushi place and the Footbridge Motel on Rte. 1, you’ll turn right onto an unassuming road that has no noticeable sign. Follow that road no more than ¼ mile, and you’ll find a parking lot charging way too much money ($15 a day, $10 after 4 p.m.). You’ll only see a small estuary from the parking lot, but you’ll also see a wooden footbridge that crosses it and goes up over a sand dune. Follow that path, and at last you’ll see the gorgeous beach of Ogunquit. No shops, no restaurants, just beach as far as you can see in either direction. You’ve finally found what everyone raves about.
Ogunquit popular? Oh, yes. Is it still the place to go for the beach? We’d say so. You need to know a few things if you’re going to stay there, but it is eminently worth going. For instance, we live in a rural area here in the Upper Valley, and Ogunquit has a bustling town and summer economy. This might not be the cup of sunshine for city dwellers escaping to the beach, but it’s a wonderful asset for anyone from here.
Ogunquit is a most welcoming town, very family-safe and also with lots of artistic activities and entertainments. They won’t shove the best of what they offer in your face, as, for example, the beach that’s really sensational, but that surreptitiousness keeps you from tumbling over people wherever you go.
So, the beach is fantastic. Now, in terms of travel, there’s another important piece of insider information. When you’re coming North on Rte. 1 from the Ogunquit exit off Rte. 95, be sure to turn right at the first corner past the Ogunquit Playhouse. Take this road to its end, and you can turn right on Shore Rd. to Perkins’ Cove or left to one of the hotels or restaurants in that direction toward the center of town. You don’t want to be on Rte. 1 all the way into town; the summer traffic congestion is a big turnoff.
If you turn right, you’ll head down Shore Rd. Again, with little or no fanfare, you will come to a small road just past a parking lot that goes straight, while the larger road veers off to the right.
If you go straight, you’ll come around a bend into
Perkins Cove, a little harbor so sweet it belongs in a good novel about Maine. You can rent time on a day or sunset sail from here; you can even rent a spot on the morning lobersterman’s route. There are whale watching trips, too, but we’ve never seen a whale the three times we’ve tried; be sure to go in September if
you must try it, as that’s the time you might have a shot at seeing one.
Perkins’ Cove has one particularly good restaurant, the Oarweed: mouthwatering lobster, either in the shell or out of it, seafood platter and their house specialties include a twice-baked potato that’s delicious. They’ve got alternatives for those who disdain the taste of seafood, although that’s somewhat of an anomaly if you’ve chosen to go to the beach in the first place.
Don’t be tempted by the desserts at a restaurant in
Ogunquit. Perkins’ Cove has a great little candystore up a set of stairs with the freshest candies, salt water taffy, and sugar-free candies we’ve ever tasted. The chocolate covered orange rinds and the salt water taffy in all interesting varieties are delicious--and FRESH.
When you leave the candy store for the other stores on the little lane, you’ll find all the sweets in tchotchkes you’d ever like. Two stores that are particularly good are the handmade ceramics’ store on the right (which also has a little plant called a goldfish plant that’s unique and a great addition to your plants at home--it blooms little orange flowers that look for all the world like the goldfish of Pepperidge Farm fame) and, further along on the left, Out of the Blue, which has super jewelry of all types.
Incidentally, there’s a set of public washrooms opposite Out of the Blue when you need them. Again, tucked away, but they’re handy.
There are two other Ogunquit restaurants we’d recommend. One is Wild Blueberries on Shore Rd. closer to the center of town and Rte. 1; it has incredible breakfast and lunch (forget it for dinner--
too pricey and that’s not the food that melts in your mouth), including wild blueberry pancakes, tenderloin eggs benedict, and waffles banana foster.
The other restaurant that’s delicious is Roberto’s. It’s along Shore Rd. as you go towards Perkins’ Cove; it’s pricey but the food is quite good. The grilled flatbread appetizer, the fish entrées, the veal marsala, and the mussels are outstanding.
These are places where you might want to head if
cost of your trip isn’t a problem. However, in yet another interesting and lesser known quirk of
Ogunquit, you and your whole family can go for a miniscule amount of money as well. If you travel
north out of town along Rte. 1 and turn left on Capt. Thomas Rd., follow it to the end and turn right;
you’ll be immediately in front of the Pinederosa Campground. This is a great inexpensive way to visit Ogunquit. It’s a private campground, and the entire place is beautifully maintained. You’ll spend $26 a night for your site (split it with friends or older offspring, and you’ll spend less than electricity at home in the same time period would run you), and it will be nestled among beautiful woods. You could also stay in their meadow if you’d prefer. The campgrounds
have a wonderful, large pool, and you can get any supplies you might have forgotten (such as wood for your campfire) at the central lodge. The lavatories are placed conveniently without being intrusive on your experience and there are large hot showers (a quarter for each 15 minutes) with nicely private cubicles and a super laundry facility.
This is a beautiful place; the campsites are unbelievably quiet, with people exhausted from sunning all day on the beach. Oh--and that parking fee at the beach? If you're staying at the campgrounds, skip that and take the shuttle from the office directly to the beach (the good one) for $1.
Like all good accommodations in Ogunquit, getting a reservation close to the time you travel is nearly impossible, so reserve ahead. This is a vacation the economy of which, given where you are, is amazing--and you can’t beat the taste of dinner cooked on the campfire, corn grilled in its husks for vegetables
and banana boats grilled in tinfoil for dessert.
If you’ve got a larger budget, we’d recommend one of the places on Shore Rd. Our particular favorites are Sparhawk (without children) and PInk Blossoms (with children). Sparhawk is the most coveted in our family: tennis court, on the water, incredible service, a delicious continental breakfast included, and Wifi either in your room or the common spaces. The people are Sparhawk could not be nicer, but like the best places in Ogunquit, you must make reservations in January or February (yes, that's right). If you're a newcomer, you're put on a waiting list then, and they'll notify you of the time they can offer you.
Which brings us to two other things that are very specialand that you won’t want to miss. The Marginal Way is a spectacular walk along the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic. It begins at the Sparhawk, and, typically Ogunquit, you won’t find any splashy signs to help you get there. Look for the subtle blue signs with the white lettering. Head on the path off Shore Rd. and you’ll very quickly find yourself along a very comfortable path along the cliffside. It’s 1½ miles from the start to Perkins’ Cove, where the Marginal Way ends at Oarweed, and it’s a walkyou’ll want to do again and again during your stay.
Secondly, do not miss the sun rise at Ogunquit. If you drive to the footbridge parking lot at 4:15 a.m., you can park for free (until 8 a.m.). You’ll be rewarded with a gorgeous morning sky and beach experience that culminates with the sun rising over the Atlantic around 4:45 to 5:00 a.m. (depending on when you go in the season). [NB: If you stay at Sparhawk, you can watch the sunrise from your room--or your bed. Ask for the right location.]
In nearby York, Maine, York Wild Kingdom is a great treat on a cloudy day. Be sure you see the baby pot-bellied pigs, the white tiger, and the butterfly habitat (blue morphs!). There are rides, too, and a go-cart track for the under 30.
You can also go to a show at the Playhouse, which has a super season featuring at least one diva you thought had died in each show.
The Ogunquit Art Museum is a rare gem, a fine little collection and special exhibits, and beautifully maintained grounds and gardens. Turn right at that fork we mentioned near the end of Shore Rd. and follow that along some mile or so of residential homes; the museum will crop up unexpectedly on the left.
Downtown at night has something for everyone, too.
The Front Porch has a piano bar upstairs that’s filled with folks singing show tunes every night til nearly 2 a.m. There are pizza parlors and ice cream shops, another candy store, a toy store and a fabulous soap and sundries store called Crumpet’s in the center
of town. Near the start of Shore Rd. is Revelations in a former church; the store has a series of vendors and you can find delightful small things for mementoes
or larger items,like quilts and paintings.
The very best shop in town is Books Ink. The
woman who owns and runs the store has an outstanding and interesting collection of books, including some super books on history and math challenges for all ages.
In the restaurants, Ogunquit’s nightlife is hopping
til 2 a.m. On the streets and along Shore Rd., the town gets very quiet by 9 o’clock. This is a town that retains its New England quality of life in surprising ways, and this is one of them. It’s a pleasure.
Oh, and how to get there from here? We’ve had this discussion with Kirby, and he’s right: go south from Concord on Rte. 93, turn east on 101 toward Portsmouth, and take 95 North when you hit it. It’s the fastest and most comfortable trip; it will take you about 2¼ hours to get to Ogunquit from the Upper Valley.
--Jo Evarts
Florida: The Flip Side of Winter in
New England
Okay, we’ve put it off for a long time, even though we were thinking about it: Florida in winter. We’ve often wondered how you find a super place in the state. How do you get a place for the right price (one you can hopefully afford) and, most important, is the Snowbird existence even feasible?
Well, the circumstances of this winter (don’t get any of us who live in the Upper Valley started on this topic, it’s a series of seasonal disasters and consequences best forgotten as completely and as soon as possible) and the generosity of a member of our family, we had a chance to see what everyone up here sortof secretly fantasizes about: 80 degree temperatures in February—or even April, May or June when we’re honest about it.
We had heard great things about The Villages, a location west of Orlando that a number of folks from our area enjoy as a second, winter home. And we’ve certainly heard much about the possibilities of telecommuting for short periods of time. Truth be told, we’ve asked around for, oh, about twenty years, about where other Yankees go in Florida, collecting info and details for a time when—well, whenever.
So “whenever” arrived this year midst ice storms, eight days without power just prior to Christmas, frozen and broken pipes, the well pump freezing—oops, I promised I wouldn’t get into that. It was bad enough living through it.
And, curiously and at about the same time, we learned about a strange and interesting set of circumstances centering in Melbourne, Florida. Seems Tropical Storm Fay stalled out over Melbourne and the Orlando area late last August, and they had their own annus horribilis. One of the larger cities beyond Melbourne was flooding beyond control, so sluiceways in a small area of Melbourne that are opened in times of flooding had to be closed to “save” the larger city. Bingo, this small area of Melbourne was under one to two feet of water. Not all of Melbourne, but this area of Melbourne.
This very area, it turns out, is a place that friends from Connecticut had been trying to get us to consider joining them in.
Well, you might say, given its underwater circumstance, scratch that one off the list. In fact, that’s exactly what my husband said.
Not so fast, I said, there might be something pretty interesting that develops. And this was prior to the Lehmann Brothers disaster omen, but I still got to thinking about what hard times might actually provide. They sure weren’t providing anything up here, but maybe in Florida . . .
And so it was. We visited this particular village in Melbourne where our friends have a place.
First, we took a look at Melbourne itself. 16 Cineplex with “Seniors’ Movie Club” discounts, barbecue places with incredible prices and food, the longest set of gorgeous public beaches in any town in the country, a wholesale produce and meat store that services the restaurants and is open to the public ($6.99 a pound for a filet roll/tenderloin? Yup, it’s true), and a super Target and big Barnes & Noble bookstore—all within two miles of the village. Yet the village is off to itself in its own world of quiet and friendly folks.
Now, all the driving we do in the Upper Valley, this looked like it had all anyone could ask for as convenience we’d only dreamed of.
Then there’s this village. Okay, you have to get used to the concept of “double-wides,” which after our only experience in single-wides as classrooms some years ago, we would have told you we would never consider again in our lifetimes.
Again, hold on a minute. These double-wides, if they’re upscale, are incredibly convenient and pleasant. Plenty of windows, additional screened-in porches (oops, lanais, I believe they’re called down there), two full bathrooms conveniently off the two bedrooms (here’s a novel idea, if you’re used to living in New England farmhouses), commodious conveniences (from laundries to kitchens to toolsheds)—what’s not to like, as they say?
Oh, another heretical concept: air conditioning. Yup, air conditioning that’s also heating in “winter” (the definition of which they do not know in Florida; 65 degrees is not winter). And, what was the final kicker for us: a palm tree (replete with coconuts!) in our front yard (albeit a very small yard).
Okay, more about this small section of Melbourne that was the sacrificial lamb during Fay. The place has very savvy management. So, they struck a deal with FEMA and the U.S. Government to restore the place before they allowed the sluiceways to be closed. So, within several months and now completed, we’re talking brand new pool, pooldecks, hot tub, exercise facilities, three clubhouses, commodious computer room, billiard room with four tables and three large-screen TV’s, WiFi for the entire village, two tennis courts, shuffleboard courts, and a new mini-golf course. And most importantly, a new system of canals and drainage installed by the state and federal government that ensure this area won’t need to be swamped to protect areas to the north such as Titusville.
Melbourne is part of the Space Coast; it’s about an hour south of Cape Kennedy, which is cool; we saw the shuttle Endeavour take off with our neighbors, as we all sat outside to watch, cheering, one evening. I admit it is hard to find a copy of Sunday’s New York Times; sales clerks in the first ten stores I checked looked at me as if I had a screw loose for asking.
But Barnes & Nobles has it (15 whole copies, that’s it, in a 5 mile radius), and that’s what counts. And that barbecue lunch at MeMaw’s (southern for Grandma) is the best we’ve ever tasted. Don’t get us started on Mustard’s Last Stand—best hot dogs ever, and it’s a legit business owned and operated by a former rock star.
And, wow, the Melbourne beaches and protected natural habitats are gorgeous. There’s a celebrated annual surfing competition at Sebastian Inlet, if you’re into that. There are a lot of artists down there, and an annual street Arts Festival that’s delightful. And you trip over the art classes that are offered at unbelievable prices—seems nearly all Snowbirds want to do artwork in their retirement.
And four, count ‘em four, theatre companies right in Melbourne, with more summer stock-type theatres within an hour’s drive.
Now, transportation. This is the other secret to the success of the location. Flights to Orlando from Manchester via Southwest are as little as $59 one way when you keep your eyes open and buy on-line. And the Southwest Rewards program nets you a Roundtrip free ticket in a reasonable length of time. Three of these flights each way are nonstop each day. THAT is worth considering, as the delays any other way, especially through and to other airports or with any stops whatsoever, are pretty insufferable these days.
Driving is about 25 hours from the Upper Valley. This is another area where options have evolved over the years. Don’t stop at a motel where you pay $150 for even the cheapest room that is neither clean nor non-smoking nor has it ever been. You can pull into any of the rest areas on Rte. 95 (which you take all the way down once you get on it from Rte. 91 in New Haven) from Virginia on down, and there is 24 hour security and convenience. We have another suggestion here: don’t try the truck stops. Yes, they’ve got 24-hour gas (good) but the noise, exhaust and 5 a.m. start-ups are not for sleeping. The rest areas on Rte. 95 have pleasant, tree-shaded (oh, right, it’s night, but that gives you the feel of it) areas for cars and camper vans, as well as 24-hour security and rest facilities.
Bring your own meals when you travel by car, as that’s the best food at the best price. If you must stop, go to any of the Waffle House restaurants; great food at great prices.
We drove down and back with friends, and, frankly, I was ready for what I thought would be 27 hours (with stops) I’d just have to live through. Wrong, it was actually fun. The self-reliance is pretty nifty, and the money you save can’t be beat. Two hours driving, two hours resting is a very reasonable pace, and you’re not exhausted when you arrive.
Back to the village itself. Given the unusual circumstances of this place at this time, its real estate market has not caught up with its current desirability. Few know that it’s been redone with gorgeous and plentiful facilities, or that the damage from Fay has been easily rectified on the homes. Therefore, the places are more than affordable; they’re great buys. You can get a fully-furnished two bedroom, two bath, all amenities, for under $25,000. And these guys are eager to finance, either by owner or the village management group that handles the sales. There are smaller places with two bedrooms and 1½ baths for under $9,000, if you know how to find them there.
Yup, this is a lifestyle with the combination of climates you might have been looking for. For a few precious weeks or months in the winter, it’s a veritable salvation. It also saves money, truth to tell, when you consider the heating oil and winter charges of electricity you aren’t spending.
And, if you’re really lucky, you’ll also get a palm tree in your front yard.
—Jo Evarts
The Traveling Owl:
Paradise in Winter
There does seem to be something in the ions in New England this winter. So many people we talk with tell us that they’ve had one thing after another go a bit haywire since late November. We all had the power outages, of course, but there’s been all manner of other mishaps that have disrupted lives, from burst pipes to nasty sprains from falling on the ice.
Luckily for us, we had the chance to review the Cinnamon Bay Campground this past ten days. Cinnamon Bay is located on St. John in the US Virgin Islands. In the past, we have often visited the bay itself, as our family members, regardless of age, describe it as the most beautiful beach in the world. We’ve often passed by the camping facilities, and, invited to check it out for our travel column, we went down to see what it was really like.
We were astonished. First of all, the facilities are remarkably comfortable. We have stayed at the Maho Campground on Maho Bay on St. John, and that is also a very pleasant location, reasonably priced (once you get there). Maho is also an ecotourist destination.
Cinnamon Bay Campground, however, is a National Park and is run by the National Park Service. It, too, is ecologically sound and sensitive in the ways all the parks are, or strive to be when not invaded with oil drilling. It is also less expensive than Maho. And here’s the real clincher: Cinnamon Bay Campground is right on the water. Yup, you’re separated from the shoreline itself by a small band of mango trees, and, throughout the night you can hear the waves in the bay.
Wow. Hard to beat that.
Further, Cinnamon is on the level with the water; Maho is up very steep and extensive stairs: to the lodgings, to the restaurant, to the commissary. Cinnamon is on the most relaxed scale you could imagine, with the units carefully nestled among the trees and within easy reach of the extensive, gorgeous beach, the commissary and, if you get desperate, the restaurant.
Cinnamon has a well-established schedule that’s great, too. It is almost as if Maho tries too hard—and we have many Upper Valley friends who go to Maho regularly. But Cinnamon has very interesting daily programs and evening programs free of charge, and possibilities for additional activities, all at a less frenetic pace.
We went on the National Park Service hike among the sugar plantation ruins and throughout Cinnamon Bay. What we learned was extensive; it was to be a free, one-hour program, but it went on for two hours, Our ranger, Chuck, was well-informed about all aspects, and we got to visit the archaeological museum with what’s been found of the Taino (5th-8th C. A.D,) and Carib (8th-15th C.) tribes, learning about their history. We learned about the flora and fauna (the Danes thought they’d discovered a mercantile motherload of cinnamon trees on St. John, but they were actually bay trees!), saw the “monkey-no-climb” trees (they’re armed, for heavens’ sake--armed as in weapons, with spikes all up and down the trunk to protect the trees’ fruits), and enjoyed the stories of the Starvation Fruit Trees. These trees have large (12 inch long, 5 inches in diameter) white fruits with a whitish liquid inside a very soft skin. Taino and then Caribs would only eat the fruit if they were starving, hence the name. However, today the fruit is imported from the Caribbean to California, where the juice is fermented and sold as “Noni Fruit Juice,” meant to have extraordinarily healthful properties. Apparently, it’s quite expensive. This might amuse the Taino.
We then spent about an hour among the ruins of the sugar plantation and learned about the agricultural heritage of the island, which included cotton, sugar and cattle. The first two were dependent on slave labor. There was a huge slave revolt against the Danes (who owned the island) that was briefly successful, but then failed. When the world came to its senses and slavery was finally abolished, cattle farming, requiring less manpower, was established on what were, until the 1950s, only 10 large plantations on the island.
By the 1950s, there was also an indigenous charcoal industry, and the process of creating charcoal from wood is another interesting one.
Cinnamon Bay Campground has music and dancing two nights a week, on Sunday evenings and Wednesdays. The bands were excellent; one was steel pan, the other more a rhythm and blues band with vocals. Wyclif Jean to Bob Marley, these were great evenings for the whole family, too.
On Friday nights, there is a theatrical presentation. Currently, there is a production of Tituba, which is powerful. On Saturday nights, astrologer Kelly Hunter does a star watch.
All these events are free of charge.
So let’s get on to what this great mid-winter vacation would cost you.
First, the airfares have dropped more than 50%. You can get a roundtrip ticket from Boston to St. Thomas, USVI (the gateway to St. John) for approximately $350.
Nights at the campground at this season are $120 for one of the cottages, as they’re called, or $75 for the tents on platforms. The campground provides the cooking materials and dishes, bed linens and beds, and the propane for the stove and lanterns (the tents). There are also grills at each location.
The tents are less preferable; the cots are uncomfortable. However, you can get a campsite for $30 a night, and bring your own gear and comfortable air mattress.
Our suggestion is the “cottage.” These are incredibly well-designed. Four are nestled together in each row, but they’re set up with extended exterior cinder block walls that make them quite private and quiet. Within the cottages, there are four real beds, real linens, and towels, and, again, all the equipment you need to prepare your meals.
You bring your clothes (and all you need, really, are two bathing suits, a pair of shorts, a couple of sleeveless T’s, a poncho (of course), a lightweight jacket, a pair of jeans, a pair of sandals, and a pair of shoes. Bring one outfit to go into town of an evening, if you must, although we don’t recommend it. The economic downturn has had a most peculiar effect on the restaurants of quiet St. John’s. The most expensive ones have closed in the last six months, and the old favorites have suddenly raised their prices to beyond-reasonable. Better to cook at the campsite and keep your budget down.
To rent a car or not? You don’t need one for Cinnamon. Don’t plan to buy your food at the commissary; it’s too pricey and there’s little selection. Take the $9 per person taxi into town once every few days to the Starfish Market and stock up on very good choices. Pine Peace Market, which is new, has the best prices, but its selection is slightly more limited.
Back to the car idea. If you must rent, do so on St. Thomas, and use Budget (they’re in the airport, and Hertz doesn’t let its cars go to St. John). You can get a car ferry from Red Hook on St. Thomas to St. John every half hour and save the money on taxis and passenger ferry. But a car will cost you approximately twice the amount of using taxis, even if you go into town everyday. It’s up to you; you might think the requirement of driving on the left side is worth the price just for the fun of it.
The virtue of the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean in general is that the beautiful weather is far more reliable than, say, Florida. At this time of year, the tradewinds blow into the islands, so there is more rain (usually at night) and the beaches are breezier. However, coming from our climate, the beauty of the island is unsurpassed and exceptional. Two sides of each Cinnamon Bay cottage are completely screened, so you’re very much among the woods but protected. Do bring your bug spray and your tanning lotion, and prepare to have an incredible relief and vacation from our New England winter. With the changes in costs in airfares, and the affordability of Cinnamon Bay Campground, this is a healthful vacation within financial reach.
You’ll find more info on Cinnamon Bay on their website; you’ll find the staff unbelievably helpful and nice. We use Expedia for airfare, as it never fails to be the cheapest. We also freeze meat from our favorite butcher in Ascutney and bring it in one of the suitcases. By the time we get there (it takes about a day of traveling all told), it’s still pretty frozen, and we can keep it cold in the coolers with ice.
One drawback we heard some griping about: the cold showers. But mid-day, when you’re hot from the beach? It’s actually a pleasure.
But the experiences of being on the beach at dawn, during the day, and walking there in the evening are unsurpassed. If you need the break from those pesky ions of anxiety that seem to be particularly prevalent this year, we recommend Cinnamon Bay with enthusiasm.
