Superior Mushing
Boundary Waters, Minnesota
Everyone knows northern Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is the place to practice your J-stroke. But long after the last canoe has been portaged, the lakes freeze solid to create the best mushing terrain south of Alaska. On the Beargrease Special , a January 28–February 2 trip with Ely-based White Wilderness Sled Dog 国产吃瓜黑料s, professional mushers will show you how it’s done. First, watch as the pros set off on the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, a 400-mile race along Lake Superior. While the race is on, you take the helm of a six-dog sled, geeing and hawing for 25 to 30 miles a day past moose, bald eagles, and gray wolves in Superior National Forest. At dusk, park the canines and dine on cold-weather delicacies like pork schnitzel with chipotle apple brandy sauce. Then take a quick peek at the blaze of stars—there’s no civilization for miles—before shutting up the yurt and piling on the blankets for a cozy night’s sleep. From $1,545 for the five-day trip, based on double occupancy, including lodging, food, equipment, and guides; 800-701-6238,

Caribbean Breaks

Rinc贸n, Puerto Rico

With some of the biggest swells in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico’s northwest coast is like Oahu’s North Shore—only smaller. If you’ve brought your own board—and know how to wield it—hit the break at Tres Palmas, just north of the town of Rinc贸n, where February swells can bring faces up to 30 feet. The beaches south of town tend to see smaller waves year-round. Whether you’re just getting wet or you’re a longtime surfer, Rinc贸n Surf School (787-823-0610, ) offers one-to-five-day courses with seasoned coaches. Most students stay at the nearby Rinc贸n Surf and Board Guesthouse (from $20; 787-823-0610, ), a sprawling hilltop spread with suites, private rooms, and dormitory-style bunks—plus a poolside tiki bar that serves a tasty breakfast of fresh pastries and local fruit. Or splash out at the posh Horned Dorset Primavera resort (doubles from $490, including two meals; 800-633-1857, ), where the yoga classes, massage therapists, and seafood—blackfin tuna with hibiscus sauce or grilled mahi-mahi with pesto coulis—will have you rested and ready for the next day’s lesson.

Vintage Velo

Sonoma and Napa Valleys, California

Lance might rethink his retirement when he hears about Getaway 国产吃瓜黑料s’ Napa and Sonoma cycling trip—a veritable Tour de Vin ($950, including bike rental, hotels, and meals; 800-499-2453, ). Getaway 国产吃瓜黑料s has been leading bike tours in the Sonoma and Napa valleys since 1991, and they get it just right on this four-day, 156-mile sip-and-spin excursion. The ride winds north from Calistoga to the wildflower-filled meadows of Sonoma Valley—and, along the way, several flights of cabernets and zinfandels at Frank Family Vineyards. The road kicks up the Valley of the Moon to Bodega Bay, but a sampling of crisp chardonnays at Matanzas Creek Winery is the perfect reward. Day four follows the rugged Pacific coast to Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve, leaving plenty of time for a bubbly toast or two at Korbel Champagne Cellars. At trip’s end, in Healdsburg, if you haven’t had your fill—or you’re too tipsy to ride home—book a night at Les Mars Hotel (doubles, $425–$995; 877-431-1700, ), the town’s newly opened boutique inn. The 16 guest rooms have soaring ceilings, roaring fireplaces, canopy beds, and mountain views. Plus there’s a library where you can settle in with a book and—what else—a glass of vintage merlot.

Virgin Beaches

Maho Bay, St. John

Don’t rule out the U.S. Virgin Islands: While cruise ships belch a carnival of tourists onto the shores of neighboring St. Thomas, tiny St. John remains mercifully unscathed. Thank American financier Laurance Rockefeller for that: After buying up a major hunk of the island in the 1950s, he built a private resort on Caneel Bay, then donated 5,000 acres of his remaining tropical paradise, which forms the cornerstone of today’s Virgin Islands National Park. Sample the bounty—from silent, palm-studded beaches to coral reefs teeming with sea turtles and rainbow fish—on one of Arawak Expeditions’ 国产吃瓜黑料 Week packages (from $1,125, based on double occupancy, including meals, lodging, gear, and guides; 800-238-8687, ). Local guides lead kayak trips into the blue-green waters off Honeymoon Beach and Henley Cay, hiking ventures to jungled, pre-Columbian petroglyphs, and a strenuous mountain-bike ride (well, harder than lolling on the beach) to the top of 1,277-foot Bordeaux Mountain. Home base is the Maho Bay Camps eco-resort, on St. John’s north shore, where each roomy platform-tent cabin is naturally cooled by lush foliage and outfitted with twin beds and a private deck.

Rouge-Rock 国产吃瓜黑料

Sedona, Arizona

Rouge Hotel and Spa

Rooftop Terrace View

From crystal-toting vortex hunters to canvas-schlepping artists, Sedona’s three million annual pilgrims can’t be wrong: Arizona’s canyon-guarded oasis is a slice of desert inspiration. If you’re feeling more perky than pensive, Coconino National Forest’s swell of sandstone is just as good for climbing as for contemplating, and the slickrock rivals anything in Moab. After a hard session of walking meditation—some call it hiking—on sandy, juniper-lined trails, the chic Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa (from $199, based on double occupancy; 928-203-4111, ) is the perfect place to unwind even further. Opened in June, this sumptuous retreat blends Old World Mediterranean decor (brightly painted Moroccan furniture, ornate iron balconies, and ancient Tunisian vases) with 21st-century luxury (flat-screen TVs, goose-down comforters, and rain-spray showers). Work out the kinks at the full-service spa with a hot-stone massage and a reflexology session, then sink into an overstuffed leather armchair at Reds, the hotel bistro, for the house-specialty brick-oven sea bass with baby fennel.

Peaceful Valley

Yosemite National Park, California

In the summer, it’s difficult to savor Yosemite’s splendor through the throngs of sunburned tourists and snarls of metro-worthy traffic. But as soon as the snow begins to stack up, the video cameras and RVs head south with avian consistency, leaving a silent Yosemite Valley. Take in the enormous views on Yosemite Cross Country Ski School‘s one- and two-night cross-country ski trips from Badger Pass to 7,200-foot Glacier Point (one night, from $160; two nights, from $240; 209-372-8444, ). You’ll ski ten and a half miles of groomed beginner and intermediate trails through lodgepole pines and red firs, with eerily empty views of Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, and the Sierra Nevada, before reaching the top of the granite cliff. Then bunk down at the Glacier Point Winter Lodge, a comfortable stone-and-log cabin, for a fireside meal. After dinner, slip out of the hut and patter through fresh snow with moonlit views of the valley. Sure, you’ve seen Yosemite before, but you’ve never seen it like this.

Historic Ramble

Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee

If history is a guide, the Natchez Trace is worth the trip. The Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes walked this 444-mile path centuries ago, famed explorer Meriwether Lewis mysteriously died while taking the route toward Washington, and thousands of ambience-seeking sojourners have completed segments of the tour since the track was named a national scenic byway in 1996. Now, after 67 years of work, the entire length of the historic trail has been preserved as the Natchez Trace Parkway, a snaking two-lane scenic drive from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee. Autumn is prime time for this southern road trip, when the black gums burn red and the hickories blaze gold. Start your journey in downtown Natchez with an indulgent southern breakfast of sausage, biscuits, and grits at the 1888 Wensel House B&B (doubles from $95; 888-775-8577, ). Then hop in your car and peel back the top for a leisurely drive past antebellum homes, prehistoric ceremonial mounds, and the graves of unknown Confederate soldiers. Need to stretch your legs? Spend an extra day in an 1830s log cabin at the Ridgetop Bed & Breakfast (doubles $95; 800-377-2770), where you can hike the trails on the property’s 170 wooded acres, canoe the nearby Buffalo River, or saddle up for a horseback ride with Natchez Trace Riding Stables (931-682-3706, ).

Polynesian Bounty

Kauai, Hawaii

Though the origin of the name Kauai is hazy, some speculate that it means “season of abundance.” If so, no wonder: Hawaii’s oldest island has miles of precipitous coastline strewn with tangled forests; steep hillsides planted with coffee, squash, and pineapples; and the highest annual rainfall on the planet—5,148-foot Mount Waialeale receives an average of 460 inches a year. Austin-Lehman 国产吃瓜黑料s explores the bounty on its new Hawaiian offering, Kauai: The Garden Isle. The six-day adventure packs in everything from a rugged hike to 200-foot Hanakapiai Falls, on the Na Pali Coast, to a screaming 3,500-vertical-foot, 12-mile mountain-bike descent from Waimea Canyon to the Pacific coast. The accommodations live up to the island’s abundance: The 356-room Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club has elaborate tropical gardens, a 26,000-square-foot hibiscus-shaped pool, access to world-class surfing on Kalapaki Beach, and a spa renowned for its open-air massages overlooking Nawiliwili Bay. From $2,848, based on double occupancy, including meals; trips begin December 25, 2005, and January 1, 2006; 800-575-1540,

Island Chic

Honolulu, Hawaii

Halekulani Hotel

Halekulani Hotel

Be a movie star—or at least play one on vacation—with the definitive fashion-forward excursion to the Halekulani Hotel (doubles, $4,000; 808-931-5005, ), on Honolulu’s famed Waikiki Beach. This 88-year-old luxury resort has teamed up with fashion mogul Vera Wang to create the first designer-branded digs in Hawaii. The 2,135-square-foot Vera Wang Suite bears all the marks of an authentic label: fine-china settings in the formal dining room, silk linens in the master-bedroom suite, and antique elm furniture flown in from the South Pacific and Asia—all personally chosen by Wang, of course. The 642-square-foot lanai, a huge stretch of private deck with expansive views of Waikiki Beach and the Diamond Head volcanic crater, can second as your own private catwalk. There’s supermodel-worthy service, too: VIP passes to the symphony, museums, and the Honolulu Academy of Arts; 24-hour in-room made-to-order meals; private in-suite spa therapies; butler service; individual master surfing instruction with the hotel’s director of surfing; and a personal limo to get you to those 5 a.m. surf sessions. To the beach, Jeeves!

Deep Key Fishing

Islamorada, Florida

Cheeca Lodge and Spa

Cheeca Lodge and Spa

Islamorada—a seven-square-mile length of sand and scrub in the 1,700-island Florida Keys archipelago—gets sloshed with waves from both the Atlantic Ocean and Florida Bay (known to locals as “the backcountry”). The island’s waters are stuffed with a staggering 600 species of fish and the only tropical coral reef in the continental U.S. Push off from Cheeca Lodge & Spa‘s 525-foot pier—a nod to the island’s stretch geography—with the Backcountry Fishing Package ($900 per couple for three days and two nights) and cast for marlin, snapper, sailfish, and wahoo from a privately guided boat. If you’d rather swim with the fish than hook them, you can practically brush flipper to fin with angelfish, parrotfish, spotted rays, and green moray eels at Alligator Reef and Cheeca Rocks, two nearby dive sites. On the shore, the recently renovated property is just as stunning as the aquatics, with 27 beachfront acres highlighted by a spa that focuses on indigenous treatments, four waterfront restaurants (the chefs will prepare your catch-of-the-day), and 201 guest rooms and suites with oversize bathtubs, mahogany beds, and giant windows with sweeping views of the Atlantic and the resort’s 27 palm-swept acres. Doubles from $250; 800-327-2888,

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1) Austin-Lehman 国产吃瓜黑料s delivers “the best of Costa Rica” in an eight-day best-of-the-country sampler. Visit outdoor markets, museums, a working coffee plantation, and a local school outside San Jos茅, Costa Rica's capital聴then head south to stay in a hacienda in the Oros铆 Valley, where you'll dine on gallo pinto and locally grown produce, ride horseback below Turrialba Volcano, and raft whitewater down R铆o Pejibaye. Next, enter Tortuguero National Park by boat: A guide will lead you on foot to see nesting sea turtles and by kayak to find howler monkeys and toucans in the inlets. From $2,348 for adults, $1,798 for children 5聳12; 800-575-1540,

2) Backroads knows multisport family fun: six days of biking, hiking, rafting, and kayaking the rainforest and the Pacific coast. You'll mountain-bike 13 miles through the coastal jungle of Quepos, whitewater-raft down the Class III R铆o Savegre, and kayak the R铆o Oro into the Pacific. You'll bunk in ocean-view rooms at prime digs like Hotel Punta Islita, where you're likely to catch some live music and pick up a few salsa moves. From $2,698 per person (double occupancy), plus $495 for internal airfare; recommended minimum age is five; 800-462-2848,

3) On Mountain Travel Sobek's nine-day Jewels of Costa Rica adventure, naturalist guides take you through four of the country's most diverse regions. Explore the many habitats of Corcovado National Park: You'll spot dolphins, howler monkeys, and scarlet macaws on the Osa Peninsula; visit Arenal National Park and cross suspended bridges over the ravines of one of the world's most active volcanoes; boat past sloths and iguanas through a wild river ecosystem at Laguna Ca帽o Negro National Reserve; and hike through the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in search of quetzals. Lodging is indulgent. From $2,690 for adults, $2,590 for children 10聳12, plus $250 for internal airfare; 888-687-6235,

4) Thomson Family 国产吃瓜黑料s' nine-day sporting tour hits not only the biggest attractions, like Tortuguero National Park, on the Caribbean coast, but also the lesser-known inland Sarapiqu铆 region. You'll hike through the La Paz Waterfall Gardens and the Tirimbina Biological Reserve with a local naturalist guide, then whitewater-raft the meandering Class II R铆o Sarapiqu铆. Next, you'll take off toward the Pacific to kayak through Manuel Antonio National Park to spot coatimundis. From $2,890 for adults, $2,590 for children 6聳11; 800-262-6255,

5) Wildland 国产吃瓜黑料s' nine-day trip takes your group along the Pacific coast, where you'll snorkel the reefs off Ca帽o Island, plunge through Class IV rapids on the Pacuare, kayak a jungle riverway, boogie-board off Guanacaste, zip-line through a rainforest canopy, and surf the Pacific. You'll soak in hot tubs and ponder the papaya groves at secluded, luxurious beach resorts. From $2,230 for adults, $2,090 for teens 11聳16; 800-345-4453,

6) Costa Rica Expeditions takes you and your family on a ten-day tour of three of the country's best natural destinations. You'll play in Tortuguero National Park's 175,000-plus combined acres of land and sea, on the Caribbean coast; the volcanic Arenal National Park; and 26,000-acre Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, in the central highlands. You'll see spider, howler, and white-faced monkeys; iguanas; poison-dart frogs; toucans; and, if you're lucky, a jaguar. $2,208 per person; 011-506-257-0766,

7) G.A.P 国产吃瓜黑料s' 12-day family trip accommodates all agendas, from beach-bumming to river rafting. During your three days in La Fortuna聴near the base of Arenal Volcano聴ride horseback or hike lava fields. In Monteverde, tour the cloudforest or visit the butterfly gardens. You can surf, kayak, boogie-board, or sail the Pacific off the town of Quepos. $1,205 per person; 800-465-5600,

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1 ELOWAH FALLS, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon
Hike a mile through Douglas fir, western hemlock, and western red cedar and you’ll happen upon one of this scenic area’s 77 gems: 289-foot Elowah Falls. 541-308-1700,

2 ALAMERE FALLS, Point Reyes National Seashore, California
This 35-foot-high cascade splashes directly onto the beach—see it by hiking 3.5 miles along cliffs overlooking the Pacific. 415-464-5137,

3 GOOSEBERRY FALLS, Gooseberry Falls State Park, Minnesota
On the Gooseberry River, which hits the north shore of Lake Superior, this series of five falls runs icy cold. 218-834-3855,

4 LOWER CALF CREEK FALLS, Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah
Hikers pass Native American rock art before reaching the 126-foot falls and its crystal-clear pond. 435-826-5499

5 HIILAWE FALLS, Waipio Valley, Big Island, Hawaii
Drive a mile down the supersteep Saddle Road for the payoff: a sky-high faucet rushing over black lava rock. The more than 1,000-foot freefall is Hawaii’s tallest. 800-648-2441

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Little Palm Island Resort & Spa, Fl

Little Palm Island

FLY IN, BOAT OUT: Little Palm from your taxi window

This 28-bungalow retreat is as off the grid as it gets—120 watery miles south of Miami, accessible only by boat or floatplane. Snorkel and kayak off white beaches, or scuba-dive at the Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary. Then shine up with a seaside salt rub before dining on fresh lobster. Doubles, $745; 800-343-8567,

Inn at Langley, Wa
Built atop a bluff on Whidbey Island—a 15-minute ferry ride from the mainland—the inn’s 24 rooms and two cottages have private decks that deliver 180-degree Puget Sound views. Kayak through the Saratoga Passage, then warm up fireside with an in-room whirlpool tub. Doubles, $250–$495; 360-221-3033,

Big River Lodge, Mt
A stone’s throw from the Gallatin River, the lodge sits in primo trout territory. Or trade your rod for a raft and paddle the Class III whitewater of the Yellowstone and Madison rivers. Afterwards, gorge on braised native striped bass before bedding down in your streamside cabin. $450 per person per night; 800-628-1011,

Lake Austin Spa Resort, Tx
A freshwater oasis, the spa has achieved an award-winning rep for wellness, offering 100 signature treatments. Between botanical facials and river-rock massages, practice yoga on the suspension deck or take an Asian cooking class. At the end of the day, soak it all in from your private cottage’s veranda. Doubles from $1,300 for three nights; 800-847-5637,

Winstead Inn & Beach Resort, Ma
Settled into a private beach on Nantucket Sound, this 14-room Cape Cod inn has a wraparound porch that faces rolling sand dunes and sea tides. Rent a bike from the nearby Bike Depot and pedal the path from the inn to Saquatucket Harbor, where you can charter a sailboat or sportfish in the sound. Doubles from $165; 800-870-4405,

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So much to do, only three sun-drenched months to do it. Let us help. We start by pinpointing the and , then lay out the , , , , , a dizzying slew of summer essentials, and over a dozen more ways to make the season sizzle.

Brandy Armstrong

HELLO, SUMMER: Brandy Armstrong, a runner from Ogallala, Nebraska, hits Cocoa Beach, Florida, in a vintage bikini from MELET MERCANTILE; shorts () from ROXY BY QUIKSILVER.

PLUS: ; ; ;



HEAVY WATER
for Robert Maxwell’s Exposure Photo Gallery of surfing’s invincible underground.

Swellsville, USA

Bare feet on hot sand. Surfboard on the waves. Lobster in the pot. A long, hot season to stay wet and never go back inside. summer starts here—don’t let the screen door hit you on the way out.

Tori Praver

Surfer Tori Praver at Cocoa Beach, Florida

Cocoa Beach, Fl While the waves are more mellow than menacing, Kelly Slater’s hometown boasts some serious surf cred. Gear up at one-acre Ron Jon Surf Shop (4151 N. Atlantic Ave., 321-799-8888) and head south toward Patrick Air Force Base, where, if you don’t mind the occasional sonic boom, you can score at breaks like Picnic Tables and Second Light. Refuel seven miles farther south at Da Kine Diego’s Insane Burritos, in Satellite Beach (1360 Hwy. A1A, 321-779-8226). The joint’s outdoor Bamboo Theater screens the latest surf flicks. Montauk, NY It’s just three hours by train from Penn Station to the peaceful right-hand break at Turtle Cove and the smooth lefts at Ditch Plains. Make camp at the Atlantic Terrace hotel ($85–$385; 21 Surfside Pl., 631-668-2050), which overlooks an eponymous beach break fueled by hurricane swells spinning off the Carolinas. Work up an appetite for Harvest on Fort Pond (11 S. Emery St., 631-668-5574), nose-riding wizard Joel Tudor’s favorite spot for monster helpings of seafood and sunset views. Santa Cruz, CA Power up on coffee and croissants at Kelly’s French Bakery (402 Ingalls St., 831-423-9059) and pop next door for a custom foam-grinding session with shaper Ward Coffey. Warm up on the mellow rights at Cowell Beach before risking life and limb in the barrels at Natural Bridges State Beach. Then flop down on the bluffs at Lighthouse Point, where pros boost airs so close to the cliff, you’ll flinch as they pass. Apr猫s, fish tacos and cervezas go down smooth at El Palomar (1336 Pacific Ave., 831-425-7575). Coos Bay, OR Frontier town meets surf scene in Oregon’s biggest logging port. Check out Ocean Soul Surf Shop (91122 Cape Arago Hwy., 888-626-7685), where local firefighters and fishermen pick up their surf wax. Co-owner Donnie Conn will steer you to “wherever it’s going off.” For beginners, that might be the cold-water waves at Sunset Bay or, if you like more juice, Bastendorff Beach for intimidating peaks like Shitters. Rogers Zoo and Bizzaratorium, in North Bend (2037 Sherman Ave., 541-756-2550) offers live music. Yakutat, AK Lower 48 just too crowded? Hop the twice-a-month ferry from Juneau and head to Icy Waves Surf Shop (635 Haida St., 907-784-3226). It shouldn’t be hard to find: Yakutat has only two paved roads. Beg directions to the peelers at Cannon Beach; then, after overnighting at Glacier Bear Lodge ($110; 812 Glacier Bear Rd., 907-784-3202), have bush pilot Les Hartley (Alsek Air, 907-784-3231) drop you and your gear on one of countless unknown, unnamed, and potentially perfect point breaks along the rugged coast.

Perfect Pickup Games

A Guide to Summer

TOUCH FOOTBALL: From left, Blake Pearson, a San Diego surf-store owner, wears jeans ($165) from POLO BY RALPH LAUREN and a hooded sweatshirt ($301) from R BY 45 RPM. On Nick Fairman, a short-boarder from Winter Park, Florida: boardshorts ($45) by PATAGONIA; cargo shorts ($85) from POLO BY RALPH LAUREN; vintage button-up shirt by MELET MERCANTILE. On Ryan Heavyside, a Palm Beach, Florida, competitive surfer: boardshorts ($120) by TRACY FEITH; boardshorts ($60) by RLX RALPH LAUREN.

Soccer While the Beltway crowd cheers D.C. United’s 15-year-old 蹿耻迟产贸濒 phenom Freddy Adu at RFK Stadium, slide-tackle a lobbyist or knock in a header under the gaze of Lincoln’s statue. Impromptu scrimmages are held most evenings on the National Mall’s soccer-perfect turf. Beach Volleyball As the birthplace of the sport, Manhattan Beach, California, takes its volleyball seriously. Its nearly 100 first-come, first-served courts, spread along a two-mile strand, are tractor-groomed weekly and fill up nightly. Bring a net and ball and you’ve got game. Ultimate Frisbee If you can’t find a game of disk in Madison, you’re just not looking. The University of Wisconsin is home to one of the country’s top college programs, and Madison offers a city league for every season. Walk-ons are welcome nightly at Vilas Park and Olbrich Field, all summer long.

The Swinging Life

Gold Cup 2 Eye

It was just an old rope swing, tied to a pecan tree on the banks of a lake in the Ozarks. But when I stumbled upon it, and grabbed the knot and swung out over the water, what came back to me with a whoosh was my seventh summer, probably forgotten or pushed away because that was the year my mother died.

My old man had nearly brained himself trying to install the heavy rope on the limb of an old box elder. Unwilling to climb up, he’d elected to weight one end of the rope with a claw hammer, which he heaved heavenward in the hope it would sail over the limb. Finally, to my amazement, it worked. He tied a spent Firestone to the rope with a double square knot, installed me inside, walked the boy-bearing tire to the apex of the slope, and pushed.

“What should I do?” I screamed as I soared out toward the water.

He yelled back in his East Texas cracker twang, rich with mules and chiggers. “Y’all figure it out.”

The thing that came to addict me wasn’t just the wild ride and the plunge into the creek; it was that you could apply an infinite amount of torque to the rope by winding up the tire before liftoff, coiling it like a spring. Then, standing on the tire, spinning like a dervish, the test was this: Could I marshal the timing it took to dismount at a point that would deposit me in the water instead of the brush?

In another game, my best pal and I would swallow a Fizzie-kind of like prehistoric Pop Rocks-then wind up the tire, working it like a posthole digger. As the carbonated confection began bubbling in our bellies, I’d climb into the tire while my pal climbed on top. Once airborne and spinning, it was mano a mano until the loser barfed.

But what I liked best was simply the compulsive, solitary act of swinging, pumping my legs for hours to keep the tire in motion. It was the best way to take myself somewhere else.

SUMMER ESSENTIALS
Deck Shoe Revival
Remember these babies? Sperry Top-Sider plates the eyelets on its handmade Gold Cup 2 Eye deck shoe with 18-karat gold, which won’t corrode or rust. Meanwhile, memory foam molds itself to the shape of your sole, while padded deerskin uppers softly cradle the rest. $150;

Rubber Soul

The Pacific stretching westward, rolling hills, empty beaches inhabited only by sea lions—there’s no getting around it: The West Coast’s Highway 1/101 is the classic summer drive. Head out on the 734-mile stretch winding from San Francisco to Astoria, Oregon, for spectacular scenery, crowd-free adventures, and the wind-in-the-hair perma-grin you can only get on the open road. Our weekend guide:

Mile 44: Fuel up on Pacific oysters ordered live from the seawater tanks at the Tomales Bay Oyster Company, a working farm in Marshall. 415-663-1242

Mile 196: Plunge into a swimming hole along the highway as it follows the South Fork of the Eel River through Richardson Grove State Park. 707-247-3318,

Mile 319: Hike beneath 2,000-year-old, 300-foot redwoods at Redwood National Park and Redwood State Park. 707-464-6101,

Mile 513: Boogie-board the 500-foot sand dunes of Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, then bed down in a deluxe yurt at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park. $65 for up to seven people; 800-452-5687,

Mile 640: Sea-kayak, hang- glide, or surf at Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area. 800-551-6949,

Mile 695: Grab a table at the Sea Shack (503-368-7897), on Nehalem Bay in Wheeler, for a bucket of Cajun shrimp and an icy beer. At Wheeler Marina (503- 368-5780), rent a boat and traps to go crabbing off Nehalem Bay State Park.

New American Chopper

Katie Zirnfus

PEDAL PUSHER: Katie Zirnfus, a surfer from Titusville, Florida, heads to the break in Cocoa Beach. Sweatshirt ($52) and bikini ($72) by RIP CURL; vintage bucket hat by ROGAN.

Trade in those riding leathers for a pair of surf trunks and flip-flops and cruise your local boardwalk atop the chopper-inspired Electra Straight 8. With a Shimano Nexus three-speed hub, old-school coaster brake, and red powder-coated spokes, these wheels are Peter Fonda cool. $570;

Who Needs Cristo?

Missed out on the saffron Gates? Head to Amarillo, Texas, where the public art is as large as the 72-ounce steaks dished up at I-40’s Big Texan Steak Ranch. Natural-gas tycoon Stanley Marsh 3 started funding big art back in 1974 with Cadillac Ranch, ten vintage Caddies buried nose first in the Panhandle. Over the years he’s painted a mesa blue; built Giant Phantom Soft Pool Table, a 180-by-90-foot patch of dyed-green grass with 42-inch canvas balls; and commissioned a pair of gigantic sawed-off legs in a field south of town. “Art is a legalized form of insanity,” Marsh has said. “And I do it very well.” Go crazy yourself scoping out Amarillo’s thousands of Marsh-funded street signs, with slogans like I’LL BE RIGHT OUT MA! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! and LUBBOCK IS A GREASY SPOON! Summer here is frying-pan hot, so when yer bod heats up faster than a Texas cheerleader, dive into 6,251-acre Lake Meredith, 38 miles north of town on Texas 136. Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, 806-857-3151,

Fuel Up on Fresh Air

Blue on Blue

Poolside at Blue on Blue

Two Lights Lobster Shack, Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Just south of Portland, on the tip of Cape Elizabeth, this landmark New England seafood stop sits on the rocky shoreline below one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world. Park yourself at a table on the deck and try the fresh clam chowder, boiled lobster, or fried clams and scallops. $1.50–$22; 207-799-1677


Coyote Cafe Rooftop Cantina, Santa Fe
Pull a stool to the edge of this downtown caf茅 and settle in with a prickly pear margarita and the Coyote’s famous salsa and guacamole. But save room for chef Mark Miller’s classic southwestern dinner menu—including the mango-avocado chicken sandwich and seared salmon tacos. $4–$14; 505-983-1615


Sports Corner, Chicago
This wildly popular pre- and postgame pub, directly across from Wrigley Field, is one of the few outdoor grills where you can hold a chicken wing in one hand and catch a home run in the other. Cheering—for the unfussy American fare and the Cubs—is mandatory. $5–$12; 773-929-1441


Ted Drewe’s Frozen Custard, St. Louis
Any summer road trip through the heartland deserves a stop at this circa-1941 walk-up window, along old Route 66. Don’t be intimidated by the lines that snake around the side of the building: Their vanilla custard flavored 23 ways—like praline and abocho mocha—is worth the wait. $.50–$4.50; 314-481-2652


The Water Club, New York
Head straight for the Crow’s Nest, the seasonal upper-deck caf茅 at this stylish East River eatery. With its colorful umbrellas, palatable prices, and stellar views of the Empire State Building and the 59th Street Bridge, it’s a must for pi帽a coladas and shrimp cocktail from the raw bar. $9–$26; 212-683-3333


Blue on Blue, Beverly Hills
Everything about this poolside caf茅 in the courtyard of the Avalon Hotel screams hip: from its inventive American menu (can you say Muscovy duck breast and a side of peach quinoa?) to the cushioned chaise lounges and bamboo-shaded private cabanas. And did we mention the pool? $10–$30; 310-407-7791

Ribs, Sugar?

We say the Memphis way is the only way when it comes to applying smoke and slow heat to the ribs of our oinking friends, so we asked Desiree Robinson, pit mistress of legendary rib shack COZY CORNER, for the skinny on backyard ‘cue in the classic dry-rub style. “Make sure you’ve got nice medium-size racks, not baby backs, with enough fat to make that meat tender,” she says, “plus a good fire so they can sizzle down.” Yes, ma’am. HERE’S THE RUB: 3 tbsp paprika; 1 tbsp chili powder; 2 tsp seasoned salt; 2 tsp black pepper; 2 tsp brown sugar; 2 tsp garlic powder; 1 tsp cayenne; 1 tsp oregano; 1 tsp mustard seed; 1 tsp thyme; 1 tsp coriander; 2 tsp dried green peppercorns, ground; 1 tsp allspice. HERE’S THE DRILL: Rub mixture into ribs at least eight hours before cooking. (Yank the membrane off the bones, too.) Place a fireproof bowl full of water and flat beer in the grill pan. Snug charcoal around the bowl, fire up, and let burn until white but still hot. Lay a foil “envelope” of wet wood chips on the coals, then smoke ribs bone side up for two to four hours, and keep that lid on. Paint with sauce when done, if you like—but, says Robinson, “I usually don’t.”—Chris Davis

SUMMER ESSENTIALS
Lone Star Grill 禄
Transcend the charcoal-versus-gas debate with the Traeger Texas Style Grill—a cooker powered by pencil-eraser-size wood pellets. A continually rotating auger feeds the fire, allowing you to grill, slow-roast, or smoke your dino-steaks just so. $999;

Swing Shift 禄
The Byer of Maine Santiago XXL double hammock is a generous eight-foot-long cotton cocoon with a carrying capacity of 400 pounds, so there’s room in there for you and at least one other close personal friend—no matter how many ribs the pair of you just polished off. $80;

Longboard Tech 禄
Hobie’s Epoxy 9’2 Performer by Surftech looks like a vintage balsa longboard, but wait—that’s an advanced sandwich of PVC sheet foam and Tuflite epoxy resin. Upshot: The Performer is nearly six pounds lighter, yet 30 percent stronger, than a traditional foam-and-glass board. $900;

Hot Rocks

If there’s a deal breaker to a climber’s summer dream scene, it’s rock that’s scalding to the touch. Fortunately, Estes Park, Colorado—a town of 6,000 at 7,522 feet in the Rockies—offers something that desert crags don’t: alpine air conditioning and hundreds of routes just outside of town in Rocky Mountain National Park. “The park is best known for 14,255-foot Longs Peak, but the smaller mountains offer equally challenging multi-pitch routes,” says 24-year-old phenom Katie Brown, a Patagonia-sponsored climber who lives in Moab but spends a month or two in Estes Park each summer. “Lumpy Ridge, a series of granite domes, is my favorite. One dome, the Book, has an awesome 5.9 called J. Crack and a 5.10c called Fat City. I also like to hike the four-mile trail around Lumpy Ridge for the views of Longs Peak.” When Brown craves quesadillas, she heads to Ed’s Cantina & Grill, in town, a favorite hangout of resident climbers like Beth Rodden, 25, and her 26-year-old rock-star husband, Tommy Caldwell. “Estes is about escape,” says Rodden. “You can just run into the mountains and play your heart out.” Rocky Mountain National Park, 970-586-1206; Estes Park visitor information, 800-443-7837.

Pony Express

a guide to summer

HALFWAY TO CAPE CANAVERAL: From left, Ryan rides shotgun in boardshorts ($56) by O’NEILL and OAKLEY MONSTER DOGGLE sunglasses ($145), while Blake sits at the helm in PATAGONIA boardshorts ($45).

This year, an icon of American cruising revs back into action in a major way. We’re talking about the FORD MUSTANG CONVERTIBLE GT, a retro-styled muscle car that feels like freedom even when it’s just sitting in the garage. Drop the top with the push of a button, slap on some SPF 30, and turn the ignition. The 300-horsepower V-8 doesn’t simply roll over; it rumbles, and its giddyup will fairly launch you out on the summer highway. That much is to be expected. What’s new is the tight handling: Just think about changing lanes or charging into a tight corner and the Mustang seems to do it for you. The easy maneuvering’s a nice feature for the curves of California’s Highway 1, but keep your eyes on the road when you pass a congregation of head-turning bodies at the beach or you might tug yourself off course. Better to save your people watching for a stoplight鈥攁ll the better, of course, for people to watch you. Models with V-8 engines from $29,995;

You Can Dig It

For prime seafood with a stellar view, skip the restaurant lines and shovel up a surfside clambake. We tapped Bill Hart, executive chef of the legendary Black Dog Tavern, on Martha’s Vineyard, for info on how to do it up right. First, make sure fires are legal on your beach—chances are you’ll have to get a permit. Then dig a square pit in the sand, two and a half feet deep and three to four feet wide. Line the bottom with fist-size rocks and toss in some firewood. (If you’re looking for a tinge of sweet in your bake, try cherry or apple wood.) Let your fire burn for about two hours—until the wood is gone and the rocks sizzle when sprinkled with water—before adding a layer of store-bought fresh seaweed. Now lob in your grub: For ten hungry beachgoers, that’d be 20 whole red bliss potatoes, eight to ten Spanish onions (halved), ten ears of corn (husks and all), ten links of linguica sausage, ten lobsters, and three to four pounds of mussels and clams—Hart recommends steamers and littlenecks. Cover it all up with more seaweed and a board laid across the top to lock in the steam. The rest is easy: Shoot the breeze for the next two hours until the clams have opened up (any that haven’t are bad). Slip on your oven mitts, pull out the goods, and serve ’em up with lemon wedges and melted butter.

Cheap Date

Three thousand dollars might seem a little steep for one night in sleepy little Rhinebeck, New York, but I managed to spend it. The reason for the exorbitant fee: I had paid for half of a three-bedroom cottage from Memorial Day to Labor Day (or MD–LD, in classified-ad parlance) and slept at the house exactly one time.


I should have known in March, when my friend Ben and I drove around with Hairsprayed Realtor Lady, that my vacation venture was doomed. The house we rented was sweet-a gray-shingled Cape on three acres of gently rolling hills-but the interior was littered with ladybug exoskeletons. If shiny, rosy ladybugs are cheery good-luck symbols of summer, shouldn’t their postmortem husks be considered bad juju?


I opted to overlook the omen and signed the lease. We signed partly because the realtor’s M.O. was to make us believe that this house was the only good one left. We also signed because each of us had recently been dumped, and renting a summer house was a way of getting on with our lives in a screw-all-y’all kind of way.


We drove back to the city, and in the ensuing months I would imagine scenes from my coming summer in mellow, low-key Dutchess County: I’d be strolling down the sun-dappled dirt driveway, stopping to eat wild blackberries right off the bush, clearly recovered from my breakup.


As it happened, when “MD” rolled around, I was still lonely and sad, and Ben had gotten all hot for a woman whose friends were also coupled up and on the docket for Hudson River Valley fun. A few Saturdays, I drove up to Rhinebeck but, feeling like the seventh-person sourpuss along on a triple date, drove back to the city before bedtime.


Right around the time I watched Ben and his girlfriend drive off to a sunset wine tasting, I realized that my sun-dappled summer was not to be. And so, near the very end of August, I forced myself to actually sleep there, to get my alleged $3,000 worth. It didn’t even come close.

Lazy River

It’s no secret that Boulder, Colorado, offers the best urban inner-tubing in the States, possibly the universe, as locals cool down and bruise themselves “floating” more than a dozen drops of Boulder Creek between Eben G. Fine Park and the take-out of choice, beside the downtown library. These rapids range from tame sluiceways to a shoulder-high waterfall, where teens chill out watching sorority girls lose their bikini tops. Here’s how to tube it right. 1) Get your puncture-resistant, Barcalounger-size radial inner tubes for $12.50 at the streamside Conoco on Broadway and Arapahoe. 2) Sneakers, everyone! If sandals sufficed, you could grab any number washed up on shore. 3) Hide a six-pack of something frosty near the take-out’s sunny south steps. Beer is illegal in Boulder’s parks. Never, ever hide beer. 4) Launch! Feet first, butt up, valve stem down. 5) Warning: That guy over there is probably urinating in his surf trunks right now. Don’t swallow the water. 6) Butt up! 7) After a big drop, plunge your ankles in to catch the downstream current and get dragged away from the froth. 8) Steer clear of the man snorkeling for sunglasses, the bamboo-flute-playing hippie standing midstream, and the marauding gang of boys on boogie boards. Those practicing tai chi under the maples are generally nonthreatening, but you can’t be too careful. 9) Relax your butt. The second half is a mellow drift through a tunnel of cottonwood trees. Can you taste the ice-cold Fanta?

Summer Essentials

summer style

DRIFT ON IN: The photographs on these pages were shot surfside at Cocoa Beach’s landmark 1912 Driftwood House. Owner Rob Sullivan, a local board shaper, runs his surfboard and clothing company, Driftwood, out of the vintage structure.

HOUSE PARTY: From left, on Blake, vintage shirt by MELET MERCANTILE; jeans ($108) by LUCKY BRAND JEANS. On Brandy, camisole top ($198) and leather pants ($1,198) by RALPH LAUREN BLUE LABEL. On Ryan, vintage T-shirt by MELET MERCANTILE; button-up shirt ($50) by WRANGLER JEANS; suede pants ($695) from POLO BY RALPH LAUREN; flip-flops ($15) by HAVAIANAS. On Victoria, crochet top ($98) and jeans ($165) by RALPH LAUREN BLUE LABEL. On Mike, sweater ($150) and cargo shorts ($85) from POLO BY RALPH LAUREN; boots ($110) by NIKE. On Nick, vintage jeans jacket by LEVI’S; vintage T-shirt by MELET MERCANTILE; cargo shorts ($85) from POLO BY RALPH LAUREN; flip-flops ($12) by HAVAIANAS. On Katie, vintage poncho and necklace from POLO BY RALPH LAUREN; jeans ($92) by LUCKY BRAND JEANS.


Essential Summer: Liquid Refreshment

Forget the apple martinis. Parallel-park your sloop between the million-dollar yachts at the wharf at Sam’s Anchor Caf茅, in Tiburon, on the sunny north side of San Francisco Bay, or mix up your own tangy glass of SAM’S PINK LEMONADE:
1 1/4 oz citrus vodka
1 1/4 oz 7Up
1/4 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz sweet-and-sour mix
1 oz cranberry juice
Serve on the rocks in a 12-oz glass with a twist of lemon.

—H. Thayer Walker

Wheels Up

With enough vertical feet and hundred-mile views to keep your blood pumping for a week, the Telluride-to-Moab mountain-bike route stands handlebars and stem above your usual summer ride. Operated by privately owned San Juan Hut Systems, this 215-mile route lets you and up to seven pals pedal from the San Juans’ 14,000-foot peaks and spruce-carpeted slopes down to the twisting canyons of Utah’s red-rock country. No need to pack heavy—each night you’ll stay in a one-room wooden hut stocked with sleeping pads and bags (just bring your own liner) and enough bacon, eggs, pasta, and beer to keep everyone in the group satisfied. The seven-day, six-night route—which follows mostly doubletrack fire roads—is open every summer from June 1 to October 1 and costs $553 per person. Go between mid-June and early July, when storms are less likely, and you can catch the lupines and Indian paintbrush in bloom. On the final descent into Moab, opt for the more challenging Porcupine Rim Trail, then stash your bike and head over to the Moab Brewery for a patio pint of Dead Horse Ale and a view of the La Sal Mountains, which cradle the last of the hard miles you just rode. 970-626-3033,

Sweet Freedom

Boston, MA
Boston calls itself “headquarters for America’s biggest Independence Day party,” and we have to agree. The free, all-day extravaganza draws upwards of 700,000 to the banks of the Charles River. The Boston Pops performs, fighter jets buzz overhead, and—for the finale—17,500 pounds of pyrotechnics are launched into the sky from barges. Best seat in the house? Why, the bow of your boat, of course.

Galena, IL
Birthplace of Ulysses S. Grant, this hilly river town of 3,500 kicks off the celebration with a morning parade, just like any small town should, followed by rooftop parties, wine-and-cheese tastings, live music, art exhibits—sponsored by local merchants—and, at dusk, a patriotic sound-off in the midwestern sky.

Telluride, CO
Declare your independence at Telluride’s fiercely funky parade, in which locals and visitors march, ride, skate, gallop, and dance down Colorado Avenue in homemade costumes (picture risqu茅 cowgirls and dancing superheroes). After the local firefighters’ ribs-and-roast barbecue, enter the pie-eating contest, then burn it off during the sack races. At sunset, lie back on the lawn—there’s nothing like fireworks against all the purple mountains’ majesty.

The Beach Rx

While camping on what is now my favorite beach, I once stepped on a scorpion.


I was alone in Cayo Costa State Park, a barrier island of sand and palms about 100 miles south of Tampa, Florida. I rushed to my boat, then to a neighboring island restaurant, where I called the only doctor I knew. It was a Sunday, near midnight.


“Is there much pain?” he asked.


Nope, the slight burning sensation had faded.


“Any dizziness? Uncontrollable salivation?”


It was a scorpion, I reminded him. Not a werewolf.


His indifference changed to irritation. “Did the scorpion sting you on the tallywhacker?”


Was the man drunk? “No!” I snapped. “Didn’t I just tell you I stepped on it?”


“Yes, but I’m a urologist. So why the hell are you bothering me at this hour?”


Return to my camp, the doctor advised, and administer alcohol and ice.


It is a wonderful thing to sit alone on a beach, on a starry night, with nothing to do but drink a thermos of margaritas as prescribed by a pissed-off physician.


Filtered through tequila, a beach becomes more than a percussion skin for waves. This particular beach is many miles long and shaped like a new moon, a convex curve extending into the Gulf of Mexico. My camp spot was at the island’s narrowest point. It was an isolated place with no docks and no homes, centered on a fragile land break bordered by sea, and thus more intimately connected to a wider world. But this small section of beach was now linked to my own small history.


The scorpion was not my last intimate encounter on this beach. My wife and I returned often to that camping spot. Our sons learned to snorkel there. They learned to throw a cast net and how to build a fire that’s good for frying fish.


Both sons-out of college now-still camp there. It remains my favorite place to go for a solitary jog or swim.


Cayo Costa State Park offers primitive cabins ($30 per person per night) and tent camping ($18 per site per night); rental information, 941-964-0375

Rapid Transit

Flush with western Montana’s signature sapphire runoff, the upper Middle Fork of the Flathead is the best float trip you’ve never heard of. Geography is the Flathead’s own permit system—the put-in is tucked away in the Great Bear Wilderness, south of Glacier National Park—so traffic is limited to those willing to fly a Cessna 206 into Schafer Meadows’ backcountry airstrip from Kalispell or horsepack their gear six miles along Granite Creek to the put-in. The river is narrow and steep, meaning you’ll want a slim sports car of a raft and heads-up guiding to make a clean run through four days of Class IV rapids to the take-out at Bear Creek. You’ll camp in Douglas fir and lodgepole pine forests surrounded by the jagged peaks of the Flathead Range, pick rising 20-inch cutthroat out of the herd with a dry fly, and hike to Castle Lake and the cirque-born waterfall that feeds it. The best whitewater is before July, but the fishing peaks later that month during the caddis-and-stone-fly hatch. Four days, $1,095 ($100 extra for horse-packed trips); Glacier Raft Company, 406-888-5454,

The Last Picture Show

a guide to summer

Watch movies under the stars with HP’s ep9010 Instant Cinema Digital Projector. The unit combines a DVD player, a DLP front projector, and a booming sound system and throws a nine-foot image onto any handy garage door or brick wall. $2,000;

WHERE TO FIND IT: DRIFTWOOD, ; HAVAIANAS, ; JET, 323-651-4129; LEVI’S, ; LUCKY BRAND JEANS, ; MELET MERCANTILE, 212-925-8353; NIKE, ; OAKLEY, ; O’NEILL, ; PATAGONIA, ; POLO, RLX BY RALPH LAUREN, and RALPH LAUREN BLUE LABEL, ; POLO JEANS CO. RALPH LAUREN, ; R BY 45 RPM, ; RH VINTAGE, ; RIP CURL, ; ROGAN, ; ROXY BY QUIKSILVER, ; TRACY FEITH, 323-655-1444; WRANGLER JEANS, CREDITS: Stylist: Deborah Watson; Prop Stylist: Forest Watson; Hair: Moiz Alladina for Stephen Knoll Salon; Makeup: Teresa Pemberton/Judy Casey; Production:

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COSTA RICA
DOLPHIN DAYS
Live your marine-biologist pipe dream as you search for bottlenose, spotted, and spinner dolphins in Drake Bay. This enclave on the Osa Peninsula boasts year-round warm Pacific waters and thousands of the creatures. The biologists at the Delfin Amor Eco Lodge marine-education and research station, who are working to establish a national maritime sanctuary, will introduce you to their flippered friends in the most sensitive way: via a 28-foot silent and fumeless motorboat. You’ll help identify and monitor and, if they approach the boat, get a chance to swim with the animals. Come evening, home is a private cabin—among howler monkeys, toucans, and sloths. A three-night stay starts at $555 per person, including meals and flights from San Jos茅. The Divine Dolphin, 831-345-8484,

WYOMING
BIG-GAME SAFARI
Let Wildlife Expeditions, a division of the Teton Science Schools, take you on a four-day safari through Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. With biologist guides, watch black bears and bison from your safari-style vehicle, then hike to see wolves, grizzlies, and elk. Check out Native American art and artifacts during a trip to the Colter Bay Indian Arts Museum. Overnight at four different spots, each with its own flavor—from the rustic Western Hatchet Resort in Buffalo Valley to downtown Jackson’s 49er Inn and Suites. Trips run June through September. $1,695 per person, including meals, lodging, and transportation from Jackson. Wildlife Expeditions, 888-945-3567,

BAJA
WHALE MIGRATION
Greet 100-foot blue whales from aboard Baja Expeditions’ 80-foot cruiser as they migrate into the Sea of Cortez. Then, after watching these creatures of the deep surface next to the vessel, give the kids hands-on experience: Go with a staff naturalist to an island to sea-kayak, snorkel with sea lions, or hike to a mangrove estuary to check out nesting egrets. Take advantage of the boat’s natural-history library, and the DVD system for replaying scenes of the day’s sightings. A six-night trip in March or April starts at $1,695 per person, including onboard lodging, meals, and transportation from La Paz. Baja Expeditions, 800-843-6967,

ALASKA
BY LAND AND SEA
A weeklong immersion with the Sierra Club in Kachemak Bay’s temperate rainforest and world-class fishing waters will overwrite quotidian life in the lower 48. Cast a line for halibut, learn about seals, sea lions, and sea otters on a guided sea-kayaking excursion, or glimpse bald eagles and grizzlies while hiking. At the ends of the day, you’ll retire to your canvas-wall tent overlooking the bay or head over to the main lodge for a family geology lesson or nature-photography workshop. The trip runs June 25-July 1. Adults, $1,395; children (must be ten or older), $,1295, including meals and travel from Homer. Sierra Club Outings, 415-977-5522,

BOUNDARY WATERS
WOLF WATCH
You’ll never forget cabin fever—and cabins alltogether—when you paddle through Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Are Wilderness. On a six-day canoe-camping trip with your own wildlife guide, you’ll see timber wolves teach their pups the call of the wild, and observe black bears, red foxes, and, if you’re lucky, bald eagles. Kick off the trip with a stop at the International Wolf Center, in Ely, to take a howling class. Trips runs late August and costs $895 per person, including meals and one night’s lodging in Ely. River Point Outfitting Co., 800-456-5580

Watch Senior Editor Michael Roberts talk about the trips on on CBS.

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In the old days, trying to live with an environmental conscience could be tricky, if not downright unpleasant—filled with hard-to-find organic bulgur salads, tiresome carpools, and scratchy hemp ponchos. But there’s good news for greenies everywhere: You no longer have to live like John the Baptist to contribute to a healthier planet. Being kind to the earth has never been more hip, luxe, delicious, and deprivation-free. Simply put, a growing commitment to do no harm is transforming culture and commerce, making it possible to play hard and live well while living responsibly.


“It’s a lot easier being green now than it was ten years ago,” says David Gottfried, author of Greed to Green—a 2004 memoir about his transformation from grasping real estate developer to green do-gooder—and founder of the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit that certifies and promotes eco-friendly design. Today, green cred is a status symbol being sought by builders worldwide, including architects of such landmarks as the Freedom Tower, at the World Trade Center site, where wind turbines will help power the building. In fact, green is so red-hot that corporate America is getting the picture, creating nontoxic, recycled, and energy-efficient products, from skateboards to motherboards. “Being green spurs corporate innovation,” says Michael Porter, the pioneering professor who heads Harvard University’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness.


The result? Today you can choose green when you ski, drive, buy a dishwasher, or drink a beer. You can savor transcendent, sustainably produced chocolate, swig organic coffee, and heft a solar-paneled backpack on your way to hanging ten on a green surfboard (but first use natural sunscreen). The fashionista in you can enjoy eco-jeans or plush socks made from recycled polyester. And in 34 states, select utility companies will let you check a box on your electric bill and buy renewable energy, like wind power.


“When we look at nature, we do not see a glass half empty,” says renowned architect William McDonough, a guru of the green-design movement, whose buildings are famed for their “ecological intelligence.” “We don’t even see a glass half full,” says McDonough. “We see a world postively brimming with abundance.”


Take off that hair shirt, read our 13 hot trends—and let your glass runneth over.

Harmony House

Architecture

“The term ‘ecological building’ is sort of an oxymoron,” says David Hertz, a leading green architect who designs spectacularly sustainable eco-manors (and mere houses) for everyone from Hollywood stars like Julia Louis-Dreyfus to, well, his own family. The irony, he says, is that the greenest structures are no structures at all—or tiny, movable ones. Still, this 44-year-old surfer and father of three constructed a beautiful 2,700-square-foot family residence near the ocean in Venice, California, using the latest planet-friendly technologies and materials, including one he invented himself. Syndecrete—a smooth concrete made from recycled fly ash (the byproduct of incinerated coal) and post-consumer industrial products like electronics, glass, and carpet fibers—graces his floors, counters, sinks, tubs, and planters. Sliding doors open to three inner courtyards, including one with a solar-heated, chlorine-free lap pool. Apr猫s surfing or beachgoing, the family can wash sand off in a solar-heated outdoor shower, then dry wet stuff on their bathroom’s solar-heated radiant floor. “For L.A., this place is modest in scale and large in inventiveness,” says Hertz of his multi-pavilioned home, which is sited to catch prevailing sea breezes and cloud views. “I can tell which way the wind is blowing from inside.”


1. For ventilation and natural indoor temperature control, the windows and skylights are “climate responsive”—programmed to open and close automatically by sensing atmospheric temperature and moisture.


2. Outfitted with photovoltaic panels, the rooftop maximizes solar gain via parabolic oxygen-free glass tubes that concentrate the energy from rays. The solar power runs the water heater.


3. Inside the upstairs master bedroom, and in bathrooms throughout the house, bidet-like paperless toilets offer a rear and front wash-and-dry option, with a push button that blows water and then warm air.


4. Beds and chairs on sleeping porches are made from sustainable teak and organic cotton batting and fabric.


5. Embedded with radiant tubes for circulating solar-heated hot water, the carpet-less floors offer a clean and efficient closed-loop heating system—and provide thermal mass to warm the house.


6. On most days, Hertz’s house creates “nega-watts”: It makes enough solar-powered electricity to sell some back to the utility company. On foggy days and at night, it draws from the grid.


7. Made of stucco, concrete, glass, and remilled timber such as Douglas fir, the house’s exterior echoes its interior, adding to the flow of indoor-outdoor living space. The stucco is pigment-integrated—free of paint and volatile organic compounds.


8. Made of rammed earth—the soil excavated from the site—the wall alleviated the need to buy soil or use wood to fence the property.


9. Hardy, drought-tolerant plants thrive in the open areas, keeping the foliage as eco-positive as possible.

Low-Carb Living

Greenhouse Gases

Modern life—from driving to jetting—has unavoidable enviro costs. How high are yours? Go online and check out your “carbon-dioxide footprint,” a calculation of the amount of greenhouse gases that your existence generates. Then shrink your footprint with simple lifestyle tweaks (see the “Green Light On” boxes on these pages). Or, for as little as $15, let groups like Future Forests (), Climate Care (), or Trees for the Future () offset your CO2 by planting trees or supporting clean-energy projects. Read up—and erase your trace.

Eco-Chic

Gear

Board Certified
Making surfboards is so toxic that glassers don respirators to protect themselves from pollutants. But Patagonia Surfboards—started by Fletcher Chouinard, son of Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard—aims to change all that. The company has switched to low-polluting foam, chromium-free fiberglass treatments, and epoxy resin, which is lighter and more ding-resistant than the widely used noxious polyester resin. $495; 805-641-9428

Soul Boots
Jade Planet’s casual hiking boots for urbanites have evolved from the company’s first recycled-material shoe—developed by founder Julie Lewis with input from Bill Bowerman, of Nike fame—to the Pachira, a durable stomper with artificial leather derived from plastic soda bottles, a hemp-and-cotton-blend upper, and a sole made from 40 percent tire rubber. When you’ve worn them down, simply return the boots to Jade Planet and they’ll turn them into stuffing for dog beds. $75; 503-297-2093,
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Recyclable Razors
Who knew the green bug could find space in your dopp kit? It will if you use Recycline’s toothbrushes and razors, which are made from 100 percent recycled plastic, chiefly from discarded Stonyfield Farm yogurt cups. When you’re finished with a brush or razor, mail it back to Recycline in the included postage-paid envelope. It’ll be turned into plastic lumber. $7, four razors; $4, toothbrush; 888-354-7296,

Sustainable Socks
Sure, Teko’s line of toe cozies may be knitted for competitive sports, but its earth-friendly fabrics belie a softer edge: nontoxic dyes, Swiss-grown organic cotton, chlorine-free merino wool, and recycled polyester (a process that turns No. 2 plastics into fiber). Wear ’em once and you’ll be soled. $10–$23, depending on fabric; 800-450-5784,

Barrier Chief
Sensitive-skin types can try Jason Natural’s 30+ SPF, a chemical-free sunscreen that uses zinc oxide and titanium dioxide instead of petroleum-based protection. $19; 877-527-6601,

Green Jeans
New York fashion company Rogan has collaborated with U2 frontman Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, to create Edun (read it backwards), a rock-star-worthy full-fashion collection made in eco-friendly, sweatshop-free factories in Africa and South America. Available at Saks Fifth Avenue, from $163;

Rocky Mountain Maestro

Ski Resorts

Auden Schendler

SKIING’S LEADING EDGE: Auden Schendler and recycables at Aspen

After decades of wiping trees off mountains, plunking down swanky high-rise condos in alpine paradises, and spewing diesel fumes into the air, the ski industry is finally starting to wake up and smell the CO2 . Surprisingly, they’re being led by one of the ritziest players out there: Aspen Skiing Company. In 1997, prompted by growing concerns about climate change, ASC president and CEO Pat O’Donnell, 66, created the resort’s Environmental Affairs Department, the American ski industry’s first. Two years later, Aspen hired superstar enviro Auden Schendler, 34, a former corporate-sustainability researcher at energy-conservation nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute, as its environmental-affairs director. Under Schendler’s guidance, ASC (which operates Ajax, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, and Snowmass) started recycling everything from bottles to building materials, and implemented guidelines that call for all new construction to incorporate improved insulation, sustainably harvested wood, recycled carpeting, and more efficient cooling and heating systems. Aspen now has an on-slope, no-impact microhydroelectric plant, which uses snowmaking runoff to power a turbine, and an employee foundation that in seven years has raised nearly $700,000 for conservation projects. Need more? Ajax’s Cirque chairlift runs on wind power, and 5 percent of Ajax’s energy purchase comes from renewable sources—more than any other ski resort in the country. Even the snowcats and snowmobiles at all four ASC mountains run on biodiesel. Schendler’s efforts have garnered the resort numerous awards—including certification from Switzerland’s International Organization for Standardization, which evaluates operating standards of everything from shoe manufacturers to ski areas. It was the first of its kind awarded to a U.S. ski resort. “In the green-business world, that designation is the Nobel prize of environmental responsibility,” says Schendler. “We’re in the big leagues now.”

The Wheel Deal

Automobiles

Smart Car

Smart Car

Revolutions have a way of mixing things up, as the auto world surely knows. Veggie oil is the new diesel. Green is the new black. What’s a driver to believe? Well, here’s one turn signal you can trust: In 2004, sales of hybrid vehicles, featuring gas-and-electric engines, shot up 80 percent over 2003, to more than 85,000. And hefty haulers like the 2004 Ford Escape—the world’s first hybrid SUV—are selling faster than dealers can say “great gas mileage.” But small is also the new green, especially when it comes to a hyperefficient gas-only import that’s so puny it’ll fit in an SUV. Here’s what’s under the hood in 2005:

Smart Car
This two-seat Euro buggy (pictured above) looks like a Little Tykes Cozy Coupe—and gets a whopping 60 mpg. While DaimlerChrysler, Smart’s corporate parent, weighs whether to make the metallic pod in the U.S. or not, Zap ()—a California-based electric-car-and-scooter manufacturer—has been buying Smart Cars in Europe, floating them across the pond, reengineering them to meet U.S. standards, and selling them for a base price of $19,800. “They’re four feet shorter in length than the Mini Cooper,” says Zap CEO Steve Schneider, “and just as fun.”

Mercury Mariner
To help meet demand, Ford plans to launch this hybrid SUV in late 2005—a year early. A cousin to the Ford Escape, the Mariner will offer up to 33 mpg in a new body surrounding Ford’s 155-horsepower drivetrain, with luxury trim and a smoother ride.

Toyota Highlander
Due to debut in June, the Highlander will be the first seven-passenger, four-wheel-drive hybrid. Its V6 gas engine and 50-watt electric motors (one in front, one in back) create 270 hp and zero-to-60 acceleration in less than eight seconds—while getting 28 mpg.

That’s Eco-tainment!

Hollywood

Before Gary Pearl, executive producer of the 2004 NBC miniseries 10.5, set out to cinematically destroy the environment with a massive earthquake, he wanted to make sure the set didn’t contribute to, um, destroying the environment. To that end, his production company, Pearl Pictures, used only sustainably harvested wood, ditched Styrofoam for reusable dishes, and required workers to refill their water bottles, among other major changes.

By the looks of it, filming on environmentally friendly sets seems to be a growing Hollywood trend. Once known for its apathetic attitude, the industry is now doing everything from printing scripts on recycled paper to leasing hybrid cars. Last fall, the Environmental Media Association (EMA) awarded its first-ever Green Seal Awards, honoring productions that take initiatives such as using nontoxic building materials, clean diesel fuel, and low-emissions transportation. In addition to 10.5, winners included the feature films A Cinderella Story and Garden State and the sitcom According to Jim, which goes so far as to use tablet PCs instead of paper scripts. “In the third season of According to Jim,” says Jeffrey Hodes, an executive producer, “we used nearly 300,000 sheets of paper. We’ve easily cut that in half.”

Still, making a film set green can come with a price. For his 2004 adventure thriller The Day After Tomorrow, director Roland Emmerich shelled out $200,000 of his own money to ensure that the set would live up to his environmental standards. Pearl, who is sticking to his eco-friendly ways with the sequel to 10.5, currently in production, believes the practice will continue. “It’s not hard to do this at all,” he says. “Nobody is going to say, ‘I want to pollute more.’ “

“We’re on a mission to make all of Hollywood green,” says Debbie Levin, president of the EMA, which teams producers with groups like Future Forests that help companies reduce or “neutralize” CO2 emissions and take other environmental steps. Next year, Baldwin Entertainment Group is expected to release a film based on tree squatter Julia Butterfly Hill’s best-selling book The Legacy of Luna, which co-producer Paul Bassis predicts will be shot on “the greenest set ever.” One thing he’s planning on: complete carbon neutrality. Stay tuned.

Switch Stance

Skateboarding

It’s no surprise that skateboarding—which is responsible for the existence of several hundred wooden-ramp-filled skate parks in America and the production of more than 200,000 wooden decks every month—is tough on forests. Enter Bob Burnquist, 28, a Brazilian-born, California-based pro skateboarder who cofounded the Action Sports Environmental Coalition (ASEC) in 2002. The nonprofit uses its street cred to convince board and park builders to choose sustainably grown materials surfaced with eco-friendly composites of water, recycled paper, and cashew oil.


In August 2002, Burnquist raised his effort to the international level with a Greenpeace benefit and skating competition in Manaus, Brazil. (Burnquist, who grew up in S茫o Paulo, is one of Brazil’s top skaters.) The event featured a ramp endorsed by the Bonn, Germany–based Forest Stewardship Council, an international agency that certifies sustainable forestry. This year, ASEC hopes to green up the Gravity Games and NBC’s Action Sports Tour. It also plans to construct 20 new eco-friendly skate parks and adjacent organic gardens in at-risk communities. ASEC executive director Frank Scura says a key to continued success is leveraging its athletes’ grom appeal. With 82 percent of America’s nearly 12 million skaters 17 years old or younger, in an industry generating $5.2 billion annually, that could mean big bucks for the ASEC cause. “Everyone votes every day with their dollars, and we have a lot of influence on the youth,” says Burnquist. “It’s hard to change older people set in their ways, but these kids are going to be the leaders and CEOs of the future.”

Inn Sync

Lodging

Lodging

REST ASSURED: Suite living at El Monte Sagrado

Hotel Triton
San Francisco, CA
From biodegradable cleaning products to office documents printed on recycled paper with soy-based ink, earth-saving attention to detail is high at this downtown boutique hotel. Rooms on the Eco Floor have organic linens and towels, energy-efficient light bulbs, and water-saving fixtures. Or book one of the Celebrity Suites, designed by the likes of Woody Harrelson and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Doubles, $149–$219; 800-800-1299,

El Monte Sagrado Living Resort and Spa
Taos, NM
The designers of this two-year-old high-desert sanctuary seamlessly wove conservation elements into a luxurious environment. As you soak in the private hot tub outside your Morocco-themed suite, you may not notice that it’s chlorine-free, or that the tropical gardens are living on recycled water, or that the wrought-iron tree sculptures actually integrate solar panels. Doubles, $255–$1,095; 800-828-8267,

The Lenox Hotel
Boston, MA
When the first guests at this posh 1900 hotel rolled up in their horse-drawn buggies, saving the planet was not yet in vogue. Now there’s at least one environmental upgrade in place for each year of its existence. Highlights include infrared motion sensors that help cut energy consumption, double-paned windows, and compact fluorescent light bulbs. Doubles from $189; 800-225-7676,

Basic Green

FAQ

FAQ

I have a “friend” who swears it’s better to drive his ’78 Gremlin than to buy new wheels, since manufacturing cars is so toxic. Is he wack?

The next time you pass your pal’s heap, feel free to chuck your mochaccino at it. The increased fuel efficiency and decreased emissions of a new (post-1996) car more than compensate for the energy used to produce all of its steel, aluminum, and rich Corinthian leather. On average, driving a car consumes ten times more energy over its lifetime than building one.



Is there any defense for a lush lawn?

Sorry, Mr. Cleaver, but a typical lawn is the environmental equivalent of fertilized asphalt—or worse, if you use phenoxy herbicides and other weed killers and pesticides, 102 million pounds of which are dumped on 17 million acres of residential turf each year. On average, 30 to 60 percent of city water goes to lawn care, and more than half of it evaporates or pours down storm drains, toxic chemicals and all—polluting creeks, rivers, and water everywhere. The only way to redeem your soul is to use drought-resistant, slow-growing turf varieties, like zoysia grass, which need less H2O. Better yet, try native prairie grasses, wildflowers, or whatever grows naturally in your eco-zone. And, please, forgo the Roundup.


Paper or plastic?

Ah, a question for the ages. The answer? Neither. The real solution is to use that cloth tote bag the Sierra Club sent with your last renewal. Barring that, you should opt for (drumroll, please) plastic—which wins by a narrow, subjective margin. Plastic is more energy-efficient to produce than paper and takes a bit less juice to recycle. Then again, thanks to double-bagging, the average shopper uses more plastic bags than paper, negating plastic’s advantages. So ask yourself this: Would you rather waste oil or trees? Plastic comes from unrenewable petroleum. Paper sacks involve mowing down millions of trees a year—although, theoretically, they’ll grow back by the time your great-grandchildren visit Last Living Trees National Park. Mr. Green votes for the tote.



Do green household cleansers actually do the job?

It’s impossible to vouch for every phosphate-free soy-‘n’-aardvark-saliva product, since consumer eco-cleansers (unlike commercial ones) aren’t subject to standardized tests. But thanks to naturally derived (non-petroleum-based) cleaning agents and nonchlorine bleach, major brands like Seventh Generation and Simple Green are dandy sanitizers. Plus they come in recyclable packaging.



I’m on the fence: What’s better—electric or gas?
Electricity (usually produced from coal or by Homer Simpson) is so inefficient, 80 percent of it is lost to the ether during production, transport, and usage. Gas is 90 percent energy-efficient. So the gas is greener, no matter what side of the fence you’re on.

Revel Without a Pause

Vices

vices

Gorge without guilt on Ithaca Fine Chocolates’ Art Bars (named for the recycled-paper “art cards” inside, featuring works by American artists and children from around the world). They’re processed in an energy-efficient plant in Switzerland, and with every bite you’re helping support Bolivia’s organic-cocoa farmers. 607-257-7954,

Grounds for Change, based near Seattle, uses only organic, shade-grown, and Fair Trade– certified beans, then ships them in recycled-content boxes—letting you be a java snob without promoting pesticides, clear-cutting, paper waste, or low wages for coffee workers. 800-796-6820,

Fort Collins, Colorado’s New Belgium Brewing Company, which puts out the cult Fat Tire brew, employs a full-time sustainability coordinator, recaptures and reuses water, relies on wind power, and turns old keg caps into tabletops. 888-622-4044,

If the roads in Salem, Oregon, smell like French fries, thank Kettle Foods—a snack-food biz whose company cars run on biodiesel made from safflower and sunflower cooking oils. The potato-chip maker uses only solar power and donates nearly 90 tons of potatoes each year to local food banks. 503-364-0399,

Lest you think Ben & Jerry’s has cornered the market, meet Northern California’s Straus Family Creamery, whose organic ice creams are just as tasty and eco-friendly. The dairy is powered by a methane digester that converts cow poop into electricity, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and creating enough energy to keep it mostly off the public power teat. 415-663-5464,

The E-viator

Celebrities

His year kicked off with a Golden Globe for best actor, he’s made nearly 20 films (for which he now rakes in a rumored $20 million a pop), and he’s only 30 years old. Could life get any better for Leonardo DiCaprio? Yeah, he’ll tell you: The world could be a lot cleaner. Few stars push the green message as hard as DiCaprio—and he doesn’t just roll up to the red carpet in a Prius (the only kind of car he owns) to do it.

DiCaprio didn’t always live the life of e‘s. In 1998, a gorgeous beach on Thailand’s Phi Phi Leh Island got bulldozed during the making of his movie The Beach. But that year he also launched an enviro foundation in his name. Its Web site () is a cyber-bullhorn, packed with news and “take action” tips about global warming, biodiversity, and sustainability. He supports groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council and Global Green USA. And, along with Global Green and Tree Media Group, he’s also writing and narrating movie shorts about conservation. Leila Corners-Peterson—Tree Media’s president and one of DiCaprio’s co-writers for the films—says the star never lets his green work slip. “Even in the midst of the Golden Globes,” she told 国产吃瓜黑料, “he e-mailed me and asked me where we were with everything. I think that speaks a lot to who he is.”

Get a Load of This

Appliances

Appliances

From your HDTV monitor to that other reigning rectangle, the fridge, it’s now possible to buy nature-nurturing appliances everywhere. To find great green goods—like those below—look for the Energy Star (), the government-backed energy-efficiency label.

Fisher & Paykel DD603 Dishwasher
F&P knows your dirty secret: You run the dishwasher half empty. No problem. The DD603 (pictured above) uses 57 percent less electricity than standard models and has two independent washing drawers. Half a load uses just 2.4 gallons of water, six less than old-school units. $1,419; 888-936-7872,
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Sun Frost RF-16 Refrigerator
The way-cool RF-16 runs up to five times more efficiently than a standard fridge, one of your home’s biggest energy hogs. $2,497; 707-822-9095,

Bosch Nexxt Premium WFMC 6400 Washing Machine
The 6400 uses 76 percent less electricity and 72 percent less H2O than traditional washers—and can save more than 70 gallons of water a week. From $1,199; 800-921-9622,

Panasonic
From a 50-inch HDTV monitor ($3,300) to a progressive-scan DVD/VCR combo ($170), Panasonic, an eco-innovator, sells 400-plus energy-efficient items. 800-211-7262,

Out of the Box

Mobile Homes

Jennifer Siegal

METAL WINNER: Architect Jennifer Siegal puts the fab in prefab.

Living in a heap of metal is suddenly ultrahip, thanks to a new breed of talented prefab designers. Take 39-year-old Jennifer Siegal: The founder and principal of the Venice, California–based Office of Mobile Design (), she builds kinetic, affordable, wheelless homes that tread lightly and travel well—so you can take them with you when you move.

A hot-dog-cart operator while in graduate school, Siegal—whose own home in Los Angeles is part bungalow, part shipping container—admires all things easily disassembled. “Portable structures,” she says, “are dynamic, accessible, and sustainable.” Her Portable House—which starts at $79,000 for 480 square feet—is fully constructed, then trucked to your site. Her modular, endlessly reconfigurable Swell House gets assembled like Legos at your dream spot and features Biofiber (a recycled cabinet composite made from sunflower seeds), finishing material made from recycled newspapers, and “ply-boo” (renewable bamboo) flooring—for $200 per square foot. And if you’re picturing your uncle’s cheap vinyl double-wide—with its propensity to blow across the plains in tornado season—think again. Siegal’s sleek, modern models sit on solid foundations, with optional multistories and annexes. The dwellings in EcoVille, her 40-unit live-work development for artists, in downtown Los Angeles, are 60-by-12-foot boxes, stacked two high. She’s even designed a (not-yet-built) pod of neoprene-skinned, solar-powered, floating Hydra Houses, for a future of rising oceans. Homes, as she sees it, should be more like computer chips and less like immutable castles. “We have our iPods, our cell phones, our laptops. Mobility is integrated seamlessly into our lives, yet our residences are stale,” she says. “If we want to be lighter and more compact, why shouldn’t our buildings be, too?”

The post The Axis of Eco appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

EXERCISE ZEALOTS, spa lovers, organic-food junkies, and luxury seekers: Welcome home. Canyon Ranch, the Tucson, Arizona–based wellness resort known for seducing people into optimal health, is now spinning its popular get-fit vacation philosophy into the first-ever 眉r-healthy-living residential complex aimed at boomers with bling. Opening next spring in Miami Beach, Florida, Canyon Ranch Living will be the oceanfront health club you never have to leave—nor will you want to. The six-acre property will include 467 condominiums decked out with picture windows and private balconies off the ultraluxe nature-inspired rooms. “Our guests kept saying they loved their Canyon Ranch vacation but that when they went home, they wanted the same access to wellness,” says Kevin Kelly, Canyon Ranch Living’s CEO. Say no more. Wellness devotees can pick up a 720- to 3,000-square-foot CRL condo for $450,000 to $3 million. Of course, the price includes access to a 60,000-square-foot rooftop fitness center tricked out with a two-and-a-half-story climbing wall, private workout rooms, a spa, and the latest European whirlpools and other “wet-room” technology. When not working out or getting a spa treatment, residents and their guests can chill on 750 feet of white-sand beach frontage and refuel at CRL’s caf茅, which serves up fresh, chemical-free seafood, meats, and vegetables, dished out in perfectly balanced portions. Just visiting to check out property? Crash at CRL’s David Rockwell–designed hotel. 888-987-9876,

Fast Food Goes Fresh: Chipotle Mexican Grill

STEVE ELLIS IS ON A MISSION. He’s determined to feed you vegetarian-fed, antibiotic-free chicken, real lime juice, organic pinto beans, unprocessed pork, and other sustainable and whole foods. And he wants those ingredients to be as all-natural as possible. If you’re picturing a back-alley boho caf茅 in Berkeley, try again. Ells is the visionary behind, and CEO of, Chipotle Mexican Grill, arguably the first fast-food franchise to make fresh and natural a priority and still turn a profit. Inspired by taquerias he frequented in San Francisco’s Mission District while a chef at the famed restaurant Stars, Ells—who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, New York—created Chipotle’s business model around the idea of wrapping nutritious meals in a tortilla and selling them cheap and quick. (A typical burrito is ready in less than one minute and sets you back about $6.) His original 20-seat shop, on East Evans Avenue, in Denver, has mushroomed into an 11,000-person, $480 million company with more than 400 restaurants in 22 states—and two new ones opening each week. Chipotle’s has been so successful, in fact, that it was purchased by McDonald’s seven years ago. While some might think that’s dealing with the devil when it comes to fresh fare, Ells assures that it isn’t. “Not once has McDonald’s asked us to buy cheaper ingredients,” says Ells. “As long as we’re successful, we’ll have full autonomy.”

Sugar Busting Is Back

IF 2004’s AXIS OF DIETARY EVIL rotated around bread, well, hold on to your bacon, dear consumer, because the packaged-foods industry is about to pull a bait-and-switch down at your local Piggly Wiggly. In the coming months, watch for the omnipresent low carb labels to quietly recede from store shelves as that fad finally, blessedly collapses under a mountain of celery sticks. In its place, expect the makers of everything from cereals to juice to pancake syrup to hit sedentary Americans with a new fast-fix stamp: low sugar. Wait, is this 1981? With that year’s FDA approval of aspartame, the whole country went on a sugar-free high that lasted until the fat-gram-counting craze of the nineties. But things will be different this time around, according to Bob Goldin, vice president of the Chicago-based food-biz consultancy Technomic. “There’s a new concern about the staggering amount of sugar we’re consuming, which has continued to escalate over the past 20 years,” he says. Low-carb mania has evolved to identify sugar—a carb—as the real devil in the details. Its alarming abundance, hidden in everything from soda to teriyaki sauce, has prompted a slew of new products that either cut that sugar content way down or swap it for a lower-impact substitute, like Splenda. Mind the sugar intake, but remember: Exercise works wonders, too.

Queen of Celeb Cuisine: Akasha Richmond

Akasha Richmond

Serving Tinseltown since 1980: Chef Akasha Richmond

WHEN A FAD SEIZES the American imagination, chances are it was born in Hollywood. And if eating well is now a national habit, give props to Akasha Richmond, healthy-food chef to the stars. When the native of Hollywood, Florida, landed on the West Coast in the early eighties, the glitterati were just adding words like cholesterol and organic to their lexicon. Richmond, working at the now defunct Golden Temple, in L.A., started serving up soy-based main courses and sugar-free desserts that convinced the Tinseltown vanguard that vegetarian food could be savory. When she left the restaurant in 1984, diners wept in their tempeh, but they soon clamored for her private service. She went on to become a personal chef to Carrie Fisher, Barbra Streisand, and others, and penned her first book, The Art of Tofu, in 1997. The beautiful people still line up for what Richmond modestly calls her “clean, organic, artisan, sustainable, and authentic” dishes, which rely on simple, fresh ingredients like organic ginger-honey syrup from a friend’s farm in Costa Rica and the best olive oil from Tuscany. The result: such wonders as crispy shiitake pot stickers and Billy Bob Thornton’s favorite, carrot cake made with spelt flour. One of Richmond’s latest creations was an African-style high tea for a benefit hosted by Pierce Brosnan. It was equal parts brilliant execution and kitchen confidential—which, along with her cooking, is what gives her staying power in this fickle city. “I don’t gossip to Star Magazine about my clients,” Richmond says. “Hollywood is too small a town.”

Al Fresco Extreme

Jim Denevan

Jim Denevan and assistant events coordinator Natalie Mock

Channing Daughters Winery

The evening’s selections, from Channing Daughters Winery

“WE WANT TO RATE our dinners like whitewater,” says Santa Cruz, California–based Jim Denevan, perhaps the nation’s leading extreme-dining impresario. “Class I, Class II, Class III.” No, this isn’t about snacking on spiders at the Explorers Club. Picture wild boar pit-roasted on a mountaintop or freshly caught salmon savored in a remote sea cave by candlelight. Or, in a dinner planned this spring for Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, a multicourse, ultra-gourmet, white-tablecloth “intertidal dinner” staged on tidal flats in the brief window before Puget Sound floods the party. Lifelong surfer Denevan, 43, is the executive chef of Santa Cruz’s Gabriella Caf茅. He is also the culinary brains and six-foot-four brawn behind Outstanding in the Field, a series of outdoor dinners now in its sixth year. Pairing fine wine and cuisine with rustic environs is not in itself novel: Rafting outfits, for example, routinely pamper clients with prime rib. But Denevan—with help from celebrity chefs like Dan Barber, of New York’s Blue Hill restaurant (see “,”), and Paul Kahan, of Chicago’s Blackbird—is proving that al fresco dining can be high adventure in its own right. To that end, a hundred guests recently forked over $130 each to follow Denevan on an intentionally confusing hike in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Once they were good and lost, Denevan led them to a well-laid table at the top-secret wild-mushroom site of local forager David Chambers. There, beneath the oaks and Monterey pines, Denevan served porcinis and chanterelles with local wild venison, wild sorrel greens brought out by the first rain, and mussels gathered by hand then poached in water first used to boil wild thistles. “So many restaurant menus try to tell a story these days,” he says. “They try to conjure the whole sensuous experience of a farm or where the beef was raised or where the fish was caught. We bring that story to life, so you can live it while you eat it.”

Slow Mojo: Organic Ingredients

Eat your broccoli: Demand for organic products is expected to surpass $30 billion by 2007.

IT’S 7:45 ON A CLOUDLESS SATURDAY morning in downtown San Francisco. Chef Chris Cosentino is swerving his Toyota Matrix through tight corners to get to the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market before his favorite vendor runs out of organic radicchio. He forgot to advance-order it. “What the hell are you doing, you friggin’ shavin’ monkey?!” he hollers to a car idling in front of his targeted parking spot. He careens into another space, runs his hand through his spiked half-chocolate, half-vanilla hair, bounds out of the car, and grabs a Peet’s triple espresso before sprinting for the veggie stands.


At first glance, Cosentino seems an unlikely—nay, alarming—ambassador of Slow Food, an 80,000-member international nonprofit with 800 chapters in 52 countries. When he’s not cooking, the 32-year-old head chef at Incanto, a critically hailed Italian eatery in the city’s Noe Valley area, races mountain bikes—he won the overall solo in the 2002 24 Hours of Tahoe. His sponsors include Clif Bar and Red Bull. Is this a guy who does anything slowly?


That question points to one of the big misconceptions about the not so slowly burgeoning Slow Food organization, whose American branch, Slow Food USA, was launched in New York in March 2000, just months before Eric Schlosser published his best-selling Fast Food Nation, and has already grown to 12,000 members. Before I met Cosentino, I had heard only a little about the group. I knew they had a rather precious little logo of a snail. I knew they promoted esoteric artisanal foods and traditional modes of food production: Save the shagbark hickory nut!—that sort of thing. I pictured a bunch of tweedy, goblet-tinking foodies arguing the fine points of lactobacillus use in the preparation of Bulgarian buttermilk.


While this image is not entirely wrong, slow food is actually a lot more fun—and a lot more radical. The movement was born in Italy 18 years ago, when journalist Carlo Petrini organized a group of locals armed with bowls of penne to protest the opening of a McDonald’s near Rome’s ancient Spanish Steps. The charismatic Petrini unleashed brilliant diatribes against the 20th century’s loss of small farms, of healthy eating, and—more viscerally—of taste itself, as staggering numbers of foods went extinct. The movement, he wrote in the Slow Food Manifesto, would be an antidote to “Fast Life, which disrupts our habits, pervades the privacy of our homes and forces us to eat Fast Foods…. Fast Life has changed our way of being and threatens our environment and our landscapes. So Slow Food is now the only truly progressive answer.”


This turning of the tables has been an easy sell on the other side of the Atlantic, where culinary traditions are deeply ingrained and where Petrini, still president of the international group, is one of the 30 most influential people on the Continent, according to a recent Time article. But what works on the Mediterranean doesn’t always translate here. Siesta? Nada. We’re the country that invented the TV dinner and the drive-through. We crave Hot Pockets and call ketchup a vegetable. Most of us don’t know a fusilli from a fusillade. Let’s face it: If we can’t do slow food, er, quickly, the movement has as much chance of survival as the Gal谩pagos snail.


Which is why it’s heartening, as well as appetizing, to watch Cosentino fly through the market. There’s no radicchio to be found, and he’s pissed. But then his sous-chef, Tracy McGillis, rings in on the polyphonic video cell phone and says she found some. Slow food, it turns out, isn’t about returning to the 19th century; it’s about thoughtfully participating in a marketplace for eccentric products, with the goal of getting people to consume them. Because if there’s one thing Americans are good at, it’s consuming.


“Slow Food is about two words: conviviality and sustainability,” says San Francisco chapter co-leader Carmen Tedesco, 54. To serve its “eco-gastronomic” mission, the organization essentially parties its way to enlightenment. Local chapters throw buyer-seller shindigs to introduce members to worthy crops and breeds and the eco-conscious farmers who raise them. The result: Those farmers stay in business, and the whole industry tilts a bit closer toward practices like organic production and more diverse cultivation.


By encouraging people to eat rare “heirloom” species, Slow Food keeps those species in domestication. Last year, the organization arranged 5,000 advance orders of rare and delicious Narragansett turkeys for Thanksgiving; the profits went to struggling farms, and the bird’s breeding population was doubled. Slow Food also aims to reconnect the masses to the food chain with initiatives like public-school gardening projects. “We’re not about gluttony and elitism,” says Erika Lesser, 30, the Brooklyn-based executive director of Slow Food USA. “We want people to have a viable alternative to industrial agriculture. We want to change the way people think about food.”


Given the explosion in farmers’ markets and a projected consumer demand for organic products that’s expected to surpass $30 billion by 2007, it’s a movement whose time has come.


Cosentino stops to chat up Clifford Hamada, of Hamada Farms. “When will you have Buddha’s hand citron?” he asks. (“It’s really ugly,” he says of the bitter-lemon-type fruit. “Looks like an octopus. I candy it or shave the fruit on a mandoline and sprinkle it raw on salads.”) This third-generation farmer, says Cosentino, sells dozens of kinds of peaches—dozens! Cosentino dashes off to check out some Braeburn apples, which he will use in a rutabaga-and-pasta dish.


“I seek out this food because it’s the best food,” says Cosentino, whose Incanto is a slow-foodie’s wet dream of hand-cranked pastas, house-cured salumi and mortadella, and a dazzling array of obscure Italian wines with impossibly long names. “But I also love these guys. It’s about relationships.”


Walking around the spectacular outdoor market, overlooking the Bay at the Embarcadero, I’m all over it. The conviviality! The healthfulness! The idealism! But then I remember that most of this pretty stuff has to be cooked, or at least prepared with some modicum of slicing, dicing, drizzling, and tossing. Can Americans actually be talked into putting aside those handy boxes and bags of processed foods?


“Look, you don’t have to do it all the time,” says Cosentino. “When I’m racing, I eat any old shit. But people can’t be afraid to cook. It’s easy—pick up fresh organic tomatoes, toss them with an incredible cheese, and put it on your pasta. Or buy a Crock-Pot, throw in some meat and fresh carrots in the morning, come home from work, and—boom!—it’s done.”

Mix Master: The Bosch Blender

Bosch blender

This is the mod whirl: Bosch’s badass blender

Call it the Boxster of blenders. The F.A. Porsche Designer Series, from German power-tool company Bosch, speedily purees the firmest frozen bananas, strawberries, and whatever you love in your smoothies. (Try our antioxidant-, protein-, and calcium-packed suggestions below, courtesy of sports nutritionist Monique Ryan.) Best of all, there’s beauty to this beast: The modernist-inspired brushed-aluminum housing keeps up kitchen appearances alongside your All-Clad saucepans and Viking range. $200; 866-442-6724,

The Saved-by-Chocolate Postworkout Smoothie
4 tablespoons sweetened cocoa 禄 12 ounces low-fat soy milk 禄 1/2 cup raspberries 禄 1 cup vanilla or chocolate yogurt

The Sunrise Smoothie
1 banana 禄 1 mango 禄 1/2 cup orange juice 禄 1 cup low-fat plain yogurt 禄 one cup crushed ice

Low-Glycemic Berries and Cream
1/2 cup blueberries 禄 1/2 cup strawberries 禄 12 ounces skim milk 禄 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt 禄 1 tablespoon honey 禄 2 teaspoons flaxseed oil

Grow Your Own

food guide

“Wait, can’t we talk about this?” A Stone Barns chicken on its way to the broiler

DAN BARBER WANTS TO KNOW what the pork he’s eating for dinner ate before his pork, you know… became dinner. And he thinks you should know, too. So last May, the 35-year-old chef, whose Blue Hill restaurant, in Greenwich Village, brings seasonal, unique food to the city, took his fresh-‘n’-local food philosophy one step further: He reversed the farm-to-restaurant cycle altogether. Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a cozy, Proven莽al-style eatery at the center of the 80-acre Stone Barns Food and Agricultural Complex, in Pocantico Hills, New York, serves dishes like chicken roulade with red ace beets and Crescent duck with a stew of Napoli carrots to well-heeled locals and urbanites who, judging by the monthlong wait for a dinner reservation, are happy to make the 30-mile trip from Manhattan for a good meal and a lesson in sustainable agriculture. At least half of the food Barber serves is grown on the premises: The Stone Barns team, backed by a $30 million investment from community-farming advocate David Rockefeller, raises fruits, vegetables, herbs, and a coterie of free-roaming livestock. (The Berkshire pigs root and snort around in the woods the way their wild ancestors did in Europe.) When diners are finished, meal scraps are toted to compost piles, where the cycle of life begins again under the pitchfork of head farmer Jack Algiere. “I feed Jack and Jack feeds me,” says Barber, who hopes people will leave his restaurant not just full but enlightened. “Stone Barns provides an opportunity to discuss issues like the power of food choice, and to draw people’s attention to the land around them. Our goal is to provide a consciousness of how decisions you make buying food have an effect on the world you live in.”

The post The Next Order: Trends Ahead appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

To zero in on the most idyllic resorts this side of paradise, we dispatched a crack squad of writers to the Caribbean. They came back with a hit list of places where creature comforts and adventure are not mutually exclusive. Now it’s your turn.

By Katie Arnold

By Janine Sieja

By Randy Wayne White

By Hampton Sides

By Bonnie Tsui

By Grant Davis

By Sally Schumaier

By Mike Grudowski

By Karen Karbo

By Lisa Anne Auerbach

PLUS:
Swimming in Mosquito Bay, sailing the Grenadines, climbing 10,000-foot Pico Duarte, and five other don’t-miss dream outings.

Laluna

A minimalist’s idea of maximum bliss

Caribbean Resort, Grenada

Caribe, anyone? Laluna’s mod seaside lounge overlooking Portici Bay.

ON OUR THIRD MORNING IN GRENADA, we roasted the Chicken. Then we did what any sensible traveler in the Caribbean would do: We beelined it back to Laluna, a sublime refuge tucked into a hidden bay on the island’s southwest coast, and made straight for the sea. We were ridiculously filthy, splattered with mud from a three-hour mountain-bike ride with Chicken—a wiry, calf-strong Grenadian guide who’s such a fanatic cyclist, he’d already pedaled 25 miles before breakfast. (No wonder we beat him up the hills.) Salty but clean, we retired to the private plunge pool on our cottage’s wide wooden deck, taking in the uninterrupted view of Portici Bay. Time to debate the next move: Grab a book and sprawl across the teak settee on the veranda, wander down to the open-air lounge for a cold Caribe and a game of backgammon, loll poolside on a chaise, or have a massage? There’s only one house rule at this tiny, tony anti-resort: Make yourself at home. After three days, we felt so at home, we thought we were home—that is, if home were a stylish, thatch-roofed cabana notched into a hillside above an empty crescent of Caribbean beach. In our dreams.

The Good Life // Designed in 2001 by Gabriella Giuntoli, the Italian architect for Giorgio Armani’s villa on an island off Sicily, Laluna has a pared-down, natural aesthetic: Indonesian teak-chic meets spare Italian elegance. All 16 one- and two-bedroom concrete cottages—painted in cheerful shades of pumpkin, lapis, teal, and plum—are well-appointed but unfussy: Balinese four-poster beds draped with sheer muslin panels, earth-colored floors covered with sea-grass rugs, open-air bathrooms with mod metal fixtures. The same soothing mix of wood, cane, cotton, and thatch prevails in the resort’s beachfront courtyard. On one end is the breezy restaurant, where Italian chef Benedetto La Fiura cooks up Carib-Continental dishes like callaloo soup (an island specialty made from dasheen, a tuber with spinachlike leaves, and nutmeg) and mushroom risotto. On the other is the open-air lounge, with a fully stocked bar and comfy Indonesian daybeds with plump throw pillows, and low tables that double as footrests. Between the two is pure R&R: a sleek square pool with a perfect curve of beach beyond.

Jaw Dropper // Swinging the cottage’s mahogany-and-glass doors wide open at night and being lulled to sleep by the wind in the bougainvillea and the gentle rolling of waves below.

Sports on-Site // There’s no set agenda at Laluna, but there’s plenty to do. Guests with sailing experience can take out one of two Hobie Cats, as well as single and double sea kayaks, for the easy cruise to Morne Rouge Bay, the next cove over. There’s a small stash of snorkeling equipment available (keep an eye out for yellow-and-black-striped sergeant majors near the rocky points at either end of the beach) and Specialized mountain bikes for tooling around.

Beyond the Sand // Fight the urge to cocoon at Laluna and head inland and upward to Grand 脡tang Forest Reserve, a 3,800-acre tract of rainforest at 2,350 feet, along the island’s jungly spine. We spent a day in the charming company of 64-year-old Telfor Bedeau, known to all as the father of Grenada hiking. He led us on a four-hour ramble around Lake Grand ƒtang, a rogue crater left over from the island’s volcanic past, and along an overgrown tunnel of a trail to a series of five waterfalls (popularly, if erroneously, dubbed the Seven Sisters) and up a hidden path to a bonus cascade called Honeymoon Falls (half-day hikes, $20 per person; 473-442-6200). At A&E Tours, Chicken guides half-day, full-day, and multi-day mountain-bike rides along the coast or through the reserve (our three-hour pedal from the harbor capital of St. George’s over the serpentine, near-vertical Grenville Vale Road cost $25 per person, including bike rental; 473-435-1444, ).

The Fine Print // American Eagle (800-433-7300; ) flies the two and a half hours to Grenada daily from San Juan, Puerto Rico (round-trip from Chicago, about $785); Air Jamaica (800-523-5585; ) flies nonstop from New York’s JFK four days a week (about $400). From December 20 to April 13, rates at Laluna (473-439-0001, ) start at $530 per night, double occupancy, including water activities and bikes (the price drops to $290 in summer). A modified meal plan (breakfast and dinner) is $65 per person per day. Henry’s Safari Tours can take care of your on-island transportation and guiding needs (473-444-5313, ).

The Hermitage

Frangipani breezes, volcano view

THE SOUNDTRACK TO NEVIS, a volcanic bit of emerald-green pointing skyward in the West Indies, lacks a badass steel-drum reggae riff. Nevis, blessedly, is not that Caribbean. Its rhythms require closer attention: nocturnal, chirping bell frogs and murmuring trade winds that rustle the coconut palms and spread the sweetness of frangipani across 50 square miles of overgrown hills and dignified former sugarcane plantations. The most charming of these mansions, the Hermitage, is perched 800 feet above sea level on the southern flanks of dormant-for-now 3,232-foot Nevis Peak. The 15 gingerbread cottages and 340-year-old British colonial lodge are embellished with pastel-shuttered windows and four-poster canopy beds. Despite this dollhouse decor, you won’t feel embarrassed to take your lunch of grilled-flying-fish salad on the veranda after a muddy five-hour hike up the volcano. Just hose yourself off in the front yard first. The Good Life // Amiable American transplants Richard and Maureen Lupinacci bought the Hermitage 33 years ago. Its Great House, reputed to be the oldest wooden building in the Caribbean, is where guests dine by candlelight or sidle over to the bar for rum punch at cocktail hour. (The free-flowing mixture of dark Cavalier rum, syrup, lemon juice, and a dash of cinnamon is part of why the refined Hermitage vibe never crosses over into stuffiness.) Most of the cottages are restored originals—whitewashed, light-filled retreats furnished with regional antiques. All have hammock-equipped balconies for horizontal views of Nevis Peak and the white clouds that usually shroud its summit. The three-acre grounds are dotted with citrus, mango, and cashew trees, and have two pools and a tennis court.

Jaw Dropper // Roam trails crisscrossing the Gingerland District on one of the lodge’s 16 thoroughbreds, or charge up Saddle Hill to an old lookout used by British admiral Horatio Nelson in the 1780s.

Sports on-Site // Explore the terraced gardens of lilies, ginger, and hibiscus or take the ten-minute shuttle to four-mile Pinney’s Beach, the loveliest of Nevis’s sandy stretches. Just a quarter-mile from the inn is the trailhead for the mile-long climb to the summit of Nevis Peak (contact Top to Bottom; $35 per person; 869-469-9080).

Beyond the Sand // A wild donkey—an odd trail obstacle—brayed his displeasure as I pedaled the sea-grape-lined singletrack of Tower Hill. Windsurf ‘n’ Mountain Bike Nevis (869-469-9682, , ) offers half-day rides from $40, including use of a Trek front-suspension bike. At Oualie Beach, on the island’s northwestern coast, let marine biologist Barbara Whitman introduce you to four-eyed butterfly fish, goat fish, flame coral, and pink sea anemones. Under the Sea (869-469-1291, ) charges $40 for a three-hour snorkel, including gear.

The Fine Print // American Airlines (800-433-7300, ) is the only major U.S. carrier serving Nevis. The daily flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, takes an hour and 15 minutes (round-trip airfare from New York City costs about $725; from Denver, about $980). From December 15 to April 15, rates at the Hermitage (800-682-4025, ) start at $325 for a double, including a full breakfast (low-season rates from $170).

Anse Chastanet

This is jungle luxe

Caribbean Resort, St. Lucia

Petit Piton looms as Anse Chastanet’s yacht heads out for a day at sea.

Caribbean Resort, St. Lucia

Walls optional: a hillside villa at Anse Chastanet

MY FIRST DAWN on St. Lucia, a big teardrop of an island wedged between Martinique and St. Vincent in the Lesser Antilles, was disappointing. I’d flown in on the dark of the moon and arrived at Anse Chastanet, a 600-acre resort perched on the rugged southwestern shore, too late to see anything but a macrodome of stars. The next morning, I awoke to warblers singing in the cedars and the scent of begonia shifting in the trade wind. My villa-size room, I realized, barely had walls. Wait, it gets worse. Below was a bay so clear, the coral shimmered like a field of wildflowers. Twin peaks spired out of the forest. The rockier one, 2,461-foot Petit Piton, was unavoidably phallic. Gros Piton, at 2,619 feet, was more rounded and feminine. I looked from the Pitons to the beach, then at my empty bed. What a blunder! Here I was in the most achingly romantic setting in all my years … and I was alone.

The Good Life // I didn’t feel weepy for long. The resort has a five-star list of activities to match the cuisine (spiced-carrot-and-coconut soup, grilled dorado, mango trifle), an attentive 250-person staff (serving no more than 100 guests), and pleasantly esoteric options at the Kai Belt茅 spa. (Try a wosh cho hot-stone massage.) Trou au Diable, a thatch-roofed bistro, sits on a half-mile of secluded beach, while the Piton Restaurant is set among the 49 villas up the hill. My Hillside Deluxe room, with its louvered doors and green heartwood furniture, was like a tree house built by Swiss castaways. Very rich Swiss castaways. But considering the absence of phones or TVs, they didn’t seem to mind being stranded on St. Lucia.

Jaw Dropper // Tucking into a plate of locally raised lamb and fresh snapper cooked under the stars by chef Jon Bentham on an antique cane-sugar pot the size of a kettledrum.

Sports on-Site // Anse Chastanet is famous for spectacular diving; there’s a Platinum/PADI Scuba and Water Sports Center, and boats ferry you out to several world-class dive sites along the Pinnacles reef. But I chose to explore a lesser-known offering: 12 miles of mountain-bike trails winding through the ruins of a 19th-century French sugarcane-and-cocoa plantation next door. Full disclosure: I expected crappy equipment but a fun ride. What I got was a first-class trail system partially designed by NORBA phenom Tinker Juarez and my choice of 50 Cannondale F800s, all fitted with hydraulic shocks and brakes. The ride, over rolling jungle paths, was excellent—I broke a sweat but still had time to stop and pick wild avocados, bananas, and guavas.

Beyond the Sand // Ever bagged a Piton? Me neither. The climbs are notoriously steep and muddy, but if you’re game, the front desk recommends a guide named Meneau Herman ($50 a person for the day). For the rest of us, there are ample opportunities to explore St. Lucia via horse or sea kayak. On my last day, I hit the water with Xavier Vernantius, the head kayak guide. Born on St. Lucia, Xavier, 33, knew all the secret caves to explore. As we paddled around a rocky outcropping called Fairyland, the view of the Pitons in the distance left me speechless. “I grew up here, and I still find them beautiful,” Xavier said.

The Fine Print // US Airways (800-622-1015, ) flies to St. Lucia from New York City for about $700, from Chicago for $760. From December 20 to April 7, a double at Anse Chastanet (758-459-7000, ) costs $455 per night, including breakfast and dinner ($220 per night in the off-season, not including meals). The spa and scuba diving are extra.

Tiamo Resorts

Check your Blackberry at the door and get way, way offline

THE MOST IMPRESSIVE thing about Tiamo is how unimpressive it is. Even as my sea taxi pulled up to the unassuming scallop of beach on the southern half of Andros, I still couldn’t see the resort that was right in front of me. Once ashore, I had to wade through thickets of sea grapes and gumbo-limbo trees to find the central lodge—an unpretentious wooden structure with screened porches and a corrugated metal roof. Was this the place? The sleepy Brazilian jazz seeping out the front door said yes. Hacked out of the Bahamian bush and opened in 2001 by Mike and Petagay Hartman, Tiamo is a fascinating—and so far successful—experiment to test whether assiduous eco-consciousness can coexist with rustic luxury. The ethos here is part Gilligan’s Island, part Buckminster Fuller. With only 11 open-air bungalows, powered by the sun and outfitted with compost toilets, everything is small-scale, low-impact, phosphate-free, and relentlessly off the grid. Accessible only by boat or seaplane, the resort sits on 12 acres of pristine beach along an inland waterway, surrounded by 125 acres of preserved wilderness. There are no air conditioners, no TVs, none of the whirs and bleeps of the digital age. Nope, at Tiamo, messages are delivered strictly by iguanagram. The Good Life // By day, watch a heron or one of the resident iguanas trundle by your screened porch. At night, the hemp curtains billow in the breeze. The bright-green-and-yellow louvered shutters, exposed copper pipes, and bare-metal faucet levers are sleekly utilitarian. My solar-heated beach-rock shower looked out on a mighty specimen of local cactus known as—I kid you not—the Bahamian dildo. The lodge has the same casual vibe. Browse for dog-eared paperbacks and board games in the library; dine on sesame seared tuna and mahi-mahi with mango beurre blanc at the large communal table; or simply fritter the evening away at the rattan bar, clutching a mind-warming Petagay Punch as a local “rake-and-scrape” band sings you back to bed.




Jaw Dropper // A spectacular network of “blue holes” riddle the limestone bedrock all over southern Andros. Kayak out to the Crack, a fabulously deep gash in the seafloor where two temperature zones collide in a thermocline, and snorkel or dive the nutrient-rich broth alongside hosts of wrasse, lobster, sea cucumbers, and freakishly large angelfish.

Sports on-Site // Tiamo is not a destination for hyperactive folks who expect a brisk regimen of “activities.” Basically, Mike shows up at breakfast and says, “What do you want to do today?” Choose between swimming, bonefishing, kayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving, bushwhacking, or my new favorite sport, extreme hammocking. Hikes (led by Shona Paterson, the on-staff marine biologist) are free, as are snorkel trips to the blue holes. There’s a modest fleet of trimarans and sea kayaks at the ready. But the most elaborate activity is … horseshoes. Somehow, that says it all.

Beyond the Sand // Andros boasts some of the finest bonefishing in the world, and Mike can easily hook you up with a guide ($350 per boat for a full day; each boat holds two anglers). Ask for Captain Jolly Boy, a corpulent former bar owner turned Baptist preacher who stalks “the gray ghost” with all the biblical fervor of Ahab. “I feel you, Mr. Bones!” Jolly Boy whispers as he poles the flats. For divers, the Andros Barrier Reef, one of the world’s largest contiguous reefs, lies less than a mile offshore; its sheer wall, home to thousands of species of fish, drops nearly 6,000 feet into the Tongue of the Ocean. Scuba excursions motor out daily, but you must be PADI-certified ($100 for a one-tank dive, $145 for two tanks).

The Fine Print // Delta (800-241-4141, ) and American Airlines (800-433-7300, ) fly to Nassau from L.A. and New York for $600 or less. From there, make the 20-minute hop with Western Air (242-377-2222, ) to Andros; flights are about $100 round-trip. The bungalows at Tiamo (242-357-2489, ) cost $275 per person, double occupancy ($360 per person, single occupancy) year-round; rates include everything but your bar tab, bonefishing, and scuba diving. The resort is closed August 1 through September 30.

Punta Caracol Acqua Lodge

The lullaby of lapping waves

Caribbean Resort, Isla Colon, Panama

The H20 cure: cabanas on stilts at Punta Caracol

TRANQUILO IS THE OPERATIVE WORD at Punta Caracol, located just off the serenely beautiful island of Isla Col贸n, an hour’s flight by puddle jumper from Panama City and a 15-minute boat ride from the small town of Bocas del Toro. Sheltered by the surrounding archipelago and, about three miles away, mainland Panama, the resort’s six two-story thatch-roofed cabanas are suspended over the water on wooden stilts, spiraling out from a long central walkway to face Almirante Bay. Each solar-powered duplex has its own private terrace and deck, and the sound of lapping water lulls you to sleep. This vision of calm luxury perched at the edge of the world is just what founder and Barcelona native Jos茅-Lu铆s Bordas had in mind when he designed Punta Caracol in 1997 as his final project for business school. At dusk on my first evening, I’d already showered and dressed for dinner, yet I couldn’t help heeding the call of bath-temperature, cerulean water. In record time, I changed back into my swimsuit and threw myself—with a war whoop—off the back deck. It’s the kind of place where glittering-green tropical fish jump up to meet you in rapid-fire succession and bioluminescent plankton are the only lights shimmering offshore after sunset. Every detail of the resort, from hand-woven hanging textiles to fresh papaya and pineapple-covered panqueques at breakfast, is well executed by Bordas’s competent local staff. At the end of my four-day idyll, I could tell him honestly, “Es mi idea del para铆so, tambi茅n.” The Good Life // Each bungalow has native-hardwood floors and French doors that open to the bay, as well as wooden lounge chairs and woven floor mats. Bathrooms are lined with clay tiles with a lime-green-and-pl谩tano-yellow trim—brightly Caribbean without being gaudy. Upstairs, the open-air bedroom has a canopied king-size bed with natural-cotton drapes that double as mosquito nets, but you won’t need them; the cool breezes off the water at night are enough to blow pesky insects away. As for eats, you won’t find fresher seafood: The open-air restaurant-cum-lounge—also on stilts over the water— gets regular deliveries from local fishermen cruising by with just-caught lobster and red snapper, weighed with a portable scale brought out from behind the bar. A must-have: grilled lobster with tomatoes stuffed with rice, fish, and vegetables. (Chase it down with a warm, sweet pineapple slice glazed with caramelized sugar.)

Jaw Dropper // While you’re dining alfresco on flame-grilled shrimp, you can watch dolphins, pelicans, and parrot fish trolling for dinner on the reef below.

Sports on-Site // Swim, snorkel, or paddle in clear, calm Caribbean water along a mile of coral-reef coastline; there’s no beach at Punta Caracol, but your cabana’s private dock is just as enticing. It’s an easy paddle inland, via cayuco (traditional wooden canoe), to Isla Col贸n’s mangrove swamps—home to howler and white-face monkeys and the unbelievably slow-moving two-toed sloth, or oso perezoso (“lazy bear”).

Beyond the Sand // Pilar Bordas, the miracle-working sister of Jos茅-Lu铆s, can arrange outdoor activities on demand: surfing at Bluff Beach, on the far side of Isla Col贸n; mountain-biking across the center of the island; scuba-diving with queen angelfish near San Cr’stobal Island, four miles away (two-tank dives with Starfleet Scuba, $50; 011-507-757-9630, ). Hire a guide for the 40-minute boat ride to Bastimentos Island National Marine Park, where you can hike through sugarcane to Red Frog Beach ($30 per person).

The Fine Print // American Airlines (800-433-7300, ) flies direct from Miami to Panama City for about $300 round-trip. From there, Aeroperlas (011-507-315-7500, ) has two flights daily to Bocas del Toro for $116 round-trip. The Centers for Disease Control recommends a yellow-fever vaccination and the antimalarial drug chloroquine for travel to the Bocos del Toro region. Double-occupancy rates at Punta Caracol in high season (December 16 to May 15) start at $265, including breakfast, dinner, airport transfers, and use of cayucos and snorkel equipment (from $215, off-season; 011-507-612-1088, ).

Bitter End Yacht Club

Fat sails in the sunset

Caribbean Resort, Virgin Gorda, BVI

Even type A’s need some downtime: the Bitter End

Caribbean Resort, Virgin Gorda, BVI

The North Pier deck at Virgin Gorda’s Bitter End Yacht Club

THE BITTER END, ON THE REMOTE NORTHEASTERN TIP of Virgin Gorda, is a sprawling community of people with one thing on their minds: boating. In addition to the club’s 78 rooms, freshwater swimming pool, and teakwood Clubhouse restaurant, there’s a marina with charter-boat service, a dive shop, a market, a pub, and 70 boat moorings. All the action takes place offshore, specifically in the protected waters of three-square-mile North Sound, with the club’s flotilla of 100-plus vessels, ranging from sea kayaks and windsurfers to Hobie Cats and 30-foot oceangoing yachts. This is no mellow-rum-drinks-on-your-private-beach kind of resort: It’s a playground for Type A’s in topsiders.

The Good Life // The best rooms are the 48 cottages set on a steep hillside, with wraparound decks and views of Eustacia Reef (30 air-conditioned suites climb the sunset side of the hill). Meals (think surf-and-turf) are served under the blue canopies of the Clubhouse.

Jaw Dropper // The staff at the BEYC remembers everyone. It had been two years since my last visit, yet when I walked to breakfast, watersports staffers greeted me by my first name.

Sports on-Site // Thanks to warm water and 15- to 20-knot winds, North Sound is the perfect place to hone your tacks and jibes. Private sailing lessons for beginners cost $25 per hour, and advanced sailing sessions run $50 per class. Use of all the small boats is included in your stay, as are snorkeling trips to nearby reefs. Two-tank dives cost $85, all equipment except wetsuit included, and deep-sea fishing for blue marlin runs $275 a day.

Beyond the Sand // The 30-minute hike to the top of 1,359-foot Gorda Peak offers a commanding view of the entire Virgin Islands region. Don’t miss a trip to the famous Baths, a jumbled collection of giant boulders and knee-deep tide pools.

The Fine Print // Round-trip airfare on American Airlines (800-433-7300, ) from New York to Tortola’s Beef Island Airport is $525. From January 5 to April 30, the five-night Admiral’s Package at the BEYC ($2,925 to $3,850; 800-872-2392, ) includes three meals a day for two (low season, $2,150 to $2,625). The annual Pro-Am Regatta ($2,940) takes place the first week of November.

Maroma Resort & Spa

A mystical hideaway on the Mayan Riviera

Caribbean Resort, Yucatan, Mexico

Your palapa or mine? Get a massage or just toll in the sun on Playa Maroma.

EVER SINCE ARCHITECT Jos茅 Luis Moreno followed a machete-beaten path through 200 acres of tropical jungle, in 1976, to build this exclusive beachfront resort, Maroma has been deliberately hard to find—tucked off an unmarked gravel road, 20 miles south of Canc煤n. On my first evening, I followed the flickering lights of a thousand candles along a maze of stone walkways, wandering through gardens of orchids and palm trees until I found myself on a narrow crescent of fine white sand: a heavenly border between jungle and sea.

The Good Life // Designed simply, the 64 rooms in ten low-lying, white-stucco buildings are an elegant mix of saltillo tile, handwoven rugs and bedspreads, mahogany beams, and bamboo shutters. Dine on fresh grilled snapper at the cavernous El Sol restaurant or on the beach-view terrace. Jaw Dropper // The world’s second-longest barrier reef, which runs 450 miles from Canc煤n to Honduras and teems with coral and fish, is just 200 yards offshore.

Sports on-Site // At the beach kiosk, set up snorkeling and reef-diving trips, sea-kayaking excursions, and day sailing on a 27-foot catamaran ($15 to $120 per person). On land, mountain-bike through 250 acres of protected jungle. Spa offerings include a two-hour Maya steam bath and cleansing ceremony ($90), yoga classes, and nine types of massage ($50 to $120).

Beyond the Sand // The Yucat谩n is cratered with more than 700 cenotes—limestone sinkholes that offer otherworldly snorkeling, diving, and rappelling opportunities. The resort can arrange a trip 40 miles south to Dos Ojos cenote for $90.

The Fine Print // Continental Airlines (800-523-3273, ) flies from Houston to Canc煤n for $400 round-trip; American Airlines (800-433-7300, ) flies nonstop from New York for about $700. Double-occupancy rates at Maroma (866-454-9351, ) start at $400 in high season (November 14 to December 18 and January 4 to May 15) and $340 in low season.

Caneel Bay

The true-blue classic

WITHOUT A DOUBT, ST. JOHN’S alluring natural charms get star billing at Caneel Bay. Frigate birds, as angular as pterodactyls, soar over no fewer than seven stunningly pristine on-site strands, from vest-pocket hideaways like Paradise Beach, which you can have all to yourself, to Caneel Beach, shaded by coconut palms and sea grapes and sprawled out in front of the resort’s main lobby. Some 170 manicured acres are cordoned off from the rest of the island—and the rest of the world, it seems—by a trio of 800-foot-high forested ridges. Philanthropist and conservationist Laurance Rockefeller founded Caneel Bay in the fifties, and the place still feels like a summer camp for blue bloods. There’s no shortage of diversions—day trips to the British Virgins, guided shoreline hikes, couples yoga at the resort’s Self Centre. But most of the clientele seem to be seeking stillness and seclusion rather than pampering. Rooms contain no phones, TVs, radios, or even alarm clocks. Management, for its part, tries mightily to preserve an old-money sense of decorum: Collars for gents, please, even on the tennis courts, and evening resort wear for ladies. Expect to see plenty of newlyweds, espadrille-shod martini sippers, and the occasional jackass: Wild donkeys sometimes roam past just in time for cocktails.

The Good Life // Architecture keeps a low profile here. Low-slung rows of 166 guest rooms—done up in dark wood, Indonesian wicker, and botanical prints—are scattered around the property in clusters of a dozen or so and linked by winding footpaths. As a rule, the food in the four dining rooms is tasty if not particularly innovative; standouts include the steaks, aged and tender, the breakfast buffet served on an open-air terrace overlooking Caneel Beach, and the 265-bottle wine list at the Turtle Bay Estate House.

Jaw Dropper // Request one of 20 rooms along Scott Beach. After you’ve spent hours snorkeling with hubcap-size hawksbill turtles, your private deck offers a front-row seat for virtuoso sunsets that give way to the lights of St. Thomas, four miles across the sound.

Sports on-Site // Aside from the 11 tennis courts, built into a terraced hillside, a compact fitness center, and a small pool near the courts, most action takes place on the coral formations a hundred yards from the waterline. Use of snorkel gear—plus a generous selection of sailboards, kayaks, and small sailboats—is complimentary.

Beyond the Sand // Two-thirds of St. John’s 20 square miles fall within Virgin Islands National Park. Sample them by renting a jeep (from $65 a day at Sun-n-Sand Car Rentals, available at Caneel Bay from 9 to 10 a.m. daily) and heading for the Reef Bay Trail, at 2.4 miles the longest of the park’s 20 hikes. Other options include half- and full-day sails to some of St. John’s excellent anchorages, and sea-kayak excursions to offshore cays ($60 to $70 per person through Caneel Bay).

The Fine Print // Most major U.S. airlines fly direct to St. Thomas from various East Coast cities (about $550 round-trip from New York); Caneel Bay guests go by ferry to the resort. From December 17 to March 15, rates at Caneel Bay (340-776-6111, ) start at $450, double occupancy ($300 in low season).

Turtle Inn

The Godfather’s eco-resort

I SIT AT THE DESK OF TURTLE INN’S VILLA ONE, staring through wooden shutters at the Caribbean, hoping for some Maya magic. Turtle Inn is owned by Francis Ford Coppola, and he was here, on the southern coast of Belize, working at this very desk, only a few weeks ago. I’m a huge fan of Mr. Francis (as he’s called by the people who work here). I love the Godfather trilogy, but what I really love is Villa One’s outdoor garden shower, designed by the auteur himself, surrounded by a high wall built by Maya stonemasons and illuminated with Balinese lanterns. I also love the Italian-for-the-tropics cuisine—white pizza topped with garlic and arugula grown from Sicilian seeds in Turtle Inn’s garden, soup made from local lobster—served in the snazzy open-air restaurant. A few nights at the inn, I thought, and maybe I’d absorb some of the creative mojo.

The Good Life // The 18 bungalows, all steps from the beach, are built in the style of traditional Balinese thatched huts, with large screened decks, ample living spaces, and ornate carved doors imported from Bali. The lovely Belizean wait staff (one soft-spoken boy responds to requests with “Don’t worry; I gotcha”) wear white linen shirts and sarongs. Marie Sharp’s Belizean Heat Habanero Pepper Sauce is on every table, the perfect addition to the spaghetti carbonara. All proof that here at the Turtle Inn, the weird fusion of Balinese- Belizean-Coppola culture actually works. Jaw Dropper // The inn is located near the end of Placencia Peninsula—a 16-mile noodle of land with the Placencia Lagoon on one side and the sea on the other. At the Turtle Inn dive shop, on the lagoon, an American crocodile named Jeff has taken up residency near the boat dock. He’s not housebroken, but he’ll pose for pictures.

Sports on-Site // The thatch-roofed bar is about 20 yards from every bungalow, on the ocean’s edge, which allows for a pleasant daily routine: Snorkel a bit, collapse on your chaise, order Turtle Juice (a house specialty made with coconut rum), kayak a mile or so up to Rum Point and back, collapse on your chaise, snorkel, Turtle Juice, rinse, repeat. Some of Belize’s finest beaches—narrow, sandy, palm-fringed—grace the peninsula. When you feel in need of an outing, beach-cruiser bikes are available for riding into the tiny Creole village of Placencia, a mile down the road. Or, from the inn’s dive shop, head out to Belize’s barrier reef—prime location for diving or saltwater fly-fishing. The rub is that it’s an hourlong speedboat ride on sometimes choppy waters. But once out there, it’s not unusual to see spotted rays or even nurse sharks cruising along a 2,000-foot wall, or for anglers to hook bonefish, tarpon, or snook.

Beyond the Sand // Turtle Inn is a great base for venturing into the jungle. The front desk can arrange day trips to Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (the world’s first jaguar reserve) and a number of large Maya ruins. Monkey River is 45 minutes to the south by boat, through mangrove estuaries that are home to manatees. While cruising upriver, you’ll encounter tiger herons, gargantuan butterflies, six-foot iguanas, and howler monkeys.

The Fine Print // American Airlines (800-433-7300, ) flies to Belize City for about $500 round-trip from both Miami and Dallas. From there, it’s a 35-minute flight on Maya Island Air ($140 round-trip; 800-225-6732, ) to the Placencia airstrip. From January 4 to April 30 (excluding the week of Easter), seafront cottages at Turtle Inn (800-746-3743, ) are $300 per night, double occupancy, including Continental breakfast and use of bikes and sea kayaks (from $200 per night in low season).

Jake’s

How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?

Caribbean Resort, Jamaica

You can almost see the Pelican Bar from here: a cottage at Jake’s

“IF WE DON’T ENCOURAGE GUESTS to leave the property, they wouldn’t,” says owner Jason Henzell. He ought to know. Ten years ago, Henzell, 34, and his mother, Sally, opened a small restaurant on six acres overlooking Calabash Bay and named it after a local parrot. A small guest house followed, and each year, as the Henzells’ gospel of sophisticated laziness spreads beyond the fishing village of Treasure Beach (pop. 600), on Jamaica’s southwestern shore, more rooms are added. Which only makes it easier to give in to inertia. Lounging under the acacia trees next to the tiled saltwater pool, a pair of still-pale English thirty-somethings allow that they’ve been devouring books from the well-stocked library for four days. They reel with shock when my boyfriend and I start naming off the places we’ve been (Great Pedro Bluff! Black River fruit market!) and the things we’ve seen (dolphins! crocodiles!) and eaten (grilled conch! jerk crab!) in just two days. Soon, they wobble off on mountain bikes, determined to find out what they’ve been missing.

The Good Life // From modest wooden cabins with funky mosaic bathtubs to bright adobe bungalows topped with open-air rooftop chill zones, the 15 cottages at Jake’s are a m茅lange of Moroccan style and iconoclastic tiling—all sans TVs or phones but avec CD players. (The bar has a stellar music collection for your listening pleasure.) Lucky us, our pink palace came with a wooden porch overlooking the surf and an outdoor shower with claw-foot tub, plus swanky Aveda potions. There are two chow houses: Jake’s, the poolside bistro, where the coffee’s delivered fresh daily by a woman who roasts it over a wood fire; and Jack Sprat’s, a beachfront joint where Fabulous (yep, that’s his name) serves up jerk crab and coconut ice cream, and a DJ spins dance-hall reggae into the wee hours.

Jaw Dropper // A pilgrimage to Shirley Genus’s wooden zareba—basically a hut with a sauna—is required. Strip down next to a steaming terra-cotta pot filled with a healing soup of organically grown lemongrass and other herbs, then sweat like the dickens. Afterward, let Shirley hit all the pressure points ($30 for steam bath, $60 for massage; book through Jake’s).

Sports on-Site // Sea-kayak or snorkel through the rocky maze that hugs the beach. (Kayaks are free; snorkel gear can be rented at the bar for $10 a day.) Or hire a local to take you out fishing for snapper, jack, kingfish, and grouper; trips can be arranged at the front desk ($35 an hour per person).

Beyond the Sand // One day, on our way to ogle crocodiles along the Black River, 16 miles northwest, our boat chugged past the Pelican Bar, a tiny shack on a lick of sand. Our captain shouted out a lunch order to Floyd, the owner, and on the way back we parked, waded ashore, and dug into $6 plates of steamed fish, grilled onions, doughy white bread, and bottles of Red Stripe ($35 per person for Black River boat tours; book through Jake’s).

The Fine Print // Air Jamaica (800-523-5585; ) flies round-trip to Montego Bay from New York for about $600, from L.A. for $800. From December 19 to April 20, a double-occupancy room at Jake’s (877-526-2428, ) costs $95 to $395, meals not included ($75 to $325 in low season).

The Essential Eight

Had enough paradise? Add some intensity to your Caribbean life list.

Kayak the Exuma Cays Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, in the Bahamas, spans 176 square miles of reeftop emerald water that laps the marine caves and white-sand beaches of hundreds of undeveloped limestone islands. Shallow, calm seas are perfect for paddling, snorkeling, and swimming. Do all three on a nine-day trip with Ecosummer Expeditions. ($1,695; 800-465-8884, )

Climb Pico Duarte More travelers each year are tackling the Caribbean’s tallest peak. At 10,414 feet, the rocky summit of Pico Duarte rises up from the tropical lowlands of Armando Bermudez National Park, along the Dominican Republic’s Cordillera Central. Iguana Mama runs a three-day, 29-mile mule trek to the top. ($450; 800-849-4720, )

Hike to Boiling Lake Deep in the heart of Dominica, hot magma warms the rocks and pushes volcanic gas through vents to keep one of the world’s largest boiling lakes at an eerie, gray simmer. Getting there requires a muddy three-hour rainforest slog on seldom-signed paths. Reserve a guide through Ken’s Hinterland 国产吃瓜黑料 Tours. ($40; 767-448-4850, ) Swim in Mosquito Bay Every night, a bright concentration of bioluminescent organisms lights up Mosquito Bay, on the south side of Vieques, just east of Puerto Rico. Paddle 15 minutes from shore with Blue Caribe Kayaks, then jump overboard for a glow-in-the-dark swim. ($23; 787-741-2522, )

Sail the Grenadines The unspoiled Grenadines—30 small islands, 24 of them uninhabited, from St. Vincent to Union Island—have long been favorite waters of the yachting elite. Now you can sail them without chartering an entire boat: Reserve one of five cabins aboard Setanta Travel’s 56-foot luxury catamarans for a seven-day cruise. ($3,990 per week per cabin, double occupancy; 784-528-6022, )

Dive the Bloody Bay Wall Just off Little Cayman’s north shore, the seafloor takes a half-mile-deep plunge along Bloody Bay Wall, where you’re sure to spy huge eagle rays and hawksbill turtles. Paradise Divers offers two-tank boat dives. ($80; 877-322-9626, )

Kitesurf Aruba Plan a pilgrimage to Aruba’s arid eastern shore, where 80-degree water and consistent winds make Boca Grandi the ultimate surf zone for seasoned kiters. Vela’s Dare2Fly offers a three-day introductory course in calmer waters ($350; 800-223-5443, ).

Fish the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve In the protected white-sand flats on the south side of 90-square-mile Ascensi—n Bay, in the Yucat谩n, bonefish run wild. Sign on for a week of guided fishing, eating, and lodging at the funky, thatched cabanas of Cuzan Bonefish Flats. ($1,999 per person, double occupancy; 011-52-983-83-403-58, )

The post License to Chill appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

So, come back every weekday between December 1 and 12 to see what my favorite things are, and what you'll have a chance to win!

Steals & New Trips

STEEP AND CHEAP
From December 6 to April 4, Teton Mountain Lodge is offering the appropriately named Skier's Dream package. Starting at $550 per person (based on double occupancy), two people get five days of lift tickets at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, accommodations at the four-star slopeside Teton Mountain Lodge, and hearty buffet breakfasts at the Cascade Grill House & Spirits鈥攆or fueling up before hitting those 4,139 vertical feet of terrain. Seven-night packages starting at $782 are also available. Blackout dates may apply. Contact: 800-801-6615,

IT PAYS TO BE SINGLE
Looking for an island cruise, but the words “based on double occupancy” make you cringe? General Tours feels your pain. Through March 2004, the company is throwing out the single supplement on its weeklong “It's Time to Go! The Gal谩pagos” cruises on the Gal谩pagos Explorer II. The price, starting at $2,599, including airfare from Miami, can save solo travelers as much as $1,200. You'll snorkel near San Salvador Island, hike Bartolom茅 Island's Pinnacle Rock, and visit Isabela Island's Giant Tortoise Breeding Center. Contact: 800-221-2216,

WINTER ROUNDUP
Hold on to your saddle鈥擱anchWeb.com has corralled three December ranch retreats for nearly half the summer price. Go on horseback-riding trips in the Great Smoky Mountains at the French Broad Outpost Ranch, in Tennessee, or relax in the White Stallion Ranch's casitas at the foot of Arizona's Tucson Mountains, where longhorn cattle stir up dust. And if you like to snowshoe as much as you like to gallop, try Dome Mountain Ranch, which sits on 5,000 acres 20 minutes north of more than 1,100 miles of trails in Yellowstone National Park. Special weekly rates range from $600 to $2,100. Contact:
NEW TRIPS
MONA FOR YOUR MONEY
In December, Florida-based Nekton Diving Cruises adds Puerto Rico's Mona Island to its itinerary with a seven-night scuba voyage on the spacious 17-cabin Nekton Rorqual. Called “the Gal谩pagos of the Caribbean,” the nearly uninhabited island, which lies 50 miles west of Puerto Rico, is home to several threatened and endangered species, including the giant Mona Island iguana and the leatherback sea turtle. Cruises to Mona cost $1,495 per person. Contact: 800-899-6753,

SmartWool Hiking Socks ($16; www.smartwool.com)

Socks are socks, right? A liner sock, something over that, then boots. Wrong. All socks are not created equal, as the SmartWool folks proved when they introduced their first wool socks in 1994. They were an instant revelation鈥攁 sock that kept your feet warm when it was cold, cool when it was warm, dry when you were sweating.

The secret: Little pores in the merino wool fibers used in SmartWool socks. These pores are excellent multi-taskers. When you sweat, they soak up moisture, keeping your skin dry to reduce blistering and even smelly feet (damp skin is a perfect breeding ground for stink-producing bacteria). When it's cold, the pores trap insulating air, keeping your feet warmer. Plus, SmartWool's merino is soft, durable, washable, and long-lasting.

I first tried a pair in 1998 or so, wearing them on an eight-mile hike with a new pair of boots. I even put to the test the SmartWool claim that no liner sock was needed. I was instantly sold. Now basically ALL my outdoor socks are SmartWool鈥攆or hiking, climbing, bicycling, skiing, you name it (for hiking, though, I do tend to still use a wicking lining sock).

Want your own pair of SmartWool Hiking Socks? for your chance to win today's prize: one of ten pairs of SmartWool socks. And, check back tomorrow to see what's next in the Gear Guy's rundown of the all-star Hall of Gear!
听

GSI Lexan Java Press ($20; www.gsioutdoors.com)

Each September, for almost a decade now, my brother Rich and I head off on a multi-day bicycle tour. We've trekked across much of Oregon, Washington, and Montana, pedaled up 4,000-foot mountains, and had more flats than you can count.

Sometimes, after a long day in the saddle and a mediocre night's sleep, it's a little hard to get moving in the morning. What's called for is a good cup of coffee. But average camp coffee is more like industrial sludge鈥攄ark, warm, and full of flavors you don't really want. Of course, aficionados know that French-style coffee presses produce the best-tasting coffee outside of a $4,000 espresso machine. But most are made of glass鈥攏ot a good thing to haul in a pack or pannier. Some companies also make small coffee strainers that fit into a cup. Sure, these are OK, but they're certainly not suited for more than a cup or two at a time.

Solution? The GSI Lexan Java Press. This clever little gadget is light (12 ounces), sturdy (it's made of a near-bulletproof plastic), and best of all makes the finest camp coffee on the planet. A little ground French roast, three or four cups of hot water, and a minute later we're in coffee heaven. The Java Press even has an insulating neoprene jacket so the coffee stays hot while it brews on a cold morning in Yellowstone.

Now, our biggest bicycling problem is hitting the road in the morning. It's just too tempting to stay in camp for one…more…cup.

Want your very own 33-ounce version of the GSI Lexan Press? for your chance to win. And, check back tomorrow to see what's next in the Gear Guy's rundown of the all-star Hall of Gear!
听

The Sporty 40

13. Trek An Almost-Impossible Trek
Parque Nacional El Imposible, El Salvador

Southwestern El Salvador's Parque Nacional El Imposible takes its name from the days when coffee growers traversed its clifftop trails to get their bean-laden burros to market鈥擡l Imposible was a 300-foot-deep chasm spanned by a tree-trunk bridge. The logs routinely broke, sending burros, men, and tons of coffee tumbling to their end. When the Salvadoran government finally erected a bridge over the gap, it also put up a sign reading: In 1968, it ceased to be impossible.

That sign might better read, “It's not impossible, but it still ain't easy.” To tour the park you need a permit, a guide, and solid grounding in the Salvadoran transportation triathlon: bus, pickup truck, feet. A bus takes you from the provincial city of Sonsonate to the crossroads village of Cara Sucia, where you'll ride eight miles in the back of one of the pickups that go twice daily to the tiny settlement of San Miguelito, near the park's entrance.

Your prize for arriving: a 12,000-acre maze of mountains and ridges encompassing three forest types鈥攖hough Yankee visitors blinded by the iridescent green foliage may not discern between them. El Imposible is home to a stunning array of biodiversity鈥攕ome of the nation's rare virgin tropical rainforest, an estimated 400 types of trees, 500 varieties of butterflies, nearly 300 species of birds, and endangered mammals including the jaguar and the margay cat. The best hike is a two-hour trip to the top of 3,600-foot Cerro Leon, where you can glimpse the trail that gives the park its name.

DETAILS: Salvanatura (011-503-279-1515, ), the organization that administers Parque Nacional El Imposible, arranges permits ($5) and guides ($3).
鈥擳IM F. SOHN

14. The Caribbean As It Once Was
Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

Nicaragua is one of the few countries in this hemisphere that doesn't have its own Lonely Planet guidebook. Note to the book's eventual editors: Check out the diving off Little Corn Island. The country's sole PADI-listed dive center, Dive Little Corn, is on this one-square-mile island 50 miles off the Caribbean coast, surrounded by pristine coral reefs and vibrant sea life protected by responsible harvesting practices.

Within three minutes of sticking my mask into the translucent azure water off White Holes, I saw black-tip reef sharks, manta rays, barracuda, and more yellowtail than you can shake a speargun at. (Charter a deep-sea fishing boat if you want to bag some mahi-mahi.) Don't sweat it if you're not a hardcore dive fan鈥擫ittle Corn is more than just a pretty reef. The Creole-flavored and English-speaking former British protectorate, a ten-mile panga ride north from its sibling, Big Corn Island, has largely escaped Nicaragua's troubled political past. It's a laid-back place to experience the Caribbean as it once was, without motor vehicles (not allowed), telephones, ATMs, or tourist shops.

Casa Iguana and its nine breezy pastel casitas, with their own bleached-white beach, are the antidote to the energy-sapping diving. Once you've freshened up in your outdoor rainwater shower, gaze out from your porch at the blue sea. At dusk, wander along the beach and pick any of the waterfront restaurants. Belly up to a plate piled with lobster, yellowtail, and fried plantains鈥攁ll for about $6.

DETAILS: Rates at Casa Iguana () range from $20 nightly for an efficiency with shared bath to $75 for a secluded Grand Casita. Dive Little Corn () offers a five-tank dive package, including a night dive, for $165.
鈥擳OM PRICE

15. Hot, Hot, Hot Springs
Arenal, Costa Rica

So you鈥檙e flitting around Central America, moving from surf break to village mercado to jungle ruins鈥攖he whole circuit. Odds are, sooner or later you鈥檒l end up near Volc谩n Arenal, in the rugged center of Costa Rica. You want to get close to the 5,400-foot cone to see the crimson lava, but why chance it? There鈥檚 a safer, more indulgent perch from which to enjoy the light show than the trails in Parque Nacional Volc谩n Arenal: a spot in the natural hot springs that flow down Arenal鈥檚 flanks. The most magical soaking occurs after nightfall at fancy Taba贸n Resort, eight miles outside Fortuna, on the road to Arenal. Tabac贸n isn鈥檛 a surprising diversion, but it is a fun one: Nowhere else on your trip will you find 12 different pools of hot mineral water (80-102 degrees), waterfalls, and a water slide, all backed by minor volcanic explosions.

Pay $19 at the door, claim your towel and locker, then sample all the springs at the sprawling hillside resort, built with Arenal as a fire-breathing backdrop. At night the place has an aura: part exotic bath, part water theme park, part Hollywood fog machine. See plump Eurotravelers in their Speedos. Try a volcanic-mud-mask spa treatment. And be careful on those slippery stairs!

There鈥檚 no point in indulging if you can鈥檛 gloat, so swim over to the kitschy bar in the middle of the largest pool, sit half in the water drinking Imperials, and write some postcards that read, 鈥淛ust another lousy day on the road . . .鈥�

DETAILS: Several lodges and motels are clustered in Fortuna, or stay at the 83-room Tabac贸n Resort (doubles from $140; 011-506-460-2020, ). A mud-mask treatment costs $28.
鈥擩ANINE SIEJA

16. Whitewater by Candlelight
Pacuare Lodge, Costa Rica

The split second it takes to translate a Costa Rican river guide鈥檚 隆Al suelo! to 鈥淗it the floor!鈥� is more than enough time for the raft to drop into a Class V hole, fold in half, and spit its slow-thinking, English-speaking contents head first into the Pacuare River. Fortunately, it鈥檚 a warm one, and gentle between the rapids.

No roads lead to the Pacuare Lodge, only the river, known for its tendency to swell from a Class III-IV to a Class IV-V in the course of a single overnight rainstorm. Situated an hour and a half from the put-in near the village of Tres Equis, the lodge sits on a five-acre riverfront clearing, cut back in the 1940s for agriculture. But the rest of the lodge鈥檚 60-acre property still contains thousands of 50- to 80-foot-high palms. Naturalist guides can take guests hiking on centuries-old paths or gliding on sky-canopy cables connected to platforms in trees filled with green macaws. Wooden huts with thatch roofs and covered porches are scattered around the main building, where an upstairs open-air lounge serves as the bar. Happy hour means juice and Cacique Guaro, the Tico brand of moonshine that doubles as insect repellent. After a candlelit dinner of snapper with wild mushroom sauce in the dining room, flashlights lead the way to bed.

DETAILS: Overnight trips, with meals, lodging, and rafting gear, cost $259 per person through Pacuare Lodge (800-514-0411, ).
鈥擪. L.

Manzella TEC-850 gloves ($50; www.manzella.com)

This past July, I was climbing Mount Rainier with a friend and two of his buddies. I was the unofficial “guide,” a title accorded me due to my 20 previous summit efforts (proof that the human body can forget discomfort, pain, and that interminable hike from Camp Muir to the parking lot, visible every step of the way but still oh-so-far). After a pleasant two days on our approach and high camp at 11,000 feet, the weather turned. By the time we'd hit 12,000 feet, winds were blowing at perhaps 30 to 40 mph, with gusts even higher. At 13,500 feet we were hard-pressed to keep our feet. Temperatures, meanwhile, plunged into the teens, exacerbated by the wind. We were layered up like soccer moms on a rainy November day.

That is, except for my hands. I had packed along a brand-new sample of the Manzella TEC-850 gloves, made with Power Shield from Malden Mills (makers of Polartec). Despite the wind, despite the cold, despite gripping the freezing metal handle of my ice ax, my hands were warm and dry. “This cannot be,” I kept saying to myself, doing a quick mental inventory to make sure I'd also packed my usual assortment of glove liners, insulating gloves, overmitts, and so forth. I'd packed all those things, but I never needed them.

We didn't summit鈥攖he wind just got too bad. But I'd found a pair of gloves that probably are suitable for 90 percent of the times when gloves are needed. The TEC-850s are almost entirely windproof, remarkably warm for their lack of bulk, water resistant, and nimble enough to let you pick up a coin or thread a climbing harness. They're tough, too, and their grippy palms help you keep track of your ice ax. In short, they're wonderful.

For your chance to win one of these indispensable Jack-O-all-trades, . And, check back tomorrow to see what's next in the Gear Guy's rundown of the all-star Hall of Gear!
听

Backpacker Outback Oven ($68; www.backpackerspantry.com)

When climbing Denali with my friend Tim in 1997, we enjoyed something nobody else had at the crowded 14,000-foot camp: fresh-baked banana bread. How? With my trusty Outback Oven. This gadget, out now for close to 15 years (the idea came to its inventor when he was struck with a pizza craving during a round-the-world bicycle trip), turns your camp stove into a convection oven essentially capable of baking anything you can bake at home. Biscuits. Brownies. Pizza. Frittatas鈥攍iterally, anything. Its base unit also makes a handy non-stick skillet.

True, learning to use the Outback Oven is a little tricky. It works by trapping heat from the stove under a reflective, insulated hood. A heat shield beneath the pot helps distribute the stove's heat and also prevent the bottom of your baked item from scorching. But in windy conditions the top of the oven may not heat properly. It's easy, meanwhile, to burn the bottom of whatever is cooking. And, taking the lid off for a quick peek sets the whole process back by five to ten minutes while the oven heats back up.

Learning curve aside, in reasonably skilled hands鈥攎ine, for instance鈥攖he Outback Oven utterly redefines the concept of outback “dinner time.” Backpacker's Pantry, which now manufactures and sells the Outback Oven, sells a variety of pre-mixed items for it. But, I say, it's more fun to adapt recipes from home and show a little inventiveness.
Win one of these bodacious little ovens by . And, check back tomorrow to see what's next in the Gear Guy's rundown of the all-star Hall of Gear!
听

The Sporty 40

17. Forest Plump
Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, Costa Rica

Thank some conscientious-objector Quakers from Alabama, fleeing the draft in 1951, and a group of scientists trying to save the golden toad in the early 1970s for creating the granddaddy of all ecotourism destinations, in the Cordillera de Tilar谩n. Today the fruit of their labors, the 25,000-acre Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, is Costa Rica鈥檚 prized park, with well-maintained trails, more than 400 species of birds鈥攆rom emerald toucanets to orange-bellied trogons鈥攁nd a bevy of mammals. (Don鈥檛 miss the lively guided walks nightly at 7:30 p.m. for a chance to glimpse orange-kneed tarantulas.)

The result of Monteverde鈥檚 popularity is a blanket of neighboring reserves at varying elevations鈥攁nd different ecosystems鈥攕outh of Volc谩n Arenal in north-central Costa Rica. Adjoining Monteverde is the much larger but less visited 50,000-acre Bosque Eterno de Los Ni帽os, established with money raised by schoolchildren around the globe, known for its waterfalls and rainforest hikes. There are two smaller attractions nearby: The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve straddles the Continental Divide, and has eight miles of trails and an above-canopy observation tower; El Jardin de las Mariposas is home to 750 types of butterflies, including zebra longwings and blue morphos, and banks of feeders that draw 26 species of hummingbirds. Both reserves are along the three-mile road between Monteverde and the town of Santa Elena.

DETAILS: Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve (011-506-645-5122, ) prefers reservations and offers a tour ($12 per person entry fee, plus $15 per person for a day tour, $13 at night). Three miles west of the reserve on the main road, El Sapo Dorado (doubles, $84-$99; 011-506-645-5010, ), named for the famous golden toad, has mountain-view bungalows with terraces.
鈥擜MY MARR

18. Horseshoe Haven
Punta Uva, Costa Rica

At the southern edge of Costa Rica鈥檚 Caribbean coast, paradise takes the form of a five-mile horseshoe of white sand framed on one side by sparkling aquamarine water鈥攁 comfortable 82 degrees year-round鈥攁nd on the other by coconut palms and mango trees backed by tropical green mountains. Waves break on colorful coral that extends nearly two miles offshore, but that hardly disturbs the peace: They鈥檙e of the small, perfect-for-bodysurfing variety. (Punta Uva, after all, translates to Point Grape, not Point Break.)

Here, in one of the most biodiverse places on earth, you鈥檒l see howler monkeys, sloths, green parrots, butterflies, lizards, birds, and鈥攚ith the help of a snorkel and a mask鈥攁n abundance of marine life. Besides diving and snorkeling, you can also kayak with dolphins or go on an epic bird-spotting mission in the 12,000-acre Refugio Nacional Gandoca-Manzanillo, a maze of tropical rainforests and mangrove swamps that are home to some pretty wild things.

DETAILS: Planted right on the beach, Cabinas Punta Uva (doubles, $40; 011-506-750-0431, ) has ocean views that will make you want to jump right in. Each of the four garden bungalows has a tiled bath and a hammock-strewn deck. And if you fall under the spell of this slice of beach heaven, you can cut a deal on a weekly rate鈥�$210.
鈥擳. F. S.

19. Where the Jaguars and Quetzals Roam
El Sendero de los Quetzales, Panama

鈥�Copa de oro,鈥� repeats my taxi driver, Danilo, on the way to the trailhead for El Sendero de los Quetzales, an extraordinarily steep five-mile hike through the cloudforest of western Panama鈥檚 Parque Nacional Volc谩n Bar煤. It鈥檚 his descriptor of choice for the region surrounding the village of Boquete, in the heart of the Chiriqui Highlands. And why not call it a cup of gold? This forest is a nesting habitat for at least 200 breeding pairs of the path鈥檚 namesake, the turquoise-backed, crimson-breasted resplendent quetzal.

But the quetzals are only one of the highland region鈥檚 treasures. In Parque Internacional la Amistad鈥攈alf a million acres straddling the Talamanca range鈥攍ive 400 bird species and native megafauna like jaguars, tapirs, spider monkeys, and harpy eagles. Also here are trout-rich streams and the headwaters of the Chiriqui and Chiriqui Viejo rivers, whose Class III rapids are frequented by Boquete outfitters.

Check in to the clean, spacious Pensi-n Marilos, near the town square in Boquete, and then wander a block to Caf茅 El Punta de Encuentro to try the addictive mango licuados and get another ringing regional endorsement from the proprietor, Olga Rios, who will sigh and tell you, 鈥淏oquete is like no other place in the world.鈥�

DETAILS: Rooms at Pensi-n Marilos (011-507-720-1380, ) cost $15. Chiriqui River Rafting (011-507-720-1505, ) charges $75-$100 per person for half-day trips on the Chiriqui or Chiriqui Viejo.
鈥擩EFF HULL

20. Dive Inn
Bocas Inn, Panama

Pulling up to the dock at the Bocas Inn, in Bocas del Toro, I wondered鈥攆or about 30 seconds鈥攚hether we鈥檇 made an enormous mistake. Could we have waited eons for a ferry and then crossed the open seas in the tiny fiberglass skiff only to wind up at a harborside lodge wedged into a ramshackle waterfront? Not on your life. Within minutes we were diving off the inn鈥檚 porch into bay water as warm as a bath. Within days, we were completely seduced.

In the middle of Bocas del Toro, a funky expat town on Isla Col贸n, Bocas Inn is a two-story, aquamarine clapboard building with a restaurant and seven guest rooms, two of which open onto a breezy balcony strung with hammocks. Wake up, pad barefoot down to a breakfast of scrambled eggs, mangoes, and dark Panamanian coffee, then pay a boatman to speed you and your snorkel out to coral gardens to commune with queen angelfish. Or head out to surf mellow, chest-high peelers as they roll off the reefs. The best adventure we found? Catching a water taxi out to a series of thatch-roofed cabanas built over a glassy snorkeling spot known as Coral Key. Cervezas and Frescas cost $1 at the dock鈥檚 mint-green snack bar. Hang there for hours, making like a fish or doing pretty much nothing at all.

DETAILS: Doubles at the inn, run by Ancon Expeditions (011-507-269-9415, ), cost $65 per night; meals and activities are extra.
鈥擪IM BROWN SEELY

The Sporty 40

The Rest of the Best

1. Mata Chica Beach Resort, Belize
On a sun-bleached caye off the northern coast, Mata Chica seduces the senses with 14 thatch-roofed beachfront villas, aromatherapy massages, and shrimp pat茅.
DETAILS: doubles from $190, including breakfast; 011-501-220-5010,

2. El Murmullo de La Casa Que Canta, Mexico
If you鈥檙e in Zihuatanejo and looking to splurge, this four-suite villa鈥攂uilt into a black cliff above the Pacific and opened in 2002鈥攊s it.
DETAILS: Eight people can rent the villa for $280 per person per night; 011-52-755-555-7000,

3. Parque Nacional Dari茅n, Panama
Hike and paddle dugout canoes through this 1.4-million-acre UNESCO World Heritage Site to see monkeys, ocelots, jaguars, and tapirs. Ancon Expeditions offers a 14-day trip.
DETAILS: $2,495 per person; 011-507-269-9415,

4. Hotel Deseo, Mexico
The 15 elegantly minimalist guest rooms in this Playa del Carmen hideaway are the grooviest on the Mayan Riviera.
DETAILS: doubles from $128; 011-52-984-879-3620,

5. Turtle Inn, Belize
Tucked into a palm forest on the south Caribbean, this cluster of Balinese-style cottages is an hour鈥檚 drive from the jaguars in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary.
DETAILS: doubles from $175; 800-746-3743,

6. Abastos Market, Mexico
Chocolate with almonds and mescal are two treats to be found at Oaxaca鈥檚 open-air mercado.
DETAILS:

7. Canopy Tower Ecolodge, Panama
From your treetop-level bed at this eco-lodge in Soberan'a National Park, you鈥檒l wake up eyeing purple-throated fruitcrows.
DETAILS: doubles from $200, including meals; 011-507-264-5720,

8. Tarpon Fishing, Costa Rica
You鈥檒l reel in 100-pound monsters at the mouth of the R铆o Colorado. Base yourself at the R铆o Colorado Lodge.
DETAILS: $400 per person per day; 800-243-9777,

9. Puerto Escondido, Mexico
The 鈥淢exican Pipeline鈥� is a legendary break with left- and right-hand tubes at Zicatela Beach.
DETAILS: Rent boards from Central Surf Shop ($10-$12 per day); 011-52-954-582-2285,

10. R铆o Indio 国产吃瓜黑料 Lodge, Nicaragua
Catch a lunker (tarpon, snook, mojarra, or machaca) with your Rama Indian guide offshore from this Caribbean eco-lodge.
DETAILS: Three-day fishing packages start at $1,795; 866-593-3176,

11. Cabo Pulmo Eco Villas, Mexico
Spend a week 500 steps from the Sea of Cortez at this casita compound and help the enviro group Amigos para la Conservaci贸n de Cabo Pulmo (619-723-0700, gather data on endangered turtles.
DETAILS: Baja Bungalows has five casitas from $50 to $140;

12. Selva Bananito Lodge, Costa Rica
This 11-cabin property near Porto Lim-n has serious eco bona fides: It relies on solar-heated water, recycles gray water, and stocks organic soaps made by a local co-op.
DETAILS: $100 per person per night includes all meals; 011-506-253-8118,

13. Hotelito Desconocido, Mexico
Sixty miles south of Puerto Vallarta, Desconocido has 29 plush yet eco-friendly bungalows: Think Mexican fishing village meets luxury safari camp.
DETAILS: doubles from $230; 800-851-1143,

14. Danzante, Mexico
Twenty miles south of Loreto and a quarter-mile up a hillside from Ensenada Blanca beach sit nine casitas. The solitude might scare your average American, but watch one lazy sunset from the terrace and you鈥檒l be fine.
DEATILS: $135 per person per night; 408-354-0042,

15. Centro Neotr贸pico Sarapiqu铆s, Costa Rica
Paddle the frothy Class IV rapids of the R铆o Sarapiqu铆, in the central part of the country, and unwind in the breezy bar or in your refined palenque at day鈥檚 end.
DETAILS: doubles from $72; 011-506-761-1004,

Marmot Arroyo ($259; www.marmot.com)

What packs down the size of a small cantaloupe, weighs less than two pounds, and keeps me warm from sea level to 11,000 feet on Mount Rainier? My Marmot Arroyo sleeping bag. Since I got my Arroyo five years ago, it has been my bag of choice for just about any trip where the temperature doesn't go too far below freezing. But even if it does, the Arroyo's 30-degree rating is plenty conservative, especially if I add a layer of long underwear. And like other Marmot products, the Arroyo is beautifully made.

The latest version of the Arroyo uses high-quality 800-fill down to make a durable and soft bag (faithful Gear Guy readers know I much prefer down over synthetic fill, largely due to its greater comfort). The lining and shell are equally luscious鈥攕ilky fine-weave nylon that is treated for water-repellency. The Arroyo's mummy shape is snug but not confining, and a close-fitting hood helps keep my head warm on chilly nights. These days, of the half-dozen bags I own, the Arroyo is just about always the one that goes in the pack.

Three lucky readers will have the chance to win their very own Marmot Arroyo! For your chance to win, . And, check back tomorrow to see what's next in the Gear Guy's rundown of the all-star Hall of Gear!
听

Salomon Super Mountain Expert Boots ($300; www.salomonsports.com)

Plastic boots are great for glacier climbs such as the big, snowy peaks we have in the Pacific Northwest鈥擬ount Rainier, Mount Baker, Mount Hood, and others. They're warm and waterproof and hold a crampon well. But they're also heavy, clunky on the trails, and, if you have to scramble or climb over little rocks, they have as much foot feel as concrete overboots.

In recent years, several bootmakers have designed “hybrid” boots that combine the wet-condition advantages of plastics with the greater comfort and agility of leather boots. One such beast: Salomon's Super Mountain Expert. This past July, I took the somewhat unorthodox step of removing a pair of these boots straight from the box, lacing them onto my feet, then climbing Mount Rainier. And my feet have never been happier. The boots fit well, kept me warm and dry, provided plenty of rigidity for crampons, and even were comfortable on the hellacious descent down those dreaded asphalt paths over the long, last mile.

Technically, the Super Mountain Expert combines a rubber rand that extends halfway up the boot with a waterproof leather upper. The Salomon-designed sole has soft portions for climbing and harder lugs for durability, and adapts to just about any crampon on the planet. I found its light Thinsulate insulation to be just the right thing for moderately cold weather, and not too warm for lower elevations. And thus, this Salomon boot was inducted as a Gear Guy Favorite Thing.

Two lucky readers will have the chance to see how good these boots really are! For your chance to win, . Check back tomorrow for the final item in the Gear Guy's list of all-time favorite gear!
听

The Sporty 40

Caf茅 con Acci贸n

Java-loving tourists are discovering a different brew in Mexico and Central America, where small-scale coffee growers have realized鈥攁s California wine makers did decades ago鈥攖hat their surroundings hold as much appeal as their product and have opened up their fincas to guests. Looped on lattes, the visitors take to the forests with their boots, bikes, and binocs, creating a new breed of plantation wildlife: the caffeinated adventurer.

Coffee beans are harvested from six-foot shrubs grown in bird-filled, mountainous rainforests where trails cut for farmworkers double as bikeable, hikeable, horseback-rideable paths. The tourist-friendly farms operate as combination eco-resorts and gourmet tasting venues鈥攁 perfect blend for outdoor lovers with refined beverage tastes. Here鈥檚 a sampling of five fincas, all family-owned or co-op-run and growing premium brew, where you can gulp and go.

1. Selva Negra Coffee Estate and Mountain Resort
North of Matagalpa, Nicaragua
The Brew: Smooth with medium body and a mildly nutty taste, these organic arabica beans are shade-grown on a family-owned farm. (Sun-grown coffee produces higher yields but contributes to deforestation and erosion.)
While Caffeinated: Lead your sweetie down the Romantico trail, so named because the slippery mud will quickly have you falling into each other鈥檚 arms; of the 14 maintained trails that run through the estate鈥檚 virgin rainforest, four are open to horseback riders ($4 an hour, Sundays only); visitors can also tour the plantation, including the stable and greenhouse ($3).
When the Buzz Wears Off: Refuel with sausage and sauerkraut at the lakefront German restaurant鈥攖he Euro-rooted K眉hl family founded the estate in 1880 and continues to run it.
Bedding Down: Sleep off your post-jolt letdown in a youth hostel bed, a hotel-style room, or a private bungalow overlooking the Nicaraguan highlands; rates range from $12 to $50 per person.
Contact: 011-505-612-3883,

2. Finca Argovia
North of Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico
The Brew: Crisp and clean with a hint of mocha; the arabica beans are shade-grown under a canopy of tall trees that helps maintain the area鈥檚 biodiversity.
While Caffeinated: Ride a horse through misty guayabo groves in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas; mountain bike or hike throughout the 460-acre property in the company of peccaries and scarlet macaws (guided activities, gear, and finca tours are included in your stay).
When the Buzz Wears Off: Recharge in the Argovia swimming pool or wander through the flower farm and bury your nose in the oncidium orchids.
Bedding Down: Rooms in the 19th-century plantation home and adjacent palm-fringed lodge have private baths, hot water, and plenty of Old World appeal鈥攖he finca has been in the Giesmann family for almost a century. Cost is $125 per person, all-inclusive (meals, transportation, activities).
Contact: 011-52-962-625-9356, . For reservations and finca tours to Argovia and other Tapachula-area coffee farms, call Aromas de Chiapas (011-52-962-625-4754).

3. Finca Esperanza Verde
San Ram贸n, Nicaragua
The Brew: This perfectly balanced, chocolate-tinged arabica is 100 percent guilt-free (certified organic, shade-grown, and overseen by a nonprofit cooperative that returns all proceeds to the farmworkers and their community).
While Caffeinated: Hop on a horse and let a farmer lead you through 46 acres of forested farmland to see toucans, howler monkeys, and waterfalls; guided rides and birding walks cost $5-$10; helping the workers pick coffee is free.
When the Buzz Wears Off: Borrow a bird guide and study your warblers and wrens, or mosey on down to the honey cooperative and butterfly farm to check out the pollens and pupae.
Bedding Down: A bed in the six-person bunkhouse costs $13 per person per night, and private cabins cost $35 per double. Meals are $3.50 each, or try the all-inclusive weeklong package (meals, tours, and homestays in the nearby village of San Ram-n) for $720 per person.
Contact: 011-505-612-5003,

4. Filadelfia Coffee Estate
Antigua, Guatemala
The Brew: Pleasantly pungent with a sweet aftertaste; coffee here is brewed from award-winning arabica beans that are shade-grown on the family-owned 900-acre farm, where the habitat encourages visits from migratory birds.
While Caffeinated: Zigzag through the coffee fields on foot or fat tires; short stretches of singletrack have been carved between the shrubs for the pleasure of visiting cyclists (bring your own bike or rent one in town).
When the Buzz Wears Off: Learn about the bean biz on the finca tour ($15, including transportation, a T-shirt, and a coffee drink), which drops you off at the tasting room, then pull up a barstool, order more joe, and let triathlete/owner Juan Pablo Arag贸n chat you up about the local adventure-racing scene.
Bedding Down: There鈥檚 no lodging on site (though plans are in the works), but 眉ber-charming downtown Antigua鈥攁nd its plethora of quaint accommodations鈥攊s two miles away.
Contact: 713-934-8234, . For a half-day 鈥淪ip and Cycle鈥� mountain-bike tour, contact Bike Guatemala ($30; 011-502-914-5808, ).

5. Finca Hartmann
Santa Clara, Chiriqui, Panama
The Brew: Sweet-smelling and smoky with medium body; voted one of Panama鈥檚 best in national competitions; the arabica and caturra beans are shade-grown on a family-owned farm that hosts a steady stream of international bird researchers.
While Caffeinated: Search for the elusive quetzal on farm trails and in the neighboring cloudforests of Parque Nacional La Amistad; guides are available to take you through the 370-acre property, 75 percent of which is primary rainforest (prices for guided activities vary).
When the Buzz Wears Off: Retreat to your room and practice your imitation of the local three-toed sloth.
Bedding Down: Semirustic cabins (flush toilets and hot showers, but no electricity) cost $15-$20 per person.
Contact: 011-507-775-5223,

Headstrong to Headlong

You've rebuilt your broken body; now heal the mental damage and come back stronger than ever

The trauma of surgery and the pain of physical therapy can seem insignificant compared with the psychological roller-coaster of getting back into your sport. Or, as U.S. Ski Team Coach Jim Tracy so delicately puts it: “You'll have a lot more shitty days than good days.” The first time back on a bike, skis, or snowboard will be frustrating, and maybe even traumatic. You'll lack fluidity, timing, and, worst of all, the confidence to talk smack to your opponents. Here are the psychological steps to rebuilding your inner superstar.

1. Erase all doubts. “Every time [Picabo] comes in here,” says orthopedic surgeon Richard Steadman, “she just will not accept the fact that she's not going to come back. With her it's always been 'when I come back,' not 'whether.'” Indeed, 90 percent of athletes who commit to their rehab protocol return to sports following ACL surgery, and many return stronger.

2. Involve yourself. “For an athlete, nothing rebuilds peace of mind like committing to the rehab protocol to the nth degree,” says Damon Burton, a Sports Psychologist from the University of Idaho who has consulted with the U.S. Ski Team. Like Street, he recommends knowing every detail of your physical therapy so that when you're back at your sport again you'll know that you have cleared every physical hurdle and your focus can be on technique rather than worrying about what your body can handle.

3. Rebuild incrementally. “It's a progression,” says ski coach Jim Tracy. “We don't throw Street right into another downhill.” Build a foundation of ego-boosting successes by spending your first weeks back in the sport remastering the absolute basics.

4. Know when to drop the hammer. After three career-threatening crashes, Street knows when to say when. If you're not comfortable with a certain speed or technique, don't force it. “You've got to be able to categorize the task at hand, determine if you can overcome the fear,” Street says. “And if you can't, walk away. Because if you don't, the fear will inhibit your chance of succeeding.”

5. Find a mentor. Because U.S. Ski Team members are plagued by knee injuries, they have dozens of successful cases to call upon for inspiration. When you return to your sport, try to work out with someone who has come back from the same injury. He can help you decide when it's okay to push, and when to hold back.

6. Visualize success. After her crash, Street was tormented by nightmares. “I dreamt I'd have to stop mid-race when I hit the fast sections,” she says. To overcome her subconscious fears, Street imagines herself skiing entire downhill runs in rough conditions so that even in her dreams she is winning races. Mentally rehearse the most difficult aspects of what you'll be doing, and picture yourself succeeding each time.

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