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• The 36,000 to 38,000 Amish residents in and around Holmes County comprise the world’s largest Amish community.
• Every mile of state and federal highway in Holmes County has been designated an Ohio Scenic Byway.
• Sugarcreek is home to the world’s largest cuckoo clock, 23-plus feet wide, 24 feet tall.
• All the approximately 40 Amish subgroups reject television, in-home computers and car ownership.
• A Supreme Court ruling (1972) exempts the Amish from state laws requiring schooling beyond the eighth grade.

About plain living

Amish live in 31 states and two Canadian provinces, but Ohio has the largest Amish population of the lot. While the Amish are scattered across large parts of Ohio, the center of what is generally called Amish country is Holmes County, plus the neighboring Tuscarawas and Wayne counties, in the northeastern part of the state.

The Amish are a religious group that originated in Switzerland in the late 17th century. Most Amish forefathers were German or Swiss. They began immigrating to the U.S. soon after 1720 to escape persecution for their beliefs. They adhere to Biblically inspired practices devoted to plain living and separation from popular culture. Their first language is either the Pennsylvania German (aka, Pennsylvania Dutch) dialect or a Swiss dialect; the Amish learn English in school.

Although the Amish don’t engage too much with modern society, they welcome visitors and, in fact, many of their small businesses rely on tourists for success. Some businesses — making chocolate and cheese — reflect the Swiss connection. Or, in the case of locally produced foods, furniture, handicrafts and quilts, businesses are a natural outgrowth of a self-sufficient way of life.

Holmes County and area receive about 4 million visitors a year, tourists who are fascinated by the unique culture, attracted to its slow pace and interested in buying the foods or other fine products for which the Amish are known.

But an Amish-inspired trip is more than a foodie’s adventure, a shopping excursion or a scenic drive. It has potential for rewarding encounters and some enlightenment regarding a group of people who, by design, do little to attract attention.

For this, the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center in the town of Berlin is a good place to start. Further, local travel companies offer itineraries meant to introduce the Amish lifestyle and may include visits to an Amish home, meetings with Amish artisans and other behind-the-scenes activities.

Finally, the Amish don’t pose for photos and don’t want to be in photos that show their faces. This is less of an issue with children. Also, horse-drawn buggies move slowly. Drivers must take care, especially when approaching hills and corners.

Things to do for Venturers

• Canoe or kayak on the Lake Fork branch of the Mohican River, near Loudonville, sometimes called the canoe capital of Ohio.
• Shop for the kinds of heating and cooking supplies that let you work without electricity, whether at a cabin or when camping. The Amish are well equipped to do these things without electricity.
• Camp and fish in the Mohican State Park, in western Holmes County.
• Join an Amish culture tour that lets you visit an Amish home, visit an artisan’s workshop and travel the area’s back roads while learning more about the Amish way of life.
• Hunt waterfowl at the Killbuck Creek Wildlife Area, in Coshocton, Holmes and Wayne counties.
• In May, attend the Dandelion Festival at the Breitenbach Wine Cellars in Dover, and collect a few dandelion recipes for use at home.

Things to do for Centrics

• See the rolling countryside of Amish country from horseback.
• Take a cheese factory tour at Heini’s Cheese Chalet in Millersburg. Enjoy free samples of a wide range of cheeses made there. There are other cheeses, too.
• Sample locally made chocolates and wines.
• Overnight at the Historic Hotel Millersburg in Millersburg, the Holmes County seat. Listen for the clip-clop of horses on the road.
• Drive the 160-mile Amish Country Byway in Holmes, Stark and Wayne counties, taking care to slow down on approaching hills in case there is a buggy on the other side.
• Shop for quilts or furniture. Order a custom-designed quilt.

Things to do for Authentics

• Shop at the open-air antiques market that is a regular part of the annual Antique Festival, staged each October in Millersburg. There are other events plus several antiques shops to haunt in Berlin and Millersburg.
• Find a few restaurants for sampling traditional Amish-style cooking.
• Pause for some enlightenment time at the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center in the town of Berlin.
• Photograph horse-drawn buggies as they move across the countryside.
• Attend Amish Country Theater in Walnut Creek. It promises a comedic adventure for the entire family.
• Ride in an authentic Amish buggy and tour a previously occupied Amish home at Schrock’s Amish Farm and Village in Berlin.

Additional Resources

For more information, consult the Holmes County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau at www.visitamishcountry.com

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• Redding’s Sundial Bridge is the world’s largest sundial and tells time correctly only on June 21.
• The largest population (500-plus) of bald eagles in the lower 48 winters at Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
• In 1941, northern Californians and southern Oregonians tried to create a U.S. state called Jefferson; Pearl Harbor intervened.
• Astronauts heading to the moon used Lava Beds National Monument for training.
• Shasta Lake has more houseboats than any other body of water in the world.

On the Ring of Fire

The Shasta Cascade region encompasses most of California’s northernmost counties and accounts for about 25% of the state, but 3% of the population.

The mountainous area was home to several Native American groups, claims to be the true home of Paul Bunyan the woodsman and saw its own mid-19th century gold rush — facts that translate into related museums, festivals and other features of interest to visitors. Food and wine produced at local ranches, farms and wineries offer another layer of diversions.

However, the Shasta Cascade region attracts more allegiance for its outdoors appeal and its uncrowded spaces. It seems made for those interested in a scenic drive and a quiet float on a houseboat or whitewater rafting and a shot at climbing a volcano.

A huge portion of the region is accounted for by state and national parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, forests and recreation areas. Shasta Cascade also boasts numerous recreational lakes, some manmade because of dam construction; forest-covered mountains; rushing rivers good for fishing and rafting, and waterfalls stunning to look at.

The mountains stand out most, literally, beginning with the area’s tallest, Mount Shasta (14,179 feet), a dormant volcano that appears to rise straight from the land, unconnected to other topographical features though it is part of the Cascade Range. It’s such a stunner that those who don’t want to climb it instead want to camp within view of it or circle it on foot or in a car, and to take photos.

Lassen Peak, considered an active volcano (last erupted in a 1914-1917 series), is at the southern end of the Cascades and the centerpiece of the 106,000-acre Lassen Peak National Park. In addition, the park’s hydrothermal features include boiling pools, roiling mud pots, hissing fumaroles (steam and gas vents) and steaming ground. Farther north, the Lava Bed National Monument counts some 778 lava tube caves, obviously, the place for cavers.

Quite a lot of the Shasta Cascade is about volcanoes. The Cascades are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a string of volcanoes encircling the Pacific. The Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway lets visitors build an itinerary around the phenomenon.

Things to do for Venturers

• Go wakeboarding or waterskiing on Shasta Lake.
• Taking note of National Park Service guidelines and regulations, go caving among lava tube caves at the Lava Beds National Monument. More than 20 of the 778 caves have been developed for exploration. Look at Native American rock art while on site.
• Go whitewater rafting, or kayaking, on the Klamath, Salmon or Scott River.
• Camp in Lassen Volcanic National Park (June to September) at any of eight campgrounds, some quite rustic. There are scores of other camping options, too, such as among the region’s six national forests, at Lava Beds National Monument, near lakes and in the Mount Shasta area.
• Climb an active volcano, the 10,457-foot Lassen Peak, last active about a century ago. Or, if you are a hardy mountaineer — and ambitious, climb the 14,179-foot Mount Shasta, which last erupted in 1786.
• Take care in the swiftly flowing waters while fly-fishing for wild trout in the Fall and Pit rivers or in Hat Creek.

Things to do for Centrics

• Attend the Redding Rancheria’s Stillwater Pow Wow in autumn. While in town, look for the Wintu cedar bark house, a version of a teepee, at the Turtle Bay Exploration Park — and make your way to the Sundial Bridge, too!
• Take to skis or the snowboard at Mount Shasta Ski Park.
• Attend the Dark Sky Festival, a three-day event in late summer, at Lassen Volcanic National Park, or attend a ranger-led astronomy program offered other days throughout the summer. Other events may suit your schedule or inclinations better, such as the springtime Red Bluff Round-Up Rodeo or the Oroville Salmon Festival in autumn. At the latter, see a Maidu Indian salmon ceremony and dancing.
• At the Wild Horse Sanctuary in Shingletown, join a weekend trail ride to see wild horses.
• Build a trip around some or all the 500-mile Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway All American Road, which takes you from volcano to volcano in Northern California and Oregon. It’s the longest, but there are other very scenic routes, too.
• Hold your nose at Bumpass Hell, 16 acres of boiling springs and mud pots, steam vents and fumaroles, a fitting attraction in a volcanic landscape at Lassen Volcanic National Park. Further annoy your nose at Sulphur Works, a former mining operation now inside the park.

Things to do for Authentics

• Go to Paradise (the town) to see the Gold Nugget Museum for insights into 19th century mining life. Here’s another museum idea, about another way of life: the Weed Historic Lumber Town Museum in a town called Weed.
• Buy olives of all sorts at Corning, dubbed America’s olive capital. If you really like those sour balls, come for the summer Corning Olive Festival for olive tastings, plus bed races, lawnmower races and some other, more sensible pastimes.
• Give yourself a self-guided walking tour among the Victorians in Yreka, or among the Victorians and adobes in Red Bluff.
• Drive the Tehama Trail, visiting any or all of nearly two dozen orchards, vineyards, ranches and other meat producers. Maybe, add the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico; sign up for a behind-the-scenes exploration of the brewery (limited to five persons).
• Rent a houseboat at Lake Oroville, Shasta Lake or Trinity Lake, and spend your vacation floating and touring from your base.
• Look for bald eagles in Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. There are lots of them in January and February.

Additional Resources

For more information, consult the Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association at www.shastacascade.com

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• The young George Washington surveyed part of what is now the valley’s Route 11.
• Forebears of more than 43 million Americans migrated along the valley’s Wilderness Road.
• During the Civil War, the city of Winchester changed hands more than 70 times.
• President Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton (1856).
• Luray Caverns claims the world’s largest musical instrument, an organ covering 3.5 acres.

Of scenic drives, wineries — and war

Shenandoah Valley is a 200-mile oblong patch of land pasted onto the western side of the Virginia map and distinguished for the beauty of its landscapes.

It is bound by the Alleghenies on the west and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east. The Shenandoah River (including a north and south fork) flows down the valley — meaning to the north — and, at the valley’s terminus, connects with the Potomac.

The long and narrow Shenandoah National Park follows the line of Blue Ridge peaks. The park encompasses Skyline Drive, a scenic byway, and 101 miles of the Appalachian Trail for hikers. The Blue Ridge Parkway touches the area, too.

The valley is an appealing destination for vacationers who love wild places for their solitude and for active, venturesome recreation — and equally so for the less venturesome who are happy with a fine resort, great scenery and diversions that include golf, horseback riding, theater, wine tasting and history.

As for the history, there is much to engage the buff. Because of the valley’s relatively early settlement (the 1730s are early by American standards), visitors can find historic homes, plantations and town centers. Route 11, aka the Wilderness Road, follows the migration path of the first settlers.

The defining event for the history lover, though, was the Civil War. The valley was the breadbasket for the South, close to the North-South border and close to Washington, D.C. — therefore much fought over. Today’s Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District focuses on about 21,000 acres, aiming to protect 10 battlefields and related historic sites. The cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton, Waynesboro and Winchester are in the district, too.

There are battlefield sites and museums to see, plus guided walks, reenactment events and living history presentations to seek out. There are B&Bs and characteristic inns for those who want to sleep in the district’s small towns.

The Shenandoah Valley offers other excuses for a visit. For one, it is horse country, with all that implies in the way of riding opportunities and scenery. Already noted for its farmers markets, the valley is establishing a reputation as wine country, as well.

Things to do for Venturers

• Go canoeing, or tubing, or kayaking on the Shenandoah River.
• Plan a self-drive tour of the valley focused on the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District, which encompasses 10 Civil War battlefields. For the history buff, it is enlightening and sobering; an estimated 4,000 men died because of fighting in the valley.
• Participate in the July Roanoke Mountain Bike Challenge in midsummer.
• Plan to attend the Green Hill Medieval Faire and Highland Games in Salem (September). Register in advance to compete in some of the events.
• Bring your camping gear for the two-day Nothin’ Fancy Bluegrass Festival in Buena Vista in September.
• Camp in Shenandoah National Park. Hike its trails. Or camp and hike, or go rock climbing, in the Allegheny Mountains.

Things to do for Centrics

• Ride the trails on horseback at any of several farms, ranches and stables offering recreational riding — and lessons if you or the kids need them. Time your visit for a horse show, too.
• Ski at Bryce Resort. In summer, make that grass skiing, then get above it all on the area’s 3,000-foot zipline.
  Or, at Massanutten Resort, ski in winter or go mountain biking in summer.
• See a Shakespearean play at the Blackfriars Playhouse, the only replica of the English-speaking world’s first indoor theater, built by Shakespeare and partners on the grounds of London’s Blackfriars monastery.
• Take a two-day drive, called the Great Wagon Loop, that lets you explore the area’s Wilderness Road, a migration path. Start at the Museum of Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, drive on scenic Route 11. In Harrisonburg, see the Virginia Quilt Museum and visit CrossRoads, which focuses on Brethren and Mennonite settlers, and finally, tour Staunton’s historic downtown and its Frontier Culture Museum.
• Join a guided Civil War walking tour of Middletown, Stephens City, Old Town Winchester or wherever you find one first.
  Also, get a look at historic Staunton on a nighttime guided ghost walk — but this isn’t just about Civil War ghosts!
• Virginia is for (wine) lovers. Follow the Shenandoah Valley Wine Country Trail, visiting its five wineries, to see if you agree.

Things to do for Authentics

• Choose your resort at Hot Springs and hone your golf game. Or ride horses, go fly-fishing or shoot sporting clays.
  For golf, make that the 1766 Homestead Resort, where golf legend Sam Snead learned to play.
• Visit the truly cavernous Luray Caverns and hear the Great Stalacpipe Organ.
• Tour Woodrow Wilson’s birthplace and his presidential library and museum in Staunton.
• Attend the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester (April). Or, wait until the fruit is ready, and be part of the Apple Harvest Festival in Winchester in September. Another of several autumnal apple-related events is the Apple Days Craft Show, good for shopping, in October, in Waynesboro.
• Take a horse-drawn fall color carriage ride in Harrisonburg. Dream up other ways to see the colors, on foot, on a bike, in a car.
• Watch the Paint Lexington Paint-Out Show. On a couple of autumn days, artists strive to capture the fall colors in Lexington. You can see the “action,” and take a gander at the art exhibit showing off the completed efforts.

Additional Resources

For more information, consult the Shenandoah Valley Travel Association at www.visitshenandoah.org

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• The Rockies harbor the headwaters of the Arkansas, Colorado, Platte and Rio Grande rivers.
• Fifty-four of Colorado’s mountain peaks surpass 14,000 feet; they are the Fourteeners.
• Royal Gorge Bridge, 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River, is America’s highest suspension bridge.
• Thanks to the Rockies, Colorado has the highest average altitude (6,800 feet) of any U.S. state in the lower 48.
• Crested Butte is known as the birthplace of mountain biking.

Rocky Mountain high times

Colorado’s Rocky Mountains cut a wide swath across the state from north to south, and, as the tallest range in the lower 48, they form the Continental Divide. These mountains embody an attractive combination of thousands of square miles of natural beauty and a collection of 26 ski resorts that offer, besides skiing, just about any lifestyle and winter — or summer — activities a tourist may require.

Visitors also favor these Rockies and ski facilities for the relatively dry climate, high percentage of sunny days and long ski season.

The same mountainous terrain and climate conditions draw visitors who want a pretty place and pleasant weather for other pursuits: biking, hiking, horseback riding, mountain climbing, photography, whitewater rafting, wildlife viewing and more.

However, not all visitors come for an adrenaline rush. The Rockies and the resorts are obliging. Travelers need only drive a scenic route to enjoy the mountains, perhaps stopping along the way to take photos or for short hikes in the fresh air.

The resort towns themselves have a life —and a history — apart from skiing. Aspen, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Durango and Silverton have historic downtowns, which bespeak their pasts and charm 21st century visitors. Numerous museums tell more of the area’s story. And one is the Colorado Ski Museum in Vail.

Resorts and other mountain towns stage a wide range of festivals throughout the year, but particularly when snows aren’t blowing. Naturally, Breckenridge’s International Snow Sculpture Championships are in winter, but the resorts host balloon, beer, comedy, dance, jazz, wine and other fests.

Especially in the upscale resorts, visitors choose from a range of premium hotels or condos, eat at restaurants known for fine dining and are pampered in the spas.
It is of particular interest to active vacationers that Colorado’s ski resorts seek to protect their environment — also their asset — with award-winning conservation programs.
For all that the state is a great destination, Colorado can get too much of a good thing, meaning the snow — so much that airports and access roads to ski areas are closed. Most travelers with winter sports in mind accept that as a part of the package.

Things to do for Venturers

• Try snow biking — that’s right, snow biking — at the Durango Mountain Resort. You travel on a bicycle equipped with skis rather than wheels. A certification course is required before you can try this.
• Participate in the annual Christmas torchlight parade at Snowmass. Skiers, carrying torches, create a trail of light down the mountain.
• Seek out mogul runs. Telluride promises some fine ski bumping. But for the best bumpy ride, go to Winter Park, said to be North America’s No. 1 destination for moguls.
• Try hut touring (rugged, backcountry skiing that concludes each day in one of the huts maintained by the 10th Mountain Division Hut Association).
• Hike the entire Colorado Trail through the Rockies. It extends nearly 500 miles between Denver and Durango and takes at least 21 days to cover.
  Alternatively, spend a week with a volunteer crew assembled by the Colorado Trail Foundation to make improvements to the trail. These volunteer roles require good stamina and some backcountry camping experience.
• Also when the snow (mostly) gone, consider these options: mountain biking in Crested Butte (and see the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame there); whitewater rafting on the Arkansas River through Browns Canyon, or taking mountaineering course. However, if you are very experienced, climb one of Colorado’s Fourteeners.

Things to do for Centrics

• Be awed by the scenes as you travel forested trails on a dogsled at Breckenridge, Vail or Winter Park.
• In the warmer months, ride horseback on Beaver Creek Mountain.
• Attend the Bluegrass Festival at Telluride in June. Or if you cannot make that, try for the resort’s Jazz Festival in August or Blues and Brews music event in September.
• Colorado is noted for its craft breweries. Sample the products of the breweries in two ski resorts: Aspen and Breckenridge. In fact, for more choices in one place, there are four craft breweries in Durango. Or, attend the Breckenridge Beer Festival.
• Get a look at the Rockies from a hot-air balloon.
• For a break from skiing, resorts offer a range of other winter activities, such as ice skating and sledding. Also, snowmobiling.

Things to do for Authentics

• See a cooking demonstration and taste wines at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic in June.
• Join a women-only ski class at Copper Mountain. The lessons, with female instructors, are offered most Wednesdays in season.
• Play golf in the mountains against the backdrop of stunning scenery.
• Many resorts boast fine dining restaurants. Take advantage of them. Some of the spas are to die for, too.
• It seems like a fitting thing to do. See the Colorado Ski Museum in Vail.
• Go cross-country skiing at Frisco or any of several other resort areas.

Additional Resources

For more information, consult Colorado Tourism at www.colorado.com/winter-activities

The post Colorado Rockies/ski areas appeared first on Best Trip Choices.

• In 1910, Orville and Wilbur Wright established the first civilian flying school in Montgomery.
• F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald lived in Montgomery while he was writing “Tender Is the Night.”
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was pastor at only one church, Montgomery’s Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing in Montgomery makes more than 1,000 vehicles a day.
• Singer Nat King Cole was born in Montgomery (1919).

From the Civil War to civil rights

It seems reasonable that part of a tourist’s visit to Montgomery should be devoted to history, the story of both the city and the nation. That’s because Alabama’s capital managed in a century to morph from being the birthplace of the Confederacy (it was the first capital of the breakaway states) to the flashpoint for America’s Civil Rights Movement.

In the latter instance, the triggering event was Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up a bus seat to a white man in 1955. Her arrest led to the yearlong Montgomery bus boycott and, well, the rest is the history that is retold at an impressive list of sites in town. Relevant attractions are the Civil Rights Memorial and Center, Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, the Dexter Parsonage Museum, Freedom Rides Museum, National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African American Culture, and the Rosa Parks Library and Museum.

As for that earlier phase, visitors can tour the Alabama State Capitol, where the Confederate President Jefferson Davis took the oath of office, and his residence there, the First White House of the Confederacy.

Having said all of that, there are other quite varied options for the vacationer in Alabama’s capital, ranging from college sports or motor racing to a year-round Shakespeare festival (which presents more than the bard), a range of other performing arts plus the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.

Museums remembering local figures Hank Williams and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald appeal to quite different interests, as do the Hyundai carmaker’s plant and an annual livestock exposition and rodeo.

Visitors may be out and about in a variety of ways, ranging from a riverboat trip on the Alabama River to whitewater rafting on the Coosa River or mountain biking on area routes. And then, there is the Alley, which literally was an alley with no apparent future until it was revitalized recently with new eateries, nightspots, galleries and loft apartments. Now, city fathers say, a once moribund downtown is alive again.

Things to do for Venturers

• Compete in the Montgomery Half-Marathon in autumn, or sign on for the Capital of Dreams Triathlon in spring.
• Make a lively night of it in the Alley, the redeveloped entertainment district that was an abandoned patch of space between buildings.
• Rent a mountain bike and take on the 12-mile Swayback Bridge Trail in Wetumpka. You could also compete in the Attack on Swayback race in the summer.
• Attend the springtime Festival of New Plays. If you have a qualifying script, submit your own work for consideration.
• Check out the whitewater rafting on nearby Coosa River. Class III is as vigorous at it gets.
• Go to the races at Montgomery Motorsports Park or the Montgomery Motor Speedway. Events Vary.

Things to do for Centrics

• Attend the Montgomery Dragon Boat Festival in summer. Teams race on the Alabama River adjacent to Riverfront Park, and the festival is a big deal here.
• It’s the South, not the West, but in winter, you can attend the Southeastern Livestock Exposition and Rodeo.
• Eat like a local. That means Southern-fried foods. Order meat and three, meaning a meat (or fish) and three side dishes. Also, shrimp and grits is a local favorite. And do have a sweet made with pecans.
• Follow the downtown Civil Heritage Trail. At the Civil Rights Memorial and Center, enter your name on the electronic Wall of Tolerance joining a half a million others who have pledged their support for social justice. The names constantly scroll on the wall.
• Ice skate any time of year inside Eastdale Mall’s Ice Palace.
• Tour the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing plant. Admission is free.

Things to do for Authentics

• Roll on down the Alabama River on the local riverboat, the Harriott II. Or, see the city from a horse-drawn carriage with the driver adding narration, or take a guided Segway tour.
• If a country music fan, put the Hank Williams Museum on your itinerary.
• For some bits of local history, tour the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum (the literary couple lived in Montgomery for a time) and/or the First White House of the Confederacy.
• Play golf. There are plenty of courses to choose from.
• Get tickets to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, held in Montgomery each year.
• Spend time in Old Alabama Town, a six-block 19^th century neighborhood preserved as a living history museum. Costumed interpreters are on hand.

Additional Resources

For more information, consult the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce Convention and Visitor Bureau at visitingmontgomery.com

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• Willamette University was the first institution of higher learning west of the Rockies (1842).
• The city’s name Salem is an Anglicized form of the Hebrew word shalom, meaning peace.
• A.C. Gilbert, creator of the erector set for kids, was born in Salem.
• The Spruce Goose, a wooden plane with the world’s longest wingspan (320 feet), flew only once.
• The Oregon Trail, for those who actually went to Oregon, ended in Willamette Valley.

At the Oregon Trail’s end

Salem, Oregon’s capital, is a small city of not much more than 150,000, set on the Willamette River in the northwest part of the state and an hour from the Pacific Ocean.

Its neighborhood, the Willamette Valley, between the Cascade and Coast mountain ranges, is well known as one of the Pacific Northwest’s wine regions. But, for those who prefer the suds, Oregon is noted for its craft beers, and Salem represents that culture well with breweries and tasting rooms.

Salem sits in a rich agricultural valley where, besides the grapes and hops, harvests include fresh produce that makes its way to the bakeries and finest restaurants in Salem and the surrounding towns.

The earliest European settlers in Willamette Valley were trappers and farmers, and some trappers turned to farming, too. The valley’s population grew as the Oregon Trail delivered more settlers looking for tillable land.

Tourists see evidence of those earlier years in historic districts in Salem and nearby towns. Most noteworthy among these sites, the Old Aurora Colony northeast of Salem was settled in 1856 as a German Christian communal society. Now a historic district, it encompasses more than 20 authentic colony buildings and has become the top spot to buy antiques in Oregon. Five of the buildings comprise the Old Aurora Colony Museum.

Fast forward to the 21^st century and Oregon’s capital is rich with cultural attractions — art galleries, theater, concerts and a wide variety of festivals and special events that include the state fair.

Finally, Salem is in a region of natural beauty, which is often protected in wildlife refuges, nature preserves and parks. These settings invite the active visitor to birding, boating, camping, cycling, fishing, hiking, rafting and wildlife viewing. Humans in the area also have dreamed up a unique way to experience quite a bit of the area’s natural variety in a short period — a race tellingly named the Detroit Lake Mud Run.

Things to do for Venturers

• Camp out at the Champoeg State Heritage Area on the banks of the Willamette River. Or, stay in a cabin and do your hiking in Silver Falls State Park.
• See Willamette Valley from the air in a hot-air balloon or a helicopter.
• Choose a festival built around local libations, such as the Hop and Heritage Festival in Independence or the Mount Angel Oktoberfest, both in the fall, or Salem’s Wine and Jazz Fest in early summer. Then, there is First Taste Oregon, in January in Salem, formerly Oregon Wine, Food and Brew Fest but art and entertainment are in this mix, too.
• Register to compete in the Detroit Lake Mud Run in autumn. The six-mile course will take you through mud and water, on or around rocks, hills and stumps — and ruin your clothes.
• Take a workshop in, say, glassblowing or jewelry making at the Willamette Art Center. Or, use the center’s ceramic studio for a project of your own.
• Make your way through the forested Black Rock Mountain Bike Area, west of Salem, on a mountain bike. The Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway is another alternative.

Things to do for Centrics

• Make a day of it, driving to several of the Willamette Valley wineries for tastings and some shopping, too. There are at least a dozen wineries within 30 minutes of downtown. Also, get to Cubanisimo Vineyards when the facility offers its monthly salsa lesson — as well as a tasting.
• Get married at the Gordon House in Silverton, the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in Oregon and now an event site.
• Take advantage of Oregon’s focus on craft beers, and sample the goods at one or more of the area’s local breweries.
• For foodies, head to the farmers’ markets, taste cheeses at Willamette Valley Cheese Company or choose a food-focused festival. Several in the fall make pumpkins the star: Pumpkin Patch in Salem, Wooden Shoe Pumpkin Fest in Woodburn and Bauman’s Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Gervais.
• Make the trip to the Evergreen Aviation Educational Museum in McMinnville to see the Spruce Goose, constructed by millionaire Howard Hughes and once the world’s largest airplane. Stick around for other vintage aircraft at the museum and the town’s historic district rich with more than 50 preserved buildings.
• Enter the watermelon-seed-spitting contest at the Oregon State Fair in late summer.

Things to do for Authentics

• Watch movies outdoors at Salem’s Riverfront Park and Independence’s Riverview Park.
• Be a culture vulture. Make the rounds of a few galleries by day and head to the Historic Elsinore Theatre or Pentacle Theatre by night. One of the more amusing galleries, literally, is the NW Comic Gallery, with comic books and original comic art.
• Attend the Bach Festival at the Mount Angel Abbey, a midsummer event that helps support the still-active abbey.
• This is the West. Come to a rodeo. Choices include the St. Paul Rodeo, as well as the Santiam Canyon Stampede in Sublimity, both in July.
• Take the kids to A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village, an interactive children’s museum. The site is named for the man who created the erector set, a toy that combined the educational with fun.
• Take a walking tour of the historic downtown area of Salem. Also, join a tour of the Oregon State Capitol. For more history, include the Old Aurora Colony Museum and the Willamette Heritage Center at the Mill on your rounds.

Additional Resources

For more information, consult Travel Salem at www.travelsalem.com

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• St. Michaels was one of the models for Patamoke village in James Michener’s “Chesapeake.”
• Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in North America (4,500 square miles).
• The abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, was a slave in St. Michaels during formative teen years.
• The Third Haven Meeting House in Easton is America’s oldest religious building in continuous use (from 1684).
• In 2003, then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld bought a St. Michaels house called Mount Misery.

Of boats and boutiques

St. Michaels is a resort town with a history. It’s a remarkably small place, with a population of less than 1,200 on the eastern shore of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. It was founded as a trading post in the mid-1600s.

It is called the “town that fooled the British” because, during the War of 1812, residents — aware an attack was coming — placed lanterns in trees above St. Michaels. As a result, almost all British cannonballs overshot the town.

In the 19th century and well into the 20th, the town’s economy was predominantly based on shipbuilding and the seafood processing and packing industries, but, nowadays, the top business is tourism.

It’s an inherently attractive destination, given its location on the Chesapeake and given an authentic architectural heritage that includes clapboard cottages, Victorian homes and a few estates that attract the rich and famous as residents, at least part of the year.

The town offers a charming retreat from the hassles of modern living. Guests may choose from a number of inns and bed-and-breakfast establishments — no high-rises here. The main street and a maze of side streets provide numerous options for relaxation in boutiques, markets, museums, restaurants and spa facilities.

For the more active, the area is a natural for the cyclist, but the waters of the bay are the defining come-hither attraction. Visitors can cruise the bay on a historic skipjack, charter a boat and take the helm themselves or get a lot closer to the water in a kayak. Spending quality time at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is an obvious complement to time on the water.

St. Michaels hosts a number of festivals each year, ranging from seafood events to boat festivals and boating races. Autumn is busy, too, with Halloween-themed events.

The area around St. Michaels provides appealing diversions, including driving tours to neighboring villages or, even, a journey to nearby Tilghman Island for additional outdoor activities or the ultimate retreat from workaday cares. The island has its own annual seafood festival, as well.

Things to do for Venturers

• Buy a used boat at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Or donate one to the nonprofit.
• Sightsee in St. Michaels and its environs on a bicycle.
• Head directly to the Boat Building Shed at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum to see what is under construction — and take away a few pointers, as well.
• Join a crabbing cruise from Tilghman Island. For a change of pace, also take a ghost tour of the island.
• Spend a few hours kayaking in tidal rivers (Choptank, Nanticoke or Pocomoke) or in salt marshes of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge or Wye Island. In the marshes, spot wading birds and possibly bald eagles.
• Charter a sailboat and take the helm for a day on the bay.

Things to do for Centrics

• Get married on a yacht in Chesapeake Bay.
• Join a sightseeing tour that highlights the area’s lighthouses. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum bought and moved the Hooper Strait Lighthouse, saving it from destruction.
• Get the flavor of the area by staying in a local bed-and-breakfast inn. Also, watch a log canoe race on a summer weekend.
• Cruise on Chesapeake Bay aboard the historic skipjack H.M. Krentz, which is berthed at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.
  Or, go fishing at the Miles River.
• Opt in for a tastings and tour at St. Michaels Winery.
• Eat oysters, for which the bay is famous; eat them at the autumn OysterFest if the timing is right. If they are too slimy for your tastes, eat crab from the bay.

Things to do for Authentics

• Depart St. Michaels for a few days at luxury accommodations on nearby Tilghman Island.
• Devote a day (or more) to browsing the quaint shops, boutiques and galleries found in St. Michaels.
  Or, shop in the county’s larger town, Easton, and work in a glimpse of the Friends’ Third Haven Meeting House.
• Plan a romantic getaway at the Two Swan Inn (built in 1790).
• In the season (late May through October), join a guided Saturday walking tour of St. Michaels, departing from St Michaels Museum. Or, tour in a horse-drawn carriage.
• Have a treatment at one of the town’s spas.
• Spend a day following in the footsteps of James Michener (who sketched out “Chesapeake” in the tavern of the Robert Morris Inn in nearby Oxford, Md.). Also, follow the footsteps of his characters.

Additional Resources

For more information, consult the Talbot County Office of Tourism at www.tourtalbot.org

The post St. Michaels, Maryland appeared first on Best Trip Choices.

• Schnebly Redland’s Winery in Homestead is the southernmost winery in America.
• Miami Beach is a man-made island that was once a coconut plantation.
• More cruise ships are based in Miami than at any other port in the world.
• Two-thirds of Miami’s population is of Hispanic origin.
• Miami is the only American city with two national parks in its backyard (Biscayne and Everglades).

Of beaches, hand-rolled cigars

Not so many years ago, south Florida, especially Miami, carried an image of posh hotels on balmy beaches, populated by wealthy tourists from the North.  No more! Miami and neighboring towns are important ports of call for the cruise industry, Miami Beach is home to the hip South Beach, the area is very Cuban — and nowadays, tourists come from Canada, Europe and Latin America, as well as the U.S. states.

Leisure travelers come for the subtropical weather: Miami’s average annual temperature is 75 F. Palm trees sway in the breezes, wild parrots brighten the skies and jasmine scents the night air. Visitors also come for business because the city has emerged as an international business hub, as evidenced by the soaring office towers in the downtown.

The city is a network of barrier islands, coral rock and mangrove swamps, connected by bridges, causeways and panoramic roads. Its miles and miles of white beaches face the Atlantic and the tranquil Biscayne Bay — and promise the water sports enthusiast plenty of fun.

The city and surrounding neighborhoods also are noted for fine dining, a lively arts and culture scene, entertainment events, professional sports competitions and shopping to tempt the most miserly.

Miami has neighborhoods with names that resonate, such as Coconut Grove, Little Havana and South Beach.

Coconut Grove has a past as a beatnik arts colony.  Today, it draws tourists to eateries, art galleries, boutiques, farmers’ markets, bookstores — and the Coconut Grove Arts Festival.

Little Havana got its moniker for obvious reasons. In this bit of Cuba-in-Florida, Calle Ocho is lined with eateries (representing several Latin cultures), and tourists may see artisans hand-rolling cigars or visit tailors who make custom guayabera (traditional linen shirts).

Visitors come to South Beach for its world-renowned Art Deco District, plus restaurants, clubs and beaches frequented by the rich and famous, or just the beautiful.

Winter is the best time to visit thanks to Miami’s pleasant weather.  Summers are warm and humid, but the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay cool things off some, and the prices on hotels and air tickets are better.

Things to do for Venturers

• Go scuba diving in Miami, called the “wreckreational” diving capital of the world. It counts more than 50 wreck sites suitable for divers, and one is the Spirit of Miami Boeing 727 jet, sunk to provide artificial reefs.  For divers (or snorkelers) who prefer their reefs au naturel, Greater Miami’s Biscayne National Park is the place to go.
• Find your way to Jimbo’s, a ramshackle shantytown hidden down a lane on Virginia Key in Key Biscayne, for outstanding smoked fish and coolers filled with beer, water and soda.
• Go boating and camping in the nearby Everglades National Park. The park service advises that boating in the Everglades requires skill because of treacherous passes that cut through long banks of mud and seagrass in Florida Bay. Other areas, especially among the Ten Thousand Islands, have many oyster reefs and sandbars. Also, most of the park’s 47 wilderness campsites are only accessible by boat.
• For museums that raise eyebrows: The Wolfsonian has America’s largest collection of 20th century American, German and Italian political propaganda.
• Charter a yacht and do some jet skiing or diving. Or charter a sailboat. Or go deep-sea fishing.
• Go to the Richard Petty Driving Experience in Homestead for a chance to ride in or drive an authentic NASCAR Nextel Cup-style race car.

Things to do for Centrics

• Sightsee over Miami in a helicopter or by plane. Or, take to the water: Choose a sightseeing cruise or a dinner cruise.
• See the Everglades National Park by taking a narrated tram tour departing from the Shark Valley Visitor Center and/or by taking a narrated boat tour of the Ten Thousand Islands from the Gulf Coast Visitor Center. Biking in the park is an option, too.
• Activities for visitors to the Biscayne National Park include diving and snorkeling, canoe and kayak rentals, fishing and camping. Also, a glass-bottom boat tour.
• Hear jazz, salsa and reggae in the funky neighborhood bars of Coconut Grove.
• Swim with the dolphins at the Miami Seaquarium.
• Visit Schnebly Redland’s Winery in Homestead, but forget the part about grapes. Come for tours and tastings of wines made with tropical fruits: carambola, guava, lychee, mango and passion fruit.

Things to do for Authentics

• Take the kids to Miami’s Metrozoo, a fine example of a cageless zoo, where animals roam in settings that imitate natural habitats.
• Eat great seafood; make that stone crabs if they are in season. In Miami, seek out Cuban foods.
• Miami has spas of all kinds and to fit every budget. Find the one that meets your needs (or fulfills your dreams).
• Visit the ancient Spanish Monastery in North Miami Beach. The oldest building in the Western Hemisphere, it dates to 1141 and was brought to the U.S. by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and rebuilt on its current site.
• Take a Miami Duck Tour which lets you explore Miami by land and sea. On land, you ride through downtown Miami and South Beach aboard a “vesicle” that looks like a duck on wheels, but later you are cruising into Biscayne Bay for a new angle on the sights.
• Play golf, of course.

Additional Resources

For more information, consult the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau at www.miamiandbeaches.com

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