Today's Travel
By Sarah Tuff
from Yahoo! Travel
Ogunquit, Maine
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Enough with your fancy remote beaches.
The Maldives?
St. Tropez?
With the economy what it is, we'll be lucky to get to the next state on
a $73 tank of gas. We want close. We want old-fashioned. We want a town
where we can park the car, drag a beach chair and a book to the sand,
and then shuffle down the boardwalk in our flip-flops for fried clams
and an icy-cold can of beer: a place with fireworks, friendly locals,
and sticky scoop shops. So we dug up 11 great American seaside escapes,
from classic fun-in-the-sun
California to New England colonial charm. Because when it comes to precious summer weekends in the sun, there's no place like home.
The sand: Three and a half miles of white-sand beaches on a
long hook of land, separated from the mainland by the mouth of the
Ogunquit River.
Marine life: Lobster? Ach, you can find that anywhere in
Maine.
But only in a few select spots along the state's 5,500 miles of rocky
coastline will you find actual soft, bottom-inviting sand, and that's
outside the hamlet of Ogunquit. To avoid the traffic of
crustacean-seeking crowds, you'll also want to ditch the car. Snag a
parking spot at Footbridge Bridge early in the morning ($15 for the day)
and take the trolley back into town for blueberry pancakes at
Bessie's.
Then stroll with a cup of coffee through the galleries and too-cute
shops. Cross back over at Ogunquit Beach to find the spot you've staked
in the sand. Then you're free of obligations until your dinner
reservation at Ogunquit's acclaimed
Arrows Restaurant. It goes
beyond typical beach fare, serving foie gras-and-oxtail dumplings, sea
salt–roasted rabbit loin, and mango bubble pudding. And, yeah, Maine
lobster, too.
The sanctuary: Book one of the 19 cottages at Dunes on the Waterfront: They have screened porches and Adirondack chairs just 200 yards from the main beach.
Dunes on the Waterfront
Tel: 888 295 3863
- Cottages from $200 a night, with a minimum week stay.
Bessie's
Tel: 207 646 0888
Arrows Restaurant
Tel: 207 361 1100
The sand: Around these three miles of confectioners'-sugar
sands, you'll see bald eagles, sea turtles, dolphins—and only a few
footprints.
Marine life: Never heard of Mexico Beach? Exactly. South of
Destin,
on the Florida Panhandle, the 1,200 residents have avoided high-rises,
strip malls, and theme parks like the plague, keeping their low-slung
town to themselves. The "government" is a five-person council that's put
the kibosh on anything taller than 48 feet, and the focus is on
small-town fun, with gumbo cook-offs, kingfish tournaments, and
fireworks fundraisers. You can kill two beach birds with one stone at
the souvenirs-and-seafood shop Shell Shack. If you want to get off the
beach, pop into the pool bar at the El Governor motel or take a scuba
dive through a sunken oil tanker just offshore.
The sanctuary: The Driftwood Inn has four-poster beds in
its rooms and DIY barbecue grills on its back deck. If you want to play
at being a local, opt for one of the separate, two-bedroom Victorian
houses.
The Driftwood Inn
Tel: 850 648 5126
- Doubles from $140, Victorian houses from $175.
The Shell Shack
Tel: 850 648 8256
El Governor
Tel: 850 648 5757
The sand: Beaches for every budget, from exclusive clubs to free, secluded spots on Aquidneck Island.
Marine life: Hey, if we were a Vanderbilt, we would have built a
summer cottage here, too. Only an hour and a half from Beantown,
Newport has a dramatic, ocean-crashing-on-rocks side facing the
Atlantic; a cutesy, colonial side facing Narragansett Bay; and a third,
Rhode Island
Sound–oriented side that's swept with beaches. Easton's Beach—better
known as First Beach—is the classic Americana spot, with a carousel,
snack bar, and cabanas; Sachuset (Second) Beach is a 1.25-mile stretch
below St. George's prep school that catches the crowd runoff. Few make
it as far as Third Beach, a quiet spot for kiteboarding, kayaking, and
bird-watching. Fewer still know about Bailey's Beach, reached at the end
of the mansion-lined Bellevue Avenue. Most of the sand belongs to the
blue-blooded members of the Spouting Rock Beach Association, but the
west end is open to the public, with no fee for parking. Spend your cash
instead on a platter of fried clams from
Flo's Clam Shack.
The sanctuary: The Victorian furniture at the Chanler at Cliff Walk invokes
the Gilded Age of the nearby mansions, and most of the 20 rooms have
views of First Beach, plus Vanderbilt-quality niceties like Fili D'Oro
linens and working fireplaces.
The Chanler at Cliff Walk
Tel: 401 847 1300
- Doubles from $595
Flo's Clam Shack
Tel: 401 847 8141
Folly Beach, South Carolina
The sand: A six-mile barrier island with room for surfers, beachcombers, and shellfish aficionados, 15 minutes south of
Charleston.
Marine life: Officially, Folly Beach is part of the Charleston
metro area, but there's not a smidgen of anything metropolitan here.
Communing with nature is more common than commuting to the office,
honking is what the birds do, and a board meeting is a bunch of surfers
hanging out at the Washout. Newcomers' first stop should be McKevlin's Surf Shop,
here since 1965. They'll set you up with a rental and one-hour lesson
for $40. Or head straight for Folly Beach County Park, which is quieter
than busy Center Street beach, but still has boogie boards, umbrellas,
and bikes for rent. Take those wheels to Folly Beach Crab Shack, grab a hammock chair, and munch on buckets of seafood as "traffic" goes by.
The sanctuary: The new Water's Edge Inn, just three
blocks from the Atlantic, is shaded by palms trees and has eight rooms
with crisp white sheets and flat-screen TVs.
Water's Edge Inn
Tel: 800 738 0884
- Doubles from $229
McKevlin's Surf Shop
Tel: 843 588 2247
Folly Beach Crab Shack
Tel: 843 588 3080
The sand: Dunes that will remind you of
Cape Cod, and khaki beaches that mimic
Malibu—right in the heart of the Midwest.
Marine life: Combine an awe-inspiring landscape with the aw-shucks
attitude of a small town, and you get Saugatuck, just across the
Kalamazoo River from a surprisingly sandy stretch of Lake Michigan's
eastern shore. The historic, gallery-lined town (within a three-hour
drive from
Detroit,
Chicago,
Indianapolis, and
Milwaukee)
has long drawn those seeking a watery muse, rugged adventures, or
simple beach pleasures. Beachgoers can cross the bridge or, more fun,
board a 1913 hand-cranked ferry that chugs from Saugatuck across the
Kalamazoo. The quick and quaint ride costs just $1 and rewards
passengers with the unspoiled stretch of Oval Beach, which frequently
finds itself listed as one of the world's best—despite being miles from
any ocean. For an even less populated place to stake your umbrella,
there's the nearby Saugatuck Dunes State Park, with two miles of Lake
Michigan shoreline, 200-foot-tall dunes, and 1,000 acres of hiking
terrain. "Dune schooners" (think stretch ATVs) rumble through here from
10 am to 7:30 pm most summer days; some folks might want to retreat to
the
Saugatuck Drug Store, a soda fountain as sweet and as storied as the ferry.
The sanctuary: Silver Palate cookbook co-author Julee Rosso
runs the Wickwood Inn, so expect complimentary hors d'oeuvres like crab
crostini as lovely as the 11 guest rooms, each based on a different
theme, like an English garden or mountain cabin.
Wickwood Inn
Tel: 269 857 1465
- Doubles from $295.
Saugatuck Drug Store
Tel: 269 857 2300
Coral Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
The sand: There are more than 40 beaches on the island—many protected by a national park—with hiking trails to nearly all of 'em.
Marine life: As one of the three U.S. Virgin Islands, St. John
may fly the red, white,and blue, but an expat vibe runs through the
well-sheltered harbor of Coral Bay. Long a hippie-ish hideout for old
salts and new beach bums alike, the funky little town—on the far side of
the island from the main settlement of Cruz Bay—has none of the bling
and bustle of sister islands St. Thomas and St. Croix, with their cruise
ports and duty-free shop-o-ramas. Here, the entire economy depends on
the sale of tropical trinkets from rickety shacks and bikinis from a VW
bus. The unofficial town hall is Skinny Legs, a beachfront bar
where the burger selections are scrawled on an old windsurfing board and
an old sail serves as the awning. For those who insist on earning their
Heinekens with a bit of exercise, Crabby's rents sea kayaks and snorkeling gear.
The sanctuary: Forget staying at a hotel—truth is, there aren't any this side of the island. Instead, lord over the coast in a villa like the Starlit Escape, a 2,500-square-foot house with five bedrooms and a freshwater swimming pool.
Starlit Escape
Tel: 800 965 1650
- From $1,400 per week
Skinny Legs
Tel: 340 779 4982
Crabby's
Tel: 340 714 2415
The sand: An 18-mile stretch of beaches, marinas, and seafood
shacks on the Gulf of Mexico. You'll find "Port A" (pop. 3,300) at the
tip of
Mustang Island, near Corpus Christi.
Marine life: So you're building a sand castle here? Be prepared for some competition, pal. Port A has its own official Sandcastle Guy,
who can whip up intricate turrets, archways, moats, and stairways
faster than you can whip out your towel. Lucky for you, Mark Landrum
also offers lessons, making the Gulf Coast hideaway a must-sea spot for
family bonding. The older kids (or kids at heart) will dig surfing the
swells off the town jetty, kiteboarding off the beginner-friendly
sandbars, and casting the bays and flats for trophy tuna and tarpon.
Fishing tournaments nearly every weekend in July and August add to the
competitive spirit, but everybody's chummy over burgers and beers back
at the oceanfront Beach Lodge.
The sanctuary: Stash your shovels, sandals, and saltwater tackle at the Tarpon Inn, an 1886 hotel whose 24 rooms have antiques and air conditioning but no phones or TVs.
Tarpon Inn
Tel: 361 749 5555
- Doubles from $89.
Beach Lodge
Tel: 361 749 5713
Sandcastle Guy
Tel: 361 290 0414
The sand: You've struck gold in the Golden State, with 29 miles of beaches and a seaside amusement park.
Marine life: Our teeth hurt and our stomachs drop just thinking
about all the cotton candy to be consumed and the roller coasters to be
ridden at the
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk,
the oceanfront park that's been whirling and twirling Californians for
more than a century. But it's only one source of amusement in this
college town on
Monterey Bay,
where bookish students and buff Laird Hamilton types alike spend their
downtime mountain biking, long-boarding, and refueling on organic,
farm-fresh fare (or at least a great fish taco). Rookie surfers should
head to Cowell Beach, while volleyball players can pick up a game—or
maybe a new friend—at busy Main Beach. On the menu at the
Pearl Alley Bistro, diners discover hormone-free short ribs and sustainable cod, helping to make up for all that cotton candy.
The sanctuary: Invoking the jumbled, whitewashed villages of the Greek Islands, the Pleasure Point Inn has four tropics-themed rooms overlooking a surf break; ask about their learn-to-surf specials.
Pearl Alley Bistro
Tel: 831 429 8070
The sand: A barrier island with ten miles of dune-swept beaches, a Prince of Tides feel, and 63 holes of golf.
Marine life: Though you won't find Mr. Rourke and Tattoo,
Jekyll could be Fantasy Island, thanks to its array of fun-time
activities. You can go horseback riding on the beach. There's kayaking
and canoeing through salt marshes and estuaries, plus biking along 20
miles of trails along the sands, notching birds in the Audubon book, and
visiting a water park to work off the kids' waffle-cone sugar highs.
This bounty of outdoors options is matched by the historic district, a
240-acre compound on Jekyll Creek. Named in 1734 for a financial backer
of the Georgia colony, the island long belonged to co-owners J.P.
Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer, and William Rockefeller, and their moneyed
manners still linger in elegant boutiques. But just about any budget can
afford Blackbeard's Seafood Restaurant, where the fried oysters and flounder almondine are better than the restaurant name suggests.
The sanctuary: The Queen Anne–style Jekyll Island Club Hotel,
with 157 rooms, has been hosting guests from Joseph Pulitzer to regular
Joes since 1886. It's also where you'll find the four golf courses.
Jekyll Island Club Hotel
Tel: 912 635 2600
- Doubles from $189
Blackbeard's Seafood Restaurant
Tel: 912 635 3522
The sand: Four miles of Pacific Northwest grandeur, with
towering rocks, tidal pools, forests, and waterfalls, all connected by
soft stretches of sand.
Marine life: Picket fences, surf shops, and glassworks
boutiques have helped tame Cannon Beach, a town of 1,700 artsy and
outdoorsy souls 80 miles west of
Portland,
into a perfectly stroll-worthy seaside escape. But its wild side still
rules: Born of volcanoes and still constantly smashed by the sea, the
Oregon outpost overspills with fascinating formations, from the 235-foot
basalt Haystack Rock and the forest-shrouded waves of Indian Beach to
calmer spots at Arcadia Beach and the Tolovana Wayside. All but the most
adventuresome (and wet suit–clad) will want to look, but not touch, as
the tides can be deadly and the water rarely rises above 60 degrees. But
you'll find plenty of gentle warmth in the surrounding community, which
celebrates Sandcastle Days in June. At the
Wayfarer Restaurant & Lounge, you can feast on Dungeness crab and sip an Oregon pinot noir while gazing at Haystack and all those crashing waves.
The sanctuary: Views from the 45 rooms at the stone-and-timber Ocean Lodge will blow your socks off; luckily, the place is pet-friendly, so Fido can go fetch 'em.
Ocean Lodge
Tel: 503 436 2241
- Doubles from $229
Wayfarer Restaurant & Lounge
Tel: 503 436 1108
