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Why we love it: A family-friendly resort with a dizzying array of accommodations and activities

The Highlights:
- A range of accommodations, from cozy cabins to boutique hotel rooms
- More than 65 year-round activities to entertain the kids
- A water-themed spa and two championship golf courses for when you need a break from the family

The Review:
Situated on the shores of Gull Lake, the historic Grand View Lodge has been hosting family vacations since 1916. With everything from a kids’ club and indoor water park to a game room and fire pit for s’mores, the resort caters to children of all ages but offers plenty for adults as well, including a water-themed spa and two championship golf courses. Guests here can take advantage of more than 65 year-round activities, including a range of water sports, or venture a short distance to local zip lines, riding stables, and ski resorts. There’s even a newly constructed recreation facility on-site, featuring a 3,779-square-foot pool area, state-of-the-art fitness center, yoga studio, tennis court, ice-skating rink, and more.

Accommodations are equally varied, ranging from lodge rooms and lakeside cabins to garden cottages and entire homes. Come July 2019, a 60-room boutique hotel that’s perfect for company meetings will also be available. When hunger strikes, there are eight dining venues on the property, including a steak house, beachside cantina, and wine bar with a 2,000-bottle cellar. Whether you visit in the summer for the lake or the winter for the nearby mountains, expect cozy accommodations, a high standard of service, and a family trip that will long be remembered.

Set on the banks of White Rock Lake, this 66-acre sanctuary offers scenic trails, blooming gardens, and peaceful green spaces for when you want some quiet time with nature—plus kids’ areas, holiday events, and a packed calendar of festivals and concerts for when it’s time for something a bit livelier. Take in the vibrant hues of the Jonsson Color Garden, Crape Myrtle Allee, and gardens dedicated to roses and camellias, or do some contemplating in the Palmer Fern Dell or the McCasland Sunken Garden. Opened in 2017, A Tasteful Place is a 3.5-acre garden focusing on fruit, veggies, and edible herbs and flowers; tastings, demo, nutrition sessions, and cooking classes are held throughout the year. Don’t miss some of the main section’s events, too, such as the annual Dallas Blooms fest and summer concert series.

Covering nearly ten miles over the sandstone slickrock just outside of Moab, this 4x4 route is considered one of the best in the region, if not the country. The best part? A half-mile spur from the one-way loop brings visitors to a cliff-edge overlooking the Colorado River. Along the trail, check out Mickey’s Hot Tub, a deep depression in the sandstone where 4x4s drive through, and sometimes get stuck. If you get out of the Jeep, you may also see fossils preserved in the lower Jurassic Sandstone (about 190 million years ago). The route can be done on your own but requires a high-clearance 4x4 vehicle. A number of commercial guide outfits based in Moab provide tours with a driver or allow visitors to rent ATV’s and attempt the trip themselves.

Most people visit the national parks during the summer, but winter provides a completely different wildlife- viewing experience. Guests at the Four Seasons Jackson Hole have multiple options for taking in a snowy Yellowstone. Get a bird’s-eye view of the park on a helicopter photo safari with one of the hotel’s in-house wildlife biologists, who can expertly spot moose, elk, bison, and grizzlies. At night, the hotel’s resident astronomer takes guests to Grand Teton National Park for stargazing sessions. More active travelers can rent fat bikes with oversize tires and pedal out to the Jackson Elk Refuge. From $579. This appeared in the November/December 2014 issue.

Nobu, at the Atlantis, is the Bahamian outpost of acclaimed master chef Nobu Matsuhisa. Venturing far beyond familiar sushi and tempura, the kitchen here turns out food so extraordinarily good that you will either guard your plate jealously or insist that everyone at the table try a bite. The mini tacos, filled with seafood or steak, are a fun starter, and for entrees, one of Nobu’s signature dishes is a black cod that has been bathed for three days in a marinade of miso and sake—the result, seared and served simply, is sweet and buttery and unforgettable. Dinner here often begins (and sometimes ends) at the magnificent bar, and if you get the chance, visit the sake cellar, one of only a few in the Western Hemisphere.

No trip to Antigua, the “Land of Sea and Sun,” would be complete without spending quality time on one (or two, or three) of its fabled 365 sugar-white, sparkling beaches and the Galley Bay Resort and Spa sits on one of the best of the bunch. Galley Bay Beach is graced with three-quarters of a mile of quintessential Antiguan beach. Perfectly sized sand won’t blow in the breeze, palm trees dot its length providing natural shade, beds and hammocks dare you escape their relaxing embrace, and the water… Well… The water looks like you see above. Immaculate. Turquoise. Radiant. In the distance, you can see Nevis and St. Kitts on the horizon almost close enough to touch adding to the impossible perfection.

With amazingly clear emerald waters, the calm sea off of Santa Margherita and Portofino is perfect for snorkeling and scuba diving (May-September is the best season, although it has been known to stretch!). Il Grande Blu provides all you need to enjoy the waters - instructors, equipment, even towels! And if you prefer to stay on top of the water, they have kayaks for rent, as well as a beautiful full-service beach. (If you are up for even more of an adventure - head even further around the bay to San Fruttuoso to scuba dive - there is a sunken Christ figure just a few meters out into the bay that is really gorgeous to view up close!)

A dream retreat for horse lovers, the 240-acre estate is 45 minutes from London and has an equestrian center and polo fields. Game of Thrones Keep an eye out for Prince Harry playing a match on the polo grounds. Competitions are held from April through September. Learn from a Pro Coworth Park works with the Guards Polo Academy and Andrew Hine, the former captain of the England Polo Team, to provide lessons. Serious riders can enroll in a three-day elite polo academy. Recovery Drink The Bar at Coworth Park has started mixing polo-inspired cocktails. Try the rum-and-brandy-based Under the Neck, named for the most difficult shot in the game. Rooms from $370. Polo lessons from $255. 44/(0) 1344-876-600.

Capitol Hill’s Melrose Market is a spacious, sunlit, vintagey-looking indoor market with a variety of artisanal and locally made foods: Rain Shadow Meats, Calf & Kid cheese, the Marigold & Mint flower shop, and Taylor Shellfish. There are also a few wine bars and restaurants in here, like Sitka + Spruce, Homegrown Sustainable Sandwiches, and Bar Ferd’nand. There’s outdoor sidewalk seating when the weather is nice, and some indoor tables and bars. You could put together one heck of a fancy dinner party with just one shopping trip (Sonic Boom Records next door can provide the background music) — but it’ll cost you.

In 1995, Scottsdale residents voted to set aside a large parcel of undeveloped city land as protected open space. Today, the roughly 30,000-acre McDowell Sonoran Preserve provides an opportunity for adventure. Hike, bike, and rock climb, or take to the trails with local guides from Arizona Outback Adventures and learn all about the desert along the way. Because most of the creatures that live in this desert habitat are more active at night, the best time to view animals is on early morning or evening hikes.

Pearl restaurant is a short, ten-minute walk along the water from the Fairmont Hamilton Princess. Its second-story location—above the Port o’ Call restaurant—provides views over the harbor, but you may find that the sushi and the sake cocktails here command your attention. “This is the place to go for melt-in-your-mouth sushi,” according to Rebecca. “My favorite is the Rockfish Usuzukuri which comes with red onion, pink ginger, and a rice wine vinegar and chili oil reduction. It is pure heaven! After dinner, stop at the Port o’ Call downstairs for a drink. It’s a perfect and popular Friday night itinerary.”

Located in Wood Dale, Yesterday’s Farm Museum is trip to a different era. The barn pictured above is part of the Wood Dale Historical Society, and it was constructed back in the 1850s. This massive structure is referred to as a ‘T’ barn due to the unique design for its time period. It features a hayloft, a feeding area for the horses, and a place for the cows to get their grub on as well (pictured above). But the coolest part is that during October, as Halloween approaches, the folks here provide hayrides for family and friends, and also feature spooky ghost stories at night in the barn. They don’t currently have a website, so please call 630-595-8777 for information and upcoming events.

Jo and Chris Beaumont are expats from London who moved to Belize, to open a windsurfing and adventure sports business. They now own the Belize Chocolate Company, which produces the luxury chocolate line, Kakaw and numerous other cacao-based skincare, healthcare and cooking products. Their small shop on Barrier Reef Drive just steps from the beach in San Pedro seems like an expat’s dream. They certainly exhibit the kind of easy happiness that comes from providing a product everyone wants. The Belize Chocolate Company is a café and a store, so visitors can stop in and stay a while. When you do, make sure you seek out Jo or Chris. They are wonderful people, and their chocolate isn’t half bad either!

Seattle’s most iconic restaurant has earned its laurels, reinterpreting Pacific Northwest classics like bonito with chrysanthemum and sea bean caper, and ricotta dumplings with mustard, rapini, and stinging nettles. in 2015, a young hotshot took the helm: Brady Williams, formerly from the two-Michelin-star Blanca in Brooklyn, New York. He ditched his goal of playing professional hockey to cook—and, boy, has it paid off! Among other distinctions, he was anointed a finalist for Rising Star Chef of 2017 by the James Beard Foundation (the year it won “Best Wine Program”). Reserve ahead and break out the grown-up clothes to check out his masterpieces, served high on Queen Anne hill overlooking the seaplanes and sailboats gliding on Lake Union.

The first Taiwanese restaurant to earn a fancy-pants Michelin star, this steamed dumpling and noodle chain gets rave reviews from Seattleites and reviewers alike. Long a staple of nearby Bellevue, Din Tai Fung has finally crossed Lake Washington to establish a Seattle outpost and and added a second option at Pacific Place shopping center (600 Pine Street). Go for the scrumptious, pillowy xiao long bao (Chinese soup dumplings), of course, but don’t neglect the rest of the menu. Standouts include sweet taro buns, vinegar-laced wood ear mushrooms, and sautéed mustard greens with shredded ginger, along with the red bean sticky rice wraps for dessert.