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Though the DR isn’t traditionally known for its surfing, the little town of Cabarete (a 30-minute drive from the Puerto Plata airport) is fast becoming a hot spot for newbies and those wanting to take their board skills to a new level. Cabarete boasts several surf camps including SWELL, “a purpose-built surf camp” that attracts surfers and wannabe surfers from all corners of the globe. A cross between a hostel and a just-the-basics boutique hotel, the camp has co-ed quad dorms and private rooms accommodating some two dozen travelers of all ages — a healthy mix of singles and couples, mostly urban professionals. Days here start really early, but what does it matter when you’re on the water catching waves? (There’s always the rest of the day to make up for that lost shut-eye.) Once you’re done with your surfboard, wander into Cabarete to grab a cerveza and a bite. Be sure to check out the town’s other favorite pastime, kitesurfing. Just look to the sky.

Opened in 1997, Jumeirah Beach Hotel is one of Dubai’s first modern resorts. The broad, wave-shaped tower sits next to a white-sand beach with a full flight of water sports, and it gets year-round traffic including many sun-seeking Russian package tourists and British families. Despite a capacity of more than 1,200 guests, the hotel has enough pools and restaurants to absorb the crowds. The guest rooms are still some of Dubai’s largest (that’s saying a lot), and the hotel is a convenient 20-minute taxi or free shuttle ride to the Gold Souk on Dubai Creek, or to the Mall of the Emirates, site of Dubai’s famous indoor ski slope. Kids will want to maximize their time at the Wild Wadi water park just up the beach, where Jumeirah Beach Hotel guests enjoy free entrance. Couples migrate to the 24th-floor Uptown Bar patio for cocktails and breezy views of the Persian Gulf and the lights of Dubai’s iconic skyscrapers, including the Burj al Arab and Burj Khalifa.

This family-owned retreat within Adirondack State Park is geared toward campers who want comfort. Adirondack chairs (of course) sit on the decks of six canvas tents equipped with wood-burning stoves and cedar-lined showers. The platform canvas-sided cabins are open from late May through early October.

New Orleans’ green spaces run the gamut from City Park, which spans 1,300 acres and is the 6th largest urban park in the United States, to the city block-sized Jackson Square, a French Quarter gathering point for artists, musicians, and street performers. The former has walking trails, botanical gardens, and an open-air sculpture garden, plus tennis courts, an 18-hole golf course, and a mini-golf course, but most come to see the world’s oldest grove of mature live oaks. Uptown’s Audubon Park is frequented by walkers, joggers, and cyclists who make their way around the park’s 1.8 mile loop—and it’s also home to the Audubon Zoo.

A favorite cultural activity of mine is to visit bookstores wherever I go. Even if I can’t understand the language, I can usually get a sense for the themes of the most popular books. Luckily, the massive bookstore Eslite has a great English-language section in addition to the hundreds of shelves devoted to books in Chinese. What I enjoyed most was browsing through the travel section, especially the American travel area, to see exactly what the popular perceptions are of traveling to the United States. If you get hungry, there’s also a cafe and some great gift items to take home as keepsakes.

The longest developed rail-trail in the country, Katy Trail State Park snakes across Missouri for 240 miles, from the western edge of the state to the St. Louis metro area. Built on the former corridor of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, the well-maintained park closely follows the Missouri River, offering bikers, hikers, equestrians, and everyone in between a scenic way to see much of the state. The section between Cooper and St. Charles counties is an officially designated segment of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, adding an educational aspect to any exploration. Most choose to bike a portion of the trail, though hiking, running, and horseback riding are also great ways to experience the park, all the while surrounded by forests, wetlands, prairies, and abundant wildlife. A favorite stop along the way is the charming town of Rocheport, where you can make a pit stop at the bluff-top Le Bourgeois Winery for fine wine and views of the Missouri River Valley.

There’s no need to fly all the way to Italy to try the pie that earned first place at the 2007 World Pizza Cup. Just head to North Beach and Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, where chef-owner Tony Gemignani was the first American to win the title. Gemignani serves only 73 of the prize-winning Margherita pizzas a day, but the seven ovens in the kitchen make a broad selection of styles, including Sicilian, Roman, New York, St. Louis, and even a Detroit-style pie—a square pizza made with Wisconsin brick mozzarella cheese. To find Tony’s, either follow the scent of baking crust or look for the line of eager customers awaiting entry to the no-reservations corner eatery.

Why we love it: A serene stay just beyond the buzz of downtown

The Highlights:
- Guest rooms with amenities like marble bathrooms, balconies, and wood-burning fireplaces
- A mostly adult clientele
- A quiet location that’s still convenient to everything

The Review:
While other hotels rely on edgy decor, the Knob Hill Inn makes a statement with classic elegance and quality details like radiant floor heating in the marble bathrooms, feather bedding on pillowtop mattresses, and balconies with scenic views. A muted palette of neutral shades creates a calming ambience throughout, and the location—just outside downtown Ketchum—contributes to the tranquil vibe. Rooms feel like cocoons, not party zones, but the inn does offer a shuttle to downtown restaurants and Sun Valley’s ski lifts when you’re ready for some action.

If you’d rather stay on site, the Grill at Knob Hill hums with energy come evening, when guests and locals alike crowd into the cozy, fireplace-warmed space for goblets of wine and mountain-inspired meals. Baskets of fresh-baked popovers with honey butter kick off the feasting, while Kobe beef burgers and aged steaks dominate the rest of the menu. Although the inn does allow children—and dogs—it mostly appeals to couples, so the indoor pool, hot tub, and sauna offer spa-like serenity.

On a charming corner of Greenwich Street in TriBeCa, the Greenwich Hotel is a sophisticated downtown Manhattan property co-owned by actor Robert DeNiro. Since opening in 2008, this boutique hotel has earned a reputation for its discretion (only a small sign signals the entrance), offering the type of service and privacy that attracts celebrity guests. Keep an eye out for abstract expressionist paintings by Robert DeNiro’s father, Robert DeNiro Sr., throughout the hotel.

No two of the 88 rooms are alike; the design is unfussy and pleasantly understated. Spacious bathrooms—finished in Moroccan tile or Italian Carrara marble—are a highlight of the accommodations. Start your stay with a swim in the lantern-lit swimming pool before sipping a pre-dinner cocktail in the guests-only drawing room, complete with a fireplace. The hotel is also home to neighborhood favorite Italian restaurant, Locanda Verde, from beloved NYC chef Andrew Carmellini.

This Upper East Side legend opened its doors in 1930 and, since then, has offered big-city accommodations to a legion of luminaries, from John F. Kennedy and Ingrid Bergman to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The hotel’s famed restaurant Café Carlyle is where much of the action—and longstanding history—exists, having consistently hosted top talent like Woody Allen, Alan Cumming, and Rita Wilson since opening in 1955.

According to a popular saying in Holland, “Money is earned in Rotterdam, divided in Den Haag and spent in Amsterdam.” To see where financial division happens in the Netherlands, head for the country’s seat of government: The Hague or Den Haag, as the Dutch call it. Den Haag is a cultured city with just under 500,000 people―less edgy than Amsterdam but more sophisticated than Rotterdam. Amsterdam may be the capital of Holland, but you’ll find the Dutch Parliament, Supreme Court and Council of State in Den Haag. In addition to being the seat of government, the Netherlands’ third largest city (after Amsterdam and Rotterdam) also is the locale for 150 international courts, foreign embassies and international organizations. As home to the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court, it’s among six major cities that hosts the United Nations, along with New York, Vienna, Geneva, Tokyo and Nairobi.

Thanks to loosened liquor laws, Utah’s distilling scene is flourishing—the Sugar House Distillery is the third small-batch distillery to open in the state in the last year. On an informal tour you can buy bottles of owner James Fowler’s vodka and malt whiskey.

Poised on sheets of 440 million year old granite, the view across the ocean from Halibut Point seems to go on for ever. The quarry itself is a dramatic site and the surrounding tidal pools and hiking trails a great spot to explore. The Visitors Center {closes after Columbus Day} spotlights the history of this former Cape Ann industry where granite that now lines the streets and buildings of Boston was quarried.

The Cape Florida Lighthouse, in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on the tip of Key Biscayne, is the oldest lighthouse in the state. The newly restored 95-foot white-brick tower, which sits on sand and rocks, attracts plenty of visitors, who enjoy climbing up to the top for the view of downtown Miami and the Atlantic Ocean. The park also includes a replica of the lighthouse keeper’s 1825 cottage.

Mission San Diego is the very first Mission built in what is now the state of California and was built in 1769. Many people come to California for what is known as the “Mission Trail”, a tour of all the Missions built in the state by the Spaniards. You can take a tour for $2 and it is still a working Mission, so if you’re Catholic (or not) you can attend Mass.