What’s new for U.S. travelers: rum tasting in Hawaii, sky-high New York views and much more
Traveling across the Pacific or across the country, you’ll find much to tickle your travel fancy, from rum tasting in Hawaii to New York’s amazing World Observation Tower. Here’s what summer of 2015 has in store for you.
Hawaii
The new Hukilau Marketplace on the North Shore of Oahu looks old — but it’s supposed to. The 119,000-square-foot marketplace is designed to evoke the Hawaii of the 1950s with more than 40 shops, cafes and midcentury era cars on display. Hukilau is the newest addition to the Polynesian Culture Center.
Info: (800) 367-7060, https://www.hukilaumarketplace.com
A tasting room for Ko-Hana Hawaiian Agricole Rum, made from Hawaiian heirloom sugar cane, opened in May in Honolulu. Distillery tours on Wednesdays; private tours also available.
Info: (808) 649-0830, https://www.kohanarum.com
The Royal Hawaiian, the pink landmark on Waikiki, completed its remodel of its Mailani Tower in April, so all 179 guest rooms now have private lanais and ocean or pool views. Doubles from $430 a night.
Info: (866) 716-8110, (808) 923-7311, https://www.royal-hawaiian.com
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The Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui recently finished a three-year, $70-million remodel that included the addition of the Willow Stream Spa and a $5.1-million renovation of the Ko restaurant. Doubles from $499 a night.
Info: (866) 540-4456, (808) 875-4100, https://www.fairmont.com/kea-lani-maui
The new Royal Coconut Coast Kauai Food Tour by Tasting Kauai is designed to let guests learn about the cuisine of Kauai’s eastern shore by visiting a family farm, tasting traditional Hawaiian foods, seeing taro farming and discovering local culture — as well as visiting some farm-to-table restaurants for more samples.
Info: (888) 431-6660, www.lat.ms/1FdpoD8
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Alaska
Stand-up paddleboarding at midnight? This summer Alaska Paddleboard Adventures in Fairbanks is offering a new three-hour Midnight Sun Run tour (with guided instructions), with guests paddling from downtown Fairbanks along the Chena River to Chena State Recreation Area. By departing at 9 p.m., paddlers can enjoy the long-lasting sunset light on their journey along the meandering river. Through Sept. 15. Tours from $29.
Info: (907) 750-8288, https://www.akpaddleboard.com
The Fairbanks Children’s Museum, which opened Jan. 31, is designed to inspire learning and creativity in little kids with interactive exhibits for climbing, sorting, drawing, gluing, role-playing and checking things out with a magnifying glass — in other words, it’s designed for learning about science and art through play. Admission $8 for ages 1 and older.
Info: (907) 374-6873, https://www.fairbankschildrensmuseum.com
The Lakefront Anchorage, which sits on the shoreline of Lake Spenard, completed a $10-million remodel and reopened all areas on June 1. Formerly the Millennium Alaskan Hotel Anchorage, renovations included the lobby, all guest rooms and banquet halls. Plan ahead: In March the hotel will once again be the official headquarters for the Iditarod, the famous 1,000-mile-long dogsled race. Doubles from $219 a night.
Info: (907) 243-2300, www.millenniumhotels.com/usa/millenniumanchorage
In Haines, Alaska, a new 50-room Aspen Suites Hotel opened this month, and every room has a kitchen with a two-burner ceramic cook top, microwave, toaster, coffee maker and full-size refrigerator. Doubles from $169 a night.
Info: (866) 483-7848, www.aspenhotelsak.com/haines/
Portland, Ore.
Think of Portland and you think of healthy, active people burning calories while walking, hiking and bicycling. Now they — and visitors — have more places to go. Tilikum Crossing — a pedestrian-, bike- and streetcar-only bridge — will link the west side of Portland with the bustling and gentrifying Central Eastside Industrial District and, at 1,720 feet long, will become America’s largest car-free bridge when it opens in September.
Info: https://www.lat.ms/1Mwkl6k
Two alumni from the French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., and a chef who’s worked in a number of San Francisco’s Italian restaurants in May opened Renata, billed as a “modern Italian restaurant.†It’s already becoming known for its wood-fired pizzas.
Info: (503) 954-2708, https://www.renatapdx.com
The Commons Brewery in March relocated its brewery and tasting room to southeast Portland. It features European-style beers made with ingredients from the Northwest.
Info: (503) 343-5501, https://www.commonsbrewery.com
The Society Hotel, a historic lodging for sailors, will open this fall as Chinatown’s first hotel and “an affordable boutique hotel†with a hostel-like dormitory downstairs and private rooms upstairs. Dorm beds from $40. Doubles without bath from $95 a night; with bath from $145.
Info: https://www.thesocietyhotel.com
Seattle
This summer Seattle’s Museum of History & Industry hosts “American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition.†The exhibition, which covers the temperance movement from the early 19th century through the 21st Amendment that ended Prohibition, features, among other artifacts, moonshine equipment. Through Aug. 23.
Info: (206) 324-1126, https://www.lat.ms/1JONOtc
Travel, music and wine are combined at the Adventure Hub & Winery, created by EverGreen Escapes, Kaf Adventures and Elsom Cellars. Visitors can savor a glass of wine while reading guide books, listening to travel presentations or planning a guided trip. Adventure Hub, which opened in March, also rents camping, backpacking and snow equipment.
Info: (866) 203-7603, https://www.evergreenescapes.com/adventure-hub
Not far from Pike Place Market, the Palladian Building, built in 1910, has been renovated and reopened in February as a 97-room Kimpton hotel, also named the Palladian. The makeover added Shaker & Spear, a fresh seafood restaurant, and Pennyroyal, an “old-world-style bar with an edgy urban vibe.†Doubles from $259 a night.
Info: (855) 808-0900, https://www.palladianhotel.com
A new Hyatt House Seattle/Downtown near the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project opened in May. The central location makes it easy for guests to get to the waterfront, Pike Place Market and the Seattle Art Museum. Doubles from $179 a night.
Info: (206) 727-1234, https://www.seattledowntown.house.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html
Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park’s Canyon Lodge and Cabins, near popular Lower Yellowstone Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, will open rooms in three new lodge buildings by August. Next year Canyon Lodge will open two more buildings, for a total of 409 rooms replacing about 400 cabins built in the 1950s and 1960s. Walking and biking trails are also being added. Open through Sept. 20. Doubles from $122 a night.
Info: (866) 439-7375, www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/lodging/summer-lodges/canyon-lodge-cabins/
Southwest
Mustang Monument Wild Horse Eco Resort, a private, upscale, 900-square-mile horse sanctuary in Wells, Nev., now offers offsite covered-wagon “glamping†in Goshute Valley. Called the California Trail Camp Out, the experience includes sleeping in covered wagons as the pioneers did — only this version is more glamorous and comfortable. Doubles from $1,200 a night (in a tepee) and $1,600 in a cottage. Includes meals. No additional charge for the wagon camp.
Info: (888) 979-1422, https://www.mustangmonument.com
Lake Powell Resorts & Marinas in Page, Ariz., has just begun a 5-7 p.m. boat cruise along some of the most beautiful areas of the lake: Castle Rock, Warm Creek Bay, Tower Butte, Gunsight, Cookie Jar and Padre Butte. Through Sept. 4.
Info: (888) 896-3829, https://www.lakepowell.com
In Bluff, Utah, the Desert Rose Inn & Cabins added 16 courtyard rooms, a hot tub and a pool last summer. This month it opened a restaurant, Duke’s, serving American cuisine. The inn is about a 40-minute drive from Monument Valley. Doubles from $150 a night.
Info: (888) 475-7673, https://www.desertroseinn.com
Goulding’s Lodge, in Monument Valley, Utah, has been a fixture in the spectacular Four Corners region since the 1920s. By August it plans to open 52 town home cottages designed for families. Doubles from $94 a night.
Info: (435) 727-3231, www.gouldings.com/campground/cabins/
Browns Canyon, designated a national monument in February, was carved by the Arkansas River and is a popular area for white-water rafting, hiking, camping and mountain biking. It’s also popular with elk, deer, falcons, eagles and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, the Colorado state mammal.
Info: https://www.lat.ms/1MwUKtY
The 125-mile-long Tracks Across Borders, which runs from Durango, Colo., to Chama, N.M., near the Colorado-New Mexico state line, became Colorado’s newest official scenic byway in April. The byway passes near Navajo Lake, the Southern Ute Indian Reservation and Chimney Rock National Monument.
Info: https://www.lat.ms/1e9I5mc
The new geometrically inspired ART Hotel, in Denver’s art-and-culture district, opens this month with contemporary works on every floor. The design of each of the 165 guest rooms is “inspired by†one artist. Doubles from $289.
Info: (303) 572-8000, https://www.thearthotel.com
The Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs, Colo., has just opened a fly-fishing camp on the Tarryall River with a restored lodge and seven cabins — and five miles of private riverbank. The experience is not like camping out.
Info: (855) 634-7711, www.broadmoor.com/fishing-camp/
Texas
Annie Oakley gets a lot of attention in the extensive remodel of the first floor of Fort Worth’s National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, billed as “the only museum in the world dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage in their trail-blazing efforts.†Visitors can see a life-size statue of Oakley as well as some of her clothing
Info: (817) 336-4475, https://www.cowgirl.net
Illinois
Want to get away from it all? Or at least above it all? The 606, a part of the Rails-to-Trails initiative, runs for 2.7 miles through the center of the Chicago. It took 10 years to create the green spaces and the route for walkers, joggers and bicyclists.
Info: https://www.the606.org
Florida
The Orlando Eye, a 400-foot-tall observation wheel — formerly called a Ferris wheel — carries passengers in air-conditioned glass gondolas for a panoramic view of Florida’s vast green landscape. On a clear day, they say, you can see Cape Canaveral on Florida’s East Coast. Adults, $25; children ages 3 to 12, $20.
Info: (866) 228-6438, https://www.OfficialOrlandoEye.com
New York
One World Observatory — on top of Manhattan’s One World Trade Center, one of the tallest buildings in the Western Hemisphere — lets visitors experience a panoramic view of New York City from 1,250 feet above street level. Even the elevator ride up is an experience: As visitors ascend, they watch the elevator walls display a changing screen showing how views of New York have changed from the 1500s to the present.
Info: (844) 696-1776, https://www.oneworldobservatory.com
The new Whitney Museum of American Art, which opened May 1, stands near the Hudson River and the southern end of the High Line elevated park in Manhattan. Designed by architect Renzo Piano, the building, with its glass and reflective surfaces, is a work of contemporary art all its own.
Info: (212) 570-3600, https://www.whitney.org
The Baccarat Hotel, which opened in Manhattan in March, is an ultra-luxe hotel full of posh amenities. Its motto: “The best that can be done.†Doubles from $899.
Info: (844) 294-1764, https://www.baccarathotels.com/en/baccarat-new-york
Built in 1909, the Manhattan clock-tower landmark and 41-story former headquarters of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. reopened in May as the 273-room New York Edition. Doubles from $525 a night.
Info: (212) 413-4200, https://www.editionhotels.com/new-york
Designed with young creative types in mind, the Tommie Hudson Square hotel will open Nov. 1. Doubles from $249 a night.
Info: (844) 686-6643, https://www.tommiehotels.com
The Weeksville Heritage Center, a museum dedicated to celebrating the history of Weeksville, Brooklyn, one of America’s first free black communities, opened its Cultural Arts and Education Building in October. The center preserves local 19th century history in traditional and experimental ways, including the use of art, performance, poetry slams, architecture and ecology. Tickets $5-10.
Info: (718) 756-5250, https://www.weeksvillesociety.org
In May the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration in New York Harbor opened its Peopling of America Center, which covers immigration here from the 16th century to the present.
Info: (212) 363-3200, www.nps.gov/elis/
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