See the USA this vacation stay. As American travelers hit the road this holiday to welcome the beginning of Summer snd while many are still subdued by pandemic, #CityImages recommends a safe #StayCation
A staycation or a nation vacation is a period in which an individual or family stays in their home country and participate in leisure activities within a relatively short distance of their home and does not require a passport.
Carova Beach, Outer Banks, North Carolina
Miles of white sand abound on this barrier island beach, where the roads are all unpaved and accessible only by 4WD. At Carova Beach, situated near the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge on the Virginia-North Carolina line, wild stallions run through the surf.
Canaveral National Seashore and Merritt Island, Florida
Located on Florida’s Space Coast, this network of parks, dunes, lagoons, and isolated beaches is home to all kinds of critters, great and small. Keep an eye peeled for boobies, gannets, Florida scrub jays, manatees, and bottlenose dolphins.
Montaña de Oro State Park, San Luis Obispo, California
This park on California’s Central Coast earned its name Mountain of Gold from the vibrant orange poppies that cover it from March through May, but its sculpted cliffs, secluded sandy beaches, and 1,347-foot Valencia Peak sweeten the deal.
Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville, Texas
This mosaic of inlets and islets on the sunny Texas/Mexico border—where the Rio Grande meets the Gulf of Mexico—offers 8 miles of empty sandy beach. The dunes are home to prickly pear and yucca, while the beach itself—short on services—is popular with nesting sea turtles.
Happy Trails
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
Known locally as T or C, Truth or Consequences is a scruffy cowboy hub (pop. 5,753) built around a bend on the Rio Grande about 160 miles south of Albuquerque. More than a dozen thermal baths burble around the area, which explains why the town was originally named Hot Spring before it garnered its more colorful moniker in 1950, thanks to a publicity stunt for the television game show of the same name. Visitors can venture out into the rust-colored hills and grasslands on any number of hiking trails sierracountynewmexico.info lists a few options) or loiter in town browsing the cluster of galleries, offering a more contemporary alternative to Santa Fe’s folk art scene. Time your visit during a Second Saturday Art Hop to chat up locals at galleries like Desert Archaic, Rio Bravo Fine Arts, and Main Street Gallery.
Staying There: Look for the green neon sign hanging over the town’s 17-room Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa, one of four Ted Turner Reserves in the state. Guests here have access to the 156,000-acre Ladder Ranch, 45-minutes southwest, or the 362,885-acre Armendaris Ranch, 20 minutes east. Both offer safari-style game drives and encounters with bison, burrowing owls, roadrunner, and endangered tortoises. Afterward, plop down on the balcony for explosive pink sunsets, or slip into the soapstone bath filled with 104°F hot spring water from $160 a night, tedturnerreserves.com
Seaside Sojourns
Georgia’s Barrier Islands
Of the 15 main barrier islands that line Georgia’s 110-mile coastline, Cumberland Island is among the most scenic and least populated. Much of the landscape—a windswept panorama of sand dunes, wide sand beaches, and marshland—is protected as a national seashore, while the most famous residents are a herd of wild horses, descendants of Paso Finos abandoned by 16th-century Spanish conquistadors. They survive on sedges and sea-oats, a diet sustained by 221 days of annual sunshine.
Georgia’s Island Idylls
A string of barrier islands lines the state’s coastline. One is unspoiled natural beauty, the other masters' old-fashioned seaside glamour.
Staying There: Cumberland Island is just a 45-minute ferry ride from the mainland, which means you can easily visit as a day-tripper. But if you opt to spend the night, you’ll need a camping permit nps.gov/cuis or a reservation at the atmospheric, all-inclusive Greyfield Inn, occupying a 1900 estate (from $675 a night, greyfieldinn.com. To mingle with more people than horses, consider staying on neighboring Sea Island, home to the venerable Cloister, designed by Palm Beach architect Addison Mizner in 1928. There, you can sink into a rocking chair around the bonfire with a bourbon-spiked ice tea. The hotel’s Carrara marble columns, Moorish Venetian windows, and terra-cotta roofs add Mediterranean vibes to the jazz-age setting (from $599 a night, seaisland.com For a more affordable island stay, drift over to Jekyll Island and book an oceanfront room at the 200-room Westin hotel built in the quiet dunes of an undeveloped stretch of white sand (from $229 a night, marriott.com
Fire and Ice
Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Only a thin sliver of southern Colorado is located in the Sun Belt, but its 300 days of annual sunshine give you a reason to slather on the SPF. Surrounded by the arid San Juan Mountains and an hour east of Durango, Pagosa Springs isn’t short on outdoor attractions. Visitors can speed down powder runs at nearby Wolf Creek Ski Area, open until early April, or explore 200 ancient stone structures built circa 900 by Ancestral Puebloans at Chimney Rock National Monument, reopening for the season in mid-May. The town itself is home to the world’s deepest geothermal spring, feeding over 40 hot springs pools where you can warm up on cool spring nights.
A Steamy Escape in a sliver of Colorado sits in the Sun Belt, including Pagosa Springs, home to the world’s deepest geothermal hot spring.
Staying There: In November 2019, the Nightingale Motel reopened after a gut renovation amped up its roadside retro character with pine wall paneling, Eames chairs, and, for longer stays, kitchenettes. Its moody Neon Mallard bar, awash in red velvet chairs and quilted Naugahyde stools, is open, but if you’d rather imbibe al fresco, grab a spot around the fire-pit and order one of the nightly special cocktails—like a cherry blossom Martini—or Mexican hot chocolate spiked with Añejo Tequila and ancho chile from $124 a night thenightingalemotel.com
A Barrel of Fun
Anderson Valley, California
If you dream of a wine country sojourn without marauding parties of bachelors and girlfriend-getaway hordes, set your GPS to California’s less-trodden and sun-kissed Anderson Valley in Mendocino County, two hours northwest of Napa yet seemingly worlds apart. The sunny valley has none of the fog of the Mendocino coastline, one hour west on Highway 128 and nicknamed Dramamine Drive for its twists and turns through ancient Redwood groves. The valley’s warm sunny days 216 a year on average and cool nights are coveted by many winemakers, especially those specializing in Alsatian-style whites like Gewürztraminer and Riesling, which put Anderson Valley on the oenophile’s map. Scharffenberger Cellars produces a sparkling Brut ideal for popping open to toast the pandemic’s end, while Phillips Hill Winery sells six varietals in their tasting room, a former apple drying barn, so you can stock up for another lockdown.
Staying There: Foursight Wines runs two guesthouses in the vineyards and offers Zoom tastings with sommeliers and winemakers.
A Slice of NYC Paradise
City Island, New York is a quaint New England-type fishing cove nestled in the northeasternmost point of New York City.
There are no hotels on the island, except Bed and Breakfasts, but there are plenty of places to enjoy all types of meals.
