Thank God for Friday—the gateway to a new adventure. Celebrated in movies and songs, the weekend looms large in the imagination.
It seduces us with the heady possibilities of recreation, relaxation, and romance.
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It’s our eagerly anticipated escape valve, a release from the daily grind.
For some city dwellers, the siren call of a nearby beach or a house in the country is irresistible. Yet over time, even that can become routine. Every so often, we need to get away from the usual, without making it seem like work. That’s where Travel + Leisure comes in. We sent intrepid reporters across North America to scout out easy weekend getaways, and their discoveries range from an affordable nine-room New England inn in tiny North Haven, ME, to renovated bungalows in the hills of Santa Barbara, CA.
For gastronomy-gone-wild, let us introduce a chef with molecular juju in New Orleans, a smorgasbord of Asian cuisines in a suburb of Vancouver, and all-you-can-eat itineraries in emerging foodie locales such as Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood and the vineyard-covered Willamette Valley. Just south of Portland and, seemingly, a world away from posh Napa, it’s the place to tell your wine-loving friends back home about over a glass of Oregon Pinot Noir from the Bethel Heights Vineyard.
If the workweek has you feeling adventurous, the 5.4-mile-long Angels Landing Trail in Zion Canyon, UT, or sea kayaking around Washington’s San Juan Island will get your adrenaline pumping. Or by all means, just let yourself chill out, because maybe the best weekend of all is a day or two at the beach, especially if you stay at a Patricia Urquiola–designed hotel on the red-hot Puerto Rican island of Vieques.
Whatever you do, take a tip from legendary smarty-pants magazine columnist Marilyn vos Savant: “Be in the habit of getting up bright and early on the weekends. Why waste such precious time in bed?”
Good advice. After all, the next great weekend trip may just be next weekend. Start planning yours by taking a tour of our slideshow.
See the easy weekend getaways >
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Vancouver
Snowcapped mountains and expansive bays form the backdrop for the Northwest’s greatest boomtown—a city of diverse neighborhoods that embraces both outdoorsy culture and innovation.
The 2010 Olympics sparked a major development frenzy, and along with new restaurants and boutiques came renovations of several landmark hotels. Make your base downtown’s 1927 Rosewood Hotel Georgia($$$), with revamped Art Deco–inspired rooms and a slick, dark-wood-and-gold paneled restaurant run by star chef David Hawksworth.
From there, it’s a leisurely stroll to Stanley Park, where you can hike along the 14-mile Seawall Trail. Or head to the Victorian Gastown neighborhood to see Native American art galleries such as the three-story Hill’s Native Art, which showcases ceremonial masks and totem poles, limited-edition prints, and bentwood boxes.
The Skytrain at nearby Water Station will take you to suburban Richmond, home to Vancouver’s Asian culinary scene: dim sum temples; noodle huts; Korean barbecue joints—you’ll find them all here. Don’t miss the standout mushroom dumplings and clay-pot chicken at local favorite Jade Seafood($$).
For the city’s best shopping, the indie district around King Edward Avenue is full of one-off gems. Look for vintage leather clutches and bags at Front & Company and contemporary crafts at Walrus.—David A. Keeps
North Haven, Maine
Sometimes a single hotel can put a relatively unknown destination on the map—and so it was with the cheerful Nebo Lodge($) and the three-mile-wide Penobscot Bay island of North Haven, an hour’s ferry ride from Rockland.
The nine-room property has all the trappings you’d expect from a classic New England island escape—gray wainscoting, shady porches, cast-iron beds, and claw-foot tubs—but the imaginative food of chef Amanda Hallowell is reason in itself to visit.
Summertime North Haven regulars such as novelist Susan Minot and artist Eric Hopkins have come to sample her hyper-local dishes—a peppered-mackerel Caesar salad and a pickle plate of sweet beets, celery, and fennel, to name two. What to do when you’re not eating?
Live the pine-shaded, salty Maine fantasy, of course: bike the island’s 30 miles of roads, climb to the top of Ames Knob, laze on the beaches of Mullen’s Head Park, and explore pint-size Main Street. Find Ping-Pong and evening concerts at Waterman’s Community Center; made-in-Maine ceramics at North Haven Gift Shop(207/867-4444); and farther south, the new Fox I Printworks, which stocks quirky T-shirts silk-screened with lighthouses and tractors.
Don’t leave town without a stop at the North Island Museum, where you’ll learn about the area’s evolution from a Native American territory to the lobster-fishing hamlet it is today. —Kate Sekules
Springdale, Utah
It’s just a 2 1/2-hour drive from Las Vegas to this small town on the Virgin River, but the desert gets empty and wild surprisingly fast.
Springdale is the anti-Vegas: serious canyoneers mingle with fine-art photographers at weekly gallery openings, the Springdale Fruit Company sells organic fruit smoothies, and plein-air painters head to workshops at the Zion Canyon Field Institute.
The biggest draw, however, is nearby Zion Canyon, a narrow funnel of 2,000-foot-high sandstone walls glossy with a crimson patina and top-heavy buttes that appear to shoot straight up from earth to sky.
By far the best place to stay is the understated Desert Pearl Inn($). Like the rest of Springdale, it’s authentic without trying too hard: reclaimed old-growth Douglas fir floors and a tawny palette of neutrals provide a soothing retreat from the blazing red rock outside.
During late spring and summer, crowds are a fact of life here, but the guides at Zion Adventure Company can steer you through the lesser-known hikes. If you absolutely must trek the popular, precipitous, and occasionally terrifying 5.4-mile-long Angels Landing Trail, do as the locals do and set out at dawn when it’s cooler and quieter.
You’ll be back in time for slow-cooked-pork burritos at Oscar’s Café($$), a swim in the hotel pool, and a well-earned siesta on your private terrace. Springdale comes alive in the evenings when residents gather for sweet-potato tamales and fresh tilapia at the Bit & Spur($$) and Saturday-night music festivals at the O. C. Tanner Amphitheater.
Before heading back to Vegas, swing by the Red Mountain Resort(treatments from $60) adventure spa—there’s no better way to end the trip than with a regionally inspired hot-stone massage. —Katie Arnold
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