SELECT SUMMER 2022

20 WAYS TO CELEBRATE THE SEASON

POOLS, PARKS, PICNICS, AND MORE:WHY WE LOVE SUMMER VACATION.

Summer is not just the season of warmth, light, and outdoor living. This is the season of vacation in all its varieties: family reunions, bucket-list biggies, road trips, destination weddings, and more. To kick off the season, we salute 20 reasons to love it, and where to find the best of summer around the world.

1. MAKE A SPLASH

Half the reason you check into a resort in summer is to check out the pool. Try the one with a lazy river (Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort and Spa in California). Or chill in the adult pool ringed in private cabanas (Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Hawaii). Or the one at your own private villa (Joali Being in the Maldives). Places where lifeguards never blow the whistle, attendants pass popsicles, and swim-up bars dispense frozen treats. Your advisor can plan the perfect pool day.

2. LISTEN UP

Nothing beats hearing your favorite musicians al fresco. One venue to build a trip around: Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre near Denver, the 9,545-seat auditorium built between monolithic sandstone formations for perfect natural acoustics. This summer’s bill ranges from retro Chicago and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, bluesy Tedeschi Trucks Band, country’s The Chicks, and rapper Pitbull.

3. TAKE YOUR LICKS

Who are we kidding? Ice cream rules in any season. But the cool confection meets its seasonal complement in summer. Guests at The Ritz-Carlton, Vienna can sample free homemade scoops — our pick is the local strawberry — in the lobby all summer.

4. SHOOT THE MOON

Stay up late and count the stars this summer, or even the supermoons, when the moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit and appears larger than normal. There are two this summer: June 14, and July 13. The latter might dim the annual Perseid meteor shower, which can shoot up to 100 fireballs an hour across the sky — strongest on the night of August 12. But don’t wait for a special event. Have your advisor arrange a sunset viewing atop Mt. Haleakala on Maui, Hawaii, followed by stargazing to see the Milky Way in Haleakala National Park.

5. WHERE TO PARK IT

Feel the grass between your toes at the new Presidio Tunnel Tops in San Francisco. Opening mid-July, the 14-acre park, designed by the team behind The High Line park in New York City, sits atop the Presidio Parkway tunnels, capping the thoroughfare in lawns, gardens, and playgrounds, all in view of Golden Gate Bridge. In Manhattan, explore an 80,000-square-foot rooftop park — the city’s largest — recently opened on Pier 57 at Hudson River Park. And the new Sojourner Truth State Park in Kingston, New York, will open hiking trails on 520 acres — including a section of the 750-mile Empire State Trail — overlooking the Hudson River.

6. SEE THE LIGHT

Summer is the only time to see synchronous fireflies lightup the woods of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which straddles Tennessee and North Carolina. This rare species is found in only a few places and is one of 19 species of firefly in the park. During mating season, usually in early summer, synchronous lightning bugs flash five to eight times every few seconds in a micro-strobe display.

7. TAKE A THRILL RIDE

Our picks for this year’s new class of coasters: Iron Gwazi, a hybrid steel-and-wood successor at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in Florida, boasts a 206-foot drop reaching top speeds of 76 miles per hour. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind the first Marvel-themed attraction at Walt Disney World in Orlando (Epcot, to be specific), takes place entirely indoors with projections, lighting, music, and animation, as the ride rotates 360 degrees. Emperor at SeaWorld San Diego suspends riders atop a 153-foot hill, before a 14-story drop at a 45-degree angle.

8. IN A PICKLE

Anyone can play pickleball. This fast-growing sport is a hybrid of tennis, paddleball, and ping pong. It’s showing up at resorts, from the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix with 12 lighted courts, to the spa Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico, offering guest instructors in July.

9. WORTH THE WAIT

When an event only takes place once every 10 years? Carpe summer. Holland’s Floriade Expo 2022, just outside Amsterdam, celebrates all things horticultural, from agriculture to vertical gardens, now to October 9. Originally to ward off the plague, the once-a-decade live Passion Play has been performed in the German town of Oberammergau since 1634. The 2020 version was delayed to this summer through October 2. Catch a performance during a 10-day Viking River Munich-to-Budapest cruise.

10. SPARKLE IN THE SKY

For the ultimate Independence Day celebration, get the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial in your photos when the federal display goes off on the National Mall, July 4.

11. IN THE BAG

Travel light with the Lo & Sons Catalina Deluxe weekender bag. Stash shoes in the bottom zip compartment, leaving the main chamber free for clothes, with side pockets for easy access to essentials like passports and phone chargers. The eco-friendly bags are made of organic canvas and recycled polyester; $215 USD; loandsons.com

12. PEAK EARLY

The new Sky Glider mountain gondola at Icy Strait Point, Alaska – a popular stop on Inside Passage cruises – gets you to the summit of Sky Peak in a matter of scenic minutes. This home of hiking trails offers stunning views to Glacier Bay National Park. And the system saves the emissions of 72 shuttle buses.

13. PACK A PICNIC

This classic wicker picnic basket romances any al fresco meal,be it at a Saint Barts beach, a Rocky Mountain meadow or aCalifornia vineyard. $89 USD; potterybarn.com

Where: California vineyardWhy: Go slow and watch the grapes growProvisions: Local charcuterie, crudité, and Chardonnay

Where: Saint BartsWhy: Pour-quoi pas?Provisions: Baguette, brie, and Rosé

Where: Colorado mountain meadowWhy: Savor a Rocky Mountain highProvisions: Veggie focaccia sandwiches and craft kombucha

14. SHIP SHAPE

Set sail on one of many new cruise ships making their debut.

Float the Nile on Uniworld Boutique River Cruises’ 84-passenger S.S. Sphinx or AmaWaterways’ 72-passenger AmaDahlia with itineraries that string together ancient Egyptian temples and pyramids, from Luxor to Aswan.

At the other end of the size spectrum, Royal Caribbean’s justlaunched Wonder of the Seas is the world’s largest cruise liner, carrying up to 9,300 passengers and crew, with the tallest water slide at sea, an ice skating rink, climbing walls, and a park with more than 20,000 plants. Catch it in the Mediterranean this summer. The 3,260-passenger Celebrity Beyond also debuted this spring, sailing around Europe with Captain Kate McCue at the helm.

15. PUNCH UP COCKTAIL HOUR

During their recent visit to the Bahamas, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, a.k.a. Wills and Kate, stayed at Atlantis Paradise Island (in the three-bedroom penthouse at The Cove) and sipped the Caribbean cocktail that says summer in any season: rum punch, made with coconut rum, orange juice, grenadine, and fresh lime juice. DIY or make like a royal and order one from the resort’s adult-only poolside bar Sip Sip.

16. DITCH SCHEDULES

No more in at 3 p.m., out by 11 a.m. at The Peninsula Hotels. Its new “Peninsula Promise” quality guarantee includes flexible check-in/check-out hours, plus a 24-hour concierge service via chat apps.

17. APPRECIATE ART

When it opens in June, Oslo’s National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design will illuminate its subjects with a lightflooded rooftop gallery showcasing contemporary Norwegian art, as well as an adjoining roof terrace from which to admire the harbor, filled with design landmarks.

18. THROW IN THE TOWEL

Travel chic to the shore with a Turkish towel from Maui-based Kipa Beach. Lightweight and fast-drying, these eco-friendly multitaskers can sub or as pareos or wraps. From 40 USD; kipabeach.com

19. GET OUTSIDE

With 102 acres to explore, Terranea Resort on the Southern California coast near L.A. expands its family-friendly appeal with new kayak fishing excursions, horseback riding, and seaside painting in addition to its four pools, coastal nature walks, and falconry meet-and-greets.

20. THROW SOME SHADE

Wherever your travels take you, pop on a pair of Crimpiesunnies by Poppy Lissiman, for a look that says the future’s sobright, you gotta wear shades. $130 USD; poppylissiman.com