Best Driving Vacations 2019

Plein air Pittsburgh: outdoors in Steel City

Leisure, learning and laughs in Chautauqua

Hot brown: Kentucky bourbon is booming

Plus

Raleigh’s fastgrowing food e and drink scen

Trips of Discovery

Urban water voyages, scenic countryside tours and much more to seek out

Mad about Madison’s abundant arts and eats

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Contents 6 30 The Cultural Capital

Madison isn’t just another Big Ten college town. In fact, Wisconsin’s central city is a bustling hub of art, live music and culinary delight.

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The Spirit of Kentucky For aficionados and curious travelers alike, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail offers more than just a taste of the state’s booming brown liquor.

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All-American Chautauqua

Over the last century and a half, this New York lakeside town has become a haven for a unique brand of leisure learning and summer fun.

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Adventures in the New Steel City Industrial Pittsburgh has given way to a modern city that leverages its natural beauty for all manner of sightseeing tours and outdoor adventures.

Raleigh’s Restaurant Renaissance

Sailing on Chautauqua Lake ON THE COVER The downtown Madison skyline

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Photo: On the cover, Bryce Richter /UW-Madison; This page, Chautauqua Institution

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D I S C OV E R H O W

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Editor’s Note

Discoveries, Near and Away

technology to speed up the liquor’s precious aging process (Page 14). In Madison, a statehouse statue named Forward that was created at the 1893 World’s Fair inspires artists and activists today (Page 6).

The best news is all those places are within an eighthour drive and are ripe for discovery. Or perhaps rediscovery if it’s been a while since you visited. So by all means, take a trip to Macau. Explore. Gamble. Eat the quesadilla. But maybe check out Pittsburgh again first.

Cheers,

Chris Gaitten Editor PHOTO: Rob Hardin

A little over two years ago, my girlfriend and I celebrated our first Thanksgiving together in a Mexican restaurant called El Pinball inside the City of Dreams resort in Macau. Emily had temporarily relocated to Hong Kong for work, and I got to visit her that November.

An hour boat trip to Macau seemed too good to pass up. There, in the glittery heart of a gambling oasis connected to mainland China, we eschewed turkey and stuffing for what I’m guessing was the world’s least authentic quesadilla.

Emily (now my fiancée) and I explored as much of the peninsula as we could that day. What we discovered was a mishmash of cultures and history, and a place in transition. On one side, the people and food and sensibility were Chinese, but the architecture and historical ruins displayed remnants of Portuguese colonialism. The other side was full of shiny resorts that in many cases were replicas of Las Vegas casinos. It was an odd and compelling juxtaposition— an ancient Chinese civilization, a former European outpost and a symbol of contemporary Asian wealth modeled after American excess. Every scene felt simultaneously familiar and new.

Those discoveries don’t always require a flight around the world, though, or a flight at all. In this issue, Best Driving Vacations highlights many examples of places undergoing cultural change. In Pittsburgh, the rivers and hillsides that transported raw materials like coal and iron ore now carry people on sightseeing tours of cityscapes and natural beauty (Page 36). Meanwhile, a culinary hotbed has risen in Raleigh’s once-overlooked Capitol Square neighborhood, where a Laotian family serves Chinese dim sum and Belgian beers, and some of the best Southern food anywhere is being cooked in a renovated Piggly Wiggly grocery store nearby (Page 24).

In some cases, discovery isn’t found in the transition between old and new but in the coexistence of antiquated settings and modern life. The Chautauqua Institution’s summer programming is topical and relevant, even if its tent-show presentations and the walkable lakeside community are more attuned to the early 20th century (Page 30). On the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, 200-year-old distilleries continue to stand the test of time while newer brands incorporate

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Columbus Monthly Best Driving Vacations 2019

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columbusmonthly.com President Bradley M. Harmon Publisher/General Manager Ray Paprocki Associate publisher/Advertising Director Rheta Gallagher

EDITORIAL Best Driving Vacations Editor Chris Gaitten Columbus Monthly Editor Dave Ghose Special Sections Editor Emma Frankart Henterly contributors Lindsay Christians, Lynn Freehill-Maye, Sara Havens, Jillian Span Hofbauer, Tami Kamin Meyer

DESIGN & production Production/Design Director Craig Rusnak Art director Alyse Pasternak Associate art director Betsy Becker

Digital Editor Erin Edwards Assistant Digital Editor Brittany Moseley

Photography Photo Editor Tim Johnson Associate Photo Editor Rob Hardin

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Marketing marketing manager Lauren Reinhard

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PHOTO: Rob Hardin

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Madison, WI

Photo: Š 2019 Thinkstock

The Wisconsin State Capitol, with the Forward statue in the foreground

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Cultural

G

Capital Photo: © 2019 Thinkstock

W

hen artists Bird Ross and Brenda Baker agreed to create artwork for the 100th anniversary of Wisconsin’s Capitol building, they found inspiration in one of the most visible places in Madison—a proud, welcoming statue called Forward.

Standing 7 feet tall in bronze, Forward poses at the intersection of two of the city’s most iconic spots: the Capitol building and State Street, a half-mile-long pedestrian mall to the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Sculpted by Wisconsin artist Jean Pond Miner at the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, Forward was named for the single-word state motto, funded entirely by a women’s group and installed as Madison’s first official piece of public art. Today, she’s a touchstone.

Protesters give her signs to carry. During the Women’s March in 2017, Lady Forward wore a pink hat.

“Forward became a woman we thought was worth educating people about,” Ross says. “The story really piques people’s interest.”

For their Being Forward exhibition, Ross and Baker shot black-and-white photographs of more than 100 women who create or support visual arts in Madison, each draped and posed like the statue herself. The 5-by-7-inch images continue to grow in number, as does a new endowment called the Women Artists Forward Fund. The pair will display their photography this fall at Madison’s Central Library, and if Forward could step off her pedestal, she’d have to walk less than two blocks to see it.

“We feel honored to work with what Jean Pond Miner has done for us,” Ross says. “It seems natural

Discover a wealth of public art, a lively music scene and creative, farm-driven cuisine in Madison.

By Lindsay Christians

to move it forward in this way, with more meaning.

We want to honor women who have come before us … we feel lucky that she’s a part of Madison history.”

Being Forward reflects a cultural aesthetic that feels particular to Madison—progressive values, deep local ties and looking to the future with a healthy respect for the past. It encourages viewers to look closely, an apt theme for exploring the city’s cultural landscape.

Circle the Square Located about 500 miles (7.5 hours by car) northwest of Columbus, Madison was designated as the capital of Wisconsin in 1836, 20 years before it incorporated as a city. Now home to about a quarter-million people, it boasts the state’s flagship university, the aforementioned UW-Madison. Water borders the city on many sides. To the north is Lake Mendota. Lake Monona, where water-skiers practice their pyramids every Sunday all summer long, is to the south. Little Lake Wingra, on the near west side, is best for boat rentals if you want to see a whole lake on a kayak, and it borders the tiny, free Henry Vilas Zoo. The Capitol building is perched on a hill on an isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona. A cultural tour of Madison would do well to start here, at the city’s functional epicenter, with a walk around the Capitol. Guides lead free, 45-minute tours daily, and in summer the Lantern Observation Deck on the sixth floor offers a stunning bird’s-eye view.

Just one block down State Street, visitors can see a serious amount of art with little walking. The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, at 227 State St., is free and open every day but Mondays. Designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli, the museum hosts rotating shows by artists such as Do Ho Suh, Frank Stella and Jeffrey Gibson, whose first major museum exhibition, Like a Hammer, opens in June.

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Madison, WI If you happen in on a Saturday morning, buy a tote to schlep around the Dane County Farmers’ Market, the largest producer-only farmers market in the country.

Madison’s farm-to-table movement was one of the first in the nation, beginning in the 1970s with the opening of L’Etoile. Two of the restaurant’s leaders, founder Odessa Piper and current executive chef Tory Miller, have taken home James Beard Awards for Best Chef in the Midwest. That fresh-from-the-farm sensibility has pervaded the local scene, resulting in an explosion of excellent restaurants. It takes minimal effort for visitors to find fresh eggs in crêpes at coffee shops (Bradbury’s) or bloody marys built with local tomatoes (Marigold Kitchen).

For a quick lunch, grab a sandwich at Casetta Kitchen and Counter, a friendly deli with an ItalianAmerican slant that also has a surprisingly good wine selection. Or sit down at Graze, L’Etoile’s more casual sister, with floor-to-ceiling windows and the same great Wisconsin products.

Top, music-lovers enjoy Concerts on the Square.

Bottom left, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Bottom right, pedestrians stop to purchase lunch or a quick snack from a number of food carts set up along a walkway in Library Mall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Photos: Clockwise from top right, Christopher Klinge; Bryce Richter; Nicholas M. Sadowski

Tucked onto the second floor next to the main galleries, the Imprint Gallery is among the state’s only dedicated spaces for constantly running video installations and multimedia work. Seek it out; there’s almost always something extraordinary running. In the museum’s rooftop sculpture garden, artist Meg Mitchell grows hops that are brewed into museumbranded beers, including an IPA, a cider and a black tea porter. Look for Civic Exchange Society’s beer cans, covered in quotations by Alfred Lord Tennyson and Emma Goldman, in Madison-area liquor stores.

Next door, Overture Center for the Arts has four floors of rotating gallery space among its many performance venues. Start in the James Watrous Gallery run by the Wisconsin Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The Watrous wraps around Overture’s third floor and hosts side-by-side solo exhibitions by Wisconsin artists spanning a range of media, from abstract cyanotypes to large sculptures inspired by a rural cemetery.

Downtown is also the prime gathering place for large-scale outdoor performances during the summer.

After six weeks of orchestral pops at Concerts on the Square every Wednesday from late June through early August, Jazz at Five takes over the top of State Street.

On Fridays in August, an all-ages crowd moves in unison to the “Cha Cha Slide” and jams to cover bands on the roof of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Monona Terrace. The Dane Dances concert series alternates DJs and live bands throughout the night, and like the rest of these shows, it’s free.

For artsy souvenirs and gifts, head across Capitol Square to Anthology, a Wisconsin-centric gallery packed with locally made treasures. Near a rack of dangly earrings in the shape of the iconic sunburst chairs on the Memorial Union Terrace (more on that later), Anthology stocks cheeky prints and linen towels inscribed with, “My heart is clogged with cheese curds and love.”

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Photos: Clockwise from top right, Christopher Klinge; Bryce Richter; Nicholas M. Sadowski

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People relax at Memorial Union Terrace along Lake Mendota at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and watch the 1978 movie “Animal House.”

No trip to Capitol Square should omit Fromagination, a sweet little cheese shop that’s packed edge-toedge with treats. Grab some Hook’s aged cheddar and sheep’s milk cheese from Landmark Creamery, but don’t sleep on Nutkrack’s sweet-salty caramelized pecans, silky dark chocolate from Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier and a jar of Quince and Apple’s preserves.

Dinner downtown can go in a dozen directions, but you won’t go wrong at the bustling Heritage Tavern, led by a classically trained chef who now raises heritage hogs, or Osteria Papavero, a cozy, romantic spot serving rustic northern Italian dishes from a Bologna-born chef. Graft is sleek and elegant, with half-circle booths and a fantastic cocktail list. Merchant, ground zero of the city’s craft cocktail movement, hosts the happiest hour in town.

For a taste of the Wisconsin supper club tradition, make a reservation at Tornado Club Steak House. Its best kept secret is a late-night menu served all week (even Mondays). On weekends, slip down to a speakeasy on the lower level called The Corral Room, which features plush, scalloped banquettes and historic maps on the walls.

If the weather turns a little chilly, put your name in at Morris Ramen, where the tonkotsu is silky and service is swift. Bide time until your table is ready next door at Restaurant Muramoto with edamame and a glass of sake, or get a beer and goat cheese curds—a fun twist on a local standard—at The Tipsy Cow. Bucky’s Backyard State Street is Madison’s answer to High Street, and it’s similarly populated by boutiques, bars and, increasingly, chains. But there’s plenty of cultural life

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on campus proper and lots to see even if your college days are well behind you.

Recently renovated and expanded, the Memorial Union Terrace facing Lake Mendota hosts outdoor movie nights all summer long, as well as music from a wide range of performers—jazz trios and open mic nights, dance groups and DJs. Scott Gordon is the editor and publisher of the website Tone Madison, which covers local arts and culture, and he recommends the Isthmus Jazz Festival in June and the World Music Festival in September.

“Sometimes the music that’s booked out there is really surprising,” Gordon says. Visitors are as likely to hear a big band playing American songbook standards as they are a folk group or a calypso steel-drum band, so check the listings.

Head away from the lake for one block and you’ll be at the door to the Chazen Museum of Art, two buildings connected by an overhead pedestrian walkway. If you only have a few minutes, check out the main gallery on the first floor, which hosts traveling exhibitions like Samurai: The Way of the Warrior, or, through May 2019, Gillian Laub’s new photography series, Southern Rites.

Easily the most controversial piece of public art in recent Madison history can be found on campus at the Camp Randall football stadium, home of the Wisconsin Badgers and their mascot, Bucky. Donald Lipski’s “Nails’ Tales,” a lumpy, hotly debated tower of limestone footballs, was erected outside the stadium in 2006. Allegedly, former athletic director Barry Alvarez wanted something “virile” that projected “power and strength.” Draw your own conclusions about what it looks like.

Campus-area dining is dominated by pubs and fast food, but in the midst of the lowbrow fare, the Library

Photo: Jeff Miller

Madison, WI

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East Side Flavor Madison has a crunchy, hippie history as well as a rich industrial past. Both of those traits have influenced the creative life of the city, visually and musically, and nowhere more so than on the east side.

Public art is highly concentrated as you drive east, first visible in metal sculptor Erica Koivunen’s 32-foot

Gateway tree that welcomes traffic from the Capitol onto Williamson Street. The mural wall on the western side of Mother Fool’s Coffeehouse at Willy and Paterson streets changes a dozen times a year. Permanent murals include the bold piece by Panmela Castro on the side of the Willy Street Co-op, Michael Owen’s sign language “LOVE” mural at Plan B and Stefan Matioc’s cartoonish, graffiti-inspired faces on Banzo Shuk and Next Door Brewing Co. To find the most exciting new cluster of public art, you’ll have to hunt for it. Madison Mural Alley,

The “Better Together” mural by Flavia Zimbardi, Caetano Calomino and Henrique Nardi in Madison Mural Alley

Photo: Jeff Miller

Photo: The Bubbler at Madison Public Library

Mall food carts are a warm-weather oasis. These carts— not trucks, which would surpass city size limits—span the globe and play with flavors, from Korean-style tacos to Indonesian nasi goreng. Try green-flecked falafel from Banzo, co-owned by a young Israeli woman, or arepas filled with reina pepiada (Venezuelan chicken salad) from Caracas Arepas. Fresh Cool Drinks sells massive spring rolls the size of a burrito.

Mix and match beef, pork and tofu buns at SoHo Gourmet Cuisines, or enjoy some shrimp at Cali Fresh.

If you’re close to campus at dinnertime and not already booked for a burger at Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry, Italian is the way to go. Lombardino’s is a local classic, a former red sauce joint that evolved into something more elevated without losing the kitschy Venice mural or family-friendly vibe. Don’t let the Chef Boyardeeesque artwork on the outside of the building fool you; the Chianti is actually good here. Greenbush Bar beneath the Italian Workmen’s Club is dark, low-ceilinged and strung with multicolored Christmas lights, and the pizza is some of the city’s best.

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Play in the Woods Founded in 1979, American Players Theatre is a top-notch classical theater company in Spring Green, Wisconsin, about an hour’s drive west of Madison. With the addition of the 200-seat indoor Touchstone Theatre to its flagship outdoor Hill Theatre, APT’s full season runs June through October.

Opening in June, John Langs directs “Twelfth Night,” Shakespeare’s comedy of twins, shipwrecks, cross-dressing

and misguided love. In the bawdy comedy “She Stoops to Conquer,” a daughter of society pretends to be a barmaid to find out if the man she’s supposed to marry is a good guy.

In recent years, APT has looked beyond its Shakespearean roots to more contemporary classics.

This season offers the company’s first August Wilson play, “Fences,” and Lauren Gunderson’s “The Book of Will,” a 2017

play that imagines how the king’s men saved Shakespeare’s work from theft and obscurity.

Visitors should allow extra time to picnic on the grounds before the show and make the quartermile trek up the hill to the theater. APT has a shuttle and accessible seating at all price levels. Tickets cost $50-$95, with discounts available during preseason sales. Find out more at americanplayers.org or by calling 608-588-2361.

dedicated in summer 2018, isn’t on the map yet.

Search for Hermina Street behind the East Side Shopping Center to see a series of five murals, each designed by a professional muralist and created in collaboration with local teens. The murals honor musicians, factory workers and the first African-American graduate from UW-Madison, among other subjects.

It’s a burst of color behind a drab shopping center, and you’ll only find it if you know where to look.

The east side’s innovative art spaces are tucked away, too. Communication, an arts nonprofit and event space open since 2018, hosts exhibitions and shows in a tiny former blinds shop across from a bourbon bar.

Arts + Literature Laboratory resides in an unassuming red brick building that hosts creative installations and writer’s workshops.

Madison’s jazz scene has reached a critical mass of musicians who are doing innovative and interesting work. On Tuesday nights, the New Breed Jazz Jam at the North Street Cabaret is anchored by a trio of solid local jazz musicians. It’s worth seeking out, Gordon says. “They suavely start off with a set that has a 12

theme, a jazz composer or something more whimsical,” he explains, “and they have people who signed up to come play with them.”

Hanah Jon Taylor’s intimate jazz venue, Café Coda, holds its Night of the Improviser on Thursdays, when the music can be slightly further out. “It’s the free jazz school of things … they don’t play off compositions or chord progressions,” Gordon says. If that sounds like a riff too far, Coda also hosts more traditional jazz quartets and Latin dance nights.

East side dining bustles in the morning, particularly on weekends. Madison Sourdough, a popular bakery with a fine café run by Molly Maciejewski, runs two separate lines on Saturday mornings, one for coffee, bread and pastry and the other for sit-down service.

The queue may look long at Lazy Jane’s Café but it moves fast, and Jane Capito’s scones are a local treasure. Start with the lemon cream.

The funky charm of the Weary Traveler Freehouse, along with its eclectic menu, has made it an east side standard. Go in the side door and order the West of the Andes Sandwich or, if you’re looking to ward off vampires, Bob’s Bad Breath Burger, a garlic-lover’s dream.

For dinner, Mint Mark is a charming new neighborhood spot with a vibe akin to a tiki bar. It operates as a coffee shop during the day (the nitro is great, and the cortado is perfect) and has been known to host martini lunches on Fridays. At night, chef Sean Pharr rotates a dozen-plus dishes featuring whatever’s in season. If the cauliflower with bagna cauda and golden raisins is still on the menu, do not hesitate.

On a busy weekend evening, put in your name early at Forequarter, Underground Food Collective’s highly creative, dimly lit spot, where chef Jonny Hunter has been long-listed for a James Beard Award several years running. Or see what happens when a New Jersey chef falls in love with Wisconsin cuisine at Salvatore’s Tomato Pies, where the fig and bacon pizza has been known to change lives.

Any trip to Madison should wind down with a drink. Mint Mark co-owner Chad Vogel also runs The Robin Room, a cocktail bar on East Johnson Street, which is an ideal place to stop for a Manhattan. State Line Distillery has a pretty, new tasting room on the east side and makes everything in-house for creative punches and gin and tonics. The Old Fashioned is named for the state cocktail, and bartenders there make a great one. But any bar in town will serve a Wisconsin Old-Fashioned: muddled orange and cherry with bitters, Sprite and booze—an order of “brandy OldFashioned sweet” gets you the local favorite.

The statewide love affair with brandy began in the same place Forward did, at that world’s fair in 1893, when Korbel brandy rolled into town. Every bar worth its bitters has a version of an Old-Fashioned, as if it’s written into state law. Wisconsinites and visitors alike may find it comforting, a sweet symbol of the past muddled in their modern tumblers.

Lindsay Christians is an arts and food writer for The Capital Times in Madison and a native of Toledo, Ohio.

Photo: Torey Byrne

Madison, WI

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Photo: Torey Byrne

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Kentucky Bourbon Trail

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By Sara Havens

The Spirit of

Kentucky Head one state south, where bourbon flows through the hills, farmlands and cities.

photo: opposite, ©2019 thihnkstock

T

he bourbon boom is in full swing, and there’s no better place to experience the history, traditions and tastes of the brown spirit than Kentucky. The commonwealth boasts more than 50 distilleries, a number that seems to grow every year. According to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, today there are 8.1 million barrels of bourbon aging in Kentucky rickhouses, which equals about 1.5 barrels for every resident of the state.

Bourbon is America’s only native spirit, and contrary to popular belief, it does not have to be made in Kentucky—although 95 percent of it is. Bourbon is a type of whiskey, and in 1964, Congress officially recognized it as a “distinctive product of the United States.” That edict also outlined the only five rules of the spirit. It must be: made in the United States; made from at least 51 percent corn; distilled at no higher than 160 proof; put into a barrel at no higher than 125 proof; and put into a new, charred oak container.

You’ve probably heard of the elusive Pappy Van Winkle, but Kentucky offers so much more, and your chances of nabbing hard-to-find bottles increase as you cross that state line. In fact, many distilleries offer products sold only in Kentucky, and even liquor stores and bars are fueling the fire by offering special, single-barrel options that they stock selectively.

Much like the winery experiences of Napa Valley, Kentucky has created the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, which attracts more than 1.2 million visitors per year. For those who are more curious explorers than avowed bourbon-lovers, the trail offers plenty of scenic vistas, history, cuisine and cultural experiences, too.

Choose Your Adventure The Kentucky Bourbon Trail began in 1999, founded by the Kentucky Distillers’ Association as a DIY road trip. Visitors picked up passports that featured six distilleries and collected stamps at each tour stop.

Now, the passports include 15 distilleries, and the

KDA has started a craft tour with 13 more as a companion experience (see “Happy Trails,” Page 16).

The main trail isn’t something you can do all at once, and in fact, Adam Johnson, senior director of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, recommends you only try to tackle two or three locations each day. The distilleries are spread throughout Kentucky, so it’s a good idea to pick those in close proximity to each other and make tour reservations prior to visiting.

Johnson says the No. 1 question people ask him is which distillery is the best, and of course they all are special in different ways. From the personalities behind each brand to the unique experiences each tour offers, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail keeps people coming back year after year.

“People want to connect with the history and the authenticity of these iconic brands,” Johnson says.

“Couple this with the scenic drives and Kentucky’s culinary scene, and it’s a perfect destination.”

Your best bet is to stay either in Louisville or Lexington (see “Where to Stay,” Page 18, for suggestions), as both cities are central to the trail and boast a few distilleries of their own. Louisville, in fact, is now home to six bourbon trail distilleries, two craft trail distilleries and even a brandy distillery called Copper & Kings that’s making waves. It’s also home to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail’s Welcome Center, located inside the Frazier History Museum downtown.

If you’d rather not drive, there are also several tour options that depart from Louisville every day. These include Mint Julep Experiences, Bourbon Barrel Tours and Copper Still Tours, among others.

Glancing at the map of Kentucky Bourbon Trail distilleries, you’ll notice a cluster in Louisville, a cluster on a southern route, a cluster going east and one distillery way out west. We’ll break it down along those lines to keep it simple. We’ll also include two that aren’t technically a part of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail but are worth your time. Consider it extra credit.

Without further ado, let’s hit the trail.

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Kentucky Bourbon Trail

Happy Trails As if tackling all 15 distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail isn’t enough of a challenge, two more trails have popped up more recently.

The Urban Bourbon Trail was formed in 2008 by the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau as a way to entice tourists to spend the night and explore the city’s bar and restaurant scene.

“It’s hard to think back to 2008 sometimes, when there were no bourbon attractions in Louisville, but we needed a bourbon-related message beyond being a ‘gateway’ to the distillery tours, which at that time were all outside the city,” says Stacey Yates, the bureau’s vice president of marketing and one of the initial planners.

Angel’s Envy 500 E. Main St. Brands: Angel’s Envy and Angel’s Envy Rye Tours: $20, daily except Tuesdays Fun Facts: The brand was created in 2010 by father-son team Lincoln and Wes Henderson, both of whom had years of distilling experience. Lincoln passed away in 2013, but Wes’ sons Kyle and Andrew have since joined the company.

The namesake bourbon is finished in used port barrels, adding some sweet, robust characteristics to the spirit.

Old Forester Distillery 119 W. Main St. Brands: Old Forester Tours: $16, daily Fun Facts: This distillery opened on June 14, 2018, which just so happened to be National Bourbon Day. It marked a return to Louisville’s Whiskey Row for the historic brand, which began in 1870 and was the first bourbon to be sold in bottles. The modern distillery shows you every step of the process and includes a working cooperage, where barrels and casks are made.

Evan Williams Bourbon Experience 528 W. Main St. Brands: Evan Williams Tours: $14, daily Fun Facts: Owned by Heaven Hill, this was the first bourbon experience to 16

open in Louisville, in 2013. The stateof-the-art tour gives the history of bourbon in the city.

Michter’s Fort Nelson Distillery 801 W. Main St. Brands: Michter’s Tours: TBA Fun Facts: This visitor-friendly vision of Michter’s has been eight years in the making. Scheduled to be unveiled in January 2019, it offers a gift shop as well as a fully operational distillery open for tours. The company’s fulltime distillery is located in Louisville’s Shively neighborhood, but it’s not open to the public.

Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse 404 S. Fourth St. Brands: Urban Stillhouse Select, all Jim Beam products Tours: $8, daily except Sundays Fun Facts: This is a satellite experience of the Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont.

It provides tastings, cocktail classes and a chance to bottle your own Urban Stillhouse Select, which is only offered at this location inside the entertainment district known as Fourth Street Live.

Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Experience 3860 Fitzgerald Road Brands: Bulleit Bourbon, Bulleit Rye, Blade & Bow, I.W. Harper Tours: $14, daily except Tuesdays Fun Facts: The brand was started in the

Old Forester Distillery

In 2012, the Kentucky Distillers’ Association created the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour to complement the main trail and to highlight some of the smaller, newer distilleries that open each year. Currently, there are 13 microdistilleries featured in the passports, which also can be picked up at participating locations.

These destinations include Willett (Bardstown), New Riff (Newport), Kentucky Peerless (Louisville), Jeptha Creed (Shelbyville) and Wilderness Trail (Danville), among others.

photos: left, Courtesy Brown-Forman; right, Courtesy the Urban Bourbon Trail

Louisville’s Sluggers

There were eight bars featured in that initial passport; now there are 44.

Yates says about 50,000 passports are distributed each year, and about 5,000 are redeemed for prizes. Only six stamps are required to get a free T-shirt and certificate, and you can find the passports at any participating location as well as at the downtown Louisville Visitor Center.

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photos: left, Courtesy Brown-Forman; right, Courtesy the Urban Bourbon Trail

Kentucky Bourbon Trail

Where to Stay While there are several charming, rural towns throughout the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, if you really want to be centrally located and waste no time traveling to and fro, stay in either Louisville or Lexington.

First and foremost is the 21c Museum Hotel, a hybrid of a modern art gallery and an upscale hotel that has locations in both Louisville and Lexington.

Three historic hotels also play a role in Louisville’s bourbon boom, and all are located downtown. The Galt House Hotel overlooks the Ohio River and features a top-notch bourbon bar, Jockey Silks. The Brown Hotel also features a bourbon bar and is known for its culinary delight, the Hot Brown.

And The Seelbach Hilton has nearly 150 years of history coupled with modern amenities and the awardwinning restaurant The Oakroom.

Maker’s Mark Distillery

The Brown Hotel

late 1980s by Louisville attorney Tom Bulleit. It is now owned by international spirits company Diageo, which built a full distillery in Shelbyville in 2017.

Tours are still held at the historic StitzelWeller Distillery in Louisville.

The Southern Route Jim Beam American Stillhouse 526 Happy Hollow Road, Clermont Brands: Jim Beam, Baker’s, Booker’s, Little Book, Basil Hayden, Knob Creek, Old Crow, Old Grand Dad, Old Overholt Tours: $14, daily except Sundays Fun Facts: Jim Beam is the world’s bestselling bourbon, and the brand dates back seven generations to 1795. You can often find master distiller Fred Noe and his son Freddie at the distillery, and they’ll be happy to sign bottles and shake hands.

Lux Row 3050 E. John Rowan Blvd., Bardstown Brands: Rebel Yell, Ezra Brooks, Blood Oath, David Nicholson Tours: $12, Tuesdays through Saturdays Fun Facts: This new Bardstown operation opened in the spring of 2018 and features a high-tech, 18,000-square-foot distillery on 90 acres of pastoral terrain.

Bardstown Bourbon Co. 1500 Parkway Drive, Bardstown

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Brands: Collabor&tion Mistelle Finish, Collabor&tion Brandy Finish Tours: Not yet available Fun Facts: Opened in 2017, this Bardstown behemoth is the largest new distillery in America. The $25 million project sits on 100 acres of land and also features an innovative, Southerninspired restaurant called Bottle & Bond. Complimentary bourbon flights are available, and the restaurant is open daily except Sundays.

Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center 1311 Gilkey Run Road, Bardstown Brands: Evan Williams, Elijah Craig, Larceny, Henry McKenna, Bernheim, Mellow Corn Whiskey, Pikesville Straight Rye, Fighting Cock, Old Fitzgerald, Rittenhouse Rye, Parker’s Heritage Tours: $10, daily Fun Facts: Heaven Hill has been familyowned and -operated since 1935. Its Bourbon Heritage Center in Bardstown offers guests a look at the bottling facility, rickhouses and much more. The company announced in November that a $65 million expansion of the campus is on tap for the future.

Barton 1792 Distillery 300 Barton Road, Bardstown Brands: 1792, Very Old Barton Tours: Free, daily except Sundays

Photos: left, Steve Stephens; right, Sara Havens

Lexington, known as the “Horse Capital of the World,” also has several notable hotels. The Campbell House is a distinguished hotel operated by Hilton that features a Southern-style restaurant called Kilbern’s. The Sire Hotel is a boutique property in the city’s historic district that features the bourbon bar Distilled. Finally, there’s the Lyndon House Bed & Breakfast, a quaint little spot located in a downtown mansion.

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Fun Facts: This is one of two distilleries not on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Its parent company, Sazerac, chooses not to join the KDA, but it waives fees for tours, making them free for all who visit. The distillery was first built in 1879 and still uses coal as a heating source.

Maker’s Mark Distillery 3350 Burks Spring Road, Loretto Brands: Maker’s Mark, Maker’s 46, Maker’s Cask Strength Tours: $14, daily Fun Facts: Started in 1953 by Bill Samuels Sr., Maker’s Mark is one of the best-known bourbons for its distinctive red wax bottle-topper and its softer recipe that uses wheat instead of rye. Maker’s was one of the first in Kentucky to offer a visitor’s experience, and the tours are informative, hands-on and family-friendly. A distillery cat named Whiskey Jean roams the property.

photo: betsy becker

The Eastern Route Buffalo Trace Distillery 113 Great Buffalo Trace, Frankfort Brands: Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, E.H. Taylor, Pappy Van Winkle, George T. Stagg, Blanton’s, Elmer T. Lee, W.L. Weller, Sazerac Rye, Old Charter, Benchmark, Ancient Age Tours: Free, daily except Sundays Fun Facts: Another Sazerac-owned company that’s not

Buffalo Trace Distillery

L I F E ’ S B E T T E R U P H E R E.

Photos: left, Steve Stephens; right, Sara Havens

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Kentucky Bourbon Trail

Master distiller Jimmy Russell, who joined the team in 1954, still monitors the daily operations, and you’ll likely find him and his son Eddie in the gift shop, greeting guests.

Woodford Reserve Distillery 7855 McCracken Pike, Versailles Brands: Woodford Reserve Tours: $15, daily except Sundays in January and February Fun Facts: Although this premium brand was founded in 1996 by the Brown-Forman Corp. (which also owns Old Forester), the historic distillery where it’s made has been around since 1812. The scenic views here are breathtaking, so be sure to bring your camera.

Right, Wild Turkey Distillery visitors check out the mash in the fermentation tanks.

You can even stick your fingers in for a taste.

part of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, this popular distillery attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors a year looking to see where Pappy is made. The old-school distillery still hand-labels many of its bourbons, and there’s also a Bourbon Pompeii part of the tour where you can see the remains of a recently unearthed distillery from the 1800s.

And One More Four Roses Distillery 1224 Bonds Mill Road, Lawrenceburg Brands: Four Roses, Four Roses Small Batch, Four Roses Single Barrel Tours: $5, daily Fun Facts: This Spanish-style distillery is the most unique-looking one of the bunch, and it offers an immersive tour experience that shows the entire process in a fun and interactive way. The company celebrated its 130th anniversary in 2018 and continues to receive awards for its quality bourbon.

Wild Turkey Distillery 1417 Versailles Road, Lawrenceburg Brands: Wild Turkey, Russell’s Reserve, Rare Breed, Kentucky Spirit, Longbranch Tours: $11, daily except Sundays in January and February Fun Facts: The newly renovated visitor’s center is fun and offers a look at the rich history of Wild Turkey.

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O.Z. Tyler Distillery 10 Distillery Road, Owensboro Brands: O.Z. Tyler Tours: $10, daily except Sundays Fun Facts: This off-the-beaten-path distillery is about a two-hour drive west of Louisville in the picturesque city of Owensboro. The tour gives you a look at bourbon production, along with O.Z.’s exclusive TerrePure method of accelerating the aging process.

Several more distilleries have opened in recent months and are waiting to join the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

Those include Rabbit Hole Distillery (Louisville), Castle & Key Distillery (Frankfort) and James E. Pepper Distillery (Lexington), among others.

Sara Havens is a writer, editor and Ohio native who has lived in Louisville for more than 15 years while covering the city’s culture, bars and bourbon.

photos: left, betsy becker; right, Sara Havens

Above, Woodford Reserve Distillery

Town Branch Distillery 401 Cross St., Lexington Brands: Town Branch, Pearse Lyons Reserve Tours: $12, daily Fun Facts: Town Branch is part of the Alltech Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co., which also makes Kentucky Ale beers at the same site. The tours provide an opportunity to learn about both products.

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Photos: Top to bottom, left to right, Angie Mosier; Jay Winfrey; Courtesy VisitRaleigh.com; Courtesy Watts & Ward; Courtesy VisitRaleigh.com; Angie Mosier

Raleigh, NC

Top to bottom, left to right, Beasley’s Chicken + Honey, The Raleigh Times Bar, Morgan Street Food Hall, Watts & Ward, Poole’s Diner, Chuck’s

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Renaissance Raleigh’s Restaurant

Less than 500 miles from Columbus, this city in North Carolina’s Research Triangle is in the midst of a culinary breakthrough.

Photos: Top to bottom, left to right, Angie Mosier; Jay Winfrey; Courtesy VisitRaleigh.com; Courtesy Watts & Ward; Courtesy VisitRaleigh.com; Angie Mosier

By Tami Kamin Meyer

F

or an introduction to Raleigh, North Carolina, look no further than Brewery Bhavana, a microcosm of the city’s burgeoning culinary scene. The taproom features a mix of Belgian-style beers and Chinese dim sum, and—in an equally improbable pairing—a flower shop and a bookstore too. It has gained national recognition, and along with other nearby restaurants and bars, it has helped breathe new life into a section of downtown once begging for attention and investment.

This is the city and its cuisine; it’s a story of crosscultural exchange, of mixing old and new, of a region experiencing dramatic growth. Raleigh is the secondlargest city in the Tar Heel State, and like Columbus, it’s a state capital. According to USA Today, it’s the ninth-fastest-growing city in the United States.

With all those mouths to feed, it’s no wonder Raleigh is becoming a culinary hot spot—and the world is beginning to notice. In 2017, Zagat named Raleigh among the nation’s most exciting food destinations, ahead of New York, Nashville and Miami.

Growth isn’t just about numbers here. It’s about the diverse food and drink places springing up across the city, a collection of timeless classics and ambitious new concepts. Whether you enjoy traditional Southern fare, modern Laotian cuisine or a taste of nearly every beer under the sun, Raleigh has something delicious to offer.

Southern Style and Comfort Food In the same section of downtown Raleigh near Brewery Bhavana and the state Capitol building, chef Ashley Christensen found the site for her new restaurant in an unlikely location: an old Piggly Wiggly grocery store. According to Kaitlyn Goalen, the executive director of Christensen’s AC Restaurants group, the space sat vacant for several years

before Christensen discovered it. The surrounding neighborhood had seen better days.

Christensen’s goal was to “reactivate that part of downtown,” says Goalen, so she took a chance and bought the property, opening Beasley’s Chicken + Honey in 2011. That decision proved insightful, as the neighborhood continues to experience a resurgence of energy and growth. The restaurant’s convenient location attracts a wide array of customers, including business people, conventioneers, families and even those who seek Champagne with their fried chicken.

There is no doubt that the fried bird is the star of this joint. According to Goalen, Beasley’s sold upwards of 49,000 fried chicken and waffle meals in 2018 alone. Its popular version of this Southern comfort food pays homage to Christensen’s parents: The fried chicken honors her mother’s Memphis roots, and since her father was a part-time beekeeper, her mom drizzled honey on her fried chicken to lend a sweet/salty contrast, says Goalen. That’s why Christensen does it, too.

And it’s not just chicken either. Christensen transformed the old Piggly Wiggly into three separate establishments: Beasley’s, a burger and sandwich joint called Chuck’s and the craft cocktail lounge Fox Liquor Bar. Along with two other downtown ventures—an original comfort food restaurant, Poole’s Diner, and an upscale eatery, Death & Taxes—Christensen has built a mini Raleigh empire.

She’s also received top honors for her Southern cooking, winning the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Southeast in 2014 and finishing as a runner-up for the James Beard Outstanding Chef Award in 2018. It’s proof that comfort food and haute cuisine can be one and the same.

Beasley’s Chicken + Honey, 237 S. Wilmington St., ac-restaurants.com, 919-322-0127. No reservations.

More comfort food: Tupelo Honey Southern-influenced comfort food.

425 Oberlin Rd., tupelohoneycafe.com, 919-723-9353 Big Ed’s City Market Restaurant Southern specialties and breakfast featuring fresh, local eggs.

220 Wolfe St., bigedscitymarket.com, 919-836-9909 The Smashed Waffle Co. Fresh Belgian waffles with a variety of delectable toppings, signature Wafflewiches and unique lattes.

2304 Hillsborough St., Ste. 100, smashedwaffles.com, 984-200-2200 The Pit Authentic Barbecue Whole-hog, pit-cooked barbecue.

328 W. Davie St., thepit-raleigh.com, 919-890-4500

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Hibernian Irish Pub and Restaurant Authentic Irish pubs, owned by a native of the Emerald Isle.

311 Glenwood Ave. and 8021 Falls of Neuse Rd., hibernianpub.com, 919-833-2258 (Glenwood) and 919-803-0290 (Falls of Neuse) The Roast Grill Serves only hot dogs, glass-bottle Cokes and homemade Greek desserts—don’t ask for ketchup because the rule here is that it doesn’t belong on a proper hot dog.

7 S. West St., roastgrill.com, 919-832-8292 The Remedy Diner The feel of a traditional diner and bar, but with an emphasis on fresh ingredients and vegan options.

927 W. Morgan St., theremedydiner.com, 919-835-3553 Raleigh Beer Garden

Old-School Taverns and Diners Taking a step inside The Raleigh Times Bar is like taking a step back in time. That’s because it’s housed in the building that was once home to The Raleigh Times, the city’s defunct afternoon newspaper. The paper was churned out at that location from 1906 to 1925, and many vestiges of the work are incorporated in the restaurant’s dÊcor and menu.

When owner Greg Hatem bought and renovated the space in 2006, he was determined to retain the charm of the structure.

Aged newspaper clippings and images line the walls, while a display case shows off relics of the newsroom of yesteryear, including old printing press letters, newspaper carrier bags and even reporters’ notebooks. Unsurprisingly, the bar attracts a certain crowd. “We’re known as a journalist’s hangout,� says Hatem.

The tavern and eatery changed from a reporter’s watering hole to a mainstream destination on a fateful day in 2008. “That’s when we went from recording history to making it,� he says.

A U.S. senator named Barack Obama stopped in while campaigning in Raleigh, and back then he didn’t have security with him, says Hatem. Diners walked up to shake his hand. Photos of the man who would become president appeared in publications across the country, including The New York Times. That day helped put The Raleigh Times Bar on the map, Hatem says.

For those looking to eat like a president, or at least someone on the campaign trail, the restaurant’s most popular dish is its houseground burger. It also offers locally produced cheeses and breads, while its salads feature vegetables grown in local greenhouses.

In a place that has both written history and made a bit of it, Raleigh’s past is so important to Hatem that he includes a class about the city’s history in staff training. “My servers are so good at teaching people about Raleigh, we get asked if we are associated with the chamber of commerce,�

Hatem jokes.

The Raleigh Times Bar, 14 E. Hargett St., raleightimesbar.com, 919-833-0999.

No reservations.

Photo: Courtesy Raleigh Beer Garden

215 Sutton Street Maysville, Ky 606-564-5865 www.kygmc.org

More Taverns and diners:

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Photo: Courtesy Raleigh Beer Garden

Beer Gardens, Taprooms and Cocktail Bars If someone visited the Raleigh Beer Garden every day for a year, she could imbibe a different brew each time and still not tap every keg offered inside this glorious haven of hops.

According to general manager Carlos Rivers, Raleigh Beer Garden’s extensive draft list helped it earn two impressive worldwide distinctions: the most beer taps of any restaurant in one location (402) and the largest number of breweries represented in one venue.

The beer garden’s offerings are everchanging, so don’t expect something so simple as a draft list. “We don’t have a printed beer menu, because we change 30 to 40 percent of our beers every 30 to 45 days,” says Rivers. Instead, guests are invited to download Untappd, a free More bars app that lets users and lounges: track and share beers they’ve tried Watts & Ward or want to try. A 6,000-square-foot speakeasy located in a Raleigh Beer Garbasement that features den’s profile on top-quality leather the app details the couches, dazzling day’s offerings. cocktails and live jazz.

To eliminate 200 S. Blount St., crowding, this tap- wattsandward.com, room on steroids is 919-896-8016 housed in a three- Havana Deluxe level structure, Cigar and whiskey bar. with each floor 427 Glenwood Ave., featuring differ- havanadeluxe.com, ent beers. All 144 919-831-0991 taps on the first The Haymaker floor offer North Local beers, punch bowls Carolina beers. and plenty of bubbles.

Other domestics 555 Fayetteville St., Unit and some interna- 115, thehaymakerraleigh. tional brews are com the draw on the second floor. The top floor features a rooftop bar with 12 beers. If you still need more variety, check out the old Airstream camper in the backyard, which was converted into a bar that features 24 more taps.

In addition to its vast beer offerings, the Raleigh Beer Garden features another unusual characteristic: a three-story tree in the center of the structure. According to owner Niall Hanley, the pin oak was lumbered from the yard of a Raleigh resident and reassembled inside the massive bar and eatery. Most of the bar’s counters and furniture are live-edge creations handmade using wood from trees that once grew on the property.

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Global Cuisine Though Brewery Bhavana is the shiny new gem for owners Vansana and Vanvisa Nolintha, it’s not their first foray into the Raleigh dining scene. Next door, the brother and sister opened Bida Manda Laotian Restaurant and Bar in 2012 to pay homage to their parents and their hometown of Luang Prabang, Laos. The name Bida Manda is a Sanskrit term for father and mother, according to the restaurant’s website.

Lao cuisine includes a mixture of Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese influences, filtered through the lens of French culinary style because of colonial rule. Bida Manda’s menu offers familiar items that have made their way into mainstream American dining, such as spring rolls, alongside traditional fare that may be a little less familiar, such as duck or beef larb (a meat salad with spicy lime, local herbs and fermented fish sauce) and thum mak houng (a green papaya salad with tomato, peanuts, spicy lime sauce and a choice of meat).

Peter Dawyot, who moved to Raleigh 10 years ago and manages a public relations and marketing firm, dines at Bida Manda frequently and says the food is incredible.

Travelers from around the globe are discovering the natural beauty of Ohio’s Hocking Hills. Marked by stunning craggy caves and rushing waterfalls, this one-of-kind destination boasts extraordinary experiences, from adventure-packed zip lines to pampering spas and fully-loaded luxury cabins. Galleries and antique malls pepper the hills and stargazers will love exploring some of Ohio’s darkest night skies at the new John Glenn Astronomy Park. You’ll find all this and more in the Hocking Hills. Ohio’s Natural Crown Jewels.

Free Visitor’s Guide | 1-800-Hocking | ExploreHockingHills.com A dish at Bida Manda

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Photo: courtesy Bida Manda

Three Exhibitions Annually

The beer-lover’s destination also serves bar favorites and Southern classics, from a smoked brisket platter and a cheese and charcuterie tray to brats and pulled pork sandwiches. Each April, the Raleigh Beer Garden hosts the revered Wing Fling, which pits local eateries in a wing cook-off for the crown.

Raleigh Beer Garden, 614 Glenwood Ave., theraleighbeergarden.com., 919-3243415. No reservations accepted on Saturdays or on Friday and Sunday nights.

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Photo: courtesy Bida Manda

His favorite dishes include the caramelized ginger pork ribs More global and the pho Lao—a Cuisine: pot of beef, broth, noodles, onions Mofu Shoppe The pan-Asian brickand five spice and-mortar from the (popular in Lao owners of Pho Nomenal food). He describes Dumpling Truck, which it as a tasty, warm won season six of the soup ideal for a Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race. winter meal.

Dawyot also 321 S. Blount St., frequents Brewery mofushoppe.com, Bhavana, which 919-301-8465 came about because Awaze Cuisine of homebrewer Named after a spicy Patrick Woodson’s paste made from garlic, chance dinner with wine and berbere, his parents at Bida Awaze serves Ethiopian Manda, according and Eritrean dishes.

904 NE Maynard Rd., the brewery’s webCary, awazecuisine. site. He and the com, 919-377-2599.

Nolinthas struck up a rapport and Morgan Street Food Hall eventually brought Nearly two dozen startup eateries and floral designer food retailers, with Deana Nguyen and worldwide flavors that bookstore manager include Japanese (The Monica Jon into Broth), Argentinian the fold to form the (Makus Empanadas) enormous taproom/ and Lebanese (Sassool).

411 W. Morgan St., restaurant/flower morganfoodhall.com, shop/bookstore.

The accolades 919-834-2720 came quickly. Kadhai the Indian Wok Brewery Bhavana Traditional Indian fare was named to Bon often served in a replica Appetit’s Hot 10 of the kadhai—a deep, list of best new res- copper, wok-style pot (hence the name). taurants in 2017.

6260 Glenwood The Nolinthas’ Ave., Ste. 112, two restaurants theindianexpresskadhai. have helped con- com, 919-785-2864 tribute to the greater revitalization of the area, which will take another step forward in 2019 with the renovation of Moore Square across the street. The greenspace will include a stage for outdoor concerts, festivals, community gatherings and more.

Bida Manda, 222 S. Blount St., bidamanda. com, 919-829-9999; Brewery Bhavana, 218 S. Blount St., brewerybhavana.com, 919-8299998. Reservations recommended.

Tami Kamin Meyer is a Columbus freelance writer who has enjoyed exploring Raleigh’s food and drink scene in the past.

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By Lynn Freehill-Maye

All-American Chautauqua Calling a smarter kind of beach bum: This historic lake district is all about “leisure learning,” offering classes and talks with waterfront fun (and now, smart comedy) on the side.

I

t’s been called everything from “the most American thing in America” by the ever-patriotic Teddy Roosevelt to “summer camp for adults” by repeat millennial visitor Sarah Gamble. The old-fashioned lakeside town of Chautauqua, New York, has a 150-year history of inspiring the people of the United States, and the summertime fun and learning continue today. The place is essentially home to the original open-air TED Talks, with boating, swimming and other entertainment nearby.

Quick history lesson: In 1874, a Methodist group founded the town of Chautauqua as a tent-revival camp for Sunday school teachers. Their movement caught fire nationally. Its leaders sent lecturers to Chautauqua-affiliated assemblies around the country. The nation’s prominent thinkers became Chautauqua fans. Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt stopped by often. Thomas Edison summered there.

George Gershwin finished “Concerto in F Major” in one of its shacks.

The name Chautauqua still calls to mind thoughtful reflection for literary types like writer Robert M. Pirsig, who praised it in “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” Pirsig wrote of “the traveling tent-show Chautauquas that used to move across America ... an old-time series of popular talks intended to edify and entertain, improve the mind and bring culture and enlightenment to the ears and thoughts of the hearer.”

The traveling 10,000-person tent shows may have died out, but Mother Chautauqua endures as

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today’s Chautauqua Institution, still hosting a stimulating nine-week summer program of lectures and performances. From June through August, everyone from Hillary Clinton to Wynton Marsalis is likely to turn up as this quiet lakeside village suddenly vibrates with energy. Recently, Dan Aykroyd met fellow comedian Lewis Black for the first time right there on a historic Chautauqua porch.

Understand that the institution is the town—in season, you must purchase a gate pass that admits you to the programming in order to enter Chautauqua.

The village is arranged around a green quad, Bestor Plaza. The stately brick Smith Memorial Library anchors it at the south end, with a balcony providing sweet views of the park and the cafés and shops around it.

Multiple generations of families often vacation there together, since the institution also coordinates the Children’s School. The kids’ programming relates to the adult subjects, so families can come together at night with dinner-discussion topics in common. Chautauqua isn’t all serious business, though. A roster of recreational options—exercise classes, art courses and plenty of sports and games—are also offered.

“Whether you’re 2 or 102, there is something for you at Chautauqua,” says Jordan Steves, the institution’s director of strategic communications and community relations. “What makes it special are the intergenerational experiences we offer and the eclectic mix of programming. The feel here is very steeped in history, but it’s not a place that’s stuck at any moment in time.”

Where to Stay

Rooming houses and rentals: Lodging within Chautauqua’s grounds ranges from comfy hotels to full-house rentals to basic, shared rooming houses.

The institution employs an accommodations manager to serve as concierge for guests not already familiar with the setup.

Email Christine Boniface at accommodations@chq.org.

Chautauqua Harbor Hotel: This summer, the former site of the Celoron Amusement Park (where Lucille Ball got her start) will host an expansive new Arts and Crafts-style hotel on the lakefront. Grand and resortlike, it’s just a 15-mile drive south of the Chautauqua Institution. thechautauquaharborhotel.com

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Photo: Chautauqua Institution

Chautauqua, NY

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Chautauqua, NY

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Where to Stay

The Athenaeum: The Chautauqua Institution’s grande dame hotel (below) is a Second Empire beauty with ample verandas and oldfashioned keys. But the 154-room Victorian property has also been getting updates. As of last summer, it opened a full bar for the first time; guests are now welcome to enjoy a drink on the porch. chq.com/athenaeum-hotel

Learning Opportunities Each week of Chautauqua’s programming falls under a different theme, as broad as “Shifting Global Power” in 2019. Sometimes the topics feel more relevant than organizers could’ve even planned—during last year’s Russia week at Chautauqua, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump met in Finland for their world-order-upending summit. This year’s anticipated speakers include NPR’s Ira Glass, who headlines a week on storytelling.

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich will appear during the “Uncommon Ground” week, scheduled during July Fourth. If you feel patriotic, Independence Day is an inspiring time to visit—residents decorate their porches with Uncle Sams lit up like Christmas trees, and enormous American flags hang from the balconies and old-growth trees. At night the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra makes the

Photos: Chautauqua Institution

Above, Chautauquans fill the Amp to listen to a conversation on comedy between David Steinberg and Kelly Carlin.

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Photos: Chautauqua Institution

institution’s big amphitheater, “the Amp,” boom with Sousa marches.

A 2019 highlight will be “What’s Funny” week, organized in partnership with the National Comedy Center, which opened in Chautauqua County last August. It’ll take humor seriously, examining what makes us laugh. The week’s end will coincide with the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, a celebration of the comedian in her nearby hometown of Jamestown, allowing visitors to let loose by catching stand-up, taking improv classes or attending the gala.

Beyond the theme weeks, Chautauquans propose classes that anyone can take. A few of last year’s favorites: Better Camera Phone Photography, Mediterranean Spice Blends, the Art of Bookbinding, Intro to Filmmaking and Freshening Up Your French. Exercise classes such as yoga, Zumba and tai chi fill up fast, too. Witnessing a nonagenarian balanced in a yogi’s tree pose isn’t an unusual sight.

Lakeside Fun With narrow streets and cars left in a big lot (for around $10 per day), everyone walks everywhere in Chautauqua. Visitors swim, sail and even lawn-bowl along the lake.

Residents host parties on Victorian front porches. With walkability in vogue these days, Chautauqua is so old it’s new. “Chautauqua may be one of the original walkable communities,” Steves says. “Recreation is just sort of built into the rhythm of a day.”

Opportunities abound to get out on the water of the 20-square-mile Chautauqua Lake. The lake’s resident old-fashioned steamer, the Chautauqua Belle, stops at the dock. The sleek, modern Summer Wind yacht also motors around the lake. Canoeing, kayaking and paddleboarding are available. Chautauqua hosts an active sailing program, with classes for all skill levels.

Other activities around the county often share Chautauqua’s “leisure learning” feel.

“The organizations outside the institution have adopted that recreational learning,” says Megan Arnone, marketing coordinator for the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau.

“You could take a foraging workshop, learning about edible plants and flowers, or you could join in on a guided nature walk.”

Nature walks are often arranged through Long Point State Park or by staff of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History in the ornithologist’s birthplace of Jamestown. The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, who facilitated the Nuremberg trials for Nazi war criminals, practiced law in the area for 20 years. His namesake, the Robert H. Jackson Center, now

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Top, students work on perfecting their sailing skills.

hosts year-round speakers on topics like constitutional amendments or human rights issues, often partnering with the Chautauqua Institution.

Left, the National Comedy Center Right, the Chautauqua Community Band’s 25th Annual Independence Day Concert in Bestor Plaza

Where to Stay

Camp Chautauqua: Budget travelers looking to immerse themselves in Chautauqua County’s nature will appreciate this family-operated campground. The land holds both tent sites and concrete RV pads, and kid-friendly features include a swimming pool and petting farm. campchautauqua.com

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Around the County Jamestown isn’t in the middle of nowhere for a national museum—it’s “within 500 miles of twothirds of the U.S. population,” Journey Gunderson will have you know. Gunderson is the executive director of the new National Comedy Center. This year, many Chautauqua visitors are expected to check out the state-of-the-art museum just 16 scenic, lakeside miles southeast, in Lucille Ball’s hometown. “Now that we’ve built it, I can see why no one has done this before,” Gunderson says wryly.

“Because it’s very hard.”

See what $50 million will buy—a facility that not just comedians and their mothers have been calling the best museum in America. The exhibits are so hyper-interactive, a wristband will tag your sense of humor (dark? satirical? situational?) and deliver more of what’ll crack you up. You can do a Laugh Battle in which sensors will use facial recognition technology to give you points for making your opponent laugh. At the end there’s Comedy Karaoke for anyone brave enough to stand up and deliver stand-

up. (Yes, there’s a bar.) You can take Lewis Black’s example and (fondly) roast Chautauqua itself: “If there was ever a place that was ripe for being made fun of, it’s here, where it’s so idyllic and precious, it can leave one mildly nauseous.”

A final educational fact: Chautauqua County is the biggest Concord grape-growing region in the world. European wine varietals grow well in the area’s 30,000 vineyard acres, because the ridge along Lake Erie keeps it all temperate. Chautauqua is also becoming known for breweries and “farm distilleries,” which source at least 75 percent of their agricultural inputs from the state of New York.

Five & 20 was the state’s first producer to make wine, beer and spirits. Southern Tier Brewing Co. started in Lakewood (where tours of its flagship facility are offered on Saturdays), and the company now has a distillery as well. Ellicottville Brewing Co. has taproom locations in the county, too. So it’s a breeze imagining how to close out a summer in Chautauqua: by having a drink, sharing a laugh and holding forth on some of your newfound knowledge.

Lynn Freehill-Maye is a writer based in upstate New York who fell for Chautauqua while living in Buffalo.

Photos: top and bottom right, Chautauqua Institution; bottom left, Jay Rosenblatt

Chautauqua, NY

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Pittsburgh, PA

Adventures in the

New Steel City There’s a lot more to Pittsburgh than its deep industrial roots.

O

By Jillian Span Hofbauer

Bikers on the North Side Trail

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Photo: JP Diroll

nce known primarily for producing steel and coal mining, Pittsburgh has enjoyed the highs and endured the lows of its strong industrial heritage. What remains constant about the steel town—affectionately dubbed the “City of Bridges”—is that its colorful blue-collar history combines with the locals’ deep sense of pride to exude a down-to-earth spirit that’s apparent in every corner.

In recent years, Pittsburgh has also reinvented itself as a vibrant and eco-friendly city immersed in recreational activities and natural beauty. Surrounded by rolling topography, wilderness and navigable waterways at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers, its unique geographical location has made it an outdoor haven filled with parks, revitalized waterfronts and scenic urban views. Whether you explore by foot, bike, riverboat or incline cable car, there are many reasons to enjoy the outdoors and all of the diverse settings the city has to offer.

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Photo: JP Diroll

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Pittsburgh, PA

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Below, the Gateway Clipper passes PNC Park, where the Pittsburgh Pirates play.

Sightseeing and Tours Pittsburgh’s past as an American industrial center dates back to the French and Indian War in the mid1700s. With a wealth of natural resources such as iron, coal, timber and natural gas, along with its position along key waterways, it became an ideal place for settlement and development.

As the city’s population increased, so did the need for innovative solutions to the region’s fragmented infrastructure. Bridge construction helped alleviate some of those navigational challenges—there are now 446 scattered throughout

the city—but the area’s steep terrain presented problems for hilltop residents, who sought an easier way to commute and transport cargo to and from downtown.

Inspired by European engineering in the 1870s, a number of funicular railways, or cable cars, were built to scale the surrounding hillsides. Today, two of these historical methods of transit, the Monongahela (Mon) and Duquesne inclines, continue to operate along what is now known as Mount Washington, offering visitors as well as natives a nostalgic route to photos:, top, ©2019 thinkstock; bottom, courtesy visitpittsburgh

The Dusquesne Incline

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photos:, top, ©2019 thinkstock; bottom, courtesy visitpittsburgh

explore some of the most vibrant areas for nightlife and culture.

If you’re at the top of Mount Washington, take a ride down the Mon into the South Shore neighborhood to explore Station Square, a 52-acre riverfront shopping, entertainment and restaurant hub built on the former Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad site. When visiting between April and early November, be sure to catch one of the choreographed water and light shows at Station Square’s Fountain at Bessemer Court before your return trip, heading up the rail to Mount Washington, the lively hilltop neighborhood that features businesses, parks and restaurants with dramatic views.

Traveling up and down the Duquesne Incline, which isn’t far away, offers unmatched vistas of the city’s skyline, rivers and famed sports stadiums. Peruse its on-site exhibit for a brief history lesson, and stop by the gift shop for a souvenir on your way out.

Though it’s hard to beat the panoramic scenes available from those iconic lookout points, there are plenty of ways to explore Pittsburgh up close and personal. Book a seat aboard the Gateway Clipper Fleet’s Three Rivers Sightseeing Cruise for a one-hour expedition featuring landmarks, bridges and architectural places of interest, or reserve a spot on one of Just Ducky Tours’ amphibious vehicles for an excursion that mixes the best of land and water. To take part in some game-day camaraderie, sail along with Steelers or Pitt Panthers fans to Heinz Field on one of Pittsburgh Water Limo’s “sailgate” parties or shuttle services.

Plenty of other sightseeing opportunities exist back on land. The Pittsburgh Party Pedaler, an all-pedal-powered vehicle, is a fun way to jaunt around the city when traveling with a group of eight to 16. Pedal your way through popular spots such as the Strip District, known for its vendors, produce stands, ethnic grocers and fish markets, or North Shore, home of the city’s sports venues and some of its greenest buildings, including the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, which offers an outdoor classroom for kids to explore the natural world.

If using good old-fashioned leg power to move around the city is right up your alley, then consider the many biking options available for both guided tours and creating your own journey. Bike the Burgh’s “Beauty of the Burgh” tour provides a well-rounded look at points of interest, but other options feature food and drink, neighborhoods and more.

For a longer cycling trip, the city is the perfect access point to the Great Allegheny Passage, which begins at Point State Park and winds all the way to Cumberland, Maryland. Noble Invention Bike Touring makes planning the

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Pittsburgh, PA

Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

Adventurous Activities Want to satisfy your inner explorer? You’re in luck.

Pittsburgh’s landscape beckons everyone from nature enthusiasts to weekend warriors with seasonal and year-round offerings. Start by heading to the waterways, where decades of cleanup and restoration have produced a thriving recreational scene.

Paddle along the buzzing riverfronts at your own pace in a solo or tandem kayak available for hourly rental through Kayak Pittsburgh. The season runs from May through October and prior experience isn’t necessary, making it an ideal activity for the whole family. A stand-up paddleboard excursion with SurfSUP Adventure is another way to get on the 40

water, and it’s suitable for a variety of skill levels.

But if you’re looking for a bolder challenge, try wake-surfing with Surf Pittsburgh. While most people book lessons during the warmer seasons, wet and dry suits are available for those interested in braving inclement conditions.

Cleaner waterways have also led to healthier ecosystems and better fishing opportunities, whether you prefer to cast from a tranquil creek off the beaten path or a more urban setting.

To try a new take on the sport, Nocturnal Addiction Bowfishing offers a fivehour guided nighttime expedition that embarks from several locations.

Of course, enjoying Pittsburgh’s lush wilderness and many greenspaces can be an invigorating way to get back to nature any time of year.

For a unique, hands-on experience, try the Go Ape North Park course, a treetop experience that includes zip lining, sus-

pended obstacles and swings. With many parks around the area, there are also countless hiking and bike trails that vary in difficulty and length.

Frick Park is the largest regional park, encompassing 644 acres of land, and it’s known for extensive hiking trails and rugged terrain. It is also the site of some of the city’s restorative ecological efforts, including a costly initiative at Nine Mile Run, a beautifully revived waterway once damaged by sewage and steel mill waste. But hiking doesn’t have to be reserved only for secluded hills and forests; check out urban hiking with Venture Outdoors, which enables visitors to wind through neighborhoods, climb staircases and cross bridges all around the city.

Jillian Span Hofbauer is a Columbus-based writer who enjoys covering travel and is looking forward to her next trip to Pittsburgh.

Paddlers from Kayak Pittsburgh travel down the Allegheny River.

Far beyond just a place of tribute, the center actively works to continue promoting Rogers’ nurturing approach and message among new generations, says Karen Struble Myers, director of development and communications. Launched in 2003 under Rogers’ guidance—it opened after his death later that year—the center was created with a mission to help children become confident, competent, caring humans.

“Fred never wanted something that would be a museum to his legacy.

It was his vision to have continuing work that supported children, educators and parents,” Struble Myers says. Along with community initiatives related to the social and emotional development of children, the center also focuses on the importance of educational technology and digital media use.

For an intimate look at Rogers’ life, check out the 2018 documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”—a project made in close collaboration with the Fred Rogers Center. fredrogerscenter.org

photo: courtesy visitpittsburgh

experience a breeze, with guided trips that include scenic views, overnight accommodations and small-town stops along the way.

If you are in the mood for a quick side trip, Pittsburgh is a 40-mile drive from the hometown and official archive of everyone’s favorite neighbor. The Fred Rogers Center, located on the St. Vincent College campus in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, is a public exhibit celebrating the life and legacy of its namesake television personality and champion of early childhood learning. Housing more than 18,000 items related to Rogers’ life and career, the free display features narratives, photos, videos, interactive components and many of the most iconic Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood pieces—his sweaters and shoes, Daniel Tiger’s clock, the puppets and, of course, the neighborhood trolley.

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