Blackberry Farm
OUT TO PASTURE. TEMPORARILY Encompassing a 9,200-acre estate in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in eastern Tennessee, the farm produces artisan cheeses, beer, eggs, heirloom vegetables, and wildflower honey. There’s no roughing it here: There are 68 plush rooms, plus three- and four-bedroom homes. Most accommodations include a fireplace, and all have feather bedding.
BOUCAN HOTEL & RESTAURANT
Cac
ao
at
St. Lucia
The 14-room lodge sits high above the rain forest in a 140-acre plantation where the
owners are trying to revive the island’s cacao industry. Most rooms have views of volcanic Petit Piton and sun-dappled cocoa groves. Harvest chocolate: In the three-hour Tree to Bar experience ($61), guests tour the orchards with farmers and make candy by hand. After, eat at the hotel restaurant, where every dish, including gazpacho and snapper, is prepared with cocoa. Just relax: Book some time at the Cocoa Juvenate spa, which uses cacao oil in massages, scrubs, wraps,
FROM TOP: COURTESY BLACKBERRY FARM; COURTESY BOUCAN HOTEL & RESTAURANT
Walland, Tenn.
Grow some produce: Spend time with master gardener John Coykendall as he takes you through sowing, harvesting, and seed-saving techniques (from $250). You can work the fields, take the crop to the kitchen, and shell some seeds. Drive a hog: Rent a HarleyDavidson motorcycle (from $180.45) to explore the scenic back roads of Tennessee, including the Dragon’s Tail, which has more than 300 hairpin curves. From $795 per night, all-inclusive; blackberryfarm.com
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BLACKBERRY FARM
an
Feeding goats in Morocco, harvesting cacao in St. Lucia, luxuriating among heirloom tomatoes in Tennessee—and the rest of the best farmstay vacations. By Maridel Reyes
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