My month-long road trip has ended, where it began, on my sub-tropical paradise. I am delighted to be back home again… even though in my absence a major leak was discovered that has caused the demolition of one exterior wall as well as the disassembling of my entire office (built-in desk, monitor, printer, scanner, files, keyboard, and bookshelves). It has forced me to compose this piece on a laptop, that is… literally… on my lap. The hope is, as I tap away on this mini assemblage of letters and numbers, that it… and I… will find our way toward compatibility. Do not wager a lot of money on that.
My driving trips are normally cross country, and always on
even numbered years. None of this applied to this recent expedition. 2025, as
you may have noticed, is an odd numbered year. The trip was never going to be
from sea to shining sea (i.e., Miami to Los Angeles) but rather from Miami to
the Berkshires and back. Somehow this took nearly a week longer than the
greater-in-terms of miles-route from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Too long.
This trip began as a Northeast passage, staying closer to
the coast of the Atlantic with a watchful eye out for Erin, the first big storm
of the season.
Getting out of Florida is always the most boring part of any
of these driving adventures as Interstate 95 North or the Florida Turnpike are
the only reasonable routes out of the state (there is State Road A1A along the east
coast and its sister highway on the Gulf, but once you have done these, and
endured the bumper to bumper traffic in one smarmy beach town after another, it
invariably comes to mind that even something as mundane as an interstate highway
has to be to an improvement.
The first stop was New Smyrna Beach, a tiny Florida beach
and intercoastal town that is just about as far north as I can make it in one
day of driving from my home base of Fisher Island (particularly when not
departing my Island until midday). I only mention it here because of the
beautiful bed and breakfast inn where I spent that first night of the trip.
The décor is what captured me… that and the architecture of what
proved to be the longest standing structure in the area. The couple that has
turned this 19th century Victorian mansion into a business somehow
were able to imagine this period piece as a vision in black and white. The interior
walls, the ceilings, the furniture, the artwork…. all black or white or black
and white. And it works! I am an old guy, but if I ever decide to acquire
another home, I am contacting these kids to do the decor. Victoria 1883
is the name of the place. New Smyrna, Florida, is the town.
I have to add that it didn’t hurt that this beautiful
seven-room inn not only provided luxury bedding, robes, slippers, free snacks
and free breakfast, but had the cushiest bath towels I encountered on the
entire trip (and all for substantially under $300 per night).
I will try not to be a bore and go over the entire trip …. day
by day, place by place, but given the happy mood I am in (something to do with
no longer living out of small bags configured in the trunk of my BMW) I will
give you a few high points.
But first, a word or two about the BMW. Followers of my
musings know that for all but the most recent year of the 21st
century, these long-distance drives of mine have been in a Bentley convertible…
either the 1998 Azure or the 2007 GTC.
The BMW is a lovely automobile… a very fine car, but… a car
is all it is. Admittedly, reliable, comfortable, safe, sturdy, and reasonably
powerful, still no bikers give a thumbs up on the back roads of America… and
there are no crowds waiting outside the local Waffle House for an explanation
as to just what the magnificent thing in the parking lot might be. Eight
cylinders are not twelve and there is nothing… nothing…. like the sound and the
feel of that Bentley on the road.
Onward: If you have never visited Palmetto Bluff in South
Carolina, you have missed something very special… particularly if you get
yourself upgraded to one of the properties’ cottages. The Montage Hotel chain
now operates the hotel … in the good old days it was the folks from Auberge de
Soleil… and it was a lot more special then than it is now.
Today, the property has a large multi-story Montage Hotel
building smack in the middle of everything… Nevermind, that won’t matter if you
get that cottage upgrade. Truly a delightful and ultra private getaway on 5,000
acres of lush low country.
The majority of that acreage is taken up by the private
homes whose owners make up the private club that supports the two golf courses
and a small-town square with shops, a chapel, a spa, and restaurants. There is
even a word-hulled yacht (Grace) built in 1912, lovingly restored by
members of that private club that is available for sunset cruises and private
charter.
If you insist on seeing other humans, you should work on
wrangling a table at The Canoe Club… owned by the property’s private
club and NOT by the Montage… the architecture is amazing, the décor is fascinating
to observe; the bar and its tender are welcoming, the food is first rate.
As to food, the best you will probably find in the South is
in Gary, North Carolina… just outside of Durham and the Research Triangle. The
Umstead is one of a kind and, according to Forbes, one of only eight hotels
in the world that has three “Five-Stars” awarded by the magazine… one for the hotel
itself, one for the restaurant, and the other for the spa. The rooms are lovely
and the Hotel’s overall design is delightful. Did I mention the wonderful staff?
Hold on to your Hilton points…. they will do you no good here. The Umstead is
one of a kind in more ways than one. Meaning it is not connected to any chain …
anywhere.
It seems the wife of the richest man in North Carolina
thought that the area should have a fine hotel for those visiting the Research
Triangle area (Duke, Chapel Hill and Raleigh) as well as her husband’s
headquarters at the SAS institute. Calls to all the top hotel chains in the US
got Ann Goodnight nowhere and so she decided to build her own. And what a job
she did. A beautiful architectural design and a fine art collection on a
beautiful lakefront setting, compliment all those things Forbes acknowledged with
its multiple “Star” awards.
In the spirit of staying positive, I am going to jump over the more usual parts
of the journey to get to another highlight of the trip, the Mayflower Inn
in Washington, Connecticut. Auberge is in charge and the boutique luxury
chain does itself proud with this extraordinary 35-acre property. I cannot give
enough praise to the staff or the place itself. The rooms are delightful, and
beautifully decorated, the spa is heavenly… literally… as I said to one of the
staff: if I were doing a film about the afterlife, the spa’s quiet room
would be the entrance to heaven itself. Truly beautiful.
The trip’s midway point brought me to Stockbridge,
Massachusetts in the Berkshires. A friend’s play was the excuse for the entire
venture and the convention of old friends gathered there for the event made for
a lot of laughter and camaraderie. The play, Death is No Excuse, is a
work in progress by Renee Taylor, one of the few comedy genius writers and performers
I have ever met. I am going to hold to my policy of not reviewing works in
progress… or in previews… as too many things happen between that early stage of
the work and the opening night. But…
I will review the 250-year-old Red Lion Inn which dominates
the center of town. As is apparently usual during the height of the summer
season, this ancient inn was at full capacity. Bette Davis said it best in the
motion picture Beyond The Forest. Years later Elizabeth Taylor paid
homage to the line in Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? It perfectly
describes this ancient edifice.
Ah… you guessed. The line, of course, is “What a dump.” And
a dump is exactly what this dowager is. Summertime in New England is a delight.
New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut. All beautiful beyond belief. Make the
trip late any summer. The weather through most of September is fabulous. Just
stay away from that Inn in Stockbridge. It could ruin even the best of holidays.
I cannot leave the Berkshires without paying homage to one
of the best Italian restaurants I have enjoyed in a very long time… Acqua Al 2
in West Stockbridge… just up the highway from the Red Lion Inn. A must visit.
The natural beauty of New England was something of a
revelation as it dawned on me that of the more than a dozen of those major
automobile trips of mine, only one took me north of Washington DC. It seemed
that on those trips that took me northward from Florida, I would get no farther
than our nation’s capital before turning left into the setting sun to complete
my journey westward.
I have friends who have migrated to New England and who sing
its praises, but somehow, I have never really experienced it until now. There
is no disparagement even hinted at here for Virginia, Tennessee, the Gulf
states, the variety of the vistas provided all around and about the Rocky
Mountain range or of New Mexico or the incredible state of Utah… BUT… I have to
say it again. New England was a revelation.
Stay tuned for part two …. the return to Miami by way of
Pennsylvania, the Virginias, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the North Carolina
Highlands.
As indicated… a very long trip.
Barney Rosenzweig
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