The 100 Best Affordable Vacations (61 page)

L.L. BEAN WALK-ON ADVENTURES

Always wanted to try kayaking, clay shooting, or snowshoeing? L.L. Bean, the clothier and sports-supply retailer famous for its catalog and rubber-toed boots, will teach you the basics through its $15 Walk-On Adventures program. It’s offered at L.L. Bean retail stores, which are located along the East Coast from Maine to Virginia and in Illinois. (The flagship store in Freeport, Maine, is open 24/7 and is a travel destination itself.)

Classes can include lessons on fly-casting, cross-country skiing, archery, geocaching, and more. The price covers all equipment and shuttle transportation to an off-site location. The classes last up to 2.5 hours and are open to anyone 8 and up; for shooting, the minimum age is 12.
L.L. Bean Inc., Freeport, ME 04033, 888-552-3261,
www.llbean.com/outdoorsOnline/odp/walkon
.

Out-of-town guests often stay in nearby Alpharetta, Georgia, which has a variety of chain hotels and motels. Rates vary depending on time of year, but expect to pay from $90 and up per night. The school provides a list of recommended accommodations.

In Georgia, Swartz’s introductory class gives an overview of the sport before delving into techniques. Fly-fishing, he notes, was developed to mimic the look and action of an insect skittering along the surface of the water. (Rod and reel fishing uses bait that’s presented below the water’s surface.) Fly fishermen and-women must cast more often because the fly needs to be moving to attract a fish. “Many people find casting so enjoyable, that’s why they fly-fish,” says Swartz.

For novices, learning to cast is the hardest and the most intimidating aspect of fly-fishing. The trick is to stop in the middle of a cast and let the momentum carry the line out to the river. “It’s kind of like a spring. You stop your arm and the rod does the work for you,” Swartz says. “It’s not hard to learn, it just seems counterintuitive.”

Instructors use PowerPoint presentations and DVDs to present the information, and some advanced classes even use digital video and sophisticated monitors to carefully analyze casts. Classes include detailed manuals, so there’s no need to scribble notes during presentations. The last hour of the introductory class is spent around a pond behind the school. Working with hook-less flies (no one wants to be walking around with beginners tossing sharp objects in the air), the instructor works with each student on casting techniques.

Twenty-seven-year-old Thomas Simmons of Macon, Georgia, who took the class after his fiancée gave him a gift certificate, said the class was enough for him to fall for the sport. When he took out his fly rod three weeks later, he could tell how much he learned. “I was always trying to rush it, and pop it like a whip, but you realize it will come naturally. It’s a rhythm that shouldn’t be forced…It’s an artisan craft.”

$PLURGE

ORVIS

Orvis, a company long known for fly-fishing classes, also provides lessons at resorts around the country. Although many of the offerings are more expensive, the one-day class at Equinox Resort & Spa in Manchester, Vermont, runs a comparable $235 a day, not including lodging.
Orvis Fly-Fishing School, 802-362-4604,
www.orvis.com
.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH

Atlanta Fly Fishing School,
5060 Pittman Rd., Cumming, GA 30040, 404-550-6890,
www.atlantaflyfishingschool.com
.

follow the lighthouse trail

NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA

Lighthouses are more helpful than churches.

—
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, AMERICAN STATESMAN, PUBLISHER, AND INVENTOR (1706–1790)

77 |
Nova Scotia literally disappears when the fog rolls in from the Atlantic. The treacherous weather, an annoyance on land, can be deadly at sea, which is why you’ll find more lighthouses here than any other U.S. state or Canadian province. More than 160 dot the coast at nearly every twist and turn along the serpentine shore. For the visitor, it’s lighthouse heaven. The maritime province makes it easy to see and learn about these beacons with a dedicated Lighthouse Route.

One of the prettiest drives in North America, the route passes through fishing villages and by craggy coves, and endless oceanfront vistas. The route links the port of Yarmouth with the capital city of Halifax, and you can start at either end.

For Lighthouse Route drivers beginning in the northwest, the
Cape Forchu Lightstation
(end of Rte. 304, 902-742-4522,
www.capeforchulight.com
) makes a distinctive start to the trail. The beacon, built in 1964 to replace an earlier one, is one of the country’s newest and looks like an apple core. The design is meant to minimize air resistance in this often windy spot. Visitors to the lighthouse can tour a small museum in the former keeper’s house and have a cup of tea. The light, visible up to 30 miles away, was once projected by a Fresnel lens. These elaborate mirrored French-made prisms resemble a giant jewel, and you can see Cape Forchu’s original one from 1839 at the
Yarmouth County Museum
(22 Collins St., 902-742-5539,
http://yarmouthcountymuseum.ednet.ns.ca
).

Heading south from Yarmouth, don’t be surprised if you run into mysterious patches of fog. Perhaps that’s why the area near Shag Harbor was said to be the site of a UFO crash landing in 1967. Residents reported seeing four mysterious lights floating in the sky. The area celebrates a
UFO festival
(www.shagharbourufo.com) every August.

Just a few miles more and you’ll find another mysterious object, a red-and-white striped lighthouse in the hills well away from the seashore.
Seal Island Lighthouse
(Rte. 3, Barrington, 902-637-2185,
www.capesablehistoricalsociety.com
, $3 Canadian) wasn’t originally located here, but when the Canadian government decommissioned the light in 1979, locals rose in protest. They raised funds and built a new half-size base at its current location. The cast iron top was relocated by helicopter. Now you can climb a winding staircase and see the original lens that was lit by thousand-watt bulbs the size of ostrich eggs.

The beauty of the Lighthouse Route is that it allows plenty of time for exploring. Wander through
Shelburne,
which was settled by Loyalists escaping the American Revolution, and grab a bite to eat from
Mr. Fish
(104 King St., 902-875-3474), an unassuming shack that offers some of the best seafood in this seafood-savvy part of the world. Choose from fresh haddock, shrimp, and scallops. As you wind through small villages and past more lighthouses, set your bearings on
White Point
(White Point Beach, 800-565-5068,
www.whitepoint.com
), an old-fashioned waterfront resort. You can wander the grounds and see the bunnies that literally hop all over the property. Nightly rates start at $109 Canadian.

The next day wander over to the historic town of
Liverpool
for the
Fort Point Lighthouse
(21 Fort Ln., end of Main St., 902-354-5471). If you’re lucky, an employee in period dress will be present to tell you about Liverpool’s heyday, when the keeper was paid $36 a year to operate the light. Like nearly all lighthouses, the harbor beacon burned whale and seal oil. That changed when a Nova Scotian invented kerosene.

You’ll want to allow plenty of time to explore
Lunenburg,
a fascinating town that dates from 1753 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Visit the surprising
Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic
(68 Bluenose Dr., 902-634-4794, $10), devoted to the trade that kept the province fed for centuries. Check in to the restored
Lunenburg Arms Hotel
(94 Pelham St., 902-640-4040,
www.eden.travel
), with rooms from about $109 Canadian in the low season. At the
Homeport Motel
(167 Victoria Rd., 902-634-8234,
www.homeportmotel.com
), rooms begin at $79 Canadian, low season.

TITANIC
SITES

Halifax has always been a city tied to the sea, so perhaps it’s fitting that it looked after the victims of the
Titanic.
The liner sank 700 nautical miles away and ships from Halifax were dispatched to search for survivors and recover the dead.

Learn more about the disaster at the excellent
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
(1675 Lower Water St., 902-424-7490,
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mmanew
), located on the waterfront. You can see artifacts from the ship, including a deck chair, china, and the heart-breaking shoes from an unknown child. Only 705 of the ship’s more than 2,200 people aboard survived.

One hundred fifty victims are buried at three city cemeteries, but most are at
Fairview Lawn
(3720 Windsor St., 902-490-4883). The area’s well marked, and the graves all bear the same date: April 15, 1912.

Now, it’s time to visit the most photographed lighthouse in the world:
Peggy’s Cove
(178 Peggy’s Point Rd., 902-823-2564), perched above a tiny fishing village scattered with boats painted in primary colors. It sits on a rocky outcrop surrounded by surf and, at certain times of day, tourists. Never mind, you’ll still love it.

Next up is the other endpoint of the route, the lively provincial capital,
Halifax,
population 287,000. You can take in galleries, clubs, and museums here, but first look out to the channel to see
George’s Island,
home to the city’s lighthouse. Although not open to the public, the light is visible around the city and has guarded the entrance to Halifax Harbor for centuries.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH

Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture, & Heritage,
P.O. Box 456, Halifax, NS B3J 2R5, Canada, 800-565-0000 or 902-425-5781,
www.novascotia.com
.

Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society,
www.nslps.com
.

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CHAPTER
4]

body & soul

W
hy do we take vacations? The simple answer is to escape the routine of everyday life. But the underlying reason is renewal. When work and school and doctor visits are far away, we have the mental space to honor what’s really important to us—whatever that may be.

A vacation can be a chance to indulge in cultural pursuits that are artsy, musical, and literary. You can spend days studying opera or abstract art or exploring the Bohemian experiment called Burning Man or the unfathomable world of fringe theater. If you’re a romantic in disguise, you might immerse yourself in the plays of Shakespeare or stroll through the landscapes that inspired artist Andrew Wyeth.

A vacation is also an opportunity to look after yourself. Use it to develop healthy habits—or simply ease the stress away. Run through incredible scenery, dip into natural hot springs in the wilds of Montana, or breathe deeply and regain your serenity at a wellness retreat. Your body and mind will be thanking you for years to come.

A vacation can also be a chance to help other people and institutions. Underfunded parks and abandoned animals need your time. Scientists struggling to preserve the past seek willing hands to help out. From here in the United States, you can help poor people around the world by teaching at a training center or helping with administrative work.