Columbus Monthly / February 2011 / Glorious getaways

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Glorious getaways

Four unique communities—including an arts haven, a spiritualist center and an island of wild ponies—offer charming respites from the world.

 

Too often, we spend our vacations in ceaseless movement, traveling from one destination to the next as if our sole goal was to accumulate as many miles as possible on the odometer.

Perhaps, in these overscheduled times, we should consider a different kind of getaway, one that involves driving to a single destination . . . and stopping. Upon arrival, we can unpack the car and then head out to explore our new domain at a leisurely pace. We can immerse ourselves in the sights and sounds and smells of this new world, walking streets that soon become familiar, stopping by the same coffee shop each morning, swimming with the kids every afternoon . . . falling into sync with the rhythms of an entirely different place.

Here are four intriguing communities that encourage this kind of vacation. Isolated by woods or water or both, each destination possesses a rich history, a distinctive identity and an assured sense of self.

 

Chautauqua Institution: Learning by the Lake

In the early 1870s, an Akron industrialist and a Methodist minister decided that the world needed an educational summer camp for Sunday school teachers. After locating a beautiful wooded spot on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in western New York state, they devised a two-week program revolving around sermons, lectures and music. According to Chautauqua: An American Utopia, by Jeffrey Simpson, thousands of participants traveled by steamer, train, wagon and buggy in the summer of 1874 to experience the “Chautauqua Lake Sunday School Assembly.” They lived in tents and flimsy cottages while preparing themselves to become better teachers.

This hugely successful summer program began to expand, embracing a larger curriculum and adding recreational activities and artistic endeavors. Eventually dubbed the Chautauqua Institution, this combination summer camp and college campus turned into an American phenomenon, drawing hundreds of thousands of people to the picturesque town over the next century and inspiring smaller copycat versions around the U.S. Famous visitors include nine American presidents, Amelia Earhart, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and George Gershwin.

Nowadays, more than 140,000 people visit this vibrant lakeside community every summer. Chautauqua enthusiasts often take up residence for a week or more, relishing the densely programmed schedule of lectures, concerts, theater performances, artistic pursuits, discussions and outdoor activities. Best-selling authors, well-respected authorities, revered religious leaders and famous artists and musicians show up to lend their skills and wisdom. The institution has its own symphony, as well as ballet, theater and opera companies, and also offers golf, tennis, boating, swimming and summer camp for children.

“It’s a vacation for the mind and soul. People describe their time here as a time of renewal. There’s no place like it,” says Mike Sullivan, director of institute relations. “Even as a visitor for a day, you become part of the community.”

The high season at Chautauqua runs from the end of June through August, and each week showcases a different overarching theme and lectures from five experts on the topic. “We don’t try to present one point of view,” says Sullivan, “but a spectrum to the left and right of center . . . so people can make up their own minds.” Themes for this summer encompass topics as diverse as global health, 21st-century women and the roots of the Civil War. For Sullivan, “my favorite events are really the keynotes of any of the morning lecture series. I’ve never been disappointed.”

Chautauqua’s entertainment headliners will include Steve Martin, Bill Cosby and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, which “loves to perform in our amphitheater,” says Sullivan. Constructed in 1893, before the days of amplified sound, Chautauqua’s 5,000-seat, open-air performance space has marvelous acoustics.

Scattered over the 750-acre campus, the institution’s other buildings are as diverse as the curriculum, ranging from Neoclassic to Art Deco to Arts and Crafts Shingle-style. Charming late Victorian and early 19th-century cottages line the town’s shaded streets. Nearly every home seems to feature a front porch, where attendees traditionally lounge to discuss the day’s events. Aside from private homes, rental accommodations run the gamut, from old-fashioned boarding houses to newly built condominiums to the historic Athenaeum Hotel, a grand 1881 Victorian structure dripping with porches and balconies.

Visitors must purchase a gate pass, which costs $74 for 24 hours or $444 for the week and covers admission to almost all activities. Rates for children are lower. Partial day passes also are available. Inside the gates, cars are discouraged and most visitors walk or ride bikes.

Chautauqua has many loyal fans who regularly journey back each summer. “It’s a combination of not only the program, which is so intense that you’ve got something of great interest going on every minute of the day, but there’s a lot of beauty, too,” Sullivan says. “They want to return to it.”

 

Lily Dale Assembly: Spirits by the Shore

Lily Dale Assembly, a little gated community that describes itself as “The World’s Largest Center for the Religion of Spiritualism,” was established in 1879 on the shores of Lake Cassadaga, less than 30 miles from Chautauqua. Adherents to Spiritualism believe that our souls continue to exist after our physical deaths, and that these souls can communicate with the living. Every full-time resident of Lily Dale must be a member of the Spiritualist religion, and the town has become home to many well-established mediums who offer readings to those seeking to speak with loved ones who have passed on.

During the warmer months, people flock to this sweet-tempered town of aging Victorian-esque homes painted in colorful pastels and garnished with gingerbread woodwork. AnnMarie McCallister, a freelance graphic artist and art director of Columbus Monthly’s Columbus Bride, has spent many summers at her family’s cottage in Lily Dale. “Most of the houses are quite old, very charming and very quirky,” she says.

From the last week of June through the end of August, Lily Dale sponsors an extensive selection of lectures and workshops involving more than 150 presenters, who cover topics such as shamanism, séances, astral travel, tarot symbolism, reiki and crystal healing. Each summer brings well-known guests and authors to Lily Dale. Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, the stars of the Syfy Channel’s “Ghost Hunters” series, drew big crowds to their workshops in 2010 and will return again this summer. Some events are free; workshops vary in cost. The summer events are well-attended. “We get well over 25,000 people in a 10-week period,” says Joanne Taft, the clerk at Lily Dale’s offices.

For the curious day visitor, Lily Dale provides healing sessions and daily public readings at no charge. Inside the Healing Temple, a tidy white-painted building, people present themselves to a spiritual healer who works to channel restorative energies. At Inspiration Stump, an ancient tree stump in a forest clearing equipped with rustic benches, the town’s mediums convey short messages to audience members. According to McCallister, “If you’ve ever seen John Edward’s show, it’s something like that. As an audience member, you might get a message or you might just enjoy watching others get messages.”

Lily Dale maintains a roster of 40-odd registered mediums who offer a variety of services, including readings, spirit art (when the medium draws a picture of the departed loved one), tarot card interpretations and numerology. Half-hour readings begin around $50 and advance reservations are recommended since the mediums book up quickly during peak months. Contact information is available at lilydaleassembly.com.

Cafeterias, sandwich shops and coffeehouses provide sustenance, while the town’s stores are stocked with items ranging from deeply spiritual to cutely kitschy. Overnight guests can choose from among the town’s two vintage hotels, numerous private guest homes and a campground.

Lily Dale charges a gate fee from late June through the end of August. A daily pass runs $10. Children 18 and younger are free when accompanied by a paying adult, and those in the military or over 80 also are free.

Understandably, the alternative atmosphere of Lily Dale isn’t for everyone. But if nothing else, this little town in the big woods can bring a respite from an overly rational world. “People always talk about how incredibly peaceful Lily Dale is. There’s something about the energy that is inherently calming,” says McCallister. “It’s really quite lovely.”

 

Saugatuck: Creativity on the Kalamazoo

Sitting on a wide bend in the Kalamazoo River near Lake Michigan, the lively village of Saugatuck plays host to art galleries, crafts studios, restaurants, bars, gift stores and clothing boutiques. Dubbed “The Art Coast of Michigan,” Saugatuck has garnered a mantle’s worth of travel-related awards. Midwest Living Magazine placed Saugatuck fifth on its recent list of the 100 Best Midwest Small-Town Getaways. Last summer, the town earned the third spot in AmericanStyle magazine’s listing of the Top 25 Arts Destinations in the “Small City” category. “We’re also known as the bed-and-breakfast capital of the Midwest,” says Felicia Fairchild, executive director of the Saugatuck/ Douglas Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Despite rustic beginnings as a fur trading post in the 1700s, Saugatuck has matured into a pretty little gem with artistic leanings and a reputation for being family-friendly and gay-friendly. Fine art sellers, working artists’ studios and craft galleries jostle one another, displaying beautiful paintings, sculptures, leatherwork, hand-thrown pottery and more. For more than 100 years, the School of the Art Institute in Chicago has invited students and artists to Saugatuck to attend the Ox-Bow School of the Arts. The town’s own Saugatuck Center for the Arts designs a full summer roster of events and workshops for kids and adults.

The performing arts also flourish in Saugatuck. Mason Street Warehouse, a theater company founded by two former Broadway performers, serves as an incubator for Broadway. “They’ve tested productions here and been very successful,” says Fairchild. The Red Barn presents classic films, live theater and cabaret performances. Every May, the Waterfront Film Festival celebrates new independent works and the town swarms with actors, directors and producers. The Screen Actors Guild honored the Waterfront in 1997, naming it one of the world’s top five independent film festivals behind Cannes and Sundance. For six weeks during the summer, the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck performs on Thursday and Friday evenings.

The town is quite fond of celebrations. In July, the Venetian Festival features an art fair, classic boat and car shows, family activities, live music and a nighttime Boat Parade. Visitors can sample fine foods while enjoying live music and family activities during Taste of Saugatuck in August.

When Saugatuck visitors want to get out of town, they can head to nearby Oval Beach, a gorgeous stretch of pristine white sand on Lake Michigan, or to Saugatuck Dune Tours, where tourists belt into oversize dune buggies and take a 40-minute tour of the area’s rolling dunes. From mid July through August, visitors also can grab a bucket and pick their own blueberries at local farms. 

Aside from 36 B&Bs, travelers can choose to stay at standard chain hotels, European-style boutique hotels, an elegant mansion “and everything else in between,” says Fairchild. Two retro auto courts have been renovated with kitschy flair and local real estate companies keep a roster of properties available for weekly rentals.

Despite the bustle of downtown Saugatuck, vacationers don’t hesitate to take life slowly. People meander in and out of shops, enjoy drippy ice cream cones, delight in the town’s many adorable canine inhabitants and generally take as much time as they want to do almost nothing at all.

 

Chincoteague Island: Wildlife on the Water

Along the eastern shore of the United States, where Virginia meets Maryland, the long sandy ribbon of unpopulated Assateague Island stretches from south to north, protecting the small island of Chincoteague from the Atlantic Ocean. Depicted in Marguerite Henry’s beloved 1947 novel, Misty of Chincoteague, these barrier islands furnish visitors with a pleasing mix of friendly small-town life, wonderful seafood and spectacular wildlife, including the famous wild ponies that roam the dunes of Assateague Island.

Henry’s book tells the heartwarming story of Misty, a young filly from Assateague who found a home with two children living on Chincoteague Island. The book details the annual Pony Swim and Auction, when the shaggy equines paddle across the narrow channel separating Assateague Island from Chincoteague. In town, the animals are corralled into holding pens and the foals and yearlings are sold to raise money for the local volunteer fire department and to prevent pony overpopulation. A tradition since 1925, the event takes place on the last Wednesday and Thursday in July. Approximately 40,000 people attended last year, and the numbers continue to grow.

“People who came here as young campers with their families and watched the Pony Swim have read the books to the children, and now they want to bring their children back to experience what they had,” says Suzanne Taylor, executive director of the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce.

The ponies roam through the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on the southern end of Assateague. The refuge provides a home to many animals, including the little Sika elk, endangered Delmarva fox squirrels and threatened Atlantic loggerhead turtles. Birdwatchers thrill to see the diverse mixture of wading and shore birds, raptors and songbirds. The feral ponies, which have little fear of humans, often can be spotted from the roads or trails.

The refuge’s visitor center provides guided bird and marsh walks, photography hikes and demonstrations of surf fishing and crabbing. Beaches edge the eastern side of Assateague and families can swim safely in the lifeguard-protected section. Insect repellent is a must, due to the abundance of biting flies and mosquitoes, which irritate humans and horses alike.

The island also can be surveyed via boat tours or kayaks. “The boat tours are very popular and offer opportunities to see people working on the water. Some tours even stop to let you clam or fish,” says Taylor.

Once horse-lovers have had their fill of the wild ponies, they can explore other Misty-related attractions. Henry mixed fact and fiction in her tales of Misty, who was a real Chincoteague pony owned by the author. Fans of the books will want to visit the Beebe Ranch, the setting for many of Misty’s exploits (both real and imagined) and home to the actual Beebe family, who also were fictionalized in Henry’s books. The Chincoteague Pony Centre houses a herd of Misty’s descendants and caters to fans with pony rides, riding lessons and the Memories of Misty Museum, chock-full of memorabilia. The Chincoteague Pony Drill Team performs regularly at the center.

Chincoteague’s other big draw is the exceptional seafood, particularly the oysters. “They are raised right off the Atlantic coast here, and are known for being saltier than other oysters, with a better flavor,” explains Taylor. In October, the town will hold its 39th Oyster Festival, a lively all-you-can-eat celebration with every possible permutation of oyster cookery, plus crabs, hush puppies and slaw.

Travelers can find accommodations at camping facilities, motels, B&Bs, cottages and pricey homes overlooking beautiful Chincoteague Bay.

Although the ponies grab most of the attention, the island’s best qualities may be the friendliness of the local residents and the slow pace of life. “You can’t help but notice how genuinely nice people are here,” says Taylor. “And it’s not that harried pace of city life. In Chincoteague, when the ducks decide to cross the street, everyone just stops and we watch the ducks.” 

 

Katherine Matthews is a freelance writer.