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IT—Inside Traveler
By Jessie Johnston and Emily King

July 27, 2006:

Borderline Loco

IT hears about some pretty strange travel trends, but when we read about a simulated border crossing tour in Harper's July 2006 issue, we thought we'd better delve deeper. "Parque EcoAlberto, an eco-resort in central Mexico, aims to replicate the experience of illegally crossing the border to the United States," states Harper's, "Mock border agents are employed to prevent 'successful crossings,' loading those they catch onto trucks." Was this something morbidly akin to Houston's Enron tours and New Orleans' post-Katrina disaster tours?

We found our way to the resort's website, all in Spanish, where we located and translated the following: "Visit EcoAlberto to help the sons of our [indigenous] Hñahñu brothers. They do not have to live apart, with their bodies in a neighboring country and their hearts in El Alberto." From our reading, it seems the tour is less for ambulance-chasing tourists than a way to acknowledge the hardships undergone by local emigrants attempting to fulfill an American dream (and bring money into their home community so that they don't have to leave).

While IT's not quite ready to hop a plane to Mexico City, drive over an hour to the resort, and pay $100 to get chased "across unfamiliar terrain littered with obstacles" by border control, we can think of a few people we'd like to send in our place...

Are We There Yet? A Family Travel Report from the Road

Unlike your unencumbered bloggers, not all of Traveler's staff travel with only their lightly packed bags for company. Associate Editor Susan O'Keefe recently took a trip with her family, and gave us the following report:

"Just back with my three kids from the Tides Inn in historic Irvington, Virginia, a charming town on the Rappahannock River (a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay) in Virginia's Northern Neck, where the setting, pace of life, and activities recall summer vacations of the past. From croquet on a bluff overlooking Carters Creek to the swimming pool complete with a metal shade awning, towel cabana, and plenty of water floats for the kids, the Tides is unpretentious and fully welcomes kids, even misbehaving ones (take my word for it, breakfast one morning turned into a nightmare, and a waiter averted disaster with miniature, palm-size pinball games). And unlike so many resorts that have programs for kids—tidy, nowhere-to-be-seen facilities to store tots for the day—the Tides's Crab Net Kids program is chock-full of activities that actually take in the inn's surroundings and can include crabbing and fishing on the river, golfing and playing tennis.

"Otherwise, you can find things to do on your own on a list of daily activities posted in the lobby that may offer a property-wide scavenger hunt, a complimentary ice cream social, or live music to sway to on the beach in the evening. No matter what's happening, you can bet that it will go off (no 'they said this was the spot to meet' moments), with cheerful, fresh-faced young staff assisting. Do-it-yourself crab nets are provided on the dock (this entertained my active five-year-old for hours) or you can head out on the water in a variety of boats and complimentary canoes. The sailing school offers on-site lessons to young and old alike. We piled in one of the blue-canopied Duffy motorboats and tooled around the river pointing out grand summer homes with sweeping lawns and old boathouses, while the kids waved to passing boaters.

"The small town of Irvington is a scene out of Mayberry with homes with front porches lining both sides of the main street. Just a short walk from the inn, the town has a few worthwhile shops and cafés (we never made it to the White Fences Vineyard on the edge of town with two huge wine cork sculptures sprouting from the vineyards, but it caught our attention), or you can drive to several nearby waterside towns, all offering their share of crab houses for dinner.

"We ventured out one afternoon to pick up a $6 crab net (for our dedicated crabber who insisted on his own) at Eubanks & Son Hardware store (+1 804 435 1519) (much more fun to forage through than Home Depot) in Kilmarnock where we stopped for barbecued ribs and pulled-pork sandwiches at Smokin Joe's (+1 804 435 6000) located in the Tri-Star Supermarket (81 Irvington Rd.; +1 804 435 3800) parking lot. But mostly, we floated in the pool at the inn and hung around the dock talking to boaters. After dinner in the evening, we sat on Adirondack chairs on the small beach while the kids danced around and doodled in the sand waiting to see the first star in the night sky ... summer vacation indeed!"

From July 25, 2006:

How Sweet IT Is

In case anyone was in doubt, last week's heat wave was a clear reminder of just what season is upon us. Since we already gave you the lowdown on how to find a pool near you, this week IT will explore another favorite means of summer temperature reduction: ice cream. Or, to be precise, our favorite frozen subgenre, gelato.

Beyond the heat, the inspiration for this entry was our recent discovery of Ciclismo Classico's Giro del Gelato biking tour of Italy, which includes all-you-can-eat binges, gelato-making lessons, and best gelato competitions on its two-week itinerary from Venice to Gaeta via Florence and other cool-treat hotbeds. We got to thinking that there are more ways to experience this Italian delight than struggling to choose between 218 different flavors or navigating display cases where velvety vanilla neighbors bright blue Viagra, and found a few to share with you.

Ciclismo Classico may have the only gelato bike tour on offer, but they're not the first to think that cold creamy goodness would be a good guiding principle for trip planning. A couple of intrepid ice cream adventurers have taken gelato tours of their own, and posted their findings online so others can follow in their footsteps. If you're not feeling athletic or DIY, Select Italy's half-day Florence for Children tour combines the requisite cono with visits to a number of nifty-at-any-age animal statues, including the famed Florentine boar.

If after being guided to the best scoops your sweet tooth starts demanding regular fixes, IT has tracked down a couple of stateside workshops where regular folks can learn to make it at home. Sadly we just missed one in Sonoma, but there's still plenty of time to take in this class in Portland in a couple of weeks.

We could go on, but our mouths are watering. If anyone asks, IT's spending the rest of the day at Dolcezza….

In Search of the Perfect Loo

Here at National Geographic Traveler, we're always looking for stories that promise an intriguing conceit and/or superlative claims. So, when intern Allison Busacca (a self-proclaimed hater of unsanitary bathrooms) pitched this potty post, we had to give her the green light. She reports:

"The sixth annual America's Best Restroom Contest, sponsored by Cintas, a bathroom products provider, recently ranked the top five public restrooms across the nation that, due to high cleaning standards and technological advancements, help make the entire restroom experience a little more enjoyable.

"Taking home first place is Wendell's restaurant, in Westerville, Ohio: 'I think [customers] look at it like this,' says Rich Belding, Wendell's general manager, 'If the restroom, which they can see, is dirty, what is the kitchen, which they can't see, like?'

"Finalists were selected by Cintas officials based on exceptional hygiene, style, and open public access. The winners are then chosen by the voting public. Any public restroom is eligible for the award, not just Cintas customers, says account manager Jessica Bensten. Previous top-five winners are eligible for reconsideration after one year.

"Wendell's bathrooms, which are cleaned every hour, follow two themes: sports for the men and martinis for the ladies. 'The men's room has everything from race cars to golf,' Belding says. 'In the women's room, we supply feminine products, lotions, and hairspray—there's a waterfall too.' Both bathrooms have televisions, and keep a steady supply of Scope and hand towels on their granitite countertops. Belding says he believes Scope to be one of the selling points in the contest. 'I've had other people drive from other states just to get a look.'

"Rounding out the top five:
2) All Season's Bistro, East Lansing, Michigan: deep plum walls, customized paintings, and old world tiles in stylish bistro decor.
3) Hemenway's Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar, Providence, Rhode Island: inviting elegance, fresh flowers and modern stainless steel.
4) Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City, New Jersey: marble floors, contemporary, stainless steel faucets, and choice of hand towel or dryer.
5) Quad City International Airport, Moline, Illinois: automatic toilet seat covers and sinks; open, clean and convenient.

"Previous winners include the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the restored Main Building at the University of Notre Dame, the Grand Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, and the Fort Smith Regional Airport in Fort Smith, Arizona. All past champions become part of the America's Best Restrooms Hall of Fame.

"Nominations for the 2007 America's Best Restroom contest can be submitted from now until the end of December. The winner will be announced in April 2007."

IT appreciates a nice loo, and while we haven't decided who we'll officially nominate for next year's contest, our top contenders (in no particular order) are the twinkling-star-celinged facilities at Rum Jungle in Vegas, the hyper-clean LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake, Philly's Continental Mid-Town with its two-way mirrors, and Butter in New York, where the light that comes on when you lock the stall's frosted-glass door turns it opaque.

E-mail your feedback and tips to InsideTraveler@ngs.org.

Bookmark IT! www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/extras/blog/blog.html

For Emily King, Traveler's assistant to the editor, a waffle cone of coffee ice cream with chocolate fudge chunks is the cool-down method of choice. Researcher Jessie Johnston spends summer days pining for a cup of the sweet chestnut crème glacée she fell in love with one summer in Provence.

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