Travel

Amy Walter, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, has lived in Arlington’s Clarendon neighborhood for 30 years—“which is kind of crazy!” she says. Though her work often sends her to Capitol Hill, her days off are usually spent away from politics. Here’s how she likes to fill the hours.

You’ll be hard pressed to find something for nothing these days—but we scouted out memorable museums, lush gardens, quirky shows, and surprising activities across the region that don’t cost a thing. So don’t worry about your wallet, just round up your crew and hit the road.

Along Centre Street, old brick buildings sport striped awnings and flower-filled window boxes, and lit-up trees sway in the harbor breeze. This seaport town on Amelia Island—which has more than 50 blocks on the National Register of Historic Places—has coastal charm in spades.

Fiesta dinnerware has been brightening American kitchen tables with its bold colors, art deco–style designs, and mix-and-match appeal since its inception in 1936. The flagship brand of the Homer Laughlin China Company in Newell, West Virginia, Fiesta was created in response to stuffy Victorian tableware trends and Depression-era gloom.

“Savannah could lay claim to enough real history that it had no need of false honors,” John Berendt wrote. So, to get to know today’s Savannah, start with its past. Walk or bike around the celebrated 22 squares. Spot a colorful, turn-of-the-century masterpiece in the Victorian District, then smile for the requisite photo in the spray of the 166-year-old Forsyth Park fountain. Encounter Gullah/Geechee culture along the lyrical shores of the Moon River, and relax into the Lowcountry way of life on the Tybee Island coastline.

Perhaps it was, as Jonathan Swift once wrote, a bold man who first ate an oyster, but it wasn’t a hard sell for me to join Four Seasons New Orleans’s new Oysters Take Flight experience. On this bright, balmy morning, I set out from the 34-story hotel overlooking the Mississippi River for Southern Seaplane airport in nearby Belle Chasse.

"Before I had worked a bunch in Georgia, I was filming for Table 19, which we shot at the Ritz-Carlton on Lake Oconee. At the time, I didn’t know there was much lake culture in Georgia, and I thought, this place is beautiful."

If you’re not careful, a visit to Oxford might land you in the “Velvet Ditch.” Incorporated in 1837, the small college town with its bustling historic square earned the nickname in the 1950s after locals noticed a pattern: People came to Oxford (often for class at the University of Mississippi, aka Ole Miss), got comfortable, and never left.

Set in the rolling hills of Goshen, Kentucky, Hermitage Farm is a historic property and inn that raises champion thoroughbreds and celebrates the area’s agricultural legacy with bourbon tastings and farm-to-table dining. At the property’s Barn8 restaurant, bartender and Kentucky native Zack Staten uses craft bourbons in seasonal cocktails like the Bourbon, Beets, Battlestar Galactica, a fall menu favorite.

When Gilded Age glitterati traveled south to escape the Northeast winters in the late 19th century, they brought an indulgent lifestyle and a penchant for equestrian pursuits. Aiken, South Carolina, became known as a winter colony for wealthy sojourners—and a training ground for their racehorses.