Getting the flavor of...A Vermont arts capital

A Vermont arts capital

The 1970s are finally history in Brattleboro, Vt., said Jane Roy Brown in The Boston Globe. Sure, a visitor might still catch “a flash of tie-dye or a whiff of patchouli oil” on Main Street, but that’s because this 260-year-old river town has always known how to capitalize on its past even as it moves forward. Countless shops and restaurants on the Victorian main strip have changed hands since artists and back-to-the-landers led a town renaissance more than a generation ago, yet the mix of boutiques, galleries, outdoor outfitters, and coffee shops remains familiarly rich. And while the mountain backdrop and the two rivers that converge in this southern Vermont town consistently attract hikers and paddlers, “roughing it is not a requirement.” If you’re attracted instead by an exhibit at the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, you might want to book a room at the 1938 Latchis Hotel and Theatre, where art deco stylishness is alive in every guest room.

Indiana’s moving dunes

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Just east of Gary, Ind., lie some of the world’s tallest freshwater dunes, said Bob Downing in the Akron Beacon Journal. The 30-mile shoreline between Gary and Michigan City is “a mosaic of dunes, prairies, and bogs” that offers an escape you wouldn’t expect in this industrialized corner of Lake Michigan’s shore. Mount Baldy is a highlight—a 126-foot “living” dune that moves four to five feet each year as the wind buffets its sands. From the top, you can see Chicago across the water on a clear day. Mount Baldy is the only dune in the 15,067-acre national park that visitors can climb up and slide down, but there are other wonders nearby, including in the smaller Indiana Dunes State Park. At that park’s eastern end is a huge blowout—a place where long-buried trees have been uncovered by a shift in wind patterns. It’s said that you can also hear “singing sands” here: Under the right moisture conditions, each footstep creates a clear ringing sound.