How You Can Turn a Traffic Jam Into a Backroad Adventure

For the longest time I believed that you should always stay on the highway during a traffic jam because taking alternate routes would simply slow you down.
The conventional wisdom stipulated that the shortest route between two points was the route you were already on, so you should just grin and bear it. Resist the temptation to leave the highway because you'll either get lost or you'll end up in yet another traffic jam caused by all the other drivers who allowed GPS to redirect them.

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Travel + Leisure

an hour ago

• Travel + Leisure

A Dreamy Countryside Hotel Just Opened in One of Connecticut's Most Charming Towns—Only a 2-hour Drive From NYC

Belden House and Mews The hotel is a half-minute walk from Litchfield center, where you will find hearty but casual restaurants and small, sophisticated shops flanking the village green. The acid-green bar with a zinc countertop and alluring cheetah lamp is the most inspired hotel space I have encountered in years. The three-acre property's natural light is extraordinary, especially when it pours through the original bay windows that curve over banquettes in the dining and living rooms. Some guest rooms in the main house feature handsome recessed minibars that are refashioned original washbasins; the amenities are hyperlocal, from Litchfield Candy Company and Litchfield Distillery, among others. Works from Litchfield County creators appear throughout Belden House, including custom wall coverings by twenty2 Wallpaper & Grasscloth,and ceramic lamps by Dumais Made. This serves to emphasize northwest Connecticut's status as a nerve center for world-class artistic talent, as well as the hotels' commitment to that tradition. Over a century ago, Litchfield, Connecticut, which was then the seat of the county with the same name, was destroyed by a series of fires. The New York Times dubbed Litchfield 'the queen of all Connecticut towns' in its coverage of the conflagration and lamented the businesses that were wiped out in the stylish resort, among them a posh hotel on the corner of West and Main Streets. The town rebuilt, mostly in brick, and today Litchfield is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It took more than a hundred years, and a bold vision led by developer Anthony Champalimaud, for a new, high-street, full-service hotel to rise from those ashes. Belden House and Mews has done so magnificently, with the singular flair that can only emerge when a structure's splendid, vital, and deeply historic bones are tended to by Champalimaud Designs (founded by Anthony's mother, Alexandra), the powerhouse behind many of the world's most gorgeous hotels, including Raffles Singapore, Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, and London's The Emory. The living room. Read McKendree/Belden House & Mews After opening Troutbeck, the definitive estate hotel in Amenia, New York, Champalimaud fils had a conviction that Litchfield the town, and Litchfield the county, lacked a hotel that properly honored its significance—architectural, cultural, and otherwise. His original passion for the project, and intuition into what the hotel could be, grew in part from the fact that he is a full-time resident (via Portugal, Montreal, England, and New York), whose home is five doors from Belden House. 'Also, it helps having kind of a seasoned newcomer perspective on this part of the world,' he says. 'With fresh eyes, we can plainly see the qualities and extraordinary attributes of the community and these surroundings, not least of which is the natural beauty of Litchfield County. We felt strongly that we were uniquely equipped to take this on.' Litchfield is a quintessential New England town, full of grand homes resting in the shade of constitution oaks. The nation's first law school was established there, as was the first all-female academy. The abolitionist author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, grew up on North Street with her firebrand minister father, Lyman Beecher. In the 20th century, that weighty heritage was leavened by the hands of modernist architects Marcel Breuer, Richard Neutra, and Eliot Noyes, who scattered glass-walled masterpieces around Litchfield, the latter notably in the form of an annex to the public library. A staircase in the main house. Read McKendree/Belden House & Mews With a refined sense of color and play, Belden House embodies and unites those two distinctly American identities. The main building, a handsome white Victorian/Colonial revival mansion with a broad, pillared porch, was constructed by Dr. Charles O. Belden in 1888. A low-slung mid-century mews was added in 1959 behind the main house. Now, both contain guest rooms, whose common DNA is the warm but oh-so-cool Champalimaud style, that deploys (and combines) colors, patterns, contours, and fabrics in a manner that is simultaneously glamorous and unpretentious. The living room is a marvel of pink and gold, old, and new, accented with chic green-patterned fringed banquettes and the 137-year old fireplace with its original butter yellow tiles. Belden House and Mews gives a master class in balance, as in how to preserve the structure and soul of a place within its physical location and historical context, while elevating it for a new time and a new purpose. From the street, the physical building blends in inconspicuously with the other grand homes on North Street. Inside, it is clear that the common spaces were designed in the 19th-century with socializing in mind. In these rooms, as elsewhere, is evidence of the teams' reverence for original fixtures, décor, and craftsmanship. And though they remain intact, the woodwork, moldings, windows, sconces, chandeliers, and floors have been revived and brightened, and now have fresh stories to tell. One of these treasures appears upon entering the lobby. Etched in stone on the fireplace is a quote from Macbeth urging humanity toward perseverance. Shakespeare's message is as alive today as it was in 1888. At Belden House, the past serves to advance the narrative forward, resulting in a new gold standard for the contemporary, historic, country-house hotel. My review of Belden House and Mews follows. The Rooms Of the 31 rooms and suites, 10 are in the main house, reachable by two separate carpeted staircases, as is typical in Victorian homes. It took an hour for me to photograph the many delectable details in my 2,100-square-foot, three-bedroom penthouse suite. In the living area, velvet sofas in warm blue and pink frame a patinaed leather gymnastics bench that doubles as a coffee table. Windows over cushioned nooks bring the leafy outdoors inside, as does a sweet balcony. The marble and tiled bathroom contain a massive shower and soaking tub. My kitchen went unused, but the Marcel Breuer chairs around the table are an homage to modernism, and Yellow Ware mixing bowls, to vintage New England. All rooms exemplify easy elegance, and seem to prioritize comfort—not informality per se, but clean lines, plush carpets underfoot, and cozy easy chairs. The design team has carefully preserved the buildings' essence and history through small, sometimes imperceptible details. For example, some custom wallcoverings contain patterns duplicated from old fabric remnants uncovered during renovation. Most of the hotels' beds (with mattresses sheathed in Frette linens) are hand made by Litchfield County woodworker Ian Ingersoll. All the 21 Mews guest rooms and suites (averaging 430 square-feet) feature these creations which, though super sleek, evoke traditional design. Here, the modernist aesthetic emerges from the pale and pleasing palette, with details such as Vitsoe built-ins. Accessed via private terraced gardens, these rooms have a zen calm, and are quiet as a forest. Food and Drink A lunch spread in the dining room at Belden House & Mews. Jim Henkens/Belden House & Mews Chef Tyler Heckman left New York City after 10 years at Farris, Chelsea Hotel, and Villanelle, among others, to return to his native Connecticut. He describes his cuisine as 'light, approachable, but hopefully will make you wonder, what are these ingredients?' After my superb dinner entrée of beef sliced from the short rib and grilled slow, hot, and smokelessly over Japanese charcoal, my salad had refreshing flavors I could not identify. Heckman's answer: palm sugar, lime zest and juice, Thai chili, and fish sauce – inspired by a Vietnamese nộm. Dessert was milk ice cream, bee pollen, with Earl Gray oil, so yummy, I stole a few bites from my husband's bowl. Meals are served on pink-topped wooden tables in Belden House's bright, original dining room. The 26-seat space is not large but, like the hotel itself, intimate, with a feeling that is elegant but not stuffy. At breakfast, I heaped house-made butter and jam over hefty slices of sourdough toast. For lunch, I loved his chewy and sweet lobster roll, a nod to the New England seacoast. The green bar at Belden House & Mews has details like a cheetah lamp and a zinc countertop. Read McKendree/Belden House & Mews The sexy green bar whispers 'cocktail,' and it's easy to take it slow with the house's One Sip Martini, served in a chic little coupe. This corner of the hotel transported me to an exquisite European hotel; the display bottles were Chinotto, Bitter Bianco, Sicilian Amara, and other spirits. Italian Food and Beverage manager Michele Alfonso, who is also a master mixologist, poured me a fingerful of Caffé Ligure, a coffee-flavored liqueur from Taranto, and it was divine. Activities and Experiences The Belden House & Mews outdoor pool. Scott Parker/Belden House & Mews There are gardens, a lawn court, and a beautifully landscaped, 50-foot heated pool flanked by arbor vitae. The spa contains a small but full gym with a Pilates reformer, and private instruction is available. Best of all is Belden House's location right in town, steps away from the center and its remarkable history. Litchfield is a paradigmatic New England village, with terrific restaurants and plenty of worldly shops. Some highlights: estate jewelry at Lawrence Jeffrey; Scottish cashmere at R. Derwin, the gorgeous hair salon Byrde and the B; and Milton Market, where you can take home a Dumais Made ceramic lamp. The Spa Inside Bathhouse, the spa and wellness space at Belden House & Mews. Scott Parker/Belden House & Mews Bathhouse is an enchanted spot which sparkles with newness. Blond wood cabinets, warm brown tiles, and stone floors give the space a lustrous feeling. The wet room consists of a sauna and a steam room clad in deep-blue tiles; at one end is a Japanese Ofuru tub for hydrotherapy. The whole below-ground complex is infused with the scent of cruelty free Wildsmith face and body products used in treatments. My 120-minute Thermal Experience treatment was designed to move between temperatures while detoxifying, renewing my skin, and stimulating circulation. My therapist, Agnieszka Domurad, was kind enough to adapt a bit: I'm not a cold plunge lover, so after my body scrub, I soaked in the tub, and then had a truly great massage. Family-friendly Offerings Belden House welcomes kids age 12 and older. While it's not the type of resort that revolves around children, the proximity to downtown Litchfield, the pool, and the three-acre grounds will give kids plenty to do. Accessibility Two of the guestrooms are ADA accessible, one in the main house and the other in the Mews. Location Litchfield's Main Street. Read McKendree/Belden House & Mews Belden House is a two-hour drive from New York City and 45 minutes from Hartford's Bradley Airport. The town of Litchfield is the crossroads of northwest Connecticut, which is loaded with stunning forested vistas, flowering meadows, and canoe-able rivers. Many hiking paths are in this part of New England, including a stretch of the Appalachian Trail. There are numerous preserves for contemplation and brushes with wildlife, such as the Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy; and orchards, such as March Farm in Bethlehem, for apple and blueberry picking. Thornhill Farm and Milkhouse is a dairy farm down the road, and crafts superb chocolate. White Memorial, most of which is in Litchfield, encompasses 4,000 acres of protected wilderness. A car is useful for the backroads of Litchfield County, and Uber is not dependable in the area. How to Get the Most Value Out of Your Stay Belden House is an independent hotel and not yet part of any loyalty programs. Nightly rates at Belden House and Mews start at $500. Every T+L hotel review is written by an editor or reporter who has stayed at the property, and each hotel selected aligns with our core values.

Fox News

an hour ago

• Fox News

Americans ready to hit the road in record numbers this Independence Day

Print Close By Ashley DiMella Published June 20, 2025 Americans are predicted to set a travel record this year while celebrating the nation's 249th birthday. AAA released its "Independence Day Travel Forecast" report, finding that 72.2 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home this July 4th. The forecast looks not just at the Fourth of July but at holiday travel spanning from Saturday, June 28 to Sunday, July 6. TOURISTS SPRAYED WITH WATER GUNS BY PROTESTERS AS EUROPEAN ANTI-TOURISM TREND GROWS The 2025 report predicts an increase of 1.7 million travelers compared to last year while finding seven million more travelers compared to 2019. Over 60 million Americans are set to drive to their destination, which is a 2.2% increase from 2024. Of the millions predicted to travel, 8% or 5.84 million Americans will be flying to their destinations. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER About 4.78 million travelers will be using other forms of transportation such as cruises or trains. Stacey Barber, AAA Travel vice president, said in a press release, "Summertime is one of the busiest travel seasons of the year." For more Lifestyle articles, visit "Following Memorial Day's record forecast, AAA is seeing strong demand for road trips and air travel over Independence Day week," Barber said. Over Memorial Day, a massive 45.1 million Americans traveled at least 50 miles from their home during the long weekend. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "With the holiday falling on a Friday, travelers have the option of making it a long weekend or taking the entire week to make memories with family and friends," added Barber. Print Close URL

Forbes

an hour ago

• Forbes

Stunning New Golf Course At USA Today's Best Golf Resort In America

July 4th is America's birthday, and American golfers are getting a great present this year. For the past several years, Big Cedar Lodge in the beautiful Missouri Ozarks has continued to improve and expand its golf offerings, to the point where for the first time, back in April, USA Today readers voted it the nation's Best Golf Resort for 2025 (as a longtime but not current USA Today contributor I was asked to be one of several panelists on the nominating committee but did not vote in the competition). Just a month later, the crew at Forbes Vetted named Big Cedar the 'Best Golf Resort in the U.S. for Families' and one of the nation's '8 Best Golf Resorts.' But those awards, as impressive as they are, both came when Big Cedar 'only' had five courses. On July 4th weekend it will officially open its sixth and most unique layout, Cliffhangers, which has been 'soft' opened for limited preview play the past few weeks, and I was able to go and see it. Here is your first look at a stunning new golf course at USA Today's best golf resort in America. There are more than 38,000 golf courses on earth, making it extremely hard to do anything in golf course design that has literally never been done before. I have not played every course, but I have been covering golf travel, courses and design in deep detail for over 30 years, and I have played many of the very highest rated ones on every inhabited continent. So, I am pretty sure that the third hole at Cliffhangers is the only one on any course where golfers tee off from inside a cave and hit their tee shot through a waterfall cascading over the mouth of the cave to a green far below. There's a course in Idaho with a movable island green in a lake that changes locations daily, an ocean island hole in Mexico you have to take an amphibious cart to putt out, and a 19th hole in South Africa that requires a helicopter to reach the clifftop tee. Cliffhangers instantly joins this pantheon of crazy, unforgettable, one-of-a-kind golf. Or as Big Cedar Lodge owner Johnny Morris calls it, 'Adventure Golf.' Morris is the founder, owner and CEO of outdoor retail giant Bass Pros Shops (which also owns outdoor retail giant Cabela's) and has been called 'the Walt Disney of retail' for his elaborate, theatrical and sometimes interactive in-store displays, which involve everything from live alligators to fishing boats docked in the water—inside one of the world's largest pyramids. Morris is famous for his vision, for seeing things others do not and then sparing no expense to turn them into reality, and the 4,600-acre Big Cedar Lodge resort is his personal pride and joy. He grew up in this part of the Ozarks, loves it, and want you to love it too, and he has done a tremendous amount of work to make sure that happens. While his other courses have involved the world's most famous designers (more below), Cliffhangers was the work of Morris and his son John Paul, who looked up at the precipitous, rocky, cliffside terrain and thought what no one else would: why not build a golf course there? 'This is golf on the edge—literally,' said Morris. 'We wanted to create something that celebrates the natural wonder of the Ozarks while delivering an unforgettable adventure for every golfer.' John Paul added, 'Cliffhangers reflects everything we love about nature, adventure, and golf. It's wild, fun, and unlike anything in the game of golf today' He is right about that. Golfers traverse steep cart trails and drive through creeks, past waterfalls, and through the signature cave. And Johnny Morris so wants visitors to go home with a hole in one as a memory that he built extra tee boxes on holes one and ten and greens fee include a shot from each so you get 20 bites at the apple. That's because Cliffhangers is a par-3 course, which as traveling golfers know, is all the rage in golf right now. The best resorts, from Pebble Beach to Pinehurst to Bandon Dunes, along with Streamsong, Cabot Citrus Farms, Sand Valley and many others have been rushing to introduce new par-3 courses, but none of those are as memorable as Cliffhangers, which is meant to be super fun for both the most seasoned golfers and those new to the game (though with all the water features it is entirely possible to lose more balls here than on one of the resort's three championship eighteen hole courses—all of which are ranked in the nation's Top 100 You Can Play by Golf Digest). Also, while many of the new short courses popping up across the country are only nine holes (or random ten or twelve), this is 18-20, the full deal. Not your usual golf course cart path. Big Cedar Resort Like most of the current crop of par-3 courses, born from the tradition of pitch and putt layouts, holes are on the shorter side and I got through Cliffhangers hitting northing more than an eight iron. But the visual variety is staggering, with an island green, peninsula holes, huge elevation changes, and exposed rock and water everywhere—it is built into and on top of cliffs, after all. The cave tee box and waterfall combo make three an instant de facto signature hole, but really just about every hole out here could be one. I mean, just look at the pictures. All of this overlooks Payne's Valley, my favorite course at Big Cedar and a drop-dead visual stunner with more lakes, more greens, more waterfalls, and beauty as far as the eye can see. Another person who previewed the course in advance was golf personality Lauren Thompson, host of The Morning Drive on The Golf Channel. She said, 'I've played many great courses around the world, and Cliffhangers is unlike anything I've ever seen. It's breathtakingly beautiful, incredibly challenging, and the best thing to happen to golf in years.' Years. Aerial view of the new Cliffhangers course. Big Cedar Resort The resort is so big that it has an extensive free shuttle system to move guests around, as lodging options include a hotel, lakefront cabins, rental homes, a safari-style glamping resort, and new luxury golf cabins out at the Mountain Top clubhouse by Payne's Valley and Cliffhangers. I rode to dinner in a shuttle with a group of retired bank executives who had been doing an annual golf trip together for 31 years, and had been all over the place, to many regions and golf resorts. They told me they had just played Cliffhangers and one of them confided, 'It was as much fun as any 'real' course I have ever played.' I loved it too, and it is a perfect short 20-holes to get in before tackling one of the bigger courses at Big Cedar, because in addition to getting you in a great mood, it will help dial in your short game, as the fast bentgrass greens are similar in speed to those on the full-sized layouts. Short courses do not need to have grass this good, but Morris does not cut corners, and those playing Cliffhangers even get to stop into the fancy Payne's Valley halfway house during their round, where all the snacks are free, including the signature premium bison hot dogs, from a herd he raises in a nature reserve near Big Cedar. I recommend you try to make a morning tee time at Cliffhangers before a round at Payne's Valley, for a near-perfect day of golf. As good as it is, golfers are not likely to make a trip to Big Cedar just to play the new par-3 layout, but they might be curious how it became the Best Golf Resort in the U.S. So here's the Big Cedar golf overview in a nutshell. The highest rated course in Missouri is Ozarks National, by the legendary design duo of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. The second highest rated course in Missouri is Payne's Valley, the 19-hole effort by Tiger Woods. It is the only public eighteen by Woods in the country, and it is fabulous. I think the magazines always favor Coore and Crenshaw designs, but I firmly believe the Woods course is even better. I played it the day it opened in 2019, I have played it since, and wrote this story here at Forbes, 'Tiger Wood's First Public U.S. Golf Course is Awesome.' It is fun, extremely playable, has some great risk/reward holes so it appeals to all caliber players, and it is visually stunning. It is telling that they sell more tee times at Payne's Valley than on any other course. The third highest rated course in Missouri is Buffalo Ridge, a Tom Fazio design that has bison grazing next to its fairways (not the ones that make the hot dogs). All three eighteens are ranked in the Top 100 in the U.S., a feat only a handful of resorts have ever achieved. On top of this, the facilities, service and conditioning are first rate, and the concept of standout Midwestern hospitality is very much evident. Big Cedar also has caddies, forecaddies and extensive practice facilities, including a putting course inspired by the Himalayas in St. Andrews, Scotland and designed by 8-time Major Champion Tom Watson. Then there are two stunning 'regular' par-3 courses, not shortened versions, but all full-length holes, up to 221-yards. The Gary Player designed Mountain Top is a walking-only 13-hole stunner carved through rock formations and rolling terrain. The Jack Nicklaus Signature Top of the Rock 9-holer is the only par-3 course ever used in competition in a PGA Tour sanctioned event, the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf, which used to be played here and on Buffalo Ridge. These par-3 courses are so good that you could make a trip to Big Cedar just to play them and Cliffhangers, though I would not pass up the 'big' courses. But as one-shotters go, both Mountain Top and Top of the Rock are as good as anything I have seen on earth. Golf Magazine finally added a ranking of short courses to its more famous Top 100 in the U.S. and Top 100 in the World lists, before Cliffhangers. It ranked the 25 Best Par-3 Courses in the World, but unlike the Top 100, courses were not ranked in order, just the best 25. The vast majority are at the world's top ultra-private clubs, like Augusta National, Pine Valley and the Olympic Club. Less than ten of the world's courses on the list are public, and both Mountain Top and Top of the Rock made the cut. That means until Cliffhangers opens July 4th, every one of the five golf courses at Big Cedar has made the most important 'Best' lists in the industry, and that is no coincidence. In addition to the stunning new golf course, for fishing fans, Big Cedar Lodge sits right on 43,000-acre Table Rock Lake, host of a professional bass tournament and renowned as one of the best fishing spots in the country. Being owned alongside Bass Pro Shops, it is no surprise that Big Cedar has two different state-of-the-art marinas equipped with the newest boats and gear, and it is arguably the best freshwater fishing resort in the country as well, though USA Today does not rate those. Yet.