Fogo Island, N.L.
FOGO IS AN ISLAND OFF AN ISLAND in northern Newfoundland. It’s bleak, windblown and hard to get to — the ferry sometimes gets stuck in the channel ice. Yet Fogo’s now an “it” place for global trend-seekers. Fogo? Whose villages have names such as Joe Batt’s Arm, Tilting, Seldom and, of course, Little Seldom? The same. True, there’s great berry-picking in September. I went for a quick hike and came back four hours later with a garbage bag full of blueberries and blue lips. But what makes Fogo so beguiling is that the locals are the experience. None of your fancy folks here. Even at the upscale Fogo Island Inn authenticity trumps luxury. It’s the creation of tech multi-millionaire Zita Cobb, who was born on the island and started the Shorefast Foundation to help bring back its people and culture when the cod dwindled. The foundation’s motto is “Finding new ways for an old continuity,” and both the inn and the island are that, for sure.