NEW YORK TO 'NOFO', LONG ISLAND'S WINE COUNTRY
As summer heats up, New York City has gigs galore in local parks. Picnic at the free Bryant Park Film Festival, ferry over to Governors Island, chill out with locals on breezy rooftop bars, and enjoy spectacular views from skyscraper summits.
Then, when it gets humid, head 20 miles east on Route 25A to NOFO, Long Island's North Fork. First up is the once-fabled ‘Gold Coast', a Roaring Twenties hub for the rich and famous. The village of Great Neck inspired F Scott Fitzgerald's fictional West Egg location in his novel The Great Gatsby, which, in turn, has inspired two namesake Hollywood films, and you can visit such grandiose summer homes as Old Westbury Gardens. Also unmissable are Sagamore Hill, the summer 'White House' of US President Teddy Roosevelt, and, at the tip of Long Island, Sag Harbor, an old whaling town with Moby Dick connections and an excellent whaling museum.
As for beaches, Huntington's clean, calm Crab Meadow Beach just off Route 25A has a classic boardwalk, tidal pools for kids and the Italian La Casa Café for pizza. More intimate is Wading River Beach, with swings and La Plage, a stylish French restaurant.
And then there are the 30-or-so North Fork vineyards, great places to eat, such as Greenport's waterfront Little Creek Oyster Farm, which offers oysters fresh from Peconic Bay, and such appealing places to stay as Aquebogue's hip new Aqua Hotel (aquahotelbeachclub.com) right on a private beach, where you can rent kayaks and paddleboards. iloveny.com, discoverlongisland.com
Tour the US Capitol, visit one or more of the numerous fab museums along the National Mall, enjoy the impressive monuments to US Presidents Jefferson, Lincoln and Franklin D Roosevelt and Civil Rights leader Dr Martin Luther
King Jr, and take a selfie along the railings surrounding the White House.
Then head out on highways 50/301 for the 120-mile drive to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, known as ‘The Nation's Summer Capital' and the holiday home of President Joe Biden. En route, stop off at Maryland's charming waterside capital city, Annapolis, home of so many historic buildings that it's dubbed ‘a museum without walls' and of the US Naval Academy, which has been turning out naval officers since 1845.
At Queenstown, switch to Highway 404 for the Delaware Bay ferry port of Lewes, founded by the Dutch in 1631, which is full of historic buildings, restaurants and shops and is also gateway to 26 miles of Atlantic coastline graced by such resorts as Rehoboth Beach. It's popular for its soft, sandy strand, mile-long boardwalk, tax-free shopping, seafood restaurants (notably the Henlopen City Oyster House) and appealing hotels, including the ocean front Victorian style Boardwalk Plaza (boardwalkplaza.com). washington.org, visitsoutherndelaware.com