March to your own drum
Spring break ideas run the gamut, from sandy beaches to street food tours
Spring break brings endless possibilities. The following trips and tours indulge passions from history and voluntourism to sandy beaches and street food.
Island lovers
For passport-free island hopping, head to the Florida Keys, the archipelago that dribbles away from mainland Florida toward Cuba along a 113-mile overland route. The Lower Keys were hit hard by Hurricane Irma in September 2017 but, except for some bare mangrove stretches, have largely recovered in the intervening months. One of the latest resorts to reopen, Parrot Key Hotel & Villas on Key West, rebuilt and replanted. Lush foliage provides privacy around four pools available to guests of its 148 rooms, the family-friendliest of which range up to four bedrooms (from $349). In addition to the on-site availability of bicycles and Jet Skis, the resort operates a shuttle bus to nearby Smathers Beach.
Except for a bar-lined stretch of Duval Street on Key West, the Keys are largely welcoming to families. But in the new Bungalows Key Largo, the island chain has its first adultsonly all-inclusive (rates from $399 per person, per night, for two-night minimum stays). Spread across nearly 13 beachfront acres, its 135 luxury bungalows feature outdoor showers or bathtubs. Amenities include
History buffs
electric boats for excursions, a spa reached via a bamboo forest and four restaurant and bar options.
Historic Williamsburg, Va., pays homage to America’s colonial period, and Washington, D.C., covers colonial-to-contemporary eras, but other critical chapters in the country’s history books, including the civil rights movement, are more dispersed. The yearold U.S. Civil Rights Trail aims to unify these socialjustice sites, highlighting historic events in 15 states, most of them Southern, including Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.
The routes between the sites are loosely defined, allowing for any number of road trip variations, but a good place to start is Alabama, where the triangle anchored by Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma gained extra currency with the opening of the National Memorial for Peace & Justice in Montgomery last spring.
The moving monument from the Equal Justice Initiative memorializes more than 4,400 African-American victims of lynching. It’s near the Rosa Parks Museum; the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where its pastor Martin Luther King Jr. organized the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955; and the Alabama State Capitol, where the Selma-to-Montgomery march in 1965 culminated in King’s powerful “How Long, Not Long” speech. This year, teams of runners and cyclists can follow the route during the Selma-to-Montgomery 51-Mile Relay on March 23.
Do-gooders
The worst-hit Caribbean islands of the devastating 2017 hurricane season are definitely back in business. Puerto Rico has more than 11,000 hotel rooms open now, including the remodeled classic El San Juan Hotel, and expects to be at pre-Hurricane Maria lodging levels by midyear.
Islanders are encouraging travelers to come, drink pina coladas and relax on the beaches. But for those who want to chip in for a few hours or more, volunteer opportunities abound with the nonprofit group Para La Naturaleza. Outings include participating in a bird count, monitoring sea turtle nests, planting trees and working on an urban agricultural container garden.
The U.S. Virgin Islands were hit by hurricanes Irma and Maria. While just over 60 percent of its accommodations have reopened, all of its beaches are fully restored, and cruise arrivals are back to pre-hurricane frequency. For those seeking to help out, the tourism board has organized Purpose in Paradise, a program linking travelers with volunteer opportunities in coral restoration,
Street foodies
mangrove cleanup and school garden reconstruction.
Mexico and spring break go together like Corona and lime. But if you’re craving more than sun, sand and margaritas, make for Mexico City, where a pair of new food tours dives into the most savory aspects of the capital. The 3-year-old company Eat Like a Local Mexico City just launched a trio of new culinary day trips. The 4 1⁄2-hour Mexico City Foodie Immersion makes a progressive feast of street food, including “basket” tacos, rotisserie chicken and, at the market La Merced, a candy tasting, fresh pineapple juice, fish tacos and a homemade meal in the home of a local ($99). Another itinerary explores Mexican wine and pulque, the pre-Hispanic drink made from the agave plant ($120). On a night tour of the neighborhoods of San Rafael, Guerrero and Santa Maria la Ribera, sample everything from churros to brain tacos ($110).
Still hungry? Let Atlas Obscura, the website that covers travel through an offbeat cultural lens, guide you on a six-day culinary adventure, departing April 2 ($2,465 per person). The new trip, a partnership with the food tour company Culinary Backstreets, explores farms, markets and street food en route to mezcal tastings, Diego Rivera masterpieces, a Lucha Libre wrestling match, the floating gardens of Xochimilco and dinners in private homes.