Getting the flavor of...

A Ritz-Carlton cruise

Since Ritz-Carlton broke into the cruise business two years ago, it has marketed its ships as yachts. “Clearly, it’s about status,” said Christopher Muther in The Boston Globe. But a distinction feels justified, because my recent cruise aboard the 298-passenger Evrima was an experience “unlike any I’d previously had.” Whatever label you give the vessel, it’s “more of a hotel or resort on water than a cruise ship,” a place to unwind without distractions. The head count is limited enough that passengers never have to scramble to find a dinner table, and there are no waterslides, buffets, or Broadway shows. On my $5,300 Caribbean tour, I instead enjoyed a tasting-menu dinner created by a threeMichelin-starred chef, a cabin that felt like a hotel suite, and lounging by the small infinity pool. When the ship is anchored, you can use the aft deck to swim, snorkel, or kayak on the open water. It’s not the cruise experience some people want, but I loved it. And “it didn’t hurt that the staff poured Moët & Chandon champagne like it was water.”

Sonoma, without the wine

“Some of America’s best-known wine regions double as epic outdoor playgrounds,” said Jen Murphy in The Wall Street Journal. If you’re a non-drinker, that shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying Sonoma County’s Mediterranean climate and year-round kayaking, hiking, and biking. On a recent visit, I took in “endless views of vines” on a bike ride outside buzzy Healdsburg, which straddles three wine regions. On another day, driving Sonoma’s Bohemian Highway felt like a trip in back in time as the route took me through the “artsy hamlets” that dot the coast. I lazed in the sand at Monte Rio’s public beach, the largest on the Russian River, and marveled at towering redwoods in Occidental’s Grove of Old Trees. At Sonoma Coast State Park’s Shell Beach, I hiked the Pomo Canyon Trail, a 7-mile loop that “weaves through fairy tale– worthy oak woodlands and redwood groves,” then kayaked alongside a Native American guide. Spent, I enjoyed sunset at a coastal bar. “Life slows down in this corner of California.”