saratoga living November 2108 issue

saratoga jet set! SHANGHAI, HONG KONG, MEXICO, NAPA + (BEST YET) NEW ORLEANS! *{saratoga’s unforgettable track season}

T HE CIT Y. TH E CU LT U R E. T HE LIFE. NOVEMBER 2018

SARATOGA GOES LUXE: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TOY STORY: CARS! BOATS! BIKES! OH MY!

&

INSIDE NORTH BROADWAY’S DREAM HOME MEET SARATOGA’S HOTTEST FASHION DESIGNER

“Keeping things simple is the key for me.”

THE LUXURY ISSUE exclusive THE STUNNING WORLD-CLASS EQUESTRIAN, CELEBRATED FASHION DESIGNER AND TIRELESS PHILANTHROPIST IS THE CLOSEST THING AMERICA HAS TO ROYALTY. THIS GIRL IS ON FIRE.

Ariana Rockefeller

BY ZACHARY WEISS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DORI FITZPATRICK EXCLUSIVELY FOR

saratogaliving.com

saratoga living #SLNY @saratogaliving

Considering Ocala ?

Best of Both Worlds - 34 Acres - $3,675,000 Impeccably designed with attention to detail, this 7,375 SF residence includes: 5 Bedrooms, 5.5 baths, gourmet kitchen, incredible family gathering room. 9-stall barn.plus expansive multi-purpose building.

Stunning 197 +/- Acres With Possibilities- $4,900,000 This property presents a variety of options. Convenient yet private location can be used for a family estate/compound or development as the property is zoned for Low Residential. 7,400 SF Workshop.

Padua Stables - 768 +/- Acres - $17,900,000

This prized Equestrian Farm, known as Padua Stables, is known for its rolling, gracious countryside it covers as well as for being rich in sunlight, spring-fed lakes and ponds, Granddaddy Oaks plus limestone rich soil. The 8,000 square foot main residence is designed for entertaining. Consequently the pool and lanai area overlooks the largest lake of the property. Exceptionally nice private housing for guests, managers and staff. There are a total of 13 residences on the grounds plus a 7,000 square foot dormitory with 22 rooms to accommodate a large-scale operation.

Equestrian Facilities: Training complex consists of 116 stalls, 3/4 mile dirt track, 1 Mile turf track, 4 covered hot walkers, round pens, and lush paddocks.

Facilities are in place for a stallion-breeding center or sporting/eventing center plus broodmare/foaling complex. Corporate executive office with conference room, commercial kitchen, perfect for entertaining your clients. Additionally there are three green houses for growing all your own vegetables or annuals.

Underground utilities, plus extensive site improvements.

Numerous Graded Stakes winners and four Breeder’s Cup champions have received their early training on this three-quarter mile dirt course with aluminum safety rails, excellent cushion and superior drainage system.

Winter Haven Farm - 1,086 Acres - $15,500,000 Perfect for the discerning Buyer. We present the unique opportunity to own an outstanding equestrian property. Road frontage on 3 roads, 5 entrances, racetrack, barns, office and multiple staff residences.

Stonestreet Farm - 1,026 Acres - $17,000,000 Fabulous opportuity to own beautiful rolling land, lush pastures graced with Granddaddy Oaks. Frontage on Hwy 318. Residence, three barns with 108 stalls plus hay/storage building. Perfect for horses or cattle.

Visit: Joanpletcher.com for additional information and listings

Office: 352-266-9100 Cell: 352-804-8989 Email: Joan@Joanpletcher.com

EAT. DRINK. DANCE. REPEAT.

16 CAROLINE ST. SARATOGA SPRINGS NY 12866 gaffneysrestaurant.com

“Best sports bar in Saratoga” –Saratoga Living 389 Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY

518-226-4437

inside

november 2018

THE

30

LUXURY ISSUE

{EXCLUSIVE}

The Next Rockefeller BY

Z ACHARY WE IS S

P H OTO G R APH Y BY DO RI FITZ PAT RIC K E X C L U S I V E LY F O R saratoga living

38

Saratoga’s Must-Have Luxury Guide BY

NATALIE MO O RE

44

The ToysYou Really, Really Want BY

SIMO N MURR AY

50

{EXCLUSIVE}

Dream House BY

BE VE RLY T R ACY

56

Staci Snider’s Saratoga Style BY

RO SIE CASE

62

{EXCLUSIVE}

The Bugatti Lover BY

JEFF DINGLE R

P H OTO G R APH Y BY K AT IE D O B IES E X C L U S I V E LY F O R saratoga living

64

Pletcher Power BY

JAMES LO NG

P O RTR AITS BY SUSIE R A ISH ER E X C L U S I V E LY F O R saratoga living

“I think the connection between humans and animals is a wonderful thing. I do consider my horses friends and family members.”

–Ariana Rockefeller

inside

november 2018

THE

LUXURY ISSUE

8 Web 12 The Team 16 From The Editor 94

the front

70

The Best American City To Travel To, By Far BY

MARCO MEDR A N O

76

Kate Around The World STORY AN D PH OTO G R A PHY

K AT E D OY LE H O O P ER

88

The Other Himalayas STORY AN D PH OTO G R A PHY BY

N ATA LIE M O O RE

92

Oh, What A Season!

T ERE SA A. GE N A RO P H OTO G R APH Y BY BILLY FR A N C IS LERO U X BY

94

Travers Winner ‘Catholic Boy’ Training For The Breeders’ Cup BY

DAVID GRENIN G, DAILY R ACING FORM BILLY FR A N C IS LERO U X

P H OTO G R APH Y BY

E X C L U S I V E LY F O R

saratoga living

the back 96 Saratoga After Dark 102 Luxe: Colin Cowie 104 Calendar 108 Road Trip: Bucks County, PA

114 Over There 116 Eat: Chez Pierre 120 120 Drink: Max London’s 127 Play: Crossword Puzzle & Word Ladder

the end 128 *Saratogian Of The Month: Jorge Gómez

(Drink) DORI FITZPATRICK; (hotel) FRAN PARENTE/NOCAVB; (Travers) BILLY FRANCIS LEROUX

70

19 Saratoga By The Numbers 19 It’s True (We Think) 20 Say What?

20 The Answers 22 Words: Saratoga’s Dog Day Afternoons 26 Quiz: What Type Of Saratogian Are You? 27 Overheard 28 Covet: The Eight Million Dollar Man

WEB

Have You Been To saratogaliving.com Lately?

OUR WEBSITE COULDN’T BE ANY HOTTER RIGHT NOW! EXCLUSIVE CELEB INTERVIEWS • Melissa Etheridge, Grammy- and Oscar-winning musician • Ani DiFranco, Grammy-winning, OG indie rock star • Pentatonix, Grammy-winning a cappella group • David Hyde Pierce, four-time Emmy Award-winning actor • Indigo Girls, Grammy-winning folk-rock act • Lou Ferrigno, TV’s Incredible Hulk EXCLUSIVE CONTENT FROM DRF In an industry first, saratoga living has partnered with the Daily Racing Form—the “Horseplayer’s Bible”—

to provide our audience with year-round horse racing news and analysis, videos and handicapping information WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE saratogaliving.com welcomes users from the US, Canada, Peru, United Kingdom, France, Philippines, India, Germany, Brazil, Australia and more FROM JANUARY-SEPTEMBER 2018 • 349% increase in monthly pageviews • 365% increase in monthly uniques • 100% increase in monthly time spent on page

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Richard Pérez-Feria EDITOR IN CHIEF

ON THE COVER Ariana

Rockefeller photographed exclusively for saratoga living by Dori Fitzpatrick.

Fashion stylist: Ann Caruso; Wardrobe manager: Lianne Klopfer; Hair and grooming: Christopher Byrne, Master Hair Stylist, Complexions Spa for Beauty & Wellness; Makeup: Natalie Dekermendjian, Makeup Artist, Complexions Spa for Beauty & Wellness; Gown: Amelia Brown; Blazer: Brooks Brothers; Boots: Sam Edelman Penny Boot. Shot on location at Skidmore College’s White Hollow Farm in Stillwater, NY.

saratoga living is published eight times a year by Saratoga Living LLC. Subscriptions: Domestic, $19.95 per year; Canadian, $24.95 per year (non-refundable). Application to mail at periodicals postage rate is pending at Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to saratoga living 422 Broadway, Suite 203 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 Volume 20, No. 7, November 2018 Copyright © 2018 Saratoga Living LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission from Saratoga Living LLC. All editorial queries should be directed to editorial@saratogaliving.com; or sent to 422 Broadway, Suite 203, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. saratoga living assumes no responsibility for unsolicited submissions.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

MANAGING EDITOR SENIOR EDITOR DESIGNER LUXURY EDITOR SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR DESIGN EDITOR ARTS EDITOR NIGHTLIFE EDITOR SENIOR WRITER PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR WEBSITE MANAGER SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER EDITORIAL ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE EDITOR

EDITORS AT LARGE

Kathleen Gates Will Levith Natalie Moore Anne Newgarden Linda Gates Marco Medrano Abby Tegnelia Colin Cowie Bill Henning Lizzie Hunter Jeff Dingler Erika Phenner Hakan Akyuz Dori Fitzpatrick Hannah Kotler Greg Calejo, Susan Gates, James Long

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Karen Bjornland, Brien Bouyea, Tony Case, Kyan Douglas Kate Doyle Hooper, Teresa A. Genaro, Cornelia Guest, Joe Mastrianni Simon Murray, Octavio Roca, Kevin Sessums, Zachary Weiss WRITERS

Jonah Bayliss, Chris Berger, Rosie Case, Rebecca Hardiman Jacqueline Kuron, Jordan Levin, Sandy MacDonald, Maria McBride Bucciferro Sarah Midani, Katie Navarra, Mario Quirce, William Roach, Mitch Rustad Michael Slezak, Beverly Tracy, Joe “Woody” Wood ARTISTS / PHOTOGRAPHERS

Kyle Adams, Meaghan Aldridge, Fahnon Bennett, Dave Bigler, Tracey Buyce, David Cowles Francesco D’Amico, John Daly, Katie Dobies, Billy Francis LeRoux, Anna Murray, Ian Parker Terri-Lynn Pellegri, Susie Raisher, Robert Risko, Myrna Suárez, Scott Teitler, TJ Tracy

Becky Kendall PUBLISHER

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER

PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR

FINANCE DIRECTOR

MARKETING CONSULTANTS

Chelsea Moore Pamela Grandin Rachael Rieck Kathie González AMPLIFY Partners, New York City

Saratoga Living LLC Anthony Ianniello CHAIR

Richard Pérez-Feria CEO / PRESIDENT

Becky Kendall EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

architecture, interior design & construction management 518.587.7120 | phinneydesign.com | Saratoga Springs, NY

the team

Take advantage of our special offer

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ZACHARY WEISS is a Manhattan-based writer. His work has appeared in Vogue, Architectural Digest, Condé Nast Traveler and the New York Observer, where he served as the youngest Shindigger party columnist in the publication’s history. “As a firsthand spectator to Ariana Rockefeller’s continued success, this story was particularly exciting for me,” he says.

“What could be more fun than the opportunity to highlight everything your friend has accomplished?”

OFF

CLOSING COSTS *

KATE DOYLE HOOPER is a

writer, event producer, recently minted “American Airlines Million Miler” and hotel-obsessed traveler. “When I was a kid, unless you were a diplomat, or perhaps, Richard Nixon, travel to China was almost impossible,” she says. “So the idea of my going there multiple times just a few decades later still blows my mind. Each time I touch down, I feel like a kid at Christmas, delirious with excitement over what’s under the tree.

The tastes, the smells, the intensity—for me, China is a gift I’ll never tire of.”

MARCO MEDRANO is saratoga living’s Luxury Editor, a licensed cosmetologist, skincare expert and a global travel editor. “New Orleans has turned out to be one of my favorite destinations because of its hospitable formality, its civic pride, its undeniable glamour for a bygone era and for the most amazing food I’ve tasted—anywhere—to date.”

⁄

12 saratoga living

⁄ NOVEMBER 2018

(Weiss) BFA; (Medrano) SVEN GONZÁLEZ

LIFE CHANGES. SO DO YOUR MORTGAGE NEEDS. From a first home to a vacation property in retirement, we’ve been helping our neighbors achieve dreams for well over a century. Whether you are downsizing, upsizing, refinancing, or taking out a home equity line of credit, we create lending solutions tailored to you. We also offer an online application to save you time. Since we manage all of our mortgages right here, we’re available when you need us.

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Refinance, home equity lines of credit and loans are not eligible. This offer is for a limited time only and may be withdrawn or changed at any time without notice. Credit approval is required.

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the team

Transition into Fall with this new one-of-a-kind platinum ring featuring a rare 7.4ct Watermelon Tourmaline accented with 8 diamonds. $10,825

KATIE DOBIES is a Saratogian d Joriginals.com deJonghe Original Jewelr y • 470 Broadway, Saratoga Springs • 518-587- 6422 © 2018

and former flight attendant who has garnered praise and recognition for her internationally published editorial photography through Getty Images.

“Food, wine and iconic Bugattis: It was a recipe for some fantastic photos!” she says of the Saratoga Wine & Food Festival. “Photographing Peter Mullin and his wife, Merle, was icing on the cake. They were so excited to be visiting Saratoga Springs, and it was an honor to help give them a warm welcome.”

JAMES LONG has been on the business side of magazine publishing for most of his career (Esquire, The Atlantic, U.S. News & World Report), but recently turned to writing, completing his first play, The Tantalus Set, about one of the least-known and mostly invisible subcultures, that of the military brat. “I’m not really into astrology, but I did get a kick out of Joan Pletcher being a fellow Virgo and suffering the mutual stigma of doing something five times before it’s perfect,” he says. “Add in that I hail from Tennessee, and we were like two Southern peas in a pod.”

from the editor

luxury

F

Richard Pérez-Feria

EDITOR IN CHIEF

@RPerezFeria

⁄

16 saratoga living

⁄ NOVEMBER 2018

DORI FITZPATRICK

or someone who doesn’t meet the stratospheric monetary requirements to be so deeply invested in this word, I spend an inordinate amount of time—and have, over many, many years—thinking, discussing and writing about the concept of “luxury.” As an editor in chief who has carved out a career leading dozens of magazines and websites that largely cater to the well-heeled, I felt right at home when I happily landed in Saratoga Springs to reimagine the magazine you’re holding in your hands. And I knew from the moment I accepted this massive responsibility that one of our special issues of saratoga living this year would be dedicated to all things luxury. And here it is.

Being around fabulous people and chronicling the lifestyle of the one-percenters does have sweet perks, to be sure (global travel, world-class cuisine, celebrity encounters), but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized what every Hollywood rom-com and This Is Us episode explicitly lays out: Love is all that matters.

Yes, of course that’s true, but is it the full picture?

As my career ascended and my tastes in “things” grew, I went through an extended “must-have-this-right-now” phase that I still can’t quite believe. Jaguar convertible? Check. Rolex Daytona? Check.

Rodeo Drive shopping sprees? Check. I mean, it got crazy silly really quickly, and I look back on those many years as being nothing short of an insane fever dream. Was it fun? Yeah. Was it nuts? Absolutely.

I was living the high life, the luxe life, or so I thought. When the world started crashing down around me and the magazine industry first felt its early knocks a decade or so ago, I knew the wave of change was coming and that I had to snap out of my luxury haze.

So, I did. My spiritual and intellectual reboot has taken me to a much happier place, where words such as “kindness,” “forgiveness” and “perspective” have replaced Gucci, Nobu and Soho House. I didn’t quit all of those seductive fancy trappings cold turkey, exactly, but rock-a-fella Ariana Rockefeller is not your everyday heiress—she’s a the shift was definitely on—and I liked it. I needed it. glamorous force of nature.

When people ask what “luxury” means to me—an admittedly odd question that I’ve somehow been asked a handful of times in my life—my answers have always been honest at the time. Today, right now, my response is as simple as it is sincere: silence. Think about it. How much would I pay to not sit next to the crying baby on an airplane? To not have to listen to certain politicians lie as sport?

To not hear my neighbors arguing when I’m Netflix-and-chillin’? Silence is the ticket, baby.

And that’s what I crave the most.

The sound of silence is my luxury happy place. What’s yours?

the front Saratoga By The Numbers

500

©2018 California Closet Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Franchises independently owned and operated.

The number of turkeys raised and sold on Buckley Farm in Ballston Lake each year

52,086,597

The record-breaking allsources handle, in dollars, for the 2018 Travers Day card

2759

The highest elevation, in feet, in Saratoga County (Tenant Mountain in Day, NY)

91

Experience a California Closets system custom designed specifically for you and the way you live.

Visit us online today to arrange for a complimentary in-home design consultation.

518.785.5723 L AT H AM

californiaclosets.com Peter Harris Plaza, Rt. 7

Casino (SARATOGA SPRINGS HISTORY MUSEUM)

The percentage of students who graduated from Saratoga Springs High School in 2017 (New York State average from 2016-17 was 80 percent)

45

The number of apple varieties at Saratoga Apple (it also has 5 pear and 15 plum varieties)

28,000

The number of Saratoga Regional YMCA members

It’s True (We Think)

Gambling On Ghosts

I

THE SCARY TRUTH ABOUT THE CANFIELD CASINO.

n

BY NATALIE MOORE

n the spirit of the season, it’s only fitting that we tackle the legitimacy of Saratoga Springs’ spookiest claim, and one that’s not so easily proven false. The Canfield Casino, one of Saratoga’s most historic buildings, is notoriously haunted—The Syfy channel’s Ghost Hunters even checked it out in 2010. “There are people who say they’ve seen a woman in a white dress that goes from room to room on the third floor,” says Jamie Parillo, Executive Director of The Saratoga History Museum, which is housed in the historic casino. “Also, visitors say they see the roulette wheel in the high stakes room spinning by itself.” In a Season 6 ghost story Many episode of Ghost Hunters, team members heard voices people have reported on the casino’s third floor, and one crew member had his experiencing paranormal shoulder tapped, though no one was anywhere near him. activity in the historic To try to debunk this Saratoga myth is to also attempt to prove Canfield Casino. that ghosts exist. Of course, most scientists refute this claim. On a 2017 broadcast of BBC Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage, Brian Cox, a Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester in England, used the Large Hadron Collider, a particle collider 17 miles in circumference, to disprove the existence of ghosts. “If we want some sort of pattern that carries information about our living cells to persist, then we must specify precisely what medium carries that pattern and how it interacts with the matter particles out of which our bodies are made,” he said. “We must, in other words, invent an extension to the Standard Model of particle physics that has escaped detection at the Large Hadron Collider. That’s almost inconceivable at the energy scales typical of the particle interactions in our bodies.”

If you’re a particle physicist and you understood that, good for you. But for the rest of us, he basically said, “No, ghosts don’t exist.” Here’s some easier-to-digest proof: A 2003 University of Hertfordshire (UK) study found that people were more likely to report experiencing a paranormal event in a place they already believed was haunted. So it seems that as long as Saratogians keep believing that spirits of turn-of-the-20th-century gamblers and their wives have stayed in this once-illegal casino, hauntings will keep happening there. And that’s something a particle collider can’t deny.

⁄

saratogaliving.com 19

the front =SA

Y W H AT ? =

illustration by

DAVID COWLES

2019 ALFA ROMEO GIULIA

e x c l u s i v e ly f o r

saratoga living

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You’re the Tower of Babel.

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You’re the top!

You’re the Whitney Stable.

—From “You’re The Top,” a song by Cole Porter from the Broadway musical, Anything Goes

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2019 ALFA ROMEO STELVIO

the

answers WHAT TYPE OF WINTER SHOULD WE EXPECT IN SARATOGA SPRINGS? If cold temperatures, abovenormal snowfall and biting winds aren’t your favorite, you’re not going to like the forecast from the 2019 Farmers’ Almanac. “Teethchattering,” “biting” and “stinging” cold are a few of the adjectives the Almanac’s using to describe the upcoming winter. This winter season’s coldest weather is forecast to pour south from Canada and blow into the Northeast, New England, Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Southeast during mid-February. The outlook for this time period includes “arctic air, blustery, bitter winds, sharp drops in temperatures and widespread snow showers and squalls” (in other words, teeth-chattering cold).

–SANDI DUNCAN, Philomath, Managing Editor, Farmers’ Almanac

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20 saratoga living

⁄ NOVEMBER 2018

WHAT’S THE SAFEST WAY TO DEEP-FRY A TURKEY? Fryers should always be used outdoors, on a solid, level surface, a safe distance from buildings and flammable materials. Never use a fryer on a wooden deck, under a patio cover, in a garage or enclosed space. Do not overfill the fryer.

Never leave the fryer unattended because, without thermostat controls, the oil will continue to heat until it catches fire. Never let children or pets near the fryer. Use well-insulated potholders or oven mitts and wear long sleeves and safety goggles to protect from splatter. Make sure the turkey is completely thawed before it’s placed in a fryer.

Refined Details, Brilliantly Crafted

–PETER SHAW, Assistant Fire Chief, Saratoga Springs Fire Department

Graceful and assertive, Maserati offers something very different in a world of gray, business-like conformity.

MASERATI OF ALBANY

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(518) 730-4810

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Best Yoga Studio Best Yoga Studio Best Yoga Studio Saratoga’s

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r YYY [QICOCPFCNK EQO ->vi] Â˜Ă•Ă€ĂŒĂ•Ă€ÂˆÂ˜} iÂ˜Ă›ÂˆĂ€ÂœÂ˜Â“iÂ˜ĂŒ ĂœÂˆĂŒÂ… > YKFG XCTKGV[ ->vi] Â˜Ă•Ă€ĂŒĂ•Ă€ÂˆÂ˜} iÂ˜Ă›ÂˆĂ€ÂœÂ˜Â“iÂ˜ĂŒ ĂœÂˆĂŒÂ… > YKFG XCTKGV[ $TQCFYC[ 5CTCVQIC 5RTKPIU 0; r r YYY [QICOCPFCNK EQO QH ENCUUGU ĂŒÂœ “iiĂŒ >Â?Â? ˜ii`Ăƒ ™ QH ENCUUGU ĂŒÂœ “iiĂŒ >Â?Â? ˜ii`Ăƒ ™ 4GNCZKPI NQWPIG vÂœĂ€ Ă•Â˜ĂœÂˆÂ˜`ˆ˜} ĂœÂˆĂŒÂ… vĂ€Âˆi˜`Ăƒ 8KUKV QWT UVQTG NQECVGFKPEQPXGPKGPVN[ with the title of her new book on it. The 8KUKV QWT UVQTG NQECVGF EQPXGPKGPVN[ QWT UVWFKQ KP QWT UVWFKQ 4GNCZKPI NQWPIG vÂœĂ€ Ă•Â˜ĂœÂˆÂ˜`ˆ˜} ĂœÂˆĂŒÂ… vĂ€Âˆi˜`Ăƒ LivÂœĂ€i ÂœĂ€ >vĂŒiĂ€ VÂ?>ĂƒĂƒ 8KUKV QWT UVQTG NQECVGF EQPXGPKGPVN[ KP QWT UVWFKQ 6JG 5VWFKQ 5VQTG ECTTKGU [QIC CEEGUUQTKGU DQQMU LivÂœĂ€i ÂœĂ€ >vĂŒiĂ€ VÂ?>ĂƒĂƒ book, written by Lucky’s owner, Elizabeth 6JG 5VWFKQ 5VQTG ECTTKGU [QIC CEEGUUQTKGU DQQMU %&U &8&U CPF%&U &8&U CPF CRRCTGNsGXGT[VJKPI [QW PGGF VQNKHGUV[NG GPJCPEG NKHGUV[NG 6JG 5VWFKQ 5VQTG ECTTKGU [QICVQCEEGUUQTKGU DQQMU %&U &8&U CPF QH [QIC CRRCTGNsGXGT[VJKPI [QW PGGF GPJCPEG VJG QH VJG [QIC Macy, a Saratoga native, and illustrated CRRCTGNsGXGT[VJKPI [QW PGGF VQ GPJCPEG VJG NKHGUV[NG QH [QIC $TQCFYC[ 5CTCVQIC 5RTKPIU 0; r r YYY [QICOCPFCNK EQO

by Jenn Kocsmiersky, a Malta resident, $TQCFYC[ 5CTCVQIC 5RTKPIU 0; r r YYY [QICOCPFCNK EQO ™

words

Saratoga’s Dog Day Afternoons

ELIZABETH MACY'S POOCH, LUCKY CHARMS, AND HER FABULOUS LOST ADVENTURES. n BY NATALIE MOORE

â „

22 saratoga living

â „ NOVEMBER 2018

I

’ve met my fair share of local celebrities—local canine celebrities, that is. First there was Jackson, the five-time Adirondack 46er I hiked Mount Marcy with and wrote about in saratoga living’s “The Best Of Everything� issue. Then there was Bluff, who frequents the amazing @saratogadogwalkers Instagram account, and was featured with his owner, Tim Pink—the Saratoga Dog Walker—in our “20th Anniversary� Issue. Now I have another prominent pup to add to my list: Lucky Charms, the star of the recently published children’s book Lucky’s Adventure In Saratoga.

Lucky is a tiny, timid, three-year-old Yorkie-Affenpinscher mix, who, when I met her, was wearing a black-and-pink tutu

is a fictional tale based on the true story of Lucky getting lost in November 2016.

Of course, Macy has no way of knowing what exactly MACY HAS NO WAY OF Lucky did KNOWING WHAT EXACTLY while away LUCKY DID WHILE AWAY from home FROM HOME FOR FOUR for four days, DAYS, BUT HER BOOK but her book OFFERS A GUESS, offers a guess, FANTASTICAL THOUGH fantastical IT MAY SOUND. though it may sound. In the book, which was published by Saratoga Springs Publishing, Lucky breaks out of her collar and goes on a journey around town, meeting new animal friends and stopping at iconic Saratoga landmarks, such as the Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Race Course and Saratoga Lake.

Though what happens in the book and the true story on which it’s based may differ (Lucky didn’t really get picked up

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jockeying for position In Lucky’s Adventure In Saratoga, Lucky visits iconic Saratoga destinations, including Saratoga Race Course, where she wins a race.

by her animal friends in the Saratoga Visitors Trolley and brought home), “The book has the same sense of community as the real story,” Macy says. “Friends, neighbors and strangers were looking for Lucky. There were Facebook posts and shares, and people were out walking and driving around looking for her. And in the book, her doggie friends are looking for her.” Indeed, one of the most adorable pages of the book shows a slew of neighborhood pups holding “Lost Dog” signs in their mouths.

Lucky’s Adventure In Saratoga can be purchased locally at Impressions of Saratoga (another stop on Lucky’s journey) and Northshire Bookstore, among other places, and a percentage of the book’s sales is being donated to local animal shelters. “Lucky’s a rescue dog, so it’s important for us to give back to the rescues,” Macy says. Lucky hasn’t gone on tour around Saratoga since the first time—“She likes to stay by her momma,” Macy says—but another fictional adventure may be in the works.

As the unofficial No.1 fan of the dogs of Saratoga, I’d sure like to tag along.

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The performance lineup at Putnam Place features regionally and nationally touring acts of diverse genres including Rock, Jam, EDM, Country, Funk and Metal. It is also a premier dance club with DJ’s spinning both the latest hits and timeless classics. Check out our calendar for weekly parties and upcoming events: 10/18 – The Melting Nomads 10/19 – Melvin Seals & JGB 10/20 – Hayley Jane & The Primates w/ Nina’s Brew 10/25 – The Melting Nomads 10/26 – Feast of Friends: A Tribute to The Doors 10/27 – Pardison Fontaine 10/30 – Saratoga Living Halloween Party 11/3 – That 80’s Band 11/4 – Saratoga Resists: North & South Dakotas 11/8 – The Wheel 11/15 – The Wheel

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covet

The Eight Million Dollar Man

oh, mickey, you’re so fine New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantle, seen here in 1951, is now the face of the card collecting world’s most coveted issue, which came out the following year.

S

everal years ago, I interviewed Earl G. “Ken” Kendrick, Jr., Managing General Partner of the Major League Baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. I wasn’t

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talking to him about the state of his ballclub, but rather that of his baseball card collection, one of the foremost (and priciest) in the world. It includes the lone copy of the 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner tobacco card, graded by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) an 8 out of 10, Near Mint-Mint, for which Kendrick paid a staggering $2.8 million in 2007. Up until recently, it’s been the most sought-after card among top-tier collectors in the hobby.

As of April, that’s no longer the case.

Kendrick also owns one of the three known PSA Gem-Mint 10 examples of the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card—the new

card trick This copy of the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card, graded a Mint 9

by PSA—and slightly less desirable than Kendrick's 10—sold back in April via Heritage Auctions for a record $2.88 million.

holy grail for card collectors. Although it isn’t as scarce as the Wagner, it’s still a rarity due to its poor, late-season sales in the early ’50s (the story goes that Topps dumped the lion’s share of the product into the waters off Brooklyn). Lately, it’s seen a tremendous bump in value at auction. At Heritage Auctions last April, a PSA

Mint 9 Mantle sold for a record $2.88 million. That’s one full step down in grade from the one Kendrick owns,

which Rob Rosen, Vice President of Heritage Sports Auctions, says has a conservative auction estimate of $8 million (it could be even higher). “It’s the Mona Lisa of cards,” says Rosen of the Mantle.

Months after my interview, Kendrick invited me to Chase Field, the D-Backs’ home ballpark in Phoenix, to handle his collection—and for about 20 minutes, I enjoyed the absolute hell out of it. Maybe it was the legend of that Wagner card or the Boston Red Sox fan in me, but I guess I should’ve spent a little more time fawning over that Mantle.

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homeward bound Ariana Rockefeller splits her time between Wellington, FL and Europe, but has a soft spot for Upstate New York, where her family has ties going back generations.

Ariana Rockefeller is so much more than an equestrian champion, fashion designer, generous philanthropist and do-something heiress: She’s American royalty. {EXCLUSIVE}

The Next Rockefeller

BY Z AC H A RY W E I S S

photography by

D O R I F I T Z PAT R I C K saratoga living

e x c l u s i v e ly f o r

30 saratoga living

⁄ NOVEMBER 2018

sweater: Brooks Brothers Maroon Sweater blazer: Brooks Brothers Tweed Blazer coat: Soia & Kyo “Ivonne” Coat in Almond, available at Violet’s of Saratoga jeans: L’agence Slim Straight Jean boots: Sam Edelman Penny Boots in Black

ARNALDO ANAYA-LUCCA

“Much like equestrian style, my brand’s aesthetic is uniform and classic, so my design work stays streamlined.

Keeping things simple is the key for me.”

hear her roar When she’s not busy competing on the global show jumping circuit, Rockefeller is designing, manufacturing and distributing her equestrian-inspired clothing and accessories lines; (opposite) Rockefeller carrying her Tack Tote from her debut handbag line with her grandfather’s horse at his home near Tarrytown, NY.

sweater: Brooks Brothers Maroon Sweater blazer: Brooks Brothers Tweed Blazer jeans: L’agence Slim Straight Jean boots: Sam Edelman Penny Boots in Black

⁄

saratogaliving.com 33

THE

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THE NEXT ROCKFELLER

ISSUE

shirt: Amelia Brown White Button-Down Blouse pants: Amelia Brown Cropped Pant jacket: Brooks Brothers Checked Coat boots: Brooks Brothers Black Booties

⁄

34 saratoga living

⁄ NOVEMBER 2018

Gala steps for a sea of flashing cameras in a gown designed

by Elizabeth Kennedy. Crafted using a generous 50 yards of pink duchess satin, Ariana chose to accessorize with purpose, opting for several heirloom pieces sourced from her grandparents’ collection of rarities, including vintage earrings by Raymond C. Yard and a vintage bracelet by Van Cleef & Arpels. These were, upon first inspection, just beautiful creations, but they also served to draw attention to an upcoming charity auction at Christie’s, one that would ultimately yield a record-breaking $832.6 million—all donated to a group of 12 causes selected by her parents, Peggy and David Rockefeller, themselves.

Away from the cameras, she’s also a seasoned entrepreneur. Under the Ariana Rockefeller moniker, she’s busy designing, manufacturing and distributing her own collection of equestrian-inspired, ready-to-wear clothing and accessories. Last spring, the assortment included a capsule collection of handbags sold exclusively at Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve resort located on a stretch of sun and

SPORTFOT

T

here’s a pomp and circumstance that one might expect when first meeting anyone with that illustrious and undeniably American last name: Rockefeller. However, from what I recall, the first time I crossed paths with the one-and-only Ariana Rockefeller and her now husband of eight years, Matthew Bucklin, was on—of all places—a rollicking dance floor in celebration of the New York Botanical Garden’s annual Winter Wonderland Ball.

Like many New York friendships, it was on the social circuit where Ariana and I first connected as I got my start as a party columnist for a Manhattan newspaper. Since then, I’ve grown to know many more sides of her, and to do so is to understand that she’s much more than just a family name.

To her thousands of Instagram followers, she’s an arbiter of style. This past May, I watched her turn heads on the Met

Matthew Bucklin suit: Burberry shirt: Turnbull and Asher watch: Longines tie: Hermès shoes: Quoddy

sand in Puerto Rico, originally owned by her great-uncle, conservationist Laurance Rockefeller. Opened in 1958, the property was once frequented by the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and JFK, and while we spent a weekend celebrating with a group of friends and clientele alike, Ariana and Matt also took the time for a taste of family history with a visit to her greatuncle’s preserved island residence.

Above all, though, Ariana’s a decorated athlete, one I’ve watched glide over towering oxers with her trusted horse, Out Of Beag, whom she calls Stu. And although she still finds time to pop into Manhattan to support local causes— the ballet, opera and Humane Society among them—and to catch up with friends at her annual holiday party, Ariana has rightfully doubled down on her show jumping participation.

It’s grown to include a fierce competition schedule on the global show jumping circuit, as well as a demanding training regimen in the de facto equestrian capitals: Wellington, FL, in the winter and Europe in the summer. This summer, she added two new jumpers to her stable and continued her

horse sense “Show jumping is a very mental sport, so when I’m competing, I devote all my attention to the horse,” says Rockefeller; (opposite) Rockefeller with her husband, Founder and CEO of The Quit Company, Matthew Bucklin; (above) Skidmore’s White Hollow Farm in Stillwater, NY.

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“It was meaningful and thrilling for me to witness my grandpa’s wishes put into action, and the incredible

training with Olympian Laura Kraut, but she has a soft spot for Upstate New York, where her family has ties going back generations. On occasion, she visits the American Farmland Trust in Saratoga Springs, an organization founded by her grandmother, Peggy McGrath Rockefeller.

These wide-ranging elements that make up the life of Ariana Rockefeller blend together seamlessly, and while continuing to honor her distinguished legacy, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that she’s making a name for herself by gracefully ushering one of America’s first families into the 21st century and beyond. That may be no easy feat, but it’s certain that on all fronts, this Rockefeller is always aiming higher.

results that will

facilitate important philanthropic endeavors.”

What was the name of your first horse? Tell me about him.

Growing up, our family had a horse named Huey. He was a sweet and patient quarter horse that my sister and I loved dearly. He taught us to trust and love horses.

Tell me about your current horse, which you so enthusiastically chronicle on social media.

I currently have three horses in my working string. Out Of Beag is my 14-year-old Irish sport horse gelding. Riosco is a 12-year-old Selle Français gelding, and Chaccadella is my newest addition, an 11-year-old Oldenburg mare. They are all very intelligent, have very sweet personalities, and I’m afraid I spoil them all a bit.

How do you balance your design interests with your passion for riding?

Show jumping is a very mental sport, so when I am competing, I devote all my attention to the horse. So I’m really grateful to the people who support me in my design and equestrian

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business. Much like equestrian style, my brand’s aesthetic is uniform and classic, so my design work stays streamlined. Keeping things simple is the key for me.

Would you ever consider designing men’s accessories?

I would when the time is right! I envision the AR brand to encompass many lifestyle areas, and am excited to see how it grows in time.

Following the historic Christie’s sale of your grandparents’ collections to benefit 12 designated charities, what are your feelings about their dreams and wishes?

I know that my grandparents would’ve been thrilled with the results of the auction. It was meaningful and thrilling for me to witness my grandpa’s wishes put into action, and the incredible results that will facilitate important philanthropic work. He often spoke of his intentions to me, and I was so pleased to see how Christie’s honored his vision with style and integrity.

So many people prefer animals of all types to other humans.

What are your thoughts about that mindset?

I think the connection between humans and animals is a wonderful thing. I do consider my horses friends and family members. I also value the people in my life, especially the team I work with daily, who devote their lives to the horses and the show jumping sport. It is truly a team effort of both people and animals.

What’s the one thing more people should better understand about your beloved horses?

They are powerful creatures with gentle souls. Treat them with respect and kindness.

splendor in the grass Ariana Rockefeller is making a name for herself by gracefully ushering one of America’s first families into the 21st century and beyond.

shirt: Amelia Brown White Button-Down Blouse pants: Amelia Brown Cropped Pant jacket: Brooks Brothers Checked Coat boots: Brooks Brothers Black Booties

Hotels! Restaurants! Spas!

It’s pampering time.

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Saratoga’s MUST-HAVE

LUXURY Guide

fit for a queen Overlooking beautiful Lake George, The Inn at Erlowest is a Queen Ann-style castle with ten luxury guest suites; (right) since reopening in 2017, The Adelphi Hotel has raised the bar for luxury in Saratoga Springs.

(Inn at Erlowest) TOM WALL PHOTOGRAPHY; (Adelphi Hotel) GREG CEO

B Y N ATA L I E M O O R E

went on the media tour of The Adelphi Hotel when it first reopened last fall.

I wasn’t living in Saratoga Springs yet, and didn’t remember the historic building before it was a giant heap of tarps and construction equipment. I knew Saratoga was a luxury destination, what with all the spas and famous people who attended Saratoga Race Course, but it wasn’t until I stepped into the bathroom of the hotel’s Travers Suite that I realized just how luxe Saratoga really was. There I was, in the most beautiful bathroom I’d ever seen, in the most beautiful building I’d ever been in, looking at a heated towel rack. I needed it. I had to have it.

Since marveling at that Adelphi bathroom (it also had heated floors and mirrors to prevent fogging, not to mention a shower that could fit most of The Rockettes), I’ve been treated to much more of the opulence Saratoga has to offer: the to-die-for filet mignon at Salt & Char, sabering a bottle of Veuve Clicquot at the Saratoga Senior Center’s annual Music & Mingling event, a day in the Executive Box at the track and seeing multimillion-dollar Bugattis at the Saratoga Wine & Food Festival. And I’m only just getting started. Here’s a guide to some of the most luxurious, lavish and lust-worthy amenities in and around Saratoga.

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beauty & the feast The only thing more luxe than The Sagamore Resort is its prime location on Green Island in Lake George; (right, from top) UPstairs at 43 Phila is the seasonal finer dining option above R&R Kitchen and Bar; Osteria Danny is as close to Italy as it gets in Saratoga County; seafood is flown in fresh daily to 15 Church.

HOTELS

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tea time Saratoga National is absolutely gorgeous, especially when viewed from the patio of Prime, the golf course’s resident fine-dining restaurant.

RESTAURANTS My favorite restaurant in Saratoga (though it’s nearly impossible to choose just one) is R&R Kitchen and Bar. So it kills me that I haven’t yet made it to UPstairs at 43 Phila, the even finer dining option above R&R that’s also headed by the über-talented Chef Brian Bowden. The diverse menu includes delicacies such as Jumbo Lump Crab & Risotto, Dry

(UPstairs at 43 Phila) SHARON CASTRO; (Osteria Danny) JACOB WEAKLAND

It’s only right that I should kick things off where my luxury Saratoga journey began: The Adelphi Hotel. The historic hotel recently got a miraculous facelift (hey, after 140 years, it was time) and officially reopened on October 1, 2017. Now, besides its otherworldly bathrooms, it boasts 32 luxury rooms and suites, a giant terrace overlooking Broadway, a grand ballroom for events, a public garden (in season) and three high-end restaurants: The Blue Hen, Morrissey’s at The Adelphi Hotel and Salt & Char.

I’ve never actually stayed at The Sagamore Resort, but I’ve boated by, walked through and dined there enough to know it’s the real deal. From its perch on Green Island in Bolton Landing, the grand white hotel faces south down Lake George, with plenty of indoor and outdoor dining (eight bars and restaurants), lounging (poolside and lakeside) and playing (tennis, golf, croquet) opportunities for couples and families alike. There are many options for accommodations, but if you’re going all in, opt for Wapanak Castle, a 2000-squarefoot, 6-bedroom, 4-bathroom home located right on the lake.

Speaking of castles, The Inn at Erlowest, a Queen Annestyle stone castle that was formerly a private residence, is another premier lodging location overlooking Lake George.

It was built by Mr. Edward Morse Shepard in 1898 as part of Millionaires’ Row, and now houses ten luxury guest suites, including the crown jewel, the Montcalm Suite, which has a jacuzzi, fireplace and private balcony (I’m sold). A farm-fresh breakfast is included with your stay, and the dining room, with its à la carte and lighter fare menus, is also open for dinner.

Aged Center Cut Prime Strip Steak and Yellowfin Tuna (which I tried as a special at R&R, and let me say: O-M-G). Be sure to visit during the summer months, though, as it’s closed in the off-season except for private dinner parties and events.

It’s next to impossible to capture that mom-and-pop feel while also serving up a luxury this-could-be-Italy culinary experience. But Danny and Patti Petrosino do it beautifully at Osteria Danny, their small, always-packed restaurant on Henry Street. With Chef Danny Petrosino holding down the kitchen (my personal fave is Shrimp The Way My Father Liked) and his rock-n-roll wife, Patti, manning the front-of-house (greeting even first-timers like old friends), Osteria Danny is a gift from food heaven.

Walking by 15 Church at dusk on a mid-summer Saturday night gives you that feeling that you’re missing out on something remarkable. The dimly lit interior exudes romance, and the buzz of voices coming from The Patio truly makes

you want to be in there drinking a Blood Orange Margarita and snacking on one of Chef Michael Mastrantuono’s Tuna Tartare Tacos instead of out here walking down Church Street.

ACTIVITIES I’m generally pretty athletic, but I honestly can’t hit a golf ball: I’ve tried. No matter. I’m considering taking up golf just so I can play a round at Saratoga National. The course, just past the Northway overpass on Union Avenue, is absolutely gorgeous, and even more so when viewed from the expansive patio of Prime, Saratoga National’s resident fine-dining restaurant (and perch of Executive Chef Jason Saunders), which overlooks all 18 holes.

Saratoga’s more exclusive sporting option is the Saratoga Golf & Polo Club, a family-oriented, member-owned private

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Where nature meets your imagination.

ISSUE

Create your own timepiece.

Oak Ridge is a residential community offering custom homes built by J. Snyder Builders with an emphasis on design — and an appreciation for elegance and timeless architecture — amidst a natural setting of nearly 135 acres with walking and hiking trails, park areas. Only minutes away from all the major attractions of Saratoga Springs.

flight of fancy (clockwise, from top left) Adirondack Balloon Flights offers romantic private flights with views of Lake George, the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains; Classical Concepts is one of only two Aveda Lifestyle Salon and Spas in Saratoga; Complexions Spa is a go-to for all things relaxation; Saratoga Golf & Polo Club is the city’s elite member-owned private club; (inset) Mary Martin & Company is the only spa in Saratoga with the amazing Polychromatic Light Therapy System from POLY.

club founded in 1896. The club’s amenities include its original Victorian-era nine-hole golf course; lawn, clay and hardcourt tennis facilities; the 1914 Club house; and a full-service pool and cabana with a wading pool.

If you’re looking to get away from the links—and Earth entirely, for that matter—request a romantic private flight for two with Adirondack Balloon Flights. (You’ll have to wait until spring, though—the ballooning season runs April through October.) The one-hour ride covers about ten miles, with views of the Adirondack Mountains, Lake George, the Saratoga region and Vermont’s Green Mountains.

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Complexions Spa For Beauty And Wellness does it all.

As Saratoga’s go-to luxury spa for anything from a manipedi to skincare enhancements, Complexions specializes in rejuvenating the body, strengthening the spirit and eliminating daily stresses. Just thinking about its suite of therapeutic body treatments, herbal baths and aromatherapy massages makes me say “Ahh...”

Need a med spa, stat? Hop over to one of Mary Martin & Company’s three locations throughout Saratoga. The day spa specializes in anti-aging procedures, including laser treatments, skin-tightening and light therapy. And it’s the only spa in Saratoga that has the amazing Polychromatic Light Therapy System (POLY), which provides proven light treatment for a variety of conditions, including anti-aging.

Classical Concepts Salon Spa is one of only two Aveda Lifestyle Salon and Spas in the city of Saratoga (Fresh & Co. Salon—also a must-visit—is the other), so you know your experience is going to be top-notch. Classical Concepts offers full hair and nail care, facials, waxing, massage and body treatments from its convenient spot right on Broadway in Downtown Saratoga.

(Classical Concepts, Complexions) ELIZABETH HAYNES PHOTOGRAPHY

S PA S / B E A U T Y

PHASE II OF OAK RIDGE

A variety of lot sizes are now available, including the introduction of the “Carriage Homes of Oak Ridge.”

YOUR VISION. YOUR LIFESTYLE. OUR COMMITTMENT. For more information contact Franca DiCrescenzo, Licensed Broker.

Visit us at armidarose.com or call 518.374.2228.

Saratoga Springs

We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the nation. We encourage and support an affirmative advertising and marketing program in which there are no barriers in obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, sex/gender, disability, familial status, national origin, or any other protected classes under state or local law.

Saratoga Springs

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one if by land, two if by sea The nearly 29-foot Hinckley Dasher is the world's first fully electric luxury yacht; (opposite) Aston Martin’s Valkyrie is gunning for the title of fastest street-legal car in the world.

THE TOYS YOU REALLY, REALLY WANT WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF.

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B Y S I M O N M U R R AY

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THE TOYS YOU REALLY, REALLY WANT

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ove the dial.” It’s an expression that implies someone or something is making a significant difference in a certain field.

“The dial” can also refer to a needle, which is where the saying most likely comes from (the needle being an old analog meter that was used to measure audio recordings). But to consign the saying to motorsports seems only fitting. These vehicles were built to make some noise. Even with little expertise, you and I both know when something’s pushing things forward in a big way. It’s a feeling. Just one peek and—voilà! Call it the innovator’s je ne sais quois. The multimillion-dollar Bugattis that paraded through Downtown Saratoga Springs this past September? Each one moved the dial in its time—some by an inch, others by a mile. So far forward, in some cases, we haven’t even caught up to them yet.

That’s exactly what this list is: a glimpse at the future of luxury automobiles, yachts and motorcycles—the dial-movers that threaten to topple our very idea of what makes a car a car, a bike a bike, and so on. Is that an oversell? Maybe. After all, the future is rarely certain. But with the rise of electric motors, smart interfaces and modern styling, one thing is certain: These vehicles are moving the dial—and fast.

ASTON MARTIN VALKYRIE

swede ride The Husqvarna Svartpilen 701’s name is, fittingly, Swedish for “black arrow.”

In Norse mythology, a Valkyrie was one of the god Odin’s 12 handmaidens, who would usher in slain warriors of her choice from the battlefield to the magnificent palace of Valhalla. The name is fitting for Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing’s hypercar because of its almost mythic quality. Though it may not look like it, this two-door coupe is indeed a road car that is gunning for the title of fastest street-legal car in the world. Get this: Of the 150 that will ever be built, each driver’s seat will be designed specifically to accommodate a unique owner’s body shape through 3-D scanning. Look out for the even more aggressive styling apparent on the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro—or the track version of the sports car. Only 25 units will ever be produced, and they’re already sold out. Rumor has it that both will debut in 2019.

HINCKLEY DASHER Kicking off the Newport Boat Show last year, Hinckley’s Dasher is far from old news. What some have taken to describing as the “Tesla of the Sea,” the Dasher is the world’s first fully electric luxury yacht. The 29-foot boat is made of epoxy carbon and artisanal teak, with accents of 3-D-printed

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i bike it like that Inspired by flat-track racing, the Indian FTR 1200 Motorcycle is slated to hit the market in 2019.

titanium hardware. She sports matching 80-horsepower electric motors driven by “marinized” lithium ion batteries, with a top hop in excess of 23 knots. The best part, though?

Its unbridled, completely silent speed.

INDIAN FTR 1200 MOTORCYCLE Inspired by flat-track racing, the FTR 1200 is slated to go on sale in 2019. The announcement comes in response to months of speculation and demand for a street version of the wildly successful FTR 750—a purpose-built flat-track racer that has dominated the American Flat Track professional racing series since its introduction in 2017. Though it will take inspiration, design and performance cues from the FTR 750 and the FTR 1200 Custom—a one-off concept that toured globally this past year—according to Indian Motorcycle’s Senior Industrial Designer, Rich Christoph, the FTR will maintain a look and style all its own and just might take American V-twin motorcycles into brand new territory.

PORSCHE TAYCAN Watch out Elon Musk. Porsche has made its plans to disrupt the electric car industry known, stepping into the ring against the Tesla Model S with one of its own. The Porsche Taycan (the name means “lively young horse” in Turkish, a reference to the German marque’s crest) is athletic and performance-oriented, and more than a little is riding on it: If the vehicle impresses the

market, Porsche will become one of the first legacy automakers to offer a completely electric car with zero compromises. The company has announced plans to transition to a 50 percent electrified fleet no later than 2025. But interested Taycan owners won’t have to wait nearly as long: The sedan will be making its debut next year.

BALTIC 175 PINK GIN It’s hard not to have a sharp reaction when first seeing the Baltic 175 Pink Gin. Wherever your taste lands, everyone seems to have the same reaction: “Whoa…that sail is pink.” But don’t let it distract you for too long. The 177-foot Pink Gin is the world’s largest carbon-fiber sloop, winning Sailing Yacht of the Year honors at the recent prestigious World Superyacht Awards.

Aside from that carbon-fiber composite hull, innovations include two opening balconies set into the topsides, which let in light and salty air, should the guests desire. Speaking of guests, accommodations allow for ten of them—plus an owner—in ultra-luxe cabins. A desire to be seen is a necessity to what is, unequivocally, a head-turner of the high seas.

HUSQVARNA SVARTPILEN 701 Sleek, stylish and gripping, the Husqvarna Svartpilen 701 has been confirmed for a production release in 2019. The flat-trackstyle Svartpilen, which translates to “black arrow” in Swedish, is all kinds of badassery tooled into a single bike. Reduced to

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deus ex machina The Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro is the track version of the Valkyrie, and only 25 units will ever be produced.

future perfect BMW is touting its Vision iNEXT as a highly automated, fully connected and completely emissionsfree SUV of the future.

the bare functional essentials, the concept is finally getting its production-line push, and not a moment too soon. I can easily see Lisbeth Salander (i.e., the titular “girl with the dragon tattoo”) of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy zipping around Stockholm in this pared down, modern design, with its lightweight, narrow body.

Minimalist styling and exceptional urban motorcycling performance? Count me in.

ILLUSION PLUS Count her as the largest superyacht ever built in Asia. Making her debut at the Monaco Yacht Show this year, the Illusion Plus departed the yard of Chinese manufacturer Pride Mega Yachts on what would be her maiden voyage. With lines inspired by Rolls-Royce motor cars—with a vertical bow and gently sloping transom—the Illusion features a steel hull and aluminum superstructure with six decks. Kitted out with a helicopter landing pad; dedicated spa with sauna, steam room and massage room; two jacuzzi tubs (one with a waterfall feature); a cinema screen; and an elevator that will connect four of the six decks, she is a bold step for Chinese yacht builders.

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BMW VISION INEXT There’s a lot to like about BMW’s recently unveiled, fully electric concept SUV, the Vision iNEXT, which is slated to enter the market in 2021. BMW is touting the Vision as a highly automated, fully connected and completely emissions-free SUV of the future, and it has some decidedly Minority Report features. Those include its Intelligent Personal Assistant, an integrated digital interface linked to a smart device that responds to voice commands given by the driver. If that sounds passé nowadays, consider this: Intelligent Materials Solutions allows the car to respond to various hand or touch gestures that a passenger makes upon the seats with their fingers, as if they were inputs. Finally, there’s Intelligent Beam, a projection light that beams images, moving content or interactive video graphics at the simple command of the driver or passenger (!). Yeah, it’s that impressive. iNEXT drivers can also choose between “Boost” mode, to drive themselves, or “Ease” mode, to be driven by the car’s own technology. (According to BMW, “Boost” mode is a virtually silent driving experience that exerts zero emissions from the car.) Consider the genre of science fiction to be fiction no longer.

dream house THE

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{ EXCLUSIVE }

JENNIFER AND DAN PICKETT’S GORGEOUS NORTH BROADWAY HOME WAS AN ALL-STAR TEAM EFFORT.

kitchen confidential The Picketts’ custom kitchen, which includes custom linen counter stools and rare marble counters with special custom edges.

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BY B E V E R LY T R A C Y

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stair master The view from the second floor looks over the custom walnut staircase and front door.

or some, luxury is defined as that which isn’t necessary, an extravagance. For me, it’s always been a necessity. I learned at a young age from my dad that indulgence in luxury is, quite simply, a must. Naturally, I was thrilled when Jennifer and Dan Pickett hired my interior design firm to work on their new home on North Broadway, charging us with the challenge of producing a stunning luxury family home. With the architectural skill applied to the original house by Atelier New York Architecture, as well as the Phinney Design Group’s impeccable detail and design, Bonacio Construction’s building expertise and the Picketts’ vision, I knew we would be able to create pure elegance; it was a dream team, indeed, and we were on a mission.

The first time I met Jennifer, she stepped out of her sleek, black car with the grace and style of a movie star. Simply being around her broad smile and perfectly matched Jimmy Choos and handbag made all of us feel more glamorous. It’s always a privilege to design a luxury home for a successful client, but in this case, it was about more than just that.

The Picketts have shown such incredible dedication to the Saratoga Springs community throughout the years; they run

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broadway show (clockwise from top left) The Picketts’ living room, with Barbara Barry silk velvet sofas, a marble fireplace, custom silk drapery, Karastan rug and a polished nickel cocktail table; the master lounge, featuring a built-in wet bar equipped with ice maker, coffee maker and wine/beverage fridges; Jennifer Pickett’s office, featuring a Barbara Barry walnut desk, custom silk velvet desk chair, lounge chair and ottoman; the kitchen’s open floor plan looks out onto the dining and living rooms, as well as the back deck and outdoor dining area.

the Pickett Family Foundation (pickettfamilyfoundation.org), a philanthropic organization that invests in causes such as education and healthcare, so it felt good giving back to them.

And did I mention their kids? Yes, this family boasts a handful of gorgeous and athletic children. This was going to be fun!

So what are the ingredients that go into designing a luxury Saratoga home? For starters, the home must be in a prime location—whether it’s on Union Avenue, 5th Avenue or North Broadway, it has to have a prestigious address. Next, it has to be gated, fenced in or shaded; mature trees should be brought in to surround the home and custom window shades (blackout lined, of course) hung perfectly in the windows to provide privacy for the family within. Also, the house should

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similar to the formal gardens you might see in London. We love London and travel there often.”

So the team had its marching orders, and we were delighted to provide the most luxurious sofas, custom-upholstered beds and gilded mirrors for the family’s dream home. Nothing was too precious. From the room plans to the design and the high-end construction materials, finishes and furnishings, everything was top of the line. Rare, hand-selected marble slabs, fine hardwood floors, silk velvets and spectacular hand finishes combined to create an interior that exuded beauty and sophistication. “Having the privilege to build a luxury home in Saratoga, with all the details and high level of construction that comes along with luxury projects, provided us with the opportunity to add something impressive to an already vibrant community,” says Sonny Bonacio, President of Bonacio Construction. In a sense, it’s not just about creating the perfect luxury home, it’s also about elevating the city around it.

And the Picketts’ home is no exception to the rule. An extraordinary level of care went into every aspect of this home—and it really turned out to be a collective effort. Michael Phinney, Phinney Design Group’s Owner and Principal Architect, concurs: “The level of detail and thought that goes into our designs is the result of a team closet made (top) effort between the architect, interior designer, Jennifer Pickett’s custom owner and builder. Because our work is very closet, reminiscent of diverse across a variety of project scales, it a Parisian couturier, allows us to take large commercial methodology that holds handbags and professionalism and merge it with a high behind its glass doors, with plenty of room attention to detail and responsiveness to the for shoes and custom very intimate and personal nature of a custom cabinetry for clothing; home.” With an infinite number of decisions to the bathroom features make, we meticulously made sure that every a marble wet room, paint color, fabric, tile and faucet was perfect, counters, floors and and the style flowed throughout the house. walls, as well as custom At first glance, upon entering this graceful shades and cabinetry. home, one sees the grand, handcrafted walnut staircase and a hint of the luxe living space beyond. The bright white kitchen sparkles with natural beauty and the marble counters were hand-selected for the purity of their whiteness. The walnut dining table, which we saw in the New York Design Center, was made to our exact be fully wired with all the latest gadgets and have all the new specifications and slid perfectly into the dining area (and was highest-tech touches, such as surround-sound and remote then hand-finished to match the end table in the adjoining phone apps. And finally, it must be constructed with superiorliving space). In the master suite, the breathtaking closet and quality materials and luxurious finishes and amenities, dressing area were created to resemble a fancy Parisian including large, decked-out laundry rooms with multiple boutique. And for the kids, a fully loaded game room and washers, dryers and steamers. With such a high price tag, a spa-like backyard, complete with decked-out pool-house luxury home should be an unparalleled masterpiece. and lounge, meet all their needs. Talk about custom. The And that’s what we set out to deliver. The Picketts knew result is a luxury home inside and out. what they wanted from the get-go. Says Jennifer of her family’s So what did the Picketts think? “I love that we have a home that vision: “We wanted a private retreat in the landscape, as an reflects our personal style and enriches our lives by providing escape for our downtime, as well as a place for entertaining all of the comfort and convenience for our unique lifestyle,” says friends and family. We strived for an elegant outdoor space, Jennifer. Mission accomplished! I couldn’t be prouder.

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FIERCE FASHION FROM A HOMEGROWN DESIGNER.

he older I get, the more I value people who are unapologetically true to themselves.

Don’t feel like going to the party? Stay at home, open up a bottle of rosé and call it a night. Feel like painting an oversized abstract piece directly on your living room wall instead of hanging art? Throw on some overalls and grab some brushes. Go gray instead of dyeing? Let those silver locks shine in the sun. It’s so refreshing when people do what they want to do and are exactly who they want to be without wringing their hands over what anyone else thinks. That’s precisely the kind of

BY ROSIE CASE PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIM MYERS ROBERTSON HAIR AND MAKEUP BY NORAH SALAZAR MODEL: K ARINA VILL A, FENTON MODELS

STACI SNIDER’S SARATOGA STYLE ⁄

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CREDIT

Turtleneck in Black Ludwig Shorts

CREDIT

business class Saratoga Springs-based Staci Snider’s clothes let her clients get down to business while quietly standing out.

woman I found designer Staci Snider to be when we caught up, while she was vacationing in Austria, recently.

After years of living abroad, the Saratoga Springs native has reestablished her roots in town, and is now creating an eponymous line of women’s ready-to-wear fashion.

“I’m not really a fan of living in

Dolomite Dress Standard Mesh Long Sleeve in Black

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saratoga mod Staci Snider’s signature designs are drawstring skirts and dresses, with large pockets and strategically placed zippers.

home style After years of living abroad, fashion designer Staci Snider has returned to live and work in her hometown of Saratoga Springs.

“My clothes empower

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my clients. They know they’re going to be the only ones in the

Standard Mesh Long Sleeve in Nude Farrell Jacket Bushnell Shorts

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room wearing them.”

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New York City,” Snider cheerily offers when I ask why she isn’t immersed in the heart of rag trade action. “I do love the theatrics of fashion shows, but I just work better closer to nature.” The self-described “epitome of a Saratoga girl” grew up going to the orchestra, ballet and Saratoga Race Course (naturally), as well as skiing, and was always surrounded by art and books.

“It took me a while to find my creative voice, but I’m here because I wanted to create balance in my life,” she says.

Snider, whose surname is serendipitously German for “tailor,” earned her master’s in fashion at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She also happens to be a former world-class track athlete, and that sense of utility and ease of movement has proven to be highly influential in her designs. Her signature drawstring skirts and dresses, large pockets and strategically placed zippers, let her clients get down to business while quietly standing out

Turtleneck in Black Nordic Dress

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“I’m basically how my brand is—edgy but not severe.

And that’s also Saratoga.”

flaw, less Snider’s designs do what all women want: hide flaws and highlight strengths.

Standard Mesh Long Sleeve in Nude Slon Vest Hans Trouser

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from the crowd. “My clothes empower my clients,” says Snider. “They know they’re going to be the only ones in the room wearing them.” Her clients, who include CEOs, gallerists and DC professionals, appreciate not only the friendlier price-point than that of most of her peers, but also the fact that Snider’s designs succeed in doing what women all over planet Earth want: hide their weaknesses while highlighting their strengths. “It’s about streaming,” Snider says. ”It’s about creating an illusion.” Her designs are available at Jolie Jordan Boutique (JolieJordan.com) in Mount Kisco, NY and select boutiques nationwide.

Snider cites flame-haired chanteuse Florence Welch and actresses Tilda Swinton, Diane Kruger, Kristen Stewart and Rooney Mara as some of her dream clients, and it only stands to reason that a fashion designer, who would choose a rose garden over the runway, would put together such a list of creative renegades. “It’s important for a woman to represent who she truly is. It’s about self-expression, not following trends,” Snider says. “I’m basically how my brand is—edgy but not severe. And that’s also Saratoga.” I couldn’t agree more, and I’m glad she decided to bring her talent home; we need more Staci Sniders here.

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{EXCLUSIVE} THE

PETER W. MULLIN, CO-OWNER OF ONE OF ONLY TWO BUGATTI TYPE 57SC ATLANTICS IN EXISTENCE, GETS CANDID IN SARATOGA.

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’m not going to lie: I was a little nervous going into my interview with Peter W. Mullin. He’s not only a highly successful businessman and über-generous philanthropist, but also a legend in the world of automobile collecting. For one, he’s the “Mullin” behind California’s renowned Mullin Automotive Museum (he’s planning a second location in England). He’s also the President of the American Bugatti Club, a collective of luxury car enthusiasts who own some of the most sought-after and expensive automobiles in the world. And of course, aside from a panoply of other priceless autos, Mullin co-owns an ultrarare, staggeringly expensive 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, one of just two in the world (the other one’s owned by American fashion designer, Ralph Lauren). This September, Mullin’s Bugatti was on display at the Saratoga Wine & Food Festival as part of the International Bugatti Tour that stopped at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). Thankfully, all my nerves were completely unnecessary; Mullin was charming, and I sat down with him for a two-hour-long interview. Here are some of the highlights (go to saratogaliving.com for the longer feature).

The Bugatti Lover

BY JEFF DINGLER P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y K AT I E D O B I E S E X C L U S I V E LY F O R saratoga living

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car excellence Peter W. Mullin is not only the co-owner of one of the world’s most expensive Bugattis, he's also the President of the American Bugatti Club.

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How did you get into classic car collecting?

I originally got interested in cars, because my dad would drag me along to car- and boat-related shows, not really to look at the cars and boats but to look at the viscosity of the oil. [Mullin’s father was a chemical engineer at Mobil.] I would say, “Dad, why are you talking about that? Look at this gorgeous thing here.” So maybe I helped him appreciate what we were looking at, and he helped me appreciate how they worked. That was a good trade.

How was Saratoga Springs chosen as a stop on the International Bugatti Tour?

We wanted to link it to Lime Rock Park [a

historic motorsports venue in Connecticut], because many of the Bugattis were there for the Bugatti Grand Prix. I’d been to Saratoga, but I hadn’t really spent time here. I just came through years ago, and the architecture of these homes— particularly, some of these side streets where the homes are restored and painted pretty colors, with their rolling, manicured lawns—was just a whole different slice of Americana. We never see anything like that on the West Coast.

You’ve driven your Bugatti through the Adirondacks and, really, all over the world.

Are you ever afraid you’ll damage it?

Well, sure, all kinds of things could happen. But you have to make a decision about whether your vehicle is something that’s so precious and pristine that you’re going to lock it away in a garage and never let dust touch it. Or you say to yourself, “Look, it’s a valuable collectible, but they’re made to drive.” Taking it out of the public eye doesn’t make sense to me, because you’re not using the car the way it was intended to be used. You’re not showing it to the public and allowing them to experience it.

The 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic that you co-own is the crème de la crème of collector cars. Is it your favorite car in your collection?

Well, it’s my favorite Bugatti. It’s generally known as the Mona Lisa of the automobile world, given the fact that there are only two that are original, and Jean Bugatti designed them as his last major project—he died at just 30. But my favorite car is the 1937 Talbot-Lago Type 150CS “Goutte d’Eau” (teardrop), with an eggplant-purple color.

I’ve been told that you don’t actually like driving that much. Is that true?

Well, I don’t like to drive on freeways and highways. I mean, I do it all the time, but I don’t do it because I love it. I love to rally cars, like this rally here in Saratoga. And I love to race cars. So that’s my thrill: racing and rallying. And if you love cars, you don’t love taking them downtown in a traffic jam.

There’s no thrill in that.

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s a military brat— a sort of national emigrant, born into a life of packing up and moving every year or two—I’m not used to standing still for very long. After college, it was what drew me to anchor myself in New York City, where the pace and energy match my distinctly itinerant, if not urban, mindset. To this day, as I navigate the city’s immense grid, I find it easy sport to tell the tourists from the natives by who’s standing still on the sidewalk. So when I was invited to venture to Saratoga Springs for a couple of days to interview Florida-based real estate powerhouse Joan Pletcher—stepmother to one of Saratoga Race Course’s most oft-winning trainers, Todd Pletcher—I paused, at first. After nearly 40 years in Manhattan, I’d never been to the Spa City.

Not even during the four years my nephew was enrolled at Skidmore College, bad uncle that I am. So, “Why not give Saratoga Springs a visit?” I thought. It was perhaps better to be buy high The Golden Legacy Training Center, one of real estate giant Joan Pletcher’s property listings, is 114 acres with five barns and is listed at $3.75 million; (left) Joan with husband J.J. (center) and step-son Todd (right).

PLETCHER POWER JOAN PLETCHER, TODD’S STEPMOTHER, RULES THE HORSE MANSION REALM.

BY JAMES LONG portraits by

SUSIE RAISHER saratoga living

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with millions of dollars in purse earnings—Joan is refreshingly invited to Saratoga for the first time during the heat of summer’s unassuming, unlike, say, a number of A-list actors I’ve racing season, as I was, than the notoriously harsh winters encountered. “Born and raised in Little Rock,” she tells me as that only invite shoveling. And it was only 186 miles from I’m invited to sit on the sofa and she reclines in a La-Z-Boy an my TriBeCa apartment along Amtrak’s scenic Hudson line. arm’s length away. Her native cordiality neatly camouflages her Further, while Saratoga might lack the coveted “C” after the reputation as a real estate powerbroker, traversing between “NY” in its postal acronym—a monogram I’ve come to revere Saratoga, where the extended Pletcher family resides during more than my own—I’d heard the food scene was great. the racing season, and her home base, in Ocala, FL. Count me in, I said.

“I grew up around construction,” Joan says, seamlessly Arriving at the deceptively nondescript Saratoga train expanding on her Arkansas roots. “My father was a builder station, I’m driven through the town proper, past a smattering and developer. He bought 200 acres and built our house, of National Velvet-worthy emerald green horse farms framed along with other houses on the property. And when people by white picket fences, to a sprawling subdivision, replete got close, he’d buy another 200 acres and do the same thing.” with gorgeous homes in every architectural style and their She was part of the construction crew at a very young age, meticulous landscaping, the abundant and fully crowned she reflects. “I’d go to work with my father from age three, trees betraying the nouveau, only riche. and the guys would carry me around. When I was five, he “We don’t use the front entrance,” says the Champagnebought me my first horse, and haired Joan Pletcher, stylish that’s when I started riding. I’d in jeans, blue-and-white silk get up at five in the morning to equine-themed Hermès blouse, clean the stalls, and then catch Gucci belt and (she’s clearly the seven o’clock school bus. I at home) Croc slip-ons as she still think about it, because so opens the considerable wooden much of what I do now is what door. Somewhat intimidated by I’ve grown up doing.” the stately manor it was affixed After such a robust childhood, to, I immediately exhale as I pick Joan admits to facing her first up on her mannerly Southern real crossroads when she lost accent and make my way inside. her first husband to leukemia. “I’d “You just missed everyone,” she spent seven months sleeping tells me—everyone being her in a recliner and cooking on husband, stepson and grandkids. a Munsey Toaster,” she says, “They’ve been over here, and pausing to grab a tissue “for I’ve been making potato soup, an eye allergy,” she explains. grilled cheese sandwiches and generation rap Joan Pletcher (center) enjoys a Joan’s innate spirituality reveals potato chips.” Comfort food, I conversation with her daughter-in-law, Tracy (left), itself. “I had given myself a year think, and I remember to relax. and granddaughter, Hannah. to get back on my feet. And I I say “remember” because, in said, ‘God, I don’t know what you’ve got planned for me, but another lifetime, when I was cast in my first professional play as whatever it is, I’ll do it. I’m in no hurry to meet anyone or do an aspiring young actor, I was so starstruck by the Broadway anything, but if it’s possible, I’d like to meet somebody that I’ve veteran playing Hamlet that I was always a nervous wreck got a lot in common with.” around him. One day during rehearsal, I happened upon him And that she did. Jake Pletcher—“J.J.” as he’s known, while he was standing outside the theater and I timidly said or “Pletch,” as Joan alternately calls him—had been hello. Without a word, he took out a pack of Marlboros and working for former Detroit Lions All-Pro and businessman, a matchbook, lit his cigarette, tossed the match, handed me Cloyce Box. After retiring from the National Football League, the matchbook and walked away. “Did I do something wrong?”

Box found considerable success in the oil and gas business wafted through my brain like his trail of cigarette smoke through in Texas—and, in a Hollywood footnote, as the owner of the my lungs. I looked at the matchbook and there, designed as if original Southfork Ranch from the TV series Dallas. After for a chic restaurant or hotel bar, were the words “Actors Are J.J. went out on his own, he and Box remained partners on Just Folks” emblazoned on its cover.

Joan is just folks. Despite being the female lead to a trio of horses, and Joan met J.J. at the racetrack. “J.J. was in his male equestrian stars—her husband, Jake “J.J.” Pletcher, is an box studying the tote board. And I said, ‘I don’t know who acclaimed Thoroughbred trainer, and her stepson, Todd, a twothat is, but I’d like to meet him.’ And when I shook his hand time Kentucky Derby winner and recipient of seven Eclipse it was like electricity. We’ve been together ever since.”

Awards (horse racing’s Oscars) for Outstanding Trainer, both Thirty-eight years, to be exact.

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It was Box who later persuaded J.J. and Joan to move to Ocala, where he wanted to build an equestrian training center.

“Cloyce said to J.J., ‘If I buy this property, will you and Joan go to Ocala and build us a training center?’” Joan tells me.

“Well, J.J. and I were ready to give up the gypsy life of moving from Kentucky to Chicago to Louisiana and back to Arkansas.

And Cloyce said, all you have to do is bring your toothbrush, and he’d build a house wherever we wanted it. And he did, and that’s what brought us to Ocala.” Once again, Joan found herself back on a construction crew (though something tells me she was both captain and crew). “Pletch would handle the horses, and I oversaw the construction of the house and all the landscaping. It looked like a miniature Tara.

We lived in that paradise and ran the property for 12 years.”

And paradise was where they stayed.

sell. While I’ve been told I have the patience of Job, it takes time for people to make up their minds. But God’s given me a sixth sense of what someone really likes, even though they may not tell me. I can pick out six houses, but I can tell you which one they’ll end up with.”

I remark that I often see the same people in New York’s ultra-affluent Hamptons as I do in Manhattan. The accoutrements are perhaps more casual, but I’ve seen the words “price upon request” applied nearly as often in the village of East Hampton as on Madison Avenue. I ask Joan about Ocala vs. Saratoga: Is there much difference among her clients? Does she have to change gears?

“I’ve seen Ocala grow from when we went there in ’85, and it was a very quiet town,” she ruminates as she shifts in the recliner. “It’s totally different from South Florida.

We’ve got the rolling hills, the live oak trees, the Spanish cala. Luxurious moss.” She elaborates on the Country Living.” city’s diversity—in soil, that That’s the title is—noting the abundance of of Joan’s real water and aquifers, as well estate portfolio as limestone, “like Lexington, of Ocala offerings. Thumbing really good for horses,” she through the catalogue, I find says. She comes around to listings titled, “Masterpiece Ocala’s growing diversity in Manor,” “Historic Charm” people, too. “We have a mix and even a “French Château of different nationalities. Most Equestrian Estate,” among of the people are down-tothe other “move-in ready” earth, and while we’ve got farms for horses and cattle. a lot of quiet wealth, a lot of Given the obsession New people don’t even realize Yorkers have with real that we have that. I see estate, I’ve met a number of “celebrity realtors” over the many of the same people in years who, by the very nature Saratoga as I see in Ocala. livin’ large This $8.375 million exquisite French of their profession—how shall So it doesn’t really feel like I chateau estate sits on 91 acres just minutes from World I put it?—embellish a lot when have to change gears. I feel Equestrian Center Ocala. it comes to selling a property. like I can just be me.”

But unlike the luxury condos that make record-breaking Speaking of switching gears, I note that Florida is many headlines on “Billionaire’s Row” in Midtown Manhattan, people things, but it’s also the state with the highest percentage of its population older than 65. “Do you and J.J. ever think about actually live in the properties Joan lists. And while licensed retiring?” I ask. “No,” she says without hesitation, “I want to only as a Realtor, she prides herself on being a psychologist do it all. I don’t think it’s ever over. I’ve got two speeds, either as well, in terms of what motivates clients to buy or sell. stop or full speed ahead.” A moment later she meditatively “My biggest concern is always being the kind of person I adds, “I feel like I’m cheating J.J., because I’m so busy. I do need to be for my clients,” Joan confides. “I don’t want to say think I want to slow down and spend more time with him and or do anything that would have them make the wrong choice all... ” she reflects, her voice trailing with its Southern inflection in their life. Before I list a property, I talk to clients about what leading to a modest admission: “When the bottom fell out of they want, what their dreams are, what they would do if they

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the oil market and the horse business slowed, we kind of retired for a little bit. We taught each other golf,” she says.

“We’d play seven days a week, 36 holes on weekends. We won the husband and wife championship at Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto, FL, and I won the club championship twice.”

Real estate power broker. Equestrian authority. Self-taught golf champion. As she’s talking I begin to pick up on a familiar theme. “When the economy picked back up,” she continues, “we started getting back in the horse business, full steam ahead, and I quit playing golf because you can’t play golf and be successful in real estate.” The late Arnold Palmer might disagree, but I get her point; she has a laser-like career focus. “Now I’ll go out and play maybe once a year, a tournament or benefit.”

the big house This $3.675 million luxury estate and equestrian farm has a 7375-square-foot residence and a 10-stall stable.

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Yes, yes, but I can’t help but wonder, what is it that clearly propels Joan’s success like a titanium driver on a par-5?

Joan Pletcher is a perfectionist! That’s it! I know that song by heart, and I can’t resist asking: “Joan, are you a Virgo, by any chance?” She is. (As you may have suspected by now, I am too.) Our birthdays are one day apart. We both high five and commiserate on what I consider a curse: having to do things a particular way and the constant pursuit of improvement.

“My mother taught me, if there was a will, there was a way,” she says, adding the equally epigrammatic, “and my father taught me, if it was worth doing, it was worth doing right the first time. That’s probably why I’m a perfectionist. I don’t want to do things two or three times. It probably takes me longer than if I do them halfway and move on, but I just can’t do that.” Ditto, I say, as I glance at my watch and note that it’s time for me to head out to meet my saratoga living colleagues. Thanking Joan for an enjoyable afternoon, I reach over to pick up my cell phone where I left it on the coffee table, pausing as I notice two lone items resting there: the current issue of Forbes and an open paperback, Danielle Steel’s Fairytale. Perfection again. A set designer couldn’t prop it better.

The next day, I run into Joan in her box at Saratoga Race Course, as Todd has a horse in an upcoming race. It’s my first time at the venerable racetrack—any racetrack, for that matter. Joan and I chat for a while and, returning to join my colleagues, I glance back at her, looking very regal in her black lace dress offset by her shimmering hair.

I suddenly think of the royals and their horses, how Queen Elizabeth, the epitome of regal equestrians, attended the 2007 Kentucky Derby, and what it must have been like to be there for that “Run for the Roses.”

Then it occurs to me—I was just in the company of “royalty,” though, as Americans, we eschew that status. That said, the British monarch does recognize the good work of foreign nationals with an MBE, OBE and CBE, as part of her New Year’s Honours and, in June, to commemorate her birthday.

And, so, with Her Majesty’s permission, I’d like to hereby nominate Mrs. Joan Pletcher for a CEE, that’s “Commander of the Equestrian Empire” for you non-royals, for her grit, grace and exceptional achievements.

Dame Joan! It has a winning ring to it, don’t you think?

THE BEST AMERICAN CITY TO TRAVEL TO,

BY FAR

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NEW ORLEANS WINS THIS DISTINCTION BY A (FRENCH) COUNTRY MILE.

BY MARCO MEDRANO

neighborhood watch New Orleans’ French Quarter is the city’s most iconic neighborhood.

PAUL BROUSSARD/NOCAVB

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ow many American cities can say they’ve legitimately celebrated a tricentennial?

OK, maybe a bunch—St. Augustine, FL, was established in 1565, and our very own Albany celebrated 300 years in 1914—but that doesn’t diminish, by any means, the impressiveness of a metropolis reaching the three-century milestone, which, by the way, New Orleans did this past May. Let’s just start this Crescent City story by saying if—no, when—you visit, you’re going to have the best time ever. Especially if you tackle N’awlins (or NOLA or The Big Easy or The City That Care Forgot) the way I did: in total over-the-top, luxe fashion.

But even if you dial it back a bit, I can assure you that you’ll find something unforgettable to do or just have the time of your life doing a whole lotta nothing. It’s safe to say that my first visit to the city, which I’m officially dubbing the best American city to travel to in the US, won’t be my last.

Having been booked for a five-star NOLA-rific experience twice before actually making the trip, my only regret is that I didn’t get there sooner. Because while New Orleans is all the black tie, jazzy, bejeweled, champagne cocktail clichés you’ve heard about, it’s also wrapped in a centuries-old formality and topped with a bone-deep pride for hospitality.

Really, there must be something in the water, for every hotel representative, Uber driver, bartender and waiter I encountered seemed to have gotten the cordiality memo.

People are nice in Cajun country.

Overindulgence was certainly a small part of my lifestyle back in the day, so as a responsible adult, I just stayed away from Mardi Gras and New Orleans as a whole. Big. Mistake. Beyond the stumbling, purple and greed bead-clad masses, there’s a whole other world of amenities, exploration and, yes, good ol’ indulgence in NOLA. This destination is one of those magical places where you can ditch your driver, lose your map, wander aimlessly and end up shopping for fine art or negotiating with street fair artisans, walking away (though you’re not quite sure where to) with a white voodoo charm bracelet—something every proper N’awlins tourist needs. This intoxicating city is tailor-made to indulge your whimsical, take-it-as-it-comes, stumble-upon sightseeing desires. It’s impossible to resist.

On a sunny and 60-degree November day, you can grab a classic cocktail, get a high-tea pick-me-up along with a barbecue shrimp brioche and buy a turn-of-the-century chandelier, all within feet of one another. Of course, I’m speaking of the French Quarter. Because of its jaw-dropping infamy, I saved a tour of NOLA’s most iconic neighborhood for the last day of my trip, and it left me begging for more time. Being a somewhat curious, if typical, tourist, I got carried away in Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo, and picked up some positive energy-harnessing knickknacks to give as gifts. Meandering through the Bywater neighborhood is also a must. If you can’t find a piece of art to

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who dat? (clockwise from top left) Effervescence may be the most understated city-chic “bubbles & bites” place ever; Stumptown Coffee Roasters is right off the lobby of the hip Ace Hotel; The Ritz-Carlton is one of New Orleans’ most luxurious hotels; Carrollton Market will knock you for an unexpected and delicious loop; Maypop restaurant is a wonderful collision of Southeast Asian and New Orleanian cuisine; NOLA’s bustling French Quarter is a must-see; Crescent Park provides stunning views of the French Quarter and Central Business District (CBD).

(Effervescence, Maypop, Crescent Park) PAUL BROUSSARD/ NEW ORLEANS CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU; (Stumptown) RUSH JAGOE/NOCAVB; (Ritz) NOCAVB; (Carrollton Market) SVEN GONZÁLEZ; (French Quarter) RICHARD NOWITZ/NOCAVB

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save the music Preservation Hall, located in the French Quarter, was founded in 1961 to protect, preserve and perpetuate traditional New Orleans jazz.

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Sean Cummings, owner of International House Hotel; art legend Brandan Odums (“BMike”) of Studio Be; and the newest restaurant icon, Nina Compton of Compére Lapin, who are pushing the city to be all it can be, now and in the coming years.

Before getting into the city’s hotspots, let’s check in. I, like many, have had to pick and choose my vacation activities wisely due to time restraints. (My epic NOLA adventure lasted a mere 72 hours.) But when pressed for time in a city I don’t yet know, I splurge on lodging that gives me all I need—gym, pool, quick city access and, most importantly, spa—under one roof. That said, my two obvious hotel choices in New Orleans were The Ritz-Carlton and the Windsor Court, which I toggled between, ultimately landing on the latter, the grand dame of all Crescent City resorts.

Luxurious, well-staffed, friendly—the Windsor Court checks every box you can think of, and then some, starting with the resort’s in-house digitally guided art walk, featuring fine art lining the walls of the hotel, which solidifies the Windsor Court as more of a luxury travel destination than a place to sleep. I’d highly recommend one of the larger, club-level rooms or suites (though even the smallest studios are so smartly designed you can entertain, host a business guest or call it your home away from home), which reside on the top four floors and get you access to a private lounge that serves a complimentary breakfast, afternoon tea, evening hors d’oeuvres and specialty cocktails. Or, you can opt for one of the Windsor Court’s other dining experiences, such as Café Anglais, the perfect stop for a quick coffee, yogurt parfait or something sweet, whether you’re staying at the hotel or not (imagine stopping at Paris’ Ladurée for a nosh, but with a speed pass and a quick exit to the side street), or Le Salon, the trusted go-to spot for High Tea in the city, pouring on all the delicious grandeur and luxe munchables without (much) pretense. Yet Le Salon is still considered the place to show off that piece of daytime high fashion (don’t forget your hat!), should you choose full-on seeand-be-seen catwalk mode. Indulge!

But the Windsor Court isn’t done wowing us just yet. The legendary Grill Room remains the epitome of iconic places to dine, even for locals, when a date night or special occasion presents itself. Here, the classics—lobster bisque, crab cakes, scallops—are done to perfection. Next up? We’re popping in for a late-night cap at the Polo Club Lounge or catching a heart-stopping, foot-stomping performance by local jazz chanteuse Robin “The Songbird of New Orleans” Barnes. You can’t help but feel like you’re getting away with something: like this—all of this—is just too damn good to be true. The same goes for the food. From unassuming ’round-thecorner bars to restaurants where a symphony of tuxedo-clad servers deliver masterpieces to linen tableclothed tables, my weekend’s menu started at absolutely OMG delicious and got better from there. Truly mind-blowing.

Our first stop on the hit parade was Effervescence, perhaps the most understated city-chic “bubbles & bites” place ever.

NOCVAB

take home from Studio Be, a 35,000-square-foot warehouse of art, then get out of town! Definitely do lunch at The Country Club, where the slogan “Charmed, I’m sure” surely must’ve been invented. From there, you can stroll through Crescent Park, which from its river-adjacent locale provides a stunning view of the French Quarter and the CBD, or Central Business District, as the city’s Downtown is known.

Despite being especially susceptible to the whims of Mother Nature—the city sits ominously at seven feet below sea level— New Orleans has never let go of its deep-rooted graciousness, elegance and class. Such tenacity and resilience! But what about the freedom I felt to enjoy life at every literal turn in the road? Could they be putting something in the cocktails?

Every corner, every elevator, every framed piece of art, window dressing, shop placard, uniformed employee and billboard made me realize the sheer effort and thought that has gone into making sure this city endures for another 300 years, and recognize how innovation isn’t edging out the traditional but surrounding it. It’s the city’s developers and patrons, such as

CHERYL GERBER/NOCAVB

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First, drinks. The champagne bar provides a beautiful and affordable bubbly selection—including my favorite, rosé champagne—and I cherished my “War of the Rosés” flight trio alongside a delectable Gulf Seafood Plateau and a caviar dish with crème fraîche, pepper mashed potato chips, chive sturgeon and a bowfin caviar duo, followed by fried softshell crab. Next was lunch at Longway Tavern, a really nice local hangout—think CEOs and blue-collar repairmen sitting shoulder-to-shoulder watching the New Orleans Saints game—that certainly wasn’t vying for any Elle Decor awards, but presented affordable, delicious dishes that were as elevated as bar food could ever get. It was sublime. Truly next level. Oh, and the cocktails! Longway’s delicious spin on the Moscow Mule washed down the seemingly endless parade of smallish plates, starting with succotash made of chickpea, English pea and mint, summer veggies and whipped tofu, followed by calamari and a mouth-watering salmon confit I’m still dreaming about months later. Prepare to be blown away by Longway Tavern.

Honestly, just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, Maypop came into my life. Let me be clear: Please pay extra attention to this section of the story. You’ll thank me later.

Accurately described as a wonderful collision of Southeast Asian and New Orleanian cuisine by award-winning Chef Michael Gulotta, Maypop’s culinary offerings are some of the most savory sensations you’ll ever experience. The Gulotta’s Rare Roasted Gulf Tuna with Spicy Watermelon will send you!

But the dish you’ll literally fly in for? Buttermilk “Hot Chicken” in Vindaloo Curry, a buttermilk-fried hot chicken in a very spicy vindaloo curry over creamy white mac ’n’ cheese, topped with a fried egg, cooked over-easy. There are no words to adequately describe the explosion of flavors in your mouth and the rush of endorphins to your brain. It’s just unbelievable, plain and simple. Run, don't walk, to Maypop.

Thinking I was coming in for a soft landing, dinner at local Celeb Chef Jason Goodenough’s Carrollton Market knocked me for an unexpected (and delicious) loop. My dinner at the bar (served by the planet’s best bartender; loved her) was just as formal as at a table, and so was the cuisine. Not many people do a true, muddled Old Fashioned well. Mine was absolutely perfect. I’m not really an oysters aficionado (as every New Orleans resident seems to be), but Carrollton Market’s “Oysters Goodenough” with flash-fried gulf oysters, Benton’s bacon, creamed leeks and béarnaise sauce was far beyond “good enough,” as was the Pan-Roasted Redfish With Caramelized Summer Squash And Shrimp-Saffron Emulsion. So, so good.

Just as impressive as New Orleans’ culinary achievements were my spa experiences in the Crescent City. Starr, my masseuse at The Ritz-Carlton Spa, infused bodywork (on the fly) into my Voodoo Ritual experience using absinthe, cypress, moss, vetiver and incense. Ultra-feminine and petite, Starr’s unexpected strength was better suited for an MMA Octagon cage fight than a high-class NOLA hotel! The Ritz-Carlton

culinary heights Longway Tavern serves delicious dishes that are as elevated as bar food could ever be.

Spa’s technique is special, leaving you impossibly relaxed, but energized; peaceful, but alert. Back at home (away from home), The Spa At Windsor Court really impressed me. I can always identify a stellar establishment by its retail selections, and Spa Director Sharla Martin nailed it with her cherry-picked regimens and luxury skincare and anti-aging accessories—such as Tata Harper organic skincare, Oribe Hair Care, Naturopathica and NuFace microcurrent—that make you wish you brought an extra suitcase. The spa’s namesake custom blends are equally luxe, and the microderm, LED and oxygen facial I received was hyper-plumping and smoothing. I celebrated my spa day by taking my best selfie ever! In truth, it was the introduction this spa gave me to custom-blended UMA Pure Energy Wellness Oil that kept me joyfully writing this story late into the night.

What can I say? I’m all about New Orleans, easily the best destination to escape to while still feeling right at home.

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secret garden The name of Suzhou, China’s elegant Lingering Garden says it all.

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K A T E AROUND THE

WORLD part one

ASIA

Suzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong overwhelm the senses. story and photography by

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CREDIT

CREDIT

K AT E D O Y L E H O O P E R

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olly’s text was emphatic: “Suzhou, China!” Uh, Suewhat? I said. “Tea-brewing demo! Columbus Circle!

Pop-up teahouse! Meet me!” As I was a lifelong tea junkie shivering through yet another New York City winter, it was safe to say that she had me at “brewing.” One hot cup of Suzhou’s finest Dong Shan Bi Luo Chun tea, five months and a 15-hour flight later, I touched down at Shanghai Pudong International, in the once-forbidden land I’d dreamed of seeing since childhood, en route to Suzhou (pronounced “Sue-Joe”).

Yes, my travel bug started early. I was bitten sometime around my sixth birthday, when my parents gifted me what would become my favorite book, Around The World With Ant And Bee, an illustrated tale of best friends who travel to 11 countries searching for a lost umbrella. Over time, my travel affliction flourished, a side-effect of countless hours spent on the Disneyland “It’s A Small World” boat ride, transfixed by its kid-sized planet of 200-plus animatronic dolls in national garb, singing about world peace on an endless loop. Additional hardwiring of this global soundtrack came from my dad’s frequent, pitch-perfect renditions of Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me” and Bobby Darin’s “Fabulous Places,” which, between the two songs, included a lyrical laundry list of 30 must-see exotic locales. Add to that images of my ahead-of-her-time

SUZHOU

man power Pedicabs, or cycle rickshaws, are a familiar sight on the streets of Suzhou.

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mom packing for glamorous business trips in an era when most mothers stayed close to home, and my childhood takeaway was this: Go see the world. And for decades I have, with the last 12 or so months being one of my most fevered stretches ever, with bags never totally unpacked and all roads eventually leading to Suzhou.

Just a 30-minute ride from Shanghai via the high-speed “MagLev” (shorthand for “Magnetic Levitation” train), which blasts through the countryside at 230 mph, Suzhou is the beloved getaway spot for millions of over-revved Shanghainese and tourists from all over China. They step off the train and back in time for a day or two, to savor glimpses of the all-but-disappeared Old World—at least the bits that China’s enthusiastic development has, mercifully, managed not to pave over (yet). In Suzhou, the collective soul is stirred by ancient canals, cobblestone streets, stone bridges, centuries-old neighborhoods and, on the rural outskirts, acres of steeply terraced, green tea plantations marching up gentle slopes. But Suzhou’s main attractions are the nine ancient, classical gardens—horticultural masterpieces, all of them—which as a group establish the area’s UNESCO World Heritage site bona fides.

How Suzhou got—and stayed—so green is mostly a matter of location and very good luck, having begun its existence roughly 2500 years ago, as a well-positioned fishing village and trading post between the lower tail of the Yangtze River and the shores of Lake Tai, China’s third largest freshwater lake.

A few hundred years later, with the addition of silk production and the development of a couture-level embroidery industry favored by Chinese royalty, Suzhou evolved into one of the most important and wealthiest “water town” ports along the Silk Road, complete with an extensive network of canals to keep all that progress moving forward.

All those mercantile riches attracted a well-heeled crowd of scholars, intellectuals and government administrators who enabled the arts, especially horticulture, to flourish, with many of the well-to-do locals competing to outdo one another with the beauty of their gardens. At its horticultural peak in the mid1500s, it’s said that Suzhou was home to more than 200 private gardens, where upscale residents could get away from it all, behind high walls. Little did they know, 600 years later, their sanctuaries would continue to offer solace, only now to millions of everyday people, rather than just a select few.

All this is not to say that Suzhou is preserved in amber. Far from it. Though Marco Polo dubbed it the Venice Of The East, were he to stroll the streets of Suzhou today, he’d not only recognize some of the Old Town sights, but he’d also likely be taken aback by the bustling mega-city of six million people that’s sprung up around it and, at times, through it. As one of the fastest-growing, most prosperous cities in China, thanks in part to its government-mandated incarnation as a high-tech manufacturing hub, the new Suzhou is well-stocked with highend restaurants, an emerging nightlife scene and lakeside

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what’s for dinner?

Simplicity and elegance are the rule upstairs at Tongli’s reservation-only vegetarian restaurant, Xishantang.

luxury hotels, such as the sophisticated InterContinental Suzhou, the sparkly W Suzhou and the sleek, ultra-masculine Tonino Lamborghini. There’s a China-sized, Vegas-style, LEDlight dancing waters extravaganza on weekend nights, plus the showpiece Suzhou Museum, designed by legendary I.M. Pei. There’s also the massive Suzhou Center, a mall that’s home to 600-plus shops, not to mention indoor ski slopes, a paintball emporium and an Olympic-sized skating rink. There’s even an indoor pony-riding school, should an upstart Saratogian be

interested in taking a spin on a few small horses. Everything’s up to date in Suzhou City.

Neither a shopper nor a pony-rider, my mission in Suzhou was to absorb the legendary gardens and to let the town and the culture envelop me—to take my brain as far from home as my body was. The first step, and one that should be de rigueur for any traveler venturing beyond Shanghai, is to book a licensed guide, as language and ground logistics can be a challenge on the mainland. Though I rarely use

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them, this time I took the advice of mainland friends and put clones in green tracksuits and conical bamboo hats. When myself in the hands of an extraordinarily competent, capable asked about his work among the 400 shrubs, one gardener and unfailingly cheerful guide, Cathie, from the aptly named replied that he liked the quiet, contemplative life of bonsaiSuzhou MoreFunAsia Travel Company, who picked me up at tending. Sensing perhaps that it was time for me to stop the airport, whisked me to Suzhou and skillfully piloted me intruding upon that life, Cathie sweetly prodded me onward through her hometown’s highlights. In just three days, she with a gentle sweep of her arm and an endearing, “Dear enabled me to see—and comprehend—what, in my jet-lagged Friend, there is much more to see.” haze, would have taken me weeks (or possibly months) to To escape the crowds on the way up to the park’s main navigate on my own. event—the 154-foot-tall Huqiu Tower atop Tiger Hill—Cathie On day one, Cathie said, “The Chinese, we build gardens. guided me up the much less traveled, back-of-the-hill path, Westerners, they plant gardens,” reminding me that instead of past small, secluded tea fields tucked inside an otherworldly European-style, mathematically laid-out rows of flowers and bamboo forest that called to mind the aerial sword fight scene shrubs, I’d be looking at something far more complex: the from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon—and for a moment, I horticultural application of Confucian and Taoist principles; yin wished that I, like Michelle Yeoh, could swing across the thick, and yang; balance and harmony—a leafy green treetops. Instead, we make-believe, garden-sized world descended Tiger Hill on foot, shaped, trimmed and arranged back down to meet our driver, to replicate the beauty of the and, with a haggling assist from natural one. (No, Toto, we’re not in Cathie, I was able to purchase an Saratoga Springs anymore.) enormous hand-fan adorned with With all this in mind, we a portrait of Chairman Mao, which wandered the grounds of Tiger Hill, now resides on the mantelpiece the final stop for the ancient ruler, in my Manhattan apartment. warrior and sword aficionado King In the morning, we headed out Helü, who died in battle in 496 BC. early to beat the crowds. “Life The story goes that at the bidding is sweet in Suzhou. We have no of his son, the king, along with his flooding, no tsunami, no volcano. favorite 3000 swords, was buried It is very peaceful,” Cathie said, within the 49-acre park. Under as doors opened at The Humble the guise of thanking the 1000 Administrator’s Garden and we craftsmen who built the place, the bypassed the already substantial son invited them to a banquet and queue. (Clearly, she’s got the hookfatally dispatched every last one of up.) As advertised, the garden is them, presumably before dessert, indeed a stunning masterpiece of to ensure that the king’s exact the classical genre that's not to be burial location remained a secret. missed—and clearly, nobody in this dress to impress An embroidered Chinese It worked. Erasure of the craftsmen part of the world does. Inside, the opera costume on display at the Suzhou Museum; notwithstanding, Tiger Hill is today vast grounds are dotted with knolls (opposite) a last look at Shanghai’s fast-disappearing a peaceful oasis that takes you and small streams. There are 19th century “shikumen”-style dwellings. on a trip through the greatest hits one-room pavilions with black tile of classical Chinese landscape roofs tucked between clutches of garden design. There’s lush yet manicured foliage, winding trees, shrubbery and rockery. Water is molded into thoughtfully stone paths to stroll upon, carved-by-nature rock sculptures arranged ponds filled with foot-long koi and lily pads the size of that look like miniature Matterhorns, delicate waterfalls and truck tires. Pavilion walls are pierced by artfully placed “moon slowly flowing canals. Birds chirped and trees rustled as we gate” passageways and glass-less windows framing painterly roamed through this misty landscape that felt miles away views of the garden’s heavily curated natural world, a live from the bustling metropolis a few hundred yards beyond the version of traditional, painted Chinese landscapes. Suddenly, garden gates. Giddy with jet lag and slightly intoxicated by the all those endearingly kitschy paintings lining the walls of virtually tranquility all around me, I offered a silent word of thanks to the every stateside Chinese restaurant seemed kitschy no more, murdered craftsmen who created it. but rather lovely depictions of the memorable places that speak On the lawn below the park’s whitewashed Wanjing Villa, to the Chinese soul—and now, mine too.

I watched master gardeners silently hand-trim bonsai trees, As the crowd swelled to more than 5000 within minutes moving like a platoon of slow-motion Edward Scissorhands of opening—according to the visitor-counting scoreboard

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stationed at the entrance—one did get the sense of how precious these gardens are to the Chinese psyche, and to the Chinese tourist. Though they’d likely never have the place to themselves—nor, for that matter, would I—it was still where we all came to slake our shared thirst for contemplative places, even if the solitude lay mostly in our imagination.

“Or, did it?” I wondered, when we arrived at the walled city gates of Tongli, walking its thousand-year-old cobblestone and canal-lined streets. Here, in this lovingly preserved, government-sanctioned, still-lived-in water town on the outskirts of Suzhou, if it weren’t for the cafés and shops occupying the town square’s storefronts, you’d be hardpressed not to think you’d landed in a bustling, 16th-century Chinese village. Which is, of course, the idea. In Tongli, arguably, the main attraction, aside from the requisite ride along the tree-lined canals in antique, flat-bottom, oarpowered boats, and live Chinese opera being sung at top volume in the town square, is The Retreat & Reflection Garden. Also referred to as The Garden Floating On Water, one of the smaller gems in the UNESCO crown, it’s densely packed with a series of modestly sized, two-story houses and small pavilions connected by covered walkways, moon gates overlooking lush mini landscapes and bonsai trees in stone pots. The space brought to mind memories of actress Gong Li wandering the beautiful but claustrophobic grounds of her adopted home in Raise The Red Lantern. The structures here, though, were anything but ominous, having been artfully arranged to ensure beautiful views and visual surprises at every turn, despite the spatial constraints. At the center lay the garden’s main courtyard, surrounding a large, shoreless pond, creating a sort of optical illusion that made the buildings throughout the complex appear to magically float on the water, for an ethereal effect.

From The Retreat & Reflection Garden, we turned down one of Tongli’s born-for-Instagram, shoulder-width-wide walkways.

At alley’s end, hidden inside an ancient structure, a stylish surprise awaited: the elegant, ultra-modern, reservation-only, 14-seat vegetarian restaurant Xishantang, whose delicate dishes elevate plant-based cuisine—and streamlined Taoist interior design—to high art. Though we were just a block away from the more typical tourist-friendly, open-air eateries that overlooked the canals, aesthetically, we were light-years away and loving it. After lunch, our Xishantang hostess (the chef’s sister) led us through another labyrinthine alley to an affiliated property, the small but exquisite Taimuting Hotel, a luxurious, Japanese ryokan-style, eight-suite guesthouse, just opened after a nine-year gut renovation by a Suzhouborn architect. It was all I could do not to ditch Cathie for a few days and sleep off my jet lag in this architectural jewel box, but such a move might have been frowned upon, even by my most accommodating Dear Friend. I realized I’d fallen hard for the sweetly cinematic Tongli and the charms of old Suzhou, and I will definitely plan to see them again someday.

SHANGHAI

B

idding à bientôt to Suzhou, I was off for a quick oncearound in Shanghai, China’s go-go-go, money-mad capital on the banks of the Huangpu River. Though I’m drawn more to Hong Kong’s tropical-isle-meetshigh-rise aesthetic, when gazing out the window of the JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai’s 59th floor cocktail lounge, it was hard not to be gobsmacked by the power of Shanghai’s Fritz Lang-ian Metropolis-style skyline—arguably the world’s largest—fanning out for miles, far beyond the viewable horizon.

As night started to fall and fog began to obscure the tops of the skyscrapers that surrounded me, I half expected the rainsoaked cast of Blade Runner to roll in for a nightcap.

At sunrise, my goal was to find what remained of Old Shanghai, which, tough as it may be to locate now, will be all but impossible to find in a few short years, as it’s scheduled to disappear by 2020. And so, the Four Seasons Puxi, my home for the duration, arranged a private visit to one of the last remaining “shikumen” compounds, the gated, village-like enclaves of 19th-century stone houses that once covered much of Shanghai. Now on the inevitable bulldozing block, due, in

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few weeks and I’m off (again) on Cathay Pacific, as the dusk crept in over Victoria Harbor, and misty low clouds were making the buildings on both sides of Hong Kong glow in blue-gray sepia. Traffic lights cycled through their tri-color routines, as red aviation lights blinked in their own rhythm atop sky-high rooftops of the city’s tall, thin office and apartment buildings. I was sipping a glass of Ruinart champagne, staring at the never-ending water ballet in the harbor below, with hundreds of styles of boats zipping back and forth like a swarm of aquatic hummingbirds. From the executive lounge on the 45th floor of the Four Seasons Hong Kong—a bucket-list hotel if there ever was one—I could have watched this dance all night, and had done so on many previous trips.

This time, however, I was here for a few meetings, so sleep was definitely on the menu. I’d also be celebrating a milestone anniversary with my husband, who’d just arrived to hike the mountains around Hong Kong (in 98-degree heat) on a magazine assignment. We were both here to work, then relax a bit in this place so luxurious it was akin to living inside a cashmere cloud, where life was soft, serene and seamless.

Step outside the cloud though, and reality hit you like a hot, wet blanket. Not getting doused in sweat within seconds of stepping out onto the narrow, breezy, 45th-floor balcony was an impossibility—and we rushed back into cooler climes. We clinked glasses and tucked into the copious, lounge-supper spread we’d be sharing only with one American family of five in the corner and, one table away, our Asian doppelgängers

(or were we theirs?) who were matching us small plate for small plate, cocktail for cocktail. Though their look was decidedly Architect-Navy-Blue-chic and ours more New Yorkers-in-all-black, it was evident that, on some telepathic level, we seemed to know one another well. Perhaps they were celebrating an anniversary, too?

With bellies full and our mood effervescent, we teetered down to our 24th-floor room, with its enormous bed, waterfacing, cozy chaise lounge and panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows. But something was off. It was just 8pm on a Saturday night but, uncharacteristically, one of the busiest harbors in the world was suddenly eerily devoid of activity.

I switched the room lights off to get a better look, but all I could make out below was the outline of darkened boats hanging back, lurking in the distance. Slightly unnerved, I grabbed my camera, pointed it toward the water, and then, the sky exploded! Rockets streaked hundreds of feet up into the sky, then burst into red stars, sparkling green bouquets, glowing white orbs, purple flowers and orange streamers, then dropped into the water, again and again— a full 23 minutes of nonstop, beautifully choreographed fireworks thundering past our window. Wow. Welcome to Hong Kong, and happy anniversary to you, too. Turns out we’d arrived just in time for the official “Fireworks Display To Celebrate The 20th Anniversary Of The Establishment Of The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” event, or, in plain English, the end-of-British-rule, hand-over memorial, a bittersweet moment for some, a joyous occasion for others, but an unforgettable extravaganza for all.

HONG KONG

‘w’ is for wow The sparkling new W Shanghai is ready for its close-up. It’s a stunner.

part, to its stellar location in the middle of Downtown’s most valuable real estate, the (almost) sole shikumen-style survivor compound to which I was headed, just off Wei Hai Road, was a photographer’s dream, though probably not much fun to live in (think communal kitchens and toilets, and tiny living quarters).

So it was only fitting that the person who led me through the OldWorld maze was the godfather of contemporary, post-Cultural Revolution Chinese photography, Gang Feng Wang, hailed as China’s very first freelance photographer. Coincidentally, it was Wang’s striking documentary-style photos and time-lapse videos of Shanghai that caught my eye months earlier when I was Googling the city. As far as I was concerned, I was in the presence of a local celebrity, one who’d grown up here, had kept a studio here for decades and was greeted warmly by almost everyone we met.

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Overhead, laundry and electrical lines formed beautifully chaotic canopies as we climbed up creaky stairways, across renovation-ready rooftops and around under-the-radar mahjong games. We were waved into overstuffed apartments by house-proud residents and wandered through shared hallways packed with bikes, extra furniture, pots, pans and the occasional grandma skillfully peeling vegetables. I spent much of my time jogging, squatting and dropping to one knee, doing my clunkier version of David Bailey in Blow-Up, shooting rapid-fire snaps of every corner, every doorway, every stone in the street. After watching about two hours of my enthusiastic if somewhat ungainly performance, Wang, a quiet and observant soul, noted with a wry smile, “You have an eye for this place. I can see you understand.” High praise from the master, and I beamed with pride.

harbor patrol Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor viewed from the 45th floor of the Four Seasons Hotel.

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rest stop Time to rest at Ser CasaSandra on the Yucatan Peninsula; (bottom) a list of water sports available at an Isla Holbox beach.

AROUND THE

WORLD part t wo

NORTH AMERICA

Mexico, Napa Valley and Québec round out her glamorous journey. story and photography by

K AT E D O Y L E H O O P E R

shows, party like a rock star and crush the competition at the limbo contest, this is not the place for you.

If, however, you crave off-the-grid peace and quiet, are happiest reading on a lounge chair under a palm-frond umbrella and gazing out at the sea, then Isla Holbox has got you covered.

And the best spot to disconnect in style is Ser CasaSandra, a chic, understated, homey, 18-room boutique hotel, roughly 100 unobstructed steps from the ocean. There were sea-view al fresco breakfasts on the front porch, hammocks to snooze in, a four-stool beachfront-bar, awe-inspiring sunsets and an attitude so laid-back that three days there was the chill-zone equivalent to about a week anywhere else. (Did I mention no TVs?) Beyond Ser CasaSandra’s palm-tree shaded, raked-sand front “lawn,” the rest of the town was dotted with low-key, bro-free bars and restaurants; secluded, empty beaches; plus kayaking, kiteboarding, windsurfing and boat tour trips to see pelicans, flamingos and even the occasional crocodile, if you’re looking for natural thrills. But for me, the Isla Holbox retro charm shone brightest long after sundown, when its unpaved, packed-sand streets were illuminated only by stars and the intermittent glow of flashlights and phones lighting the paths of islanders and visitors making their way home for the night. I’d have taken a picture, but I didn’t want the flash to wake the island.

N A PA / C A L I S T O G A (CALIFORNIA)

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siesta time The best place to hang is on the sand “lawn” of the Ser CasaSandra Hotel in Isla Holbox, Mexico.

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ISLA HOLBOX

he beautiful thing about that swim nearby, and I was ready (MEXICO) completing a few 15- or to start snapping should one have 16-hour flights is that, crossed our bow. comparatively, anything shorter is child’s play. So, It being October, though, the deckhand reminded me, when the call came in to head for Mexico, I was somewhat apologetically, that I’d missed the whale-shark half-packed before I put the phone down. A three-hour flight to boat, as it were. To swim with the massive, plankton-eating Cancún, a two-hour ride in a shiny new 4 Worlds Expeditions creatures, I’d have to come back during their high season SUV and then a 25-minute boat ride? Easy-peasy. A couple (June through September), when they ply the ocean waters to of days later, my iPhone, my “real camera” and I were loaded feed and breed. Now I was thinking there wouldn’t be much for bear as I stepped onto the ferry that would take me to Isla to do on Isla Holbox without them. Turns out, that’s exactly Holbox (pronounced “hole-bosh”), a sunny sliver of sand off the reason why small groups of Mexicans-in-the-know and a the Yucatán Peninsula. Having met few people who’d ever smattering of Europeans and Americans find their way here. heard of it, much less been there, admittedly, I was flying a A contemporary version of what pre-development Tulum bit blind. But I’d read about the 30,000-pound whale sharks must have looked like back in its Against All Odds days

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35 or so years ago (Netflix that one, kids; think: early Jeff Bridges, Rachel Ward, white linen, tans), Isla Holbox is a sleepy, beach town/island, the kind of underdeveloped paradise that most of us only dream about (or see in the movies). Just a mile across at its widest point and 26 miles long (much of it covered in mangroves), Isla Holbox doesn’t have much room for throngs of people or big hotels, so even when the island is sold out, it feels blissfully unpopulated.

The Internet? Intermittent. Cell service? Inconsistent. UberX? Nope. Only bikes and golf carts. So if you’re looking to do the global nomad thing, Skype with far-flung clients, stream a few

eturning to the States from Mexico just long enough to pick up clean clothes and a fresh SD card or two, I left sand and sea behind, and headed for a quick run around Napa’s wine country to scout locations for a day-long corporate meeting—leaving room for some wining and dining, of course. With a lot of territory to cover—from the wine caves of the Odette Estate to Francis Ford Coppola’s revitalized Inglenook—and not much of a palate for anything beyond good champagne, I brought along my oenophile husband as my wine wingman/research assistant. Fortunately, he was able to talk shop with the vintners, while I checked out the facilities, taking polite sips of whatever was offered.

From there, we raced over to catch a quick luncheon ride to the Grgich Hills Estate aboard the Napa Valley Wine Train which, I was told, could also be rented out for private events, such as the one I had in mind for my corporate group. I was kind of loving the idea of an all-in-one movable, and drinkable, feast.

Orders placed and wine poured, we chugged slowly through Downtown Napa, the outskirts, and then, eventually, alongside a good portion of the region’s 45,000 acres of grapes. Lunch arrived—chicken with julienned vegetables for me, salmon for him—on heavy, oven-warmed bone china plates, along with

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hello, napa The grand entrance at Inglenook Vineyard in Napa, CA; (inset) all is serene on the sidewalks of Calistoga’s Solange, An Auberge Resort.

fine local vintages, and it was delicious, not to mention highly Instagrammable (like those walkways in Tongli). At the table, and later, on the vineyard tour, wine options were described in loving detail. Wine resister that I am, I started to lose consciousness, but my husband and fellow diners were lapping it up, nodding approvingly like true believers at a revival meeting. I tried to look busy and took notes in hopes of documenting—then later untangling—the mysteries of the grape some other time. When I revisited my notes weeks later, I realized they were written in Esperanto, and so my ignorance continued unabated. Apologies to the sommelier.

Train trip over, and back in the car, a few hours later, we pulled into the well-manicured grounds of the Solage, An Auberge Resort. Arguably one of the most photogenic resorts in California wine country, Solage is among the most glamorous, slightly under-the-radar Northern California gems that most East Coasters haven’t heard of, even though it’s been around for more than a decade. Quietly glamorous, like Emma Stone’s character at the end of La La Land, Solage was dressed to

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impress, simply and beautifully without ostentation, all in calming tones of beige, slate and buttercream. The luxury bells and whistles were present throughout but discreetly placed, rather than swinging from the chandeliers. Instead of shared walls and adjoining rooms, we were on our own in a freestanding little house, with a giant bed, bath and cozy shaded patio, made for al fresco winesipping. Our car stayed put in the lot while we tooled around the property and nearby vineyards on fat-tire beach bikes that came with our room/house.

At the far end of Solage’s 25acre property, there’s a selfcontained mini-village that houses a main spa building and multiple one-room treatment “houses,” a state-of-the-art fitness studio building and yoga center, plus two sizeable saltwater pools, complete with wide umbrellas and palm trees. It was a beautifully cloudless afternoon, and a few Angelinos and Europeans and their pretty progeny were quietly lounging around the pool, as palm trees swayed and colorful frozen drinks were delivered with a slight bow.

Yes, all was right with the world in Calistoga.

So what are the big to-dos in North Hatley?

Some swim, others paddle, and then there are those who rusticate in style, lakeside, at the super luxurious Manoir Hovey, the Relais & Châteaux resort and spa where the Clintons regrouped after the 2016 election defeat. (Rumor has it that a justifiably exhausted Hillary hit the spa hard.) Others pedal out from the center of town to some portion of the 300 miles of bike routes that run through the region’s countryside and villages. With the right gear and some stamina, you can ride the 22-mile route south to Vermont or head 80 miles west to Montréal, your choice.

For outdoor fun minus the wheels, the two great hiking spots less than a 20-minute drive from North Hatley are Parc National du Mont-Orford, and the somewhat less vertical Parc de la Gorge de Coaticook, which is home to 15 miles of hiking and mountain-biking trails, as well as the longest suspended footbridge in North America. (It sways. A lot.

Frightening, but fun.) Nighttime in summer and early fall, the park transforms into “Foresta Lumina,” an interactive, illuminated “fantasy” forest, inhabited by mythical creatures, a great way to mesmerize (or freak out) the entire family.

There’s also a serious foodie scene, with four upscale restaurants and a gourmet patisserie on the two-block-long main drag, and two more eateries within walking distance. I drove just ten minutes and I found dozens of other fine dining options, all with a French accent. If wine is your thing, North Hatley also boasts three recently opened wineries, including one organic, sparkling wine vineyard run by a husband-and-wife team of retired government scientists; other options include a weekly farmers market, numerous dairy farms and a local monastery selling artisanal cheeses (triple-crème brie, anyone?)

As the end of the year closes in, a friend who travels for work as much as I do asks with a sigh, “So what do you do about post-travel depression?” a common affliction amongt those of us with the travel bug. “Start planning another trip,” I say.

N O R T H H A T L E Y, Q U É B E C

I

(CANADA)

t was late October, time to make the final trek north to our small, barely-on-the-grid, summer place in North Hatley, in the Eastern Townships of Southern Québec.

The last leafy remnants of an underwhelming “fall colors” season were half-heartedly hanging on, at least until the windstorm that was predicted in 48 hours. The days were warm and sunny, the nights clear and full of stars. Late in the year as it was, to me, this trip was the official end of summer, the absolute last gasp, worth the seven-to-nine-hour drive from New York City (I-91 permitting). Always, when we pull away from Manhattan, I find myself wishing we lived further north, in Saratoga Springs, perhaps. It would, among other things, cut the trip to Canada down to three hours and change.

Arriving in North Hatley, there’s always a feeling of relief— that powering down, the feeling that naps and a good night’s sleep are imminent, along with any number of other more demanding activities, if the mood strikes. Just over the Vermont border, set amidst rolling hills and farmland, North Hatley is the kind of place where people come to do, sometimes, very little, but in interesting ways. It’s a haven for Canadian film types, politicians, well-to-do Montréalers, a handful of Americans, a few piles of old money and more recently, as property values have climbed, some colonization by high-finance types. In recent years, North Hatley has hosted an eclectic mix of celebrities, including Nicole Kidman, Johnny Depp, Pierce Brosnan, Bill and Hillary Clinton and former French President Jacques Chirac, to name a few. When it’s not providing a lowkey getaway for the occasional boldfaced name, the quirky, two-block-long, mostly French-speaking town—established in 1887—is home to about 350 locals, with the population swelling to around 800 in high season (June to mid-October).

chez magnifique!

Modeled after Jefferson’s Mount Vernon, Manoir Hovey is Québec’s most luxurious get-away spot.

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THE

star trek On the trek, ponies carried the camping gear from campsite to campsite; (opposite) the Himalaya Mountains stretch 1500 miles from Bhutan to Pakistan, passing through Ladakh, a region in northern India.

LUXURY ISSUE

BACKPACKING THROUGH INDIA’S MAJESTIC NORTHERN REGION.

THE OTHER HIMALAYAS

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wake up to an orange glow and a knock To back things up a little bit, this all happened the summer on my tent door, if, indeed, one can actually before my junior year of college. I had signed up (much to “knock” on nylon. “Black tea?” I hear a voice my mom’s alarm) for a faculty-led summer academic study ask. I quickly pull my knit hat up from over my trip to Ladakh, a region in northern India bordering Tibet, that eyes and unzip the door. “Yes, thank you,” I included a week at the Students’ Educational and Cultural say, though, if I’m being honest, I don’t really Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), an alternative, eco-friendly like tea that doesn’t come in a bottle labeled school in the Indus Valley near Leh, in the Ladakh district, “Snapple.” My tent-mate, Emma, wakes up too, and a week trekking in the Indian Himalayas with Rimo and we sip on our teas together—surprisingly, Expeditions, which leads trips throughout the Himalayan and it tastes amazing—and put off leaving the Karakorum Mountains. The trek was the main reason I signed warmth (though “warmth” is up, and I expected it to be like the overnight a relative term) of our small backpacking trips I had taken with my dad: orange dome for a short carrying 30-plus pound packs, eating ramen while longer. “OK, get up,” noodles cooked over the Svea camp stove someone from the outside my dad got when he was a Boy Scout in the world says, a command we ’60s and figuring out how to set up our tent, would come to hear regularly which we used only a few times a year. Turns throughout the next few out, I was a little off. days, though the matter-of-fact tone in which When our group got to the first campsite, it’s said—not irritably, not bossily—combined after a long, treacherous bus ride and with the fact that all 22 of us wanted to “get week spent at SECMOL, which only served the air up there The up” exactly the same amount (not at all), made vegetarian meals cooked with a solarLadakh trek led through it more humorous than off-putting. powered oven, we weren’t in great spirits. rural villages and mountain We emerge from our tent onto a valley But upon walking into the “dining tent” passes; (top) one of the floor. Our gazes rise up the valley walls to (Seriously? This was high class!) and finding four campsites on the trek. the snow-capped peaks surrounding us. A french fries, we perked right up. Throughout line of 20 or so ponies stand off to the side the five days we spent with Rimo Expeditions, of our campsite, weighed down with bags and bundles of which, besides arranging treks leads mountaineering, camping gear, and tired-looking college students emerge mountain biking and rafting trips, we ate well: chicken stir-fry, from a dozen or so other orange tents that are set up along tomato soup and even a cake on our last night of the trek. our small grassy patch of ground. We cross a tiny stream that (How they baked a cake in the middle of the Himalayas is is starting to freeze around the edges and duck into a long, beyond me.) Our bags and tents were carried by the ponies, blue tent with a table and chairs inside. Breakfast. who, along with a group of guides (including a few Sherpas), OK, I admit it. This isn’t exactly the definition of “glamping” left camp early, dropped our lunch at a predetermined spot (glamorous camping). There was no king-sized bed in our and set up our next campsite before we arrived. tent, no luxury bathhouse across the valley floor, no space Backpacking surely isn’t everyone’s idea of a perfect heater for when the temperature dropped below freezing. vacation—there’s certainly very little relaxing (unless one of Then again, how many luxury glamping experiences can your fellow hikers leads a group meditation session upon boast a different landscape every night for four nights, or a arriving at your campsite). But nothing beats the feeling of well-earned view from 16,000 feet? This trip was in a class standing at the top of a mountain pass, one that very few all its own, and therefore, deserves a name all its own: people have ever stood on, knowing there’s a hot meal—that “glampacking” (glamorous backpacking). you don’t have to cook yourself—waiting for you at camp.

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Oh, I THE

LUXURY ISSUE

What A Season!

THE 2018 SARATOGA RACE COURSE MEET’S MUDDY RECAP.

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BY TERESA A. GENARO p h o t o g r a p h y b y B I L LY F R A N C I S L E R O U X

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t wasn’t a good summer to leave my boots and raincoat behind. Even when it was dry, it was seemingly moist. I’ve always been fond of the Congress Park ducks, but I don’t necessarily want feet like them.

Despite having the worst weather in a decade, Saratoga Race Course’s handle (i.e., total amount bet during the season) ranked second only to that of 2017.

Trainer Chad Brown set a record for wins, impressive given the number of grass horses he trains and the number of races switched from turf to dirt.

Klaravich Stables was the leading owner for the first time, and fittingly, Brown got win No.41—the record-breaker—with a Klaravich horse, the two-year-old Spirit Animal. One of saratoga living’s “The Races!” issue cover stars, Irad Ortiz, Jr., earned his second Saratoga riding title with 52 wins. And in the biggest race of the season, The Grade 1 Travers Stakes, Catholic Boy sailed to victory on dirt, seven weeks after winning The Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes on turf.

The 2018 meet also saw a number of New York-bred horses grab the spotlight at Saratoga. Diversify won The Whitney Handicap, and Mind Your Biscuits, another New York-bred horse, came in second. Sandy’z Slew won The Troy Stakes. And on August 11, Voodoo Song, who won four races here last summer, got his first Grade 1 win in the Fourstardave Handicap.

At times like the day of the Whitney, the weather didn’t really matter.

Drenched, I watched Diversify walk in a rain-soaked paddock before the stormdelayed race, and those of us who stuck it out were rewarded with a stunning win and—you can’t make it up—a rainbow. It may have rained a lot, but the Saratoga meet was anything but all wet.

weather or not Despite the worst weather in a decade, Saratoga Race Course’s handle ranked second only to that of 2017.

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Travers Winner ‘Catholic Boy’ Training For The Breeders’ Cup Classic The $6 million stakes race runs on November 3 at Churchill Downs.

BY DAV I D G R E N I N G

ack in August, with jockey Javier Castellano aboard, Catholic Boy cruised to a four-length victory in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes, the richest race offered at historic Saratoga Race Course. The victory justified the decision by the connections of Catholic Boy— specifically, trainer Jonathan Thomas (a former assistant to Todd Pletcher and Christophe Clement)—to transfer the Thoroughbred back to the dirt after he won the Grade 1 Belmont Derby on turf.

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Catholic Boy, who won the Grade 2 Remsen on dirt at Aqueduct Racetrack to close out his juvenile campaign, had been on the Triple Crown trail earlier this year. But he bled when fourth in The Florida Derby in March and was given time to recover. He then went back to the turf—a surface on which he’d won two of his first three starts—and won the Grade 3 Pennine Ridge Stakes and Grade 1 Belmont Derby, both at Belmont Park.

After forgoing a prep race, the Travers winner has been training up to the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on November 3 at Churchill Downs. Following

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DA I LY R A C I N G F O R M

the Travers, Thomas had said that Catholic Boy might look to use the Hill Prince, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for three-year-olds at Belmont on October 6, as a stepping-stone to The Classic. But upon further review, Thomas and his ownership group—headed by multiple graded stakes-winning owner Robert LaPenta— felt training Catholic Boy up to The Classic was the preferred way to go. “After taking a little time and going through his [past performances] and what’s worked for us in the past, the smartest move is training up to The Classic,” Thomas said.

Catholic Boy has had ten weeks between The Travers and The Classic. He had ten weeks between races after he won The Remsen and finished second, beaten by a half-length, in The Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in February. He had nine weeks between The Florida Derby and The Pennine Ridge at Belmont, a turf race that he won.

like a prayer Catholic Boy, with jockey Javier Castellano aboard, won this year’s Travers Stakes by four lengths at Saratoga Race Course on August 25. Since then, trainer Jonathan Thomas has been training the Thoroughbred for the prestigious Breeders’ Cup Classic, to be held November 3 at Churchill Downs.

Thomas said he’s “a huge fan” of trainer Bob Baffert’s work and noted that both American Pharoah, in 2015, and Arrogate, in 2016, were three-year-olds who won The Classic without having raced since The Travers. “It’s a recipe that’s worked well, not that I’m putting him in the same category as American Pharoah and Arrogate,” Thomas said. “It seems like a good way to approach that race.”

This edited story is an amalgam of three articles reported

by David Grening between July 18 and September 12 that originally ran in the Daily Racing Form.

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brunch with colin cowie

The Saratoga Wine & Food Festival:

grand tasting

THE MOMENTS

Celebrity Chef Todd English co-hosted Sunday’s brunch alongside Colin Cowie.

Mark Congel, John Sposato, Colin Cowie, Cora Emmanuel, Chris Whelan, Greg Calejo, Meaghan Congel, Earnest Williams

A LOOK BACK AT SPAC’S TASTY FUNDRAISER. P H OTO G R A P H Y BY KATIE DOBIES EXCLU S IV E LY F O R saratoga living

Celebrity Chef David Burke (right)

saratoga living Chair Tony Ianniello and event planner Colin Cowie

Eddie Jones, Deniz Madden, Kirk Sisson, saratoga living Editor in Chief Richard Pérez-Feria, Jonah Bayliss

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Celebrity Chef Todd English

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fired up!

Baseball star David Ortiz made a guest appearance at Friday’s Fired Up! grill-off.

Druthers won the Fired Up! title.

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ore than 600 guests brought their appetites to the 13th annual Feast Of The Fields, hosted by Saratoga Preserving Land And Nature (PLAN) on September 20 at Saratoga National Golf Club.

Surrounded by the lush greenery of the golf course and a hint of autumn color peeking through the trees, patrons enjoyed a variety of tastings straight from the kitchens of local chefs, who crafted each plate using farm-fresh ingredients.

Gypsy swing band Hot Club of Saratoga kept the mood light well into the evening, with guests gathering around an open firepit. “It was great to see so many supporters of local farms come out to enjoy a wonderful evening while also providing support for Saratoga PLAN’s work protecting farmland and natural habitats,” said Michelle Hall, Saratoga PLAN’s Program Assistant for Development. With some $75,000 raised for the preservation of Saratoga County’s natural beauty, attendees left satisfied by more than just a full stomach.

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American Cancer Society For The Win COACHES VS. CANCER, REAL MEN WEAR PINK RAISE BIG MONEY. n BY HANNAH KOTLER

Albany Capital Center.

“It brings the whole community together, as fans of both teams put their rivalries aside to come together as one team in the fight against breast cancer,” says Lizzie Hunter, Senior Manager, Community Development for ACS Northeast. The unforgettable evening was made even sweeter by the quartermillion dollars raised.

1 nothing but net An ACS basketball signed by college coaches from around the country; (right) leading ACS sponsor and saratoga living Chair, Tony Ianniello with ACS’ event guru, Lizzie Hunter.

Back in August, ACS kicked off its Real Men Wear Pink campaign with an event at Putnam Place in Downtown Saratoga. The

campaign, comprised of 30 community leaders who pledged to wear pink every day in October, had a goal of raising $150,000 by the end of that month (at press time, ACS also has raised more than $100,000).

ERIKA REILLY /ACS

T

his fall, the Capital Region showed its charitable side for another great cause—the American Cancer Society (ACS). On September 17, the head men’s basketball coaches from the University at Albany and Siena College teamed up with ACS to host the 13th Annual Coaches Vs. Cancer, a night of food, drinks and an auction at the

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3 1. (from left) Siena College Men’s Basketball Coach Jamion Christian, University of Washington Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Hopkins, University at Albany Men’s Basketball Coach Will Brown; 2. (from left) Bob Kendall, Becky Kendall, Bobby Kendall; 3. (from left) Brittany Drahos, Lizzie Hunter, Craig Allen; 4. the community leaders who made the pledge to wear pink every day in October.

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the back Luxe ⁄

so there’s no scrambling when the dishes are ready to come out of the oven.

(Also, compare your serving pieces to your menu, so there are no surprises on the day of.) Most importantly, set your table the night before, so all you have to worry about on Thanksgiving Day is the food!

Now, while you could serve any number of delicious soups, salads, side dishes and desserts at your Thanksgiving feast, the main attraction (and source of anxiety) is the turkey. The true secret to a magnificently moist bird?

Cover it with cheesecloth before putting it in the oven and baste it every 20 minutes. Make sure the cheesecloth doesn't O UR EV ENT- P LA N N IN G STA R T E LLS US THE get stuck to the skin of the S EC R ET TO T HE U LT IM AT E C ON T E M PORARY bird (you’ll remove the it HO L I DAY n BY COLIN COWIE for the last 45 minutes, so the turkey turns a beautiful, table. When it comes to golden brown). You can hanksgiving table-setting, you don’t want is my favorite save yourself some time to be running around at the holiday, and the day of Thanksgiving last minute. A couple of days the key to a by slicing and dicing the beforehand, make sure your spectacular ingredients for stuffing table linens are ironed, the dinner is being beforehand, but never, ever silver’s polished and the as organized stuff the bird until the day of. place cards are made. Also as possible. Do as much in And what’s Thanksgiving set out your china, crystal, advance as you can so that without fabulous cocktails? on the day of, you need This holiday is perfect for only focus on your food warm spiced cider. It THE KEY TO A SPECTACULAR HOLIDAY preparation and service. can also be served DINNER IS BEING AS ORGANIZED AS This is one of the most chilled in a martini POSSIBLE. DO AS MUCH IN ADVANCE anticipated holidays of the glass, garnished AS YOU CAN SO THAT ON THE DAY OF, year and it comes with the with a cinnamon YOU NEED ONLY FOCUS ON YOUR most preparation and plenty stick and spiked with FOOD PREPARATION AND SERVICE. of guests. But with a little rum or brandy! This forethought and planning, is more preparation both you and your guests serving pieces and utensils, you can take care of will enjoy a fabulous feast. and make sure you have beforehand, since the cider Start getting ready a week enough for your guest count. can be stored in the fridge in advance. Think about the To help you keep track, use for up to three days. colors and flowers you’d Post-it Notes to mark what The best of luck…and like to use to decorate the each platter will be used for, Happy Thanksgiving!

glass menagerie Cowie says to think about your Thanksgiving dinner table-setting a week in advance and to set the table the night before the big day.

A Very Modern Thanksgiving

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COMEDIAN AMY SCHUMER PLAYS THE PALACE, SKIDMORE HONORS LEONARD BERNSTEIN—AND SO MUCH MORE. n BY JEFF DING L ER OCTOBER 28 & 31 & NOVEMBER 2-3

Night Of The Living Dead – LIVE! Fans of the 1968 horror flick Night Of The Living Dead are in for a treat as iTheatre Saratoga, the National Museum of Dance’s own theatre troupe, celebrates its 50th anniversary with a live performance. Just in time for Halloween, this unique, immersive theatrical event will feature live drama, original music and zombie actors with professional SFX makeup, along with a terrifyingly real, multimedia display.

Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students.

known for producing hit NBC sitcom Friends. Live music will be provided by local artist Tom Choiniere, and there’ll be a wine pull, silent auction and dinner.

NOVEMBER 4

Festival Of Nations The Empire State Plaza Convention Center in

Albany is hosting the 47th Annual Festival Of Nations, where locals representing 25 countries, such as Burma, Ethiopia and Nepal, put on a day’s worth of presentations highlighting the Capital Region’s cultural diversity. Attendees will be able to view international arts and crafts, watch music

NOVEMBER 1

Thanks-For-Giving Celebration Gala With Thanksgiving less than a month away, the fall/ winter fundraising season is swinging into high gear.

Ballston Spa’s Gateway House Of Peace, a nonprofit providing end-of-life care, hosts its 5th Annual Thanksfor-Giving-Celebration gala at Longfellows Restaurant in Saratoga Springs. Expect a star-studded evening, including Master of Ceremonies and celebrity board member, Kevin Bright, a two-time Emmy-winning Producer and Director best

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NOVEMBER 8

Red, White & Chocolate Gala Wine, whiskey and chocolate, anyone? The 11th Annual Red, White & Chocolate gala at the Renaissance Albany Hotel has them all—and a whole lot more. This year, the Albany and Troy Boys & Girls Clubs team up to provide guests with an enchanting experience, as different parts of the hotel are transformed into a nostalgic journey through the past.

(The two organizations are the focus of the fundraiser.)

Besides that tantalizing trio of treats, gala-goers will enjoy delicious foods and beverages, live entertainment and a chance to gamble on the “Floor of Fortune.” Plus, stick around to watch The Seymour Fox Foundation and St. Peter’s Health Partners be honored as the 2018 Community Impact Award recipients.

NOVEMBER 8

EDITOR’S PICK

Amy Schumer At The Palace Theatre

feel the bern Skidmore continues to celebrate the centennial birthday of famed composer Leonard Bernstein with the final two in its series of lectures and concerts.

⁄ NOVEMBER 2018

Comedian, writer and actress Amy Schumer is bringing her comedy tour Amy Schumer And Friends to the Palace Theatre on November 8.

funny girl Comedian Amy Schumer chose Albany as one of just ten tour stops in North America this fall.

NOVEMBER 10 & DECEMBER 1

Leonard Bernstein’s 100th Birthday

(ballerinas) SPAC

Chasing Amy

The Emmy-winning creator of Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer has crafted all-new material for this exclusive US tour run that only has ten stops (lucky for us, she chose Albany as one of them). The comedian, who’s related to New York Senator Chuck Schumer, grew up in New York City and first rose to fame as a contestant on NBC’s Last Comic Standing. She’s since become a soughtafter Hollywood actress, starring in Trainwreck (which she also wrote), a performance for which she received a Golden Globe nomination, and most recently, I Feel Pretty (released back in April).

and dance performances and of course, enjoy a smorgasbord of delicious ethnic foods. Tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for kids, and include admission to the festival, the Miss Festival Of Nations crowning ceremony and a parade.

PAUL DE HUECK/LEONARD BERNSTEIN OFFICE

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Skidmore College continues the “Leonard Bernstein at 100” concert and lecture series it launched back in October at the Arthur Zankel Music Center, as part of a worldwide effort to commemorate what would’ve been Bernstein’s 100th birthday this year.

The November 10 program includes performances of Bernstein’s Serenade, as well as a reboot of one of his popular Young People’s Concerts from 1962. The night will also feature a panel discussion led by Bernstein’s son, Alexander.

The final part of Skidmore’s series takes place on December 1 and focuses on Bernstein as a humanitarian and social critic.

Concertgoers will enjoy some of his most enduring works, including the West Side Story suite and the overture to Candide.

NOVEMBER 17

Lake George Polar Plunge There’s no better way to survive the winter up here than to embrace it. And what better way to do so than by taking the annual Lake George Polar Plunge in support of local Special Olympics athletes? Start a Polar Plunge Team with friends, family members or coworkers, or sign up as an individual and ask people to help sponsor your frozen foray. There’s also a Friday night pre-party at the Lake George Beach Club from 8pm-12am before

spilling the tea SPAC hosts its popular annual Nutcracker Tea at the Hall of Springs on November 18.

the big day, which kicks off at noon on Saturday at Shepard Park Beach. Don’t forget to bring a towel (or space blanket!).

NOVEMBER 18

Nutcracker Tea It wouldn’t be the holiday season without Tchaikovsky’s timeless

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Calendar

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turkey legs Thousands of runners gather annually on Thanksgiving morning for the Chris Dailey Turkey Trot for charity.

the Christopher Dailey Foundation, which aims to enrich children’s lives through sports activities in the community and at the Christopher Dailey Memorial Youth Gymnasium in Wilton. There’s no sameday registration this year, so be sure check christopherdaileyfoundation.com for registration deadlines.

ballet The Nutcracker. The Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s (SPAC’s) Action Council hosts its Nutcracker Tea at the Hall of Springs, with the Northeast Ballet Company performing excerpts from the famed suite, accompanied by a refreshing tea service and savory and sweet hors d’oeuvres. SPAC’s offering two seatings for the event—an 11am and a 3pm—and guests will not only have access to a holiday gift market featuring local vendors, but also a number of raffles, including a special one offering the chance to win an American Girl doll (one will be given away at each tea).

Tickets cost $50 for guests 15 and under and $125 for everybody else.

NOVEMBER 29

Victorian Streetwalk With Tree Lighting Ceremony

NOVEMBER 22

If you’re preemptively worried about overeating on Thanksgiving, why not participate in this year’s Chris Dailey Turkey Trot? The annual 5K race occurs on Thanksgiving morning, with thousands of locals running (and walking) to benefit

CLIFF FARRELL

Chris Dailey Turkey Trot 2018

Step into the past with what has become a Spa City tradition: the Victorian Streetwalk in Downtown Saratoga. Each year on the Thursday after Thanksgiving, a stretch of Broadway is closed to traffic and transformed into a winter wonderland of carolers and old-fashioned holiday cheer, all in support of Saratoga’s vibrant business community. Get there early for the Saratoga Tree Lighting Ceremony in front of Putnam Market. Santa and Mrs. Claus will also be making an appearance as they arrive in a horse-drawn carriage. Whether you’ve been naughty or nice, there will be free cookies and hot chocolate for all.

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1682, and he built a country home there, Pennsbury Manor, on the banks of the Delaware near Morrisville.

Penn was a Quaker, and the new colony quickly became a haven for members of the Society of Friends. The group’s egalitarian beliefs and commitment to social justice would leave a lasting mark on the area.

The region’s most significant historical site commemorates a rare, sleepless night for America’s first Commander in Chief, George Washington: December 25, 1776, when he led his troops across the ice-clogged Delaware River to mount a surprise attack on Hessian mercenaries holed up in Trenton, NJ, a turning point in the Revolutionary War. Washington Crossing Historic Park, the site of the continental troops’ embarkation, features 13 historic buildings and a visitor center, where you can study a copy of Emanuel Leutze’s iconic 1851 painting of the crossing. Each Christmas, the park also stages a reenactment. This patriotic holiday tradition (since 1952) features hundreds of costumed history buffs braving the Delaware in 45-foot-long Durham boats—and you can

Pennsylvania Pleasures

HEAD OVER TO BUCKS COUNTY FOR A HISTORICALLY GOOD TIME.

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historic sites and bustling arts scene for more than a century. In fact, in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, Bucks County was home to so many cultural bigwigs—including Pulitzer- and Nobel Prize-

⁄ NOVEMBER 2018

and Tony Award-winners, some homegrown (Margaret Mead, James A. Michener), others transplanted (Pearl S. Buck, Dorothy Parker, Jean Toomer, Oscar Hammerstein II, Stephen Sondheim,

A Little History

Pennsylvania was founded

by William Penn on land granted to him in 1681 by Charles II to pay off a debt.

Bucks County was one of three original counties established by Penn in

(Fonthill, museum) KEVIN CRAWFORD

George Nakashima)—that the media began referring to the area as the Genius Belt. Did I mention that I grew up there?

(reenactment) WASHINGTON CROSSING HISTORIC PARK

bucks dynasty (top) Acting legends from Robert Redford to Liza Minnelli have performed at Bucks County Playhouse; (inset) each Christmas, Washington Crossing Historic Park stages a reenactment of George Washington crossing the Delaware River.

I

f I asked you to name a destination that wellheeled denizens of New York City escape to on the weekend, what would you say? The Hamptons? The Hudson Valley? Greenwich, CT? All good answers. But one that might not be on your radar is Bucks County, PA. Nestled in an elbow of the Delaware River, the county is just north of Philadelphia, 75 miles from Manhattan and about four hours south of Saratoga Springs, and it’s been drawing visitors to has gorgeous countryside, quaint towns, colonial-era

BY BILL HENNING

apply to join them! During my teen years, the role of Washington was played by Olympic bronze-medalist rower Jack Kelly, who, oddly enough, did no rowing (a nod to historical authenticity, I suppose). Clearly, Jack’s sister, Grace, wasn’t the only Philadelphia Kelly bitten by the acting bug!

For a more somber and solitary meditation on the continuing struggle for freedom in these United States, I recommend a visit to Mount Gilead African Methodist Episcopal Church (now Mount Gilead Community Church) in Buckingham, a mountaintop house of worship founded

in 1822 by former slaves.

The existing 32-by-52-foot stone sanctuary, built in 1852, was a station on the Underground Railroad, and the local Quakers, dedicated abolitionists, allowed the fugitives to build a community nearby.

Concrete Castles

I grew up in Doylestown, PA, the county seat, an eminently walkable, picturepostcard town The New York Times has described as “a showcase of American architecture, with stately Federal-style brick buildings on Lawyers’ Row and plenty of gracious Queen Anne, Second Empire and Italianate homes.” The town’s most renowned buildings, however, are a little more… unique. And they were all built by the same man.

Born in Doylestown in 1856, Henry Chapman Mercer was a Harvardeducated archaeologist,

castle on the hill (top) Henry Chapman Mercer’s Fonthill is a 44room, concrete castle built without plans; (bottom) the Mercer Museum is packed to the rafters with pre-industrial tools.

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socking away pre-industrial tools for posterity. To house his collection, which would grow to include close to 50,000 items, Mercer erected a fortress of poured-in-place, reinforced concrete. Opened in Downtown Doylestown in 1916, the Mercer Museum

tiles from home At The Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, Mercerdesigned tiles are still being produced today.

is packed to the rafters with tools used in dozens of trades—from blacksmithing to basket weaving to watchmaking—and its sixstory atrium is hung with sleighs, whaling boats, carriages, a Conestoga wagon and even an early fire engine.

Mercer was such a fan of concrete, he even poured himself a home. Fonthill, a mile north of the museum, is a charmingly eccentric concrete castle—it has 44 rooms, 32 staircases and 18 fireplaces built without plans—that mingles Medieval, Gothic and Byzantine styles. The Bucks County Historical Society offers tours and hosts events at Fonthill throughout the year;

the holiday season and candlelight tours (reservations required) are particularly enchanting. If Mercer’s extensive use of decorative tile catches your eye, be sure to check out The Moravian Pottery and Tile Works next door, which he opened in 1898, and where visitors can watch Mercer-designed tiles being made today.

A Bohemian Crossroads

Ten miles east of Doylestown, on the banks of the Delaware, you’ll find New Hope, the county seat’s bohemian sister. As the hub of the arts colony that formed in Bucks County around the turn of the 20th century, New Hope has

BARLEY SHEAF

a millionaire (by birth) and a lifelong bachelor who traveled extensively throughout Europe during his teens, 20s and 30s. Convinced that the Industrial Revolution was wiping out traditional handicrafts and artisanship, Mercer began feverishly

ANTHONY SINAGOGA/VISIT BUCKS COUNTY

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long had a reputation for welcoming creative and unconventional types, including painters, poets, musicians, designers and craftspeople. The town has had a vibrant LGBTQ community since long before the Stonewall Riots and is a favorite pit stop for bikers.

The bucolic scenery and lively arts scene make New Hope a popular getaway, as does its eclectic retail mix: antiques showrooms, bookstores, art galleries, head shops and boutiques featuring crafts, fashion, jewelry and more than a bit of kitsch. (Think: Provincetown without the beach.) The town also boasts an enticing selection of restaurants and watering holes. Marsha Brown

serves up Creole cuisine in the soaring sanctuary of an 1800s Presbyterian church; Sprig & Vine offers an inventive plant-based menu; and John & Peter’s and Havana, long-running New Hope staples, are your headquarters for live music.

Climb to the top of Bowman’s Hill Tower, a slender, 125-foot stone spire (erected on the site of a lookout used by Washington’s troops) just south of town, and you’ll see New Hope’s history as a commercial crossroads laid out before you: the broad Delaware, the steel-truss bridge (site of a former ferry) leading to New Jersey, the Delaware Canal (now a state park), and the tracks of the now defunct

by george The Inn at Barley Sheaf Farm was the longtime home of playwright George S. Kaufman.

North-East Pennsylvania Railroad. Today, visitors can board vintage 1920s train cars and take a scenic ride along a portion of those rails courtesy of the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad.

B&B (Bed and Broadway)

The river town’s skyline is dominated by the hulking form of a 1790 gristmill.

The shuttered New Hope Mill, from which the burg of New Hope takes its name, was reborn in 1939 as Bucks County Playhouse, one of the nation’s most storied regional theaters, where more than a few Broadway-bound shows have premiered over the years, and where Robert Redford, Angela Lansbury, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette

Peters, Tyne Daly, Audra McDonald and a host of other marquee performers have all trod the boards.

Devotees of the stage could actually spend their entire Bucks County visit marinating in theater history, booking a stay at The Inn at Barley Sheaf Farm, a 1740s farmhouse in Holicong and the longtime home of Pulitzer-winning playwright George S. Kaufman, who hosted luminaries including Moss Hart, the Marx Brothers and Lillian Hellman at the place he cheekily called “Cherchez La Farm.”

Another option is Highland Farm, a Doylestown bed-and-breakfast once owned by lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II (another Pulitzer winner), who

penned Oklahoma!’s “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” on the front porch.

Even if you’re not a theater buff, a stay in one of the area’s dozens of historic inns and B&Bs is de rigueur.

Take it from Aaron Burr: After slaying Alexander Hamilton in their legendary 1804 pistol duel, Burr didn’t go to Disneyland; he spent a week hiding out in a New Hope tavern.

Additional Attractions

Follow the advice of pop star P!NK, perhaps Doylestown’s most famous native, and “raise your glass.” Bucks County is wine country. Devise a sipping itinerary with the help of the Bucks County

birds of a feather Sesame Place is a water park where youngsters can meet their favorite Sesame Street characters.

Wine Trail map or leave the planning (and driving) to someone else and book an afternoon of winery visits with Tastings & Tours.

If your taste in liquidbased activities runs to the more immersive, the leisurely pace of the

Delaware makes its waters ideal for tubing in the summer months. Bucks County River Country in Point Pleasant will outfit you with inner tubes, shuttle you to a “put-in” point upriver and leave you to float down the Delaware with friends for a lazy few hours.

If you're traveling with youngsters—and tubing and sightseeing haven’t worn them out—count on Sesame Place in Langhorne to get the job done with rides, a water park and the thrill of meeting all of their favorite Sesame Street characters.

In the end, Bucks County is a lot like Sesame Street: a place where getting along with others is encouraged and diversity is not just embraced but celebrated.

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oliday shopping procrastinators: Fear not! You can get all your giftbuying done (well,

most of it) in one place, in one weekend, while drinking wine. The Cayuga Lake Wine Trail is hosting its 25th Annual Holiday Shopping

Holiday In The White Mountains

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BY NATALIE MOORE

ive thanks to Mother Nature for mountains! Spend Thanksgiving weekend with your family at the Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, NH.

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Sippin’ Wine In The Fingerlakes

Spree November 16-18 at 14 award-winning wineries surrounding Cayuga Lake.

Travel from winery to winery sampling fine wines before you buy them, and save money with your Holiday Shoppers Card, included in your ticket purchase.

You’ll also get a souvenir wineglass, a grapevine wreath and an ornament at each stop along the trail. Tickets are valid for the whole weekend and are $45 for singles, $65 for couples, $22.50 for designated drivers and

$52.50 for couples including one designated driver.

Spree hours are 1-5pm on Friday (with limited wineries participating), 10am-6pm on Saturday and 10am-5pm on Sunday. Now to find gifts for your kids…

DANIEL BELL PHOTOGRAPHY

trail mix Holiday shoppers can sample wines along the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail before they buy them.

The festivities start on Wednesday, November 21, with gingerbread-house decorating (you can leave your creation there to put on display for the holiday season or take it home with you) and continue through a marshmallow roasting event on Sunday the 25th. On November 22 (i.e., Thanksgiving Day), activities include a family turkey trot at 9am and a Thanksgiving buffet from 12-8pm (buy a meal ticket and get a free lift ticket!), as well as Santa’s first appearance on the veranda (12:30pm). On Friday, take part in stuffed stretching yoga (8:30am) and a maple syrup tasting (6pm), and Saturday, decorate cookies with Mrs. Claus (3pm).

Rooms start at $279 a night.

Since the resort is nestled between Bretton Woods, one of New Hampshire’s largest ski resorts, and Mount Washington, the

highest mountain in the Northeast, you’re almost guaranteed to have a white Thanksgiving—at least if you look at the amazing mountaintops!

all in the family Omni Mount Washington Resort is hosting a five-day family-centric Thanksgiving celebration in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

the back Eat ⁄

shell shocked A seasonal highlight at Chez Pierre, the restaurant's fresh soft shell crab.

Oui, Oui, Chez Pierre CELEBRATING A SARATOGA SPRINGS INSTITUTION WITH DEEP, DELICIOUS ROOTS. n BY KAREN BJORNLAND

W PHOTOGRAP HY BY

TERRI-LYNN PELLEGRI

henever I see that miniature Eiffel Tower on Route 9, just outside of Saratoga Springs in Gansevoort, I feel woozy with nostalgia. Three decades ago, when my French-Canadian-American husband and I landed in Saratoga, Chez Pierre was one of the first restaurants we visited. We nibbled on the country pâté, savored the buttery escargot and oohed-and-aahed over the Chateaubriand. After our perfect

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116 saratoga living

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meal, we posed for pictures next to the neon sign in the parking lot.

Step into the homey yet elegant restaurant today, and the menu and atmosphere are largely the same as they were in 1964, when Frenchborn Pierrette Baldwin and her American husband, Joe, first opened its doors. In the dining room, crisp white tablecloths are set with vintage Strawberry Hill-patterned Syracuse China, and cheery wall murals depict life in a French village. Frog legs, escargot and sweetbreads are always on the menu. “They’re very popular,”

says Pia Baldwin Field, daughter of Pierrette and Joe. Pia and her husband, Lincoln, who’s the Head Chef, are Co-owners of the French restaurant, where Beef Wellington and Veal Oscar, made from original family recipes, have been served for more than half a century. “These are classic, Old World dishes that you don’t find anywhere else,” says Pia. “And everything is still cooked to order.”

For dessert, Mousse Au Chocolat and Crêpe Suzette are favorites, along with Chef Field’s light and creamy crustless French cheesecake. The names of the dishes might sound high-and-mighty to the untrained, American ear, but trust me, Chez Pierre’s never been pretentious. “We’re more country French,” Pia says.

Since Joe Baldwin died five years ago, Pierrette or “Ma mère,” as her grandchildren call her, is the notso-secret ingredient that keeps the family together—and the business afloat. “Every single family member has worked here,” says Pia, who’s one of the Baldwins’ four children. “Every grandchild, all of us and our in-laws.”

Joe did the cooking until 1991, when son Pierre took over as chef. In 1999, Lincoln replaced Pierre. Three of Pierrette’s grandchildren are currently waiting tables. As for Pierrette, she’s always been a gracious and engaging dining room presence—or, as she likes to put it, “the hostess with the mostess,” the woman who every July, on Bastille Day, sings “La Marseillaise” to a huge crowd.

When I ask her about her upbringing in France, the 83-year-old Pierrette gets misty-eyed as she tells me about growing up in the Lorraine region during World War II, her father being imprisoned by the Nazis and the scarcity of food. Then her face brightens as she remembers how, a few years after the war, she fell in

crêpe expectations Pia Baldwin Field preparing one of Chez Pierre’s most popular desserts, Crêpe Suzette.

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french connection (clockwise from bottom) Mixologist Allene Churchill serving a patron at Chez Pierre’s bar; another one of the restaurants delicious desserts, a profiterole; the restaurant’s neon Eiffel Tower sign out front.

love. “My story is unbelievable. I met this GI from Glens Falls, NY.” Now I’m the one getting misty-eyed. My Norwegian grandfather was a Nazi prisoner, and like Pierrette, my father experienced the horrors and hunger of war in the 1940s. Chatting with Pia and Pierrette at a small table near the kitchen is such a pleasure I almost

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118 saratoga living

⁄ NOVEMBER 2018

forget that I’m here to interview them.

The camaraderie and fine food, only eight miles from Downtown Saratoga, is an irresistible combination. “I’ve got people coming here 50-some years,” Pierrette tells me. “They feel at home when they come here. After you come a few times, you’re not a customer, you’re a friend.” (saratoga living’s

Executive Editor, Will Levith, a Saratoga native, ate his first French food here while sitting in a high chair with his parents.)

Of course, Chez Pierre has had its share of famous patrons too. In the early days, Joan Fontaine and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. dined here.

Today, you might see Marylou Whitney, hockey broadcaster Barry Melrose or LPGA legend Dottie Pepper enjoying a meal here. Recent saratoga living cover star Rachael Ray, a Lake George native who’s been coming to the restaurant since she was a baby, too, brings the Baldwin family a gift, such as a bottle of champagne, every Christmas. Madame Baldwin may have her moment of fame next year, as her 24-year-old grandson, Tyler, is creating a documentary about his grandmother that the family hopes to show at a local theater in 2019. “He went to France with her,” says Pia, Tyler’s mom. “He’s so enamored with her story.” I, too, am captivated by Pierrette’s personal history. You can bet your frog legs that wherever the film is shown, I’ll be there sitting in the dark. Look for me. I’ll be the teary-eyed woman with a box of Kleenex on her lap.

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the back Drink ⁄

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Time To Meet ‘The Saratoga’

MA X LON D ON ’S D IA LS IN A SPA CITY-THEMED MANHATTAN FOR ITS TAKE ON THE NEX T GR E AT SA R ATOGA COCKTAIL . n P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y D O R I F I T Z PA T R I C K

The Saratoga INGREDIENTS

2 oz. Saint Lawrence Spirits’ Rye Knot Rye Whiskey ½ oz. Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur ½ oz. Max’s Fall Syrup* 1 dash orange bitters 2 dashes vanilla extract ½ oz. Rioja red wine 1 Skewered cherry (for garnish)

Simply the theBest Best Simply &Voted theBest Best Simply the Best Simply the &Voted the Best Simply the Best &Voted the theBest Best &Voted &Voted the Best

INSTRUCTIONS

Add first five ingredients to chilled rocks glass, along with one large ice cube, and stir. Top with wine. Garnish with skewered cherry and serve.

Toast ¼ lbs. pecans in saucepan until lightly burnt.

In separate pot, add 33 ounces apple cider and 33 ounces granulated white sugar, mix under medium heat until all sugar is dissolved. Add 6 cinnamon sticks, 20 grams cloves and 20 grams allspice. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Add toasted pecans and refrigerate for 24 hours before using. *TO PREPARE FALL SYRUP:

Elena Engel BAR: Max London’s COCKTAIL: The Saratoga MIXOLOGIST:

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120 saratoga living

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I

’m doing a spiced Manhattan riff with Saint Lawrence Spirits Rye Knot Rye Whiskey—in other words, a cocktail made with an all Upstate New York lineup of ingredients. I wanted to pick a spirit— Rye Knot Rye is distilled in Clayton, NY—that would speak to the great state of New York, while using locally grown apples and cider from Saratoga Apple that nod to the Spa City.

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TOP DENTISTS

U P S TAT E N E W YO R K

GREGORY DODD DDS, FAGD

KELLY HERBS DMD

MEGAN L. MAYO DDS

JAMES WALSH DDS

SARATOGA SPRINGS FAMILY DENTISTRY SPECIALTY: COSMETIC AND GENERAL DENTISTRY

The Saratoga Springs Family Dentistry team: (from left) Kelly Herbs, DMD; Megan L. Mayo, DDS; James Walsh, DDS; and Gregory Dodd, DDS, FAGD.

is proud to announce its reimagined holiday issue, available all over the Capital Region on December 7.

Featuring a totally over-the-top Editor’s Picks Luxury Gift Guide, the grand reveal of Saratoga’s Person Of The Year and an exclusive Holiday Shopping Guide— a unique advertising opportunity only found at saratoga living— this issue is a can’t-miss!

Saratoga Springs Family Dentistry has been proudly serving patients from Saratoga and the surrounding communities since 1971. We provide comprehensive dental care including cosmetic and family dentistry services in one convenient location. Our specialized team is devoted to restoring and enhancing the beauty of your smile for improved comfort and exceptional patient experiences. The trust we have received in the community has resulted in expanding to six additional locations, with the newest situated in Lake George, NY, and winning numerous awards and honors both locally and nationally for our excellence.

for much more information, please contact

CHELSEA MOORE, account executive 518.584.7500 ext.103 chelsea@saratogaliving.com

KATIE DOBIES

BECKY KENDALL, publisher 518.321.6138 becky@saratogaliving.com

Our doctors create treatment plans that best fit your budget and situation. Our philosophy is that there is no “perfect smile,” only the perfect smile for you! Our patient-driven care is always backed by the latest dental technology and protocols. We welcome patients of all ages and look forward to helping improve your oral health with comprehensive and convenient services.

286 Church Street Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 Saratoga Springs: 518-584-8150 website: SaratogaSpringsDentists.com CALL YOUR NEAREST LOCATION AND EXPERIENCE HOW DIFFERENT DENTISTRY CAN BE:

Clifton Park: 518-371-3333 Greenwich: 518-692-9333 Gloversville: 518-725-1031 Lake George: 518-668-5457 Saratoga Springs: 518-584-8150 South Glens Falls: 518-792-2187 Queensbury: 518-792-1108

TOP DENTISTS

U P S TAT E N E W YO R K

The staff from Saratoga Springs Family Dentistry’s office (from left): Kelly Herbs, DMD; James Walsh, DDS; Megan L. Mayo, DDS; and Gregory Dodd, DDS, FAGD.

FAMILY DENTISTRY SPECIALTY: COSMETIC AND GENERAL DENTISTRY website: SaratogaSpringsDentists.com

Almost 50 years ago, a small dental office opened to serve a growing community in Saratoga Springs. Today, that small family dental practice has expanded to seven locations in the North Country and Capital District. In addition to our local areas, we have restored smiles from all around the world. Our offices are consistently named to the “Best of the Area” by various newspapers, and our dentists have been honored both locally and nationally for their excellence.

More importantly, we are proud of the strong philanthropic history our practices have within the communities.

Clifton Park Family Dentistry Gloversville Family Dentistry Greenwich Family Dentistry Lake George Family Dentistry Queensbury Family Dentistry Saratoga Springs Family Dentistry South Glens Falls Family Dentistry

Our philosophy is simple: to provide the best care possible for each and every patient. We formulate comprehensive treatment based on the unique needs of the individual. Our experienced team is committed to providing patients exceptional dental care. We utilize advanced dental technology to achieve outstanding results with a priority on patient comfort.

LOCATIONS Gloversville 22 First Avenue Gloversville, NY 12078 (518) 725-1031

Saratoga Springs 286 Church Street Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 (518) 584-8150

Greenwich 2651 State Route 40 Greenwich, NY 12834 (518) 692-9333

Lake George 93 Montcalm Street Lake George, NY 12845 (518) 668-5457

South Glens Falls 63 Hudson Street Glens Falls, NY 12803 (518) 792-2187

Queensbury 453 Dixon Road Suite 5 Queensbury, NY 12804 (518) 792-1108 KATIE DOBIES

Clifton Park 983 Route 146 Clifton Park, NY 12065 (518) 371-3333

play Lap Of Luxury

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38. Get off one’s feet 39. Lennon’s wife 43. Grad school req.

44. Dinner locale 45. Backbones 46. Top 47. Corn quantities 49. Black hardwood 50. Anxiety or aggravation

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59

51

56

53. Girls creator Dunham 54. Thick Japanese noodle 55. Soothing plant 56. Let off steam 57. Where to find 51-across 58. Fuss 59. Ma’am’s husband

WORD LADDER

Solve each clue and transfer the second word of each answer to the first column on the next line to complete the word ladder from LUXURY to TRAVEL.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Bugatti or Lamborghini Former NPR program hosted by brothers The Howard Stern Show’s genre British rock band Advantage in a race When an event begins Back To The Future subject

LUXURY 1. ____________________ CAR 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________ 4. ____________________ 5. ____________________ 6. ____________________ 7. ____________________

CAR ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ TRAVEL ____________________

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1. Twenty dispenser (abbr.)

4. Miller of Silicon Valley and Maxx of dept. stores 7. Boast 11. Kanga’s son 12. Wheat, for one 13. What kings do 14. Rock 16. Floating headpiece 17. “Do ___ others…”

18. Luxury handbag company 21. There may be no room there 22. Cell service provider 23. Ladies 27. Prefix meaning foot 28. It may be pale 29. Obi-___ Kenobi 31. Before, back then 32. People with PhDs 33. Yang’s partner 34. Carry with difficulty 35. Luxury champagne company 38. Put into categories 40. Commercials and billboards, e.g.

41. Dine 42. “___ jiffy” (2 words) 43. Despicable Me adoptive father 44. Thickness 45. Replacement for a girl’s name 48. Eiffel, for one 50. Boxing great 51. Green orb 52. Luxury seafood delicacy 57. El ___, TX 60. Make a change 61. Lets one borrow 62. God of Norse mythology

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mi casa “No matter where I am, I'm Cuban,” musician Jorge Gómez says. “I feel right at home in Saratoga.”

Music Man, Cuban Style

THE TALENTED, MULTI-GRAMMY-NOMINATED KEYBOARDIST, JORGE GÓMEZ, LIGHTS UP SARATOGA. n BY RICHARD PÉREZ-FERIA

Y

p h oto grap hy by KATIE DOB IES excl usively f o r saratoga living

ou have to meet Jorge!”

That, and “Wait until you experience the summer season,” were the two most oft-repeated sentences I heard the first month I moved to Saratoga to lead saratoga living

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128 saratoga living

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last December. Granting the obvious nature of the latter sentiment, I was, however, quite amused as to why everyone I met seemed to be lying in wait for the presumed momentous occasion that I’d actually meet Jorge Gómez, the crazy-talented Cuban-born leader of three-time Grammy-nominated

Afro-Caribbean band Tiempo Libre (Free Time). Oh, and he happened to be married to Elizabeth Sobol, President and CEO of the Saratoga Performance Arts Center (SPAC). Just maybe, it was because I was Cuban too. In a town with a handful of Cubans, it’s quite a big deal to greet one of our own.

So, yes, Jorge and I have become close friends. How could we not? But besides the similar (and welcome) rapidfire cadence we share with our “Cuban” Spanish, we also recognize our family stories and senses of humor in each other. Cubans, as anyone who’s met one can tell you, are born storytellers, and I’m afraid Jorge and I do not disappoint on that front. When you chat with us, you’d better get comfortable.

I laughed my way through three not-so-personal questions (and answers) with the musical prodigy in his Saratoga home.

Tell me, what were your first impressions of Saratoga Springs?

Saratoga was so full of amazing people, terrific food, stunning nature, lots of great music and culture.

With only a handful of fellow Cubans here, what has been the biggest adjustment you’ve made?

I wrote a song a while ago that said, “Soy cubano de nacimiento”—I’m Cuban by birth…and it goes on to say, “No matter where I am, I’m Cuban because of the rhythm I carry within me.” So, even when there’s snow on the ground and temperatures are 80 degrees colder than in Havana, I cook Cuban food at home and speak “Cuban” with my wife and teach my many American friends to play dominos and write and listen to Cuban music—and feel right at home.

If you could ask just one thing of everyone in Saratoga, what would that be?

I’d politely ask them to learn to speak Spanish! [Laughs].

T H E H E A RT O F S A R ATO G A S P R I N G S 466 BROADWAY

SARATOGA SPRINGS

464 Broadway Saratoga Springs New York