Ithaca, New York

These days, Beijing changes in the blink of an eye. One night, you're at a fantastic restaurant on a street jammed with fantastic restaurants. They're rubble by the next afternoon. That's progress, Chinese style. So go now -- before many of the ancient neighborhoods are destroyed to make way for the 2008 Olympics, and before the costs of visiting, already on the rise, start to approach those of Shanghai and Hong Kong. The "don't miss" attractions What to skip The low-down on hotels Recommended restaurants Where to buy Red China kitsch The attractions you really must see Mao's Mausoleum at Tiananmen Square: Out front, watch the locals buy silk flowers for 12¢, genuflecting--and even weeping--as they lay them at the foot of a Mao statue. (Guards gather the flowers and take them out on carts to resell.) You'll be rushed by the corpse too fast to know whether it's real or wax, then spit out the back among hawkers selling Mao watches, pins, and all manner of doodads. 8:30-11:30 a.m. Monday-Saturday, 2-4 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; free. The Great Wall: As awesome as advertised--a technological and architectural wonder providing sensational views. Tours often pair the Badaling section with a visit to the Ming Tombs, but resist both. Badaling is reconstructed, overrun, and commercialized, and the tombs waste a half day. You're better off at Simatai (8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily), a more authentic and unspoiled part that costs $3.75 to get into and has a $7.25 lift for those who can't handle the rugged climb. The round-trip ride--with your cabbie waiting at the Wall--should cost about $36. Forbidden City: Wander the halls and temples where emperors lived for five centuries (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, $4.75-$7.25 depending on the season). The $3.75 audio tour, Roger Moore's finest performance, is more informative than most of the guides for hire at the entrance. Pay the extra $1.50 to see the Hall of Clocks, a quirky collection of ancient timepieces. After you leave the north end of the Forbidden City, walk to Jingshan Park and climb the hill for a stunning overview. Lama Temple: The lamasery--in recent decades a monastery for Buddhist monks but for centuries a royal-family residence--is one of the city's most peaceful locations, with five major prayer halls and lots of chanting and burning incense. It's also a terrific example of Chinese propaganda; the museum displays offer an accurate history of Tibetan Buddhism up until the 1950s, when the Communists rolled into the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, exiled the Dalai Lama, and hijacked the faith. Now they call it a "peaceful liberation." Take the subway to the Yonghegong stop and follow the signs. 12 Yonghegong Dajie, 011-86/10-6404-3769, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., $3. What to skip and what to do instead Skip the tours of the Great Hall of the People and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution. They're dullsville. Instead: Hop the Line 1 subway west to the Junshibowuguan stop for the little-visited but more entertaining Military Museum, which charges $1.25 to enter (8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.). Unfortunately, much of the collection lacks English explanations; then again, what you see--the history of Chinese artillery and war machinery--is what you get, and you can fire a sling-bow gun at an arcade target (24¢ for four shots). Afterward, walk five minutes west to the free Millennium Monument, a mammoth rotating sundial propped up on 200-odd steps. Climb it for something rare in Beijing: a view. Skip full performances of puppet, acrobat, or Beijing opera shows. They're often in high school-quality auditoriums, and most Westerners can't bear the indecipherable screeching of the opera for long anyway. Instead: Take in a 70-minute sampler of all three arts, 7:30 p.m. nightly at the Liyuan Theatre, inside the Jianguo Hotel Qianmen (175 Yongan Lu, 011-86/10-8315-7297). It will only cost you one evening and $4.75 to $16, depending on where you sit and whether you order dessert. Skip the pedicab tours of Beijing's ancient alley neighborhoods, known as hutong. The tours cost at least $30, your guide will stick to a script that you could have gotten off the Internet, and those pedicabs are only romantic until your butt starts aching from the bumpy ride. Instead, all you really need to know is that this style of housing--the courtyard house leading out into narrow alleys--is hundreds of years old, has no indoor plumbing, and is in danger of disappearing as bulldozers make way for thoroughfares. Keep walking south from Tiananmen Square or take the subway to the Qianmen stop, and then meander in the winding maze until you've shot enough quaint photos of old women sitting on milk crates and picking their teeth or diaperless babies chasing chickens. Hotels: How much will you spend? The hotels listed below are relatively inexpensive, near subway stops, and with some staff who can speak English. There are far cheaper ones, but a non-Chinese-speaking tourist definitely needs easy subway access and/or reliable concierge help. Prices are baseline for doubles, and may rise depending upon arrival and departure dates. For $58 per night: Hademen Hotel Small, adequate rooms with hard beds and ugly pink-and-gold bedspreads. But you do get cable television (for free) and in-room broadband Internet access (6¢ per minute). The Hademen Hotel is an excellent value especially for its location, kitty-corner from the Chongwenmen subway stop. 2A Chongwenmenwai Dajie, 011-86/10-6711-2244, hademenhotel.com. For $60: Novotel Xin Qiao Beijing A standard chain hotel with clean, basic rooms and excellent light. Two Western and two Chinese restaurants. Bonus: You can rent a bicycle for $4.75 per day. At the Chongwenmen subway stop. 2 Dong Jiao Min Xiang, 011-86/10-6513-3366, novotel.com. For $65:Capital Hotel Rooms have white-and-taupe bedding and draperies and large windows that let in lots of light. Seven restaurants, one with a karaoke bar, as per the Asian obsession with lipsynching to Celine Dion. Near Qianmen subway stop; within walking distance from Tiananmen Square. 3 Qianmen Dong Dajie, 011-86/10-6512-9988. Reserve via beijing-hotels.net. For $90:Jianguo Hotel The airy lobby is often a heartwarming scene--the hotel is frequented by Western parents adopting babies. Rooms are spacious, and you're a block from a Starbucks and Xiushui Market. At Yonganli subway stop. 5 Jianguomenwai Dajie, 011-86/10-6500-2233. Reserve via beijing-hotels.net. If you need a fork, bring your own Liqun Roast Duck Restaurant: The traditional Beijing duck restaurant that foreign correspondents once agreed never to write about. Tough secret to keep, and the owner now has a big sign outside welcoming foreigners. You're greeted as you walk through the narrow, dusty entryway into the Chinese courtyard by a coal hearth and several ducks roasting before you. From $2 a dish. At $7.75, the duck is an incredible bargain, since it can feed at least two. 11 Beixiangfeng, Zhengyi Lu, near Qianmen. It's a bit tricky to find, so taking a taxi may be wise. Xinjiang Red Rose Restaurant: The Red Rose is charmingly reminiscent of a mosque, which befits a place serving Uygur cuisine, the Middle Eastern-inspired style from China's far northwest (where Muslims are a large minority). Unlike a mosque, the restaurant gets rowdy at night, with live music and belly dancers. Lamb kebabs, or "string of roast mutton," cost 60¢ each; hand-pulled-noodle dishes start at $2.25. 7 Xingfu Yicun, the alley across the street from the north gate of the Workers' Stadium, 011-86/10-6415-5741. FuKu Restaurant: Looking out over Houhai Lake, FuKu is a typical restaurant with plastic-covered wood tables. The food is Dongbei, or northeast Chinese. Don't miss the fried green beans. 4 Binhai Hutong, north bank of Houhai Lake in Xicheng District, 011-86/10-6403-7311. Walk 10 minutes north from the footbridge at Houhai, where most taxi drivers will drop you off. Gourmet Garden Sichuan Restaurant: A terrific place for Sichuan, the hyperspicy style from the southwestern province. Look for mala xia, referred to on the menu as "hot-pepper lobsterlings," for $2.75. 12-1 Jianguomenwai Dajie, next to the Yonganli subway stop and across from Xiushui Market, 011-86/10-6568-1607. Where to buy Red China kitsch Panjiayuan Market: Known as the "ghost market" because of the hours--4:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday--and the "dirt market" because it's China's largest garage sale. Vendors line up along dusty aisles, spreading their wares on blankets or hanging them in makeshift galleries. It's a great place to buy Chinese scrolls, sculptures, ceramics, and Mao stuff. Hiding among the junk are valuable antiques, especially the cameras. Take a taxi, after asking your concierge to write the address in Chinese. Xiushui Market: Also called the Silk Alley market, Xiushui is a colossal bazaar of clothes, watches, bags, and trinkets. Most are knockoffs of famous Western brands, but that doesn't mean anyone back home will know the difference. The market is located immediately west of the Yonganli subway stop. Wanfujing Street: A sprawling shopping street an easy walk east of Tiananmen Square, Wanfujing Street is abuzz well into the evening with browsers inside and out of the row of malls that surround the pedestrian plaza. The area is a fascinating study in contrasts between the upscale--Nine West to Louis Vuitton--and a bustling street-food market, where vendors hock everything from tasty Inner Mongolian cheeses to fried swallows on a stick. Partying with the expat community Sanlitun: A longtime expat hangout, which is actually two separate bar streets branching north and south from Gongrentiyuchang Beilu. The north end is pricier but better lit, and home to several handsome cafés. The south-end bars are so small that folks usually just mill around in the alley. Walk 15 minutes east from the Dongsishitiao subway stop or grab a taxi. Houhai: Lake Once a quaint residential area around a picturesque lake--small enough that folks ice-skate on it during winter--Houhai has burgeoned in the past year into a bustling mishmash of cafés and bars, up and down both sides of the lake. Some are expensive, some aren't. Cheapest drinks: $1.25 beers at No. 2 Café, on the lake's east side, near the footbridge.

I turned onto a narrow back road at Custer State Park in South Dakota's Black Hills, following it for miles through scattered woods and rolling grasslands. After an early afternoon rainsquall, the land gleamed fresh and clean. Rounding a curve, I suddenly caught sight of a large bison herd crossing in front of me. On they came by the dozens, these massive beasts, kicking up a cloud of dust and blocking my path. They traveled almost at a run-an ungainly stride, not quite a stampede-hastened perhaps by the thunder and crackling lightning of another approaching storm. I counted 100, and then maybe another, and then I gave up counting. For almost 15 minutes they passed directly in front of the car, occasionally scuffling among themselves at a momentary irritation. I felt as awed as the early explorers when they first spotted the huge bison herds of the Great Plains. Finally, a trailing calf scurried by to catch up with its mother, and I drove on. Scenes like this, unplanned but always plentiful, keep me returning to America's state and national parks. They are my favorite places to vacation, each offering an unbeatable package. You get spectacular scenery-these are the country's most beautiful landscapes; you get lots of fun and real adventure and challenge; wild life abounds (1,500 bison roam freely at Custer); and to top it all, this is one of the cheapest vacations that you can take. You definitely get value for your money. My as yet unrealized goal is to visit every national parkland-all 388 of them. The problem is that I keep going back to many of the same parks, the extraordinary ones-America's best. They are the parks that everybody ought to make an effort to see at least once. To get you started, I've put together a list of five that should not be missed. The names are legendary: Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, and Great Smoky Mountains. To that list I've added two great state parks, including Custer, that provide a similarly rewarding and inexpensive vacation. Let's take a quick look here at costs. Twenty bucks is the most expensive entrance fee charged at any national park-and this covers everybody in the car for a week. Good family lodging within the parks or just outside charge from $60 to $100 or a litt le more a night. Share a bath, or camp, and the price drops sharply. Many parks operate budget-priced cafeterias, and family-friendly restaurants can be found nearby. All seven parks are open to camping, and reservations are advisable in the summer. At most of the national parks (the exception is Yellowstone) you can book online at the National Park Service reservation desk: http://reservations.nps.gov/index.cfm. Call or check the Web site of each park for more camping details and reservation contacts. At the major parks, expect to pay $15 to $18 a night for a campsite. As for fun and adventure: Hike into the rocky depths of the Grand Canyon. Swim in a clear Yosemite river. Watch the geysers spout at Yellowstone. Peer into ancient Native American cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde. You won't pay a penny extra. Far west Sierra Grandeur: California's Yosemite As a travel writer, I've explored the world for years. Whenever asked, I tell folks that I think Yosemite is the most beautiful pla ce I've seen anywhere. I'm awed over and over by its towering, 4,000-foot-high granite walls, cascading waterfalls, and majestic groves of giant redwoods. True, Yosemite Valley-the hub of the park-gets congested in summer. To escape the crowds, take Tioga Road into the Sierra high country, where brilliant wildflowers fill the meadows and polished-granite peaks soar above sparkling lakes. Picnic at Lake Tenaya, which may be the prettiest spot in the park. If you've got strong legs, climb Yosemite National Park's Mist Trail-a spectacular day hike. The three-mile (round trip) trail out of Yosemite Valley ascends countless steep stone steps alongside thundering Vernal Falls, which plunges 317 feet. As you climb, the powerful falls seem almost near enough to touch; its roar drowns out any conversation. But watch your step-a stumble could tumble you over the precipice. Often a rainbow forms at Vernal's base, created by the billowing cloud-like mist that gives the trail its name. If a breeze is blowing, you're apt to get drenched. The reward is nonstop vistas all the way to the top. Back in the valley, cool off with a plunge in the Merced River. Details: Fly into Fresno or the San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose area. Stay in the park in Yosemite Valley. The cheapest accommodations are the canvas-tent cabins at Curry Village. There are 427 tents set in a pine forest. Each is furnished with two to five cots; an electric light dangles from the ceiling; and rest rooms and bathhouses are nearby, $59. Camp Curry cabins with bath begin at $87. Also in the park, a standard room at Yosemite Lodge is $112. Book all park accommodations through Yosemite Reservations (559/252-4848, yosemitepark.com). Outside the park, stay in the old mining town of Mariposa at the 27-room E.C. Lodge Yosemite (209/742-6800), $69; or the 78-room Miner's Inn Motel (888/646-2244), $70. Both Camp Curry and Yosemite Lodge operate well-priced cafeterias. As you might expect, camping is ver y popular at Yosemite, and tent and recreational vehicle campsites book quickly. Campsites are $18 a night. To reserve: 800/436-7275, http://reservations.nps.gov. Park information: 209/372-0200, nps.gov/yose. Thermal Hijinks: Wyoming's Yellowstone Throngs gather at Yellowstone National Park's Old Faithful Geyser to watch its hourly (more or less; rangers can give you an estimated schedule) eruption-jets of boiling water shooting more than 130 feet into the air. But that's only a part of the park's geo-thermal goings-on. All around you even bigger geysers blow their tops, hot springs froth wildly, smoke holes spout noisily, mud cauldrons bubble ominously, and steaming rivers, flowing through water-scalded valleys, appear on fire. These are nature's fireworks, and there are few shows like it anywhere else on the planet. While the effect is rather scary-you think Yellowstone may explode at any moment-there is also great beauty. The hot-spring pools rival one another in the radiance of their color. The prettiest, I think, is Abyss Pool, an uncommonly deep pool in West Thumb Geyser Basin. The sides of the pool are a porcelain-like white, and the water is a clear emerald green, highlighted by wispy threads of steam dancing on the surface. Lake Yellowstone is one of America's largest mountain lakes. In another park, it would be the starring attraction. The Yellowstone River, a fisherman's dream, pours over two grand waterfalls before dashing through the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, an awesome chasm of red and yellow rocks. The park claims 950 miles of hiking trails; one of the most scenic is the 1.5-mile (round trip) descent into the canyon. Keep alert for bison, black bears, and-in the backcountry-fearsome grizzlies. And don't miss the dramatic peaks of Grand Teton National Park, just to the south. Details: Fly into Jackson Hole, Wyoming (relatively nearby), or into Bozeman, Montana (a few hours away). But Salt Lake City, five hours distant yet doable, may be much cheaper for airfare and car rental. For geyser viewing, stay in the park at the 327-room Old Faithful Inn. Rooms without bath, $71; with bath, $94. Less glamorous, Old Faithful Lodge offers 97 cabins. Without bath, $46; with bath, $72. For all park lodging: Yellowstone Central Reservations Office (307/344-7311, travelyellowstone.com). Or stay outside the park in West Yellowstone, Montana, where motel rooms are generally available even on the park's busiest weekends. Try first at 40-room Al's Westward Ho Motel (888/646-7331), $60. Eat at the Old Faithful Lodge Cafeteria. Park information: 307/344-7381, nps.gov/yell. Colorful Chasm: Arizona's Grand Canyon You've seen Grand Canyon National Park in photos, so your expectations as a first-timer are probably high. And the canyon delivers. I've returned a dozen times and I still get misty-eyed, my spirits lifted by the views. The chasm's soaring, multicolor walls, carved by the Colorado River, dazzle the eyes, and its massive size leaves you stunned in wonder. It's a fantastical landscape, unique in the world. Most visitors come to gaze in awe and snap photos from the South Rim. But to really see the canyon you ought to join the relative few who descend into its depths. Hardy day hikers (with water bottles) might tackle the nine-mile round trip on Bright Angel Trail to Indian Garden, easily visible from the South Rim. At the very least, drop into the canyon a hundred yards or so to experience it looking from the inside out. Even on a short hike down, you can see the abrupt changes in geological strata as you edge past some of the planet's oldest exposed rock. I've hiked to the canyon's bottom at the Colorado River. But this is a strenuous trip, especially in the summer months, requiring overnight reservations at Bright Angel Campground or the Phantom Ranch hiker's dorm. Like Yosemite Valley, the South Rim can get crowded on a summer afternoon. To savor the canyon alone , stroll one of the reasonably level rim trails. From Bright Angel Lodge, the Rim Trail heading west traces the canyon's precipitous ledge for eight miles; the Rim Trail heading east clings to the rim for about six miles. Either way, you will see exciting new views at every twist in the path. In a half hour, you'll likely have the trail to yourself. Details: Fly into Phoenix. First choice for lodging at the South Rim is the 89-room Bright Angel Lodge. Lodge rooms without bath, $51 to $68; cabins with bath, $81 to $109. Set back a quarter mile from the rim, the 288-room Maswik Lodge is a good second choice at $76 with bath. Book all South Rim accommodations at Xanterra Parks & Resorts (888/297-2757, grandcanyonlodges.com). Or stay in Tusayan, a village at the park's entrance. Try Rodeway Inn's 231-room Red Feather Lodge (800/538-2345), $94. Eat at the Maswick Lodge cafeteria. Campsites are available at both the North and South Rims. Cost is $15 a night per site. To reserv e: 800/365-2267, http://reservations.nps.gov. Park information: 928/638-7888, nps.gov/grca. Mountains and prairies Rolling Grasslands: South Dakota's Custer Almost eerie in its vast emptiness, the Great Plains is a sea of wild grassland that reaches north from Texas through both Dakotas into Canada. In spring, the grass is a thick and beautiful green, varying in tone from light to dark depending on the play of sun and clouds overhead. Knee-high in summer, it is scorched yellow and brown by the sun. When breezes sweep the Dakota hills, the dry grass is tossed like waves in a squall. Behind the wheel of your car, you feel like a sailor navigating solo across an endless ocean. Rising from the grassland are the pine-draped Black Hills, a cool sanctuary of alpine lakes, rugged peaks, and rushing streams. Draped across both is Custer State Park, partly an open range for the large bison herds but also offering one of the region's most spectacular mountain settings. This is one of the country's most scenic state parks. Narrow Needles Highway treats you to the best of the views-and throws in a couple of thrills along the way. So twisting is the route as the road climbs up and down over high ridges that at least a couple of spiraling curves are called "pigtails." Tunnels cut through solid rock are only wide enough for one car. When I'm in the Black Hills, I make Custer State Park my headquarters for easy exploring. Nearby are two national parks-Wind Cave and Badlands-and popular Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The town of Deadwood, once home to Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok, retains its boomtown flavor with legalized gambling. Near the town of Custer, you can watch the huge sculpture of Crazy Horse, the Sioux chief, being carved from Thunderhead Mountain. Details: Fly into Rapid City. Stay in Custer State Park, which offers four lodges totaling 188 rooms or cabins. At the 68-room State Game Lodge, the cheapest, room rates begin at $80. For pa rk lodging: Custer State Park Resort Company (800/658-3530, custerresorts.com). Stay outside the park at the 48-room Super 8 in Hot Springs, site of a giant hot springs swimming pool (800/800-8000), $79; or the 35-room Super 8 in Hill City, close to Mount Rushmore (800/800-8000), $96. Eat at the state park lodges. Park information: 605/255-4515, custerstatepark.info/index.htm. Ancient Cliff Dwellings: Colorado's Mesa Verde Skirting the cliff's edge, the winding road climbs steeply from the Montezuma Valley floor. In a matter of minutes you are lifted from the world of today into the ancient realm of the Anasazi Ancestral Puebloans at Mesa Verde National Park. Carved into the 8,000-foot-high plateau are the largest and best-preserved cliff dwellings in North America. To protect themselves from attack, the Anasazi made their homes hard to reach. Centuries later, it's still something of an adventure to get to them. The two most impressive ruins, the ones everyone shoul d visit-if you've got the stomach for it-are Cliff Palace and Balcony House. A guide leads the way on hour-long tours, for which reservations are required and a modest fee of $2.50 per person is charged. At Cliff Palace, stone steps cut into the side of a canyon wall descend through a narrow crevice to the floor of the ruin. The Anasazi once entered in much the same way. The dwelling, which once housed more than 100 people in 150 rooms, occupies a deep, cave-like ledge beneath the canyon rim. The Anasazi lived here for less than 100 years, abandoning it by the beginning of the fourteenth century, perhaps because of a lengthy drought. Exiting is another scramble. First, you edge up stone steps through another tight crevice, and then you must climb a series of three ten-foot ladders placed one atop the other up the canyon wall. Words of advice: Don't look down. Balcony House, also tucked inside a canyon wall, is another test. To reach it, you must climb a dizzying 32-foot ladd er. Following the ranger's advice, I hastened up looking into the canyon wall. Those who looked backward down into the canyon's depth-700 feet below-often faltered. But don't let any of this stop you from visiting. Other fine cliff dwellings, among them Spruce Tree House, have been made more accessible. Details: Fly into nearby Durango, Colorado, or Albuquerque, New Mexico. Stay in the park at the 150-room Far View Lodge, which offers a view that seems to stretch forever (800/449-2288, visitmesaverde.com), $93 to $135. Outside the park, stay in Cortez at the foot of the mesa. Try the 77-room Days Inn (970/565-8577), $69. Eat at Far View Lodge or the Far View Terrace, a cafeteria at the visitors center. Park information: 970/529-4465, nps.gov/meve. In the east Lofty Ridges: Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina/Tennessee The lofty green ridges of Great Smoky Mountains National Park roll across the horizon in giant waves that lap gently at the soul. In these wild w oodlands, you are wrapped in the spirit-invigorating beauty of misty peaks, idyllic coves, and tumbling streams. On my first visit, I sat on a stump for a half hour, or perhaps it was an hour, drinking in the view as if it were a tonic. Once, the park's deep valleys were home to rugged subsistence farmers and their families, the now legendary Appalachian folk who were forced to move from their old homesteads when Great Smoky was created in 1934. Many of their weathered old structures-the wood-frame cabins, barns, corncribs, and outhouses-are preserved in the form of open-air museums. Much of the park's rugged interior, where peaks climb above 6,000 feet, can be reached only on foot. Eight hundred miles of trails lace this formidable wilderness-prime black-bear habitat. And yet the lush interior is surprisingly accessible, even to the less adventurous. Short paved roads make deep cuts into the backwoods; other unpaved roads probe even farther. Easy, well-marked nature trails extend beyond. The paved trail to Laurel Falls, 2.5 miles round trip, is popular-though I had it almost to myself on a stormy day. The hike took me alongside damp ravines and over rocky ridges. The reward was a sprightly little falls cascading in two giant steps down a steep ledge. Details: Fly into Knoxville or Chattanooga, Tennessee. There are no park accommodations accessible by car; stay just outside in Gatlinburg. Try the 63-room Super 8 (800/800-8000), $60; or the 217-room Glenstone Lodge (865/436-9361), $81. Eat at the Smoky Mountain Brewery & Restaurant. Gatlinburg information: 800/900-4148, gatlinburg.com. Park information: 865/436-1200, nps.gov/grsm. Allegheny Highlands: West Virginia's Canaan Valley Among the East Coast's best travel bargains are West Virginia's inviting resort state parks. The premier park among them is Canaan Valley Resort State Park, close to Davis. Covering 6,000 acres, it is tucked into the prettiest, most mountainous part of West Vir ginia: the Potomac Highlands near the state's northeastern reaches. Here are combined the attractions of an untamed region (forested slopes, rocky cliffs, splashing streams) as well as amenities one would expect of any fine resort (18 holes of golf, tennis, indoor and outdoor pools, lodge, lounge, and restaurant). The valley, about 15 miles long and three miles wide, has become a year-round center for both rugged outdoor recreation and the resort life. Surrounding it are 909,000-acre Monongahela National Forest and the Dolly Sods and Otter Creek wilderness areas. In summer, those of us who live in the mid-Atlantic states flock to the valley to hike, climb, canoe, fish, raft, cave, horseback ride, and mountain bike on miles of old Forest Service roads. I've always stayed at the Canaan Valley State Park Lodge, perched high on a hilltop overlooking this domain. Details: Fly into Baltimore, Washington, D.C., or Pittsburgh. Stay at the 250-room Canaan Valley Resort Lodge (800/622 -4121), $86 weekdays/$99 weekends. An alternate choice is the nearby 54-room State Park Lodge at Blackwater Falls (800/225-5982), $80. Eat at either lodge. The greens fee at Canaan Valley's golf course is $30 weekdays/$35 weekends. Park information: 800/225-5982, canaanresort.com and wvparks.com.

It's already become a summertime ritual for many baseball fans--touring as many ballparks as you can. However, beyond the bright, shiny new palaces like Petco and Minute Maid lie some fascinating remnants of baseball past: the spots where the most hallowed old stadiums used to sit. So if you're hitting the road to the old ballgame this summer, here are ten former stadium sites I think every baseball fan would enjoy visiting (And if you go, it doesn't hurt to bring along a copy of Frank Sinatra singing the wistful Joe Raposo ballad, "There used to be a Ballpark.") 1. The Polo Grounds (W. 155th St. and Eight Ave., Washington Heights, New York City) The New York Giants originally played baseball at a city polo field on 111th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. But when owner John Brush moved the team here to Coogan's Bluff in 1891, he kept the name "Polo Grounds." An odd "bathtub'shaped" ballpark, the Polo Grounds was home to some of the greatest moments in baseball history, including Willie Mays's famous catch in the 1954 World Series and Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" home run to beat the Dodgers in 1951. In 1964 the stadium was demolished and now the Polo Grounds Towers, a housing project, occupies the site. The original staircase leading down to the ticket booth still exists, and a plaque marks the site where home plate once sat. 2. Huntington Avenue Grounds (400 Huntington Ave., on the campus of Northeastern University in Boston) Before the 1912 opening of Fenway Park, Huntington Avenue Grounds was home to the Boston Red Sox. In use for only 11 years, what makes Huntington Avenue Grounds most significant can be gleaned from the home plate'shaped plaque that site near the original spot of the base. Dedicated in 1993, the inscription reads: "On October 1, 1903 the first modern World Series between the American League champion Boston Pilgrims (later known as the Red Sox) and the National League champion Pittsburgh Pirates was played on this site. General admission tickets were fifty cents. The Pilgrims, led by twenty eight game winner Cy Young, trailed the series three games to one but then swept four consecutive victories to win the championship five game to three." Now located on the campus of Northeastern University, there is also a life-size statue of Cy Young located near where the pitcher's mound used to be (in the Churchill Hall Mall). 3. Connie Mack Stadium (21st St. & Lehigh Ave., Philadelphia) Shibe Park opened in 1909 as the home of the Philadelphia Athletics. A's owner Ben Shibe built the ballpark entirely of steel and concrete--an architectural first. Shibe's most unique feature was its ornate French Renaissance façade, complete with a Beaux Arts tower, at the main entrance of the park. Shibe Park was re-christened Connie Mack Stadium in 1953, after the legendary manager of the A's. Closed in 1970, a severe fire destroyed much of the interior in 1971, and the ballpark was mercifully demolished in 1976. Recently, an historic marker was placed at the site, where a church now stands. 4. Forbes Field (230 S. Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh From 1909-1970, beautiful Forbes Field was the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. (Interestingly, in 68 seasons, there was never a no-hitter pitched here.) Most notably, it was the scene of one of the most dramatic moments in baseball history: Bill Mazeroski's Game Seven home run in the 1960 World Series to beat the Yankees. Though the stadium was torn down in the early 1970's, some interesting remnants remain here on the grounds of the University of Pittsburgh. A sizeable part of the outfield wall still stands, ivy-covered and all during summer, as does the flagpole. A plaque in the sidewalk marks the spot where Maz's homer cleared the wall in game seven. And the last home plate used at Forbes remains on display near its final location--only now it's under glass in the hall at the Quadrangle Building. 5. League Park (E. 66th St. and Lexington Ave., Cleveland) On, May 1, 1891, League Park opened, with Cy Young pitching for Cleveland. Lights were never installed at League Park, and the team moved out after 1946, to the much bigger Municipal Stadium. This was where Babe Ruth hit his 500th home run, where the only unassisted triple play in World Series took place, and where Joe DiMaggio got his last hit in 1941's famous 56-game streak.. Though the ballpark was demolished in 1951, today there are wonderful remnants of the stadium that remain. The famous two story ticket booth (and former team offices) is now a youth center and a crumbling part of the first base grandstand still stands; a "Greek ruins- of baseball. It's also possible to play in the exact spot where so many legends from Speaker to Ruth to Cobb once roamed, as the diamond still sits in the exact place it was when the ballpark was here. An historic marker is also present. 6. Sportsman's Park (The Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club, 2901 N. Grand Ave., St. Louis) Starting back in the 1870's, baseball was played at this location. Around the turn of the century the St. Louis Browns began playing here at Sportsman's Park , and in 1920, the St. Louis Cardinals moved in and shared the park until 1953 (when the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles). Sportsman's Park was home to the Cardinals until May 8, 1966. After leaving the stadium, Anheuser-Busch and August A. Busch, Jr. donated the property for use as a private recreational facility, the Herbert Hoover Boy's Club, which opened in 1967. There are several signs and a plaque to commemorate the decades of baseball history here, and there's even a youth baseball field with home plate located in the right-field area of the old Sportsman's Park. If you stop by, it's still possible to play on the exact spot where almost 100 years of St. Louis baseball history took place. 7. Metropolitan Stadium (Mall of America, Crossroads of Interstate 494 and Hwy. 77, Bloomington, Minnesota) The Twins played here at "The Met" until 1981. The stadium, which had also hosted Minnesota Viking's football, was torn down in 1984 to make room for the world-famous Mall of America, which now occupies the site. Home plate is marked with a plaque in its exact spot, now part of the Camp Snoopy area. As well, a seat from Metropolitan is bolted to a wall to mark the spot where a mammoth 520 foot homerun by Harmon Killebrew landed on June 3, 1967 8. Buff Stadium (Finger Furniture Center, 4001 Gulf Freeway, Houston) This is probably the only furniture store in the world marked on the floor where a home plate used to sit. That's because this is where Buff Stadium used to sit. Buff Stadium, built in 1928, opened as the home of the Texas League Houston Buffaloes. Damaged by Hurricane Carla in 1961, it was sold at auction an for just $19,750 and was demolished in 1963. Then, the Finger Furniture Center was built and a plaque was laid at the exact spot where the old home plate was located. It's still there, as is a small sports museum, right in the store! 9. Wrigley Field (42nd St. and Avalon, Los Angeles) On April 27, 1925, Wrigley Field opened at the corner of Avalon Street and 42nd Place in South Central Los Angeles. Owned by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, it was partially modeled after the other Wrigley Field in Chicago. It was home to the Los Angeles until the early 1960's, but it's famous for other reasons. Given it's proximity to Hollywood, Wrigley Field was regularly used for movies such as Pride of the Yankees, The Kid From Left Field, Damn Yankees, It Happens Every Spring, The Geisha Boy and many more. An episode of The Munsters was filmed here, and millions of fans saw Wrigley on TV regularly as it was the park used for the 1960's TV show Home Run Derby. Today, the former site of Wrigley Field is occupied by a public park and recreation center. 10. 'Sick's Stadium (Lowe's of Rainier, 2700 Rainier Avenue South, Seattle) Sick's Stadium opened here on June 15, 1938. Named for Rainiers team owner Emil Sick, the 12,000'seat park hosted minor league baseball until the early 1960's, then was home to the Major League Seattle Pilots. Demolished in 1979, today at the former site of Sick's Stadium is a Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse. There is a glass display case inside the store which shows some memorabilia from the Rainiers and Pilots and just outside the front door is a bronze home plate with a metal statue of a player holding a bat. Chris Epting is the author of "Roadside Baseball", published by Sporting News, copyright 2003.

The "Five College" area of central Massachusetts combines the buzz of one of America's most stimulating intellectual and artistic centers with the serenity of New England's wooded hills and a genteel aura of yesteryear. The closely clustered campuses of Amherst College, Hampshire College, the University of Massachusetts, Smith College, and Mount Holyoke College offer a smorgasbord of free and low-cost (under $10) lectures, readings, plays, film screenings, and events, not to mention galleries and museums where you can view works by such masters as Claude Monet and Thomas Eakins. Truly world-class performances of orchestral and chamber music, jazz, opera, musical theater, and dance at the University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center (800/999-8627, fineartscenter.com) cost $15 or less - a third of what you'd pay in the big city. Fortunately, the intellectual and cultural offerings at the five colleges are scheduled mostly during the week, so you can avoid the hassle of getting (and paying double for) weekend reservations and waiting outside crowded restaurants. If you can't visit during the week and don't want to reserve your room long in advance, you should at least aim for a weekend out of foliage season, when there are no graduations, homecomings, parents' weekends, or big conferences (most of the more accessible weekends are between late November and mid-April, so pack that extra sweater!). These campuses are all within ten miles of each other, and here's a nifty budget secret: the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (413/545-0056, umass.edu/campus_services/transit). For more than 30 years, students from Smith (in Northampton); Amherst, Hampshire, and UMass (in Amherst);and Mount Holyoke (in South Hadley) have been taking classes at each other's institutions, mixing socially, attending each other's demonstrations, and performing together onstage. This led to the development of the PVTA, which runs buses at convenient intervals between all of the colleges and nearby towns, free of charge for students, visitors, and locals alike during the nine months of the academic year. However you decide to get around, you will want to visit the campuses - they all welcome visitors, so you shouldn't feel like a trespasser. Think of them, rather, as parks where you can picnic by a waterfall or read beneath a tree, stroll meditatively through gardens, and become a little intoxicated by the atmosphere that emanates from those classic stone towers and ivy-covered walls. College highlights Spend an hour or a day in the main reading room of the Mount Holyoke College Library, which, with its upholstered chairs and tall leaded-glass windows, will make you feel as if you were at Oxford or Cambridge. Although as a visitor you will not be allowed to check out books, there are about six million titles for you to browse, as well as special-collections exhibits where you can view rare illustrated books and original manuscripts and letters by Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost (both Amherst poets). Other free indoor attractions at the Five College campuses include the National Yiddish Book Center at Hampshire College (the world's largest collection of Jewish literature from the last 1,000 years), free concerts and lectures, the flowering banana trees and other exotics at Smith College's Lyman Plant Conservatory (413/585-2740, smith.edu/garden), and the mounted skeleton of a duckbill dinosaur at Amherst College's Pratt Museum of Natural History (413/542-2165, amherst.edu/pratt). By far the largest of the five colleges is UMass, Amherst. Although it may look like nothing more than an overcrowded, high-rise cement-slab public institution, you would be missing a great deal if you never explored its 28-story W.E.B. DuBois Library (one of the world's tallest), its Fine Arts Center and University Gallery (contemporary art), and the Augusta Savage Gallery (multicultural art). You could also attend a practice or game involving one of UMass's several regionally and nationally prominent Division I athletic teams. The very best thing about UMass is its academic vitality. Although you may not be permitted to attend classes, you should still feel free to snoop around hallways and peek unobtrusively into laboratories or lecture halls. You just might get invited in or at least get a peek at Lynn Margulis, the preeminent evolutionary biologist and presidential scholar, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet James Tate, or O. Henry Award-winning author John Edgar Wideman. The charms of Northampton In spite of its population of only 30,000, the town of Northampton is often compared to San Francisco. That may sound farfetched, but less so if you were standing amidst Northampton's numerous galleries, fine jewelry and crafts stores, cafes, theaters, clubs, and restaurants, all frequented by the area's many artists, writers, activists, academics, and professionals. The town's crown jewel, however, is Smith College, founded in 1875 as one of the first institutions for young women to provide an education that was equal in every way to the best offered to young men. This idea undoubtedly provided the soil for Northampton's highly visible feminist culture (which has rippled out to the rest of us - Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, and Sylvia Plath all graduated from Smith. All right, so did Nancy Reagan). Smith is also an oasis amid the bustle of downtown Northampton. Pass through the wrought-iron gates on West Street at the western end of downtown, and you'll find yourself walking between the small, gabled Victorian structures of the college's original core. Go beyond the quadrangle and library to the hill above the boathouse and Paradise Pond, and you'll feel totally in another world-just as designer Frederick Law Olmsted intended. Staying smart Affordable lodgings in Amherst include the Campus Center Hotel (413/549-6000) on the UMass campus, which offers double occupancy rooms and free indoor parking for $89 to $95. A bit more picturesque is Allen House Victorian Inn (599 Main St., 413/253-5000, allenhouse.com), a seven-room inn with museum-quality Victorian furnishings and decor, doubles from $85, and five-course breakfast. The best value is probably the Lord Jeffrey Inn (30 Boltwood Ave., 800/742-0358), next to Amherst College, an excellent full-service hotel with 48 rooms, two restaurants, and cozy colonial-style parlors; doubles from $89; the two-night "Weekend Getaway" is $188 with breakfast in bed for two. Two other even cheaper local options are on Route 9 between Amherst and Northampton. The Norwottuck Inn in Hadley (877/667-9688) has 23 good clean rooms (doubles from $55) with a nice outdoor pool next to a cornfield. Bikers, take note: there are nearby bike rentals and trails. Not far north, the Country Belle Motel (413/586-0715) is nothing fancy but has clean, tidy rooms, with doubles starting at just $45. Brainy bargain bites Both Amherst and Northampton boast a plethora of dining, whether fine or more humble. In Amherst, Pasta e Basta (26 Main St., 413/256-3550) serves a wide selection of pastas and sauces and fire-grilled vegetables, meats, and fish. Meals come in huge portions, with a basket of home-baked breads, and cost from $5 to $11. Amherst Brewing Company (24 N. Pleasant St., 413/253-4400) has a pub atmosphere with hearty food and eight home brews and Guinness on tap. Try the German-style, home-baked smoked cheddar "Monster" pretzel ($6 to $7), and one might be all you can handle. There's free jazz Sunday nights at nine. La Veracruzana (63 S. Pleasant St., 413/253-6900) offers burritos, enchiladas, a salsa bar, and more. Stuff yourself for under $5. The Graduate Lounge at the Campus Center of UMass (413/545-0111) is a cozy place to get away from undergraduates, have sandwiches for $2.45 to $3.95, read a magazine, and enjoy a draft beer or a cup of coffee. For a student favorite, on the other hand, try the Hangar Pub and Grill (a.k.a. "Wings") at 55 University Drive (413/549-9464), where an order of 15 of its 12 varieties of chicken wings ($7.95) would stuff an NFL lineman. In Northampton, many of the better deals have an Italian flavor. You'll find the nicest dining room in town and first-class cuisine at incredibly low prices - from just $5 an entree - at Fresh Pasta Company (249 Main St., 413/586-5875). Get large panini sandwiches on home-baked focaccia for $5.50 to $5.75 at Caffe Mezza Luna (7 Strong Ave., 413/584-5040), or the most gargantuan thin-crust pizza slices you'll ever see for just $2 at Nini's La Pazzaria (71 Pleasant St., 413/584-1711). There's admittedly not much seating room, though. For more exotic international flair, head to Amanouz Cafe (44 Main St., 413/585-9128), a haven for students from French-speaking countries which dishes up Moroccan specialties served in traditional crockery for $5 to $10 per entree (pita sandwiches are $3.95 to $5.75). Coming to college Online information sources include gazettenet.com, an online newspaper, and the Allen House Victorian Inn's Web site, allenhouse.com, which gives the most comprehensive set of links for visitors to the area. The Five College Calendar (413/256-8316, fivecolleges.edu) is a single master list of events at all of the campuses for each month. Amtrak (800/872-7245, amtrak.com) stops in Amherst, while Peter Pan Bus Lines (800/237-8747) connects various stops in the area with Boston, Connecticut, and New York City. Valley Transporter (800/872-8752) offers door-to-door service - $32 from Connecticut's Bradley Airport to Amherst or Northampton.