Port Report: Cruise Terminals Across the U.S.

Walla Walla Valley, Wash. In the mid-90s when oenophiles started to buzz about the region's Bordeaux-style wines, there were 10 wineries in Walla Walla. Today, there are more than 100, mostly accessible from Highway 12. With wine comes food, and gourmands like Alexa Palmer and Charles Maddrey have been pouring into town in the past decade. Two years ago, Palmer and Maddrey left their jobs as owner and chef, respectively, of an Italian restaurant in Renton, Wash., to open the Fat Duck Inn in the heart of Walla Walla. Each of the four guest rooms at their renovated Craftsman-style bungalow has a fireplace and a large tiled bathroom, and Maddrey can pack box lunches of gourmet charcuterie and cheeses, sandwiches, fruit, and dessert for picnics (fatduckinn.com, rooms from $125, lunch $13). Palmer recommends enjoying them on the outdoor patio near the bocce ball courts at Cougar Crest Estate Winery, west of town on Highway 12 (cougarcrestwinery.com, tasting $5, refundable with wine bottle purchase). The highway takes you back toward downtown Walla Walla, a preserved 19th-century Western town, where food options range from a burrito stuffed with beef, cheese, and local sweet onions at the Tacos La Monarca truck (509/522-2866, $5), to Turkish flatbread wrapped around spiced lamb and topped with yogurt sauce at Saffron Mediterranean Kitchen, whose chef was recently a semifinalist for a James Beard Award (saffronmediterraneankitchen.com, $13). Highway 12 continues east toward K Vintners, a converted farm shed with a capital K painted on its front and a 12-foot cement statue of the letter by the entrance. Here, former band manager Charles Smith blasts music by the Raveonettes and the Ramones—both personal friends—and serves his signature K Syrah in honor of his favorite toast: Que sera (kvintners.com, tastings free, by appointment). —Alison Rohrs Anderson Valley, Calif. Twisting from Cloverdale, Calif., to the Pacific Ocean, a 16-mile portion of Highway 128 passes through the organic apple orchards, olive groves, and redwood forests of Anderson Valley. Some of the more than 20 vineyards along the way supply pinot noir grapes for famous wineries in Napa and Sonoma, but you can taste similar vintages at the farm-style Anderson wineries—minus the popped-collar crowds. Navarro Vineyards lets babydoll sheep (too petite to reach the fruit) graze under the vines, and free-range chickens wander the vineyards to help keep pests under control. Daily tours of the grounds and tastings of the star wines—pinot noir and dry Alsatian-style whites—are both free (navarrovineyards.com). About 10 miles northwest along the highway, gewürztraminer grapes thrive in the rich soil and foggy mornings at Lazy Creek Vineyards. Longtime owners of Sonoma's Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery, Don and Rhonda Carano, acquired the rural estate last year (lazycreekvineyards.com, tastings free). Nearby, Husch Vineyards—the oldest in the valley, and actually owned by the Oswald family—has 10 picnic tables: some in the sun, some sheltered under vine-covered pergolas. Past an arch of roses, the family pours complimentary samples of sauvignon blanc and pinot noir in a century-old redwood tasting room (huschvineyards.com). Like their neighbors to the north, Bob and Linda Klein also run a vineyard and farm at LindaVista Bed & Breakfast in Yorkville (a separate wine region in the Anderson Valley). Each of the two huge suites in their 6,000-square-foot French Victorian–style inn comes with a queen-size bed, a separate sitting room with a daybed and trundle, a full bath, and mountain views (lindavista.com, $150). Along the route, you can stop for one of 60 varieties of apples at Gowan's Oak Tree, on an orchard just north of Philo (707/895-3353).—Alison Rohrs Between Hermann and New Haven, Mo. What the Hermann Wine Trail (hermannwinetrail.com) lacks in size—there are only six wineries along the 20-mile stretch—it makes up for in experience. The region has been producing vintages since the 1840s, before Napa had produced a single bottle. The Captain Wohlt Inn makes an ideal home base—and not just because it's in the center of Hermann's adorable historic district. The breakfasts of upside-down apple French toast, three-cheese quiche, or baked eggs with turkey bacon and herbs are exactly what you need to prepare you for a day of sampling wines (captainwohltinn.com, from $75). Less than a mile away, the family-run Adam Puchta Winery gives free tastings in the estate's original stone house with wood-beamed ceilings. For many of the 16–18 wines, you'll get a bite of something to help you identify the flavors. A Key-lime shortbread cookie brings out the fruit flavors in the vignoles, a sweet white wine, and a piece of chocolate softens the tannins in the dry red Norton (adampuchtawine.com). The picnic tables on the grounds make the perfect lunch spot, so on the way to the winery, stop at husband-and-wife-owned Time for Pie to pick up some bratwurst sandwiches and one of the 15 kinds of homemade pie (time4pie.com, pie $3 per slice). Two and a half miles down the road, Stone Hill Winery is set high on the bluffs overlooking the Missouri River—one can imagine that the terrain reminded German settlers of their native Rhine River valley. Tours of the 162-year-old arched cellars, where wine is still stored, end in the tasting room, where you can try the chardonel, a dry, buttery white that's similar to a chardonnay, and the limited-edition vintage port. Next to the tasting room, Stone Hill's original stable is now Vintage Restaurant, where the menu ranges from hearty German specialties like schnitzel to more refined entrées like filet mignon (stonehillwinery.com, tours $2.50, tastings free). —Beth Collins Charlottesville, Va. Virginia's premier wine country, dotted with working farms and over 1,000 acres of grape vines, spreads out around the city of Charlottesville in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The free tour at 20-acre Jefferson Vineyards both explores the winery and recounts the history of Virginia wine making (jeffersonvineyards.com, tasting $5). The viognier, with aromas of honeysuckle and apricot, is an ideal refresher, and from the deck at the tasting room, visitors have a view of Carters Mountain and Jefferson's home, Monticello, a mile and a half north, where a recently opened visitors center introduces guests to the founding father's life and ideas (monticello.org, from $15). Jefferson's master builder also built Dinsmore House, a B&B just a block from the University of Virginia. The decor deliberately recalls the colonial era, but the amenities—Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs—are right up-to-date (dinsmorehouse.com, from $109). South of Monticello is Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard, whose 2005 blanc de blanc has hints of candied apple and lemon custard (klugeestateonline.com, tasting $10). About 18 miles west of Charlottesville, in Crozet, King Family Vineyards occupies 15 acres on a farm where polo ponies are raised; visitors can watch polo matches for free on Sundays from Memorial Day through the end of September (kingfamilyvineyards.com, tasting $5). For a picnic at the vineyard, the Crosé, a dry rosé, pairs well with the tomato sauce on a pie from perennial favorite Crozet Pizza. Be prepared for a wait at the 32-year-old institution; some call this the best pizza in the state, and people come from miles around to combine toppings from the list of over 30 options, including zucchini, peanuts, and bacon (crozetpizza.net, from $11.50). —Thomas Berger

Upside-down stayAt Berlin's Propeller Island City Lodge, each of the 30 rooms is weird in its own way. The artist-owner, Lars Stroschen, has seen to that. One room, the first built, is made to look like a brightly painted medieval town, with an ultra-mini golf course surrounding the castle bed. Another has furniture attached to the ceiling, another has coffins for beds, and still another has lion cages on stilts (the website claims that kids "love to sleep" in them). Then there's the Freedom Room, which resembles a prison, complete with a toilet next to the bed—oh, that German humor! 011-49/30-891-90-16, propeller-island.com.• Photos of Propeller Island City Lodge 1 of 4 A place to unwine'dWhen they were owned by a Swiss château, the four enormous casks on the grounds of the Hotel De Vrouwe Van Stavoren in the Netherlands held the equivalent of 19,333 bottles of wine. Now, after some creative recycling, it's guests rather than booze that mellow out inside the casks. The richly worn and airtight oak barrels have two narrow beds, with a small sitting area outside. The grounds are quite close to tiny Stavoren's harbor, which was a major port in the Middle Ages. 011-31/51-46-81-202, hotel-vrouwevanstavoren.nl.• Photos of Hotel De Vrouwe Van Stavoren 1 of 2 A bad trip (with none of the consequences)The daughter of Ho Chi Minh's number two masterminded the Hang Nga Guest House and Art Gallery, a complex that more than earns its local nickname, the Crazy House. This LSD nightmare's three main buildings are Gaudi-esque concrete treehouse-like growths that appear as if they flowed organically out of the ground. Inside, the walls seem to dissolve into the floor, and right angles are avoided entirely. Each guest room is built around a different animal theme: the Eagle Room has a big-beaked bird standing atop a huge egg, while another has arm-sized ants crawling up the wall. The animal theme continues outside—a large giraffe statue on the property contains a teahouse, and human-size "spider webs" are set up here and there. 011-84/63-82-20-70.• Photos of Hang Nga Guest House and Art Gallery 1 of 2 In a league of its ownHydrophobics should stay far from Jules' Undersea Lodge, named for novelist Jules Verne of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea fame. The 600-square-foot lodge, a former marine lab, is 21 feet underwater, close to the bottom of the mangrove-filled Emerald Lagoon, in Key Largo. You'll have to know how to scuba dive to reach your room, and guests without the mandatory certification must take a course at the hotel. Once you've reached the lodge, which sleeps up to six, you'll be close to angelfish, anemones, barracuda, oysters, and other creatures—each room is equipped with a 42-inch window, so you don't need to be suited up to keep an eye on the neighborhood. 305/451-2353, jul.com.• Photos of Jules' Undersea Lodge 1 of 1 Crash in a jet planeNear a beach that's within Manuel Antonio National Park, the Hotel Costa Verde doesn't lack for great sights. But few are as amazing as its own 727 Fuselage Suite, a salvaged 1965 Boeing 727-100 that looks as if it's crashed into the Costa Rican jungle (it's actually mounted atop a 50-foot pillar and reached via a spiral staircase). The jet's interior was once able to hold up to 125 passengers, but there are few reminders left of its days in the service of South African Airways and Colombia's Avianca Airlines. The suite's two bedrooms, dining area, and sitting room are now covered over entirely in teak to match the surroundings. Guests can play "spot the toucan" on the small wood deck that sits on top of the right wing. 011-506/27-77-05-84 or 866/854-7958, costaverde.com/727.html.• Photos of Hotel Costa Verde 1 of 3 Your escape pod awaitsColored bright-orange for easy visibility, the '70s-era escape pods that make up the Capsule Hotel once hung outside oil rigs, ready to be deployed in case of an evacuation. Recycled by self-proclaimed "garbage architect" Denis Oudendijk, the fleet of pods now rotates among different moorings in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe. At the moment, two are in the western Dutch town of Vlissingen and another is in The Hague. For a kind of James Bond-meets-Barbarella twist, opt to book your pod with a disco ball and all the spy's movies on DVD. It's a super-kitschy nod to a similar pod's appearance in The Spy Who Loved Me. 011-31/641-76-55-60, capsulehotel.info.• Photos of Capsule Hotel 1 of 2 On the road againImagine how much ground you could cover if you took your bed with you. That's the idea behind Exploranter Overland Hotel, a converted 25-ton truck that's a true hotel on wheels. An awning extends out from the truck's side to provide some al fresco shade at lunchtime. The "kitchen" comes tricked out with fridges, freezers, and a large convection oven—on this trip, the restaurant comes with you too, and sometimes nearby cooks are brought in to give guests a taste of the local cuisine. Your luggage and sleeping quarters are towed behind you, in a trailer that sleeps up to 24. With so much flexibility, guests can see Brazil's back country, far from crowds and sometimes any other people at all. The tours, which last from three days up to three months or more, have included horseback riding, vineyard tours, bird watching, and rodeos. 011-55/11-99-38-00-58, exploranter.com.• Photos of Exploranter Overland Hotel 1 of 3 Where the penthouse is a trailer parkCape Town's sleek Grand Daddy hotel has a surprise on its roof: a fleet of seven Airstream trailers, six of which were imported from the U.S. The aluminum-clad "rooms," which sleep two people, have been done in playful themes that incorporate icons like "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (a blonde wig and a bear suit are available for dress-up), and John Lennon and Yoko Ono (the room's white-on-white furnishings include an enormous bed, natch). If you don't want to stray as far from the trailers' original looks, there's the Pleasantville model, an Eisenhower-era fantasia with chintz, harvest-gold curtains, and flower-covered throw pillows. 011-27/21-424-7247, www.granddaddy.co.za.• Photos of Grand Daddy 1 of 3 STILL WEIRD! Meet the giraffes (from the 2008 edition)Without sacrificing its estate-in-the-country dignity—or all of it, anyway—Giraffe Manor in Langata, Kenya, is arranged so that roaming giraffes can poke their heads into any open window or doorway with impunity and lather guests with their sticky, prehensile tongues. Your guesthouse is their guesthouse, so the silly creatures pop up everywhere, including over the breakfast table, in the lobby, and through the curtains of the five guest rooms for adults. 011-254/20-890-948, off-hours 011-254/20-891-078, giraffemanor.com.• Photos of Giraffe Manor 1 of 2 >> Click here for a beagle-shaped B&B and more weird hotels from 2008.

You'll find Southern grace and hospitality, and a lesson in history—all at a slow pace. I like to take visitors to Hominy Grill. The shrimp and grits are to die for, but it's the chocolate pudding that keeps me coming back. —Kim Rich, 42, 10-year Charleston resident Firefly Distillery, just 30 minutes south of the city, infuses its sweet tea vodka with tea leaves from a nearby plantation. I mix it with lemonade on hot days (fireflyvodka.com, $17). —Tracey O'Brien, 43 For the best views of the Cooper River and the city, stroll over the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. It leads to the town of Mount Pleasant, but the diamond-towered Ravenel is a worthy destination in its own right. —Haley Abbott, 26 Expect to see benne wafers at any gourmet-food store in town. Benne is an old Southern term for sesame seeds, and, legend has it, these cookies bring good luck. But watch out—they're addictive. —K.R. It may seem like an unassuming seafood dive, but don't be fooled by Bowens Island Restaurant. This cash-only oyster bar recently won a James Beard Award. Sit on the dock and order a bottomless tray of steamed oysters when they're in season (months with an r in the name). (843/795-2757, $23). —Pat Votava, 55 The Meeting Street Inn embodies Southern charm. Its 56 rooms all open to a courtyard, and wine and cheese are served every afternoon at 5:30 (meetingstreetinn.com, from $119). —Anna Hitchins, account executive

This Month's Prize! Vietnam The best response we receive between August 29, 2009, and September 30, 2009, wins a 10-night trip for two in Vietnam, courtesy of Intrepid Travel. The prize includes the Spirit of Vietnam tour, with lodgings, some meals, and transport within Vietnam, plus the winner's choice of Urban Adventures—either a visit to a mountain village or a tour of the Mekong Delta. Does not include airfare to Vietnam. For more info: 800/970-7299, intrepidtravel.com. How to enter: E-mail us at TrueStories@BudgetTravel.com or mail us at True Stories, Budget Travel, 530 7th Ave., 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10018. Full guidelines are available at BudgetTravel.com/truestories. The prize has an estimated value of $1,956. No blackout dates; prize valid until August 1, 2010. Taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner. Prize is subject to availability, nontransferable, and nonnegotiable. Contest is open to residents of the 50 United States and its territories, except Arizona. Trip Winner September's winner is Helen Cicirello of Leesburg, Va. Her prize is four nights at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in Coronado, Calif. My husband and I and our kids were checking in at the airport and answering the security questions: "Did you pack your bags yourself?" "Yes." "Have your bags been in your possession since you packed them?" "Yes." "Do you have any weapons?" Before my husband or I could respond, our 8-year-old son shouted, "Yes!" When we asked what weapon, he said no, he didn't have any weapons. The agent laughed and let us board. When we asked our son about it, he said he thought the woman had asked, "Do you have any Webkinz?" It's a brand of stuffed animal, and he did indeed have his. Reminds us of college One day when I was doing volunteer work in rural Peru, about 50 locals approached me. Explaining everything in Quechua (which I don't speak), they led me to their Carnival and had me do a traditional dance that involved whipping my male partner. Then they drew on my face with chalk and gave me chicha, an alcohol the Quechua make by chewing corn, spitting it into a vat, and letting it ferment—corn-spit beer, essentially. I managed to drink two cups. Needless to say, I loved it there. Jessica Cornett, Palm Harbor, Fla. Next time, try the feta My boyfriend and I were in Athens recently and had lunch at a really nice café. Our waiter didn't speak English very well, and we speak no Greek, but the menu was in English and we were able to order. Before the meal arrived, the waiter brought us some bread and an incredible cheese spread that we couldn't stop raving about. I was really eager to learn what it was, thinking we might pick some up before we left the country. I tried to ask if it was goat cheese, but our waiter just shook his head as if anyone should know what it was and said, "Phyllo Delphi." Shortly thereafter, the manager approached and asked, "You were wondering about the cheese, madam?" I said yes, and he called over our waiter, who brought the wrapper of the "local" delicacy: It was Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Erin Nathe, Carlsbad, Calif. Naked story number one My husband and I were on a cruise when, one night at about 2:30 a.m., he got up to go to the bathroom. I waited a couple of minutes and thought I might as well go, too. When I reached the bathroom, he wasn't there. I searched the cabin—even the closets and the balcony—but no Charlie. I couldn't imagine where he was. Then I heard a low voice calling, "Mary, Mary." I opened the hall door to find him locked out of our room. Not fully awake, he had gone into the hall and taken a few steps before realizing he wasn't in the bathroom. He didn't remember which cabin was ours and was afraid to knock on a door because he was stark naked. I told a friend about the incident later and said I was just glad nobody had seen him. She said, "You know they have security cameras in those halls." No wonder the cruise director kept smiling at us all week! Mary Keating, St. Marys, Ga. Naked story number two—must be a trend! After my husband and I checked in at a hotel in Baton Rouge, we went to our room. My husband entered first, and I heard him say, "Oh! Sorry, sir!" We had been given the key to someone else's room, and that someone else was already in bed. We settled into another room; then my husband went down to our car, and I decided to take a shower. As I was about to get in, I heard the room door. I peeked out of the bathroom, and there was a stranger! I don't know who was more surprised, him or me. He backed out of the room, and a few minutes later my husband came back and said he had a funny story. He had met a flustered-looking young man in the elevator and told him our story about walking in on a man in bed. The young man said, "I can beat that—I just walked in on a naked lady!" And I said to my husband, "I can beat that—I was the naked lady!" Denise Kerkhoff, Opelousas, La. A hands-on wedding planner My husband is from Casablanca, and I was excited to get married there. I don't speak Arabic or French, so his family arranged the wedding. My four dresses and jewelry were provided by a Moroccan wedding planner, who also helped me get ready. She motioned for me to undress and then sized me up as I stood there in my underwear. She took one look at my chest, shook her head disapprovingly, and immediately left the room and fetched two hand towels. Before I knew what was happening, she stuffed the towels into my bra, gave them a push upwards, and nodded with satisfaction at my new C cups. Maria Rachidi, Jersey City, N.J. With friends like you... A close friend had a destination wedding, and I played a trick on him as he and his fiancée were checking in at the airport: I arranged for a group of women to pretend they were his past flings and run over and beg him not to abandon them. Better yet, they had a bunch of small children with them. The women and children, of all ages and ethnic backgrounds, played the roles perfectly, mentioning his name and other details about him. "How can you leave your daughters and me?" asked one woman. Another chimed in, "You always said I was your only love." One child grabbed his leg and cried, "But, Daddy, it's my birthday next week! You promised you'd be there!" After a few minutes, the joke became apparent and everyone laughed. The check-in agents who saw the whole thing got such a kick out of it that their supervisor upgraded the bride and groom to business class! Conrad von Peterffy, Chicago, Ill. Because Londoners never yell I flew to London last summer, and the airline lost my luggage. The morning after my arrival, I went to a Starbucks near my hotel. My dad called my cell phone, and I told him my luggage woes as I ordered and walked back to the hotel. The more I talked about the missing bag, the more heated I became. When I hung up, I was in the lobby and glanced over at the concierge. "New Yorker?" he asked. Startled, I said, "Yes, how did you know?" "Americans drink Starbucks," he said. "New Yorkers drink Starbucks and yell on their cell phones." Kyra Vezina, Kings Park, N.Y. He hasn't aged a day On our trip to Rome, my parents, my boyfriend, and I were walking to the Vatican when my boyfriend pointed out a very retro hairdo. It looked just like Elvis's hair! I approached the man and learned that he was German and didn't speak much English. But when I said, "You look an awful lot like Elvis," he smiled and said with the King's drawl, "Thankyou...thankyouverymuch." It was one of our most memorable moments in Rome. Brenda Chavez, Cypress, Tex. They really should have thrown this catch back At dinner with two girlfriends one night on a recent trip to the Cinque Terre in Italy, I was horrified when the waiter set my dish down. I had opted for the "little fishes," an assortment of fried fish. One still had its head and fins, another looked like it had already been chomped on, and the last was some sort of eel-I could barely keep from gagging. A Belgian couple sitting at the next table couldn't stifle their laughter as I took a photo. Turns out that the woman had ordered the same dish and had been equally horrified. When we ran across the same couple the next day at lunch, the man looked at my spaghetti and said, "Much better than the fish, eh?" Allison Rumph, Houston, Tex. Hold on to your lunch! While visiting Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica, we decided to enjoy a day at the beach. My wife hung our beach bag packed with extra clothes and snacks from a nearby tree. In just a few minutes, the bag was gone, stolen by a troop of capuchin monkeys, who ran off out of sight. We later found our bag and clothes thrown away deep in the jungle, but our sandwiches were gone. The locals told us those monkeys are skilled sandwich thieves. Ronald Perez, Norwalk, Calif. No five-finger discount here I fell in love with the indigenous crafts in each city I visited in India. In Udaipur it was perfume, and I found a store with exquisite scents in camel-skin bottles. After sniffing and sampling, I chose several and asked the price. The man helping me answered, "1,200 rupees." I countered with 1,000, but he repeated, "1,200 rupees." I held up my hands and, pointing at my 10 fingers, said once again, "1,000 rupees." He held up his hands and said, "1,200." I shook my head and was about to count off finger by finger when I saw that the man had six perfect, manicured fingers on each hand. I paid the 1,200 rupees. Liz Berger, New York, N.Y.