ENDLESS SUMMER
Condé Nast Traveler US|July - August 2024
During a week of campfires, perch prepared every which way, caught-in-time Main Streets, and enough wakeboarding wipeouts to last an eternity, Ashlea Halpern learns to love the Minnesota lake life
Ashlea Halpern
ENDLESS SUMMER

I'M zooming across Gull Lake in a Malibu Wakesetter 22 LSV powerboat, which I've been told has enough torque to rocket me to the moon. The water is 77 degrees, warmed by a sun that just won't quit. Captain Amanda Nash and instructor Matt Soundy barely look old enough to drink, yet both are skilled wake surfers, excited to show me their Tik Tok moves. They're living the wet, hot American dream here in central Minnesota: zigzagging across six-foot swells, sucking down root beer floats, and partying every night after work. They re fun gossips too, pointing out the rumored lake homes of Tom Cruise and some med-tech bajillionaire who allegedly imported his own beach sand because the lake sand wasn't "white enough." I enjoy the chitchat, but I'm here to launch my own wakeboarding career—one of several ways I'm trying to embrace the "lake life" I've heard so much about since moving to Minnesota six years ago. The state is the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," as its license plates proudly attest, but as my New Yorker husband, Andrew, and I learned, that motto rounds the number down: There are actually 11,842, if you want to get persnickety about it.

After arriving in the Twin Cities, Andrew and I fell hard for their restaurants and diverse cultural tableaux, but I could never wrap my head around the singularly Minnesotan obsession with lakes and being in them, on them, and near them. I like lakes. They're nice. But bragging about your lake house or pontoon boat to somehow signal that you belong in a state? I didn't get that.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July - August 2024-Ausgabe von Condé Nast Traveler US.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July - August 2024-Ausgabe von Condé Nast Traveler US.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER USAlle anzeigen
The Brando
Condé Nast Traveler US

The Brando

THE STORY GOES that actor Marlon Brando first arrived on the 18-isle atoll of Tetiaroa by water-as in, he swam ashore.

time-read
1 min  |
January - February 2025
Jumeirah Burj AI Arab
Condé Nast Traveler US

Jumeirah Burj AI Arab

IF EVER THERE WAS a hotel that could achieve landmark status, it is Dubai's Jumeirah Burj AI Arab, which stands alone on its own purpose-built island just off Jumeirah Beach.

time-read
1 min  |
January - February 2025
Blackberry Farm
Condé Nast Traveler US

Blackberry Farm

BLACKBERRY FARM LOOMS in the consciousness of many travelers as an almost mythical Southern sanctuary in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, a place whose storybook perfection has to be experienced to be believed.

time-read
1 min  |
January - February 2025
Fogo Island Inn
Condé Nast Traveler US

Fogo Island Inn

THIS 29-ROOM MODERN CLASSIC in Newfoundland is a model for place-specific hospitality, dreamed up by founder Zita Cobb and built by Shorefast, a nonprofit that supports economic and cultural resilience on the hotel's namesake island and runs artist residencies in four isolated, incredibly photogenic studios.

time-read
1 min  |
January - February 2025
ALAN CUMMING on CROSSING THE ATLANTIC
Condé Nast Traveler US

ALAN CUMMING on CROSSING THE ATLANTIC

I went on Cunard's Queen Mary 2 for the first time in 2011.

time-read
1 min  |
January - February 2025
high life
Condé Nast Traveler US

high life

Italy's unfussy Dolomites are a place of cheerful communities, where simple chalets and good food can almost outshine the skiing

time-read
7 Minuten  |
January - February 2025
the possibility of an island
Condé Nast Traveler US

the possibility of an island

Cuba may be facing tough times, but the country's hoteliers, creators, and artists are forging a hopeful and beautiful way forward

time-read
9 Minuten  |
January - February 2025
in full bloom
Condé Nast Traveler US

in full bloom

Over the past three years, hotelier Fabrizio Ruspoli has turned an old olive farm south of Marrakech into the High Atlas's most intoxicating garden retreat

time-read
5 Minuten  |
January - February 2025
ALLIN
Condé Nast Traveler US

ALLIN

Fun has never been hard to come by in Las Vegas, but the arrival of pro sports, the Sphere, and lavish new hotels has upped the ante.

time-read
8 Minuten  |
January - February 2025
Forward March
Condé Nast Traveler US

Forward March

Across Kenya, community initiatives are protecting the country's wildlife and environment. By Mary Holland

time-read
3 Minuten  |
January - February 2025