The Dispatch: A Berkshires Retreat, Universal’s Epic Theme Park, and an Idaho Teen’s Photo Mag
TK TK
The Dispatch is your monthly dose of travel news from the editors of Wildsam. This month we dig into a serene Berkshires retreat, Universal’s new theme park and a teenager’s all-film-photography magazine.
A New Berkshires Retreat
The rolling green hills of the Berkshires have been a marquee summering retreat since the late 1800s, when families from Boston, New York and Philadelphia fled for cooler climes. The history of literary tradition here is rich, too—Edith Wharton’s “The Mount” is in Lenox; W. E. B. Du Bois’ birthplace is in Great Barrington; Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick at “Arrowhead,” his Pittsfield respite.
Many of these historic “cottages”—this was, of course, a term for what are actually sprawling country estates—have been preserved as hotels or museums. But Prospect—a new lake resort freshly opened in May—was originally a picnic ground for summering families of yore. Now, the landscape is home to a collection of 49 year-round, hand-built cabins on 30 dreamlike acres—think lake and forest views from nearly every indoor space, Finnish-style saunas and restorative strolls through pollinator gardens and wooded hiking trails. Perfect for slow days of nature immersion worthy of the Transcendentalists.
Cliff House, an 1876-era relic set on a knoll, serves as the anchor space of Prospect’s grounds (and luckily for area visitors, is open to the public). Weekend breakfasts unfurl here, as do evening aperitivos; for the solitary, one wouldn’t have to go far to find a reading nook wrapped in lakeside splendor, too.
— Sam Alviani
Universal’s New Theme Park Is Pretty "Epic"
Orlando has added a new theme park to the fold. Universal’s 750-acre Epic Universe opened in May with five distinct “lands”: Celestial Park, Super Nintendo World, the Ministry of Magic, the Isle of Berk and Dark Universe. It’s the company’s most ambitious expansion to date, and a direct challenge to Disney’s decades-long hold on the region. The scale is vast, the worlds are immersive, and it seems like themes in play are diverse enough to garner the interest of at least one person in the family.
— H. Drew Blackburn
An Idaho Teenager's Awesome, All-Film-Photgraphy Travel Magazine
Bentley Zylstra, based in Sun Valley, Idaho, launched Revelry Collection, a travel magazine that’s refreshingly raw and cinematic. And get this—he’s just a teenager; he created the project as a high school senior. Shot entirely on film, Revelry is a high-end coffee-table compendium of gritty, unfiltered stories: think remote Montana road trips, wilderness in the Cascades and the far reaches of Scotland. Here's your invitation to slow down and gaze at moments worth framing.
— H. Drew Blackburn
