There are a lot of themed bars out there in the world – Ninja Akasaka in Tokyo and Trailer Park Lounge in Manhattan are just a couple of our favourites – but Fort Worth’s McFly’s Pub is the perfect blend of movie memories and good times.
Of course, there are a tonne of references to the 1980s sci-fi flick Back to the Future, including some great murals of Marty McFly and Doc Brown, loads of clocks, old suitcases that have been transformed into lights and the propellers from planes converted into ceiling fans. But there are plenty of other treasures, too, including a jukebox and decades-old arcade games.
The drinks list is also heavy on the nostalgia front, with most cocktails playing on the bar’s time-travelling movie ties. The Martini McFly is similar to an old-fashioned, but served in the appropriate glassware, and The Great Scotch is Johnny Walker Black, orange juice and syrup finished with limes and lemons.
Oh, and for those sunny Texas days, there’s also an expansive patio where you can kick back and remember the glory days.
Actor Christopher Lloyd, who played Doc Brown, sent owners Casey and Kelsey Smith a video message when they opened.
It started in Iceland, when a set designer and businessman bought a bikkie factory (Kex is the Icelandic word for biscuit) and transformed it into a cool hotel that’s as much for locals as travellers. Now, they’ve taken the concept to Oregon, making over a historic apartment building in the Central Eastside neighbourhood. Every design element is either vintage, handmade or has a story, which makes for a fantastically lived-in feel.
There are 29 rooms in all, both private and shared dorms. But it’s the little extras that are the big drawcard: Dóttir restaurant is a social hub, the library hosts music, and the sauna brings a touch of Reykjavik to Portland. This is Portland at its coolest, and just steps from Voodoo Doughnut.
We’d never lie about being outdoor types, but even the most hardy among us doesn’t mind a tiny slice of luxury when it’s on offer. Which is why we love Terramor Outdoor Resort, set on Mount Desert Island and next door to Acadia National Park in the US state of Maine.
There are 64 tents in five different layouts – each sleeping between two and five people – spread across the 25-hectare property. We think you can’t go past the Bayberry, with its comfy king bed, lovely bathroom, patio and private outdoor firepit. (If you’ve got a crowd, though, the Moosewood has two bedrooms.)
The Lodge is the heart of the resort where guests can settle in for a meal at the restaurant, order a picnic or kick back at the bar. You can also order everything you need and cook yourself at one of the outdoor barbecue areas.
There is no end of activities on offer at the resort, and you can choose to be as active and engaged with the other guests as you like. There are outdoor yoga classes, cooking demos, bird watching, star-gazing sessions and music around the campfire. Grab a kayak for a paddle, go fishing or borrow a bike to explore. There’s also plenty of hiking to be done. Acadia National Park has forests, wetland, coastal areas, islands and 150 lakes stretched across its 20,000 hectares.
The hard core can wake up in the dark and hike to the top of Cadillac Mountain to be the first to see the sun rise in North America.
If you’ve decided to test out Canada’s Powder Highway, this is your chance to get really close to it. Red Mountain Resort has 1,500 hectares of pristine skiing, with 119 gloriously uncrowded marked trails and plenty of backcountry if you’re looking for some extreme action. There’s even cat skiing – where you get a lift up Mt Kirkup on a snowcat to test new trails not accessible by chairlift – for those who want to try something different.
There’s a range of accommodation on offer, including hostels, apartments, lodges and boutique hotel The Josie, but new for the 2020/2021 season is Constella, a collection of six cabins in Paradise Basin. Book one for the night and you can wake at dawn and get straight on the slopes before the crowds arrive.
Each of the cosy cabins sleeps five and is serviced by the central Clubhouse, where you can have a meal, hang out in the bar by the fire and make plans with whoever else is there. You might also want to spend some time staring at the stars, which are so clear in the Kootenay sky.
The next morning, a light breakfast is served before you step straight out onto the snow and jump on the chairlift.
For a New York-style night out with the guys, the girls, a date or solo-dolo, visit the Blind Barber. Located across the street from Tompkins Square Park, it’s unlike anywhere else in the Lower East Side. The barbershop, featuring two chairs, is a front for a secret bar behind door number six. Entering this door transports you back to the Prohibition era and will have guests disappearing for a few hours into a true Manhattan nightlife experience.
Is it a place to get your beard groomed and your hair trimmed or is it a place to enjoy a cheeky beverage? It’s both! Kill two birds with one stone and look your best while indulging in one of Blind Barber’s cocktails. Try the Heathers, a blend of tequila, pineapple cordial, grapefruit cordial, saline, lime and soda. There are also delicious pizzas on the menu to complete the hip East Village experience.
At 65 years young this grand dame of a watering hole still courts plenty of attention. The only revolving bar in the city, Carousel purveys carefully crafted cocktails from its short but sweet (and sometimes sour) cocktail list. Local classic the Sazerac – featuring rye whiskey blended with bitters and lemon peel – has been Nola’s official cocktail since 2008 and is the obvious first port of call. But it’s not just the drinks that people flock here for: Carousel is a whimsical cross between fairground attraction and chic bar that has attracted literary legends such as Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and even features in their works.
Just 25 seats perch under the ornate, mirrored roof, so eager punters will need to hotfoot it to this popular French Quarter haunt early. And once you’ve staked your place at the bar and settled in for a long night of drams and chats there are (thankfully) bar bites on offer. Local favourites po’ boys, gumbo and beignets all line the menu, and later your stomach.
Planted in one of the country’s most conservative states it’s a wonder this downtown whiskey saloon ever came to be. Not only does High West pour a mean Old Fashioned, but it also produces the very Rendezvous Rye that goes into it. Yet there’s more: unsatisfied with merely flying in the face of draconian local liquor laws and winning numerous awards, High West also holds the mantle as the globe’s only ski-in distillery.
Pass under the original Wild West wooden facade with your cheeks still cold from the breath of the mountains, and emerge later among the snow-clad streets warm with the glow of aged Yippee Ki-Yay whiskey and its cinnamon spice notes. Or settle in for the night with a homemade chicken pot pie and a High West 101 whiskey flight, watching the snow flutter past the windows.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono: this twentieth-century rock star-peace power couple have never ceased to amaze the world. In 1969, the pyjama-clad newlyweds spent eight days in a peaceful bed-in protest against the Vietnam War in Suite 1742 of the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. It was here that Give Peace a Chance was also recorded. While the couple’s first bed-in – a room at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam – can still be visited, Suite 1742 in Montreal’s Fairmont has been reactualised for a truly immersive experience.
The two-bedder has the iconic song lyrics splashed across the walls, as well as an interactive cabinet installation packed with videos, images, podcasts, and a virtual reality experience which allows guests to view the room as Lennon and Ono did nearly 50 years ago. For those keen to bed down in a slice of rock star history, the suite will set you back a cool US$1650 per night.
Deep in the heart of Texas two Spanish engineers have delivered a venue that combines two of our greatest loves: beer and books. By day you can get a coffee here, but by night this cute bookstore bungalow turns into a bar. Browse the shelves, where you can find the work of plenty of local authors, order a tosta (a Spanish-style bruschetta topped with prosciutto or salmon) and a pint.
Local breweries Texas Ale Project, Peticolas and Four Corners are all represented. Then either flip through some pages or eye what the person sitting opposite is reading. On many evenings, you might also stumble across an event – movie screenings, readings, wine tastings, DJ sets and book signings are all on the agenda.
Trek around the edges of the prehistoric ice sheet that dominates the interior of Greenland – in fact more than 80 per cent of the country. Ice sheet is perhaps misleading: there are many ice mountains, frozen freshwater formations and fauna. This ice sheet represents 10 per cent of the world’s fresh water supplies and is 14 times the size of the UK. While in Greenland, be sure to see the Ilulissat Icefjord, an incredible natural sight. Sermeq Kujalleq is the largest glacier outside of Antarctica and the whole area has been listed as UNESCO World Heritage.
Now is the perfect time to trek around the glacier or see Ilulissat as a Nature Climate Change study has shown that the North Greenland Ice Sheet is melting at a rate of 10 billion tons of water per year since 2003 and shows no signs of letting up. What’s more, as the popularity of Greenland grows, you can see the Icefjord from many different ways – by boat, helicopter or foot, hiking around the edge of the glacier with experienced guides.
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