In 1911, as American historian Hiram Bingham combed southern Peru for the Inca city of Vilcabamba, an 11-year-old Quechua boy led him to an old citadel perched high above the Urubamba Valley. Its stone structures, standing for almost 500 years, were grown over with vegetation; some were even inhabited by the local people. But Bingham had inadvertently stumbled upon a treasure—one he would introduce to the outside world as The Lost City of the Incas.
A few years ago, if someone had asked me what I knew about Uruguay, I wouldn’t have had a whole lot to say. I might have remembered that its national soccer team won the first World Cup back in 1930. I would have guessed (incorrectly, as it turns out) that it shares a border with Paraguay. And I probably would have ventured that it’s a country with a rich gaucho heritage—an accidental correct answer, since I was really thinking of neighboring Argentina.
In 2009, the food-loving fans of Bravo’s hit cooking competition, Top Chef, were given a gift. For the first time in Top Chef history, the cast of 17 chefs included two brothers, Maryland natives Bryan and Michael Voltaggio. It made for riveting television—two brothers blessed with visionary talent, outperforming their competitors until they were the last two men standing before the judges’ table.
As the 2012 presidential campaign finally came to an end this week, so concluded an election season that for two years had locked Americans into a fierce partisan divide. Thus, it’s little wonder that I find myself in desperate need of someplace tranquil. Someplace quiet. Someplace neutral, perhaps.
A few years back, I had my first experience as a solo traveler. After deciding to make a career switch, I was in need of a new adventure—and a new place in which to find some inspiration. Enter Midcoast Maine, the rocky stretch of coastline between Brunswick (the home of Bowdoin College) and the quaint towns of Rockland, Camden, Belfast, and Bucksport.
The Long Weekender 