5 Rural Retreats Worthy of a Detour

There’s a town in Virginia called Rural Retreat, just off the old Lee Highway in Wythe County. The population: 1,500, give or take. As a concept, getting away from it all has broader appeal. This fall, Canyon Ranch — a pioneer in wellness long before it was a marketing bonanza — will open a dedicated…

These Ingredients Deserve Your Attention

I used to think that paprika and parsley were just for show — nothing more than powdery red dashes on creamy deviled eggs, and verdant speckles breaking up the brown monotony of beef stew. Pretty, but expendable. I understood the herbal intensity of parsley when I tasted whole leaves mixed into a butter lettuce salad.…

A Missed Flight Leads to a Connection

Once upon a “magical airline ticket,” Brooke Watson and Nelson Madubuonwu made a connection that brought them to a special place in each other’s hearts. “Everything happens for a reason,” said Ms. Watson, a 28-year-old senior data scientist with the American Civil Liberties Union in New York. Ms. Watson and Mr. Madubuonwu, a 28-year-old product…

Should I Take Fish Oil?

In 1971, a team of Danish researchers found that an Inuit population in Greenland had lower cholesterol levels and incidence of heart disease than Danes and Inuits who lived in Denmark. A theory arose: The indigenous people’s high marine-fat diet gave them heart protections. Since then, fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids — the health-boosting…

The New Long Weekend

For most people, long weekends usually run from Friday to Sunday, a surge that often means higher travel costs. But what if we tinkered with the timing to reset the weekend as Saturday to Monday? Would we save money? Depending on where you go and stay, the answer is yes, from somewhat to substantially. The…