Ian-ravaged Sanibel Island was an antidote to Florida development

One of the most riveting images of Hurricane Ian's devastation came from a place that has worked to keep bulldozers away from Florida's natural treasures. Ian wiped away parts of Sanibel Causeway, the only link between the mainland and Sanibel Island. The causeway leads to a place of charming isolation, where people go for shelling and officials work to keep away retail franchises. The Sanibel of today "really came to be because of the foresight of people in the 1970s who were alarmed by the rapid development in construction in Florida and barrier islands," said Jack Davis, a University of Florida professor of environmental history. He hopes Sanibel's natural barriers and conservation land may have protected it from even worse. "It will be interesting to see if we learn any lessons from this or if we continue to do things the old way."

Tampa Bay Times

Delta Air Lines has resumed its nonstop service from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Seoul, a route suspended throughout the pandemic. The 12-or-13-hour jaunt on a flagship Airbus A350-900 is the longest flight out of MSP, and marks the airport's 25th international destination out of 30 to return. Nonstop service from MSP to Tokyo is tentatively scheduled for March, but the pre-pandemic route to Shanghai remains up in the air. On its website, Delta touted January fares to Seoul for $1,947 in Main Cabin, or 126,500 SkyMiles with an $88 fee. The lowest we found was $1,677 in Basic Economy. If you're willing to forgo the nice nonstop, we also found winter/spring Seoul fares under $900 via Air Canada.

Simon Peter Groebner

If you haven't booked your Thanksgiving or Christmas flights, the Vacationer suggests you do so soon. "With travel rapidly recovering, the 2022 holiday season is looking to be extremely busy, with many people flying for the first time in a few years," the travel website wrote. You should book Thanksgiving travel by Halloween, the site recommends. For Christmas, you should purchase tickets no later than Thanksgiving. But what days should you travel? The Vacationer says you want to depart on Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving, or on Thanksgiving Day itself. Avoid Wednesday — tickets cost more, airports are crowded and the experience can be stressful. If possible, fly back on Black Friday, or wait until Monday or Tuesday to travel.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Stanley Kubrick's 1980 take on Stephen King's "The Shining" — inspired by King's creepy stay at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colo. — contains a disturbing scene in which Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) enters the fictional Overlook Hotel's accursed Room 237 and its color-saturated, midcentury-modern bathroom. There he finds a silent, naked woman in a bathtub. It doesn't end well. But now guests of the hotel's "Shining"-related tours can step into that bathroom for themselves. The space is part of a larger renovation that "commemorates both the hotel's real and fictional history." The restoration is now part of "Caretaker's Cottage/The Shining Suite," an hourlong theatrical experience ($30, ages 8 and up, reserve at thestanleyhotel.thundertix.com).

Denver Post

Plan your fall getaway around a family hiking adventure. The full length of Minnesota's Kekekabic Trail, or the Kek as it is known to hikers, winds almost 40 miles from Snowbank Road, east of Ely, through the heart of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, to the famed Gunflint Trail, west of Grand Marais. Take on a family-sized slice of this wild trail to experience rocky outcroppings, pristine lakes, scenic bluffs and eagles soaring overhead. Listen for the rich yodeling of resident loons in the distance (kek.org).

FamilyTravel.com