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TrSUNDAY, MARCHav 24, 2019 . SECTION eF l EZ EE

PHOTOS BY EVA RUSSO FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Philly’s also YOU’RE GOING WHERE? A deep the city of Springfield a∞nity for sisterly love Lincoln still looms large in Illinois’ capital city, but there are other draws — Thai diving including relics from Route 66 and only-in-Springfield fare like the horseshoe BY ANDREA SACHS BY ERIN E. WILLIAMS

Comics fans without super BY KATE SILVER Bobbing in the inky Andaman body-heating powers recently Sea miles from the Thai shore- braved a frosty night in Philadel- t’s been almost 10 years since I tried my first horseshoe — a hulking Springfield food line, I watched a crescent moon phia to attend a book club meet- assemblage that involves an open-face sandwich (it could be beef, a buffalo chicken emerge as twilight deepened. I ing at Amalgam Comics & Coffee- turned on my flashlight, peered house. The topic, “The Life of patty, portobello mushroom, fish or other protein or veggie option) topped with a at my husband, Andrew, and Captain Marvel,” was timely. mountain of fries and covered in Welsh rarebit (a.k.a. cheese) sauce. It was as made the most appropriate state- “Captain Marvel” was swooping ment for such circumstances: into movie theaters on March 8, Idecadent, delectable and nap-inducing as it sounds. That was my first time in Illinois’ “Big white rabbits are fluffy.” the same date as International No bunnies were floating with capital city, about 31/2 hours south of our Chicago home, past tallgrass prairies, towering Women’s Day in the same month us; this ridiculous phrase is a as Women’s History Month. grain silos and sprawling cornfields. It was also the first time I met, over those horseshoes, crucial mnemonic for the five The lone white guy in the pre- the beautiful soul who is now my mother-in-law. I’ve been back dozens of times since, steps of a dive buddy safety dominantly female group inter- check. rupted the discussion to share an accompanying my husband to his hometown. ¶ Those frequent visits mean ample Satisfied with each other’s observation. “I am going to as- opportunities to sink our teeth into the aforementioned horseshoe or, if we’re in the mood, buoyancy, weight, releases and sume that I am the only hetero- air, we gave each other the final sexual white male sitting in this a snack at Cozy Dog Drive In, which was once a Route 66 mainstay; to check out the famous okay and descended into the void room,” he said. butter cow at the Illinois State Fair; to pay a visit to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed beneath our fins. The moon dis- A quick scan of the shelves, appeared, then the lights from couches and cafe proved HWM Dana-Thomas House and to tour the former haunts of Abraham Lincoln, who lived in the boat faded as we dropped correct. In addition to Wonder Springfield for 24 years before becoming president, and about whom the town is into a world where darkness Woman, America, Molly Danger, swallows the coral, fish and sea Perdy, Harriet Tubman (the drag- understandably obsessed. A visit to Springfield is a chance to immerse yourself in history outside flashlight beams. on-slaying one) and Doctor and politics, explore Americana and try a few of the local specialties, which just might The Similan Islands are one of Aphra, the store’s owner, Ariell the world’s most famous diving Johnson, was also in the house. make you feel like you’re at a year-round fair. destinations. The protected wa- SEE PHILADELPHIA ON F5 SEE THAILAND ON F6 SEE SPRINGFIELD ON F3 THE NAVIGATOR TOP: The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library includes a “Ghosts of the Library” production, which GO HERE, NOT THERE What are your rights features a hologram of the 16th president. ABOVE LEFT: The State House Inn has been updated and is This Paris museum is 15 when you’re booked to fly centrally located. ABOVE RIGHT: James Bockmier checks out Springfield Vintage. minutes from the Louvre, on a grounded aircraft? F2 but a world apart. F2 F6 EZ EE THE WASHINGTON POST . SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019

Night and day, Thailand’s the one

THAILAND FROM F1 ters, in the Andaman Sea about 40 miles from Thailand’s west coast, contain abundant marine life including vibrant reefs and larger pelagic animals that live in the open sea, and we had two days to explore it all. The overnighter was part of an independent trip to the Anda- man, where we used our ad- vanced scuba certification to dive 11 times in three national parks: Mu Ko Lanta, Hat Chao Mai and Mu Ko Similan, the last lying west of resort villages ravaged by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. On a drizzly November morn- ing, Andrew and I departed on a speedboat from a dive shop on Ko Lanta, an Andaman island about 45 miles southeast of Phuket. Four dive staffers and nine other divers joined us on the hour-long ride to Ko Rok Nok, one of Thailand’s top dive sites. The island and its sister isle, Ko Rok Nai, reside within 51-square- mile Mu Ko Lanta National Park. Except for the rangers who stay on Ko Rok Nai, the two islands CHINA are uninhabited. INDIA Pacific From the back of the boat, I Ocean watched Ko Lanta’s jungle-clad hills disappear. Flying fish leaped Indian from our wake and crashed back Ocean Detail INDONESIA into the water. 2,000 MILES AUSTRALIA “Don’t forget to look into the deep blue,” our guide Non said as Bangkok Andaman we pulled on our wet suits, Sea reminding us to watch for the Andaman Islands MYANMAR occasional Manta Ray and whale INDIA shark. “And if you look into a barrel sponge, you might see a Similan National surprise,” he added cryptically. Park THAILAND I had last scuba dived more Nicobar than a year before, so plunging Islands Phuket underwater felt a bit unfamiliar. INDIA But on our first dive, I lasted Banda S Aceh tr about an hour; because of the S a MALAYSIA u it m o warm water and gentle current, I 200 MILES a f t M didn’t consume much air. I lazily r al a ac drifted past colorful sea slugs Indian ca clinging to rocks, clownfish nes- Ocean INDONESIA tled in anemones and lionfish THE WASHINGTON POST patrolling their territories with spikes sticking out like porcu- pines. “The water was so clear, I felt PHOTOS BY ERIN E. WILLIAMS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST If you go like I was flying,” Andrew said as CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Ko Kradan is a serene, jungled island in WHERE TO STAY we floated on the surface. the Andaman Sea off the coast of Thailand that houses a half-dozen Moonlight Exotic Bay Resort For lunch, we disembarked on small, off-the-grid resorts. A captain steers his dive boat away from 69 Moo 8, Klong Tob, Ko Lanta a powdery white beach at the Ko Waen, an islet in Hat Chao Mai National Park. Dive equipment 011-66-75-662-590 narrow channel that runs be- sits ready on a boat in the Similan Islands. tween Ko Rok Nok and Ko Rok moonlight-resort.com Nai. We ate green curry where Beachfront resort with swimming hermit crabs left crisscrossed pools, a restaurant and bar. tracks in the sand. Massage and yoga are available. Back under on our second around monkeys that refused to guide Note, the captain and three Rooms from about $86. dive, I scanned the open water move from the center of the road. divers from Italy and Germany Sevenseas Resort abutting the reef. A faint shape Thailand has nearly 150 na- picked us up from the beach in emerged, growing more distinct tional parks. In 1990, Mu Ko front of our resort. The group 221 Moo 2, Ko Kradan as it approached. A sea turtle — Lanta National Park became its made room for us in the tradi- 011-66-82-490-2442 one that swam so close that I saw 62nd. In the park’s main head- tional Southeast Asian vessel sevenseasresorts.com each of the scales on its face. quarters building I browsed edu- that resembles a wide gondola From a coral similar to a barrel cational displays, including a dis- with a long, propeller-tipped Boat-accessible resort on a small, sponge, with a three-foot open- concerting collection of plastic shaft. quiet island. Has a swimming ing, my surprise glared at me garbage that had washed up on I counted three dozen islands pool, restaurant, bar and spa. indignantly: a huge moray curled beaches. We lounged on a light- dotting the horizon on our way to Rooms from about $14, including up like a snake. house-crowned beach, walked a Ko Waen, a nearby islet that is breakfast. Our next Mu Ko Lanta Nation- small section of coastal trails that part of Hat Chao Mai National watching a series of tourist-shot sand. The Leaf on the Sands al Park excursion was land- wind through the rainforest and Park, which encompasses nearly cellphone videos that chronicled Hundreds of garden eels rose 40 Moo 6, Kukkak, Takuapa based. Andrew and I rented a watched monkeys enjoying the 90 square miles in Thailand’s the catastrophe that killed about like reeds from the sea floor, motorized scooter to reach park view where the jungle met the southwestern corner. a quarter-million people in sev- snapping backward into their 011-66-76-428-842 headquarters at the southern tip sea. Our long-tail boat plowed eral countries. burrows as I passed. A foot-long, theleafresort.com/onthesands of Ko Lanta. Leaving behind the Three days later, Andrew and I through the water like a heavy “My husband was swept out Technicolor mantis shrimp Budget resort in Khao Lak, with a controlled street chaos of beachy boarded a speedboat to Ko Kra- wooden toboggan. During our with the third wave,” a Thai waved its claws on a coral pinna- pool and restaurant. Rooms from tourist areas, we puttered along dan, a serene, jungled island that pre-dive briefing, Note pointed museum employee said as she cle. An octopus changed colors as about $111, including breakfast. the increasingly jungled roads houses a half-dozen small, off- out a first-aid kit — “in case you helped me pinpoint our hotel on I approached, perhaps annoyed near the park. Dipping down a the-grid resorts. get bitten by a shark,” he joked — a wall map that outlined the that its hidy-hole beneath a rock precipitous hill, we swerved A long-tail boat carrying our before warning everyone that tsunami’s inland reach. wasn’t fooling anybody. WHAT TO DO touching any marine life is dan- My eyes began to well up with For the rest of our day, we Dive and Relax gerous for both divers and the tears, and I could only stammer settled into a typical dive-boat 223 Moo 2, Saladan, Ko Lanta fragile ecosystem. how sorry I was. rhythm: dive, eat, repeat, with an We stopped under Ko Waen’s “Oh no, he’s fine,” she said. occasional snooze on the top 011-66-84-842-2191 Vacation Rentals, Inns, rocky cliffs that shot straight up “Eventually he made it back to deck when I tore myself away diveandrelax.com from the sea. I sat on the side of shore and met me. That’s him from the curry and infinite view A PADI five-star dive shop offering the boat and somersaulted back- right there.” She pointed to a man of island, sea and sky. snorkeling, dive classes and trips ward into the water. There were puttering around in the corner of Our night dive began at sun- with small groups. Two-tank day Lodges & Villas no sharks, but I found a (nearly) the room. set. Andrew and I completed our trips from about $99 per person, perfectly camouflaged pink ston- Andrew and I were silent dur- safety check and sank 10, 20, 30, including lunch. 18-0394-02 efish resting on the coral. It had a ing the walk back to our hotel. 40 feet. Near the bottom, the NORTH CAROLINA WEST VIRGINIA comically grouchy face, but ston- The next morning, we boarded darkness was total. I swept my Pro Scuba Diving Service efish — the world’s most venom- a motorboat at a marina near flashlight around, illuminating Sevenseas Resort ous — are no joke. Khao Lak and rode 90 minutes to eerie coral and ghostly creatures 011-66-81-476-9913 ESCAPE TO Back aboard, we ate lunch and Mu Ko Similan National Park, that stared at me incredulously THE WOODS! took turns cannonballing off the where we transferred to our dive before darting away. proscubadivingservice.com WV getaways, only 90 miles from DC. 36 side of the boat. boat, the South Siam 3. Huge tuna flashed in and out Dive shop with two locations holes of Golf, Spa, Swimming, Tennis, more. 800-248-2222 or www.TheWoods.com As I descended for the second Established in 1982, the park of my beam. A sleeping boxfish offering classes and dive trips. dive, supersized schools of fish encompasses 54 square miles, draped like a noodle over a coral Two-tank day trips from about $91 parted like a river running including the Similan archipela- branch. A hovering cuttlefish jet- per person. around rocks. We swam single- go and more than 25 dive sites. ted away when I pointed it out to Sunrise Divers Inns,Lodges file through a cave, our flash- Phuket and Khao Lak scuba my divemates. lights illuminating rocky out- shops offer day trips and longer We turned off our flashlights, 269/24 Patak Rd., Karon Beach, & Villas croppings. I squeezed through liveaboards to beginning and ad- suspended in complete darkness. Phuket runs in the exit and looked up along a vanced divers. I wiggled my hands in front of my 011-66-76-398-040 Award-Winning wall of coral that rose 40 feet to Our 100-foot boat slept 28 face. Tiny silver explosions sunrise-divers.com Travel Section the surface. Animals inhabited people, but only 12 guests joined trailed my fingers: sparkling phy- every nook and cranny. the mostly Thai crew. We were toplankton. I heard a loud grind- A PADI five-star dive shop offering Recipient of Gold Medal in 2012 classes, day and overnight dive VIRGINIA Named TOP large-circulation Travel The night before departing for seven overnighters and five day- ing as boulders jostled each other Section by Society of American Travel our Similan Islands stay, Andrew trippers who would head back to in the underwater current. trips and longer liveaboards to the Shenandoah Valley Writers Foundation and I slept in Khao Lak, a coastal shore after the first two dives. “Watch for orange reflections,” Similan Islands and other Luray Caverns Skyline * LIMITED TIME OFFER * resort village about 45 miles Our daybook was packed with Martina had said during our destinations. Two-tank day trips Drive Packages north of Phuket. Many of the four dives with our German briefing. I trained my light on the from about $176 per person. Double Ad Size @ No Extra Cost Mimslyn Inn, Speakeasy hotels, restaurants and shops are guide Martina. The following reef. Dozens of lights — eye shine Seven-tank overnight trips from Restaurant Run 5 Sundays for new, built during the area’s re- day, we would dive three more from shrimp and lobsters — $43 per person, including food. Early Spring Special as little as $363! covery from the tsunami’s devas- times before returning to the winked at me. www.mimslyninn.com Reach more than 1.5 million metro tation. Several sobering remind- mainland. Behind my face mask, I winked 540-743-5105 market adults every Sunday! ers include a police boat that We entered the water at Ko back. INFORMATION To advertise, call Mon-Fri: washed up far inland, a memori- Bangu (also called Island 9), the dnp.go.th/index_eng.asp al and a few museums. main archipelago’s northern [email protected] E.W. Home delivery makes good sense. 202-334-6200 Our tuk-tuk driver deposited point. As we dropped into the 1-800-753-POST [email protected] us at a tiny, private museum. We water, the reef below became Williams is a writer based in Nevada. SF joined a half-dozen Europeans perfectly clear, an oasis in a sea of Her website is erinewilliams.com.