Ah, Hawaii. big surf, grass skirts, beaches aplenty, and now, wine. Just minutes from downtown Honolulu, among the palms and wild orchids, in a small, nondescript outdoor plaza overlooked by many visitors, Wine the Experience offers up something that’s unique even for locals: custom-made vino.

In the relaxed atmosphere of the tasting bar, guests choose a style of grape from a brochure featuring vines from around the world. After the grapes have been pressed and spiced with fruit, seasonings, and French or American oak to add color and taste, yeast is introduced to start the fermentation process. And in seven to eight weeks, the wine is ready. All the wines are aged in-house, fermenting in modern glass-lined barrels in a climate-controlled mixing lab. The unique batch, once bottled, lasts three to five years.

The shop’s welcoming design, with its dark mahogany woodwork and the warm, sun-splashed yellow walls of the tasting bar, lends it a homey, intimate atmosphere that evokes the Aloha Spirit, that laidback, friendly vibe for which Hawaii is so well known.

Wine enthusiasts who can’t wait out the fermentation process have other options. Wine the Experience uses more than 50 varietals of red, white, and dessert wines to create wine flights based on taste, region, and type. Selections range from the old-world wines of France, Italy, and Spain to varietals from Oregon, Argentina, and elsewhere. These wine flights help patrons distinguish which wines might mix well together, and you can opt to develop your own brew by playing alchemist with two or more wines.

Bottling, corking, foiling, and boxing the bottles are the final steps, but if you’d rather open a bottle, sit back, and enjoy it a while, that’s on the menu too. It’s Hawaii, after all.

When C. C. Graber moved west to Ontario, Calif. in 1892, he discovered olive trees growing hardily in the countryside. Franciscan missionaries had introduced them from Spain in 1769, and by Graber’s day the trees were a common sight on the ranches of Southern California. Today, the Graber Olive House — home to Graber’s olive business since he founded the company in 1894 — offers group tours of the warehouse and fields. Visitors can get a glimpse of how the fruit is grown, harvested, cured, and packaged. And perhaps more enticing than the pastoral setting and insightful history lesson, tour-goers can sample the finished product. graberolives.com — Andrew Eitelbach

Fans travel from all over the United States each year to attend the Utah Shakespearean Festival, where renditions of the famous playwright’s masterpieces come to life on stage. Taking place in Cedar City, Utah, two and a half hours northeast of Las Vegas, the festival has earned a Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater. Now in its 45th year, it draws an annual crowd of about 150,000 over the course of its summer and fall seasons. This year’s summer session runs from June 13 through August 30 and features Othello, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Taming of the Shrew. The festival’s 888-seat outdoor theater, modeled after the stages of Shakespeare’s time, will make any audience feel as if it were in the Globe, and the Greenshow, which precedes every performance, is a complete delight, with songs, dancing, storytelling, and even Elizabethan treats. Backstage tours and seminars highlight plays, props, costumes, and actors and make the festival a fully engaging experience. bard.org — Kalyn Belsha

Sake, the Japanese rice wine, reached great heights of popularity in the United States during the 20th century, but true aficionados know that nobody makes the beverage quite like the long-established Hakutsuru Sake Brewing Co. The company’s former kura, or brewery, in Kobe, only 50 minutes by train from Okayama in southern Japan, is now a unique museum. Tours cover two floors of the old factory, where aromas of straw and wood still linger in every room. Along the tour, short videos in English and Japanese explain the history of sake making, show the steps involved in the ancient process, and provide an education about the various ways sake is enjoyed. After the tour, visitors can head to the tasting room and decide for themselves if they prefer theirs hot, cold, sweet, or dry. hakutsuru-sake.com — K.B.

In 1903, William Harley and Arthur and Walter Davidson were experimenting with internal combustion engines. Attaching an engine to a bicycle, the men produced a prototypical motorbike that would later define the modern motorcycle. Their company name, Harley-Davidson, which was crudely scrawled onto their shed door, has become as ubiquitous and American as apple pie. Opening this summer near the Harley-Davidson Museum in downtown Milwaukee, the Iron Horse Hotel is the first luxury boutique hotel developed with America’s 20 million motorcycle enthusiasts in mind. Converted from a 100-year-old industrial-era warehouse, the Iron Horse features edgy but comfortable loft-style accommodations displaying exposed brick and beams. Each room is fitted with sturdy hooks, hangers, shelves, and racks where riders can store their threads. Motorcyclists can relax between rides while mingling with other bikers as they polish their hogs at the on-site bike wash or visit the museum, just a short walk away. Discriminating road warriors will be able to soothe stiff shoulders with a private massage or indulge in 24-hour room service courtesy of the Your Desires concierge service. theironhorsehotel.com — Karen Peláez

It’s easy to work up an appetite at the Balsams Grand Resort Hotel. And that’s a definite plus when you can tuck in at a dining room that’s ranked by the Condé Nast Gold List as one of the world’s best. Deep in the scenic White Mountains of northern New Hampshire, three and a half hours from Manchester, N.H., the Balsams offers a full range of activities year-round on its 15,000 acres, including tennis, golf, and unforgettable hiking and fishing, with spectacular views. When you’re ready to take a breather, grab your camera and head to the only officially designated Watchable Wildlife Corridor east of the Mississippi, where viewing stations on and near the Balsams property let you safely observe the local fauna in their natural habitat. If you’d rather see a mousse than a moose, the resort offers gourmet cooking classes and culinary and vintner’s weekends. The best way to enjoy the Balsams may be to combine the outdoor experience with some luxury: First, spend an active day in the clear New Hampshire air. Then savor a memorable meal, elegantly presented in a dining room that surrounds you with authentic Edwardian splendor, all in a gem of a building that’s included in the National Register of Historic Places. thebalsams.com — Karen English

Getting There: All the destinations covered in “Go Explore” can be reached by flying Continental Airlines. To book your vacation, contact Continental Airlines Vacations at covacations.com.