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London aquarium shows Christmas movies to penguins to keep them entertained during lockdown

While preparing for the return of visitors post-lockdown, penguins at the Sea Life London Aquarium have been watching Christmas movies to get the sensory stimulation they need to remain healthy.

The gentoo penguins at Sea Life London Aquarium haven’t seen humans in over a month due to the lockdowns in the UK and the travel restrictions, so staff have been sitting them in front of movies like Elf and other Christmas classics to keep them entertained.

Aquarist Leah Pettitt said in a statement, “At Sea Life London Aquarium, we are always looking for new and innovative ways to keep all our creatures entertained and engaged, as part of our enrichment processes […] It’s great to see how much our gentoo penguins are enjoying the Christmas movies we’ve put on for them.”

The team at Sea Life has been playing the Christmas movies on a giant screen outside the penguin enclosure, and the penguins seem to be enjoying it.

The aquarium reopened its doors on Monday, December 2, however, so now the penguins can have the best of both worlds.

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Tolkien's house up for sale

Sir Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, is promoting a crowdfunding campaign to purchase the home of LOTR author J.R.R. Tolkien in Oxford, England.

The campaign, called Project Northmoor, was created by author Julia Golding to preserve the house for future generations, and use it to create a center devoted to Tolkien. The project seeks to raise $6 million in three months for the home’s preservation.

The six-bedroom house was Tolkien’s home from 1930 until 1947 and is believed to be where he wrote much of The Hobbit and LOTR books.

Martin Freeman, who played Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit trilogy, and John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in LOTR, are also backing the venture. In a video posted on Twitter, Mckellen, Freeman, and other actors from the films backed the project.

Unlike other writers of his stature, there is no centre devoted to J.R.R. Tolkien anywhere in the world. Yet. @ProjNorthmoor https://t.co/pzMg8Yk2t2 pic.twitter.com/jx2r5MVbcw

— Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) December 2, 2020

“We cannot achieve this without the support of the worldwide community of Tolkien fans, our fellowship of funders,” McKellen said.

Golding acknowledged the challenge of raising the money, but struck an optimistic note. “We need only to look at Frodo and Sam’s journey from Rivendell to Mount Doom,” she said, “which took that same amount of time — and we are inspired that we can do this too.”

You can learn more about Project Northmoor and donate online.

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Positive sustainability news

This is The Climate Win, the most positive sustainability news around the world every week.

In the 1800s, upward of 50 million bison roamed the plains, prairies, and high country of the United States. These bison had sustained Indigenous populations for thousands of years and played a vital role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem across the central and western parts of the country. We’re not going to dive into a full history lesson here, but for reasons including sport and to weaken Native populations, bison were slaughtered in mass numbers in the ensuing years. By 1884, only 325 bison were left across the country.

Conservation efforts were launched coming into the 20th century, including the first bison preserve in Cache, OK, which opened in 1907. By 1910, the bison population had grown to 1,000. Fast forward to 2017, and that number reached half a million. Yellowstone National Park alone has more than 5,000 bison today. This is a far cry from 200 years ago, and to be sure, the fate of the bison is an American tragedy. But thanks to our nation’s extensive system of public lands and a dedicated team of conservationists, scientists, and other activists, the bison — and additional species threatened by everything from a changing climate to habitat loss — are getting a breath of fresh air on the Great Plains.

Photo: Dennis Linghor/American Prairie Reserve

The American Prairie Reserve, located in Montana, is a unique concept seeking to increase habitat for prairie wildlife. In partnership with National Geographic’s Last Wild Places initiative, the reserve is — at its simplest — a bound collection of land seeking to protect the diversity of plant and animal life on the Great Plains.

The model of the American Prairie Reserve is unique. As a nonprofit organization, the reserve exists to obtain and preserve parcels of land adjacent to or near public lands in Montana’s Glaciated Plains. Once a piece of land is acquired, the organization works with federal and state agencies to optimize its use for wildlife and plant life, connecting it to the area’s extensive public lands to broaden the corridor of protected spaces. Essentially, the American Prairie Reserve is returning the land to its original purpose, with an ultimate goal of protecting a space larger than Yellowstone and Glacier national parks — combined — for flora and fauna that have called the plains home since long before Europeans arrived in North America.

For Montana residents and visitors, this includes the chance to get out and enjoy the prairie. The land is publicly accessible for outdoor recreation, including permitted hunting. “Our objective for all visitors, whether they are bird watchers, hikers, mountain bikers or hunters, is to create richer and more satisfying outdoor experiences as wildlife populations in the region continue to increase,” said American Prairie Reserve CEO Alison Fox in a press release.

As a result of its efforts, the biodiversity of the region is on the rise. The bison herd has grown to more than 800 on the reserve, with the long-term goal to reach 10,000. The scale is slowly being tipped back toward environmental justice for Indigenous communities that have long depended on a diverse ecosystem to survive. And the bison, well, they benefit too.

More climate wins

A study released in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that the Clean Air Act, authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, is estimated to have saved the lives of 1.5 billion birds. This finding marks a greater impact than originally known, leading co-author Ivan Rudik to note that, “Reducing pollution has positive impacts in unexpected places and provides an additional policy lever for conservation efforts.”

President-elect Joe Biden named John Kerry the country’s first Climate Envoy, giving him the task of bringing climate action to the National Security Council. Also on the policy front, General Motors pulled its support for President Trump’s efforts to keep California from setting its own vehicle emissions standards.

Vail Resorts, which operates 37 mountain resorts worldwide, announced this week that it will be 93 percent renewable-powered by 2023, thanks to two major renewable energy projects in the US. Those are the Plum Creek Wind Project in Nebraska and the Elektron Solar Project in Utah. Additionally, the company announced that it has reached a 50 percent waste diversion goal by reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills while growing both composting and recycling.

“Across the company, it has been an inspiration to watch our employees stay focused on achieving our sustainability goals while working hard to keep our guests and each other safe,” said Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz.

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Arctic foxes reunite after a year

2020 has been a year of separation. We’ve all found ourselves, to some degree, separated from those we love, forced to wait patiently (or impatiently) for a reunion. The same story is true in the animal kingdom, although the antagonist is the weather rather than a pandemic. The new BBC series Stormborn follows a dog fox living on the northwest coast of Iceland as he waits for his mate to return to him.

Photo: BBC

He hasn’t seen her since autumn when the harsh winter weather drove them apart, and he waits anxiously to see if she’s survived the cold. Arctic foxes mate for life, reuniting with each other every year. They’re not tempted by others they may encounter during the interim periods, and remain loyal to their partners.

Photo: BBC

Eventually — spoiler alert — the vixen does appear on the shoreline and they share a heartwarming moment before forging into the snow together. After mating, the pair must turn to finding food and a suitable den. The series follows them as they search for shelter and eventually, raise a litter of pups.

Other animals are also spotlighted in the series, including an otter mother in the Shetland Isles raising her twin cubs. The show is available online, but can only be viewed if you live in the UK.

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What is a ‘Christmas star’?

“A Christmas Star” might sound like the name of a really bad Hallmark movie, but it’s a real astronomical phenomenon, and it’ll appear in the night sky this month.

When Jupiter and Saturn align so closely in the night sky that they appear to collide, creating a point of light, it’s called a “Christmas star” or “star of Bethlehem.” It hasn’t happened since March 4, 1226, but lucky for us it’s happening this year on December 21.

The nickname “Christmas star” comes from the belief that the “star of Bethlehem” in the story of the three wise men was nothing more than the scenic and rare alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus.

Patrick Hartigan, astronomer at Rice University in Texas, told Forbes, “Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare because of how close the planets will appear to be to one another.”

The event technically occurs every 19 to 20 years, but this is the closest the planets will look to us from Earth since the 13th century. To see it, look toward the southwest about 45 minutes after sunset on December 21. It will also be visible for about one hour after sunset in the northern hemisphere for the whole fourth week of December.

The next occurrence of such an alignment isn’t expected to take place until 2080.

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What to do in Banff for non-skiers

Banff, both the town and the surrounding national park in the Canadian province of Alberta, see more than four million visitors each year. Most of those visitors, though, never see snow on the facade of Cascade Mountain. Banff is better in the winter, in part because of the legendary slopes but also because it’s jaw-droppingly beautiful and quite tranquil to boot. You don’t have to be a skier to have a memorable trip to Banff in winter. There’s plenty to do, plenty to see, and more than enough mountain peaks to crane your neck at while aiming for the perfect photo. Here’s the breakdown, including where to rest your head afterward.

Editor’s note: Some restaurants and attractions may be closed or operating on reduced schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hit the museum and hot springs.

Photo: Adam Hinchliffe/Shutterstock

The Bow Valley has been home to the Stoney Nakoda, Blackfoot, Tsuut’ina, Ktunaxa, Secwépemc, Dene, and Mountain Cree First Nations as well as the Métis, for thousands of years. Among the ways to honor the original inhabitants of the land you are on is to visit the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, which celebrates First Nations history in the area by preserving historical artifacts and knowledge. The museum features art exhibits, crafts, First Nations relics and information, and celebrates the history of Banff and the Canadian Rockies in everything from transportation and industry to tourism and mountaineering.

The museum is a perfect pre- or post-town stroll activity. Walking through downtown Banff, you’ll see shops including outdoor gear staples like Helly Hanson and Patagonia and more localized options like Atmosphere Canada and House of Angelica.

Regardless of your activities of choice in and around town, relax at the Banff Upper Hot Springs. Located mountainside and away from central Banff, the towering peaks surrounding you look surprisingly calm from the springs and thermal waters of the spa. You can even save yourself the hassle of driving into the high country by taking public transit from the Banff town center.

Spend at least one day at Lake Louise.

Photo: Cody Gregory/Shutterstock

Lake Louise is worthy of an entire day. First, there’s the lake itself, at which you can rent a pair of ice skates for a casual skate or even a game of pond hockey with your mates. Check out the ice sculptures, watch the on-ice scene develop into what is basically a full-on village over the course of the day, and see who among your crew can take the best photo of themselves with the Devil’s Thumb, Pope’s Peak, and Mt. Victoria, across the provincial border with British Columbia, in the background. Whether or not you win, note this key bit of information: Each of you just took a photo of two Canadian provinces at the same time.

The most unique on-lake activity is curling, but not the type you’d expect on a frozen body of water in the Canadian Rockies. The preferred method of the sport practiced here is called Eisstockschießen. Call it Bavarian Curling, for short. If you’ve ever played Bocci Ball, this low-key rendition of Canada’s second most popular sport is essentially a frozen version that’s harder to do with a drink in your hand. Rent a setup from the iconic Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and test your skills at sliding a puck across the ice towards a target. Afterward, warm up with a cocktail or hot chocolate from the hotel’s on-ice bar (if open) or at the adjacent Lakeview Lounge.

And then there’s the snowshoeing. Fairview Mountain, just south of the lake, and the forested terrain around it are lined with snowshoe trails that can take you as far into the backcountry as you want to go. Banff Adventures offers snowshoe rentals and info on local trails and conditions.

Hang out with the animals.

Photo: Melissa Barnard/Shutterstock

Whether or not you know the difference between a sled and a sleigh, there’s something about a horse-drawn sleigh ride that conjures the ultimate in mid-winters’ satisfaction. For 42 Canadian dollars ($32) per person, Banff Tours will tow you through the meadows painted white while you do your best to snap photos of the rocky peaks while not spilling the hot chocolate from your thermos. Package options include a sleigh ride combined with a gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain or an ice walk through Grotto Canyon. Oh, and to clarify: a sled becomes a sleigh only when pulled by a horse.

The more Canadian thing to do is to sign up for a dog sledding tour. Multiple outfitters including Kingmik Dog Sled Tours and Snowy Owl Sled Dog Tours run regular routes through the high country starting at about $250 CAD ($193). Tours take guests through the mountains surrounding Lake Louise and often include a visit to the Columbia Icefield, as close as you can get to touching a glacier. If you thought you were stoked the last time you skied a few inches of fresh powder, wait until you see the faces of these dogs as they plow through the snow with their buddies by their side. The best things in life really are that simple.

Let loose during apres-whatever.

Photo: Three Bears Brewery & Restaurant/Facebook

It’s not every day you get to crack open a cold one or sip a hot cocktail inside a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Banff provides that opportunity and doesn’t take it lightly. Pull up a stool at Park Distillery Restaurant and Bar, Banff’s only distillery restaurant. The distillery makes everything from vodka to gin, but it’s the Rye whiskey that is most deserving of a straight pour after a day on the slopes. The kitchen makes a wicked rotisserie chicken that’s better with the gravy. Bourbon or whiskey drinkers can dive even deeper at Alpine Social inside the Fairmont Chateau. More than three dozen varieties are on offer including many Canadian whiskeys, along with mountain dishes such as a wild game pot pie. A modern mountain town isn’t so without local beer. Three Bears Brewing fills that charge with gusto, with the Summit Stout or Happy Trails Pale Ale ideal for a post-adventure toast.

Stay in (mountain) style.

Photo: LindsaySmithPhoto/Shutterstock

Of course, there are the legendary Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and Fairmont Banff Springs (known as “The Castle” for its Harry Potter-esque look and vibe), both of which offer complete luxury experiences to include dining, gear rentals, tour booking, and even on-site boutiques. But you don’t have to go high-end to stay comfortably in Banff. Have a more stripped-down resort experience at the Banff Park Lodge, with rooms starting around $85. For a classic but chic mountain town hotel experience, try the Elk & Avenue Hotel, which starts at just over $100 per night. Or go the bed and breakfast route at the Blue Mountain Lodge, about $75 per night. No matter where you stay, the sloped face of Cascade Mountain gazes over you from up high, making it impossible to not know where you are the second you step outside in the morning.

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First Black Marines history

The Mercedes belonging to John Lee Spencer didn’t seem to concern itself with actual “roads.” It bounced over the uneven lawn between Highway 17 and the LeJeune Memorial Gardens in Jacksonville, North Carolina, like an angry humvee, running the opposite direction of oncoming traffic. When it finally jerked to a stop on the grass in front of the Montford Point Marine Memorial, the window slid down, and a patch of silver hair popped out.

“I went down there to the end, but the gate was closed,” the 92-year-old World War II veteran said. “So I had to go back.”

His version of “going back” would get most people, at best, a hefty traffic violation. At worst, most people would be investigated by the Department of Homeland Security. But when the memorial you’re illegally off-roading toward was erected in your honor, people tend to let things slide.

John Lee Spencer isn’t just a World War II veteran. He is also one of the few remaining Montford Point Marines, which was the group that broke the Marine Corps color barrier in the early 1940s. And though their story is a great one, it is somehow an often overlooked part of American history.

The Marine Corps was a whites-only institution for more than 150 years.

I served in the Marine Corps in the early 2000s, and I’d always thought of it as a place that felt truly color blind. It wasn’t a kumbaya, buy-the-world-a-Coke harmony by any stretch, but more like the scene in Full Metal Jacket where the sadistic drill instructor rattles off a long list of racial slurs and finishes by saying, “There is no racial bigotry here … You are all equally worthless.”

But this was not always the case.

The Marine Corps has been around since 1775, but it didn’t admit any Black recruits until 1941. That year, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order outlawing racial discrimination in the military. Then-Commandant Thomas Holcomb (the highest-ranking Marine Corps officer) made his feelings on the matter known at the time, saying publicly, “If it were a question of having a Marine Corps of 5,000 whites or 250,000 negroes, I’d rather have the whites.”

This was the Marine Corps that the Montford Point Marines elected to join.

Photo: Visit Jacksonville NC

Undeterred, they began their training in a fully segregated boot camp at Montford Point near Jacksonville, North Carolina. White recruits still trained at Parris Island, South Carolina, and San Diego, California, but Spencer insists training at Montford Point was tougher.

“It was hell on Earth,” Spencer says while seated in front of the memorial, which stands outside of the former site of the Black boot camp. “It degraded you completely.”

The first set of recruits had to build many of Montford Point’s facilities in addition to completing their regular basic training. Because there were no Black Marines, all of the drill instructors were white, and many weren’t especially thrilled at the prospect of allowing Black people into the Corps. Black Marines were never allowed on base without a white Marine escort. And because Black recruits weren’t permitted to ride through town, they had to get on boats at 4 AM and travel to the rifle range over water rather than the more direct route by land.

“We had it hard,” Spencer remembers. “We had harder training than any of them. We had to prove that we could stand up to all the white Marines. But we survived because we was used to the segregation. All those demons from down South, it wasn’t nothing new to us.”

Spencer is from North Carolina’s outer banks and maintains that had he and his fellow recruits been sent to train with their white counterparts, they never would have survived.

“The Marine Corps was one of the most prejudiced, bigoted outfits in the world,” he says. “And training at Parris Island, you were in the middle of the Klu Klux Klan. There would have been a war or revolution — we’d have never survived. They had to put us somewhere you could prove yourself, by yourself.”

The first Black Marines had to fight harder, prove more

Photo: Montford Point Memorial Project/Facebook

Spencer, and over 20,000 other Black recruits, proved themselves up to the task. Still, the Marine Corps initially wouldn’t let Black Marines fight on the front lines.

“Primarily, they were ammo carriers,” Houston Shinal, a member of the National Montford Point Marines Association, tells me as he tours me around the memorial. “They’d bring ammo to the white Marines on the front line. But at some point, the [Gunnery Sergeant] is gonna say, ‘Pick up a rifle and fill that hole,’ which is how they ended up fighting in World War II.”

He points to a map on the Montford Point Memorial to all of the places the Marines who trained here fought. Most locations were in the Pacific, including Guadalcanal where Spencer had been. Also at the memorial stands a bronze statue of a Black Marine charging up a hill, rifle in hand. An ammo can sits at the base of his feet.

“It was always an uphill struggle for them to stay in the Marine Corps,” Shinal says.

After the war, the struggle didn’t end. Spencer, like many Black service members, faced the harsh realities of racism and segregation after returning home — including in the Marine Corps, which didn’t integrate its units until 1948.

“It dawned on us that it hadn’t changed all that much,” Spencer says. “But a lot of us died for the freedom of the United States, so we felt we should have just as much rights as anybody. Enemies that you’d been fighting against — German prisoners, the Japanese — they could ride in the front. We had to ride in the back. So it made you kind of wonder, why’d you do it?”

A search for the lost Marines and a fitting memorial

Photo: Visit Jacksonville NC

That bitter taste of resentment, along with a Navy yard fire that destroyed many of Montford Point’s records, is a big reason why the story of these groundbreaking Marines gets glossed over. Many Montford Point veterans just don’t want to talk about it.

“A lot of the Montford Pointers did not have a great time,” Shinal says. “To their families, they’d say ‘Marine Corps,’ and they’d wave their hand off, and that would be the extent of the conversation.”

With the help of the City of Jacksonville, the Montford Point Marine Association — a sort of Alumni club of Montford Pointers that’s now open to anyone who’s served — set out to find them.

“Many of these guys, they came back and didn’t tell anyone they were in the service,” says Jacksonville’s assistant city manager Glenn Hagger. “There are a lot of African American family reunions that occur in July. We put out a campaign that said, ‘If you’re gathering with family, ask your grandfather if he served in the Marines.’ And we got a surge in reports that went and called the Montford Point Marine Association after that.”

To date, they’ve identified about 20,000 people, but Shinal admits the record is incomplete.

In 2008, the association began to design and fundraise for a memorial to honor the men who broke the Marine Corps color barrier. They commissioned architect Liam Wright, whose uncle had been a Montford Pointer, to design the memorial. Recognition was starting to come in elsewhere, too. The Montford Point Marines were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2011. In 2016, the Montford Point Marines Memorial was dedicated. It’s the only memorial in the gardens fully visible from the highway.

Photo: Visit Jacksonville NC

The memorial consists of three concentric circles, which represent the Montford Point Marines, the Marine Corps, and society. The first is a restored, 90-mm M1A1 anti-aircraft gun, which the association found online from a collector in Tennessee. It represents the gun that combat units from Montford Point used in World War II.

The second circle is the statue of the Marine advancing uphill with an ammo can at his feet. It’s representative of Black Marines’ transition from support staff to combat fighters. It’s also inscribed with a map of all the places the Montford Point Marines fought, and the words, “They Arrived. They Served. They Lived.”

Photo: Visit Jacksonville NC

The third circle contains a bench and several trees intended for reflection and meditation. It represents the continued struggle of war and segregation that Marines found when they returned home.

All the circles intersect in the middle of the Memorial, which, Shinal tells me, is the overlying message of the project.

“The only place that any change took place was where all the circles crossed,” he says. “Those folks where the circles cross had enough communication and worked hard enough at it that change happened.”

A wall of 20,000 stars sits outside the circles, which represent the 20,000 or so men who trained here between 1942 and 1948. If you look closely at the bottom of the wall, you’ll see a few rows of stars rotated in a different angle than the rest. They are almost impossible to notice.

“That symbolizes that once you put Marines all in formation, you can’t tell one from the other,” Shinal says. “The differences become insignificant once you look at the whole.”

Every August 26, it hosts an anniversary celebration where as many surviving Montford Pointers as possible return. According to Hagger, there’s not a dry eye in the house.

A legacy that continues today

Photo: Visit Jacksonville NC

Montford Point was renamed Camp Johnson in 1974, after Sgt. Major Gilbert “Hashmark” Johnson, who was the first African American Marine to earn that rank. Since then, generations of Marines, like myself, have trained at the Combat Service Support Schools now located on the camp. Few, if any, know its role in American history. Aside from instances like a platoon sergeant casually saying, “This used to be the Black boot camp,” when we passed the entrance to the Montford Point Museum, it was never mentioned.

Today, the memorial is open to the public, and it’s one of the more striking features of this coastal Carolina base town. While it would be easy to zip through on a road trip to the Outer Banks or down to Wrightsville Beach, it’s worth a stop to understand how close we are to an era the Marine Corps would like to forget. And how, thanks to men like John Lee Spencer and his devil-may-care Mercedes, no one will ever again forget the Marines of Montford Point.

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CDC reduced quarantine time

Since March, the 14-day quarantine has been the rule. Now the CDC is revising that guideline and saying a 10-day quarantine might be all that’s necessary.

According to the new guidelines, if the person has no symptoms then a 10-day quarantine is required, and if they’ve tested negative for COVID-19, a seven-day quarantine should be observed. This revision isn’t a permission slip to be reckless after the quarantine is over, however. People should still monitor their symptoms after quarantine and exercise caution.

“Ending quarantine after 10 days without a negative test has about a 1% risk of spreading the virus, based on CDC models. A seven-day quarantine with a negative test has about a 5% chance of COVID-19 spread,” Travel and Leisure reported.

Dr. Henry Walke, the CDC’s incident manager for COVID-19 response, said in a press conference on December 2, “I want to stress that we are sharing these options with public health agencies across the country so that they can determine how long quarantine periods should last in their jurisdictions based on local conditions and needs. Everyone should follow the specific guidance from their local public health authorities about how long they should quarantine.”

Shortening the quarantine length is an attempt to make the rules less daunting and thereby encourage more people to actually participate. The CDC is hopeful that it “may make it easier for people to take this critical public health action by reducing the economic hardship associated with a longer period.”

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Ireland shortened its quarantine

Traveling to Ireland is about to get a bit easier, as long as you can show evidence of a negative COVID-19 test.

Previously, travelers from non-EU/EEA countries and those coming from the “orange,” “red,” or “gray” regions of Europe had to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, but as of November 29, that quarantine length has been shortened to five days if you can show a negative test result.

According to the Irish government’s updated COVD-19 travel policy, “This [14-day] period of restricted movement can end if you receive a negative result of a PCR test that has been taken a minimum of five days after your arrival in Ireland. You should wait for your negative test result to be returned before ending the period of restricted movements.”

The quarantine could last longer than five days, of course, depending on how long it takes to receive your test result. If you’re arriving in Ireland from overseas, you’ll also be required to fill out a passenger locator form online to help with contact tracing.

It’s important to note that availability of testing can’t be guaranteed upon arrival, so it’s advisable to make an appointment for a test in advance. The test result must be provided by the test provider to the HSE public health department for verification, and only PCR tests are considered admissible.

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House from 'The Undoing' on Airbnb

Fans of “The Undoing” will be delighted to hear that you can now rent the Fraser home from the HBO mini-series on Airbnb. Just steps from the beach and only two hours from New York City in East Marion, New York, this three-acre house is the perfect house for a seaside escape.

Photo: Airbnb

The house has six bedrooms, a large kitchen, a dining table that seats 14, great ocean views, four bathrooms, a loft with a TV and Wi-Fi, four porches, a swimming pool, a large backyard, and, best of all, 300 feet of private beach. In this era of staycations, when traveling far from home is no easy feat, it’s the ideal escape for families who live in the Northeast.

Photo: Airbnb

According to the listing, “This super romantic six-bedroom house was originally built as a coast guard life saving station in 1893. It has been beautifully renovated, and furnished with vintage furniture, to maintain its classic farmhouse charm, but with many modern conveniences. This is a family house, used by its owners throughout the year and lovingly lived in.”

Photo: Airbnb

It’s available for booking now, but between mid-June and mid-September there’s a minimum stay of one week.

It’s not cheap, however. A night at the Fraser house will set you back $1,085.

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