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Top 5 Mountain Climbs in the Northeast, Mt. Lafayette, New Hampshire

The strenuous climb up Mt. Lafayette is worthy of all accolades hikers bestow upon it.  With tumbling waterfalls, a steep ascent to three of the highest peaks in New England, and a 1.7-mile ridge walk where the spruce-studded White Mountains stand below you in a dizzying display of green, this very well could be the finest day hike in New England. 
   
Turn into the woods from the parking lot and I-93’s traffic is quickly replaced by the sounds of rushing water, compliments of a stream that accompanies you for a good mile and a half.  Three perfect falls swirl over smooth boulders to pools of water the color of gin, the ideal stop for a breather.  You’ll need your energy to get to the top of Little Haystack Mountain and the start of the Franconia Ridge Trail.  Part of the Appalachian Trail, this above-tree-line path offers a stunning panorama of New England’s highest summits, including Mount Washington.  Bag 5,108-foot Mount Lincoln and 5,249-foot Mount Lafayette before taking the Greenleaf Trail down the boulder littered slopes to AMC’s Greenleaf Hut. This deep-woods convenience store is great for lemonade refills before the trek back down. Or, better yet, grab a bunk and spend the night.
 

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Cruising Tahiti and French Polynesia with Paul Gauguin Cruises

French Polynesia will always hold a special place in my heart. It was here and other South Pacific locales like Fiji and the Cook Islands that I received my start in travel writing, penning stories for Rodale’s Scuba Diving and resort reviews for Bride’s Magazine. In 1994, Lisa and I went on a freighter cruise to the Marquesas Islands that still to this day is one of the highlights of my career in travel. But you don’t have to deliver food to the locals to savor French Polynesia. Go in style aboard the m/s Paul Gauguin, a luxury cruise ship that has been plying these waters for 20 years. The Gauguin is currently offering 50% off standard cruise fares, including airfare from Los Angeles. It’s only a 7-hour flight from LA to Tahiti, a mere two hours past Hawaii. Then you arrive in dreamy French Polynesia, where the emerald green mountains rise from the aquamarine waters. I’ve been all over Hawaii and the South Pacific and these are my favorite islands in the world, half of them deserted motus, specks of land surrounded by pristine white sand that are ideal for snorkeling and then walking the lonesome beach. Summer is the ideal time to visit French Polynesia, without the threat of cyclone. So if you’re considering a river cruise in Europe this year, maybe you want to head to the South Pacific instead. For the same price, you can follow in Paul Gauguin’s footsteps. Let ActiveTravels know and we’ll check pricing and availability. 

 
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May is the Month to Visit Ottawa

If you never had the chance to visit Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, then you’ve missed out on seeing North America’s only version of the Changing of the Guard ceremony, the morning ritual where dozens of red-coated soldiers with bearskin hats parade down city streets to the lawn of Parliament Hill. The best month to visit the city is in May during the Canadian Tulip Festival. From May 4-21, over three million tulips bloom in Ottawa. Visitors can sample food and entertainment from around the world at the International Pavilion, located near Commissioners Park, where 300,000 tulips bloom alone. Later in the month, Dutch tulips give way to a Dutch painter named Vincent Van Gogh. From May 25 to September 3, the National Gallery of Canada will present Van Gogh: Up Close, which explores the artist’s representation of nature. Visitors can marvel at 45 of Van Gogh’s paintings, including The Iris. Afterwards, reenergize with a BeaverTail. This wholewheat pastry, cooked in canola oil, and topped with a variety of savory toppings like chocolate, jam, pie filling, or cinnamon, is available year-round in Ottawa’s ByWard Market neighborhood. 
 
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Celebrate Labor Day Weekend at Vermont’s Wilburton Inn

Last time I stayed at the Wilburton Inn, I tried to belly dance, sang children’s songs in a big singalong, and learned about the history of conflict resolution from ancient Greek times to the present. No, Manchester’s Wilburton Inn is not your typical New England inn. Come here for a stay and you leave as part of the multi-talented Levis family. This is especially true on Labor Day Weekend, when the whole family joins in the festivities. It all starts with a Celebration of the Arts cocktail party on Friday night, September 1st, when southern Vermont’s leading artists schmooze with the patrons and the public. On Saturday morning, innkeeper and psychiatrist Dr. Albert Levis discusses how creativity is the best way to resolve conflicts as he takes you on a tour of sculptures on the Inn grounds. Things start to heat up that evening when Melissa Levis turns her year of 50 blind dates into a naughty cabaret with songs of love in the age of Tinder in "The Innkeeper’s Daughter." Brother Oliver Levis and his wife Bonnie, founders of Earth Sky Time Community Farm, host the 3rd annual Moonshine Music Festival on Sunday, September 2 at 6pm. Billy Wylder and Rootbrew perform, while organic pizza washed down with artisanal cocktails are served. The Boston Globe said it best when it noted: "This family is all inn."

 
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Five Favorite Adventures in the Caribbean, Sailing an America’s Cup Yacht in St. Martin

One of the most unique opportunities in the Caribbean is the chance to race aboard authentic America’s Cup yachts used in the actual competition. In the three-hour sailing fantasy camp called the Sint Maarten 12 Metre Challenge, you have the rare opportunity to step into Dennis Conner’s soft-soled shoes. After an introductory talk about the history of the America’s Cup, four captains choose teams and off you go to your respective boats. The boats include the winning Stars & Stripes yacht which Connor used in the 1987 America’s Cup in Fremantle, Australia; his back-up, Stars & Stripes ’86; and two Canadian yachts, Canada II and True North IV. Once aboard your boat, the captain designates crew assignments. You could be chosen to be a primary grinder (grinding a winch as fast as possible so that the foresail can change direction), timekeeper, or handler of the mainsheet or rope. Simulating the America’s Cup, you sail against one other yacht around a triangular course, about one-tenth the size of the actual race. Afterwards, you’ve earned your rum punch. 

 
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Great Food and Great Biking Can Only Mean a Phenomenal Time in Italy

One of the latest trends for active travel outfitters is to combine their specialty with a noted chef or sommelier. After all, what can be better than biking in Veneto, from the foot of the Dolomites to waters of the Adriatic Sea, and then having your dinner menu prepared by a James Beard-award winning chef? If that chef happens to be Jody Adams, owner of the beloved Rialto in Cambridge, Massachusetts, than you can expect the most tantalizing Italian ingredients in that dinner. Adams has teamed up with Vernon McClure, owner of Active Italy Tours, to create a customized biking trip through Veneto, stopping to find fresh produce and fish from the Rialto Market in Venice and wine from the Prosecco region. Dates are June 26-July 3 and September 25-October 2. If you can’t make it to Italy with Adams, do the next best thing and book a table at her new outdoor extension to Rialto, La Dolce Vita, set to open in Cambridge in mid-June.
 

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Stay at the Grafton Inn for $150 a Night in March

If you want to stay at a quintessential Vermont town, close to cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and downhill skiing, you might want to take advantage of the Grafton Inn’s latest deal. Pay just $150 for any room, any night at the inn, through the month of March. The price includes a full country breakfast and complimentary trail access to Grafton Ponds Outdoor Center. You must call the Grafton Inn to book this special: 800-843-1801. Online reservations will not apply. Never been to Grafton? Amble along Main Street past the Country Store, where I once spotted a sign posted outside asking if anyone’s seen a missing horse, and you swear you just stepped into a Currier and Ives painting. To the right is the red brick town hall, circa 1816, now home to the post office. Further up the road, past the white clapboard houses spewing smoke from their chimneys is the requisite white steeple. Across the street is the Old Tavern (now the Grafton Inn) , opened in 1801, and once the stagecoach stop on the ride from Boston to Montreal. Ulysses S. Grant spent a night here while campaigning for his presidency and Rudyard Kipling liked the locale so much he honeymooned at the hotel in 1892. For more information on Grafton, see the story I wrote for Preservation Magazine. 
 

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