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My Favorite Restaurant in Vermont

Many people will make their way to Vermont this next month to see the fall foliage. While there, stop at one of my favorite restaurants just outside Woodstock, the Simon Pearce restaurant in Quechee. Simon Pearce is best known for his glassware and you can visit his store and see glassblowers at work downstairs in this former mill. But it’s the restaurant, with spectacular views of water tumbling down the rocks in front of a covered bridge, that brings me back almost every time I’m in the state. Reserve one of the tables near the window and get here on the early side for dinner, before it gets too dark, and you’re in for a treat. The food is secondary to the view and the sturdy glassware you’ll use, created by Simon Pearce.
 

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Warm Weather Getaways with a New England Connection

For the first time in its 80-year history, Yankee Magazine has ventured outside the borders of New England to focus on warm weather destinations this winter. Yet, to be fair, my story is only online and my editor insisted that the line-up of locales had to have some connection to New England. Whether it’s the youngest Vanderbilt brother escaping his siblings in Newport, Red Sox fans flocking to spring training, or New Englanders of yore forming new communities in the south and west, we’ve come up with a list that will hopefully inspire New Englanders to “keep it local.” Please tell me what you think. 

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Self-Guided Inn-to-Inn Bike Trips in New England

The rhododendrons are already in bloom and the yellow warblers just arrived at my birdfeeder in the Boston burbs. With temps hitting the mid-80s today, it’s time to break out the bike for a ride. For riders looking for a little inn-to-inn action this summer, it’s never been cheaper to bike in New England. Two outfitters, Bike the Whites in New Hampshire, and Country Inns Along the Trail in Vermont, are offering three days of riding for as low as $299 per person. What does that 300 bucks get you?  Detailed maps depending on you ability, from 20 to 80 miles a day, emergency roadside assistance, two nights lodging, two dinners, two breakfasts, and transport of your luggage from one inn to the next. Country Inns has rides in several of my favorite spots in Vermont, including Addison along Lake Champlain, where you spend the night at the Barsen House Inn. See the story I wrote on biking in this part of Vermont for The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine.
 

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Adventures in Madeira

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I like to promote small outfitters from each of their respective countries. After all, who knows their region of the world better than a local? That said, I just received an email from Jhonathan Rodrigues, owner of Adventure Kingdom on the island of Madeira. 35 miles long and 13 miles wide, Madeira is best known for its mountainous interior, with Pico Ruivo rising 6100 feet in the center. Cliffs plummet to the sea from towering heights, ravines are cut into rough and hewn terrain to form more than 40 canyons. Indeed, it’s one of the best locales on Earth to go canyoneering. Adventure Kingdom leads guided jaunts to do just that, along with trekking deep into the heart of the island, and, for the less intrepid, walking along the “Levadas,” irrigation channels built hundreds of years ago, now laced with footpaths.

 

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Top 5 Wildlife Viewing Experiences, Sitka, Alaska

Unlike Juneau and Ketchikan, where cruise ship passengers are quickly immersed in streets filled with jewelry, T-shirts, and other souvenir shops, Sitka has more of an authentic feel. Stroll through the totem poles found at Sitka National Historic Park to the Alaska Raptor Center. Every year, 100 to 200 birds of prey, including bald eagles, peregrine falcons, red-tail hawks and owls are brought to this large aviary hospital to rehabilitate. After your fill of town, splurge for the 3-hour Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest.  Not only will you view exquisite scenery like volcanic Mt. Edgecomb and the snowcapped peaks that rise dramatically from the shores of Redoubt Bay, but the abundance of marine life is astounding. Within moments of leaving the docks at Sitka, humpbacks raise their tales, followed by harbor seals, bald eagles standing in the tall spruces, a colony of more than 50 sea otters lounging in the kelp, puffins with their orange beaks, and sea lions.

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Family Fun with the Trustees of Reservations: First Stop, the Berkshires

 

One of our specialties at ActiveTravels is designing the Dream Day Itinerary for trips around the globe. With the independent traveler in mind, we create what we consider a perfect day of travel, including recreational activities, cultural or historical sites, recommended restaurants, and lodging. This week, we’re delighted to partner with the nonprofit conservation organization, The Trustees of Reservations, to link together a sampling of their 113 sites in Massachusetts. We’re going to break down 5 regions in the state and focus on family travel, including as many special summer events as possible. 

Today, we’re going to focus on the Berkshires. Heading south to north, start your day with a leisurely stroll along the Housatonic River at Bartholemew’s Cobble. Walk on the Ledges Trail and you’ll find the river snaking through dairy farms. The Trustees take full advantage of the Housatonic, offering guided canoe trips on designated Saturdays and Sundays in the summer. You’ll learn about the history of the area and be on the lookout for bald eagles flying overhead. If you love birds of prey, join wildlife rehabilitator Tom Ricardi this coming Saturday, June 27, from 10 am to noon, to view the hawks, owls, falcons, eagle and turkey vulture that he cares for. On Saturday, July 18th, from 10 am to noon, you can scour the forest and field for snakes, frogs and salamanders with a naturalist guide. Over Labor Day, sign up for the family campout at Bart’s Cobble and you’ll be treated to guided hikes, scavenger hunts, a search for owls, and, of course s’mores around the campfire. Also note that if you sign up for a Family Explorer Membership at Bart’s Cobble and 4 other Trustees sites (Crane Beach, Naumkeag, World’s End, and Long Point on Martha’s Vineyard), kids will receive an Elliott the Hermit Crab stuffed animal, a Get Out and Explore Booklet featuring 12 quests or scavenger hunts, cool tattoos, and more. 

A shot walk from Bart’s Cobble and you’ll find the circa-1735 Ashley House, the oldest house still standing in Berkshire County. Colonel Ashley was a judge and patriot who supplied iron and other supplies for the Revolutionary War effort. On tours on weekend days in summer, you’ll hear the story of Elizabeth Freeman, a slave of the Ashleys who sued her way to freedom. On Saturday, August 22nd, from 1-4:30 pm, come celebrate Elizabeth Freeman’s life with performances, an art exhibit, plus house tours. 

Heading north, stop at the trailhead to Monument Mountain on Route 7. No family trip to the Berkshires is complete without a 45-minute trek to the top of this 1,642-foot peak. The gradual climb on a path through hemlocks, oaks, beech, white pines, red maples, and birches leaves you at the top with vistas of Mt. Everett to the south and New York’s Taconic Range to the west. While hiking, tell the kids this is where the writer of Moby Dick, Herman Melville, first met the author of The House of Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne. The date of their hike was August 5, 1850.

A 15-minute drive from the base of Monument Mountain and you’ll reach one of the gems on the Trustees roster, Naumkeag. This 44-room Berkshires “Cottage” from the Gilded Age was designed by the renowned architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White. But it’s the gardens that you’ll want to roam, a landscaping marvel thanks to 28 years of collaborative work by former owner, Mabel Choate, and her dear friend, Fletcher Steele, one of America’s first modern landscape architects. Naumkeag is in the fourth and final phase of a $3.3 million renovation, currently mending the retaining wall and fixing the fountains of the elaborate Chinese Garden. In the meantime, walk the iconic Blue Steps, lined with newly planted birches. Then savor the gardens while dining on a picnic lunch brought to you by the Red Lion Inn’s Oak Café. 

Thursdays in summer at Naumkeag, from 11 am to 4 pm, feature lawn games in the gardens. Games include croquet, badminton, bocce and jumbo versions of classic tabletop games such as Checkers, Jenga and Connect Four. Also on Thursday, from 2 pm to 2:45 pm, is a house tour designed for children. Or head to Naumkeag for Watermelon Wednesdays, four Wednesdays in late July and August, from 4:30 pm to 6 pm, where you not only get to chomp into fresh watermelon, but watch live theater, music, and storytelling. On July 3rd, there will be a special Free Fun Friday at Naumkeag, where families can watch performances by BerkCirque and singer/storyteller John Porcino; create art, enjoy the lawn games, and take kid-friendly tours of the mansion.   

End your day in the Berkshires at the Williamstown property Yankee Magazine recently dubbed “Best Retro Lodging” in New England, The Guest House at Field Farm. Enter the Bauhaus-era home, now a 6-bedroom inn welcome to children 12 years of age and older, and you feel you just entered the set of Mad Men, season one. Views on the back porch overlook mighty Mount Greylock, the state’s tallest peak. The inn is set on 316 acres, perfect for viewing the night sky after a day of adventure. 

 

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San Antonio Week—It’s Fiesta Time

In 1891, the city of San Antonio held a single parade to honor Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and the other heroes of the Alamo and the battle of San Jacinto. Fiesta has since grown to an 11-day event in late April that features live music, art fairs, and a slew of parades including The Texas Cavaliers River Parade, which I’m headed to tonight. As soon as my flight landed yesterday in San Antonio, I took a taxi to Market Square, the largest mercado north of Mexico to take in the festivities with the crowds. There were bands playing, churros and funnel cakes cooking, and a frenzied crowd dancing and drinking margaritas and cervezas under the hot sun. I made my way to Mi Tierra, a beloved Mexican restaurant on the square since 1941. The line was an hour long, but since I was traveling solo, the woman at the desk told me to try and get a seat at the back counter. I found the last seat next to the mariachi band on break and ordered enchiladas with a sweet and spicy mole sauce. One bite and I was happy to be back in town. 

 
I’ll be blogging, tweeting, YouTubing, and Facebooking all week from San Antonio, introducing readers to everything happening in the city. So stick around and we’ll have a fiesta together! 
 

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