|

Family-Friendly Rafting Trips on the Salmon River

Western River Expeditions will celebrate its 50th year in 2011. Founded by Colorado River rafting pioneer, Jack Currey, the outfitter quickly expanded beyond the Grand Canyon to the other great rivers in the West, heading north into Utah and Idaho. Next summer, the company will unveil a new adventure for families with children as young as five. Called the Salmon River Canyons Family Magic Trip, the five-day, four-night jaunt will include a River Jester, whose sole duty is to keep the kids happy, leading nature-oriented games and activities for the kids, cooking a separate kids dinner at night, and telling stories and singing songs around the campfire. The Class II-IV rapids are mostly on the mild side, well-suited for the youngins. Trips meet and end in Lewiston, Idaho, and cost $1,435 for adults, $1,245 for children ages 5 to 15.
 

Similar Posts

|

May Birdwatching at Mount Auburn

By the time my wife and I arrive at Cambridge’s Mount Auburn Cemetery at 6:30 am, the parking lot around the fountain is already full and minivans with birders from across New England are streaming in. We find a spot and stroll over to where we find our guide for the morning, Carol Decker, Director of Mass Audubon’s Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. As if on cue, a red-tailed hawk flies overhead while to our left, a vibrant Baltimore oriole sits on a branch, twig in beak. While I’m always thrilled to see a hawk, especially as a diversion from writing when the large bird rests on a branch outside my office window, it is the orioles, scarlet tanagers, vireos, and the queen of neotropical migrants, the warbler, that has coaxed us to leave our pillows prematurely and arrive at this Cambridge birding hotspot. Wintering in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, even South America, these enticing songbirds make their way north to New England and Canada to breed in the summer months. 
 
Mass Audubon schedules most of their spring walks at Mount Auburn the first two weeks of May, when the warbler migration reaches its peak. Anyone with a love of nature is urged to sign up, even a novice birder like myself. Sure I have a trusty pair of binoculars sitting next to me as I write, to savor that brightly yellow goldfinch when he inadvertently comes across my bird feeder, but I don’t memorize bird calls or carry a checklist. Perhaps that’s the reason why my wife and I found this outing last May to be so special. The colors on the backs and bellies of these birds were so spellbinding that I found it to be the aviary equivalent of going snorkeling in the Caribbean.
 
|

Modernism Comes to the Portland Museum of Art This Summer

William S. Paley (1901–1990), the media titan who built the CBS broadcasting empire, amassed an extraordinary collection of modern art. He also became the catalytic force behind The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which opened in 1929. When he died, he donated his entire collection to MoMA. Now MoMA is sharing 62 of those treasures with other art museums. The William S. Paley Collection: A Taste for Modernism, will be on view May 2 through September 8, 2013, at the Portland Museum of Art. Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Alberto Giacometti, and Francis Bacon, are among the 24 artists whose paintings, sculpture, and works on paper will grace the walls. The Portland Museum of Art is the only New England venue for this blockbuster show, which will then move on to Quebec City. 

 
Talking about Quebec City, I’ll be reporting live from the biggest Winter Carnival in the world next week, before traveling to Baie-Saint-Paul and Le Massif ski resort. So please return often! 
 
|

Successful Hotel Design: What’s the Winning Formula?

You could toss a Faberge egg from the new Four Seasons Hotel Moscow to Red Square, that’s how close the property is to the legendary landmark. Starwood Hotels just unveiled W Verbier in Switzerland and will debut W Bogota and a new St. Regis in Kuala Lumpur in the upcoming year. The ultra-modern Hilton Santa Fe Mexico City recently opened in the financial core of the city. New Langham Place properties will dot the Chinese map, from Guangzhou to Xiamen to Haining. And the late, great actor Marlon Brando’s dream of housing a sustainable property on his private French Polynesian isle of Tetiaroa will finally come to fruition this summer. 

With hundreds of hotels making their debut in 2014, the result of new construction and rebranding, one would think that all you need to do is put your sign on the building and turn on the electricity. Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth. A decision to build a new property is years in the making. Hoping that the striking new property balances form and functionality, hotel design is an organic process that continually evolves, before, during, and after the ribbon cutting. 
 
To read my entire story on successful hotel design in this month’s issue of Global Traveler, click here. 
 
|

Wine Tasting in Humboldt County

Humboldt County might be best known for its largest cash crop, but if you want to keep it legal, they’re also producing exceptional wine. We realized that over dinner last week at the Victorian Inn in Ferndale when we ordered a 2006 Briceland pinot noir. The fruit was lush with nice hints of cherry and pepper to cut down the tannins. Humboldt Wine Association is now home to 22 vineyards. One of the finest is Fieldbrook Winery, located just outside of Arcata. Owner Bob Hodgson, a former professor of oceanography at nearby Humboldt State University, has been making wine at his glorious country home since 1976. His wines have received their fair share of acclaim throughout the state, especially after winning the “Best of Show” at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. But you won’t find many of the 1000-1500 cases of wine he produces each year outside California. Hodgson wants to keep his merlots, pinot noirs, cabernets, and pinot grigios reasonably priced with more than one third of his wares going to a local wine club. 
 
|

Run the Alps All of August

With a fantastic network of trail and huts, and a long history and appreciation of running, Switzerland is a trail runner’s dream. Mountain runners have been weaving their way along alp paths for decades, and are practically exalted here. Few people know these trails better than Doug Mayer, founder of Run the Alps. Mayer wrote me last week, claiming he has designed his most epic trip yet, a month-long adventure in the Alps. The includes a guided run along Switzerland’s remarkable Hardergrat, a trail run along the route of the Tour du Mont-Blanc, and through the Swiss Berner Oberland. You’ll also go behind the scenes at two of the greatest trail races in the world, Sierre-Zinal and the UTMB, and, of course, spend necessary R&R time at classic mountain spas. No wonder Mayer is calling this the greatest trail running vacation ever. 

 
|

Cemetery Hopping in Boston

I spent the past week checking out two local cemeteries in Boston, Mount Auburn and Forest Hills, for a story I’m writing around Halloween for American Airlines’ in-flight magazine. Surprising as it might sound, many folks venture to these cemeteries not to remember a loved one, but to stroll under the towering trees, jog, bike, and bird watch. Created in the first half of the 19th century, these are America’s first garden or rural cemeteries, built with a landscaping aesthetic in mind. They became incredibly popular with locals who came to breathe in the fresh air and picnic on the grounds. In essence, they were the first urban parks in America, created 40 to 50 years before Central Park in New York and the Emerald Necklace in Boston. Today, wandering into these two cemeteries is like taking a walk in a Victorian-era estate, down shady paths, under centuries-old oaks, cypress, and beech trees, next to lily-pad laden ponds. At Mount Auburn, climb the steps of the Washington Tower for panoramic vistas of the city.

The next two weeks, I’ll be traveling in France and the UK and will not be doing my daily blog. However, if I feel inspired, I might sporadically write from the road. Hope you’re enjoying the summer and staying active!
 

One Comment

  1. I am a big fan of Copper River Wild Salmon season, especially the sockeye. I haven’t heard much about it this year, even at my Whole Foods which usually advertises it like crazy. Anyone know if it’s an off year? Thanks!

Leave a Reply