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Chasing Icebergs in Newfoundland

Some of us chase after the morning train to get to work. The more indulgent will chase down that shot of bourbon with a pint of Guinness. And the truly intrepid? They follow Ed English as he chases icebergs. Come May, it’s not unusual for villages on the east coast of Newfoundland to wake up to a mountain of electric blue ice the size of a 15-story building.  The icebergs calve from the glaciers of western Greenland and begin a slow 1900-mile journey south with the Labrador Current on a route dubbed Iceberg Alley. English, co-owner of Explore Newfoundland, takes sea kayakers up to Quirpoon Island, the northernmost point of Newfoundland, to get as close as possible to the huge crystalline structures before they float away. An added bonus are the pods of humpback, minke, and occasional beluga whales who feed in Iceberg Alley as they make their way north. 
 


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April Newsletter Now Available at ActiveTravels.com

Besides being on call when mishaps happen and earning the chance to win free hotel stays, another integral part of an ActiveTravels membership is our monthly newsletter. These stories are not the usual travel fluff you see in magazines. They’re first-hand insightful commentary curated from over 20 years of being a travel writer. Or a topical news peg like an intriguing new resort that comes across our desk. Since we started ActiveTravels, we have been churning out these monthly newsletters hoping to inspire your travels. One of our long-term goals was to categorize each of our headings, so you can have this library of information at your fingertips. We’re happy to report that it’s now available on our website. Simply type in your password and you’ll find more than 15 Quick Escapes, ideal for a weekend getaway. Or check out our main feature, “News from the Road,” which tackles one region at a time, like the Greek Isles, Kenya, French Polynesia, or the Canadian Rockies. 

 
Hopefully, we inspired you to travel this month with our feature story in the April issue on Bermuda, hotels we recommend in Prague, a Quick Escape to Portsmouth, and a new website that allows you to reserve flights for extended periods of time without full payment. 
 
Happy Travels!
 
Steve and Lisa 
 
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Newly Renovated Ten Acres Lodge Offers Affordable Lodging in Stowe

Perched on a quiet hillside just down the road from Trapp Family Lodge, Ten Acres Lodge always had a fabulous spot in Stowe. Now they have a passionate owner to match their stellar locale. Linda Hunter has quickly made a name for herself in town, opening a bistro that’s winning kudos from locals like Vermont PR maven, Emily Bradbury. Now Hunter has her sites set on the rooms, renovating tired interiors into stylish and comfortable getaways. She’s having a soft opening right now. Tell her I sent you.

 
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A Wonderful Week at The Basin Harbor Club

To celebrate my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday, my wife’s family headed to the Basin Harbor Club last week. And what a spectacular week it was! 127 years after Ardelia Beach started taking in summer boarders at her 225-acre working farm on the shores of Lake Champlain, the club’s fourth-generation hosts, siblings Bob and Pennie Beach, are proving that a family business can prosper over time. It helps that they have one of the premier locales on the lake, 740 acres overlooking one of the narrowest parts of Champlain. We did it all—golf, tennis, sail, sea kayak, stand-up paddleboard, swim to the trampoline, and my favorite activity of all, biking. Basin Harbor Club is based in Addison Valley, one of the most fertile parts of the state, where around every bend is a dairy farm, rolled hay, a carpet of emerald green, views of the lake, and the Adirondack and Green Mountains forming a ridge of peaks on either side of you. 

 
Basin Harbor Club is perfect for multi-generation family reunions, because everyone can do what they want during the day and meet for dinner that evening. The food was surprisingly good for a property that offers all-inclusive rates. A highlight was the lobster clambake on the shores of the lake while the sun was setting. Magical! The following day, we danced to a live band playing Nat King Cole favorites as we celebrated my 16th birthday (at least that’s what it said in the daily newsletter). Not surprisingly, many families book the same cottage for the same week the following year before they leave. No doubt, we’ll be joining them. 
 
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Lark Hotels Holiday Pop-Up Shop on Newbury Street December 13-18

I’m busy this week writing about the latest properties to open in New England for Yankee Magazine. Two of those boutique hotels, Blue on Plum Island and Gilded in Newport, are managed by Lark Hotels, the collection that is quickly expanding around the region. Learn about all their properties including Hotel Salem, which is slated to open next summer in Salem’s Newmark building, at a pop-up on Boston’s Newbury Street. You’ll also have the chance to purchase Lark Hotels’ deluxe sheet sets and hand-selected items from LATHER, Lark’s exclusive bath amenities partner. The pop-up is located at The Shop, 144 Newbury Street, on the corner of Dartmouth Street. 

 
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The Ocean Edge Resort Takes Advantage of its Waterfront Setting

With six pools, a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, tennis courts, and bike paths that connect easily to the 22-mile long Cape Cod Rail Trail, the Ocean Edge Resort offers its guests more than enough outdoor activity. Yet, I’m most excited about the resort’s latest partnership with Cape Cod Museum of Natural History to go on naturalist-led walks on the mud flats of Bay Pines Beach. Throughout the summer, you’ll explore Cape Cod Bay at low tide, searching for clams, crabs, sea cucumbers, and other marine life. The beachcombing is appropriate for ages 5 and up and they don’t need to dress up like SpongeBob. Though it might help find other critters.
 

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October is Cranberry Harvest Season in Massachusetts

The Cranberry Harvest Celebration at Makepeace Farms in Wareham, an hour south of Boston near the Sagamore Bridge to Cape Cod, might be over, but it’s still a great time to visit the bogs of Massachusetts during harvest time. We brought a journalist from Cape Town to the region last Thursday and were mesmerized by the men working waist-deep in the flooded cranberries colored a brilliant red. A.D. Makepeace Company is the world’s largest cranberry grower, a founding member of the Ocean Spray co-op, and the largest private property owner in Massachusetts. Cranberries have been cultivated in this part of the world for approximately 200 years. The temperate climate is perfect for growing cranberries with warm days in summer and cold nights in autumn. We watched as workers culled and then vacuumed up the cranberries into a truck that heads to a nearby Ocean Spray processing plant to make cranberry juice, cranberry sauce, and craisins. The harvest continues until mid-November and A.D. Makepeace is offering one last guided tour of its bog this Saturday, October 29th, at 9 am. Afterwards, stop by Tihonet Village for sandwiches and salads, chocolate-covered cranberries, and treats from their bakery like tasty cranberry macaroons. I grabbed a pint of fresh cranberries after a worker told me how to make homemade cranberry liqueur with equal amounts of cranberries, sugar, and vodka. I’ll tell you how it turns out. 

 

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