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Toronto, Lasting Impressions

Back in snowy Boston, but here’s a short list of things I enjoyed most about Toronto last week. Favorite dishes were the smoke trout at Keriwa Café, roasted Caesar salad at Strada 241, the duck egg at Café Boulud, gambas al ajillo (grilled shrimp, garlic, parsley, and lemon) at Patria, the classic peameal bacon sandwich at Carousel Bakery in the St. Lawrence Market, the perfectly rendered Georgian Banks whitefish at Ursa, and David Chow’s chocolate bar at Stock. AGO is always a treat, especially seeing the Diego and Frida show. But don’t miss the new Ryerson Image Centre, a gem of a museum on the Ryerson University campus. Terminus, only playing for one more week at the Royal Alexandra, was riveting theater. I can’t wait to return to Cabaret and the downstairs Kingpin to find more vintage wear. Lastly, it was so pleasant to fly in and out of the city on Porter Airlines. With leather seats, lots of legroom, free treats and newspapers at Toronto’s city airport, it made flying a treat. 

 

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Another Relaxing Day on the Schooner Mary Day

We wake up to blinding sunshine at Buck’s Harbor in South Brooksville, best known as the spot where children’s book author and illustrator Robert McCloskey (“Make Way for Ducklings,” “Blueberries for Sal”) summered. FDR would also stop here on his way to Campobello Island for a short ice cream break. We found some of those famous wild Maine blueberries in our pancakes that morning before hoisting the sails and setting a course for that hump atop Big Spruce Island. Each one of these Penobscot Bay harbors and islands has a legacy and Big Spruce Island is no different. This is the place where artist Fairfield Porter and his brother, photographer Eliot Porter, would spend their summers and there’s still a working artists’ community on the island today.

We sailed close to an 8-knot clip passing a gray seal who popped his head out of the water like a periscope, stocky razorbill auks, and more porpoises. Pulpit Harbor on North Haven was far too congested for Captain Barry so we continued on to Islesboro, the ridge of mountains on the mainland not far off. We anchored in a placid harbor where there were no other boats. 
       “What do you call this place?” I asked Captain Barry. 
       “Snug, beautiful harbor,” he said.
       “You’re not going to tell me the real name, are you?”
        “Nope,” Captain Barry said. Then he reached for his guitar and started to sing a Woody Guthrie tune as we watched another magical sunset. 
 
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What’s New at Vermont’s Ski Resorts

Vermont has been blessed with a deluge of late fall snow, creating excellent early ski season conditions. For example, Jay Peak already has a depth of 44 inches with all of their ski trails open already. And at Killington, Stowe, and Sugarbush, more than half of the trails are already open, so don’t hesitate to hit the trails now. The big news out of Vermont this off-season was Tim and Diane Mueller’s sale of Okemo to Vail Resorts, so Okemo is now part of the Epic Pass. They join Stowe in Vermont, which this season will introduce on-mountain "Kids Adventure Zones." These well-signed areas will give kids the opportunity to easily access gentle freestyle terrain. Mount Snow will be debuting its brand new $22M Carinthia Base Lodge, located right at the base of Carinthia Terrain Park. Lastly, Sugarbush will be celebrating its 60th anniversary this ski season with fun events planned throughout the year. If you need help with lodging and restaurant selections and exciting off-mountain activities, we’re here to help at ActiveTravels!

 

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Mountain Bike Bluff Point State Park, Groton, Connecticut

Mountain biking at the beach might sound like a contradiction, but at Bluff Point State Park in Groton, Connecticut, there’s a dirt road along the Poquonnock River that leads straight to the Long Island Sound. There, you’ll find picturesque Bluff Point Beach, which juts out to rugged Bushy Point. Numerous tracks spread out from the main trail like spokes on a wheel; choose one and ramble along the shores or go inland to see remnants of the John Winthrop house dating from the early 1700s. Even better, head up to the bluffs and look south across the waters to Fishers Island in New York, east to Watch Hill in Rhode Island, or west to New London in Connecticut.
 
Next week, I’m excited to be blogging live from Acadia National Park as I preview their 100th anniversary celebration next year. I’ll be hiking, biking, sea kayaking, and sailing, while discussing some of my favorite off-the-beaten-track locales. So please stay tuned and also follow me on Twitter @ActiveTravels. 
 
Have a fun Labor Day Weekend and, as always, keep active!
 
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Keep Up the Speed

This seems rather intuitive but researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have found a correlation between walking at a brisk pace and living longer. Studying data from nine studies involving some 35,000 people, they found that only 35 percent of the slowest walking 75 year-old women made it to their 85th birthday. Males did even worse, with only 19 percent of slowest walking men reaching 85.  Bottom line: try your best to maintain a good brisk pace throughout life.
 

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Maine Winter Carnival Debuts in January

Based on the highly successful Carnaval de Quebec in Quebec City, Portland, Maine will be unveiling Carnaval Maine January 30-February 1. Most of the events will be taking place on the Eastern Promenade, including the requisite ice sculptures, light shows, and bonfires. There will also be a rail jam created by Sunday River resort. This being Portland, expect a fantastic selection of local food and brew, including beer by Bissell Brothers, Maine Beer Co., Rising Tide, and Allagash, and dining provided by Central Provisions and Scales, among others. ActiveTravels clients have been praising the Francis Hotel and Press Hotel in Portland. We’re happy to check availability and pricing. 

 
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Bike the Texas Hill Country with Sojourn

Many of the people I meet who founded their active travel company have a genuine passion for the sport. Tom Hale spent over 5,000 miles on a bike the summer of 1979 prior to opening Backroads. When Susan Rand was in college, she would load her panniers witch camping gear and clothes and hit the road. Then she became athletic director at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, and worked for four years at Vermont Bicycle Tours prior to starting her own company, Sojourn, in 1995. Her fall foliage trips along the shores of Lake Champlain in her native Vermont are still the most popular weeklong jaunts. Yet, it’s the itineraries I don’t normally see in a catalog that I find most intriguing. In the summer, Sojourn heads to the Columbia River Gorge to bike between glorious Mount Hood and Mount Adams. In late fall and mid-winter, Rand takes riders to the Sonoran Desert outside Tucson to bike, hike in Saguaro National Park, and horseback ride in John Wayne country at the Rancho De La Osa Guest Ranch. New this spring is a trip to Texas Hill Country, an overlooked biking region outside of San Antonio that I’ve written about for National Geographic Adventure. Rand personally tries all of the trips she designs and this has quickly become one of her favorites. You’ll be biking under tall cypress trees on lonely backcountry roads past large cattle ranches and fields of bluebonnets that are in bloom in early spring. You’ll also visit the Alamo and LBJ Ranch. So saddle up and get out there on your next sojourn.
 

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