|

Nova Scotia to Restart Ferry Service from Maine Next Summer

Great news out of Nova Scotia yesterday with the announcement that the province of Nova Scotia has signed an agreement with Nova Star Cruises to re-establish round-trip ferry service between Portland, Maine, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, starting May 2014. The ferry service ended in 2009, forcing New Englanders to drive through New Brunswick to reach Nova Scotia, making the trip far more arduous. As part of the agreement, the Province of Nova Scotia will provide Nova Star Cruises with up to CDN $21 million of financial support over seven years to assist the company with re-establishing the ferry service. Nova Star will leave Portland each evening at 8 pm EST and arrive in Yarmouth at 7 am AST the next morning. The ship will depart two hours later and arrive back in Portland at 5 p.m. local time. If you’re considering visiting Nova Scotia, PEI, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland, this might be the summer. 

 

Similar Posts

|

Don’t Miss the Goya Show at Museum of Fine Arts Boston

When we last saw the curatorial work of Frederick Ilchman, he was at the helm of the masterful MFA exhibition, “Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice,” on view in 2009. Ilchman showed his theatrical side by placing a Tintoretto work on the ceiling as the artist originally intended. Knowing his travels took him back and forth to his beloved Venice, I persuaded him to divulge some of his favorite restaurants and sights in the city for a Boston Globe story. The past five years, he’s been traveling back and forth to Madrid and the result is his impressive new show at the MFA on the Spanish artist Goya. Goya: Order and Disorder, is on view at the MFA through January 19, and you can read my review of the exhibition at Everett Potter’s Travel Report. The MFA is the only venue for the show and you’d be wise to get there or wait another five years for Ilchman’s next exhibition. Thankfully, Ilchman is here to stay, having recently been appointed Chair, Art of Europe at the MFA.
 
I’m off to Fort Lauderdale for the wedding of good friends, Fran Golden and David Molyneaux. Since they’re two of the top cruise writers in America, their wedding will take place on the new Regal Princess on a short voyage to the Bahamas Tomorrow, I’ll be at the naming ceremony with six of the original cast members of The Love Boat, including Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubing), former Iowa congressman, Fred Grandy (Gopher), and my personal favorite, Bernie Kopell (Doc), who also played the villain Siegfried on “Get Smart.” I’ll be back next Tuesday. Have a great week!
 
Photo: Thirteenth Dutchess of Alba (1797, Hispanic Society of America, New York)
 
|

Vermont Update

Ten days ago, Vermont was rocked by Hurricane Irene. As I wrote last week, several covered bridges were washed away, and, as of this morning, 18 bridges are still shut down. But Vermonters are resilient and they could especially use your help now more than ever. The Green Mountain State puts on its finest pastoral dress these next six weeks thanks to fall foliage. If you have a trip planned to the region, by all means go. If you don’t have a trip planned, you should still think about traveling to the area to support the numerous businesses in this state that rely heavily on tourism. The major interstates, I-89 and I-91 are open to all traffic without restrictions. Route 7 is open to all traffic, except in Clarendon, where there is a detour around a closed bridge. Route 4 is open from the New Hampshire border to Woodstock and the New York border to Rutland. There are still problems in the Bridgewater/Killington area, so check daily for updates. Route 100, one of my favorite roads for seeing the foliage, has a slew of closures, especially in the towns of Jamaica, Pittsfield, Ludlow, and Hancock. Hopefully, the route will be open shortly. Remember, peak foliage in northern Vermont is in late September, and around Columbus Day for the southern half of the state. So thankfully, Vermont still has time to dig out before the surge of people comes to the state. Hopefully, that includes you!
 

|

Top 5 Fall Foliage Picks in New England, Golfing at the Equinox or Stowe Mountain Lodge

A favorite in autumn, when the hillside is aflame in color, the dramatic ups and downs of the Equinox course offer quintessential New England vistas of white steeples, Mt. Equinox, and the grand hotel. You won’t forget the seventh hole, a par-five that plays over a road. Take a break at the ninth to have lobster rolls for lunch at the Dormy Grill. Over at Stowe Mountain Lodge, Bob Cupp’s ego-boosting design has five sets of tees to ensure that birdies, not bogies, are a reality. That is, if you can concentrate on your putts instead of peering off at the majestic views of the Green Mountains that form a silhouette of peaks around you. Celebrate your low score with a drink at the golf cottage, created from the yellow birch trees found on the course. For more information, read my story on fall foliage golfing in Vermont at The Boston Globe.
 

"Photo credit Destination360 Vermont Golf"

Time to Step Back and Work on Other Projects

Family jumping together2021 marks the 25th anniversary of my first book, Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England. Since that time, I’ve written or contributed chapters to 9 other books, including New England Seacoast Adventures, and penned more than 500 stories on the region for the Boston Globe, Yankee, Men’s Journal, and a slew of other magazines. I’ve also designed over 200 itineraries to New England for clients since our travel agency, ActiveTravels, made its debut eight years ago. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of my first book, I’ve been wanting to distill all my knowledge of the region this past quarter century into a new book, tentatively titled New England in a Nutshell. Now thanks to the current state of the travel industry, I have nothing but time. This is not going to be the typical comprehensive guidebook on the entire region. More like my column for Yankee Magazine, listing my top beach towns, fall foliage drives, adventures, lobster shacks, art history outings, etc…In other words, get straight to the point and divulge my favorite gems.

That’s not to say this blog is going to disappear. On the contrary, we’ve been busy working with our wonderful web designers in Portland, Maine, iBec Creative, who these past 3 months have been busy redesigning both the ActiveTravels blog and website. Hopefully, we’ll launch in mid-May to celebrate our 8th anniversary, but that all depends on the spread of the Coronavirus and if the travel industry is up and running again.
In the meantime, I leave you with this, my latest published story, Hot Air Ballooning in Cappadocia from the March issue of Global Traveler Magazine.
Stay tuned, stay active, and stay healthy!
|

Time to Go Whale Watching off Provincetown

Located 7 miles north of Provincetown, Stellwagen Bank is one of the Atlantic coast’s largest feeding grounds for whales. The 18-mile long crescent-shaped bank ranges from 80 to 500 feet below the surface. Currents slam into the bank, bringing nutrient rich cold water to the surface. This attracts fish, which in turn attracts numerous species of whales from April to November—humpbacks, the larger fins, and smaller minkes. One gulp from a hungry humpback whale can take in a ton of fish.

 
Many of these boats have naturalists on board who not only know many of the whales on a first name basis, but can list the names of their parents and children. They give an intriguing talk about the history of whales migrating up the Atlantic coast and the egregious practice of whaling that was so prominent in these parts in the mid-19th century. Naturalists also point out many of the shore birds that use the coast as an Atlantic Flyway. Rare piping plovers, least and common terns, marsh hawks, American oystercatchers (whose beaks looks like carrots), sandpipers, ospreys, even bald eagles might be spotted on these whale watching cruises. Add playful harbor seals and you have a wonderful wildlife experience.
 
|

Harbour Island, the Best of the Bahamas

With more than 700 islands (20 of them inhabited) scattered from Florida’s doorstep to the edge of the Caribbean, the balmy Bahamas offers every type of warm-weather lifestyle imaginable. For some, the Bahamas is an afternoon’s port of call in Nassau and Freeport. Others are lured by the massive Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, where the beach life includes large pools, water slides, and a walk-though aquarium. Yet, there’s another side of the Bahamas called the Out Islands that have yet to be discovered. My favorite is Harbour Island, a three-mile-long, half-mile-wide speck off the coast of Eleuthera. With 18th-century clapboard houses edged with picket fences, this tiny island looks as if someone shrank Nantucket and plopped it down in the tropics. Cars are all but forbidden, replaced by golf carts.  Aptly named Pink Sands Beach runs the length of the island, speckled with the perfect blush of flamingo pink. Kids can ride horseback along the shores or don mask and snorkel to go eyeball-to-eyeball with the fishies. Stay at the Coral Sands Hotel, smack dab in the middle of that pink beach.  

 

Leave a Reply