Visit a Massachusetts Cheesemaker This Summer
According to the Massachusetts Cheese Guild, there are now 22 artisanal cheesemakers across the across the Commonwealth. Some, like Dave Smith at Smith’s Country Cheese in Winchendon, have been in business since 1985, creating Gouda wheels from his Holstein herd. Eric and Ann Starbard at Crystal Brook Farm in Sterling milk 60 goats to make their award-winning chevre. Berkshire Cheese in Dalton is another pioneer in the state, producing raw cow’s milk blue cheese since 1998. Order a map from the Massachusetts Cheese Guild, call a cheesemaker in the morning to see if production is scheduled that day, and then bring the family to see how the cheese is made and to hopefully hug a cow or two. You won’t regret it.
We’re headed to Niagara-on-the-Lake this morning to start our bike trip. Yesterday, I was fortunate to spend Victoria Day in one of my favorite cities to dine, Toronto. No need to travel the world to find varying culture when you can simply walk around Toronto’s ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Start with dim sum in Chinatown, where we dined at Rol San on Spadina (worth the wait). Or grab a traditional walnut cake in Koreatown, head to Greektown for helpings of saganaki and lamb souvlaki, order a cappuccino at one of the outdoor cafés in Little Italy, find chicken tikka masala at the Indian Bazaar in Little India, and dine on your fair share of pierogies and borscht in Little Poland, or “Ronceys,” as the locals call it. If you’re looking for more innovative multicultural fare, sample the sublime Duck Egg dish at 
Best known for the Cape Cod National Seashore, Cape Cod is also riddled with more than 300 ponds. These freshwater swimming holes are hidden in the landscape, far from the crowds at the beach, and a joy to swim in on a hot afternoon. However, they are tricky to find. Unlike bay and ocean beaches, where signs point you in the right direction, towns on the Cape like to keep these warm freshwater locales a secret. Many of these ponds have limited resident-only (with requisite sticker) parking. Fortunately, they are near town centers, so you can grab a bike and go have a dip. For my top 10 favorite swimming holes on the Cape, replete with necessary directions, have a look at this 
I’m always a little wary of promoting Cyber Monday deals, because often they’re non-refundable and usually trying to sell products at low season, like heading to Vermont during the mud season in April/May. But now and then I find something that looks enticing. On November 26, 
Yesterday, as I was taking a spin to the local coffee shop on a Vespa, I was thinking how great it is to cruise on any form of transport in weather this sublime, be it a moped, bike, skateboard, or car. On Sunday, I plan to bike along the Charles River to grab my chicken shawarma sandwich at 
This tip comes from my buddy Richard, a photographer whose work accompanied my first travel stories on New York for the Washington Post and Toronto Globe and Mail. He now loves in Buenos Aires. “In case you don’t know, we have two rates for exchanging dollars. The official/legal rate is around 8.5 pesos to the dollar, versus the "blue rate" which changes everyday but was around 14.20 pesos per dollar a few days ago. So to make the most of your money you want to bring a lot of US $100 bills and change them in the blue rate places. If you purchase restaurants and lodging on a credit card, you get the 8.5 rate plus fees and such.” Translation: Argentina is about a 40% discount if you use American dollars when you travel there. Flights are expensive, especially this time of year, but if you can somehow use miles, you’ll have an affordable vacation in one of the dreamiest destinations on the globe.