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Get Fit in the Caribbean with luxeFit

Last November in St. Lucia, I participated in BodyHoliday’s version of a triathlon by biking to Pigeon Island, running to the fortress atop the island, rappelling down to the sea, and sea kayaking back to the property. It gave me a firsthand glimpse how resorts are branching far beyond the token gym and spin class to offer memorable workouts in their often stunning surroundings. Now two young women from Sarasota, Florida, Holly Morris and Loren Mayo, are taking it a step further. Last November they launched luxeFit, weeklong fitness retreats to warm-weather destinations, arranging workout sessions and activities and nutritious cuisine prepared by a private chef in an upscale private beachfront estate setting. The first retreat is slated for April 30 to May 6 in Barbados. Activities will include yoga, paddleboarding, snorkeling, surfing, and waterskiing, with excursions to explore Harrison’s Caves, the Mt. Gay Rum Distillery, and the shops in Holetown. Beyond Barbados, the duo is exploring additional options in the Caribbean and Mexico. Cost is $3150 per person. 
 

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My Favorite Winter Outdoor Picks in Eastern Massachusetts

If you missed yesterday’s Boston Globe, I was interviewed by writer Brion O’Connor and asked to divulge some of my favorite locals jaunts in winter. Strolling Broadmoor, World’s End, Arnold Arboretum, Walden Pond, and Mt. Auburn Cemetery; skiing Wachusett; tubing Nashoba; even frostbite sailing with the Boston Sailing Center made it into the story. Have a look! 
 
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US Open Snowboarding Championships at Stratton, Vermont Next Week

Don’t worry if you couldn’t snag those coveted halfpipe and snowboard cross tickets at Whistler. 2010 Olympic medalists Shaun White and Hannah Teter (the only athlete to have a flavor, Maple Blonde, named in her honor by Ben & Jerry’s) are headed back east for the 28th U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships March 15-22. The competition is held once again at Stratton Mountain Resort, the place that put snowboarding on the map. This is where Jake Burton first tried the sport and where a young Lindsey Jacobellis took up boarding after her family’s vacation house caught fire, burning all of the ski equipment.

Cheer them on dude, but don’t just be a spectator. There’s a reason why Ski Magazine has voted Stratton the best terrain parks in the east for the past decade. Little rippers can test their freestyle skills on Burton’s Parkway, a kid-friendly area built with the novice in mind. One step larger than Parkway is Tyrolienne, featuring neophyte table-tops to catch air, and wider, lower rails to start grinding. Once you’ve mastered Tyrolienne, it’s on to Old Smoothie for some phat table tops and rails, much higher off the ground. Easy style it (check out the jumps first) or you’ll be doing some serious face plants.

Shaun White will be performing his signature 1080s (three full rotations) on the new Olympic-sized (22-foot walls) superpipe and advanced terrain park, moved this year to the Sunriser Supertrail on Sun Bowl. You better have confidence bubbling over to try the many humps on that gnarly rollercoaster rail and the mojo to land flips onto the diving board box. Or follow Jacobellis’ cue and sweep along the banked turns and rollers on Lower East Meadow’s boarder cross course. Sick!
 

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A Pleasure to Meet Chief Mi’Sel Joe on the Way to Miawpukek

Guest Post and Photo by Amy Perry Basseches

Early on in the Adventure Canada circumnavigation of Newfoundland, I found myself sitting next to Chief Mi’Sel Joe, the Saquamaw and Administrative Chief of the Mi’kmaq Grand Council, First Nations community of Miawpukek (Conne River). In preparation for our visit to Miawpukek along the southern coast of Newfoundland, he was spending a few days on board, consistent with his public role in presenting a better understanding of the Mi’kmaq people.

Mi’Sel Joe was born in Miawpukek into a strong Mi’kmaq family; both his grandfather and uncle held the office of hereditary Saqamaw. Since 1973, he has been involved in First Nation Politics, first as a Councilor, and, after the death of his uncle, Chief William Joe, in 1982, he became Traditional Saqamaw and the Newfoundland District Chief for the Mi’kmaq Grand Council. Mi’Sel Joe is committed to preserving the language, culture and traditions of his people, and also to Miawpukek’s economically self-sufficient mandate. Around 800 people live on the reserve, with over 2,000 people living away, and businesses (together with a commercial fishery) lead to zero unemployment. A brand-new school for grades K4-12 opened in September 2017.
 
Last year, Mi’Sel Joe was appointed a member of the Order of Canada "for his leadership in developing and enhancing the well-being and financial vitality of the Miawpukek First Nation." It was an honor to meet him, to visit Miawpukek, and to learn more about how this vibrant First Nations community can be a model. 
 
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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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Nova Scotia Week, A Walk Through History in Lunenburg

One hour south of Halifax, the seaside community of Lunenburg is one of only two cities in North America dubbed a UNESCO World Heritage Site (the other being Quebec City). What UNESCO found fascinating was the fact that Lunenburg was a perfectly planned British colonial settlement, a 48-block grid designed in London and plopped down on the coast of Nova Scotia in 1753. They were also obviously impressed with the preservation because Lunenburg remains one of the most charming towns on the Atlantic coast. The British were successful in recruiting some 1400-plus people to Lunenburg, mostly of German and Swiss descendant, including the ancestors of my Lunenburg Walking Tours guide, Ashlee Feener, an 8th-generation descendent. We started our hour-long stroll through town at the highest point in Lunenburg, the former site of the citadel and now home to the castle-like Lunenburg Academy.  No longer a public school, the Second Empire structure built in 1895 is now an international music academy attracting students from across the globe, the first hint that this storied fishing community has transformed into a cultural destination. 

 
Those first descendants thought they were coming to Canada to farm but their shovels and ploughs soon hit rock. They looked to the sea and by the late 1800s, Lunenburg had become the fishing capital of Canada, with large schooners heading to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and often returning after a summer with 100,000 to 300,000 pounds of cod. Ashlee led us down York Street to view a Victorian home with a Widow’s Watch, a cupola with bay windows that overlooked the sea, where a ship captain’s wife could hopefully her husband returning home. Next door was one of the oldest homes in Lunenburg, a gabled one-bedroom Cape Cod-style home currently on the market for $287,000. On Fox Street, the red Georgian-style Lennox Inn was built in 1791 and is the oldest continuously operating inn in North America. Another highlight of the tour was the stunning St. John’s Anglican Church, one of five churches in town. Walk inside to see the ribbed wooden roof that could only be built by shipbuilders who knew their way around the ribs of a hull. We walked past the multi-colored façade and gingerbread trim of the Mariner King Inn, where I’m happily spending the night. Our tour ended on the docks next to the recently resorted schooner, Bluenose II, Nova Scotia’s ambassador of the sea, a fitting tribute to Lunenburg’s past. 
 
The ebullient Ashlee and her business partner, Shelah Allen, a mere 7th-generation descendent also offer haunted tours of Lunenburg and its many scary-looking Victorian homes at night. Go on either tour and you’ll be happy I sent you. 
 
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Fairmont Copley Plaza Celebrates 100th Anniversary

Boston’s Fenway Park is not the only local landmark celebrating its centennial in 2012. Fairmont Copley Plaza plans to celebrate its 100th birthday this year with several exciting offers. For any couple that spent their honeymoon at the Copley Plaza, they will offer you the chance to return to the hotel for those exact rates. For example, if you had your honeymoon at the Copley Plaza in 1947, you paid $7 a night. That’s exactly what you’ll pay for a return stay. Don’t expect the rooms to be the same. The hotel is on the verge of completing a $20 million refurbishment that has updated all guest rooms and suites and added a new rooftop health club. The property is also offering a “Celebration of A Century” package which includes a night at the hotel, a private tour, and a historical booklet. Prices for the package start at $100 per person. 

 

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