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Spoleto Turns 40

Since its inception 40 years ago, the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, has proven itself to be one of the premier arts festivals in the world. Over the years, they have previewed over 100 productions including plays by Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and Laurie Anderson. The 17-day event, held May 26-June 11, 2017, features theater, jazz, classical music, opera, and dance at historic venues across town. Spend the night at one of our favorite addresses in town, the circa-1886 Wentworth Mansion. Based in Charleston’s historic center, this 21-room boutique hotel was once a four-story manor home owned by a wealthy cotton merchant. Included in their rates are complimentary continental breakfast, afternoon tea, and cocktails in the evening. Don’t forget to check out the formal gardens and rooftop terrace where you can see a panorama of the city. 
 

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May Newsletter Now Available at ActiveTravels.com

I just spotted a bright yellow goldfinch outside my office window. Yes, springtime has finally arrived in New England along with budding magnolia and weeping willow trees and the blooms of tulips, hyacinth, and forsythia. Time to go play. Summer is officially around the corner. Our May newsletter covers mostly domestic travel despite the fact that so many of our members are traveling to Europe right now. We don’t want you to forget the beauty of the National Parks, the fun of camping with your family (especially if the tour operator is doing all the heavy lifting), and the enticing events on Nantucket in May and June. Amsterdam is our sole European subject in this issue as we cover some of our favorite properties. Enjoy the weekend! 

 
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ActiveTravels March Newsletter Now Available

Tuscany is a destination often found on people’s bucket lists. Dreams of the unspoiled, authentic Italy where medieval hill towns, vineyards, olive oil and truffles abound. We’ve paired up with a wonderful Italian tour operator who can offer accommodations in farm houses, villas, apartments, or B&Bs in the region with activities that range from taking cooking classes to guided bike rides on the rolling hills past vineyards, Medieval homesteads, and Etruscan tombs. Also in this month’s newsletter, we disclose our 5 favorite off-the-beaten-path National Parks, lodging clients have enjoyed in Jackson Hole, why you should download the app, Yonder, and a gem of a renovated inn that we came across on a recent trip to Stowe. Enjoy!

 
I’m off to Tanzania tonight for an epic trip with Epic Private Journeys to check out Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. We’ll also be visiting more remote parts of the country like the Grumeti Reserves, home to two lavish lodges, a tented camp, and a mobile camp under the design and management of South Africa’s pioneering Singita tourism group. Another private wildlife reserve, Mwiba, is where you’ll find the latest upscale lodging in the country, the Mwiba Lodge, which opened last June and is already gaining acclaim for its 8 canvas-sided suites. I’ll be checking it all out and sending photos on my Twitter account @ActiveTravels. When I’ll return on March 23rd, you’ll be hearing all about it on this page. So stay tuned and stay active! 
 
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The Latest Film Series from Richard Bangs

One of my first stories as a journalist was a profile of explorer Richard Bangs for Men’s Journal magazine. Bangs had just published Rivergods: Exploring the World’s Great Wild Rivers. As co-founder of Sobek Expeditions in 1973, Bangs almost single handedly put the sport of whitewater rafting on the map. In fact, he led first descents on 35 rivers around the world, inspiring me to go on my own first descent, an epic whitewater run on the Klinaklini River in British Columbia. The restless Bangs has never been one to rest on his laurels. Lately, he has won two Emmy awards for his documentary work that has taken him all over the world, including trips to New Zealand, Egypt, Morocco, Hong Kong, and Norway. His latest release is South America: Quest for Wonder, now being shown on PBS stations across America. Join Richard as he travels to four of the greatest locales on the continent, Iguaçu Falls in Brazil and Argentina; Easter Island in Chile; the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru; and the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. “There are so many wonders in South America, I turned starboard to seek the latitudes of marvels, and this is what I found,” Bangs mentioned in a recent email. Have a look at any of the four episodes and you’ll understand why Bangs’ passion for travel is contagious. 
 
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A Rejuvenating Stay at Bar Harbor’s Saltair Inn

One look at that long lawn that slopes down to the sea at the Saltair Inn and I knew we made a wise choice. It only got better when we realized that the location of the inn was located on the quiet side of West Street, within easy walking distance of the restaurants and shops of Bar Harbor, but far away from the crowds. Owners Matt and Kristi are the perfect team. Kristi serves up yummy breakfasts each morning like blueberry pancakes and stuffed french toast, while Matt divulges the insider information on Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park that only a local would know. He designed a great bike loop around the Carriage Path Trails which I described in yesterday’s blog, told us about a small trail near the restrooms at the Bass Harbor Lighthouse that led down the freshly cut stairs to a bed of rocks, where we not only had great views of the lighthouse, but spotted dolphins and seals in the sea. Matt also made my friend, Tim, very happy by sending us over to McKay’s Public House for a cask ale pour of Maine brewed Sebago ale. Tell the bartender, Chris, I said hello. He might be our captain when we sail the Grenadines and St. Vincent next February. It’s hard to top a sailor who can make a mean drink. 
 
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Maine Huts & Trails Week: Day Two, Mountain Biking to Poplar Stream Falls Hut

In September 1996, a relatively new magazine called Men’s Journal gave me an assignment to write a story on mountain biking in Vermont. I biked with extreme skier John Egan in the Mad River Valley before heading north and meeting Jeff Hale, a route designer on a network of singletracks he was calling the Kingdom Trails. On a spongy mat of trails dusted with pine needles, we cruised past century-old barns and small, dilapidated sugar shacks lost in the countryside and I immediately saw the potential for an off-road biking route in this sylvan slice of the state. Well, the Kingdom Trails has exploded, with more than 60,000 visits just this past year. 


I see the same potential for Carrabassett Valley, Maine, especially when fat wheelers realize that NEMBA has teamed up with Maine Huts & Trails to create a mountain biking hut-to-hut network. We left Stratton Brook Hut this morning on a sweet trail cut last year into the deep forest, Oak Knoll. The dirt was smooth with high banks around each turn on zigzagging switchbacks. At the Stratton Brook trailhead, we met up with Jon Boehmer who knows a thing or two about mountain biking, having lived in that legendary mountain biking town of Crested Butte, Colorado, for 6 years. 

Boehmer is excited to show us some of his favorite singletrack runs, many that branch off from the Narrow Gauge Pathway, a rail trail that hugs the Carrabassett River. Grassy Loops is a nice warm-up on soft dirt through a meadow of high grass. Meade is a gem of a trail that lines the banks of the river, bopping up and down around tall pines and over roots and rock bridges. Sargent and Crocker Town are more technical runs, with short uphill and downhill turns thrown into the mix. Boehmer also took us to the nearby Sugarloaf Outdoor Center, where you can rent bikes and venture onto their vast network of trails that loop around lonely ponds, with that mountain view always looming in the background. 

We rested our legs on a downhill run on the Narrow Gauge while watching families swim in the boulder-strewn river. Then had our last taste of singletrack that connects with the Maine Huts Trail and led uphill on a tough climb to the Poplar Stream Falls Hut. Lisa and I said goodbye to Jon and thanked him for a memorable day of riding. To top it off, we walked down to the waterfalls and watched the water careen down the craggy old rock into a cool pool of water. There was no one else enjoying this serene scene. Well, at least not yet, but word will spread. 
 
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College Tip Sheet from Boston Globe Magazine

Dropping Jake off at Cornell University this past weekend reminded me of the story I co-wrote for Boston Globe Sunday Magazine on 20 college campuses in the northeast. It’s a pretty good tip sheet on where to stay and eat and what to do when you’re in each one of these college towns, including Boston. If you plan to drop your son or daughter off this week or are going on the college tour this fall, have a look. 
 
Also, Lisa and I have designed routes in New England, the Midwest, and Southern California for ActiveTravels.com clientele heading out on the road to visit colleges with their high school sophomore, junior or senior. Our detailed Dream Day Itineraries include highlighted routes, recommended lodging, favorite restaurants, and sights not to be missed along the way that are definitely worth the slight detour. Having authored Lonely Planet, Frommer’s, and Outside Magazine travel guides to New England, and at least 800 travel stories on the northeast (including my boyhood stomping grounds of upstate New York), few know the region’s most picturesque routes better than me. 
 

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