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Adventures in New Brunswick Week—Biking to Kellys Beach

Every town we pass in New Brunswick seems to be getting ready for the big 150th birthday party of Canada on July 1st, Canada Day, including the park across the street from we’re I’m currently staying in Moncton. Parks Canada is also getting in on the celebration, offering free admission to all national parks in 2017. I took full advantage of this offer to drive an hour north of Moncton today to Kouchibouguac National Park. Not nearly as well known as Fundy National Park, Kouchibouguac (pronounced Koo-she-boo-gwac) is always a highlight on my trips to New Brunswick. We rented fat-tire bikes at Ryan’s and headed out on some of the 60 km of hard-packed gravel trails, not unlike the carriage path trails in Maine’s Acadia National Park. This includes a sweet 6 km singletrack mountain biking route along Major Kollock Creek. We biked in the Acadian forest of birches, pines, and spruce trees, soon reaching the most exquisite beach in the entire province, Kellys, a six-kilometer stretch of white sand that dips down into the Gulf of St. Lawrence waters. Even on this perfect summer day, there were not more than 30 people on the entire beach! You can walk for miles on the firm sand, therapeutic to the bare foot touch, and be on the lookout for the remains of crabs chomped on by seagulls. Leaving the park and heading north to the French-speaking villages of the Acadian coast for a lunch of lobster rolls in Baie-Sainte-Anne, we were stunned to spot a porcupine ambling across the road. We stopped and waved the car behind us around as we stared at this prehistoric looking critter. That was the icing on the cake. 

 

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Budget Beach Option in Belize

Located at the southern tip of a long, narrow peninsula, Placencia attracts sun worshippers from all over the globe with more than 16 miles of white sand. If you tire of the beach, a popular day trip is a half-day kayak through the mangroves of Monkey River. Crocodiles, howler monkeys, even manatees can be spotted here. A popular beachfront restaurant in town is De’Tatch Seafood Beach Bar, where you dine on shrimp burritos or fish tacos. If you’re lucky enough to snag one of the six beachfront cabanas, all air-conditioned, at Blue Crab, you’ll also be treated to some great Asian fare, courtesy of the Taiwanese-born owner. 

 
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Serious Rafting Only a 30-Minute Drive from Boston

Starting next Saturday, April 17th, you can go on a rollicking good ride on the Concord River, just north of Boston. Zoar Outdoor, known for their rafting trips down the Deerfield River in central Mass, is leading guided jaunts on the Concord for any one 14 years and older. For the price of $82, you can rip through three major class III and IV rapids—Twisted Sister, Three Beauties, and Middlesex Dam. Zoar supplies all gear. All you have to do is show up and get ready to scream.

 

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Introducing Austin Adventures

Big news from the world of active travel this week with the announcement that Austin Lehman Adventures has been acquired by Xantera Parks and Resorts and will be renamed Austin Adventures. It seems like a perfect fit to me. The former ALA has a legacy going back nearly 40 years, offering tours to more than 30 countries. Though few people know North America’s national parks better than Billings-based Dan Austin. Combined with Xantera’s lengthy list of national park lodges, Austin Adventures can now create the perfect itinerary. I was fortunate to bring my family of four on an ALA trip to the Canadian Rockies two summers ago and it’s still the trip I use to gauge all others. I also recommend the company highly to my clients at ActiveTravels. A family of 7 recently returned from an August trip to Kenai Fjord National Park in Alaska and raved about the ALA guides and their passion and knowledge of the spectacular terrain. The company’s guided adventures include biking, hiking, sea kayaking, horseback riding, and safaris while focusing on themes such as culture, gourmet food and wellness. 
 
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How to Keep Your Money Safe While Traveling Abroad

Writer Carolyn Gatto asked me and other travel experts to offer tips on keeping your cash and credit cards safe while traveling overseas. The result is her latest story for US News & World Report, “20 Ways to Keep Your Money Safe While Traveling.” The article couldn’t have come out at a better time for me, since I’ll be implementing many of these suggestions before I leave for Tanzania on Friday. You’d be wise to do the same before your next trip. 

 
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Don’t Miss Van Gogh Show at The Clark

The blockbuster show in New England this summer is not at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. No, you’ll have to travel to the northwestern corner of Massachusetts to Williamstown to find the Clark Art Institute. On view until September 13th is “Van Gogh and Nature,” fifty paintings and drawings by Van Gogh from over thirty museums and private collections. We stopped at the Clark yesterday, on the way back from dropping our son off at Cornell, and, wow, was it worth the slight detour. The works from the last 3 years of his life, in Arles, Saint-Rémy, and Auvers, are spectacularly vibrant. There are wonderful pairings of sketches and oils, like two depictions of olive trees hung side-by-side. I also liked how the curator used maps to show exactly where in France these towns are located and provided large photographs to see how they would look during Van Gogh’s time. 

Inspired by Van Gogh’s work, you can take you own walk through glorious nature. Stroll through the Clark’s meadows atop Stone Hill for a wonderful vista of Mount Greylock and the town of Williamstown below. Take a breather on the bench inside Thomas Schütte’s “Crystal,” an open-sided architectural piece newly planted on the grounds. You know it’s just been built because it smells like fresh wood. Then make your way down to the Lunder Center at Stone Hill, also on the Clark property to find another gem of an exhibition devoted to “Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1 (Portrait of the Artist’s Mother),” otherwise known as Whistler’s Mother. Two small galleries of Whistler’s prints and drawings accompany the famous work. One glance at any of these works to see the mast of a ship, portrait of a niece, or buildings so small you’ll need a magnifying glass to find, and you’ll quickly appreciate Whistler’s immense talent. The Whistler show will be on view until September 27th, so make the effort to get here soon. You’ll thank me! 
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Top 5 Travel Days of 2015, Hiking and Horseback Riding in the Colorado Rockies

In mid-October, I caught up with Dan Austin, owner of Austin Adventures, and his daughter, Kasey, as they were designing a new itinerary that took in all the mountain splendor and adventure found on the outskirts of Colorado Springs. Their primary focus was to introduce guests to “The Broadmoor Wilderness Experience,” two historic sporting camps high up in the mountains that have been recently renovated by the legendary Broadmoor resort. Standing 9100 feet atop Cheyenne Mountain is the former private retreat of Broadmoor founder, Spencer Penrose, and, as of last summer, home to a mountain lodge called Cloud Camp. In 1923, Penrose acquired a bucolic slice of heaven, ringed by 11,000-foot peaks, which this summer has been transformed into The Ranch of Emerald Valley.

 
One glorious day on this trip, I rose with the sun at Cloud Camp and walked up to the two-story Fire Tower Suite, built with the honeymooner in mind, replete with hot tub and bedroom with 360-degree views. No one was staying in the suite so I grabbed a rocking chair on the deck and watched Pikes Peak bathe in the morning light. After breakfast, Dan and Kasey led us on the 5.5-mile McNeil Trail descending into a forest of ponderosa pine, spruce, fir, and birch trees. Past midpoint, we connect with an old stage road that went straight to The Ranch at Emerald Valley.
 
At lunch, the GM at Emerald Valley mentioned to me that the mayor of Colorado Springs spent a week here with his wife after retiring and did very little but read books on their cabin front porch. Indeed, it’s hard to tear yourself away from the vista of pasture, trout ponds, and towering peaks. Only a 30-minute drive outside of Colorado Springs, you feel lost in the Western wilderness. That afternoon, we took full advantage of the majestic scenery to take a horseback ride on a ridge close to the jagged peak of Mount Vigel. Then I soaked my weary body into a cedar-lined hot tub while snacking on a favorite dessert at the ranch, peach-filled donut holes. This is what I call a dream day. 
 

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