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Seventh Annual Hotel Week in Manhattan January 5-15, 2018

If you want to visit New York at a discount, then head to the city during their Seventh Annual Hotel Week in early January. Gansevoort Meatpacking, the Refinery Hotel, Library Hotel, James New York, Viceroy Central Park, and Archer New York are just a handful of top-tier properties that will cut their rates considerably during this time. For example, the Paul Hotel NYC will only be $100 a night, more than 50% off their usual rate. Hotel Week NYC™ was created by PR maven Nancy J. Friedman in 2010 to address the occupancy dip most hotels experience after the holiday season. It’s a perfect time to visit Manhattan without the crowds and see the new David Hockney show at the Met. 

 

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Top 5 Bike Rides in America During Fall Foliage, Sedona, Arizona

Who needs red leaves when you have red rocks? Looking at Sedona’s blend of twisted monoliths, mesas, and hoodoos will get you motivated to ride, especially during the cooler days of autumn. Twenty-six miles of rarely used dirt trails wind through the heart of Red Rock Country from Boynton Canyon Road, opposite the Enchantment Resort. Once you tire of these, try the Old Stagecoach Road, an abandoned route that ventures north to Flagstaff. For a breather, hop off your bike and meditate at one of Sedona’s renowned vortices, spiritual sites that attract thousands of visitors each year. Absolute Bikes offers rentals and will work with you to map out an itinerary for the day.

 
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A Magical Day on the Waters of Lac-Saint-Jean and the Metabetchouan River

We woke early on the second day of our trip, packed up our belongings, and biked back to our car parked near the visitors center of Parc national de la Pointe-Taillon. Less than a 45-minute drive later, we were on the southeastern shores of Lac-Saint-Jean ready to stand-up paddleboard once the outfitter O’Soleil opened up shop at 9 am. Offering paddleboards, kayaks, and canoes, O’Soleil is located on an ideal spot on a placid river that can either lead inland or to the expansive waters of that 45-kilometer long by 35-kilometer wide lake called Lac-Saint-Jean. We paddled on the serene river under bridges and past marinas lined with boats to steady our balance and stroke. Then off we went on a wondrous stretch of water, hemmed in by barrier beaches. Soon we were feeling the chop of this massive inland sea as a steady stream of boats filed out to the lake. O’Soleil also rents bikes to sample a stretch of the Véloroute des Bleuets, the 256-kilometer bike trail that lines the shoreline of Lac-Saint-Jean. The 10 km ride past the charming town of Metabetchouan (stop for sublime chocolates at the small artisanal store, Rose Élisabeth) to Desbiens is one of the finest parts of the bike trail.

 
Desbiens is where we would start our second adventure of the day, a whitewater rafting trip down the Metabetchouan River with H2O Expeditions. Owner Sylvain Alarie has rafted down many of the finest rivers in the world like the Colorado, but he always returns to his native Quebec rivers. After spending the afternoon with him on an exhilarating run down the Class III and IV rapids of the Metabetchouan, it’s easy to understand why he comes back. Joined by my buddy, Jeff, and a contingent of six students from China studying alloy engineering at the nearby university in Saguenay, we were in for a treat. The clean waters of the river slice through cavernous walls where tall pines cling to the hillside. A master navigator, Sylvain found the perfect line to attack the most rip-roaring rapids as we shrieked with joy each time the raft rolled up and we met the next drenching wave. It was a thrill ride through exquisite scenery I won’t soon forget. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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The Exciting Debut of Cape Breton’s Cabot Cliffs Golf Course

Maybe it’s the success of Cabot Links, the walking-only course opened in 2012 near the dunes and long stretch of beach in Inverness. Perhaps it’s the fact that Cabot Links is co-owned by Mike Keiser, the man who created the sensation known as Bandon Dunes, the 5 links courses on the southern Oregon coast. Or that Keiser hired the talented tandem of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore to design their latest offering, Cabot Cliffs. Having just toured both courses with golf pro emeritus, Joe Robinson, I can easily say it’s the stunning scenery that has generated the most buzz, straight out of Scotland, where the craggy shoreline and bluffs rise from the beach below. Whatever the reason, Cabot Links is now one of the hottest golfing destinations in North America. Hotel occupancy rate is at a whopping 98% through September, enough demand that the resort is trying hard to add to its 72 rooms and 15 two and four-bedroom villas. 
 
Peering at the green of the 16th hole at Cabot Cliffs, across the jagged shoreline and the pounding sea below, is an incredible sight and very intimidating, the reason why Joe insists that all first-time golfers at the resort use a caddy. Even if you want to carry your own clubs, you should hire a caddy strictly for advice on how to approach each hole. The fairways are generous but they play firm and fast and there’s natural gypsum jutting up from the ground to create another intriguing obstacle to one hole. Wildflowers like rose hips line the course and it’s not uncommon, says Joe, to spot moose, bald eagles, and whales fluking in the distance. After all, this is Cape Breton we’re talking about. 
 
 (Photo by Michael Berger)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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The Ludlow Hotel to Open on the Lower East Side in June

After feasting on my favorite pastrami and rye in Manhattan, at Katz’s Deli, or downing the herring and lox at the century-old Russ and Daughters, I’m happy to know that I now have a place to nap nearby at The Ludlow Hotel. The location couldn’t be better for checking out downtown. A stone’s throw from Houston Street and an easy walk to the East Village, Little Italy, and Chinatown, the lodging will open in June and features 184 and 20 suites. Sean MacPherson, Ira Drukier, and Richard Born are the powerhouse trifecta behind the new property. Drukier and Born are responsible for NYC’s successful Pod Hotels, The Greenwich Hotel, and the Mercer Hotel, among many others. MacPherson is co-owner of The Marlton, The Bowery Hotel, The Jane Hotel, and The Maritime Hotel. Don’t miss the chance to stroll though the Lower East Side, where my grandfather, Sam Rieger, worked during the Depression selling shoes on Delancey Street. Take one of the tours at the Tenement Museum, grab a sour dill from the Pickle Guy at the corner of Essex and Grant, and then check out my favorite candy store in the world, Economy Candy (108 Rivington Street). An incredible variety of candy, including favorites from my childhood, like Mike and Ike’s. 
 
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Bike to Madaket Beach on Nantucket

Next week, I’m excited to be reporting live from Acadia National Park to help promote their 100th birthday in 2016. This week, I want to describe some of my favorite adventures along the New England coast. The week before Labor Day, crowds tend to thin out as many kids are headed back to school. Take advantage of this opportunity to bike, hike, and sea kayak with far less people. First stop is Nantucket. 

 
Bike trails on Nantucket branch off in every direction, like the spokes on a wheel. My favorite ride, especially in the late afternoon when it cools down a bit, is the 6-mile jaunt from town to Madaket Beach. Grab your loved one, a bottle of wine and some picnic fare and head out on Cliff Road. You’ll quickly meet up with the Cliff Trail as you pass the rolling meadows and red-winged blackbirds at Tupancy Links conservation land. Merge with the Madaket Trail and you might be greeted by flittering goldfinches and osprey peering out from their oversized nests. When the trail becomes sandy and you can hear the pounding surf, you know you’re getting close. On the westernmost part of the island, the beach slopes down to the crashing waves. All around you is water, as if you’re stepping off land into the great abyss. Drink your wine and relax. If you don’t have the energy to do the return trip, the Wave bus runs until 11:20 pm and has a front rack for two bikes. 
 
Spend the night at the Century House on Cliff Road and they’ll have a bike from Nantucket Bike Shop waiting for you. They will also direct you on other routes to Brant Point and Sankaty Head lighthouses. Rooms, including full breakfast, start at $175 
 
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Driving Avenue of the Giants

It’s been called the finest forest drive in the world, a 32-mile stretch of road that winds through 17,000 acres of old-growth redwood forest. The Avenue of the Giants is the primary reason people from all over the globe visit California’s Humboldt County. After experiencing the route yesterday, I can easily say that you should put it on your travel wish list, without hesitation! As soon as you veer off Highway 101 onto Avenue of the Giants (Exit 674 from the north) and stop to pick up a map, get out of the car and lost on a trail surrounded by these gargantuan patriarchs of the forest. Covered in shaggy bark with trunks the size of a Dodge Ram, you look up and it’s impossible to see the tops of these trees piercing the blue skies. At the next stop, the Drury-Chaney Grove, my brother, Jim, and I climbed atop a fallen redwood, some 15 feet above the ground, and walked a good 50 meters on that same tree. Mind-blowing. It’s hard not to feel Lilliputian dwarfed by these mega-sized giants rising from a carpet of ferns. The tall redwoods hug the road, allowing only a splinter of sunlight into the dark forest as you drive along the route. In Myers Flat, you get to take that iconic shot of driving a car through the roots of a redwood at the Drive-Thru Tree. With an opening only 7-foot wide, it was ideally suited for our Toyota Corolla rental, inches to spare on either side. 
 
Ten miles south of the southern end of the Avenue of the Giants, right off Highway 101, is one of California’s classic retreats, the Benbow Inn. Open in the summer of 1926, the Tudor estate on the shores of the Eel River soon attracted such Hollywood elite as Clark Gable and Joan Fontaine, and other luminaries like Eleanor Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover. Today, it’s still the premier address in the region, ideally suited for folks who made the 4-hour drive from San Francisco. Ask for Room 109 and you’ll get a private patio with two redwoods sprouting up from the deck, and a view of the arched stone bridge, built in 1932. Owner John Porter is a wine aficionado, so expect your dinner of nearby Shelter Cove salmon or locally sourced rack of lamb to be washed down with some of the finest wines coming out of Napa, Sonoma, even Humboldt County. 
 
 

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