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City Brew Tours Expands to MetroWest Boston

With the surge in popularity in craft brew this past decade, it’s no surprise that City Brew Tours has also grown substantially, now offering tours in 11 cities, including Boston. Their guided 5-hour ($99 per person) Original Boston Brew Tour makes 4 stops at some of the finest breweries in town, like Slum Brew, Dorchester Brewing, and Down the Road. But I’m a huge fan of what’s happening out here in the Boston burbs, especially those dreamy IPAs created down the road at the Trillium brewery in Canton, and, of course, the much-hyped Tree House, 45 minutes away in Charlton. Lately, however, I’ve been happily consuming Exhibit “A” beers, especially their IPA, Cat’s Meow, and their delicious German Kölsch-style beer, Goody Two Shoes. Glad to see that Exhibit “A” and their brewery in the original Jack’s Abby home in Framingham is one of the 4 breweries folks visit on the new MetroWest Boston tour offered by City Brew. You’ll also get a chance to try another local favorite, Cloud Candy IPA, created by the Waltham brewery, Mighty Squirrel. It’s a great way to spend the day, including lunch, letting someone else drive while you sample the wares. 

 

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Ski Badger Pass, California

Don’t make the mistake of overlooking America’s National Parks in the winter. Exquisitely beautiful year-round, Yosemite is home to one of the oldest downhill ski areas in California. Badger Pass was built in the late 20s in a bid to get the 1930 Winter Olympics. The bid failed but the resort, with a vertical drop of only 800 feet, is now one of the best places in the West to learn how to ski. The bargains at Badger include two-hour ski lessons for only $35 a child. But, alas, this is Yosemite, so take advantage of your surroundings. A short snowshoe trek into Mariposa Grove and you’ll be making snow angels at the roots of 200-foot sequoia trees. Cross-country skiers will cherish the ten miles of groomed track that leads to 7,000-foot high Glacier Point. Ice skaters can swirl around the Curry Village rink dwarfed by the majestic cliff walls of Half Dome. 

Next week, I’ll be traveling around New England, giving 3-hour workshops with my brother Jim called Beyond the Craft: How to Be Proactive and Take Charge of Your Creative Career. This will take up most of my time, so I’m going to take a week off from ActiveTravels. See you on the 25th!
 

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Now’s the Time to Visit Boston

It’s easy to pen a story about being on safari in Kenya or driving Italy’s Amalfi Coast. But if I look back at the scope of my 23-year career as a travel writer, the articles I’m most proud of writing are the ones that occurred after tragedy. Writing about New York after 9/11, New Orleans after Katrina, Detroit bouncing back from the latest recession. I feel like I’m doing my part in the travel world to bring much needed revenue to a destination that genuinely needs your love and assistance. As I’ve often mentioned in this blog, the best way to support a country or city is to bring your hard earned money to that locale and spend it. So this week I turn my attention to my hometown of Boston. Last Monday, my wife and I went to the marathon to cheer on the lead runners and then returned home to watch the Red Sox win in the bottom of the 9th.  A perfect day, sunny and slightly cool, much like today, a great day to run a marathon. Then in a moment, everything was shattered. Adding insult to injury was that this was vacation week in the Boston area. So instead of heading over to the MFA or Newbury Street with the kids, we were stuck in lockdown, waiting for the captives to be arrested. Thankfully, May, my favorite month in Boston, is just around the corner. I love walking the Public Garden, where the hundreds of colorful tulips can’t help but boost spirits. If you want to support Boston, follow in my footsteps and dine in nearby Back Bay, the neighborhood that was hit the hardest from this week of terror. This week, I’ll be writing only about my favorite things to do in Boston as my heart and prayers go out to all the victims of this shocking tragedy. 

 
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Paddling an Outrigger Surrounded by a Pod of Wild Dolphins

On our last morning at the Four Seasons Hualalai, we had to be in the lobby at 7:30 am for a guided paddle on a Polynesian-style outrigger canoe. The kids weren’t thrilled to get up so early on vacation, especially since our son, Jake, had to register for classes at Cornell at 9 am EST or 3 AM Big Island time that night. So I was seriously considering blowing it off. That would have been a huge mistake!  We saw at least a dozen sea turtles feeding on the reef as we pushed off from shore. Within five minutes, heading to a sheltered bay, we spotted dolphins jumping out of the water. “They never usually come this close to shore,” said our guide, a local who seemed just as amazed as we were. He handed us snorkeling gear and the next thing you know, we were swimming next to rows of six and seven dolphins. One zipped right by my daughter, Mel, and me. When we lifted our heads, the dolphins were flying above the water, doing flips in the air. Ridiculous! Needless to say, we didn’t get much paddling in, but yes, it was worthy of getting the kids out of bed. 

 
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DuVine Cycling Expands Chef on Wheels Trips in 2017

Luxury tour operator, Duvine Cycling + Adventure Co, just announced their 2017 line-up and it incudes their expansion of their popular Chefs on Wheels itineraries. Acclaimed New York chef and restaurateur, Seamus Mullen, will lead a trip to Sicily in late May, as well as a challenging weeklong ride through Tuscany from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean October 2017. Talented Boston chef, Jody Adams, will lead a more relaxed vacation to Spain’s Costa Brava in late June. DuVine is also offering trips to three new locales next year: a tantalizing Greek Island yacht and bike trip with stops in Rhodes and Kos, a loop around Corsica with layovers at Relais & Chateaux properties, and the rare chance to pedal through traditional Peruvian villages on the way to Machu Picchu. There’s also a women’s only trip to Sonoma in May with Skratch Labs resident chef Lentine Alexis. Bikers will be treated to delicious meals and experience some of Lentine’s favorite Sonoma spots along the way.

 
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Woodstock Inn Introduces Snowsports Packages

When former Dartmouth ski coach, Bunny Bertram, installed one of the first tow ropes on a Vermont slope in 1937, he played an integral role in establishing one of the state’s top winter locales. In 1961, that ski area, Suicide Six, was sold to Laurence Rockefeller, owner of the Woodstock Inn and Resort, and it became the primary ski resort for their guests. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Woodstock Inn Nordic Center provides 45 kilometers of groomed trails surrounding Mt. Peg. Guests can explore the trail network on x-c skis, fat tire bikes, or snowshoes. Another option for backcountry skiers and snowshoers is the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park, where you can glide or walk under the old-growth forest and around a pond called the Pogue. The Woodstock Inn is now offering four different ski packages, depending on whether you downhill or cross-country ski and bring the family. From January 1 through March 15, the Unlimited Snowsports Package offers accommodations for two nights, breakfast daily, ski passes at Suicide Six Ski Area for two days (rentals not included), and Nordic Center ski passes for two days of cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and fat tire biking (rentals are included). Package rates for two adults start at $475 midweek, $668 on weekends. 

 
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Philadelphia Freedom

Washington, DC, garners its fair share of travel press this time of year because of soon-to-bud cherry blossoms. But don’t forget about that other East Coast history hot spot, Philadelphia. Home to one of two U.S. Mint facilities open to the public (Denver is the other; www.usmint.gov/mint_tours), families can take an hour-long self-guided tour of this money manufacturing plant. Unfortunately, they don’t give out freebies. Diagonally across the street is the home of the Liberty Bell, set in a $12.9 million glass pavilion. This tour is also self-guided and free, but guides are on hand to answer all of the children’s questions about that crack. Stay at the Sheraton Philadelphia Society Hill Hotel and you can walk to other Old City attractions like Franklin Fountain, an early 20th-century soda shop that makes the best root beer float I ever had, and Shane Candies, the oldest continuously operating candy story in America. Save room for dinner at City Tavern.  A reconstruction of an 18th-century tavern where Ben Franklin and other Founding Fathers dined, waiters dress up in Colonial garb and serve recipes from that period. 

 

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