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New England in a Nutshell Out Today!

New England GuidebookThanks for tuning in these past 3 weeks as I selected some of my favorite entries from my latest book, New England in a Nutshell. The book is out today and you can order at Amazon or one of the top independent bookstores in the country, Powell’s in Portland, Oregon. You can read about the book in Forbes, Global Traveler, Literary Traveler, and Burlington Free-Press, or tune in today to NBC Boston 10 News around 5 pm, where I’ll discuss great day trips around Boston. Please put it to good use and explore this wonderful part of the world!

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Introducing the Dream Day Itinerary

Some of our clientele already have first hand knowledge of what we like to call the Dream Day Itinerary. Ideally suited for the independent traveler, these fleshed-out itineraries detail each day of your vacation, from activities to restaurants to hotels. We try to incorporate as much local flavor as possible, hiring local guides to take you to sites based on your particular love of art, architecture, the outdoors, and history. If we have not visited the restaurants first-hand, we ask locals we know and trust in the area for recommendations. In fact, many of the suggested activities, hotels, and restaurants on the Dream Day Itinerary stem from my own articles as a travel writer or come highly recommended from my travel writing buddies who have a specialty, like dining in Spain or skiing the Alps. So rest assured that these itineraries are personally curated by trustworthy sources. Just another perk of joining ActiveTravels.com!
 

New Direct Flight from Boston to Asheville, North Carolina

SkylineStarting May 8th, Allegiant Airlines will be flying direct from Boston to Asheville. I’m really excited about the opportunity for clients to visit this town on a direct flight and to see the expansive Biltmore Estate and its resplendent gardens, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. From beginning to late spring, the gardens come to life with the tulip bloom followed by multi-colored azaleas, rhododendrons, and come May, roses in the rose garden. Another joy is the 80-mile stretch of roadway between Asheville and Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are numerous opportunities to stretch your legs and stroll to lonely mountain streams and waterfalls. Back in Asheville, a celebrated foodie destination, grab tapas like squid ink paella at Curate. Luella’s Bar-B-Que (just north of downtown) serves ribs, pulled pork, smoked chicken wings, even barbecued tempeh.

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Big Changes Are A Comin’

By now, you should have noticed the new logo and blue background for ActiveTravels.com. It’s part of a major redesign of the website my wife and I plan to launch in the next week. In fact, this blog will be moved to ActiveTravels.com/blog. Hopefully, for all you subscribers, the transition to the new web page will be smooth. Otherwise, you might have to subscribe once again. Sorry for the inconvenience. I really appreciate every one of you who have stuck with me over these past two years of blogging! I’ll fill you in on more of the changes happening at ActiveTravels when I return from Louisville on Tuesday. In the meantime, have a great weekend and keep active!

 
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New England in a Nutshell to Be Published July 2nd

New England TravelWith the forced downturn in travel and a public yearning for more regional exploration, I took advantage of this unintended sabbatical to author a new book, New England in a Nutshell. I did a deep dive into the more than 700 articles I wrote for The Boston Globe, Yankee, Boston Magazine, Outside, Men’s Journal, and numerous other publications during the past quarter century and distilled those stories down to a readable round-up format. The more than 50 categories and 300 entries includes 10 Classic New England Hikes, 8 Summer Drives That Will Keep You Smiling, 6 Hidden Art Historical Gems, Top 12 Country Inns to Get Pampered, 6 Favorite Lobster/Clam Shacks, and a whole lot more. Only the finest entries made the cut! For example, I’ve visited over 1,000 inns in New England and only selected my top twelve. It’s ideally suited for exploring the region this summer when most people want to stay close to home.

The book/ebook is slated to published on July 2nd and you can pre-order the book/ebook now at Amazon. The ebook includes all hyperlinks to listings. The paperback includes front and back cover illustrations from Manhattan-based artist, Sarah Schechter, and a small sampling of photos from Lisa, who accompanied me on many of my assignments, resulting in published work for the Boston Globe.

Half the proceeds from sales of the book will be spent on gift cards to support the many businesses I’ve highlighted. They’re all in dire straits right now due to the pandemic and could use the much-needed financial support. All readers have to do is send me an email at steve@activetravels.com and say they purchased an ebook or book and I’ll put them into the many raffles for free giveaways. Depending on the number of books sold, this could translate into dinner for two at the restaurant that supposedly invented the fried clam, Woodman’s, biking to 5 lighthouses on the outskirts of Portland with SummerFeet Cycling, or a weekend getaway at one of my recommended B&Bs, the Saltair Inn in Bar Harbor.

Thank you for your support and if you could help spread the word, I’d greatly appreciate it! For the next 3 weeks on my blog, I will present to you 12 of my favorite selections in the book. So please stay tuned!

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Take Time to Savor the Present

Last night, I had the privilege of speaking at a travel-themed event in downtown Boston sponsored by the Scotch company, Glenlivet. It was held at the International Poster Gallery on Newbury Street, home to a glorious collection of vintage travel posters from the 1920s and 1930s. What a treat it was to talk about my life as a travel writer, surrounded by these classic posters of ocean liners, luxury trains, and airplanes, while sipping an 18-year-old Scotch. I wish all my talks were like this, instead of being stuck in some dungeoness room in a God-forsaken hotel. Glenlivet only wanted me to speak for a short time, so I simply distilled my 22 years as a travel writer down to “10 Places I’d Happily Bring a Bottle of Glenlivet.” I wanted to introduce the crowd of 50 or so people to some of my favorite off-the-beaten-track destinations, like Torres del Paine, Chile, and the Laikipia region of Kenya. If interested in seeing the entire list, shoot me an email at steve@activetravels.com and I’ll send it your way. It was the perfect way to kick off the Holiday Season with good Holiday Cheer. Hope you enjoy this month and take the necessary time to get together with good friends and family. If, like me, you’ve worked hard all year, you deserve that sip of Scotch. 
 
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Shackleton’s 1914 Adventure in Antarctica Recreated by A Puppet Troupe

Combine marionettes with live music composed by the Kronos Quartet and you get a smaller-than-life reenactment of Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 trans-Antarctic expedition. Called 69 Degrees South: The Shackleton Project, the play is created by the puppet theater company, Phantom Limb, and will be shown at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts on Saturday, March 13 at 8 pm. It will attempt to recreate the true story of Shackleton and his brave men trapped in an ice floe for 497 days, a remarkable story of survival that lends itself well to an intriguing night with puppets.
 

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