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The Latest Changes at Vermont Ski Slopes for the Upcoming Season

Thursday is the annual Boston Ski Show, when I meet reps from ski areas around New England, Canada, and the Western US. Last week’s news that 14 ski areas including Jiminy Peak in Massachusetts, Loon Mountain and Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire, Okemo Mountain in Vermont, and Sunday River and Sugarloaf in Maine have been sold to a hedge fund manager in New York will certainly be the hot conversation topic, but there’s a slew of other noteworthy topics at ski resorts around the country that I want to discuss this week. We’ll start with Vermont. 

 
Killington Resort is bringing Alpine World Cup skiing back to the eastern US for the first time in 25 years when the Audi FIS Ski World Cup takes place November 26-27. Giant Slalom and Slalom races will put the best female technical alpine skiers against one another on the infamous New England steep trail, Superstar. Brand new this winter at Stowe Mountain Resort is the opening of an 80-million-dollar Adventure Center. Located at Spruce Peak and adjacent to Stowe’s new outdoor Ice Skating Rink, Stowe’s Adventure Center is home to all Stowe’s children’s programs. The building will includes a day care facility, an indoor climbing center called Stowe Rocks, and family-friendly dining. Over at Burke, The Burke Mountain Hotel and Conference Center opened its doors on September 1st. The 116-room hotel is situated mid-mountain and provides a true ski-in ski-out experience. Suites range from a standard studio to three bedroom with onsite amenities including a pub, restaurant, heated pool and hot tub, fitness center, and arcade.  
 
 
 
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Run the Alps Offers New Slate of Trips in 2017

Doug Mayer, founder of Run the Alps, one of the premier running outfitters in the world, sent me his list of 2017 trips this week. These sell out quickly, with many returning guests, so if there’s a trip you like, don’t wait too long to book. In Chamonix, France, even the Mayor is an ultrarunner. The famed alpine town at the base of Mont Blanc is also the world epicenter of trail running. Join Run the Alps for a week of running here, a trip to breathtaking Courmayeur, Italy, and if you want, take part in the Cross du Mont Blanc, one of the oldest trail races in the Alps. Their trip running the iconic route around Mont Blanc passes through three countries—France, Italy, and Switzerland. In Zermatt and Grindelwald, Run the Alps has revised their itineraries to fit a variety of trail running abilities. They’ve also secured entries into the Eiger and Ultraks trail race series, with races including distances of 10, 30, 50 and 101 km, if you’d like to take part in an Alps trail race. Who wouldn’t want to run with the Matterhorn as your backdrop? 

 
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Montreal Celebrates 375th Anniversary With 175 Events in 2017

Canada will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Confederation in 2017 so I’m sure to post many more blogs on the yearlong festivities. First up is Montreal, which is also celebrating its 375th anniversary next year. To commemorate the occasion, they are hosting over 175 events, including a nightly multi-media show set on the St. Lawrence this summer. If it’s anything like the multi-media event I witnessed in Quebec City to celebrate their 400th birthday, it will be one of the best events you’ll see in 2017. Other highlights include the mesmerizing “Walk of the Giants” from France’s Royal de Luxe street theater company, the premiere of a new opera based on Pink Floyd’s The Wall, and an exhibition at Montreal’s Museum of Contemporary Art inspired by the songwriting of Leonard Cohen. If you need a place to hang your hat, consider Hotel William Gray, a new luxury hotel that opened in July overlooking the Place Jacques-Cartier. 

 
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G Adventures Partners with Jane Goodall Institute

Toronto-based G Adventures has just announced their new partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute. Called The Jane Goodall Collection by G Adventures, the selection of 20 wildlife-themed tours include a chance to observe gorillas in the jungles of Uganda, meet the giant tortoises of the Galapagos Islands, sail up the Amazon River on a small riverboat, and much more. G Adventures will carry on the esteemed primatologist’s mission to protect wildlife and empower local communities. 

 
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Cliff House on the Maine Coast Enters Its Golden Age

I spent the weekend on the Maine coast researching a story for Yankee Magazine on the latest inns and hotels to make their debuts in New England. Our last stop was the Cliff House, a 5-minute drive from Perkins Cove and the Marginal Way in Ogunquit. First opened in 1872, the property is not exactly new, but you would have a hard time recognizing this upscale property now that Destination Hotels has poured millions of dollars into a complete makeover. The resort now takes full advantage of its stunning setting atop a precipitous cliff that drops straight down into the Atlantic. The vista from our room’s balcony was sheer ocean water and the granite-strewn coastline. Walk into the 2-story lobby where floor to ceiling windows offer the same exquisite view and have dinner at Tiller, only to peer down at the pounding surf lit up at night. Phase one of the rebuild is now complete, featuring 132 rooms with a nautical theme (portholes on each door), a new indoor lap pool, spa, and a second casual restaurant, Nubb’s Lobster Shack, all opened in this past month. Construction continues atop the bluff to add an additional 100 rooms by next summer. In the meantime, come spend a night and have dinner at the Cliff House, only 90 minutes up the road from Boston, and you’ll understand why I’m so thrilled that Maine has another world-class resort. 

 
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Botswana, Villas in Europe, and Family Trips to New York in October ActiveTravels Newsletter

There was a moment on our second day of safari in Botswana where our guide, Kebby, spotted a leopard. We drove up to a leafless tree where this exquisite animal was perched on a branch, looking intently at the impalas nibbling on grass in the distance. We all grabbed our cameras and binoculars to take in the spectacular sight. After 15 minutes, I was ready to move on, but our guide stayed put. Giraffes passed by, an elephant came close to the land cruiser, startled to find us there, and the leopard moved to another branch. At last, the leopard jumped off the tree and sauntered away in the tall grass.

 
We must have looked at him for at least an hour, a ridiculous amount of time for some one as impatient as me, always thinking of my next activity, deadline, or goal to achieve. But to truly be in the present, clearing your mind of all extraneous thought and worries and simply stare at a leopard, that is really a moment to savor. In fact, it’s the essence of authentic travel. A chance to share a precious moment with loved ones far away from the seemingly endless responsibilities of modern-day lives. Afterwards, I thanked Kebby for staying with the leopard. He noted that it’s often the time he’ll see a kill, when he stays with one predator like a leopard or lion for a long period of time.
 
Take time to pause in your travels this upcoming year, whether it’s over a glass of wine at a vineyard, at the beach with a good thick book, in front of a wonderful work of art, or staring at a leopard in the bush. Be sure to build downtime into your itinerary and not just check off sight after sight. Travel is not a contest but necessary time to nurture an often weary body and soul. The vast wilderness of Botswana’s Okavango Delta, our main feature in this month’s ActiveTravels newsletter, is the perfect place to replenish the well. We also discuss some alternatives to hotels in US and European cities as well as the Caribbean; an outfitter who specializes in grandparent’s trips to New York; a Quick Escape to the home of Halloween, Salem; and a reminder to always check in before your next flight.
 
Enjoy reading and, as always, happy travels!
 
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Adirondacks Multisport Trip Just Added to the Backroads Roster

Backroads, the world’s leading active travel company, just announced their 2017 line-up and I was excited to see that my boyhood stomping grounds of the Adirondacks finally made the cut. Their 5-day itinerary includes some of my favorite activities, including biking the Lake Champlain Bikeway, hiking Mt. Jo in the high peaks region, and sailing Lake George aboard the Morgan, the Sagamore’s 72-foot replica of a 19th-century touring vessel. Set on a 70-acre island near the village of Bolton Landing, the Sagamore has been the lake’s top address for over a century. Steps from the patio lead past the manicured lawn to the Sagamore’s shoreline, offering views of Dome Island, a large round uninhabited forest of firs that looks almost tropical, a place that King Kong would find homey. On the opposite shores is an uninterrupted carpet of trees that soon rise to 2,000-foot mountains. 

The Adirondacks itinerary came as a result of guests wanting trips closer to home and a wee bit shorter. Other new trips in this category include a Maui & Lanai Multisport Adventure Tour for families and an Arches & Canyonlands Hiking Trip. Backroads added over 40 new trips to their schedule in 2017. Some of the highlights include hiking in Japan, a family trip to Sedona, Bermuda biking, Basque Country and a Galapagos, Andes & Amazon river cruise. Next year they are running a total of 71 active river cruises, including a Danube full ship buyout (150 Backroads guests take over the ship). ActiveTravels is here to help you pick the itinerary that best suits your level of fitness and dates. 
 
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October is Cranberry Harvest Season in Massachusetts

The Cranberry Harvest Celebration at Makepeace Farms in Wareham, an hour south of Boston near the Sagamore Bridge to Cape Cod, might be over, but it’s still a great time to visit the bogs of Massachusetts during harvest time. We brought a journalist from Cape Town to the region last Thursday and were mesmerized by the men working waist-deep in the flooded cranberries colored a brilliant red. A.D. Makepeace Company is the world’s largest cranberry grower, a founding member of the Ocean Spray co-op, and the largest private property owner in Massachusetts. Cranberries have been cultivated in this part of the world for approximately 200 years. The temperate climate is perfect for growing cranberries with warm days in summer and cold nights in autumn. We watched as workers culled and then vacuumed up the cranberries into a truck that heads to a nearby Ocean Spray processing plant to make cranberry juice, cranberry sauce, and craisins. The harvest continues until mid-November and A.D. Makepeace is offering one last guided tour of its bog this Saturday, October 29th, at 9 am. Afterwards, stop by Tihonet Village for sandwiches and salads, chocolate-covered cranberries, and treats from their bakery like tasty cranberry macaroons. I grabbed a pint of fresh cranberries after a worker told me how to make homemade cranberry liqueur with equal amounts of cranberries, sugar, and vodka. I’ll tell you how it turns out. 

 
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ActiveTravels Featured in Sunday’s Boston Globe

Sunday was already a celebratory day for my family as we gathered in New York for our niece, Sarah Schechter’s first art opening. The exhibition is on view at the Greenpoint Reformed Church in Brooklyn, 136 Milton Street, through December. So if you’re in New York, please have a look at these skillfully rendered, vibrant and often whimsical sketches and paintings from her life. Adding to the excitement on Sunday was a Boston Globe story about the rise of the travel agent that included quotes from Lisa and me. We were interviewed for the story several months ago, before our trip to southern Africa, and forgot about it until seeing it on Sunday. It was a nice surprise. Paired with the wonderful story from Moira McCarthy on ActiveTravels in the Boston Herald earlier this summer, we feel incredibly fortunate to be recognized. It only helps to legitimize the company when people search for a travel agent in that great big space called Google. 

 
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New Takes on Old Classics in New Orleans

Start with Cajun specialties like the one-pot wonder, jambalaya, brought to New Orleans by the French of Nova Scotia over 250 years ago. Add the rich sauces and fresh herbs of Creole cooking that blended together from the city’s Spanish, West African, and French roots. Take full advantage of the bounty of shrimp, crawfish, oysters, and redfish found in the surrounding gulf and bayou, and, voila, you have all the necessary ingredients to create North America’s favorite culinary destination. The city that brought you Emeril Lagasse, Paul Prudhomme, and John Besh is now home to a new generation of acclaimed chefs, including Israeli Alon Shaya, whose restaurant, Shaya, was recently named the Best New Restaurant in America according to the James Beard Foundation. They bring a new twist to the old classics, even when it comes to cocktails. 

To find my favorite dishes in town, please see my latest Local Flavor column in this month’s Virtuoso Traveler Magazine.