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A Week of Adventure at Quebec’s Saguenay Fjord

On my last trip to the province of Quebec, I was fortunate to make it to Baie-Saint-Paul in the Charlevoix region, just north of Quebec City along the St. Lawrence Seaway. Charlevoix has become a foodie destination, cherished by residents of Montreal and Quebec City for its cheeses, breads, fresh salmon, microbrews, and local produce. Next week, I’ll be continuing my journey up the St. Lawrence to the 64-mile long Saguenay Fjord, one of the longest and southernmost fjords in the world. Flanked by walls of ash colored rock that rise some 1,150 feet and forests of balsams and yellow birch, it is also one of the most accessible places on the planet to see beluga whales. For quite some time, Saguenay has been on my wish list as I yearned to kayak the fjord, bike a section of the 256-kilometer “Véloroute des Bleuets” or Blueberry Trail cycling path around Lac-Saint-Jean, raft the Metabetchouan River, and hike high above the waters at Parc national du Fjord-du-Saguenay. The perfect Quebec adventure! As an added bonus, I’m headed back to Charlevoix to bike around Isle-aux-Coudres, an island, smack dab in the center of the St. Lawrence River, and to sample the French dining at several bistros that are known throughout Quebec. Please follow along next week as I blog, tweet @ActiveTravels, share photos on Facebook and Instagram, and videos on YouTube. Have a great weekend! 

 
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Four Seasons Makes Its Debut at Oahu’s Ko Olina Resort

Two summers ago, I had the pleasure of staying at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort with the family on Oahu’s blossoming leeward coast. Part of the umbrella Ko Olina Resort (which also includes Disney’s Aulani and Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club), this is the quiet side of the island. We snorkeled with wild dolphins straight from the Ko Olina marina, saw the ring of Saturn one night stargazing through a powerful telescope, listened to live Hawaiian ukulele music on the beach, and dined at some of the finest restaurants on the island including Roy Yamaguchi and Peter Merriman’s Ko Olina outposts. After a yearlong, $500 million renovation, the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort has now transformed into the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina. The Four Seasons had a lot to work with including spacious rooms with oversized balconies that offer expansive views of the ocean at night. We left the screen door open to hear the waves rolling ashore. The beachfront locale is also home to a stingray pool and a separate building that houses a large spa and tennis courts. I’m excited to see what the Four Seasons has done with the property. 

 
While we’re on the subject of the Four Seasons, the company just announced that they would take over management of the Viceroy Anguilla, a perennial client favorite. When it reopens in October, the property will be called the Four Seasons Resort and Private Residences Anguilla. It will be the second Four Seasons Resort in the Caribbean, along with Four Seasons Resort Nevis. 
 
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A Relaxing Stay at Lake George’s Silver Bay YMCA

North of Bolton Landing, Lake George feels more lake a river, narrow and hemmed in by the peaks, offering vintage Adirondack beauty. You peer out at ridge after anonymous ridge and a carpet of trees, with few signs of civilization. When I tell people that I find Lake George more exquisite than Lake Tahoe, Lake Powell, or even that wondrous lake to the north, Champlain, they often look at me bewildered.  They equate the lake with the honky-tonk village on the southern tip, packed with T-shirt and fudge shops, video arcades, hokey haunted houses, a requisite water park, and my personal favorite, Goony Golf, a miniature golf course crowded with huge fairy tale characters. All they have to do is drive about ten miles north on Route 9N to Bolton Landing and the lake becomes far more serene. Growing up in Schenectady, New York, we would make the hour-drive to Bolton Landing on a regular basis to reach our sailboat docked just out of town. Now I return on an annual basis with my family to treat my kids to a good dose of natural adventure. 

 
I just returned from 4 glorious days with 18 members of my extended family at the Silver Bay YMCA, a 20-minute drive north of Bolton Landing. We hiked to Inspiration Point for exquisite vistas of the lake, kayaked across to the opposite shores, played tennis, went on a stroll with a naturalist to find wildflowers, made s’mores around the fire pit while looking at the fireflies, took advantage of those rocking chairs on the inn’s verandah, and swam to our heart’s content in the refreshing waters. It was good old-fashioned fun, a bucolic retreat where we could disconnect from our screens and reconnect with the family. Can’t wait to return to the lake next summer! 
 
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A Wonderful Week at the Iberostar Grand Hotel Rose Hall

To celebrate our daughter’s graduation from high school in June, we spent a week at an all-inclusive property in Jamaica. We chose the Iberostar Grand Hotel Rose Hall, an adults-only property only a 20-minute drive from the international airport in Montego Bay. I’ve written extensively about the all-inclusive experience in the Caribbean and Mexico, having stayed at over 30 properties, but this is easily one of the finest. Rooms were spacious, with sunken tub, a fridge stocked with Red Stripe, and a large balcony where you could watch the magical sunset each evening over the expanse of beach and ocean. Connected to two other Iberostar resorts, the beach was long enough to stroll. Granted, we were there in the off-season, but there were more than enough chaise lounge chairs on the beach, with or without umbrellas. The ocean water was heavenly, just the right temperature, which was probably the reason we all got too much sun. All the restaurants surpassed my expectations, serving freshly caught red snapper, shrimp, and copious amounts of jerk chicken. Drinks were plentiful and there was waiter service on the beach, a nice plus (try the Jamaican Smile). We loved the entertainment crew, especially Hashtag and Renee, who were always there with a game to play or story to tell about Jamaica. But most of all I relaxed, reading two books on the beach. What a treat! 

 
I plan on relaxing with my extended family (18 in all) at the Silver Bay YMCA on Lake George the next 4 days. I’ll be back on July 13th. In the meantime, keep active.  
 
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Seeing the Cape on Two Wheels

The small strip of pavement forms a straight line into the horizon like an express route to freedom. Astride my bike, I zip over bridges and through tunnels, past large ponds, salt marshes and cranberry bogs, all while breathing in the sweet smell of spring wildflowers and the far more potent brine of the sea. The hum of traffic is gone, replaced by the call of the yellow warbler. The only obstacles before me are runners, clumsy rollerbladers, and other leisurely bikers. In the Cape Cod town of Orleans, I hop off my bike for a few minutes and take in that quintessential New England snapshot of fishing boats bobbing in the harbor. 

 
The 25-mile long Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT) was once a corridor used to ship cranberries from the Cape to Boston aboard the Old Colony Railroad. Today, the relatively level rail trail is a placid retreat that has quickly become one of the most popular destinations in the Northeast for biking. The Cape Cod Rail Trail might receive the most fanfare but the entirety of Cape Cod is blessed with an abundance of paved bike trails, from the Cape Cod Canal Bikeway that snakes under the Sagamore and Bourne Bridges to the topsy-turvy Provincelands Bike Trail on the outskirts of Provincetown. 
 
To read more of my story on Cape Cod biking that appeared in the June issue of the Alaska Airways inflight magazine, click here and turn to page 50. 
 
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New Trends and Rides at America’s Amusement Parks

July 4th weekend might be in the rear view mirror but the summer has just begun. Don’t miss the opportunity to visit one of the hundreds of amusement parks across the country to sample some of their new rides. According to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, the big new trends at amusement parks are virtual reality roller coasters and immersive 4-D attractions. On roller coasters, riders wear specially designed virtual reality headsets as they become part of the adrenalin-pumping storyline. For example, Six Flags Magic Mountain, celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, has added new virtual reality technology to the “Revolution” steel roller coaster, creating “The New Revolution.” Wind, water, and heat are just a few of the sensory elements, along with high-tech sound that ride designers are implementing to help create a 4-D immersive experience. At Epcot in Orlando, “Soarin’ Around the World” is a new 4-D experience that treats guests to an aerial tour of some of the world’s most distinctive landscapes.

 
 
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A Must-Stop at the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market

First started in 1750, Halifax’s farmers’ market is the oldest continuously running market in North America. Over its history, it bounced between many locales from church basements to breweries. That all changed in November 2010, when local purveyors finally got a permanent home right on the harbor. The 56,000-square-foot multilevel building is open year-round; its hours change depending on the season. The best time to visit is during breakfast on a Saturday. Grab an egg or bacon sandwich (only 5 bucks) and a hot cinnamon bun at Wrap So D and eat at one of the tables in or outside. Then go shopping for souvenirs like jewelry made from sea glass, folk art, or the handcrafted cutting boards. I always stop at the Rudi’s hot sauce booth for his Sweet Cherry Bomb, good with chips, and the spicy Candy Reaper Burn, perfect on a veggie and tofu stir-fry. 
 
Happy Canada Day! It’s been a wonderful week revisiting Halifax and Cape Breton. I want to thank Pam Wamback at Tourism Nova Scotia for her help designing a fantastic itinerary. To my American friends, enjoy the 4th of July! See you back here on the 5th. 
 
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Take the White Glove Tour at the Alexander Graham Bell Museum

It’s a good omen when you spot a bald eagle and a fox within 10 minutes of leaving your hotel after breakfast. An hour later we were paddling the placid waters of St. Ann’s Bay on a guided half-day tour with North River Kayak. We would spot more bald eagles, one distinctive white head peering out from her massive bowl-shaped nest high up the hillside. We stopped for banana bread and chocolate chai, so delicious that owner Angelo Spinazola now sells it as a parting gift. Then we walked to a small waterfall before making the paddle back. 
 
That afternoon, I returned to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in the lakeside resort town of Baddeck. Graham Bell and his wife Mabel, a former student of his at Boston School for the Deaf, first built their summer home in Baddeck in 1886, a decade after he stated those first fateful words on the telephone to his assistant, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” In 1955, Graham Bell’s two daughters donated thousands of original artifacts to the museum, including all of the models that consumed him during his lifetime. There’s a bicycle that he hoped one could pedal on water, his invention of the gramophone, and a hydrofoil he helped build later in life, called HD-4, which reached a speed of 70 miles per hour on water, a record that wouldn’t be broken for another decade. The museum is now offering a “White Glove” tour where you put on gloves and enter a backroom. A guide lets you see and touch his walking cane (rather long since he stood 6 ‘4”), suit jackets, and notebooks where he would scribble any thoughts during the day. He was a meticulous note taker and you’ll find stacks of books lined up detailing all of his studies. I also enjoyed the early photo of his brothers, making silly faces. Unfortunately they both died of TB at an early age. It’s the reason Bell’s family left Scotland to move to Canada. Bell’s 37-room estate across the lake is still used by his descendants. 
 
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My Favorite Day Hike in Nova Scotia

“Probably not going to see a moose today,” said a park ranger at the beginning of the Skyline Trail. “It’s a hot day and they’re lying low in the brush,” he added. Not that it matters. The Skyline is one of the most glorious hikes in the Maritimes, a great overview of the breathtaking terrain displayed at Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Listening to bullfrogs and a woodpecker hammering away, we took a serene stroll through a boreal forest lined with buttercups. Every now and then we would get a glimpse of the sea in front of us and look back at the mountains and the carpet of forest. Then you reach the piece de resistance, a series of steps and platforms that reward you with magnificent vistas of the water and the circuitous road rising through the velvet green hillside that’s one of the best coastal drives in North America, the Cabot Trail. After our fill of the scenery, we made our way back down and said goodbye to the park ranger. Less than a 5-minute walk from our car, we heard loud ruffling to our left and spotted a mother moose and her two young calves chowing down on the foliage. Some days, you can get your icing on the cake. 

That afternoon, we signed up for a zodiac tour with Captain’s Mark’s Whale and Seal Cruise in nearby Pleasant Bay and were treated to the bounty of sealife. Within 5 minutes from the dock, we spotted the graceful arch and fin of a minke whale, one of 40 minkes we probably found over a 2-hour span. Adding to the pleasure was a colony of gray seals popping their heads out of the water like periscopes, harbor porpoises, a bald eagle perched on a tree high atop a bluff, and the frightening tentacles of a lion’s mane jellyfish. Then we drove another hour on the Cabot Trail to the Keltic Lodge, where we downed pints of Big Spruce Regatta Red Ale while staring at the massive bluff they call Cape Smoky jutting out into the Atlantic. Not a bad day. 

(Photos by Michael Berger)





 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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)