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Stowe Mountain Lodge Continues to Evolve and Impress

One of the main reasons I gave Stowe top billing in this month’s Yankee Magazine cover story on New England’s top winter towns is due to the creation of Stowe Mountain Lodge. The most sybaritic ski-in/ski-out resort in New England, the 312-room Stowe Mountain Lodge has the feel of a ski lodge in Jackson Hole, especially when you enter the lobby with its towering two-story high ceiling. The resort uses indigenous wares everywhere you look, so there’s real Vermont birch twisting around the columns and Lake Champlain marble on stairs leading to the après-ski bar, Hourglass. They have been on a serious building spree since their inception, creating 36 holes of golf, a stylish spa with heated outdoor pool in winter that rewards you with views of the mountain you just conquered, and the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center. 
 
Having just spent the weekend with the family at the resort, I was excited to see the latest changes. A skating rink has opened behind the property near a branch of the popular Burlington creperie, Skinny Pancake. Behind the skating rink, construction workers were hard at work atop a new building that when complete in March will feature a climbing wall and recreation center for kids, along with 19 new condominiums (all sold out). Next door is another new wooden building with large stone chimney in the center that will soon transform into a wine bar. On Saturday afternoon after a day of skiing, kids were making s’mores around fire pits outside as adults swigged their Switchback Ales at the Hourglass bar. The place was a buzz of excitement as a world class ski-in/ski-out resort should be. 
 
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Stella Retrospective At the Whitney

I finally made it to the new Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan over Christmas break. The new building is located on Gansevoort Street, just off 14th street on the western edge of the island. The day was unseasonably warm when we went, so we took full advantage of the outdoor balconies to stare at the view of the Hudson River down to the Statue of Liberty. From the outside, the Whitney looks small. Once you walk in, however, and peer at the oversized works of sculptor and artist Frank Stella do you understand the immense length of the new building. Very few art museums could put on a retrospective of Stella because one sculpture can take over an entire room. The Whitney does an impressive job of showcasing his works. See the show before it leaves on February 7th and then take a walk on the nearby High Line, the popular 1.5-mile linear park, built from the dilapidated ruins of an elevated railway. It has completely reenergized this once overlooked part of the city. 

 
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Top 5 Travel Days of 2015, Hiking and Horseback Riding in the Colorado Rockies

In mid-October, I caught up with Dan Austin, owner of Austin Adventures, and his daughter, Kasey, as they were designing a new itinerary that took in all the mountain splendor and adventure found on the outskirts of Colorado Springs. Their primary focus was to introduce guests to “The Broadmoor Wilderness Experience,” two historic sporting camps high up in the mountains that have been recently renovated by the legendary Broadmoor resort. Standing 9100 feet atop Cheyenne Mountain is the former private retreat of Broadmoor founder, Spencer Penrose, and, as of last summer, home to a mountain lodge called Cloud Camp. In 1923, Penrose acquired a bucolic slice of heaven, ringed by 11,000-foot peaks, which this summer has been transformed into The Ranch of Emerald Valley.

 
One glorious day on this trip, I rose with the sun at Cloud Camp and walked up to the two-story Fire Tower Suite, built with the honeymooner in mind, replete with hot tub and bedroom with 360-degree views. No one was staying in the suite so I grabbed a rocking chair on the deck and watched Pikes Peak bathe in the morning light. After breakfast, Dan and Kasey led us on the 5.5-mile McNeil Trail descending into a forest of ponderosa pine, spruce, fir, and birch trees. Past midpoint, we connect with an old stage road that went straight to The Ranch at Emerald Valley.
 
At lunch, the GM at Emerald Valley mentioned to me that the mayor of Colorado Springs spent a week here with his wife after retiring and did very little but read books on their cabin front porch. Indeed, it’s hard to tear yourself away from the vista of pasture, trout ponds, and towering peaks. Only a 30-minute drive outside of Colorado Springs, you feel lost in the Western wilderness. That afternoon, we took full advantage of the majestic scenery to take a horseback ride on a ridge close to the jagged peak of Mount Vigel. Then I soaked my weary body into a cedar-lined hot tub while snacking on a favorite dessert at the ranch, peach-filled donut holes. This is what I call a dream day. 
 
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Top 5 Travel Days of 2015, Mountain Biking with Maine Huts & Trails

I was fortunate in 2015 to spend 5 days in Acadia National Park and 5 days visiting all the huts on the Maine Huts & Trails route. Seven years after the Poplar Springs Hut was first built, the nonprofit group is making good on its lofty goal to build 12 eco-lodges in the Maine wilderness. There are already four huts in the system across a 45-mile span. I loved the entire route, especially the chance to not only hike, but also mountain bike and paddle through the dense woods. 

 
One of the highlights of the trip was a chance to ride with local Jon Boehmer who knows a thing or two about mountain biking, having lived in that legendary mountain biking town of Crested Butte, Colorado, for 6 years. Boehmer led my wife and I on some of his favorite singletrack runs, many that branch off from the Narrow Gauge Pathway, a rail trail that hugs the Carrabassett River. Meade is a gem of a trail that lines the banks of the river, bopping up and down around tall pines and over roots and rock bridges. Sargent and Crocker Town are more technical runs, with short uphill and downhill turns thrown into the mix. Boehmer also took us to the nearby Sugarloaf Outdoor Center, where you can rent bikes and venture onto their vast network of trails that loop around lonely ponds, with that mountain view always looming in the background. 
 
We rested our legs on a downhill run on the Narrow Gauge while watching families swim in the boulder-strewn river. Then we headed uphill on a tough climb to the Poplar Hut, our lodging for the night. Lisa and I said goodbye to Jon and thanked him for a memorable day of riding. To top it off, we walked down to a nearby waterfalls and watched the water careen down the craggy old rock into a cool pool of water. There was no one else enjoying this serene scene. Well, at least not yet, but word will spread. 
 
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Top 5 Travel Days of 2015, Sea Kayaking Lobster Bay, Nova Scotia

This past June, I took the Portland ferry to Nova Scotia with my sister, Fawn. This would be my fifth trip to the province and I wanted to focus on the southern half of Nova Scotia, south of Halifax. Over a week, we would stop in the charming seaside community of Lunenburg, one of only two cities in North America chosen as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, go clamming on Digby Flats, oyster farming at Eel Lake, stand-up paddleboard at the White Point Beach Resort, and spend a night at a quintessential Canadian property deep in the woods, Trout Point Lodge. But as I wrote in my original blog, the last day in Nova Scotia was downright dreamy.

 
A mere 30 minutes from where the Portland ferry arrives in Yarmouth is the 6-bedroom Argyler Lodge. The small inn sits on the shores of the vast Lobster Bay with spectacular views of the sea and islands. I would spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the wide open water with my sea kayaking guide, Matt Delong. Paddling a loop around the numerous islands—Nanny, Camp, Birch, Bonds, Potato, Gordons—we spotted ospreys in their nest, a loon plunging into the water, and cormorants drying their wings on their rocks. The most spectacular part of the whole adventure was the fact that there was not one boat in this mammoth-sized bay. Not even another kayaker. Lobster fishermen finish the season in late May so their traps and boats were long gone by the time we arrived in mid-June. 
 
3 hours later, we returned to shore where Chef Jonathan, owner of the inn, was already busy boiling water over an open fire for our night’s lobster bake. A picnic table was set for my sister and I, Nova Scotian wine on ice. Jonathan soon dumped everything into the pot including corn, potatoes, clams, mussels, and lobsters. The sun set behinds Gordons Island as we roasted marshmallows for our s’mores. Then the bright night sky lit up with stars. Yes, dreamy and memorable. 
 
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Top 5 Travel Days of 2015, Exploring Cappadocia

When Mount Erciyes poured lava over central Turkey thousands of years ago, the volcanic ash formed a surreal, lunar-like landscape consisting of cone-shaped “fairy chimneys” and layers of soft volcanic rock called “tufa.” Early Christians found the pervious terrain ideal for escaping persecution by Romans and Arabs. When wet, the tufa could be easily carved like soap to make caves out of the pinnacles as well as underground cities descending hundreds of feet below the surface. Tunnels were carved into the soft volcanic rock that venture a mind-boggling 7 and 8 levels underground. They lead to rooms that were used to sleep, eat, pray, along with advanced ventilation systems and a well to retrieve water.

 
This past July, Lisa and I returned with the kids to Cappadocia to revisit this otherworldly terrain. One of our favorite jaunts was a hike with guide, Mehmet Gungor, accompanied by his dog. We were all by our lonesome in the stunning Rose Valley, hiking in and out of caves. Early the next morning we took a magical hot air balloon ride over the terrain and then toured the underground cities. We rented a car our entire time in Cappadocia and it was easy to drive through this rural part of central Turkey. We made it to the mountain town of Güzelyurt, where we found more underground cities and churches from over a millennium ago. We never felt unsafe driving on the backcountry roads of Cappadocia. On the contrary, surrounded by spectacular scenery and very little traffic, it was a great part of the world to cruise. 
 
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Top 5 Travel Days of 2015, On Safari at Singita Grumeti

With trips to Tanzania, Turkey, Nova Scotia, the Colorado Rockies, Acadia National Park, and much more, 2015 was another banner year for travel. It’s hard to distill it all down to five days, but these are the memories I cherish most. In March, I traveled all around northern Tanzania with Rob Barbour, director of African travel at Epic Private Journeys. We would make stops in Arusha National Park, the southern Amboseli plains, Mwiba Wildlife Reserve, Ngorongoro Crater, Kusini Camp in the southern Serengeti, the Grumeti Wildlife Reserve, and the Lamai section of the northern Serengeti, where the legendary wildebeest migration takes place across the Mara River. Watching 50 elephants coming to a watering hole outside my room at Mwiba was an experience I’ll never forget. But my favorite part of the trip was the two nights we spent at Singita in the 140,000 hectare Grumeti Game Reserves. The place feels exactly like the Serengeti with its swaying grasses and low-lying ridges, but without the traffic. We passed, on average, 2 other land rovers on each 3-hour game drive. It felt incredibly exclusive. The wildlife was phenomenal, even in March before the big rains, watching lions on a wildebeest kill or giraffes nibbling on the acacias at sunset. 

 
We spent one night in the very contemporary rooms of Singita Faru Faru, perfect for families because of its two pools to unwind after lunch. The spacious rooms overlook a watering hole with good wildlife viewing from the outdoor shower (opt for Room 2 or 3). The next night we moved to Singita Explore, 6 mobile tents that move around the property, depending on the season. This was glamping at its best, with sundowners around the campfire and S. African braai for dinner. You could easily spend 3 nights at Explore and 3 nights at Faru Faru or Singita’s private 4-bedroom house, the Serengeti House, and be extremely happy. 
 
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Top 5 Adventures in Florida, Bike Ding Darling National Refuge

The best way to see the alligators and amazing birdlife at “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island is on two wheels. This way you can slow down and see birds hidden in trees that you would miss if you zipped by in a car. Get here early before it gets too hot to catch the wildlife at its most active. Then make your way over to the beaches at low tide. Sanibel is one of the finest spots on the Florida coast to find pristine seashells, especially during the months of 
February, March, and April. You might return back to your hotel room with sand dollars, whelks, even a conch shell, but realize that taking live shells is strictly prohibited. 
 
I’m off the next two weeks on a much needed break. I’ll be back the week of January 4th with my 5 Favorite Travel Days of 2015.
 
Have a Happy, Healthy, and Active New Year!
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Top 5 Adventures in Florida, Bonefishing in the Keys

Flyfishing for bones can be one of the most punishing sports known to man. You stalk the flats, cast your long fly with precision, and then watch in utter frustration as the grazing pod scatters every which way. Averaging just four to seven pounds, the bone is so easily spooked that the best saltwater fishermen will often remain mute and in place for hours in order to hook one. The wily fish can sense the boat moving, can feel you wading in the water, can hear you speaking. One awkward movement on your part and off they flee. Yet, a little patience, a graceful cast just beyond the reach of the school, and a bonefish just might take that fly and run off some 75 yards of line in a couple of seconds. You’ll get the feverish feel of what it’s like to be connected to a remarkably fast and furious fish. The reason why inveterate anglers will often tell you that if you “hook a bone, you’ll be hooked on the sport.” Winter is a great time to try your luck on the flats of the Upper Keys. There are a slew of guides. One of the best is Captain Lenny out of Key West. 

 
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Top 5 Adventures in Florida, Stroll Miami’s Den of Tranquility

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables is a lush mix of ponds, palms, ferns, big birds, and whimsical sculpture. One step inside the serene environs and you’re staring at an anhinga drying its wings in the sun next to Dale Chihuly’s colorful works of glass hidden in the orchids and big-leaf ferns. Serpentine trails lead you into a rainforest shaded by vanilla trees, under the Spanish moss hanging from a southern live oak, and past the massive roots of a 70-year old baobab tree. Add the large collection of herons and warblers that are fortunate to call the Fairchild home and you have the perfect rendezvous away from the crowds at South Beach.