|

Charlie Hebdo Cartoonists Also Remembered for Wine Labels

The three Charlie Hebdo cartoonists killed in Paris were not only known for their biting satire. According to Robert Camuto in his latest blog for Wine Spectator, those same cartoonists were also beloved in France for their imaginative wine labels. “Their spirit was to laugh at everything and expose the biggest bullshit in the world. And they were killed by the biggest act of bullshit,” Bordeaux winemaker Gérard Descrambe tells Camuto in the column. As we celbrate Martin Luther King this weekend, let’s all buy a bottle of Bordeaux and raise a toast to civility and tolerance. Then go out and watch Selma. I’ll be back on Tuesday. 

 
|

Kennebunkport Paints the Town Red This February

Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday this year, perfect for a quick getaway. Consider visiting Kennebunkport on the Maine coast, which is painting the town red for romance. Throughout the month of February, all businesses at Dock Square in downtown Kennebunkport will be decked out in red lights. Better yet, hotels, restaurants, galleries, and shops will welcome travelers with savings, from Red Plate dining specials to Five Shades of Red hotel packages, and Red Tag sales from retailers. For example, guests at the Kennebunkport Inn will receive two nights’ lodging, a “Lazy Man’s Lobster” dinner for two at onsite restaurant One Dock, a bottle of red wine and chocolate covered strawberries upon arrival, a red velvet whoopie pie and red rose turndown each evening, breakfast daily, and taxes and gratuity. Prices start at $356 per couple, representing a savings of over 30%.

 
|

Bermuda’s Pink Sale Offer’s 50% Off Room Rates

Need to get away? If you live in the Midwest or East Coast and just endured temps in the single digits, I would say you’re due. You might want to know about Bermuda’s Pink Sale, where 15 hotels on island are offering a 50% discount. Book from today through January 28 for hotels stays until April 30, 2015. Bermuda has a reputation of being cold in the winter months, but average highs in Jan and Feb are 68 degrees, with temps moving up to 70 and 73 in March and April, respectively. Flights are direct and only 2 hours from New York, Boston, and DC. If you need suggestions on what to do while you’re there, check out my Boston Globe story. 

 
|

Self-Guided Driving Trips Around New Zealand

New Zealand is one of my favorite places to go on a road trip. The country is blessed with exquisite scenery around every corner, friendly and hospitable people and a plethora of activities to keep you busy. Lately, we’ve been working with an excellent ground operator, New Zealand Fine Touring, to create wonderful self-guided driving itineraries for our clients. If you’re willing to drive (left side of the road), New Zealand Fine Touring will set you up with car rental, provide in-depth directions, and suggest great ideas for activities at each locale, like local hikes to stretch your legs along the way. They also arrange lodging at top-rated B&Bs and hotels. Take it from our clients; New Zealand Fine Touring is a real find. 
 
|

Lark Hotels to Manage Camden, Maine’s Historic Whitehall

Last January, we spent my wife’s birthday at one of my favorite places to stay in the Portland area, the Pomegranate Inn. The 8-room B&B is run by Lark Hotels, who manage seven boutique properties in New England, with an 8th on the horizon. The newly renovated Whitehall, which originally opened its doors to vacationers in 1901, will drop the “inn” from its name and welcome guests back to its rambling front porch in May 2015. Similar to the Pomegranate, art will play a vital role in the interior design, with a revolving collection of works by local Maine artists found in the 36 rooms. Anchoring the property will be Pig + Poet, a restaurant whose menu will be crafted by acclaimed chef Sam Talbot. Focusing on Maine’s farmland, fisheries and game, the restaurant will feature a raw bar and Talbot’s fresh take on lobster rolls, chowder and blueberry-sweet corn cobbler just to name a few items. A charcuterie bar will also offer sausages and cheese selections.

 
|

5 Favorite Travel Days in 2014, Biking and Sailing Portland, Maine

To celebrate my 50th birthday, my wife, Lisa, set up a glorious day in Portland, Maine—biking along the shoreline, only to be topped by a private sunset sail with family and close friends. Thankfully, the weather was perfect. Norman Patry, owner of Summer Feet Cycling, led my family of 10 along the scenic shoreline of South Portland and Cape Elizabeth to five lighthouses. They included such picturesque gems as Bug Light, the smallest lighthouse in operation in America, and Portland Head Light, painted by the likes of Edward Hopper. Near Portland Head Light, we bought lobster rolls from a food truck and dined overlooking Portland Harbor. The lobster rolls were excellent, chockful of fresh meat, and you could order them Maine-style (with mayo), Connecticut-style (lightly buttered), spiced with curry (loved it) or wasabi. Washed down with locally made Eli’s Blueberry Soda and topped off with ginger molasses cookies from Standard Bakery in town, it was a perfect Portland meal. The ride ended at Kettle Cove, a small beach, just past Two Lights State Park.

 
Later that afternoon, we boarded the 74-foot long sloop, Frances, under the confident helm of Captain Megan Jones. On our 3-hour long private charter, we sailed Casco Bay past many of those same lighthouses we saw by land, while dining on locally catered food washed down with good wine and Maine microbrews. Want a memorable birthday celebration away from home? Contact Lisa Leavitt, a travel agent at ActiveTravels.com. She comes highly recommended! 
 
|

5 Favorite Travel Days in 2014, Driving the Golden Circle, Iceland

One-day bus tours aren’t my cup of tea. Especially when the guide has memorized an encyclopedia on Iceland and is blurting out everything she knows about the country into a microphone at the front of the bus. There was no pause, just a barrage of factoids that had nothing to do with the landscape we were looking at. At one point, I couldn’t stop laughing hysterically with a friend because this guide could not shut up and give it a rest. We decided to return home and create a “Boston Bullshit Tour” where we would hire stand-up comedians to adlib about Boston’s history, basically saying anything that comes to mind. 

 
Yet, it’s hard not to include the Golden Circle Tour into my list of favorite travel days because the scenery we saw that day was so striking. First stop was Thingvellir (Þingvellir) National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the tectonic plates of Europe and North America meet. You walk on a narrow trail dwarfed by the rocky walls. Next up was the surging waters of the Gulfoss Waterfalls, cascading down the tiers of rock. We took a short hike to the lip of waterfalls, sprayed by the cool water of this massive falls. Last stop was Geysir, Iceland’s version of Yellowstone where hot pools churn and bubble and the Strokkur geyser erupts every 4 to 5 minutes.
 
When told that we would be making one last stop on our Golden Circle route, at a greenhouse, most of the people on our tour scoffed at the idea, simply wanting to get back to our hotel in Reykjavik. It sounded like some hokey add-on, like visiting a gift shop owned by the bus driver’s brother. We were pleasantly surprised to find that Friðheimar is no ordinary greenhouse but a massive year-round tomato and cucumber growing operation that yields close to a ton a day of crop thanks to the geothermal energy. I met the owner, Knútur Rafn Ármann, popped a tomato in my mouth (delicious), and then was treated to a sublime cup of tomato soup garnished with cucumber salsa and paired with fresh baked bread. It was probably the best dish I had in the country.
 
|

5 Favorite Travel Days in 2014, Bathed in Tranquility on New Brunswick’s Grand Manan Island

I’m not sure why I waited so long to visit Grand Manan Island. Perhaps because the ferry to the island runs from New Brunswick, though it’s much closer to the Maine shoreline. Thankfully, I finally made it there in June and I could have easily stayed another week or two. I made the wise decision to stay at the Inn at Whale Cove Cottages, perched on a bluff overlooking a sheltered bay. The talented owner and chef of Whale Cove, Laura Buckley, whipped up a tasty meal when I arrived that included a creamy mushroom soup, almond crusted salmon, and an absurdly good sour cherry pie.

 
I was lucky to sit next to a large group, mostly New Yorkers, who return to Grand Manan year after year for the past 30 years. They recommended I climb back in my car after dinner and drive to the end of Whistle Road past the lighthouse to a spot locals simply call “The Whistle.” Wow, what a tip! Perched on a bluff overlooking the rocky shoreline, I spotted kids scouring the boulders for that nutritious New Brunswick seaweed treat, dulse. To my left, cliffs plummeted to the shores below, and directly in front of me was the great expanse of sea leading to FDR’s former summer home, Campobello Island, and the Maine towns of Lubec and Eastport. Within moments of arriving, I spotted seals in the water and shortly thereafter, the graceful arc and fin of the minke whale. The sun was setting, the whales were slicing the water, and local old-timers were handing me Moose Light beers. My first night on Grand Manan and I understood the magical allure. 
 
The following morning, I drove along lupine-lined roads to the southern tip of the island, the start of a glorious hike atop a bluff that led from the Southwest Head Lighthouse to a distinctive coastal rock formation locals call Flock of Sheep. The narrow trail snaked over roots and moss though a forest of twisted krumholtz and dwarf pines that cling precariously close to the cliff’s edge. I spotted lobstermen in the distance, but it was the exquisite shoreline that grabbed my attention. Usually, I sprint to the finish of a hike. This time I sat on several benches made of makeshift wood to drink in the stunning view. What’s the rush? 
 
That afternoon, I made the wise choice to stop for coffee at the Island Arts Café. Not only was the coffee good and strong, but within moments I was meeting an intriguing mix of locals. There was Wayne who spent the morning on the bay designing a herring weir, a fish trap that lures the herring inside a pen. The McCulleys, who fled Portland and moved here after a mere 4 days on the island. They now rent cottages to primarily writers and professors who desperately need to finish their books in quietude. And my personal favorite, Smiles Green, who just turned 101 this past November and still designs model boats. If I’m ever under a tight deadline and need two weeks or more to finish a book or script, this is where I’m headed!
 
|

5 Favorite Travel Days in 2014, Biking Lake Geneva’s La Côte Region

Traveling to the Lake Geneva region of Switzerland this past September with Lisa, every day was a dream that could easily make this list. Seeing Dubuffet’s collection of art from the insane at Lausanne, strolling through the sculpted vineyards of the Lavaux, and taking a cruise over to the magical 12th-century castle on the rock, Chateau de Chillon, were all worthy of being chosen as my favorite days of the year. But the day that sticks out most in my memory was the most authentic experience, electric biking through the La Côte vineyards just outside the town of Nyon.
 
If you want to bike through vineyards with only locals on charming hillside towns reminiscent of Burgundy, follow in my footsteps. When we arrived at the Nyon train station to meet our guide, there were no more bikes to rent, only electric bikes. So off we went, zipping on a paved trail through the neighboring community of Prangins, staring in awe at 15,781-foot Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe, which rises from the French side of Lake Geneva. In the town of Gland, we filled up our water bottles in one of the many public fountains, where water comes from the same reservoir that supplies the nearby homes. 
 
Then we headed for the hills and were instantly enchanted by the town of Luins. We met Laurent Vigneron, the winemaker and owner of the picturesque Chateau de Luins, ready to start his fall harvest in less than a week. He took us into rooms holding immense oak barrels, some dating from as far back as 1922. We sampled his wines, a smooth pinot noir and a dry white created from the region’s favored grape, Chasselas, realizing instantly why the Swiss keep most of their wine for themselves. From Luins, we biked on a trail through the vineyards into the storybook town of Bursins, where a Medieval Cluny church still stands with requisite watchtower in the town center. A historic whitewashed chateau, now an upscale lodging called Chateau Le Rosey, peered down from the hillside. Across the street was a house straight out of a French countryside movie set with a wooden tile roof covered in moss. 
 
We had lunch at Café de L’Union, known for its deep-fried gruyere cheese puff they call the Malakoff. Another specialty was the blue trout caught at a nearby river, which did arrive on our plate the color blue. It was served with cornichons and French fries. Perfect. After lunch, we headed downhill through cornfields waiting to be reaped and apple trees bending over with the latest crop. We past a horseback rider and soon took Route 1 along the lake to the town of Rolle. Quickly changing into swimwear, we had a paddleboard lesson at the Paddle Center. Soon we were gliding out on the placid blue waters of Lake Geneva, again mesmerized by the mountain panorama. An image I won’t quickly forget. 
 
|

5 Favorite Travel Days in 2014, Snorkeling with Wild Dolphins off the Coast of the Big Island

No one in my family really wanted to get up at 7 am to paddle an outrigger canoe. The night before we had a memorable dinner at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, dining under the stars while being serenaded by a ukulele player. Then our son, Jake, had to wake up at 3 am Hawaii time to register for his college courses. We all wanted to sleep in, but man, am I happy we managed to get out of bed. 
 
As we pushed off from shore, we spotted a dozen green sea turtles (honus) feeding on the reef. Within five minutes, as we headed to a sheltered bay, we saw our first dolphin jumping high 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 took the masks off and looked up in the air, the dolphins were flying above the water, doing flips. Amazing! Needless to say, we didn’t get much paddling in, but it easily made my list of top 5 travel days in 2014.