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After bagging a New England peak, you’ve earned that right to hoist a pint. So when I came upon the recently published Beer Hiking New England (Helvetiq) at my local bookstore, covering two of my favorite subjects, mountain climbs and craft brew, I had to grab a copy. Written by Carey Kish, the longtime hiking and camping columnist for the Portland Press Herald and editor of the AMC Maine Mountain Guide, the book features 50 hikes and nearby local breweries to toast your achievement. They include several of my favorite climbs and walks in the region, including Mount Pisgah in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont; Mount Moosilauke, the 10th highest peak in the White Mountains; Quoddy Head in Downeast Maine; and the Great Island Trail, a long trek along the coast of Cape Cod. What I didn’t realize is how many craft breweries we have in New England, ones I never heard of, from Shackett’s Brewing Company in Bristol, New Hampshire, to Thimble Island Brewing Company in Branford, Connecticut.
Kish does a great job describing where the trailhead is located, allotted time, length, elevation, level of exertion, and important to me, whether I can bring my dog, Theo. Then he outlines the nearby brewery, giving a description of their signature pours and address. I’ll happily throw this book in the car to lead me to new discoveries this summer.
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“I can give you a strong assurance that it’s going to be a good year for fall foliage,” says Richard Primack, a professor of biology and plant ecology at Boston University in yesterday’s Boston Globe. That’s great news for the 20 or so clients of ActiveTravels we’re sending to the region in the next two weeks. The weather report looks perfect, with many sunny days ahead and highs of mid-60s, ideal for getting those colorful leaves to shine brightly. For those of you heading to New England this autumn that we didn’t have a chance to work with, pick up a copy of my latest book, New England in a Nutshell, to find ways to leave the crowds behind and enjoy the foliage all to yourself. Enjoy!
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]]>The post Under-the-Radar New England State Parks, My Latest Story for Yankee Magazine appeared first on Active Travels.
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While New England may have only a handful of parks with “National” in their name, it is blessed with an enviable collection of state parks, including many whose names are known well beyond our region’s borders. What hiker doesn’t dream of conquering Baxter’s Mount Katahdin? Who would want to miss the foliage fireworks of Franconia Notch? But just as appealing, especially now, are the parks with a quieter appeal, offering swaths of land to roam while rarely running into crowds. Here are seven hidden gems where you can find a retreat to restore body, mind, and spirit.
To read more of my latest story for Yankee Magazine, please press here.
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Holland America just announced a new 24-day voyage from Boston to Iceland and back, set to make its inaugural jaunt on August 3, 2022. Aboard one of Holland America’s newest ships, the Pinnacle-class 2,650-passenger Nieuw Statendam, the trip will make six calls in Iceland along with stops at Bar Harbor, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Greenland. In addition to sailing to Iceland, Holland America has announced that Nieuw Statendam will operate a series of 6 to 8-day “Canada & New England Discovery” voyages in 2022 between Boston and Quebec City, with weekend departures. Stops will include Bar Harbor; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; and Sydney and Halifax, Nova Scotia. The eight-day sailings add Saint John, New Brunswick. Holland America also said Nieuw Statendam would operate longer “Newfoundland & New England Discovery” cruises between Boston and Quebec City. Ports on this 10-day cruise include Baie-Comeau and Havre-Saint-Pierre, Quebec; and Corner Brook, St. Anthony, St. John’s, Halifax and Bar Harbor. If interested in any of these cruises, please let ActiveTravels know and we’ll check pricing and availability.
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]]>The post Dream Day Itineraries Ideally Suited for 2021: First Stop, New England appeared first on Active Travels.
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Many of you already have first-hand knowledge of what we like to call the Dream Day Itinerary. From a weekend away in the Berkshires to a 4-month sabbatical in South America, these detailed day-to-day itineraries include every aspect of your vacation, from hotels to guided tours to reserved restaurants to best places to stop along your drive. At first, many of these recommended activities stemmed from my own research based on years of being a travel writer. But as more and more ActiveTravels clientele took similar routes, we were able to get feedback directly from you, refining these routes so they’re as close to perfection as can be. We’ve also aligned ourselves with the AXUS app, so all information is now within easy reach on your smart phone.
As we write this, one of our clients is traveling cross-country on a Dream Day Itinerary with stops in DC, Charleston, Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Austin, Santa Fe, Taos, Grand Canyon, Sedona, Phoenix, and finally La Jolla. We’ve created itineraries around the world, from a month in Peru to a month in Australia. But as we slowly get back to traveling again in 2021, these tried-and-true 7 to 10-day North American routes are well suited for getting you back on the road again.
By far our most popular Dream Day Itinerary is New England, where we’ve designed over 100 itineraries. Depending on the time of year, we can guide you along the coast from Mystic to Bar Harbor, with possible stops in Newport, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Portsmouth, Portland, Camden, and Bar Harbor. Or we head inland to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the Green Mountains of Vermont, and the Berkshires in Massachusetts to see the foliage. Some of our favorite activities we organized over the years are hot air ballooning over Lake Champlain, finding moose with a guide in Greenville, Maine, having a clambake on a quiet Nantucket beach, and going lobstering with a genuine lobsterman off Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Want more? How about visiting the Museum of Fine Arts with a curator, biking to the 5 lighthouses outside Portland, or sailing on an original America’s Cup sailboat in Newport. Best of all, having written about this region for half my life, I know the most scenic backcountry routes to find foliage and the apple cider mill without the crowds.
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Thank you to everyone who purchased a copy of my latest book, New England in a Nutshell! Three months after publication date, I’ve finally been paid by Amazon. So let’s have some fun! As I mentioned before, anyone who purchased a copy of the book is eligible for a raffle giveaway for one of the outfitters, inns, or restaurants I’ve included in the manuscript. First up is a chance for you and a guest to bike with Summer Feet Cycling on a day ride on the outskirts of Portland. You’ll be biking to 5 lighthouses, including the exquisite Portland Head Light, where you’ll stop at a food truck for yummy lobster rolls. You’ll be going on the same ride I did with my family and friends when I turned 50. If I don’t already have your name, please let me know. I’ll announce the raffle winner this Friday. Good luck!
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Thanks 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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]]>The post New England in a Nutshell to Be Published July 2nd appeared first on Active Travels.
]]>With 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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