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The January Newsletter Now Available at ActiveTravels.com

Looking for travel ideas in 2013, then check out our January newsletter. In this month’s issue, we discuss the long list of outdoor adventures found on the Big Island of Hawaii, recommend three eco-resorts in the Caribbean, divulge our favorite ground operator in Italy, and suggest a quick winter getaway in New England at the Mount Washington Hotel. As always, we’re here to talk about winter, spring, or summer travel. So if anything comes to mind, email me at steve@activetravels.com. 
 
Enjoy the three-day weekend. I’ll be back on Tuesday with my favorite National Parks to visit during the winter. In the meantime, get outdoors this weekend and be active. 
 

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Ski and Surf Jay Peak

A powerful nor’easter that swept up the East Coast this weekend dumped snow in Boston and the New England peaks. In fact, a few ski resorts like Sunday River and Killington opened early to get the first taste of winter weather. In northern Vermont, Jay Peak received 7 inches of snow. That’s no surprise. Bordering Quebec, Jay Peak receives more than 370 inches of powder, more snow than any other ski area in the East. Being this far north, Jay also accommodates far more Quebecois than New Yorkers. This might change now that the resort has poured more than $200 million into renovations in the past two years as it tries to rival Stowe as the premiere ski resort in northern New England. The Tram Haus Lodge, a 57-suite ski in/ski out lodge, made its debut last winter, along with a new nordic center, and ice skating arena. Set to debut this December is The Pumphouse, an indoor waterpark in the new Hotel Jay that will include a fully retractable open air roof and the longest indoor lazy river in America.  The park also features a 50-seat bar overlooking the rides, a slide that drops its passenger into a free-fall, and the Double Barrel Flowrider—a standing-wave ride that will allow visitors to “surf” in Vermont.
 

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Don’t Miss the Women Modernists Show at Norton Museum of Art

On our last day in Florida, we made the wise move to drive the convertible to the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach. As luck would have it, a new exhibition had just opened, “Women Modernists in New York,” showcasing the works of four friends from the 1920s and 30s, Marguerite Zorach, Helen Torr, Florine Stettheimer, and the best known of the quartet, Georgia O’Keeffe. I’ve never been a big fan of Zorach’s work, a little too primitive and naïve for me. But the exhibition became intriguing in the next gallery focusing on the works of Helen Torr. Torr was Arthur Dove’s wife, and while the art world was reaping accolades on her adoring husband, they were ridiculing the work of Torr (and, for that matter, most work by women artists at the time). Her charcoals of still lifes are wonderful, but most striking were Torr’s two self-portraits where you can see in those sorrowful eyes the world beating down on her. The next room was a delight, a sampling of works by Florence Stettheimer. On one wall she painted herself and her two sisters wearing garb straight out of a Charleston dance, reclining as if they were sitting on chaise lounge chairs. It’s no wonder one of her works recently sold at auction for $4.5 million. Her joie de vivre and sheer ebullience radiates throughout the room. Thankfully her sister dismissed her request to destroy all her works of art upon her death. 
 
O’Keeffe, of course, is the star of the show. One glance at her vibrant palette in “Red Maple at Lake George” (1926) and I was immediately transported back to my boyhood stomping grounds. But the Norton Museum scored a real coup by getting the National Gallery of Art to part with their series of six Jack-in-the-Pulpit canvases, where O’Keeffe reduces the hyper-sensualized flower down to its abstract parts. I could have stared at this wall for hours, but had to catch a flight back to Boston. If you’re in South Florida at any point until May 15th, do yourself a favor and see this show. If you want to read a manuscript of the story I originally wrote for Art & Antiques Magazine on O’Keeffe’s years in Lake George with her husband, Alfred Stieglitz, please email me at Steve@ActiveTravels.com. 
 
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Providence Features Children’s Film Festival

No need to wait for the next WaterFire to return to Providence. Over February break (February 13-22), the city is hosting its fifth annual Children’s Film Festival. Close to 20 films will be shown at three different venues around town. The impressive line-up includes the French Academy Award nominee, “Ernest and Celestine,” Harold Lloyd’s classic silent film, “Safety Last,” and a movie Roger Ebert called one of the five best films ever made for children, the Japanese animated flick, “My Neighbor Totoro.” March 20 brings the return of Gallery Night. From 5 to 9 pm, buses and curators will bring you to the city’s 26 galleries to talk about the latest art. Tours leave every 20 minutes. While in town, check out North, which Boston Globe food critic, Devra First, called one of her favorite restaurants in 2013. The innovative Southeast Asian fare includes mussels, drunken and stirred, and flounder with golden oyster mushrooms. We recommend spending the night at our favorite property in town, Hotel Providence, an 80-room boutique hotel smack dab in the center of town. 

 
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Favorite Fall Outings in New England, Biking Around the Basin Harbor Club, Vermont

The two weeks prior to Columbus Day is one of my favorite times of the year to be in New England. The temperatures are still reasonably warm, in the 60s during the day, and the leaves have changed color. Anywhere in Vermont will do nicely, thank you. But I love Addison Valley, known for its web of backroads ideally suited for road biking. The network of roads that branch off from the Basin Harbor Club are particularly enticing. Head south on Button Bay Road to Arnold Bay Road and you get exquisite vistas of Lake Champlain, with the Adirondacks standing tall in the backdrop. Venture onto Basin Harbor Road, turning right on Jersey Street, and the smell of manure is wafting in the air as you pass numerous dairy farms, eventually arriving at the Panton General Store. Continue on Panton Road and you see the backbone of the Green Mountains. This fertile valley was meant to be seen on two wheels at a reduced speed, especially during fall foliage. 

 
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Bike the East Bay Bicycle Path, Rhode Island

All it takes is several miles on a paved path to leave a highly industrialized section of Providence and reach the sheltered coastline of Narragansett Bay. No wonder, locals would rather bike to the beach than deal with car traffic. The 14.5-mile long East Bay Bicycle Path, originally part of the Providence/Worcester line, heads southeast from Providence along the scenic shores of the Bay to the town of Bristol. Less than two miles into the ride, fishing trawlers and sailboats start to appear on the right and small inlets and wetlands can be seen on the left. In the warmer months, you’re likely to see locals clamming for littlenecks in the shallow waters along the route. That’s quite a contrast from the view of the Providence skyline that lurks behind you. 

Soon the trail becomes more scenic as cliffs line the bayside, home to pelicans, egrets, and the occasional swan. South of Riverside, East Bay feels more secluded as you head through forest. Prior to mile 6, you reach Haines Park, your first choice of beaches along the route. The trail then swerves inland through the town of Barrington and crosses two wooden bridges before reaching Warren. Just past the 10-mile mark, Warren is the best place to stock up on food and drink. South of Warren, the trail hugs the shoreline of Narragansett once again as the bay widens before reaching the ocean waters. Soon you’ll reach Colt State Park and Bristol Town Beach, the finest spot for sunbathing along the route. The trail ends in Bristol at Independence Park, near a handful of seafood restaurant choices that sell those freshly caught littleneck clams.
 

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Driving Iceland’s Golden Circle? Be Sure to Stop at Friðheimar

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. Afterwards, we watched Knútur’s son and daughter (he has five children) ride the Icelandic horses he breeds. Friðheimar is open to the public for greenhouse tours, meals, and, in the summer, a 15-minute horse show. It’s the ideal way to end your trip on the Golden Circle. 

 
Thank you, Iceland! I’m off to the Lake Geneva region of Switzerland where I’ll be reporting live from Lausanne, Montreux, and Vevey. Please stay tuned next week! Thanks, as always, for checking in to ActiveTravels! 
 

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