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Vermont Week, Self-Guided Biking Inn to Inn

Nestled between Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks to the west and the spine of the Green Mountains to the east, Addison County is a fertile breadbasket chockfull of dairy farms, vegetable stands, apple orchards, and green fields as far as the eye can see. Bike through the heart of this bucolic slice of pie on backcountry roads that sweep up and down ridges and you’ll be rewarded with vistas in all directions. The spectacular scenery is enhanced in the fall when the maples offer the best of Mother Nature’s light show. If you want a local to design your route based on mileage, go on a self-guided bike tour with Country Inns Along the Trail. They’ll create a detailed map, shuttle luggage from one inn to the next, rent bikes, and help out in case of emergency. This is wonderful news for New Yorkers who can take the Amtrak train from Penn Station and five hours later be at the small Ticonderoga Station, a 6-minute ferry ride across Lake Champlain from Addison County. Country Inns Along the Trail will deliver bikes, take your luggage, and off you go. Try to include the Shoreham Inn in your itinerary. Built in 1790 as a country inn, this post-and-beam house is now home to a gastropub manned by an excellent Irish chef, Dominic. They also serve Switchback Ale on tap, one of the many reasons why it’s become a favorite stopover for bikers. 

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Urban Renewal Awards, Spectacle Island, Boston Harbor

One of 34 Boston Harbor Islands that dot the waterfront and are part of a National Historic Park, Spectacle Island had its heyday in the 1840s as a large gambling resort and brothel. As of late, the island was merely a dumping ground for garbage. Then someone had the brilliant idea to create a dike to contain the trash and use the dirt from The Big Dig to reshape the island, providing topsoil for planting trees and other shrubbery.  Today, the heaping mound of soil has created the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard south of Maine. Leaving its smelly past behind, the 105-acre park has a trail system weaving through the interior, beaches to comb for sea glass, and public access by ferry. Local naturalist and Walden author Henry David Thoreau didn’t have Spectacle Island in mind when he spoke of preserving America’s “wild spaces,” but it’s refreshing to see good ole Yankee ingenuity at work.
 

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Maine Huts & Trails Week: Day Four, Paddling to Grand Falls Hut

Every night after dinner at all four Maine Huts, you’re encouraged to take part in the energy tour. Sustainability is an important part of the Maine Huts credo and on the tour you’ll learn that the huts are completely off the grid. Solar is the primary source of energy, providing electricity and the heating of water. Propane gas is also used as a back-up to heat the water if not enough solar energy is produced. 80 cords of wood are used each winter at the huts to supply heating for all rooms, even the floors. The composting toilets are created by Clivus and use only 3 ounces of water per flush. All of this I learned from Nate at the Grand Falls Hut on our last night of the trip. 


We started the day with an easy walk back to the Flagstaff Hut trailhead, where we met our paddling guide Matt Rolfson. A University of Maine at Farmington student, Matt grew up in these parts and knows this neck of the woods intimately. We drove to the put-in and soon started our 6-mile paddle down the Dead River. The Dead River is best known for its whitewater rafting, but that’s after the Long Falls Dam release. This section of the river is a serene paddle on quietwater, where there were far more loons than other canoers. 

2 ½ hours later, we pulled the canoe out and hiked the remaining 2 miles to the Grand Falls Hut. This stretch of trail leads to one of the highlights of the MH&T’ network, the magnificent Grand Falls, where a wide ribbon of water rushes down the rocks. On the shores below, a fly-fisherman was trying his luck hooking rainbow trout. While overhead, a bald eagle was circling the falls. The scene was so majestic I could have started waving the American flag. We walked down granite steps and were soon at our last of four huts. To commemorate the achievement, I downed a maple frosted carrot cupcake. Tasty!  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Lark Hotels Holiday Pop-Up Shop on Newbury Street December 13-18

I’m busy this week writing about the latest properties to open in New England for Yankee Magazine. Two of those boutique hotels, Blue on Plum Island and Gilded in Newport, are managed by Lark Hotels, the collection that is quickly expanding around the region. Learn about all their properties including Hotel Salem, which is slated to open next summer in Salem’s Newmark building, at a pop-up on Boston’s Newbury Street. You’ll also have the chance to purchase Lark Hotels’ deluxe sheet sets and hand-selected items from LATHER, Lark’s exclusive bath amenities partner. The pop-up is located at The Shop, 144 Newbury Street, on the corner of Dartmouth Street. 

 
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Madeira, a Great Active Winter Getaway

I recently attended an event sponsored by Belmond Resorts in Boston and was intrigued by their property on the island of Madeira, Belmond Reid’s Palace. While we book many vacations to Portugal and the Azores, Madeira is still off the radar for most Americans. Closer to North Africa than Europe, (540 miles from Lisbon, but only 360 miles from Morocco), the average temperatures in January are in the high 60s, ideal for active travelers. Perhaps best known for its wine and as the birthplace of soccer legend Christian Ronaldo, the volcanic island is also home to jagged peaks and lush valleys that are laced with hundreds of miles of hiking and mountain biking trails. Summer is the high season, when many cruise ships visit the island, with their thousands of passengers. But head to Madeira now and you have the place to yourself, much like the Azores this time of year. 

 
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The Latest Changes at Utah Ski Resorts for the Upcoming Season

Utah’s 14 ski resorts had a record-breaking ski season last winter, welcoming 4.5 million visitors. The big news this year is the opening of the ultra-sybaritic Stein Eriksen Residences at Deer Valley. The 39 condos and 15 houses will feature ski-in/ski-out access, panoramas of the mountains, indoor and outdoor pools, fitness center, restaurant and lounge area. An hour north of Salt Lake City, the new Whisper Ridge is billing itself as the largest backcountry ski resort in North America. It features Cat skiing and boarding at over 60,000 acres of private ski terrain. At night, you can crash in one of their ten comfy mountaintop yurts. Over at Snowbird, the newly refurbished Creekside Lodging will now be the home of all ski and snowboard lessons, eliminating the need for a shuttle back and forth to the slopes. 
 
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Favorite Fall Drives, Route 54A, Keuka Lake, New York

Autumn in the Finger Lakes of western New York State is the time of year when leaves on the maples turn a tad crimson and the grapes on the vines are ready to be harvested for their award-winning Rieslings. Start on the northern tip of Keuka Lake in the town of Penn Yan. Head south on Route 54A and just outside of town, you’ll see signs for Apple Barrel Orchards, a third-generation U-pick apple orchard that makes homemade cider on the premises. Continue south along the shores of the 20-mile long lake to reach Dr. Konstantin Frank’s Vinifera Wine Cellar. Founded in 1962 and now run by Dr. Frank’s grandson, Fred, Dr. Frank put the Finger Lakes on the wine lovers’ map with his award-winning dry and semi-dry Rieslings. Have lunch on an outdoor deck overlooking the narrow northern part of the lake at Heron Hill Winery. The Blue Heron café takes full advantage of its locale nestled amidst the farmland to offer local seasonal fruit over field greens and a caprese salad with large fresh tomatoes. A perfect place to stay in Hammondsport is the octagonal-shaped Black Sheep Inn, where the owner, a former caterer in Cleveland, creates innovative and tasty breakfasts. 

 

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