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Memorable Spring Bike Rides, Walla Walla, Washington

Not so long ago, Walla Walla was known for its sweet tasting onion. Yet, as of late, this community of 40,000 has been transformed by the grapevine, now boasting more than 80 boutique vineyards. Talented chefs have also made the move to this fertile valley, happy to get their produce from the local farmer and to have their meals washed down with award-winning cabernets and syrahs. The relatively level terrain in the southeastern corner of Washington offers a web of backcountry roads through vineyards and fields of wheat, onions, and peas that are perfect for road bikers. Unlike Napa, with its close proximity to San Francisco, there are no limos or buses filled with wine tasters to blow exhaust your way. Indeed, the closest city is sleepy Spokane, 155 miles to the north.  Ride south of town to view the 6,000-foot snowcapped peaks of the Blue Mountains, making sure to stop at Pepper Bridge, Northstar, and Zerba Wineries to try the complex, yet aromatic red wines, which, depending on the vintage, can hint at black cherry, pepper, even licorice.  
 
Follow me live on location next week, when I bike through Niagara-on-the-Lake with Butterfield & Robinson!
 

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30% Discount on all AMC Maine Lodges in March

First opened as a private sporting camp in 1867, it’s hard to top the locale of Gorman Chairback, located on the shores of Long Pond in the shadows of the Barren-Chairback Range. Reopened a year ago after a major renovation by the Appalachian Mountain Club, Gorman Chairback’s locale gives you the opportunity to snowshoe and cross-country ski deep into Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness, only to return back to the lodge for a home cooked meal and a seat by the roaring fire. Gorman Chairback is one of three historic Maine lodges run by the AMC that are now offering a 30% discount on rates in March for a two-night stay. The AMC maintains over 80 miles of trails in the region during winter so go out and play. 
 
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Learn to Sail This Winter off Captiva Island

South Seas Island Resort on Captiva Island, Florida, (right next door to the better known Sanibel Island) will once again be offering three and five-day Learn to Sail packages for those looking to earn sailing certification while on vacation. Overseen by the renowned Colgate’s Offshore Sailing School, the courses can be taken in a fast-paced three-day curriculum with full eight-hour days or a more relaxed five-day schedule in half-day sessions. We prefer the latter, so you have time to bike through the alligators at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, look for seashells on the spanking white Gulf Coast beaches, and search for manatees in the waters. Rates for the three-day Learn to Sail package start at $1,350 per person including the sailing certification course, resort accommodations, textbooks, Colgate Day Sailing certification, diploma and logbook, based on double occupancy. Courses are open to all skill levels, minimum age seven with adult.

 
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Fairmont San Francisco, A Classic Property with Modern Comforts

It was 1907 when the first Fairmont hotel, Fairmont San Francisco, made its debut atop Nob Hill. Today, the Fairmont boasts more than 60 resorts and I’ve had the good fortune to stay in many of these world-class lodgings, including the Fairmont Masai Mara in Kenya, the Fairmont Jasper in the Canadian Rockies, and recently, the Fairmont Orchid on the Big Island of Hawaii. All are excellent, but some of their more historic properties like the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City and the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, BC, tend to have smaller rooms. So I was surprised and delighted to step into our spacious room at the Fairmont San Francisco, which offered more than enough breathing space for our family of four. 

 
After a recent $21 million renovation, the place never looked better! The grand lobby and adjacent Laurel Court Restaurant is a wonderful welcome mat to the city of San Francisco. I also enjoyed roaming the long hallway off the lobby that has photographs of all the presidents who stayed here and documents the drafting of the UN Charter in the hotel’s Garden Room in 1945. Nearby in the Venetian Room, Tony Bennett first sang, “I Left my Heart in San Francisco.” Pets are welcome and there’s a small rooftop garden off the meeting rooms where you can roam outside. We loved jumping into taxis and riding down the steep hill, with views of the bay every which way. I’d definitely recommend the hotel to our clientele. 
 

Bike and Barge on the Moselle River with Discovery Bicycle Tours

Two people riding bicyclesLisa and I spent time at the Boston Travel Show talking to Scott and Thistle Cone, owners of Discovery Bicycle Tours. My brother, Jim, and I biked with them in central Vermont when the outfitter was known as Bike Vermont. Still based in Woodstock, Vermont, but under new ownership, the company has expanded to Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia at a price point less than Backroads, more comparable with VBT. Groups are small, on average between 8 to 15 guests. We like their 8-day bike and barge tour on the Moselle River in July, where you bike 16 to 35 miles a day on relatively easy terrain, then return to your river cruise to relax and dine. Best part is that you don’t have to pack and unpack every day. Cost is $3695 per person, all-inclusive.

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Top 5 Paddling Spots in America, Upper Iowa River, Iowa

Don’t worry about crowds on this forgotten run in the glacial-carved valley of northeast Iowa. The Upper Iowa can be paddled for 110 miles from Lime Springs to the Mississippi, but a good 31-mile jaunt from Kendalville to Decorah snakes through cliff-lined gorges below 200-foot-high chimney rocks. Bald eagles frequently soar over the limestone outcrops and deer, mink, raccoon and beaver call the area home. Chimney Rock rents canoes, offers trip planning, and provides a free shuttle. 
 

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Staying at Hotel La Ferme

Every day I receive press releases about the next glitzy resort opening, set to make its splashy debut in some corner of the globe. Many of these upscale properties charge in excess of $1,000 a night, your entrance fee to a world of exclusivity. Forget the local community. You’ll be hidden behind gates and fences, where maybe, if you’re lucky, your server that night comes from somewhere inside that country. Sustainability, the buzzword of the 90s and 00s, seems to have been replaced, as of late, by excessive opulence. Then I laid eyes on Hotel La Ferme in Quebec’s Charlevoix region and I can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that someone gets it. They have finally built a resort worthy of the new millennium. 
 
When Daniel Gauthier’s wooden barn, the largest structure in Canada, burned to the ground accidentally during a Quebec holiday in 2007, he began to reimagine the property he wanted to create in Baie-Saint-Paul. He ended up housing the 145 rooms and lofts in five separate pavilions reminiscent of farm buildings from yesteryear. The simple wooden exterior of the buildings hides a whimsical and contemporary European décor, where rolling barn doors might open to the bathroom or the family suite might come with comfortable bunk beds for each child. Yet, Gauthier’s next move is what won me over. He added 12 rooms, each with four beds, as his own version of a hostel. Gauthier knows that the nearby ski area, Le Massif, attracts a large crowd of young skiers. He wanted to offer them a great place to stay for only $49 per bed. 
 
There is no separation between Hotel La Ferme and the community. In fact, Gauthier made a mandate that food and craftsmanship should be produced within a 50-kilometer radius of Baie-Saint-Paul, if possible. So that salmon and emu meat was raised locally, the cheeses and bread a Charlevoix specialty, the red beer was brewed just down the road. The wooden trays and “do not disturb” signs in the rooms are manufactured by a group of local artisans who had the misfortune of not graduating high school. On Sundays, from mid-June to mid-October, the hotel invites 20 local farmers to showcase their fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and breads in a market just outside the lobby. 
 
Yes, there’s a spa with six treatment rooms, a room for yoga, a bar and lounge around a fireplace in the main building, and a café that makes arguably the best café au lait I’ve had this side of the Atlantic. But again, Gauthier, one of the founders of Cirque du Soleil, chose to be innovative. He has returned to his performing roots by offering a banquet space that can double as a theater, screening room, or dance hall. Since Hotel La Ferme’s opening last June, they have featured many Quebecois performers, including cabaret singers, theater troupes, and DJs. 
 
I love it when a local son or daughter becomes successful and gives back to the community. But in the case of Daniel Gauthier, he did so with class, style, and forward thinking. I’m hoping his ideas catch on with other hoteliers. 
 

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