The Key to Getting a Better Hotel Room

Family owned and operated for over 30 years, Manitoba-based Frontiers North is best known for their polar bear explorations in Churchill. Come to northern Manitoba in October and November and you’re almost guaranteed to view polar bears in the day, the Northern Lights at night. Now the company has their sights set on summer. On their weeklong Big Five Safari in early August, you’ll still stop in Churchill to find polar bears and pods of beluga whales swimming in Hudson Bay. You’ll also visit the thick forests, mountains, meadows, and gorges of Riding Mountain National Park to view the herd of bison, moose, and black bear. Dates are August 2-9, 2017, and cost is $5,999 CAN including round-trip airfare from Winnipeg to Churchill, all lodging, meals, and activities like a zodiac ride on Hudson Bay. If you’re interested or have any questions, please contact ActiveTravels.
I spent my 50th birthday on Saturday biking with my extended family of ten on a guided day ride on the outskirts of Portland. Led by Norman Patry, owner of Summer Feet Cycling, we biked 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 ends at Kettle Cove, a small beach, just past Two Lights State Park. Summer Feet offers a slew of other bike trips in Maine including a self-guided 3-day ride near Kennebunkport that sounds enticing. But if you only have a limited amount of time in the state, this 5-hour ride gives you a good taste of Maine and comes highly recommended.
If you want to visit New York at a discount, then head to the city during their Seventh Annual Hotel Week in early January. Gansevoort Meatpacking, the Refinery Hotel, Library Hotel, James New York, Viceroy Central Park, and Archer New York are just a handful of top-tier properties that will cut their rates considerably during this time. For example, the Paul Hotel NYC will only be $100 a night, more than 50% off their usual rate. Hotel Week NYC™ was created by PR maven Nancy J. Friedman in 2010 to address the occupancy dip most hotels experience after the holiday season. It’s a perfect time to visit Manhattan without the crowds and see the new David Hockney show at the Met.
All it takes is one dinner at Dallal in the Neve Tzedak section of Tel Aviv to understand the exceptional quality of food in Israel. Dine on grilled calamari, hot focaccia bread that’s used to scoop up the babaganoosh, and entrees of red snapper and osso bucco, all washed down with the country’s fabulous lemonade, spiced with fresh mint leaves. At Mehane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, merchants shout out their wares, selling freshly baked challah, chocolate rugelach, dates, figs, pomegranates, the sweet sticky Middle Eastern snack, halvah, nuts, and a bevy of colorful spices. Yet, if you want to taste the best hummus in the country, a creamy concoction of mashed chick peas scooped out with warm pita, then follow the taxi drivers to Abu Hassan in Tel Aviv’s old section of Jaffa. Plop yourself down on one of the plastic chairs and the dishes of hummus soon arrive, some topped with fool, a blend of fava beans. To spice it up, ask for the hot chile sauce. This is the place I dream about when forced to eat falafel with hummus in Boston.
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Stunner of a post title indeed! 😀
Thank you, Oliver!