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Top 5 Dream Days of 2018, On the Kentucky Bourbon Trail
In November, I visited the Kentucky Bourbon Trail with my friend, Dan, a great admirer and collector of bourbon. We toured 5 distilleries during our time in Kentucky Bourbon Country. We really enjoyed the tasting at Heaven Hill (where we purchased coveted Old Fitzgerald 14-year-old bottles to bring home) and doing the hard hat tour at the 1930s industrial complex still in use at Buffalo Trace. Yet, it was hard to top our visit to Wild Turkey in serene bluegrass country outside Lawrenceburg. One look at those rickhouses blackened on the outside from evaporation and you can sense the history. In fact, a distillery has been operating at this same site since 1869. We had a wonderful guide, Edwina, who showed us the whole process of making bourbon, from seeing the mash bills and fermentation tanks to walking inside one of those old rickhouses and eyeing all those barrels stacked to the ceiling. Outside, the rolling hills led to a bridge over the Kentucky River and the countryside was aflame in late fall foliage.
Villa La Massa, The Ideal First Stop in Italy

Sustainable Food at Craigie on Main
Last Wednesday, I was invited to a “Road Less Traveled” dinner at Craigie on Main, one of my favorite restaurants in the Boston area, just over the Charles River in Cambridge. Chef and owner Tony Maws was focusing on sustainability in food, using all parts of the animal so as not to make waste. While this is already being practiced around the globe, especially in countries that can’t afford to throw away precious meat, it’s only slowly gaining traction in America. We started with a tasty trio of crostini that included monkfish liver, lobster roe, and my personal favorite, the white cod milt, otherwise known as cod sperm. Maws, a James Beard-award finalist, could make a telephone book taste good. But as the night progressed, I found the texture of certain body parts to either be agreeable or disagreeable. The duck’s heart, placed on a skewer, was a tantalizing treat along with the pig’s head taco, where half a head was placed on a platter and you dug out the tender meat to roll into the soft tortillas. The duck’s testicle I found too chewy and the lamb’s brain had the consistency of hard string cheese. Then there was cock’s combs, the gelatinous top of a rooster that I feel no need to order again.
Maws is not only a master of using the whole animal, but makes a habit of using the best local and organic produce, fish, and meats that are available during that particular time of year, the reason why I find myself returning to his restaurant as often as possible. Local food and culture is an important part of sustainable travel and are topics I’m going to delve into further as ActiveTravels branches out this year to not only cater to Active Bodies, but Active Minds. This week, I’m going to focus on some of my favorite restaurants around the world.
The Historic Nelson’s Dockyard National Park in Antigua
There are few other Caribbean islands that can match the impressive history of Antigua. The biggest attraction on the island, English Harbour, is a long inlet popular with the Caribbean yachting sect, especially during Sailing Week festivities in late April. From 1784 to 1787, however, it was home to the British fleet and naval hero Admiral Horatio Nelson. The restored Georgian buildings and pier are now part of Nelson’s Dockyard National Park. You’ll get a guided tour of the buildings and a bit of history on Nelson, who was only 27 when he became Commander-in-Chief of the Leeward Islands. Up the hill from English Harbour stands a dilapidated fortress called Shirley Heights. The view of the harbor and the rocky coastline from the Lookout is the best on the island. If you’re lucky enough to tour the facility on a Sunday, you’ll hear a steel drum band play live music and watch a game of cricket. The lone cannon at Shirley Heights points to the terra cotta roof of a rambling house that’s owned by singer Eric Clapton. Yes, “Slowhand” plays his guitar, not surprisingly, on Caribbean time.
The Opening of L’atelier des Lumières in Paris
Paris’ art scene will get a breath of fresh air when L’Atelier des Lumières opens in April to the public. Devoted to immersive art experiences, each year the Atelier will showcase a major exhibition offering a digital perspective on one of art’s biggest names, allowing you to step inside the world’s most famous artworks. Covering a whopping 2000 square meters, L’Atelier des Lumières is set to utterly transform a 19th-century factory, with innovative, 8 meter-high projections cloaking its walls.
My Favorite Lobster-in-the-Rough Joint in Maine
Talk about lobster rolls in Maine and you enter into a territorial catfight where everyone seems to choose their local favorite. I happen to love the affordable rolls at Quoddy Bay Lobster in Eastport, topped with a full claw, the chockful of meat served in a bun at Red’s Eats in Wiscasset, and sitting at the pier at Beal’s, just outside Acadia National Park. But if you ask those same foodies where to find the best lobster roll with a view, the majority of Mainers will point you to the Lobster Shack in Cape Elizabeth. Not far from where Winslow Homer set up shop on Prouts Neck, the picnic tables overlook that same boulder-strewn coastline Homer loved to paint. Order your food at the window of the rustic shack, wait for your number to be called, and grab a spot with vistas of Casco Bay, framed by two lighthouses. One of those lighthouses is the picturesque Portland Head Light, a favorite subject of artist Edward Hopper. For more information on the Lobster Shack, see the story I wrote for The Boston Globe.