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Hiking in Banff

Guest Post and Photo by Amy Perry Basseches

I just returned from a fantastic week in the Canadian Rockies with my husband Josh. At ActiveTravels, we often have members wanting the inside scoop for planning an itinerary to Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper. Josh and I are hikers who like a comfortable bed and excellent food after a day of mountains, so that’s what I’ll be focusing on. 
 
In Banff, we stayed at The Moose Hotel & Suites, Banff Lodging Company’s new 4-star hotel property featuring 174 air-conditioned guests rooms (AC is not common here, but it’s a nice add-on) and a rooftop pool and hot tub. Early in your stay, stroll over to the Banff Visitor Centre (224 Banff Avenue, which is on the super busy and crowded main drag). It’s open 9 am-5 pm year-round, with extended hours in the summer. We picked up trail maps for both the Banff and the Lake Louise areas, and received great recommendations for hikes to suit our preference by talking to the knowledgeable Parks Canada staff. 
 
To get energized for those Banff hikes, head to Tooloulou’s for breakfast. It’s a local hotspot, and there’s often a well-deserved wait. If you give up, next door, Coyote’s, offers a good breakfast as well. We sampled both! After your hikes, reward yourself with a brew and a view at these fun bars: The Maclab Bistro at the Banff Center for Arts and Creativity and the Rundle Lounge at the Banff Springs Hotel. The hotel is a Rocky Mountain Classic built by the Canadian railroads in the 1880s. Definitely worth seeing! 
 
In terms of hikes, I highly recommend the two we did. Visit the Cave and Basin National Historic Site, where the 1883 discovery of a cave full of hot mineral spring waters helped create Canada’s first national park (the site also features an interesting exhibit on internment of Canadian residents during World War I, who then built the Park’s infrastructure). From here, hike up to Sundance Canyon (3 hours round-trip). It was not too crowded, and we had stellar views. The climb starts with a paved trail and soon opens up to a mountain panorama across the Bow River. The next day, for a longer venture, we braved the hordes at Johnston Canyon just outside of town (toward Lake Louise) because we wanted to hike up to the Ink Pots (4 hours round-trip), which requires going past Lower Falls and Upper Falls. You eventually reach an open meadow where warm water bubbles up from deep below the Earth’s surface. 
 
Please contact ActiveTravels for assistance with Banff. We’re happy to help! On to Lake Louise tomorrow. 
 

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Heading Back to My Roots at Syracuse’s Hotel Skyler

Guest Post and Photo by Amy Perry Basseches 
 
Last week, I was driving with my husband Josh from Toronto to Garrison, New York for the wedding of our niece, Sarah. Hesitant to drive all day on Friday and head right into wedding festivities Friday evening, we left Toronto on Thursday night bound for Syracuse, where my family has roots. Syracuse often pops up on college tour itineraries in Upstate New York. Within an hour of Syracuse lie not only Syracuse University but also Cornell University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, several SUNY Colleges, Colgate University, Hamilton College, Ithaca College, and many more. When I passed through on college visits in 2015, the place we stayed overnight was nondescript. 
 
However, this visit was different: Josh and I rested our weary heads in a hotel that used to be the orthodox synagogue of my great grandparents, Max and Eva Bragman, Congregation Adath Yeshurun, now the Hotel Skyler!
 
A steady arrival of Jewish immigrants arrived in Syracuse in the early 19th century and the earliest temple was founded in 1839. In 1870, young men who had immigrated from Poland began to worship together, and this transitioned into “Congregation Adas (later Adath) Yeshurun.”  The Congregation met in a South Crouse Avenue synagogue from 1921 until 1971, when a larger and more modern space for the growing community was deemed necessary. This South Crouse Avenue synagogue is now the Hotel Skyler.  The historic edifice of the original Temple is intact. In 2011, the hotel became the third in the United States and the first in Syracuse to be certified LEED Platinum. Hotel Skyler joined the Tapestry Collection by Hilton in 2017. 
 
After a good night’s sleep, we had excellent coffee and breakfast sandwiches at the Heritage Cafe, then we visited many other local sites steeped in family history for me. I’d recommend the Hotel Skyler if you pass through Syracuse. Contact ActiveTravels for more information, and we’d be glad to help. 
 
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Bike the Kingdom Trails and Stay at the Burke Bike Barn

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Biking with Wayne Curtis in New Orleans

Wayne Curtis is best known as author of “And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails” (Crown, 2006) and as cocktail columnist for Atlantic Monthly. But my friendship with Wayne goes back at least a decade prior when we were both moaning about the egregious book contracts Frommer’s publisher forced upon us. Thankfully, the travel guidebook days are far behind us. I caught up with Wayne in 2008, when he had just moved to New Orleans. He brought my brother Jim and me to his favorite bars and bartenders and it resulted in this story for The Boston Globe. But I know that Wayne has a passion beyond cocktails, including architecture, urban renewal, jazz, and biking. All figured prominently in a 5-hour tour he designed for my family on our trip to Nola earlier this month.

 
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The ride was such a worthy introduction to Nola that I persuaded Wayne to offer the exact loop to clients of ActiveTravels. If you’re feeling a little less ambitious, he will also do the same nightly bar round-up as described in the Boston Globe piece and include his favorite jazz joints. Don’t miss out on seeing the authentic New Orleans on these jaunts with Wayne. 
 

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