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May is the Month to Visit Ottawa

If you never had the chance to visit Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, then you’ve missed out on seeing North America’s only version of the Changing of the Guard ceremony, the morning ritual where dozens of red-coated soldiers with bearskin hats parade down city streets to the lawn of Parliament Hill. The best month to visit the city is in May during the Canadian Tulip Festival. From May 4-21, over three million tulips bloom in Ottawa. Visitors can sample food and entertainment from around the world at the International Pavilion, located near Commissioners Park, where 300,000 tulips bloom alone. Later in the month, Dutch tulips give way to a Dutch painter named Vincent Van Gogh. From May 25 to September 3, the National Gallery of Canada will present Van Gogh: Up Close, which explores the artist’s representation of nature. Visitors can marvel at 45 of Van Gogh’s paintings, including The Iris. Afterwards, reenergize with a BeaverTail. This wholewheat pastry, cooked in canola oil, and topped with a variety of savory toppings like chocolate, jam, pie filling, or cinnamon, is available year-round in Ottawa’s ByWard Market neighborhood. 
 

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Spain, DayTrip, Montreal, and More in May ActiveTravels Newsletter

We were picked up promptly at 9 am in Granada, Spain, by Damir, a driver and guide for a company we’ve been working with more and more in Europe, Daytrip. We could have rented our own car and made the 3-hour trek from Granada to Seville, but it’s so much more relaxing to have someone else drive, especially when you want to stop and visit another town along the way. Two hours later, after sitting in the back of a comfortable Mercedes sedan and peering out at the rolling hills and mountains of this bucolic region of Spain, we arrived in Ronda. Damir guided us around the town, walking along the edge of the famous gorge, touring the oldest bullring in Spain, the one Hemingway wrote about when he lived here (it’s also the town where Orson Welles retired and died), and the historic Moorish settlement at the bottom of the hill. After a lunch of tapas, we arrived in Seville around 4 pm. It ended up being one of the most relaxing days of our recent Spain trip. Daytrip is now expanding to Asia. It’s a wonderful way to connect the dots between destinations, while stopping at off-the-beaten track locales. 
 
To read more about our trip to Spain, a special deal on Relais and Chateaux properties, and what’s happening in Montreal this summer, please check out the latest ActiveTravels newsletter. Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! 
 
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The Latest Changes at California Ski Slopes for the Upcoming Season

Last year’s El Nino did bring much needed snow to drought-stricken California last season but skiers are still waiting for a serious dumping. Mammoth opens in two days and has added a new hike-in terrain park featuring jumps and platforms built of snow throughout the Hemlock Ridge. They’re also ramping up other activities like high-speed tubing, snowcat tours, and a scenic gondola ride. World Cup ski racing returns to Squaw March 9-12, the first time since 1969. A new Squaw mobile app offers advance purchase of lift tickets and allows skiers to track their friends and other members of the family on the slopes. Legendary Badger Pass has been renamed Yosemite Ski & Snowboard Area. With a vertical drop of only 800 feet, this is still one of the best places in the state to learn how to ski. This being Yosemite, take advantage of your surroundings. A short snowshoe trek into Mariposa Grove and you’ll be making snow angels at the roots of 200-foot sequoia trees. Cross-country skiers will cherish the ten miles of groomed track that leads to 7,000-foot high Glacier Point. Ice skaters can swirl around the Curry Village rink dwarfed by the majestic cliff walls of Half Dome.

 
 
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Favorite American Drives, Mount Rushmore and the Badlands, South Dakota

The Road Trip was designed with places like South Dakota in mind. Venture to Rapid City and you’ll have the chance to cruise with relatively little traffic, up and down the pine forests and granite passes of the Black Hills and through the awesome lunar-like landscape of Badlands National Park.  Add the most famous sculpture in the country, Mount Rushmore National Monument, and the herds of bison and bighorn sheep in Custer State Park, and you have a driving destination that’s hard to top. And all of these sights are in a state known for its affordability.  Whaddya waiting for?

No reason to rush out of Rapid City to Mount Rushmore. It’s only a 25 mile drive. Walk around and admire the retro Western architecture of the city, founded in 1876 by gold prospectors. On Main Street, Prairie Edge is a two-level 1886 building filled with South Dakota-made quilts and pottery and indigenous art. Buckin Pony Boutique will outfit you in proper Western attire for the trip. Just down Sixth Street, Tally’s is a local hangout, good for breakfast or a slice of pie. 

The faces of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln recently received a power wash, so they should be spanking clean for your visit.  Be sure to stay for the 9 pm nightly lighting ceremony, which includes a short film on the four presidents and the playing of the national anthem.

Grab some pancakes and a side of buffalo sausage at The Powder House, a log cabin in Keystone. Then head 17 miles southwest on Highway 16 to the Crazy Horse Memorial.  This vast sculpture, billed as the world’s largest, was started in 1948 and is still not complete! You can see the warrior on horseback and the outline of his outstretched hand pointing out towards this great land of the Sioux.

From Crazy Horse, take Highway 87 as it switchbacks through forest and squeezes through granite on one of the most exciting drives in the country, the so-called Needles Highway.  More buffalo await, in the form of burgers and stews, at the Lakota Dining Room in the Sylvan Lake Resort. The stone and timber hotel offers exquisite views of Harney Peak. Standing at 7,242 feet, it’s the highest peak east of the Rockies. 

Next morning, wake up and see big game on the 18-mile Wildlife Loop Road through Custer State Park. Yellowstone might get all the hype, but Custer has its own herds of buffalo as well as bighorn sheep, mountain goats, colonies of prairie dogs, and wild donkeys just itching for a free handout.

The next day, rent bikes at Trailside Bikes in the nearby city of Custer. The George S. Mickelson Rail Trail follows the length of the former Burlington-Northern rail line from Deadwood all the way to Edgemont. In Custer, you can jump on the trail at Harbach City Park. 

Roughly sixty miles east of Rapid City on I-90, you reach the town of Wall. Back in the Depression, Wall Drug gave away free ice water. Now the megastore is a souvenir emporium, good for all those tacky gifts you want to bring back the neighbors. You can opt for breakfast, lunch, or dinner at the 500-seat restaurant. Roast beef with all the fixins will set you back about $8.

Head south on Wall on Route 240 to reach the Pinnacles Entrance to Badlands. Soon after entering, you’ll be mesmerized by this phantasmagoric blend of topography—multi-hued rock steeples, massive canyons, and jagged peaks. The Loop Road (Route 240) is a 41-mile jaunt that leads to many of Badlands’ awe-inspiring overlooks like Conata Basin and Prairie Wind. 

Just south of the Badlands is the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home to the large Lakota population. You can visit the site of Wounded Knee or better yet, head 18 miles south to the Red Cloud Indian School in the town of Pine Ridge. They feature a wonderful collection of Native American arts in the Heritage Center. An adjacent gift shop, selling handmade Lakota items, plays an important part in the local economy. From here, it’s an easy 90-minute cruise back to Rapid City.
 

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Five Favorite Spring Break Adventures for Families, Tubing the White River, Jamaica

A family favorite, great for all ages, is the chance to tube or raft down one of Jamaica’s rivers. High in the hills above Ocho Rios, the water of the mountainous White River is cool and as clear as gin. Guides sing Bob Marley songs as you flow with the slow-moving current. Or listen to the high-pitched call of the yellow banana quit bird and peer out at the green mosaic of ferns, banana trees, and thickets of bamboo that climb the banks of this sinuous waterway like ivy climbs a wall. For a break, you dine on jerk chicken at picnic tables next to the riverbank. A perfect outing and the ideal breakaway from an all-inclusive resort or cruise. As you can see from the big smile plastered on my face. 
 
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Vermont Week, Mountain Biking the Kingdom Trails

Just thinking about the Kingdom Trails in autumn, whipping through the red and yellow leaves on the maples behind the Inn at Mountain View Farm, and I want to jump in my car immediately. This 150-mile circuit, linking former farming roads with slender singletracks, offers the best of Vermont riding. One moment, you’re banking narrow turns on Coronary Bypass, the next you’re zooming through the tall barren pines in Webs. In fact, it’s such a glorious network that you’ll want to keep biking even when your legs are cramping and your Camelbak runs dry. Check out the article I wrote for The Boston Globe on biking the Kingdom Trails with my son, Jake. 
 
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Ski Quebec on a Budget

If you’re looking for a Northeastern ski area with a dose of affordable French flavor, then a visit to Quebec’s Eastern Townships is in order. With a lift ticket at Stowe reaching $99 this winter, you can head another hour north and be skiing at half the price. This is especially true with the current rate of exchange at US$1 to CAN$1.27. On the shores of Lake Memphremagog, Owl’s Head offers the best of Vermont skiing, but at Quebec’s prices. For a measly US$78, you get one night lodging, supper, breakfast, and a lift ticket! And this being Quebec, that breakfast will include freshly baked croissants, patisserie, and café au lait. 

 

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