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R&R in the Adirondacks

Even during my honeymoon 20 years ago, I was writing notes, researching for travel stories. Since the tape in my trusty microcassette recorder melted during an assignment backpacking through the Mojave Desert over a decade ago, I’ve always carried notebooks around during my travels. But there’s one trip each year that I don’t bring any notebooks or pens and can truly relax on vacation. That’s my annual jaunt to Bolton Landing on Lake George to see my family over Labor Day Weekend. We each grab a room at the Bonnie View, with exceptional views of the mountains on the opposite shores. Then I head down to the Adirondack chairs on the dock and chill with a copy of my boyhood paper, the Schenectady Gazette, in hand. I’ve written numerous stories on the Adirondacks, but not lately, resulting in much needed down time. 
 
Have a great Labor Day Weekend! I’ll be back next week with my favorite Vermont picks in autumn. 
 

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Family Fun with the Trustees of Reservations: First Stop, the Berkshires

 

One of our specialties at ActiveTravels is designing the Dream Day Itinerary for trips around the globe. With the independent traveler in mind, we create what we consider a perfect day of travel, including recreational activities, cultural or historical sites, recommended restaurants, and lodging. This week, we’re delighted to partner with the nonprofit conservation organization, The Trustees of Reservations, to link together a sampling of their 113 sites in Massachusetts. We’re going to break down 5 regions in the state and focus on family travel, including as many special summer events as possible. 

Today, we’re going to focus on the Berkshires. Heading south to north, start your day with a leisurely stroll along the Housatonic River at Bartholemew’s Cobble. Walk on the Ledges Trail and you’ll find the river snaking through dairy farms. The Trustees take full advantage of the Housatonic, offering guided canoe trips on designated Saturdays and Sundays in the summer. You’ll learn about the history of the area and be on the lookout for bald eagles flying overhead. If you love birds of prey, join wildlife rehabilitator Tom Ricardi this coming Saturday, June 27, from 10 am to noon, to view the hawks, owls, falcons, eagle and turkey vulture that he cares for. On Saturday, July 18th, from 10 am to noon, you can scour the forest and field for snakes, frogs and salamanders with a naturalist guide. Over Labor Day, sign up for the family campout at Bart’s Cobble and you’ll be treated to guided hikes, scavenger hunts, a search for owls, and, of course s’mores around the campfire. Also note that if you sign up for a Family Explorer Membership at Bart’s Cobble and 4 other Trustees sites (Crane Beach, Naumkeag, World’s End, and Long Point on Martha’s Vineyard), kids will receive an Elliott the Hermit Crab stuffed animal, a Get Out and Explore Booklet featuring 12 quests or scavenger hunts, cool tattoos, and more. 

A shot walk from Bart’s Cobble and you’ll find the circa-1735 Ashley House, the oldest house still standing in Berkshire County. Colonel Ashley was a judge and patriot who supplied iron and other supplies for the Revolutionary War effort. On tours on weekend days in summer, you’ll hear the story of Elizabeth Freeman, a slave of the Ashleys who sued her way to freedom. On Saturday, August 22nd, from 1-4:30 pm, come celebrate Elizabeth Freeman’s life with performances, an art exhibit, plus house tours. 

Heading north, stop at the trailhead to Monument Mountain on Route 7. No family trip to the Berkshires is complete without a 45-minute trek to the top of this 1,642-foot peak. The gradual climb on a path through hemlocks, oaks, beech, white pines, red maples, and birches leaves you at the top with vistas of Mt. Everett to the south and New York’s Taconic Range to the west. While hiking, tell the kids this is where the writer of Moby Dick, Herman Melville, first met the author of The House of Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne. The date of their hike was August 5, 1850.

A 15-minute drive from the base of Monument Mountain and you’ll reach one of the gems on the Trustees roster, Naumkeag. This 44-room Berkshires “Cottage” from the Gilded Age was designed by the renowned architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White. But it’s the gardens that you’ll want to roam, a landscaping marvel thanks to 28 years of collaborative work by former owner, Mabel Choate, and her dear friend, Fletcher Steele, one of America’s first modern landscape architects. Naumkeag is in the fourth and final phase of a $3.3 million renovation, currently mending the retaining wall and fixing the fountains of the elaborate Chinese Garden. In the meantime, walk the iconic Blue Steps, lined with newly planted birches. Then savor the gardens while dining on a picnic lunch brought to you by the Red Lion Inn’s Oak Café. 

Thursdays in summer at Naumkeag, from 11 am to 4 pm, feature lawn games in the gardens. Games include croquet, badminton, bocce and jumbo versions of classic tabletop games such as Checkers, Jenga and Connect Four. Also on Thursday, from 2 pm to 2:45 pm, is a house tour designed for children. Or head to Naumkeag for Watermelon Wednesdays, four Wednesdays in late July and August, from 4:30 pm to 6 pm, where you not only get to chomp into fresh watermelon, but watch live theater, music, and storytelling. On July 3rd, there will be a special Free Fun Friday at Naumkeag, where families can watch performances by BerkCirque and singer/storyteller John Porcino; create art, enjoy the lawn games, and take kid-friendly tours of the mansion.   

End your day in the Berkshires at the Williamstown property Yankee Magazine recently dubbed “Best Retro Lodging” in New England, The Guest House at Field Farm. Enter the Bauhaus-era home, now a 6-bedroom inn welcome to children 12 years of age and older, and you feel you just entered the set of Mad Men, season one. Views on the back porch overlook mighty Mount Greylock, the state’s tallest peak. The inn is set on 316 acres, perfect for viewing the night sky after a day of adventure. 

 

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REI Adventures Across the Globe

Most people know REI as a place to purchase all their outdoor garb and equipment. Few active travelers realize the Seattle-based company also has been offering human-powered outdoor adventures since 1987. Rated on a scale of one (relaxed) to five (strenuous), these guided trips are far more reasonably priced compared to their competition. They just came out with their list of 2011 trips, which include a 10-day jaunt biking around Portugal and Spain to hiking in Utah’s Arches & Canyonlands National Parks to four days of mountain biking in the Sonoran Desert (only $675 including camping equipment, bike rentals, and most meals).
 

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Travel Like a Local on These Guided Day Trips

If you’re planning to visit New England over the next month to see the fall foliage, it might be wise to get away from the crowded roadways and sign up for one of these authentic day trips with local experts. Authenticity is the buzzword in travel these days, the chance to live and feel like a local, not a tourist. Thankfully, there are many opportunities in New England where you have the chance to go beyond the boilerplate tours and get a real feel for the region while being led by an expert on the subject. These dozen day trips, which I reported for Yankee Magazine, strive for genuine authenticity and hopefully reward you with lasting memories. 

 
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Top Dream Days of 2018, Horseback Riding at Dahana Ranch on the Big Island

Guest Post and Photo by Amy Perry Basseches 

One of my dream days of travel in 2018 was spent on the Big Island of Hawaii, in May. Although we needed to re-route in the week before our trip to avoid the small area in the southeast affected by the Kilauea volcano, we had a fantastic time!
 
On this particular dream day, my daughter Sophie and I began in Holualoa, an artist and coffee community in the hills above Kailua-Kona. Mamalohoa Highway winds through the heart of the town, past the wonderful Holuakoa Gardens and Café where we had brunch. Then we headed to Hawi, on the northwestern coast. Located on the slopes of the Kohala mountain, Hawi has become a popular tourist destination in recent years due to its artists’ shops, delicious restaurants, and beautiful scenery. After checking into our accommodation on a small lush farm just outside of town, we drove the Kohala Mountain Road from Hawi to Waimea, for horseback riding on the Dahana Ranch and hiking in the Pololu Valley. 
 
As you drive north to Hawi from Kailua-Kona, you see mostly black lava fields along the road, then you enter an incredibly green area, full of ranches which date back to 1840s, older than the oldest ranches in the continental United States by more than 30 years! Kohala Mountain Road is stunning. At Dahana Ranch, we grew to understand the paniolo (cowboy) world better: there they breed, raise, and train a variety of horses and ponies, and also manage a 140 head cow/calf operation for beef and rodeo bucking stock. 
 
After riding, we wanted to stretch our own legs. From Waimea to Honokaa, our destination was the Pololu Valley, on the way back to Hawi. Down a steep trail for about ½ hour, we soaked in the dramatic northeastern Big Island coastline. At the bottom, we were rewarded by a fairly isolated black sand beach, a lone woman practicing yoga, and a few brave souls camping overnight. Spectacular!
 
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Top Music in 2013, Beyond the Obvious

Like I do every year, I listened to every cut on the best songs and album lists from NPR, New York Times, Boston Globe, others. 2013 was another stellar year for music, and I’m not simply talking about the debut of Lorde or the latest release from Vampire Weekend, albums that you’re well aware of. I like to find that rare gem that falls below the radar. Take, for example, this beauty from Brooklyn’s Son Lux, which was released in late October. Yes, I already have tickets to his show at Boston’s ICA on March 21st. I love the sensualized sound of Rhye in “The Fall,” the soulful Billy Holiday-like jazz singing of Cecile Mclorin Salvant in “Womanchild,” the mesmerizing electronica of Rudimental’s “Spoons,” and the highly original “Magical Boy” by DJ Koze. “When I’m climbing lemon trees of feeling…” Robotic, yet hypnotic. Another song I love to play again and again is “Retrograde” by James Blake. Remarkably, he’s up for a Grammy for Best New Artist this coming Sunday. I hope they let him play my favorite, “The Wilhelm Scream.”

 
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Five Favorite Spring Break Adventures for Families, Spotting Scarlet Macaws in Jaco, Costa Rica

My kids weren’t too pleased to wake up at 6:30 am on spring break, but I wanted to be at Carara National Park at 7 am when it opened. I knew from prior trips to the country that Carara was one of the few places to see that majestic bird, the scarlet macaw. Last time here, I heard the loud squawking and peered up at a family of four vibrantly colored macaws. That is an image I was hoping to recreate as we started our hike in. An hour later, we were covered in sweat from the sweltering rainforest humidity and had only spotted one very large Jesus Christ lizard. No macaws. We drove back to the hotel and I was bumming big time. Later that afternoon, we were driving south on the coastal road outside of Jaco to our next stop, Manuel Antonio National Park. Out of nowhere, I heard that unmistakable loud squawking and suddenly seven to eight large macaws flew overhead, only to land in an almond tree to our right. I stepped on the brake and pulled over, upsetting the truck behind us who was honking. As he drove by, he swore at me in Spanish, which fortunately I can barely understand. I could care less. My wife and kids were in their glory taking snapshots of the multicolored macaws. It made my trip. 

 

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