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Visit Boston’s MFA

Over the past decade, pundits have criticized Malcolm Rogers, the Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, for sending priceless Monets to the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas and staging questionable exhibitions like the display of Ralph Lauren’s sports cars, as a veiled attempt to raise money for the museum’s expansion. The launch of Rogers’ monumental endeavor, the $504 million Art of the Americas Wing in November 2010 has silenced most critics and cements Rogers’ legacy. Foster + Partners designed a 4-story building with adjoining pavilions on either side to house the 53 new galleries. Walk into the soaring glass-enclosed courtyard, where trees and holly bushes have been planted just outside its windows to mirror Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace. Then journey through three millennia of North, South, and Central American works, from pre-Colombian gold on the Court Level to the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe on the top floor. Highlights include the galleries devoted to the works of John Singer Sargent and John Singleton Copley, and the Roswell Gleason parlor and dining room, two mid-19th century period rooms taken intact from a house in nearby Dorchester and never displayed to the public before.
 

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Top 5 Caribbean Adventures, Dive Bonaire

As leaves blanket my backyard in suburban Boston, my mind turns to the warm weather locales of the Caribbean. Next week, I’m excited to be blogging live from that lush paradise known as St. Lucia. To get you in the mood, I’m going to devote this week to my Top 5 Adventures in the Caribbean, always a favorite at ActiveTravels. 

 
A mere decade ago, Bonaire was known only to scuba enthusiasts—a coveted gem discussed in hushed conversations with other serious ocean lovers (types who come out of the water with seaweed in their hair). Now that the secret is out, travelers are learning that nature thrives here both above and below the water. The reef’s proximity to shore is ideal for divers and snorkelers who want to swim with blue and yellow queen angelfish and orange trumpetfish in waters with visibility of 100 feet or more. Bonaire’s semi-arid landscape is home to some 200 types of birds, including one of the world’s largest colonies of pink flamingoes, numbering some 15,000. Overlooking one of the island’s loveliest beaches is the Harbour Village Beach Club. Heinekens and gouda are the sustenance of choice on this Dutch colony, but if you prefer gourmet, go with the resort’s La Balandra Beach Bar and Grill.  
 
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Best Cyber Monday Deals in New England

I’m always a little wary of promoting Cyber Monday deals, because often they’re non-refundable and usually trying to sell products at low season, like heading to Vermont during the mud season in April/May. But now and then I find something that looks enticing. On November 26, Hotel Vermont in Burlington is offering one of its lowest rates of the year, $139 per night for stays from January 2–April 30, 2019. *Advance Purchase, must be paid at the time of booking. Non-cancellable, non-refundable, non-transferable. Not available 1/18 – 1/20; 2/15-17 and 2/22-23 ;+$40 for 2/8 & 9. Limited number of rooms at this rate, limit of 2 rooms per person per date. Also on Cyber Monday, you can save up to 40 percent off bookings at the Red Lion Inn in the Berkshires. Rates for winter and spring travel start at $99 per night; summer dates start at $179 per night. At the Woodstock Inn, guestrooms start at $179, with a Bed & Breakfast package starting at $199, 50% off standard rates. Rates are valid for stays from November 27, 2018 through June 27, 2019, not including holidays, holiday weeks, and weekends. Other blackout dates will apply. All rates are subject to the applicable 10% rooms tax and a $33 per day resort fee. 

 

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Acadia National Park Week: Biking Schoodic Peninsula

If they call the western half of Mount Desert Island the Quiet Side, they should call Schoodic Peninsula the Secret Side. Still part of Acadia National Park, Schoodic is a good hour drive from Bar Harbor, so few people outside of Mainers in the know head here. Do yourself a favor and follow their cue. You’ll thank me. On a day when two large cruise ships dropped off over 4,000 people into Bar Harbor, we took a ferry smaller than a tugboat, The Quoddy Bay, and took off to Winter Harbor, the gateway to the Schoodic Peninsula. There’s no longer any need to drive to Schoodic, especially if you want to bike the 10 to 12-mile loop. You can get here on a scenic hour-long boat ride ($39 round-trip, including bicycle), mesmerized by the views of pine-studded islands, the mountainous shoreline, and the granite cliffs. 

Acadia National Park has made it easy for bikers to access the Schoodic Peninsula. The paved road Park Loop is one way with two lanes, so cars can easily pass you. Secondly, this summer they just created 8 miles of carriage path trails, hard-packed gravel routes only available to bikers and hikers. After taking the Park Loop, we would return via the carriage path trails, crossing the entirety of the peninsula past the new national park campground that opened last Wednesday. Most importantly, there’s very little traffic here. This is a very serene part of the national park that few venture to. 
 
We biked along the rocky shoreline, stopping to walk atop a breakwater and watch the tide rush out to sea. All around you is the Atlantic with another memorable seascape to savor, be it a lone sailboat gliding through the open water, an unchartered island just offshore, or pink granite ledges that form one of the highlights, Schoodic Point. People pull over anywhere along the loop to picnic, swim, or take short walks like the East Trail, which climbs a half-mile to 440-foot high Schoodic Head. 
 
Near Schoodic Point is another worthwhile stopover, the Schoodic Education and Research Center, housed in a stone and brick building John D. Rockefeller, Jr., created for the US Navy in 1935. Recently renovated, the building is now home to the nonprofit Schoodic Institute, an educational and research group dedicated to conservation and ecology. Head inside to see exhibitions on the local wildlife and the Navy’s history of monitoring encrypted messages inside this building. There are many surprises on Schoodic Peninsula, so don’t hesitate to make the extra effort to get here. 
 
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Family Adventure in the Canadian Rockies with Austin-Lehman

As an adventure travel writer, I’ve been paid to bike around the Big Island of Hawaii, sea kayak the Fijian islands, dive the Great Barrier Reef, and paddle the Allagash River during a memorable foliage. Then I had my first child and the canoes, skies, and other outdoor paraphernalia started to collect dust in the basement of my suburban Boston home. Going stir crazy one summer day, I called my dad who gave me the sage advice to integrate family into my work. The next thing I know I’m going up and down the hills of Vermont with my toddler on the back of my bike. Like many parents, I began to realize that I don’t have to give up my passion simply because I have little ones. It was time to introduce my kids to the real me. Now I travel with Jake, 14, and Melanie, 12, as much as possible without getting scolded by their teachers. And they’re the ones teaching me a thing or two about every sport they try. 

This coming summer, we’re already booked on a six-day multisport trip with Austin-Lehman Adventures in the Canadian Rockies. ALA is known for their guided family trips to the most stunning locales across the globe, from Costa Rica to Alaska, Africa, and yes, the Canadian Rockies. In the Banff, Jasper, and Lake Louise region, we’ll trek with crampons across the Athabasca Glacier, whitewater raft down the Kananaskis River, and bike through the tall cedars and pines on the Evans Thomas path. Another highlight is the 64-mile drive through the peaks and deep swaths of forest on Icefields Parkway. Elk, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, maybe even a bear or cougar can be seen as you make your way to the largest ice cap in the Canadian Rockies, the Columbia Icefield, on the boundary of Banff and Jasper National Parks. At night, we’ll be staying at Baker Creek Chalets, along a quiet stream smack dab in the center of the snowcapped summits.

As we begin to plan our summer vacations, I want to take the time this week to describe some of my favorite trips offered by outfitters.
 

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Download the Best Translation Apps

Fear of overcoming the language barrier is one of most common anxieties travelers face. One experience with a surly Parisian waiter who mocks your stab at French will only exacerbate the situation. Or the futile attempt to explain to your taxi driver in Bangkok the name of your hotel when he uses a vastly different alphabet. That’s why I’m downright giddy about the latest language translation apps, found in my latest column for Men’s Journal. Try one of these technological beauties and you’ll no longer be fumbling through the pages of the Berlitz guide.

 
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Glacier Skywalk to Debut in the Canadian Rockies May 2014

Brewster Travel Canada has been involved with the Canadian national parks since 1892, when the founders, two teenaged brothers, Jim and Bill Brewster, began guiding guests through the Rockies. If they were around today, the Brewster brothers would be in awe of their company’s latest development. Opening in Jasper National Park this coming May is the Glacier Skywalk, a glass-floored observation platform 918 feet above the Sunwapta Valley. The bird’s eye view provides an unobstructed vista of the glaciers and snowcapped peaks of Jasper, accessible to all. You reach the Glacier Skywalk by a 5-minute coach from the Glacier Discovery Centre.

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