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January Newsletter Now Available at ActiveTravels.com

This summer, Four Seasons will be opening their new Orlando property within the gates of the Walt Disney World resort. Talk about the best of both worlds. You can spend the day at Disney, then return to the property for a much-needed couple’s massage at the spa. Kids will love the water slides, lazy river, climbing wall, and activity center on an island built for them. Parents can unwind on the links of the Tom Fazio-designed Four Seasons championship golf course or sip a cocktail by the adults-only pool. At night, head to the rooftop steakhouse to see the fireworks display. 

 
The Four Seasons Resort Orlando is just one of the many new properties, cruises, and tours we discuss in our latest newsletter. Marlon Brando’s dream of a sustainable Polynesian resort will finally open in July on what was his private Tahitian atoll, Tetiaroa. Silversea Expeditions will launch their new ship in the Galapagos Islands this month. Micato Safaris designed a dream itinerary for families headed to Kenya and Tanzania next summer. Check it out. If anything looks intriguing, please contact us at ActiveTravels.com to discuss and book. 
 
Enjoy the weekend and keep active!
 
Steve 
 

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The Perfect Paris Picnic

When designing itineraries for clientele headed to Paris, I always tell them to drop their bags off at the hotel and head straight to the Rue Cler neighborhood in the 7th Arrondissement. Purchase a hot out of the oven baguette from a boulangerie, soft reblochon (one of my many weaknesses in Paris!) and harder comte cheese from a fromagerie, some jambon and saucisson from a butcherie, and a pint of strawberries and a bottle of water from a grocer. Then head to the grounds in front of the Eiffel Tower and have a memorable meal. Now that I’ve heard about a new company, Paris Picnic, I might have to make some changes. Paris Picnic does the work for you, partnering with the top artisanal food and wine producers in town, to create a gluttonous picnic basket one can only dream about. Le Classique (priced at 32 Euros per person) includes a choice of wine, baguette, assortment of cheeses, charcuterie, fresh salad du jour, artisanal crisps, mineral water, and dessert. Or you can go for broke and order Le Chic, which includes champagne and foie gras. Paris Picnic will deliver the goods and blanket to any number of picnic spots in town—under Eiffel Tower, along the Canal St-Martin, or the grassy slopes of Buttes Chaumont. Oui, oui monsieur! 

 
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ActiveTravels Presents the Fran Golden Cruise to Alaska in 2019

After years of toying with the idea of designing our own group trips utilizing the talent that we know as guides, we’ve finally decided to take the plunge next year. We’re delighted to announce that one of the most renowned cruise writers, Fran Golden, former travel editor of the Boston Herald and author of Frommer’s EasyGuide to Alaskan Cruises and Ports of Call (2018), will be hosting an Alaskan cruise June 15-22, 2019. On the Inaugural Fran Golden Alaskan Cruise, we’ll board the newly refurbished Eurodam (see the latest review in Travel & Leisure) in Seattle. Then make our way up the Pacific coast with stops in Juneau, Glacier Bay, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria, before arriving back in Seattle. Fran will select her favorite shore excursions along the route and provide anecdotes from her other memorable cruises. For more information, please contact ActiveTravels. 

I’m off to San Francisco for a family reunion, back next Tuesday. Have a great week! 
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Top 5 Dream Days of 2018, Sailing to Anegada in the BVIs

My barometer for an authentic travel experience is one that plants you squarely in the present where your mind can’t drift to other thoughts and worries. This was certainly the case aboard the 41-foot Island Karma last February when we made the crossing from Virgin Gorda to the remote British Virgin Island of Anegada. Sailing at a speed over 8 knots, the boat was on its side, heeling over in the blustery tradewinds. But under the competent helm of my friend, Josh, and the watchful eye of our Captain, "Boss," I never panicked. With the occasional splash aboard to keep me alert and very much alive, I was relishing the adventure at hand. After 2 hours, we finally reached this sliver of land lined by sparkling white beaches and surrounded by the most spectacular turquoise waters I’ve seen since diving in French Polynesia. We pulled up to a mooring, motored the dinghy to land, and caught an open-air taxi to dreamy Cow Wreck Beach, passing rambling goats and cows along the way. We arrived at a long stretch of desolate sand and a small beachfront bar, planted our bums in Adirondack chairs, took out our books, and started to read. Ahh, sun, sand, sea, sky, serenity. 

 
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So You Want to Own a B&B, Part Two

In 2004, I wrote a cover story for the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine called, “So You Want to Own a B&B.” In the article, I spoke about the dream of leaving your current job and opening a country inn. The new innkeepers underestimated the amount of hours it took to run a B&B and many burned out quickly. During my research, I met a couple, Jennifer and Ed Dorta-Duque, who were taking a course on the ups and downs of running an inn. At the time, they had quit their jobs as software developers in Baltimore and had been searching for an inn for over 1 ½ years, looking at more than 50 properties in Annapolis, Pennsylvania, Cape Cod, Nantucket, and New York’s Finger Lakes region.  Finally, they came upon the Three Mountain Inn in Jamaica, Vermont, and made the purchase. Six years later, the couple is still going strong and the inn, located in a quiet village on the backside of Stratton Mountain, is a wonderful weekend retreat any time of year.
 

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A Must-Stop at Philly’s Magic Gardens

I finally made it to Isaiah Zagar’s monumental mosaic masterpiece, the Magic Gardens, on my latest visit to Philadelphia two weeks ago. Spanning half a block on South Street (between 10th and 11th Streets), Zagar started working on these vacant lots in 1994. Using folk art, found objects like bicycle tires, colorful glass bottles, and thousands of handmade tiles and glittering mirrors, Zagar created one of the most unique public artworks in America. Stroll in and out of the stairwells looking at the dramatic colors, reflections, and figurative works. You’ll be thankful that the neighborhood stood up for Zagar and his work once the landlord of the property found out what he had done and wanted to dismantle the massive sculpture in 2002. The nonprofit is now used for mosaic workshops, community outreach, and talks with the 79-year-old artist. Magic Gardens is open to the public Wednesdays through Mondays 11 am to 6 pm; cost is $10 for adults, $8 for students. 

 
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Older Women Who Lift Weights See Cognitive Benefits

There’s an interesting story in the latest Archives of Internal Medicine, which I read religiously (just kidding), that talks about a recent Canadian study involving older women. Over the course of a year, The University of British Colombia divided 155 women in the 65 to 75-year old range into three groups—resistance training (lifting weights, using weight machines, or doing squats and lunges) once a week, resistance training twice a week, and a Tai-Chi based balance and tone training twice a week. The results: cognitive scores for the women who went to resistance training twice weekly were up 12.6 percent, once weekly up 10.9 percent, while those who only did Tai Chi fell 0.5 percent. So start pumping the iron!
 

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