Lovin Our Lattes at Blue Bottle Coffee

My preferred place to be in September is inside a canoe, paddling the tranquil rivers and lakes of the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota, Wabakimi Wilderness in western Ontario, the Adirondacks in upstate New York, and the Maine woods. Those nasty mosquitoes and black flies are gone, foliage color is already starting to appear, and moose are lining the shores in heat, more talkative than Bullwinkle. So grab a paddle and find your own placid retreat. It’s no surprise that paddlers get all dreamy-eyed over Minnesota’s northern frontier, the Boundary Waters, home to a whopping 1200 miles of canoeable waters through countless lakes, rivers, and ponds. You can go days without seeing another person, replaced instead by moose, whitetail deer, black bears, beavers, otters, and those laughing loons. Wilderness Outfitters has been taking people away from civilization since 1912, offering canoe rentals and maps for self-guided trips and leading organized trips.
Visit Montreal in June and you’ll see the Botanical Garden in full bloom. It’s also the time of year when its laundry list of summer events and festivals begin, starting with the Montreal Grand Prix on June 9th. The Montreal International Jazz Festival comes to town late June 27-July 6, followed by Just for Laughs Comedy Festival July 10-28, the premiere comedy event in North America. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and other top tennis pros are on hand for the Rogers Cup August 2-11. Stay at the brand new Four Seasons Hotel Montreal, slated to make its debut on June 1st. The hotel will feature 169 rooms and suites, acclaimed Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s first restaurant in Canada, Marcus, a 24-hour fitness center, sky-lit indoor swimming pool, and spa. Please let ActiveTravels know you’re headed to Montreal and we’ll check hotel availability and design our patented Dream Day Itinerary to other regions of Quebec, which we know very well.
This is the time of year when I receive a flurry of catalogs and press releases from outfitters updating me on their favorite trips for 2012. So this week, I want to describe a handful of those trips that excite me. Ciclismo Classico has branched off to destinations like Norway and New England, but their specialty is still the Italian countryside. Next summer, CC owner Lauren Hefferon is featuring a multisport jaunt to one of her favorite locales, Sardinia, the second largest island in the Mediterranean. Far away from the congestion on the European continent, you’ll bike along the pristine coastline, stopping at underused beaches for a dip. Other highlights include a hike up Capo Spartivento, rewarding young climbers with vistas of the shoreline, a day long boat ride in and out of coves, soccer on the beach, strolling to the markets in small villages, and a grand finale feast at the home of your Sardinian guide, with his mother and brothers grilling sausage. After all, what child doesn’t like Italian food?
There’s no longer a need to deplete your life savings when selecting a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. You simply have to look beyond the convenience of contacting big name American outfitters who charge exorbitant prices for their worldwide trips (often in excess of $1,000 per day, excluding airfare). Instead, book your journey with highly reputable local outfitters whose sole specialty is their native country. This way, you eliminate the middleman and pocket the huge savings. All five of the outfitters I’ll blog about this week will give you a far more in-depth look at their homeland than any American guide could possibly do, at a fraction of the cost. First stop, Brittany.