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Tobago Jazz Experience, April 18-26

As I shovel the 2 feet of snow out of my driveway this morning, my thoughts turn to Tobago. Best known as a beachcombing and birdwatching paradise, the island is also known for it music festivals. One of the best is the annual jazz festival in April, where Caribbean performers pair up with big name singers. Already confirmed for this April are Jill Scott, Jennifer Hudson, and Kool & the Gang. A full schedule should be available shortly. If you need recommendations on places to stay nearby, give us a call. 

 

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Nova Scotia Week, Clamming for Lunch

It’s low tide on Digby flats, not far from the largest scallop fishing fleet in North America. I took full advantage of their catch last night, trying the tender pan-seared scallops at the classic Digby Pines resort. But today my attention turns to my favorite seafood, the clam. A handful of clam diggers have already drove their trucks up to the sand bar to snag their 100 clams, the limit for recreational clammers. I’m here to meet Wanda VanTassel, owner of Fundy Adventures, and that legendary Nova Scotian, Terry “The Clammer” Wilkins. Wilkins will be turning 60 soon, but he’s been digging in this muck since the age of 11 and he’s not going to stop anytime soon. 
 
Fundy Adventures takes our group of 8 onto the flats, where Terry teaches us to look for small holes in the mud, a clear sign that there’s a clam down there. Then he hands out a 4-pronged clam hack and a bucket with a small circular ring used to measure the clams and ensure that they’re at least 1 ¾ inches big. I start jabbing at the mud, excited to score my first clam. But it’s a lot harder than it looks. A lot of times I hacks away at the Bay of Fundy bed and come away empty handed. Terry threw down 1,000 pounds of clam seed a year ago and it’s just starting to sprout. 2 years from now, the Digby flats should be back to the taking of Terry’s youth. 
 
Once we tire of digging, we head back to the high water line and watch the amazing tidal shift happen on the Bay of Fundy, a whopping 26-foot difference between low and high tide. The sand bar completely disappears under the water. Wanda serves us buckets of steamed clams, with meat so sweet you really don’t need the butter. It also helps that the bellies are some of the biggest I’ve ever had. She also serves tasty dulse biscuits and a roasted nori seaweed snack. The Clammer breaks out his guitar and starts singing “I am a fisherman, lowly digger of the clam.” His voice is excellent, the sun is shining off the water, with spectacular views of headlands across the bay, and my stomach is full of just-caught clams. Life is bliss. 
 
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My Story on New England Art Finds in the March/April Issue of Yankee Magazine

Blame it on the majestic scenery in New England that lured artists to its shores and mountains, or savvy collectors who had the foresight to purchase the preeminent works of their time. The result is undeniable. The bounty of art found in this region is mind-boggling, from the American art collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, to the Hudson River School paintings hanging at Hartford’s Wadsworth Athenaeum to the Impressionist gems located at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Add university collections like Harvard’s Fogg and the recently reopened Yale University Art Museum that could rival the finest art museum in most mid-range cities, and you understand how spoiled we are. 

 
Even with this gluttony of art, there are some hidden treasures to be found. I was fortunate last summer to be hired by Yankee Magazine to describe six of my favorite art gems in New England, often overlooked: the Cushing, Maine house that inspired Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s World; Winslow Homer’s studio in Prouts Neck, Maine; Albert Bierstadt’s 10-by-15-foot work, Domes of Yosemite, found in the back of the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont; Jose Clemente Orozco’s 24-panel mural at Dartmouth University’s Baker Library, now seen under new lighting; the WPA murals of a whaling scene created by Thomas LaFarge in 1938 at the New London Post Office; and the only National Park System site dedicated to an American painter, the Weir Farm in Wilton, Connecticut. All are worth checking put. You can find the story the old fashioned way, in the magazine at newsstands. It’s not online. 
 
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Wish You Were Here

Having spent half my childhood listening to Pink Floyd on my headphones, I’m incredibly excited by the following news. Starting tomorrow at London’s V&A Museum is a blockbuster exhibition on the band titled “Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains.” The show traces Pink Floyd’s origins from the 60s London psychedelic scene, when they were house band at the UFO nightclub, through landmark albums like “The Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall.” On display are scores of instruments, letters, items of clothing and other artifacts, as well as some impressively large installations, like a replica of London’s Battersea Power Station, the structure that appears with the flying pig on the cover of the band’s 1977 album “Animals.” Yes, the pig is also on display. There’s a hint of nostalgia to the show, which comes 50 years after the release of Pink Floyd’s first album, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” recorded at Abbey Road Studios the same time The Beatles were creating “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in the next room. The exhibition will be at the V&A through October 1st. 

 
‘Animals’, album cover art, Roger Waters, 1977. © Pink Floyd Music Ltd
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Wrong Way Penguin Starting to Eat Salmon

I love the story out of New Zealand three weeks ago that an Emperor penguin took a wrong turn while swimming in Antarctica and ended up 2,000 miles to the north, on the shores outside of Wellington. It was the first time in 44 years that an Emperor penguin has been sighted in New Zealand. Unfortunately, the young lad, who Kiwis are calling “Happy Feet,” started to eat sand, mistaking it for ice. He has since had four surgeries at the Wellington Zoo to remove all twigs and sand and is now on a fresh diet of salmon. The zoo hopes to keep him for another month, so he can regain his strength before hopefully making the long trek back home.
 

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Cross-Country Skiing Quebec’s Le P’tit Train du Nord

Home to 14 downhill ski areas, including the renowned Tremblant, the Laurentian Mountains is Quebec’s foremost winter playground. Once the white stuff starts to fall (an almost daily occurrence in these parts), a lineup of SUVs and minivans make the hour drive north of Montreal. Yet, from 1920 to 1940, the favorite mode of travel in the Laurentians was aboard “Le P’tit Train du Nord,” the snow train. Connecting Saint-Jérôme in the south to Mont-Laurier in the north, the 218 kilometer railway helped spur on tourism at villages along the route. 

The last train stormed through the region in 1989.  Nine years later, Le P’tit Train du Nord reemerged as a rail trail. The so-called Linear Park is now a beloved biking locale in summer and an excellent cross-country skiing destination in the cold weather months.  From Saint- Jérôme to Val-David, a 42 kilometer section of the trail is groomed daily in winter, creating the perfect three-day, two-night inn-to-inn skiing adventure. No snowmobiling is allowed, so you’re guaranteed a peaceful glide through towering forests of pine, snowcapped peaks looming overhead, stepping off for a meal or bed in one of the French-Canadian towns.

The first day, a 14 kilometer run from Saint- Jérôme to Prévost, is relatively flat, requiring little snow to get cruising. Most of the time will be spent in the National Park, Parc Régional de la Rivière-du-Nord. Day Two is an 11 kilometer ski from Prévost to Sainte-Adèle, home to the Mont Rolland Train Station, one of the many restored stations along the route that now serves as tourism office and café. The final day is a slight uphill climb to either Val-Morin (12 km) or Val-David (17 km), depending on how limber those legs are. If you’re still aching for more, simply head to any of the hills you see from Val-David. The Laurentians features 1000-plus kilometers of Nordic skiing. 

From Montreal, take Route 15 to Exit 43 and follow Rue de Martigny to the east. Turn south on Labelle Boulevard to Rue Parent, where you’ll find the old train station and parking lot in Saint- Jérôme. Motel de la Rivière in Prévost, Auberge de la Gare B&B in Sainte- Adèle, and Le Chalet Beaumont in Val-David are all good lodging choices. Visit Tourism Laurentides for a map and listing of lodgings, restaurants, ski shuttles, and rentals. 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! I’ll be back next Monday.

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Memorable Spring Bike Rides, Vancouver’s Stanley Park

The 9 km ride around the Seawall of Stanley Park can be done in less than an hour. Yet, by the time you stop at the world-class aquarium, see the selection of totem poles, and dine on sablefish (a tender and rich Northwestern whitefish) at the classic Teahouse for lunch, the day is over. Riding under towering Douglas firs and along the rocky shoreline, you’ll also stop numerous times to take pictures of the bay. On our last ride around Stanley Park, my family spent a good chunk of time being entertained by the sea otters at the Vancouver Aquarium. Less than 15 minutes later, we were watching river otters in the wild dining on crabs along the Seawall. Another unexpected find in a city of unexpected finds, the reason why I return to Vancouver as often as I can. 

 

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