Top Travel Days of 2020, Every Day on Cape Cod

Lobster Rolls at Arnold's on Cape CodPent up for months due to the pandemic lockdown, come mid-July, we were ready to leave the house and head to Eastham on the Cape for a week. We rented a cottage down the block from the bayside Thumpertown Beach, where we would spend most afternoons and evenings swimming in the calm surf and watching the sunset. In the mornings we would bike to Nauset Light Beach and on the up-and-down Province Lands Bike Trail, walk the Fort Hill Trail and beaches of Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, and swim in the surrounding kettle ponds. We had our requisite lobster rolls and tasty onion rings at Arnold’s, but also were content barbecuing in the backyard and spending time outdoors with the family. Another highlight was a guided tour with Art’s Dune Tours in Provincetown. You must be doing something right if you’re still in business since 1946. We spent an hour in a Suburban as our driver and guide cruised over the sand dunes on Provincetown’s Cape Cod National Seashore, telling us about the unique topography and the history behind the longstanding dune houses that still cling precariously to the shoreline. We ended at Race Point Beach to watch another glorious sunset. Breathing in that salty air and viewing the serene seascape was the best form of pandemic therapy.

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Top Travel Days of 2021, Every Day in Jamaica

Good Times in JamaicaIt was wonderful to return to the warmth of Jamaica with the family in December after a 3-year absence. Having been to the island over a dozen times, I don’t feel the need to walk up Dunn’s River Falls, see Bob Marley’s boyhood home in Nine Mile, watch the cliff divers jump off the rocks near Rick’s, or raft down the many rivers. Because I’ve already done that many times. No, all I wanted to do was spend time with the family, swimming in the soothing Caribbean waters, walking the beach to spot pelicans, reading the latest Amor Towles novel, playing and usually losing in Rummikub, eating my daily lunch of spicy jerk chicken, and certainly drinking my fair share of rum. It was well-deserved rest and rejuvenation for my weary body and soul.

Thanks for tuning in this week to our annual line-up of favorite travels during the previous year. If you want to see what ActiveTravels is excited about in 2022, please have a look at our latest newsletter.

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Budget Beach Option in Belize

Located at the southern tip of a long, narrow peninsula, Placencia attracts sun worshippers from all over the globe with more than 16 miles of white sand. If you tire of the beach, a popular day trip is a half-day kayak through the mangroves of Monkey River. Crocodiles, howler monkeys, even manatees can be spotted here. A popular beachfront restaurant in town is De’Tatch Seafood Beach Bar, where you dine on shrimp burritos or fish tacos. If you’re lucky enough to snag one of the six beachfront cabanas, all air-conditioned, at Blue Crab, you’ll also be treated to some great Asian fare, courtesy of the Taiwanese-born owner. 

 

Top Travel Days of 2019, The Much-Needed Therapeutic Waters of Temagami

In April, I crashed my car and had to deal with an unexpected, exorbitant tax bill. May brought the death of Lisa’s dad, Ken. Then in early June, we learned that one of our trusted tour operators that we like to use for Africa trips had just went bankrupt. Needless to say, by the time I reached the waters of Lake Temagami in late July, my nerves were shot. All I wanted to do was jump in the water and swim. And for 3 days, that’s primarily what I did. Dove in the heavenly waters of this vast lake and swam free crawl, backstroke, elementary backstroke, underwater, to a small island directly across from us. It was a perfect cleansing of my body in these pristine waters, happily washing away the year’s stress with each stroke.

I had no idea where we were, a place called Ojibway on an island 20 minutes by boat from the parking lot some 5 to 6 hour drive north of Toronto. Amy had found the place because her daughter, Sophie, was counselor at Keewaydin Songadeewin summer camp in Vermont, sister camp to Keewaydin Temagami located on the same island as Ojibway. There were no campers during our stay, because the Temagami camp is primarily used as a base for long-distance canoe trips for paddlers, upwards of 6 weeks in summer. Ojibway felt like summer camp for adults in one of the most serene settings I’ve visited in Canada. The inviting waters entice you to grab a canoe and paddle to your heart’s content, following the loons. Meals are served family-style on the long tables and the food was surprisingly good. So was the company, many of whom had a long history with this island, including a woman from Mississippi, who told me that her grandfather had found this place in the early 1900s, not wanting to deal with the crowds in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Her family has been returning here for over a century. And who can blame them!

It’s hard to find a more peaceful and stress-free setting, one where your WiFi only works close to the dining area (and very slow at that). You’re free to discard the smart phone and read your stack of books, go for a paddle, have gin and tonics on the deck, and yes, swim. I want to hold on to that image of me diving off the dock at Ojibway to hopefully keep my blood pressure down the rest of the year. At least, until I return to this special spot again.

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Broome or Bust

While traveling in Bali years ago, my brother and I met a couple from Broome, a town of 15,000 on Australia’s remote northwestern coast. They went on and on about the exquisite white beaches, rarely a soul in sight, the turquoise waters, and the local pearl farms. In fact, they made it sound so enchanting that Jim and I have a running joke that some day we’ll meet in Broome. Of course, we haven’t because it’s halfway around the world from Boston and New York, but we can still dream. You can choose to stay right on the beach in Broome at Pinctada Cable Beach Resort and Spa. Or better yet, spend three nights in Broome, and then take an 8-day cruise along the Kimberly coast to visit waterfalls, red gorges, and wilderness islands that few have seen. The Kimberly Quest II takes 18 fortunate guests on their upscale cruises along the Kimberly coast. Finish with a weekend sailing and dining in Perth and you have the West Coast of Australia covered. Some day… 
 
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Swim at Silver Sands State Park, Milford, Connecticut

Dyed-in-the wool New Englanders will call any nearby ocean or lake dip refreshing.  Depending how far north you venture, however, you could be in for one of those bone-chilling experiences where you run in for three seconds, scream, watch your ankles turn blue, and run out. To truly find warmth, head south to the shallow slopes of the Long Island Sound. The beach at Silver Sands State Park is small compared to other Connecticut state parks like Hammonasset or Sherwood Island, but alas more remote.  It’s also far more affordable than many of the private town beaches in this part of Connecticut. A long boardwalk leads from the parking lot across a marsh (good for bird watching, but not great if you’re carrying food, sand toys, and Junior). Take Exit 34 off I-95 to Route 1 east and turn right on Pumpkin Delight to the coast.
 

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The Best Beach on Cape Cod

I like to arrive at Longnook Beach in Truro in the early morning when the fog still casts a hazy glaze over the water. I walk down the sand path to the soft white beach, joined by surfers and dog walkers. Then I take my first glance back at the towering tan and red-colored dunes, realizing instantly why JFK wanted this landscape to be preserved as a National Seashore. Looking to the left as the beach curves toward Provincetown, the dunes meld with sand, sea, and sky, as if the land is going to plummet into the water. Listen to the waves, watch the surfers glide atop the ocean, walk the beach to find an errant lobster trap run ashore, and savor the scene before families start to pour in around 11 am.
 

 

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