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Take the White Glove Tour at the Alexander Graham Bell Museum

It’s a good omen when you spot a bald eagle and a fox within 10 minutes of leaving your hotel after breakfast. An hour later we were paddling the placid waters of St. Ann’s Bay on a guided half-day tour with North River Kayak. We would spot more bald eagles, one distinctive white head peering out from her massive bowl-shaped nest high up the hillside. We stopped for banana bread and chocolate chai, so delicious that owner Angelo Spinazola now sells it as a parting gift. Then we walked to a small waterfall before making the paddle back. 
 
That afternoon, I returned to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in the lakeside resort town of Baddeck. Graham Bell and his wife Mabel, a former student of his at Boston School for the Deaf, first built their summer home in Baddeck in 1886, a decade after he stated those first fateful words on the telephone to his assistant, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” In 1955, Graham Bell’s two daughters donated thousands of original artifacts to the museum, including all of the models that consumed him during his lifetime. There’s a bicycle that he hoped one could pedal on water, his invention of the gramophone, and a hydrofoil he helped build later in life, called HD-4, which reached a speed of 70 miles per hour on water, a record that wouldn’t be broken for another decade. The museum is now offering a “White Glove” tour where you put on gloves and enter a backroom. A guide lets you see and touch his walking cane (rather long since he stood 6 ‘4”), suit jackets, and notebooks where he would scribble any thoughts during the day. He was a meticulous note taker and you’ll find stacks of books lined up detailing all of his studies. I also enjoyed the early photo of his brothers, making silly faces. Unfortunately they both died of TB at an early age. It’s the reason Bell’s family left Scotland to move to Canada. Bell’s 37-room estate across the lake is still used by his descendants. 
 
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My Story for Yankee Magazine on New England’s Best Winter Towns

What a difference a year makes. Last winter I was driving around the entirety of New England researching a story on the best winter towns in the region for Yankee Magazine. The deluge of snow created a winter wonderland where I could truly appreciate everything New England has to offer during the cold weather months. This winter, I shoveled twice, saw very little snow, and it’s already March. I was fortunate to be writing about New England’s finest winter towns while they wearing a shiny white dress. That cover story for the Jan/Feb issue of Yankee Magazine is finally out on the web. Please have a look! 

 
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MLK Ski Resort Deals at Liftopia

With most regions in the country getting snow this week, MLK Weekend is turning out to be a great time to carve those perfect turns. Don’t be foolish and wait until the last minute to purchase your lift tickets. Check out Liftopia, the largest online marketplace for discounted lift tickets. Some of the many deals on the site this week include a three-day lift ticket at Jay Peak starting at $125, a 42% savings compared to walk-up window rates. In upstate New York, three-day lift tickets at Gore Mountain start at $128, a 45% savings. Out West, at Colorado’s Copper Mountain, three-day lift tickets start at $194. Taos is also offered, with a three-day lift ticket that start at $182 (26% savings). Check it out and have a great weekend! I’ll be back on Tuesday. 

 
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Skiing Quebec on a Budget

If you’re looking for a Northeastern ski area with a dose of affordable French flavor, then a visit to Quebec’s Eastern Townships is in order. With a lift ticket at Stowe reaching $115 this winter, you can head another hour north and be skiing at a quarter of the price. This is especially true with the current rate of exchange at US$1 to CAN$1.35. On the shores of Lake Memphremagog, Owl’s Head offers the best of Vermont skiing, but at absurdly low prices. For a measly US$54, you get one night lodging, breakfast, and a lift ticket! And this being Quebec, that breakfast will include freshly baked croissants, patisserie, and café au lait. Not a bad way to celebrate Owl’s Head’s 50th anniversary this ski season. 

 
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Okemo Mountain Resort Adds Second Bubble Chair

Excited to head back to Okemo this coming weekend to check out their latest additions, including a second bubble lift. Called Quantum Four, the bright orange retractable, transparent dome will replace the Jackson Gore Express Quad. The four-passenger bubble chairs protect skiers from wind and weather as they ascend Jackson Gore summit. Always included in my round-ups of top 10 ski resorts for families in America, Okemo is known for their snowmaking and impeccable grooming, which allows novice skiers to feel like Olympic downhill champions as you cruise down the long boulevards. Of course, we’ll also take an exhilarating run on the Timber Ripper Mountain Coaster and taste those fresh baked waffles dipped in chocolate. Can’t wait! 

 
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Isn’t It Time You Skied Telluride?

If ole Butch Cassidy returned to Telluride today to rob a bank, like he did here in 1889, he would be happy to know that this former mining town has changed little. Sure, there might be more of a California surfing element—a favorite breakfast joint is called Baked in Telluride—but much of the 8-block main stretch gives off the flavor of the Wild West. It’s not just the sense of the familiar that keeps me coming back, but the spellbinding vista of 14,000-foot peaks that surround the ski resort. You’re socked into a Japanese silkscreen, with wave after wave of anonymous snowy peak undulating before you.  
 
At first glance, staring anxiously at the steep trails that run from the face of the mountain back to town, you might think that Telluride was created solely for the hotdogging antics of extreme skiers. And, yes, steeps like Bushwhacker and Plunge reward expert skiers with great rips, usually on fresh powder. Take the lift up to Prospect Bowl, however, and you’ll soon realize that Telluride caters just as much to beginners and intermediates. Best of all, there are little or no lift lines to get to these trails. Located in the remote southwestern corner of the state, you’re a good five-hour drive from the crowds that frequent Colorado ski areas closer to Denver. But that could change soon. With direct flights to Telluride from 11 major hubs in the States, including Newark, Chicago, and LA, expect the word to spread quickly. 
 
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Play Outdoors with the AMC This Winter

It might be getting a bit nippy this time of year in Maine, but that shouldn’t stop you from being immersed in the spectacular mountain beauty of the 100-Mile Wilderness Trail. The Appalachian Mountain Club is fortunate to house three of their backcountry lodges in this section of the state, all classic sporting camps that have been revamped and are rearing up for a busy winter season of cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Choose to do a self-guided ski trip between the lodges or sign up for one of their guided excursions, like the lodge-to-lodge cross-country ski jaunt from Little Lyford to Gorman Chairback the weekend of January 22-24. There’s also a guided snowshoe lodge-to-lodge the following weekend and a winter sampler over MLK Weekend. 
 
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Park City Mountain Resort Now The Largest in America

Thanks to a new high speed gondola, Quicksilver, that will take guests from the base of the Silverlode Lift at Park City to the Flatiron Lift area at the former Canyons, Park City Mountain Resort lays claim to being the largest ski area in America. Vail Resorts takeover of the Canyons and completion of a $50 million renovation has led to this massive ski area that now includes over 7,300 acres, 300+ trails, and 41 lifts. Sundance Film Festival, which usually takes place over MLK Weekend, is being held a week later in 2016. So this might be a good time to check out the slopes. Remember that Park City is only a 40-minute drive from the Salt Lake City International Airport. Take an early flight from the East Coast and you’ll be on skis by noon. The latest hotel to make its debut is the 122-room Hyatt Place Park City, minutes away from the ski area. 
 
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A Wealth of Winter Activity at Vermont’s Grafton Inn

The same deluge of snow that hit Boston this winter, now topping 100 inches thanks to Tuesday night’s dusting, has also arrived at Vermont’s doorstep. Grafton Inn, one of my favorite properties in the state, recently reported that they received over 4 feet of snow in the past 3 weeks. Down the road, the Grafton Ponds Outdoor Center is offering 5 kilometers of groomed trails; Wine & Cheese Snowshoe Hikes on Saturday afternoons; dogsled rides on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays; tubing on their 600-foot hill; and the use of 2 fat bikes for hitting the trails. On property, the Phelps Barn features live music every Saturday night. 
 
Never been to Grafton? Amble along Main Street past the Country Store, where I once spotted a sign posted outside asking if anyone’s seen a missing horse, and you swear you just stepped into a Currier and Ives painting. To the right is the red brick town hall, circa 1816, now home to the post office. Further up the road, past the white clapboard houses spewing smoke from their chimneys is the requisite white steeple. Across the street is the Old Tavern, opened in 1801, and once the stagecoach stop on the ride from Boston to Montreal. Ulysses S. Grant spent a night here while campaigning for his presidency and Rudyard Kipling liked the locale so much he honeymooned at the hotel in 1892. For more information on Grafton, see the story I wrote for Preservation Magazine. 
 
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Time to Ski New England

With six feet of snow on the ground in Boston, you can only imagine what the skiing’s like in nearby New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. In fact, a friend in Vermont just told me yesterday that this is the best snow he’s seen in 20 years. New Hampshire and Maine are also reporting exceptional skiing conditions. So if you have no plans yet for February school break, head to the mountains. Temps are expected to plummet this Friday and Saturday, so you might want to visit Okemo and ride on their new heated 6-passenger bubble chairlift. Or visit Jay Peak, where you can take several runs before bringing the kids indoors to their vast water park. If you need inspiration, here’s “Why I Ski the East.”