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Fairmont Copley Plaza Celebrates 100th Anniversary

2012-01-27T12:00:22+00:00

Boston’s Fenway Park is not the only local landmark celebrating its centennial in 2012. Fairmont Copley Plaza plans to celebrate its 100th birthday this year with several exciting offers. For any couple that spent their honeymoon at the Copley Plaza, they will offer you the chance to return to the hotel for those exact rates. For example, if you had your honeymoon at the Copley Plaza in 1947, you paid $7 a night. That’s exactly what you’ll pay for a return stay. Don’t expect the rooms to be the same. The hotel is on the verge of completing a $20 million refurbishment that has updated all guest rooms and suites and added a new rooftop health club. The property is also offering a “Celebration of A Century” package which includes a night at the hotel, a private tour, and a historical booklet. Prices for the package start at $100 per person.

Congratulations to Felicity Aston

2012-01-26T12:00:21+00:00

In early December I wrote about the 33 year-old British adventurer Felicity Aston and her attempt to become the first woman to ski alone across Antarctica. Well, she not only completed the 1,084-mile trek from Leverett Glacier to Hercules Inlet, she finished three days earlier than planned. “When I saw the coastal mountains that marked my end point, I literally just stopped in my tracks and bawled my eyes out,” Aston tweeted. Hauling two sleds in often fierce headwinds, Aston pushed on in solitude for 59 days. Well done! You’ve earned a steady diet of Yorkshire pudding upon your return home.

Ski Suicide Six for $7.50

2012-01-25T12:00:34+00:00

Peer up at Suicide Six and all you see is a wide trail falling sharply down the peak. When Bunny Bertram was looking for a place to put his ski area in 1936, he reportedly looked down this same hillside, then called Number 6, and said attempting to ski this is suicide. The name stuck. These days, any decent skier can attempt that same steep slope. Indeed, the mountain and its 23 trails, found on the outskirts of Woodstock, Vermont, are ideally suited for the novice and intermediate skier. To celebrate their 75th anniversary, Suicide Six is offering lift tickets for $7.50 on Mondays. So if you’re planning to spend the weekend at Killington, 20 minutes down the road, spend an extra day in the area and ski Suicide Six.

Fitness Rooms Available at the TRYP New York City Hotel

2012-01-24T12:00:44+00:00

Ever get up at the crack of dawn and head to the hotel gym, only to find out that the two elliptical machines are already taken at 6:30 am? That really pisses me off. Which is why I was delighted to hear about the Fitness Rooms being offered at the new TRYP Hotel, set to open on February 1st, near Herald Square. Choose between an elliptical machine, stationary bike, or treadmill and it will be waiting for you in your room. The hotel is on 35th between 8th and 9th Avenues, near Penn Station and a 7-block walk to Times Square.

This is the Week to Go Skiing in America

2012-01-23T12:00:57+00:00

As I was leaving the office on Friday, I received a flurry of press releases from ski areas across the country. Utah’s Snowbird had just received 30 inches of snow and another storm was on its way today and tomorrow. Just down the road, Park City was getting dumped on pretty heavily. Here in New England, where my yard was green until Saturday, Vermont and New Hampshire ski areas both received up to a foot of snow this past weekend. Also on Saturday, I received word that the Lake Tahoe region would receive up to three feet of snow, snowing more than an inch an hour. So if you were looking forward to calling in sick and hitting the slopes, this would be the week. Check out Liftopia to get discounted lift tickets.

L.L. Bean Celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2012

2012-01-20T12:00:14+00:00

If you live in New York City and noticed that big Bootmobile in Times Square on Wednesday, the vehicle came direct from Freeport, Maine, to celebrate L.L. Bean’s 100^th anniversary. Feeling nostalgic? Then order a special-edition boot this year that’s similar to the first pair of boots designed by Leon Leonwood Bean. Better yet, blog, tweet, or simply tell a story about using L.L. Bean gear and the company will donate up to $1 million to the National Park Foundation in a yearlong promotion called “The Million Moment Mission.” The company also hopes to get more folks outdoors this year by promoting its Outdoor Discovery Schools. Go Bean!

Mashpi Lodge to Debut in Andean Rainforest in April 2012

2012-01-19T12:00:15+00:00

Looking to combine that trip to the Galapagos with an immersion into the Ecuadorean rainforest? A 2 ½-hour drive northwest of Quito will bring you to the slopes of the Andes and a new upscale green resort called Mashpi Lodge, ready to be unveiled in April. Smack dab in the middle of the 3,000-acre Mashpi Rainforest Biodiversity Reserve, you’ll leave each morning to go on guided hikes to secret waterfalls through a rainforest overflowing with ferns, bromeliads, and hundreds of orchids. A mind-boggling 500 species of birds inhabit the forest, including hummingbirds and those multi-hued toucans. Also expect to see monkeys, the pig-like peccaries, even pumas, especially aboard their aerial tram that glides above the rainfortest canopy. Back at the lodge, you can refresh yourself in a Jacuzzi or opt for a massage. Many of the herbs found in the meals are indigenous to the local rainforest. The lodge is owned by South American travel company, Metropolitan Touring, who also just opened a 31-bedroom boutique hotel, Casa Gangotena, in a restored mansion overlooking Plaza San Francisco in Quito.

Bike the 50-Mile Tour de Picayune

2012-01-18T12:00:23+00:00

Located in southwestern Florida, Picayune Strand State Forest is best known as the place in the 60s where gullible northerners bought 5 acres of choice Florida real estate only to find out it was mostly swampland. Roads were built and subdivisions created, but few people came. Lately, the paved roads have been removed in a massive restoration project to enhance the proper flow of water in the Everglades. So far, it’s been working with indigenous plants and birdlife returning to this vast acreage. This desolate stretch of the Everglades is where my brother and I went mountain biking in early December with our guide, Wes Wilkins, owner of Everglades Edge. We saw no other humans driving or biking as we headed out on dirt roads, surrounded by swamp waters. In their place were snapping turtles, tall wood storks, and alligators sunning on the banks of the streams. An avid biker, Wilkins also chairs the 50-mile Tour de Picayune, which takes place this year on February 4^th. Even if you have no desire to race and win the cherished Durrwalker Cup, you can still sign up at Tour de Picayune to bike 50 miles of dirt roads lost in time, while spotting a wide selection of birdlife.

Butterfield & Robinson Introduces Bistro Trips

2012-01-17T12:00:51+00:00

Other biking outfitters have tried to emulate Butterfield & Robinson, but none can approach George Butterfield’s panache. Since he started his company in 1966, Butterfield’s ultra-sybaritic jaunts have included biking through France’s Loire Valley where you spend the night at a different private castle each evening. All vacations should be this glamorous. Or should they? B&R has just announced that they will be offering a more casual alternative in 2012 called Bistro trips. Instead of castles, you’ll be staying at independent 3 and 4-star hotels and pensions. Instead of a gluttonous multi-course feast, expect simpler dinners that feature indigenous fare. Pricing on these Bistro trips is $2,000-$3,000 lower than their signature biking trips and initial destinations include Provence, Tuscany, Puglia, and Normandy.

Favorite Travel Days 2011, Checking Out Miami’s Wynwood Walls

2012-01-13T12:00:10+00:00

I can’t say I was thrilled with the idea of leaving the beachfront in Key Biscayne to head into downtown Miami to write a story on the emerging arts district called Wynwood. But when I stepped foot into the new restaurant, Wynwood Kitchen, and saw the freshly painted works of Shepard Fairey covering the bar walls, I was blown away. It only got better when I went outside and saw the display of international graffiti artists who came to Wynwood to showcase their works, lured to Miami by the country’s foremost contemporary art expo, Art Basel. Now I can’t wait to go back to Wynwood Walls and wow my friends with this discovery.