Editor's Letter,
June/July 2022
Greetings!

One positive thing that Covid has brought us is an appreciation of the things that perhaps we overlooked in the "before" times. We've set our eyes upon the nearby: our loved ones' health and well-being, our neighbors, our community, our homes and our backyards, whether they are the front stoop of a building or a green space or garden.

We've lived in our home for 25 years now and for 24 of those years I walked through a small forested path at the bottom of our hill on the way to the local T stop. It was a thoroughfare toward another place, not a destination in and of itself. Yes, the trees were tall and they provided respite from traffic and street noises, but it was mainly a convenient way to get to the subway to downtown Boston.

That all changed during Covid when my sister and next door neighbor, Julie, told me she was becoming the steward to that parcel of land at the bottom of the hill. It was Newton Conservation Area and she was going to take care of it. A few months later, she decided to create a Poetry Path and invite the community to submit poems for the path. One thing led to another and together, with some community volunteers, we created the Martin Poetry Path in Newton Upper Falls. We opened the Path last weekend with a poetry reading from some of the local poets who contributed their works. Also present were second graders from the local school who we invited to paint cheerful rocks to punctuate the path and add a bit of color and positivity. These kids searched for their rocks with joy and excitement. All this happened just a few yards from our house and in our backyard.
Our newsletter today also focuses on our backyard. We know, it's kind of strange for travel experts to tout their backyards, but we so often run from place to place trying to achieve so much when it's possible to stay closer to home and find absolute riches, too!

Steve has spent many years in America's backyard of Canada, exploring each province and writing stories for various publications on his adventures. Canada is a beautiful and diverse country and it just doesn't get enough attention for all that it offers! Steve now shares his favorite Dream Day itineraries for five different regions of this vast and stunning nation just to the north.
Closer to our neck of the woods, Steve has also been busy showcasing our local towns in and where we live and work for the Charles River Chamber of Commerce of Metro West Boston. He wrote pieces on the hidden gems and highlights of each of the towns of Newton, Needham, Wellesley and Watertown, and his articles were published this week when the Chamber launched their "Trip Up the Charles River" campaign and website.

Yes, we have a ton of people traveling in Europe (hooray!), but our good ole continent of North America is truly worth exploring too. You never know what you will uncover nearby and in your own backyard!
Of course, we can't forget to make that BIG ANNOUNCEMENT of the winner of our 10th Anniversary Spring Giveaway of a complimentary 2 nights stay at Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City, thanks to their generosity, for one ActiveTravels lucky member! Read on to find out who won!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there. Please note that our next newsletter will come out in August, so enjoy your summer!

Stay safe and be well.

Warmly,

Lisa, Steve & Rachel
ActiveTravels, LLC
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5 Canadian Itineraries
to Try This Summer or Fall
With new nonstop service from Boston to Calgary and Vancouver, it’s a great time to explore the Canadian Rockies and British Columbia. Closer to home, you can drive from Boston to St. Andrews, New Brunswick, or Montreal in less than 6 hours and not have to be tested for COVID coming back into America. We’ve been fortunate to design over 100 Dream Day Itineraries to Canada this past decade and we have many more on the books this summer. It helps that I have written more travel stories about Canada than any other country outside of America and continue to add to the collection, like this article on the expansion of the Fundy Trail Parkway last September. These are the Canadian destinations ActiveTravels members have loved the most:
Monks, Montreal and Montmorency Falls
in Quebec
Cross over the border from Vermont and the first stop is on the shores of 28-mile-long Lake Memphremagog in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, where an impressive monastery sits high atop the waters. At Saint-Benoit-du-Lac Abbey, some 50 Benedictine monks create homemade cheeses and cider. Head to the store to sample the crumbly blue cheese known as L’Ermite, among Quebec’s most popular. 

Then it’s on to Montreal, the city of summer festivals, including comedy, jazz, and electronica. Montreal is home to one of the finest botanical gardens in the country and the fascinating Insectarium, which just reopened after a 2-year closure. Walk the cobblestone streets of the Old Quarter to snack on crepes at the outdoor courtyard of Le Jardin Nelson and buy French wares straight out of Paris.
Quebec City is a 3-hour drive to the northeast, where you hopefully booked a room at the classic Le Chateau Frontenac, perched high on the hillside above the St. Lawrence Seaway. Walk the narrow streets to sample the patisserie at Paillard and visit the always intriguing Musee de la Civilisation before heading just outside the city to hike or zipline at Montmorency Falls. Most people stop their trip in Quebec City, but you should continue north to stop in the charming town of Baie-Saint-Paul and sea kayak with beluga whales in the Saguenay Fjord.
Huffin and Puffin in The Atlantic Maritimes
I’ve stayed weeks in each of the four Atlantic Maritime provinces—New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia—and it’s honestly hard for me to distill this exquisite coastal landscape down to its highlights. Because there’s so much more! Like biking to small fishing villages on PEI’s Confederation Trail, backpacking Gros Morne National Park high above the fjords of Newfoundland, hiking the Skyline Trail where I always spot moose in Cape Breton, and going on a puffin cruise out of New Brunswick to the nesting grounds of Machias Seal Island.
There’s no place I’d rather sea kayak more than along the shoreline of the Atlantic Maritimes, where I’ve spotted so much wildlife from whales to porpoises to seals to bald eagles and puffins flying overhead. And don’t forget the culture. There’s nothing like a live Celtic concert in Cape Breton in the summer or a Fisherman’s Wharf all-you-can-eat lobster supper in PEI. With the high-speed CAT now running from Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia (3 ½-hour cruise), we can connect the dots for you quickly.
Dinosaurs, Dining and Diving in Ontario
This trip usually starts with a splash at Niagara Falls before heading to the vineyards, bike trails, and Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake. Then it’s on to Toronto, with must-stops at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). No need to travel the world to find varying cultures when you can simply walk around Toronto’s ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Start with dim sum in Chinatown, head to Greektown for helpings of saganaki and lamb souvlaki, order a cappuccino at one of the outdoor cafés in Little Italy, purchase red and gold silks at the Indian Bazaar in Little India, and dine on your fair share of pierogies and borscht in Little Poland, or “Ronceys,” as the locals call it.
From Toronto, it’s a 3 ½-hour drive to Algonquin Provincial Park and the Bartlett Lodge. The 12 cottages here sit on the shores of inviting Cache Lake. Grab a canoe in the early morning before breakfast and you’ll be listening to the distinctive call of the loon echoing across the waters. But even more heavenly than a placid paddle is the chance to swim from the small deck in front of your cabin in the clean refreshing waters. The perfect place to escape the world!
Rodeos, Railroads and Rockclimbing
in the Canadian Rockies
The typical Canadian Rockies itinerary starts in Calgary, especially if you’re heading to town in July during the citywide party known as the Stampede. Then it’s a 2-hour drive to Banff and the first of many hikes in the high alpine forest. Moraine Lake and Lake Louise are mandatory stops, before driving the spectacular Icefields Parkway north to Jasper. This region of Canada is home to classic resorts like the former Canadian Pacific Railway retreats Fairmont Chateaux Lake Louise and Fairmont Banff Springs. Or the Relais and Chateau property, Post Hotel, often rated one of the best in Canada, especially for its stellar views. From Jasper, you can drive 4 hours to Edmonton and fly home or continue exploring Canada on the train to Vancouver, where your travels continue as described below.
Exploring Vancouver, Whistler, Victoria, and Onward
One of the favorite trips we ever did as a family was to fly to Vancouver, take the Rocky Mountaineer train to Whistler, hop a float plane from Whistler to Victoria, and ferry onward to Salt Spring Island and later Seattle. You can read about it here. Wow, what a trip, especially since I didn’t need to drive once! Even on Salt Spring Island, I preferred biking to driving.
Vancouver is blessed with fantastic Asian restaurants, seafood, and a bounty of fresh fruit tempting you at the Granville Island market. Whistler is just as magical in summer as winter, hiking above the treetops or paddling down lonely rivers, only to watch the bears amble down the road at twilight. Victoria is a charming seaside town on the southern tip of Vancouver Island that offers a variety of ways to see the neighboring pods of orcas and to visit the glorious Butchart Gardens. Finally, Salt Spring Island is a soothing remote outpost for biking and sea kayaking, an ideal spot to unwind after a far too long pandemic.

Get out and enjoy the glorious wilderness found in Canada.

ActiveTravels is here to help design your dream day itinerary.
Quick Escape:
Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City
Set high above the St. Lawrence on Cap Diamant, overlooking Old Quebec, Chateau Frontenac was designed by American architect Bruce Price and opened in 1893, at the request of William Cornelius Van Horne, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway. He wanted to lure the glitterati and predicted correctly that the Chateau would become “the most talked about hotel on the continent.” Charles Lindbergh, Grace Kelly, and Montgomery Clift once walked the corridors. During Prohibition, Americans came to party with free-flowing booze, and they kept coming long after the ban ended. Today it feels every bit as grand as it was when Roosevelt and Churchill secretly hatched plans for the invasion of Normandy here in 1943.
Now one very fortunate member of ActiveTravels gets to sample the wares firsthand, thanks to a generous donation of two nights at Chateau Frontenac to help celebrate the 10th Anniversary of ActiveTravels.

Here was the question:

Canada has a quirky name for their $1 coin, 
what is it?

The correct answer was indeed .....the Loonie! This is because there is a loon on the face of the coin, thus the nickname.

Some Canada experts, they actually are official Canadian citizens, informed us about the name of the two dollar bill. Any guesses? That would be.... the Toonie! But, of course!

And, now to announce the winner of 2 complimentary nights at the Classic and Lovely Chateau Frontenac...Drumroll please!

A big congratulations to the winner of our second 10th Anniversary raffle.....

JANET GOLDENBERG!!!
 
Well done, Janet!!

We are sending out a BIG thank you to the 80 plus
ActiveTravels members
who participated for this raffle.

Stay tuned for more 10th Anniversary events!
Quick Escape:
Newton, Needham, Wellesley, and Watertown, Massachusetts
As we mentioned in our May ActiveTravels newsletter, we’ve sent clients to 116 countries around the world during this past decade. But it’s always nice to return home safely!

Steve is grateful to be involved in a new initiative launched yesterday by the Charles River Regional Chamber to promote travel to our hometown of Newton, and neighboring Needham, Wellesley, and Watertown. Steve took our patented concept of the "Dream Day Itinerary" and applied it to these four destinations. Please have a look and come visit! 
Contact us at ActiveTravels if you also want to explore the world or just stay closer to home.

We are here for you when you need us!

Thank you all again for making this past decade so memorable!
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Newton, MA 02464
 617-614-9877