Coastal Southern Maine + New Hampshire in Pictures

As small towns go, downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire is a favorite of mine, fitting all my criteria: waterfront location -- it’s on the Piscataqua River; numerous independent coffee shops, bookstores and wine bars; sense of history: the town dates to the early 17th century and numerous centuries-old buildings can still be found. But, most importantly, it’s got a walkable downtown. (The only downside: on Friday and Saturday nights in the summer, the town becomes party central.) While visiting a friend who lives nearby on the border with Maine, we decided to focus our daytime activities around little visited walking trails -- all a short drive from Portsmouth -- rather than joining the crowds flocking to the most popular sandy beaches. Here’s what we found:

The Urban Forestry Center, a two-mile walk from Downtown Portsmouth seems little used during the week when I spent a couple of hours on a web of shaded paths that weaved in and out of the forest and beside the tidal marsh of Sagamore Creek.

Despite all the tourist traffic in York, Maine, I strolled strolled first through Steedman Woods and then along first Fisherman's Walk and then the Cliff Walk in York Harbor.  My friend and I were the only ones on this trail that offered access to sandy bays and wide rocky surfaces, perfect for sunning.

Owned by the elite boarding school in Exeter, New Hampshire, the Phillips Exeter Academy Woods has several one-mile-plus loops through the woods that, at times, border the Exeter River.

Rogers Park is located in Kittery, Maine on land that was originally settled in the 17th century by a member of the Rogers family that came over on the Mayflower. It’s set along Spruce Creek with flat trails skirting the water only to head back into the sun-speckled woodland.

Bird watching opportunities abound in the Heron Point Sanctuary in downtown Newmarket, New Hampshire where great blue herons, cormorants and other water and wading birds can be spotted on trails that skirt the Lamprey River.

Trails parallel the Great Bay’s tidal coast in the Adams Point Wildlife Management Area, a property in Durham, New Hampshire once owned by the prominent Adams Family. Also in Durham, at Wagon Hill, a former family farm, trails now wander around community gardens, into dense woods and along a calm shoreline

In Rye, New Hampshire, Odiorne Point State Park has something for everyone, pebbly beaches, historic military bunkers, dense forestland cut by numerous paths and even a small aquarium at the Seacoast Science Center.

This short YouTube video slideshow provides a window into my coastal Maine/New Hampshire travels. 

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Art is Everywhere in Beacon, New York

A mere one-and-a-half hours from Manhattan via Metro North, the town of Beacon, New York is a bastion of creativity and calm, that is, if you visit during the weekday. (Weekends are ultra hectic.) I recently started the day perusing the contemporary paintings and sculptures at the Dia Art Foundation, a sun-streaked space that’s surrounded by placid gardens that change with the seasons. Downtown is within easy walking distance where, because of the sweltering weather, I made Zora Dora Paleteria my next stop. It’s a very informal space where you can find an array of inventive, handcrafted ice pops, including some that pack plenty of heat from chilies and flavor from mint and other herbs and spices.  You can sit inside, though it's much more atmospheric to sit and people watch at the single table right along the sidewalk out front. My favorite place for lunch not only for the the cuisine (including the scrumptious baked goods) often made with locally-sourced ingredients, but also the serene garden in the rear is Homespun Foods. You can’t go wrong with their cheddar and chutney sandwich on whole grain bread, or the vegetarian cheese and nut loaf served with tomato chutney. Then it was time to work off all the calories by walking lengthy Main Street all the way to -- would you believe -- a waterfall that’s at the end of downtown. In between, stop and look up and about and all around, dropping into the numerous galleries and emporia. You’ll find boldly hued art just about everywhere.

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Portugal's Schist Villages in Pictures

After visiting Portugal almost a dozen times, I continue to find hidden lands, networked by a tangle of old trails that wander through cork forests, and beside threads of rushing water. Lands with once abandoned villages that rose from stone and are now seeing a new life as artist residences, contemporary inns, quaint restaurants, and shops displaying artisan crafts. These lands in the center of Portugal, referred to as the Centro region, are home to the charming Schist Villages or Aldeia do Xisto, such as Casal de Sao Simao, Ferraria de Sao Joao, and Candal. Check out my YouTube video slideshow of my magical journal.

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Gear Review: A Practical, Portable Travel Chair

Given that I never check luggage, toting around a portable chair is out of the question. Or is it? I had no need for such an item until I signed up recently to sell my products at several flea and designer markets in New York City. Each market required me to be at my booth for six hours. I didn't want the added expense of renting a chair each time, and I didn't relish standing for six hour stretches. I searched for the perfect chair: it had to be lightweight, small, easy to carry, and stable. The Slacker model of the TravelChair -- it's really a very comfortable stool -- fits these qualifiers and more. It comes with a shoulder strap, weighs under 2 pounds and is not much bigger than an umbrella. And, though I'm underweight, this chair will hold up to 275 pounds! I haven't tried it yet at the beach but it's supposed to be stable on sand and soft ground. And, if I ever had the need to travel with a portable chair, whether for jaunts to the beach, a picnic or a concert, this would be the item I'd select.

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Loving the National Parks - A Book Review

When I travel around the world, I’m often asked what should a first-time visitor to the United States not miss. And I give the same answer to everyone: the national parks. I believe it’s these varied lands -- in about seven weeks the National Park System turns 100 years old -- that is one of the very best treasures in the country. So it was with great delight that I read Lassoing the Sun by Mark Woods. It’s his year-long journey visiting 15 parks -- I’ve traveled to 13 of them -- that’s an ode to these great places of beauty as well as an inquiry into whether and how they can be preserved for future generations. But it’s also a tale about family, since he spent many summers as a boy in the national parks, and intended to take his mother to one park she had never visited. But, everything changed when his mother became gravely ill, succumbing to cancer. The book is a reflection on how visiting the national parks boils down to a life of utter simplicity, providing a sense of comfort and a healing energy. While in the Grand Canyon, Woods daydreamed, “...something that came naturally when we were children...I watched the clouds and listened to the vast stillness. The great loneliness.” In our everyday lives where we are uniformly tied to our devices, this is almost an alien experience. And, yet, the national parks wait patiently for us to experience them, embracing us once we do. Woods contemplates their future and the many challenges the parks face. In his last chapter on Haleakala National Park -- and the book's title derives from a lovely Native American legend centering on Haleakala's home, Maui -- Woods reflects how he hardly saw many sunsets in a given year. But, his year in the national parks was different. “In this year, even when I wasn’t watching one, I was aware of the light changing and another day turning to night.” This is a book both for those who, like me, adore the outdoors, especially the national parks, and for those who rarely take their eyes off their iPhone. I’m hoping reading this book (on a device) will seduce those latter people to set foot in a national park where they’ll find their senses tingling with simple delight, as if they were a child again.

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Gear Review: Ultra Light, Quick-Drying Pants

My criteria  for clothing that almost always makes it into my small carry-on bag -- I never check luggage -- is that it has to be light, relatively wrinkle resistant and perform well. My new favorite item that I packed in my backpack this morning for my trip to Portugal is Ex Officio’s Dig’r Capri. I had tested it out in the Caribbean recently where I got caught in a downpour or two. And it dried so quickly that, by the time the taxi picked me up at the trailhead to drop me off at my B&B, it was completely dry. On another day, after trekking along a muddy path, I washed it in cold water in the sink that night and it was ready to wear in no time. The mostly nylon fabric is lightweight and breathable with a high Sun  Guard factor. Plus it’s capri-length, which is perfect for sweltering weather. There’s a small “secret” zippered pocket that’s useful for stashing cash or credit cards. And the pants legs roll up in case I decide to hang out at the beach. 

Dig'r Capri

Sun Guard 50+

Water resistant

Quick Drying

Light

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A Fun + Informative Walking Tour of New York's Secret Gardens

As cities go, New York is a walker’s paradise. And, as a native New Yorker, I’ve signed up for a slew of walking tours of my home town to uncover its hidden side. Sadly, most  have fallen into two distinct categories: the uber informative that are lacking the fun factor, and what I call the slacker tour where you walk and eat but not only do you not come away any smarter, but some of the dining experiences are hardly appetizing or noteworthy. My experience with Local Expeditions that bills itself as a community-driven adventure company was completely different. My two-hour walk through secret gardens in Soho was smart, entertaining, and fun-filled, thanks to our social group of 13 people and, more importantly, Rebecca, the gregarious and affable host who’s a well-respected garden designer. (Rebecca has landscaped rooftop and other gardens all over the city, making her the perfect host.) If all their adventures are like this one, I’ll gladly sign up for another. (In fact, it might very well be one of the most fun expeditions around.)

Local Expeditions uses a sharing model whereby knowledgeable locals share what they know best with visitors and residents alike. They're paid for their efforts, with 5% of the total fee going to a local non-profit of the host’s choosing, making this company even more appealing.

We meet outside the luxe Soho Grand Hotel, at their gated Dog Park -- who knew? -- where Rebecca’s tells us that it once was the only hotel with a private dog park. No surprise this hotel is so dog friendly, considering the owner is Hartz, as in Hartz flea and tick collars. I’m hardly a connoisseur of dog parks but this is a beautifully landscaped park, for dogs and humans alike, in the style of an English garden melding with an urban aesthetic. The garden is designed around a rectangular swath of lawn, lined with benches (perfect for dogs and their humans), and clusters of bamboo, boxwood, euonymus, and cherry trees. Of course, no dog park is complete without a fire hydrant; this one has a pair: one yellow and the other red. (Rebecca informed us that it’s illegal to buy fire hydrants in New York.)

Walking to the south side of the Soho Grand, we turn onto an alley with a vibrant courtyard restaurant -- Gilligan’s -- that’s brimming with a tropical motif, so much so that it’s as if we've been transported to a Caribbean island. A pergola dripping with ferns that hang from rustic ropes hovers above the U-shaped bar. Behind the loungy whitewashed banquette is a lush backdrop of palms, crotons, rubber plants, and white bird-of-paradise. With the temperature high in the 80s, Rebecca gave us time to sip an icy watermelon margarita. Who wouldn't want to indulge in this botanical delight but more natural treasures await.

A short walk brings us to the boutique, art-centric James New York Hotel where Rebecca designed the roof garden that feels more like a park. Located on the second-floor rooftop, she reveals that she’s an advocate of green rooftops that are livable. In other words, not only does the green roof provide environmental benefits by improving air quality, and holding water as a storm management strategy, but it also gives both city dwellers and hotel guests access to an peaceful green space at the push of an elevator button. (One wonders why Manhattan, with its abundance of rooftops, doesn't indulge in more green roofs like this one.) The garden is multi-tiered with a section growing thyme, dill, cilantro and other herbs used in the David Burke restaurant. Boston ivy climbs beside a handrail as we climb a series of steps to a grassy patch where you could lounge with your dog and gaze at the river birch trees that easily bend with the wind. Another level is decorated with a massive chess board that’s laid out beside a dense swatch of birch. Even more surprising is that this urban oasis is open to the public.

As we wind up our walk, we wander to a couple of other venues, ending at Rebecca’s Soho apartment where she offers us a refreshing glass of crisp rose as we relax in her urban garden, a tranquil and petit oasis. It was hard to leave the placid venue and the convivial company. But I'm hoping to sign up for another expedition with Rebecca, one that focuses on Manhattan's Flower District, an area that seems difficult to grasp even for a native New Yorker.

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Antigua In Pictures

Most people know Antigua for its white sand beaches and teal waters that beckon snorkelers, divers and sailors. But, instead, I searched out trails -- such one to Signal Hill that offers panoramic views -- that wandered through an arid landscape, and contemporary art galleries, such as the vibrant Fig Tree Studio Art Gallery that's snuggled in the middle of the rainforest. My wee B & B, Blue Bay Antigua, on the quiet east end of the island, afforded a charming accommodation for those on a budget. The pool offered views of the ocean, as did my whitewashed room, simply decorated with small watercolors done by Caribbean artists that hung on the walls.

This short YouTube video slideshow offers a window into my visit.

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Gear Review: Foldable, Sun-Protective Cap

Often I find myself not packing a brimmed cap because it doesn’t fit in my ultra tiny carry-on bag. But that changed when I found out about the Summit Air Cap. Not only is this polyester cap light, but it folds into slightly bigger than palm-size. I brought the Summit Air along on my most recent trip to Antigua where I hiked mostly arid trails with little shade. The cap comes with a sunprotection factor (UPF) 50+, a soft, wickable sweatband and excellent breathability, thanks to the full mesh fabric on the crown. Despite the sun and heat (it was high in the 80s F), I felt cool and comfortable. (When the trail wove deep into the shade, I simply stashed the cap in my back pocket.) Even better, the fabric is manufactured from recycled coffee grounds (S. Cafe fabric) making it eco-friendly. The company, Chaos Hats, manufactures other foldable hats (even a fedora) as well as non-foldable but fashionable and sun-protective Panama, wide brim and straw hats. 

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