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Careful attention to detail creates carefree getaways
SeptemberTrips
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Downeaster Rail & Sail
Thursday, September 9
In
Colonial times, Maine shipbuilders created some of the finest sailing vessels
ever built, and called them "Downeasters." Today, Amtrak's sleek and
sophisticated Downeaster train runs between Boston and Portland, Maine with a
magical journey along the New England shoreline. Along the Downeaster route
you'll find historic colonial cities, beautiful beaches & quaint villages.
We’ll board the train at Boston’s North Station and begin our journey to
Portland. Once there, we’ll meet our bus and enjoy free time for lunch in
Portland’s exciting downtown area. After lunch enjoy a narrated 90
minute scenic cruise through the busy Portland harbor and innermost islands
to see lighthouses, forts, lobster boats, seals, and seabirds. Four
lighthouses can be seen up close with as many as seven in view during the
cruise, including a close-up view of Maine’s oldest and most photographed
lighthouse, Portland Head Light! Before heading for home you’ll have
time to browse the shops in downtown Portland.
$ 82
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Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton Island & the Cabot Trail
Thursday, September 9 – Friday, September 17
Explore
the beauty of the Canadian Maritimes on this getaway, including the Bay of
Fundy, Hopewell Rocks, Peggy’s Cove, Green Gables and the scenic Cabot Trail.
We will overnight in Saint John, New Brunswick at the Hampton Inn &
Suites; then we will stop at the Reversing Falls to learn about this
phenomenon and travel along the shores of the Bay of Fundy to Hopewell
Rocks, where we will enjoy an included lunch and see the flowerpot
rocks that were carved by the glacier and shaped by the highest tides in the
world. We will travel over the longest bridge in the world, the
Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island, where we will stop at the
Welcome Center for a bit of shopping before heading to Charlottetown. We will
overnight for two nights in downtown Charlottetown at the Delta Prince
Edward, a waterfront property within easy walking distance to Charlottetown
restaurants & shops. We’ll meet our local guide and enjoy a tour of
Prince Edward Island to learn about the history and people of the island,
tour Cavendish and Charlottetown, and stop at the House of Green Gables.
We’ll take the ferry across the Northumberland Strait back to the
mainland, then cross the Canso Causeway to Cape Breton Island, where
we’ll overnight for two nights at the Maritime Inn. We’ll take a
full-day motor coach tour on the Cabot Trail with our local guide, one of
the most scenic ocean drives in the world, and stop at the Alexander Graham
Bell National Historic Site. Then, it’s on to Halifax, where we
will overnight for two nights at the beautiful, centrally-located Delta
Halifax Hotel. You’ll have free time by the waterfront for lunch & shopping
before our Halifax city tour, where you will learn about the Halifax disaster,
the sinking of the Titanic, the history of the Acadians, and see the changing of
the guard at the Citadel. Our local guide will take us down the Eastern
coast of Nova Scotia, along the lighthouse route, past Mahone Bay and
quaint fishing villages to Lunenburg, where we will stop for lunch (on
your own) before heading to scenic Peggy’s Cove to experience this scenic
fishing village and see Peggy’s Point Lighthouse. We’ll leave Halifax
and travel along the Bay of Fundy, which records the world’s highest tides,
creating tidal bores, lush gardens and beautiful scenery in the Annapolis
Valley. We will learn about the deportation of the Acadians at Grand Pre
National Historic Site, and then enjoy free time for lunch on your own in
Digby, world famous for its Digby scallops (and they are the best!). We’ll take
the Cat ferry back to Saint John, where we will overnight again before returning
to the Cape.
Package Includes: 8 nights accommodations - Two nights in Saint John, NB; two nights in Charlottetown, PEI; two nights on Cape Breton Island, two nights in Halifax, Nova Scotia; 2 expanded continental breakfasts; six full breakfasts; five dinners; one lunch; Hopewell Rocks; Green Gables House; Park fees at Cabot Trail, PEI National Park; Hopewell Rocks; Grand Pre Historic Site; Fundy Trail; Alexander Bell Historic Site; Museum of Industry; tours of Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton & the Cabot Trail, Halifax & Nova Scotia; ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia, CAT ferry from Digby to Saint John; meal, driver and guide gratuities.
THIS TRIP REQUIRES A CURRENT PASSPORT OR PASSCARD
www.thehopewellrocks.ca www.confederationbridge.com
www.tourismpei.com www.novascotia.com
$ 1,595 per person, double occupancy
single supplement $ 630
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Tougas Farm Fall Harvest
Thursday, September 16
We’ll
pick apples and peaches, learn about life on a farm, and visit a
winery for a tour and tasting on this harvest-time getaway to the scenic
countryside of Eastern Massachusetts. We’ll travel to Northboro, MA to visit
the Tougas Family Farm, where we will take a wagon ride through the
apple orchard as “Farmer Mo” tells us about life on the farm. You’ll pick
one-half peck of apples (your choice of apple varieties) to take home, as
well as a small bag of fresh picked peaches. You’ll also have free time
to visit the barnyard animals or enjoy a home-baked treat at the kitchen bake
shop (don’t miss their famous cider donuts!). We’ll enjoy a tasty New England
lunch at the Old Mill Restaurant (choice of Yankee Pot Roast or baked
stuffed chicken), take a tour & wine tasting at Nashoba Valley Winery,
and take home a commemorative wine glass.
$ 95
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Scottish Highland Games at Loon Mountain
Saturday, September 18
The
NH Highland Games is one of the most diverse celebrations of Scottish
Arts and Culture in the
United States, a unique blend of competitions, festival music, food, vendors
and activities that draws people from all over New England. The term “games”
refers to the many competitions, athletic and artistic, but the event is the
largest Scottish cultural festival in the Northeast dedicated to the
promoting of the music, dance, athletics and customs of the Scottish people and
Gaelic culture. See the Gathering of the Clans, where over 60 clans
and societies march over the hill playing bagpipes and drums onto the parade
grounds. The massed bands perform together and you’ll feel as if you’re in
Scotland! Enjoy fiddle, bagpipe and harp music, highland dance competition,
concerts, and the Highland Games themselves. The international field
of Strongmen will compete in traditional events that test raw strength and power
as well as athletic ability, such as the Farmer’s Walk (carrying weights
in excess of 600 pounds), the stone toss, caber toss (lift
a large pole, run with it and then toss it end to end). You’ll find ethnic and
traditional food, Celtic crafts, a vendor village, and multiple stages filled
with traditional and contemporary musicians and performers, and whiskey tasting
seminars (extra fee for tastings).
$ 85
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Boston’s Mafia & Mobsters
Sunday, September 19
Tourists and newcomers may only know Boston for its college students and Big Dig traffic, but locals can attest to the darker landmarks that lurk just beneath our city's historic landscape and seemingly innocent surface. Parallel to the same streets that Bostonians conduct their daily lives and business, the city’s underworld with its storied Italian Mafia and Irish Mob ran a different town. Throughout the years, mobsters of the likes of Whitey Bulger, Gennaro "Jerry" Angiulo and Stephen Flemmi etched their place in local lore through murders, indictments, illegal gambling, loan-sharking, and drugs. Scattered around Boston's neighborhoods are places where deals were made, people killed, and bodies unearthed. Join us as we tour some of the more infamous landmarks of Boston’s seedy past on a 90 minute Mafia & Mobsters tour. We’ll stop at Joe Tecce’s for an authentic North End Italian lunch, and some enjoy free time explore the North End or historic Faneuil Hall.
$ 79
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Niagara Falls, Toronto & the Wineries of Niagara on the Lake
Monday, September 20 – Thursday, September 23
Enjoy
dinner and a
spectacular view of the falls at Elements Restaurant, located right next
to the falls at Table Rock - you’ll have a ring-side seat for the nightly
illumination of the falls. We’ll stay at the Marriott Courtyard, located
within walking distance of the Falls, Clifton Hill area and both Niagara
Casinos. We’ll Toronto, and learn about the cities history on our
guided city tour, visit Casa Loma, a magnificent stone castle set
high on a hill overlooking Toronto, and we’ll take the elevator to the
observation deck of the world’s tallest tower, the CN Tower, where you
can walk on the glass floor 1,122 feet above the street and enjoy the
spectacular view from the observation deck, and have free time at the
Eaton Center for lunch! We will take a tour of Niagara Falls to see
the Upper Canadian Rapids, Floral Clock, and the Whirlpool Rapids, and then
travel to Niagara by the Lake, located in the heart of the Niagara Wine
Region, where we will take the shuttle into the quaint downtown area to browse
the shops. We’ll stop by two distinct Niagara Wineries for tours & wine
tastings – including the Niagara Regions famous Ice Wines! First,
we’ll tour Pillitteri Estate Winery, which has received over 500 medals for
its wines, and we’ll sample some of their wines (including ice wine). Then,
we’ll visit Château des Charmes, for an exploration of winegrowing of the
past, present and future, to see the underground barrel cellars, bottling line,
and learn how the shape of the glass affects
the taste of the
wine as we sip three wines (including ice wine). We’ll also take an
up-close look at the Horseshoe Falls on a Maid of the Mist cruise.
Package Includes: Three nights accommodations, three full breakfasts, two dinners, guided tours of Toronto and Niagara Falls, Tours & tastings at two wineries, CN Tower, Casa Loma, Maid of the Mist.
www.niagarafallstourism.com www.niagaraparks.com/dining/elements-on-the-falls.html www.cntower.ca www.maidofthemist.com
www.pillitteri.com www.chateaudescharmes.com
A valid passport or passport card is required for this trip
$ 545 per person, double occupancy
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Pineland Farms & Freeport Shopping
Wednesday, September 22
Located
in the rolling hills of New Gloucester, Maine, Pineland Farms is a 5,000-acre
working farm that welcomes visitors to enjoy the beautiful rural landscape
and learn about sustainable agriculture and the Maine farm to table
movement. We will start our day with time for lunch on your own at the
farm, then we will get a fascinating inside look at life on the farm with our
90-minute guided bus tour. We will visit the dairy barn where we
will see their milking facilities and learn about their award winning
Holsteins. After the dairy barn head over to the creamery where Pineland
farms makes their own delicious, world-class cheese, see how they make their
cheeses and (schedule permitting) we will be able to see their cheese makers
in action! We’ll visit the equestrian center where we will meet their
Dutch Warm-blood competitive Dressage riding horses, and see them in
action (if practicing). We will end our tour back at The Market & Welcome
Center where you will have time to browse the full assortment of delicious
cheeses from the Creamery, organic eggs from their hens, as well as their own
jams, honey, and pickles. They also have an expended selection of Maine-made
foods, beverages, gifts and premium quality Wolfe's Neck Natural Meats. After
our tour, we’ll spend some time farming for bargains at Maine’s famous
Freeport outlets (includes a Freeport Merchants coupon package).
$ 65
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New York City shopping & San Gennaro Festival
Saturday, September 25
Spend the day exploring New York City, shop for designer knock offs, take in the sights at Times Square, visit the world famous museums, or spend some time in Little Italy at the Feast of San Gennaro. The Feast of San Gennaro is an annual street fair that takes place in Manhattans “Little Italy.” During the feast, the streets of Little Italy are filled with people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds eating fabulous Italian cuisine, listening to live entertainment, and checking out the 300+ street vendors that set up shop. This enormous festival covers the entirety of the Italian section of the city, and the aromas of sausages and peppers frying, tomato sauce and fresh pastries fill the air. Chinatown is adjacent to the fair, with some of the best bargain shopping in New York City. Bring along a small cooler, as you may want to bring home a “taste of Italy!” We will make drop offs at Rockefeller Center and at Canal Street
$ 75
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Friesians of Majesty Performance
Wednesday, September 29
Friesians
of Majesty, located in the
heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains, is a full service breeding and training
facility devoted exclusively to maintaining and improving the nobility of the
majestic Friesian horse. Friesians of Majesty is home to over 40 Friesians,
including Ymkje & Geartsje, Model Mares (a very prestigious title, they
are the only two in the Northeast) and Grand National Champions. Interact
with these beautiful horses in a guided tour of the European style barns &
breeding facilities (they are expecting 12 foals this spring & summer!).
Watch a captivating performance show at their new indoor arena where the
elegance & grace of this breed is showcased. Before going to the farm we will
enjoy lunch at the Putney Inn – a combination plate with both
Vermont maple glazed ham and roast turkey dinner as well as some shopping
time at the Basketville Outlet Store, the world-wide leading manufacturer
of baskets.
$ 109
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