All posts by krubin723

*Our Discovery Bicycle Tours’ group of ladies on the Quebec Eastern Townships ride show their mettle © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

It doesn’t take long before we bike across the border into Quebec, Canada, just about 16 miles from Montgomery Center in northern Vermont. The countryside landscape, even the architecture, isn’t all that different, but we immediately see signs in French that remind motorists that 90 km is 60 mph. It is literally crossing a threshold. This Discovery Bicycle Tours cycling trip through Quebec’s Eastern Townships is marvelous in how you feel instantaneously transported far away – in fact, to a foreign country and forget how near we actually are, mere biking distance from our home country.

Discovery Bicycle Tours makes it all so easy. In fact, as our guides tell us when we meet for our orientation, “This is your vacation…”

I have arrived at Phineas Swann Inn, Montgomery Center, Vt around 4:30 pm the day before we set out for Quebec with plenty of time to get settled in my spacious room (more of a suite, with fire place, refrigerator, snacks and sodas, and coffee maker) before our 5:30 pm orientation with our leaders and the other riders.

The quaint, luxurious, historic Phineas Swann Inn, Montgomery Center, Vermont, is the starting and ending point for Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

What a hoot! I recognize Jim Ortuno as the leader of my first Discovery Bicycles trip, in Woodstock Vt. several years ago. (I have since also taken Discovery’s Coastal Maine bike trip.) Our second leader is Lindsay Smith. Both prove to be exceptionally caring, earnest, and efficient (Jim is a volunteer firefighter and Lindsay is an EMT). After we cross the border, we are joined by our Quebecois leader, Jacques Hebert, who provides such personal insights of the route, the places, the culture and history of where we travel that would not be obvious as we cycle by.

We go around the inn’s salon to introduce ourselves. I find it enormously interesting that all nine of us are women and not exactly spring chickens (but each with zeal and zest). Our complement includes a group of five ladies from New Hampshire who have been biking together since COVID and make me think of a cycling version of “Jane Austin Book Club”; two sisters from Massachusetts; and two of us who are traveling solo, from New Jersey and Long Island (bike trips are marvelous for solo travelers, and Discovery does a great job of accommodating singles).

What I love best about Discovery Bicycle Tours is the underlying philosophy: “Ride your own ride,” in order to make the experience, regardless of biking ability, as pleasurable as possible. That is not the case with some bike tour operators that have the group ride together at some communal pace (you have to ask permission to stop for a photo) and is really the difference for me, maximizing the enjoyment and the experience.

***The irresistibly gorgeous northern Vermont countryside, enroute to the Canadian border to Quebec © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com***

The secret ingredient is Discovery’s use of Ride With GPS app. We all have our own route on our phone (customized by Discovery’s owner, Scott Cone) – they also give you a printed cue sheet if you ask, which I do. That means you can ride at your own pace, you’re not pressured to keep up or even keep riding (I like to stop for photos and to see things). You know how far you’ve come and how far you have to go.

Scott has organized the GPS so it alerts us to an attraction or when to show special caution such as a railroad crossing or an upcoming turn, and most importantly, when you’ve gone off-route. The GPS (and the cue sheet) alert you to what’s coming up “there will be 1.3 miles of gravel road ahead – note round barn up on the left.” “There is a nice view of Riviere Yamaska off to the right.” “1976 Olympic Equestrian Venue on Left”. “A very nice bakery on the left. Cash or debit cards only.” “Stop at the granite marker for the 45^th parallel. You are half way between the Equator and the North Pole.”

(If you are concerned about the phone battery dying, you can either bring a battery pack, charge it at lunch, or keep it in airplane mode to conserve battery, which does not interfere with the GPS).

*Riding through one of Vermont’s famous covered bridges, the Comstock bridge © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Another quality of Discovery’s trip planning is that each day there is the primary ride and an option to do extra miles, which is a great way of accommodating riders of a range of abilities and interests. (One of the guides also drives the van each day that is available in case of a problem, but also sets up our rest stop/snacks/water each morning and afternoon.)

This Quebec Eastern Townships ride is classed as “2” or “intermediate” – so the rides are around 25-35 miles a day with options to do more (the toughest climbs are usually optional), and have for some long climbs along the road, as well as rolling hills, so that you can use the momentum from coming down to get you much of the way back up. Most of the ride are along the paved and gravel roads (but the Canadians are very polite and accommodating). Half of the group ride e-bikes (either their own or Discovery’s which they make available at no extra charge); a couple have carbon road bikes; and one lady switched from her road bike to Discovery’s e-bike. I am about the only one riding a regular hybrid bike, and at the end of a ride where there was one of the hardest climbs, everyone cheers as I come in.

“Our job is to make sure you have a good time. It’s important to us that you have a great week,” Lindsay tells us. And that isn’t just words. She asks what snacks we like and want (she is going to the grocery first thing in the morning to shop) – and the final list might suggest the cravings of pregnancy – olives, peppercorn chocolate which she purchases at the Chocolate Museum, chips, beer, plus fresh cherries, strawberries, bananas and other good stuff.

*The gorgeous pastoral scenery on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Jim and Lindsay, who are really good humored, really caring and really kind, fuss over us like mother hens (Lindsay more than once, seeing that my seat was too low, stopped to adjust it). Jim makes it his mission to offer great pro-tips on tackling the hills: keep chin up, relax the shoulders, light hands on the handlebar, push/pull pedals, breathe in once, out twice to empty the lungs; sing (which distracts). My method also includes not looking up at the hill, but looking 10 feet ahead, to keep mental focus, because once a doubt crosses your mind, that’s when you stop. I absorb and practice his methods as much as I can, but in the end, decide I am going to get up the hill any way I can even if it doesn’t look pretty. It’s mostly the “can-do” attitude that gets me to the top. Other tips: shift before you need to, drink before you’re thirsty – take 2-3 oz sips every 10 minutes so you stay hydrated but don’t need to pee.

It’s like going on safari or hiking to Machu Picchu with people who are there to make the adventure as comfortable as possible. (Discovery also offers some actual adventure cycling trips for the more hard-core.)

Discovery Bicycle Tours does an outstanding job of preparing you for the ride – giving you all the information you need for contact (phone, email, addresses); fitting the bikes and helmets, safety talk; map talk preparing you for the trip and for the day’s ride. Everything is conveniently accessible on the Ride with GPS app, including the elevations for the route. (They also arrange for shuttle for anyone flying into Burlington airport.)

*A wine tasting and repast is a delightful surprise on our first day of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The meals (all breakfast, all but one dinner) are fantastic – excellent selection (we mostly order off the menu), marvelously prepared, with excellent choices, as well as accommodating diet preferences.

And the lodgings they choose are not merely places to overnight, but are special.

Our stay at the Phineas Swann Inn, in Montgomery Center, really sets the stage for the quality we experience all along the way. The inn is a restored 1880s farmhouse which TripAdvisor and Boston Magazine have named one of the most romantic inns in America. It is really plush, luxurious, quaint and has a spa for those who would like to indulge.

After our orientation meeting, we have a wonderful dinner at the inn and then a delicious breakfast, last bike fitting for anyone who needs it, and map talk before we start riding and a last reminder: HAVE YOUR PASSPORT ON YOU!

Cycling “Route des Vins”

The primary ride this first morning is 35.3 miles, with an option for11.7 more, for 47 miles. I take note of the map showing elevations – six climbs, one descent, 1,664 ft. for the main; and 483 ft for the next 11 with a rather long climb.

Though we generally are able to ride at our own pace, on this first morning, because of crossing the US-Canada border, Lindsay, who will be biking with us while Jim drives the van, tells us we need to pretty much stick together (which means not stopping for photos which is painful because the scenery, with farm houses and covered bridges, one-room schoolhouse, is really beautiful). They have to get the van through first because Jim has to present paperwork and go through inspection. But after that, we are back to riding our own ride.

*“Welcome to Quebec!” Greets us just after crossing the border on our first morning of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships ride © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is rather exciting to go through the border, even though it is pretty pro-forma.

Our first rest stop and snack is at a visitor center located in what used to be the Grammar School. There is a bust of Adelard Godbout, who was an important Prime Minister of Quebec (1936, 1939-1944), who Jacques tells us was a real progressive, winning the right to vote for women (1940), creating a conservatory of music and drama arts (1942); free, universal public education (1943) and hydro power as well as instituting progressive (sustainable) agricultural programs (he was an agronomist by profession).

*Lindsay poses with Quebec’s progressive prime minister, Adelard Godbout © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“He transformed the public function and adopted laws that amounted to a peaceful revolution transforming modern Quebec” (is my loose translation – so fun to remember my public school French). I find it interesting that the bust was placed there as recently as 2019.

We ride passed a cottage which is a “Poterie” (a potter’s studio), but alas, the potter is not in.

Much of our ride is along the wonderfully scenic Quebec’s “Route des Vins” (a winery/vineyards trail), and this day, we cycle to a winery, Domaine du Ridge, at mile 27.6 for a beautiful lunch (it’s really a surprise), where we have a delightful tasting of four wines accompanied by a plate of cheese, meats, pate, served at small tables outside on the lawn.

*Enjoying a delightful wine tasting and lunch at Domaine du Ridge on our first day on* *Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships ride © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Vineyards, Jacques tells us, began to take hold in 1979; then, in the 1990s, micro-breweries came in, and today, the new trend (prompted by Internet wealth) are gin and whiskey distilleries.

We pass the Musee Missiquoi, which inhabits a water mill, which we would normally visit but it is closed on Monday.

There are several opportunities to stop and sample the wines and ciders at some of Quebec’s most famous vineyards, including Opailleur and Domaine des Côtes D’Ardoise and Union Libre Cidre & Vin.

*The Musee Missiquoi, the local history museum, inhabits a watermill © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We end the regular ride at another winery which also has a sculpture park (they have arranged admission), and we are given the choice of riding the van back from here or ride 12 miles on gravel road to the hotel.

I continue on for the option, which is mostly on gravel country road with some hills (worth it for the views, they keep reminding us). Jacques has promised gorgeous scenery and it is true – the countryside scenes are painterly.

Scenery is important to me – the opportunity to see landscapes, villages, people going about their day at the pace of a bicycle, with the ability to stop and take it in, take a photo – is why I love bike trips so much. The physical feeling you get – the satisfaction of attacking a hill (and being successful) – is great, too, but not my priority, though tackling distance and hills is the priority for some of the road riders.

I’m loving this trip because we are immersed in a foreign culture – the fact it is French speaking – is such a wonderful overlay – and yet so accessible.

*What covered bridges are to Vermonters, round barns are to the Quebecois © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We pass a Quebec highlight, a round barn (Jacques what covered bridges are to Vermonters, round bars are to Quebecois). Off to the distance we can see our destination for the night, the charming Auberge & Spa West Brome, where we have access to their sauna, gym and gorgeous indoor heated pool. Just as we arrive, it begins to rain, and it is so very enjoyable to paddle around in the indoor pool and totally decompress. We chat with some of the other guests who have come from Montreal, summoning my French while they practice their English.

We have a sensational dinner at the Auberge’s Bistro – Chef Ugo’s inspiration menu. I get to taste Jacque’s Boudin noir maison (homemade black pudding, bacon-whisky marmalade, apples with Calvados – it’s actually quite tasty), but enjoy my appetizer, citrus salmon; for the main I have the duck leg confit with creamy roasted garlic puree. The dessert, chocolat mousse is fabulous.

*Heading towards the Auberge & Spa West Brome, nestled amid 200 acres of farmland, and* *the end of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ first day’s Quebec Eastern Townships ride © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This inn (actually modern, but very charming, with a series of small buildings) really caters to cyclists. It is set amid 200 acres of picturesque farmlands, just north of the town of West Brome, surrounded by the lovely rolling hills that characterize the Eastern Townships of Quebec.

It takes no time at all for us to bond as a group, even though we are a blend of four entities, including two of us who are “solo travelers”. That is the reason that bike tours are such an excellent choice for single travelers (I’ve had this experience so many times). This is especially true of the group of five ladies from New Hampshire, who instead of being cliquey (each day, they wear the same cycling colors) are so welcoming, mixing up seatings.

Discovery Bicycle Tours, 2520 W. Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, VT 05091, 800-257-2226, [email protected], https://discoverybicycletours.com/

Next: Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Quebec Eastern Townships: Scenic Routes & Chocolate

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© 2023 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/KarenBRubin

Arts, Arts & Entertainment, Attractions, Cultural travel, Culture, Ecotourism

Granville Island, Vancouver’s Nearby Getaway, is Cornucopia of Art, Culture

July 29, 2023 krubin723

One of the most photographed scenes in Vancouver: “The Giants” at the cement factory on Granville Island, painted by Brazilian graffiti artists Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo (known as OSGEMEOS). Granville Island is a mecca for arts and culture © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

I have cleverly arranged for a late flight from Vancouver, so I would have a whole day to continue to explore.

Indigenous Tourism BC which has arranged my itinerary has offered a number of suggestions: rent a bike and riding around the seawall at Stanley Park; visit the Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby St, Vancouver); visit Museum of Vancouver (1100 Chestnut St, Vancouver) to see Indigenous micro-exhibition Spirit Journeys: Walking with Resilience, Wellbeing and Respect; visit Granville Island.

Rick, the Skwachàys Lodge manager, just the evening before, had raved about how much he loves visiting to Granville Island – it has the best public market – and was planning to go himself.

I map out a delightful 3.3 km walk from the hotel to David Lam Park where I hop the cute Aquabus ferry for the few minutes ride to Granville Island. (Aquabus, $6/roundtrip, which also offers a 40-minute ferry ride tour)

*Arriving on Granville Island by ferry © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

As soon as I climb the stairs from the ferry dock, I appreciate why Granville Island very properly boasts of being a “magical escape within a city.” I would add: playful, whimsical, fantastical, a place of endless delight, a non-stop smile.

*The public market on Granville Island is one of the best, most fun in the world © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*The public market on Granville Island is a place of endless delight © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The charm of Granville Island lies in its unexpected mix of uses which reveal themselves as you simply wander around. People come for the most spectacular public market (open daily 9am-7pm) with 70 purveyors of all manner of fresh produce and fine foods (some famous, like Lee Donuts, where as Rick tells me to expect, there is a line outside to get in).

*People queue up to enter Lee’s Donuts in the public market on Granville Island © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Bringing his child back to the Granville Island public market he enjoyed as a child © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There is the Net Loft featuring “offbeat artisan goods” and marvelous boutiques and shops with local creations and imported crafts from Latin America, Asia and Africa like Mondo Company (“Step into our world and discover fairly traded, ethically sourced, handcrafted products from artisans around the globe”, www.mondoandcompany.com); a bustling Artisan District where you see and meet artists at work in their studios and galleries; a children’s district (toy stores!); and performance venues (Ballet BC coming to Granville Island), plus special events and festivals, all taking over vacated (and for a time decrepit) industrial buildings. There is even a hotel.

*Granville Island has an entire Children’s District © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Silk weaving on Granville Island © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Art (and music) is everywhere- even the cement factory (one of the few industrial uses that remains) has painted “Giants”on its gi-normous silos (painted by Brazilian graffiti artists Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo, known collectively as OSGEMEOS (Portuguese for THETWINS), which was commissioned in 2014 by Vancouver Biennale as part of an open-air museum, and were only expected to be up temporarily. It cost $180,000 and 1400 cans of spray paint and costs $17,000 a year to maintain. (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/giants-on-granville-island-silos)

But before Granville Island was a cultural mecca, before it was an urban wasteland, before it was an industrial hub, it was the meeting place for three First Nations summer potlatch.

“The xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples are indigenous to the area around Vancouver and have lived on these lands for thousands of years…” Chief Janice George, Skwxwú7mesh, writes. “The Salish, the Indigenous people of the area, used a large sand bar (later filled in to become an Industrial Island, then Granville Island), and the surrounding areas for traditional purposes such as hunting, gathering, travel, and everyday living and cultural activities. The resources were so plentiful, the Salish people had a saying, ‘when the tide went out, the table was set,’ meaning that when the tide went out, they could walk with the tide and have enough food for their families.”

*Re-creating the meeting place the indigenous people who occupied this land for thousands of years, on Granville Island © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

As Vancouver was colonized in the 1860s, it became shipping port (there are still the railroad tracks), but as industries shuttered, it descended into a derelict industrial wasteland from 1950-60s. A few artists squirreled away, making art in studios within the Quonset huts.

A historic marker notes that Granville Island was created between 1913 and 1916 when the government of Canada and the newly created federal Vancouver Harbour Commission contracted to pump and dredge over 1 million cubic yards from the bottom of False Creek and deposit the material behind pilings ringing several sandbars and First Nation fishing weirs. “Over the next 50 years, heavy industry waxed and waned” on Granville Island. By the early 1960s it had become a squalid, seedy and derelict industrial area.” For the next 10 years, while politicians debated, four entrepreneurs began buying up four buildings which they renovated into “The Creekhouse,” interestingly, retaining the industrial look.

*“Creekside” that spurred the repurposing and redevelopment of Granville Island, from a dilapidated industrial wasteland to a mecca for culture and art © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Granville Island has been redeveloped and repurposed from a dilapidated industrial wasteland to a mecca for culture and art, food and fun © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In the 1970s, MP Ron Basford arranged for the Canadian government to buy the land and experiment with public spaces and venues for food, culture, and artists. Today, Granville Island provides space for 300 businesses employing more than 3,000 people and is “an active public space showcasing Vancouver culture to locals and rest of world,” a marker states.

*On Granville Island you see artists and artisans at work in their studios, like this art glass studio © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In the Artisan District, I meet artists Cheryl Hamilton and Michael Vandermere in their enormous, factory-sized studio space, ie creative artworks (her imaginative sculptures lately have been themed about climate change); BC Blacksmith Miran Elbakyan (www.bcblacksmith.com); Benjamin Kikkert who works in hot glass and mixed media sculpture; carver Todd Woffinden; silk weavers (www.silkweavingstudio.com), broommakers Mary and Sarah Schwieger (broomcompany.com). There are also indigenous art galleries.

*One of the indigenous art galleries on Granville Island © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

At my last stop, I find myself in front of a gold plaque identifying this place as the site of renowned artist Bill Reid’s studio, where he created the sculpture that is now at Vancouver Airport.

*A gold plaque marks the former studio of acclaimed Haida artist Bill Reid where he created some of his famous monumental works© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This is now the Nutter Studio, where glass artisan John Nutter does the etching in glass that many of the indigenous artists design. He even created the glass windows for Young Israel Synagogue in Hillcrest, Queens NY (my old neighborhood!) and seven windows for Atlantic Beach Jewish Center on Long Island (my brother’s neighborhood!) Small world! (www.johnnutterglassstudio.com).

*Glass craftsmanJohn Nutter now occupies Bill Reid’s studio © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We have a vigorous discussion of art versus craft, the revival of indigenous arts (or is it crafts?) and artists who feel obligated to re-create traditional symbols, images and techniques, versus developing their own style and statement.

Throughout Granville Island, there are homages to its Indigenous origins, and the website offers this statement: CMHC-Granville Island would like to acknowledge that we are located on the traditional territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations.

Glass craftsman John Nutter, whose studio is the site of Bill Reid’s studio on Granville Island, shows a $20 bill featuring Bill Reid’s famous “The Spirit of Haida Gwaii” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Check the Granville Island website for events (Sunset Dragonboat and Saturday Dragonboat drop in Sessions!), https://granvilleisland.com/

Skwachàys Lodge, Canada’s First Aboriginal Art Hotel

Staying at the Skwachàys Lodge – Canada’s first Aboriginal Art Hotel – enhances my experience in Vancouver with this immersion into local Indigenous art and culture.

Vancouver Native Housing Society (VNHS opened the Skwachàys Lodge, the Urban Aboriginal Fair-Trade Gallery, and the Artists in Residence Program in June 2012, transforming a derelict SRO hotel into a social enterprise consisting of a boutique hotel with a street-level art gallery and on-site housing and studio space for 24 Indigenous artists.

“VNHS identified the vulnerability of many urban Indigenous artists – artists in need of housing, artists who for various reasons are not able to properly represent and market themselves or their work. Often these artists are commercially exploited through a long established ‘street or underground’ market that takes advantage of their vulnerability. They try to live ‘off their work’ by selling on the street or in the bars or through the commercial dealer network that purchases original, gallery quality art for, at times, only five or ten cents on the dollar,” the notes state.

“By creating a live/work supportive complex with a built-in gallery and community production space, VNHS took a lead role in addressing the social and economic inequities that Indigenous artists can face.”

The Artists in Residence Program provides up to three years of affordable housing, 24/7 access to workshops, and opportunities for personal and professional development that help artists develop their craft and move into the next phase of their careers. To date, 110 Indigenous artists have participated in the program.

The Lodge, the Urban Aboriginal Fair-Trade Gallery and production space are operated as a self-sustaining social enterprise. Artists are paid a fair price for their work (30%-60% of the retail price depending on the artist’s reputation and the cost that is underwritten by the gallery (framing, marketing and promotional expenses).

*The gallery at Skwachàys Lodge is part of the social enterprise that supports indigenous artists © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In this way, each hotel guest’s travel dollars, and each purchase of art at the Skwachàys Lodge has a social impact.

“A simple purchase fights cultural misappropriation and ensures that Indigenous artists are paid fairly for their work. Cultural tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism sector and there is absolutely a place for our urban Indigenous artists to participate in this industry as a means of reclaiming their lives and independence.”

Skwachàys Lodge goes way beyond living in and supporting art – there are also opportunities for guests to engage in authentic Indigenous cultural experiences

Sweat Lodge Ceremony: Skwachàys has a traditional First Nations Sweat Lodge and offers private Sweat Lodge Purification Ceremonies lead by a Sweat Lodge Keeper. The Sweat Lodge, located in the rooftop garden, is a domed structure constructed from inter-woven willow branches symbolizing Mother Nature’s womb. During the ceremony, the Keeper places heated rocks –known as “grandmothers and grandfathers” – to cleanse and purify the participant’s heart, soul and spirit, bringing life balance and connection to Mother Nature.

Traditional Smudge Ceremony: Skwachàys has an authentic Indigenous Smudge Room on its Raven Level. In a Smudging Ceremony, sacred plants are burned, surrounding the participants’ body and senses in the aromatic smoke to purify body, spirit and home. Three different kinds of plants are used: cedar bows are burned for cleansing; sage to drive out ill feelings or influences, protecting the place of ceremony; and sweet grass, one of the most sacred plants, is burned to bring in positive influences and energies.

These ceremonies are personal and private, so arrangements must be made in advance. A minimum number of people is required. (For more information and costs, [email protected]).

Studio Visits With Artists: Visitors can also arrange studio visits with Indigenous artists in residence. Artists including jewelers, painters, carvers, sculptors work on projects in the shared Artist Studio, located in the basement throughout the year.

***Kayachtn Room*** *(the Salishan word for “welcome”) is a space where the Lodge community can come together to connect, create memories and share a meal – and is where breakfast is served at* *Skwachàys Lodge © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Skwachàys Lodge has a Kayachtn Room (the Salishan word for “welcome”), a space where the Lodge community can come together to connect, create memories and share a meal – and is where breakfast is served.

“Indigenous culture rests on a communal social structure, one that values living in harmony with one another, as well as with the natural world.”

Skwàchays Lodge 31 W Pender St Vancouver, BC V6B 1R3 604.687.3589, 1 888 998 0797, [email protected], https://skwachays.com/.

Indigenous Tourism BC

With 204 Indigenous communities and more than 30 Indigenous languages – about one-third of Canada’s First nations population – British Columbia offer extensive authentic Indigenous experiences on reserves, in remote areas and even cities like Vancouver.

The best guide to these experiences is Indigenous British Columbia, a tourism development and promotion organization that connects visitors with Indigenous-owned, operated and staffed lodges, museums, culture centers, restaurants, wineries, hiking (indigenous guide), bear viewing, whale watching, outdoors adventures, wellness and other experiences.

*Indigenous Tourism BC connects visitors to experiences such as Vancouver’s only indigenous restaurant, Salmon n’ Bannock Bistro © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In addition to the experiences I have (the Bill Reid Gallery, Talaysay Tours, Salmon n’ Bannock Bistro, Granville Island, the Skwàchays Lodge in Vancouver, and the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre and the Audain Art Museum in Whistler), other entities include:

Takaya Tours: Open during summer, guests can experience an array of tours, from cultural experiences, to canoe tours and even multi-day experiences
Great River Fishing Adventures: Another great tour company where guests can learn about the history of BC, as it started in this area from the mining era. A top experience is going sturgeon fishing, and these are not normal-sized fish!
Gulf Island Seaplanes: New this spring, they have introduced scenic cultural tours which involve a flight over Vancouver, along with the history and story-telling of the land

Multi-day itineraries are available. For example, a two-day Kamloops-Chase-Barriere-Merritt itinerary features a stay at Quaaout Lodge and Spa on Little Shuswap Lake in Squilax (Chase, British Columbia), Indigenous fusion cuisine, golf and spa facilities, visit to Tsutswecw Provincial Park and a 14-km Moccasin Trails Canoe Journey from Lafarge Landing to Valleyview with a local knowledge guide, down the South Thompson River along the traditional Secwepemc water route to Tkemlups.

“Immersive Indigenous destinations and experiences are expansive and transformational. Augment your reality with an Indigenous point-of-view and see old places with new eyes. By their nature, Indigenous perspectives cannot be understood as a bystander or simple witness. Step out of ordinary time and daily routine with Indigenous hosts around BC,” the tourism office says.

Indeed, the indigenous peoples’ respect for Mother Earth that is so fundamental to their culture and society – that the colonizers so intentionally sought to eradicate – is being validated as human-caused climate change is wreaking disaster after disaster. It is important that this sensibility, these philosophies, this approach to living in the world be elevated and embraced in modern terms. Travel helps us see and experience and take lessons back to our own homes and communities.

Indigenous Tourism BC offers travel ideas, things to do, places to go, places to stay, and suggested itineraries. Download a trip planning app (https://www.indigenousbc.com/indigenous-bc-trip-planner-app/)

Indigenous Tourism BC, 100 Park Royal S #707, West Vancouver, BC V7T 1A2, 604-921-1070, https://www.indigenousbc.com

WALKING TOURS, DINING EXPERIENCES REVEAL VANCOUVER’S REVIVED INDIGENOUS HERITAGE

TRAIL TO DISCOVER BRITISH COLUMBIA’S INDIGENOUS HERITAGE WEAVES THROUGH WHISTLER-BLACKCOMB

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Arts, Arts & Entertainment, Attractions, Cultural travel, Culture, Ecotourism, Heritage Travel, Museums and Exhibits

Trail to Discover British Columbia’s Indigenous Heritage Weaves Through Whistler-Blackcomb

July 26, 2023 krubin723

Audain Art Museum, Whistler, is a world-class art museum with one of finest collections of indigenous masks going back to mid-1800s and British Columbia artists © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

My whirlwind odyssey to learn about the renaissance of British Columbia’s indigenous heritage takes me to Whistler-Blackcomb, the world-famous ski resort. The mountain resort, one of the largest in North America, is on First Nations land and is where a cultural center, a joint endeavor of the Lil’wat and the Squamash nations, has opened.

I hop the Skylynx shuttle bus, packed with skiers, that leaves from the Hyatt Regency Vancouver downtown (also close to the Bill Reid Gallery and the Fairmont Hotel) for a pleasant, scenic two-hour ride to Whistler Village Centre.

The skiing even this late in the season looks fantastic but I am here to continue my study of the indigenous heritage – past and present – that permeates this place. The spirit is very strong here in Whistler. While the skiers all head to the gondola, I find my way to a trail that leads to the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre.

The idea for a world-class cultural center originated with the Resort Municipality of Whistler in 1997, which met with the Lil’wat Nation to discuss its participation and presence in Whistler. Mindful of its historic collaboration and shared interest in land stewardship with the Squamish Nation, in 2001, the two nations signed a historic Protocol Agreement, the only one of its kind in Canada. The Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre opened in 2008. In 2020, a framework Agreement was signed between the Nations and the Resort Municipality of Whistler, providing for collaborations on economic development, tourism and promotion of cultural awareness.

*Dalilah conducts a “What We Treasure” tour* of *Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The building is a beautiful space with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out to the woods. I join nine others for the center’s signature tour, “What We Treasure,” which are led by cultural ambassadors who share their own stories and first-hand cultural experiences. The tour begins with an excellent 15-minute orientation film.

Our guide is Dalilah, whose Lil’wat name is T’ac T’ac , or “sweet sweet” like sweetie or sweatheart. She is a 17-year old high school student interning on her spring break. She begins by singing in her native language, “We belong to the land, the land is our people, we belong to the land.” We view artifacts and hear stories that give us a sense of the past and present way of life of the Squamish and Lil’wat peoples.

*It is fascinating to seen the differences in clothes at the* *Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

As we go through the center, I am struck by how different the clothes, foods and therefore the traditions and daily habits are for these two peoples who live “where rivers and mountains meet.” It is starkly clear how culture and lifestyle is linked to the ecology and topography of their land and the materials and resources at hand. The Squamash are coastal, the Lil’wat live on the mountain. Culture is a manifestation of the ecosystem we inhabit – even and especially today.

It is these traditions and lessons of living in close harmony with nature (Mother Earth), to the point of spiritual devotion, that the indigenous people impart today, all the more relevant in light of the climate disasters of a planet out of sync with nature.

The displays are less historic artifacts and more contemporary examples of the traditional arts and crafts being revived; often these are not just re-creations of centuries-old design and form, but with modern twists.

We learn how their societies were so careful to live in harmony with their environment – their canoes are made from red cedar bark, but they only harvest a precise section of the tree – hugging the tree so that there are two hand-widths.

“We make sure to only take a piece of the tree so we don’t kill it. We are connected to the cedar through the things we make with it,” notes Joy Joseph-McCullough, a Squamish weaver.

*Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There is an element of mythology, mysticism, handed down from the ancients, that continues to underpin their worldview, reflected in the urgency to save language, and the oral tradition, and resurrect traditional arts and crafts.

It is reflected in Joy McCullough-Joseph’s notes about the traditional Coast Salish Blanket she named “The Message.” “I twilled and twined on a Traditional Coast Salish Loom. I named my blanket, “The Message’ because the design for the blanket came to me in a dream. In my dream our Ancestors told me to weave in Mother Earth to remind us of our responsibility to the Earth. The second message is to honour and remember the sixteen families that amalgamated to form the Squamish Nation. The last message is to honour our Ancestors who were weavers.”

Another note reads “when you wear the blankets, you feel the protection of all who have been called to protect you… We feel the prayers offered by the weaver and our ancestors, when we wear the robes.”

You have to wait a year before you can weave cedar bark and it can three apprentices six months to weave a cedar mat, Dalilah tells us. “When we are sad, we don’t weave, otherwise it would transfer negative thoughts.”

*Dalilah the importance of weaving at the* *Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We learn how mountain goat wool was used in Salish weaving, an ancient art form that dates back to the ice age. A mountain goat wool blanket in those times could mean the difference between surviving or succumbing to the elements. The inner wool of the mountain goat was gathered during spring molt, collected off of bushes from wool shed by the goat or from harvested animals. “It takes 5 to 10 years to collect enough for a blanket,” she tells us.

The wool was mixed with hair from a specially bred dog. Natural dyes were derived from plants, berries and clays. Intricate geometric designs reflected elements of nature and families held the rights to use those designs.

I am lucky to see a special photography exhibit on view: “Unceded – Photographic Journey into Belonging”. This temporary exhibit makes graphic the meaning of “unceded” – land that was considered stolen, taken by force, without a legal treaty. The photos show contemporary indigenous people in places like downtown Vancouver. But it is actually speaking more to the First Nations people, prodding them to see themselves in this modern world, but retaining their connection to their heritage. Unceded “doesn’t mean our people aren’t still there.”

“As urban cities, farmland, towns, and recreation parks built up around us, our Ancestors are still here, living in the blood of the people of this land. While pop culture, fashion trends and global connection are influencing how people move through society, people residing on and off reserve are living deeply in their culture, engaged socially and politically with the world around them, reviving ancient traditions, re-enforcing a stewardship that guides their climate and lands safely through the first 50 thousand years before contact.”

I have a delightful lunch at Thunderbird Café, and survey a marvelous gift shop at the center before heading off to do a bit of sightseeing on Whistler’s famous Peak 2 Peak Gondola.

Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, 4584 Blackcomb Way, Whistler, 1 866 441 SLCC (7522), https://slcc.ca/.

Peak 2 Peak Gondola

Considering how vast Whistler-Blackcomb is, it is actually surprisingly easy to get around (once I figure it out).

*Whistler-Blackcomb, the site of 2010 Winter Olympics events, is a world-class ski resort and one of the biggest in North America © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I take the Blackcomb Gondola from the base of Blackcomb Mountain for the ride to the top of Blackcomb Mountain. From here it is a short walk – skirting the skiers and snowboarders – to the Peak 2 Peak Gondola which links Blackcomb Mountain to Whistler Mountain. I’m feeling jealous of the skiers but I am sightseeing today and this is an absolutely gorgeous ride. A man I ride up the Blackcomb Gondola with tells me to look for special sightseeing gondolas that have a plexiglass bottom you can look through – we sightseers stand on a separate line so we get first dibs when the car comes around.

*Sightseeing on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola linking Whistler and Blackcomb mountains © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

After opening on December 12, 2008, the massive gondola revolutionized the way skiers, riders and hikers experienced the mountains. The Peak 2 Peak Gondola, as part of the world’s longest continuous lift system, isn’t just to move skiers, it also gives summer guests access to Whistler Blackcomb’s high alpine for sightseeing, hiking and mountain-top dining.

The Peak 2 Peak Gondola travels a span of 2.73 miles giving sightseers and hikers a serene aerial flight showcasing flora and fauna (even black bears in their protected habitats), Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains; the Coast Mountain Range’s many glaciers and peaks; and Whistler Village, surrounded by lakes.

It is notable that Whistler Blackcomb (now part of Vail Resorts, which means the resort is part of the Epic Pass) is consistently ranked one of the top ski resorts in North America. With more than 8,100 acres of terrain, variety is an understatement: there are steeps, deeps, chutes, bowls, glades, long cruisers, and high alpine and gentle rollers. And the numbers speak for themselves: one vertical mile drop; two side-by-side mountains connected by a pedestrian village, more than 200 trails, three glaciers, 37 lifts, and 16 alpine bowls – all of it top quality.

Even this late in the season, the snow looks great and the trails look gorgeous– plenty of easy, intermediate runs!

Riding the Peak 2 Peak Gondola is such fun and the view so beautiful, that I actually ride it back and forth and back again for an hour before downloading via Whistler Village Gondola into Skiers Plaza in Whistler Village. (Whistler Blackcomb, https://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/)

Audain Art Museum

Back down in the charming village, I pass lovely shops and eateries on my way to the Audain Art Museum. Outside is the invitation to see the “Masters of Print: Rembrandt and Beyond”- a clue that this is a world-class museum. I did not expect to see Rembrandt prints at Whistler. Nor did I expect to see what is arguably the world’s finest collection of First Nations masks, dating from the mid 1800s.

Sure enough, the Audain Art Museum delivers on its promise of a transformative experience for appreciating the art of British Columbia as well as exhibitions from around Canada and around the world. It’s in this part of the world but very much of the world. It is as local as local can be but brings the reaches of the globe into this small section of it.

The Audain Art Museum’s Permanent Collection of some 200 works – nearly all of it from the collection of Michael Audain and his wife, Yoshiko Karasawa, or purchased with their funding – is a visual journey through the history of art from coastal British Columbia.

*Audain Art Museum, Whistler, showcases one of finest collections of indigenous masks going back to mid-1800s © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Most astonishing is the room housing Audain’s collection of Northwest Coast First Nations masks. They are extraordinary because you see the individualism of the artist as well as the subject (many seem to be representations of actual people rather than mythic figures) and different techniques. I wonder if this reflects changes over time (spanning the mid 1800s to the present), regional differences and styles or perhaps just the artist’s own creativity.

A truly monumental piece, an exquisitely carved red cedar “Dance Screen” (2010-2013) by Haida Chief 7idansuu (James Hart) who was a friend and collaborator of Bill Reid, takes up an entire wall of this room.

James Hart’s striking ‘The Dance Screen (The Scream Too)’, 2010-2013, red cedar panel takes up an entire wall at the Audain Art Museum Collection, gift of Michael Audain and Yoshiko Karasawa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The next room has a huge collection of a beloved British Columbia artist, Emily Carr. You see her in her Impressionist phase, when she studied in France in 1911; how she incorporated First Nations elements into her landscapes when she returned in 1912. There are also post-war modernists including E.J. Hughes, Gordon Smith and Jack Shadbolt as well as works by internationally renowned, contemporary British Columbia artists including Jeff Wall, Dana Claxton, Marianne Nicolson, Rodney Graham and Stan Douglas.

*Emily Carr is a beloved British Columbia artist who studied impressionism in France, then integrated indigenous subjects into her landscapes when she returned © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Audain Art Museum, Whistler, showcases a stunning collection of Emily Carr’s work © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I’m told that Audain had never even been to Whistler before, but his friend, who designed Whistler Village in the 1980s, encouraged him that he could build a museum in Whistler which would connect to nature, where people could quietly contemplate art. They worked with award-winning architects John and Patricia Patkau. The museum opened in 2016. (Open Thursday to Monday 11am – 6pm).

It is fascinating to see traditional symbols, subjects reflected in contemporary indigenous British Columbia artists work, on view at the Audain Art Museum, Whistler © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The website includes this statement: “Audain Art Museum is grateful to be on the shared, unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation and Lil̓wat7úl (Lil’wat) Nation.”

Audain Art Museum, 4350 Blackcomb Way, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, V8E 1N3, [email protected] 604-962-0413, https://audainartmuseum.com/

*The stunning design of the Audain Art Museum, Whistler, provides an exquisite ambiance to experience art © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I have a rushed dinner at Caramba! Restaurant (#12 4314 Main Street (Town Plaza), Whistler, BC V0N 1B0 Phone: 604.938.1879 www.carambarestaurant.com/), a fun, casual place before I get back on the Skylynx shuttle for the 7 pm departure back to Vancouver (get there early because the bus fills up), arriving back to downtown Vancouver at 9:30 pm.

Indigenous Tourism BC offers travel ideas, things to do, places to go, places to stay, and suggested itineraries and a trip planning app (https://www.indigenousbc.com/)

Next: GRANVILLE ISLAND, VANCOUVER’S NEARBY GETAWAY, IS CORNUCOPIA OF ART, CULTURE

WALKING TOURS, DINING EXPERIENCES REVEAL VANCOUVER’S REVIVED INDIGENOUS HERITAGE

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Arts & Entertainment, Attractions, Cultural travel, Ecotourism, Food & Wine, Heritage Travel

Walking Tours, Dining Experiences Reveal Vancouver’s Revived Indigenous Heritage

July 23, 2023 krubin723

Totem poles at Brockton Point in Stanley Park are the most visited attraction in British Columbia, but few visitors realize they tell the personal stories of First Nations families © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Vancouver’s Stanley Park is much like Central Park in New York or Golden Gate Park in San Francisco – an incredibly vast (1001-acre) green oasis in a metropolis. It is absolutely stunning, on a point that juts into the Burrard Inlet and English Bay, with scenic views of water, mountains, sky, the natural West Coast rainforest, and the Park’s famous Seawall.. You can ride a miniature train, rent bikes, go to the Teahouse, take a ride on a horse-drawn carriage, visit the Vancouver Aquarium (65,000 animals, 120 world-class exhibits), walk the many marvelous trails and paths. Most of the manmade structures present in the park– like the lighthouse – were built between 1911 and 1937 by then superintendent W.S. Rawlings. Additional attractions, such as a polar bear exhibit, aquarium, and a miniature train, were added in the post-war period.

*A horse-drawn carriage tour is one of the many ways to enjoy Stanley Park, Vancouver’s oasis © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

But the tranquility of Stanley Park belies its history. The park occupies land that had been used by indigenous peoples for thousands of years – it was one of the most important salmon fisheries in the region and was rich in other resources, including beaver and lumber. British colonizers came in force to British Columbia during the 1858 Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, and extract other resources including lumber. The British then set up military fortifications at Hallelujah Point to guard the entrance to Vancouver harbor (there is still a Navy outpost and the city’s marina).

(A federation of colonies in British North America – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario – joined together to become the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867; Canada only became wholly independent of Great Britain in 1982.)

In 1886, the city incorporated the land and turned it into Vancouver’s first park. It was named for Lord Stanley, 16^th Earl of Derby, a British politician who had recently been appointed Canada’s Governor General. Lord Stanley (better known today for hockey’s Stanley Cup) became the first Governor General to visit Vancouver when he came in 1888 to officially open the park.

And that is what brings me together with Patrick, an indigenous guide from Talaysay Tours, who leads me and a woman with her two daughters on a “Spoken Treasures” walking tour of the park.

*Talaysay Tours guide Patrick explains the significance of the totem poles and gateway portals at Brockton Point during a Spoken Treasures” walking* *tour of Stanley Park* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Patrick says that Indigenous peoples have occupied this area for 8,000 years and there is still a 4,000-year old shell midden within the park. Where Lord Stanley gave his speech was an indigenous burial ground.

Indigenous people who had already been pushed out of their villages in the north had migrated here to the point they outnumbered the settlers, so there was a campaign to force them out or decimate the population. Smallpox was intentionally spread, Patrick says. One way was to inoculate, but not vaccinate people (those who were inoculated could still spread the disease). One cartographer alerted the indigenous people to what was happening.

The park – in fact all of Vancouver – is on “unceded land” – Canada never signed a treaty to acquire it, which means that under Crown and Canadian law, the land is still illegally occupied.

(By way of mitigation, if not restitution, on various websites including Stanley Park, you find a note like this, “The City of Vancouver acknowledges that it is situated on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation.”)

The view from the seawall at Stanley Park across Burrard Inlet to West Vancouver, where indigenous peoples had lived for thousands of years taking advantage of rich fishing and hunting before being forced out of land considered “unceded.” Expression of indigenous culture was banned in Canada for more than 100 years © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

There is a marker at Hallelujah Point that describes this place as a thriving settlement which for several millennia was inhabited by the Coast Salish people. From the 1860s, Europeans, Chinese and others built houses and lived along the shoreline. After Stanley Park opened in 1888, the Chinese, who were brought in as laborers and built the park road and the yacht club, were removed; others lived here until evicted in 1931, with the last person leaving in 1957.

Hallelujah Point was taken over as a military fortification to protect Vancouver Harbor and the Canadian Navy still has a small outpost. Patrick says that this was the site of a battlefield with war canoes and was a burial site.

Beaver Lake, one of the park’s major attractions and a place of urban tranquility, “was a sacred site where they brought in beavers,” Patrick said.

Patrick brings us to a grouping of nine Totem Poles, set near Brockton Point and the Brockton Point Lighthouse – considered British Columbia’s most visited tourist attraction.

The collection started at Lumberman’s Arch in the 1920s (originally the village of X’ay’x’ay, which would have had long houses and in 1885, held a great potlatch ceremony attended by 2000 First Nations and European residents of Burrard Inlet), when the Park Board bought four totems from Vancouver Island’s Alert Bay. More purchased totems came from Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) and the BC central coast Rivers Inlet, to celebrate the 1936 Golden Jubilee. In the mid 1960s, the totem poles were moved to Brockton Point. Several of the poles are re-creations, replicas or replacements.

Each has a story.

The Ga’akstalas was carved by Wayne Alfred and Beau Dick in 1991 based on a design by Russell Smith. “We wanted this pole to be a beacon of strength of our young people and show respect for our elders. It is to all our people who have made contributions to our culture,” Beau Dick wrote.

The Chief Skedans Mortuary Pole was carved by Bill Reid with assistant Werner True in 1964 to replace an older version that was raised in the Haida village of Skidegate about 1870, to honor the Raven Chief. The pole has two tiny figures in the bear’s ears to represent the chief’s daughter and son-in-law who erected the pole and gave a potlatch for the chief’s memorial. A rectangular board at the top of the original pole covered a cavity that would have held the chief’s remains.

Patrick isn’t exactly happy with the totem poles being here, which he considers appropriation (exploitation? a balm to soothe a guilty conscience?) rather than a way of raising awareness, respect and honor for indigenous heritage.

A totem pole, he explains, was like legal title to property, marking the land as yours, and would be carved with symbols that basically tell the story of that family.

*The Rose Cole Yelton Memorial Pole, erected in front of the house site where the Cole family lived until 1935 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Only one of the totem poles is legitimately where it should be, he says: the Rose Cole Yelton Memorial Pole of the Squamish Nation, raised in 2009, to honor Yelton, her family and all those who lived in Stanley Park. It was erected in front of the home site where the Cole family lived until 1935. She was the last surviving resident of the Brockton community when she passed away in 2002.

“The Totem was the British Columbia Indians coat of arms,” a bronze plaque reads, using language that might be considered inappropriate today. I had not realized that these poles are unique to the northwest coast of B.C. and lower Alaska. Carved from western red cedar, each carving tells of a real or mythical event. “They were not idols, nor were they worshipped. Each carving on each pole has a meaning. The eagle represents the kingdom of the air; the whale, the lordship of the sea; the wolf, the genius of the land, and the front, the transitional link between the land and sea.”

Such skills, though, had to be resurrected because the government criminalized indigenous art, language and culture, with the intention of eradicating indigenous culture and assimilating the people into Christian society. Because art – the shapes, line and symbols – took the place of written language, the practical effect was cultural genocide.

“Art was criminalized – it is hard to relearn it, but people found other ways to preserve their art,” Patrick tells us. For example, people would make bentwood boxes but weren’t allowed to give them away (that would be considered an illegal potlatch), but could sell them.

“For 100 years, indigenous people were forced into residential schools,” Patrick says. “Oral history made it easy to eradicate. Potlatch, language was criminalized, but people practiced in secret. We have to relearn history.” These house poles, he says, tell the story of that family.

*One of the three carved red cedar portals created by Coast Salish artist Susan Point, installed in 2008 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Three beautifully carved, red cedar portals welcome visitors to the Brockton Point Visitor Centre and to the traditional lands of the Coast Salish people. Installed in 2008, the gateways were created by Coast Salish artist Susan Point, in collaboration with Coast Salish Arts; Vancouver Storyscapes (a City of Vancouver Social Planning project to encourage Indigenous people to share their stories through a variety of media); the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations; and the Vancouver Park Board.

“Shore to Shore” carved in cedar then cast in bronze by Stz’uminus Master Carver Luke Marston, is a tribute to the ancestral connection between the area’s aboriginal and Portuguese communities. Joe Silvey came to BC from the Azores around 1860 and married Pqaltanat, a high-born matriarch of Musqueam and Squamish descent, who died; Silvey then married Kwatleematt a Sechelt matriarch who is depicted in the sculpture. The Silvey family lived at Brockton Point in a community of First Nations, Portuguese and Hawaiian people.

Founded in 2002, Talaysay Tours is owned and operated by Candace and Larry Campo, Shíshálh (Sechelt) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation members. “Our goal is to support culture revitalization, education and reclamation.”

Talaysay Tours, 334 Skawshen Rd, West Vancouver, V7P 3T1, [email protected], 1 (800) 605-4643, 1 (604) 628-8555, www.talaysay.com.

Salmon n’ Bannock Bistro

*Celebrating a birthday at Salmon n’Bannock, Vancouver’s original indigenous restaurant © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

From Stanley Park, I take an Uber across a bridge to a neighborhood that reminds me of going to Brooklyn from Manhattan.

Salmon n’ Bannock Bistro is (so far) the only indigenous restaurant in Vancouver (though Inez Cook, the owner, has just opened a second location at the international departure terminal at Vancouver International Airport).

“It was always a dream,” she tells me – not just to have a restaurant, but to revive and share indigenous culture.

Inez says that like so many of her generation, she was not raised with native heritage.

She shows me a children’s book, “Sixties Scoop,” she has written which describes how she is Nuxalk, born in Bella Coola, BC, but was taken away when she was one year old and adopted by a Caucasian family in Vancouver.

“I am part of what’s called Sixties Scoop, when the government took native kids and adopted them out to non-native families. Our native status was given up and we were supposed to grow up without our culture, without our heritage,” she writes. The “Sixties Scoop” began in the 1950s and lasted until the 1980s.

As an adult, she went to find her native roots and discovered she had a younger sister who was also given up for adoption.

That has made her all the more purposeful in showcasing her heritage with pride. (Inez also serves on the board of the Aboriginal Tourism British Columbia.)

Cook says she was inspired after seeing the Kekuli Café in Kellown, a Canadian Aboriginal bannock restaurant with contemporary twist – bannock, burgers, Indian Tacos, and espresso. (Kekuli Café, which also has restaurants in West Kelowna, Kamloops, and Merritt, BC, has decidedly 21^st century marketing techniques including franchising, apps, rewards points and clever slogan, “Don’t panic, we have bannock” https://www.kekulicafe.com).

Cook was raised with the foods of her adoptive mother’s family who were Dutch Mennonite, so when she decided to open an indigenous restaurant, she needed to research native ingredients and First Nations cooking techniques.

“I wanted the restaurant to showcase food from the land and sea that the Indigenous people had traditionally hunted, harvested and eaten – everything from fiddlehead ferns to bison and sock-eye salmon,” she told the BBC. “I wanted to incorporate their traditional methods too: how they smoked food or preserved it over the long winters. I did a lot of asking and learning, then began to improvise.”

“The Olympics was coming. I dove in.” She opened Salmon n’ Bannock in 2010 to offer native cuisine with a modern twist.

Her team is indigenous, the menu based on what’s in season and available. She would ask them, “What’s your favorite dish?” and bring modern inspiration.

*Inez Cook opened her indigenous restaurant Salmon n’Bannock to revive and share First Nations culture, which she had to discover for herself © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Some of the more interesting items on the menu this evening: pemmican mousse with bannock crackers; game sausage (this evening it is elk and huckleberry which is sensational); bison bone marrow served with sage rub and bannock crostini; bison pot roast with mash; smoked sablefish on Haudenosaunee corn polento,. I have the Fish n’ Rice” – wild sockeye with Anishinaabe wild rice.

She will take a native ingredient like soapberries or kelp, or a traditional recipe, and turn it into something new.

Her twist on pemmican, a staple for her ancestors, is an example. The traditional way of serving pemmican was as a mixture of dried meat and berries, which were buried to provide food on a journey. Instead, here the pemmican is made of bison meat, smoked, dried and ground before blending it with cream cheese and sage-infused berries.

Cook worked for airlines for 33 years which enabled her to experience other cultures around the world including Saudi Arabia, India,Egypt, Chad, Nigeria, Indonesia and England, returning to Vancouver in time to open her second 2^nd location, at Vancouver airport.

“I’ve lived all over the world- I wanted to take people on a journey to experience the culture of land…Food and culture bring people together,”

She doesn’t miss an opportunity to share the experience and educate. Even the menu features these interesting facts:

Present day Canada is set on land of 600 indigenous nations, over 200 of them in present day British Columbia. “There’s a cousin behind every corner and a Cree behind every tree.”

“Indigenous” is an umbrella term that represents First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples –distinct groups with distinct cultures.

There are more than 70 indigenous languages, coast to coast in Canada, “many of them endangered due to systemic efforts to separate indigenous people from their culture.”

(I subsequently learn that 1,807,250 Canadians identify as Indigenous, according to the 2021 Census, accounting for 5% of the country’s total population, of which 290,210 live in British Columbia. The population that identifies as Indigenous is the fastest growing demographic group in Canada, increasing by 42.5% between 2006 and 2016.)

For Inez, the restaurant is a chance to show indigenous culture and real people in a contemporary setting, rather than as displays in a museum or separated on a reserve. “We could be your doctor, lawyer, your neighbor,”

It’s an intimate bistro setting – only about eight tables (24 guests) – but its reputation is going global. Time, Elle Magazine have raved and on this evening, seven media people from France have arrived, and Inez greets them in French.

Salmon n’ Bannock Address: 1128 W Broadway #7, Vancouver, BC, 604-568-8971, [email protected], www.salmonandbannock.net

*The famous steam clock in Gastown © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I leave the restaurant and have Uber take me to Gastown – with its famous steam clock – to enjoy that nighttime vibe and then take the 15 minute walk back to the Skwachays Lodge just after dark. (Skwàchays Lodge 31 W Pender St Vancouver, BC V6B 1R3 604.687.3589, 1 888 998 0797, [email protected], https://skwachays.com/)

Indigenous Tourism BC offers travel ideas, things to do, places to go, places to stay, and suggested itineraries and a trip planning app (https://www.indigenousbc.com/)

Next: Trail to Discover British Columbia’s Indigenous Heritage Goes Through Whistler-Blackcomb

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Arts & Entertainment, Cultural travel, Ecotourism, Heritage Travel, Historic Places, Museums and Exhibits, Places of History

On the Trail to Discover Vancouver’s Revived Indigenous Heritage

July 22, 2023 krubin723

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Who could have imagined such an immersive experience into British Columbia’s indigenous culture revival in the heart of a bustling, modern metropolis like Vancouver?

I come to Vancouver intent to see how indigenous heritage culture is being resurrected, revived, and coming to the forefront of national consciousness and respect.

My trip is very much a voyage of discovery, in so many ways so surprising, illuminating and enriching, especially once I am sensitized to look.

My itinerary is arranged by Indigenous Tourism BC, one of Canada’s oldest (at 25 years) provincial entities to promote the economic and social benefits tourism brings to revive and sustain a heritage that had been relegated to shadows.

These efforts have accelerated after Canada signed its historic Truth and Reconciliation Act, in 2014, acknowledging the harm of 140 federally run residential schools that operated from 1867 up until 1996, and other laws, like the Indian Act, banning the practice of indigenous culture that amounted to cultural genocide.

It was only in 1951 that amendments to the Indian Act removed restrictions on rituals, customs and culture. Canada’s indigenous peoples – who account for five percent of the population – could not vote until the 1960s.

Skwachays Lodge, Canada’s First Aboriginal Art Hotel

My voyage of discovery starts as soon as I check in to my hotel, Skwachays Lodge, the nearest thing to staying in a First Nations community you might find in a major modern city.

Skwachays Lodge, Canada’s first aboriginal art hotel, opened in 2012 as a social enterprise that turned a derelict building into a boutique hotel combined with an artist-in-residence program supporting indigenous artists with housing and studio space.

*Skwachays Lodge, a social enterprise, provides housing and studio space for 24 indigenous artists © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Even though it is late, Rick, the night manager, is eager to show me around to the art studios and introduces me to two of the 24 artists in residence who live for up to three-years in apartments on the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th floors. The hotel also has a gallery and a superb shop.

The 18 guest rooms and suites, which occupy the 5^th and 6^th floors, have been individually designed by six indigenous artists – there is the Water Room (502), the Sea Kingdom Suite, Northern Lights Room, Forest Spirits Room, Earth Room, King Salmon Suite.

*The gold-painted ceiling in the Moon Room. Each of the 18 Skwachays Lodge rooms and suites has been designed by an indigenous artist © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Mine is the Moon Room (505), designed by Sabina Hill and Mark Preston, equipped with a kitchenette, desk/workspace, and a giant round bed on a platform. The ceiling is decorated with the moon’s radiance in gold, and the wall, in gold calligraphy, tells the legend of the trickster god Raven who stole the sun, the moon and the stars, and released them into the sky. “Delivered to its heavenly perch by the daring Raven, the Golden Moon watches over the world below.” It’s almost like finding yourself in a painting, in the story.

*The gallery and shop at Skwachays Lodge © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The hotel also offers opportunities to do a Sweat Lodge ceremony in the rooftop garden; a Smudging Ceremony in the traditional Smudge Room; as well as studio visits with the artists in residence. Its Kayachtn (“Welcome”) room, where breakfast is served, also provides a traditional community gathering place as well as a gallery.

Atop the hotel is a totem, a marvelous counterpoint to the arch that marks the entrance to Vancouver’s Chinatown, a half-block away.

*The Kayachtn (“Welcome”) room at Skwachays Lodge, where breakfast is served, also provides a traditional community gathering place © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It should be noted that the hotel is one block over from East Hastings, considered Canada’s “Bowery” – but I had no problem walking everywhere, including to the marvelous Gastown district – the historic district offering boutique shopping and dining famous for its gas-spewing clock – just 10 minutes walk away. Actually, I was able to walk everywhere.

Skwàchays Lodge 31 W Pender St Vancouver, BC V6B 1R3 604.687.3589, 1 888 998 0797, [email protected], https://skwachays.com/.

Bill Reid Gallery

My first morning, after a marvelous breakfast (served 8-10 am in the Kayachtn “Welcome” room), I walk over to the Bill Reid Gallery, which is just around a corner from the Vancouver Art Gallery and the historic, grand Fairmont Hotel.

The Bill Reid Gallery opened in 2008 to celebrate Haida cultural heritage, diverse living artists of the Northwest Coast, and the life and work of master artist Bill Reid (1920-1998). Reid arguably was responsible for bringing indigenous art from the shadows (after having been suppressed for 150 years) into the national consciousness, awareness and respect.

*The Bill Reid Gallery celebrates Haida cultural heritage, diverse living artists of the Northwest Coast, and the life and work of master artist Bill Reid © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Bill Reid, I learn, is a national treasure. Two of Reid’s most popular works depict a canoe filled with human and animal figures: one black, “The Spirit of Haida Gwaii,” is at the Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C.; and one green, “The Jade Canoe,” is at Vancouver International Airport (and was featured on the Canadian $20 bill).

Here at the gallery, you not only trace his own artistic evolution and self-discovery, but see his most famous works, including “Mythic Messengers” (1984), a multi-ton, 8.5 meter long frieze referencing folk stories that is the gallery’s piece de resistance.

*Bill Reid’s* “*Mythic Messengers” (1984), a multi-ton, 8.5 meter long frieze referencing folk stories, is the gallery’s* *piece de resistance* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There is an artist’s proof in white onyx of another famous work, “Raven and First Men” that depicts the Haida creation myth – how the Raven discovers a massive clamshell on the beach with humans protruding from it and coaxes the humans out, unleashing civilization. (The full-sized, cedar wood version is at the Museum of Anthropology on the University of British Columbia campus; Reid depicted this myth in many forms and sizes throughout his career.)

*Another famous Bill Reid work, “Raven and First Men” that depicts the Haida creation myth, in white onyx © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Bill Reid, probably more than anyone, is responsible for resurrecting indigenous art, raising awareness, appreciation and respect, and bringing this heritage that had so long been subject to cultural genocide, into Canada’s cultural mainstream. His story is remarkable and I soon come to appreciate why he was uniquely able to achieve this.

*Bill Reid represented “Raven and First Men” myth in many versions and genres © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

As I look at a miniature (I mean really tiny) tea set that Reid carved from chalk in 1932 when he was 12, my guide, Wayne Louie, explains that Reid’s father was of German-Scottish descent and his mother was born to the Haida nation. She was part of the residential school system which took First Nations children from their families and put them in prison-like boarding schools designed to “kill the Indian inside the man” (as I learned at the Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum in Banff).

“His mother didn’t reveal her ancestral roots – that was the effect of residential schools, aimed to culturally cleanse the indigenous side,” Louie tells me. “He didn’t discover his ancestral roots until his teens.”

He began exploring his Haida roots at the age of 23. He visited grandparents and slowly and deliberately rediscovered and incorporated his heritage into his art. This journey of discovery lasted a lifetime and shaped Reid’s artistic career.

Glass artist John Nutter, whose studio is the site of Bill Reid’s studio on Granville Island, shows a $20 bill featuring Bill Reid’s famous “The Spirit of Haida Gwaii” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Reid became a pivotal force in building bridges between Indigenous people and other peoples. Through his mother, he was a member of the Raven clan from T’aanuu with the wolf as one of his family crests. In 1986, Reid was presented with the Haida name Yaahl Sgwansung, meaning The Only Raven. Many of his works incorporate the raven.

“Reid’s quest for understanding the essence and the roots of a unique art form led him to discover his own ‘Haidaness’ and, in the process, restored much of the dynamic power, magic, and possibility to the art. In doing so he became the catalyst to empower a whole Nation,” the gallery notes say.

Reid’s story also shows how an artistic spirit cannot be suppressed. Even later in his life, when he contracted Parkinson’s, he created wire sculptures, some of which are on view –art is irrepressible, it must be expressed.

*Bill Reid carved this tiny tea set out of blackboard chalk when he was 12 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“Somewhere along the line, I developed a unique art: blackboard chalk carving,” he reflected in 1982. “I started it in school because I was very bored. Round chalk was such a fine medium that I made little tea sets, cup and saucers, and finished them with nail polish…It showed me I could do fine work. The first totem pole I ever made was out of blackboard chalk.”

But the reason he was able to spur a renaissance in indigenous art is that Reid had become a popular CBC announcer with a national audience. He got his first job in radio in 1939 and became a radio broadcaster for the CBC in Toronto in 1948. As a CBC announcer he had a platform, was known and accepted, and connected to more people. I imagine promoting his indigenous identity was almost like “coming out.”

Bill Reid was perhaps uniquely positioned to revive indigenous art and bring it into mainstream of Canadian culture because of his celebrity as a CBC broadcaster © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

His interest in making art had already been ignited. In 1943, he made his first visit to the Haida Gaiia since his early childhood. “He was a goldsmith at heart and hoped to build a career focused on modernist jewelry,” the notes say. “He was fascinated by the simple engravings his grandfather made and bracelets by John Cross his aunts wore. When he later saw the deeply carved bracelets by his great, great uncle Charles Edenshaw, he said, ‘Life was not the same after that’.”

*Bill Reid was a goldsmith who incorporated French repousse technique to gold bracelets with traditional Haida elements he learned from his relatives © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

He set up a studio in his basement, and then on Granville Island (which I later come upon almost by accident). He combined traditional Haida forms and figures with contemporary innovations, notably the European technique of repousse – pushing the metal out from behind, to bring a three-dimensional quality to his Haida-inspired work.

“Well, I don’t consider myself Haida or non-Haida or white or non-white,” Reid wrote. “I am a citizen of the West Coast of North America and I have availed myself of all the inheritance I got from all directions.”

Bill Reid infused Haida traditions with his own modernist aesthetic to create both exquisite small as well as monumental works that captured the public’s imagination.

“Reid was biracial,” Louie tells me. “He had to learn who he was – observe art of his ancestors, reinterpreted into his art. He started with jewelry, small pieces, then large, monumental works.”

Reid was in the vanguard of the revival of indigenous art, Louie tells me. “During the time these pieces created no other indigenous artist was doing this – now there are many.”

Throughout Reid’s life, he encouraged young artists as he was encouraged, and that is reflected in this gallery, which features exhibits of a dozen contemporary artists.

*James Hart’s totem pole is the centerpiece of the Bill Reid Gallery © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The centerpiece of the gallery is a full-scale totem pole carved by James Hart of Haida Gwaii, featuring the Wasgo (Haida Sea-Wolf).

What strikes me as interesting is how some of the artists seem intent on reproducing the traditional symbols and techniques (like weaving), while others veer off into modern forms, like graffiti. But when you think about it, for these First Nations artists who live on lands that were never officially ceded to Canada (there was never a treaty so technically, according to Canadian law, the land is illegally occupied), the essence of street art is a form of rebellion, a means for people who feel displaced and disempowered to mark territory and establish identity, so it seems like a very appropriate form.

*“Raven Who Kept Walking” (2021) by Corey Bulpitt, one of the contemporary British Columbia indigenous artists on exhibit at the Bill Reid Gallery © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Monthly workshops, artist talks; guided tours are offered June-August. There is an excellent shop. Summer hours, open daily 10-5.

Bill Reid Gallery, 639 Hornby St, Vancouver 604-682-3455, https://www.billreidgallery.ca/, [email protected]

Indigenous Tourism BC offers travel ideas, things to do, places to go, places to stay, and suggested itineraries and a trip planning app (https://www.indigenousbc.com/)

Next: Walking Tours, Dining Experiences Reveal Vancouver’s Revived Indigenous Heritage

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Cultural travel, Historic Places, Museums and Exhibits, National Parks, Places of History

Pioneering Spirit Still Inspires Visitors to Banff, Canada

July 9, 2023 krubin723

*Banff, Canada’s first municipality set within a national park, has lured pioneers, adventurers, entrepreneurs and free spirits © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

The spirits of the founders, pioneers and entrepreneurs are everywhere in Banff, which, for a small town within an immense national park (Canada’s most visited) continue to inspire the 4.5 million who come each year with their rich heritage, cultural legacy, and heady exhilaration of the Rocky Mountains.

We find their presence ever-present – at the Mount Royal Hotel, one of the oldest in Banff; at the Cave & Basin historic site (the hot springs that started it all); at the Whyte Museum and the Moore House; at a museum that tells the story of Banff National Park (Canada’s first national park and one of the oldest in the world); atop the Banff Gondola, the old Trading Post (which I remember visiting decades ago), the Open-Top Sightseeing tour in custom-designed vintage automobile, and most spectacularly, the Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum.

I love that all around the Sky Bistro on the summit of Sulphur Mountain are poster-sized photos of Banff’s pioneers and founders, many who are already familiar from our Open-Top sightseeing tour, the Whyte Museum, and the historic markers about town: There are the Brewster brothers, Norman Luxton, and the colorful park warden, Bill Peyto, who toted a live lynx into a bar. There are the indomitable, liberated women like Pearl Brewster, who manifested the frontier, mountaineering spirit; Caroline Hinman, who came from New Jersey to organize Off the Beaten Track pack trips; and Lizzie Rummel, who, born to a German aristocratic family, came to the Rockies in 1914 and ran back country lodges.

Jim Brewster, who with his brother, Bill, as boys, started a guide service for guests of the Banff Springs Hotel, later expanded to a massive sightseeing and hospitality company © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Cave and Basin

The visit to Cave and Basin is like going back to the origin story for Banff – it is the very reason Banff developed and why Canada’s first national park was established here, though this area had been a special place for First Nations peoples for 10,000 years. Modern Banff was born here, at Cave & Basin historic site.

“… like some fantastic dream from a tale of the Arabian Nights,” is how William McCardell described the mist-filled cave on the slopes of Sulphur Mountain when he, his brother Tom, and their partner Frank McCabe, three railway workers who stayed behind, first spotted the venting steam in the fall of 1883.

*Ranger Amar Athwal relates the origin story of Cave & Basin, Canada’s first national site which became Banff National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

They immediately saw the profit potential, fenced it off, built a small log cabin at the entrance (they called it “the hotel”) and put in a claim for a land grant. But the Canadian government, in financial straits from building the transcontinental railroad, also saw the potential (the popularity of thermal springs in Arkansas and Yellowstone was already known). The government paid them off with $900 and, in 1885, set aside 10 square miles around the thermal springs. In 1887, Prime Minister John A. McDonald declared the land protected for all Canadians and named George Stewart, park superintendent.

Canadian Pacific’s visionary executive director, William Cornelius Van Horne, built and opened the Banff Springs Hotel in 1888 with 250 rooms, and invited writers and artists to come to promote the destination.

At the Cave and Basin (the cave has an interior thermal pool and the basin has an outdoor thermal pool), people paid 5c to enjoy bathing, one sex at a time – ladies in the cave when men were in the basin, and visa versa.

A 30-minute guided tour takes us into the cave (surprisingly small) and the basin (where we get to see the tiny, endangered Banff Springs snail that only exists here), and tour the 1914 Bathing Pavilion.

Our guide, Ranger Amar Athwal, tells us that 500 generations of indigenous people gathered here at the hot springs before the first Europeans ever arrived; one of the oldest artifacts found in the area is a bison skull from 8500 years ago, bearing wounds inflicted by humans.

The Europeans first came in a quest to find a route to Asia and then to trap beaver (nearly to extinction, before silkworms were used to make hats). And then the transcontinental railroad came through, to unite the fledgling country.

*The cave of thermal springs which has drawn visitors for thousands of years © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The natural springs, mysteriously hot even in winter and supporting plants and life that did not exist anywhere else, were regarded as a spiritual place of healing, and where different tribes gathered to hold ceremonies in peace here. (When the park was created, the native communities were pushed out.)

The natural springs are a unique ecosystem, Athwal tells us. The water flows year-round despite the fact that temps can go as low as minus 41 degrees in winter in Banff. Here, the water stays 92-100 F so plants grow here, animals like the garter snake live here, and the Basin harbors a tiny snail that is unique to these Banff thermal springs (which we get to see).

*The Basin creates a unique ecosystem, harboring a unique species of Banff Springs snail © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The smell comes from the bacteria that takes in the sulphur particles and gives off gas – in high concentrations, it would be fatal. The waters smell differently, even within this place, depending upon what chemicals the bacteria is feeding on.

The waters were regarded as healing by the indigenous peoples as well as the settlers – entrepreneurs would sell bottles of the water, like snake oil.

Germans, Austrians, Hungarians and Ukrainians who were recruited as mountain guides and to build the railway with a promise of land, were interred here when World War I broke out, fearing “enemies within,” from 1914 to 1920. They were used as labor and built this gorgeous bath house and outdoor pool. Only recently did Canada issue an official apology and provide funding to create a memorial exhibit here, which opened in 2013.

*Entrepreneurs capitalized on Banff’s thermal springs© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You can also stroll the thermal water boardwalks (the best bird watching in Banff National Park) and hike trails around the Cave and Basin (https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/ab/caveandbasin).

Whyte Museum

The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies is a historical museum, art gallery, and archives that celebrates the lively history, heritage and people of the Rocky Mountains.

The museum was founded in 1968 by Peter and Catherine Whyte who were artists and philanthropists. Peter Whyte’s father, Dave, came out with the railroad and started a grocery store. Peter grew up here and built a compound with their home and other cabins.

*One of the original Brewster open-top vehicles is on view at th e Whyte Museum © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Whyte Museum offers four galleries, including a heritage Gallery. It is a marvelous display, where we see an actual open-top vehicle the Brewsters designed, fantastic photos (including them driving the King and Queen of England in 1939), so that you feel you are literally walking through history.

But my favorite part of visiting the Whyte Museum is the visit to the Moore House, which is on the museum’s property.

*Pearl Brewster Moore’s 1907 cottage is now part of the Whyte Museum © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The cottage belonged to Pearl Brewster Moore, who was Jim and Tom Brewster’s sister (born 1889, she was the only girl among seven children). The cottage dates from 1907 when she married Philip Moore, a Princeton graduate from New Jersey who came to Banff as a guide), and contains the couple’s own furnishings, so is a window into their lives and the times – their sheet music on the piano, their books, a stunning Chippendale dining set from Philip’s New Jersey family.

*Philip Moore’s family Chippendale dining room set © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*The Moore’s furnishings and artifacts are fascinating insight into their lives and times © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“She had 6 brothers – that shaped who she was: a horsewoman, she hunted, played hockey,” our guide tells us. “Pearl led trail rides. Her parents sent her to two finishing schools – she was sent home from both. When Pearl passed away in 1973, the obituary called her ‘one of the best horsewomen,’ and she was remembered for her forthright opinions she was not afraid to express.”

*Pearl Brewster and Philip Moore were made honorary members of the Stoney Nakota tribe* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Indigenous artifacts that were presented to Pearl Brewster Moore, who would judge beadwork competitions © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You get to see the Moores’ many indigenous artifacts. The couple had close ties with the Stoney Nakota and were made honorary members of the tribe. Pearl regularly judged their beadwork competitions. And I note a book on Indian sign language in the book case (Philip majored in history and English at Princeton).

They had one child, Edmee, born 1908, who sadly pre-deceased Pearl. Her husband, Philip died in 1971. That same year, Pearl bequeathed the house and contents to the Whyte Museum and had it moved from its original location on Fox Street (there is a hotel there now) to the Whyte Museum grounds where she lived until her death just two years later, in 1973.

*The Whyte Museum is a treasure trove of history, heritage, and culture © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Whyte Museum also houses important archives, especially of mountaineering (it holds the Alpine Club of Canada’s archive that spans 50 meters of shelves), the Banff National Park history, Crag & Canyon newspapers (Norman Luxton’s newspaper) going back to 1900. You can actually consult the card catalog with typed entries (who remembers those?), as well as digital catalogs (www.whyte.org).

*A glimpse into the archives housed at the Whyte Museum © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We pick up sandwiches from the café at the Elk & Avenue hotel, and set out to picnic at Lake Minnewanka (the name means “Spirit Water”). There is still snow and the lake is still frozen enough for us to walk on (someone has started to build an igloo and another couple is posing for wedding photos). It is a delightful place that is especially popular in summer – hiking trails, boating and scenic cruises from the marina (also operated by Pursuit Collection which has the snack shop).

Lake Minnewanka, still frozen over, becomes a summer destination for lake cruises, boat rentals, hiking, excursions started by Norman Luxton and now part of Pursuit Collection © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Blackfoot Nations Luxton Museum

I go off on my own to explore, and come to the Blackfoot Nations Luxton Museum, next to the Trading Post which Luxton started.

Visiting the Blackfoot Nation Luxton Museum fills in that 10,000-year gap before the railroad workers discovered the hot springs.

*Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum houses Norman Luxton’s fabulous collection in a log re-creation of a Hudson Bay trading post © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This is an astonishingly excellent museum that takes a bit of patience and focus to really appreciate. But once you spend a little time, you are overwhelmed by what is on view. It has the feeling of visiting a private collection (it was the collection of Norman Luxton), even with a comfy sofa where you can sit to watch a series of fascinating videos.

There is a feeling of informality and personal engagement. The notes that are provided actually give a more direct and different perspective than other indigenous museums I have visited.

*The Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum is dedicated to the appreciation, interpretation, demonstration and display of the cultures, traditions, and values of the First Nations of North America* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You see realistic manikins in indigenous dress, surrounded by artifacts in settings staged to put you in the scene –a meeting in a teepee, a gathering around a fire.

There are fabulous historic photographs often placed adjacent to the artifact. So right beside a beaded leather baby carrier is a black-and-white photo of a woman with that carrier (with baby) on her back.

*The Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum exhibits often pair the artifacts with historic photos © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You learn that horses, introduced in the 1700s “gave more time for war, religion, craftsmanship….[because they] saved time for hunting, traveling” (and probably was like a major new weapon for battle, like a tank, changing the battlefield.)

I sit myself in a comfortable sofa and watch a video about the residential schools that First Nations children were forced away from their family to attend, and a group’s activism to recover the heritage that had been stolen from them. It takes you into the vacant, dilapidated building, like a prison, that would have been their residential school.

“Their idea was to kill the Indian in the man, but both were killed…Treaties broken over and over – not just money, but trust,” that narrator says. “The schools were like jail. You would be punished if you couldn’t find a shoe. You became Christian for survival…the biggest defiance is who I am now.”

Several tribes – the Nahota, Blackfoot and Cree – and the Wildlife Conservation Society are featured in the video signing a Repatriation Treaty to bring back the buffalo.

The museum feels personal because it is founded on the personal collection of Norman Luxton, one of Banff’s pioneering founders, who, the more I learn about him, the more I admire him. He seems to have been a mix of P.T. Barnum, Wild Bill Hickok, William Hearst, and Thor Heyerdahl, and I can’t get enough of his story, especially as I explore Banff.

*Norman Luxton earned the nickname “Mr. Banff” for all he created © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I love this man. When he was in his 20s, he sailed around the world in a 100-year old, 30-foot long dugout canoe with an eccentric sea captain, going as far as Tahiti, Samoa and Fiji. He was a newspaper man who took over and saved the Crag & Canyon, still published today, built Banff’s first all-season hotel, filling it with the latest technology (gramophone!); opened its first cinema (one of first to screen talkies and Technicolor, still operating today).

*The “Fiji Merman” which Norman Luxton used to draw tourists into his Trading Post © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Luxton promoted trade and economic development of the Indigenous peoples, opening the Trading Post (a combination curio shop featuring indigenous crafts and taxidermy shop), promoting it with a bear (“Teddy”) that tourists were encouraged to feed chocolate they purchased at the shop and, P.T. Barnum-like with a “Fiji Merman”.

Luxton, who earned the nickname, “Mr. Banff” for all he did to develop and promote Banff, began the Winter Carnival events in 1917 that helped turn Banff into a snow-sports destination and from 1909-1950, organized the Banff Indian Days, an annual weekend event that brought locals, tourists and First Nations peoples together. And finally, he turned his amazing collection of First Nations artifacts into a museum. (https://banff.ca/1135/Norman-K-Luxton)

*Norman Luxton’s Trading Post, still operating today, offering quality First Nations crafts © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Throughout his life, going back to when he was 21 and delivering treaty payments to tribes, Luxton displayed his respect for the indigenous people, and not only helped save their heritage, their culture but provided a proper platform and visibility, when indigenous art and culture was made illegal, invisible, with a goal of eradicating the culture – and the people – altogether.

The Luxton Museum of the Plains Indian opened in June 1953, now the Buffalo Nations Museum. Built of logs to resemble a Hudson’s Bay Trading Post, the museum allowed Luxton “to share and preserve his extensive collection of Indigenous artifacts and cultural items, providing a better understanding of and appreciation for local First Nations peoples and cultures for locals and visitors alike.” (see www.luxtonfoundation.org).

The Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum seeks to show how the people of this land lived and adapted to their surroundings and each other prior to contact with European culture, and how they continued to adapt after European influences © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

“The Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum is dedicated to the appreciation, interpretation, demonstration and display of the cultures, traditions, and values of the First Nations of North America and their trading partners. The museum seeks to show how the people of this land lived and adapted to their surroundings and each other prior to contact with European culture, and how they continued to adapt after European influences.” (https://www.buffalonationsmuseum.com/content/museum).

A Town That Cherishes its History

Befitting a town built on tourism, they really know how to cater to visitors – there are wonderful signs, markers, historic plaques (there are 48) and descriptions (there are 179 sites listed on its Inventory of Historic Resources including 25 Landmarks and Legends, which can be accessed on its Heritage Finder website, https://banff.ca/113/History-and-Heritage ) that immerse you in their stories.

*Dave White Block, 1894-1913 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

One of Banff Avenue’s first merchants was David White who arrived in Banff in 1885 and became a railway section foreman. He stayed on and in 1894 opened a general store on this site. In 1908, a brick building replaced the “boomtown’ Park Store. Renovated in 1996, the Dave White Block is the oldest remaining commercial building on Banff Avenue.

There is a Hudson Bay Company store that is only now closing (incorporated 1670, and responsible for European settlement of these western territories).

*The Rocky Mountains almost flow into Banff’s streetscape © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I stop at a marker in front of the Elk Lodge, which I learn began “life” as The Browne Residence in 1921, the home of American hunter and wildlife artist Belmore Browne born 1880 in New York City. In 1912, he accompanied one of the first parties to attempt Mt. Mckinley in Alaska and came within 125 feet of the summit, a North American climbing record. Browne arrived in Banff in 1921 and purchased a single room log cabin on this site, later adding an artist’s studio. It served as a summer studio and home from 1921 to 1946, from which he painted many of the illustrations for the Canadian Pacific Railway literature, in exchange for transport to the east coast. Margaret Aldhelm White purchased the property in 1947, added and transformed it into the Elkhorn Lodge, one of Banff’s oldest guest lodges still operating today. “This Lodge is a good example of the adaptation and reuse of older buildings.”

In fact, The Town of Banff was only incorporated as a municipality in 1990 – the first municipality in Canada to be incorporated inside a national park. (The only other national park community in Canada is the Municipality of Jasper, in Jasper National Park, incorporated in 2001.)

*The tranquility of Banff, enjoyed by locals and visitors alike © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I delight in wandering Banff, which though very compact and walkable, has all these marvelous trails and paths – my favorite on both sides following the river (actual hiking trails were still too icy during our visit), and bring you to the Bow Falls.

*Bow Falls reached along a delightful riverside path. Marilyn Monroe was filmed going over the falls © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

People came out here, settled here to be adventurous, to test their mettle climbing mountains, riding horses, hunting, to be free of the constraints of urban “civilized” society. So many of the pioneers and founders and entrepreneurs we encounter – women included – came from New York, New Jersey, and Europe. Visitors today – the 4.5 million who come to Banff National Park in a year – seek the same sense of adventure.

You can find Pursuit Collection’s services and attractions at https://www.pursuitcollection.com/; to book Pursuit Collection’s Banff and Jasper experiences, https://www.banffjaspercollection.com/.

PURSUIT COLLECTION OFFERS FEAST FOR SENSES AND THE SOUL IN BANFF, CANADA

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Food & Wine, Hotels & Resorts

Pursuit Collection Offers Feast for Senses and the Soul in Banff, Canada

July 8, 2023 krubin723

*Dining at Sky Bistro atop the Sulphur Mountain summit, reached by the Banff Gondola – an incomparable view matched by an incomparable culinary experience © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

On our first evening in Banff to sample Pursuit Collection’s tourism and hospitality services, we dine at Farm & Fire, one of Banff’s newest restaurants. It is a delightful open, woody dining room within Elk & Avenue Hotel (originally the Banff International Hotel), also a Pursuit Collection property.

Farm & Fire was launched in June of 2020, with a menu designed by Chef Scott Hergott, who has been recognized for his award-winning culinary innovation at the Banff Gondola’s Sky Bistro (which we later get to enjoy). Farm & Fire specializes in wood-fired and slow-roasted selections, reflecting Hergott’s farm-to-table philosophy and his commitment to sustainability. Ingredients are sourced from local purveyors (a list of who to thank is posted) and you can look into the open kitchen to watch the artful preparations.

The open kitchen at Farm & Fire. “It is Canadian produce and ideas but the flavors are original – small plates with big flavors,” says Executive Chef Scott Hergott © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The bursts of flavor combinations are exciting and original – you can’t really pin down a specific cuisine – and the preparations and presentations are as pleasing to the eye as the palate. The selections are served as shared plates, family style, which creates a communal experience (amazing how much conversation happens over what to order and everyone’s reaction to sampling each).

I get my first taste of bannock and immediately become addicted. This is an indigenous fried bread with a delightful doughy texture, somewhere between a donut and a doughy roll, and delectable (not bland) flavor, that Farm & Fire serves with three different seasoned butters.

My next discovery is Chef Hergott’s Lion’s Mane Mushrooms that are indescribably delicious.

*Farm & Fire: small plates with big flavors, designed to create conversation and community © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We get to meet Chef Hergott, now the executive chef for Pursuit Collection, at a tasting lunch in the Mount Royal Hotel’s Cascade lounge, to preview the new seasonal menu for Brazen, Pursuit’s new restaurant at the historic hotel, built in 1908 and taken over by the Brewsters in 1912, the tourism enterprise that was acquired by Pursuit Collection in 2014.

Of Farm & Fire, Chef Hergott says, “It is Canadian produce and ideas but the flavors are original – small plates with big flavors.”

Each of Pursuit’s restaurants are chef-centric, he says, which means the chefs come up with their own recipes, as we will soon find out. Brazen (in a space that was once the saloon) is “out there” offering bold choices that pay homage to the mountaineers, adventurers and founders of Banff (the menu even features their photos and bios).

*Executive Chef Scott Hergott has us taste the new seasonal menu being unveiled at Brazen, the restaurant at The Mount Royal hotel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The culinary concept behind Brazen, which opened in June 2022, is “eat who you are.” This is only the third menu being introduced at Brazen and we get to sample such items as Ramen Eggs (with Nori, sesame, wasabi peas); duck croquettes Dijonaise (truffle, Dijon Aioli, arugula and mushroom), bison (Tandoori roasted with watercress, red curry corn puree), Edible Earth (hummus with toasted rye crumb, Kalamata olive, roasted beet, pickled carrot, watercress); fried artichoke (dill, smoked tofu cream); ginger beef (certified Angus with blistered shishitos, onions, ginger syrup).

*The new seasonal menu being unveiled at Brazen, the restaurant at The Mount Royal hotel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Small plates include pork belly (with carrot ginger puree, pickled mustard and sour maple) and salmon gravlax (strawberry gel, crème fraiche, cucumber, beet chips, dill). The smoked beef tartare is prepared with cognac, egg yoke, pickled onion and truffle oil and lit on fire as it is served “to add pizzazz” as we find out at dinner.

The desserts are incredible: Strawberry Fields is made with coconut cream, strawberry sorbet, mint oil, and strawberry rhubarb compote, then fashioned like a trompe d’oeil to look like cigarettes in an ash tray; crème brulee made with coffee, cookie crumble and white chocolate; and Pavlova made with white chocolate, whipped cream and blueberry. So culinary artistry that is also fun.

One of the surprising desserts at Brazen, Strawberry Fields, is made with coconut cream, strawberry sorbet, mint oil, and strawberry rhubarb compote, then fashioned like a trompe d’oeil to look like cigarettes in an ash tray © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

“There are no handcuffs on our chefs to develop recipes,” Chef Scott says. He challenges his chefs to try something they never had before, or, conversely, harken back to childhood. “We want the chefs to be intentional about their food creations, have a story, don’t just create a dish, always create with a twist.”

“Our secret advantage is that our staff comes from all over the world – 30 countries are represented. We listen to the flavors from their home.” He encourages his chefs to write a menu from their experience and their colleagues’ past. “Then it is about how they make it their own.”

About the Lions Mane mushrooms which I so enjoyed at Farm & Fire, he says, “Let the food do the work. No more than 5 points on plate.”

*Brazen, in the space that was once a saloon, is one of Banff’s newest restaurants © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There are two special challenges Chef Scott faces: there are more than 60 restaurants within this tiny (walkable) town, and the strict sustainability rules of existing within a national park, especially in stocking the Sky Bistro atop Sulphur Mountain, reached by the Banff Gondola.

“The weight of a product is restricted in the park. We spent 60-70 hours looking at compostable cups. We look at sustainability when purchasing from suppliers. Food waste is composted. We recycle spent cooking oil for fuel. Everything that goes up the mountain has to come down. We have to keep track of the propane tanks.”

*Pursuit Collection operates the Banff Gondola, a major attraction that brings you to marvelous experiences atop Sulphur Mountain © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We get to experience Sky Bistro, quite literally “elevated dining” and not just for the spectacular view (from farm to summit,” Chef Scott says), along with the marvelous ride up the Banff Gondola and the whole series of experiences at the summit.

*Walking the boardwalks between the Banff Gondola and the Cosmic Ray Station atop Sulphur Mountain © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Rising up to 7,486 feet to the Sulphur Mountain summit, the Banff Gondola is Banff’s number one attraction for good reason. It’s not just the incomparable, breathtaking view of six stunning mountain ranges and the sweep of the Bow Valley from the summit, but the delightful eateries including the superb Sky Bistro, engaging exhibits, “Night Rising” (a creative sound-and-light happening), and for me, the chance to scamper down and up a half-mile long boardwalk along the peak to another peak to see the intriguingly named Cosmic Ray Station.

Completed by the National Research Council in 1956 in preparation for International Geophysical Year (1957-58), 66 countries and a dozen scientific disciplines cooperated on the project. There were 99 cosmic ray stations worldwide (nine in Canada) in operation during IGY. But because of Sulphur Mountain’s high elevation (7,486 ft), this one was the most important Canadian station. It was closed in 1978 and the building dismantled in 1981.

The Cosmic Ray station’s purpose was to study the Earth, its atmosphere and the edges of outer space. Cosmic ray research offered the chance to learn about supernovae, the origin of the stars, the relationship between energy and matter and the nature of our own solar system (I wouldn’t be surprised if it also monitored Soviet satellites.) Canada’s was important because Earth’s north magnet pole is in Canada, and the atmosphere is thinnest at higher elevations.

Back inside the state of the art building, there are fascinating exhibits to discover.

*Alpenglow along the mountain ranges that ring Banff © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Justifiably winning the title “best rooftop restaurant in all of Canada” and the accolade, “dining sanctuary in the sky”, Sky Bistro is the most perfect place to dine as the sun is setting. The views are spectacular from the walls of windows inside, but I dash out to the observation areas. It is such perfection that I would bet there are marriage proposals just about every evening, as there is this evening.

*Can’t resist the steak at Sky Bistro © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The culinary experience pairs the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains with a distinctly Canadian menu that features the flavors of Canada through regionally sourced meats, produce and ingredients. (Check out the menu, https://www.banffjaspercollection.com/dining/sky-bistro/our-menu/; also reserve in advance.)

*Dining at Sky Bistro atop the Sulphur Mountain summit, reached by the Banff Gondola © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Sunset © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

At darkness, “Night Rise” takes over – a sound and light show that still is respectful of animals affected by light pollution as well as First Nations peoples who were the original inhabitants – so even the colors have to be appropriate, and it cuts off at a relatively early hour, 10 pm when the gondola closes. There are igloos and fire pits, and sensors that make color and sound based on your own movement.

*“Night Rise” is a nightly event atop Sulphur Mountain © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*The view of Banff from Sulphur Mountain’s summit © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Mount Royal Hotel

Each day and night it is so pleasant to return to the Mount Royal Hotel.

One of the oldest hotels in Banff, a gold plaque outside the Mount Royal hotel says, “established in 1908. Re-imagined in 2018. Always at the heart of this community.”

The hotel was acquired by the Brewsters in 1912. It is delightfully situated so it is walking distance to absolutely everything (including the convenient buses to ski areas and that take you to Lake Louise, 45 minutes away, where private cars are not allowed and there are no lodgings).

The hotel cherishes its history, but actually, what guests experience is brand new from 2018. In the hotel’s museum we learn about the hotel had to be rebuilt twice due to fire – the most recent on Christmas 2016.

*The historic Mount Royal Hotel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The 133-room hotel – its five-stories grandfathered in a town that limits buildings to three – was gut renovated in just 18 months after the fire (no casualties and the guests were immediately accommodated at Pursuit Collection’s other hotel, the 164-room Elk & Avenue; the damage was mainly from the water that froze instantly in minus 20 degree temperature.) First responders, including the man who would become Pursuit’s Executive Chef, Scott Hergott, spent six hours dousing the fire. Scott even went back into the structure to recover a guest’s ring.

We wander through each of the four wings of the hotel: the 1960s wing which was rebuilt after a 1967 fire by WG Milne (see some of those dramatic photos in the 2^nd floor museum); a 1940s wing with works by Banff’s renowned cowboy artist Charlie Biel, who also did the relief outside the building.

The second floor has a delightful, roomy library, a small museum commemorating the Mount Royal’s history, and a place where coffee and tea are served in the morning. (You get an idea of what the Brewsters’ first livery transportation was like by the statuette in the lobby.)

*The Mount Royal Hotel’s two rooftop hot tubs offer stunning views © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The hotel’s 5^th floor offers a lovely, expansive Cascade Lounge (opens at 10 am and at 4 pm serves beer, wine and cocktails), while outside are two hot tubs with gorgeous views of the mountain peaks.

The exterior of the hotel pays homage to its history and heritage as well, and as you walk along Banff Avenue, the town’s first street (designed in 1886 by Superintendent George Stewart), you see many of the original structures.

Befitting a town built on tourism, they really know how to cater to visitors – there are wonderful signs, markers, historic plaques (there are 48) and descriptions (there are 179 sites listed on its Inventory of Historic Resources including 25 Landmarks and Legends) that immerse you in the experience (https://banff.ca/113/History-and-Heritage).

The historic markers not only show respect and preserve the accomplishment of those who came before, but are welcoming and inviting to visitors, getting us to linger longer and appreciate more – mosey into this café, that ice cream shop, this teahouse or that gallery.

They make it easy and pleasant to get around. There is a free skiers bus and in summer, they turn the main street (Banff Avenue) into a pedestrian mall.

*View of Banff from my window in the historic Mount Royal Hotel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Pursuit Collection, part of Viad Corp., is an attractions and hospitality company that offers world-class attractions, distinctive lodges and engaging tours in national parks and renowned global travel destinations, including a growing collection of FlyOver flight ride attractions in Vancouver, Reykjavik, Las Vegas with new ones expected to open in 2024 in Chicago and Toronto (pursuitcollection.com). To book Pursuit Collection’s Banff and Jasper experiences, https://www.banffjaspercollection.com/.

Next: Pioneering Spirit Continues to Inspire Visitors to Banff, Canada

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Pursuit Collection Celebrates a Century of Tourism Enterprise in Banff

July 3, 2023 krubin723

Natalie Wuthrich takes us on an Open Top sightseeing tour of Banff, Canada, in vehicles recreated from the original, one of the many tourism ventures begun by the Brewsters and carried on by Pursuit Collection © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

It wasn’t mining or farming that brought settlers to Banff. It was tourism. Banff was built for tourism. Even before the railroad (built to cajole the western territory to join Canada instead of the United States), even before three railway workers discovered the hot springs that pinpointed Banff as a destination and Canada’s first national park, and before Canadian Pacific Railroad built its world-famous, grand Banff Springs Hotel, this was a gathering place for indigenous peoples for centuries if not millennia.

Travelers, adventurers, pioneers, artists have come under the spell of this place – its majestic scenery, the heady feeling of pure crisp air at altitude – and so have entrepreneurs and innovators.

Banff has attracted adventurers, sportsmen, artists, writers for 150 years. The city, wholly contained within Canada’s first national park, accommodates locals and visitors alike with scenic walking paths and hiking trails © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Two clever young entrepreneurs, the Brewster brothers, were among those visionaries responsible for building Banff – turning a fledgling guide service when they were just teenagers into Banff’s first tour company, then added hotels and bus operations.

Flash forward 100 years, and the long list of tourism enterprises they launched are under the Pursuit Collection umbrella, now part of a U.S.-based company, that stretches well beyond Banff, to Jasper and Watertown; to Glacier National Park in Montana, to Alaska and even to Iceland, including some that the clever brothers never could have imagined – Sky Lagoon, a new geothermal hot pool in Reykjavik, Iceland, and Flyover virtual reality experiences (where you get to sightsee an entire country in a matter of minutes) in Vancouver, Las Vegas, Iceland and soon Chicago and Toronto. And just opened, the Railrider Mountain Coaster – a 3,375-foot mountain coaster at the Golden Skybridge in Golden, B.C. (the first of its kind in Western Canada it is the fastest and largest mountain coaster in Canada).

I get an actual flyover experience as I jet from Toronto across Canada’s vast plains, still blanketed in white snow, to Calgary, Alberta, at the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, to sample many of the Pursuit Collection services that make Banff such a delightful, year-round visitor experience.

I am following an endless stream of visitors to Banff, lured by the spectacular majesty Canada’s Rocky Mountains that 150 years ago competed with the Alps for mountaineers.

My introduction to what the Brewster boys accomplished is the Brewster Express bus service from Calgary International Airport to the Mount Royal Hotel (also Pursuit Collection) in Banff. The service is so efficient – both the agent at the Brewster desk and the driver have my name on a list, and I board a comfortable coach to enjoy the scenic ride that takes 90-120 minutes. “Welcome to Calgary,” the driver rings out cheerily, “the sunniest place in Canada.” We set off after he gives us a safety talk.

I check-in to the Mount Royal Hotel, founded in 1908 as the Banff Hotel, making it one of Banff’s oldest hotels, which the Brewsters acquired in 1912. In fact, the Cascade Hotel, an older hotel, is incorporated into the today’s building with four wings, each representing a different era, that spans the entire block.

*The historic Mount Royal Hotel is walking distance to everything in Banff © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Mount Royal Hotel is perfectly situated, walking distance to everything. The view from my window onto the charming streetscape with the mountain peaks behind takes my breath away. The service is wonderfully friendly, hospitable, with every creature comfort provided – the rooms are even equipped with ear plugs and white noise machine (the hotel is right on the main street which has a lively nightlife).

I arrive before meeting my group of three other travel writers and our Pursuit Collection host, early enough in the afternoon to wander about the small, picturesque village, almost entirely ringed by mountain peaks that seem to flow right into the town.

*View of Banff from the Sulphur Mountain Summit, reached by the Banff Gondola © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The entire town of Banff is set within the national park– Canada’s first and since 1984 also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the boundaries of the park expanded out from the hot springs (now a national historic site) to 2,564 square miles (96 percent wilderness), the town’s boundaries are fixed and buildings are limited to three stories high (except for the Mount Royal, with four stories, which is grandfathered). Probably 95 percent of the town’s population of 8,000-9,000 works in tourism (you have to work in Banff in order to buy a house but do not own the land). So it is so interesting to also have stores and services that are for local, everyday use – the high school is right on Banff Avenue (the main street), a hardware store, a grocery store.

From a summer retreat – people have been coming on the Canadian Pacific Railroad since 1888 – and beginning in the 1930s when the Brewsters developed Sunshine Mountain into a ski center, Banff has become a year-round destination and today, an iconic ski destination with three ski areas within the national park.

Much of how tourism developed here is due to the Canadian Pacific Railroad, which not only created the means for bringing tourists but built the grand Banff Springs Hotel, opening its doors in 1888.

But so much more is due to the work of other pioneers and entrepreneurs: the Brewster brothers, who from a young age (10 and 12), realized that the tourists wanted to be guided for sightseeing, and exploring the wilderness.

Beginning in 1892, the clever lads hired out as guides, becoming the exclusive outfitter for CP Railroad’s guests, then created a sightseeing service which grew into a fleet of 70 horse-drawn “Tally Ho” carriages; then, as automobiles became popular in the 1920s and 1930s, they introduced specially designed open-top touring vehicles (replicas are now used in a new incarnation of the open-top sightseeing tour).

The Brewsters hosted major celebrities – there is a marvelous photo we see later at the Whyte Museum of the Brewsters driving King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in their horse-drawn carriage on the royals’ visit to Banff during their 1939 tour of Canada.

Brewster, which celebrated its 100^th year, was acquired by Viad, a Phoenix-based investment company, which in 2014, put the various tourism services and experiences under one umbrella, rebranded as Pursuit Collection. This includes the Brewster bus service, Open-Top Sightseeing (in Banff, Jasper and Watertown), the Mount Royal Hotel, Elk & Avenue Hotel, the Banff Gondola (most popular attraction in Banff for good reason), and restaurants including the Sky Bistro (atop the gondola), Farm & Fire, and Brazen, and the Lake Minnewanka marina, cruises and snack shop, plus its Columbia ice field glacier tours (summer). Its tourism operations span Montana, Alaska and now Iceland. (You can book all the elements and packages on the website; res agents can give ideas, counsel, and there are sample itineraries, www.pursuitcollection.com)

*One of the Brewster’s specially designed “open-top” touring vehicles of 100 years ago, on view at Banff’s Whyte Museum © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We get a preview of this season’s Open Top Sightseeing tour in the new, custom built vehicles to explore the people, places and moments that have made Banff. The vintage-inspired automobiles have the look and feel of the 1930s—including a fully-open roof (but with modern comforts like USB charging ports) and a guide dressed in period costume.

Our guide for this preview is Natalie Wuthrich, Open Top Touring’s manager, who tells us that they re-created the open top vehicle from Brewster’s original mold, put on top of a Ford 550 base, then stretched (actually putting two chassis together) so they accommodate 19. She adds that each of the three vehicles has its own personality and quirks (like the windshield wiper goes on by itself). We also get a safety talk before she pulls away from the hotel (three emergency exits!).

The 90-minute tours are offered eight times a day in Banff, and four times in Jasper and Watertown. (The vehicles are available for private charter, wedding, corporate transfer, shuttles for shopping loops.)

She plays music to accompany the mood for the story she is telling. We set out to Billie Holiday’s “A Fine Romance.”

We pass Tanglewood House – one of first of Banff’s buildings, which was originally used as a trading post and post office. Today’s owner is a celebrity of sorts – he makes coffee.

She points to a yellow house styled after houses that were literally transported to Banff in the 1930s from 15 miles away in Bancoff, a coal mining town. When the mine shut, they moved 38 houses using trolleys, in 40 days. Originally sold for $50/room ($250 in today’s money), the homes are now worth $1.5 million each – a reflection of how scarce living space is. In order to purchase a house in Banff, which is within the National Park, you need to reside in Banff and work, own a business, or be a spouse of someone who does, and you only lease the land it’s on because the land belongs to the nation.

We pass by the lovely Banff Center for Arts & Creativity, founded in 1933 to promote visual and performing arts, which offers a hotel, fitness center, artist residencies, studios, and hosts the Banff Mountain Film Festival.

Driving passed Tunnel Mountain, we learn there is actually no tunnel in Tunnel Mountain.

“The railway needed to get to Banff, but a mountain was in the way. The engineer planned to blow a tunnel through mountain so that passengers would pop out at Banff Springs Hotel for a ‘wow’ reveal – but it was too dangerous and expensive, so, instead, the railroad used the natural lay of land and followed the river.” But the name stuck, she says, possibly as an insult. (There is a petition to rename Tunnel Mountain to its indigenous name, Sacred Buffalo Mountain, because it has the shape of a sleeping buffalo.)

Tunnel Mountain is a popular hike right from downtown Banff, with the reward of a 360-degree view from the top.

*Canadian Pacific’s Banff Springs Hotel was a critical foundation for tourism to Banff © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We come to the “Castle in the Rockies” – the Banff Springs Hotel. “It was the vision of Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, the general manager of the Canadian Pacific Railroad who was responsible for completing the transcontinental line (in 1885). He built a coast to coast train, but where would the people stay?” in order to experience this magnificent place. (Van Horne designed the hotel and initially, was built backwards, with the better views going to the staff; the originally burned down and was rebuilt in 1914.)

Guests came on the train and stayed at the hotel. Bill and Jim Brewster – their father was a dairy farmer who supplied Banff Springs Hotel – realized the guests needed something else to do, so they started guiding back packers, pack horses, then Tally Ho’s, the horsedrawn carriage. When automobiles became popular in 1920s and 1930s, they devised 12-passenger open-top automobiles, ultimately building a fleet of 60 vehicles.

The Brewsters hosted major celebrities – there is a marvelous photo we see later at the Whyte Museum of the Brewsters driving King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in their horse-drawn carriage on the royals’ visit to Banff during their 1939 tour of Canada.

The music now is “Stompin at the Savoy,” by the “King of Swing” Benny Goodman, who stayed at the hotel in 1933. As a condition of coming, Natalie relates, he required they build a landing strip so he could pilot his own plane there because he refused to take the train. The landing strip still exists, mainly for emergency and is popular with foraging animals.

We stop to take in the breathtaking view of Mount Rundell, Sulphur Mountain and Tunnel Mountain.

Pursuit Collection’s Open Top sightseeing tour re-creates the Brewster’s sightseeing tour first by Tally Ho horse-drawn carriages and then by specially designed automobile © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We drive up to Norquay – one of three ski areas within Banff National Park. One of the oldest ski hills, its 1948 double chair lift still runs (Marilyn Monroe was photographed here during filming of “River of No Return” in 1953). Among the ski jumpers who came for the 1988 Olympics in Calgary who practiced here was “Eddie the Eagle” who didn’t have the money for the lift ticket, Natalie relates as she serves us hot chocolate.

Natalie regales us with stories of the colorful characters who populated and built Banff.

*A toast of hot chocolate on Pursuit Collection’s Open Top sightseeing tour© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Bill Peyto, who was an early park warden (1913-1937), was a recluse and a trapper who collected animals for the zoo. Opened in 1907, the zoo showcased cougars, elk, monkeys, and a polar bear known as “Buddy” was closed in 1937 over concerns over animal cruelty, and is now Banff’s Central Park. On this day, he trapped a lynx, sedated it, and decided to get a drink in the Alberta Bar (where Brazen restaurant is today in the Mount Royal Hotel), with the sedated lynx still wrapped around his neck, until it wasn’t.

We pass the Trading Post, which I recall visiting decades ago. It was established by another of Banff’s important founders, Norman Luxton, who came to Banff in 1902 and earned the nickname “Mr. Banff” for all the ventures he launched. The more I learn about Luxton, the more I admire the man. He seems to have been a mix of P.T. Barnum, Wild Bill Hickok, William Hearst, and Thor Heyerdahl, and I can’t get enough of his story, especially as I explore Banff.

Luxton was a real promoter, possibly picking up a few tips from P.T.Barnum, the famous circus promoter. Natalie relates how Luxton got a black bear orphan cub, ‘Teddy,” which he put outside his Trading Post, as “a sure drawing card for eastern city-slickers looking for a piece of the Wild West.” People, who came from all over the world to see Teddy, would buy salty caramel chocolate treats at the trading post to feed the bear, until a boy, as a prank, laced chocolate with chili peppers that so agitated the bear, the park superintendent had the bear removed (he lived with a hotel keeper in Golden) and banned keeping any wild animal as a pet.

Later, when I visit the Trading Post, I see Luxton’s “Merman” from Fiji– a real homage to Barnum who first exhibited his in 1842- which Luxton probably used in place of the bear as a lure to visitors to the store. Luxton’s ventures also included a newspaper, a theater, a hotel, a museum showcasing First Nations (still operating, a must-see) and boat tours – most still in operation today.

Luxton began the Winter Carnival events in 1917 that helped turn Banff into a snow-sports destination and from 1909-1950, organized the Banff Indian Days, an annual weekend event that brought locals, tourists and First Nations peoples together in Banff.

Pursuit Collection’s website makes it easy to plan a three-day itinerary out of Banff. A Pursuit Pass provides savings up to 40% when you book Banff, Jasper and Golden’s attractions together, including the Banff Gondola, Columbia Icefield Adventure, Golden Skybridge, Open Top Touring, Lake Minnewanka Cruise and Maligne Lake Cruise.

The Columbia Icefield Adventure (which hadn’t yet started for the season when we visit) features the defining geological heart of Jasper National Park. It includes an Ice Explorer Tour on the Athabasca Glacier (a 10,000-year old sheet of ice you can walk on), admission to the glass-floored Skywalk to walk at the cliff’s edge, and return transportation from the Glacier Discovery Centre.

Pursuit Collection has just opened its newest attraction, the Railrider Mountain Coaster – a 3,375-foot mountain coaster at the Golden Skybridge in Golden, B.C., 90 minutes from Banff. The coaster is the first of its kind in Western Canada and is the fastest and largest mountain coaster in Canada.

The Railrider Mountain Coaster races through an old growth forest between Canada’s two highest suspension bridges. It features an up-track that takes riders 1,180 feet up the canyon, before they descend 2,195 feet, reaching speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour. Riders then coast under the lush canopy, around a 360-degree loop, through a 50-foot tunnel and finally shoot out onto a cantilever that extends over the majestic Columbia Valley. The coaster features state-of-the-art technology that allows riders to choose their own level of adventure (www.goldenskybridge.com).

Next: Pursuit Collection Offers Feast for Senses and the Soul in Banff

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Adventure Travel, Biking Tours, Cruising, Cultural travel, Family Travel, International Travel, Outdoors Adventures, Summer Vacations, Where to Go Next

The World is Your Oyster: Summer Vacations with Pizzazz

June 11, 2023 krubin723 1 Comment

*The dramatic reward after a four-day 26-mile trek along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, Peru © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Bucket List Summer Adventures

For those who want to ditch the tame in favor of a series of thrilling experiences you can complete on your summer break, here are trips with pizzazz for you:

1. Central Utah Backcountry Cycling: Central Utah has one of the largest stretches of true backcountry left in the nation. Escape Adventures’ six-day cycling tour goes eastward through contrasting desert scenery and high alpine forests along Utah Highway 12 (one of America’s most scenic highways) to Capitol Reef National Park. (https://escapeadventures.com/tour/utah-escalante-and-capitol-reef-national-park-road-bike-tour/)

2. Yellowstone Ranch Getaway: Get away and give back during a stay at the historic O.T.O. Dude Ranch on the edge of Yellowstone National Park. Montana’s first dude ranch offers classic adventures like hiking, horseback riding, fly-fishing, archery, sport shooting and more, as well as locally inspired cuisine and cozy cabins. Proceeds from every stay go to preservation efforts at the National Register of Historic Places-listed ranch. (https://trueranchcollection.com/yellowstone-pop-up/)

3. Galapagos, Andes + Amazon: Discover the enchanting Galapagos Islands at Scalesia Galapagos Lodge, explore the Amazon Rainforest at Sacha Lodge and experience the Ecuadorian Andes at Hacienda Piman, all in a 15-day tour. Learn about endemic flora and fauna, hike near active volcanoes, paddle tannin-rich blackwater creeks and explore the highlands of the Andes. (https://www.sachalodge.com/programs/#galapagos-programs)

4. Wine + Bike Piedmont: The Langa and Monferrato regions of Piedmont are in one of the most important wine production areas in Italy and received UNESCO World Heritage status in 2014. Tourissimo’s Piedmont Barolo cycling tour takes you into the heart of these regions, over rolling hills covered with vineyards and past ancient castles and hidden hilltop hamlets. (https://www.tourissimo.travel/piedmont-wine-region-cycling-tour)

*The amazement of seeing the Grand Prismatic at Yellowstone National Park* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

5. Jackson Hole Glamping: Fireside Resort offers luxuriously outfitted tiny house rental units designed by Wheelhaus a short distance from Grand Teton National Park, making it the perfect basecamp for summer adventures. Experience whitewater rafting, hiking through the Tetons and revel in the wonder of Yellowstone National Park’s geothermal features. (https://www.firesidejacksonhole.com/)

6. North Cascades Traverse: A new five-day trip from Wildland Trekking combines iconic North Cascades National Park backpacking and a stay at a remote lodge with no road access on Washington’s Lake Chelan. Backpack over alpine passes and through pristine wilderness to the lodge, then hike to views of the Stehekin Valley before returning to civilization by boat. (https://wildlandtrekking.com/trips/stehekin-lodge-backpacking-trip/)

7. Patagonia Fjords Cruise: Book a nine-day voyage through Chilean Patagonia with Adventure Life and set sail among stunning fjords, islands, glaciers, peaks and wildlife. Visit Puerto Cisnes, San Rafael Bay and Glacier, the Gulf of Penas, the isolated village of Puerto Eden, the Strait of Magellan, Tierra del Fuego and the Beagle Channel, ending in Ushuaia, Argentina. (https://www.adventure-life.com/patagonia/cruises/17283/patagonia-chilean-fjords)

*Go whitewater rafting in Big Sky, Montana © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

8. Big Sky Summer Fun: A stay at The Wilson Hotel in Big Sky, Montana, offers proximity to Yellowstone National Park’s natural wonders and wildlife, plus opportunities to hike through shaded forests and wildflower-filled meadows, float or fly fish clear, cool waters, experience the adrenaline rush of lift-served mountain biking. (https://thewilsonhotel.com/)

9. National Parks RV Trip: Blacksford rents fully stocked Mercedes-Benz Sprinter overland adventure vehicles from Winnebago with an all-inclusive pricing model that includes unlimited miles, bedding, kitchen and bath supplies, a free annual pass to the national parks, 24-hour roadside assistance and no generator fees. (https://www.blacksford.com/)

10. Yellowstone Family Rafting and Riding: This three-day whitewater rafting and horseback-riding package from Flying Pig Adventures offers families the opportunity to experience the Yellowstone National Park area like never before. The thrill of witnessing one of nature’s most iconic environments, tackling rough terrain on horseback and running class III rapids cannot be found anywhere else. (https://www.flyingpigrafting.com/3-day-yellowstone-adventure)

Looking for more adventure? Check out the itineraries in the U.S. from REI Adventure Travel (rei.com, 800-622-2236) and G Adventures (gadventures.com, 888-800-4100).

Biking Holidays

Biking trips are my favorite for the combination of experiences they offer: seeing destinations close-hand, most often off-the-beaten track out of busy urban areas; at a pace where you see a lot and do a lot but slow enough to really see and do; where there is a physical and emotional satisfaction having pedaled the distance.

Operators today offer guided tours (ideal for solo travelers) as well as self-guided (where they give you the route, the inns or hotels, and ferry your luggage point to point but you are on your own) all over the world. And don’t be deterred by concern for the distance or the hills – many operators offer e-bikes as an option.

*Bike the scenic Bruges-Amsterdam route and stay on a boat, with Boat Bike Tours © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Boat Bike Tours, based in Amsterdam, (we took their Bruges-Amsterdam tour last summer) offers a selection of itineraries in Holland, but also the region, and in addition to boat-bike trips, have sail-bike trips, and cities and nature tours (US tel.203-814-1249
[email protected], www.boatbiketours.com).

Discovery Bicycle Tours (we took their Maine Coastal trip, and this year their Quebec Eastern Townships) has a long list of cycling vacations in the United States (Idaho Trails tour is one of its most popular), Canada, Europe, Vietnam, Cambodia, New Zealand & Chile including one that is particularly interesting to me, England: Cotswolds & Stonehenge Bike Tour. As we write this, there were still spaces left on Lake Champlain Islands, Empire State Trail, Stowe Bike & Brew Weekend, Minnesota Rail Trails, Washington Cascades Trails, Idaho Trails departures, ([email protected], 800-257-2226, discoverybicycletours.com).

Wilderness Voyageurs (traveled with them on their Mickelson Trail & The Badlands Bike Tour in South Dakota; they’ve introduced tours on New York’s own Empire State Trail bike tour as well as Olympic Peninsula bike tour in Washington State), plus New Mexico, , [email protected], 724.329.1000, 800.272.4141, wilderness-voyageurs.com)

*Biking through Badlands National Park, South Dakota, with Wilderness Voyageurs © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

BikeTours.com specializes in European itineraries, including guided, self-guided, and boat-and-bike tours, with excellent value. Among the more unusual is the UNESCO Sites of Albania (which I took some years ago with an e-bike); active tours like Southern Fyn: A Tour Around Denmark’s Fairytale Island and Pearls of Dalmatia by Bike and Boat, Romantica and leisure tours like Poland’s Masurian Lake District (Upscale Lodging). BikeTours.com is showcasing six 6 and 7-night self-guided bike tours showcasing Europe’s most beautiful vineyards and wine-growing regions: Rioja: Hidden Spain – Land of Wine, Burgundy Wine Trails: Beaune to Macon on the “Voie Verte”; German Rivers, Wines & Cycle Paths by Bike and Boat; Wine & Bike in Hungary’s Balaton Uplands; Croatian Vineyards and Villages of Undiscovered Istria; Tuscan Wine Classic: Pienza to Castellina via Siena. They have also introduced a new series of day trips. (biketours.com, 833-216-0635)

*Biking among UNESCO sites in Albania with BikeTours.com (e-bike option recommended) © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

DuVine Cycling + Adventure Co. is appealing to scholars, curious explorers and lifelong learners on these three bike trips, with every mile imbued with history. Not only do the landscapes of Scotland, Normandy, and the Cotswolds feel frozen-in-time, but each place played a part in shaping the world as we know it—through theaters of war, royal revolutions, ruins of the Roman Empire, and powerful clans and castles. Duvine has an expansive catalog of up-scale bike tours (888 396 5383, duvine.com)

Butterfield & Robinson has always been known for high-end, elegant biking trips. Itineraries include Burgundy Wine Country Biking; Piemonte Wine Country Biking; Chile Wine Country Biking; Vienna to Budapest Wine Country biking; Spanish Wine Country; Tuscany wine Country (seeing a pattern?) (866.551.9090, www.butterfield.com)

Backroads was founded in 1979 by Tom Hale and has been a leading innovator in active and adventure travel every since. Active adventures highlight the special character of each destination. The company offers Biking, Walking & Hiking and Multi-Adventure Tours; Active Ocean & River Cruises, Active Safari, Active Culinary and Snow Adventures; and Dolce Tempo trips for travel at a more relaxed pace. Also Private Trips and Family Trips designed for three distinct age groups: Families with Teens & Kids (best for ages 9+), Families with Older Teens & 20s and Families with Young Adults (backroads.com, 800-462-2848)

Trek Travel is more for hard-core, offering mountain, off-road, gravel trips (Girona, Swiss Alps, Tuscany, Vermont), Ride Camps, and even experience the Women’s Tour de France with VIP race viewings and access to one of the best women’s professional teams, Trek-Segafredo, and get to ride on the route New 3 & 4-day bike tours in places such as San Diego, Santa Barbara and Vermont. Also, self-guided and trips with a boost, e-bike (Croatia, Mallorca Island,Glacier) (trektravel.com, 866-464-8735)

On the Water

Cruising is fun but we prefer cruising with a twist: small ship, river cruises, barges, canal boats, houseboat experiences.

European Waterways, a luxury hotel barge cruising company, offers an immersive and all-inclusive “gentle voyage of discovery” focusing upon the culture, history, fine wine, and gourmet cuisine of the cruise regions in nine countries. With a 6-to-20-person capacity and 1:2 crew ratio, European Waterways cruises inland waterways that are inaccessible to larger vessels. This fascinating network of smaller canals allows for flexibility, spontaneity, and ample opportunity to hop off and explore the beautiful surroundings via bicycle or on foot, plus daily, chauffeured excursions “off the beaten track” to a wide variety of attractions and activities, from wine tastings to private tours of stately homes. 877-879-8808 in the U.S., 1-877-574-3404 in Canada, or visit www.europeanwaterways.com

UnCruise Adventures operates boutique yachts and small boats carrying 22-86 guests on voyages in Alaska, Hawaiian Islands, Mexico’s Sea of Cortés, Columbia & Snake Rivers, Coastal Washington, Galápagos, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, and Colombia. (uncruise.com, 888-642-6745).

You also can’t beat Lindblad Expeditions for expeditionary-style cruising and soft-adventure trips, famous for pioneering Galapagos and Antarctica, Georgia and the Falklands, on its specially designed ships, National Geographic Orion, and National Geographic islander II. (expeditions.com, 888-667-2830).

*GoGalapagos’ cruise aboard the 100-passenger Legend affords a sensational family adventure experience © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

For the most perfect family cruise/travel/adventure experience we have had, set your compass to the Galapagos. Go Galapagos is a cruise and tour operator offering excellent price/quality value for 3, 4, 7 and -night inclusive cruises (two guaranteed weekly departures), You can also combine the cruise with land packages in the Galapagos, in Ecuador, and in Peru. In addition to the 100-passsenger Galapagos Legend, Go Galapagos also has two yacht-style ships, Coral I and Coral II. (www.GoGalapagos.com, 888 50 KLEIN).

*Swimming with sea lions in the Galapagos on the GoGalapagos Legend cruise © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Want to skipper your own yacht, or charter a boat with a captain and crew? Dream Yacht Worldwide, a pioneer in making sailing and sea travel accessible employs more than 600 people in 31 countries and operates in 50 destinations worldwide, with a fleet of more than 900 monohulls and catamarans. Dream Yacht Charter offers one of the most diverse fleets of sailing, yacht and boats, If offers skippered and crewed charters (dreamyachtcharter.com)

*The marvelously scenic and special time-travel experience of sailing one of the historic Maine Windjammers, like the Stephen Tabor, on Penobscot Bay © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Another really special cruise experience is sailing on one of the historic vessels of the Maine Windjammer fleet that sail the Penobscot Bay. Each is distinctive (and on a few occasions during the season (Windjammer Gam – June 12, Great Schooner Race- July 7, Camden Windjammer Festival – Sept 1-2, and WoodenBoat Sail-In – Sept 12, they gather together in scenes that evoke the Great Age of Sail. Each vessel and each cruise is different (many are themed): Windjammer Angelique, Schooner American Eagle, Schooner Grace Bailey, Schooner Heritage, Schooner J. & E. Riggin, Schooner Ladona, Schooner Lewis R. French, Schooner Mary Day, Schooner Stephen Taber ([email protected], www.sailmainecoast.com, 800-807-9463.)

Enjoy cruising at your own pace, exploring the iconic (and calm) Erie Canal, captaining your way through locks, docks, and under lift bridges. Erie Canal Adventures, out of Macedon, NY,provides completely equipped 34 foot Lockmasters, ideal for 1 couple (some prime summer/fall dates available to charter) and 41 and 42 foot Lockmasters that sleep 4-6 people (limited dates available in September). These are set up like a floating houseboat with bedroom, bath/shower, fully equipped galley kitchen, remarkably easy to operate. (www.ErieCanalAdventures.com, 315-986-3011)

*Cruising New York State’s Erie Canal on one of Erie Canal Adventures’ Lockmasters © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Solo Travel

Traveling solo is one of the big trends in travel. Bike tours are an excellent choice (I can attest). So are rafting trips, river, expeditionary, and small-ship cruises and canalboats.

Western River Expeditions suggests rafting itineraries – Grand Canyon, Colorado River, Salmon River – that have proved popular for solo travelers (https://www.westernriver.com, 866-904-1160).

Tour operators are also embracing solo travelers, offering departures that do not add the single supplement, for example, or matching up travel companions. EF Go Ahead Tours (GAT), a premier provider of culturally immersive travel experiences, announced it is introducing four new tours, for a total of 14, to its increasingly popular Solo-Only portfolio. EF Go Ahead Tours, is running its Semi-Annual Sale through June 29: Book a 2023, 2024, or 2025 tour by June 29 to lock in the lowest price and take up to $400 off of the cost of their trip. June 20 and 21, the Summer Solstice Flash Sale will offer Up to $800 off remaining 2023 tours. To make travel even more accessible, EF Go Ahead’s flexible booking policies including AutoPay lets you hold a spot with $99 down and wait 60 days before your first interest-free payment. (www.goaheadtours.com, 800-590-1161).

Skyscanner Savings Generator

Global travel site Skyscanner has launched the new and expanded summer edition of its Savings Generator tool to help travelers save big this summer.

The global travel sitecurrently searches 80 billion prices every day, so Skyscanner’s experts have crunched the numbers to share some simple dos and don’ts for grabbing the best bargain this summer.

Put your desired route into the Savings Generator to see if it’s available. If not, bookmark the page and check back because Skyscanner adds new destinations to the list.

To provide a comparison, the Savings Generator starts by displaying the average monthly flight price for your destination. From there, it shows you the best time to book your flight and the cheapest day to travel on. If you’d like to consider a less-expensive alternative, the Generator displays different destinations, their average monthly flight price for travel, and the best day to go in order to save money. (See more: https://www.skyscanner.com/tips-and-inspiration/best-time-to-book-savings-generator)

*Getting there: Skyscanner has beefed up its* ***Savings Generator to find the best fares for summer travel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com***

Travel the last week of the school summer holidays (instead of the first) and save 31%

To save big this summer, travel on a Sunday (most of the time)!

Travelers who are flexible and can fly on less popular days of the week can save up to 5% on the cost of their flights this July and August according to Skyscanner’s Summer Savings Generator. An added bonus is that airports are likely to be less crowded too. As 73% of Americans share, they would be willing to change the day and/ or week of their summer vacations to save this year, it really pays to do your research by Use Skyscanner’s Whole Month view.

There are still inexpensive deals – just search EVERYWHERE for the very best prices

To let Skyscanner’s algorithm find the cheapest deal, just type in ‘Everywhere’ with your travel dates.

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Arts & Entertainment, Attractions, Cultural travel, Festivals and Events, New York City travel, Staycation, Summer Vacations

Summer in the City: Festivals! Events! Happenings! Make the City Hot, Hot, Hot and Cool Man, Cool

June 3, 2023 krubin723

The iconic Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the anchors of the annual Museum Mile Festival, this year, with eight major museums opening their doors for free admission and special programs, June 13 6-9 pm © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

New York City’s summer cultural season kicks off with the 45^th Annual Museum Mile Festival – the Big Apple’s “biggest block party” –on Tuesday, June 13, from 6 to 9 pm, rain or shine. Walk the mile on Fifth Avenue between 82nd Street and 104th Street while visiting eight of New York City’s finest cultural institutions, open free during these extended hours: The Africa Center, El Museo del Barrio, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, the Jewish Museum, Neue Galerie and the Museum of the City of New York (which is celebrating its 100^th Anniversary this year). It’s an electric, eclectic festive atmosphere, with live music and street performers all along the avenue, plus special exhibitions, works from permanent collections and special family-oriented activities inside.

*The Museum Mile Festival is the Big Apple’s biggest block party, with street entertainment and free admissions to museums © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is also an opportunity to see the major exhibits underway throughout the summer:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Van Gogh’s Cypresses, thru August 27: Vincent van Gogh’s most famous artworks, Wheat Field with Cypresses and The Starry Night, take center stage at Van Gogh’s Cypresses, the first exhibition to focus on the trees immortalized by one of the most beloved artists of our time. Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty thru July 16, highlighting the designer’s body of work spanning from the 1950s to his final collection in 2019, the show will have approximately 150 pieces on display.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: Sarah Sze: Timelapse thru September 10: For this solo exhibition, Sarah Sze created a series of site-specific installations that weave a trail of discovery through multiple spaces of the Guggenheim’s iconic Frank Lloyd Wright building.

100th Anniversary of The Museum of the City of New York: The museum has amassed a collection of over 750,000 objects including photographs, prints, costumes, paintings and more to celebrate, document and interpret the City’s past, present and soon-to-be-announced future. These major exhibits are on view: This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture exhibit explores how the City has served as a muse for storytelling over the past century; through a variety of mediums such as film, music, literature and visual arts, the exhibit presents a diverse and engaging portrayal of NYC. Food in New York: Bigger Than the Plate, thru September 17, highlights the City’s raucous and diverse food culture all while examining the various challenges of NYC’s food systems. From sustainability to equitable access to food, the exhibition explores the ways artists and designers are creating solutions to address the global and local challenges we face when it comes to the food system.

El Museo del Barrio: Something Beautiful: Reframing La Colección, thru March 10, 2024. One of El Museo del Barrio’s most ambitious presentations to date features a complex and culturally diverse permanent collection of 500 artworks, including artist commissions and acquisitions, focusing on the contributions of Amerindian, African and European cultures, through rotating displays over the course of a year.

The Museum Mile Festival is just the first of a whole series of festivals, special events, cultural happenings that make the city hot, hot, hot, or cool man, really cool. Here’s a roundup:

*New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks: priceless music for free © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks, presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, have become an iconic New York summer experience since they began in 1965, transforming parks throughout the city into a patchwork of picnickers enjoying friends, family, and music under the stars, for free! This summer Music Director Jaap van Zweden conducts two iconic masterpieces — Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man — plus a potpourri of overtures by Rossini and J. Strauss II, and works by NY Phil Very Young Composers. June 13, Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx; June 14, Central Park, Manhattan; June 15, Cunningham Park, Queens; June 16, Prospect Park, Brooklyn; – these concerts begin at 8 pm followed by fireworks. Also, June 18, Staten Island at 4 pm. For weather and updates, call Concert Info Hotline at 212-875-5709, https://nyphil.org/

*Picnicking in Central Park, a tradition before the start of the New York Philharmonic concert © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Shakespeare in the Park presents: Hamlet by The Public Theater, Delacorte Theater, Central Park, Manhattan, June 8–August 6, 2023 directed by Tony Award–winner Kenny Leon and featuring Tony Award–nominee Ato Blankson-Wood in the title role. Same-day tickets can be obtained by lining up (early) at The Delacorte or at a borough distribution site (2 tix pp), or by an in-person lottery in the lobby of The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street, or through a digital lottery via the TodayTix mobile app or website. A limited number of advance reservation tickets can be had by making a contribution in support of Free Shakespeare in the Park. Info at 212-967-7555 or visit publictheater.org.

More free Shakespeare! New York Classical theater company is performing Shakespeare’s Richard III, Tuesday through Sunday, 7-9 pm (Central Park West & 103 St., June 13-25); Brooklyn Commons (Myrtle Avenue & Bridge Streets, June 27-July 2) and Carl Schurz Park (East 87^th St., July 4-9). You can also watch the rehearsals taking place in Central Park, 10 am-3:30 pm Tuesdays through Sundays until June 9. (You can also watch the rehearsals taking place in Central Park, 10 am-3:30 pm Tuesdays through Sundays until June 9.) Make a FREE reservation and receive pre-show notice of weather cancellations at https://nyclassical.org/richardiii.

*Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governors Island, NYC with Michael Arenella and his Dreamland Orchestra © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Jazz Age Lawn Party, now celebrating its 18th year, is one of the world’s most authentic Prohibition-era-inspired gathering, taking place this year June 10-11 and August 12-13, on Governor’s Island. Hosted by Michael Arenella and His Dreamland Orchestra, one of the world’s premier Jazz Age dance orchestras, specializing in the Hot Jazz of the 1920s. Featuring Dreamland Follies, a ten-lady Art Deco dance spectacle evoking the great Ziegfeld; Queen Esther; Peter Mintun; Gelber & Manning band; Roddy Caravella and The Canarsie Wobblers, with their scandalous Charleston numbers and rebellious and exuberant spirit of Roaring ‘20s youth. Plus dance lessons, bathing beauty contest. Purchase tickets in advance. Governor’s Island (a getaway destination in itself), reached by ferry from Lower Manhattan (Battery Maritime Building located at 10 South Street, adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry)and Brooklyn. (https://jazzagelawnparty.com/)

Free Summer Programming at Little Island, Chelsea, Manhattan, June 7–September 3: The award-winning public park on the Hudson River Greenway, hosts an array of free programming including performances from Tony-, Grammy-, and Emmy Award–winners and nominees; drag bingo; DJs; dance parties; Teen Night; Broadway performances.

*Free concerts and programs are underway at Little Island, the award-winning oasis off the Hudson River Greenway © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, Brooklyn, June 7–August 24, celebrates its 45th anniversary, with a lineup of artists from around the world honoring the diversity of Brooklyn and the broader BRIC community. This year’s lineup includes Corinne Bailey Rae, Kelela, Liv.e, Robert Glasper, NxWorries (Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge).

Bargemusic free concerts, Saturdays, 4 pm through August, Music in Motion” Series — a one hour performance (no intermission), including a Q & A session with the musicians. Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1; close to the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn (https://www.bargemusic.org/admission-free-concerts/).

Forest Hills Stadium’s 100th Anniversary Concert Lineup, Forest Hills, Queens, thru September 30: music and comedy performances from some of the biggest names in music and entertainment, including The Strokes, Fall Out Boy, Kevin Hart, Steve Lacy, LL Cool J’s Rock The Bells Festival, Duran Duran, Maggie Rogers, Toro y Moi, Weezer, Arctic Monkeys, LCD Soundsystem, Dave Matthews Band.

Carnegie Hall Citywide, Citywide, June 9–August 4: Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the beloved free concert series highlights renowned local artists from an array of musical genres.

SummerStage 2023, Citywide, June 3–September 30: now in its 37th season, hosting free and benefit live performances in 13 parks across the five boroughs from a range of musical genres including salsa, jazz, country, opera, Afrobeats, hip hop. The annual concert series will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with concerts featuring artists from NYC.

Blockbuster Exhibitions

*“Invisible Worlds” at the American Museum of Natural History’s new Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation puts you inside the body’s nerve system* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History: The newly opened $465 million addition to the museum has been hailed internationally as a soaring architectural achievement, and houses world-class research facilities and scientific collections and innovative exhibitions. Admission by timed entry, reserved online. Open daily, 10 am–5:30 pm. American Museum of Natural History,200 Central Park West, 212-769-5606, amnh.org. (See: AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY’S NEW GILDER CENTER IS LIGHTYEARS FORWARD IN IMMERSING, ENGAGING UNDERSTANDING OF THE SECRETS OF LIFE )

*The imaginative architecture of the new Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History sets the tone for the experience that awaits within © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Harry Potter: The Exhibition, Herald Square, Manhattan, opened May 2023 for a limited time: Fans can celebrate Harry Potter and the entire Wizarding World with the most comprehensive touring exhibit in world. Featuring favorite moments, props, costumes, characters, and locations, the exhibition delights visitors with powerful storytelling married with interactive technology to explore iconic film scenes, creatures and characters from the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films as well as the Tony Award–winning Broadway production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Harry Potter™: Tickets (for timed entry, but you can stay as long as you want) start at $29 for adults. 50 W. 34^th Street (34^th Street and Broadway). www.harrypotterexhibition.com. (See: IMMERSIVE WORLD OF HARRY POTTER EXHIBITION ENCHANTS NEW YORK BUT ONLY FOR LIMITED TIME)

*Fans and superfans alike will be ecstatic to be immersed in the newly opened* ***Harry Potter: The Exhibition***, the most comprehensive touring exhibition ever presented on Harry Potter and the entire Wizarding World, is on view in Herald Square in midtown Manhattan but only for a limited time © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Africa Fashion at Brooklyn Museum, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, June 23–October 22 180 works celebrating the global impact of African fashions from the 1950s to present day; 180 works are presented.

Gardens & Works by Ebony G. Patterson at New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx, thru September 17: known for her lavishly detailed mixed media installations, this major site-specific exhibition showcases her breathtaking and provocative displays of art and nature.

Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch at National Museum of the American Indian, Lower Manhattan, through January 1, 2024, examines and celebrate more than 50 years of Shelley Niro’s paintings, photographs, films and more. Filled with humor and references to pop culture, the exhibition offers a glimpse into the artist’s timeless cultural knowledge and generational history of her Six Nations Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community.

New Photography 2023: Kelani Abass, Akinbode Akinbiyi, Yagazie Emezi, Amanda Iheme, Abraham Oghobase, Karl Ohiri, Logo Oluwamuyiw at Museum of Modern Art, Midtown Manhattan, through September 16. The return of its beloved series, New Photography for the first time since 2018, the new exhibition will explore the photographic work of seven artists united by their critical use of photography and their ties to the artistic scene in Lagos, Nigeria. This is also the museum’s first group exhibition in its history engaging in the work of living West African photographers.

Hispanic Society of America,Washington Heights, Manhattan, reopens its Main Building June 2023 after six years of renovations and improvements. Since 1904, the museum has been the home to over 750,000 objects including rare books and masterpieces from Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries.

Armstrong Corona Campus (formerly the Louis Armstrong House),Corona, Queens, Summer 2023, after undergoing a physical and programmatic expansion debuts a new cultural center with an interactive exhibit, archival collections, a 75-seat performance venue and store, all dedicated to celebrating and preserving the life and legacy of the legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong.

Ukrainian Institute of America, Upper East Side, Manhattan, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the art, music and literature of Ukraine and the Ukrainian diaspora, celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2023.

Malibu Barbie Café New York, The Seaport, Manhattan, thru September 15: Barbie fans will be transported to a 1970s Malibu California café filled with the beloved doll’s signature colors and casual, family-friendly fare including Pacific Paradise Pancakes, West Coast Wedge Salad and a California Dreamin’ Club Sandwich, all made by Master Chef finalist Chef Becky Brown. The pop-up will also be complete with photo ops inspired by Malibu Barbie including a life-size doll box, exclusive merchandise and more.

New York City is the epicenter of the art world and not just the famous, prominent, important museums but a plethora of galleries tucked into neighborhoods like The Lower East Side (who would have expected such magnificent art around the corner from the Bowery Mission, where you will also find the New Museum of Contemporary Art), Tribeca, Chelsea and the Meat Packing district under the High Line, and East and West Village. You get to experience the works of artists who should be displayed in the major museums, and perhaps will be. David Barnett’s “Collectomania” is on view at Ivy Brown Gallery through June 6 (artist talk on June 6, 6-8 pm) © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Under Cover: J.C. Leyendecker and American Masculinity at New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, Upper West Side, Manhattan, thru August 13 explores the work of J.C. Leyendecker, a prominent American illustrator, and his influence on shaping ideals of masculinity in the early 20th century. Through a collection of his iconic magazine covers, the exhibit examines Leyendecker’s depictions of stylish, confident and athletic men, highlighting their impact on shaping cultural perceptions of masculinity during that time.

Craft Front & Center: Exploring the Permanent Collection at Museum of Arts and Design, Columbus Circle, Manhattan, thru January 14, 2024, featuring a collection of over 3,500 objects, as well as a fresh installation of more than 60 historic works and new acquisitions dating from the golden age of the American Craft movement to the present day.

Yayoi Kusama: I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers at David Zwirner Gallery, Chelsea, Manhattan, thru July 21: In one of her largest gallery exhibitions to date, celebrated contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama features new paintings, sculptures, flowers, and an Infinity Mirrored Room.

Collections of Culture: 50 Years of Hip Hop Inside Libraries, Museums and Archives at Queens Public Library, Flushing, Queens, thru August 21, a celebration hosting an array of in-person and lived-streamed programs.

Oceanic, Portal at Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, Soho, Manhattan, thru August 13, through various mediums and perspectives, the exhibit invites viewers to contemplate the fluidity, liberation and transformative power represented by the vastness of the ocean and its connection to LGBTQ+ identities.

Vulnerable Landscapes at Staten Island Museum, Randall Manor, Staten Island, thru December 30, highlights the Staten Island shorelines at the forefront of climate change in NYC, examining the past while navigating the route forward.

Darrel Ellis: Regeneration at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, South Bronx, thru September 10, the first comprehensive, scholarly survey of pioneering artist Darrel Ellis, the exhibition highlights Ellis’s body of work that combines painting, printmaking, photography and drawing before his untimely passing in 1992, co-organized by The Baltimore Museum of Art,

Uniquely NYC Tours

Brooklyn Chocolate Tour – A Slice of Brooklyn Bus Tours, Brooklyn: Enjoy chocolates from some of the finest traditional and artisanal chocolates out of Brooklyn on this recently resumed tour. Guests can learn more about the history of chocolate and watch demonstrations as they explore many of the borough’s most beloved chocolate shops, including the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, The Chocolate Room, Raaka Chocolate and Li-Lac Chocolates.

Sustainable Harlem – Like a Local Tours, Harlem, Manhattan: support hyper-local and community-based organizations in the historic neighborhood of Harlem with this socially impactful tour. Guests will learn about many of the sustainable movements within Harlem and the people behind them such as the New York Fair Trade Coalition at the Sustainable Fashion Community Center, Simone from Green and Blue Eco Care and more.

Culinary Tour in Washington Heights – MAD Tours & Events, Washington Heights, Manhattan: Explore this culturally rich neighborhood (featured in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights”) on a special food tour. Known as one of Manhattan’s Latino hubs, Washington Heights is home to some of the City’s best Dominican, Mexican, and Cuban food.

Food Cart Tour: Jackson Heights – Turnstile Tours, Jackson Heights, Queens: Explore many of the local flavors in one of the City’s most diverse neighborhoods right in the heart of Queens on a two-hour walking and tasting tour. Sample delicious favorites from around the world while learning more about the people and organizations helping the City’s street vendors continue to thrive.

Retail Store Tours, Brooklyn & Manhattan: Explore the driving forces changing the retail landscape and the best of retail innovation in this two-hour tour led by industry professionals.

*The Alice Austen House,Staten Island © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

New York City Borough Pass, Citywide: a new sightseeing pass designed to showcase the beauty of the neighborhoods and cultures across all five boroughs. The pass features a diverse roster of popular attractions, museums, performing arts venues, including the Alice Austen House Museum, MoMA PS1, New York Botanical Garden, Van Cortlandt House Museum, Staten Island Children’s Museum.

The Go City Pass for New York City offers 100 different options in all five boroughs. For example, the two-day all inclusive pass, giving access to as much as you want/can do from among 105 attractions is $134 – regardless of how much the actual attractions charge (GoCity.com, 800 887 9103).

During US Open Fan Week, which takes lace the week before the US Open Tennis starts, you get to watch the qualifiers, as well as a front-row seat to watch tennis stars, like Nadel, working out © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The grand finale to New York’s summer sensations: US Open Tennis Championships, Corona, Queens, August 28–September 10: It begins with US Open Fan Week, August 23-28, when the grounds are open to the public with free admission, so you can watch the (thrilling) US Open Qualifying Tournament, watch open practices of the tennis stars, and additional scheduled exhibitions. This year, there is the first ever US Open Food Event Thursday August 25, 2022, 7pm-9pm; special appearances by athletes like former Top 5 ATP Player James Blake, and entertainment. (https://www.usopen.org/)

For more New York City visitor information, visit https://www.nycgo.com/

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© 2023 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/KarenBRubin

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