By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Honoring the 50^th anniversary assassination of President John F. Kennedy this November, the JFK Museum Foundation in Hyannis has opened a special exhibit, "Cape Cod: The Summer of 1963 to Nov. 22, 1963," which looks back on the president’s final months on the Cape.

"From the joyful 1963 summer memories of the President and his family, to the palpable fog of grief that settled over Cape Cod after his death, this exhibit will remind us how truly special those Camelot days were," said Rebecca Pierce-Merrick, museum curator, "and how one day in history changed it forever." The exhibit uses photos, videos, wall displays and news clips to tell the story of JFK’s last months on the Cape, where the Kennedy family spent much of that summer, including time spent mourning the death of their third child, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, who died when he was two days old. Special new videos produced by documentary film producer and Kennedy family videographer Andrew Fone are part of the exhibit.

For more information, visit www.jfkhyannismuseum.org

MBTA service from Boston to Cape Cod begins Friday when the new CapeFlyer will depart South Station, with stops in Braintree, Middleborough, and Buzzard’s Bay, before arriving in Hyannis. The specially-outfitted coach will run weekends this summer through Labor Day.

“Working closely with our partners in the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority, we are thrilled to bring rail service back to Cape Cod to help more people experience the beauty and fun of the Cape while getting there quicker and in a more enjoyable way,” MBTA general manager Dr. Beverly Scott said.

The train service is a welcome option to avoiding notable summertime Cape Cod traffic. According to the MBTA, weekend inbound traffic over the Sagamore and Bourne bridges during July and August averaged nearly a quarter-million vehicles during a typical summer weekend in 2012. Friday’s 5:12 p.m. departure from Boston is scheduled to arrive in Hyannis at 7:50 p.m. Saturday and Sunday service will depart South Station at 8 a.m. and arrive in Hyannis at 10:18 a.m. Bus service will be available at the destination, as well as free shuttle service to the nearby Hyannis docks with ferry service to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.

The coach will include concessions and bar service (following the Middleborough stop) on the Friday night trip. Bike racks will also be available. A round-trip ticket from Boston will run $35 ($20 one way).

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

AAA Southern New England can design trips for members just about anywhere, but in the interest of saving money and patronizing businesses in its own area, is also keen on creating trips closer to home, officials there say. One of them is “The City Get-Away Boston,” where you can spend the night at the Revere Hotel in the Hub’s theater district, eat at Four Diamond-ranked Asana at the chef’s table, go to Fenway Park for a ball game and get 10-percent off at the team store. You can also hit Huntington Theatre for a $5 discount per ticket or get $10 off at Blue Man Group.

Further south is the “Family Friendly Resort Cape Cod” offering, with a stay at Four Diamond-ranked Wequasset Resort & Golf Club, dinner at the resort’s twenty-eight Atlantic, and a whale-watching trip with Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch, where AAA members get discounts. There is also the “Ultimate Luxury Beach Vacation Rhode Island,” with a stay at Five Diamond Ocean House (a giant hotel on the bluffs that was rebuilt in place of the original one that stood for many years, and using more than 5,000 artifacts and furnishing elements from the original), dinner at the hotel’s Four Diamond Seasons restaurant, and theater at the nearby Theatre By the Sea, a classic barn theater that in its glory years saw the likes of Marlon Brando and Mae West tread the boards there, and where AAA members get 10-percent off select performances this summer.

For all info, check out www.southernnewengland.aaa.com

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

You don’t have to wait for the summer heat anymore to find things to do in Nantucket. Though things ramp up mostly after Memorial Day, and certainly by July 4, the island has a variety of early-season offerings, and hotels and inns with deals to take advantage of them.

One popular event is the Nantucket Wine Festival, marking its 17^th year May 15-19, with a schedule of special events such as celebrity chef cooking demos, tastings, seminars, symposia, auctions and a charity gala. For full event schedule and pricing, visit www.nantucketwinefestival.com

The White Elephant is hosting many of the festival events, including the Grand Tastings and Harbor Gala, the former featuring more than 150 wineries from around the world. The gala is the festival’s signature event with 40 stations of dishes prepared by the country’s best chefs, which, naturally, are paired with appropriate wines. The White Elephant and sister properties, White Elephant Village and The Wauwinet, are offering weekend packages including stays, event tickets, dinners at Brant Point Grill and Topper’s, as well as brunches. Rates start at $500 a night. For info, check out www.nantucketislandresorts.com

At Harborview Place, offered by Beautiful Places villa rentals, stay three or more nights in a one- to three-bedroom residence and get a wine festival package with access to a variety of events, including the tasting, VIP party, auction, Friday night supper club and breakfast on the harbor. Visit www.beautiful-places.com/location/massachusetts for information.

Orla and Michael LaScola, owners of American Seasons, are partnering again with West Coast wineries such as Donelan Family Wines and Flowers Winery to host seminars and dinners highlighting domestic wines paired with LaScola’s take on American dishes. For information on the events at the restaurant, visit www.americanseasons.com

If you have flexible travel plans, the antique inn Century House celebrates its 180^th anniversary this year by offering a weeknight stay in a queen room for $180 plus tax and service during select dates in May and June, based on last-minute availability. There is no online booking for this deal: Call 508-228-0530 on the preceding Saturday or Sunday to secure a stay the following Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday night. You can also combine the special with multiple week-night stays at standard rates. And you can help celebrate innkeepers JeanEllen Heron and Gerry Connick’s 30^th anniversary running the inn. Connick’s famous and massive berry breakfast alone is worth the stay.

The next month, the spring version of Nantucket Restaurant Week runs June 2-9 (another runs in the fall), with a variety of restaurants participating, including American Seasons, where they offer three-course dinners from $25-$45. For a full listing, visit www.nantucketrestaurantweek.com Writers have long been drawn to the island, including historic scribes like James Fenimore Cooper and Edgar Allen Poe, and modern authors such as Nathaniel Philbrick. The 2nd Annual Nantucket Book Festival runs June 21-23, with panel discussions, interactive readings for adults and kids, and “Authors in Bars” events giving festival goers a chance to personally toast their favorite writers. A roster of more than 20 notable American writers are expected, among them Philbrick, Paul Hendrickson and Lois Lowry. The Brant Point Grill at the White Elephant, the event’s host hotel, will host the weekend’s closing brunch June 23 with Alice Hoffman, author of more than 20 novels including “Here on Earth,” an Oprah’s Book Club choice. Other events include breakfast receptions with authors Ann Leary and Amy Brill, and a pig roast at Cisco Brewery. Check it all out at www.nantucketbookfestival.org

And lest we not forget the island’s nautical roots, the Egan Maritime Institute will hold “Red, Right, Returning: Present Day United States Coast Guard Lifesaving Procedures and Boat Safety” at the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum, May 23-Oct. 14. The outdoor exhibit features present day Coast Guard lifesaving procedures, guide to boat safety and a recreational four-person life raft for anyone to try out on dry land. Back by popular demand is last year’s exhibit, “Guiding Lights: Nantucket’s Lighthouses, Keepers and Their Families,” that includes hands-on activities.  Visit www.eganmaritime.org for more information.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Ciclismo Classico in Arlington, an outfitter of cycling vacations around the globe, said its "Bike Across France" tour was named a National Geographic Traveler's "50 Tours of a Lifetime" and will be featured in the May issue. The "50 Tours of a Lifetime" are the magazine's selection of the most authentic, innovative, immersive, best-guided, and sustainable tours in the world, said Norie Quintos, NatGeo Traveler's executive editor.

New for 2013, Bike Across France explores three regions of France: Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrenees and Languedoc-Roussillion, where participants check out castles, stone villages, wine, ancient art, prehistoric sites, and provincial cuisine on a 10-day cycling escapade. Founded in 1988, Ciclismo Classico has earned awards from Outside and National Geographic Traveler and mentions in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Bicycling, CNN.com and Forbes.

For more information or to book a tour, visit www.ciclismoclassico.com call 800-866-7314.

By Necee Regis, Globe Correspondent

Here’s a good reason to hope the weather remains cool: The Harbor Hotel is offering a Pay the Temperature promotion. Daily room rates will be based on the Provincetown temperature at 2 p.m., as reported by the National Weather Service on the day of check-in. With an average temperature in April of 55 degrees, this deal could save you a bundle off the Harbor’s posted spring rates (from $99). This promotion cannot be booked online, is based on availability, and stay must be completed by May 20. Guests will be charged a $50 non-refundable deposit.  855-447-8696, www.harborhotelptown.com

By Jan Shepherd, Globe Correspondent

The Worcester Center for Crafts "Pottery Invitational" is an annual rite of spring for contemporary crafts collectors. Curated by potters Hayne Bayless of Connecticut and Hannah Niswonger of Massachusetts, the April 5-7 Show and Sale celebrates 21 top New England artists working in a variety of clays, techniques and styles. Serious and wannabe collectors know to head to Friday's opening reception (5:30-8:30 p.m.) in order to get first dibs on one-of-a-kind and other new work. The sale continues Saturday (10 a.m.-6 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.-5 p.m.) and includes pottery demonstrations and a "Five Buck Cup Raffle" to benefit the center. Admission is free. WCC is at 25 Sagamore Road, Worcester. 508-752-8183. www.worcester.edu/wcc

Pottery by Kristen Kieffer

By Kari Bodnarchuk, Globe Correspondent

See some of the most remarkable “dream” cars ever made, from a 1927 LaSalle to the futuristic Terrafugia flying car, during the Heritage Museums and Gardens exhibit “Driving Our Dreams: Imagination in Motion” in Sandwich. Fifteen concept cars, drawn from museums and private collections nationwide, will be on display April 13 through Oct. 27. Get up close to an Infinium solar-powered car, a 1956 Firebird II, and the 1963 personal Corvette of Harley Earl, a pioneer in auto design and the father of the Corvette. Design and test your own concept car in the Family Discovery Room, and attend talks by leaders in the automobile industry. Adults $15, children ages 3-12 $7, 2 and under free. 508-888-3300, www.heritagemuseumsandgardens.org

By Kari Bodnarchuk, Globe Correspondent

Take a long weekend and explore the Johnny Appleseed Trail in Central Massachusetts and the upper Connecticut River Valley on the Mass BikePike Tour, Aug. 1-4. Choose from a shorter (25- to 45-mile) or longer (45- to 70-mile) route and receive full support along the way. Go on an optional adventure to Swanzey, N.H., to celebrate the Cheshire Fair’s 75th anniversary, and hang out around the campfire each night to refuel with s’mores. Camp out (bring your tent or pay for a luxury camp setup) or arrange your own accommodations. Registration of $416.49 includes breakfasts, dinners, support, and more. Round-trip transportation from Boston to Fitchburg, the start and end point, runs $50. 617-710-1832, www.massbikepike.org

By Necee Regis, Globe correspondent

Take advantage of preseason rates and start dreaming about the beach. Nantucket’s retro-chic hotels, The Veranda House and Chapman House, are offering Countdown to Summer 3-2-1 packages (May 19-June 27). Includes two complimentary round-trip passes on the Steamship Authority’s Fast Ferry service from Hyannis (valued at $138) for a three-night stay, and one complimentary pass for a two-night stay. Rates start at $199 midweek and $249 on the weekends at The Veranda House, and $169 midweek and $209 weekends at Chapman House. Both offer a complimentary morning meal, free Wi-Fi, and afternoon chocolate chip cookies.  877-228-0695, www.theverandahouse.com

By Necee Regis, Globe Correspondent

The Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival hosts its 13th annual event (March 15-17) at the Chilmark Community Center with films from the festival circuit as well as shorts and features with local appeal. Watch movies on comfy couches in the “community living room” outfitted with state-of-the-art projection and sound. Stay for post-screening discussions with filmmakers and others. Events include live music hosted by the Hay Cafe and a daily feast prepared by chef Chris Fischer. Tickets $15, members $7. Couch seating add $5. Weekend pass $150. 508-645-9599, www.tmvff.org. The Harbor View Hotel & Resort in Edgartown is offering a Martha’s Vineyard Movie Escape package, including two-night stay (March15-16) and two all-access festival passes, $479, with reserved couch seating $679.  800-225-6005, www.harbor-view.com

By Paul Kandarian, Globe Correspondent 

Harmless or careless?

There’s a furor brewing in Truro, where some Cape Cod residents aren’t pleased with the town’s depiction of a smiling shark on this year’s beach sticker, arguing that the image downplays the recent fears of sharks swimming along the shore during the summer months.

According to the Cape Cod Times, the sticker won unanimous approval from the town beach commission.

Kelly Clark, director of the town's recreation and beach department, told the Times that she was concerned about the repercussions of taking the Cape’s shark issues too lightly, but was essentially told to “lighten up.”

Truro boasts four beaches, all which require a parking sticker, which can be purchased $15 a season for residents.

More at the Cape Cod Times web site.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Where there had only been one each year in the past, there will be three grand prizes available at the 10th annual AAA Travel Marketplace, March 1-3 at the Putnam Club in Gillette Stadium in Foxborough: All-inclusive vacation packages for two to Italy, Ireland or Bermuda. And given that roughly 17,000 people attend the travel show each year, the odds of winning would seem much better than with the state lottery, said Carl Richardson,travel center director for AAA Southern New England.

To enter, those attending the travel show need only fill out an exit survey when they leave, he said, adding that “given that not everyone does, the odds of winning are even better.” The show is the largest travel booking show in New England, he said, and expects roughly 100 booths to be at the event, many from New England and the northeast, a change from the first years of the show when the focus was mainly tours and cruises.

Admission is $5 at the door for AAA members, or $3 for advance sales on line or through an AAA branch, and $10 and $8 respectively for non-members. For information, visit www.southernnewengland.aaa.com/sne/marketplace

By Kari Bodnarchuk, Globe correspondent

Get info on 12 local ski areas through a website and online planner launched by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism. The site provides locations, short descriptions, cool tips, ski conditions, and social media updates for a dozen areas: Berkshire East, Blandford, Blue Hills, Bousquet, Bradford, Catamount, Jiminy Peak, Nashoba Valley, Otis Ridge, Ski Butternut, Ski Ward, and Wachusett. It also lists notable sites nearby that may appeal to nonskiers, from museums to restaurants. http://massvacation.com/skilocal

By Necee Regis, Globe Correspondent

It might be snowing outside, but Zoar Outdoors gets you into the water with six indoor kayak clinics. Designed for novice to intermediate paddlers, C-1ers, and OC-1ers, classes cover the execution of basic skills such as strokes, leans, and braces. American Canoe Association certified instructors also teach the basics of rolling a kayak, from hip snaps to paddle motions to a full-blown Eskimo roll. Experienced rollers work on improving technique, flipping without setting up, learning an offside roll, hand roll, and other variations. Zoar supplies boats, paddles, life jackets, helmets, and wet suits, but you may bring your own. Boys and Girls Club of Greater Westfield, Feb. 2, 9, 16, Hockomock Area YMCA in Franklin, April 6, 13, 20. 6-8 p.m. $80.  800-532-7483, www.kayaklesson.com/winter_rolling.htm

By Patricia Harris and David Lyon
Globe Correspondents

If the journey along the Wine & Cheese trail in central Massachusetts described in the October 21 Travel section has inspired you to check out the state's wineries and cheesemakers, you might want to purchase a $2 Massachusetts Wine Passport at one of the participating wineries. The 19 wineries in the Passport cover the state from the tip of Cape Cod to the southern Berkshires and produce a range of grape and fruit wines. Once you have had your passport ''stamped'' at 15 wineries you will be eligible to enter a January drawing for the grand prize of 15 cases of wine.

For more information, see masswinery.com and massvacation.com/pdf/winecheese.pdf.

Jenn Samek-Lutkus of Hardwick Vineyard and Winery holds a Massachusetts Wine Passport. (Photo by David Lyon for the Boston Globe)

By Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

It might be a rainy weekend, but a little drizzle isn't putting a damper on the foliage in central Massachusetts, as we discovered on Friday driving around in the towns just east of the Quabbin Reservoir. In fact, this llama seemed to think the foliage looked good enough to eat, as he pruned some low-hanging limbs.

Photo by Patricia Harris for the Boston Globe

Three New England campgrounds will play host to the inaugural Jimmy Fund Campout, Sept. 14-16, to support adult and pediatric cancer care and research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The weekend will feature a scavenger hunt, and other outdoor activities.

Prices for the campout vary dependent upon your destination. Bayley's Camping Resort in Scarborough, Maine, Danforth Bay Camping Resort in Freedom, N.H., and Normandy Farms Campground in Foxborough are the three campgrounds hosting the event.

For more information, to register, visit www.jimmyfundcampout.org, email JFCampout@dfci.harvard.edu, or call 800-525-4669. For a limited time, use discount code FALLFUN at checkout to receive $10 off your registration.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

State tourism folks have issued the 4th annual MassJazz Travel Guide, a free publication highlighting all-things jazz in festivals, outdoor shows and courses around the state this summer and fall. The 40-page booklet can be had at jazz clubs, hotels, restaurants and college campuses, as well as visitor kiosks around the state. It lists hundreds of jazz events through November, and has stories of local jazz musicians, jazz studies at colleges, and listings of live jazz in many venues. Upcoming events include the Berkshire Getaway Jazz Weekend Sept. 14-16,2nd Annual Merrimack Valley Jazz Festival Aug. 10-11, and Holyoke Latin Jazz Festival Oct. 13. Big jazz names playing the state include Chick Corea, Arturo Sandoval, Chris Botti, Gary Burton, Johnny Mathis and others.

The final link to the historic Lincoln Park was demolished Wednesday, when wrecking crews began to tear down the wooden "Comet" roller coaster which had graced the Dartmouth grounds since the 1940's. Lincoln Park may have closed 25 years ago, but it was still a nostalgic moment for those of us who frequented the park in our youth.

Here's a look at the park in happier times, accompanied by "Walk Right In," the song that would greet guests at the gate.

This sale continues this summer's trend of deals with tightly limited dates and destinations. For this one you must book by midnight for travel July 9 -  Oct. 3. Blackout dates include Aug. 29, Sept. 5, and other restrictions vary by route. Here are some sample one-way fares from Boston: $50 to Buffalo, N.Y.; $59 to Newark, N.J.; $66 to Nantucket; $85 to Washington, DC (Dulles); $110 to Raleigh-Durham, NC; $120 to Tampa; $130 to Ft. Myers; $143 to Bermuda; $160 to Phoenix; $174 to Santiago; and $223 to Aruba.

By Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

The exhibition of photographs by Annie Leibovitz at the Concord Museum is simply called ''Pilgrimage.'' It's an apt title. It turns out that Leibovitz, perhaps the best known portrait photographer of our era, is a model for traveling with imagination and curiosity.

She took these environmental photographs as part of a several-year-long self-assignment to visit places that held a particular interest for her. By and large, they were spots associated with major artists, thinkers, and public figures – Elvis Presley's Graceland, Virginia Woolf's desk in the ''room of one's own with a lock on the door,'' and Ghost Ranch studio in New Mexico, where Georgia O'Keeffe and her landscapes became one.

The individual pilgrimages of the title may have been a checklist of what Leibovitz called ''crazy places,'' but they were ultimately only points of departure.

Once Leibovitz arrived, she followed strings of associations wherever they would lead her. Concord is a good case in point. She came to photograph the site of Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond. Finding a pile of rocks, she discovered more palpable Thoreau artifacts at the Concord Museum--where she became fascinated with Ralph Waldo Emerson's books. Being in Concord led her to Orchard House, where she became captivated by the Alcotts. ''Ultimately,'' she said during a recent press walk through the exhibition, ''I had to get out of Concord. You could do a whole book here!''

Leibovitz's joy in discovering and embracing the unexpected is a good lesson for all travelers, even those of us who will never capture the piquancy of O'Keeffe's box of homemade pastels in all the shades of her beloved desert. But studying the photos can teach us how to look more closely--even if not through a camera viewfinder--to identify the fleeting but wondrous experience that links us across time to the people who drew us to a place. Leibovitz, for example, was ''enamored'' of Emerson's wall of books. ''It fits so many minds in the town,'' she observed.

The exhibition of ''Pilgrimage'' is a collaboration between the Concord Museum (200 Lexington Rd., Concord, 978-369-9763, www.concordmuseum.org) and Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House (399 Lexington Rd., Concord, 978-369-4118, www.louisamayalcott,org). It is on view at the Concord Museum through September 23.

Photo by David Lyon for the Boston Globe

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

 The Doubletree by Hilton "Little Things Project" hits Boston Friday, a pop-up experience at the Pru Center from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. that brings travelers "little things" they said would make travel better. The hotel chain asked, through social media, what little things would make traveler's experiences brighter. Based on about 5,000 responses, Doubletree by Hilton reps are hitting the road for a year-round, 50-city tour to share some of the findings. Surprise stops to deserving community groups and charities are also planned along the route.

The Hub experience is marked by what hotel officials called a landmark "Tell Me Tree," a respite where anyone can enjoy a variety of little things experiences and giveaways the social-media survey said people would like, including local deals and offers. In Boston, that will provide more than 1,300 exclusive deals, hotel officials said, such as "Duck Bucks," discounts for Boston Duck Tours; 20 percent discounts at DoubleTree Suites by Hilton for food and beverages; chocolate chip cookies, for which DoubleTree is famous; free WiFi at the lounge the hotel is setting up at the Pru; and a "power bar" for recharging your electronic gear.

Little Things Project ambassadors will also be driving a "Swarm Car" throughout the city Friday asking travelers via Twitter what little things would make their day better and surprising some by fulfilling requests, like giving away umbrellas in the rain, free shirts or free cab rides to the airport. Consumers can tweet to @DoubleTree with requests using #LittleThings for the Swarm Car to turn their requests into reality.
 
At the DoubleTree by Hilton Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Doubletree, people can enter a sweepstakes to win instant prizes and a $25,000 vacation. Check it all out at www.twitter.com/doubletree and at YouTube at www.youtube.com/doubletreehotels

A pair of New England thrill rides found their way onto Complex's wide-ranging list of the 50 best roller coasters in the world.

Coming in at No. 44 was the "Boulder Dash" at Lake Compounce, in Bristol, Conn., a wooden coaster that was designed based on its natural surroundings. Agawam's Six Flags New England's "Bizarro" came in at impressive No. 12 with a 221-foot drop that takes riders down on a 70-degree angle.

Complex's No. 1 roller coaster was the Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, N.J., a ride which is the world's tallest coaster at 456, has the longest drop (418 feet) and goes from 0 to 128 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds.

You can check out each of the coasters below from an armchair perspective.

Boulder Dash

Bizarro

Kingda Ka