By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

The Fairmont Copley Plaza, fresh off a $20 million renovation and restoration project as part of its centennial celebration, is offering some family packages for those looking to spend summer close to home. One is the Museum of Science Family Package, with rates starting at $239, and include accommodations for four and four tickets to the museum (two adults, two children).

The hotel's Call of the Wild Package, with rates kicking off at $339, partners with the Franklin Park Zoo, and includes two tickets to the zoo, accommodations in a newly renovated guest room and one Zookeeper Level Zoodoption, which awards a certificate of "adoption" of an animal in the zoo. And speaking of animals, but not in the literal sense, the Just Ducky Package revolves around Boston's famous Duck Tour, a package that starts at $319 and includes overnight stay at the hotel and four Duck Tour tickets. The Children's Museum package, starting at $219, includes accommodations and passes to the Boston Children's Museum for two adults and one child.

For information and specific pricing on all Fairmont Copley deals, visit www.fairmont.com/copleyplaza or call 800-441-1414.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Daily ferry service from Boston's Long Wharf to the Boston Harbor Islands has resumed for the summer season. For $15 per adult ticket, visitors can ferry to Georges and Spectacle islands via seven round-trip rides a day, to hang out on the beach, have a picnic or hike nature trails. Service starts at 9:30 a.m., with a total of seven different departures throughout the day, 75 minutes apart. The last return trip arrives at Long Wharf in downtown Boston at 5:55 p.m.

Boats depart from Boston's Long Wharft North, next to the Long Wharf Marriott, adjacent to Christopher Columbus Park. Nearest T station is the Aquarium stop. For more information, visit www.bostonharborislands.org

Photo of picnickers on Georges Island by Jessey Dearing for The Boston Globe

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Two inns in Bradford, N.H., are teaming up to offer a "Hiking N.H." deal this summer. The package from the Rosewood Country Inn and Candelite Inn, offers four nights lodging (two nights in each inn), two dinners (one at each), four breakfasts, two backpack lunches, a gourmet picnic, a Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge-Greenway trailguide, admission to the Fells Historic Estate in Gardens in Newbury, and a yoga session, for $409 per person, not including tax and tips.

The package runs four times: June 10-14, July 8-12, Aug. 19-23 and Sept. 16-20. To reserve, call the Candlelite Inn at 603-938-5571 or email candleite@mcttelecom.com

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Quahog, R.I., does not exist in real life. It thrives on TV, however, as the fictitious hometown of the dysfunctionally funny family Griffin in the hit animated Fox series, "Family Guy," created by R.I. native Seth McFarlane in 1998.

The fake Quahog -- and real Rhode Island -- gets its tourism due May 5, when the ninth annual Tour Rhode Island rolls out on more than a dozen buses jammed with people eager to learn more about the nation's smallest state, a very popular annual event that sells out quickly, state tourism officials said.

There are 15 tours in all this year, including the return of, by popular demand, "The Family Guy Tour," which includes more than a dozen sites in Pawtucket, Providence, Johnston, and Cranston that are known, or are suspected to have inspired the Emmy-winning series. There will also be a "Family Guy'' celebration lunch at Walt's Roast Beef on Airport Road in Warwick, where a "Family Guy'' version of Trivial Pursuit will be played.

The Tour Rhode Island lineup, other than the Family Guy trek, will take people all over the literal Rhode Island map, with things like "Rhode Island Myths & Mysteries: Shades of Revolutionaries and Romantics," "Hidden Gems of the Blackstone Valley" and "Geocaching Adventure: A Treasure Hunt for Grownups."

New this year is "Independence Trail and Taste of Rhode Island," a three-mile walk that takes in more than four centuries of state history. The one-year-old Providence Independence Trail celebrates its first birthday with its founder, Robert Burke, who is the tour's host and guide, showing tour takers key spots in state history, including where the first shot was fired against English rule in Rhode Island and the spot where President Lincoln spoke.

There are also tours this year for the more physically active, including kayaking the Blackstone River, hiking land-trust trails and bicycling the East Bay Bike Path.

Ticket prices vary, from $24 to $55 for the day-long tour, and most include boxed lunch - but sorry, no quahogs.

For information, visit www.tourrhodeisland.org, or call 401-724-2200.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Many people, when given an audience with the Queen of England, might be a little intimidated. Not Tom Wadson, owner of Wadson’s Farm in Bermuda, an outspoken sort of fellow who, among many other things, produces Easter lilies for England’s Queen Elizabeth, the island’s gift to her royal highness.

“The Queen had written us a letter expressing concern about the length of the lily stems,” smiled Wadson, 61, a tall, craggy sort with calloused hands and rugged spirit honed by almost 40 years of tilling the land in the hot Bermuda sun. “Well, that year, I met her once at a formal get-together here.”

Wadson is known around Bermuda not just for the Bermuda hogs he raises, or the dozens of types of fruits, vegetables and flowers he grows, or his busy farmer’s market stand or the farm being named “Best Greengrocer” by Bermudian Magazine or the publication’s “Award of Excellence, Best of Bermuda Gold” for food and beverages in 2008. He’s also known for his playful sense of humor, straightforward and blunt

“So I told her, ‘Your Majesty, we have a microscopic complaint department but just wanted you to know that your complaint stood out because it’s the only one we’ve gotten that was handwritten!’” Wadson roared one day at the farm, telling the story and pointing out lilies being grown for the queen this Easter.

The queen took it in stride, Wadson said, even smiling at the comment. And later that night, Wadson said, he went and quaffed a few brews with her husband, Prince Philip, whom Wadson dubbed, “a good fellow, a down-to-earth sort.”

Wadson started his farm in 1976, dabbling in farming prior to that, going to school abroad, then graduating from Ontario Agricultural College in Canada. The farm was doing well – until Hurricane Fabian destroyed the whole thing in 2003. He built it up again, but transitioned from conventional to organic farming in the process.

The farm does a lot of school tours, and will soon get a commercial kitchen and open a little café at the farmer’s market, which sells all manner of what Wadson grows or harvests, including duck eggs, lamb meat, and a wide range of organic vegetables. The farm is the island’s only CSA (community supported agriculture) site, Wadson said.

Taking a tour of the farm one day, Wadson showed us parched fields with chickens running about them, which come season’s end, they’ll plow under, enriching the soil, turning the brown earth to green grass the following year because, Wadson winked about what chickens leave behind, “we’re just using what nature drops us.”

He also rents some land near a former U.S. Navy base, using it to graze a few dozen sheep, land likely to be developed into a massive resort at some point but for now suiting his sheep’s grazing needs just fine.

The farm is open for regular tours, which if you’re lucky, you’ll get Wadson to conduct. Feel free to ask about the Queen’s lilies. If he wasn’t shy with her, he won’t be shy telling you about it. For information on the farm, visit www.wadsonsfarm.com

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Kimpton's Firesky Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz. -- an area that's home to the Cactus League's 15 Major League Baseball spring-training camps -- is offering a "Play Ball" package for the whole month of March. The package includes a welcome basket of baseball snacks, a welcome bucket of beer and free shuttle service for travel within three miles of the resort, which is 10 minutes from the home stadiums of the San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks.

The other 12 stadiums are within freeway access. Rooms are priced from $199 a night, and packages can be reserved at www.kimptonhotels.com by entering PBAS in the rate code box, or by calling 1-800-546-7866 and asking for the "Play Ball Spring Training" package.

Last year, the Cactus League hosted 233 pro ball games, attracting 1.5 million fans to the Valley of the Sun, as the area is known. The organization now known as the Cactus League started up in 1946, when its first two teams, the Cleveland Indians and New York Giants, headed west for spring training. Check out the league at www.cactusleague.com

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

A team of sled dogs and mushers from Muddy Paw Sled Dog Kennel of Jefferson, N.H., will attempt a history-making ascent on Mount Washington, which at 6,288 feet is the highest peak in the Northeast, March 7, 8 or 9, depending on weather conditions. The run will not just be to make history -- it will be the first-ever sled-dog attempt in winter -- but to raise awareness and funds to support the more than 100 dogs the kennel has rescued and cared for over the past eight years, said kennel owners Karen Tolin and Neil Beaulieu.

The partners created the non-profit New Hampshire Sled Dog Rescue, History and Education Center earlier this year to support their cause: Taking in rescue dogs to run sled tours year round near the Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods (they use wheeled sleds when the snow goes away) and give the pooches a place to live while trying to find them new owners. Many of the dogs love tromping through the woods pulling a sled, Tolin said, but none are forced to do it. Those preferring a more sedentary lifestyle are found homes via a very selective adoption process, she said.

The kennel was created in 2004, and while technically a for-profit business, it never makes any, Tolin said. The kennel business creates no salary for the owners, neither of whom have ever drawn a salary and both of whom work in education to support themselves and their labor of puppy love. Whatever money is generated from the tours goes right back to the dogs.

"Dog sledding is an unsustainable model as a sole source of supporting the dogs," Tolin said. "They eat five tons of food every two months."

They came up with the sled jaunt to the top of Mount Washington to build awareness of the nonprofit and raise money for the dogs. In addition to one team making a full-out assault on the summit via the Auto Road, seats on two others "guest sleds," which will run only to just above tree line, will be auctioned off on eBay. That site is http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120860877148

Sponsorships are also being sought, Tolin said. Go to http://www.dogslednh.com/ or call 603-545-4533 for more information.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Valentine's Day is approaching, which reminds of us two things: It's time to be romantic, and winter is half over. There are a number of places, far and near, to warm up to the romantic cause with Valentine packages, and here are some: 

The White Barn Inn up in Kennebunk Beach, Maine, is running a romance package for the romantic month of February, which includes a night's stay in a deluxe room adorned with chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne to wash them down with. Included is continental breakfast, afternoon tea and a romantic dinner for two. Rates are $600 for one night, dropping to $565 if staying more than one night. Check it out at http://www.whitebarninn.com/ or call 207-967-2321.

The Opus Vancouver has a "Cupid Concierge" deal for $295 a night, getting you a room, sparkling wine at check-in, a half-dozen roses or orchids delivered to your room before arrival, a half-bottle of Veuve Clicquot, a framed photo of your choice and a handwritten message from you delivered to your room before arrival, breakfast in bed and late check out. Upgrade to a suite for $100 more. See more at http://www.opushotel.com/vancouver.html

Also in Canada, Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth in Montreal has a "Bare Your Heart Package" for the romantic in you, which includes a one-night stay and breakfast in bed, with rates from $219 in Canadian dollars (the exchange rate is nearly even these days), available throughout February (except Feb. 24 and 25). A $10 donation per package sold will be made to Fondation En Coeur, a Quebec-based agency that helps kids with heart disease and their families with support services and information, and helping improve medical services in pediatric cardiology and adult congenital heart disease. Visit http://www.fairmont.com/queenelizabeth for more information.

Go west and get warmer with the "Back in the Saddle Package" at the Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson, Ariz., which offers 20 percent off room nights (their rates are all inclusive, with meals and activities) for anyone booking three or more nights from Feb. 10-19. Rates start at $225 per night, not counting the discount. The resort is a working horse ranch with 180 horses on 60,000 acres of desert landscape between the Rincon Mountains, Saguaro National Park and the Coronado National Forest, where couples can horseback ride, hike, mountain bike, swim, fish, enjoy the spa and relax in a room - that has no television. This is about romance, not what's on cable. Visit http://www.tanqueverderanch.com/

Wine is romantic, and the Fairmont Mission Inn & Spa in Sonoma, Calif., unwraps its "Romance in Wine Country Package," with a room, two one-hour spa treatments, sparkling wine and a chocolate strawberry amenity, rose-petal turndown and sparkling wine tasting passes at Gloria Ferrer Winery. Packages are priced from $429 per night, and the special runs Feb. 10-19. The hotel serves what it calls a food lover's "aphrodisiac menu" for $125 per person. Check it out at http://www.fairmont.com/sonoma

Another Arizona resort, L'Auberge de Sedona, offers its "Sedona Snowmance" package for two that highlights skiing and getting warm and cozy later in new guest rooms with mountain views. The package includes two nights, two lift tickets to Flagstaff Snowbowl per day booked, a $75 food and beverage or spa credit per day booked and free winter drinks by the fire, ciders, teas and cocoas (the hard stuff is available but not free). Package savings are 40 percent with rates starting at $265 for guest rooms and $320 for cottages. The deal is valid through March 15. Check it out at http://www.lauberge.com/

Sunsets on the Pacific are pretty romantic, and the "Stay, Spa & Splashes" packages at Surf & Sand Resort in Laguna Beach, Calif., allow you to enjoy them. The deals, with 30 percent off rates starting at $625 a night, include a one-night stay, spa treatment for two, three-course dinner for two at the resort's signature Splashes restaurant, and gourmet breakfast in room (or the restaurant). Check it out at http://www.surfandsandresort.com/

National Park Service says that all 397 national parks will offer free admission from Saturday, Jan. 14- Monday, Jan. 16 to mark Martin Luther King Day. In New England there are more than two dozen parks, with the bulk of them being in Massachusetts (15). On its website, the NPS maps out locations by state.

For those interested in King himself, BudgetTravel offers these suggestions:

Those wishing to learn more about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., can pay a visit to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, Georgia, where both the home he was born in and his tomb with the Eternal Flame are on display. Follow in his footsteps along the National Historic Trail from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, now a designated historic byway. If you happen to be on the east coast, visit the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and sit on the steps from which Dr. King delivered his famous "I Have A Dream" speech, or visit the newly opened Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in the National Mall. Events commemorating Dr. King's life will also take place at Fort Donelson National Battlefield in Tennessee, while the MLK Film Festival will be held at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in Washington D.C. from January 14-16.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

More than 10 years ago, officials in Panama City Beach, Fla., were charged with creating a plan to rehydrate land that had been used for decades for tree farming and seen its natural water balance altered. A wastewater treatment facility went up that now pumps up to 14 million gallons of water daily through a piping system in the affected wetlands, with the result being the late-October opening of the 2,900-acre Conservation Park, which according to Dan Rowe, president and CEO of Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, "is an eco-tourist's dream."

The park has eight boardwalks totally more than one mile scattered throughout the park that provide viewing of protected wetlands and 24 miles of dirt trails, 10 of which are color-coded for varying lengths, and named "Gayle's Trails" for the city's mayor, Gayle Oberst, who Rowe said was one of the project's visionaries. Similar paths exist across Panama City Beach and the plan is to link them into a system that will stretch from Walton County to the north, and to St. Andrews State Park at the southern tip of Bay County.

For information on the park, and Panama City Beach, visit http://www.pcbgov.com/index.php

By Patricia Harris & David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

We just returned from a research trip to central and northwest Vermont for next spring's "Food Lovers' Guide to Vermont & New Hampshire.'' We were amazed to discover that not only is there still good foliage around Lake Champlain, the colors are just now reaching peak. We know that Vermonters were worried that leaf-peepers would stay away because of the damage wrought by Hurricane Irene at the end of August. But as the proprietor of a cafe told us, she has been serving a lot of travelers who just have to see for themselves how bad it is. For those who haven't yet had a look, here's what we found. Roads were rebuilt almost everywhere we went?even though some of the formerly narrow streams and small rivers now spread 50 feet wide. And slowly but surely, bridges are being rebuilt or replaced. That means an occasional slowdown while two-way traffic shares a one-lane bridge, but even in rural areas like the village of Richmond (southeast of Burlington) drivers showed patience and good humor while waiting.

Photo by David Lyon for the Boston Globe.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

This year’s zeta tri date, Nov. 11, 2011, is something special to the military in that it’s Veterans’ Day, and also to those fascinated by repeating numerical occurrences. This year, it’s also a time to save a few travel bucks worldwide.

Red Mountain Resort in St. George,
Utah, is giving active or retired military packages like two 50-minute massages,
an adventure trip to Zion National Park, and a discount for a retreat package
of three nights or more, all with the price of $111.11 each. The offer is good
for the month of November. Visit www.redmountainresort.com, or call 877-246-4453.

The Reefs in Southampton,
Bermuda, celebrates Veterans Day and the 11/11/11 date by offering travelers
booking a four-night stay, including Nov. 11, a rate of $11.11 for their room
on that night. Active duty and retired military members get an additional
15-percent off with valid military ID shown at check-in. Rates here start at
$410 a night, and include ocean-view accommodations and full daily breakfast
for two. For information, call 800-742-2008 or visit www.thereefs.com

Sandals and Beaches Resorts in Jamaica, Antigua, the Bahamas, Saint Lucia and Turks & Caicos honor the military with a special discount program, in which active and retired military get the usual military price break, plus an additional 10 percent this year, combinable with the current “Up to 65-percent Off” and “Free Night Stays” at any of their properties. Check it out at 866-726-3257 or by
visiting www.sandals.com

Norfolk, Va., is home to one of the largest naval bases in the country, and is honoring vets this year by hosting the inaugural Norfolk Freedom Half Marathon from Nov. 11-13, to raise awareness and support for the needs of vets and their families. The event includes a health and fitness expo Nov. 11-12, and a wheelchair invitational event and a Wounded Warrior and Family Run on Nov. 13. Events start at $65 for adults, $15 for kids. For information, call 800-368-3097 or visit www.visitnorfolktoday.com

For 11 days, starting Nov. 11, guests can reserve an ocean-front, two-bedroom
penthouse suite at the Atlantic Resort & Spa in Fort Lauderdale for $1,111.11 a night, a 20-percent price break. Other savings there are $11 per night valet parking and $11 in-room movies. Reference promo code is OCN11. To book, call 877-567-8020.

You get a $111 spending credit at Rayavadee, in Krabi, Thailand if you book and stay there before Nov. 11. Credit is good for spa treatments, food, drinks and select activities. For information, call 011 66 75 620740-3 or visit www.rayavadee.com

Tropicana Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J., is offering a variety of specials, including an $11 IMAX ticket to see “Real Steel,” with Hugh Jackman, an $11.11 one-pound bag of breakfast blend coffee from its Starbucks, and 11 percent off regularly priced items at Old Farmer’s Almanac, the resort’s old-fashioned general store. Check it out at www.tropicana.net or call 800-465-3222.

Planters Inn, in Charleston, S.C., is offering a two-night package for $1,111.11, which includes a stay in the Relais & Chateaux hotel’s luxurious Plantation King Room with its full living room and huge Italian-marble bath. Check it out at www.plantersinn.com or call 843-722-2345.

By Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

With a forecast of at least partly sunny weather, this weekend should be dynamite for combining leaf-peeping with cruising the last of the summer harvest in the Granite State's many farmstands. We drove around in the rain on Thursday, doing research for Food Lovers' Guide to Vermont & New Hampshire (Globe Pequot Press, May 2012), and were amazed by the blazing colors in the Dartmouth-Sunapee area and down along the Connecticut River. The photo above was snapped from the car on River Road in Plainfield, where one of the many farms on that beautiful stretch was winding up the harvest of sweet corn. We even scored some ripe heirloom tomatoes at a farmstand in New London. Foliage is still at peak along Route 11 west from I-89 to Claremont, and just a little past peak on Route 12 paralleling the Connecticut River. Enjoy!

Photo by Patricia Harris for the Boston Globe

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

New Hampshire is a prime spot for taking photos of fall foliage and to capitalize on it, state tourism officials have kicked of a “Picture Perfect” photo contest to encourage residents and visitors to snap away. Photo winners will be chosen in each of the seven tourist regions of the state: Great North Woods, White Mountains, Dartmouth/Lake Sunapee, Lakes, Monadnock, Merrimack Valley and Seacoast. The contest runs through Oct. 31. Participants can upload their work to the contest website, www.fall.visitnh.com, where they can also find official rules and list of prizes.

One winner from each region will be announced the first week of November, and prizes include overnight stays, museum passes, dinners and rock-climbing lessons, among others. The total value of all prizes is $2,120, according to the rules, with the biggest being from the White Mountains, valued at $900, where the winner will net things like two passes for a snow-coach ride up the Mount Washington Auto Road, tubing, skiing and rentals at Great Glens Trails Outdoor Center, two nights for two at Attitash Grand Summit hotel, and a canvas print of the winner’s photo.

By Patricia Harris & David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

While the recent soggy weather has us reaching for the Clorox products to banish mildew from the bathroom, our friend and neighbor Larry Millman is enjoying a kind of fungal apotheosis. Well known to hardcore local mycologists for his devotion to the lore of fungi, Millman has a new book out for the rest of us. Entitled Fascinating Fungi of New England (Kollath + Stensaas, www.kollathstensaas.com), it's a field guide to some familiar mushrooms (including many we see in the lawn) and many others we've never noticed. The book is written in non-technical language and meanders just far enough down the path of anecdote to remain truly engaging. Rick Kollath's color illustrations are frankly far better than photographs for diagnostic details. (We actually prefer illustrations to photographs in field guides.) While Millman is not going to let you know where his porcini patch is located (''somewhere between here and Alaska''), he does lay out the differences between the gourmet delight of the yellow morel (found April to October in apple orchards) and the rather dire consequences of dining on the false morel (damage to liver, kidneys, and red blood cells). Millman does address the issue of edibility, noting that his book is not an open-air menu and suggesting that you eat wild fungi at your own risk.

By Patricia Borns, Globe Correspondent

It's about time someone dusted off that old adage aimed at empowering men to fish and feed themselves. My 75-year-old landlady who hails from the Cayman Islands has found the answer: Ladies, Let's Go Fishing, which is exactly what she and her girlfriends will be doing from Nov. 11-13th. in Islamorada, Florida.

The national organization which promises "no yelling" was founded in 1997 to engage women in sportfishing by getting them over the first hurdle -- mastering the basic, seemingly intimidating skills of knot tying, boat maneuvering, landing and releasing, net casting, gaffing, trailer backing, and electronics usage that, really, anyone can learn.

Islamorada and the other class destinations -- Belize, for example -- are darned appealing as learning environments, too. Although it doesn't hurt to be a hard-nosed, independent type like my landlady -- last night she did 27 pushups on the lawn -- we milder types can do this. Her 29-year-old neighbor who lives at home and bakes is going, too.

With all this who needs to travel?

Google Street View already will take you to Hawaiian beaches and landmarks around the globe like Big Ben, the Colosseum, and Tokyo Tower.

Now, according to the Google Blog, you can take a look around places more far afield like Stonehenge and the peaks of Whistler, BC.

The latest is that Google teams are taking their newish camera-equipped street trike, which can go where no Google car has gone before, to the Amazon. The first phase will focus on a 30 mile section of the Rio Negro River, extending from the Tumbira community near Manaus to the Terra Preta community, with the goal of turning stills of the river and communities into 360-degree panoramics. Here are some photos of the folks at work.

By Kari Bodnarchuk, Globe Correspondent

Travelers to the Old City of Jerusalem can now tour the city’s historical, religious, and cultural sites with the new self-guided digital JerusaleMP3 walking tours. Download the tours for free and explore the Jewish Quarter, Via Dolorosa, the Temple Mount compound, and the marketplaces in the Old City, among other areas. Maps and written explanations are available in English, French, Russian, and Hebrew. These free multimedia audio tours include videos, and can be operated from a smartphone or a similar audio device. 212-499-5660, www.jerusalem-oldcity.org.il

By Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

As we wrote back on June 5, Aug. 7 marks the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's signature on legislation that brought the Cape Cod National Seashore into being.

Every day on this nearly 70-square-mile environment of beach and dunes and forest and marsh is special. But the National Park Service rangers have an array of celebratory activities planned for Aug, 7. Stop by either visitor center at 11:30 a.m. for musical performances and cake and return between 2:30 and 4 p.m. to create something to place in a time capsule.

In addition, noted authors will read from their writings about Cape Cod (with refreshments), rangers will lead walks through some of the Cape's varied landscapes, and the Highland Light Scottish Pipe Band will perform at a wreath-laying ceremony at Highland Light (cake will be served). There's much, much more. For a full schedule, see the Cape Cod National Seashore web site.

Photo courtesy of the Cape Cod National Seashore

By Kari Bodnarchuk, Globe Correspondent

The Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel offers a special Tour de Boston package through Aug. 31 for guests who would like to explore the city on a bike. The package includes a ‘‘biker-to-go pack’’ with a bottle of water and a homemade granola bar, a map of local bike routes, accommodations, and access to the hotel’s health club and lap pool. After a day of biking guests can retreat to the hotel’s Capiz Lounge. Rates start at $199 per night, based on double occupancy, not including tax, parking, or gratuity; some blackout dates apply. Ask for the Tour de Boston package if reserving by phone, or enter promotional code ARN if booking online. 617-338-4111, www.renaissanceboston.com
KARI BODNARCHUK

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism is offering a diving deal in the three-island territory of St. John, St. Croix and St. Thomas, which tourism officials said is one of few destinations offering five dive types: Wreck, reef, wall, pier and shore. With a Dive USVI promotion, visitors to any of the three islands get $450 in certificates, $300 for diving, $100 for dining and $50 for shopping. The promotion can be booked through Sept. 15 for travel through Oct. 31, and applies to bookings of six nights or more at any U.S. Virgin Islands hotel. Dive certificates must be redeemed at one of the 12 participating dive operators across the territory.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

Sea Trek at Coral World Ocean Park in St. Thomas has earned the "Most Outstanding Sea Trek Operation for 2010" among 41 Sea Trek operations around the world, from Sub Sea Systems Inc., the entity that licenses them.

Sea Trek fits participants in a helmet attached to an air hose and which keeps the head dry, as they breathe normally and get a diver's-eye view of life underwater without having to be a certified diver. You also get gloves and booties to wear and you won't be alone down there: Besides the sea creatures swimming around, there's a professional guide with you at all times.

Photo courtesy of Coral World Ocean Park

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

There are cheaper ways to eat lobster, such as buying one yourself and cooking it at home. But this summer and fall, there is a far more fun and expensive way to do it if you take part in "Keep the Catch Boston Harbor Lobster Package," offered now through Oct. 31 by the Fairmont Battery Wharf, with rates starting at $529 per person.

For that, you get passage on a lobster boat for a private excursion with one of Fairmont's chefs, learning how to bait, drop and haul in lobster traps, while taking in the views of Boston Harbor and learning about its history. After the day at sea, guests return to Aragosta Bar & Bistro, the Fairmont's new Italian eatery, where chef David Daniels whips up the day's catch to your liking. The package also includes a night's stay at the Fairmont and welcome gift.

The Fairmont also offers other summer-to-fall packages, including one where you definitely won't eat what you see: The Whale of a Tale Package, which starts at $329 per person, includes a night at the hotel, two tickets on a New England Aquarium whale-watching trip and breakfast for two. For landlubbers, there is The North End Freedom Trail Package that starts at $289 per person and includes an 18th-century costumed guide escorting guests on a history walk in the city, and the Dog Days of Summer Package, starting at $259 and running through Sept. 30, which includes a hotel stay and use of dog bed and bowls as well as treats for your canine companion (dog-sitting services are extra).

For information on any of it, visit www.fairmont.com/batterywharf

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

What’s big, gray, rough-skinned, smells bad and is one of the most beautiful, gentle animals you could ever have the honor of getting a ride on? An elephant, particularly those at the Thailand Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, in Northern Thailand
The center, operating under Royal Patronage of the Thai king,  is a remarkable place, founded in 1993 and which cares for more than 50 Asian elephants in a forest setting not far from the city of Chiang Mai. Most of the gentle giants came to be here after Thailand in 1989 banned using them in the lumber trade, and they were forced to perform in urban areas when they’re handlers, known as “mahouts,” had to do something to make money for their upkeep.

Here they are well cared for, loved and put on regular shows for tourists. But the most fun you can have here is ponying up about $110 to be a mahout for a day. You slip into a blue mahout suit, which protects you from the sharp bristly hairs on the animal’s neck – but not the overpowering smell they have – learn how to mount and dismount, and then set off, with a real mahout leading the way, on a very slow, lumbering stroll through rocky, jungle terrain and through streams. If you don’t mind getting wet, really wet, your elephant can galumph through a pond as well.

FULL ENTRY

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent

 

If you’re in the area of northeast Pennsylvania this summer, you may want to check out the Kutztown Folk Festival July 2-10, now in its 62^nd year. The celebration, one of the  nation's oldest folk life festivals, draws about 150,000 visitors annually. It features folk art and crafts by 200 craftsman (including Eastern Pennsylvania’s finest traditional hex-sign painters, said to be among the last in the nation), the largest sale of authentic Pennsylvania Dutch quilts in the country (nearly 2,000 of them, hand-made Pennsylvania German motif, all made in the United States), folklore and folk life programs (stomp along with the popular Pennsylvania Dutch hoedown), five stages of continuous entertainment, kids’ activities and, organizers said, the best Pennsylvania Dutch food found anywhere, which includes all-you-can-eat dinners.

 Tickets are $14 for adults, kids 12 and under free.