Where to whip up some enthusiasm for winter
 The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield offers an indoor escape route from the tedium of winter. (Michael Lavin Flower) |
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Planning to slim down this winter - not your waist but your travel budget?
There are those who might want to hibernate during the season's dark, icy reign, but for those who would embrace winter, New England is bursting with escapes for under $50.
Cross-country skiing is an invigorating blend of scenic beauty and exercise. Many ski touring centers are priced so that a family of four with its own gear can ski for less than $50. At Windblown in New Ipswich, N.H., trails roll by Mount Monadnock where skiers can save $3 off trail passes every day from 2-5 p.m., and before noon on non-holiday weekdays. Countrified Carter's XC Ski Center in Bethel, Maine, offers two-for-one trail passes on Tuesdays.
Windblown, 1180 Turnpike Road, New Ipswich, N.H., 603-878-2869, www.windblownxc.com. Rates $16 adults (weekends, holidays), $13 midweek; 65 and older $16, $10; students ages 8-17 $10, $8; under 8 free. No credit cards. Carter's XC Ski Center, Intervale Road, Bethel, Maine, 207-824-3880, www.cartersxcski.com. Rates $12 adults, $10 seniors, $8 students 6-18, under 6 free.
Parks, conservation trails, and woods are all great places for snowshoeing. Take water and snacks. Tubbs Snowshoes' Trailnet lists dozens of trails and includes every New England state. Newbies (including cross-country skiers) can take advantage of the free Winter Trails Day Jan. 10 at areas such as Weston Ski Track and Notchview Reservation in Windsor, Vermont's Ole's in Waitsfield and Sleepy Hollow in Huntington, and across New Hampshire's White Mountains at Bretton Woods, King Pine, Tenney Mountain, and Great Glen Trails.
Tubbs Trailnet, www.tubbs-trailnet.com. Winter Trails, www.wintertrails.org.
Back in the day, the Flexible Flyer ruled carefree days spent sledding down the neighborhood hill. Though sleds have changed, the sound of children's laughter hasn't. Vermont is loaded with local hills like Stowe's Marshall Hill on School Street near Stowe Elementary School.
Vermont Department of Tourism, 1-800-VERMONT, www.vermontvacation.com.
Five dollars for a lift ticket? Tiny ski hills with old-school lifts are a throwback to skiing's early days. Family-oriented Living Memorial Park in Brattleboro offers a handful of trails, a T-bar lift, and about 200 feet of vertical. Town-owned Powderhouse Hill in South Berwick, Maine, uses a rope tow and a homemade groomer. Both are volunteer-run and dependent on natural snow. Call ahead.
Living Memorial Park, Guilford Street, 603-256-6912, www.vtsnowsports.org. Thursday-Friday 3-9 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sunday noon-4. $5, age 5 and under free. Powderhouse Hill, Agamenticus Road, 207-384-5858, www.powderhousehill.com. Wednesday and Friday 7-9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday noon-4. $5 all ages.
Ice skating under the twinkling lights of towering buildings can be a handy escape. The warm glow of holiday lights awaits skaters at the
Bank of America City Center, Two Kennedy Plaza, 401-331-5544, www.providenceskating .com. Monday-Friday 10-10, Saturday-Sunday 11-10. Adults $6, 65 and older and 12 and under $3. Rentals available.
Once dismissed as a fad, snow tubing is a ski area mainstay with resorts ponying up prime real estate for the simple thrill of zipping down a hill. No special gear, no lessons, no schlepping, tubers take a short lift before speeding down snowy chutes from straight shots to rolling whoopdeedoos. Tubing generally is offered in two-hour sessions. You can keep a trio tubing for under $50 at King Pine at Purity Spring Resort in East Madison, N.H., and Ski Butternut in Great Barrington.
King Pine, 1251 Eaton Road, 800-373-3754, www.kingpine.com, $15 per person. Ski Butternut, 380 State Road, 413-528-2000, www.skibutternut.com, $15 per person.
The heated double-deck driving range and stadium-feel batting cages at the Sports Center of Connecticut can ward off those heavyweight doldrums. Connect on a fastball or softball. When the weather cooperates, putt by the cascades of the 18-hole mini-golf course. There's indoor action at the colorful bowling lanes and in the web of the laser tag jungle. Indoor skating sessions range from two to three hours.
Sports Center of Connecticut, 784 River Road, Shelton, Conn., 203-929-6500, www.sportscenterct.com. Hours vary with activity. Driving range, bucket of balls from $7; batting cage from $3; bowling $5 per game; mini-golf $8.75 adults, $6.75 children; skate $9.75 adult, children age 2 and under $7.75; laser tag $9.50 a game.
Museums are budget travelers' friends. Downtown Pittsfield's multilevel Berkshire Museum celebrates Americana in its Hudson River School painting collection. The museum's aquarium features more than 20 tanks with species from the
Berkshire Museum, 39 South St., 413-443-7171, www.berkshiremuseum.org. Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday noon-5. Adults $10, children ages 3-18 $5.
Marty Basch can be reached at marty@martybasch.com.
