Off-season is prime time for bargains

By Christine Haines and Courtney Kalbacker

Photos by Courtney Kalbacker

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I spent one January in Boston when I was in college and while I love the city and surrounding New England coastal towns, I never thought I’d add it to my winter travel agenda again. I mean, even wearing a heavy rag wool hat I thought I was going to lose my ears as I walked into Harvard Square for lunch one day.

My niece, though she was born in North Carolina, is obviously hardier than I am. Of course, she got used to New England winters during her four years of college in Boston and Oklahoma, where she now resides, isn’t exactly a tropical paradise in the winter. So for her, a coastal New England winter get away made perfect sense. Ends up, it was  a bargain as well, as she shared in a recent e-mail:

I went on a mini vacation to Provincetown, MA on the very tip of Cape Cod last week – I thought I’d send you some pictures.

During the winter the crowds disappear from Provincetown, the quaint New England village reappears, there is no need for restaurant reservations and the lovely guest houses and B&Bs are extraordinarily discounted (the large suite with Jacuzzi and fireplace we stayed in went from $310 to $100/night!)The art museum, beach trails, and a few shops are still open and it makes for a great “vacation from your vacation.” Anyway, we had a great time so I thought I’d share it with you since you are always looking for travel spots!

So if you’ve found a great travel spot others might have passed over, please share your thoughts and photos by e-mailing me at chris@howyouspinit.com.

 For a complete guide to Provincetown, check out the Provincetown Chamber of Commerce Website, http://www.ptownchamber.com/

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More than decorations

By Christine Haines

 

I am an avid collector of Christmas ornaments and I frequently give them as presents. I look for new ornaments every time I travel, that way each year as I celebrate Christmas I also get to reminisce about past vacations.

 

I have a whale on my tree from a trip to Cape Cod a few years ago that included an incredible whale watch and a visit to Plimouth Plantation (Plymouth, Mass.) The finback whales played around our boat for hours, turning our short cruise into an all-day excursion because the whales were too close for the captain to restart the engines.

I gave my niece Emily a replica of a 19^th century toy giraffe from the toy museum at Old Salem in North Carolina. When she was a pre-schooler someone told her she could be anything she wanted to be when she grew up. Being relatively short and highly imaginative, Emily said she wanted to be a giraffe. The toy museum, in addition to being a great place to find wonderful presents, is an amazing place dedicated to the playthings of the past. The intricacy of some of the old animated or mechanical toys can still fill a person with wonder.

On that trip I also picked up a delicate, folded paper Moravian star for my own tree. Old Salem was founded by a group of Moravians who had moved to North Carolina from Pennsylvania. The restored historic village within the city of Winston-Salem is a gem for history buffs. I found it at least as interesting as Colonial Williamsburg, but without the crowds and commercialism.

More than 20 years ago I flew to Seattle with a friend and on that trip I found the most delicate wooden snowflake and an elegant lit rose. Even though it was early spring, flowers were in bloom everywhere I looked in Seattle, yet we found ourselves in a blinding snowstorm when we headed up Mount Rainier. (Don’t ignore the signs that say “Last chance for snow chain rental.”)

A scale model of the Susan Constant was added to our tree this year, commemorating the 400^th anniversary of the landing at Jamestown. Many of our vacations are spent volunteering for the Jamestown Yorktown Foundation in Virginia, so it also reminds us of our many good friends who work for the foundation.

A gumball machine (floor model) reminds me not of a vacation, but of the many trips to my grandmother’s house when I was a child. My grandfather, who had died long before I was born, had run a shoe shop and had a gumball machine that eventually ended up in the basement at my grandmother’s house. The ornament provides a connection for me to a man I never met, but whose history is part of my past as well.

An ornament of a black bear making a snow angel reminds me of the incredible man I married. I spotted the fanciful ornament on a summer trip to Snowshoe, W. Va., but had passed it by as being too expensive to justify buying for myself. I still have no idea how my husband, who I swear never left my side, managed to purchase it and hide it not only during our vacation, but for another five months until Christmas!

E-mail your travel memories and photos to chris@howyouspinit.com.

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