Baseball packages, New England rail travel, and a food lover’s road trip

PLAN AHEAD FOR RAIL TRAVEL IN NEW ENGLAND

Fans of rail travel will want to check out Vacations By Rail’s five New England tours offered in September and October, 2021-2022. The six-to-10 day fall tours traverse a variety of states with options for museum tours, city walking tours, scenic cruises and optimum foliage viewing opportunities. For example, the six-day New England in a Nutshell tour explores historic and scenic sites in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont by rail, water, and sky (from $1,895); and the eight-day New England Autumn Foliage Express tour departs from Boston before winding its way through famed fall-foliage vistas — the White Mountain National Forest and Mt. Washington regions of New Hampshire, and Vermont’s Green Mountains — as well as offering mansion and museum tours in Mystic Seaport and Newport, and scenic vistas on Cape Cod (from $2,495). Tours farther afield — to destinations across the United States, Canada, and more — are also available. 877-929-7245, www.vacationsbyrail.com/destinations/north-america

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FOOD LOVER’S ROAD TRIP

Looking for an alternative to your same-old-same-old road trip? Southern Delaware’s Culinary Coast offers open-air culinary adventures with an added bonus of five-star beaches and boardwalks, celebrated breweries, and family farm experiences. From Lewes to Fenwick Island, visitors can enjoy local sea bounty while dining al fresco on ocean-view patios. A 2013 bill supporting shellfish aquaculture revitalized Delaware’s oyster industry, meaning you’ll find fresh Inland Bay oysters on many menus. In addition, visitors can explore more than a dozen craft breweries, wineries, and distilleries in the area, including Dogfish Head, Thompson Island Brewing Company, and Salted Vines Vineyard & Winery. And with almost half of the land in Sussex County dedicated to farmland, there are opportunities to visit and taste the area’s bounty at inland farms and orchards. Need a place to stay? Dogfish Inn — yes, affiliated with the beer — offers 16 simple, stylish rooms in Lewes. (Rates from $169) Find links to additional accommodations, dining options, outdoor adventures, and more at Southern Delaware Tourism. 800-357-1818, visitsoutherndelaware.com

SADDLE UP AND RIDE

Want to plan a dude ranch vacation but don’t know where or how to begin your research? A great place to start is the newly launched, easy-to-navigate website created by the Dude Ranchers Association. Showcasing more than 90 pre-qualified ranch destinations in 10 US states and British Columbia, visitors can filter searches by location, capacity, length of stay, food options, national parks, and more before finding links to individual ranch websites. Look for activities that satisfy your vacation wish list, including horseback riding, hiking, fishing, swimming, zip-lining, whitewater rafting, rodeos, cattle drives, western dancing, and fine dining. You can also request a printed Dude Ranch Association brochure directory or access a downloadable version. duderanch.org

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VIRTUAL TRAVEL OFFERS GLOBAL EXPERIENCES

With many international borders still shut down, there’s still a need for creative experiences enjoyed at home. Enter: Beeyonder. Founded by Boston-based entrepreneur Brittany Palmer, a bilateral amputee, Beeyonder is a virtual travel platform designed especially for individuals with conditions that prevent or inhibit their ability to travel. (These days, that applies to many of us.) Offering 350-plus global experiences across 47 countries in over 20 languages, the website transports individuals and groups via live-from-the-street tours, cooking classes, art workshops, wildlife encounters, music lessons, educational seminars, and more. Another benefit: Participants have access to practically empty famous landmarks typically flooded with tourists. Rates from $10. beeyonder.com

MISADVENTURES AT SEA

Korean-American Chaney Kwak had the misfortune to be aboard the Viking Sky when the luxury cruise ship suffered a catastrophic engine failure on March 23, 2019. After surviving the harrowing experience, complete with 60-foot swells and 87-mph gales pushing the vessel toward the notorious Hustadvika coast of Norway, Kwak did what any award-winning travel writer might do: He wrote a book about his experience. Debuting in June, “The Passenger: How a Travel Writer Learned to Love Cruises & Other Lies from a Sinking Ship” chronicles 27 hours aboard the distressed Viking Sky, while at the same time examining Kwak’s own family history, issues of race, art, global inequality, and his failing relationship. www.godine.com/book/passenger/

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