Ole Punxsutawney Phil crawled out of his Gobbler’s Knob hole and delivered his annual Groundhog Day weather forecast yesterday. He saw his shadow and thus we’ll have six more weeks of winter. With skunk cabbages and dandelions already sprouting in Boston during 60-degree days this week, I’m wondering what type of winter is that groundhog talking about. Certainly not the winter weather the Farmers’ Almanac predicted back in August, “a season of unusually cold and stormy weather.” I happen to like the occasional snowfall in winter, the reason why I live in New England. Still the warm climes won’t deter me from skiing at Stowe this weekend, which received over 15 inches of snow this past week. Have a great weekend, and whether you hike, walk, ski, snowshoe or jog, get outdoors and keep active!

Call me nostalgic, but I’ve always been partial to VBT. In 1995, while researching my book, Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England, VBT took me on my first organized bike trip along the shores of Lake Champlain in Vermont. They have since expanded to all four corners of the Globe. Just ask my mother-in-law, who’s traveled with VBT to South Africa, Germany, and the Netherlands and raves about all those trips. This year, VBT will feature four culinary tours that sound very tasty. In April, they’ll travel to Puglia to bike along Italy’s Adriatic Coast and explore olive groves, sample local wines, and dive into dinners of fresh seafood and locally grown vegetables. In September and October, VBT will visit Provence to bike backcountry roads through the French countryside, enjoy a home-cooked meal, and stop at fromageries and wine bars. Last but certainly not least is their trip to Vietnam in November to bike past the verdant rice terraces and sample the indigenous fare at markets, family-run food shops, and your own Vietnamese cooking class. Also take a peek at their new destinations in 2012 like a sweet ride along Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. 

Boston’s Fenway Park is not the only local landmark celebrating its centennial in 2012. Fairmont Copley Plaza plans to celebrate its 100th birthday this year with several exciting offers. For any couple that spent their honeymoon at the Copley Plaza, they will offer you the chance to return to the hotel for those exact rates. For example, if you had your honeymoon at the Copley Plaza in 1947, you paid $7 a night. That’s exactly what you’ll pay for a return stay. Don’t expect the rooms to be the same. The hotel is on the verge of completing a $20 million refurbishment that has updated all guest rooms and suites and added a new rooftop health club. The property is also offering a “Celebration of A Century” package which includes a night at the hotel, a private tour, and a historical booklet. Prices for the package start at $100 per person. 

As I was leaving the office on Friday, I received a flurry of press releases from ski areas across the country. Utah’s Snowbird had just received 30 inches of snow and another storm was on its way today and tomorrow. Just down the road, Park City was getting dumped on pretty heavily. Here in New England, where my yard was green until Saturday, Vermont and New Hampshire ski areas both received up to a foot of snow this past weekend. Also on Saturday, I received word that the Lake Tahoe region would receive up to three feet of snow, snowing more than an inch an hour. So if you were looking forward to calling in sick and hitting the slopes, this would be the week. Check out Liftopia to get discounted lift tickets.